> The Thunder Twist Chronicle
>  by distortedtruth92
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Pendulous Fall
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Thunder Twist Chronicle

It’s been about ten years since the Mane 6 of Ponyville, as they’ve come to be called round these parts, defeated Chrysalis and her Changeling army. Since then there has been nothing but peace in Equestria. Since then the ponies Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash have gone their separate ways, but they get together twice each year to celebrate their friendship. Twilight Sparkle became the personal assistant of Princess Celestia, where she learns new and powerful magic, and the Princess has even started teaching Twilight how to raise the sun in the morning. Rarity was finally able to move to Canterlot where she is able to mingle with the upper class and get them to truly appreciate her ensembles. She even ended up marrying Fancy Pants. Fluttershy somewhat came over her fear of the unknown and moved into the Everfree Forest. Right next to Zecora, of course. She is now living there in a new cottage and taming the animals of the forest. Applejack took over completely at Sweet Apple Acres after Granny Smith died of old age, and they ain’t never seen better sales. After five years the Cakes moved to Manehattan to start another branch of Sugarcube Corner, and they left Pinkie Pie in charge of the Ponyville branch. 
Rainbow Dash was finally able to join the Wonderbolts after two years. She traveled with them for about a year before they fully recognized her talent and made her captain. It was on one of these tours that she met my Pa, an earth pony named Bright Sunset. I know, kinda girly name right. I swear everypony thought he swung the other way until he joined up with Ma. He had a dark red coat with a perfectly groomed orange mane. Just by looking at him you could never tell he was an Appaloosan. He and Ma hit it off immediately when he came to get her autograph, and he tagged along the rest of the tour. He and Ma got married as soon as they returned to Canterlot, with Princess Celestia presiding over the service. That’s where I come in.
Eleven months later I was born. Ma wasn’t sure if I’d be a Pegasus or an earth pony due to my heritage, but when I came out with wings she was overjoyed. Pa was too. He was glad I wouldn’t have to be grounded like him my whole life. They decided to name me Thunder Twist.  However, when I was five and just learning to fly, Pa was stricken by a rare pony disease that took him from us within the week. Ma was so put out by it she couldn’t even fly for a year, so she sent me to pre-flight school in Cloudsdale.
I’m now a seven year old pony fresh of my first year at Cloudsdale, and I’m returning home to see Ma. I’ve missed her so much. But when I land in Canterlot the first pony I see is Shining Silver, Rarity’s and Fancy Pants’ daughter. She the most beautiful filly in all of Canterlot, not that im one to judge seein’ as I’m only seven. But still, wow!
“Hey Silver,” I call out, “What you up to?”
She turns to me and her eyes light up. “Oh, Twisty!” she exclaims, “I’m so happy to see you. It’s been, like, ages!”
“C’mon Sil it’s only been nine months,” I say nonchalantly.
“But it’s felt like an eternity,” she replies in her sweet high pitched voice.
I change the subject hoping she won’t see the adoration in my eyes. “So what are you doing out here in the town square?”
“Oh, I’m here to pick up some new fabric that Momma wants so she can make me a new dress for the Youth’s Ball tomorrow. That reminds me, you’ll be wanting to go also won’t you. I’ll see if I can get Momma to make you a nice suit, and we can go to the ball together.”
I blush, turning my crimson cheeks an even darker shade of red. “No, no you don’t have to d-“
“Nonsense!” she interrupts me, “I bet she’ll be happy to do it. But listen to me ramble on. You probably want to see your mother don’t you?”
“Yeah,” I reply coming back to Equestria. “How’s she doin?”
“Well, she’s not 100% yet but she’s flying now. Miss Sparkle and Momma have been to see her every day. Would you like me to walk with you to your house?”
I brighten up at these words, “Yes, please. That would be greatly appreciated.”
When we get to my house I hear clanking in the kitchen that means mom is preparing dinner. “Thank you, Sil, I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too, Twisty,” she says as she give me a hug.
I walk into my house and immediately smell roasted asparagus, my favorite.
“Twilight? Rarity is that you?” I hear my Ma’s wonderful voice coming from the kitchen.
“No, Ma, it’s me. I’m home!” I call out to her as I set my bags by the front door.
“Thunder?” she walks out of the kitchen and spots me. She gallops over to me and gives a big hug and smothers me with motherly kisses. “Oh, how I’ve missed you, squirt, and holy hay, you’ve grown.”
“I’ve missed you, too, Ma,” I say as a hug her back. “Is that asparagus I smell cooking?”
“Yep. Your favorite if I remember correctly.”
“Oh, it is, it is, it is,” I say clapping my hooves together.
“Well then, set up the table and we’ll dig in…”

Three years have passed since that night, and since then I’ve been directly under Ma’s tutelage. I’ve become a great flyer but I still can’t break the sound barrier like Ma can. She took back over as captain as the Wonderbolts a week after I came back, and since then I’ve gone to every show and even performed a little.
We were about to perform in Ponyville, Ma’s home town when she came up to me.
“Hey, squirt, I got a question for ya,” she says brightly. “How would you like to dive with me later on when I do my Sonic Rainboom?”
“Oh, would I?” I squeal with delight. “That would be the best thing ever.”
“I’m glad. Now go put on you uniform. We’re going on last but you need to get warmed up.”
“Yes, Ma.” I’m already at the changing room door.
The crowd is cheering wildly when Ma and I enter the stadium.
“Ready, squirt? We’ll do a few laps and then start the climb.”
“Got it, Ma.”
We take off to the thunderous cheers of the thousands of ponies. We do four laps around the stadium then start our ascent. As we climb a bird hits Ma’s right wing. She doesn’t even break stride as we climb.
As we reach one thousand feet above the ground Ma looks at me with a gleam in her eye, “Ready, sport?”
“Let’s do it, Ma!”
She pulls down her goggles and I do the same. “Just remember to fly through the loop,” and with that she took off with be right after her.
Ma looked wonderful speeding like that. We’re at five hundred feet, two-fifty, one hundred. She's about to pull it off. Why doesn’t she do it. She’s getting close to the ground. That’s when I notice it. Her right wing is missing a few feathers. That bird must have done it. Ma keeps going. You can’t really pull out of a Sonic Rainboom when you’re surrounded on three sides by the sound barrier. All I can do is watch in horror.
At five feet she does it, but it’s too late. She hits the ground immediately, and I can hear the crunch of her bones even over the wind and the crowd. I speed up trying to get to her before it’s too late, but I know she’s gone. I speed up more and land with a thud next to her broken body.
“Ma?” I nudge her with my hoof. “Ma, please get up. This isn’t funny,” but I know it’s not a joke. Her eyes are glassed over, and she’s not breathing.
“No nononononononono. This can’t be happening. You were laughing with me a minute ago. Please, Ma, don’t go. I need you.” I’m vaguely aware of other ponies surrounding me.
I start breathing fast. Then I can’t breathe at all. The last thing I hear is somepony screaming, probably me. Then all I see is black…

End Of Chapter One

> Farewell
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The first thing I notice is something wrapped around the back of my head and covering my nose and mouth. There is also something similar to the feel of my goggles over my eyes. Then I remember. The show! I sit up quick as lighting and look around. I see that all the colors are muted due to the tinted goggles over my eyes. I also see that I am in a huge tree. The door to the room is closed, but I can hear some commotion goin’ on down stairs. I get out of bed and notice the weird contraption over my snout. I go to take it off, but as soon as my nose and mouth are open to the air I can’t breathe. I immediately slam the contraption back down on my face and feel the great relief of oxygen in my lungs. I want to take the goggles off, but I’m afraid something bad will happen like with the breathingmajig. I go over to the door and open it.
I see six ponies stand in the middle of room. Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Shining Silver. All have worried expressions on their faces, but when I close the door behind me, Twilight looks up.
“Oh,” she says, “You’re awake.”
“Yeah,” I respond, “Where am I?”
“We are in the library of Ponyville, my old home.”
“How long ago did it happen?” I ask, looking at the ground.
“Three days,” Twilight answers sadly. “You’ve been here ever since.”
“What are these weird things on my face?”
“Ah, yes,” she replies. “The mask was needed after your hyperventilation damaged you capability to intake air. It shoots oxygen directly into your lungs. You’ll probably have to wear it the rest of your life. On the bright side you can now breathe underwater.” She forces a chuckle. I’m not amused.
“And the goggles?” I ask.
“Well, due to lack of oxygen to your brain, your eyes were damaged causing them to be harmfully sensitive to light. After a year you may take them off when you sleep, but, like the mask, you will need them forever.” She says the last while turning her gaze from me.
Shining Silver walks up to me. We’ve become the best of friends since I returned to Canterlot three years ago. “I’m really sorry, Twisty,” she says. “I know this must be hard for you, but if you ever need anything I am here for you.”
“Thank you, Sil,” I reply, giving her a hug. I break off the hug and look at the other ponies in the room. “Has the funeral happened yet?”
Rarity speaks up, “No, darling. We were waiting for you to wake up. All the preparations have been made and we’ll be ready to start as soon as you are, dear.”
“Thank you, but I have one request.”
“What is it, dearie?”
“Can she be cremated, please? I want to keep her ashes with me.”
“Of course,” Twilight answers. “We’ll do it tonight, and the ceremony will be tomorrow.”
“Thank you, everypony,” I say. “I think I’ll go for a walk now.” I start toward the door.
Outside, walking around Ponyville, I quickly get lost in my own thoughts. I start thinking about Ma. She was the best mother anypony could ever ask for. Better yet, she was the best friend all ponies dream of. The last hour of her life was one of the best of mine, and then it all came crashing down.
I find that my feet have taken me to the bridge leading out of Ponyville. I look over the side and stare at my reflection. I see my normal red coat and my orange and red mane. The mask I have looks really weird, like one of those gas masks I’ve heard about in stories. It even was made to match my mane in color. The goggles have orange rims, but the tint is so black that I can no longer see my yellow eyes. As I’m watching the water, my eyes start to tear up, and my reflection turns to that of Ma. I begin to cry in earnest, racking with heavy sobs.
I don’t know how long I was there but when I finally calm down, it’s full dark outside. I get up and slowly make my way to the library. When I get there I notice that Ma’s ashes are in a small urn on the table in the middle of the room. I grab the urn and make my way up stairs to my room. Seeing as the urn is the only thing I’ll need to take, that is the only thing I put in my bag. I lay the bag next to my bed and solemnly crawl in. I’m out in ten seconds flat.
I wake up to a knocking on my door.
“Hey, Twisty,” I hear Sil calling. “The ceremony starts in one hour, so I thought I should come see if you’re awake.”
“I am now,” I reply groggily. “I’ll see you at the ceremony.’
“OK, see ya then.” I hear her walk down the stairs and out the door.
I get up and go take a shower, getting four days of stink off me. After I’m presentable, I go downstairs, find some paper, ink and a quill, and go back up stairs. I sit down at the desk, dip the quill and begin to write.
Dear Sil, I have left due to the circumstances, and I don’t know when I’ll be back, if ever. I want you to know that I love you. I always have, I always will. Please take care of yourself and please remember me. Forever yours, Thunder Twist.
I put the quill down, fold the paper in half then write her name on it, Shining Silver. I grab my bag, and I take the note down to the table in the main room. I notice that the funeral is about to start, so I head out. Instead of going toward the center of town, however, I walk to the edge, avoiding anypony I see.
“Ma, we’re going to see the world together,” I say as I spread my wings…

> Expedition
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Three
The credit for White Cloud and Lightning Dash goes to ajfsrd22. Thank you for letting me use these concepts.
I leap into the sky and speed to south before anypony has a chance to see me. It’s only about nine o’ clock, so I have plenty of time to fly. I just couldn’t be around those ponies right now. I need to be alone with Ma.
I feel the worst about leaving Sil though. She was my best friend, and, if we had more time to grow up together, I think we could have evolved that relationship. I didn’t really know the others that well except for Mrs. Rarity, and she was always busy making dresses or suits.
Believe it or not, this contraption on my face makes it easier to breathe while flying so my endurance is much higher than it used to be. I’m able to fly for hours on end without taking a break. However, a pony still needs sustenance, so after flying for six hours straight, I land in a meadow to get some flowers.
After eating I take off again. I fly all through the night and all of the next day, too, stopping only for food, water, and the bathroom. During the evening of my second day of flying, I see a lone house in the clouds. I thought I was far removed from civilization, but then why is this house here. I make up my mind to see if anyone is home and if they might have a spare bed, ‘cause I gotta tell ya, I’m spent.
I fly up to the door and am about to knock when the door flies open. An old mare is standing in front of me with a basket hanging from her mouth. She has a royal blue coat, with a short curly yellow mane. She has a cutie mark of just a plain white, fluffy cloud. Her magenta eyes open wide in shock to see the pony with his whole face covered with weird devices.
I am the first to recover, “Excuse me, ma’am, but I have been travelling a very long distance in a very short while. I was wondering if you might have a spare room I can bunk down in for the night. I will leave in the morning.”
She looks me over, “Fine, then. Make yourself at home. I was just about to go out and grab some plants for dinner. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
“Thank you, Miss…Mrs… Ms…”
“It’s Ms. White Cloud, but you may call me White Cloud.”
“Thank you, White Cloud.”
“No problem, sonny.” With that she walks out the door.
I go over to the couch and sit down. I notice pictures on the table and I take a look. The first photo I look at is one of a racing Pegasus. He has a white coat with and electric blue mane. The photo is even signed. To my loving wife, White Cloud, and my beautiful daughter, Rainbow Dash. Love, Husband and Daddy, Lightning Dash.
I read that last word over and over again trying to make sense of it. Ma never told me about her mother or father. I thought it was a sore subject so I never brought it up. To think that my grampa was a racing Pegasus. But why would my grandmother be living out here, away from civilization?
The next photo I see makes me break down and cry. It’s a picture of that same Pegasus, Lightning Dash, my grandfather holding a baby cyan filly with a rainbow mane. Seeing my Ma like this just puts me over the edge. I start heaving with uncontrollable sobs. I’m so wrapped up in my own misery that I don’t hear the front door open and close as White Cloud walks in.
“Hey, there, sonny,” she says consolingly as she sits down next to me and wraps a foreleg around my shoulders. “It’s going to be alright.”
“No,” I shudder through the tears, “it… won’t… She’s n-never coming back. I-I m-miss her so m-much, but she’s never coming b-back.”
“Who’s never coming back, dearie?”
“My… My Ma. She crashed during a performance, and… and she never got up.” I can’t bring myself to tell her that it was also her daughter who had died. I don’t want her to feel that pain, too.
“Oh, dearie, I’m here for you. You can stay as long as you like. Let’s have some dinner then get to bed. Just let me roast the asparagus then we can hit the hay.”
“O-Ok,” I reply, trying to regain my composure.
When the food is ready, we sit down to the table and eat. The asparagus is almost as good as Ma’s. I mention this, saying that Ma made it especially for me ‘cause it was my favorite.
“It was my, daughter’s favorite, too. She always begged me to make it. I felt so bad, but after her father died, I couldn’t take care of her anymore. I really do hope my little Dashie is doing OK.”
I know that now I have to tell her. “White Cloud, I have to tell you. Your daughter is not doing fine. She died six days ago.”
She looks at me in astonishment for a second. Her eyes then turn to tears as she starts crying. “How… How do you know?”
“I was there. She let me perform with her during a Wonderbolts show, and she crashed into the ground after doing a Sonic Rainboom. She was dead on impact. I’m sorry… Gramma.”
“Gramma?” she says, astounded. “Wait so you’re… you’re Dashie’s son?” I nod. “Well, in that case, would you want to live with me? It would be nice having you around. I can teach you and make you a great flyer like your mother and my husband. Oh, listen to me! I haven’t even asked you your name yet.”
“It’s Thunder Twist, and I would be happy to live with you.”
I crawl up to my new room in my new house and lie on the bed thinking. I am oddly happy now. I feel content. Like this is where I need to be. The strain of the past few days finally overcomes me, and I fall asleep with a smile on my face…

> Edge of Paradise
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Four

Guys I wanna apologize for the space in between these last posts. I’ve had some serious writers block, and I didn’t know which direction to take the story. I also want to make this the best story possible so please be patient with me

I wake up then next morning wondering where I am. Now I remember. I met my grandmother last night. I’m somewhere on the edge of the map, where weather Pegasus only come around twice a year. Oh yeah, and she’s going to train me. I get up off the bed and head downstairs, where Gramma is already making breakfast.
“Morning, sonny,” she says cheerfully. “Did you sleep well?”
“I did actually,” I reply with a yawn. “Oh, wait, I forgot something upstairs.” I run up the stairs, open the door to my room, and open my bag. I grab the urn that Ma is in and head back downstairs. I walk past the kitchen to the living room and place Ma’s ashes on the table next to her baby picture. I then went back into the kitchen where Gramma had set out some breakfast muffins.
“So, Twist, what did you rush off in a hurry to do?”
“I went to get Ma’s ashes and put them on the table in the living room. Oh, hot hot. Mmm blueberry.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize you had her ashes. Well, thank you for putting them there.”
“Sure thing, Gramma. What are we going to be learning today?”
“Well, I want to see how well of a flyer you are at this moment, so we’ll be doing agility and speed and endurance tests today. Based on that, I’ll decide what I have to teach you.”
“Sounds good,” I say as I finish my fifth muffin. “When do we start?”
“As soon as you’re ready.”
I stand up from the table. “Then let’s get started!”
The rest of the day is spent with me flying hoops, fly as fast as I can and flying for hours at a time. All in all, a dull day. However, there is one moment worth mentioning.
It was during my speed drills, and I thought I’m gonna hit my limit this time. I sped off in the direction toward Gramma. When I was about100 feet from her, I hit some heavy resistance.
“I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna do it.”
However, I stopped all of a sudden. “Ah, horse apples,” and I got flung back. Luckily I kept my bearings well enough to stop myself before I got hurt.
“Well, that was close, sonny,” Gramma said when I got back to her. “But don’t beat yourself up over it. Only one pony has ever broken the sound barrier, and that was your mom.”
“I know,” I replied. I felt happy I had come so close to it. With a little bit more training I could do it.
We stayed out for about another hour. Now I’m sitting at the kitchen table while Gramma prepares dinner. We eat, making small talk the whole while, nothing that important. I head up to my room afterword and pass out on my bed.
That’s how my days go for the next year. Wake up, eat, train, eat, and sleep. Gramma is a good coach. I’m getting better at flying, but not faster, I can’t break the sound barrier yet. I keep trying, getting a little bit further each time, but I have to take a break from speed training for a week after each failed attempt. That first year shows marginal improvement. During the second year, however, I start making great strides. 
It’s during one of the down times after a failed breach that I’m working on my agility, flying in a tight circle. I pick up the speed, pushing myself to my limit. I feel hot all of a sudden, and I look down. I have orange and red flames coming from my forehooves. I don’t panic because I feel no heat, and I keep spinning. This feeling is so exhilarating. I’ve created a flaming tornado reaching all the way to the ground. Sudden inspiration hits me, and I shoot straight up into the air like a sling shot. As I crest the top of the twister, I hear a loud boom behind me. I look back and see a large ring of fire spreading out above the tornado, along with flames tailing me from my tail and hooves.
“Yes, sweet Celestia, I did it!” I soar back to the house where Gramma is waiting for me. “Did you see me, Gramma? Huh? Huh? Did you see? I broke the sound barrier. It was so awesome!”
“Yeah I saw, sonny. It was different from your mom’s, so we’re going to have to name it something else. Hmmmm, how about… the Flare Bomb. How’s that sound to you.”
“That sounds amazing,” I exclaim.
“Whoa, what do we have here?” She leans forward to examine my flank. I follow her gaze to the new mark on my flank. I see two lightning bolts, seemingly on fire, intertwined around each other.
“Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Best. Day. EVER!!!!!”
I walk into the living room after a celebratory dinner of roasted asparagus, and I grab Ma’s ashes and take them to my room.
“Ma,” I say to the urn that holds her. “I did it today. I broke the sound barrier. I call it the Flare Bomb. Did you see? Did I make you proud? I miss you, Ma. I wish you were here to see me.” I gently set the urn down next to my bed and fall asleep, my dreams filled with fly with the famous Rainbow Dash, my Ma.

> Parting Visions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5
I wake up the next morning, sore as hay, but I feel wonderful. I had such great dreams with Ma. She told me she loved me and that she was always watching me. I love her so much.
I get out of my bed and start to stretch my wings to get the soreness out. After I’m feeling loose, I smell more blueberry muffins wafting from the kitchen. You know, to most ponies, blueberry muffins might get old after eating them every morning for almost two years running, but I love, love, love them. I grab Ma’s urn then head downstairs. I take her back to her spot next to her baby picture then head into the kitchen to prepare the table for breakfast.
“How’re you feeling this morning, sonny?” Gramma asks me as I enter.
“I’m feeling wonderful. I haven’t had a night’s sleep that great since before Ma passed.” I’m almost bouncing with joy.
“I haven’t seen you this happy since you came here. What did you do last night?”
“Well,” I reply enthusiastically, “Ma came to me in a dream last night. She told me that she was watching me, and she was proud of me. Oh, and she also said she loved me.”
“That’s wonderful, Twist. I’m really happy for you. Think you can do another Flare Bomb today.
“Not today, Gramma. I’m still pretty sore even though I stretched.”
“That’s fine I didn’t expect you to be able to do it twice in quick succession. We’ll do our normal routine then. How ‘bout it?”
“Sounds great…”

I’ve been training with Gramma now for five years now. Not meaning to brag but I am now an amazing flyer. I can now perform two Flare Bombs a day, and I only need a day’s rest before I can do it again. However, that is not all I can do. Not at all. It’s just the coolest. It’s about 20 per cent cooler than any other move I have. The training, though, is going to have to come to an end.
“Gramma?” I ask as I enter the kitchen for breakfast.
“Yes, dear?” She looks up from mixing the muffin batter to look at me.
“Um… well, I was thinking… um… that I should end my training.” I look down at the floor. “You see, when I left Ponyville, I promised Ma that we would see the world together.”
“I see,” she looks crestfallen. “I can’t say I’m happy to see you leave, but I’m proud of you. I think you’re making the right choice. Everypony has to leave home at some point.”
“You mean you’re not mad at me?” I look up at her.
“Of course not, sweetie,” she has tears in her eye, though. We’ll eat then you can leave. I’ll even make extra so you can take some with you.”
“Oh, thank you so much, Gramma.”
We eat in silence, wanting to save our good byes until the very end. When we are done eating Gramma tells me to go get ready. First, however, I go to the cupboard and grab an empty jar. I then head to the living room and grab Ma’s urn. I take a few of the ashes and put them gently in the jar. I replace the lid on the urn and put the jar on the table. I turn around and see Gramma watching me with tears in her eyes.
“Thank you so much, Twist. You don’t know how much that means to me.”
With a smile to her, I walk up stairs with Ma. I put her in my bag then put the bag over my back. When I walk back down stairs, Gramma is waiting for me. I walk up to her and give her a huge hug.
“I love you, Gramma,” I say, trying to hold back tears.
“I love you, too, squirt.” I feel the wetness of her cheeks on my neck. She holds me at leg length.  “I’m going to miss you. Stay safe and keep in touch.”
“Sure thing, Gramma.” And with that I take off. Not looking back for fear that I will fly back and never leave.
I’ve been flying around Equestria for nearly two years now, training all the while. Every month I stop at a village or town to send a letter to Gramma. I always told her not to write me back because I was always on the move.
I was flying over one of these villages when I saw another Pegasus flying toward me. He had a dark green coat with the same color mane, except his mane had bright yellow shot through it like lightning. He wore two earrings in both ears and wore dark sunglasses on his eyes. His cutie mark was two six sided dice. He looked to be on a full on charge so I hid behind a cloud to let him pass. 
The green Pegasus stopped next to me. “Hey, what’re you doin’?”
“Um…um,” is all I can get out. I haven’t talked to anypony in two years. I just give the mail mares an envelope with an address then take off again.
“What? Can’t you talk?”
“Y-yes, I can talk. I’m just not used to it.”
“Why not?”
“I-I haven’t talked to anypony for two years.” Something about him just makes it easy to talk to. But I can’t stay. I’ll send my letter at the next village. “Sorry, I have to go.”
“Where to?”
“I don’t know,” I reply, shaking my head. “Just not here.”
“Hey, come on. We should hang out.”
I turn to face him. Is he implying what I think he’s implying? Does he want to be my friend? “What would you suggest we do?”
“Well for starters, we can introduce ourselves. I’m Gambit.” He holds out his hoof.
I reach mine out, also. “I’m Thunder Twist.”
“Wait, wait. You’re Thunder Twist. Oh, wow, this just got strange.”
“What? How?” I ask
“Well it’s just that Shining Silver talks about you a lot, even though you’ve been missing for seven years. Everypony thinks you’re dead.”
“WHAT! Did Sil not get my note? Wait. How do you know her?
“Sil? Wow, I’ve never heard anyone call her that. I don’t know if she got your note I just met her two years ago. We’ve been friends since.” Seeing my body tense with anger he says, “Just friends, buddy calm down.”
“OK. OK, I’m calm.”
“That’s the ticket. Now do you wanna hang. I’ve gotta bust these clouds then head to Cloudsdale to get my pay. After that, wanna come home to Canterlot with me?”
It’s not until he says those last words that I realize how much I miss the place. “Sure I’ll come.”
“Great! Lemme just finish up here.” I sit and wait about a minute for him to finish up. When he’s done he flies up to me. “Ok let’s go.” And we take off toward Cloudsdale.
As we are flying towards Cloudsdale we talk about different things, small talk mostly. I ask him who his parents are and he replies that it’s Vinyl Scratch and Octavia. They adopted him when he was two years old. I listen to his story avidly, genuinely interested in this new stallion.
“What about you?” He asks. “What have you been doing these last seven years?”
“Well, the first five I spent living with Gramma. She taught me how to fly well and let me help around the house. It was fun. These last two years I’ve been travelling around the world, though.”
“Ah, I see. So I’m the only pony other than your grandmother that you’ve talked to in seven years?”
“Yep.”
After that we lapse into a friendly silence. After a while, he challenges me to a trick contest. I am more than willing to oblige. We both start off with simple tricks. As we progress, the tricks get harder and harder. After an hour, we are pretty much tied.
“OK,” he says. “Time to play my trump card.” He proceeds to spiral into a nosedive with his wings pinned to his back. When he is ten feet from the ground, he pulls out of the dive, and, with a powerful flap of his wings, he starts climbing again, still spiraling and now doing back flips. “Ha! Beat that,” He yells with a triumphant grin.
“OK. I will. You might want to get back about a mile if you don’t want to get hit with it.”
“Ha! OK. If you say so.” And he takes off.
I start spinning slowly in tight circles. Then I speed up, making the circles wider. After about a minute, the flames start appearing. After another minute the tornado starts to appear. Then, when I feel I’m going fast enough, I angle upward, let the twister propel me even faster out of the mouth. I hear the boom right as I clear the mouth. I don’t even have to look back. I just fly right to Gambit, whose mouth is open in awe.
“Holy hay, dude. That was awesome. Well I guess I lose.” He gives me a good natured shove. “Let’s get going.” And, just like that we’re off again.
We get to Cloudsdale without a hitch, and Gambit picks up his pay. We start, flying toward Canterlot.
When we can see it, Gambit turns to me, “Do you want to walk or fly in?”
“I’d like to fly right to Mrs. Rarity’s house if that’s OK.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Let’s surprise her, though. You hide while I knock on the door.”
I smile, even though he can’t see it. “That sounds fun.”
We land right outside Mrs. Rarity’s house and I go hide around the corner as Gambit knocks.
“Shining Silver,” I hear Mrs. Rarity call from inside. “Can you be a dear and get the door for me please.”
“Sure thing, Momma.” Oh, her voice sounds amazing to my ears.
I hear the door open and Gambit speaking. “Hey, Shining Silver. What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing. Just helping Momma around the shop. Did you need something?”
“Nah, I just wanted to give you a surprise.”
Taking my cue, I step from around the corner into Sil’s line of vision. “Hey Sil.”
She’s more beautiful than I could ever have imagined. Her coat is the same ivory as her mother’s. Her mane and tail are a dark pink, and her cutie mark is a spool of baby blue thread. Her eyes change from shock, to disbelief, to utter joy in one second. “TWISTY,” I hear as I am simultaneously tackled to the ground. “Where have you been? I’ve missed you so much.” She then kisses me on both cheeks and the forehead. 
“I’ll leave you two to it then,” Gambit says with a chuckle.
“Thank you, Gambit,” I say. “I’ll get a hold of you later.”
“Sounds good,”  he walks away.	
“Oh, Twisty,” Sil says. “Come inside, Momma would love to see you. MOMMA, LOOK WHO CAME HOME.”
“Who is it dear?” she spots me. “Oh my.” She promptly faints.
When Mrs. Rarity comes to, she is on the couch. Sil and I are sitting on the floor, watching her.
Oh, good heavens, that wasn’t a dream,” she says with a weak chuckle.
“How’re you Mrs. Rari-.”
I’m cut off by a knock at the door.
Sil stands up. “I’ll get it.”
“Is the stallion Thunder Twist here?”
I walk into the main hallway and see two of the royal guard standing outside the door. “I’m Thunder Twist. How may I help y’all?”
“We are under the orders of Princess Celestia to take you to her immediately. So if you would, please, come with us…”

> King's Eyes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6
Sil looks at the guards. “But he just got here. You can’t take him away yet. You just can’t!” I see tears start glistening in her eyes.
I look at the guards, then to Sil. “It’s OK, Sil, I’ll be fine, I swear.” I give her a quick hug. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.” I head out the door with the two royal guards.
“Uh, guys,” I say as we start walking. “Would you mind if we flew to the castle. I’m still not really used to crowds.”
The two guards look at each other, nod, and take off. I sigh to myself, “I guess that’s a yes.” I take off after them.
We fly for about a minute before landing in front of the giant, golden doors leading into the throne room. Carved into the doors is the flag of Equestria. The two Unicorn guards next to the doors open them with magic. My two escorts usher me in while staying outside. The doors close behind me, and I look up at the raised dais.
On it are three ponies. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Twilight Sparkle. The last of these seems to be the only one who is pleased to see me. I walk up to the first step of the dais and bow as low as I can.
“Princesses,” I say to the ground. “Miss Sparkle.”
“Rise, Thunder Twist.” Princess Celestia’s voice is not the kind tone she usually assumes when talking to her subjects. This voice sends a chill right down to my very bones. I stand, looking at her with fear. 
She continues, “The way you flew off seven years ago was both childish and stupid. The childish part I could understand, as you were still a child, but the stupidity! Did you not know that everypony would help you with your grief? Did you not know that the mares who had known your mother for the longest would want to help her son? I thought that once you earned your cutie mark five years ago, you would return, but I was wrong you did not return. I do not know why, but now I believe that we deserve and explanation.”
“O-OK,” I stutter, “but first can I ask you how you knew I was here.”
“A stallion named Gambit came to me and told me how he had found you. He explained your trip with him in great detail, but that is not why you are here. I would hear your story.”
“Very well, Your Highness.” I begin explaining to the three about my travels. All three are quite throughout. The only disturbance is when Twilight gasps at my recollection of the Flare Bomb. When I finish speaking, all four of us are quiet for what seems like an eternity.
Finally, Princess Celestia speaks up, her voice back to normal now, “I figured that was you who made that flaming tornado. I guess that’s when you got your cutie mark?” I nod. “Ah, I see. Would it surprise you if I told you that Shining Silver and Gambit got their cutie marks at the same time?” When I start, she chuckles, “I guess that’s a yes. Well Thunder, I think I speak for everypony when I say that we are happy to have you back.”
“Thank you, Princess,” I bow again.
“I have a request for you. It would honor me greatly if you, Shining Silver, and Gambit would like to serve directly under my sister. I know that you three have a special connection, and all three of you are extremely powerful. Princess Luna actually suggested this to me, and, now that I have heard of your skill, I can’t agree more. So, what do you say?”
I’m speechless. I can’t believe that Princess Luna wants me to be part of her personal guard. Finally, I find my voice. I bow, “I can’t speak for the others, but I would be honored to assume this position.”
Princess Luna claps her hooves like a giddy school filly. “Wonderful. Just wonderful. We will have the ceremony the day after tomorrow.”
I can’t help but smile at her outburst. I know she can’t see it but I still look at her while smiling.
Princess Celestia looks at me, “You are dismissed, Thunder Twist.”
With that, I turn around and walk out, a spring in my step. 

sorry for the short chapter guys, this just felt like a good spot to leave it
	

> Love You To Death
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Seven
“WHAT?” Sil shouted. “Princess Luna wants us to be her personal guard?”
“Yeah,” I shouted back, happily. “And Gambit, too! Can you believe it?”
After I had left the throne room, I had immediately taken off and flew around Canterlot whooping with pure joy. After ten minutes of doing loops in the skies above Canterlot, I landed in front of Mrs. Rarity’s house. I walked in and told Sil the wonderful news.
“What is all the shouting about?” Mrs. Rarity says as she walks into the living room. “Oh, you’re back, Thunder Twist. What did the princess want?”
“Momma, Momma, Princess Luna wants us to be her personal guards!”
“WHAT? She wants you two?”
“And Gambit.”
“Wow! This is a great honor for all three of you. Does Gambit know?
“No, ma’am,” I speak up. “I came here right afterward.”
“Well then, you better go tell him.” As we turn to leave she stops us. “Oh, and Thunder Twist?”
I turn to face her. “Yes, ma’am?”
“First, I would prefer it if you would just call me Rarity. Second, since you are back in Canterlot, would you like to stay here since you do not have a place to live?”
“Oh, thank you Mrs.- I mean Rarity. That would be wonderful.”
Sil jumps up. “Oh thank you, Momma.” She runs over and gives me a huge hug. “This is great.”
Rarity clears her throat. “Shouldn’t you two be headed toward Gambit’s house?”
Sil looks up. “Oh, right. C’mon Twisty, let’s go.” She grabs my hoof and drags me out the door.
The streets of Canterlot are crowded with tons of ponies. As we leave Rarity’s house, I try to slink along behind Sil.
“You OK, Twisty?” Sil asks with a touch of worry in her voice.
“Y-yeah,” I reply shakily. “I-I’m just not used to being around so many other ponies. Especially when they’re all looking at me funny.”
“Don’t worry about it, Twisty. I’m here with you. When they get used to seeing you with that mask on, the staring will stop.”
“R-really?”
“Of course. And anyway, if anypony tries to make fun of you, I’ll kick his ass.”
“Sil!” I shout out astonished. “I never expected to hear a swear word come out of your mouth.”
She gives me a sly wink. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Twisty. Seven years will do that. However, even a millennium could not change my feelings for you.”
I look over at her. “Oh yeah? And what, exactly, are those feelings.”
She blushes a deep crimson. Sweet Celestia, she is beautiful. She says one word. That one word is all that needs to be said. “Love.”
My heart melts. I stop and just stare at her. She turns around and looks at me, worry in her eyes. I’m finally able to speak up. “I love you, too, Sil. I always have. I left you a note before I left. I don’t know if you got it.”
“I got it,” She looks down at her hooves. “I’m ashamed to admit that it took that letter for me to realize that I felt the same way about you. I was so upset after that I didn’t leave the house for a month.” She starts to tear up. 
I walk up to her before she can start crying in earnest. I wrap my foreleg around her and hold her tight. “It’s OK, Sil. I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere.” I feel her warm tears on my shoulder, and squeeze her even more tightly. I whisper in her ear, “I love you, Sil.”
“I love you, too, Twisty.” She stands back and wipes the tears from her eyes. “Now let’s get to Gambit’s house.”
“Right, let’s go.”
We continue walking, for ten minutes. Sil wants to show me how Canterlot has changed since I left. We first see the new Canterlot branch of Sugar Cube Corner. The Cakes handed the whole franchise over to Pinkie Pie, and she now runs the whole chain out of Canterlot. We see her in the window and wave as we walk past.
Next, Sil takes me to the market where all the vendors are selling different varieties of items. We even see Apple Jack with her sister Apple Bloom selling baked goods from Sweet Apple Acres. We stop and Sil hands over two bit for apple fritters she uses her magic to hold mine in front of me while I undo the strap of my mask. Then, she delicately puts it in my mouth, so I can put my mask back down and resume chewing. She then puts hers in her mouth.
We finally make it to Gambit’s house. I go up to the door and knock on it. A white Unicorn with sunglasses and an electric blue mane opens it.
“Hiya,” Vinyl Scratch says casually. “Can I help you two?”
“Uh…” I reply.
Sil steps in to save the day. “Yes, please. We were wondering if Gambit was home.”
“He sure is. C’mon in and make yourselves comfortable. I’ll go get him.” She calls into the house, “Octy, can you get Gambit’s friends, here, some refreshments?”
“Sure thing, darling.” We hear a sweet singsong voice coming from the kitchen. Shortly after, a brown mare walks in balancing two glasses of water on her nose.
“Thank you, Mrs. Octavia,” Sil and I say in unison.
“No problem.”
“They’re right in here, litlun,” we hear Vinyl’s voice coming from the hallway.
“Mom,” we hear Gambit saying in a whining voice. “I’ve told you to please not call me that in front of my friends.”
Vinyl is laughing as she enters the living room with Gambit in tow. Gambit’s jaw drops when he sees us. “What are you two doing here?”
Sil speaks up before I can. “We have great news, Gambit. Princess Luna wants us to be her personal guard!”
Gambit looks from Sil to me, as if asking me if this is true. I nod. His look goes from one of amusement to one of extreme shock. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“It’s no joke, Gambit,” I say seriously. “Princess Luna told me herself.”
After a minute of silence, Vinyl is the one to break it. “That’s great, sonny. A personal guard for the princess.”
“I can’t believe it,” Gambit says wondrously. “This is so AWESOME!!!” he runs up and grabs Sil and me in a big group hug. He breaks the hug. When do we take up our duties?”
I answer, “The ceremony is being held the day after tomorrow. I assume we will start right after that.”
“Sweet. I can’t wait. Do you two wanna stay for dinner?”
“Sorry, Gambit,” Sil replies. She sounds sorry, too. “Momma is expecting us back at the house for dinner.”
“That’s cool. Well, I’ll see y’all tomorrow then.” And with that we walk out the door, and we can hear his shouts all the way to the end of the street.
We quickly make our way back to Rarity’s house, where she is steaming up some carrots and broccoli. As we enter she looks up. “So, how’d it go?”
“Great!” Sil yells. “He was really excited.”
“That’s good. I was able to get a message to your father. He’s coming back in town tomorrow, so he can see the ceremony.”
“Poppa is coming home?” Rarity nods. “YES! THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!!”
After dinner, Sil and I walk up to our rooms, which are right next to each other.
“Good night, Twisty,” Sil says to me.
“Good night, beautiful.”
She blushes, then leans in quickly to give me a peck on the cheek. My heart melts again. She then rushes into her room and closes the door. Smiling to myself, I walk into my room, and I see that Rarity must have brought up my bag earlier.
I go over to it and pull out Ma’s urn. “Were ya watching me, Ma? I’m going to be Princess Luna’s personal guard. I’m going to make you proud.” I rub the urn against my cheek, then set it on the bedside table. I lie down and drift off into a wonderful sleep filled with a cyan Pegasus and an ivory Unicorn.
	

> If Tomorrow Came
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Eight
I wake up the next morning to Rarity tapping gently on my door.
“Thunder Twist?” She calls. “Thunder Twist, wake up, please. There is somepony here to see you.”
“Who is it?” I call out in a half dazed state.
“It’s Shining Armor, dearie.”
I am immediately fully awake. Shining Armor, the captain of the royal guard, is here to see me! What could he possibly want?
“OK,” I call out. “Gimme a sec.” I get out of bed, try to make myself as presentable as possible, and head downstairs.
Shining Armor is standing in the living room, talking to Rarity.
“-a will teach her personally to be skilled in advanced magic.” Seeing me he turns his full attention to me. “Ah, you must be Thunder Twist. My name is Shining Armor. I am captain of the royal guard. My sister, Twilight has informed me that you are to become one of Princess Luna’s personal. She has asked me to train both you and the Pegasus named Gambit. I thought that, even though you don’t get inducted until tomorrow, I should start training you today. Just to see what you two can do. How’s that sound?” He finishes speaking with a grin on his face.
I just stare. I’m going to be trained by the captain of the royal guard. I can’t believe how fast things are going. I only arrived in Canterlot yesterday, and I was already becoming somepony important.
Rarity looks at me worriedly. “Thunder Twist, are you alright, dearie?”
Her voice snaps me out of my reverie. “What? Oh, yes. Yes! That sounds wonderful!”
Shining Armor perks up at this. “Alright, let’s go. We need to get to Gambit, then head to the training yard.”
“Got it, sir.”
“Please, Thunder Twist, call me Shining Armor. I would prefer it if you looked to me as a friend rather than as a superior,” he gives me a friendly shove. “Let’s get going, then.”
We leave Rarity’s house and head down the street in the direction of Gambit’s house. The streets are surprisingly empty. Oh, wait! It’s only five in the morning. Nopony with any sense is up at this hour. I guess I have no sense. Ha!
We arrive at Gambit’s house after five minutes of walking silently through the empty streets of Canterlot. Shining Armor knocks on the door.
No response.
He knocks again, louder this time.
Still no response.
He knocks yet again, this time nearly breaking down the door.
“Hold on, damn it!” We hear Vinyl Scratch’s shout from inside the house. “Don’t you know what the fucking time is?” She unlatches the door and opens it. Upon seeing the captain of the royal guard and her son’s best friend standing on her door step, her jaw promptly hits the ground.
“S-Shining Armor. Thunder Twist. What are you two doing here?” I feel I should mention that she had her sunglasses on, even though she just woke up.
Shining Armor speaks up, “Hello, Vinyl Scratch. We are here to take Gambit to training. My sister, Twilight, thought that he and Thunder Twist, here, should be able to ahem,” he assumes a very convincing Twilight impersonation, “’fulfill their duties to the utmost tomorrow, when they go on duty.’” I have to hold back a laugh.
Vinyl, on the other hand, bursts out laughing. “That sounded just like her. I’ll go get him then.” She runs upstairs. We hear her knocking on Gambit’s door. “Hey, sweetie, time to wake up.” I can’t help myself this time. I shriek with laughter at hearing Gambit called “sweetie.”
“Mom,” we hear Gambit say tiredly. “It’s 5:15 in the morning. Why are you waking me up?”
“Shining Armor and Thunder Twist are here to take you to training.”
“WHAT? Why didn’t you say so? I’ll be down in a minute.”
We hear Vinyl chuckle then head back down stairs. “He’ll be down shortl-.”
She is interrupted by Gambit zooming down the stairs behind her. He looks at us with a huge grin. “When do we start?”
Shining Armor grins back. “When we get to the training yard from here.”
“Then let’s get going.” He leans over and gives his mom a kiss on the cheek, making my heart ache for a connection like that. Gambit then rushes out the door.
As we start heading down the street, Gambit starts spewing a stream of questions. After the third time he asks what we are going to do, I interrupt him.
“Hold your horses, there, ‘sweetie,’ we’ll find out when we get there.”
We arrive at the training ground shortly thereafter. It is an open, circular area with dirt on the ground. There are training weapons racked on the opposite side of the ring from us.
Shining Armor turns to us. “OK, guys, here’s the deal. This morning we will be doing hoof to hoof combat training. At noon we will take a short lunch break. After that, we will start weapons training. At five o’ clock you two will have a sparring match. Then, you will be allowed to go home. Oh, and flying is permitted. You will sometimes need that ability to gain advantage over your enemy.”
“But,” Gambit asks, “we have been at peace for the past twenty years. What enemies will we face?”
“There is always a chance that either of the Princesses may be targeted. It will be your job to protect Princess Luna from any potential threats. Now, let’s get to it.”
The next six hours progress swiftly but gruelingly. Gambit and I learn how to stand properly when facing an opponent. We learn different types of strike to incapacitate an opponent, but never to kill. Life is sacred in Equestria, and we do not believe in killing anypony, even an enemy. 
Near eleven o’ clock, we start practicing on dummies. After about a minute of punching the dummy, I start to notice scorch marks on the burlap skin. Keeping up my stream of punches I call out to Shining Armor.
“Uh, Shining Armor? I think something might be wrong with my practice dummy.”
“Why do you say that, Thunder Twist?”
“Well, because each time I punch it, there is a burn mark right where my hoof just was.”
“Hmm.” He looks closely at my hoof while I continue to punch. Finally, he straightens back up. “There is nothing wrong with the dummy, Thunder Twist, but it does seem that you have a built in weapon.”
“Huh?” I stop punching and look at him blankly.
“Yep. It seems that you can command fire to come out of your hooves. You need to learn how to control this, so you will not hurt anypony. After lunch you will practice on controlling this weapon. I believe that after that you will be able to wield a flaming sword. You will also need to learn to control the heat of the flame.”
“Sweet, I’ll start now, so I can get started before lunch.”
Shining Armor laughs. “Haha, OK.”
I spend the next hour concentrating on getting my hoof to flame. After thirty minutes, I get a small flicker, and from there I just keep getting better.
After lunch, I continue my training while Gambit begins his weapons training. I am now able to make a two foot long tongue of flame that can cause instant second degree burns. I feel rather proud of myself. Now I just need to make it second nature, so I can do it in combat.
Five o’ clock comes without me even realizing it. Shining Armor calls out to the two of us.
“OK, guys, I think we’ll call it a day. No sparring today due to Thunder Twist’s unusual… weapon. I don’t want anypony to get hurt. We will resume the day after tomorrow.” He walks off, leaving Gambit and I alone on the training field.
“So,” Gambit says, “nice training, huh.”
I look at him. “Yeah, it was.”
“That flaming sword of yours was pretty bad ass, dude.”
“Thanks, man.” I look up to the sky. “I had better get back. Sil’s father is in town, and I’ve never actually met him. He’s always gone on business for months at a time.”
“OK, man. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He takes off toward his house. I stand there for a minute, then take off toward Rarity’s.
I land softly outside the door and walk in. In the living room, Sil is sitting on the couch talking to a white Unicorn with a blue mane and mustache.
Fancy Pants looks up to see me. He gives me an accusatory glare. “Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?”
Sil sees me and speaks up. “Oh, Daddy, this is Thunder Twist. He’s the Pegasus I was telling you about. Remember?”
“Ah, yes.” He looks back to me. “So you are Thunder Twist.”
I straighten up. “Yes, sir.”
“Well, Shining Silver has told me all about you. Am I to understand that you are living here?”
“Yes, sir, that is correct.”
“Well, in that case, go wash up. Dinner is almost ready.” He smiles kindly at me.
The rest of the night is spent around the dining table. We all talk of small things. Sil asks about my training. I give her a brief overview, purposefully skipping over my flaming sword. I don’t think I want to let anypony know about that just yet. Fancy Pants tells us about his travels. I listen avidly, though I have been to all the places he has. He has some really interesting tales.
After dinner, Sil and I walk up to our rooms. As we stare at each other before saying good night, a sudden impulse takes over me. I take a deep breath, undo my mask, take it off, and kiss her on the lips.
I meant it to be a brief one, but the feel of her lips against mine is intoxicating. After the moment of initial shock, she starts returning the kiss. Oh, sweet Celestia, this feels good. We stay locked like this for a good minute before I need to put my mask back on. Looking into her eyes, I see pure joy. I lean over and hug her tightly.
“I love you, Sil,” I whisper in her ear. “Good night. Sleep well.”
“I love you, too, Twisty. Good night.” With one last peck on the cheek, she walks into her room. I head into mine and crawl into bed, ready to face tomorrow.	

> Knights of Equestria
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9
I wake up the next morning not feeling rested at all. I was just too excited to get a good sleep. When I hear Rarity moving down in the kitchen, I decide to get up and go downstairs.
Rarity is busy making pancakes when I enter the kitchen. Fancy Pants is sitting at the table reading the newspaper. He looks up when I enter.
“Ah, good morning, Thunder Twist,” he says with a smile over his paper. “Are you ready for your big day?”
I yawn before answering, “Yes, sir.”
“What time is the ceremony?”
“It’s at ten o’ clock, sir.”
“Oh, please, call me Fancy Pants.”
At this point, Rarity looks up from mixing the batter. “Thunder Twist, would you, please go wake up Shining Silver. The pancakes will be ready shortly.”
“Sure thing, Rarity.” I head up stairs and knock on the door. When I don’t get a response, I slowly open her door and step inside. Her room is nice and cozy. There is a small couch over by the window. Next to her bed, on her bed side table, are pictures of her and me when we were younger. Her whole room smells of her beauty. In the center of the room lies the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, Shining Silver. 
I walk over to her and gently shake her awake. “Sil. Sil, it’s time to wake up. Your mother is making pancakes.”
She slowly opens her eyes and looks at me. “Well isn’t that a wonderful sight to wake up to.” She smiles a beautiful smile. She crawls out of bed and gives me a kiss on the cheek. “Let’s go eat.”
Three hours later, Sil, Gambit, and I are standing outside the giant, golden doors. As trumpets start playing, the doors open to reveal the throne room. The hall is filled to the brim with ponies. The dais is occupied by only one pony, now, Princess Luna. As we start walking down the aisle, the Princess smiles at us. When we reach her we bow to ground.
“Rise, my little ponies,” she says in a gentle voice. She continues, “Come forward, Gambit.” He walks up to her. “Due to your skill at flying, and your tremendous amount of luck denoted by your cutie mark, I dub you ‘Knight of Equestria and member of the Moon Guard.’ You may resume your place.” He takes his place next to me. Luna continues, “Come forward, Shining Silver.” Sil walks forward. “Due to your magical prowess and you sharp wit, I dub you ‘Knight of Equestria and member of the Moon Guard.’ You may resume your place.” Sil stands on the other side of me. “Thunder Twist, come forward.” I walk up and stand in front of her. “Due to your amazing flying ability and your dedication to family and country, I dub you ‘Knight of Equestria and captain of the Moon Guard. You may res-.”
“Oh, how touching,” a smooth voice echoes around the room. “Ah, Luna, I’m proud of you. I truly am. You have now moved up in the world to where you need your own guard. A pity, though, that they won’t save you.”
Princess Celestia suddenly appears on the dais. “Discord! Show yourself. What is your reason for coming here.”
“Oh, Celestia, you should know me. Why else would I come here but to sow chaos.”
He suddenly appears behind Luna. “And I shall start by taking dear old Luna, here.” He puts his hand on her, and, suddenly, they were gone.
Princess Celestia cries out in pure anguish. It is a sound that is enough to make the strongest heart break. I run up to point where Luna was last. There is no trace of her. 
“DAMN IT,” I cry out. I start looking around frantically looking around, foolishly hoping that there will be some sound. I walk over to Princess Celestia. “I promise you, Princess, we will get your sister back.”
She blinks back tears, “Thank you, Thunder Twist, but I can’t have you roaming all about Equestria looking for her. We will need a plan before we save my sister.”
“Yes, Princess, we will await your summons.” I walk to my two friends and we walk out of the room without a word.  
	
> Hunter's Season
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 10
It’s been a week since Princess Luna was kidnapped. The Moon Guard has heard nothing of her whereabouts as of yet. Sil and I have stayed in the house most of the time. Whenever we go outside, people always stop and stare. I can’t help but think that they are talking about us. Talking about how, when we were just newly appointed to our Princess, we let her get taken from us. Some guards we were. Gambit would sometimes come over, and we would just sit there staring at the wall. Staring at anything, really. Well, anything but each other, that is. Sometime Sil and I would go to his house. His parents were very hospitable. We didn’t want any of it. We went up to his room and stared at the wall. Stared at anything, really. Well, anything but each other, that is. Silence shrouded our lives. It was quite depressing.
It is during one of the visits to Gambit’s house that we hear a knock on his front door. We ignore it. We just sit still and look at his wall. All the staring in the world, however, could not keep me from hearing anxious, raised voices coming from downstairs. I next hear hooves coming up the stairs. There is a knock on the door. We ignore it.
“Hey, guys,” we hear Vinyl’s voice coming through the door. “I know you don’t want to be disturbed, but Princess Celestia has summoned you to the castle.”
We all look at each other in surprise. Sil shouts out, “Thank you so much, Vinyl.” And with that, Sil activates her magic and teleports us into the throne room.
“Ah, I see you have perfected the teleportation spell. Well done, Shining Silver.”
We look up to see Princess Celestia looking down at us with a tired smile. Her eyes have bags under them. If I had to guess, I’d say she hadn’t slept in a week. We all bow to her.
“Princess Celestia,” I say, “we came as fast as we could.”
“Good. Because Twilight Sparkle has been able to locate Discord. He is in the Everfree Forest. I believe he is biding his time until he can attack Equestria fully.”
“But, my Princess,” Sil speaks up, “Did he not attack Equestria when he kidnapped Princess Luna.”
“Not truly, no. I believe he is going to try to steal Luna’s magic somehow. If he could do that, I believe all of Equestria would fall in mere days. I do not believe he has accomplished that yet because, obviously we are still alive. You three must get my sister back. If it comes to direct confrontation with Discord, do not engage. He will kill you in a heartbeat. Teleport back here and get reinforcements. Understood?”
We all bow again. “Yes, my Princess,” we say in unison.
“Good, now I do not know where in the forest Discord is holed up, so you will have to start at the entrance and work your way in. Please be careful, my little ponies.” She turns away from us and we take our cue. I look at Sil and nod. She nods back and teleports us to the entrance to the forest.
“Well,” I say, “let’s get going.”
We walk into the forest and are instantly shrouded by darkness. Sil light’s up her horn and we continue walking.
After an hour of walking, I’m starting to get nervous. From the tales I’ve heard of the Everfree Forest, we should have run into some terrifying creature by now. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
After about three hours of walking, we came upon a clearing. At the opposite edge of the clearing, in a net hanging from a tree, was Princess Luna. She’s not moving.
We run up to her. “Princess Luna,” I call out. “Princess Luna, we came for you.”
She stirs slowly. She looks up at us. “Oh, thank goodness, you’re here.”
“Princess,” I say, “we came as soon as we could. Now let’s get you down from there.” I reach out to cut the net.”
“Don’t,” she calls out. “The net is shrouded with a spell that will suck inside anypony who touches it.” I pull my hoof back. 
Sil speaks up. “I’ll try to find a way through it. Gambit, Thunder Twist, stand guard.” As soon as she begins to work her magic, a magical barrier surrounds the clearing.
“Ah, finally you have arrived. I was beginning to get worried that you wouldn’t show up.” Discord appears in the clearing right before us. “Now that you are here, we can begin.”
“First,” he continues, “introductions.” He looks at Gambit. “You are the adopted son of Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, Gambit. You are quite lucky. However, luck will not help you in this situation.” He turns to Sil. “Ah, the beautiful Shining Silver. You are the embodiment of intelligence and beauty. It’s no wonder Thunder Twist has a thing for you. He just wants your body. He has no interest whatsoever in you as a pony.”
“That’s not true!” She cries out. “Twisty is the nicest pony I’ve ever met.”
Discord continues as if there was no interruption. “And, last but not least, Thunder Twist. Orphaned at such a young age, you had no idea what to do. Though I must say, that bird was one of my more ingenious ideas. I told that bird what to do, and, after your mother was killed, I was free.”
I look at him, feeling nothing but pure loathing. “I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!”	
I fly at him, creating a Flare Bomb almost as soon as I take off. I crash into Discord, pinning him to the ground. I place my hoof on his chest and slowly start flooding fire into my hoof. “I’m going to cook you, then I am going to leave you for the manticores.” My voice sounds oddly distant and monotonous.
“Oh please,” he says, though he is beginning to show signs of discomfort. “I know how much you ponies value life. You won’t kill me.”
I turn up the heat, bringing forth a scream from him that is like music to my ears. I see his skin slowly start to char around my hoof. He is starting to crack and blister. Blood starts flowing out of him. The whole time I am staring into his eyes. I take my mask off so he can see me smiling at his torture. 
“Thunder Twist, stop.” I hear Princess Luna shouting frantically. I ignore her and continue.
After ten minutes of his beautiful screaming, he finally goes quiet, and his eyes glass over. I pull my hoof back. “Even if I killed you a thousand times over, it would not be enough to repay you for what you have caused me.” I finally put my mask back on and take a huge breath. I turn around to look at my friends and princess. They are all looking at me with fear in their eyes. I walk over to Princess Luna and cut the net. The spell must have worn off when I killed Discord.
I look over to Sil, and, seeing her eyes, I come back to myself. “I’m sorry everypony, I don’t know what came over me. Can we go home now?”
Princess Luna speaks up, “Yes, I think that would be best.” She uses her magic to take us back to Canterlot.
“I’m going home,” I say to everypony. “I will speak to Princess Celestia tomorrow. I can’t face anypony right now.” I take off and head towards Rarity’s house.
When I enter, Rarity is making dinner. I avoid the kitchen and just head up to my room. I look over to Ma’s urn. “I avenged you today, Ma. I should feel happy, but, instead I feel disgusted. I killed today, Ma. What’s worse is that I enjoyed it. I enjoyed killing Discord. I’m so sorry, Ma.” I break down and lie on my bed, rivers flowing from my eyes.
After an hour of nonstop crying, I hear my door open. Sil gets into my bed and cuddles up against me.
“I am so sorry, Twisty. I know that must have been hard for you.” She then kisses my neck in a very sensual way. I embrace her and take off my goggles. In the low light I am able to see as if it were high noon. She looks into my eyes, and I squeeze her even tighter.
“I love you, Sil”
“I love you, too, Twisty.” She smiles at me.
	

> The Morning After
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

guys this chapter is short but important all the same. warning: this chapter may contain mature content. i dont know if i should change the rating to mature because of it though. i someone could comment on it that would be great. also if you would like to comment on the story, please do. i cant make it any better if i dont know what is wrong with it. thank you
Chapter 11
I wake up to the most beautiful sight in the world. Sil is sleeping next to me. The gentle rise and fall of her chest is enough to make my heart melt. Seeing her there takes me back to last night. Her flowing mane, her warm body clutched against mine, the soft moans escaping from her mouth. The marriage proposal. Oh, shit that’s right. I proposed to her last night. And she said yes! I have to ask Rarity’s permission, of course, but I’m sure she’ll say yes. She just has to. I take my mask off briefly to give Sil a kiss on the cheek. Then I head downstairs to await Rarity.
I sit and wait for about twenty minutes before Rarity comes in. She seems surprised to see me.
“Oh, good morning, Thunder Twist. You’re up quite early. You usually aren’t awake for another hour.”
“Well, I actually had to ask your permission for something.”
“Oh? And what might that be?” she gives me a knowing look.
“Well, um, I would like to marry your daughter.”
“Well, of course you may.”
“Well you see,” I look up at her. “What?”
“Of course you may marry Shining Silver. I always expected you would.”
“Thank you so much, Rarity. You don’t know what this means to me.” I grab a piece of bread from the counter. “I need to go see the Princess. I’ll be back as soon as possible.” I walk out the door and decide to just walk to the castle.
It is a pleasant day outside. It’s hard to believe that yesterday the whole town was wondering where Princess Luna was. Then I killed Discord…
I stop by a nearby bush and vomit into it. I can’t think about that. I continue walking to the castle. All the shops are just beginning to open up. I walk by them without so much as a second glance. I finally reach the great golden doors of the castle. The two Unicorn guards are there, as usual. They look at me as I approach.
“I have come to see the Princess. Is she available?”
The one on the left speaks up. “She will be shortly. If you would, please go inside and wait she will be down momentarily.”
“Thank you.” They open the doors for me, and I walk in.
I walk up to the dais and sit there waiting for the Princess.
I have been waiting for ten minutes when Princess Celestia walks into the room. Behind her are Princess Luna and Twilight Sparkle. All three smile when they see me.
Princess Celestia speaks to me. “Greetings, Thunder Twist. I am glad you have come. Luna has told me what happened in the Everfree Forest, and, though your actions were harsh, I do not blame you for what you did. That being said, I will not condone wanton killing. I expect you to keep your composure next time when facing an enemy.”
“Princess, you misunderstand. If I had my way, I would never kill again. It makes me nauseous just to think about it.”
“Good. Well, that is all I wanted to say. You are dismissed, Thunder Twist.”
“Actually, Princess, there was another matter I wished to discuss.”
“Oh, and what might that be.”
“Well, I wanted to direct this at Princess Luna.”
My Princess turns to me with a caring smile. “I’m listening, Thunder Twist.”
I look to the ground nervously. “Well I was wondering if you would preside over my wedding with Shining Silver.”
All three ponies share a collective gasp. Twilight speaks first. “Did I hear correctly? You and Shining Silver are going to get married.”
“Yes, ma’am. I asked her last night, and Rarity gave her blessing this morning.” I conveniently leave out the whole sex ordeal. Sweet Celestia, that was nice.
“I would love to preside over your wedding, Thunder Twist.” Luna smile happily at me. “How does a month from tomorrow sound?”
“That sounds great,” I exclaim. I bow low. “Thank you so much, Princess. I’ll go tell Sil.” I fly out of the hall.
I land outside Rarity’s house and walk in. I smell blueberry muffins baking in the kitchen. I force myself to not go in there and walk up to my room, where Sil is still sleeping. I crawl in beside her. She stirs slightly. I brush her mane out of her face and cuddle up close. I then drift into a sound sleep.

> Once a Dream
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 12
I wake up to warm lips against my cheek. I look up to see Sil standing over me.
“Good morning, love,” she says, cheerfully. “Did you sleep well?”
“Of course I did,” I reply with a chuckle. “Who wouldn’t sleep well next to the most beautiful mare in all of Equestria?”
She blushes, “Stop it. Or I might just have to revert to making you squirm like last night.” She moves her hoof up my leg.
I back away. “Hey, stop that. Last night was a fluke. I’d never done it before. Besides, the second time I lasted much longer.”
She laughs a sweet, high pitched laugh. “Ha. Maybe I should now refer to you as Twisty the ten second stallion.” She pushes me onto my back and climbs on top.
“Hey, your mother is downstairs.”
“No she’s not. She went to Ponyville to spend the day with her friends.” She slowly moves her body up against mine, finding the right spot. When she does she lowers herself back down. I instantly feel her insides. A deep moan emanates from her throat as she moves her body up and down. “Hey, you’ve lasted longer than ten seconds this time. You’re making progress.” She starts moving her hips more quickly. It is taking all my self control to not spurt right now. I roll us over so I’m on top now. She lets out a squeal of delight and pleasure as I push myself deeper inside her. I take it a little more slowly so I can last longer.
“Hey,” she says in between moans. “I wanna try something.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
She gently pushes me off her and rolls onto her stomach. She stands up her hind legs but keeps her forelegs bent on the bed, so her flank is in the air. “Now put it in.”
I have to say, I am liking this new view. I crawl up behind and put my forehooves on each side of her flank. I slowly enter her, and she shudders under my touch. Man, this feels good. I pick up the speed. She starts screaming in pure ecstasy. After two minutes in this position, I can’t take it anymore. I clench as I pour into her. 
As I pull out, she says, “Holy hay, that was amazing.”
“Yeah it was.” I lie down on my back. “So what are we going to do today? I personally think we should send out wedding invitations today. We have a month and a day til the wedding.”
“What? When did you ask Momma?”
“This morning, before you woke up. I then went to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and Luna agreed to preside over the service.”
“Ah, I see.” She leans over and gives me a kiss. “I think we should tell Pinkie Pie in person. I think she would love to host the reception.
“OK. Just let me write a letter to Gramma. She’ll want to come.” I go to my desk and pull out paper, ink, and quill and write down an invitation to Gramma. I fold the paper and put Gramma’s address on it. I look back to Sil. “I’ll drop it off at the post office on our way to Sugar Cube Corner. ‘
“OK, but first we might want to shower off. Get the sex smell off us.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
We get in the shower together, and, after another romp, we get out and towel off.
“OK,” Sil says. “Off to Pinkie Pie’s house.”
We leave the house and head for Sugar Cube Corner. On the way, I stop by the post office and give a mailmare Gramma’s invitation. We arrive at Sugar Cube Corner just in time for the lunchtime rush.
“Hey, Pinkie Pie,” Shining Silver says as we approach the counter.
The pink mare looks up at the sound of her name. At the sight of us, she breaks into a huge smile. “Hi, guys. What a wonderful surprise. I love surprises. What can I do you two for?”
Sil answers, “Well Pinkie, we were wondering if you would like to come to our wedding, and if you would like to be in charge of the reception.”
She looks at us blankly for a second. Then a huge smile breaks out on her face. “OOOOOOOH. Is that what that smell is, then.” She gives us a wink. “Sure I’d love to come, and I’d love to host the reception. I’m great at parties, y’know.”
“We know, Pinkie Pie,” the two of us say in unison.
She smiles again. “So can I get you two anything to eat? Free of charge of course.”
“I’d like a dandelion and daisy sandwich, please.” I look to Sil. “And for you, my love?”
She blushes when I say those words in public. “I’ll have the same, please.”
“OK, I’ll have them out in a jiffy.” She walks into the kitchen and returns a minute later with our two sandwiches on a tray. “So, when is the wedding?”
I swallow my bite and say, “A month from tomorrow, at the castle.”
“HEY, EVERYPONY, THUNDER TWIST AND SHINING SILVER ARE GETTING MARRIED A MONTH FROM TOMORROW AT CANTERLOT CASTLE. EVERYPONY IS INVITED. Now you are sure to have guests. Everypony knows who you two are after what happened with Discord. I just saved you from writing all those invitations.”
Sil, who had hidden beneath the table out of sheer embarrassment, stuck her head up. Her face was flushed a deep crimson. She looked gorgeous. “T-Thank you, Pinkie Pie that was very thoughtful of you.” She wolfs down the rest of her sandwich. “Well, we better get going.” She starts pulling me out the door.”
“Oh, OK. I was just about to close up anyway, so I could head to Ponyville to see everypony.”
“Have fun, Pinkie Pie,” I call out.
As we exit the shop, I turn to Sil. “Do you want to come with me to Gambit’s house?”
“What for?”
“I was going to ask him to be my best pony.”
“Ah, I see. No, you should do that yourself.” She looks around to make sure nopony is watching, then rubs her hoof on my crotch. “I’ll be waiting for you back at the house.” She turns and starts walking back to the house. I just stare at this wonderful view until it is out of sight.

> We Are Not Separate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 13
“Hey, dude,” Gambit asks as he opens the door. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much,” I reply. “Just that Sil and I are getting married, and I want you to be my best pony.”
“WHAT!” he screams incredulously. “When was this decided?”
“I asked her last night. She said yes, and I asked Rarity this morning. I went to the Princess this morning to report, and Luna agreed to preside over the service.”
“Dude, that’s awesome.” He gives me a great big bear hug, almost crushing my rib cage. “I can’t wait to tell my moms. They are in Ponyville right now, playing for the Mane 6’s party.”
I hang out with Gambit for the next five hours. We talk about everything and nothing at the same time. It’s just one of those comfortable times that close friends share. Before I know it, it is six o’ clock.
“Shit!” I cry out. “I gotta get home. Sil will be waiting for me.
Gambit slaps me on the back, and with a chuckle, says, “Go get ‘er tiger.” I laugh and take off toward home.
I walk in and smell roasted asparagus cooking. I walk into the kitchen to see Sil tending the food. I walk up behind her. “When’s you mom getting home?”
She doesn’t look at me as she answers, too busy with the asparagus, “not for another two hours. She and the rest of her friends like to- oooh.”
Upon hearing that Rarity would not be home for another two hours, I took Sil from behind right there. She squirmed at first, but then relented, moving her hips in time with mine. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had been able to hear her screams all the way in Ponyville, but I don’t care. Right now it’s just her and me.
Sil has the sense to take the asparagus off the stove before taking me up to her room. She throws me down on the bed with her magic. She crawls on top me, sliding my sex inside her. She starts gently kissing my neck in between her own moans. Her horn is right in front of my mouth, so I start sucking on it. She lets out a scream full of ecstasy. Her hips start moving faster and fast and I suck harder and harder. Her moans are enough to get me to come, but I hold back, wanting to savor every moment.
I roll her over onto her back, then mount her again. I go deeper and harder than ever before, making her scream even louder. I lick her horn up and down, causing her to shudder with every breath. Finally, the ecstasy is too much, and I pour everything into her.
When I roll off her, she does something she hasn’t done before: she puts her mouth to my crotch and licks me clean, getting a little extra out. I let out a satisfied moan. She comes up to me and puts her mouth on mine. We spend the next ten minutes tumbling in her sheets.
“Shining Silver, Thunder Twist! I’m home.” We hear Rarity’s voice calling from downstairs.”
“Shit,” Sil whispers. “Why is she back this early.” She and I walk downstairs together where Rarity is giving us a knowing look.
“I know it feels good, you two, but try to keep it down. I’m sure the whole town could hear you.” She gives us a wink.
Sil speaks up, “Wha- How di- Who- uh.” She takes a second to gain her composure. “You’re not mad.”
“Of course not, dearie. You two are getting married, after all. Now, go get cleaned up, we will have guests in here in thirty minutes.”
Sil and I rush up the stairs and get in the shower together. As we are rinsing off, I lick Sil’s horn, eliciting a soft moan from her. We get out of the shower and dry off.
When we head downstairs, the living room has Rarity, four other ponies, and a baby dragon sitting on the couches.
Well, howdy there, you two,” Apple Jack greets us. “I can’t even begin to say how happy I am for y’all.”

> At the Banquet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 14
“Wha-. Huh? What are y’all doing here?” I stammer out.
Twilight speaks up. “Well, Rarity told us that you asked to marry Shining Silver this morning, so we decided to have a little get together tonight. I was thinking we could go to the Prancing Pony for dinner.” She tilts her head making it a question.
“That sounds wonderful!” Sil exclaims. “When are we headed out?”
“Right now if you are ready.”
“Oh, we are. We are. We are.” Sil claps her hooves together.
We head out, walking toward the center of the city. The five remaining Mane 6 walk ahead of us, while Spike stays back with us.
“So, Spike,” I ask casually, “How’s it going with Sweetie Bell.”
“Oh, she’s just as beautiful as ever. Our son, Draco, though, is having some difficulty fitting in, what with being a dragon pony half breed. But, other than that he’s doing well. He just started school.”
“That’s great,” Sil says. “I hope he does well.”
“Yea,” I put in, “me, too.”
Spike changes the subject. “I hope they have gemstones at the Prancing Pony.”
Sil gives him a smile, “I’m sure they do, Spike.” He gives her a grateful smile, and we resume our walk to the restaurant.
We arrive at the Prancing Pony just as the dinner crowd is showing up. Twilight walks up to the hostess and asks for a table seating eight.
“Well, we are full right now, but we can make arrangements. Anything for the Mane 6.” She walks away to go talk with the manager.
After about five minutes, the manager appears. “Right this way, please. We’ve set up a table especially for you.”
“Well,” Pinkie Pie says, “being famous sure does have its perks.
The night goes on with much revelry, and laughter. Spike get’s his gemstones, and Sil and I get the couples spaghetti. The highlight of my night was when w accidently started sucking on the same noodle and that ended with a quick kiss, causing everypony to laugh, and Shining Silver to blush fiercely.
After the marvelous dinner we all head our separate ways. When we enter Rarity’s house, she turns to us. “Now I don’t mind if you two decide to sleep together, but try not to be too loud in your love making.”
Sil blushes, “Yes, Momma.”
We head up to Sil’s room where we just lay there and cuddle, which I am content to do. After thirty minutes, I hear Sil’s slow, deep breathing that tells me she’s asleep. She is so adorable. It’s these thoughts that permeate my mind as I drift off to sleep.
The next month fly by in a blur of activity. Gramma shows up with fifteen days left till the wedding. She stays in the new house that Sil and I have, courtesy of Princess Luna. It’s the night before the wedding when Sil come to our bed with some grave news.
I can tell something’s wrong by the look on her face. I get off the bed and put a leg around her. “Hey, love, what’s wrong?”
She looks at me, tears in her eyes, “Nothing, sweetie, I’m actually really happy. I’m just afraid you might not be.”
I nuzzle my cheek against hers, “Don’t worry, I can handle it.”
She takes a deep breath to steady herself. “OK, here goes… I’m pregnant.”



Huzzah, Lady and the Tramp reference for the win. Sorry for the short chapter guys
> Anthem
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 15
The only sound I hear is my jaw hitting the floor. “Wh-when did you find out?”
“Just now,” She replies. “You’re not mad, are you?”
I give her a tight squeeze. “I could never be mad at you, love. I… just wasn’t expecting this. I guess I knew there was a chance when we did it, but… I just don’t know if I can handle it.” I sit down on the bed. “A baby,” I say to my hooves. “I honestly don’t know if I’m ready.”
Sil walks over to me and gives me a kiss on the forehead, “Don’t worry, we’ll do this together.”
I suddenly collapse into tears and fall into her arms. “What if I’m a bad father,” I wail. “What if our kid grows up to hate me? I couldn’t live with myself if that happened.”
“Hey calm down we have ten more month before that time. Trust me. You will be a wonderful father.”
“Thank you, Sil.” I hold her close and pull her on to the bed next to me. We fall asleep in that position.
The next morning I wake up to see that Sil is nowhere to be found. I run downstairs to see Gramma making her signature blueberry muffins.
“Good morning, Gramma. Have you seen Sil this morning?”
“Good morning, sonny,” she looks up at me brightly. “Yep, I saw her leave earlier, something about it being bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other on their wedding day before the ceremony.”
I look down, a little saddened. At least the wedding started at noon. I take a muffin and with a “See ya later, Gramma” head out the door to Gambit’s house.
As I walk down the street, almost everypony is congratulating me on my coming up wedding. This gets to be a little overwhelming, so I take to the skies. Up here, however, I can’t contain my joy, and I do a few Flare Bombs to let some of the excitement out.
After flying for about ten minutes, I land in front of Gambit’s house. Vinyl Scratch opens the door at my knock.
“Ah, Thunder Twist, I was just finishing up the record for your wedding. I assume you’re here to see Gambit.”
Yes, please.”
“C’mon in a sit down. I’ll go get him.” She walks upstairs to Gambit’s room.
A minute later, Gambit and I are walking down the streets of Canterlot, talking about anything and everything, but mainly the wedding.
“Dude, I can’t wait,” Gambit cries out. “This is gonna be so awesome. And the reception afterwards. I here Pinkie has something awesome planned. Oh, man I can’t wait.”
“You said that already, Gambit.” I look up to the clock on the castle, ten-thirty. “We should start headed to the castle. I need to talk to Princess Luna before we start getting ready.”
“OK. Race ya there.” He takes off.
“Hey, that’s not fair,” I say as I speed after him.
“Fair, you can fly twice as fast as me on a bad day.”
“Well, that’s true,” I reply as I speed past him. I fly straight up to Luna’s tower and land on the balcony, one of the perks of being captain of her guard. Gambit lands ten seconds after me. I knock on the glass door. Princess Luna walks up to it, sees us, and opens the door.
“Thunder Twist, Gambit, what are you two doing here?”
“I have a request for the ceremony, Princess.” I look at her hopefully.
“Anything, Thunder Twist. It is your special day after all.”
“Thank you, Princess. I was wondering if the lighting could be dim so I could take my goggles off. I want Sil to be able to see my eyes when I give my vows.”
“It will be done, Thunder. Now, you two better go get ready. Don’t want to be late for your own wedding.”
“Thank you, Princess.” I give her a hug. After being shocked for a second, she returns the hug. After we break I head down to my dressing room.
I turn to Gambit, “You’ve never seen my eyes, have you?”
“No, do I want to?”
“I thing you might like it.”
An hour later, I am standing on the dais of the throne room next to Princess Luna and Gambit. I look over to gambit in the dim light.
“Yellow.” He mutters. “Awesome.”
Music starts playing and the giant gold doors swing inward, revealing my bride. She is gorgeous. She looks up to me and is surprised when she sees my eyes uncovered. She recovers quickly and gives me a smile to melt my heart.
She walks up to me still wearing that beautiful smile, and Princess Luna starts speaking.
“Mares and gentlecolts, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of the Unicorn Shining Silver and the Pegasus Thunder Twist. These two have known each other since they were little foals, but only recently has their love come to the surface. Rarely have I ever seen a love as pure as the one shared by this pair.
She continues to introduce us for the next five minutes, but my eyes are locked on Sil’s, and hers on mine.
“Shining Silver will you take Thunder Twist to be your husband until the day you die?”
“I do, Princess. Oh, I do.” She doesn’t take her eyes off me the whole time.
Princess Luna nods. “And do you, Thunder Twist, wish to take Shining Silver to wife for as long as you live?”
“I do.” I do not break my gaze from Sil for a moment.
The Princess nods again. “They you may now,” she looks at my mask, “um…”
“Don’t worry, Princess, I can hold my breath.” I take off my mask, revealing my full face to the public for the first time in seven years. I grab Sil and pull her into a passionate kiss. The whole hall erupts into cheers.



To those of you who do not understand why i named this chapter Anthem, i suggest you listen to the song Anthem by Kamelot. also each chapter, with the exception of Knight of Equestria is named after a Kamelot song. i highly recommend you check them out. i really hope you have enjoyed the story so far. three more chapters left :)

	

> The Great Pandemonium
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 16
War. It’s coming, and there is nothing I can do about it. I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t scared. I am, but not for myself. No, I’m scared for my family.
I’ve had a wonderful five years of marriage. Sil and I now have two children. Our first, Lightning Dash, named after his great grandfather, is four years old, and our second, a little filly named Twisted Rainbow, is three. Both are Pegasi. I guess being a Pegasus is a dominant gene in my family. I love them to death, and it is for them that I fear. I came to grips with death a long time ago, but they are just two precious. I will kill in the thousands to protect them.
The declaration of war came two weeks ago. Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings has united her army with that of the zebras of the badlands, and now they aim to take over Equestria. I have been waiting nervously for my summons from Princess Luna. As soon as she summons me, I know it will be time for battle.
I open the door at the third knock. Standing in front of me is none other than the Princess of the Night herself.
“Thunder Twist, it is time. The Changeling and Zebra army has just crossed the border. Our main force is already almost there to meet them. You will be going into battle with Shining Silver, Gambit, Twilight Sparkle, and Pinkie Pie. I will join you shortly. Twilight will teleport you there. You will be in charge. You have grown much in the past five years, and I can see it was wise to make you the captain of my guard.”
I bow low to her. “Thank you, Princess.” I look up at her. “Can you please ask Rarity to take care of Lightning Dash and Twisted Rainbow if neither Shining Silver nor I make it back?”
She puts a hoof on my shoulder. “It will be done, Thunder Twist.”
“Thank you again, Princess.”
Twenty minutes later the five of us are standing in the middle of the throne room with Princess Celestia, getting ready to leave.
“The battle should start within five minutes.” The Princess tells us morosely. “Thunder Twist, I am putting you in charge of this squad.” She turns to the group at large. “Please, my little ponies, avoid killing if you can. Now Twilight Sparkle, forever my faithful student, do what must be done.”
Twilight looks up, “Yes, my Princess.” And with that she teleports us to the border of the badlands and Equestria.
We appear at the frontlines of the Equestrian army. About a half mile ahead of us, stands the Changeling Zebra Alliance. It appears they outnumber us five to one. Not the odds I hoped for, but I can deal with it.
Shining Armor walks up to me from the ranks of his troops. “Good you’re here. Do you have a plan?”
I nod. “I do. I want you to stay with your battle plan for your troops. The five of us will fight our way Chrysalis. The sooner we end this battle, the better.”
Shining Armor nods back at me. “As good a strategy as any.” He walks back to his troops as I turn to mine.
“OK, you heard my plan. We are going straight for the Queen, clearing out any resistance as we go. Twilight, can you teleport just the five of use right to the edge of their army without too much effort?”
She nods, “I can.”
“Good we will wait until the two armies have almost met then you will take us back to the frontlines.” I walk over to Shining Armor and tell him our plan.
“Very well,” he says. He turns to a Unicorn with a bugle strapped around his hips. “Sound the charge.”
The Unicorn uses his magic to bring the horn to his lips, and he blows three loud blasts.
The main force starts marching toward the enemy. The Changelings and Zebras see this and they start marching, too. It’s only a matter of time.
I look to Twilight and nod. “It is time.”
She takes a deep breath. “Very well.”
Right before we teleport, I put a hoof on Sil’s shoulder. She looks at me. “I love you,” I say.
She nods and gives me a kiss on the cheek. “I love you, too.”
The next second we are right in front on the enemy force. We dive into the fray. I bring out my two flaming swords, tempering them enough to only incapacitate. Sil and Twilight shoot beams out of their horns. Gambit is using a long sword. Pinkie brought her trusty party cannon and is using it with extreme prejudice.
We are making a huge dent in the enemy ranks as we take down Changeling and Zebra alike, but I should have known it was too good to last.
Gambit is the first to fall. A Changeling charged him while he was engaged with a Zebra. The horn of the Changeling penetrates his throat, and blood splashes of everything in the vicinity.
“No!” I cry out, swing my sword down on the Changelings neck, decapitating it, causing more blood to spray out.
I want to grieve for my fallen friend, but to do that would spell certain death for me.
We continue fighting, making our way to the Queen. I have started killing now, my grief turned to anger. My skill cannot protect us all, however. Pinkie Pie falls next, a beam to the heart. Shortly after, a Zebra cuts Twilight in half. I have to force myself to become emotionally numb as I watch my friends die around me, their blood soaking my coat.
Now it’s just me and Sil, both of us now aiming to kill. Exhaustion is quickly becoming our worst enemy as we start taking several cuts.
Finally, oh, sweet Celestia, finally, we find ourselves face to face with Queen Chrysalis. She looks down at us and laughs.
“So you are the ones come to defeat me.” She smiles wickedly at us. “What are you going to do? Beat me with the power of love. Or maybe friendship. Ha! Maybe you should just run along before I have to kill you.”
I look her square in the eyes. “I will be the one doing the killing, Chrysalis.” I charge.
Sil and I have our hooves full with this one. She counters everything we throw at her. The fight rages on for ten minutes before a mistake is made.
Unfortunately, it is Sil who makes that mistake. Chrysalis takes advantage of her predicament.
“Now, die!” she yells as she shoots a beam toward Sil’s heart. Sil is able to move just enough to cause the beam to hit her in the stomach instead of the heart, but is still a grievous wound.
Upon seeing my wife hit, my emotional barrier shatters and pure hatred spews forth. I feel my whole body consumed with heat. On instinct, when the heat rises high enough, I release it. A huge ring of fire spreads out across the battle field, killing every Changeling and Zebra on the battle field.
Seeing that the battle is over, I run over to Sil. Thankfully, she is still breathing. Unconscious, but alive. I pick her up in my forelegs and take off back toward Canterlot as swiftly as possible. Creating a Flare Bomb every ten miles.
When I’m three quarters to the city, I feel Sil stir in my forelegs. I look down at her. “Hold on Sil, we are almost there.” Tears are clouding my vision.
She reaches up and puts a hoof on my cheek. “Twisty… I… love… you.”
With those final words, she closes her eyes and is gone.

> Wings of Despair
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 17
I stare at her numbly for a few minutes, still flying. Tears start streaming down my face, filling my goggles. I speed even faster toward Canterlot, not wanting it to be true, hoping against hope that it’s not true.
I see Canterlot in the distance and increase my speed even more. I don’t even slow down as I enter the city. I head straight for the castle.
As I approach the giant golden doors, I scream at the guards, “OPEN THE DAMN DOORS OR I’LL BUST THEM DOWN!” The doors open just in time as I skid to a halt in the throne room as I see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sitting there, as if awaiting a report.
“Ah, Thunder Twist,” Princess Celestia says happily. “Have you come to-.” She sees the limp form of Sil in my forelegs, both of us covered in blood. She screams.
“Princess,” I stammer, out of breath, “please, is there something you can do to help her. Please, I beg you, do something.”
Celestia looks at her sister, then back at me. “I’m sorry, Thunder Twist, but, though our powers are great, my sister and I are not capable of reviving the dead.”
I look at her in disbelief as my life comes crashing down. My grief turns to anger as I run un to the Princess of the Sun and punch her in the face. “DAMN YOU. DAMN YOU BOTH. YOU ARE FUCKING DEITIES. YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE. YOU SHOULD HAVE BOTH FUCKING BEEN THERE. IF YOU WERE SO MANY DEATHS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED.” I punch her again. “IF YOU HAD BEEN THERE, SIL WOULD STILL BE ALIVE, SO WOULD GAMBIT, TWILIGHT AND PINKIE. BECAUSE OF YOU, MY BEST FRIEND AND WIFE ARE DEAD. I NEVER WANT TO SEE EITHER OF YOU AGAIN.” With another punch, I turn, pick up Sil again and fly out of the throne room.
I reach our house shortly afterward. I take Sil up to our bedroom and lay her down on the bed. I lie down next to her, looking at her painfully calm face.
“Sil, I love you, too,” I whisper to her corpse. I start crying rivers. I take off my goggles to see her better. The light hurts my eyes but I don’t care. Slowly, I take off my mask and set it to the side. I cuddle up to her cold body and give her one last kiss.




They found them like that. Luna had come to apologize, and, upon getting no answer from within, she let herself in. Thunder Twist and Shining Silver were curled together, their mouths touching in an eternal kiss.

> Epilogue: Requiem For the Innocent
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Epilogue
Princess Luna declared that there be a statue of Thunder Twist and Shining Silver in the city’s main square. The statue depicted Thunder Twist on his hind legs, wings spread wide. In his forelegs, he carried a broken Shining Silver.
Five years later, two Pegasi stand looking at the statue of their mother and father. They don’t remember anything about the two, but, still, it’s their parents.
The older of the two feels resentment at what he could have had. The younger looks upon the statue with sadness, dreaming of what she could have had.


Fin.