High above Canterlot
The moon had been brought up, and many of the day time creatures were settling in. Even in the Everfree, some of the monsters there were settling in their lairs. All except, the Lunar Guards, who were even more alert than usual, but during their patrol they found nothing. All was peaceful, all was quiet.
That was when it happened.
Like an opening maw of a gigantic beast, a flaming hole opened up in the sky over Canterlot, illuminating the city in its bright light. The Lunar Guards on duty stared up in awe at the hole, wondering what to make of it. Even Luna was perplexed, and also a little annoyed about it ruining her beautiful night. Before any action could be taken, a comet like object was ejected from the hole before it vanished. The comet ejected was burning with white hot flames, and was heading straight for the castle. It was odd in nature, much thinner than the normal comets that could be seen from time to time. It also radiated heat like only Celestia could. The Lunar Guards quickly got over their surprise and mobilized to warn the citizens.
Alarms blared in the city, waking up ponies and causing panic as they ran about in the streets. Celestia was awakened by Luna to help her stop the approaching comet. What they did not realize, was that it had picked up speed. By the time that Celestia had flown outside to intercept, it was already too late. The comet smashed through the lower part of the castle like they were made of thin glass and burrowed its way further into the interior, eventually coming to a stop just outside the kitchen.
Twilight Sparkle
Just before the comet struck, Twilight had been sleeping fitfully, her dreams haunted by assassins and corrupt nobles who attacked her. Ever since Princess Celestia had informed her of discontent among the more questionable nobles, Twilight hadn’t been sleeping well. The fact that a pegasus had been caught smuggling poisons into the city did not help either. The would-be poisoner would not reveal who he was working for, but made it clear who the poison was for. Now she was constantly surrounded by three of Shining Armor’s best guards, the Triple Ss, at all times, even when she was sleeping. As if adding to this point, Twilight was rudely awakened by the unicorn guard, Swift Bolt. She was apparently had the best reflexes out of the entire Solar Guard, or at least, that was what the rumors said.
“Your majesty! Wake up!” She yelled, shaking Twilight with her magic.
“Ugh what?!” Twilight demanded, rubbing her eyes with a hoof to banish the drowsiness.
KRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAACKBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The castle shook violently as something collided with the lower part of the castle. Twilight stumbled to her feet with the help of her guards as the room began to sway violently. The earth stallion Strong Hoof pushed her towards the door, trying to get her the safety as Swift Bolt attempted to use her magic to stabilize the room. The blue manned, black furred pegasus Sure Shot took to the air, flying alongside Twilight to keep her going. She was a few feet from the door when a deep rumbling was heard. Sure Shot quickly pulled her back as another explosion rocked the castle, this time the blast radius incinerating the floor that Twilight was standing on. She screamed as she fell, Strong Hoof and Swift Bolt tumbling alongside her. Her flight training kicked in and she spread her wings, but was still plummeting quickly. She angled herself into a steep glide. Slowly her sharp descent decreased, though not her speed. Twilight was about to make a rough landing when she collided against something, knocking herself out.
Celestia
Celestia felt the shockwave caused by the fiery comet. However, she was still shocked at the devastation that it caused, more so alarmed at the fact that it had destabilized the tower where Twilight was living. The tower began to sway as vital support structures were taken out, but almost as quickly a red aura encased the upper part of the tower, keeping it from falling. Celestia smiled, Swift Bolt would be able to keep it there long enough for Twilight to get out. That was when the comet exploded. The holding spell fizzled out as the explosion ripped through the magic. Celestia gasped as she saw three distinct figures fall out, with a fourth flying after them.
“Luna!” Celestia cried out as she prepared her teleportation spell, Luna followed her lead, having noticed the tower as well. The two alicorns warped into the smoldering ruin of the castle. A brief but bright flash portrayed their arrival. They gasped in pain as they warped right into a fire. Luna quickly sent out a cooling spell, but the flames burned on as they licked at the sisters’ fur. Celestia, upon seeing this, began to absorb the heat from the fire, snuffing them out. Admittedly, this was a bit harder than she thought, as it seemed that the flames had a mind of their own. Once the flames were out, Celestia saw the prone form of her beloved student. Before Luna could even say anything, Celestia was at Twilight’s side, checking over her vitals, making sure she was okay. Other than a few burns and scrapes on her wings and a bleeding wound on her head, her student was alright, if unconscious. Celestia cast her healing spell on her, closing up her scraps and soothing her burns. After all Twilight’s injuries had been treated, Celestia noticed something else.
Twilight had slammed into a fallen piece of masonry, but that was not what caught Celestia’s eyes. A path of destruction lead all the way to the royal dining hall, with shredded comet pieces everywhere and in the middle of the debris, was a strange creature unlike anything Celestia had ever seen before. It was kind of hard to see, as it was the same color as the wreckage, so it would have been easy to miss. It lay sprawled out on the ground, with flames flickering around its frame. She stood up and trotted slowly over to it. Judging from its body structure, it was a biped. Two arms were evident, but the appendages at the end were similar to a dragon’s talons, but they were blunt. A thin blond mane was on its face, which had a protruding nose and two forward facing eyes. Its ears were small, but circular in shape. It was wearing some sort of outfit, which matched the area around it in color.. Armor plating was evident on the outfit. Celestia marveled at the creature’s durability, as not a scratch, nor burn was seen on its body.
Celestia gently prodded the biped with a hoof, and pulled back. From the moment of contact, she felt intense power in its body. That, along with its own strange aura and she also noticed that the part she touched changed to match her golden hoof.. Intriguing. Celestia mused, watching it change back to its original color.
“Sister?” Celestia turned to see her sister staring worriedly at the creature. “What is that?” She asked.
Celestia shook her head, “I do not know what it is, or when it came from Luna.”
Luna hesitated then once again asked her sister,”Tia, what are we going to do with it?”
Celestia thought for a few moments before answering,”I think we should cage it for now, if it turns out that it is intelligent and that it didn’t mean to cause this, then we’ll let it go. For now, we should see about Twilight, her guards, and any other pony caught in this disaster.” Luna nodded, before teleporting away to search for survivors.
Shining Armor
An hour after the disaster, Shining Armor was informed that his sister had been hospitalized. Immediately, he ran out of the ruins and into Canterlot Hospital. He was angry, mostly at the fact that he had been one of the last to be told this. He burst into Twilight’s room, seeing Celestia discussing with the earth pony doctor, Life Saver. Celestia took one look at his face, before raising a hoof to stop whatever Life was saying.
“Yes Shining Armor?” She asked.
“What happened?” He demanded angrily. “How did Twilight get hurt?”
Celestia’s calm demeanor never left her,” As you know, an hour ago a comet slammed into the lower part of the castle. While normally, Twilight would have been safe in her tower, the shockwave and explosion that followed caught her and your guards off guard. Fortunately, the training you gave her was useful in preventing further injury. This is not what concerned me, as I took care of her injuries before bringing her to the hospital to be checked out completely.”
“Then what does?” Shining Armor inquired, now curious, raising an eyebrow.
“After I tended to Twilight’s injuries, I discovered a creature where the comet had landed. It was… nothing I had ever seen before. I was unsure of its intentions, but felt its power. So I put it in a cage just in case.” She replied.
“A strange creature..” He echoed, wondering what it looked like.
“You’ll see it soon enough. Then we’ll determine what else to do with it.” Celestia continued, smiling.
Shining Armor left, going back to his search and rescue squad, hoping that the destruction caused by the creature was not its intent. If it had been….
Elsewhere
Two hooded unicorns stood at the very edge of Canterlot.
“So…The new princess. Is she dead?” The first one asked.
“No, she escaped most of the destruction. Unsuspecting Blade was killed from the blast.” The second unicorn replied
“Dammit!” The first one swore, then composed himself. “So much for that miracle. Still, this does leave her vulnerable to other attacks now that we don’t have to get past the palace’s defenses to reach her.”
The other nodded,”Yes, at least until the castle is repaired, which will give us plenty of time to eliminate her. But…” She hesitated.
“What is it?”
The second unicorn did not reply for a few seconds, then said,” A creature was discovered where the comet had exploded. Should we worry about this?”
The first chuckled,” Yes I’ve heard, and it will not be a problem. The creature is obviously mindless. I knew it the second I heard about it.”
The second nodded,”If you say so sir. Now, what’s our new plan?”
“First, we need to…”
Twilight
Twilight groaned and opened her eyes slowly. She was in a hospital room, with a few other occupants.
“Princess?” She mumbled, seeing the familiar white form of Celestia.
Immediately, Luna, Celestia, and an earth pony doctor whose Cutie Mark was a scalpel were at her side.
“You’re awake!” Luna exclaimed. Celestia was smiling as she nuzzled her affectionately. That was when it struck her:
“Where are the Triple Ss?” Twilight asked, concern for the guards that were sworn to protect her showing.
“They are in lounge, waiting for you. They were mostly unharmed during the disaster, except for a few burns. “The doctor replied, checking her temperature. Twilight sighed in relief. The last thing she wanted during this time was three brave ponies dying and for the blame to be put on her. She shivered involuntarily, still confused as to why they would want her gone. The doctor’s voice brought her out of her thoughts,
“She’s stable, her lungs are fine and any other injuries she may have received were healed by you Celestia. She is cleared to leave the hospital. “
Celestia smiled,” Thank you Doctor Saver.”
Life Saver bowed before leaving the three alicorns alone to tend to other patients.
“Twilight…” Celestia called softly as she climbed out of the hospital bed.
“What is it Princess?” She replied, noting the serious look on her mentor’s face.
“Before we leave for Ponyville, you should know that a bipedal creature was found in the very spot where the comet exploded. I was the first to examine it, and I can tell you now that I do not know what it is or where it came from. I was uncertain of what its intentions were and how it would respond, so I ordered for it to be caged until we find out its motives. Naturally, we are going to assess that first before escorting you out of Canterlot and to your house in Ponyville.” Celestia informed her, her tone all business.
A new creature? And it was found where the comet exploded? I wonder what this biped looks like! Can it talk? Can it read? Does it love books? How did it survive the comet? Is it friendly? A thousand questions raced through her mind as she prepared to teleport with the other two princesses.