//------------------------------//
// Return (Chapter 10) 
// Story: Subject Delta - Rapturous for Equestria 
// by TheMightyT 
//------------------------------//


Subject Delta - Rapturous for Equestria
*by TheMightyT*
*\Cleansed of mistakes by Taucannon/*

*Special thanks to Serenity*





Chapter 10: Return




“Take a chance, they said. Leave your homes in this earthly plane, where the Parasite lives and feeds; and come down... deep down into the endless ocean, where reality meets dreams. Dreams of a single man... a city envisioned for a few.



And indeed, Rapture was exactly that... dreams of a single man, built by many and home to those that were chosen. When they came down here in droves, believing, hoping that Rapture could be the ‘Utopia’ they all wished it to be; they didn’t realise that, in the end, Rapture is owned by a single man - Andrew Ryan.



And in return for taking a chance, so were they.”



***

        

        A lone shadow glided over the thick canopy that shrouded the endless forest, the sounds of wings flapping in the cold air of the early morning being the only thing that disrupted the seemingly peaceful silence that ruled below. The shadow moved slowly the farther it advanced into the forest, as a wavering fog that emanated from the forest clinged to her coat and armor. The weak light of the still rising sun did not stand a chance against the freezing cold that seemed to have made its home above the forest, causing her breathing to become even more labored; as the armor that was made to protect her from harm, didn’t hold any warmth. As she soared up higher into the sky, trying to escape from the fog that made her coat wet, there was something in the far distance that caught her attention. For just a moment, the sun got concealed by darkened clouds, carrying a promise of more rain, making, what she had thought to be just more clouds, something worth investigating.

        Small plumes of smoke were barely visible, circling above the thick canopy, as small particles and ashes danced in the air.

        “Smoke...” Shadow Stalker whispered to herself, as she forced herself to fly faster.

        As she soared down, she realised where the smoke was coming from; a place she had just left a couple of hours ago, a clearing that, until recently, used to be filled with trees. As she descended through the fog carefully, she could see the smoke that rose from the charred trees more clearly; small embers still spread around the clearing and  burrowed in the trees around it, their blistering glow now clearly visible from above.

        Although, something seemed wrong to her. As she cautiously hovered above the forest floor, she searched around for any traces of Princess Luna, yet the Princess of the Night was nowhere to be seen. As she finally touched down, the mud greedily sucked at her hooves; as the still rising sun hadn’t had the chance yet to fully dry the earth after yesterday’s rain. It couldn’t have been more than a couple of hours ago, but to Shadow, it seemed like ages. It was here she had left her Princess alone. She hadn’t agreed with Princess Luna staying behind, all alone, checking if the golem was truly dead; however, she wasn’t one to go against her Princess’s orders; even though that was as big of a part of being a member of the Lunar Guard, if only for their Princess’s own safety.

        Struggling to keep upright in the mud, that tried it hardest to keep her in place, she started to look around. Her heart missed a beat, when she noticed that the mountain of tree-pieces was no longer there; chunks of the violently uprooted tree, that had made the golem’s grave, was now spread around the clearing; as though the golem itself had pushed them up from beyond his death. She carefully stepped closer to the still fuming grave, in search of the golem, her wings still outstretched and ready to fly up. When she reached the gap, and didn’t see the remains of the golem, she turned around, searching intently in the shadows below the trees that surrounded the clearing; however, she couldn’t see anything moving, except some leaves swaying in the wind.

        She sighed, letting go of a breath she hadn’t noticed she was holding. The sight of her own breath before her, made her realise that it was way colder in the forest than in the lands around it. It made her, even more so than the midnight watch did, realise that Summer had finally made way for Fall. Above all, she wished that she had followed the advice that the last watches had given her, and that she had opted to take her Winter’s armor instead of her Summer’s one. With a shiver, she forced herself to ignore the cold and to return to her findings. There weren’t any signs of the golem still being around here, so for the time being, she was safe to look around.

        “What happened here?” She asked herself, no one around to hear her speak.

        Shadow tucked her wings back to her side, the contact with her cold, wet armor making her almost flinch before she returned to searching for any clues. As she walked around, she noticed that there were patches of mud that crunched underneath her hooves, like something - besides the weather - had frozen them. She took a closer look, remembering that the golem did cast a strange spell, turning part of the river into ice, allowing it to escape from them back at the river.

        “So... he froze the mud. But why?”

        She did a lap around the clearing, more so to keep herself warm underneath her metal armor, than to search for traces. She damned the Everfree Forest for taking Fall so early; the morning dew that seemed to have frozen stuck to her armor and the sun, that now had barely pierced to the clouds, failed to warm her. She untucked her wings and with a powerful leap she flew up into the air, hovering above the clearing again. She hoped that she would see more from above, as she had failed to find anything useable in the mud below.

        Around the clearing she spotted some trodden down bushes, like something enormous had come out of the shadows, something even bigger than the golem. In the mud, she could see long tracks, like something had been dragged along there; mixed in with the - at least what she thought them to be - bigger hoofprints of the golem. She flew closer to one of the trees around the clearing, that still seemed to be burning, the embers in it still dying out.

        “The fire from Princess Celestia’s spell should’ve died out by now... So, how are you still burning?” She pondered, turning around to observe the other side of the clearing.

        Almost directly opposite to the ember-filled trees and the trodden bushes, she could see another unfortunate tree which suffered a hit by something very heavy, as if... 

        “So, maybe... But who threw it into the tree?” She murmured, frantically looking around to find more clues to solving this mystery.

        From the corner of her eye, she could see something flickering in the mud as the light of the sun hit it. With the mud welcoming her hooves again, she examined it closer. It seemed to be something... very thin and sharp. With some difficulty she pulled it out of the mud, by using her wing, wiping it clean with another.

        “What is this?”

        It seemed to be some kind of scale, like a snake’s, but much bigger. It made her think of the dragon’s scales they kept back at Canterlot Castle, but these were almost completely black, with some vague hints of, what could’ve been, green.

        “So a dragon attacked? That would explain the fire,” she paused, looking up at the sky, “However, there’s no way a dragon could’ve nested here without us knowing it...”

        She turned the scale around, but beyond the fact that it bore many scars, there was nothing else it could tell her. Shadow sighed and carefully tucked it away below her armor, hoping that it could come in handy in the future. She readied herself to fly up again, so she could search for more clues; but something else caught her attention... some stray dark blue hair, sticking out of the mud. There seemed to be some red discoloration...

        “Blood,” she nearly yelled out loud, “And that hair... Princess Luna!” She frantically looked around, as if she would find her Princess in the shadows.

        Feeling nauseous for the second time that day, she looked around again for more pieces of the story, mumbling all the while.

        “What happened... what happened?”

        Shadow followed the hoofsteps she first believed to belong to the golem and she now saw the smaller ones, beside them. The trail was hard to follow, but it all came clear to her now.

        Something had ambushed Princess Luna and, possibly, the golem. It had been something big, if the tracks in the mud were any clue to its size, and it had scales. The golem or Princess Luna had fought that something back. Something big. Something that came through the shadows of the forest.

        “It couldn’t have been a dragon... She would have seen or hear it coming before it even had a chance to reach her. It was something heavy and wide,” she pondered as she stood in the middle of the tracks, being just about twice her width, “Something big enough to make these tracks... Maybe a big snake?”

        Slowly the pieces of the puzzle were coming together. There was a tree, bent over, like something heavy had hit it, probably the golem. The hoofsteps of the golem lead to where Shadow had found the bloodied hairs of her Princess and then they trailed back to the forest, with no other traces of any hoofsteps belonging to her Princess. Some bushes were slightly trampled where the golem had entered the forest, the dark blue hair confirming Shadow’s deepest fear; the golem had her Princess... and he had taken her back into the forest.

        With a mighty push of her wings she flew up into the air, circling close above the canopy. The hoofprints of the golem went deeper into the forest, yet closer to Ponyville. With another push of her wings she flew off, rocketing towards Ponyville; however, she stayed dangerously close to the canopy, following the trail of destruction that the golem had left behind, hoping she would just see it moving below her. It wouldn’t take her long until she found it.

        And when she did... she would personally make sure the golem wouldn’t stand up again, after she was done with it.


***


        Scratching at the ground below with one of his hooves, Reiver looked up again at the near-cloudless sky and to his dismay the sun kept rising; yet, still there was no sign of his captain and the Princess. Quite a while longer than an hour ago his captain had left, in search of their Princess, and all that time he had stood vigil, watching the sky above the forest for any signs, the edges for any movement; yet, the sun kept slowly rising, like it was just another normal day. The citizens of Ponyville had started to awaken from their slumber and it wouldn’t be long before he had to order the ponies under his command to keep them away from the hospital. Soon it would be his task - technically being the highest ranking of both the Royal Guards here, at least, to his knowledge - to inform the citizens of what happened, without revealing too much and causing any commotion. The last thing anypony wanted was mass panic and if it became publicly known that Princess Celestia herself was in the hospital and her own sister was still missing...

        He accused the cold wind for the shiver that went up his back.

        He looked around and saw that his ponies were still patrolling the area surrounding the hospital. Putting his hoof up in the air, he signalled the pair of guards that were patrolling closest to him. They nodded in response and repeated the same signal to the other guards; after just a moment, the area around the hospital seemed deserted, like nopony had ever been there in the first place. Satisfied with the work of his ponies, Reiver made his way to the reception of the hospital. Hopefully, his guards would remain hidden long enough to avoid suspicion from the citizens of Ponyville, giving him more time to prepare; while at the same time, he could be certain that anypony coming close enough to the hospital would be kept away. 

        With his mind already filled with the orders he still needed to give, he finally entered the hospital. He should probably send a courier to the Mayor of Ponyville, make sure the Solar Guard took over the outside patrol from his ponies, along with many other things. With a sigh, he decided against what normally would be his duty. He had made a promise to his captain and he sure wasn’t about to break it. Nonetheless, he did understand it wouldn’t be an easy task to get to speak with Princess Celestia, especially now that she was wounded; but even if it meant he had to fight his way into her room, this was way too urgent to wait any longer. He had hoped that Shadow would’ve returned by now, but, unfortunately, things had passed differently.

        Inside the hospital itself everything was quiet, with the only thing that seemed out of place, a forgotten book on one of the chairs near the front desk. Besides himself and a nurse, who briefly looked up from behind the desk and nodded, there was nopony else in the room. Most of the guards would be patrolling the hallways or standing guard at the rooms of the Elements and the Princess. He nodded back to the nurse, who returned to her paperwork, and he made his way to the door leading deeper into the hospital. The moment he opened it, a waft of different odors reached his nose; the smell of disinfectant and medicaments that always seemed to linger inside hospitals making him slightly lightheaded. Everywhere he looked there were plain, white walls, with sometimes plants which interrupted the bleak interior, along with chairs, windows, or paintings and picture frames.

        Two gold-plated guards slowly passed him, and, as they rounded the corner, another pair of guards slowly patrolled into the hallway; but both pairs had equally ignored his presence. Even though he was their superior, not only in rank - First Wing of the Lunar guard, although, practically speaking, his actual place in the overall hierarchy was, sadly, different -,  but also in ‘official’ title - although it didn’t hold that much weight except in the Lunar Guard itself -; but neither his rank or title held any significance for the members of the Solar Guard, as it mostly just caused them to act even more defiant, but only as long as their own superiors weren’t around. He wanted to ask the now passing pair of guards where Princess Celestia’s room was, but decided against it; they would probably just say that the Princess shouldn’t be disturbed.

        Trotting through the hallways of the hospital, moving as silently as he could, many thoughts raced through his mind. He passed various doors, some open, most closed; but almost all numbered, all but those that carried a title, like the operation rooms and a small canteen, where several guards were having a light breakfast. He passed a corridor with several pairs of guards posted besides five doors, which he was almost certain of to be the rooms of the Elements. Rounding another corner, he came into a more guarded corridor, where several guards were posted before the door of, which he assumed to be, the room of Twilight Sparkle.

        He ignored the guards, and the nurse that trotted past him into the corridor, going up the stairs instead, where he eventually made his way to the top floor of the hospital. If he just went on the amount of guards milling about the hallway he found himself in, he was fairly sure he would find Princess Celestia here. Now, reaching her room wouldn’t prove to be difficult.

        It was getting inside that would prove to be near impossible.

        The guards that patrolled the hallway in droves, like they expected to be ambushed at any moment, with their attention and stares coming his way, made him realise that this wasn’t going to be easy. Not that he was scared to get into a scrape with them, because he knew that in about thirty seconds all of his guards could be up here, with every single one of them ready to fight by his side.

        However, above all, he didn’t want another skirmish between the two Guards.

        Finally, he reached the door to Princess Celestia’s room. His attention wasn’t drawn by the two guards standing besides it, or the tell-tale magical glow of a shield surrounding the door, but by a third guard that moved to meet him. He quickly scanned the guards’ armor, searching for the stallion’s rank. He was surprised to not only find a silver feather - something that anypony not in the guard would easily mistake for a simple rookie-silver stripe -, embossed on where the stallion’s cutie mark would be; it were the golden embroideries that caught his attention.

        This meant two things. Fortunately, he wouldn’t need to deal with any first-year-too-much-trouble-then-they-are-worth - kinda guards. Unfortunately, this also made the current situation even more complicated than it was already.

        “A Golden Feather, First Rank... Of course, that’s just my luck,” he murmured to himself, silently cursing the skewed military order between the two guards; before returning the salute that the stallion gave him.

        In essence, his rank was the higher one - with only the captain and the princesses outranking him -. Unfortunately, through time both Royal Guards came to adopt a different system of military ranking. The Solar Guard, their aim always been having as many guards as possible, had taken over the full military system of the old Pegasi Clan, before they moved to Equestria, which - with some honorary ranks as exceptions - were largely the same as the current Equestrian Army’s ranks. Throughout the ages many ranks would disappear, with others being added. The Lunar Guard, however, opted to go for a simpler approach, as they never would reach a fraction of the total numbers of the other Guard. In essence, they did use the same system, so technically he, being a First Wing, outranked any Feather; however, practically, it often seemed to be the opposite, a largely unknown fact that still lingered from the absence of the Lunar Guard’s use, without a Princess to guard.

        The stallion greeted him by the book, but it was his slight wry smile, that made Reiver realise he might already have lost this battle. He bet that anypony so young as the guard before him, with such a high, not to speak of, honorary rank, didn’t get it through many valiant years of service. Unfortunately, politically or monetary influence still plagued the Solar Guard; as did proud father’s who would move mountains to see their sons or daughters into a high position they did not deserve.

        Reiver didn’t really pay any attention to the stallion’s formal greeting, so he didn’t catch his name - nor that he was interested. He just hoped that this was just another push-over-run-to-daddy-crying-when-threatened - guard. He could deal with those.

        “First Wing, Reiver,” he shortened his, what should’ve been a way longer, greeting.

        “First Wing, you say...” the stallion seemed to ponder something, before realising that Reiver was waiting for him, “What can I do for you, Sir?”

        The salute that followed, as well as the Sir, was more mocking than military conduct.

        “I need to speak with Princess Celestia. Now,” Reiver responded with a stern voice.

        “I am afraid that Princess Celestia herself gave the order to not be disturbed,” the stallion answered with the same wry smile, not even trying to hide it anymore, “That means audiences as well.”

        “I don’t care what your orders-” Reiver started, before he was interrupted.

        “Know your place,” the stallion added bluntly, “Before you lose it.”

        “Is that a threat, first-year?” Reiver rebuked, taking a step closer.

        Before the stallion answered, the tension in the hallway had become tangible. The stallion and mare guarding the door had too taken a step forward, with the other guards in the hallway also coming closer. He needed to defuse this situation, quickly.

        “I don’t know who you think you are,” the stallion started, lower lip trembling in anger, “But I have the all-overriding order by the Princess herself and I will not allow you-”

        “To do my duty and tell her that her sister is missing?” Reiver interrupted him rhetorically, his voice filling the hallway, drowning out the mumbling of the other guards.

        The stallion stayed silent for just a moment, seemingly ashamed and unsure of what to do. He looked back up in Reiver’s eyes, a strange glint in his, “It’s not my responsibility to fix your failure-”

        Before the two stallions could start in another argument, or more likely, a fight; the door at the end of the hallway creaked open. Every single guard tore their eyes off the two bickering stallions and bowed to their Princess. Princess Celestia stepped forward, approaching them both, as their voices abruptly died down. She still looked very tired, the dark circles underneath her eyes still slightly noticeable; yet, the wounds on her chest and legs seemed to be healed completely, now that the bandages were removed.

        The stallion was the first that tried to speak up, but Princess Celestia stopped his frantic whining about Reiver breaking her orders, with a single glare.

        She motioned for Reiver to get out his reverence with a nod of her head. And although Reiver wasn’t one to get scared easily, that glint of fire and pure anger in the Princess’s eyes unnerved him beyond anything else.

        “Now...,” Princess Celestia started, her voice painfully stern, “Tell me about my sister.”


***


        She found them.

        By Star Swirl’s beard, she found them!

        There they both were, on the single path leading from the Everfree to Ponyville. The golem was carrying her Princess in his arms.

        And she seemed to be awake and scared.

        With a powerful maneuver, ending in a loop in the air, she took all her forward momentum and used it to breach through the canopy, wings clenched tightly to her sides. In a single motion, she flared her wings open and slowed her descend, breaking her fall, as she landed loudly on the dirt; standing proudly behind the golem, her wings painfully outstreched, making her look twice as large.

        Shadow spoke up, her voice trembling with repressed rage, “You have three seconds to let Princess Luna go, Golem...”


        Delta didn’t move a single muscle. The pony in his arms, this so-called Princess Luna, seemed to keep bringing him more trouble with every step; first with the snake and then with this armored pony. Not that he was scared of it. It just made things more complicated. The pony- Princess Luna, was his ticket to Twilight. He could not lose her, but, at the same time, killing a pony wouldn’t help anything either.

        So, he did what the pony had asked. He moved slowly, making sure to set the Princess down as carefully as he could. She seemed in shock, her mouth open to speak, yet, unable to process what was happening. She laid on the dirt, as he carefully took a step back. He patiently awaited for the pony to speak again.

        Shadow didn’t know what she saw. The golem had just laid the Princess down, at the side of the road, without putting up any fight. At first sight, she seemed okay, if not in shock. She returned all her attention to the golem, when it moved to take a step back. This seemed too easy. Her muscles tensed as she expected the golem to storm forward.

        This could be so easy. With a flick of his plasmid filled wrist, Delta could pull a dead tree out of the forest, hitting the unexpecting, armored pony in the back; squashing her beneath it, with her limbs and wings hopelessly tangled. An easy target. However, he found it hard to do so. The thought of killing the pony just seemed wrong. She hadn’t hurt him. And if she wanted to, she would’ve attacked already, or pounced on him together with those other armored guard he had seen. Yet, she didn’t. The pony carefully waited, her body tensed up. He just needed to make her understand he didn’t want to hurt her, so she didn’t get herself hurt when she tried to attack him.


        Just when she was ready to fly forward, hitting the golem with all her propelled might in the chest; it did the last thing she had expected. It slowly moved its arms downwards, hooves open, yet empty of any magical glow; and finally, it went through its knees, kneeling before her. It was kneeling. Before her. Confused, she lost the tension she was holding, her wings easing back; yet, still ready to react if the golem tried anything.

        She moved to make sure Princess Luna was okay, her thoughts clouded, as she kneeled down next to her Princess, trying to tell her that everything was okay now. ‘It makes sense, strangely enough. It never did try to hurt any of us, until we tried to stand in its way, flailing wildly, like a wounded animal just trying to survive. Maybe... just maybe, it isn’t out to hurt us after all.”


        “Princess,” Shadow spoke, inspecting her Princess.

        “Shadow? Why... how,” Princess Luna tried, her voice trailing off, as she still didn’t realise fully what was going on.

        “It’s okay, Luna, I’m here now,” Shadow answered, letting her guard down for just a moment, pulling her Princess in a close hug, barely avoiding tears from brimming in her own eyes.

        She quickly regained her composure, though, craning her head back to look at the golem. Its hooves still rested on its knees, still haven’t moved a single muscle.

        A hoof reaching up to her cheek, made her look back down to the matter at hoof, “It’s okay, Shadow. It- He’s okay. He saved me.” Princess Luna answered her, finally understanding what was happening.

        “Who saved you?” Shadow asked, understanding what Princess Luna had meant, before she even finished her sentence, “You mean the golem, it saved you?” She continued with a motion of her wing, to the golem that still was kneeling in place. She really couldn’t make out if it was watching them or not, with that helmet he was wearing obscuring the view.

        “He did, yes.” Princess Luna nodded, “However, maybe we should wait to explain everything.” She motioned with her head to her scabbed leg, “I think I need some medical assistance,” she added with a dry chuckle. Her throat hurt her so much. It had been ages since she had anything to drink. 

        “I know,” Shadow answered, observing her Princess’s leg. The blood seemed dried, but they shouldn’t take any chances. Shadow didn’t know how badly she was hurt, but standing on that leg was probably out of the question. Now... how was she going to get Princess Luna to the hospital... .

        “If you’d ask him, I’m sure he would carry me,” Princess Luna answered her unspoken question hoarsely.

Shadow looked from her Princess to the golem and back. “Are you sure-”

        “He was carrying me to there, before you found me. Us,” she quickly corrected herself, “At least, to the edge of the forest, I think.”

        “Oh,” Shadow lingered, trying to understand, “Should I even ask why?”

        “Maybe later,” Princess Luna chuckled at her captain’s confusion, “It’s a long story to tell, one you’ll find very interesting, to say the least.”

        Shadow shook her head in disbelief. After all the heart-wrenching tension that had made up most of her morning, she couldn’t even explain how relieved she was - and how lighthearted her Princess still managed to be.

        “So, should I...” Shadow started her question, hoping that her Princess would answer “no”.

        “You should, Shadow. It’s only fair to him.” Princess Luna continued with a small smile, doing anything but hiding it.

        “Okay then...” Shadow’s voiced trailed off, as she turned to face the golem. She couldn’t believe that she was going to do this. However, maybe it was only fair, if not to give it- him, the benefit of doubt.

        “Golem,” Shadow started addressing it-him, causing him to turn his head to her, the yellow light still obscuring the golem’s eyes, “I think I owe you an apology.”

        The golem nodded slowly, as if everything was forgiven.

        “Could you help me with carrying Princess Luna to the hospital?” Shadow inquired, “I would go and get some guards, but-” 

        She trailed off, thinking about what she just had said. Her own guard wouldn’t jump to conclusions, but the Solar Guard, however... . She shook her head briefly. They would pass that hurdle, when it presented itself.

        Delta nodded solemnly and got up from his knees. He kneeled in front of Princess Luna and moved his head sideways. She interpreted it as a question for permission and she nodded in reply. He carefully took her off the ground, making sure she rested comfortably in his arms; with her wounded leg twisted out from underneath her body, so she wouldn’t lean on it.

        Without another word spoken, he motioned his head to the other pony, whose name apparently was Shadow, and she quickly understood what he tried to ask her.

        Shadow moved in front of them, leading the way out of the forest. With her guiding, they moved quickly, but not too fast, as not to make the journey to uncomfortable for the Princess. Shadow felt she wanted to talk with Princess Luna, ask her questions, ask her about the golem, the fight back at the clearing, the scale she had found... . However, the Princess was more than right, this all could wait. She would see her questions answered sooner or later.

        Delta trudged close behind the pony, feeling odly... relieved, that things had went how they did. He now had a guide out of this forest, even to the hospital, where Twilight would be - if they were going to the same one at least. And, to top it all off, both the Princess and her guard vouched for him with their presence, making sure he wouldn’t get attacked on sight. So, in some ways, everything had come together nicely. 

        For now at least.


        Flaring open her wings, Shadow stopped in her tracks, galloping forward and jumping in the air; using her momentum to glide over a strange blue-glowing patch of flowers. Delta moved forward, but stopped when she spoke from the other side.

        “You should fly, um, jump over them,” Shadow warned him, motioning to the patch of flowers, “They are poisonous.”

        Lately, this patch of flowers had grown out of proportions, now covering over the whole path that led deeper into the forest; so Shadow made a mental note to go warn the Mayor of Ponyville, after all this was over, so- wait, where did the golem go?

        Partially lost in her train of thoughts, she hadn’t paid any attention to the golem or Princess Luna. Before she even had the chance to open her mouth and call out for them, she heard his familiar trudging hoofsteps coming to her right. The golem, Princess still snugly in his arms, came out of the forest, many stray twigs and undergrowth succumbing underneath his weight.

        “Or you could just walk around them.” She stated to herself, eliciting a chuckle from Luna.

        As the canopy above grew thinner as they continued, the rays of the sun now managed to pierce through and reach the forest floor, adding onto the noticeable warmth as they came closer to Ponyville. It was strange how, with both places being so close, that the Everfree Forest always seemed to experience weather to its extremes. Shadow was sure that, if she had asked Princess Luna about it, she would’ve know the answer; but she happily digressed. They had reached the edge of the forest.

        In front of them laid the - usually - peaceful town of Ponyville. She looked around, to only find the golem standing quite a bit away from her, underneath the last shadows of the forest.


        They had reached the edge of the forest. Delta didn’t know what he saw. Everything was so colorful, so... alive, in contrast to the place they just came from, to the place he had come from. He didn’t even know that pink was so... um, pink. Also, he noticed, there really was no dome holding back unfathomable amounts of water above them. Just open skies, as far as he could see; which, in itself, was a shocking change.

        If this place was any bit more different than Rapture, he would’ve bet that things here didn’t even bleed or never died.

        Sunlight was so painfully bright. He wanted to move forward, yet something kept him back, hiding underneath the shadows.

        
        Shadow looked at the golem, as it looked around, his gaze wandering to the town of Ponyville, to the sky and even straight up into the sun. She looked questioningly to Princess Luna, who half-shrugged back.

        “Um,” Princess Luna spoke up, catching Delta’s attention, “Maybe we shouldn’t move out in the open for now.”

        Her answer was met with confusion, “How do you mean, Princess?” Shadow asked.

        “It wouldn’t be wise to just trudge out of the forest,” Princess Luna motioned to Ponyville, “We should try to reach the hospital without garnering any suspicion.” She continued, murmuring, “Any more, that is.”

        Shadow nodded, understanding what she meant. If they kept in the forest, but close enough to the edge, they would reach the hospital; even though, it would take them longer to reach it. However, the hospital was fairly close to the edge of the forest, so they could, if they were lucky enough, just pass around Ponyville and reach the hospital; before the citizens of Ponyville even noticed anything was wrong.

        That was the best case scenario, though. But she was hopeful.


        “Come on,” she motioned with one of her wings to the golem, “We’ll go this way. It’ll take us a bit longer, but nopony’ll see us.”

        Delta nodded back in response and with one last look of wonder to the open sky, he turned around and followed after Shadow.
        

***


        “Come on, come on, be outside,” Reiver murmured to himself, as he descended the stairs as quickly as he could.

        He had just told, no, admitted everything to Princess Celestia, and she was preparing to fly out as quickly as possible. It would take her quite a while to gather her Guard, though, so, in the meantime, he could warn his own to prepare for the operation that would follow.

        As he rounded a corner, he ran straight into one of his own, causing them to collide and fall back to their haunches.

        The guard spoke up in surprise, “Sir!” The mare moved frantically to help her superior up, all the while apologising.

        Reiver took her offered hoof and stood up, “It’s alright.” He dusted himself off, as much as you can do with hooves anyways. “What news do you bring?”

        The mare answered eagerly, happy to answer his question and that he had forgiven her for her clumsiness, “The captain, Sir, she returned,” she told him so quickly that she was nearly out of breath.

        “Shadow?” Reiver’s ears jumped up, “Is the Princess with her?”

        “Yes, Sir,” the mare answered him, but before she could continue, he interrupted her.

        “Well, what are we waiting for,” Reiver started, motioning for the guard to follow him. Maybe, this all would go better than expected.

        The mare had to gallop to keep up with Reiver’s trot and barely managed to catch his attention, “Sir, there’s something else... the golem is with them.”

        Reiver stopped in his tracks, causing the guard to overshoot and nearly run muzzle-first in the door leading to the reception, “Golem,” he thought, scrambling to get his thoughts back together, “You mean-”

        “Yes, Sir.” The mare answered, moving to open the door for them both.

        He didn’t know what was really going on, but there would always be time for more questions later. He passed through the door, into the reception; the mare trotting close behind him.

        This was going to be an interesting day after all.

        “I hope you know what you are doing, Captain,” Reiver mumbled to himself, while he left the hospital; hoping that he would just have a bit longer before Princess Celestia heard that her sister had arrived, along with the golem.

        I guess it was true what they used to say - Never a dull day in the Lunar Guard.


***


        As far as she could see, there was nopony between them and the hospital. Shadow couldn’t see any movement on the open field they would have to cross, even from her own guards, which only meant she had trained them well. Yet, the same problem remained; if they left the safety of these shadows, it would only take them a minute to reach the hospital, if they managed to move fast. By doing so, they would move around the edges of Ponyville; which also meant they could still be seen, if they were unlucky.

        However, it was better than nothing.

        
        Right before she gave the signal to move, she saw some movement at the entrance of the hospital. Even though she couldn’t really see the pony’s face, she knew by his trot alone that it was Reiver, leaving the hospital in quite the hurry. The other guard that left the hospital, quickly joined Reiver, pointing to their position under the shadows. ‘So, they know that we are here. Good. This will make things easier... hopefully.’

By the time she and golem had left the forest behind, the Lunar guards hiding around the hospital had moved upon their orders, moving to their more tactical positions. A small party of three guards, and Reiver, came their way quickly, eventually meeting up with them halfway.

        Reiver nodded to her, his eyes passing over the golem and lingering on Princess Luna. He turned around, motioning to follow them, with the other three guards taking their places besides and behind them. The small group reached the hospital, where Reaver called for his guards. Around half a dozen of them gathered around them, with the rest remaining in position, maintaining the border around the hospital.

        Shadow spoke up, “I know this will sound weird to you, but we can trust the golem,” she started, hoping that her vouch for him was enough for the moment.

        “We trust you with our lives, Captain,” Reiver stopped her from having to explain further, “Your word is our command.”

        Shadow nodded in response, the other guards around them adding in with their own nods or mumbles of agreement.

        “Let’s go inside,” Princess Luna added, catching everypony’s attention, “We’ll talk further there.”

        With the guards up front, led by Reiver, Shadow and the golem made their way into the hospital at last. However, the room wasn’t as empty as it had been before. Standing at the desk, moments removed from readying her troops to go search for her sister, stood Princess Celestia; surrounded by two dozen of her own guards, essentially outnumbering them three-to-one. Silence descended over the overcrowded room.

        
        Like they once had, so long ago, the two Princess’s Guards stood proudly against each other; forming two barriers that waited for their respective Commander’s order to attack. Shadow instinctively moved in front of the golem, her wings already slightly flared out unconsciously.

        
        Of course, this was never going to be easy at all. Delta had found himself in this situation, many, many times before. However, he was out of his element here. The room was very small and crowded, meaning that any plasmid he could use would hurt ponies he didn’t want to hit. He just hoped that the Princess in his arms would explain everything, and fast, if not, he would be forced to face the large, white pony again. She had tried to take him out before. However, this time, he was ready for her.


        Princess Celestia turned around slowly, her words coming to an abrupt stop when the door to hospital opened. Not a single word parted from her lips, as she saw the Lunar Guard leading her sister inside, being carried by the golem she had taken care off before.

        The hatred burned in her chest and her voice barely held together as she whispered with utter contempt, “You...”


***


        Light trickled inside through curtains covering windows. The sound of machines breathing their mechanical beeping steadily filled the room. A strong scent of medicine, coupled with a faint linger of dust of a room that hadn’t been ventilated for while, would harass anyone entering.

        Confused she slowly woke up. She had no idea where she was. Slowly but surely she began to get a bit more aware of her surroundings, noticing the beeping and the smell in the air. Her eyes felt like weights were hanging from them and even though she had just woken up, she felt like she hadn’t slept in days. She slowly opened her eyes, but she couldn’t see anything but the rays of light coming through the curtains and the sickly green light that lightly emanated from a place behind her. She would’ve tried to turn around, or push herself up, if it weren’t for the fact her whole body felt sore and strangely cold; even though her head felt like it was burning up like a candle, a slight throbbing of her horn spreading over her forehead.

        She tried to move around, noticing she was restricted by many tubes and wires connected to her. The realisation hit her, now finally aware of where she was. Of course, she had been here many times to visit friends, or spend the night herself. She was in a hospital. However, she didn’t remember how she had gotten here in the first place.

        She pushed herself up, albeit clumsily, finally throwing away the blankets that concealed most of her body for her. Checking herself, she couldn’t see any obvious wounds that could explain the soreness of her limbs; not even a single bandage or bandaide to cover up a cut. She pondered about what she should do, when she heard sounds coming beyond the door leading to her room. 

        In the distance she heard the shuffling of hooves, voices, some yelling, the sounds of doors opening and closing. She yelped as a jolt of pain shot through her head, straight into her spine; her hooves holding her horn as she nearly doubled over in sudden pain. More yelling came from beyond her door, which she barely noticed. The pain faded away as quickly as it had come, returning to a dull throb at the base of her horn.

        “Ugh... my horn,” Twilight mumbled, her voice hoarse and her throat painful.

        No hoofsteps rushing to her door. Nothing. Just more voices, barely understandable, in the distance. She realised something was very wrong. If she was in the hospital, there would be nurses around, and they would’ve rushed to her room, when they heard her yell in pain. Yet, nopony came. 

        Boldly, in what may have been the stupidest decision she could make that day, she decided to find out for herself what was going on. Unsteadily, she moved a hoof to remove the various wires and tubes that held her bedbound, pushing them away from her. Meanwhile, she tried to squeeze her brain, forcing herself to remember anything at all, but to no avail. Something had happened, that much was sure. Faintly, she did remember bits and pieces, all loosely toiling around in her mind; however, none made any sense. It just added to her growing headache.

        The voices she had heard in the distance finally seized. Only silence remained. With a sigh, she carefully positioned herself to the side of her bed. If she wanted to find out what was happening, she was going to need to find out herself.


        She landed uneasily on her hooves, barely avoiding toppling over on the ground. She, more than anything else, lurched to the door and opened it to a crack. Light flooded into the room, hurting her eyes. She looked left and right, yet, there was not a single pony in sight. Without giving the room behind her another glance, she entered the hallway, crossing it to the opposite wall with windows, keeping close to them as support.

        According to the sun, which was trying to burning itself into her eyes, it should be around early morning. She closed her right eye, shielding it from the sun peaking through the windows in the hallway. She could hear more voices, coming from deeper into the hospital. And they didn’t seem that happy. However, they were too muffled for her to understand.

        She made her way past a staircase and some more rooms, most of their doors open, like ponies had left them in a hurry. More yelling and screaming, shuffling of hooves. For a moment, she had to lean against the wall, the ever-present throbbing of her horn causing her to see black spots in front of her eyes, making her feel slightly sick. Shaking her head, she began moving again, coming closer to the source of the voices and other noises.


        Finally, she understood a voice, as it commanded not far from her, “Stand aside, Luna. This is not your fight.”

        It was more yelling, than actually commanding, but she did recognise that voice.

        ‘Princess Celestia? What... why is she here? What is going on?’

        In response, she heard something very heavy moving, followed by mumbling.

        Curiously, she rounded the corner, and there she saw the door that should, if she remembered correctly, lead to the reception of the hospital. According to all the sounds she heard, the room itself was very crowded.

        “Kneel!” A voice called out, followed by more shuffling of hooves, some to surround, others pushed back.

        It stayed silent for a while.

        “Give up your weapons!” The same voice shouted, Princess Celestia voice unusually distorted by the anger underneath, a shrillness Twilight hadn’t heard before.

        In response, with metallic clatter, something heavy hit the floor.

        Twilight shuffled away from the wall, her hoof outstretched to the other side. She was next to the door now, which wasn’t properly closed, allowing her to see inside.


        The room was more than full. A couple of Lunar Guards stood at the entrance of the hospital, with Princess Luna leading them. She seemed wounded and leaning on a pegasus, whose armor bore the decorations of a captain. The Lunar Guard, and the Princess, were held back by a half circle of Solar Guards, who had essentially pushed them back to the far back wall of the room. 

        Standing at the left wall of the room, she could see Princess Celestia, standing in front of Twilight’s five best friends. Rarity’s mane was disheveled, as if she had just woken up, with Spike standing before her, like he was trying to protect her. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie stood near, but both had taken place as close to the wall as they could. Twilight really couldn’t remember if she had ever seen Pinkie that scared before. Rainbow stood in front of the bunch, next to Applejack, but she seemed... different. Did she look... afraid? No, that couldn’t be.

        However, the cause of all the commotion, seemed to be surrounded next to the front desk. A weapon, of some kind Twilight vaguely recognised, although she didn’t know from where, laid on the ground next to it; yet, she strangely recognised the figure that was kneeling. She recognised him from somewhere.

        She... she owned her life to him. And even though she didn’t know why, she trusted him.


        He had been in far better situations. Surely, Princess Luna and Shadow had tried to talk her out of it, but the sun-bearing pony didn’t seem to be in the mood of listening today. Now, he found himself kneeling down, his drill out of his immediate reach; surrounded by many armored guards, outnumbered many, many times. Any tactic he came up with, revolved around taking out the one who had ordered him to kneel, this “Princess Celestia” the other ponies seemed to call her. So, apparently Luna and Celestia where both princesses, and apparently sisters. 

        He didn’t care in the least.

        This Celestia had given him enough troubles for a lifetime in just a day, and he would take her down, before she had the chance to do the same. Yet, any of his plasmids were practically useless here, if he didn’t want to hurt any of the other ponies. He could try to reach for his drill and storm forward, before they even had time to react; however, he was quite sure that the literal wall of armored ponies would slow him down enough to give the Princess an easy target.

        After all, he wasn’t that sure that Princess Celestia was concerned about hurting the other ponies, as much as he was.

        
        However, before anything could happen, any plasmids could be thrown around, any drill could be taken up for an attack, any horns could flare up to pin him down, or outright destroy him; the very last thing he had expected to happen, happened. A door opened with a creak. And there she stood.

        Twilight.


All eyes in the room where on her. The tension that had seemed to be building up all this time, collapsed as everypony just stared at her, confused about what was happening. However, Princess Luna, nor Princess Celestia gave any orders to their guards. Her friends stood near the far wall, seemingly frozen in shock.

        Twilight spoke up nervously, her sore throat disallowing an awkward chuckle, “What has somepony have to do here to get some rest?”

        
        Her horn flared up in pain. She heard her name being called out. Something wet coated the fur underneath her nose. With a quavering hoof, she tried to wipe it off, holding it up, so she could see what it was. ‘Blood...’

        The ground came quicker than expected. The last thing she saw was a pair of outstretched hands, as he dashed forwards, trying to still catch her.

        Sleep.


        And to the world of dreams, she, yet again, returned.


***


        “And as the light doused in the sea and another door closed, so did the King sigh. His Kingdom was His, and His alone; yet, there was no one left to share it with Him. Everyone had lost their right to live in His Kingdom, by either their betrayal, own greed, or despair. In finally reaching His dream, He had shattered those of many others. It was Him, who threw off the Shackles, broke the Bond; yet, the Lighthouse still remained. In its own way, it was always going to be there.

And He realised that, one fateful day, someone would open a door and look through, finding the many wonders His Kingdom held.

And so would He look back, ready to defend His City to the end.”

Chapter 11 revolves around Twilight finally finding her true destiny as the Alicorn Princess of nothing in particular, that has to travel to the nearly-human-but-not-really-because-ponies - world, finding the magic MacGuffin that will resolve anything. Also, she'll dye herself black and red to represent her eternal power, while she masters the art of triple Rainbooms, while controlling both the sun and moon at the same time. So, tune in next time to the Sarcasm Show, where you'll see how the whole world explodes from to many inside jokes. I'll see you all on the flip side... of insanity.