10 kilometres from Sun City...
A huge cloud of dust rose in the sky as two quad bikes stopped. Sky put a foot on the ground and took her helmet off, shaking her head. Small droplets of sweat flew off from her for head.
"Damn it," she said, "it's hot!"
Eclipse put a foot down and took his own helmet off. "Yeah." He looked up in the cloudless sky, a hand shading his eyes from the glare of the midday sun. "Can't remember a time when it was as hot as this."
"Me neither."
Sky looked ahead at the outer wall of their objective, Sun City.
. . . . .
"COME BACK HERE!" someone shouted.
A young girl came out of the hallway from which came the shout, giggling like crazy. She ran away from the hallway as a tall pony with grey fur and wearing a chef's outfit came out of it, a vein protruding from his forehead and a spatula in his right hand. He look left and right, then went after the girl.
Said girl had round, dark blue eyes, short, baby blue hair, a tail of the same color, small light cobalt blue ears and small wings of the same color. She was wearing a pale pink and white dress, white knee-high socks and black, polished shoes. She was holding a small pastry in her hands.
"YOU WON'T GET AWAY!" the chef shouted.
The girl turned around a corner, still giggling. However, she failed to notice someone standing in her way, bumping into them and falling on her rump on the ground. As the girl had been holding the pastry in front of her, it got squished between the girl and whomever was standing in the girl's path.
The girl rubbed her rump, then slowly looked up. Her eyes widened when she saw who she had bumped into.
"T-T-TWILIGHT!" the girl stuttered.
At that moment, the chef turned the corner and saw the predicament of the girl. He bowed when he saw Twilight. "Pr-princess!"
During the entire time, Twilight stayed motionless and her face, emotionless. "Go back to the kitchens. I'll take care of it." Her voice had a cold edge to it.
The chef bowed lower and nodded, getting away as fast as his legs could. Meanwhile, the girl had a sheepish smile on her face and was rubbing the back of her head. "Heh, heh... S-sorry Twilight," the girl said sheepishly when Twilight looked at her, a vein protruding from her forehead.
"And what exactly do you think you're doing, Soleira?" Twilight asked, bending down to look the girl straight in the eyes.
"Huh... Getting a pastry to eat?" Soleira answered, bringing her empty hands up as if to show Twilight.
Twilight sighed as she regained her composure. "Soleira, not only are you skipping school, but you're also stealing food from the kitchens. You know your mother doesn't want you eating things before lunch because you lose your appetite."
"But I was hungry!" Soleira whined. "Besides, school is boring."
A shadow crept across Twilight's face as a vein popped on her forehead. She bent down once more. "What did you say?"
A shiver went down Soleira's spine. "N-Nothing!"
The shadow left Twilight's face as she straightened up and regain her composure. "Good. You are a princess and should act like it. Now come with me, you have classes to attend."
Soleira whined as she was lifted from the ground and dragged by Twilight to her classroom.
. . . . .
Soleira looked out the window of the classroom. While she was royalty, she still attended normal classes with the kids of nobles. Stupid, boring school... she thought. Suddenly, something hit Soleira's desk.
"Can you repeat what I just said, Soleira?" the teacher asked.
"Huh..."
The teacher sighed. "Please pay attention, Miss Soleira." The teacher went back to the front of the class to resume the lesson.
Soleira put her chin on her hand as she looked towards the front of the classroom. It's boring... I have to go to classes five days a week, and when I go back to my room after class or during weekends, I get lessons from Twilight, she thought as she sighed. What I really want to do is play. She turned her head towards the window. Mom wants me to be a Princess for the ponies, but I'm not sure I am a pony.
As Soleira's thoughts kept wandering, something in the distance caught her eye. Seconds after, a shockwave shook the room.
. . . . .
Sky and Eclipse looked up from their bikes towards the fireball that slowly rose in the sky. The shockwave sent dust and wind at them, forcing them to brace themselves.
"What was that?" Sky inquired over the comm.
"Only one way to find out," Eclipse answered as he hopped on his bike and took off, Sky imitating him seconds later.
. . . . .
Industrial Sector, Sun City
"BRING SOME SAND AND EXTINGUISH THOSE FLAMES!" the firefighter captain shouted to his men.
All around, it was chaos. The explosion had been powerful, and the shockwave alone had caused significant damage to surrounding buildings. There was almost nothing left standing of the factory where the explosion occured. Several ponies were injured in the blast, and they had four confirmed deaths. A crowd had gathered around, mostly of stallions working nearby. There were some kids, probably from a kindergarten nearby, and some of them were crying. In the distance, the sirens of Guard vehicles sounded
A figure stood in the shadow of a warehouse on the other side of the blown factory, looking over the results of the explosion.
Suddenly, the sound of two engines could be heard. The figured looked towards where the sound was coming from and saw Sky's and Eclipse's bikes. Raider quad bikes? What's going on... the figure thought.
Eclipse stopped his bike near the firefighter captain. "What happened?" he asked.
"Something in a factory blew up," the captain answered. As he looked at Eclipse, his jaw dropped.
"CITIZENS OF SUN CITY!" a feminine voice said through speakers. "I AM RAVEN, MEMBER OF THE ROGUE GROUP HORIZON. WE ARE THE ONES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BOMBING OF A FACTORY IN THE INDUSTRIAL SECTOR. WE WANT--"
"MEMBER OF HORIZON, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR DISRUPTION OF PUBLIC PEACE. SURRENDER!" a Guard interrupted.
Raven chuckled. "My, my. Aren't you eager to arrest us. Unfortunately, you'll need to fight us to capture us!"
Then, figures dropped from the roof of a nearby building. As soon as they touched the ground, most figures opened fire on the ponies, Guard and civilians. Eclipse gritted his teeth as Sky got closer to him.
"Should we help them?" she asked over the comm.
"What do you think?!" Eclipse replied, enraged.
Sky chuckled over the comm. "That's what I thought. You really can't stand idly by when innocent are getting attacked." Sky's voice was filled with fondness for her oblivious childhood friend.
Before Eclipse could answer, Sky got off her bike. She looked at Eclipse, smiling, not that he saw it through the opaque visor of Sky's helmet. "You take care of the ones attacking the ponies, I'll handle Raven."
Eclipse nodded and Sky looked around for her opponent.
"That's really brave of you, Raider," Raven said from behind Sky. "However, it is foolish." Raven spun kicked Sky's head, causing the latter's helmet to fly off. It bounced on the ground several times before hitting a wall.
Sky's ears stood straight atop Sky's head, now free of the constraint of the helmet. Raven took a step back. "Y-You're an hybrid!"
Raven was a human of around twenty, with pale skin, long black hair and harsh green eyes. She was wearing a black, armored suit. Sky sighed, one head on her armored hip. "So what if I am?"
In one swift motion, Sky grabbed her retractable bo staff and swung at Raven, causing the weapon to extend to full length.
Raven blocked the strike with armored forearm, but struggled to keep the bo staff from hitting her head. She pushed the staff away from her and ran at Sky. She threw a punch, but Sky paried it with her staff. Then Sky swung at Raven, and Raven blocked the blow with her forearm. They kept at it for five minutes, exchanging blows at an incredible speed.
"You're not half bad, for a hybrid," Raven said, panting.
"You're not bad yourself, for a human," Sky replied, also panting.
Sky swung again but this time, Raven caught the bo staff in her hands. The two girls struggled with it for thirty seconds before something hit Raven on the head. She lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
Sky looked at Eclipse, who had a rock in his hand. "Really?" she asked out of breath.
Then, two bolts of blue energy hit the two Raiders, sending them to the ground. As consciousness slowly slipped away from sky, she saw the legs of a Solar Guard approaching her.
. . . . .
Class had been dismissed earlier because of the explosion in the Industrial Sector. Soleira had immediately run to the throne room, where her aunt Celestia had been going over early reports of the event.
Soon, the two had been joined by Twilight, Luna and Cadance. That had been over half an hour ago. They were currently going to the cells to meet with the captured leader of the group that had attacked the factory, as well as two Raiders.
Soleira felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into her mother's eyes.
"You do not need to do this if you do not want to, Soleira," Luna said.
Soleira looked down, her hand clenching into a fist. "I have to, Mom. If I want to be a Princess, I have to."
Luna smiled gently at her daughter. She reminds me so much of him... she thought.
"Your Highnesses!" one of the cells' guards said.
"We came to see the suspected leader of today's attack, as well as the two Raiders," Celestia said.
The guard nodded and opened the door, allowing the royal group in. In a dark cell, chained to the wall, Raven stood proudly while she glared at Celestia.
"My, my... What an honor you are giving me, Sun Tyrant," Raven said.
"YOU WILL ADDRESS HER PROPERLY, YOU LOWLY HUMAN!" the guard escorting the Princesses shouted at Raven.
"Call back your dog, Tyrant," Raven continued, ignoring the guard completely. "It's you I want to talk to."
"Guard, stand down," Celestia ordered.
"But, Princess--"
"I said STAND DOWN."
All present fell silent. While it was well known Celestia had a shorter temper than before ever since the war, it was a rare event to hear her yell.
"Y-yes, your Highness..." the guard said silently before retreating to the back of the group.
Celestia looked at Raven with a cold stare. "What do you want?"
"Straight to the point," Raven said. "I like that."
"She asked you a question... Raven, was it?" Twilight said.
Raven smirked. "That's right." Her eyes wandered over to Soleira. "Who's that?" she asked with a motion of the head.
Soleira stood straighter and was about to answer when Cadance stepped in front of her. "Nopony you need to worry about," she said.
"Pony?" Raven began laughing. "That's a good one. She looks like a human. If it weren't for the ears, eye shape, hair color, the tail and the wings, I'd have said she was human."
Luna tensed slightly, taking her daughter's hand in hers. Celestia took a step closer to the bars of Raven's cell.
"She is a pony and my sister's daughter," she said wih finality.
"If that's so, where is her fur?" Raven retorted.
Celestia opened her mouth to reply, but a thought crossed her mind. She turned towards Luna. "Who is her father, Luna?"
Luna began to shake as tears fell from her eyes onto the ground, but she didn't answer.
"Answer me Luna. Who is Soleira's father?"
"Shinichi... I'm so sorry..." Luna said with a small voice filled with conflicting emotions.
"Are you okay, Mom?" Soleira asked, squeezing her mother's hand.
Raven's laugh echoed throughout the holding area. "Would you look at that. The royal family is falling apart... Again."
Celestia shot a glare at Raven, but otherwise kept her focus on her sister.
"Tell me. Who Soleira's father. Is."
Luna began sobbing as she failed to control her emotions. "His name... is Shinichi," she said clearly between sobs. "He is a Raider and lives in their biggest camp."
"Did you say 'Shinichi'?" a young male voice, Eclipse's, asked.
"Why would you care, Raider?" Celestia asked.
"Shinichi is a rare name amongst Raiders," Eclipse said. "And back home, in the biggest camp, there was only one man named Shinichi."
Sky gasped. "You mean your dad? Right, Eclipse?"
Raven laughed again. "Way to set the mood, Raider girl."
Luna stepped forward to the front, looking towards Eclipse's cell. "E-Eclipse?" Luna asked with a small voice.
"Yes?"
Luna smiled, her tears now tears of joy. She turned towards the guard. "Free the male Raider," she ordered.
"Don't," Celestia countered.
Luna turned towards her sister. "Celestia... I..." Luna took a deep breath to calm herself. "That Raider, over in that cell,--" she pointed towards Eclipse's cell "--is my son."
Silence fell once more in the wake of the revelation. After a moment, Celestia hugged her sister.
"Please forgive me..." she said, tears falling on Luna's shoulder.
Luna smiled and hugged her sister back. "You're already forgiven."
"Ugh... Can we please get over the super sappy emotional stuff?" Raven said.
"Guard, free the male Raider," Celestia ordered.
"Yes ma'am!"
"What about me?" Raven asked. "I'm the one you should be focusing on! I'm the one who announced we had bombed the factory! Those two Raiders fought us anyway!"
"Is that so?" Celestia asked. "Free the female Raider as well."
"WHAT!?" Raven exclaimed. "Well, that's my luck... I knew I should have refused the offer, but no, I had to take it so I could rub the fact I'm better in Sun Tyrant's face... I don't even care about Horizon's demands..." Raven's eyes widened as a blush crept over her face. "I... said all that out loud, didn't I?"
Everyone nodded. Raven looked down in shame. Celestia took a step towards Raven's cell.
"Maybe we can find a way to get along..." she said.
. . . . .
Eclipse and Sky sat in a room with all four ruling Princesses and Soleira.
"Lemme get this straight," Eclipse said. "You, the Princess of the Night, are my mother and she--" Eclipse pointed at Soleira "--is my sister."
"That is correct," Luna answered.
Eclipse's arms fell to his sides. "Wow."
Eclipse and Sky had gone through a change of clothes and style from their simple Raiders outfit and armor to Sun City fashion. Eclipse wore a simple, dark blue tunic with silver trimmings and the royal insignia on the breast and black linen pants. He was still wearing his boots, though. His messy, shoulder length hair had been cleaned, groomed and cut. His bangs still fell partly in front of his eyes.
For her part, Sky wore a pale pink dress with white trimmings, a pair of white leggings and light grey shoes. Her long, pink hair had been done in a braid and tied with a red ribbon. Both outfits had been made for pegasus, meaning they had holes for wings on the back.
Celestia looked at Eclipse and Sky. "I apologize for my behavior," she said.
"It's fine, your Highness," Sky replied with a smile. "You were just trying to protect your own. That's one of the most important things we were taught."
Celestia nodded. Luna leaned in closer to the two former Raiders. "When do you think I can expect grand children?"
Both Eclipse and Sky blushed deeply. Eclipse fell out of his chair while Sky shook her head vigorously. "W-we're not a couple!!" she said. At least not yet... she mentally added.
Luna pouted as she straightened herself. "Please be swift in your courting, then. I do not think I can wait for too long."
Eclipse groaned as he sat down in his chair again.
"Those things aside," Celestia said, "tomorrow we'll hold a ceremony to introduce Eclipse to the Solar Republic."
Sky tilted her head. "That's great and all, but what about me?"
Twilight put a hand to her chin in thought. "While Eclipse will be an official member of the royal family, I don't doubt there will be attempts made to kill him. Maybe you could help protect him?"
Sky took on a thoughtful expression. "Yeah... That can work. After all, I was always the one to pull his ass out of trouble."
"Hey!" Eclipse exclaimed. "It was that one time!"
"Really?" Sky put a hand to her chin. "I clearly remember saving your ass several times since we were fifteen."
Cadance giggled at the teenagers antics. They'll form such a cute couple, if pushed in the right direction... she thought, then cleared her throat.
"Yes, Cadance?" Celestia asked.
"Why not make Sky Eclipse's Knight?" Cadance proposed. "A Knight's main job is to protect royalty."
"That could work," Twilight said. "While there hasn't been a Knight assigned to royalty in nearly a millenium, it's never too late to continue a working tradition."
Celestia clapped her heands together once. "It's settled, then. Sky will be Eclipse's Knight, if both she and Eclipse accepts."
"Fine with me," Eclipse nonchalantly said.
"YES!" Sky agreed excitedly.
"Good." Celestia got up and left the room, Cadance and Twilight leaving soon afterwards, leaving Luna, Soleira, Eclipse and Sky behind.
"Come Soleira. We should leave them to sort their thoughts," Luna said.
Soleira shook her head. "I want to learn more about my big brother." She had a big grin on her face.
Sky and Eclipse sweatdropped. Please don't say onii-chan... Eclipse thought.
Luna chuckled. "Very well. But remember you have to be in bed by moonrise." Luna left the room.
Soleira looked at Sky and Eclipse with her big smile. "Tell me about you, big brother."
. . . . .
Under the black, star-filled and moonlit sky, a figure stood tall atop a skyscraper of white concrete and clear plastic window panes. He looked down towards the castle at a specific window. Said window had the blinds shut tight, but the figure knew who was in that room.
"You've grown into quite a fine young man, Eclipse," the figure said to no one. "I'm glad to see you again, even with the current situation."
The figure turned around and looked towards the horizon. "With Horizon making its move, it's only a matter of time before war breaks out."
The figure ran towards the ege of the roof, leaping over the edge and down into the darkness below.