What Choice Do I Have?

by chaos2012

Onward

The bright sun hung above the great city of Canterlot. Or what was great just the day before.

Multiple Buildings in the Main Street were broken apart and charred from the powerful fires that struck them last night. Windows were shattered across the faces, the broken glass at least had been cleaned by the royal guards walking through the streets. The warriors in golden armor all had a look of defeat on their faces despite not being involved in a fight themselves. The reason for their down demeanor was the fact that the one who caused this destruction was a pony they had known for years. One they always saw as a friend and warm hearted soul.

Twilight Sparkle.

Many of the guards became recruits back when she still lived in the castle as a student to their princess. She was the younger sister to their former captain, and never once was angry at anything more than herself for missing a study lesson. But what bothered them just as much as that was the change in their princess herself. Word quickly spread amongst the ranks of what happened inside the castle halls; how Celestia was set in her mind on killing Twilight that very instant, but then was an emotional wreck and since then had disappeared within the castle. Her absence now was the reason they were stuck on clean up duty, grunting as they looked over their shoulder to the force at the city gate.

Over three dozens lunar guards were standing at attention next to the exit of Canterlot. Their dark blue armor reflected against the sunlight, making the already bright light even stronger for the guards nocturnal eyes. The bat ponies all squinted to try and see in the midday brightness, not something they were normally used to, but they didn't complain. They had orders to follow and they would do them... no matter what they were, or what the mission was. That was the major difference between the day and night guards; many times when some missions pushed the boundaries that many other guards wouldn't do, the lunar guards would be used to finish them off.

Walking down in front of the lines of bat ponies, the captain eyed down the ranks to make sure they were all in their correct positions. His bright yellow irises focused intently at every soldier he had, checking for their weapon placement along with the position of their hooves. The extremely strict order amongst the lunar guards gave them the stronger drive to complete an assigned mission or to defend against any threat. And while they did know of Twilight Sparkle, they lacked any personal bond with her, which gave them an advantage if it came to having to take her down.

As the lunar captain came back towards the center of the group, he looked over his shoulder and saw Princess Luna walking their direction, her body also clad in her dark armor. Snapping his hooves together, he locked his body in stance and gave a salute.

"Your highness, we are ready to leave now. All my top guards are set." He said in his usual stoic military tone.

Luna gave a nod of approval to her captain, but her eyes gave off a different emotion. Glancing across the lines of stallions in front of her, the princesses face was a mixture of determination for preparation of the mission she wanted. The other emotion however was one that even the captain, one who was never the best with reading others, was one that he didn't expect to see.

Pain.

The pain he saw wasn't one that came from an injury or physical action. It was the kind that one gets from a place deep inside their own heart. A conflicting set of feelings that are battling with each other, each one trying to overtake the other. There was something that was bothering the princess, and he wanted to know what it was.

Trotting forward, the captain stopped in front of the princess and gave one more salute to her. To his surprise, she didn't even notice his presence, her eyes simply gazing off in thought. Giving a slight cough, the captain stepped slightly closer. "Excuse me? Your highness... Is everything alright?"

Hearing her title called again, Luna blinked several times to clear her thoughts. "Y-yes, I'm fine. Thank you."

Raising his eyebrow, the bat stallion sat back on his haunches, still keeping his posture straight "I don't mean to ask anything personal, but you seem to have something bothering you."

Before she answered, Luna looked back towards the platoon of soldiers standing in their ranks. Despite her original plan she laid out, Luna was now at an internal battle within her own heart. Instead of trying to hide her new decision, she knew it was best to just come out straight with it.

"Actually captain, there is something I wish to say now. I have made a change to my original plan."

"A change, princess?" Her captain questioned, "what do you want us to do now?"

"I want you all to remain here in Canterlot. I will go after Twilight myself."

The bat captains eyes shot open in surprise to hearing that. "What? But princess, you wanted all of us to join you so that we can assist in the takedown of Twilight and-

"I have made my decision, and am certain in what I want. I am going to face her alone and need you to be here for the city. Keep the perimeter protected and secure." Luna paused as she glanced back at the sword that laid strapped to her backside. Taking a deep breath, she turned back towards the pony standing before her. "I need you all to stay here in case I cannot finish what I have to."

The captain felt his mouth drop open in shock to what she just told him. "What... What do you mean?"

"If I fail, I need you to get everypony out of the city and away from this place." Moving past him and the rest of the guards, Luna looked out to the distance that was the kingdom she ruled, one she wanted to keep intact. "Wish me luck, captain."

With her final words, Luna walked past the battalion of soldiers and edited the walls of the city. Reaching the large cobblestone path on the other side of the bridge, she came to a stop and shut her eyes in focus. Her head was spinning like a top from everything that was conflicting inside of her.

Turning back around once more, Luna stared at the sword of shadows that she carried with her. The she encased the handle of the blade with her magic and slid it out once more to reveal a few inches of the black blade. Even with such a small amount of it revealed, Luna could feel the cold aura slithering out from within the sheath. 'What could Starswirl have used to make such a powerful weapon?' She asked herself as she slid it back in. She then moved the sword up, revealing a small pouch that she kept tucked in with her armor. This in fact carried the true item that she wished to use instead of the sword.

Opening the pocket, she stared at the blue cloth that was bunched up together, a single golden bell sticking up through the tight bundle. Luna took another deep breath before closing it up and turning back to the land ahead of her. "If I can get through to her with this, perhaps I really can save her."

---

From inside the palace, the pair of Pegasi guards stared out the window down to the courtyard far below them. They knew princess Luna was planning on leaving along with her own squadron of soldiers, but they were surprised to see that she had now left on her own now.

"That's quite strange, isn't it?" The one on the left asked.

"I know. Princess Luna seemed like she was set on going after Twilight with her own soldiers. Why is she going herself now?" The other responded.

"She's probably going to gain all the glory herself." The first one scoffed as he turned away and trotted down the hallway. "She is always the one between the two that is ready for fighting."

"Is princess Celestia any different at this moment?"

The words of his companion made the first guard stop in his tracks. Both of them had heard what the other guards said about Celestia when she tried killing Twilight in an instant. They hadn't even heard of a reason from the princess even when Twilight had been captured and locked in the dungeons beneath the castle. And despite the fact Twilight had broken out of the cell she was in and disappeared, the princess still refused to explain the full situation. Only to the element bearers was the entire truth revealed, just before Celestia had vanished from all eyes in the castle.

Now, the guards of the day were scattered across the castle with only minimal information on a major situation. Twilight Sparkle, a pony both of the guards grew up around was suddenly considered a threat to the capital. A filly they watched happily study down these very halls suddenly turned and was set on destroying everything, just didn't sit well inside their minds. What made things worse was now they were the personal guards stationed outside of the rooms of the element bearers to keep an eye on them from leaving the castle for "protecting the remaining elements" reasoning. And being sworn as guards, they had to follow orders.

Although some orders were harder to follow.

Walking down to the end of the hallway, the pair of guards came to the final door on their left. Quickly glancing around to make sure they were alone, they gave several knocks to the door. Opening up revealed Rarity standing at the doorway.

"Is it clear now?" She asked them.

"It is, but you have to go now if you are still going." One of the two said as he moved out of the way for her. "We can only keep this a secret for so long."

"well, I certainly appreciate this from a fine stallion as yourself." Rarity happily said, giving a quick wink before stepping out of the room. "Come on girls, let's get going."

Following her out came Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and finally Twilight Velvet. The group of mares all crowded into the hallway as they turned back to the two guards.

"Thank you for this." Velvet quietly whispered to the stallions.

"Yeah! I'll make sure I send you both an entire cart of cupcakes after we get back!" Pinkie Pie happily chirped.

"Don't worry about thanks, just go and get Twilight back." One of the two guards responded. "I know she would never have done something like this herself. To find out what happened."

Applejack prepared to walk down the hall to their path before she stopped and turned back towards them. "Y'all know they are gonna find out ya let us simply go. Won't that be bad for ya?"

Both guards gave a slight chuckle. "Well, ponies have to go the bathroom. It just so happened we both had to go at the same time that you escaped in that time. But even if they do find out, it doesn't matter. We want the truth from what's going on, and the princesses aren't giving it. If any ponies can get to Twilight, it would be you girls."

Applejack couldn't help but give a warm smile to his words. "Ah promise we will do everything we can to save her. Thank ya once again."

"Don't worry about it. Just remember, the third door to the right down that hallway will lead to the back of the castle. Go through that and you will come out behind the southern gardens. They are unguarded at the moment, but won't be for long. It's now or never. Go."

Nodding, Applejack and the others quickly took off down the long hall towards the door they were instructed to. Opening it up, they came to a narrow corridor winding downwards what they were told was the back end of the castle. Fluttershy swallowed the lump in her throat at the sight of the mysterious path. "Wh-what's down that way?"

Before anypony could respond, Twilight Velvet quickly trotted down the hall ahead of them. "Miss Velvet?" Rarity called out.

Turning around to them, Velvet gave a look of determination that caused even Pinkie Pie to step back. "My daughter is that way, and that is enough for me."

As she walked onward, Rarity looked back to her friends with a raised eyebrow. "I must say, she is entirely different than she was this morning."

"Of course she would be, crazy! She found out those mean guards are going after Twilight." Pinkie grunted, surprisingly more angry than she talks normally. "Wouldn't you be upset if something like that happened to your family?"

Rarity flattened her ears against her head and looked towards the ground. "I... That is true. I would do anything to help my parents or Sweetie belle."

"Yeah, especially with this new doozy I had today. It was a really big one, maybe bigger than the last one! with all these crazy doozies all of the sudden, we really have to go to the rescue. Remember, we always help those in need."

"Ah agree. Now that ah know Twilight is in trouble with those guards and Luna going after her, ah ain't gonna sit by any more." Applejack sternly stated as she glared down the hallway. "Why in the hay did Rainbow and Spike take off on their own? Why didn't they come tell us that they were really leaving?"

"Well... Maybe it was because we didn't want to last night." Fluttershy meekly answered.

"Fluttershy, it's not like ah didn't want to help her; it's just that ah was so confused with everythin' happenin' so fast ah didn't know what to think. If ah knew they really were leavin' this mornin' ah would have gone with them. Now with knowin' Luna is after her ah am fer sure goin' now."

Rarity gave a quick nod of approval. "Well I certainly agree with your enthusiasm darling, but I have a big question. How in the world are we supposed to find Rainbow and Spike, or Twilight for that matter?"

"It don't matter. We are gonna go look fer them and we are gonna find them." Applejack took a deep breath and made her way after the now vanished unicorn. "If Rainbow and Spike are on their own, ah guarantee we can do it as well. Besides, ah bet we can do it if those two can work together."

Author's Note:

yes... not too much action. but I needed to show what the others are doing now. And while short, was due to my time and schedule. already have another chapter near completion and hopefully released monday

Comments

[NebulaNyx]

This is one of those storys where you really cant tell if its going to be a happy ending or not.
Some people may want to brace themselves, just in case.

[CommanderX5]

The she encased the handle of the blade with her magic and slid it out once more to reveal a few inches of the black blade.

You mean, "Then she encased" ?

"well, I certainly appreciate this from a fine stallion as yourself." Rarity happily said, giving a quick wink before stepping out of the room. "Come on girls, let's get going."

"well" should be capitalized.
Also, you use term "castle" quite often in previous scene, just noticed it.

You should ask proof-reader or editor to check your chapter and fix some mistakes, just advice.

[Thardoc]

3807796 The silly posted it before I could get to it, I should get to it soon and edits will be snuck in I'm sure.

[Alondro]

3228127 Maybe these dark fic writers are Star Wars prequel fans?

[Conqueror777]

An update Also, I noticed you removed the flashback chapter. Did my comment have anything to do with you removing that chapter? If it did, I'm so sorry.

[chaos2012]

3810071 no no, don't worry. I actually am going to completely separate the flashbacks into its own unique story. I will notify everyone when it's ready

[Votederpycausemufins]

Walking down in front of the lines of bat ponies,

it's spelled thestrals
based on: http://youtu.be/CclzM_Be0Qg?t=1m45s

[Midnight Crimson]

Fantastic chapter love the detail in it all ^^ keep it up.