The Chronicle of The Hunter

Chapter 4: The Trial (Revelations)

"What was done to me was monstrous. And they have created a monster."

- Hugo Weaving as V in V for Vendetta

As I step into the castle, a certain peace overwhelms my sadness. I haven't felt this calm in many centuries. I see now why Celestia chose this location for her castle. It allows for comfort in making hard decisions that will affect your people. The royal balcony was the chosen location for my trial, where all could see. I didn't know the exact location of it, but was soon to find out.

As I stepped out onto the balcony, the roar of the crowd changes to silence. They recognized me. Celestia had truly told them who I was. My sister was standing out there with Luna, Twilight, and the other 5 mares who wield the Elements. When Luna saw me, she growled, but a look from Celestia silenced her. Celestia stepped up to the podium and started her speech using a lighter version of the Canterlot voice so everypony could hear her:

"Citizens of Equestria, before we begin I'd like to make a confession. I was once a very bad pony, who used her magic to trick, deceive, and cheat against those who didn't meet my approval. My duties as princess went to my head. But everpony, and I do mean everypony, changes their heart and mind at some point. I hope to see that this pony who stands before you today has also done so. Therefore, I present The Hunter, who is guilty of breaking the sacred vow of never entering Equestria again."

She steps down and motions to me. I step up, completely unprepared. When was it decided that I was going to actually speak? Where is my law-pony? The crowd creates a "boo" so together that it seems like one pony. I bow my head in shame and say this:

"Firstly, Princess Celestia is right. My mind and heart were not in the right place during the time of the Great Equestrian War. I'd also like to provide a little backstory to the truth of the matter, perhaps also helping the two Princesses understand my logic behind the Project."

I take a deep breath. This was not something I had been willing to confess. There was truth to my actions that I'd never wanted to admit, even to myself. Oftentimes I'll find that I do not want to hear the truth because it hurts more than lies.

"Project Archon was designed to find a way to make new weapons. That much is true. But not weapons of destruction. Weapons that would end all war." Everypony gasps, including my sisters. Did I misspeak? I continue anyways.

"There was a weapon in the facility, that much is true. But it was designed to heal wounds, physical and mental, using magic." I face Princess Celestia and Luna. "I also have another confession to make. I am not The Hunter. That was never my true name." More gasps, this time also from the five ponies who Celestia didn't mention this to. "My name is Sunstriker. I am the eldest brother of the two Princesses who rule Canterlot. Technically, I am Prince Sunstriker, but I never felt that the name suited me. And I want to prove something to you." Facing the crowd, I summon a sword from it's sheath on a Royal Guard's side. Everypony gasps and cowers in fear. But instead of using it against them, I faced it towards me, and stabbed it into my chest. There was a shout of anguish from the crowd and the mares standing next to me as Celestia tried to stop me, but I continued to shove the weapon into myself until even the hilt had disappeared. Blood trickled down my legs as I smiled weakly and collapsed against the cold, solid flooring of the balcony. Sure, it had hurt, but it was going to be worth it. Although the floor is now stained with blood. The poor pony who has to come clean this up is going to be in for a quite a surprise.

"Brother, what have you done!" Celestia exclaims as I stand up, still facing the crowd.

"Something I should've done a while ago..." My wings glow, and suddenly with a burst of red magic a horn appears on my head. I have the attention of the entire crowd now. From there, I leap off the balcony, 500 feet to the crowd below, wings spread, and dive straight down. This better work.

It almost didn't. As I fall and my speed picks up, I create a bright white light to blind the crowd just to make sure that if I and don't make it, teleporting out and not looking dumb was an option. My primary concern was that I wasn't going to gain enough speed before having to break off. It was true, and I couldn't gain enough speed. So I tried something else. Turning my descent into a loop-de-loop, I used some of the magic I have left to create fireworks and distract the crowd.

At least that worked. While the crowd looked away I teleport up. Far up, near the height of the mountains. And this time don't use my magic wings when I drop. I also remove the white light so that everypony can see my true form. My descent is much faster now. I can now see Celestia gaping at me. Soon, my speed is equal, if not more, to that of rainbow creation speeds. I can literally see the sound barrier in front of me. One second later, I break the sound barrier.

A magnificent flash of flames explodes around me in a booming crash as I catch. Literally. I'm on fire now, a fire slowly burning up and around my body. My coat is now pitch black, almost all color from around it. Not blue like Luna's, but black. Like the darkness from the solar eclipses my sisters make every once in a while.

And now stage two: mane and tail. As the flame goes through both, I get a complete color reversal, with them turning a white so bright that it practically spits colors and light. Final stage: eyes and horn. The flame has completely engulfed me now, I must look like a fireball to those below. I close my eyes, feeling the magic rush through me. This. Is. Amazing!

I snap my eyes open. At this point they should be a brilliant red, like that of the blood that had dripped from my chest earlier. I look down to make sure it has healed. It did, as I predicted. My horn has red spirals circling around it, quickly settling into the design of the black horn.

Final stage. The fire has stopped and I only have a couple hundred feet left between the ground and myself. My back glows a royal blue. Transformation complete, I use my wings to slow down and land, extremely gracefully. The whole process took less than two minutes.

The entire crowd of ponies just stares. I look at my two sisters and Celestia's protege. All three are smiling. I hug both Celestia and Luna. It feels good just to be the true me again.

Princess Celestia goes and stands next to me, foreleg around my shoulder. "Everypony, welcome back Prince Sunstriker, the true leader of Equestria."

I look at Luna. She isn't smiling anymore. Nor is Twilight, or even Celestia. They all are agape, staring at my flank. Before, I was a simply designed bow as the Hunter. But as I looked, a cutie mark appeared. A gold sword crossing hilts with a staff is the design, with the moon as the staff's orb and the sun set into the sword's hilt.

I turn back to the crowd. "Citizens of Equestria, I owe you an explanation. There have always been three. I was The Hunter, yes, but I have always done my royal duty. I protected the borders of Equestria using a powerful magic that only I knew of. I created the barrier that prevented monsters from entering your country. Yes, some broke through, and I do apologize for that. But some were here already, Discord for instance. Please know in your minds that I am not a bad pony, but I have done bad things and made bad mistakes. I am a scarred pony, do not expect my ascendancy to come quickly. I have decided to not take back the throne yet." Celestia and Luna look at me like I'm crazy. I'm still going strong, though, words flowing off of my tongue like crazy. "I will be protecting the Elements of Harmony and their bearers. I did not come here expecting a warm welcome..." Something stops me. A slow clap. Coming from behind me. I turn around to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash staring me down. "Is there a problem?" I asked, genuinely concerned. I didn't want them to hate me.

Applejack walked straight up to me. "Yes, there is, PRINCE Sunstriker."

Rainbow Dash continues for her: "We don't need your help. I don't trust you not to take the Elements and force yourself onto the throne. So shove off. You've, you've...done something to these ponies. I just know it."

The crowd is watching this whole spectacle from below, with a mood swing similar to that of a baby. Rarity steps up to the crowd and points at me with her hoof. "How long have any of you known this pony? He could be a Changeling in disguise! A fake! And he just shows up and claims to be the true ruler of our fair country! Our country! Where has he been for the past 1,000 years! Hiding from the truth!" She faces me. "You are no ruler. You are not my ruler. I remain loyal to the Princesses, but never you, filth!" Again, that word. Like a slap in the face.

Then I receive the biggest surprise of all. Pinkie Pie walks up to me and it's almost as if all her, how should I put it, joy, is gone. Her mane and tail hang limp at her side, and her eyes didn't have the normal sparkle of laughter. She was even frowning. Twilight has the most confused look in the world on her face. Looking at the crowd, I realize I've lost them. They are agreeing with the ones who have been here longer, the bearers of my destruction. Makes sense, but still. Looking into the eyes of all of these ponies, I can see they all truly want me gone so that life can return to normal. Pinkie Pie's words startle me out of my stare.

"Sunstriker. Just leave. You hurt our royalty. It may have been a while ago, and they may be your family, but it still happened. I normally go with 'forgive and forget' but something as big as a rebellion and nearly destroying Equestria before it was even created? That cannot be forgiven. Just. Leave."

"Very well." I hang my head in shame. My form returns to that of The Hunter, this time hornless. I've lost my magic with this transformation. The damage the sword had done to my chest returns, including the sword itself. It's been so long since I was in my normal form that I forgot how powerful it felt. I feel feeble without the surge of alicorn magic flowing through my veins. Celestia goes to console me, but I shake her off with one wing. "I can see when I'm not wanted." But as I swing around to face the rest of the ponies, even my cutie mark changes again, and suddenly disappeared. This turned my sadness to fury. Something changed inside of me at that point. I didn't want to live anymore. I was done with this life. "Understand this, citizens of Equestria. From this point on, your safety is not my concern. I will not protect my people if they don't want me. Therefore..." I point my hoof up at the sky and as the crowd looks up, my magical border fades away, revealing the rest of the world to the people. A black world, one of despair. They will feel my pain. "Good luck surviving. May the best ponies live." With that, I step inside and gallop away to the edge of Canterlot. The entire crowd follows me.

When we reach the edge of Canterlot, the same place I was before, I face them for one last time. There were faces of concern, faces of worry, but anger outweighed them. One more breath. One final breath. And I pull the sword out of my chest and break it in two over my foreleg, throwing it over the edge of Canterlot, never to be seen again. My blood hits the ground one more time. My innards are visible, I recognize that. I must look like a demon sent straight from Tartarus itself. Everything is fading to black, rather slowly. I start to cry. I was not prepared for this. I had been prepared for a warmer welcome. But I had been thrown away, like trash. Harsh assumptions had been made against me, and this was my final punishment.

Turning away from the crowd, I jump. Hearing one last scream from one of my sisters, it makes me consider my decision. Had it been worth this? My final decision was yes. My plummet continues, but is interrupted. Rainbow Dash. Why? I roll off her back to relieve her of myself and continue to fall. I will go down like a true hero. With 50 feet of space left between me and the ground, I use my sonic explosion for the last time, creating a fireball as large as a mountain. It was my final goodbye to the world.

But this fireball was special. Unlike the previous one, this was dragonfire, The stuff used to teleport messages I had harnessed to teleport myself around. I am sent through the firey portal, towards one last location. The borders of Equestria. I was not destined to be a part of society, so I may as well leave. If I didn't survive the crash landing, then so be it.

~~~~~

As I watched my brother take his final descent, I screamed. This was not how it was to be. I looked at Rainbow Dash. She understood immediately, and dived after him. She caught him. Safe, I thought. Wrong. He rolled off, and I saw a new glow, one much different than the others. He exploded into one last fireball, a deep blueish-green fireball, then disappeared. I understood immediately and turned to my sister. "You saw that too, right?"

Luna nods, tears streaming down her face. "He mastered dragonfire. But how?"

I look at the place where he had been. "I don't know. We don't know, and now we never will. There's no way he'll be able to survive a 2 mile fall after stabbing himself with a sword."

She nods silently. "I was so hoping he wouldn't after that response. But I guess we forgot about his...ability."

I look over the edge one last time. Rainbow Dash flew back up and bowed her head in shame, along with all the other ponies. "I'm, I'm so sorry Princess. We didn't recognize-" I can see the pain in her eyes. Rainbow Dash didn't want him to die, I had seen that. But her hatred had taken control of her, and the same thing had happened with those other ponies.

"Rainbow Dash, look at me." She looks up. "I know what you are thinking. But this was not your fault. It never was." I face my people, tears now streaming down my own face. "My brother had been cursed many, many years ago when we faced Discord the first time. It was only through Sunstriker's magic that Equestria was born, and that Luna and I actually lived through that experience. But he was cursed, using a Draconian tongue none have used before. I only knew those words. Discord told my brother that he was forever cursed, and that he will 'have fun dreaming' I didn't realize until later that it meant something else."

I look at Luna, her understanding that I couldn't continue. I back up into the hooves of Twilight Sparkle, my prized pupil holding me while I quietly wept. Luna continued for me:

"Striker's magic always took a toll from him. If he overused his magic, it meant unconsciousness and nightmares of his horrid past. We had never been nice to him as children, and even during the Great War. What Discord had done was take that effect and apply it at times of extreme stress for Sunstriker. Something tells me that had Sunstriker not had a total sense of control, he would have gone insane. That is what happened today. After one thousand years of memories of extreme pain and torture going back and forth through your mind, you begin to lose it. My sister and I have held control over our emotions by keeping our minds busy. But being banished means you have a lot of time on your hooves, and neither Celestia or I knew of Sunstriker's actions after the war until today. He defended us. He has saved our people from beasts unheard of numerous times. To have him enter the one place he protected and discover the people he saved hate him was the final string to be snipped." She steps down, exhausted. I've recovered enough to continue the story.

"During the war, both Luna and I fought his Project to the very bone. His final rage occurred after I had my pegasi firebomb the Project's main base. He lost all of his scientists, his research burned before him, and his friends and allies all running out of the base while burning alive left deep scars in his mind. I'd surrounded him with all of my Royal Guard, unsure of what to do next. This was very soon after I had banished Luna to the moon, so she wouldn't remember this.

He was not himself. His mane and tail were literally on fire, but no other part of him burned. There were white markings all around his body, and his hooves and coat were coated red with the blood of his enemies and his friends, from him trying to save the latter of the two. The only way I was going to prevent him from winning and creating an empire of chaos was using the Elements of Harmony to keep him out of Equestria. I was able to get him out, but not keep him out. It was only recently that the spell broke, and that was because the Elements were handed down to a new generation." I'm almost shouting now, my voice hoarse. 'For him to come back and see what a world this is was not what I wanted. I wanted a peaceful resolution with his return. I'm disappointed that my predictions didn't come true, but I should have seen it coming." I face my sister. "Luna, we need to find him, if only to bury the body."

She nodded her head in agreement. My pupil and her friends stepped forward. "Princess?" Twilight asked me.

"Yes, Twilight Sparkle?" The day had caught up with me and I was tired. I needed rest. "I know what you are going to ask, and yes, this is yours and your friends adventure. You may go." And with those words, I collapse, the days focus and sadness final moments forcing me to succumb to black.

~~~~

I awoke through the portal. The fire was gone through my wings and my surrounding crash landing area was a wreck. Before everything turned to black, I saw myself, almost as if in a mirror, in a light red pool of liquid. Blood. This clone of me quietly stared for a moment then says this before disappearing in a explosion of black, blue, and white smoke:

"Judge if you want, we are all going to die. I intend to deserve it."