When Miqo'te Warrior of Light Skye Pendragon falls to Equestria, he learns that this world, is drastically different than his own. What will happen? (No knowledge of FFXIV is needed)
A Archived version before a solid one comes out. The new version will be available after I complete the Shadowbringers MSQ and Post MSQ. As such, the new version of the story will be much different from this one, and while it will have re-occurring themes, it will alternatively be different.
A "Displaced" story. T'suhar "Skye" Pendragon is a Warrior Of Light, that's what he is familiar with, so why is it bad when he decides to take a hit for his team from Bahamut? He didn't land where he was supposed to, and instead became a shooting star in the realm of Equestria, the locals are a lot more concerned with the unfamiliarity of his armor more than where he came from. Can he cope with this world of "friendship"? A world where there literally is no fight left to fight?
(Takes Place before Ascension, before Canterlot Wedding) No knowledge of Final Fantasy 14 is needed, and will be explained throughout the story to the best of my ability. Cover Art is Heavensward's logo
Skye fixed his helmet so that his ears were much more comfortable under the not-so-comfortable Wyrm's Helmet. Today would be the day his team took down the great primal Bahamut again, cause of The Great Calamity, which was caused when he broke from the moon Dalamud's core. Pushing his helmet back into place and pressing it in so the visor went in, he grabbed his relic weapon, Gae Bolg, and began walking to where his team was meeting, so that they could start the attack on the dragon. He never knew that the universe had other plans for him, and he was going to become a temporary tank, and tank the impossible, the floor.
Skye ran down to the edge of Revenant's Toll, the town he was supposed to meet at, finally coming into view, seeing the black sword of one of the tanks, Shiro. He picked up the pace, yelling out the Dark Knight's name who in turn, focused on the incoming dragoon.
"Hey, you finally made it! Better late than ever am I right?" Shiro said grabbing onto Skye before he could do his signature jump, and tackle the dark tank.
"Hey, I'm not the late one, I see everyone here except for one of the healers, what was his name again?" The dazzed dragoon asked, still in Shiro's grip.
"You're talking about Alor? He's on his way last time I checked, and that was a couple of minutes ago. Hopefully, he won't take too much longer, I hate that every so often Bahamut shows back up. Why do these primals keep coming back?" Shiro said, letting Skye go, dropping the Miqo'te down on his tail.
See, Shiro was another Warrior of Light like Skye was, in fact, he had taught Skye most of the classes he knows, including Dark Knight, he used all of them sparingly but hadn't adjusted to using that one. Last time he did, bad things happened. Skye pushed away the memory, noticing that Alor had finally made it, and they could begin.
Timeskip
Skye jumped back from the explosion of fire around him, making use of his evasive ability, to get out of Bahamut's way as the waves of flame came crashing down upon him and the team. As he landed, he looked to his right to see his team was preparing to engage the giant primal again, and readied himself to use one of his strongest attacks, Dragonfire Dive. He would use it straight on, hoping that it would knock Bahamut down, and allow him to get more attacks in, as he steeled himself in preparation, the dragon began charging an attack with his tail, one unfamiliar to him, and to everybody else he thought as he looked to see Shiro placing every possible fortification buff under the sky on himself.
'I'll take the hit from Shiro. Worst case, I die and get an earful from the party after we're done, best case is that I live, and still get an earful from them... win win situation to me.' Skye thought as he changed his channeling to cast a modified evasive jump, so that he could jump in front of Shiro. It's better that a DPS dies than the person tanking the boss, so as Bahamut finished preparing the attack, Skye made his move, jumping in front of Shiro, holding out Gae Bolg diagonally, so that maybe the hit would be shared between him and the spear.
As the tail connected with the spear, Skye thought of one thing, 'Shiro's gonna kill me if this doesn't'. That's the last thing he thought before his mind went blank, and his body flew back with such velocity, before disappearing into nothingness.
Equestria
Princess Celestia walked onward, journeying from the throne room to the castle's dining room, so that she may share dinner with her sister before she went to sleep. The clicks of her hooves resonating on the floor as she made her way down the hallway, before she slipped inside the room. Luna was already there, eyeing her pancakes with such vigor that it looked like she was going to eat them threw willpower alone.
"Luna, I'm glad that you waited, but it looks like you're trying to eat the pancakes through just looking at them" Celestia voice rang through the almost empty dinner hall, Luna turned to her, her eyes finally shifting from the pancakes to give her a lookof frustration.
"You know that I love pancakes, and that I hate waiting to eat them. My look is on you Tia!" She yelled in mock anger, glad that she's able to spend this time with her. Luna watched onward as Celestia slipped into a chair much like her own, before starting to eat her own food. They ate, and talked about various upcoming events, such as the elements coming to visit for lunch within the day, before it was interrupted by the sound of glass breaking.
Both princesses ears immediately perked up at the sound, it sounded as if it came from outside, rushing from their seats, they went outside to see a meteor coming down over the sky, it's trajectory seeming to be focused on Ponyville. The princesses both turned to each other, their surprise readable on each other's faces as a wave of magic passed over them, signifying that the meteor crashing was something more than just a meteor. Their faces both turned from surprise to fear, a magical meteor heading straight for Ponyville, that couldn't be good. Not wasting anytime they decided to get a chariot ready, and Celestia sent a letter to her student Twilight, so she could be aware of the danger the meteor posed.
Ponyville
Twilight tossed an turned, plagued with a nightmare of a dark cloaked figure, wielding a giant sword. She could not see details of the figure, but she noticed that it looked like a pony, at least, that's what it seemed like. Her nightmare broke up as the figure dashed towards her, she jumped up from her bed, fear still radiating in the room. She laid in the bed her thoughts going towards the nightmare: 'Who was that? What did they want? Why did they attack?' these questions plagued her mind before her senses finally returned to normal, hearing knocking on the door she quickly jumped up opening the door, startling the young drake on the otherside of the door.
Twilight looked on as Spike got his surprise under control, telling her that there's a message from the princess. She quickly took the scroll from him in her magic, it radiating purple in the dark of the room.
My Faithful Student Twilight, I have sent you this letter to inform you that me and Princess Luna have detected a meteor that is radiating magic, While we are currently en route to Ponyville by chariot, I would like you to gather the Elements, as events in this case are usually the cause of another villain. We shall be there shortly, your Faithful teacher, Princess Celestia.
As soon as she finished the letter she began getting prepared to grab the Elements of Harmony, she paused as she heard voices at the front of the library, opening the door she recognized her friends and quickly let them in. Rainbow, who was suprisingly the most energetic started off:
"Twilight, we heard about a meteor coming towards the town and thought that it might be something bad, we came here to wake you up. Looks like you're ahead of the game." she finished as everyone else came in. Applejack was the first to comment on her lack of tiredness.
"Yeah, yeah rainbow. Not all of us got sleep ya' know right?" She said gesturing to the others that all shared her look. Twilight continued on with what she was doing before they had interrupted, speaking as she did so:
"Princess Celestia sent me a letter about the incoming meteor, she said that it was magically infused, and likely the work of villains. She wanted me to get the elements out just in case" she said as she grabbed the casing that held them. They gathered around the case, each grabbing their corresponding element, before lining up. Twilight began to pace back and forth as she spoke, she didn't get the chance to before the door opened, the princesses at the door. Springing with purpose in her step, she walked towards Princess Celestia, giving her a hug, which she returned.
"Hello there Twilight, as you know we have a meteor coming here. We determined that it will land outside Ponyville, towards the Everfree Forest. We must act quickly she said, turning around before a noise shook the library, they quickly ran outside, the crash sight visible from where they were. Rushing to it, they found not a meteor, but a pony in the crash sight, clutched in each of his hands, pieces of a broken spear. They quickly had the guards on sight, grabbing the black and blue dressed figure out of the crater, making way towards Canterlot Castle
Hear, Feel, Think. The voice said, It sounded so far away.
Hear, Feel, Think. It repeated, it was getting, farther. Wait, what?
Hear, Feel, Think! It yelled.
Skye woke up in the bed, drenched in sweat. His mind overloaded with thoughts, actions, and pain. He couldn't see properly, he couldn't hear properly, and he sure as hell couldn't think. His mind was actively trying to calm him down, but his body wouldn't let him. He had taken a blow from Bahamut, he should be floating with Hydaelyn now. He was sure when he blocked the attack, getting in front of Shiro that his physical being had been shred away. His body and mind echoed one question: How was he alive?
Apparently the perks of getting to meet the floor made itself very known to himself as he felt pain along his body. 'Great, now my body decides to listen' Skye thought while trying to move himself, only to be gently, but firmly pushed down. He looked towards the entity who had pushed him down, only to question his sanity, he definitely wasn't feeling and thinking right. His vision looked as if someone had blocked them, his senses of color anyway. Instead of the usual rustic colors he was used to the world around him looked.... undetailed? He couldn't explain it. He also couldn't explain the white colored Hyur in front of him. It looked like a hyur but clearly, if the fuzziness of it's hand and the horn? it had were anything to go on.
Skye cursed to himself as he tried focusing on the odd hyur, finding that his senses were slowly turning on, and he could hear it, but only just.
"You took a very bad hit when you fell, you must stay still" Skye heard. skewering his head to the side, straining to hear him? He had assumed it was a him, judging from what he could hear from their voice. He watched on, trying to let his senses sharpen up a bit, as he did he looked at his surroundings, noting the cleanliness of it. Perhaps he had survived and the team had managed to drag him back to Ul'Dah or some place similiar. Skye closed his eyes, to settle his thoughts, recalling the events that got him in this predicament:
Skye made his move, jumping in front of Shiro, holding out Gae Bolg diagonally, so that maybe the hit would be shared between him and the spear.
Skye snapped out of the memory, opening his eyes to find a pair of vivid blues staring back at him. He jumped back in panic, seeming to get the hyur's focus on not only his eyes.
"Stop jumping around or we'll never be able to get that cut sealed". The figure said. Skye found himself listening to the voice, unsure of what he meant by a cut, until he looked down at his chest. Somehow, this hyur in front of him had managed to get his wyrm armor off, but sitting smack in the middle of his chest, was a gash that extended from the lower left of his chest, to the upper right of it. It was discolored, but matched his skin tone close enough, looking up he decided to ask the unfamiliar being some questions.
"Where am I? Who are you? Where's Shiro, Shirogane Takashi Solaris?" Skye said making use of his friend's full name, looking around expecting to see the dark knight somewhere around, ready to reprimand him of his action. Instead the oddly white hyur handed him some water, and then spoke:
"You're in Canterlot Castle's infirmary, and I'm Arctic Scalpel. As to this 'Shirogane Takashi Solaris' you asked for, there is no one here by that name. Skye felt the need to get up, and as he started he noticed Arctic Scalpel's glare. He decided against moving, so instead, brought up more questions.
"You said I'm in a Canterlot Castle, where in Eorzea am I? and what kind of hyur are you? You're very different than the ones I know." Skye finished, looking up at the doctor who in turn looked at him with a curious look before speaking:
"Canterlot Castle is located in Canterlot, home of the royal sisters of Equestria, I don't know what an 'Eorzea' is. I'm a unicorn, so I don't know what a hyur is, I'm a type of pony here." Arctic Scalpel said, turning to walk away before continuing:
"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have requested that when you awake you be brought to them, now because of you're unique physiology it took a bit longer than expected. Especially since you were wearing all of that weirdly shaped armor when they brought you in. I'm ready to clear you, and the guards will take you to the dining hall of the castle." Arctic finished.
Skye brought in all the words he had been given. 'Who are these Princesses? Where is Equestria? What did he mean by he's a unicorn? I've seen unicorns... they don't look like that. Did I somehow get thrown into a continent that isn't recognized by Eorzea? He sat on these thoughts as he recognized what were guards come into the room, assuming they were for him, he began to get up only for Arctic to start talking again.
"I don't suppose you want to get up naked right? I had the clothing you were wearing cleaned, unfortunately they couldn't repair that spear you had as it seems like it was given to the princesses. We will leave you to getting dressed" Arctic said, as he and the guards left the room.
Skye searched the room, spotting the Wyrm armor sitting at the edge of the bed, with a slight look towards the door, he got up and started to put the armor back on.
Elsewhere in Canterlot Castle
Both Princesses and the elements sat around the table, waiting for breakfast to be served. While they waited, they began talking, with Princess Celestia starting the conversation that obviously needed to be started.
"I have made arrangements for the creature that crashed to be put in the infirmary, while it seems that the armor he was wearing took the brunt of most of the damage, it's safe to say whatever caused him to have that much speed was what broke this" She said, finishing as she levitated something wrapped in cloth to the table before Pinkie Pie spoke up:
"Oh, Oh, A guessing game, is it the spear that the guy fell with, broken in two because of some fight with a dragon?" She said, bouncing in her chair. If she only knew how spot on that was. Celestia looked at her with an accusatory look before looking to Twilight for an answer. She simply shrugged, not willing to put up with antics of the pink all seeing pony known as the Element of Laughter.
Celestia was about to continue on, until the doors opened up with guards heading inside, before the creature they had dug out of the crater walked in, well limped in. The helmet it wore, off tucked beneath it's arm. No words were exchanged as the guards took positions at the doors, and as the creature moved forward. Celestia looked towards him, noticing that his white, cat-like eyes were focused on her as well, and after an eerie moment of silence she spoke.
"I see you have awakened. Please, join us. We were just about to have breakfast." She said, the armored being taking a look around the room, it's ears fluttering nervously as it decided whether or not to take a seat, until it spotted the broken remains of the weapon on the table. It shuffled forward, taking the seat at the end of the table, after it did it looked back towards her, likely waiting for her to speak. She found the gaze to be curious, but it also seemed to bore right through to her soul; at the moment she continued on speaking.
"I'm glad to see you are moving about normally, you had quite a nasty fall. Please tell us, what is your name." She said, as all eyes fell on the unnamed being.
Skye hated that all eyes were on him. He could even feel the guards eyes on him, seemed like everyone wanted to know what the dragon that slapped him dragged in. Guess he should start talking, rather than have to go back to being in a bed with that Arctic pony breathing down his back.
"My name is T'suhar Pendragon you may call me Skye if it helps." He said. His eyes going across the other people in the room, taking note of each one of them. First, there was the dark blue unicorn next to who he assumed was Princess Celestia, the whole white look gave it away. 'That must be the other princess, Luna I think it was.
Next, he moved to the left of Celestia, a small purple unicorn staring at him with what looked to be, curiosity? He would be wary of that, curiosity always got adventurers killed. His eyes moved forward to a white unicorn with blue hair, who looked at him with curiosity as well, but he recognized that it was more on his choice of clothing than him. He continued onward, his eyes falling upon a blue colored being with prismatic hair, each the color that he'd expect from a rainbow, or a very dedicated red mage. She was giving him a look of suspicion, he recognized her look. He got it all the time, as some citizens from Ul'dah still hadn't trusted him since the event that led to all the scions dispersing.
He brushed past it to see another being like the prismatic haired one, only she was yellow with pink hair. Her eyes seemed to be unfocused, not wanting to look directly at him, he recognized the feeling shyness. Lastly, he came upon two at the end, which had neither horns nor wings that he noticed from the previous two, one was two tones of pink, and looked like she wanted to take off like a rouge spell, the other was a orange and blonde haired being that gave him the same look as the rainbow haired one, only hers was less suspicious, and screamed 'One wrong move and I punch you into an Aetheryte. He would need to be wary of that one too.
He finished analyzing them to see that the white colored one was still looking at him, it had only taken him a second to analyze them, she had noticed. She gave no hint that she noticed, Instead she opened her mouth to speak again:
"So Skye was it? I am Princess Celestia, this is my sister Princess Luna" she started, gesturing towards the dark blue unicorn, who dipped her head, her eyes not leaving his. Celestia continued:
"These are the Elements of Harmony" Her left hand sweeping the beings on her left. When she finished that the first on the left began, the purple unicorn.
"Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's student and the Element of Magic" Twilight said, sitting down so the train could continue.
"Hello, I am Rarity, the Element of Generosity, and I must say, you're attire is simply outstanding for not being Equestrian! Rarity finished, quickly getting looks thrown her way from the others. Skye simply shook the compliment off, continuing with the train. The one that came next he knew was competitive, if her look was anything to go by.
"I'm Rainbow Dash! Fastest Pegasus in all of Equestria and I'm the Element of Loyalty. Skye paused for a second staring at the blue being, 'Pegasus? What the-' His train of thought was interrupted as she continued on:
"You better watch yourself, I've got my eye on you!" She said, issuing a gasp from Twilight. Skye looked back and forth from the two, obviously not fazed by the comment, before dipping his head in recognition. Rainbow looked at him for a moment before sitting down, obviously deciding on whether or not to comment on something else. The timid yellow Pegasus beside her began speaking, but she spoke low enough for him to barely hear.
"I-I'm Fluttershy, Element of Kindness...." she said, as her voice trailed off at the end. Skye simply dipped his head, not wanting to frighten the pony with his gaze. He turned his head, going down the list, to the pink colored pony.
"I'm Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter, Nice to meet you!" She said, springing up and down, how she did that, he had no idea. She sat back down but still kept springing, he would avoid her at all costs, if she could spring in a chair he didn't want to find out what she did normally.
"Ah'm Applejack, Nice ta meet ya!" The orange and blonde haired girl that sat closest to him said. She spoke with a southern drawl, something that farther out parts of Thanalan were known for.
After the explanations of each pony finished up he focused his attention on the smell of food, recognizing chiefs as they came from what he assumed were the kitchens. The food looked delicious, and he was surprised to see one sit a plate in front of him and so his gaze returned to Celestia for questioning. She saw his gaze and soon began to speak.
"We looked at you when you were asleep, and saw that you're teeth made you seem like a carnivore, so we had the chiefs prepare something for you, I hope you don't mind." She said, starting on her own meal. Skye opened his up, to see that it largely looked meat based, and he hadn't eaten at all, even before he took Bahamut's floor check, so seeing it he began eating, knowing full well that he would get lots of questions after. Especially from Twilight if his assessment was correct.
"So.. You're from a world called Eorzea, where conflict is always happening, and when it's at it's worse, these beast tribes summon primals... these primals or at least one in particular is the reason why you got came here?" Twilight asked, writing down the information while committing it to memory.
"Well, yeah. I saw that Bahamut was charging an attack that I had never seen before, so I decided to keep my tank alive by taking the attack instead, and you can see how that worked out." Skye said, growing tired evermore slightly. This conversation between them all had been going for two hours straight. Twilight began to say something else before she was cut off by Princess Luna, Skye perked up at that, having heard her say rarely anything since he came into the dining hall.
"How do we know these claims are true? You say you were hit here, and I see you bear a scar, but from all we know it is a ruse." Princess Luna said before getting scolded by her older sister. Celestia turned toward him and began to apologize profusely.
"I'm sorry about Luna she's just been stressed out-" Skye interrupted her by speaking out right, making her pause.
"It's quite all right Princess, I understand that you have to have you're people's safety in mind rather than a random person who showed up in your land unconscious. Princess Luna." Skye said, shifting his eyes towards the dark alicorn, as he had come to know the beings that posed both horn and wings.
"You ask for proof yet, you bear one of the biggest pieces of proof right beside you. I spotted my spear immediately when I came in. Gae Bolg, broken in two. While not the original, I had it made so that it could pass as a original, and it's much more efficient than my other dragoon weapons." Skye finished.
"Others? You have more than just one?" Luna said, growing cautious of the Miqo'te at the table. Skye looked at her before speaking:
"I do, I can show you it if you'd like. While most adventurers are subject to only one weapon a class, Warriors of Light are able to "store" weapons that they use. I can't explain it correctly, the one who explained it to me was Shiro." Skye's eyes fell as he confronted that statement. He knew that the others from his world were either grieving or damning Bahamut to eternal pain, and had he not took the blow, Shiro might be in the same boat, while he was still there, wondering where he went. Obviously, Skye would figure out a way to contact him, from what everyone had told him Equestria was unique in the fact that it was filled with magic.
Not like how Eorzea was, with it's random bouts of elemental magic, but just pure ambient magic that was everywhere, Celestia said that all creatures have ambient magic, he somehow doubted that he himself had any without doing a job class to switch to either Black Mage or Summoner. He decided to only limit himself to those two for magic damage, and so that put him at odds versus the ones Shiro had. Shiro had learned techniques of all available ones, where as he had learned all of the melee classes available, only two of the magic based damage ones, one of the ranged ones along with one for healing... no two he forgot that summoner shared a line with scholar; and all of the tanking jobs, which were Warrior, Paladin, and.. that accursed class. Overall, he was a weaker Warrior of Light than Shiro would have been. 'Thank the twelve that it was me that came here, Shiro would've given them a nightmare with the Dark Knight look'.
He was brought out of his thoughts when he looked up and noted that everyone's eyes were on him, not one to be kept in the dark he asked:
"Why are you all staring at me? What, is my ears on fire or something?" He asked while starting to search himself, only to stop in defeat and look back for an explanation. Applejack, who was the closest beside him spoke:
"You started t' glow like ya were usin' magic. Like how Twilight's horn glows when she uses it." she finished off. Skye looked confused for a second, then realized it was probably the Job stones.
"Oh, It's probably my job stones, they radiate light more often because of my unique occupation." Skye said, getting even more confusing looks than before, so he summoned the Dragoon's one to show what he meant. when he looked down at his hand that held it, he was surprised to see that it was no longer a stone, but a gem that had taken a crystalline look, with the stone no longer being just a normal rough cut, but instead looked like a trident, with the symbol of the Dragoon on the inside.
He decided to hold in his initial surprise, and raised it up so the rest could see them, the reactions of them were varied, while Applejack had not had near as much surprise, and the others having various degrees of it, the three at the end had surprise written all over their face. Princess Luna and Celestia quickly got over their surprise, falling into a mask common for royalty, while Twilight's stayed the same as she began to speak, obviously excited.
"I can feel so much magic from it only from here! It looks like one of the Elements of Harmony! Can I see it?" She said while zipping over towards him at a speed that surprised him, causing muscle memory to activate. Skye jumped backwards, away from the table and the speeding purple pony, performing the backflip that the evasive jump was know for, before landing at least 4 feet from the guards. Skye quickly pulling another spear from his inventory Longinus Zeta. The surprise of the other spear appearing in his arms caused the guards to draw their weapons, and Princess Luna to become defensive, her horn glowing as magic came to it's front.
Skye needed to diffuse this quickly, so he grabbed Longinus, and put it on his back, it attaching itself to his armor. He raised his hands in a non-aggressive manner, calmly speaking his next words.
"I didn't mean to react like that, I just have issues with people running up in such an aggressive manner, I didn't mean to pull Longinus out on you all. We can all just calm down, and put away our weapons". Skye yelled out in a firm manner, hoping that they'd take the opportunity. Rainbow Dash and Princess Luna looked like they wanted to attempt ripping him apart, they were hesitant, with Rainbow starting to sit down and Luna dispelling the energy in her horn. Unfortunately, luck decided to strike and the four guards placed in the room made up their minds, and attacked.
Skye didn't want to hurt them with Longinus, and doing another jump was out of the question, so he decided to Job change in front of everybody, feeling his armor change, being replaced by firm cloth, and the spear disappearing in exchange for heavy gauntlets that built up on his hands and arms. He had switched to Monk, hoping that it looked non threatening and hoping that he could hold his strength back, to keep from actually hurting the guards.
They seemed stunned for a moment at the sudden change of clothing and weapons, but immediately began to commence attacking once again.
Luna looked on in surprise, watching the royal guards attack Skye, but her mind was elsewhere as she recalled the event that happened moments ago, as she saw Skye be bathed in light, and emerge sporting different equipment than what he was wearing a moment ago. 'What is he actually?' She thought, staring onward as he swiftly ducked in between all of the guards' weapons, springing out behind them, keeping a light spring in his step.
While Skye loved the adrenaline that came with Monk, he hated that he was using one of his combat classes so quickly, watching the guards' every move. If he had more time to explain, he might not have gotten in conflict, but it was too late for mights and maybes, right now was focus. Skye focused on, keeping his stance un-attuned so he could focus on keeping his strength down, weaving around the sword of one of the guards, he put his arm behind the pony, using his elbow to knock him back behind them, and shifting his focus to the other three, he instead decided that ending the fight quickly might be the key.
Banking on that decision, Skye decided to feint a punch to the second guard near him, and when the guard tried to put his arms up to act as a shield, Skye grabbed the pony by the waist, and threw him behind, along with the other guard that had yet to get up. Turning his focus to the third guard, he stepped swiftly forward, using true strike on the third, the guard crumbling towards his stomach from the blow, finally he shifted his focus to the last guard, who seemed to be a unicorn. 'Out of all four, only one is a capable of using magic? He thought, as he rushed him, getting close enough to use a leg sweep, using the side of his right gauntlet to hit him in the side, taking down the final guard before he had even a chance to use his magic.
Needless to say, Celestia was surprised by how quickly and efficiently Skye had dealt with the guards, and as the fighting stopped they witnessed Skye become a beacon of light again, before seeing him wrapped in white clothing, and holding what looked to be a staff. Before she had time to react and justifiably attack, he turned away from them and towards the guards he had beat, and began to cast a spell on them, when he finished, a faint green glow could be seen from the end of the staff as it poured into the four guards.
Skye finished healing the guards that had unfortunately decided to attack him, declaring that they would be fine, with maybe the knowledge that they had been beaten by one man, he decided to cast Medica on himself, surmising that it would heal anything that Arctic Scalpel had been unable to do. As the spell finished doing it's work, he turned on his right foot back towards the table that held the group of eight. Skye analyzed all of their reactions, most of them stood their with shock evident on them, He guessed usually, one man bands don't take down four people within such a short time of each other. Seeing that none of them had gotten over their current condition, he took it upon himself to speak first, before a decision was made that could put him in a worse place, such as in a dungeon... and not the monster kind.
"Um, I just wanted to say, I didn't want to fight them, they started it. I went easy on them and healed them after... please don't attack me again." Skye finished, as they wordlessly shifted their eyes his way. He noticed that they were staring at the still raised staff in his hand, and took it upon himself to switch again, becoming a blight of light once again, he switched to a Discipline of the land: Botanist. Princess Luna was the first to break from her stupor.
"How did you do that? We watched as you shifted not only once, not only twice, but three times, taking on a different aspect each time." She said clearly, suspicion quite clear in her tone. Skye thought for a moment, deciding to rather tell the truth than lie.
"It's one of my innate abilities as a Warrior of Light. I can switch to any Discipline that I know within moments of each other. When you saw me first, I was a Dragoon, then I became a Monk, as evident by the gauntlets, I switched to White Mage so I could heal any damage I did to them, finally I switched to a non-offensive class, Botanist." Skye finished, keeping his eyes level with Princess Luna. As she processed the information Celestia spoke up, seemingly upset by the events.
"You did not tell us that you could do these things" She said evenly. Skye turned towards her speaking without thinking. If he were a smarter man, he might not have worded it like he did.
"You didn't ask, now-" Skye turned to Twilight, who was still up on the side of the chair where he had been. "You shouldn't have approached me so quickly, if you hadn't I might not have reacted like I did. I'm naturally trained to initiate or dodge what looks like attacks. Sorry if I scared you." He finished, eyeing the yellow pegasus especially, hoping that what he did hadn't gave her a heart attack. He rested easy once he saw her behind Rainbow, peering out over her friend's shoulder. He shifted his eyes back to Princess Celestia, her fiery gaze still on him as she spoke.
"While I did not ask, you should be compelled to give statements that declare abilities such as that. I would command that you hand that spear you had over, immediately." She said, fire in her eyes that could probably give even Ifrit a run for his money. Skye let annoyance seep into his words as he rebutted:
"I'm not giving you my spear. It's mine and mine alone, and while I could have given you a heads-up about my abilities it is my sole privacy to do it, regardless of whether or not I'm in your debt or not. Longinus is the last of it's kind, and while I'm sure that it would put trust in between us, no one is allowed to wield it other than me, and I somehow doubt that it would be treated well outside of my care." He finished, hoping that the piece of logic he had thrown out would tell her to back off. It didn't.
"It would not matter had you not drawn a spear on my ponies but here we are. Hand it over, or I will take it from you." Celestia said, anger growing evident in her tone. It's safe to say that none in the room had seen her angry like that before judging from their reactions, with Twilight's looking downright fearful. Skye let his anger explode in his next statement, already tired of the topic that was one hand.
"No, I won't hand it over or Give It To You! Longinus's maker isn't even alive anymore, and the only one who could repair it isn't even in this world from what you've told me! I'm not giving you it, nor should there be a reason you want it or need it! The only way someone would ever get their hands on my spear would be either Shiro, somehow it'd have to be Jalzahn, which is again DEAD, either that, or they'd have TO KILL ME!" Skye shouted, letting his anger seep out of his system before he continued: "And so far I see neither of those options happening. So let. It. Go." He finished as he stared towards the other end of the table, seeing that Celestia's expression had changed from anger to sadness, aimed towards him.
In fact all of their expressions had, gazing up at him as he ran through the words he said and realized that he was alone in this world, the only items he had from his world being ones that once they ran out, could not be replaced nor reforged. He dropped to his knees and curled up, knowing that he'd never see the skies of Eorzea again, or be able to just hang around with Shiro, the Au Ra teaching him what he knew. He wouldn't ever see the Scions again, wouldn't be able to visit Haurechefant's grave. Hell, he wouldn't have been able to ask out a certain white haired miqo'te now. For the second time since the incident, did he realize just how grim this event was, thrown from a world he knew into one where he had already instigated a fight. 'This is insanity' He never noticed that Fluttershy had shot out from behind Rainbow Dash, embracing him from the side or the fact that Princess Luna was to the other side of him either.
Luna watched on, her grip soft on the young stallion that was balled up had evidently stopped shaking, and could be heard snoring slightly, it was clear he had fell asleep. So, as careful as she could she unwrapped herself from him, with Fluttershy staying there. They turned towards the others at the table, not a word being spoken in between them. It was obvious what every experiences Skye had were traumatizing to say the least, and even though he claimed to be a strong warrior, hid behind a facade of comfort. 'Much like myself' Luna thought. Princess Celestia was the first to break the unnerving silence in the room, her voice carrying lightly across the wind.
"I had not stopped to think how he had felt. He only showed us the outside. Had I not pushed, he would not have pushed back even harder. I am a fool for that" Celestia finished. Even though Skye had went through the worst of it, she looked as if someone had punched them in the gut, they all did. Princess Luna rushed towards her sister, still light on her feet before impacting her with a small hug, before speaking.
"You did not know what would of happened had you did. Don't blame yourself for this, but it seems like Skye is battle hardened from whatever he experienced on his world. While he is not to blame, he seems he harbors some explosiveness to his attitude whenever the subject of those weapons are brought into conversation. As much as we should, we shouldn't talk about them again. It maybe much worse sister, you did not see the red tattoos he boar. They started to light up, only briefly. We do not know enough of his species anatomy but from what he shared, that isn't a normal occurrence.
"Um. Sorry to interrupt Princess Luna but do you think we could get him to a bed?" The small yellow pegasus said. She hadn't let go of him at all, and to everyone else it seemed that it was giving him a great deal of comfort. Taking into consideration her question, they moved forward with that, placing him in a room in between the Princesses and the elements. They would comeback later, and with that they went back to the dining hall, to speak regarding what to do with Skye, since they had not come across the question.
Hours Later
By the time Skye awoke, it was midday. He looked around the room and bed he was in, noting the formal look of the room. It looked like a room that an emissary would be placed in, surely they wouldn't go through all that trouble right? Right. He began to get up, and go to the bathroom, through his scan of the place it was to his right. As he came forward into the smaller room he gazed upon his face. His caramel skin tone, marred by a scar across his eye, the red markings that he had come to know for a long time now. Finally, his white hair that he kept wrapped up in a ponytail. Well, not exactly a ponytail but it worked along with his looks enough.
Turning the water faucet on, he started to pool the water on his face, hoping to get off any grim that had stayed on when he fell here. He continued on for thirty seconds before he came to a halt, finishing. He thought back on the conversation turned explosion back in the dining hall, and grimaced at his attitude. He could have at the least let them see Longinus long enough to take note of it's properties, yet he had decided against that at all and instead had focused on denying anything to do with it. He needed to apologize on his behavior, it made him look bad, and it made Shiro, who had maintained it for him look bad as well. He recalled a conversation he had with the man:
'Always put your Faith in new people that they aren't bad, but hold out on your trust until you can prove that they are who they claim to be'. He had botched that up very quickly, and hadn't given them a benefit of the doubt despite the numerous evidence they had namely, healing him and pulling him from that crater. He would have to thank Arctic Scalpel later, considering it was the unicorn who had nursed him back. Skye thought on his next course of action, deciding to go back and apologize, and maybe show them that he had some trust in them too.
[A Few Minutes Later]
Skye was obviously lost, he had wandered around, trying to find the dining hall but had not, and instead found himself at a big hallway, he had seen guards around but decided against asking him, most commonly because he never had to ask for directions before. Giving up hope, the miqo'te decided to ask a guard, turning around to go from where he came, only to bump into a guard, or rather, what he thought was a guard. Skye could tell that it was some form of pony, but they had dark grey fur, and he noted the rather heavy looking leathery wings on their back. They also wore more intricate looking armor than the rest, and instead of the gold armor he had seen other guards with, this one wore dark purple armor which sported a certain look he couldn't place.
Realizing he was staring, he quickly got up and profusely apologizing, and began to ask the question he had hoped for a guard.
"I'm looking for the Princesses, and hoped they were in the dining hall, could you, show me the way?" He said, looking into the pony's eyes, they were yellow and had a more pointed spike in them, similar to his own. The pony regarded him for a moment before deciding to speak, a simple phrase, indicating to follow her. As they walked he kept his pace short behind the mare's own, taking more time to look at her, unknowing that she knew he was staring at her back, until she made a comment.
"I'd rather you not stare at me, considering you're still an unknown in the castle and ponies are cautious when it comes to the unknown." The mare finished, leading him onward. "Besides, I'm taken." she finished. Skye thought on what she meant before catching on, and decidedly shifted his eyes away from her and down the hall, taking note of the features of the castle should he need to find his way on his own. As she slowed down to reach the destination he thought he should at least ask her name so he could find her again.
"What's your name, so if I see you again I don't look like an idiot." Skye said looking at her narrowed gaze. She was looking at him, likely analyzing him.
"It's Captain Nightshade, I feel like we'll be seeing more of each other, see you later... what's your name?" Nightshade asked.
"It's Skye, he said, his arm at the door, when he turned around she was gone. Deciding that she had more things to do other than lead a lost person around he shrugged and pushed open the door, thinking on her words, before realizing a small detail. Had he just asked a Captain to lead him here? The hell was wrong with him?
Skye looked on at the Princesses sitting at their thrones, contemplating their offer. They had offered him to become a guard here in the castle, which would allow him to use his combat skills and they keep a close watch on him. He had never thought himself as a guard; sure he had protected charges and whatnot but he had never done the job of being a guard, like the Brass Blades. The room had obviously gotten quiet, with the princesses hoping for a good response but Skye being the person he was... really didn't want to give them that response. He gazed upon all who was present in the room, every guard, every element, each princess. He contemplated saying no, but decided that he would only if demands were met.
"I'll agree, only if certain demands are met. I don't want any poking or prodding about my tools or weapons, nor do I want peop- ponies. I don't want ponies trying to use my abilities for their own gain. It happened before, and I won't see it happen again. Lastly, I want to formally apologize with my conduct earlier. It was unbecoming of me as a Dragoon and as a Warrior of Light." He looked at the princesses with baited breath, hoping that this might be enough to seal the deal. He had dealt with royalty before, but never directly, it was always handled by either the Antecedent or Alphinaud.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna looked at eachother, before coming to a decision. Celestia smiled while Luna held her mask as the elder sister spoke:
"While we agree to these demands, we suggest that while it shall not be brought up by us, your captain that you are assigned under would surely want to see a combat test of your skills, even after that you will probably face backlash in regards to your other peers, are you prepared for that?" The way the question was posed made it sound more like a challenge than a question of whether or not he was ready, but Skye stood his ground.
"I have faced many trials and tribulations before, I'll take it in stride." Skye answered, assuring himself more than the others. In truth, he had failed before, and despite the warnings of everyone telling him not to let it get him down, it bothered him. It bothered him so much that he refrained from using a specific class, one of his strongest. Snapping back to attention he gazed at the alicorn princesses as Luna spoke this time, rather than Celestia.
"Now that we have that part settled, we must ask which core that you serve under, there is the Solar Guard Contingent, and the Lunar Guard contingent, there is one last one but we fear that you serving under that one may cause discourse threw the ranks. Rumor has already spread of a being that took down four royal guards all within fifteen seconds of each other." Skye fought back a spreading confidence that had started to show. 'Better show modesty and be humble, no more confidence of that caliber'.
"If I may, I am rather used to staying awake all day and night than just justifying one. But, if it must come to this, I would prefer to be placed under the Night Guard branch. Miqo'te are much more used to seeing in the dark than our counterparts, and have an affinity with the dark. Princess Luna smiled at this revelation, it seemed that most took to being a solar guard... 'I wonder why' he thought as he gazed upon Princess Celestia, taking in her features while remaining behind a professional mask.
"Then we will begin with training in two weeks time." This came from the Lunar diarch. Skye raised a brow at that statement, confused by why in two weeks. Why wait when he could start now? His answer came swiftly from Celestia.
"You must wonder why two weeks, we deemed it necessary for you considering that you have not had experience with none of Equestria's residents, and nevertheless you would become lost in the castle. Over two weeks time, we would have you learn of these, among other topics, such as guard training." Celestia finished. Skye thought to save some time and speak up, rather than be dismissed this early.
"I don't need guard training though, I have had a lifetimes worth of standing and watching, surely this is no different than what I did in my world." Apparently this was the wrong thing to say, as Princess Luna was the one to speak up, a tone of discontent evident in her voice.
"While this may or may not be similar to what you are used to we insist that you undergo training, what if you were to speak out against your superior, or perhaps attack your fellow guardsmen because of them simply wanting to ask about you. These are issues that will become evident Skye, and you must think upon the repercussions that come with it." Princess Luna finished, the ice coming out of her tone.
Skye took into consideration what she said, figuring that it may be fine to take a refresher after all. It would allow him to not only see how this countries' government flowed but might give him insight on how he got here. It could also help him focus on why Hydaelyn's voice was so far away now, and why he had felt stronger since arrival. Of course, he hadn't worded these thoughts to anyone, he had decided against doing so. If they found that out it could possibly take a turn from guard to new science experiment.
"I agree that these issues are indeed relevant and that perhaps training might do well in my favor, I only ask one more thing before this meeting is adjourned. Skye turned towards Twilight, who ad perked up when he looked her way. Summoning Longinus, he bared his hand open, it laying evenly in his hand. He bore it towards her, in a manner nonthreatening, he didn't need another repeat of earlier's event.
"I have taken into consideration the recent events and decided that I will allow you to analyze it along with the remnants of Gae Bolg, only if you promise not to let it fall from your grip, nor any other touch it. I am putting faith in you to keep this weapon in pristine condition while it is in your possession. Do not attempt to modify it, nor de-assemble it in any way shape or form. If you do, I will know, and if you thought you had seen me angry before, I promise you do not want to see an angry dragoon who's spear has been subject to change without their consent." The princesses frowned at the implied threat, meanwhile Skye kept his emotions suppressed, his body that held the spear screaming at him to drop what he had said, to give the spear of a dragoon to someone invoked a nasty bit of trust that no other possessed. He would see it through despite his brain telling him not to.
They had obviously already analyzed Gae Bolg, but he decided to give them the permission they lacked before, it's not like they would be able to fix it at all. Twilight gingerly took the spear from his hands into her own, looking him in the eye as she began to speak: "I'll make sure to honor your wishes. It will come to no harm or anything else."
"Then let it be known at this hour that I, an Azure Dragoon have given you my spear as to further your own knowledge. It is a sign of trust, should it be broken, I will see to it that the fury of Nidhogg finds it's way upon your doorstep."
Two weeks have passed since that little conversation in the throne room, and much to Skye's excitement, those two weeks had been absolutely boring. Of course, he had learned more about the castle he would be working and staying in, but also he had learned more about the city it was in, in general. Canterlot it was called, and after a particular day he had gotten up early, and jumped to the top of Canterlot Castle via Dragoon. When he had done that he had received the best view possible of the city and had noticed the sheer size of the grand city. It was no Ul'dah or Ishgard, but it would have been recognized as it's own city nonetheless.
Skye thought on the previous day's events, remembering that after he had been seen by Captain Nightshade on the tallest spire of the castle, how she had yelled at him. It was indeed something fierce, and actually frightened him a bit, it reminded him of a certain angry bull of the Immortal Flames. She had told him just because he had the ability to do such a thing he shouldn't. If only she had known how many times he had done that. Since the two week schedule had begun, he made it an effort to do it at least once per day, it not only kept him fit as a dragoon, but also helped him focus on his abilities as one. As he focused on the thought of coming clean to Nightshade, he heard a knock on the door, swiftly getting up, and making sure he was properly dressed, he opened it to see the mentioned Captain in full armor, giving him a look in between annoyance and military obedience.
This meant that today was the day that he would be "trained" for lack of a better word. Skye wasn't fully on the idea of doing this, but he had already made a promise to not only one, but both of the alicorn princesses. There was no way he could back down. Nightshade looked him up and down, before speaking.
"Alright rookie, today's the day that you get put into the ring for training. Princess Luna told me that while you have experience in fighting, you should still be debriefed on what we do, today, we're gonna see what you can do, and then get you outfitted for guard duty. Meet me outside in approximately twenty-five minutes or I'll personally drag you out there, understood rookie?"
Skye didn't even feel up to the task of answering, instead he saluted, showing no signs of disregarding her orders. Nightshade would definitely pass off as a counterfeit Raubahn, he decided he would not push his luck, yet he proceeded to do so anyway. Skye performed a class switch, shifting from the attire of Botanist to Dragoon, the scaled armor replacing the light clothing he wore before, and his spear materializing on his back. He then returned a salute, while speaking.
"Ready for training ma'am!" He shouted, restraining his voice as to not make it exceedingly loud. Nightshade looked him over once again, before stepping out into the hallway, and started moving, Skye quickly followed behind in pursuit.
[Training Grounds]
He regretted that decision. He extremely regretted the decision to class change in front of her. It seemed that in Skye's ignorance, for training Nightshade had decided to throw fifteen guards at him. This was never like how when Shiro would "accidentally" shirk enemies on him, she had willingly decided to sic fifteen of the Night Guard on him. Apparently it didn't help that rumored had spread about his match with the solar guards, as she 'convinced'/i] most of the guards that were veterans to take part of this scheme. Is this what hazing was supposed to feel like? This is what hazing was probably supposed to feel like.
He had an interesting time getting rid of the guards, not wanting to do anything fatal, he had used a hit and run tactic, knocking them around with Longinus while staying out of reach normally. He hadn't had to use this type of tactic sense- Skye didn't register the blow he had received, coming to while in midair. In his temporary stupor, he had somehow fell to notice one of the guards. Captain Night shade was immediately upon him, and so he quickly got up and saluted as she appeared.
"What was that rookie? You gotta get your head in the game and instead of dreaming off into the sky!" She watched him, waiting for an explanation.
"My fault completely, I had lost focus with deciding what to do next and hadn't noticed the impending attack." Skye quickly lied.
Nightshade looked at him with narrowed eyes. She didn't believe him for a second but decided not to push, so she decided to lay off him.
"It would seem that a proper congratulations are in order, you managed to take down ten of them before you became unfocused. You'd make a solid royal guard one day. One Day." Nightshade said as she turned to the fallen guards.
"Get your asses up! You let yourselves be beaten by one stallion and one alone! If you claim to be apart of the Night Guard you're gonna have to try harder than that! Run it again! Again! AGAIN!"
Skye and the other guards ran that many times after that, until he collapsed on his spear, his legs threatening to give out underneath him. He made a promise to never to show off in front of Captain Nightshade again. Next time she'd probably have him do laps across Canterlot for the whole day, he didn't want to find out.
They had forgone getting him outfitted with new armor, the blacksmith claiming that he needn't any new armor if he got the most sturdy thing on already. He did want to take a look at Skye's broken spear though, not like he cared, nothing could repair it, and he would be fine without it, despite it really bringing together the whole "dragoon look", whatever that meant. He had heard it from Gerolt, the legendary blacksmith that had managed to put it back together in the first place through slowly grafting it onto the strongest spear he could get.
With outfitting out of the way, he had gotten his assignment, and had been assigned to guarding the throne room during Night Court, no doubt string pulling by Princess Luna, still he took it with a grain of salt, and began to settle in for the day as morning broke, after all tomorrow would be the first day on the job, and as such, Skye felt it necessary to change up his hairstyle. Rarity had attempted to get him to change it when she was here, claiming that no fashionista would "dare let a stallion's mane grow that wild". He thought she might be talking about the 'flared out bun' that held his hair back but was in fact talking about his hair in general.
Since he had arrived here, he didn't put too much thought into what he looked like, and as he viewed himself in the mirror he saw that his hair had grown thicker and longer, the bun curving downward as it had grew too long to maintain that 'up' look. His beard fared no better, it grew to long lengths, with white hair splitting every which way, and so Skye thought to trim up a bit, and went to work.
Skye was incredibly bored. He didn't expect a grand revelry but didn't think that he would be bored out of his mind. Captain Nightshade had made it painfully obvious that she didn't want him doing the pose that made him comfortable, and despite the Wyrm armor's look, he still had to keep his spear stiff straight, instead of relaxed in his grip. He had learned that the other guard he was serving tonight's shift went by the name of Nightingale, and seemed to be a soft spoken pegasus. That's what he had assumed anyway, until the pony in question snapped to attention, going rigid in the face, and dropping any emotion in his face.
To keep himself focused, Skye shifted his eyes towards the throne room, where Princess Luna actively served "Night Court" if you could call it that. Rarely had ponies shown up, and when they did, they didn't stay long. It seemed that ponies were intimidated by one of their own Princesses. It probably didn't help that one of the first guards they saw was a tailed being wearing armor that could definitely cut you into pieces, disregarding the fact that the polearm he held had a sickly red glow to it.
"Gaurdspony Nightingale and Guardsman Pendragon." Both Skye and the other turned towards the sound of the voice, it coming from Princess Luna. They both made it look like they were looking at her, Skye tilting his head to her level, as she wouldn't be able to see his face underneath the curved visor of his armor, with the exception of his mouth.
"You are relieved of your duties for tonight, it would seem that nopony else will be showing up tonight." While it seemed that Nightingale physically relaxed a bit, Skye held unwavering, instead to answer back.
"My duty is to protect you your highness, I cannot leave until said duty is done." Skye said that for a particular reason, he would never leave someone to be alone by themselves, especially royalty. Skye was glad to see that Nightingale stood firmly as well, him in silent agreement with the Miqo'te. Skye was glad that he was, last time he had been left in a room alone with royalty, the Scions of the Seventh Dawn had damn near been scattered to the seven hells. He would not let it happen here, so long as he could still move.
Luna huffed in annoyance at both of the guards' unwillingness to leave, so instead she though it could be a good thing for them to relax, so she decided to play a little game with the two of them.
"Since you show unwillingness in the decision of your Princess, you two will play a little game with me. Both guards shot a look at each other before facing her, seemingly ready to hear her out.
"I will ask a question to each of you, and you can choose to answer or not. If you do not answer, you must tell us something about yourself or about your family. If you do answer, you may ask me a question, but only one of you." Luna stated, looking between the two as they took the time to register her words.
"If you are in agreement, let us begin. Nightingale, what is your favorite color?" The guard in question answering with the color lilac, much similar to part of his own mane. Luna then turned to Skye, and asked him the same question, him saying "midnight blue". Not only did the answer surprise her, but it caused her to blush, the action going unnoticed by either of the guards because of the distance of her from them. Next, they asked her what she considered her favorite food, she answered with the simple statement of the term "moonpies" which made Nightingale chuckle while Skye cocked his head to the side, unfamiliar with the term. Luna watched on as Nightingale turned quickly to him, Skye seemed to get it after the explanation.
[Hour Later]
They had asked a number of questions back and forth, with Luna being entertained and the guards being kept awake. She had learned a numerous amount of things about Skye, such as an order from his world known as 'The Scions Of The Seventh Dawn' which had helped prevent multiple catastrophes. It looked like all was going well, until it didn't.
Skye frowned, his mouth being the only thing visible as he replayed the memory back in his head of the question asked just before his swift departure from the throne room.
Princess Luna laughed at the nutty answer of him using his abilities to cook food once, he had said that he used Dragonfire Dive to cook a piece of steak, only for it to become charred. He had done it out of spite, considering one of the chefs said using abilities on food would be preposterous. She had then asked a question that Skye would've considered normal, if it did not bring up so many bad memories. She had asked him "What do you think is one the worst moments of your life?". Obviously she meant most embarrassing, but it was like Skye's mind had suddenly warped, it bringing flashbacks as he watched the dungeon group be... The memory brought him to his knees, the man wrapping his hand around his head, it seemed like he had never left that place, where he had slaughtered the enemy ruthless, a giant jagged blade in his hands as he had... As quick as the memory came, it faded. When he looked up, Princess Luna was right in front of him with Nightingale at his side, both mystified by the sudden change in his personality.
Luna wanted to say something to Skye before he left, but she found it hard to say anything. He had ran out of the throne room, leaving Nightingale and her to ponder where the conversation had taken a turn from a silly little game, to a high tension air. She did not think as she dismissed the other guard, Nightingale not saying anything as he left the room. It was apparent that he did not see it, but there were slight waves of red and black coming off of Skye, and she could see the formation of what looked to be a element of harmony. It was dark red in color, nearly seemed gray, but at it's center was a shimmering mass of yellow. Luna sighed, knowing that she could not withhold this piece of information from her sister, and would need to tell her about it. She pondered for a moment, letting it reflect on her, an unanswered voice in the night, as she asked the sky.
"What happened to him for him to react like that?"
A Month passed by since Skye had nearly been pulled back into his memories, made to live the hell that he himself came up with. He dutifully kept his mouth shut, and never engaged in one of Princess Luna's games again. To the outside, he was a guard, another spear for the Princesses uses, but since that, he had found no motivation to do anything else, so he stuck to either training, or reading books of Equestria's ecology, hoping to keep the pressing issues out of his mind.
Skye turned another page in a book that he had been recommended by Nightingale, Equestrian Ecology and How it Affects Magic. The book had surprisingly been interesting, showing him ways magic blended with the environment, similar to how Primals infect their environments. However, his mind was elsewhere; the outburst of darkness a month ago was not a coincidence, he had been absorbing darkness in varying amounts, to purge it with his innate light. It had been a slow and tedious amount of work, but he had successfully lowered it down. The darkness had been flowing from Princess Luna, it drifting off, unnoticeable from her, but he could see it clear as day, and had begun the process of removal.
Normally, he would have considered just outright telling her, but she had been relatively cold to him, falling into her royal mask, and while he did not understand why, he assumed it had something to do with Princess Celestia. It had been no where near better with her, considering when she did speak to him, they were probing questions, ones that pertained to his biology, and his magics. He kept the details vague, not wanting to tell her the full range, in hopes that it would quell her desires. It at least worked a bit, and she did not bring it up again. His guard duties, were going... for lack of a better word swimmingly. Captain Nightshade had really seemed to soften up to him, they often shared stories from their adventurers. She often spoke about her childhood, while he spoke about random adventures he often had with the Scions.
"Ahem. Guardsman Pendragon, your required in the throne room" This was spoken by a guard that Skye didn't recognize, they wore black armor that signified the Lunar Guard, so it must be a guard he just hadn't become familiar with, so he stood up, and made his way to the shelf that held the book. After doing so, he turned around, shifting his aether to the energies of the dragoon, and he took up the manifestation of the soul crystal, taking on it's form. Scaled armor, quickly replaced clothing, a helmet covering his eyes. The guard then proceeded to move towards the library's entrance, Skye following close behind.
It didn't take them long to reach the room, and when it was opened, it revealed many guards that wore armor similar to his captain's. He assumed that they were captains as well, and he then saw a white unicorn with varying degrees of blue as his hair. This one wore purple regalia armor, the sides marked with gold. It was bulky, and reminded him much like the armor of Paladins. Hopefully he did not have their sense of humor, which meant 'fun' was to throw themselves into as many enemies as possible.
While Skye was assessing the newcomers, he did not notice that all eyes shifted to him, he expected it considering his attire but he was sure that by now everyone had come to know that their was a being that was not native to their world. As he came to, he finally noticed the staring, so thinking quickly, he grabbed his polearm, keeping it parallel in front of himself, while standing up straight.
"Guardsman Pendragon, reporting for duty!" He had learned that this was the easiest way to get ponies that did not know him to settle down with the shifting, showing that he was a guard, not a threat. It was at this moment that Princess Celestia made her voice known.
"At ease, guardsman. You were brought here along with the captains of both the Lunar Guard and the Solar Guard to be briefed on upcoming plans that will be occurring soon. Captain Shining Armor?" The floor was turned over to the unicorn that he now knew the name of. 'Shining Armor? Bit much on the nose ain't it?' Skye thought as he tuned in to the unicorn.
"As you may or may not know, In the next upcoming months I will be getting married to Princess Cadence, here in Canterlot Castle. We've also become aware that the castle has been threatened by an unknown party, and so it is advised that guard activity be increased at the start of the new year." Shining began to continue, but was interrupted.
"And so what does this have to do with me?" All heads quickly turned to Skye, as he raised the question. "I'm just a simple guard, this could've been told to me by my captain." He looked towards Nightshade, who was giving him a look of death. He would've backed down, but he had become use to her glares, noting that they weren't more serious than an angry chocobo.
"If it all the same to you-"
"How dare you interrupt Shining Armor!" This came from one of the guards that had solar regalia. Skye gave him his full undivided attention.
"You were ordered to be hear, so such your mouth and let the Captain of the Royal Guard speak!" The armored pegasus said. He was swiftly cut of by Shining by a wave of the hand. Shining turned to Skye, speaking in a stern voice.
"While I do not appreciate being interrupted, the princesses asked that you be here. Guardsman Pendragon was it? You are an unknown to our lands and while you've made no active attempt to show aggression, ponies are still apprehensive about your presence." Shining finished. Skye let that soak for a moment as Shining went back to addressing the assembled captains.
"So, you want me to what? Disappear for the day of the wedding or something?" He was quickly shot a glare by not only Nightshade but the other captain as well. Shining eyed him for a moment before speaking.
"No, you've been invaluable as a guard here, and we have much to gain from your presence at the castle. Your armor would probably stop anypony from doing something drastic. We would like to place you as a personal guard, in the event that there is an attack, you would-
"So, I'm a glorified bodyguard then why-" Skye was interrupted to the same captain marching up to him. His yellow eyes brightened in fury.
"Shut it guardsman! You were brought here to be briefed! Not to talk back to your superiors. If you do not shut your mouth, I will do so for you!" He was quickly pulled back by Nightshade.
"My apologies for my guardsman's insubordination Captain Bright-bend. I'll reprimand him immediately." She gave him a look that told him to come here, Skye complied.
"What the buck are you doing? Stop talking and just listen! I have been lax on drilling you but it would seem that it's necessary!" the thestral screeched in hushed tones. She then gave him the same chilling look, before going back towards the group. The Captain known as Bright-bend looked very smug that he had been reprimanded, like a child that had been tattled on. Skye then and there decided to straight up knock the boiling pot that had been started over, and stomp on it's contents.
"While I was advised to not continue with speaking I find myself wanting to talk even more. Sorry if this inconveniences you Bright-bend." He jested, mocking the captain by not adding his title. It was at this moment that the fight broke out, with the captain punching Skye in the side of his armored face, he immediately retaliated, his veins coming to a boil as they tensed up in anticipation of the impending fight. Skye slugged Bright right back, as he didn't waver as he took hold of the power of the monk, the armor changing and his face being reveled, a slight smirk to boot.
Skye surged forward, wanting to get as many punches in before Bright had time to react, going low for a punch to the gut, only for Bright to block the oncoming attack, and retaliate with his own, smashing his head against Skye's. Skye quickly leapt back, checking to make sure that there was no visible wound, as he identified that there was only slight head trauma, he leapt back toward the pegasus, only to note that he had pulled a blade from no where. This only made him burn even more, wanting to be the one to show that blade's mean nothing in the wake of his fists. In his excitement, he didn't notice that the blade had pierced his face, it running down the left side of his face, before exiting. Skye quickly placed his fingers on the wound, knowing exactly what he'll find, the color of blood staining the gauntlets.
Skye smiled, activating Fists of Wind, his accelerated movement bringing him closer to his target. With glee like a child, he activated Fist of Fire, as to increase the damage of the blow he was going to do. He was going to use a true strike, infusing the built up speed of his momentum, and the devastating power of the other ability. This was going to her Bright more than him, he slammed forward, ready to drive the fist into the captain's face, only for him to be sharply pulled back by Captain Nightshade, her voice clearing the smoke in his head.
"What are you doing? You looked like you were trying to kill him! You were grinning and everything, had I not stopped you, you both would have been hurt or worse!" She stated, anger in her voice. Skye finally took notice of his position. He had been ready to not only pummel Bright but, he had wanted to teach him a lesson. That wouldn't have been one of humility.
Skye took a look at Bright to see he was being pulled back as well, the magical aura of Shining Armor evident on him. He had to fix this, quickly, and so he tore himself out of Nightshade's grip, grabbing hold of the power of the White Mage, as soon as the staff was in his grasp he left off a powerful spell, Asylum, the field healing him and the captain, no noticeable scars left over, as he was rushed by the other captains.
It looked like he had used too much energy up on fighting and healing, as he faded to consciousness, he took one last look at Captain Bright, to see that he was in much better shape than before. 'Good'.
Skye woke up, taking note of his surroundings, iron bars to his left and stone wall on all the other ends. 'Great Prison'. This was nothing new, he had been in prison before, but to be in one a month after arriving is a new record he would say. As he adjusted to his surroundings he took note of the clanging of armor that approached the outside of the cell. He would have assumed that they had him in hear for a couple of days.
"Stand up straight, Prisoner!" The voice surprised him, it was Nightingale. While his face looked to want him follow orders properly his body language betrayed him, so he decided to focus on the former, straightening up to his full height. Now Skye isn't a tall guy, but he at least is taller than normal ponies, and his height rests almost an inch off of Princess Luna's height. You'd think that would make him intimidating to others, but it isn't intimidating when your wearing robes.
"You are to be escorted to the throne room for your trial regarding your brawl with Captain Bright." The pegasus said sharply, prodding Skye to move along. Skye had some questions on his own, and figured if anyone would answer him, it'd be Nightingale.
"How long have I been in here? Is the Captain alright?" Skye could feel Nightingale's eyes on his head, and he thought he wouldn't answer him.
"You've been in here for nearly eight hours, even though we have a dungeon we don't like keeping anypony in it too long, Captain Bright is ok for now, last I saw him, the doctors were trying to figure out what happened to all of his wounds. Before you ask, the charges that you racked up are as follows: assault on a guard, assault on a guard captain, brawling in the throne room, and threatening the life of a guard." He finished. Skye thought about it for a moment, he kinda of was a dignitary from a different world, couldn't he get away with this? Probably not, Captain Bright was gunning for him, and Skye had made it look like he was too thanks to his use of Monk's abilities.
The pair soon reached the throne room, it being opened to the view of both princesses on their corresponding thrones, and captains of the guards their. He also saw Twilight along with her friends as well, which thoroughly confused him as to why.
"Take no further steps, Prisoner! You will remain there!" One of the guards screeched. Skye quickly complied, not wanting to get gouged in the chest or something while he didn't have access to his staff. It was then that the younger princess spoke.
"Guardsman Pendragon, you have been accused with a number of charges ranging from assault on a guard, to threatening the life of said guard, how do you plead?" Luna finished, leering from her throne. Skye gazed around the room, caching the eyes of several ponies, most of them looked at him with an indifferent look, while some of the solar guards looked ready to beat him. 'Word gets around fast huh?' Skye thought as he looked at his options, which were none. If he pleaded innocent that for surely would have been shut down, but if he immediately said guilty, the solar guards might think he did that to save his own skin. He quietly made his decision, hoping that it would be the right one.
"I plead guilty under the rule that my actions were not my own" He stated clearly for everyone to hear him. He could see that many gained a look of either confusion, or a look of distrust. Princess Luna's head had cocked to the side for a second, confused by his words, meanwhile Princess Celestia's had remained in that mask. He could feel her questions as she spoke.
"Explain to the room what you mean by 'your actions were not your own' these ponies here all bore witness to the brawl, so they may find it confusing or impossible to believe." The solar diarch dictated. Skye calmly shifted his breathing, he would need to remain calm so he didn't cause any of his memories to bleed into his vision.
"On my world, at certain times, we Warriors of Light would tunnel vision, focusing on what we deemed necessary. When we did this, sometimes we ended up putting our life on the line to the extent that it required others to save us. During what is called the Seventh Umbral Calamity, others like myself joined in with all of the alliances to help make a stand against the Garlean Empire, only for it to be interrupted by the primal Bahamut, who broke free from his prison in the core of the moon Dalamud. Even we as Warriors of Light could not beat him at his current pace, and so a man known as Louisoix saved as many as he could by moving us into a aetheric rift, we didn't emerge from this rift until five years later. None of us have any memory from that battle, and only get fractions of it. We've all had to deal with the repercussions once, but for many of us, it doesn't go away, and the memories bleed into our vision, making it seem like we never left that place." Skye finished, readjusting his tone so it was even. He didn't need to think about it... not now. not ever.
Celestia regarded him, the mask hid her true feelings but her eyes did not. She knew what he meant by memories bleeding into the present, she must've known since she was a very old alicorn. Everyone's reaction to his story had them speechless. They hadn't realized that he had been fighting wars up until then, fighting beings that could be regarded as powerful as Discord. Skye wanted to get their minds off of his words so he spoke.
"If I may Princesses, what is my punishment? While I'm glad that your all speechless about the story, I find it disturbing to talk about that piece of information. I barely remember the events of it and it doesn't help to remember all of the warriors who perished." Princess Celestia looked startled at his question, quickly regaining her composure before speaking out.
"We have deemed that despite your effort to heal Captain Bright, and adding that disturbing piece of information, we have considered your punishment. It will be handled by the element holders here, and there will be some rules regarding it before we pass it on. You cannot under any circumstance, unless asked by one of them, use any of your combat skills during this period, You must be willing to divulge any information that is within reason" She said while eyeing a sheepish Twilight. "Lastly, you are compelled to help out with any events that require it." Celestia finished, eyeing him.
Skye looked back, a questioning glance, he just hoped that the punishment wasn't horrible.
Skye wanted to bang his head. Not only was the punishment horrible, he would've thought that the princesses enjoyed handing out these sentences. Skye would be helping with 'setting up winter' in Ponyville... Whatever that meant. He was also supposed to help Twilight and her friends with tasks they needed, and as he made his way to the train station along with the ponies he could've sworn that Twilight looked like she was going to tie him down and ask him every question under the sunset. He also caught Rarity staring at his clothing, so he knew that within the week he would be wearing something she made. It wouldn't be so bad, but from what he had heard around the castle, Ponyville was notorious for singing. He hoped to Hydaelyn that there would be no singing. Oh how wrong he hoped... she can't protect him from lyrics.
It's been two days since Skye started this "punishment" and it today wasn't anymore entertaining than the other two. There wasn't much he could do to help, due to his magic not being the same as the unicorns, and he can't fly, so most of the time, he helped Applejack set the farm up for it to be covered in the snow. Hopefully, the snow is different than it is in Ishgard, he practically hated it when he discovered it just gets 'colder.
Right now, he was inside Twilight's home/library. It had been decided that he'll stay with her, and along with her assistant. Skye reminded himself that Spike wasn't like the dragons from his world, and it was likely that the others of this world weren't as well. He was inside because the pegasi were finally laying the snow out, and winter would start. This meant for the next few days, he would probably be bored out of his mind. He had attempted to read one of Twilight's many books but upon her seeing him read one, she had begun to give him more books. That was the last time he'd do that. He swiveled towards the sound of the main door opening up, and in walked the six ponies that he was charged with being under for the time being.
"Heya Skye!"
Pinkie Pie happily bounced up to him and jumped, Skye deciding to let it play out regretted it as the mare landed on him, making it feel like he had just been crushed.
"Pinkie! You've gotta stop doing that, you're going to hurt somepony soon because of that!" The lavender mare called out as she closed the door behind herself." Rarity followed up immediately after, concern in her voice.
"Are you ok darling? That looked like a nasty fall." Skye quickly dismissed her concern.
"Nothing to be worried about, this just tells me how Shiro would feel when I'd do it. Of course it didn't help him I tried to do it with dragoon abilities active. He chuckled remembering how he had at one point rushed towards Shiro, using a Jump to add air time, only to fail as he got swiped out of the sky by him.
"You've talked an awfully lot about him in the past times we've seen you, who is Shiro anyway?" This came from Rainbow Dash, who had taken on a questioning glance, this was present on everyone else's faces as well. Skye thought for a moment, deciding to tell them.
"Shiro is-" It looked like Spike had woken up from his nap, and almost immediately had become aware of the situation on hand.
"Oh! Sorry everypony, didn't realize that I'd be interrupting something." Spike said, quickly making way for the exit to the library, only for Skye to call to him.
"It's quite alright Spike, though I'd advise that if you're going to go outside, I'd suggest you take a coat, I think the snow just made landfall out there and it's probably cold. You could stay here though, I was just about to tell everyone about one of my friends, Shiro." This seemed to grab his attention, and he decided to sit down next to the others in the room as they crowded around him. As he got settled in, Skye looked to the ceiling for a second, deciding to focus on who Shiro was as a person.
"Shiro's a warrior of light like me, but he's way stronger I'd say. He's not a Miqo'te like I am though, He's an Au Ra. Oh, you don't know what an Au Ra is! They're like dragon-kin, and share many draconic traits such as horns, tails, and they even got the whole glowing eye look at times. Anyway, Shiro's an Au Ra, very intimidating to boot. I'd say if you want a description of him, he's black haired, but along the tip of his hair, it turns white all the way through. His horns are off to the side like this." Skye said, making his hands into the shape that Shiro's horns were. He turned his head to Rainbow laughing.
"What's so funny?" He said, annoyed she was still laughing like a maniac.
"I just- I can't imagine someone like that, it sounds like something out of a old mare's tale." She stuttered out before going back into a laughing fit. Skye wasn't going to let it get to him so he continued on, putting up with the annoying laughter.
"It may sound funny to you but if you knew what the Au Ra had to deal with you wouldn't be saying that." He flatly stated, this got her to shut up. It was then that Spike spoke, interested in beings like him.
"What did the Au Ra have to deal with? You make it sound ominous." Skye looked at him, unsure whether or not to tell them or not. It wasn't a great story, and he didn't want to scar them, so he declined.
"It's not a story for young ones like yourselves, and it sure ain't gonna make you feel any better hearing it, so I'm not going to talk about it, just know that the Au Ra were constantly prosecuted and killed for looking like dragons. The dragons from my world have a not-so-good reputation of destroying everything. Either way, back to the story. Shiro was awesome, he was more like a warrior of light than any of us that were there. Even after he became a Dark Knight he still did the right thing constantly, and didn't feed into his darkness like others would."
"What's a dark knight? It sounds cool but sounds dangerous too" Spike asked. Rarity also decided to insert her two cents in as well.
"I'm afraid of have to agree with dear Spike here, they sound very dangerous." Skye looked at them for a moment, his focus on them, but his mind creating an image of two soldiers who had attempted to harm him after his initial becoming of a dark knight. He quickly pulled himself out of the memory.
"While it can be dangerous, it's fine as long as you don't go to far into the abyss of darkness. See, everyone has darkness in their hearts, whether they're the most kind person in the world, or the darkest being to ever grace the world. Like I said, it's healthy for you at least until it grows to become infatuation. That's when it's dangerous." Skye finished.
Applejack had been quiet for the most part but this had gotten her attention, so she voiced a concern.
"Have you ever used it? That darkness ya' keep talkin about?" Skye eyed her for a moment, sighing then speaking.
"I have, but never again after. I used it in a small dosage to increase the power behind an attack, since then, I've never used it again. It scared me to use it in the first place, so I never became a dark knight" Skye said, feeding them a half-truth. Applejack looked like he could see that he wasn't telling the complete truth but didn't call him out on it. Those lies were more to temper himself, and feed into them. He hadn't used it just once... he had practically thrown himself into his own darkness, and since coming here to this world, it's presence had gotten much worse, throwing his personality had gotten much more unhinged, his violence much more focused on beating the enemy to a pulp. His darkness was infecting his other abilities, and there wasn't anything he could do. Well, there was focusing it into an outlet, but he told himself he'd never pick a greatsword up again.
[Elsewhere]
Shiro was tired. It had been five months since the dragoon Skye, had disappeared. He was frustrated with the lack of evidence, it seemed like the miqo'te had disappeared off the face of the earth. Shiro had long since put down his sword, in favor of dawning something new, considering what had all transpired in the last few months since Skye's disappearance, there had been anomalies popping up in Eorzea, beings that usually were there weren't any longer, while adventurers had gone missing, only to pop back up claiming they had gone to a colorful place that they would see in a children's book. Of course he didn't believe it, but it could explain why Skye hadn't been heard from. Shiro shook his head, collecting his thoughts, before promptly doubling over, the familiar nausea of the echo taking hold. In his vision, he saw a white haired Miqo'te wielding a giant sword against six other beings. He looked like Skye, but he couldn't make out any details. The other six beings were bizarre though, all of them were way too colorful, and some of them possessed things such as horns on their head in the case of two, and wings on the back. He focus shifted as the miqo'te snarled, and he heard the voice, but only barely, it was like someone had allowed him to view a memory, but had nearly cut all the sound out.
"You lied to me! You and your princesses!"
The vision ended there. Shiro began to ponder the vision, deciding it must be a trick of the mind.
It had been two days since that conversation in the library. Since then, Skye's done absolutely nothing. See, in Eorzea normally there'd be something to fight, something to do, but this ain't Eorzea. So he decided to train, with permission of course. He had asked Twilight if he could train to stay in shape for guard duty, and she had agreed as long as she could observe. He reminded himself to change Twilight's take on what observe meant later on. She kept interrupting to ask about certain things, and to his rising anger, she didn't notice that each time she did interrupt, he started over. That had been five minutes ago, and she hadn't said anything since. He turned his head to find that the reason why is that Rarity was talking with her, and when he caught their attention, they motioned for him to come to them.
As he reached the two, he noticed Rarity's smile and that wouldn't have worried him, if he didn't know the tell-tale signs that he was about to be dressing for the rest of the day.
"Skye darling, I was just talking with Twilight here and she's allowed me to, steal you away for the day. You'll be helping me with a few designs I've had, and I do hope you'll tell me about all of the fashion of your world?" Skye wanted to ignore it. Every fiber of his being said run but he couldn't.
"Alright, I'll bite at it, what's the catch?" He knew there was a catch. All of the fashionistas he had met had one, what was hers?
"The designs I have are specifically based on what you look like, but that isn't as much as a catch if anything, it'll prove whether or not I'm able to design something for non-ponies having never seen any article of clothing of yours from up close. Skye raised an eyebrow at her, and then decided to call on the set of a botanist, and don the clothing that most miqo'te wear when not battling. Rarity's eyes lit up as she snatched him, eyeing every bit of it. Now normally, Skye only had an eye for the look of armor while it kept it's function, but he did like the look of his race, seeing as it put metal plating on some parts, but retained the breath-ability of normal everyday clothing. He soon found himself yanked off into by the white mare, realizing that his decision may have been a mistake.
It definitely was a mistake. They had been on this for three hours now and about ten minutes from hitting four. For the umpteenth time, Skye looked at Rarity, as she muttered on, something about how the clothing that she had presumed to be cotton, only to be surprised that it wasn't. She at one point had asked him about it, and he couldn't really tell her anything, seeing as he had no clue either.
Rarity eventually let him go after another agonizing hour, and Skye decided to venture, and explore Ponyville, occasionally getting strange looks, which he mostly ignored. He was making a beeline, following the sweet smell that wafted throughout the air, only to stop when he heard something. Turning to his left, he saw a pocket watch in a store front. It looked to be glowing, and he hadn't had a clue as to why he had stopped to look at it. Until, it spoke, he decided to go in and inquire about the watch, only o find that the store keeper had been trying to sell it, and nobody wanted it because it was supposedly cursed. Skye looked at it for a moment, and bought it, thinking that it must be some relic from Eorzea that had somehow gotten in this world. If he could, doesn't that mean a simple pocket watch could too?
As he walked out of the store he could here it calling to him, saying things such as 'Call upon the Void Dweller' it whispered among other things, . He chose to ignore them and continue on the day, only to hear a screams pierce the air. He immediately rushed to the sound, it coming from Fluttershy's cottage. When he arrived, she saw her out in a field, surrounded by wooden wolves; Timberwolves. He recalled the name from one of the many books he had read about Equestria's indigenous species. He ran out to her, seeing that she was frozen in fear, and so he decided to shift, taking grasp of the power of the Ninja, taking hold of it's soul crystal. Once the transformation was complete, he grabbed the closest wolf, sinking his blade in it, before turning to the others.
Fluttershy looked on, as she saw Skye become clothed in light black clothing, holding two swords to his side as he dashed towards the timberwolves, making short work of them. He soon made his way back towards her.
"Are you alright Fluttershy?" He said as the rest of her friends arrived. She gazed wide eyed for a mment.
"I-I'm aright, thanks to you Skye." She could only see his eyes and eyebrows, them making what looked to be a smile.
"It's quite alright, it's what I do." He said. Twilight was the first to reach the group, sounding out of breath.
"Fluttershy! Are you ok? Skye, you weren't supposed to use combat! She said immediately rounding on him. "I've gotta tell-
"Ah, think we can let this one go this time Twilight. Fluttershy would've been food for those timberwolves had Skye not stopped em." Applejack said, not nearly out of breath as her friend. She turned to him before speaking:
"Ah think we will have to talk about what you did though, that there's a new one for us." She said while pointing to his clothing. Skye sighed, removing the mask.
"I'll explain it, this ones a Ninja-" He stopped, grabbing his head in pain. The echo was showing him something. Skye watched as the vision began, showing a ball of fire lighting up the sky, it bubbled with magic. The vision ended, when Skye looked up, he saw concerned faces on the girls.
"I'm alright, just a small headache." He said, standing back up, only to fall down. Rainbow was the first to speak.
"I may not be the element of honesty, but I can tell when there's a blatant lie! Spill!" She said, getting in his face. Skye wanted to push her away and tell her it's not her business, and she didn't need to concern herself with it, but from the vision he saw, it looked like Equestria. So he began telling them about it.
"So their like visions that let you view into the past or future?" Twilight asked, unsure about her wording on the subject. Skye huffed.
"Yes, That's essentially what it is. It's very vague even to those of us that have it and we're still unsure of it's properties." Skye finished. Twilight immediately said something that Skye wanted to shut down, immediately.
"We've got to tell the Princesses about this!" All the other girls murmured in their agreement, but that quickly turned into confusion, mostly due to Skye's answer.
"No, WE don't! I told you this in confidence, but now I'm doubting whether or not I should have. You cannot share anything about that ability! It causes bad things to happen even with the vaguest detail given!" Twilight began to speak only to be cut off.
"If people were to know about my ability I would be hunted relentlessly so they could understand a gift that not even the Warriors of Light understood! Twilight, could you tell me in good honesty that my mind wouldn't be probed to try to understand it, or even worse, take it from me?" Skye finished. Twilight looked unsure as she searched for the answer but a response came from the party mare who had remained silent through the whole confrontation.
"What do you mean by gift Skye?" She said springing up to him.
"I never said gift, now-"
Yes you did silly! You said 'so they could understand a gift that not even the Warriors of Light understood!'" She said, mimicking his voice. Skye thought back on his words and sighed, before going into more explanation.
"Almost all Warriors of Light possess the Echo, and it's regarded as a 'gift' from Hydaelyn." He said, smiling awkwardly when he noticed that they still had confused faces.
"Whatever is this Hydaelyn character you speak of, you mention them quite a lot darling." Rarity said, expecting an answer. Skye racked his mind, finding the answers in his muddled mind.
"I don't know if I explained it before but, Hydaelyn is the Mother-Crystal. She guides us Warriors through commincating with our mind. She's also the one who bestowed the Echo upon us. Does that explain it enough?" The man inquired. He was swiftly met with nodding heads.
"Alright. If that's enough questions for now I'd suggest that we all get ready to turn in for the night, seeing as it's getting dark. Though, I do wonder what it meant..." Pinkie Pie leaped back into view.
"I betcha it's something that'll come later. Like maybe there'll be two of you!" Skye quickly distanced himself from the mare as Rainbow spoke:
"I hope not! It's already a handful with him around." She said sarcastically while pointing to the cat eared feline of the group. Skye responded just as sarcastic, if not worse.
"Hahaha very funny. You all know that you'd be dying to see more of this!" He said while faux throwing his hair back.
"Please. Like you could ever pull of a better look than Rarity!" She said as everyone voiced their agreement. Skye tsked, as he decided to get the topic elsewhere.
"Fine, fine. I have a better idea" They turned to look at him. "A race, between me and Rainbow here. Last one at the library, get's to carry the luggage to the train station when we leave back to Canterlot!" Rainbow took up the offer.
"Alright! This'll be a piece of cake! Seeing as I can fly and you can't." Skye looked at her sideways.
"Who said I needed to fly?" Skye said, re-donning his mask and falling into a swift movement. Rainbow was surprised at the determination but nevertheless she took up a position beside him, they didn't notice that everyone else had already left, probably teleported using Twilight's magic. She stretched her wings that were placed along her back, using her hands to smooth out any rough feathers that were misaligned.
"I'll see you at the finish line then!" She screamed taking off into the air, aiming to be the first back, while Skye quickly moved below.
Back To Canterlot: The Beginning of Hearth's Warming Eve
"You're getting sick on a train? A big scary Warrior of Light and you can't hold your food?!" Rainbow cocked her head back, still laughing at Skye's expense. He was... occupied with trying not to throw up, with Fluttershy trying to comfort him. Whoever designed the trains in this world, he just wanted to talk with them.... with a lance in hand. It's like his body could handle getting thrown around by every single monster in existence, and he could ride an airship, but trains is what would finally take him down. Skye was happy when they finally pulled into the station at Canterlot.
The group loaded off with Skye carrying extra bags, somehow he had gotten roped into carrying the items even though he had practically won the race. They weren't as heavy as packages from any of the Grand Companies, so he didn't mind too much. The girls talked on as Skye just walked along, taking advantage to see the city in it's winter state. The sun, hidden behind grey clouds as the cold flakes of white fell upon the city. All of the buildings in Canterlot had the same snowy look to them, and it reminded him of Ishgard, just a touch more gentle, and without the dragons. They soon approached the castle, the great building looked a bit mystical with the blanket of snow covering it.
He noticed the lack of guards, which meant that they all must have gotten the day of so they could enjoy time with their family. He didn't care either way, it meant that he didn't have the justification to fight at all. As the group approached the castle doors, Skye though about whether he should join them, or just do what he was doing here before, guarding. He decided that being a week away from the castle must have done something to him, and he would just guard it, he didn't need to have fun in this world or enjoy it's festivities, he needed to do something, focus his mind on a task until it is done. If he couldn't be a Warrior Of Light in this world, so he'd be the best guard then.
The castle doors were opened before they reached them, and they revealed the forms of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, both sporting rather comfy looking clothes. While Celestia seemed to retain her more regal look, Luna didn't seem to care. 'I guess you can get away with looks like that when none of your guards are present... that and you're the rulers.
"Twilight, Everyone! I am so glad to see you all here safely from your train ride! Come, there is a lot of food prepared for the festivities!" Princess Celestia called out, with her mask not present on her face, you could see she was sporting a small smile, unlike Luna who held a giant grin.
"Princess Celestia. Princess Luna, it's so good to see you!" Twilight said as she zipped off to them, and the other girls went to make their greetings. Skye stood back and took it all in, before stepping into the castle for a moment, to place the stuff he had been carrying on the ground. After that he made his way back outside onto the steps, only to be called out to by Princess Luna.
"Skye, where are you going? It's Hearth's Warming Eve, no guarding needs to be done today. You can come inside, join us in the festivities" Skye turned to face her, thinking on his reasons before getting hit with a wave of memories. Ones where Minfilia had told him there was nothing for him to do, and he could rest for a bit. He snapped back to the present, with now both Princesses looking at him along with everyone else. They looked shocked at his answer.
"What? What did I say?" Skye asked confused by their looks. Princess Celestia answered him.
"How could you not remember what you said moments ago? You said 'While that's a tempting offer, I'll have to decline your offer Antecedent. There's always work to do'. Do you not recall those words?" Skye froze at the question. It was one of the last few things he had said to the antecedent before he and the others took up that fight against Bahamut, and he landed here. He wanted to think about a few things.
"It. It was nothing, just a memory in my head. I'll be fine, there's no need to ask. If you need me I'll be out here, on one of the spires. It's night like Nightshade can stop me now right?" He chuckled out. He didn't give any more time for them to say anything that could convince him otherwise, as he morphed into dragoon, taking hold of his spear before jumping off onto the castle, he would stay close by if they needed him, so he would take up onto one of the closer spires to the main entrance, where he could survey all those that came toward the castle. As he finished, he took upon the idle pose that dragoons used while waiting for prey.
Princess Luna watched on as the man took off, jumping up somewhere along the roof. When she could no longer hear him, she had half the mind to take off into the air to find him, and reprimand that he come down. She wanted answers, ones that the elements could supply them with. She motioned for everyone to come inside, they had a lot of explaining to do to the princesses over what had happened over the course of the week he had been with them. If anything, they had failed on their mission to get him to open up more, and instead had closed himself off even more than what he was when he had first left. Why? This was one of many questions she had, not only for him, not only for the element bearers, but also for herself. Why couldn't she make friends properly herself?
"So these visions are a regular occurrence of his?" Luna asked, still unsure of the answer given. Twilight focused on her, nodding her head.
"Yes, Skye said that all of the Warriors of Light have them, or he at least implied it." It was then that Princess Celestia spoke up, her tone firm, which gave hint to what she might ask.
"So how do these visions work? Where did they come from?" The words were firm, but still demanding. Twilight frowned at it. She didn't want to break Skye's trust in them, and she certainly didn't want to anger him, so she told put up a blockade, it would bar them from learning about it, and Celestia would probably be angry with her, but she at least owed Skye this, since she and the others pushed him on the subject.
"Skye has asked us that we don't talk about it. He doesn't feel comfortable with the information being out in the open, and despite you both being the princesses, he doesn't feel the need for it to be relevant. The only reason he told us in the first place is cause we practically nagged him to, and he was extremely frustrated with that." Princess Luna and Celestia looked like she wanted to say more, but she silently dipped her head in reluctance, it was an answer they would not get any time soon, and most likely only from him.
"I understand. With that out of the way, let us continue on with the celebrations, she said, motioning them to follow as they turned down the corridor, going to the dining area, that was already laid out with various foods from Pancakes, to Cake, to various fruits.
[Two Hours Later]
Princess Luna was worried. Well, worried was an understatement for her feelings. While they did not push for Skye to join them in the celebration, the thought of him being out in the cold alone did not sit well for her. She tried to enjoy, and partake in the celebrations, but she felt discontent knowing that he was out there. It didn't help at all that the weather had begun to pick up, with a scheduled snowstorm to be set out for the rest of the day, that would not end until the day after the next. She decided to wait, reassuring herself that the man was ok, he had seemed to be boasting that he'd be fine, and reports from Captain Nightshade did indeed claim that most times she would find him up there in a position with his spear relaxed.
Her mind shifted towards the words he said to them, it seemed like he possessed a type of relationship with this 'antecedent' but as far as she could tell, that was not the case, and most likely was more of a employer-employee situation. Still, she couldn't help but wonder about the far away look on his eyes, as if he were remembering easier times. Was it not more peaceful here? Is it not more enjoyable when you don't have to fight all the time?
[Two More Hours Pass
Skye stood there, the tension in his muscles keeping them taut like string as he kept his thoughts to himself. While there was no point in doing so, he decided that it would be in best interest to keep them inside, bottling up his true feelings, his hidden emotions. He would keep them inside, after all, last time he did he woke up, drenched in blood. He hid his true emotions on subjects and suppressed them, he wouldn't let his darkness flood out of him like before, it was his fault that it had gotten out in the first place, with his reckless decision to feed into his darkness, and fall into it's abyss. He would last another while longer, just like he would stay out here for a little longer. If he were to be the only scion in this world, he would act as if he were the whole order themselves.
[Five Hours Total Have Passed]
Luna was extremely worried now. No pony would stay out in the cold willingly, not even guards would stay out like that, with the guards utilizing the inner halls to guard, that way ponies could enter the castle, but they wouldn't get any farther down the main hallway before being swarmed with guards. She wanted to voice this now.
"Excuse me everypony but, I do believe that Skye has been out there for five hours now, I believe we should at least check up on him." Everyone voiced their agreement, with Rainbow speaking.
"He may be tough, but I don't want anypony to just sit out there like that, if we go out there, best case scenario is that he'll jump down from the roof and fix us with a glare underneath his helmet." She said giggling slightly. Pinkie laughed along with her.
"Yeah! I bet he'll just be out there brooding like-"
*THUMP*
That was the noise of something hitting the ground, and while not unknown, it certainly sounded like a bit more than snow hitting the ground. They then looked towards the window where the noise came from, to see a long, thin object fall down as well, it glowing red at one end. It took a minute for the realization to hit of what that object was, and who it belonged to. It meant that Skye was, incapacitated.
Everypony burst into action, moving towards the doors in a swift manner, as to go outside to locate the fallen person. As they looked on, the wind was whipping around throwing up snow as if to keep him hidden. Luna stalked around the side that they had seen the object fall from, almost missing the armor-clad being if not for the unique styling of the helmet. She called the others over, and they swiftly moved him inside, deciding against moving him with magic, in case of something being broken.
They quickly rushed him into the place where the celebrations had occurred, setting him beside the hearth, trying to get him to warm up. Luna moved swiftly, disregarding the possible implications of removing ones armor in the open like this, wanting to get him warm as quickly as possible. She asked for blankets, as she focused her magic on removing the plating of the legs, while focusing her hands upon the task of removing the helmet, she soon found small imprints on the helm that indicated where to grip it, swiftly latching on them and performing the same motion she had seen him do when he removed his helmet so many different times.
Skye looked fine to her but she could feel that he was still cold to the touch, meaning that she would need to warm him faster, so she started to pool more magic into her horn, preparing to cast a small heat spell, only for a small crystal to catch her vision, as it rose from him. It glowed white, with the form of a miniature sun, it looked like a.... 'Focus Luna!'. The crystal began to pulsate, and Luna felt her senses drawn to it. As she reached out to grab it, glowing balls of light circled around her and transferred into Skye. He immediately had felt warmer to her touch, the crystal she held long since departed from her grip.
Skye opened his eyes, as they focused he noticed that Princess Luna was close on him, with the others around him from the sides. He raised his eyebrows, reasonably confused at the event that's in front of him. The six girls including the princesses were around him and he felt, less clothed, finding the absence of his clothes bothering.
"So I fell from the Castle and was frozen to the touch?" Skye asked, now donning normal clothing for once. They all nodded their heads.
"And Luna, you said a white crystal appeared before you and you used it's magic and it healed me?" Princess Luna silently nodded her head. Skye thought for a moment before voicing his findings.
"That was the crystal of a White Mage. You used a ability called Esuna, it removes detrimental effects from the target. It shouldn't be possible that you were able to use it but here we are. It's something that we'll have to look out for. Either way, while I'm glad I was saved, I think I'm gonna go rest for a bit if you don't mind. They all began to voice their disagreements with Princess Celestia raising her hand, silencing the room.
"While we do feel like you shouldn't be running off to sleep, you must at least tell us your reasoning for why and I'd at least like you to consider staying and joining us for the rest of the day." She said in a gentle voice. Skye's eyes narrowed, he still had thoughts on his mind that he'd rather focus on but as he looked around the room and saw the pleading looks on all of them, he couldn't help but stay. He had been guilt tripped into staying by silent fuzzy looks, even Luna had given him one!
"Fine. I'll stay but I don'tdo well with celebrations." He said quietly.
"What was that? We didn't quite here you." Princess Celestia said while giving him a innocent look. She knew exactly what he said but instead she wanted him to say it clearly.
"I said I don't do well with celebrations!" He yelled, spooking them a little bit. Pinkie then had a very big smile on her face, and Skye realized his folly.
"We're gonna make this Hearth's Warming Eve the most bestest day ever! Just for you Skye!" She said grabbing him and seemingly lifting him, dragging him out of the dining room. Skye could only think of one thing as he was swiftly dragged away from the group as they laughed at his surprised face:
Princess Celestia woke with a start. The dream she had the source of her inner turmoil. She had been hiding her door in the dream-realm so that she could find out more from it, and by extension she was hiding herself from her sister, and keeping secrets. She let out a long sigh, deciding to shift her thoughts from the dream to the current event for today, her niece's wedding. Today is the day that Princess Cadence and Shining Armor would be getting married, and she would see to it that it go nicely.
Skye woke up refreshed, and ready for action. Springing up from the bed, he made his way to the bathroom quarters of his living space to get ready, pausing in the mirror to look at his reflection, taking in the sights before getting ready. {You all finally get to see what he looks like considering I forgot to place it earlier in the story. I'll make sure to update that once finishing act I}
Skye soon stepped out of his room, already in his armor, and making a beeline for the dining hall. As he fell into a quick pace, he quickly stepped to the side in surprise as he noticed that Captain Nightshade was next to him. Unwilling to let his training go, he squared up and prepared to greet her as a guard, only for her to shut it down.
"No need Skye. Besides, you won't be taking orders from me today, instead your guarding Luna as she sleeps through the day, in preparation of Night Court. Skye silently nodded, falling into the comfortable mask that he was known to use in Eorzea. They finally reached the dining hall, unbeknownst to them, of the enemies all around them.
Skye was bored. More so than usual. protecting a active target is one thing, protecting one that was sleeping is another. He was currently stationed outside of Princess Luna's room alongside Nightingale, both of them remaining unwavering in their duty. While on duty, the two have agreed to talk as little as possible, but Skye was hoping that they could break that today because of their current situation.
"So. You never talk about your world that you come from? You don't talk about it much." Nightingale asked. Skye didn't move, but shifted his eyes to Nightingale. He didn't notice it earlier but, there was a strange energy coming off of him. It was unlike the darkness he felt from the princess of the night, or the energy that came from Princess Celestia. He took it as just a normal thing for this world and gave the waiting pony an answer.
"Well, there's not too much to talk about. It's a world where fighting never stops, and there's never enough food to go around. It's kind of funny that it's that way where I come from, but here it seems like it's almost the opposite." He finished, still eyeing the other guard. He had started to shift uncomfortably, something that he wasn't usually known for, and so Skye decided to ask him about it.
"You alright there Nightingale? Didn't get enough sleep or something?" The pony turned to him, breaking his demeanor. 'That's not something Nightingale does...'. Skye had worked with Nightingale on and off, and knew some if not most of his mannerisms as a guard. Something wasn't adding up, but he wasn't too sure, perhaps something was bugging him.
"It's nothing Skye, just a bit queasy is all." Nightingale gave him a toothed smile, reassuring him.
"Well, if your queasy, I'll get some medication for you, I'm sure Princess Luna would understand." Skye had offered to leave, and while he had no doubt that Nightingale good perform without him for a couple of minutes, something was up, and he would get to the bottom of it.
"I-. I'd quite like that if you could." Nightingale hesitated. He had noticed that Skye's body had tensed up. 'He knows, he'll have to be dispatched now!'. Skye dodged as Nightingale drew his sword and attacked him. It looked like he was correct, this pony was not Nightingale. He didn't want to kill him, so he decided to try and subdue him, by wrapping behind him and using hi spear as leverage to knock him out. In that moment, his opponents body ignited in green flame, causing Skye to disengage from the current venture. When the flames died down, he saw a creature that looked like a ponies but was black, and had fin like hair in the place of a mane. It hissed at him, speaking in a voice that he could say was akin to one of the beast tribes of Eorzea.
"You noticed us. We cannot let you live, for the Queen!" It screeched as it charged toward him. Skye in that moment knew that holding back to try and subdue him would be a risk, he didn't know what this being was and what it could do, and if it could look like someone he knew he certainly didn't want to find out what it could do. In that split decision, Skye shifted from defense, to offense, and in that instant, true thrust pierce through the enemy, the body falling to the ground as it slumped, spewing green blood from the wound where it had been hit. Skye looked down at the creature, it had been relatively easy to kill, but that might have been luck on his side with causing a critical blow to it. He finally took notice that the energy flowing from what he though was Nightingale, was now all over the place, it practically radiated from the door he had been guarding. He knocked firmly on the door, trying to get Princess Luna's attention.
"Princess, there was an attempt at combat, I doubt that it has been limited to just-" Skye paused, he could hear a spell being cast. It was low, and ominous, Skye thought to just leave it, but if there was one enemy, there were more, so he backed up preparing to destroy the door. It was stronger than most, most likely because it was a Princess's chambers so he would need to hit it with substantial force, he was going to use Spineshatter Dive on the door, hopefully it would be enough to destroy it. He was prepared for the consequences should he be wrong, but he knew he wasn't wrong.
He kept his grip on the spear unwavering as it slammed into the door, creating the effects that the dive was known for, pouring more energy into the attack, he saw the cracks that had appeared on the door give away, shattering into pieces. Once the obstacle had been destroyed Skye peered in, to see that Princess Luna had been wrapped by a green goo, with three of the same beings standing in front of her. They wasted no time attacking, and he wasted no time retaliating. He quickly jumped up, flying toward him, calling on the destructive fire of the dragon to burn away the enemies in the area, leaving nothing behind: Dragonfire Dive.
Nothing was left of the enemies, and he had even noticed that the cocoon that had taken hold of Princess Luna had been burned open, with the flames still licking at the substance. Skye shifted his attention to her, grabbing and pulling her from her prison, and as he looked upon her he noticed that she was in a daze. Her eyes flickered green, and it seemed like she was under mind control. Nothing he said got her attention, the princess staring blankly up, unmoving. This seemed similar to a primal's influence, and Skye was worried. If it was like that, then that would mean she couldn't be saved. He still had to try, and thought that maybe a physical stimulus might jerk her from, whatever this was.
*SLAP*
He had struck her, hitting her with the edge of his hand as to make sure he didn't hit her with the spike blade on it. That seemed to do the trick with the green energy flowing in her eyes dying out, returning them to the normal teal that they usually were. Upon recognition, it seemed that she knew who she was looking at, and had begun to attack.
"You slapped me!" Princess Luna yelled as she smacked Skye with a magic infused hand, startling the man, as he was swept off his feet into the wall next to them.
"I didn't want to! The castle is under attack! Nothing I did reached you!" He groaned back at her. She took time to process his words, before speaking calmly.
"We will deal with this later, right now we must start defense of the castle against the changelings." She said, pulling him up before she wrapped him into a hug.
"And thank you. You didn't hesitate to save me, for that thank you." Skye didn't return the hug, but instead spoke.
"Not to worry, it's what I do. Let's get going and group up with your sister." She nodded, and they both took of into the hallway, following it down to where the wedding was taking place.
Princess Luna arched on as she used her magical attacks to thin the giant black wave of changelings as she along with Skye and some other guards, approached the throne doors to the heart of the invasion. She briefly flicked her eyes to a large sparkle of light to see that Skye no longer was in possession of the spear he was using, and instead was dressed in robes blacker than the night, holding a staff.
Skye had decided on this time, it might be overall beneficial for him to become a Black Mage, and create a path for them to move forward in the castle. The changelings weren't backing down, so why should he either? While using Black Mage in this situation might be risky, he was only using it to draw on the well of power he had been storing since the fights broke out. He shifted the energy, focusing it into an area attack, making sure for it not to touch in allies.
Skye could feel the energy focus, coursing throughout him as his limits broke, and it pooled out into a concentrated shard. The changelings tried to flee. They couldn't, as everything in the shard's path became paste or body parts on the wall. He turned to Princess Luna, only to fall to one knee, her surprise at the attack quickly being replaced with concern for his well being.
"Skye, are you all right? What was that you did there? It was... devastating." She asked as he started to rise from the fall. His energy must be lower than he thought, and using a Limit Break didn't help the situation. He motioned on to everyone as he began to explain.
"What I used is called a Limit Break, it allows me to focus stored energy into a devastating attack that deals a lot of damage, and for anything that can't take it, they become the red in the crystal's path."
Princess Luna looked horrified slightly. Skye surmised that she hadn't ever seen such destruction in such a short amount of time before. He wanted to make the intention of that attack known:
"Just so you know, I won't be able to use that attack for a bit now. It pulled from my own energy to do it, it seems I had a lower amount of energy than I thought. That attack can only be used either once a sufficient source of energy is found for it, or it draws from the users own mana."
Princess Luna looked slightly better now that she knew that it was a attack used only in accordance to energy, and couldn't be used based off the user's ability. 'If Skye were ever to turn evil, surely that would kill many ponies.' she thought on as they rounded another hall, coming face to face with more changelings, this was going to be a long day.
Queen Chrysalis looked on, as she watched from her drones' eyes with keen interest, at the being that had just wiped a hallway clean of her brood. They were interesting, disappearing with flashes of light before using a completely different combat style. At one point they used a glowing spear, at another fists that seemed to have the force of the earth behind them, and then the most recent attack, which was a giant crystal firing down the hallway. She wanted to get her hands on him, no she needed to get her hands on him. He would be a most devastating weapon, and she would help him raise a thousand warriors like him.
Her face quickly turned to the captives, most knowingly, the alabaster alicorn hanging from the ceiling. She chuckled as she looked up at her, taking flight so that she was eye level with her captive.
"What an interesting 'guard' you have there princess she said while mocking the title of the foreign pony. "He will make a great addition to my brood, I'll even make sure that you have the honor of dying by his hands. " Celestia's eyes widened in fear and realization. They had known about Skye even before the attack, and were only now making it known. They weren't here just for Canterlot and the love of all it's ponies, they were here for him. She started struggling against her prison, to no avail.
If they had already known that he was here, that likely meant he had already been touched with mind control. The only reason they hadn't taken him over, they wanted the strength and will to fight to leave him. Chrysalis watched onward, taken aback by how quickly they had managed to progress to the throne room, they were outside it's doors. She subconsciously motioned the elite guards along with her to prepare for a battle. The jade armor clad changelings moved from the sides, drawing their weapons in preparation to battle. Hopefully the door would pose an issue, they had made sure to bolt it down when they captured the room.
*THUNK* THUNK* *BOOM*
The doors came crashing down, as a black spear flew inside along with it's owner.
Skye kept throwing himself against the door, preparing to use dragonfire dive on the door, to force it open, it would be loud.
*THUNK* THUNK* *BOOM*
Skye flew past the broken doors, zipping inside past the dust, his spear being caught in the throat by a changeling dressed in jade armor. The other armor-clad beings had soon attacked him, getting over the surprise. They were here for him, the normal changelings were for the others. Skye dodged into the sweeping attack caused by the changeling on his right, performing a disembowel, with his spear, the initial parts of the attacks ripping through the armor before hitting their stomach region. Before he could do anymore damage, he was bopped in the side by a hammer, and he turned his attention to them, only to be hit again by another changeling on the right. These warriors were made to fight him, he was going to lose if he wasn't careful.
Skye took evasive maneuvers, jumping back to access the situation. The guards and Princess Luna were fine, they seemed to have an upper hand on the changelings. He had five of these 'elites' to deal with, it was then that he heard a raspy feminine voice talk.
"You look outmatched, poor thing." Skye looked to the voice, his eyes landing upon a abnormally large changeling. 'She must be the leader'. Skye in that instance changed targets, instead focusing on bringing the head of the beast down, he jumped towards her, immediately getting locked by an unseen force, it curling around his body, and his mind. He struggled uselessly against the force, hoping to get out of it, only for the being to watch him struggle as she made her way to him, coming eye level with him.
Skye became unfocused, his vision blurry, his spear clattering to the ground before disappearing, he soon fell to the unknown force.
Princess Luna watched on with horror as she saw Skye be grabbed by the Queen's magic, she began to try and push her way through, only to notice that the changelings had begun to just push her. One look told her that the rest of the guard were down, and that one was being taken to be controlled. She couldn't reach him, and once that spell was finished, they would have a extremely powerful warrior capable of razing Canterlot to the ground.
She stared on, as Skye fell from the changelings magical grip, it letting his body fall to the ground, before the queen spoke.
"Rise in servitude of the Queen, my champion!" She screeched out, before the fallen warrior rose up, his eyes glowing a nasty green. They had managed to capture Canterlot, along with not only the princesses, but the elements of harmony, and a warrior of great power, they had won. If only it had stayed perfect for them.
Luna watched on in surprise as Skye grabbed his head with both of his hands, crying out in agony. He was fighting back! Trying to retake his mind from the queen's grasp. She wanted to help him, but she was stuck behind a tide of enemies. The other changelings looked on with confused expressions dotting their eyes. Skye shouted once more, before the area was engulfed in a black darkness. Luna's hope turned to fear, she knew what that was. She saw a crystal briefly appear, before dark armor overtook Skye's body, replacing the armor she knew he loved to wear with a twisted amalgamation of a knight's armor. She could feel the darkness radiating off it, and then her fear turned to dread when she saw the transformation's weapon. A giant greatsword, that twisted in curves before forming the blade. Her dread was justified, her fear natural. She saw as the armor completed it's manifestation white curves of an unknown metal formed on parts of it, it curving into a white crescent.
That was no longer Skye. It was a nightmare from her dreams turned real, it was the black knight she saw in her realm of midnight. The being screamed out, it's roar silencing everyone in the room, and as the elite changeling guards began to challenge it, it took a swipe of it's sword in a downward motion, and cut one of them in half.
Princess Luna wanted to throw up. The being in Skye's place had just swiped it's weapon, and instantly killed one of the Queen's elite guards. There was a heavy silence in the room, as the deed continued, with the changelings rushing it, and the center of the room being drenched in green.
It hadn't taken long for it to kill the elites, they couldn't put up much of a fight at all. Luna's dread spiked higher, as the dark clad being turned around, facing the tide of changelings that had been keeping her in her position. Where Skye's eyes were white, this one's were the color of cyan, a touch darker. They gleamed in the sunlight, and seemed to take pride in it's deeds. The changelings that were stiff with fear instinctively took a step back, before mustering what should have been non-existent courage, and charging the being.
It raised the greatsword up, slamming the blade to the ground, as the weapon made contact with the floor, a tidal wave of black spikes rose around the being, impaling numerous changelings upon them. Luna had also noticed that in the tide of spikes, there was a color she was familiar with, the navy blue like color radiating like midnight itself. Once the massacre had been finished, the dark being locked eyes with her, taking joy in her fear, before turning to the queen.
"Begone, We bear more power than you could ever hope to control!"
Queen Chrysalis looked at her options, only she remained, her elites lay in pieces while her brood lay with fatal holes in them. This was not the way she wanted this to go. This was not the way it should have been. She should have rightfully claimed him! Rightfully claimed this land of sappy ponies that were so xenophobic that her children starved! She narrowed her eyes, focusing on the object of her folly, she would return. She would make him hers, next time she would come prepared.
Everyone conscious watched on as the Queen took her exit, and as the windows were smashed and she took to a swift dash, they saw few black dots appear alongside her, looks like not all of the changelings were killed after all. Attention snapped back as the demon in Skye's place laughed, laughing at the princess trapped in a prison made by changelings. It's voice returned, talking to the solar diarch spun upside down.
"This is hilarious. You who, was supposedly all powerful, powerful enough to stop me with those accursed gems!" The face turned to a snarl. "Well look who's powerless now? Maybe if you beg hard enough I'll shorten your banishment, but of course after you feel the pain you brought against me." The being readied it's sword, aimed to pierce through Celestia's prison, and through her. Luna made a futile dash towards her, only for her attention to be pulled towards the side of the alleged 'demon'.
Standing beside them, was a being similar to them, but in place of the white accents and nigh ethereal hair, was black hair. She could hear the voice whisper, it echoing in her mind loud and clear, and the words obviously had an effect on the being.
"Listen to my voice. Listen to our heartbeat. Listen... listen" As soon as it had appeared it was gone. The malevolent knight's weapon clattered to the ground, disappearing in a wave of darkness as it hit the ground. It fell to it's knees before the changes that initially made it that way reversed, the hair turning back to it's moonlight sheen, the armor dissipating, opting for the armor that Skye usually wore, and it's eyes returning from the cyan shade, to the normal white the being had been known for. Skye collapsed to the ground, no presence of his actions registering on his face as unconsciousness took him.
[Hours Later]
The invasion had been thwarted, not by the elements, not by a miracle of love, but by something malevolent. Princess Luna's thoughts were in a mess, from the moment of Skye's transformation, to the moment up until the guards registered that he was indeed unconscious, and had likely been that way for sometime. She had managed to track down a possible time he had been knocked out, when the changeling queen, Queen Chrysalis had tried to override his mind. She had tried to go digging for the answers herself, by going through Skye's memories, but found nothing. When she had entered the dream realm to find his door in there, she found it, the door was made from a dark wood that looked black if not for it's white trim on it. When she had opened that door, she was blinded by the light, a lone platform shone through the dark, within it's various points were crystals, that were blackened, and within the center, floated Skye.
(Didn't think it would be a good idea to put image in seeing as it has words about FFXIV and copyrights: Hydaelyn's Blessing)
Luna had been unable to figure out what that diagram was, what it could mean, and what were with the crystals within it? Answers for another time, answers she would get as soon as Skye woke up, currently he was out in the medical wing, it seemed that during the fight he had gotten numerous lacerations, fighting without thought of safety. That worried her, if he sustained attacks here, what did he deal with wear he came from, where he said that fighting was commonplace? Luna walked towards her destination, the throne room.While most damage had been repaired, there was still trouble with repairing the throne doors, the enchantments on them having been shattered when Skye broke through them. She took note that everyone had arrived, numerous captains, the elements of harmony, and even her niece, Princess Cadence.
"Good, now we can begin." Luna's eyes shifted to her sister, while she remained in her mask, she knew she was furious, angry that such an invasion had happened, but she also felt the presence of fear. Her fear was towards a certain unconscious being halfway across the castle. The rest of this day was going to be arduous, arduous indeed. So she decided to relieve her discovery to the room, perhaps that would help with some of the questions on how the invasion had came to a halt. It would not work how she thought it would.
Skye's head hurt. Like, thrown around by Ifrit hurt. He didn't know why, and he scanned his memory hoping for an answer. He didn't find one, but thought that whatever the Queen was doing messed with his head. That would require information from outside sources to confirm, and as he moved up in the bed in a sitting position, he heard the sound of metal, and realized that his armor had been removed and instead he wore simple clothes. He also smirked at the presence of the new jewelry that decorated his arms, ceiling them from use. He was cuffed, and 'unable' to make use of his hands. Surely someone recognized that this wouldn't work right? Probably not.
Skye soon learned that he would be escorted to the throne room, to "speak" to the princesses. Something else was afoot, but he could not figure it out while this terrible headache plagued him. As he was 'kindly' escorted throughout the castle he took note of the lack of changeling bodies, it seemed that cleanup was quicker than he thought. His escort soon arrived at the throne room, and he smiled inwardly at the damage that he caused to the doors, they were not yet fixed, and were still bent inwardly, almost to the point of looking like a metal sandwich. Why was he so happy to see damage like this? He thought as he reprimanded his behavior.
As their arrival was made, he noticed certain things were off, the captains were present, alongside the princesses were Twilight and her friends, he lastly took note that Princess Luna would not look at him, opting to look through him. The other princess held a gaze that looked like it could give even Raubahn's heavy glare a run for it's gil. He chuckled at the thought before the talking began.
"Skye Pendragon. You stand accused of not only damage to castle properties, but also with the threat of killing a princess. How do you plead?" Princess Celestia voiced this. What did she mean by threat of killing a princess? He would do no such thing. They would deserve it though. He quickly dismissed the rouge thought. He instead opted to give his point of view.
"I haven't a clue what you're referring to princess. I wouldn't ever do something like that without good cause, and I don't have one. In fact I don't remember much from the-
"Liar!" This came from a being that had a white coat, their hair shined like muted blonde. Skye turned his attention to the being, letting his mirth show.
"And who are you? I believe we haven't met before" Skye asked. He took more joy upon the pony's look of distraught.
"I am Prince Blueblood, the most dashing of Canterlot!" The now proclaimed Blueblood said as he put his hands to his hips, showing off bravado. Skye couldn't keep himself from wanting to tear down this 'prince'. Why was that? Something was wrong. It could be the headache.
"And do people punch you in the face when you do that thing with your hands?" Skye's amusement was on display for all to see by now, and he was proud of it in a way.
"Never, why?" Skye wanted nothing more to bolt into his face as he said his answer.
"Well... Lucky I'm here then." He said, bawling his hands into fists as he took a step towards the pony, only to receive a grunt from the diarch of the sun.
"Enough, Prince Blueblood. Skye, you claim to have no knowledge of the events yet I and my sister, the elements, bore witness to you wielding a giant blade as you cut down changelings left and right." Skye narrowed his eyes at those words. How DARE they claim that he did such a thing! He vowed to never pick that blade up again, what reason would he to wield such a weapon?!
"I don't know what you think you saw princess but I do not wield a giant blade as you can see. These things you claim I did must be a fallacy of having been captured by the changelings." Skye's voice started to rise, his reason dwindling along with it.
"I do not wield greatswords! Never again will I do such a thing. You either lie or jest, and I do not appreciate either."
Princess Luna had become angered at those words. Her sister was not a liar, and she certainly would not joke on something in this matter. She decided to ignore Skye's tone in their presence and instead questioned him on the dream she saw.
"You claim to not know any of these events and while you have yet to bring forth claim that this is the case, I compel you to answer us on this: When I looked into your mind when you were asleep, I saw you on a platform that glowed blue and held many designs upon it. It also held blackened crystals set around the platform."
Skye quickly became enraged at the notion that they had went through his head while he was unconscious. Worse, that she would question him on something that she knew nothing about, and should not care to find out. While he briefly was stunned by the lunar princess telling him that the crystals of light were now dark again, it was quickly dismissed. His voice became a torrent.
"You had no right to look into my mind Luna." He said as he forwent the use of princess in her title. He continued on, his words becoming a rant.
"You have no right to question me on what goes on inside me! How dare you question not only my point of view, but you question what you should not know!" He had started to move towards the thrones in front of him, only to get spears to the throat, numerous guards drew their swords.
"Put down your weapon! Now!" One of the guards ordered. Skye's anger turned to confusion. What weapon?. He looked down at his hands to see that he was indeed holding a weapon. A black greatsword, that glowed dimly with light. It's curved edges. Skye threw it away from him in surprise. It disappeared in a wave of darkness. Skye grabbed hold of his head his memories calling out to him, making themselves known.
Skye was tired of waiting. He was waiting for the team that had begged him to help them through the dungeon that had come up randomly. Aurum Vale. This dungeon had apparently appeared within two hours, and while it had been scouted, he had been begged by this group of adventurers to help them through it. He took his greatsword off of his back, staring at the glowing blade before placing it back on his back. Hopefully, this would go well, and he could rejoin his team with Shiro before long.
Hmm. So, this is a message notifying that this story is now archived! And will get a new rewritten edition soon after I complete ShB. My reasonings for doing so: One, the story in it's current form breaks lore severely, and not only that, but it also breaks another series of unintended things that I haven't foreseen, for that, I chose to archive it. Another reason, is that I feel that ultimately, this story does not bring to light the tone and mood of the story I am going for. Lastly, and most important: I could not for the life of me think on how to get from point A to B with this story, and as such, I'm throwing it back to the drawing board.
Don't worry, for those that enjoyed it, it will be tempered again in the hot forges of Azys Lla, and be reborn! Hopefully, the next is more enjoyable, and as such, it will be fundamentally different. I'm thinking a new name might be in order for it, and as such, I see fit to call it either Light's Chosen: Realm Reborn; following the rebirth of FFXIV after it's supposedly disastrous launch way back when; or the other name: Equestria's Chosen Light. They both have a ring to it huh? Let me know which one seems good, or if you have another name in mind, I'll spin the wheel.
Another thing, while this story is regarded as anthro, I am contemplating making them human instead, and they'll end up being 5 on the anthro scale instead of four. Still deciding that.
