//------------------------------// // The End of the Beginning // Story: Strangers in a familiar world // by iMan203 //------------------------------// Everypony awoke from their slumber early in the morning to prepare for the arrival of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The mayor had organized decorating to be done at town hall, where the ceremony would begin. Despite it being so early, Pinkie Pie was up and active, decorating and preparing for the ceremony and after party. Applejack and Bronze Hammer had been moving food from the orchard estate to the ceremony all morning, freshly made by Granny Smith and Apple Bloom. Everypony pitched in on the preparations, except for the soldiers, who were getting ready for the ceremonies. Rarity had made glamorous suits for each of us, and designed something special with Tiki for himself. After an hour of preparations and decorations, there was nothing else to do but wait. Only minutes went by as a golden carriage could be seen pulling the two Princesses from Canterlot to Ponyville. The chariot was moving at impeccable speeds, arriving at the edge of Ponyville within ten minutes time. The two Princesses left their carriage and were soon approached by the greeting committee: me. "Welcome, ladies. I have accomplished the task you had assigned for me." I said, bowing my head. "You certainly have! Somepony informed me on the details regarding the battle. I'm so sorry about your loss, but war is war." Celestia said with sympathy. "It's alright, the job is done, and her death had been avenged." I said. "Yes, well, you see... Luna will inform you later on the details of your new assignment I am giving to you and your squad." The princess looked over to Luna. "Yes, of course. I'll explain everything to your friends at the after party." Luna said. "Of course. Please follow me so we can begin the ceremony." I said, leading to the town hall. We all took place at town hall, everypony gathered in chairs set up from this morning. I was on the stage with Tiki, Silver, and Bronze. We were supposed to receive a special reward for our hard efforts and amazing victory over the greatest army of the centuries. There were many other soldiers seated in the crowd, arising when they were called to receive an award if it was earned. Each soldier was going to claim a payment for their services in the mail when they returned home. All different types of awards were handed out to different ponies. Medical award for saving a life on the battlefield. Protector's award for guarding a fallen soldier. Many other honorable awards were given, but all were adding up to the final four medals of honor. Each of us had received a medal for commanding a victorious army and guarding the safety of the royal throne. Each medal was personally engraved with our cutie marks on each of the medals. an iron fist was engraved into the gold medal for myself. Silver Dust had a tourniquet of silver engraved on his. Bronze Hammer had a black anvil with a metal horse shoe, and Tiki had a surf board in a sea of clouds. Princess Luna was given the honor of placing each medal over our necks for the crowd to see, and soon the ceremony had ended after a few speeches of thanks. I had thought about a speech, but I couldn't possibly speak publicly if I had mentioned Glimmer. The pain of losing her after I had promised so much was painstaking to my heart and soul, I could feel it biting at me in the back of my head. The party afterwords was amazing, as Pinkie had promised. It wasn't a crazy pony party like the party pony herself would usually throw, but nonetheless it was a good celebration. I had received much praise and thanks from all of the soldiers and citizens that had showed to the ceremony. The other three were getting swarmed with appraisal and thanks, it was deserved though, through all the pain and work we had done in only a few days. The apple dishes were set up along a table at the side of a glorious water fountain in the courtyard, which everypony had enjoyed all of the food that was freshly made for the occasion. Granny Smith and Apple Bloom worked extremely hard, preparing such a large amount of food in such a short time. Apple Bloom had even showed up with the rest of the crusaders. I would've said something to them earlier, but they seemed a bit taken aback by my more draconian appearance. A lot of ponies had noticed that, but tried to block it out and remembered I was still the same pony that they all came to love. The ceremony had continued through the day, the sun rising higher in the sky. I had to stop Pinkie Pie on two occasions from bringing out the party cannon, it just wasn't necessary right now. I had talked with many ponies, accepting all the congratulations and thanking them sincerely for their appreciation, but I now had to speak with the crusaders, since they were the only ones I haven't spoke to today. "I've finally found you three, I'm surprised I haven't had the time to speak to you today." I said, coming up behind the crusaders. "Oh! Ironclad! We finally found you!" Sweetie Bell said nervously. "Is it really true that ya killed all of those goblins in one day?" Apple Bloom asked. "Yeah! Did you rip of Blunt Will's head like one of the soldiers mentioned?" Scootaloo asked eagerly. "Yep, it's all true. I stopped the army in its tracks with my army and crushed Blunt Will like a stick on the ground." I said proudly. "That's pretty merciless, I don't think I would've been able to witness something like that without barfing all over." Sweetie Bell looked uncomfortable. "What's up with you girls? You look a bit uncomfortable around me." I said. "Ah guess it's just the new look, just gotta get used to it and all." Apple Bloom said nervously. "Yeah, my sis told me not to worry about being around you, but I've just got this bad feeling about being around such a pony that did so much... Killing." Sweetie Bell said, avoiding eye contact. "That's alright, I completely understand!" I laughed, "it'll probably take a while to get used to, but my personality is still the same, there's nothing wrong with that part of me is there?" I asked jokingly. "Of course not! You have the most unique personality in Ponyville!" Scootaloo burst out. "Alright, well I guess that settles everything, unless there's something else bothering you?" I asked jokingly again. "Well, just your look and all, but nothin' other than that." Apple Bloom said. Princess Luna had approached our group from my back, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I need to borrow Ironclad for a moment. It's about your new assignment." "Of course. Please inform me on what my next mission is." I said. "Lets go round up the rest of your friends so I can give your squad the next assignment." Luna said sternly. As we walked, Luna started to talk about my new task at hand, informing me on the situation at hand in Equestria. She explained the increasingly problematic appearances of goblins in the neighboring cities of Equestria. Both Fillydelphia and Manehattan are at risk of goblin attacks. Blunt Will had conjured 95% of his army to fight me in the battle so that the rest of his men could go to different parts of Equestria to prepare for an attack across the land. Silver Dust, Tiki, and Bronze Hammer soon joined us in our little walk while the briefing was taking place. We walked inside the town hall building and were alone at the moment. "Alright. I've gathered you all here for your next mission. You will suit up tonight and prepare to leave the next day on an Equestria-wide trek to wipe out any goblin resistance you see in each neighboring city. Along the way, goblin camps and armies will be crushed by your force to eliminate all resistance. Blunt Will has dispersed his troops all across the land, and you need to eliminate as much as possible. Each city is tainted with a dark source of power that needs to be crushed to rid the area of any evil copies of goblins." Luna explained. "Alright, we're up to the task. We'll start packing straight away when we return to the barracks." I said. "Don't worry about packing much, I shall inform each of the towns and villages across Equestria of you mission, they will all supply you with food and equipment when you stop through the area. You also don't have to pack heavy armor if you don't choose to, your original guard uniforms will be more than well suited for your mission." Luna continued. "Alright, that's wonderful news. The rest of this day will be spent saying goodbyes and all, since we will be able to prepare in short notice tonight." I said, hoping to give my friends some time to themselves and their loved ones. "As you wish. I've also received notice to your new ability," Luna smiled. "You will be able to write to your friends in Ponyville while you're gone, since you might be gone for quite a while after today." Luna said solemnly. "I'll make sure to write often!" I smiled sheepishly. "You should also be aware of the rogue dragons of Equestria. Celestia has taken notice of who you really are and knows what you've caused." Luna said sternly. "I'm sorry, I was caught up in the moment... I wish I could..." Luna had cut me off. "Nonsense! The presence of a dragon lord is more than welcomed into our world! We hope that you will guide your cause in a good direction. We support you fully and will offer assistance whenever you need it!" Luna said supportively. "Thank you, I promise to lead Equestria in the right direction. Nopony will be harmed and the dragons will be able to embrace everypony with open arms and determination. I hope this alliance can make Equestria more united and stronger at heart!" I said proudly. "And we thank you sincerely for your hard work. The briefing is over, you may go enjoy yourselves for the rest of the day." Luna dismissed us and we all saluted. The party was ending and we all began to clean up the decorations and leftover food. We were dismissed from cleanup duty to enjoy the rest of the day, but I insisted that we helped with such a process. The cleanup went much faster than expected with all of us working at it, and a hot flame to get rid of all of the leftover decorations and food. It only took one spark from my muzzle to start the blue aura, dancing over the pile and disintegrating everything left over from the celebration. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "You what?! Ya just got back from your battle and y'all are leavin' again?!" Applejack wasn't happy about the idea. "Now, you've gotta understand, this is for the good of Equestria. We need to clear out all the cities so the goblins don't come back and beat our flanks!" Bronze explained. "Why don't the royal soldiers do somethin' about it themselves?" Applejack asked, looking for a reason to keep us all in Ponyville. "I doubt royal soldiers can destroy a source of dark magic." Silver said. "Dark magic? Whats going on out there in Equestria?" Twilight asked worriedly. "Sources of evil magic have armies of goblin clones conjured in the general location of major cities, rogue dragons are flying the skies, and we have to stop all of it." I explained briefly. "Rogue Dragons? Flying the skies?! I'm so scared now..." Fluttershy said, curling up on the corner of our couch. "Yes, I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with the dragons... But I'll make sure the ones on our side keep them from causing much harm to the ponies." I said. "As long as you deal with the problem and come back as soon as possible. I'm gonna miss you guys being around and all." Rainbow Dash said. "I know, us leaving is going to leave you without a show when we're all dating and stuff." I said with a smirk. "Hey! I can find my own show, even without you guys around! I'm just going to miss the company." Rainbow said, trying to hold back her smile. "Anyways. I think I'm gonna go back to the boutique with Rarity. A nice quiet lunch sounds good right about now." Tiki said, eyeing Rarity. "Of course! What a splendid idea! We might as well have some time to ourselves before you leave for so long!" Rarity said. "Well, I guess Twilight and I could always enjoy one more lunch together." I suggested. "That sounds good, we can go enjoy ourselves down at sugar cube corner." Twilight said. "Great! I'll go right now and get your favorite dishes ready!" Pinkie said, trotting out the door after Rarity and Tiki. "Well, ah guess its you and I back at the orchard, sugar cube." Applejack looked at Bronze Hammer playfully. "I think I'll spend some time with Rainbow Dash, if she's really going to miss us that much." Silver Dust said, smiling. "Hey, I won't argue with that. What do you want to do?" Rainbow asked. "I'll make the lunch, you can pick the spot." Silver offered. "A date? I'm not all mushy like the rest of these ponies!" Rainbow swatted her hoof in displease. "Well, I guess I'll just go do something else then. I thought I could watch your amazing tricks somewhere in the park but I know how you feel about mushy stuff." Silver smiled and looked away. "Well... When you put it that way I guess we could go out to the park." Rainbow gave into the offer. It was the last date for everypony. Fluttershy joined Rainbow Dash and Silver Dust in the park for a bit, before leaving to go feed her animals. Bronze Hammer and Applejack went to the same hill in the orchard they were at before the battle. Rarity and Tiki had a quiet lunch at the boutique that afternoon. Spending the time with Tiki only made Rarity more upset that he would be gone for so long. Tiki promised to write often and that everything would be alright soon, and this helped comfort Rarity. Twilight and I enjoyed a sandwich and a shake at sugar cube corner, with Pinkie joining us at our table whenever she could do so. We all had our time to say our last goodbyes that day before packing for the journey and having to leave early tomorrow morning. It was going to be a long trip ahead, but we were prepared. We had each other and that was enough to make us unstoppable on the road ahead. The thought of fighting for the safety of Equestria only made us stronger. Each of us went to bed that night, alone in our rooms, but together under the same roof. We would be a team for the next few years to come, together under the same roof or even under the stars. We fell asleep, ready to awake the next day. We were now ready to protect and serve.