“Five-hundred years ago, before the rise of Nightmare moon, there was a War on Equestrian soil.”
“This war came with no warning, against beings of the unknown. They came in many shapes and sizes, they were intelligent and fierce, but were nothing like who occupies the neighboring lands now. None were Dragons, none were griffons, or zebras, or even changelings. They looked nothing like any of the wildlife documented to this date from the nearby lands or other races pony-kind associated themselves with. Yet, they bared flesh, scales, chitin, fur, and by observation from afar, even liquids like water or metal armour. They showed their opponents no mercy, only Death, Destruction, Agony, and Terror.”
“They fought like monsters, wild animals, but they always had a strategy. No matter what the Equestrian Guards did against these beings, they easily countered. The lands that were once serene, were now bloody, dark and ruined by what came with these beings.”
“They carried strange weapons; some breathed fire, setting anything in its wake alight; some shot strange beams of light, vaporising anypony that was touched by these lights; some spat hot metal, piercing and fatally wounding or killing those in the metals path. Some of these creatures fought against the Guard in close quarters, wielding only claw-like armaments, slicing through any poor soul in proximity to them. The ones that stood afar, letting those alien weapons to do their work were slow in movement, but had a sharp eye and amazing aim. The ones that came close to fight, were fast in movement, and agile, but not as smart as their ranged allies. We could tell there were more stationed at where they advanced from, but the pegasi that went to scout those areas, never returned. “
“Our magic worked against these creatures, but the more we used it, the less effective it became. Our hooves were effective, but like our magic, hooves became less effective as their armour became stronger. Our wings gave us advantages, but again, we became less reliant on them as those that took flight, were killed not long after from either those creatures from afar, or fliers of their own.”
“Despite how long the war went, despite the losses on both sides, the tides were always at a draw. This was until a unique pony, a rare breed of pegasi, joined the fight against these creatures. What made them unique was not what they were, or where they came from, or who they were (although their identity was never discovered), or even how they looked. No, what WAS unique, was how this pony fought against the attackers.”
“When in the skies, they flew with Grace, Ease, Skill, Speed, and in some reports: Beauty. They risked their safety to protect the other pegasi from harm. Using their own created advantages to close in on those at range and take them down. When on the ground, they were not only agile and quick to react, but were able to use even use the enemies own weapons against its creators. How was it possible for this Pegasus to do such a thing when the weapons they picked up required what looked like appendages that dragons and diamond dogs have?”
“Magic! How this Pegasus was using magic is still a mystery to even the wisest of unicorns, researchers and professors to this date. Many said this Pegasus was actually an Alicorn, and that their horn was small and hidden by their mane while others speculated that there was actually an invisible Unicorn with this Pegasus, being told where to aim and use the strange weapons, along with many other assumptions that were made to explain this abnormality.”
The ‘Alicorn’ Hypothesis was the more favoured guess out of all the members of every meeting made on the subject. However, one fact about this pony prevented all conclusions behind the theories: The glow that ponies find around a Unicorns horn when magic is in use, was not found where the horn should be, nor did anypony with a horn use magic whose glow was the same Luminescent Crimson that blanketed the objects. Instead, the crimson glow came from the larger pinion feather on both wings. Nopony believed such information and every time this fact arose, they all debated that the information was false, made-up, however there was still always the doubt at the end of the meetings that maybe, just maybe: This Pegasus really could use magic and their golden pinion feathers acted as a horn.“
“Over the course of many moons, this pony advanced in rank far quicker than any other member of the Guard to the point where they were second in command of the entire force, a feat that is impossible to achieve in such short time. It was at this time that the tides really turned in Equestrias favour. This pony was able to set out each regiment strategically in a way that the opposing forces could do very little to fend against with each push against them when the moon was high.”
“Why is the moon being mentioned? The reason for this is because something in the night gave off healing magic. This magic was not as strong as a Unicorn medics magic, but it gave the forces an advantage they needed. Nopony has figured out how this magic did not affect the invaders, but nopony complained.”
“The majority of each attack against the invaders were successful. Despite the failed pushes, losses of life were extremely low while the losses of the invaders were costly. Reasons for the failed advances were all due to a large metal bipedal suit of armour appearing and using its weapons against the Guard. After the first failed regiment was wiped out by this suit, the order ‘Retreat-on-sight’ was issued, taking effect almost instantly.”
“Operations ran smoothly (Not including the Retreat orders) and the push against the main base of the invaders was close at hoof. All regiments were undergoing final preparation for the next attack. However, preparations were cut short as instead of setting up defences, the invaders made a push against the regrouped army of guards. The Guard was able to quickly set up a defence, but was halted when the Suit appeared from the back of the main camp, sending large metal objects at the Equestrian forces which exploded on impact.”
“The battle was almost a loss until the Pegasus was hit by one of the smaller flying shards of metal right through their chest, directly through their heart, dealing a hit against them that should have killed them. However, this did not happen, instead, with an ear-piercing scream of pain and agony followed by an eruption of magic that blew away anything with in a small area around them, the was-once Pegasus transformed into a tall bipedal being, much like the invaders, but still retained their fur, mane, tail, hooves and wings. From reports of the guards, this ally bipedal sported a horn and the once golden pinions were the same colour as the rest of their pinions.”
“Meetings that spoke on the subject of this change felt ever so closer to concluding that this Pegasus was indeed an Alicorn like their Princesses. Yet, at the end of each meeting, the aura of doubt still lingered in the atmosphere.”
“A few other difference that stood out of the reports of this ally were that they also had the same digits that the invaders, dragons and diamond dogs have on their forelegs while the hind legs were longer, slim, almost straight. Their hind legs had a joint almost in the middle of their leg instead of the usual pony anatomy. Other details were included in the reports, but enough of that has been explained.”
A series of knocks sound on a nearby door followed by a faint voice on the opposite side, however the reader isn’t disturbed by the effort to get attention and continues to read the text.
“Within moments of the appearance of this ally, the suit was pulled into combat against the strange ally who swiftly dodges any swings the armour made while crippling the suit with magic they were casting and the physical hits made against it. Within roughly an hour of fighting, the invaders started to retreat, many of the guards were confused as to why their enemies ran until they spotted their unique ally standing on the corpse of the suit in their Pegasus form.”
Another series of knocks fill the room, however this time, more loudly followed by a slightly louder, young voice. “…light!” However, the reader continues.
“One of the reports say that the guard who wrote it saw the words “Neon” written on one of the forelegs of the suit and had decided to call the un-named Pegasus ‘The Neon Guardian’. After mentioning the name to their fellow guards, they began to-“
“TWILIGHT!”
The lavender Alicorn jumped from her bed in a loud startled yelp before crashing against the floor right next to the bed in a painful heap.
“W-what the hay Spike!” Twilight groaned as she glared at her Number-one assistant. “Why couldn’t you just knock like everypony else in this town?!”
“I did knock! Six times!” Spike retorted at the stretching Alicorn.
Twilight could only blush a little from embarrassment and then lower her head shamefully. “I’m sorry spike.” She apologised in a soft voice.
Spike sighed. “It’s fine Twilight, I know how you get when you have your head stuck in the books. But you have been reading that one-“ He points a claw at the now shut, blue hard-cover book. “Quite a lot recently. What is so interesting about that book?”
Twilight looks at the book Spike had pointed at. “It’s about a pony that happened to end a war that occurred not long before the Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon. The book mentioned that the pony was a Pegasus that could use magic like a unicorn, and near the end of the war, used a forbidden spell to end the threat against Equestria.”
“Did they win?” Spike questioned.
“Well, yes.”
“Then why keep reading it if you know that?”
Twilight let out a long sigh. “Because Spike, I can’t help but have conflicting thoughts about this book.” She began to trot around slowly while beginning to ask herself questions. “Is this all true? Was it made up? Is it possible for a Pegasus to achieve what this one did? How could a Pegasus have access to magic like a unicorn, let alone a Forbidden spell and survive it? Is it-”
“Twilight.” Spike spoke up in a tone of voice that caused her to pause. “How about you stop trying to think about it and come down for lunch, let your head rest a bit so you have a clear mind for when you see the Princess’ this afternoon? You don’t want to end up like you did when you discovered Pinkies ‘Pinkie Sense’ again, right?”
“I-” Twilight began before closing her mouth and thinking over what her assistant just said, only to exhale. “… Alright Spike.” As she began to trot past spike, she stopped mid step in front of him and stretched her wing out around him, pulling him in for a half hug. “Thanks.”
Spike only returned the gesture with his own hug for roughly half a minute before finally letting go of her. “Come on Twilight, I’ve made us some sandwiches and I’m sure you’re hungry.”
“Daffodil?”
“Do you eat anything else at this time of the day?”
Right on cue, Twilights stomach lets off a low but loud grumble. Her expression changed to one of embarrassment as they both shared a small laugh while heading down from Twilights room for lunch.
After a short lunch and some packing later, along with a trip to the train station and still having numerous ponies bowing to their new princess despite being politely asked to stop, Twilight was ready to move off to Canterlot.
She turns to Spike who was more than happy to accompany her on her trot here. “You sure you will be fine looking after the library on your own? You know Tuesday is one of the more busy days, right?”
“For the last time, everything will be fine, Twilight!” Spike reassured, he knew what she was like if she got too worried and worked up, especially after reading something that bugged her mind. “I guarantee, everything will be fine, like always. When has something ever gone wrong while you were gone?”
Twilight could only stare at her Assistant with a deadpanned look, remembering all the times she came back to a big mess, whether it included the Library, or residents of Ponyville, thanks to the little purple dragon in front of her.
Spike began to feel uncomfortable under her stare and have her a large ‘I’m innocent’ grin, a few sweat drops forming from a few of the scales on his forehead. Upon seeing this, she also began to remember the good things she had returned to while the library was under spike care, which happened to push aside all the bad memories with a smile on her face.
“Alright Spike, I trust you.”
Spike was able to relax while mentally fist pumping, he passed her little test…. This time. “So what was it that you wanted to ask the Princess about again?”
Twilight uses her magic to levitate out the very same book she was reading that very morning. “I was hoping that speaking to Princess Celestia about the Neon Guardian would help straighten my thoughts. There is so much information in this book about them, but I still have my doubts on whether they are true or myth.”
“The Neon Guardian.” A voice spoke up from above Twilight which could only belong to a certain athletic Pegasus. “The super awesome hero of Equestria before Nightmare Moon. Was able to use magic due to their golden pinion feathers and was able to match up against the strongest enemy of Equestria without the need of the Elements of Harmony, the Princesses aid, or even the Guard. Mysteriously vanished the week after the end of the war when Nightmare Moon rose for power against Princess Celestia. The perfect fighting Pegasus since the founding.”
Twilight just stared up at the hovering cyan Pegasus above her with wide eyes while Spike gawked at them with surprise, only to have the Pegasus blink in reaction to them. “What? I’m not allowed to know of a hero that trotted on Equestria a thousand years ago?”
Twilight shook her head to get her thoughts together while Spike continued to gawk. “It’s not that Rainbow Dash, it’s just… Well, I’ve never seen you as the type of pony who knows things from history, let alone Neon Guardian.”
“Are you kidding?” Rainbow said excitedly. “Every Pegasus knows about them! We’re taught this stuff in Flight School and some of our manoeuvres were made by the Neon Guardian all those years ago. It’s thanks to them that we’re as agile as we are when going at high speeds. She was also one of my idols!” She squealed excitedly like she did at her first Wonderbolts performance before stopping instantly, noticing the forming crowd around them, staring at none other than Dash herself.
Rainbow finally touched down on the ground and tried to compose herself properly. “Well, second to the Wonderbolts of course. Eh heh…” She trailed off, feeling embarrassed that she let her excitement get a little too overboard and was a little worried her image she’s worked so hard to keep up may have slipped.
Dash shook her head and then looked at Twilight, trying to steer the topic to a different direction. “So why are you here Twilight? Surely you’re not here to talk about Neon, right?”
“Well… sort of.” Twilight responded before looking in the direction of Canterlot. “I’m going to see the Princess’ and ask them about her.” Looking back at the book, she opens it up and magically flips to the written profile and looks down at it. “No given names, no age, no gender, no cutie mark, no location of training or family. This Pegasus is a complete mystery. So little is known about them, yet they played a major role in the war. The researcher in me is bucking me constantly in the flank to figure out who they were.” She looks up, only to see a tittering Rainbow dash.
Twilight could only roll her eyes and facehoof as she waited for her friend who obviously took something she said the wrong way, to calm down. However time was short as the train to Canterlot rolled up to the station followed by the conductor yelling “All aboard for Canterlot!”
“I’m sorry Rainbow, I have to get going!” Twilight quickly said as she gave Spike a parting wing hug before boarding the train. Spike unfortunately had missed everything discussed up to the point of the wing hug. He blinked a few times as he came out of the hanging daze of Rainbow actually knowing of something that happened so long ago.
“Huh? What did I-“ Spike stopped as he looked around, not seeing Twilight nearby but a train departing the station and a guffawing Rainbow Dash on the ground. “Rainbow, what’s so funny?”
Dash was able to catch her breath and calm down enough to squeeze out an “It’s nothing.” She stands up and positions herself to launch into the air, facing in the direction of Fluttershys Cottage. “I have to get going. Fluttershy is having some problems with her animals and needs my help finding where they’ve disappeared to.” Within finishing what she said, she was already in the air, flying to her destination, leaving a small, groaning, mumbling dragon to make his way back to the library.
Within a short few minutes of flight, Not including her little foalish moment she had when she saw members of the Wonderbolts flying towards Canterlot, Rainbow Dash could spot the small cottage on the edge of town in the distance quickly approaching. What she also spotted though which drew her eyes, was her Pale Yellow friend with a long pink mane, frantically looking around for something who Rainbow assumed was either herself, or her animals.
“Had any luck Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked as she stopped and hovered over her friend with a hopeful smile which quickly soured with Fluttershy shaking her head.
“I honestly don’t know what has them so spooked, even the fiercer animals are fearing something.” Fluttershy softly sighed before quietly continuing. “Every time I find and ask one of them what they are afraid of, they just look up to the sky for a few moments before running off like a frightened mouse. It’s as if they fear the sky all together. Even Angel ran.”
Rainbow thought about the strangest things she has encountered throughout her life, but this one topped all of them. “Wow, never thought Angel would be scared as well. What about the the birds of prey, the hunters of the sky?”
Fluttershys response was a single nod and a concerned and confused look.
“Well, do you want to try round a few up, take them inside to see if they feel a little more comfortable and can give us a little more information as to what is scaring them?” RD suggested as she looked at her friend.
Fluttershy looked around, contemplating the suggestion, it was something she hadn’t tried yet, but wasn’t going to turn it down. She finally responded softly. “Alright, let’s see if we can find angel and a few of the small ones and take them in.”
With a plan set, both mares began looking for Angel and some small animals, although Rainbow couldn’t help but look up at the sky to search for anything that could cause fear. They all knew something was wrong, but neither of the two mares could pick out anything.
“Do you feel it too, Sister?” the Princess of the Night asked in concern as she stared out over the land from her balcony, looking at the now darkened land as night had taken over the skies, feeling a strange disturbance in the air around them.
“I do, Luna.” The Princess of the Day responded, with the same concern as her sister as she stepped up.
“Do you think it’s a sign that ‘They’ have returned?”
“No. It wouldn’t be possible. We both saw them get removed from this world by her those many years ago…” Celestia couldn’t help but trail off at the end, thinking of the possibility that perhaps the old enemy had indeed returned along with an old memory of who she spoke of. “It isn’t something we should need to dwell on during our every waking moment.”
Luna looked at her sister. “You’re not suggesting we should ignore this disturbance, are you sister?”
The Celestial sister shook her head slowly. “I am not, but unless something happens that is linked to this, the need to do so is not required.”
Two firm knocks sounded from large doors to the Lunar Princess’s room followed by a stern voice from behind the doors. “Your highnesses, I apologise for this interference but Princess Twilight has arrived. She has been escorted to the dining room to await your arrival, the chefs have also prepared dinner.”
Celestia turned towards the door and called out. “Thank you, you may return to your post.” She got her usual “Yes your highness!” response from the guard and heard hoof steps moving down the hallway. She turned to Luna, giving her a reassuring smile. “I’m sure what it is, isn’t something we need not worry about. If something does happen, the Wonderbolts will immediately fly to the castle for any orders on short notice. Will you be joining us for dinner tonight?”
Luna glanced at her sister for just a moment through the corner of her eye before returning her gaze to the view she had, the expression on her face showing both concern and concentration. “Not tonight, the night doesn’t feel right, there is something wrong, but I cannot seem to find what it is.” She closes her eyes for a brief moment before opening them to look at the Sun Princess. “Please understand. I’m sure you have felt like this a few times before during my absence, am I correct?”
Celestia nodded in affirmation, she did know how her sister felt right now. “Very well, I shall pass on your apologies. Come find me if any trouble arises.” And on that note, Celestia took her leave, praying silently to her parents’ spirits that is uneasiness is just a false alarm and passes without any trouble.
Not too far from the Dining hall, Celestia couldn’t help but feel a pang in her heart as she had remembered the reason for her former students visit. It was a touchy topic for her, one that she was not comfortable about discussing. Or remembering either… However, she knew her guest all too well for it to be easily avoided. She would have to brave it and hope she held together. There were too many painful memories, and they were able to even emotionally weaken the Sun Princess herself, despite her age.
She stopped just outside the door to the Dining hall, composing herself and preparing for what was to come in the room in front of her. Her struggle did not go unnoticed as one of the two Royal Guards looked at her with a worried expression. It was clear he was one of the newer members of the Guard as he asked “Is something troubling you, your highness?”
She looked at the guard and blinked with surprise, feeling caught off guard by the earth pony recruit’s question of concern while his Pegasus superior opposite to him barked at the younger guard for his mistake. She raised a hoof to silence the older guard as she looked at the younger, it had been a while since she had met somepony in her guard that showed heart for their princesses. She smiled and looked at the recruit. “Yes, there is, but it is nothing for you or any of the other guards to be concerned about.”
His posture changed to what looked like a young filly or colt being scolded by their parent while his superior said nothing. “However.” She continued, earning a raised ear from both of the guards. “Because of what you have done this very evening, I would like to thank you for your worries, it has eased my distress and I am able to calmly continue with my upcoming task.”
The younger guard smiled, accepting the Princess’s thanks while the older just stood where he was with a dumbstruck look upon his face that almost made Celestia break into a small giggle. Her smile grew a little larger as she looked at the recruit. “May I ask for your Rank and Name?”
Almost instantly (and excitedly), he gave a sharp salute and responded eagerly. “Recruit Stonehoof, your majesty!”
“Well Stonehoof.” She began. “Normally guards that step out of line would be required to go through an extra two weeks of training before being assigned to guard duty again. However, for stepping out of line for royalty such as myself and attempting to ease their tensions, I shall put in a good word for you to your Captain when he returns from his trip for Member Assessments.”
The big smile of appreciation on Stonehoofs face was priceless, she felt much better seeing this. “You may continue your work, Stonehoof.” He gave a firm nod and a quick salute before returning to his guard posture. She then looked at the older guard who had done the same, but caught him glancing at the younger, clearly jealous of the praise he had just received.
With her mind at ease, she opened the door to the dining room to be greeted by the chatter of not only Twilight, but the Captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire as well who happened to be out of uniform. Both stopped their discussions as soon as they heard the door close, stood up and bowed down in front of their host. Celestia laughed at this sight and told them they could raise. “You both know you don’t need to bow down to me in private.” Her gaze moved to Twilight specifically. “Especially you, Twilight. You are Royalty now, so you are no longer required to do such gestures, even in the public eye.”
Twilight stammered. “M-my apologies Princess. I’m still not used to being royalty, and probably won’t be for quite some time yet. Old habits will be hard to push aside.”
The corner of Celestias mouth raised. “All in due time. You may also drop the title. We are in private, so no one will be bothered by this.” She then walked up to her former student and received her ‘official’ welcome from Twilight, a gesture she loved dearly. Her gaze moved over to Spitfire, to looked a tad awkward facing these gestures. “And welcome back from your trip to Manehattan, Spitfire. However, I had no knowledge of your arrival. I do hope everything went well over there?”
Spitfire smiled. “The performance over in Manehattan went smoothly as usual, and the population seems to be stable. From quick observation, the crime rate has gone down. An improvement from last time. And my apologies for the surprise visit, I hope I am not intruding on anything that you and Prin-“ Spitfire quickly corrected herself, taking in mind Twilights uneasiness of her title. “Twilight have planned?”
Both of them shook their heads in response before Celestia spoke up. “You are not intruding on anything, my little pony. And it is good to hear the situation over in Manehattan is improving. I am actually glad you have picked a more appropriate time for your visit.” She then made her way to her seat, followed by Twilight while Spitfire stood in place for a moment with confusion on her expression.
Spitfire then made her way to the table and sat herself as the royal chefs and waiters entered the room and placed down the host and guests meals. It was good that Twilight and Spitfire were both regular guests to the castle. Because of this, both of their orders were memorized by the chefs, so the need to ask for what they wanted was no longer needed.
Once the staff had left the room, the three started eating. After a few minutes of silence over the table, Spitfire looked at the two. “So, I don’t wish to be rude, but can I ask why I came in at the ‘perfect time’?”
Twilight sat at her seat for a moment before looking at Celestia in hopes she would answer, however the Princess had no need to be reminded that she was the one who said it. “Twilight is here looking for information about a certain pony. Or should I say: a certain Hero of the Pegasi.”
Spitfire looked at Celestia, wondering who she could be referring to, but whether the older Alicorn could read minds or the question was written over Spitfires face, she continued. “Would you happen to know about ‘The Neon Guardian’, captain?”
Celestia got the reply she hoped for as Spitfire smiled and nodded. “Almost every Pegasus alive knows about them. Hay, some of her manoeuvres we use at our shows. Why do you ask?”
Twilight looked at the Wonderbolt. “I’m trying to get more information about them, and I was hoping Celestia would be able to clear my doubts.”
Spitfire smirked. “Let me guess, you find it difficult to believe such a Pegasus existed?” Twilight nodded. “Can’t believe that there was a Pegasus alive that had the magical powers of a unicorn?” Twilight nodded again. “Ranked up faster than any pony in the military?” Twilight repeated her action. "Took a blow to the chest only to grow stronger with the use of a forbidden spell?" Both Princesses grimaced at the thought but twilight still nodded.
Spitfire’s smirk only grew. “It’s all true, every bit of it, even the information in the text books. I wasn’t there obviously when it happened, but proof has been passed down my lineage. Records, photographs, even a personal heirloom that was handed to my family by the mare herself.”
Twilight happened to be in mid-drink as a word she didn't expect to hear crossed her ears, causing her to spray out her mouth contents in surprise. She quickly apologized for the mess she had made and quickly cleaned herself up and then stared at Spitfire while Celestia tried hard to hold back a snicker. "C-could you repeat what you just said?"
Spitfire began to repeat what she said, but was rudely interrupted by Twilight asking her to repeat the last part. "Even a personal heirloom from the mare herself. Why did you want me to repeat that?" She questioned as Twilight sat where she was with shock on her face.
"The Neon Guardian... was a Mare?"
Both the Wonderbolt captain and Celestia nodded while twilight's wings went limp and opened up, her pinions resting against the ground as she stared at them both, finding it difficult to comprehend. "I... I... I don't believe it.... can't believe it..."
Spitfire’s next response caught her off guard. "Well, believe it or not, it's up to you, but that is the absolute truth." She then stood up, moved over to her saddlebag which was neatly placed by the door and opened it up. After rummaging her head through her bag, she pulled out two items and held them in her mouth. "Veeff are two itemf I keep wiff me for when I need motifvation before a fow."
She then trotted over to the table, stopping right next to twilight and placed both items down in front of her. Twilight used her magic to levitate both items in front of her, one of the two was an old greyscale photograph of a mare and a stallion next to each other, smiling at the camera, while the other happened to have even Celestias attention.
Spitfire stretched out one of her wings and used it to point at the photograph first. "That was a picture taken of Neon Guardian, the stallion next to her was Lieutenant Blazing Trails, one of my great grandfathers from that time.” Her wing then moves to point at the other object she owned. “And this, believe it or not, if one of Neon’s own Golden Pinions.”
Both Celestia and Twilight went wide eyed in disbelief. The feather had a little bit of damage to it, indicating that it needed to be removed when it did, but other than that, it was in pristine condition, despite how long it had been since it was once attached to its owner.
Twilight was amazed the feather was as it is, while Celestia was struggling to keep long lost emotions at bay. However, the internal battle of emotions didn’t go unseen as Twilight looked to her former mentor and noticed she wasn’t as relaxed as she was used to seeing. “Princess? Is everything alright?”
Twilights question broke Celestias struggle and then blinked for a few seconds, looking lost for a moment before recomposing herself. “Ah, yes Twilight, everything is fine.” She gave Twilight a semi-honest smile while inwardly kicking herself for needing to lie to her favourite and former student.
Twilight gave the older princess a worried look before being asked if they would like to continue on with their meal. Both of the younger mares accepted the suggestion and all continued on with the meal set out for them.
Twilight was happily getting all the answers she was looking for over dinner. Her doubts slowly being eaten away with the knowledge and praise of such an amazing mare. Her personality was something many of the Pegasi looked up to, along with why she did what she had to, her determination and even going as far as to put herself in harm’s way as a distraction to give some of her fellow guards a chance to retreat and recuperate. However two things remained unanswered, and Celestia already knew what was coming next and was not ready to answer.
“With all that happened to her, and all near-death experiences she had encountered over that period of the war, what happened to her that ended up killing her? Did she sacrifice herself for ponykind? Did the invaders sneak up and finish her off?”
Celestia sighed a little too loudly for comfort and looked at twilight, who went wide eyed at the sight of her mentors eyes being slightly bloodshot and a small twinkle forming from both of them. “I wish I could say that was what happened, but I would be covering up information you would mostly likely try to scold me over later on.”
After a momentary pause, Celestia finally spoke, her voice was pained, full of regret, and both Twilight and Spitfire felt their hearts shatter as their princess showed them a side of herself that she had hoped no one would ever need to see. “The truth is… Her life was taken from her at the old castle a week after the war was won. But it wasn’t from any invaders, or a sacrifice.”
Twilight was slowly beginning to regret asking what she did as tears fell from Celestias eyes. “What killed Neon, or should I say who killed her, was-“
“Me.”
A soft but regretful voice sounded from the doors of the dining hall. All three mares looked up to see the sight of an emotionally ruined Luna, tears formed and fell from her eyes as well as they stared down at the floor in front of her, remembering all too clearly what happened that very night.
Both guests were struck hard by the confession while the host only lowered her head to hold back her erupting emotions.
“W-why?” was all that Spitfire could squeeze out before choking on a sob. She was crushed, finding out that her own hero, the pony she looked up to for so many years, was killed by one of the Princesses of the land. Twilight only stayed silent.
“Because that was the night I went out of control.” Luna looked at all three of them. “She tried to stop me, to calm me down, to make me see what I was turning into. And I got so furious, I just… vaporised her.” She tried hard not to break into tears like her sister.
“She was my best friend. We always kept each other company, she could always talk to me if something was wrong, and it was the same for me too. We did many things together, shared many fun memories. To be the one who killed my own best friend, in a craze I could…. C-could not control…” She couldn’t take it anymore, she clenched her eyes shut as her body began to tremble heavily, the two guards just outside the open door couldn’t help but look in, the older didn’t know what to do, and the younger only wanted to give their Princess comfort, but he refrained from doing so regretfully.
After a few minutes of silence in the heavy atmosphere, Celestia slowly stood up and walked over to her sister. Within seconds of reaching her, Luna collapsed, however the older sister quickly caught her and gently lowered her to the ground, lowering herself as well. She spoke, her voice croaked, but it still kept the soft, caring tone. “Will you be alright, sister?”
Luna’s one and only response was a nod.
“Am I right to assume everything is alright outside?”
Luna nodded again before resting her head against Celestia. The older sibling then looked to Twilight as both she and spitfire raised their heads, also ending their mourning. “Was there anything else you’d like to ask Twilight?”
Twilight looked at her mentor and nodded. “Yes, and I assure you this won’t be a question that will cause as much pain as the previous…. I’m very sorry, Princess.” Twilight lowered her head and ears.
“It is alright Twilight, you had no…. WE had no idea how we’d all react to that question.” Celestia reassured her, causing her to look up at the two sisters. With a deep breath, she nodded and asked her final Question. “What did they call themselves?”
Just as Celestia opened her mouth to answer, there was a bright flash from the windows. All three Princesses’ eyes shot open as a strange magical spark struck through their minds before a loud explosion sounded from outside the castle, causing the entire city to shake violently from the explosion before settling.
All four mares in the dining hall shot up on their hooves and bolted to the nearest window facing the direction of where the flash came from. They could all see residents of Canterlot frantically running around trying to find shelter or just simply run around in a panic. All four looked at each other, noticing how bad they all looked, but that didn’t matter.
Twilight turned back to the window and let out a loud gasp as she noticed smoke coming from Ponyville’s direction. They all looked at the smoke and noticed that the smoke wasn’t coming from Ponyville, but the Everfree Forest. Something crashed there and they were all eager to find out what it was.
“Guards!” Luna yelled out as the two guards from the door and many more entered the room. “Mobilise the Pegasi units and get them to fly to where the smoke is coming from. Try to keep the residents clear of the forest, and look out for Green smoke when the Wonderbolts arrive! And have a group of Unicorn or Earth Pony guards move to the town itself to ensure Nopony got hurt.” All present guards saluted before bolting out of the room, shouting orders to the others as they moved down the hall.
Celestia turned to Spitfire. “Round up your travel party and have them scout out the area around the crash in the forest, see if you can find anything out of the ordinary. If you find anything, use the Green smoke and circle around your discovery and a few of the guard should come straight to whoever sprayed the smoke.” Spitfire, despite her current emotional condition, saluted quickly, pulled out her uniform from her saddle bags and left them behind as she flew out of the closest open window.
Luna then turned to Twilight, followed by Celestia. “The three of us will have to go out and calm the population of Canterlot before we can move to Ponyville.” Twilight nodded before all three made their way for the exits to do their job.
It had been two hours since the Royal Guard had arrived in Ponyville to ensure there was no damage to the town while most of the Unicorn guards had erected a force field to keep residents from entering the woods and to keep any crazed wildlife from emerging from the forest and possibly cause harm to the town’s residents.
Meanwhile in the air, all pegasi guards floated around on watch for any movements through the woods while the Wonderbolts were spread out over the forest to look for anything out of place. So far, the only ‘Out of place’ thing they could find was Zecora, a zebra who lived in the Everfree. She had been shaken up from the explosion when she was found and was lifted to the town nearby for possible medical aid as her house was trashed and none of her brews had survived.
With all the activity around her, Spitfire floated over the crater that whatever came down from the skies had caused. Something wasn’t right about it. Something obviously came down and hit the ground hard enough to create the large bowl in the ground, however, nothing could be seen to act as the source of the cause.
After flying a few more laps around her area, she decided to fly down into the blemish of the land to get a closer inspection. The ground felt warm to her hooves as she touched down and the air smelt of sulphur, but nothing other than dirt could be seen.
Glancing at the middle of the depression, she noticed that something was smoking and quickly moved to the centre. But as she got closer, all she could see was more dirt with the same stream of smoke coming from it. In frustration, she kicked her front hoof into the dirt, spraying it in front of her. She was tired, she wanted to sleep, but she couldn’t do so for another few hours unless someone found something.
After closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths, her ears perked up as she heard something near her.
-Kzzzzzt-
-Kzzkzzzzt-
Her eyes opened to look at where the sound was coming from, with little effort needed, she looked down and noticed sparks from the middle of the crater. They became more recurrent before something flashed in front of her. By instinct, she tried to run but that flash happened to paralyse her body for a few short seconds, forced to watch as small hexagon shapes glow over the shape of what looked like a pony.
The glow vanished along with the shapes, leaving behind a burnt furred Pegasus wearing some strange armour over the top half of their body. Two devices on the pony’s forelegs gave off a glow between two rotating disks on each leg, however that glow slowly faded and the disks came to a stop.
Spitfire stood there for what felt like moments, looking over the pony. Their fur was charred black, giving off the same smoke she saw earlier, and most of their feathers were severely damaged apart from their larger pinion feathers. She was able to make out that this Pegasus was a mare and that she was probably what caused this damage. How she could have done so didn’t matter at that moment, as Spitfire needed to find out of the mare was alive.
She took a few cautious steps toward the pony and nudged her lightly. No response. She nudges them a little harder. Again no response. She gives the mare one final nudge, but jumps back at the mare gives off signs that she was alive, letting out a strained, raspy cough as puffs of smoke exited her lungs. The pony curled up and one of her eyes opened slightly.
Spitfire was frozen in place as she was introduced to crimson iris’ of the mare as they shivered, groaned and weakly curled up. A tear dropped from their open eye before it rolled back as the pony fell unconscious again.
Almost instantly, Spitfire tugged on a cable attached to the bag on her back and flew up into the air, circling around the crater. Her bag let out a stream of green smoke, the signal everyone was told to look out for. Within seconds, every Pegasus Guard and Wonderbolt in the immediate area flew to Spitfires location and got their orders to move the unconscious pony to the Ponyville hospital.
As the guards transporting the mare flew towards the hospital, Spitfire couldn’t help but think about that eye that looked at her, showing her that the mare was very much alive, but in a lot of pain. How did that pony survive that crash and live through the damage caused to the earth below? Why did the shape of that mare look familiar? And many other questions flowed through her mind, but out of them all, one stood on top…
Just who is that Mare?