The Celestial Guard

Celestia stood in her study, a tear rolled down her cheek and splashed onto the floor. She was looking at an old wooden box, covered with dust and clearly of old age. It brought back many old memories of her friend, Swift Hooves, his long gold mane and soft deep blue eyes. Celestia was reminiscing the day that she received the box from the stallion. It was her fifteen birthday, her parents , King Helios and Queen Julia stood beside her, smiling at her as she stood in front of her cake. It stood tall at 2 meters and was white, with swirls of pink and green icing that climbed the sides of the cake, like vines. There were many stallions at the celebration, but she had only eyes for one, he stood there grinning, beside him, he levitated the wooden box with his green aura.

                                                                        She tried to stop thinking about him, but that only made it worst. While it was comforting remembering him, it was also painful coming to terms with death. That night still haunted her in her dreams and she refused to seek help from her sister.

                                                                       When most of the attendees had gone home, only Celestia, her parents and Swift Hooves remained. He looked at her with those eyes, and she was still at a loss for words when he gave her his present. The gift inside was something that she still kept to this day, but never used, because nopony practiced that sport anymore. Apparently, it seemed to have died out with Discord's reign.

Meanwhile, in the library,

The other three ponies crowded around Twilight so that they could see her discovery. Shinning caught sight of the title and shuddered.

Twilight noticed this and asked," What's wrong brother? Have you seen this before."

"Yes I have, any all guard ponies have to study it in minor detail."

"Who are they?"

"Well...... The Celestial Guard were an elite group of Royal Guard ponies who had only one specific purpose, to guide and protect the Royal Family. Back then, before Princess Celestia's reforms, the Royal Guard was responsible with keeping order in The Old Kingdom, and had little or no contact with the Royal Family. But after the fall of King Helios, Princess Celestia's father, their hearts and true sight were corrupted by the chaos which Discord created. They became his puppets and enforced the cruel regime which followed, after Princess Celestia and Luna led a successful revolution, establishing Equestria, they were outlawed and hunted down."

"How could Aunt Celestia love a stallion of such a terrible past?", asked Cadence.

"My guess is that she loved this stallion before her father's death and now blames herself for his corruption.", replied Shinning Armour.

This seemed quite reasonable to the four ponies. But they were about to learn a lot more about this stallion in the hour to come. Twilight looked back at the book, took a deep breath and began reading out loud.

"Swift Hooves was one of the most distinguished stallions of his era. His combat skills were unmatched, his cunning unparalleled and his ability with magic was equal to that of a young alicorn. He was born into a rich and powerful family, who's opinions had the power to shape a nation. This is how he first met his protection assignment, Princess Celestia. As his family was rich, he was able to gain access to a prestigious group of schools called the "Royal Academies for Prestigious and Gifted Ponies" , designed to raise foals in the way of the State until they were graduated. His friendship with Princess Celestia was very strong and it was speculated that it was a little more than just a friendship, we can draw this conclusion because he was the only pony to be blessed with the gift of being in the presence of her informal state. On a side note, it is important to point out that he was the reason behind Princess Celestia winning the Royal Fencing competition, a sport only considered fit for a stallion."

" What the hay is this "fencing?" and "informal state?"", said Shinning Armour, totally and utterly confused.

"We has never seen our sister morph her appearance at anytime during our lives.", replied Luna

"Quiet Shiny and Aunt Luna and let Twilight read more of it."

" When he graduated from the R.A.P.G.P, he suffered a fallout with his family when he announced he wanted to join the Celestial Guard. For four years he trained under some of the greatest soldiers ever, but they eventually became apart of his downfall at the beginning of Discord's reign. At the age of 25, he was selected for the Magical Bonding Program, a secret project aimed at protecting the descendants of the main Royal bloodline. Here, he was selected personally by his friend, Princess Celestia, to be magically bonded with her. If you want to learn more about the Magical Bonding Program, please move to page 236. The three years leading up to his death were very poorly recorded and all records that were made were either lost or destroyed by Discord or his servant Stoneheart. However, he was murdered on the 26th of June, 280 C.E"

Twilight paused to absorb the information that had been lain out. So this stallion wasn't evil, did Celestia blame herself for this event, an event that happened almost 2000 years ago?

"Wait a moment......Cadence what is the date?"

"Uhhhh....... its the 25th of June", replied Cadence, unsure of why Twilight asked the question.

"And the year?"

"2280 C.E, are you alright?", asked Cadence, growing more concerned by the minute.

"Does it seems like a coincidence that Celestia is only showing theses emotions now? Because tomorrow will be exactly 2000 years since his death."

Shining Armour spoke up, " Are you going where I think you are going with this, because the book clearly stated that he died."

"Yes, I'm sure, Pinkie Pie has had her Pinkie sense tingling all week and it has been getting stronger and stronger."

"May we ask, what are you two talking about?"

"A time travelling spell."

In Celestia's Study,

Celestia remembering the night of the attack, how he urged her to run away, when she began to run and she never looked back,in fear that she would see him suffer in the hooves of his former mentor, Stoneheart.

                                                                      A week after his death, she had fooled herself that he was coming back. After 200 years, she had finally broke through that delusion. What really pained her was not the fact that she let him die, but the fact that she never told him how she felt about him........