Blazing a Trail to the Past.

by Daylight_Dreamer

31- The Protectors of Peace.

Black Echo was a little bulkier than the other bat-ponies. I assumed he worked out. He also wasn't wearing a helmet like every bat-pony I had seen so far. I was a little surprised that the wing-like mane was on the helmet. His actual mane was black hair, a few inches long, and messy.

He walked in with his head high followed by two other bat-ponies carrying a slide projector and a portable screen. Upon reaching Luna, the followers set the items down and all three bowed. They then walked to the other side of the table and bowed to me. They seemed to stay down.

"Um," Luna whispered, "they started with me. So they are waiting for you to tell them to rise. It seems they consider themselves to be your subjects as much as my own."

"Oh, ah," I stumbled, I did not like that idea, "You may rise now."

They stood up and the two in the back started setting the projector up on the table so we could all see.

"It is an honor to meet you," Black Echo said, "when my parents told me the stories of Jerry, Blade, and the Protectors, I was certain my role was to pass them to my offspring, but it seems I'm meant for a higher honor. I have awaited this day ever since I saw what was clearly an earth item in an Equestrian valley. I am sorry I fled when you arrived. I was not yet ready to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you," I said, "Even if I am totally confused by this whole thing."

"I guess you do deserve an explanation," He said, "I trust your crafty friends have let you in on their bit."

"They have," I said, I assumed he saw Sawdust and Slag the night I got the trailer. He must have been the eyes I saw pulling up. I thought I had seen a black cape, now I knew it was a wing. "but they just gave me a couple journals and told me to read them, I have not done so."

"That is for the best," he said, "I hope they cautioned you to wait until you’re ready. Like them, my family was entrusted with a key part of the story. I was to wait until I felt the time was right. It only seemed right to wait until Scootaloo moved in with you."

"So how did you know that was going to happen?" I asked a little confused by his statement.

"My brother told me," Black Echo said, "If there are no further questions, I have a presentation prepared that covers the bulk of what I know about yourself and the filly. Shall I begin?"

"Please do!" I said.

The bat-ponies that set the projector up flew around the room shutting the curtains so the screen could be made out. The first image was just a picture of a few bat-ponies and Luna.

"Being nocturnal," he started, "bat-ponies are sworn to serve Luna. We do our part for her sister, but Celestia isn't usually around when we're awake. The best way to describe this is the reverse of ponies. It's not that they don't serve Luna. They're just asleep. They only call on her when their dreams become too much for them to handle. We only call on Celestia when dealing with pony relations. Ponies know this now. However, in the old days, we were misunderstood. Not hated or feared, but ponies more or less didn't know what to think about us."

He changed slides, it now showed Celestia and Luna with a line between them, "as I'm sure you already know, Luna was banished to the moon by her sister for refusing to lower the moon. Everypony knows this legend, but what they don't often think about, is what happened to us."

He switched slides again and the picture changed to a bat-pony being chased by a mob, "we were blamed. Everypony thought we wanted her to make the night eternal. So we could be in control. Like we don't like sleeping. Would you want an eternal day?" The question was clearly rhetorical.

He switched to a silhouette of six ponies, "We had no hope. We were all stuck in hiding until a group known as The Protectors of Peace came along and stood up for us. They were lead by the Protector of Kinship, Daylight Dreamer. In elements terms, that's loyalty, but times were different back then. I may be biased, but I think it beats Pillar of Bravery."

He went to the next slide to show a photo of a black coated stallion with a blue mane. I opened my phone, it matched my OC perfectly. Wings could just be seen behind him but it was cut short of his cutie mark, he had a surprised look on his face, and wore a jacket similar to Commander Easy Glider, just like I imagined my OC, "This is the only known photograph of Daylight Dreamer or any of the Protectors. It's not known how it was taken, because it seems to predate ponies having cameras, but it has been authenticated and we do know it to be Daylight Dreamer himself from this."

The slide changed to what looked like a painting of six ponies. Left to right it was, Daylight; a stallion that looked a lot like Big Mac, but with a black mane; a dark blue unicorn mare, with a white mane; a grey unicorn stallion, with a spiked silver mane; an orange pegasus mare, with a purple mane; and a zebra that looked almost too much like Zecora. "This image is the only known painting of the Protectors. Left to right we have Daylight Dreamer, Protector of kinship; Apple Seed, Protector of Truth; Drum Beat, Protector of Charity; Sculptured Stone, Protector of Chivalry; Feather Touch, Protector of Humor; and Kizzy, Protector of the Arcane. These ponies saved Equestria, but they didn't act on their own."

The slide switched to a big question mark, "unfortunately, we are not sure on that, except that it was either one or two humans, as you call yourself, and the names Jerry and Blade seem to reoccur. Whoever it was is responsible for planning the entire strategy that the protectors used to end the war, as well as saving countless villages of ponies and bat-ponies from total destruction."

I thought about this with what I already knew. I had my own idea on who it was and it was time to say it out loud. "So It could very well be one guy named Jerry Blade," I remarked.

"I guess so," He said, "it seems fantastic that one human could be responsible for all the legends. Every village in northern Equestria has a legend of how one of them saved it. Do you have a theory?"

"Is it possible that I'm supposed to go back in time?" I asked.

"No," he said bluntly.

"Why not?" I asked.

"You were sent to finish what they started," he said, "you can't start something after finishing it."

"Are you sure about that?" I asked.

"I must admit I am no scientist," he said, "but my brother assures me I am correct in this assumption. He has been studying the subject for some time."

"So if it wasn't me, that leaves the question," I stroked my beard, "Why am I the one to finish it? I don't know anything about this Daylight character or anything. Am I even going to be any help?"

"If Daylight thought you would be," Black Echo said, "I'm inclined to side with him. However, I already mentioned I'm a little bias. He was the best. When my ancestors were driven out of the woods we once called home, he found a place we could hide. Then he ended a four hundred year war so we could live free again."

"He sure was something," I said, "So the ponies were at war for four hundred years? I can't imagine that."

"Ponies are not creatures of war," he said, "My kind has had to have their back a few times the public doesn't even know about. The war literally took a hundred years to go from name calling to hoof fights. By the end though, let's just say there's a reason nopony is meant to remember."

"Who were they even fighting," I asked, "didn't the enemy escalate things."

"Like I said," Black Echo affirmed, "There is a reason nopony is meant to remember, we do not even know that part."

"I'm sure you will be able to figure the rest out," Luna said, "One thing we do know about Daylight is that he wasn't going to leave anypony high and dry. He must have left clues all over Equestria."

"I guess I already did find a few," I said.

"I would like to call my brother in," Black Echo said, "If it pleases the room." He looked to Luna.

"You may," Luna gave her approval. Then he looked to me.

"It's cool," I never liked formality.

The assistants opened the door and the bat-pony that I met at the house walked in carrying a book that resembled the journals I already had, I saw a 4 on the cover. He did the round bowing to Luna then me and lingering there.

"Just fucking get up," I said, "I don't care for the whole royal treatment."

"You are just as I imagined," Night Echo smiled, it made me uneasy, "I was given the honor of safekeeping this heirloom for the Dreamer family. I alone have read the contents, and now present it to the pegasus Scootaloo. It is your birthright to possess this book and the knowledge within until the rightful owner is ready to claim it. That time is for you alone to determine." He set the book in front of Scootaloo.

"Dreamer?" Scootaloo said, "My parent's names were Checkered Flag and Light Wing."

"You mean Checkered Flag Dreams," Night Echo said, "He was a friend of ours."

"But wouldn't that make me a descendant of Daylight?" She asked, "I thought for sure it was going to be that Feather Touch. She looked just like me."

"You know it takes two ponies to make a foal right?" Night Echo asked. He winked at me, I got really embarrassed for some reason.

Scootaloo just looked the book over, she clearly needed time to soak it all in.

"I advise you to read that for yourself," Night Echo said, "It is a lot to take in but it is also an important chapter in your family history. Your father would want you to know about it. I would also like to give you this, it was a gift from your father, I think you should have it." He set a framed picture of two pegasi in flying outfits next to an out of place looking Night Echo, "It was the day they met. They were trying out for the Wonderbolts. I met him when your grandparents presented him with the book. The Echo and Dreamer families have always been close. They didn't make it into the Wonderbolts, but that never bothered them. They were always so happy. Your father once told me he had found his wing-pony for life, and that's better than any medal. Anyway, I must take my leave," he looked at Scootaloo, "Spike can reach me if you ever care to hear more." he then turned and walked out.

Comments

[Lord Legion]

A truly interesting look into family history. It’s funny, I initially started reading this story cause there is a Jeep in it. It has actually turned out pretty good.