> Twilight of Iron : Act 1 > by BackroundVoice > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Act 1 : Scene 1: Glimmering Hope > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let me tell you a tale of a warrior and a strategist. This is the story of the famous Blacksmith, and once the proud leader of our country, Starlight Glimmer. And her relationship with her greatest comrade, and most trusted friend, Princess Twilight Sparkle, the hero of Equestria, the Twilight of Iron. Stories of these two have differed from teacher to student, but I intend to retell what really happened all those centuries ago. Beginning from when Starlight Glimmer and Twilight Sparkle first met, on a night, long lost to time. That night was dark for the young Starlight Glimmer. Fiends were on the prowl, and the only thing she could do was run. Fear leaked from her fragile soul. Tears of remorse and regret fell like rain from her cheeks as she galloped through the thicket of the Everfree Forest. Whimpering in silence, as to fulfill her mother's dying wish. "Don't scream..." She had told the child. The thought of dishonoring her family's memory by crying out loud was the last thing she wished to do. But such a task became harder and harder with each passing second. What would she do? Would she run for forever? Or give up once and for all, surrendering her life to death itself? None of these questions could she answer. But fate alone would decide her destiny, in due time. Trotting past four large trees, and counting them as she did, Starlight leaped right after the fourth and into a dip in the dirt path. Tumbling onto the gritty ground, Starlight bit her tongue to stop herself from shouting. The fall hurt, but breaking her mother's promise would be far more agonizing. Starlight scurried to her right, beneath the trunk of that fourth tree. Hiding here was where she had always been told to go in case she should need to leave Ponyville. Starlight huddled down in the snug cavity, praying to her ancestors for protection. She was imagining them hugging her, whispering words of comfort. But those thoughts became distant with the sound of samurai armor approaching and approaching fast. "Has the girl been found?" demanded one of the samurai. "Not yet, I was so sure she had fled this way," said another. All the while Starlight kept her eyes shut, mindfully praying to not be found. And then there was nothing, no sound or voices of danger were being made around her. Peeking out from behind the tree, Starlight could only see the night's moon shine on the clearing in front of her, and no one was in sight. Stepping out from her hiding spot, Starlight felt comfort that her ancestors really had protected her, and still were. But those thoughts were dashed away the moment she was pushed against the sharp grass. "Let me go!" she cried, and they did, tossing her against the hard bark of the tree she was just hiding under, the samurai surrounded her. "Found you, ya little brat!" one of the samurai said with joy. "And we thought we'd have to burn down the forest to find you," said the other. The very thought of burning the forest struck Starlight with hate. To think that these Ponies would even consider such a horrible thing. But then again, Starlight was only just beginning to understand, just how demonic the royal army had become these last few years. For just then, another group of samurai had come through the woods. "What is going on here!?" the leader of this group demanded. This samurai was a mare, her eyes seemed to resonate kindness when she saw Starlight, but when standing side by side with her captors, Starlight frowned in fear. "We found her captain, she was hiding under a tree," said one of the samurai, and the captain stepped forward to the child, smiling, but Starlight continued to frown, looking away from the captain's eyes. "Little girl, do you know why we are here?" the captain asked, but Starlight remained silent. The captain hissed under her breath, "Look at me," the captain told Starlight, but she wouldn't listen, "Look at me!" the captain ordered, pulling Starlight's head toward her. The force of the yank made Starlight wince in pain, but she bit her lip, forcing back the tears. "Good, now, I'm going to ask you a few questions... Okay?" the captain stated, Starlight nodded, and the captain let go of her head. "Very good, now, is your name Starlight Glimmer?" the captain asked, Starlight nodded. "And you're a member of the Starlight Clan, is that right?" again, another nod of the head. "Then you would know where the Yoso no Chowa is, right?" Starlight just stared at the captain, eyes glaring amidst gritting her teeth to hold back her tongue. "Come now," said the captain, "don't be so angry, when you tell us where it is, we'll take you back to your family..." that sentence only sent a wave of emotion through Starlight's body. Causing her to remember that flash of time when her family died to the blade of a samurai. Their bodies fell as flickering silhouettes behind her bedroom's paper shudder doors. Whilst fire surrounded her vision, of a samurai striking with a blood stained sword. "Kutabare!" Starlight cursed, spitting in the captain's face shortly after. "You brat!" the captain said on reaction, hitting Starlight across her face, and throwing her into the midst of the other four samurai, as all five of them began to stomp and kick dirt into her face. "How dare you speak to your elders that way!" they said, "You dishonor your ancestors with your pride!" I would never do such a thing! I would never dishonor them! Starlight thought because she couldn't speak, as the taste of blood and dirt filled her mouth. But the reminder of raising her voice to the captain made her feel worse than dirt. Wondering if she had just broken her mother's promise, and was being punished for it. The samurai continued to hit and hurt young Starlight until the captain backed them off. "Enough!" the captain shouted, halting the other samurai from hurting Starlight. Personally grabbing Starlight by the mane, the captain spoke into her ear, "Tell us where the Yoso no Chowa is Starlight... And we will bring you back to your family, would you like that?" But even with the thought of Starlight's smiling family engraved in her head, to see her loved ones one last time, she shook her head. Starlight knew better than any pony that they were dead, and she would never see them smile again. The captain threw Starlight's face into the dirt, angered that she was denied the Yoso no Chowa's location. But she didn't think too much of it, walking over to the very tree that had provided Starlight with protection, laid a large rock. Picking up the stone, the captain brought it over, and while lifting it high over Starlight's head with the help of her Pegasus wings she said, "Fine, then if you won't help us, we'll just have to destroy Ponyville until we find it." And in that moment, Starlight thought to cry out, praying one last time in the hopes that the Gods would hear her, and exact vengeance for her death and the death of her family. But as I've said before, fate alone, would decide her destiny. For lightning seemed to have struck the rock over Starlight's head, and a broken sword fell beside her with the rock. This sword was thrown, and the other samurai were scared, looking around in a panic until they laid eyes on the one responsible for saving the child. It was a lone mare, clad in black and gray robes, and a hat made of straw covering her face. She looked up at the samurai, eyes empty and cold, and even to Starlight, her expression showed the same level of emotion or lack there of. But unlike the captain's eyes, Starlight could tell that this stranger, was here to save her. "State your business, ronin!" the captain said, judging the mare by her lack of armor. But the stranger only drew another one of her many swords, levitating it close to her body, her horn glowing red. The other samurai stepped back out of fear, but the captain told one of the samurai, "Kill her!" The samurai flinched but built up the courage to charge sword swinging. Then the mare dodged, and her blade slipped through the armor, impaling the poor soul. The action was so quick, and so precise, that Starlight wondered if the samurai was truly dead, until the body fell to the ground, lifeless. This angered the captain, "Well don't just stand there! Avenge your comrade!" she said, and two more came charging in. The stranger sheathed her blade, waiting for their approach to strike. And opened it only to disarm one of them, with a fast whip of her blade. The stranger then continued to duel the other, cutting and slashing specifically to find an opening, only to attack at the hilt, breaking it, the weapon now useless to hold. The samurai darted away from the battle, and just when his comrade had found his sword, light left his eyes as he fell, with one clean cut across the chest. But as this fight drew to a close, Starlight noticed the shimmer of a blade under her chin, gleaming in the reflective moonlight. The stranger turned from her kill to see Starlight, as tears began to drip from her face. "Drop your weapons!" the captain said, drawing the blade closer to Starlight's neck. The stranger cringed under her hat. "Now!" the captain ordered, and the stranger did so, as the captain gestured to her last guard to kill the stranger. Drawing his katana, the samurai moved slowly towards the stranger. But as his blade was raised, the stranger tackled the samurai and scuffled for a grip of the sword. Eventually, the blade was out of both of their reach, and the stranger resorted to beating the samurai with her bare hooves. One blow after another and the captain could hardly watch with each punch causing blood to fly onto the grass. "Stop it!" the captain said, and the stranger stopped. She turned to the captain, leaving the wimping samurai to cower. "Did you stop when she cried?" the stranger asked, pointing to Starlight. "Did you stop after I took the first life? Or the second? No," the stranger continued to say, "You couldn't even stop when I crushed your comrades face into the ground. Are you going to stop now?" The captain feared the stranger and wished for no more misfortune to befall her tonight. She dropped the knife at Starlight's neck. "Now go back to your masters, and see if they will show you mercy," the stranger ordered, "But don't worry, the Empress loves cowards..." and with that said, the captain and her half dead ally fled the battle, quickly, and without a word. The stranger knew the captain would never kill the child, she could tell with one look that the captain had never killed in her life. She did, however, consider it a gamble to have tackled that samurai like that. If she had been wrong about the captain, the child's life would've been lost. But showing those fools how powerless they were, was exactly the message she wanted to deliver. Now alone, the stranger looked down at the filly, and without even a word said, Starlight was now clinging to the stranger. "Are you alright?" the stranger asked with surprised eyes. Starlight nodded, her nose brushing up against her savior's robes. The stranger held the child in turn with tenderness and care, true concern felt from this nameless hero. Starlight continued to tremble, holding her breath as to not cry out loud. "Child," the Stranger began, "It's alright, you may cry," but the young Starlight shook her head violently into the stranger's chest. "How come?" the stranger inquired. "B- Because-" Starlight manged to say, "I- I'd be dishonoring m- my mother's final wish!" keeping her voice as hushed as she could. The stranger held the child tighter. "You won't dishonor them young one. Your mother and father were wise and brave to stand against the samurai, it proved just how much they loved you. And it also explains why they told you to remain silent," the voice that spoke to Starlight was not one of a murderer, nor a demon. It was a friendly voice. "Cry young one. It is safe to cry now. You honor your ancestors by living tonight, cry..." And with her eyes overflowing with tears for friends and family long past into the afterlife, Starlight cried, gripping the stranger with all the strength she had. The stranger held the foal dearly, enjoying the sight of the wisps gathering around the filly. Every ancestor comforting the little soul for having the courage to live, to see where her fate would take her. "What," Starlight began, only beginning to dry her eyes of her tears, "What is your name, stranger?" The stranger looked down at the child, and as Starlight looked up, the stranger said... "Twilight... You may call me Twilight." And as the night grew old, the sun rose over the thick trees, morning born again. A Glimmering Hope could be seen as the next day began. Starlight Glimmer would not know if this would be her last day. And she wouldn't know. Not for many days, and nights to come. > Act 1 : Scene 2 : Starlight's Blade > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Waking from her slumber, Starlight rose from the soft grass she had slept on. A fire had just been extinguished and Twilight wasn't anywhere in sight. Looking around a little more, Starlight found two mounds of rocks, with large sticks at the head of each for the grave markers. Starlight recalled the night before and the battle that had occurred. A twig snapped from behind, calling Starlight to turn in fright. "You're awake," Twilight said, the child breathed easy. "You buried them?" Starlight asked. Twilight simply nodded. Cleaning up the campsite, Twilight covered up any sight of them being here. From their hoof prints to the burnt earth and ash riddled twigs. Now blanketed by brown dirt. Starlight noticed that she had a robe across her back legs. She then looked at Twilight, as she was wearing a set of purple armor, with edges of silver lining the rims of each plate of metal. Twilight's head was free from her hat that laid next to Starlight. Twilight's mane ran long down her neck and seemed to have been neglected for some time. Her bangs were cut unevenly but the strands of red inner woven into her dark blue hair added such beauty that Starlight could only compare it to her own mother or sister. "We should be moving," Twilight said. Reaching down to grab her robe. Starlight stood and lifted her hero's hat to her. Twilight thanked her with a smile as she levitated it with her magic, setting it atop her head, horn prodding from a hole made for it. "A real samurai..." Starlight whispered, praising Twilight. But her hero gave no sign of gratitude in regard to that statement. "Come along," Twilight said, starting off in the direction back to town. As Starlight began to follow, she turned back to the graves and continued to question the point of burying them. They were nothing more than thugs who wore samurai armor. Real samurai, never abused their standing. They were to be right, true. Something greater. Thoughts of the night before still lashed back at the young filly. Fire and death. "Hurry," Twilight said from a distance. Starlight snapped away from her thoughts and turned around. Twilight was nearly out of her sight. In a panic, Starlight hurried over, catching up and began to keep pace with her hero. Starlight found herself staring again at Twilight's mane. Her parents had told her that staring was not polite, but she couldn't help it. That colorful mane. Even though she compared it to her mother's, it nearly resembled her own hair. Hair that she didn't know where it came from. Twilight glanced down at the girl, catching her eyes in her own. "Yes?" Twilight asked. "Please, forgive me," Starlight began, shying away slightly, yet determined ask now that she had her attention. "I was only admiring your hair." "It's only hair," Twilight said, off-putting the mood. "Yes, but, where does it come from?" Starlight asked, and Twilight raised an eyebrow to the foal. Stupid, it comes from your head... Starlight thought. She turned away from Twilight, face red with embarrassment. But Twilight was curious. She examined the foal closer, noting the child's own hair as to the question she was asked, and came to an answer shortly after that. "You mean to ask, as to where someone is born with hair like ours?" Twilight fixed the question, making the young filly happy that she understood her. Twilight herself even smiled. Starlight only turned to her, waiting to hear the answer. But Twilight's smile faded at the only possible truth she had. "Azure manes," Twilight began. "Belong mostly to royalty." "Royalty?" Starlight gasped. How exciting! "However, it is also known that one must be claimed by that very same parent or else the birthright, and even your blood, will not matter. It means you were born from a noble and a possible serving girl in his household." That news dampened Starlight slightly, but the knowledge she had now of herself did still make her somewhat joyed to know. "But love is never something you are really born with," Twilight said. "It is found. Were you not loved?" "Dearly," Starlight answered without tears. Twilight found that rather strong of her to say so. "And you?" Starlight returned the question. "And me?" Twilight asked. "Have you found love?" "I did," Twilight hesitantly answered. "And what were they like to you? Your family?" Twilight stopped walking for a moment. Her gaze had shifted from Starlight and to the ground. "Twilight?" Starlight started. But Twilight's shaking head ended the conversation. She continued on without any word about family or loved ones. Starlight still followed, though she felt that she had angered Twilight. The silence between them broke when Twilight asked about directions. "Is your village far from here?" she asked. "Only a little more," Starlight said. Now the shrubbery was growing greener. Signs of pony farm work near. And just as they passed the last bit of the forest, both of them came upon the sight of a village in ruins from atop the hill. Smoke trailed from the nearby houses, almost blocking the view a battle still in progress. Starlight stepped forward, but Twilight's hoof stopped her. "What are you doing?" she asked. "That's my village!" "Have you noticed anything else?" Twilight whispered as she pointed at two samurai below them. And they, along with four more of them, were rummaging through a single home, while the rest of their army fought off what little resistance still held in the town. "I need to go!" Starlight struggled against her savior's grip, but Twilight held her back. "You'll be captured!" Twilight warned. "Why does the empire want you?" Starlight stopped her fussing to look back at Twilight, only to recall the other promise she made to her mother. "I can't tell you," Starlight said, bitting Twilight's hoof in order to gallop toward the house. Her house. "Wait!" Twilight shouted, but the foal was already halfway there. She charged after her, calling Starlight's name, alerting the samurai near them. One of them, another captain, reared her head, spotting the ronin galloping toward her direction. She drew her weapon as Starlight ran past and into the house. Twilight cursed, drawing one of her many blades as the lone samurai readied to fight. Their swords met, but Twilight's swing hit her opponent's blade to the ground, allowing her to just flip the cutting edge of her katana toward the samurai. And with one sweep upward, the samurai's neck had been cut open, and so she left her there to engage the next inside the building. "Starlight!" she called out, looking for the filly past colliding blades. The walls inside the house were crumbled into piles, burnt wood with lingering smoke messed with her focus as she continued to fight off incoming enemies. The samurai proved to be better trained than the last group, but as they grew in numbers around her, Twilight saw them relax as if they had her. What a foolish way of thinking. Without warning, Twilight drew two more blades with her magic. One was another full-length katana, the other being the broken one she kept from the night before. She forgot about that. And as three blades came swinging at her, Twilight managed to block two of them, as the third hit her back, cutting open her robe, but merely leaving a scratch in her purple armor underneath. Twilight's next action was to buck the samurai behind her back, and with one more push forward, she took one of her levitating blades in hoof and angled it past one of the other samurai's sword, sticking it through his armor, and pinning him to the wooden wall behind him. The other samurai yelled at Twilight for killing his comrade, which alerted her to duck just in time before the blade swept over her hat, cutting into the wall itself. The samurai was now stuck, trying to pull it free. Twilight picked up her other two blades, the full sword, and the broken one, and cut them both into the samurai's side. The samurai fell, leaving only the other left, who was then joined by the final two. "For the Empress!" one of them shouted, and they all charged her. Twilight lifted her swords as they all hit her katana. Breaking it, and they all stumbled through the charred wall. Twilight rolled to her hooves first, just in time to plunge one of her broken blades into a samurai's back neck. One of them returned to his stance and began to dual her, katana against dagger. Twilight managed to work around the samurai with and grabbed him by the neck. Causing him to drop his sword as her dagger touched his throat. "Surrounder or I will kill him!" she threatened. But the samurai charged anyway, running his blade through his ally to get to Twilight. And this time a piece of the blade broke off inside Twilight's armor. She cried out in pain but stilled herself as she dropped the dying pony and locked hooves with the last. The final samurai drew his kaiken. They both tried to force their own blades onto each other, until Twilight lost her standing, falling to her back, sword piece still in her side, with her enemy's dagger inching closer to her face. She had dropped her broken sword to prevent the dagger from reaching her. Both of them were putting every ounce of strength they had into this moment. Twilight was breathing heavy, she couldn't hold out much longer. And as the samurai grinned at his inevitable victory, a young voice cried out, as a sword rammed into the unsuspecting samurai's neck. Twilight fell back, relieved of the struggle, but didn't fail to take notice that little Starlight Glimmer, had saved her. She sat to examine her wound. An inch of that samurai's blade had jammed its way into her armor. "Greatest armor of all the empire indeed," Twilight grumbled. A comment for an old friend, who had made her that armor. She popped the blade out, causing her armor to retract and tighten around her wound. She would have to treat that properly later. But until then, that would have to do. Twilight's attention then turned to Starlight, who continued to stare at the dead body. "Starlight?" Twilight started. She was holding back her hoof carefully from her, unsure what damage had been done to her for killing a pony. "I..." Starlight began, but tears soon followed after. Twilight held back from comforting her. She needed to feel this alone, as Twilight has for countless deaths. Twilight looked back to the trail of blood that led to this room. Six ponies, lives devoted to their empress, snuffed out in a matter of minutes. And all because they crossed her path. This bloodshed could have been avoided, but the child charged in anyway. It was about time she knew why. "Starlight, why is the empire after you?" Twilight asked again, and as she began to retrieve her swords, Twilight noticed a grouping of three ponies just outside the shutters to the garden. A family. "I- I promised my mother I wouldn't tell," Starlight said. "That promise has cost the lives of nearly a dozen ponies. It would be best if you keep your mother's words from being stained any longer." Starlight straightened her back, a shock of guilt began to well up inside her as she turned to Twilight. Her eyes were red, and her thoughts returned to the family that protected her. But without any further words, Starlight walked over to the floorboards just behind Twilight. And with every panel lifted, Twilight began to see the reason for secrecy. "I am Starlight Glimmer. The last of a clan that named me that. I don't know where I came from, but it wasn't from here. And even though I know little why that is, I do know this..." Starlight trailed off as she lifted up six swords, chained at their hilts and sheaths. "These swords were with me when I was found. As far I have known, these were created with me. By some great artist with unsurpassed skill." "Are those-" "Yes," Starlight answered. "They are the Yoso no Chowa. The 'Elements Harmony'." Twilight stared at the weapons. A grouping of holy artifacts that once slew the god of chaos, and the Lunar Tyrant, Nightmare Moon. They were the only tools that could fix this world, save it. And, they were the only things forged that could kill the Empress. That which illuminates the heavens. Amaterasu. Celestia herself. "So now you know," Starlight finished. Looking up to her hero. But what she saw in Twilight's eyes was not kindness, nor was it of excitement. It was lust. A strong desire for power in a time of need. Twilight reached for the blades, to which Starlight pulled them away. A void had been cut between the mare and filly. And one that would not be easily bridged. "Give them to me," Twilight stated, extending her hoof out to the swords. But Starlight didn't know this pony anymore. She never knew her. But this moment ceased to be as loud horns sounded just outside. The empire's horns. Music that meant an execution was at hoof. The empire had finally taken the town. Both unicorns looked to one another in worry, and Twilight rushed to the streets, finding a crowd of villagers, corralled like sheep. > Act 1 : Scene 3 : Twilight's Might > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight dashed in between cover, getting closer as she and little Starlight neared the center of town. There were two dozen more samurai herding the townsponies back into a group by the edge of their swords. Most a collection of small foals and the women of the wounded stallions who now sat in front of them, with knives at their necks. Starlight had brought the blades she had shown Twilight, but her concern was with her people. Not the objects in her hooves. Twilight, however, could not take her eyes off the weapons. But her ears listened as Starlight watched. "By decry of the shining empress, Amaterasu, you are hereby tasked with the search of the Yoso no Chowa!" ordered a very familiar voice. Starlight looked closer, it was the captain who had chased her into the Everfree. Twilight noticed this as well and looked to the red armored coward and her troops. Her helmet had been removed for a moment, allowing them to see her gold and amber mane. Her eyes a lighter shade of orange, and her coat an even lighter green. "We don't know what you are talking about!" said a wounded stallion behind the captain. "Tell us what they are and-" He was quickly pushed to the ground with a knife pointed at the back of his head. A worried gasp from a mare in the crowd was heard and the captain turned to meet the struggling villager. "You needn't know what they are, only that the empress desires them. You and the rest of your people have been hiding enemies of the empire." The captain said. "I thought the empire had no enemies?" the witty pale stallion uttered. Which only led the captain to nod her head. The samurai then lifted the stallion up and began to beat him with no telling of stopping. The same weeping mare from before cried out for them to stop but was hit back by the captain herself as she approached. Starlight turned away. "Those who are uncooperative will be punished severely!" The captain continued, nodding again to the samurai, who then dropped the stallion to the ground. Weak and bleeding. Starlight looked back, seeing the stallion barely able to raise his head. "You have to save them!" She said to Twilight. Her voice almost loud enough for the samurai to hear. "Quiet, or they'll kill us too!" Twilight forced her hoof over Starlight's mouth. The young filly was shocked to see her savior act this way. Tears began to fall from her face again as she breathed heavily through her nose. Twilight let go slowly and was then shoved away by the six sacred swords Starlight still held. "Take them! You coward!" Starlight cried, taking one of Twilight's other katana from her back, galloping for the crowd. "Starlight!" Twilight reached out again, missing her grasp of Starlight's clothes. Twilight sat back, thinking on those words. Coward? Me? Twilight thought. But then she looked down at the blades that had been traded. She undid one of the chains, it was to the Chusei blade. Loyalty. And when she unsheathed it but a little, red light brightly burned from its shining metal. "With these, I will never be a coward again," she then said, looking ahead to little Starlight. "Leave them alone!" Starlight shouted to the captain as she lifted up her sword, held in magic. The captain backed away just in time before the blade came down on her. One would think that such an act of defiance would have angered the captain even more. But the mere sight of little Starlight reminded her of one thing. The Stranger. "Back away from her!" The captain ordered her troops. The fear they saw on her face made them all worry. They retreated, leaving the pale stallion and the others to crawl back and return to the townsfolk. Starlight lifted her katana again, pointing to the army of samurai. "Starlight?" the pale stallion said. Looking to the filly with swollen eyes. Starlight couldn't bring herself to spare a glance as she stared down the captain. Fear shook throughout her body, her katana rattled with the lack of concentration she was putting into levitating it. As it only grew worse as her spark of confidence burned to a halt. Now she was alone, and with no hero to save her. "Where is she?" the captain questioned. "Where is the Ronin?" Starlight then realized something even worse. She wasn't the reason the samurai were scared. It was the possibility that Twilight, the traveling Ronin was still close by. Starlight felt foolish for giving her the weapons she had been seeking. Now she wished that she had withheld them as a reward for saving the town. But now Twilight was long gone in her mind. Content with saving a lone filly, but not noble enough to risk life again for a hundred more. Starlight began to cry again. But this would be a terrible end to our story, as it had only just begun. Twilight walked out into the town square with six blades on her back. To anypony else, they would've appeared to be any old swords. But Starlight knew what she now wielded, and those blades were not the same ones that had saved her. They were the Yoso no Chowa, unbound now, and ready to be drawn. "Here," Twilight answered the captain, who stumbled back into the mass of samurai at her back. Twilight stood beside Starlight and took hold of her blade with her own magic. "Good job, but this is my fight now," she told Starlight, motioning her to step back. "Kill her!" the captain yelled, but the samurai did nothing save look at her. "Who is she?" they asked. But all the captain could do was whip her head back in anger. "She's an enemy to her highness!" She shouted, sweating. "Kill her or-" The captain's words were silenced as she saw a sword impale the samurai in front of her, this was followed by the cries of many more samurai as now arrows, littered about from the town siege were finding their marks at necks and in between eyes. She herself began to fly at the sight of chaos around her, until one of the arrows clipped her wings. She fell helplessly to the ground. Some samurai were able to see this attack coming and shielded themselves, but then the main attack began and Twilight charged with katana pointed at her foes. Twilight fired the last of her gathered arrows in magic and pelted the other samurai before cutting into one, taking his own sword before continuing the offensive. The entire town watched as this lone unicorn danced around the enemy with grace and exactness. Targeting the ones still surprised by her first attack, lessening their numbers with every minute. And as the samurai fell, the captain stood, drawing her own sword to face the Ronin. But the armor she wore and the weapon she held felt heavier than they had ever felt before. Her lips trembled at the sight of Twilight, thoughts of death raced through her mind, but she forced them out with a different one. She is just one mare! she thought. And suddenly a path was made clear to her, a path to slaying the Ronin. "Warriors to me!" she called, and four samurai away from the battling Ronin ran to her. "Surround the Ronin, and attack on my signal!" The other four responded and took positions around Twilight. As she was now finished fighting with another, Twilight glanced about and saw the last remaining five readied for attack. "Now!" the captain shouted, and they all charged. Twilight turned to the one that faced her, and struck with one sword, only to kill with the other in her magic. Two of the others reached Twilight first and swung, their blades had pinned down Twilight's hat, but not her body as she dodged them. Regaining her standing, Twilight lost focus with one of her blades as she brought the other closer to her body, before maneuvering herself around the captain's sword, cutting away at her hair. She then knocked the captain's blade aside with one hard stroke, as she then kicked the kicked the captain away. Only, one more replaced the captain before Twilight took her own blade in hoof and beheaded the samurai. The next that charged at her broke his blade with her's as they clashed. She then caught the broken end of her blade with her teeth, before slicing at his throat. And that is when the captain returned, tears falling from her face, she refused to let another comrade fall before she did. The captain swung high at Twilight's head, who dropped her broken weapon dodge the attacks until the most precis moment. She finally drew one of the six blades on her back, and broke the captain's blade. It shattered into pieces when the common metal touched the holy metal of the red blade of loyalty, Chusei. Then the captain fell back to the ground, with Chusei pointed at her neck. Twilight stared down at the captain and then to the only other remaining samurai standing scared of her. The captain was trapped in the Ronin's lifeless eyes, no emotion could be found in them. No pleasure of killing, no disgust for the eighteen dead by her hooves, no sadness, nor anger. Just the void of a soulless killer. "I am the chosen one to wield the Yoso no Chowa. For my heart is aligned with heaven, and my gaze..." Twilight started, drawing the remaining of the six swords, "Is guided towards the evil of this world." Each of the six holy weapons glowed a different color. Chusei, the crimson blade of Loyalty. Shinsetsu, the golden blade of kindness. Warai, the cobalt blade of Laughter. Kanyo, the violet blade of Charity. Shojiki, the silver blade of Honesty. And Yujo, the colorless blade of Magic. "Now return to the capital, and tell Amaterasu that her faithful student has returned." Twilight said. The captain then stood and dropped the hilt of her destroyed sword, and ran away from the town with her last samurai, toward the East Capital. And as they disappeared into the forest, cheers and rejoicings sounded from the gathering ponies of the town, overjoyed that they were once more free from the empire's wrath. All sang and praised Twilight. All but one. Starlight remained apart from the crowd, and watched Twilight with judging eyes. She didn't run, she saved us. She thought. Those words should have been a comfort to her, but all they did was confuse and pull at her heart. Twilight, her hero and guard chose to stay and defend Starlight's home. But to what end? Starlight turned her back to the ponies and walked back along the path to her home. As now that the Yoso no Chowa were in the hooves of it's chosen, what other reason did she have to be near them? Her family was still without graves to shelter them, and she didn't to see them rot any more than she already had. > Act 1 : Scene 4 : Truth of the Strong > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- That night ended with the burying of the dead, both friend and foe, and then began again with the celebration of the Ronin's victory. Twilight's victory. The rebuilding of the town would begin in the morning, but for the time, honors were to be paid to the dead and to those still living. Twilight sat away from the large bonfire built in the town square, resigning to simply watch as the townsponies did ceremonial dances to music, eating good food and enjoying a peaceful night for once. Twilight smiled. Recalling that these ponies could act as such thanks to her effort. But she did wonder, was it the Yoso no Chowa that granted her the fortune to defeat such odds? Or was it merely confidence that came with wielding all six blades? Giving rise to her already unmatched skill with the blade? Perhaps both, She thought. Thinking back to the legend of these very swords. That only the holy and just were allowed to wield them. She recalled it exactly as the fairy tale once said. Only, she was a filly when she did read it. The fantastical epic of the battles won alone by the swords in the hooves of the Empress Amaterasu. And to know that she were worthy to do the same gave her confidence and joy. "Good evening!" called a stallion. It was the white stallion from earlier. Accompanied by his wife who clung to his right hoof so tightly. She recalled that their names were Intricate Seams and Fleur De Lis. Intricate was obviously Equestrian, while his other half was just as well a foreigner by comparison. They reminded Twilight of another couple that smiled so happy, but to remember their faces would cast away the smile she had just gotten back. "I am well, how are you fairing?" Twilight asked in kind. "Well, very well," the mare answered for them both as they sat with her. "Thank you again for saving us." Twilight nodded in acknowledgement, but said nothing more on the subject. For a moment, Twilight sat in silence with them, waiting for either them to start conversation or leave. But Twilight found herself glancing at them, the bruises on their faces made Twilight's smile fade. Long ago, she would have asked herself if she could have prevented such pain if she were here sooner. But a voice from within said otherwise. Pointless thoughts make us falter, Twilight. The voice she heard say that was calm and mature. Causing her to cling to her damaged straw hat. She flipped the hat over, and ran her hoof over the red and yellow fabric inside it. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Intricate said suddenly. And Twilight neither nodded nor gestured otherwise, but turned to listen. "How did you learn to fight like that?" Intricate asked. To which Twilight paused for a moment too long, looking to the bonfire ahead of them. "I... Understand if you would rather not speak of it." Intricate polity said before bowing his head, Twilight shook her head. "It is no problem at all," Twilight stated. "It is just a matter of remembering how I did." The two townsponies remained quiet as Twilight thought, recalling the days she spent training with her master and fellow student. "I was taught along with one other, what it meant to take a life by the sword. And that if we were to do so, we should also accept that our fate would ultimately end by the sword. That was the first lesson my teacher taught me." The two listening were stunned quiet by that. They had heard of how the samurai were learned in the way of the five rings, but never thought of duty as a samurai to be a life bound to death. "It was somehow easy for me to learn how to kill, as well as to give up any hope of feeling." Twilight said as she turned to them. "I envy the lives you live, yet you ponies who go on without fighting is one of the very reasons I fight." A smile was shared between all three of them, but then Twilight noticed someone missing. "Where is Starlight Glimmer?" "I haven't seen for some time," Fleur stated. "She could still be out fetching firewood like the rest," Intricate said. "I'll go-" "No," Twilight interrupted. "I will find the little one, enjoy yourselves." She said this as she stood, keeping Intricate seated with Fleur, all while moving north, toward the Everfree. As Twilight left the celebration, she saw less and less ponies as she returned her hat to her head, and with magic, fastened her swords to her back. It was practically black at the edges of the town. This was where most of the damage had been done, and yet Twilight found her way well enough to Starlight's home, where a fire burned all on its own behind it. Twilight walked through the house with caution. And when she saw the missing bodies of the samurai she killed, Twilight grew more weary as she pressed forward. The idea of living corpses sprung to the forefront of her mind, and so drew a single sword, Yujo, ready to strike. She then continued to follow the light until she came to the back of the house. Where a long row of logs had been placed and set ablaze. The stench of burnt flesh made Twilight cover her mouth as she looked closer at the fire and saw a pony in there, crumbling to the heat and flame. Beside it were different pieces of samurai armor, five sets in total had been laid on the ground, and organized in rows of separate pieces. And just beside that, opposite to the fire, three graves had been dug with posts placed to mark them, and reefs of flowers made for the dead. Wood creaked behind her, and so she turned with her sword ready, but lowered it as she saw Starlight, returning with wood on her back. She was at first surprised to see Twilight here, but her expression grew sour as her eyes moved to the Yoso no Chowa. "Some were worried about you," Twilight told her. And Starlight moved along to add to the fire of the samurai. She didn't hear Twilight ask as to why she bothered to burn them, but the silence between them forced an answer out of her. "When I returned," Starlight started. "I felt sorry for these samurai were being overlooked with the others buried, but I did not want them to rest beside my family." Twilight listened silently. Starlight's back was to Twilight, trying to pretend that she wasn't there. But she remained, and they both watched and waited as the fire faded, leaving only embers for light. Starlight began to cry as she looked to her family, and glancing back to Twilight, felt ashamed that she still wept even after all this time. "Will you stay?" Twilight asked of Starlight. Who shrugged before turning to the armor and weapons beside her, thinking now of the Yoso no Chowa on Twilight's back. "Are any of your weapon's dull?" Starlight asked instead. Twilight drew Yujo again, and plucked a single blade of grass to test. And without any pressure, the grass split in two, the answer to Starlight's question. "I want to stay, if nothing more but for the ponies of this town, but..." She looked to the ashes of the samurai, and then to her family. "I don't know if I can... What will you do?" She asked in return. But Twilight did not answer. "Well..." Starlight started, disappointed. "Wherever you go, I'm sure that the Yoso no Chowa will protect you. They only harm those who are evil, after all. And I'm glad that they're in your hooves. I can trust you with them." Starlight finished, offering a weak smile, then bowed to Twilight before going back through the house to return to town. Twilight however, stayed behind, and watched Starlight until she left before turning to Yujo. She spun the glass like sword in the air and held it up to the moonlight. She then took the armor off from her left hoof before taking the sword in right, and began to the run its sharp blade along the inside of her hoof, only to pull away as soon as she felt pain. Dropping the sword, Twilight watched as her own blood began to seep out of her hoof and onto the grass. Anger followed, flooding her mind as she sheathed Yujo and threw it and its sisters to the ground with all her strength. "Why? Why!?" She yelled, furious that she was deemed evil by the blades. Tears then fell, and she touched her face as soon as she noticed. She felt disgusted with herself, to show emotion now after so many years. "Pointless thoughts make us falter, pointless thoughts make us falter, pointless... Pointless!" She cried. "It was pointless, Sunset! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Twilight bowed her head and shut her eyes to the black and red wisps gathering about her. And Twilight continued to weep and stutter this Sunset's name, as well as Sentry, Mia, Shining, and Cloud fumbled from her lips. No one heard her, save for little Starlight, who watched from the dark in the house. She wasn't certain that Twilight knew she was still there, but she chose to leave quietly all the same. On that night, Twilight witnessed Starlight's wounded soul. And Starlight bore witness to Twilight's as well. > Act 1 : Scene 5 : Promise of the Empress > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Being marched through the high palace wasn't always so frightening. But when faced with reporting failure to their beloved ruler in person, changed that. The captain and her only remaining samurai were guided by the palace guard. They looked as if the armor they wore moved like skin. Not a single opening for movement, or cracks to get under, and large ruby bows hung from their backs. The captain looked around her, seeing only royalty and foreigners, chatting and discussing of business over seas. All of which the captain wished to not associate with. As she didn't take to strangers all too well. Her fellow samurai couldn't seem to keep a level head. He constantly looked over his shoulder, scared an assassin would come up and kill him for dishonoring the royal empire, and muttered some old family saying of himself. The captain, clearly was the only one calmly sweating at the thought of dying by the Empress' blade. And when they finally came to their destination, the two royal guards moved up to open the double wide doors leading into the throne room. Breathing deeply, the captain and the samurai stepped in reluctantly. Now in the center of the throne room, both of them gazed up to the goddess perched atop her golden throne. Her mane burned red, and her eyes glowed a beautiful blue. This pale coated ruler smiled on her subjects, and the captain and her comrade bowed to her. "State your name, rank, and business!" Empress Celestia said in a brave tone. The captain cleared her throat, suddenly it had gone dry. "Out with it," the Empress demanded, looking to the right side of the room and out the window, just to see what was out there. "Lightning Dust, your Highness. 5th Captain of the Cloudsdale royal battalion," Lightning Dust finally stated. "And your business?" the Empress asked. And just when Lightning was about to speak, the other samurai spoke up first. "We were attacked!" the samurai said, "Ambushed by a rouge samurai! We didn't stand a chance!" Silence filled the throne room as the Empress' attention turned to the samurai. All who were in the room, from the humble servant to the noble royal guard, looked to this loud and panicked Pegasus. "A Ronin?" the Empress peered at the samurai, "You were defeated, and chased away, by a single Ronin?" she asked, stepping down from her throne, and standing before him. The Empress was not amused. Lightning Dust remained still as a servant approached the Empress on her left. Holding out a weapon still sheathed. "S- She didn't show any mercy," the samurai said, "Killing two dozen of our comrades, and leaving me with these scares..." "Oh, You poor thing." the Empress said, touching his bruised and battered face; before pulling her blade and holding up to him. “Redeem yourself...” She then said, waiting for him to draw his short sword. Lightning watched quietly as he knelt to honor his ruler. But just as he readied himself, stripping off his armor and positioning his blade, concentrating to gain the strength to commit Seppuku, the Empress raised her blade, and the royal guards each knocked back an arrow aiming for him. But Lightning was too late to protest before the samurai had lifted his blade, only to die by the Empress and her guard, sullying his pride and loyalty. Lightning Dust, looked back to the ground, wondering why, and why she wasn’t ordered to do the same. "Pity," the Empress said, "Its always the coward who stains the carpet red. You may leave Lightning Dust, I have learned all that I need to know." Lightning stood, her helmet being taken away by the servants, who smiled as if no murder had occurred here. It's not like Lightning hadn't heard of rumors like this, that the Empress executes judgement on failed allies, but to witness it was completely different. She had seen so much death in just the last two days alone, and now the last of her friends were dead, and at the hoof of the Empress. Lightning Dust's mind flowed endlessly of denial that she serves such a ruler, who takes life on a whim. Still stunned, Lightning Dust walked to the door, and as she left, she turned back to her ruler, curious, and asked the question, "She said you love cowards, That Ronin... Is it true?" The Empress Celestia was puzzled as to why she would ask that, and then her eyes opened as if remembering something and she chuckled, laughing at the thought. "Yes," the Empress answered, "And as for the Ronin, she is nothing more than a deranged fool, once my pupil, but is now nothing more than a shadow cast behind me." "So then, how did that shadow form?" Lightning Dust asked, and the Empress looked to her with a gentle smile. "Continue to ask questions like that, Lightning. And you will be just as studious as my last pupil. That, I will promise you, and I hope to will leave this palace soon, before you become cowardly like he was." the Empress said, gesturing to the samurai being dragged out of the room. That sentence alone cut Lightning Dust to the core. That attack to the mind almost made her draw her sword. But now is not the time, she thought. And she left the room, eyes connected with Celestia's until the doors closed behind her. And then she ran, leaving the palace, as ordered. Humiliating to say the least, but hatred is a double edged sword that can only be tamed in the most humble of circumstances. And while the now former captain left, Celestia watched over her kingdom, bathed in the glorious sunlight of her rule. "I wonder," Celestia thought out loud, "What animals will the children see in the sky today? Will it be a horse, or a rabbit?" she giggled with her hoof over her mouth, but continued to gaze on at the children in the courtyards. "For I saw a Dragon, my sister a Tiger." She said, now alone in her throne room, peering over at a grand tapestry, depicting a white moonlit tiger falling to a brilliant crimson dragon. "My lover saw a Demon..." she said again, glancing only for a moment at the cracked crystal spear on the wall, "And both my pupils; they saw Dragons as well." The Empress now moved her horn in a counter clockwise motion, and in that moment, she had vanished and reappeared in her sleeping quarters, gazing at a library of letters, one half labeled Sunset and the other half, Twilight. "The war will begin soon, I should say my good-byes my faithful student, before I regret it." and with a red and gold robe flung over her shoulders by golden magic, she whipped her horn clockwise, appearing at the front of the palace. "Ready the chariot, I must find my pupil!" she said in the imperial voice, gazing up at the sky, not a cloud in sight.