Guardians of Harmony: Friendship is Magic

by Admiral Producer

Chapter 1: Enter Lightning Nightwing/Celestia’s Decision

Canterlot Castle.

The ruling House of the Celestial Dynasty. The monument of power in Canterlot City. The terror of the kingdom’s enemies. The shock and awe of tourists and citizens alike. The centerpiece of the Kingdom of Equestria. Inside its enormous halls, grandiose rooms, and regal carpeting sat two thrones, one yellow and one blue with the symbols of the Sun and Moon on each respectively. The blue throne had not seen use in over a thousand years. But on the yellow throne sat a tall white winged unicorn with an ethereal, flowing mane of blue, green, and pink. Known as an alicorn in Equestrian terminology, this figure bore a striking resemblance to the heroic elder sister of the Mare in the Moon legend, the only difference being that the elder sister had a straight pink mane while this alicorn’s mane was flowing freely.

This was Princess Celestia, the ruler of the Kingdom. She sat forlorn on her throne, checking policy after policy submitted to her by the Committee of Nobles. Most of them she vetoed as the Nobles clearly did not have the best interests of the common ponies at heart, and these policies if approved would only serve to benefit them solely and not the common citizens. She sighed deeply, putting the scrolls away just as the double doors opened and a grey unicorn stallion royal guard walked into the room.

Celestia looked up to see him.

“Your highness,” the royal guard spoke, “The prisoner is ready to talk.”

This got Celestia’s attention, “Is he now?”

“Yes,” The guard said, a hint of caution in his voice, “But beware, Princess. His time in solitude has driven him mad. Last night, we heard him mumbling in his sleep. He seemed to be…talking to someone.”

Celestia unfurled her wings and stood up in a show of defiance and power, walking over to the guard, “I care not what forbidden magic he and his kind and delved in. He will tell me…” she trailed off.

“Tell you what?”

Celestia faced him once more, a mixed look of sadness and built-in trauma present in her eyes, “…if the prophecy is indeed true or not.”
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Lightning Nightwing awoke from his vivid dream in a cold sweat, fear on every inch of his face. What had he just witnessed?! For a thousand years, he had been kept in the deepest, darkest layer of the Canterlot dungeons ever since the Great Celestial War, which saw the defeat of his mistress at the hooves of the Equestrian Army. After all these years, he just wanted to die.

But the tyrant would not allow it. No. A large golden bubble of magic surrounding his cell on all sides kept him alive and well, meant to sustain his life for as long as possible until he would finally break and be brainwashed to serve the Sun. No. He would not turn. He was too strong for that. He was loyal to his mistress to the very end. He thought he would never hear from her again.

But last night, everything changed.

He had dreamt that he was in a pitch black void and standing in front of him was a hologram of the Dark Alicorn herself.

“Lightning H. Nightwing…” the hologram had addressed him, “Signal my arrival.”

“Your what?!” Lightning had demanded, not daring to believe what he had just heard, “Tell me!!”

“The longest day of the thousandth year…” that was all the apparition could muster as the connection bad been cut short and she disappeared into a million tiny pieces of particles.

Lightning was still trying to figure out what his mistress had meant when there was the sound of hoofsteps and that wretch Princess Celestia herself came near the cell, an expression of no-nonsense plastered on her face.

Lightning smiled despite his confusion. He knew what game he was going to play this time.

“Tell me, batpony!!” Princess Celestia wasted no time in ordering him, “What about the prophecy?!”

Lightning shook his head slowly, “Ah, look at us. This is how it all caves in, civilization as we know it. But why would you believe me? I’m a thousand years old!” He barked laughter, “You’re just keeping me alive until you get an answer! You won’t get one, Sun-Butt!!”

Princess Celestia scowled. “You served the Dark forces. I will get an answer out of you, even if it means keeping you alive for 4 thousand more years. Tell me or I’ll have to make this difficult.”

“But…the bell’s already been rung,” Lightning told her, “And they’ve heard it. Out in the dark…among the stars…ding-dong, Harmony is dead.”

Enraged, Princess Celestia sent a blast of yellow magic headed his way, which he barely managed to dodge. It hit the wall, creating an imprint of the Sun in the spot where it landed.

Lightning turned back, but Celestia was gone, already heading up the stairs. He shouted, “AND THE BELL CANNOT BE UNRUNG!!! She’s hungry. She’s found us! And she’s coming! Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding…”
————————————————————————————————————————————
Princess Celestia made it back up the stairs to where the royal guard from earlier was waiting for her. Again, Lightning had told her nothing and only played his little tricks on her. But something he had said boggled her mind. The bell’s already been rung.

With a sinking feeling, she realized. The prophecy.

“So….what do we do now, Princess?” The royal guard asked her.

Gathering her composure, Princess Celestia took a deep breath and told him, “I have an assignment for Twilight Sparkle. Inform her family that she is going to be heading to Ponyville to make some friends.”

The royal guard was skeptical, “You really think a couple of little ponies can take down the Mare in the Moon?”

Princess Celestia nodded slowly, “They will. They have to…”

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Before I read this, I'd like to know what will make this story different from canon.

[ARandomLonelyDude]

I hate it when batponies are bad guys.

[Admiral Producer]

10953823
I’m glad you asked. Well first, it’s an expanded version, a somewhat darker retelling. The Mane Six’s individual motivations and character attributes will be fleshed out, the history of the Mare in the Moon will be explored further, and spoiler alert: some characters will die. The Elements of Harmony were discovered in a different way as per the prologue, and I want to showcase the Mane Six more as a team. That includes fighting the Nightmare forces in some action scenes I have planned out. Twilight will gradually grow into a leader by the end of this fic. Basically, the intention is to set up the world of the Equestrian Civil War series better, which is something I feel the original version of the stories failed at, not to mention me writing the sequel before the original back then. Those stories are now deleted and I’m going back to the beginning. Also, I want to use this fic to basically correct some stuff in the series premiere, because in my humble opinion, even though it’s a solid opener, it’s got some flaws in retrospect. This will ultimately be a hopefully better version and maybe even the definitive version if you end up liking it that much, who knows?

This story will be the first in a 5-story arc for now, unless you all want the characters to have solo stories later down the line, which I’ll be happy to write if you all request it. Hope y’all enjoy!

[Admiral Producer]

10953873
They’re not the bad guys actually. More like misunderstood anti-heroes, per se. They oppose Celestia for personal reasons and out of loyalty to Nightmare Moon, who basically created them in the Prologue. All they know is her. They really think they’re doing the right thing because that is what their mistress fed them. It’s what they’ve been trained for. To fear the Day, to defend the Night. Don’t worry. They’re not the real bad guys. That honor would be reserved to the Shadowbolts and the Nightmare Forces, who will be more of a sinister presence egging Nightmare Moon on kinda. Also, let’s not forget our eventual big bad: Grogar!

[Uh, perhaps I’ve spoiled too much]

[ARandomLonelyDude]

10953986
Good.

[Admiral Producer]

10954033
Yup, good. It’d be pretty terrible if they were the actual bad guys, lol, considering that eventually a batpony (my character OC Hawk Nightwing) will become the main character. Don’t worry. This story isn’t just your average black and white good vs evil-type story. There are heroes on both sides. Both sides believe they’re doing the right thing.