Fears of Bygone Eras

by Lusaminia

Chapter 10

The following is an excerpt from an old tribal text from the pegasi before Equestria’s founding.

We are the pegasi: conquerors, warriors, tacticians, and so so much more. Our first war led us to conquer the sky, bringing the very weather and clouds under our control. For our victory, the creator reward us with the knowledge of the wingblade, so that we no longer needed to use the weapons of the earth. No doubt the creator saw our conquest as right, and her gift showed that she supported our rule of the sky. We declared to her that we would one day conquer the heavens too, so that we could thank her for what she had done for us. So says we: pegasi.

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Aurora walked slowly as she glanced at the city around her, feeling guilt and pain at the sights around her. She knew what would happen when she gave the order, and that innocents would die no matter what happened. In a better time, that never would have happened, because the alicorns never would have ruled. That didn’t stop her from hating herself as she saw a mare’s face eternally frozen in fear, or a soldier crying out in pride at its country before dying. She, too, would die for these ponies, but she never had the chance to a thousand years ago.

The worst part about it all was how pitifully easy it was to break through the initial line of defense. It was horrible, watching the dragons so easily overwhelm earth ponies and pegasi alike, the unicorns fairing only slightly better. She knew that she could not allow these beasts to live, at least not when they proved such a severe threat to her vision. It was a necessary evil for now, though, and a sin that she would gladly have recorded in history. She was a pegasus, after all, and they were warriors.

It had not taken long for the guard to go from hesitating to kill her to rushing at her in rage. It was at that point that she had learned that not only had Equestria’s military suffered under alicorn rule, but that her kin had forgotten their gifted weapon: the wingblades. Just as the unicorns had their magic, pegasi had used their own magic to be able to fly with steel. What came from that was not only a weapon that only the pegasi could use, but a fighting style fit only for a tribe that conquered the sky.

A thousand years ago, the pegasi would have seen it dishonorable to not use earth pony or unicorn weapons. The irondance style, as they called it, was not just a battle technique, but a dance form as well. You were required to learn it, as to perform and irondance was a show of honor and strength. She could understand the more tribal aspects of it disappearing, as those ways had been abandoned long ago by now. That, however, was not the problem; it was the fact they had forgotten it entirely which disappointed her.

That only showed more as she fought Twilight’s forces, noting the lack of knowledge on what she saw as an important part of pegasi culture. A sword swing dodged, and she could cut into the neck with a matter of seconds. A spear thrust blocked with her wing, the plating stopping any possible damage to her body as she closed in and once again place her wingblades into their neck. It was unbelievable, dishonorable, and was a distinct lack of respect for who she was, and who her kin were. That thought only made her fight harder, and each kill all the easier as she found her caused justified.

“Remember, civilian casualties to a minimum!” She shouted to the troops around her as she slash a unicorns front leg, promptly finishing them with a jab through the eye. “Kill all who oppose you, but if they flee and you kill them, I’ll personally end you!”

She looked ahead, her eye catching on one pony in particular. A yellow pegasi, wielding another spear, though somehow she could tell he wasn’t as inexperienced as those around him. She slowly made her way towards him, watching as he struck one dragon effortlessly through the chest. Another rushed him from behind, but as they swung down he kicked their arm with his hindleg, disarming his opponent effortlessly. Pulling his bloody spear out of the first dragon’s body, he thrusted it upwards into the second dragon’s skull, exiting through the top of their head. Yanking it out once again, he turned to Aurora, who was smiling.

“You dishonor your heritage, but at least you have skill,” She told him, dropping into a battle stance of her own. Her wings formed a shield in front of her, her right leg back. “Tell me, who is the warrior that stands in front of me.”

“Major Thunder Shield,” He replied, pointing the spear at her. “I take it you aren’t exactly from this time. Nopony in this timeline still uses those.”

“Timeline? So you mean you’re not even of Equestria?” Aurora asked, a wicked smile dawning her face. “Color me intrigued, but I can already tell you who's going to win this.”

“Same,” Thunder replied. “So I’ll let you have the first strike. Come at me!”

Aurora couldn’t refuse, the attempted ego blow doing nothing to her as her wings drop from a shield stance and instead spread out. With a single flap, and a single step, she shot into the air, doing a black flip before aiming towards Thunder with her wings forward like an arrow. Thunder used the neck of the spear to block the attack, only to notice too late the only one of the wings had actually landed on his weapon. With a single swipe, Aurora aerial rolled, the blades on her other wing slicing through the wooden body of the spear, causing the tip to fall to the floor. Her smile only grew as she kicked Thunder in the face, using the momentum to propel herself backwards and landing on the ground.

“A pegasi fights with their body!” She exclaimed. She took notice of a dragon rushing towards Thunder. With another strong kick, she shot pass Thunder and landed her wing in the dragon’s stomach. After pulling it out, she turned back to her opponent. “A pegasi fights with honor!”

“Yet you would kill your own soldier?” Thunder asked.

Aurora let out a sharp breath, shaking her wing in an attempt to get some of the blood off of it. “We don’t steal kills either.”

Thunder took the sword from the dragon he had killed earlier to arm himself, Aurora wasting no time in once again closing the gap between them. She thrusted towards his forward, and he ducked, going for the neck as he did. Aurora, knowing she couldn’t block it in time, jumped back to avoid a slash to her neck. Instead of dashing in once again, she instead used her wings to block her face and body, sidestepping her way over. Thunder readied himself, now understanding that she was faster than him.

As she came within a foot of Thunder, she brought the wing blocking her face downward. Thunder moved the side, watching the other wing as Aurora extended it sliced horizontally, which he ducked in turn. Sadly, Aurora had played him into exactly where she wanted, flipping backwards and hitting Thunder’s muzzle with her hind legs. The blow sent him flying upwards, Aurora not wasting her time as she aimed her wing at his neck, and thrusted forward.

Her fatal blow was blocked as another figured pushed it away, allowing Thunder to hit the ground mostly unharmed. Aurora did not recover in time to see who or what had stopped her, receiving a claw swipe to her right eye. She staggered backwards, clutching her wounded eye in her hooves. As she removed her hooves, she was met with her own blood covering the bottom of them. Looking forward to seeing what was responsible, she was met with a wolf helping Thunder up from the ground.

“Thanks Silvia,” Thunder said, getting back on his own hooves. “I was almost a goner there.”

“You got cocky,” Silvia stated matter-of-factly. “Never, and I mean never let your opponent move first unless you have a death wish,” She brought her paw across his face. “Now get out of here, I’ll join once I’ve dealt with the stranded here. I won’t have you dying in Canterlot.”

“You expect me to leave Canterlot when it’s endanger of falling to the enemy?”

“Canterlot is already theirs!” Silvia spat back. “You want to try and save your life, or keep Twilight’s image alive, we need your help protecting Luminous and Gabriel.”

Thunder gritted his teeth, looking to Silvia, and then to Aurora behind them, who was busy trying to stop the bleeding with a bandage wrap. He looked around, taking in just how bad everything was around him. The bloods were stained red from dragon and pony alike, but their was far more bodies on the latter side. His own soldiers were dying, and he was their superiors. He had failed in his duty as their officer, he had failed to protect Equestria.

“Thunder!” Silvia called out, waking Thunder from his stupor. “Get going, now!”

He didn’t have the will to argue with her, his breathes heavy with regret. He barely managed to nod to Silvia, his hooves hesitant to move. He took one step towards the road out of town, and stopped, thinking he could hear a scream from somewhere nearby. He shook his head thinking it was just his imagination, and ran away from the city bleeding around him, closing his eyes so he didn’t have to see the blood. Silvia gave him a silent prayer, before turning to Aurora. The pony had bandaged herself up, now half blind on one side of her eye, but fury was emanating from every part of her body.

“Queen Aurora Oracle,” Silvia said, turning her body to face the pegasus. “I want to congratulate you on your victory today. Equestria is yours, and it only took the murder of your own ponies to win,” She narrowed her eyes. “You must be absolutely ashamed of yourself.”

“I take no pride in my actions, only sorrow,” Aurora answered, her voice abnormally soft. “Sorrow at what I’ve had to do to my future army. I’ve humiliated them, but for the reformation to come, it will be a necessity,” Aurora mimicked Silvia, narrowing her still working eye. “Yet, you know just as much as I do that I haven’t won yet. Where is it?”

“Truth be told,” Silvia replied, smiling. “Queen Twilight didn’t tell me.”

Aurora was snarling at that point, rushing at Silvia with a thousand years of pent up rage. “Lies!”

“Ros-” Silvia watched as a wingblade came rushing for her, aimed right at her face. “-sors!”

She jumped to the side, a transparent blue doppelganger mirroring her actions as she did. Aurora’s eyes went wide, having never seen a creature such as Silvia able to use it’s own form of magic. That disbelief gave Silvia the perfect opening, her copy mimicking her movements perfectly. Aurora only had time to block the real Silvia, though she could feel the copies teeth sink into her neck. She turned her body to slice it, the copy turning into mist as soon as her wing made contact. As she turned back to the real Silvia, however, she found the wolf holding the tip of her wing in her mouth.

“Let… go!” She ordered, only to scream when Silvia pulled it out of its socket. “What… what in the creator’s name are you?”

“Oh, little old me?” Silvia ask rhetorically, her fur suddenly changing from grey to pitch black, eyes glowing red. “I’m your worst nightmare.”

Aurora held her fear internal, trying her best to not give the beast what she wanted. That lasted as long as it took for Silvia’s paw managed to effortlessly snap her left wing in two. Once again, the pegasus let out a scream of pain, on the verge of tears. Looking around, she watched as Tholak approached them from far away, and used the bloodstone staff to club Silvia in the head. The wolf hit the floor, her body returning to normal as Tholak hugged a crying Aurora. Looking ahead to see a large number of dragons coming forward from the upper city, Silvia gave Tholak one glare before fleeing.

Satisfied that his to-be-wife was safe, Tholak turned his attention to comforting the mare in front of him. “There there, you have nothing to worry about,” He held her in his embrace, letting her cry. “We’ll have the castle staff fix you up. We beat them, Aurora. We’ve won, Canterlot is ours, and the alicorn is restrained. All we need to do now is-”

“N-n-not yet,” Aurora said, her crying turning to heavy breathing. She looked up to Tholak’s serpentine eyes, her face no less angry as before. “The canon isn’t in her, I’m certain of it. That… thing, it knows where it is. It knows where the alicorn has hidden it.”

“Then I guess we’ll have to hold off on planning our wedding,” Tholak said, turning to some of his men. “Get the new queen to the infirmary, and clean up the streets. You three, we’re heading out.”

“Honey,” Aurora called out, Tholak looking to see the battered form of his fiance smiling. “Thanks. Do me a favor, and rip that monster in half.”

“I already planned on it,” Tholak said, taking off into the sky.

Aurora allowed herself to collapse on the ground, looking to her wing in fear, fury, and confusion. That beast, Silvia as Thunder had called it, had just harmed one of the things most important to her. Nopony broke her wing, not unless they had a deathwish, and that Silvia had just asked for one. She wanted to be the one to pay her back, but she knew there was more important things right now. Canterlot was now her, the citizens still alive were scared, and she had a lot of things to fix up.

As her soldiers picked her up and carried her off towards the castle, she once again looked at the mess the battle had left. So many bodies, so many dead, so many good ponies who would have made for good soldiers with the right training. There was no lying when she said she felt sorrow, having to do such a horrible act to take her throne back. Silvia wasn’t worth her time, not with so much needing to be reconstructed. Only one more pony, at least for the time, was necessary to die for the future she wished. The alicorn, Twilight Sparkle, would know her sorrow for making her do this.

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Thunder collapsed in the grass, his mind racing as he tried his best to wipe the images he had seen out of his mind. He turned on his back, looking back to Canterlot, shrouded in twilight, the pink sky darkening the castle. It looked so peaceful from the outside, as there were no screams, no smoke, no sound of metal against metal. It didn’t change anything, not to Thunder. He knew exactly what was behind those walls.

He forced himself to look away, and turning back onto his belly and standing up. He took off his helmet, staring at blood stains on it, all from his failure to save his kingdom. He tossed it aside, and then proceeded to take off the rest of his armor as well. There was no reason to wear it, no country he could fight for. Even if Luminous somehow held the key to saving the kingdom, he doubted that it would be enough.

“Major Shield, correct?” Thunder looked behind him, watching as Flurry Heart landed, Arcane jumping off her back. “Glad to a soldier still alive.”

“Yeah… alive,” Thunder replied, looking away.

“Most of the populace had been evacuated before the assault, sent through the old mines in the mountain,” Arcane explained. “Though, considering we’re dealing with the second queen of Equestria, it’s very likely she already planned around that.”

“Yet they are still alive, as far as we know,” Flurry Heart said, walking up to Thunder and kneeling down to head height. “Many pony’s lives were saved,” Her next words were nothing more than mutters. “But that Aurora mare is gonna kill her before Chrysalis or I can.”

“Not enough,” Thunder muttered, just loud enough for the ponies in front of him to hear. “Not enough lives, not enough soldiers… not enough for me to blame. What kind of officer am I?”

At that moment, Silvia joined them, breathing heavily from her sprint away from the capital. Her eyes immediately fell to the alicorn next to her, the two trading expressions of distaste to each other. A low growl escaped the wolf’s throat, though she managed to keep it mostly subdued.

“Look, I would love to know what you’re doing here with Thunder, but we have bigger things to focus on,” Silvia reminded them. “Canterlot is gone, but Equestria is still ours. We need to protect Twilight’s canon, and my daughter, until we find a way to stop Aurora. That means we move, now! We head to Silver Shoals.”

She looked to Thunder, who gave a hesitant nod. Silvia then turned her attention to Arcane, who smiled and nodded back. With that, she took the lead, Thunder following right behind her while Arcane lagged behind at a walk. Flurry Heart looked to Canterlot, shook her head, and rushed to Arcane’s side, returning to a steady walk as she did.

“What did you due with her?” Flurry Heart asked.

“Set a portal glyph on the statue,” Arcane explained. “When I need to, I can simply open a portal and grab her from there. It’s too dangerous carrying around a giant statue with an army around.”

“You want to help these ponies?” Flurry asked, her gaze shifting to Silvia. “And the wolf?”

“Trust me, your safest with them, and I know Silvia is counting on me to keep you in line” Arcane answered once again. “Just play along, don’t say anything out of the ordinary, and you’ll be fine.”

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“Okay, we’re miles away from Canterlot,” Luminous said, confused and oblivious as to why she and Gabriel were running from Equestria. “Can you please tell me what’s going on?”

“Not far enough where I’m comfortable with the idea,” Gabriel said, turning around to face the pegasus. “I seriously can’t believe you never learned how to fly.”

“I mean, my mom is a wolf and the only other pegasus I know is… paralyzed, I think,” Luminous shook her head, not wanting to get distracted. “Point is, I didn’t have the teachers around me to do it, and being homeschooled I never went to flight school.”

“Still can’t believe Silvia taught you all on her own,” Gabriel replied. He looked up to the sky, tapping a hindleg as he thought to himself. “Give me a second to look at something.”

Before Luminous could replied, he took off into the air, the sudden gust causing the pegasus to fall into a sitting position. Maneuvering his way through the tree branches, he managed to break into the open airspace above the treeline. His fears were recognized as his eyes made out the unmistakable forms of dragons around Canterlot Castle. The queen knew she had no chance - that Equestria had no chance - against a military invasion. For everything Equestria was known for, an incredible army was the least of them. It had always fallen on the heroic few.

Gabriel knew that he was now one of those heroic few, as Twilight had trusted him for a reason. He made crossed his heart, offering a silent prayer that everypony and everycreature still in the capital was alright. With his heart satisfied, or unsatisfied depending on how one thought about it, he made his way back into the safety of the trees below. As he landed, he noticed Luminous giving looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“So?”

“Canterlot was just invaded by an army of dragons,” Gabriel said bluntly.

Luminous eyes widened, her tone turning just as blunt as the griffon’s. “What?”

“Look, Queen Twilight asked me to get you out of the city, she clearly cares a lot about you,” Gabriel explained. “Besides, she gave me this,” He swung the bag around and opened it up, allowing Luminous a glance at the canon. “I’ve never seen this before, but Twilight pulled it out of her chest somehow. Whatever it is, it must be important.”

“It… kinda looks like a heart,” Luminous said, walking closer to get a better look at it. “Wait, out of her chest?”

“I’m as confused about it as you are, but we have somewhere we need to head,” Gabriel reminded the pegasus, closing the bag. “Something is in Silver Shoals. Something important.”

Comments

[aline1]

Hmm Equestria has fallen to a self-righteous evil overlord, Flurry Heart desires to murder her aunt out of her own preconceived notion and has aligned with her parents worse enemies and a short lived golden age of peace, prosperity and tolerance comes crashing down in flames.

Well it certainly lives up to the dark and tragedy tags.