Chapter 3: Enter a New Enemy
The weeks rolled by until it was time for Starlight and Sunburst to take their daughter to Canterlot. They headed from the Castle to the Ponyville Train Station. Luster was nervous as she followed her parents. This was the beginning of a new chapter in her life. One where she would have a chance to measure up to her parent’s potential and be recognized. This was her chance to shine like her mother had, be a bright rising star… or sun since she had the name dawn.
Starlight noticed her daughter’s worried expression and leaned down to nuzzle her.
“You’re going to do fine, Luster,” she said.
“But what if I fail? What if I don’t get in?”
Starlight smiled and nuzzled her again. “Then I won’t love you any less, and neither will your father. Right, Sunburst?”
Her husband nodded. “Of course, I’ll still love you, Luster. Nothing will never change that.”
Luster smiled as she continued to walk with her parents looking down at her. Then-
Thump!
Starlight crashed into somecreature.
“Oh, I’m sorry I-”
Starlight stopped as she saw she’d bumped into a blue griffon, one that she knew very well. She taught him at the School of Friendship.
“Gallus!”
“Oh, Headmare Glimmer. Vice Headmare Sunburst.”
“What are you doing here? Taking the train someplace?” Sunburst asked.
“No! I figured I would just fly to Canterlot,” Gallus joked. “But trains are quicker.”
“You’re going to Canterlot?” Starlight asked. “We are as well!”
“Oh cool!” Gallus said. He then noticed Luster hiding behind Starlight. “This must be your daughter.”
“Oh yes! Luster, meet Gallus. He was a student at the School of Friendship.”
“Hello,” Luster said shyly.
They all boarded the train.
“So why are you going to Canterlot, Gallus?” Starlight asked.
“I want to become a royal guard."
“A royal guard?” Sunburst repeated.
“Yeah, I figured it would be cool to wear armor and help save Equestria more when it needs it.”
“Are the others planning to become guards as well?” Starlight asked. She hadn’t seen Gallus’s group of friends in a few years, since all of them had officially graduated from the school of friendship and returned to their homelands.
“No, I don’t know what they plan on doing,” Gallus said.
The train ride to Canterlot was pleasant for Starlight and Sunburst. But Luster seemed uneasy. When they got off the train, they walked up to the school of magic where Twilight would be present for the entrance exam. They entered a classroom with a small table occupied by a panel of judges.
“It’s okay, Luster. Whatever their task is you don’t need to fully succeed in it,” Sunburst said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “You just need to demonstrate a good amount of magic power. That’s all they’re looking for.”
Luster took a deep breath. She wanted with all her being to make her father and mother proud. Her two great parents who were so gifted at magic. Her mother could fly with it like no pony else she’d seen, and her father knew more about its theory than any other pony. She was going to be just like them, and it would take a lot of work.
She looked at the examiners. “What do I have to do?”
“First, the Princess must arrive with the item,” one of them said.
As if on cue, Princess Twilight Sparkle entered the room a moment later. Everypony bowed as she did so.
“Starlight! Sunburst! So good to see you both!” she said.
Starlight hugged her. “I’m sorry I had to stop attending Friendship Council meetings. Running your School of Friendship is a very busy job.”
“I know, and being a parent is tough too. Pinkie Pie’s going to be one soon. Discord’s started coming to them now since he and Fluttershy are married,” Twilight said.
She hugged Sunburst and then noticed Gallus.
“Oh, hello Gallus! I wasn’t expecting you here with them,” Twilight stated with a giggle.
“Your majesty,” Gallus said with a bow. “I came to speak with you about something.”
“I see. Well… can it please wait until after the entrance exam?”
“Of course, your Highness.”
The princess turned to Luster. The young filly had heard much of her mother’s former mentor though this was the first time she could remember meeting her. Princess Twilight was so beautiful, easily the largest pony Luster had ever seen. Her mane shined as though it had stars in it and flowed like running water or wind was being blown through it. Yet there was no breeze in the room.
“Hello, Luster Dawn,” Twilight said with a smile. “I remember when you were born. That was one of the last times I got to see your parents. It’s good to meet you again.”
Luster bowed and nervously said, “T-thank you, y-your majesty. So… what is my test?”
The princess levitated an object from out of her saddlebag. It was an amulet, one side showing rays of sunshine and the other a crescent moon.
“This amulet allows other ponies besides myself to raise the sun and moon,” Princess Twilight explained. “Charge up as much magic as you can, and see how far you can get the sun to go.”
Luster concentrated. She dug deep into her body, focusing with all her might on one thing. Her parents, the two ponies she looked up to who knew so much about magic. Even her Aunt Trixie was good at it, using it to entertain ponies and other creatures when not working at the school. She was going to be like them, make them proud. She would put everything she had into it.
Luster unleashed more magic from her horn than ever before. Her beam hit the amulet and suddenly the window outside which showed a bright day went dark for a moment. When Luster’s magic faded, she looked and saw the sun was lower than it should have been. As though dawn had just come.
“Um… did I do… well?” Luster asked.
There was silence, then Princess Twilight spoke. “You did marvelous! I’ve never seen a unicorn with such raw power! And you did it without the aid of a Sonic Rainboom like I did!”
Luster didn’t understand the last bit. “Huh?”
“You could be the one!” Twilight said.
“Huh? The one what?”
“The one… to be my personal protégé!” Twilight said with a smile.
Starlight and Sunburst beamed.
“She’s in! She’s in!” Sunburst exclaimed, tapping his hooves on the ground excitedly like he had when the Cutie Map summoned him.
“Guess my daughter is my mentor’s new top student,” Starlight said.
“Are you proud of me?” Luster asked.
“Very proud!” Starlight and Sunburst said as they hugged her. “You’ve become Twilight’s student, and…”
He paused, his eyes widening.
“Daddy?” Luster asked. “What’s wrong?”
“You-you have your cutie mark!”
“What?” Luster exclaimed, looking at her flank.
Indeed, she now had a mark there. One of a sun rising, or was it setting? Over what looked like an ocean.
Luster gave an enormous grin, happy that her parents were so proud of her, that she now had a chance to achieve great things like they did.
“I will see you back here very soon, Luster," Twilight said.
Starlight suddenly came forward. “Twilight, promise me you will take good care of her while she’s here.”
“Oh, of course Starlight. I know it’s probably going to be hard knowing you’ll be so far apart,” Twilight said.
“Yes. And I wouldn’t trust anypony else to teach her and keep her on the right path,” Starlight said with a smile before turning to a serious expression. “But if anything bad happens to her, your Majesty, no amount of alicorn magic will save you from my wrath!”
Twilight shuddered slightly, recalling their fight from years ago. She could remember it as if it was yesterday, every beam, every dodge, every terrible alternate timeline she visited. She would rather not repeat the experience.
“Starlight, dear. You can’t threaten the princess!” Sunburst said.
“It’s fine Sunburst. A mother is protective after all,” Twilight said before turning to Gallus. “Now, you had something you wanted to speak to me about, Gallus?”
The griffon nodded. “I would like to become a member of your Royal Guard, Princess.”
This surprised Twilight. “Oh. Well… that’s a first. I don’t believe we’ve ever had a griffon as a member of the royal guard.”
“There’s no rule against it is there?” Gallus asked.
“Not that I know of. Perhaps I should check with my brother, Shining Armor, he might know as a former captain.”
Suddenly the classroom door opened and Spike entered the room with Twilight Velvet, Night Light, Flash Sentry, and Flurry Heart. All of them were teary eyed.
“Mom, Dad, Flurry?” Twilight questioned looking at her niece in particular. “What are you doing here?"
Flurry only looked at her aunt with watery eyes while her grandparents embraced her.
Flash Sentry sighed. “I bring terrible news to you, Princess Twilight. Your brother and sister-in-law, Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance…. are dead.”
Twilight’s eyes widened in pure disbelief. She couldn’t believe it. “No! No! It can’t be!” Twilight wailed. “They can’t be gone!”
Starlight and Sunburst both put their hooves to their mouths at the news. Gallus’s eagerness at the prospect of becoming a royal guard was replaced with sadness as he watched his former Headmare burst into tears.
“Twilight,” Starlight said in concern, walking up to her former mentor as the ruler of Equestria let out sobs like a filly Luster’s age. She put her hooves around Twilight who sank to the floor.
Twilight’s family gathered around her, Flurry Heart had already cried most of her tears out but they came anew upon seeing her aunt sad as well. She flew up to her and hugged Twilight’s neck while Velvet and Night Light also came in and joined. The family all began sobbing. They were completely shocked and engrieved by the unexpected loss of two of their members. Starlight and Sunburst both watched with a heavy heart. They had come to Canterlot with high hopes that were fulfilled. Luster got her cutie mark and was accepted into the school of magic. She would become Twilight’s personal student. This day would have been just perfect… if not for such tragic news.
“I’m sorry, Twilight,” Starlight said.
Twilight sang a sad song that she had sung once before, after her brother’s wedding rehearsal, only this time it was true. “He was my Big Brother Best Friend… Forever. And now we’ll never do anything… together.”
…
Starlight and Sunburst eventually left with Luster to take the train back to Ponyville. Gallus remained in Canterlot, waiting to let Twilight mourn before she gave an answer about his question. He checked into a hotel near the castle where she could find him.
Twilight sat in her room with Spike as well as Flurry Heart, they wallowed in sadness. Flurry Heart lay nuzzled against Twilight’s side on the bed. She’d finally managed to get to sleep, her face still wet from the tears. Twilight looked at her orphaned niece sadly as the light from the moon shined through the window. With Shining Armor and Cadance gone, it would be up to her as well as her parents and Spike to raise Flurry Heart.
Sleep did not come for Twilight that night. Her mind went through all the memories she’d had with her brother as well as Cadance. Those sibling supreme competitions when they had a rivalry to find out who could do things better than the other, him teaching her to fly a kite, giving her ponyback rides, and encouraging her to do her best when she first tried to use her magic to lift a book. Cadance pushing her on the swing, telling her she was special.
Twilight waited until her clock hit six am before raising the sun. Light shined into the room, but it brought no joy to her. She looked down at her niece.
“Flurry, wake up, sweetie,” she said in a soft but strained voice.
The preteen alicorn opened her blue eyes.
“Aunty Twilie!” she exclaimed, holding her hooves out.
Twilight picked up her niece and softly patted her back.
“I want mommy and daddy back!” Flurry wailed.
Twilight cringed and shook her head. “They’re not coming back, Flurry!” she choked out. “Nothing can-”
Twilight broke off. There might be a way! She knew of one being that could bring back the dead… a being that owed her a lot of favors.
“Spike!” she prodded her adoptive brother who had fallen asleep on the sofa next to her bed. The dragon woke up.
“Twilight? Everything okay? Please tell me that Shining Armor and Cadance are alive and that it was just a bad dream!” he said.
Twilight shook her head. “It’s real, but I’ve just thought of something. Send a letter to Discord.”
After a minute of writing the hardest letter he could remember, Spike blew it. They waited, expecting Discord to pop up out of thin air. It took a while, but he did appear… and he wasn’t alone. From a loud pop that occurred, emerged not only the Spirit of Chaos but all of Twilight’s Ponyville friends as well.
“Twilight! Darling! Discord told us you sent a letter saying Shining Armor and Cadance are-”
They all noticed Flurry Heart still sitting on the bed silently with a glum expression. That answered Rarity’s question.
“Oh dear,” Fluttershy said. “Are you all okay?”
Twilight shook her head. “It hurts so much. I thought I’d lost my brother once… you know, back at the wedding?”
They all looked down as they recalled that awful moment where Shining Armor had kicked Twilight out of the wedding when she accused Queen Chrysalis who had been posing as Cadance of being evil. That was one of the guiltiest moments of their lives when they had been so self-centered and focused on their task for an important event rather than Twilight’s feelings. Much like they’d done at the time of Twilight’s coronation as the new ruler. They couldn’t afford to let her down now.
“We’re here for you, Sugarcube. Whatever you need, we’ll do it,” Applejack said.
“Yeah, let’s go and find the creature that did this and make it pay!” Rainbow Dash suggested.
Discord put a hand over the Pegasus’s mouth. “You want me to hunt down this creature, Twilight? I still owe you an endless series of favors for that genius plan of mine in uniting three villains against you. That’s why you called me, I presume?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, Discord, but I do have a favor to ask that will make me completely forget about that whole incident.”
“Name it!” Discord said.
Twilight sighed. “I want you to… bring Shining Armor and Cadance back.”
Everyone gasped. Discord looked stunned.
“You want me to… bring your beloved brother… or as I recall you refer to him… your B.B.B.F.F… and his wife… back to life?” Discord asked. In any other instance, he would have used a teasing tone on her, but instead he looked sad.
“You brought back Sombra. Can’t you do the same with them?” Twilight asked.
"I can try," Discord said.
He conjured up a stick and drew a symbol in the floor just as he had done to resurrect Sombra while posing as Grogar. But instead of growing something like a dark crystal, the symbol merely vanished. Discord tried again, but the same result happened. He shook his head.
“I’m sorry, I can’t bring them back.” He said, bowing his head.
“What?” Twilight exclaimed. “Why not?”
Discord sighed. “Even I can’t do whatever I want all the time. I'm a spirit of chaos; my ability to control life and death is limited. I was able to bring back Sombra because he wanted to come back. He was not at peace, and wanted to rule over his empire still and acquire more power. But Shining Armor and Cadance are both at peace already. They don’t want to come back.”
“But how can they be at peace?” Rarity exclaimed. “They have so much left to live for! They have a daughter to raise!”
“Yeah, they can still live through a lot of fun!” Pinkie said.
“Let us ask them. I can at least get their spirits here for a short time,” Discord snapped his fingers.
Two white figures appeared in the room with everypony else. Shining Armor and Cadance looked at them with smiles.
“Hey, everypony,"Shining Armor said.
“Mommy! Daddy!” Flurry squealed and flew off the bed, only to pass through her parents when she tried to hug them.
Twilight approached them. “Why don’t you two want to come back?”
Cadance gave a smile. “We’re not gone, Twilight, not fully. You may not be able to see us except for instances like this… but that doesn’t mean we aren’t with you. We’re still able to watch you and all the others. And we can rest peacefully, because we know that Flurry Heart is in good hooves. Just promise me that you will take good care of her.”
Twilight looked at her niece and picked her up with her magic, bringing her closer so that she could hold Flurry in her hooves.
“I promise. I’ll look after her,” Twilight said. “You can trust me.”
Shining Armor said one last thing to his sister as he and Cadance began to fade. “Death is a part of life, Twily. We all have to accept that it happens someday. Some might live longer than others, but no pony does forever. A soldier’s life is filled with danger, it has been for all of us in these times. We were lucky to have all lasted this long and not lose anypony else until now. I love you, sis. I’ll always be your BBBFF, and I’ll always be in your heart until your time comes. We will meet again.”
They both vanished.
“Yes… we will,” Twilight sniffled as fresh tears appeared on her eyes. “Someday, but not until I do what I need to for the good of Equestria. We will be together again in the next life, Shining… Cadance. I love you both, and I swear I’ll take care of Flurry!”
She held her niece tighter in her hooves as they both cried in the direction the spirits of their family had been. Her friends gathered around her and formed a comforting group hug.
“We’re here for you, Sugarcube.”
“I wish I could make you smile, Twilight. But even I can’t smile knowing somepony is gone,” Pinkie said. “Death is never a happy thing.”
“But it happens to all of us,” Twilight said.
“Except for me!” Discord said, being the only one of them smiling. “Celestia and Luna lasted a long time, but I can never age!”
“Lucky you!” Rarity pouted. “To never grow old, gray and wrinkly like I will someday!”
“Yes, I am quite the handsome Draconeques. Aren’t I, Fluttershy?” he asked his wife.
The element of kindness nodded but didn’t give her husband her usual smile. “Yes… you are… my dear lord of chaos.”
“So, what are we going to do now?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, still looking at the spot where the spirits had been.
“We gotta save Equestria again! There’s something out there that just KILLED two ponies and we need to stop it before somepony else gets hurt. Don’t you wanna make that thing pay, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Twilight was very tempted to say "Yes"… to hunt down whatever claimed the lives of her loved ones. But… she looked down at her niece.
“I can’t…” Twilight said. “As much as I want revenge… I have to put my kingdom… and my family’s needs… before my own desires.”
Just like my immortality. She thought silently. If not for the necessity of having the power to control the sun and moon to maintain balance in Equestria, she would have rid herself of this accursed thing long ago. But she had to hang onto it… until there was somepony worthy to wield it in her stead.
“If something happens to me, Equestria will be without leadership. I need to be here for my subjects as well as Flurry Heart… to teach her to be a good ruler for the Crystal Empire when she comes of age,” Twilight said, stroking Flurry’s mane as the filly sobbed against her foreleg.
“So, what are we going to do about the murdering creature out there?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“You want me to hunt it down?” Discord asked again.
Twilight shook her head, burying her grief and steeling herself. “I’ve got somepony else in mind. Or perhaps I should say some Griffon?”
With her friends in tow, Twilight headed to the hotel where Gallus was staying. She walked inside and was lucky to find the griffon in the dining hall.
“Good morning, Gallus!” Twilight said as she approached his table.
Gallus looked up from his bowl, which was full of cooked worms (as Griffins were birds they sometimes ate insects as well as plants and animals). Twilight managed to prevent herself from forming a disgusted face. Though she heard Rarity moan.
“Oh… Professor Sparkle! Your Highness!” Gallus said bowing in his seat. He then noticed Twilight’s friends. “All my former teachers!”
“Good to see ya, Gallus!” Applejack said.
“Tis indeed!” Rarity said, managing a nervous smile while keeping her eyes off the food.
“Very wonderful!” Fluttershy said.
“Haven’t seen ya since the graduation party I threw! That was-“
“A long time,” Gallus told Pinkie.
“Hey!” Rainbow Dash said waving a hoof
“So…” Gallus looked at Twilight. “Are you… doing okay?”
Twilight sighed, looking at the ground. “It hurts a lot to lose a family member. Shining Armor and Cadance were the first friends I ever had.”
“Are you going to go after hoofever killed them?” Gallus asked.
Twilight shook her head. “Now that I’m ruler of Equestria, I have to rule and have others fight for my kingdom… like Celestia did. Which is why I’m here… Gallus. I want you to hunt that thing that killed my brother and sister-in-law down.”
“Me?” Gallus asked.
“Consider it part of your initiation into the royal guard,” Twilight said. “I’ll be supplying you with a few soldiers to protect you.”
Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Those royal guards never get a job done! When have they ever saved Equestria? We were always the ones doing that, kind of makes having an army look useless.”
“Well… perhaps that’s another reason Gallus should join. So, he can share the magic of friendship with them,” Twilight suggested. “Then perhaps they wouldn’t be so useless.”
“Great! Maybe one day I’ll be Captain!” Gallus said. “I’ll bring you that thing’s head!”
“That won’t be necessary,” Twilight said. “It will be enough to know that my subjects are safe. Trap the thing in Tartarus, turn it to stone, whatever must be done. But I do have a suggestion. You should do this mission with your friends from the school.”
“Really? You want me to get the gang back together?” Gallus asked with a look of eagerness.
Twilight nodded, her strength wavering as she felt the weight in her heart intensify. “I have faith in friendship more than anything. You all helped unite the races of Equestria against the Legion of Doom, and you will need your friends to defend Equestria as much as I need mine.”
The other five ponies gathered around her as she bowed her head.
“We’re here for you, Twilight. Always,” Fluttershy said.
“Yes Darling, you need time to mourn for your loss,” Rarity said. “We shall deal with ruling the kingdom for a couple days as the Council of Friendship. Just tell us what you need.”
“Thanks, girls. I have to get everything ready for the first day at the School of Magic and paper work. But… Flurry needs me… and I honestly don’t feel like I’ll be able to do anything right now.”
“You can leave that to us!” Rainbow Dash said. “You just collect your thoughts.”
Sighing, she choked out. “Spike, send a letter to each of Gallus’s friends in their lands. We need Equestria’s next generation of protectors on the job.”
Spike wrote the new letters with a heavy heart and blew out. They then returned to the Castle, leaving Gallus to wait for his friends to arrive for their mission. Across Equestria, the letters began popping up in the homes of the other members of the Young Six. Ocellus the changeling, Smolder the dragon, Sandbar the Earth pony, Silverstream the hippogriff, and Yona the yak. All of them received the letter informing them they were needed to help save Equestria alongside Gallus, and they flew or took the train to Canterlot immediately.
…
When the Young Six were all gathered in front of the hotel, Gallus spoke to them.
“Hey guys.”
Under normal circumstances, this reunion would have been a happy one.
“Is it true that Princess Twilight’s brother and Princess Cadance are…” Ocellus started, but seeing Gallus nod, bit her lip. “Oh no…”
“Well, that’s why we’re here!” Smolder said, banging her fists together. “Let’s find the thing that did this and make it pay! In the name of Princess Twilight Sparkle!”
“Yak not afraid of fight!” Yona said. “Yona big now!”
“Yeah, you certainly are. But still just as cute,” Sandbar said.
This caused the young Yak to giggle. She and Sandbar had become coltfriend and yakfriend a few years ago at the School of Friendship.
“Okay lovebirds! Or lovecreatures! This is no time for jokes and flirting!” Gallus said. “The princess gave us a mission! We have to find the evil creature and stop it before it hurts somecreature else. We need to head to the artics of the Crystal Empire and find it.”
“Are you sure we can handle this?” Ocellus asked worriedly.
“We stopped Cozy Glow once, remember?” Smolder said. “And we brought everycreature together against Chrysalis, Tirek, and her too!”
“Yeah, Princess Twilight gave us this mission because she believes in us! She can’t risk herself unless there’s no other choice!” Gallus said.
Ocellus was still a little nervous and scared, but as she was reminded of their accomplishments by her friends she slowly nodded.
“You guys are right, we can’t let the princess down.”
With that, the newest generation of Equestria’s heroes headed back to the train station where a mixed group of Crystal Empire and Canterlot royal guards awaited them. Among their ranks was Lieutenant Flash Sentry.
“Ah, there you are!” Flash said as they approached.
One of the Crystal Empire guards, a brown Earth pony with an eye patch and sword on his back looked at the creatures sternly.
“Are we really bringing them along? They’re only teenagers. What if they get hurt?”
“They helped saved Equestria once before, Starcutter.”
“Twice actually!” Smolder corrected. “If you count us bringing all the races together for the battle against the Legion of Doom. If we hadn’t done that, Princess Twilight and her friends would have- you know.”
Starcutter shrugged. “If you say so. It was fortunate you did that. I will trust Princess Twilight’s decision… but I think the Royal Guard needs to become more active in protecting Equestria.”
“I’ll be joining you guys soon. Princess Twilight said it would be good to have the Magic of Friendship in the guard,” Gallus said.
“We shall see,” Starcutter said. “Best be off.”
They got on the train, which sped away.
Starcutter and Flash led the Young Six to where a group of Crystal Ponies had found the bodies of Cadance and Shining Armor. The royal couple were now in coffins ready to be given a proper funeral sometime later. The area showed signs of damage; there were overturned trees from the path the rhino creature had torn up.
“There has to be something to tell us which way this monster went,” Starcutter said. “Let’s look around.”
The guards and Young Six fanned out. Gallus, along with Ocellus, Smolder, and Silverstream who took to the air to see if they could spot anything. Gallus turned in the direction of the artic mountain overlooking the empire. Then an idea occurred to him.
“That rhino wouldn’t be stupid enough to go anywhere he would leave tracks, would he?” Gallus wondered aloud.
He flew in that direction, flying low over the snow. Sure enough, he found what he was looking for. A path of humongous footprints that were unmistakably that of a rhino.
“Aha!” Gallus said, turning his front talons to fists in his excitement. “This hawk has spotted the trail of his prey!”
He flew back in the direction he’d come, quickly spotting his fellow flyers in the air along with Flash and other Pegasus members of the royal guard.
“Guys! I found some rhino footprints in the snow over there!” Gallus called out.
“Good work, kid!” Flash said with a grin.
They regrouped on the ground with Starcutter, Yona, Sandbar, and the walking guards.
“Captain Starcutter! Gallus found a trail of footprints in the snow!” Flash said.
Starcutter looked at the griffon. “You sure they were rhino footprints?”
“No doubt about it! Come on and see!”
They set off on foot. It took them over ten minutes to walk to the spot where Gallus found the prints.
“Hmm…” Starcutter inspected the prints, stepping inside. “Definitely the tracks of something very large. Good work, griffon. Now, let's see if they can lead us to our target.”
The guards led the Young Six up the mountain path. As they continued climbing, Ocellus began to shiver.
“It’s so c-cold...”
“What are you talking about? I’m not cold!” Smolder retorted.
“Neither am I!” Gallus said.
“Nor I!” Silverstream said enthusiastically.
“Well, I don’t have fire in my body or fur and feathers like the rest of you!” Ocellus said. “Oh wait!”
She transformed into a copy of Harry, Fluttershy’s bear.
“Much better,” she said.
They continued to follow the tracks up the mountain to a cave.
Starcutter drew his sword, then looked at one of the unicorn guards. He pointed with his hoof to the entrance. In response to his silent command, the unicorn lit up his horn and led the way into the cave. Starcutter and Flash followed, with Gallus and his friends in tow.
“That was a good find, griffon. You might make a good recruit. But for now, I want you to stay back when we find this creature and let us handle it,” Starcutter said.
“Uh, sure…” Gallus said.
“I certainly don’t mind that,” Ocellus said.
The sword pony looked at her. “Actually, you could be really useful up-front, changeling.”
Ocellus' eyes shot wide open. “M-me? Why me?”
“We ponies can’t hope to match the strength of such a large creature, but you could if you transform into a copy of it.”
“I’m not sure I can do that,” Ocellus said.
She nervously moved up in front of Gallus. They walked through the cave, guided by the light on the lead unicorn guard’s horn. They made it to the interior which open to a large cavern. The light from the horn was not bright enough to penetrate this amount of darkness.
“Ooh, it’s spooky,” Silverstream commented. “I like spooky!”
This caused the other members of the Young Six to laugh. Flash Sentry and some of the other guards cracked smiles. Silverstream was like their element of laughter among the protectors of Equestria, bringing cheer when things looked darkest.
Starcutter hadn’t smiled, but said, “Stay close. I don’t want you kids to get hurt.”
“We’re not kids!” Smolder retorted. “And we’ve done more than you guards ever have! For someponies who are supposed to be an army, you never really do much. The only time you ever did anything was when Cozy Glow took over the school and you blocked her off!”
“Well, it’s high time we change that I say! No more relying on kids to save the day and take all the glory,” Starcutter snapped.
“Um… Captain, I think we might want to be quiet for a while,” Flash said in a whisper.
“Yes, you’re right, lieutenant. We don’t want our enemy to know we are-”
Then suddenly something gold shined in the back, illuminating the cave.
“So, intruders come to my cave, huh? I smash you just like I did other ponies! Gaze upon me, for I am Rhynor, and I will ram you!”
Rhynor stomped the ground, scraping dirt back behind him. Ocellus shivered at the sight of the red rhino.
“Come on, changeling! Change!” Starcutter ordered.
Ocellus merely trembled at the sight. She had to transform herself into such a monstrous creature that had actually taken a life? No, she couldn’t do it. It would be like turning into Chrysalis when the tree of harmony tested her.
“I c-can’t!”
“What?!”
“Didn’t you say you wanted guards to handle things without the aid of kids?” Smolder pointed out.
“No time to argue!” Starcutter snapped.
He took a step forward, gazing at Rhynor with fierce eyes devoid of any fear despite the huge difference in size.
Rhynor laughed. “You think you can hurt me with puny pony blade? My hide thick! It break your sword!”
“You’ll pay for what you did to the Prince and Princess!” Starcutter said as he charged forward.
Rhynor stomped the ground hard, creating a tremor that caused all of the smaller creatures to lose their footing. Starcutter fell down, but managed to keep hold of his blade.
“All Pegasi and winged creatures into the air!” Flash Sentry commanded. “He can’t knock us down if we’re airborne!”
Gallus, Silverstream, and the others flapped their wings. Gallus managed to lift Sandbar up, while Smolder and Occellus struggled to lift Yona. The young yak was heavier than she had been during their early days at the School of Friendship. They could barely get her off the ground! Noticing this, Rhynor charged at them, ready to trample them like he had his previous victims.
“Arrgh!” Yona screamed. “Yona scared!”
Starcutter came to the rescue just in time. He attacked Rhynor from the side, plunging his blade into the Rhinos thick red hide. The blade was too small to do any real damage against such a large opponent, but it did cause Rhynor to bellow out in pain and miss the group as he stepped off to the side. Starcutter held onto his sword as Rhynor flailed, eventually managing to throw the brown Earth pony off. He then slid his body against a wall and got the sword out. His wound bleeding a bit, suddenly closed.
“That’s not good!” Gallus said as he noticed this.
“Attack!” Flash Sentry ordered.
The Pegasus guards threw their javelins at Rhynor. This time the rhino jumped, creating a shock wave that caused the projectiles to rebound and nearly hit their own throwers. It also caused the Pegasi and other flyers to drop from the sky. Gallus and Sandbar yelled and hit the ground with a thud.
Gallus grunted as he looked up and saw Rhynor stepping toward Starcutter, who lay on the ground, apparently stunned. The rhino raised an enormous foot to finish the swordpony off.
“Hey!” Gallus shouted.
The rhino gave no indication of hearing him. Gallus growled as he hated being ignored.
“Leave that swordpony alone!” he yelled.
Rhynor looked at him now.
“Oh, a little birdy! How cute!”
Gallus growled and got to his feet and talons.
“You going to try and take me down too?” Rhynor asked.
“I won’t try, I will!”
“Oh, are you going to use a sword like that pony did? Or spears like those others did?” Rhynor taunted.
“No,” Gallus stated as he looked around. “I’m going to use something much more powerful than either one! Ready, Ocellus?”
He looked at his changeling friend who was getting to her hooves.
“I don’t know! I’ve never done it before!” the changeling said as she got up.
“Come on!” Gallus shouted. “You’re the only one of us that can use magic!”
“Do you believe in our friendship?” Smolder asked as she got close to the changeling.
“More than anything!” Ocellus replied. “All those times I had with you guys at the school were the best days of my life!”
“Then just focus on us!” Sandbar said.
“We’re all here, and as long as we’re together nothing can stop us!” Silverstream said.
His friends were getting back to their feet. Hearing his words, they nodded and came to stand by him. Ocellus lit up her horn and the six of them began to glow and rise into the air, Rhynor covered his eyes against the bright light.
“What is that?” he asked.
“The Magic of Friendship!” Gallus said. “Taught to us by the mare whose brother and sister-in-law you killed!”
The Young Six unleashed a powerful rainbow blast upon their enemy.
“Arrgh!” Rhynor screamed. “This can’t be- Ma-“
His words were drowned out as he was destroyed.
The royal guards got to their hooves slowly. Starcutter regained consciousness.
“What happened?”
“These kids just did what we couldn’t, again.” Flash stated.
Starcutter looked at Gallus and his friends before offering a small smile.
“Well done, kids. You might make a good guard after all, Gallus. But still, I’m going to try not to rely on kids to save the day all the time.”
“Well, with the Magic of Friendship here to lighten things up you might have a better chance,” Gallus said, smirking.
“Right, well… you best get back to Canterlot, recruit. Tell the princess her family has been avenged.”
“I will,” Gallus promised.
With their enemy defeated, the Young Six exited the cave. Flash and the other guards began to follow. Flash looked over his shoulder and noticed that Starcutter was not following.
“You go on. I want to take a look in this cave to make sure there’s nothing else here,” Starcutter said as he picked up his sword.
Flash nodded and gave a salute.
Starcutter traveled to the back of the cave. Coming to a space that was too small for the rhino to have gone through, he found someone there. Someone who wore a cloak to cover his body. Starcutter approached the figure whose back was turned to him. He then sank into a bow.
“Master.”
The figure turned and removed his hood, revealing the face of a blue goat with red eyes.
“So, they managed to defeat my first new monster?” Grogar asked.
“Yes,” Starcutter stated. “And it only took a few kids to do so. We guards are so pathetic.”
“Yes. Very pathetic, though you have some fight in you, I know. You will be useful to me.”
Grogar’s eyes glowed a brighter red as he looked into the captain’s eyes which also glowed.
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Unlike Starscream, I imagine Starcutter would be more competent and sound tougher.
Kinda reminds me of that joke in into the spider verse like noir lol
dang thats Even harder than hatching a dragon egg
Oh god the pain in my heart 💔😭
ohh yeah That's a pretty good call out And it always happened every single time 😑
Ok so luster Finally got in to the school With flying colors which she did an amazing job but unfortunately that Victory it came crashing down After hearing the news about the death of shining armor and princess cadence Now they just had to find the killer Which the young six ( Which also I've been always Intrested to those kids ever since Their introduction in season 8 ) did it and finally defeated the rhino Once again Another victory crushing down because the Royal guard at least some have been corrupted and grogar is now returned