//------------------------------// // 9: The Journey // Story: All Alone // by lunas_servant //------------------------------// As we flew through the night sky a silence fell between us. It was difficult for me to think of what to say. For so long I had wanted nothing but to see her again, to stand at her side and let her know that she is not alone. Now that I was here, however, I did not know what to say. “May I ask what is on your mind Cloud?” the Princess asked. “Um...I...” I hesitated. She had called me Cloud, it was very unusual for the Princess to drop my title. “It's just, I left them. I left them 1,000 years ago to fend for themselves. Even as I did it, I questioned whether it was the right choice, wondered if it was just me being selfish. I rationalized it by telling myself that you would need me, when you returned. Truth is though, I think I just wanted to see you again, to let you know that even when everyone else forgot, even when everyone abandoned you, I remained faithful.” “What happened that convinced you to try talking to Starswirl the Bearded? You say the Children were following you so what changed?” “It was only our second battle in the war...” I began. ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ “How many?” I asked. “At last report they had over 50,” reported Dream Song. “This is it, the moment I've feared for all this time. Celestia will gather as many as she can in one fell swoop and she will kill them all. Fifty Children of the Night, that anyone could do something so cruel. We will have to fight and it's going to be on her terms. I fear that we will not survive this.” “Even so, we must fight. If she is willing to go this far then there is nothing to stop her from hunting us all down and killing us one by one, and there is nowhere we can hide, nowhere we can be safe.” “I know. I have no choice but to fight, but I will not lead them in blindly. They have to know what they are up against, they have to know that if Celestia takes the field, the day is lost,” I said sorrowfully. “So tell them. It will not make a difference, there is a reason you were chosen as the leader, a reason that they follow you,” Dream Song said, speaking softly. “Thank you Dream, throughout all of this you have been a constant support,” I said. As I turned towards the tent exit I stopped and looked at her. Tomorrow I leave for Canterlot, with or without an army I thought. I leaned in and kissed Dream softly but urgently. Her eyes opened wide and then she closed them. I broke the kiss, turned and left the tent to address the other Children of the Night. ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ “There were approximately 200 Children in our encampment at that point and only half of them were combat ready. I explained to them what would happen, that they were not likely to leave the battlefield alive and a few of them got real scared and backed away but we still had over 150 ponies willing to fight to protect their own,” I explained, tears streaming down my face as we flew through the night. “We left that night, marching on Canterlot.” “You mustn't blame yourself Cloud, you did not force them to fight, you did not trick them. You were open and honest, and they marched bravely to their deaths because they knew there was no alternative,” soothed the Princess. I shook my head and continued the story. ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ We approached Canterlot just as the sun was being raised. I knew Celestia saw us so I urged my ponies to hurry. We had to breach the city gates before they could mount an effective force to stop us. We would have no chance at all if the Day Guard caught us in the open field. As we came in sight of the city gates, what must have been the entire earth pony division of the Day Guard exited through the gate 2 by 2. Suddenly from the rear came a shout. “Unicorns behind us! It's a trap!” Celestia had been waiting for us and had laid a trap. “Pegasi!” I shouted to my troops. “Take to the air! Ready your bows and remember your training! Earth ponies will only go down with an arrow to the head!” We were prepared for a fight, well here it was. I led the pegasi into the air as we prepared to attack the earth ponies standing in front of the gate. Dream Song called the unicorns to her and began furiously casting spells in all directions in an attempt to protect her allies but also to distract the enemy while the rest of us were fighting. I pulled my blades from their holsters beneath my wings and latched them to my front hooves. I saw the other pegasi shooting arrows at the earth ponies, I was surprised to see how few arrows missed their targets. Perhaps we could win this. Then came the pegasi division of the Day Guard and I launched my attack. I took out 5 pegasi, slicing them open with my blades and letting them tumble to the ground, before the others caught on to me. I was closing in on my next target when 5 enemy pegasi rushed me. I recognized their unique uniforms that stood out in comparison to the gold armor worn by the rest of the Day Guard. Celestias elite flyers, the Wonderbolts. I let out a deep breath and launched myself after them. This was not going to be an easy fight, I had no attention to spare for protecting the others, I would just have to hope they were prepared. The first Wonderbolt came at me head on, he must have thought he could overpower me. I flew straight for him in a game of chicken with high stakes. I saw his blades flash and readied my own. As we came within inches of each other I did a quick barrel roll with both my blades outstretched and managed to cut at a few feathers before my enemy rolled the other way, his own blades nicking my rear leg. “Archers, on me!” I called. All the pegasi within hearing distance redirected their arrows towards me and the Wonderbolts attacking me. With the first barrage the Wonderbolts scattered, too late. The one I had cut a few feathers from was too slow and got an error straight through the injured wing. I watched as he crumpled in on himself and fell from the sky. I took a quick look around the battlefield the pegasi were handling themselves quite well but the ground forces were not doing so well. The enemy earth ponies were nearing our unicorns and if they made it there the unicorns would be helpless to stop them. I rushed down to see if I could take a few out and help change the tide of battle but one of the Wonderbolts caught on to my plan and rushed up to intercept me. A quick glance showed the other Wonderbolts were keeping the archers distracted so I was on my own for this one. This Wonderbolt wore a pin that showed she was their captain, and she was no foal. She pulled up in front of me a fair distance away to study me. She dashed forward and I readied my blades and she pulled back before she entered my reach. The next time I was ready for her, she dashed forward and I waited and a split second before she pulled up I dashed forward, one of my blades headed straight for her belly. At the last second she blocked my blade. I thrust my second blade forward to slash her throat and she folded her wings, causing my strike to go over her head. I quickly pulled away just as she launched a thrust towards my belly, missing me by a hairsbreadth. I was breathing heavily and knew I couldn't let this fight go on much longer. I launched myself at the Wonderbolt as fast as I could. As I approached she barrel-rolled to the left, I quickly barrel-rolled the right, unhooking my blade and throwing it at her exposed back. The blade lodged itself in the joint of her left wing, causing it to collapse. She spun out of control as she spiraled to the ground and hit with a sickening crunch. No time to think, I looked back towards the ground troops. I was too late! The enemy had broken through to the unicorns! I folded my wings and went into a straight dive. I only had one blade left so I was unsure how much damage I could do on my own. I pulled up just short of the ground and rushed towards the battle. I could see Dream Song casting spells furiously, fending off pegasus arrows and unicorn metal shards, casting magic arrows in between defensive spells. That's when I saw him. An earth pony of the Day Guard, carrying a spear and running full tilt towards Dream Song who was turned away from him. “Dream Song!!!!!!!!” I screamed, to no avail. She could not hear me over the sounds of battle. I watched helpless, as if in slow motion, as he thrust his spear through the back of her throat. The world turned silent. I was screaming but no sound came out. As the earth pony pulled his spear from her throat I collided with him. We rolled a ways and I landed on top. I thrust my blade into his chest over and over, unable to think clearly, crying, screaming. Still I heard nothing. As the earth pony coughed up blood and died I turned to look around. A ray of brilliance came from the gates of Canterlot and I saw her. Celestia had taken the field. She launched a ray of sunfire that went out 30 feet, killing at least 10 ponies. Then she called her unicorns blade, a blade of pure, unwavering sunfire and jumped into the fray, killing ponies left and right. I ran. I turned away from her and ran from the battlefield. ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ “I cowered in hiding for a week. I almost gave up on life completely,” I told the Princess, tears running a stream behind me as I wobbled. Princess Luna wrapped me in her hooves and guided me to the ground as I cried into her mane. “They needed me, they trusted me, and I ran. I'm a coward!” “No, Cloud. Look at me,” she said as she lifted my head to look at her. “You are not a coward, you did everything you could. You had just lost someone very dear to you, anyone would have done the same in your position. You can not blame yourself, all those ponies knew what they were up against and they chose to fight anyways. Had you not been there, they still would have fought but they might not have done as well as they had. The fight was lost but they lived on, and you lived on. Do not blame yourself for doing what you had to do.” “But...” I began. “No buts. No matter what, you must know that you were a good leader, you fought for what you believed in and nobody can fault you for that. What is more, had you not left the field you would not be here today, and for that I am happy.” I wiped the tears from my cheeks and gave a small smile. “Thank you Princess.”