Chapters A scream, shouts, the sound of blood running and a whit alicorn mare ran off into the forest, Swift Hooves lay on the ground,bleeding profusely from his neck, all four hooves broken and twisted beyond recognition. Three other unicorns circled him, preparing to end him. The leader of this pack stood tall, with a red coat and deep blue mane. He looked at Swift Hooves and spoke.
"You should have given yourself to Discord, when he have you the chance"
"I would never betray the royal family for swine such as yourself, Stoneheart." replied Swift Hooves, coughing up more blood.
"So be it, I feel sad to kill such a worthy opponent", a smirk appeared on his face and his horn glowed red.
Suddenly, a beam of pure energy flew out from the woods, killing two of the three unicorns and hurling Stoneheart into the thick trunk of a tree. Stoneheart groaned as he slipped into the unconscious. Swift looked towards the source of the beam and saw a large black figure.
"I'm sorry Swift Hooves", said the figure, as a blue bolt of magic tore into his body. He could feel himself falling and falling and falling.......
2000 years later,
Princess Celestia and Luna sat on their thrones, tending to the daily business of Equestria. On the walls were large stained glass windows, depicting significant events of Equestrian history, the defeat of Discord's tyranny by the royal sisters, the discovery of the Elements of Harmony, Discord's second defeat by the mane six and the Coronation of Princess Twilight.
Then there was "That One", the one nopony dared talk about or mention. It stood over the entrance so that only the princesses or exitees saw it. It depicted two ponies, the first one, a white alicorn mare about the height of Princess Cadence, with a flowing, multi-coloured mane, her cutie mark was similar, if not identical to Princess Celestia's. There were tears on this pony's face as she stood in the forest unable to look at the bloody, mangled body of the other pony, a stallion. This stallion had a pure white coat and golden mane, his horn was narrow and longer than the typical horn and ,his cutie mark was a moving hoof. If one payed a little more attention to the stained glass, they would see that there was a faint cyan glow on the borders of both ponies' cutie marks, as if they were connected somehow.......
Princess Cadence was idly chatting with her husband ,standing beside Celestia when she felt a surge of emotion from her, it was filled with regret, despair,....and love, something Cadence never knew existed in her aunt. She looked over at Celestia, she saw Celestia longingly staring at the stallion portrayed on "That One". Celestia looked to her left, catching the gaze of Cadence and looked at the ground, blushing. Cadence's mind entered a mind buck, and she started to ask herself, " Who was that stallion?". "
Princess Luna stood at the balcony outside her bedroom preparing to call up the stars, when a familiar pink blur appeared. For a second she thought it was Pinkie Pie, but that would make no sense, but Pinkie Pie made no sense anyway.
"Aunt Luna, may I ask you a question?", Cadence said eagerly.
"What is it that thou requests of us?", replied Luna ,unsure to where this would lead.
" Do you know anything about the stallion in the stained glass window?."
At first, Luna paused, then motioned to speak, and then again paused to think about what to say.
"We have do not, but if you really desire, we will ask our sister in the morning"
"Thank you" replied Cadence, giggling to herself, and speeding down the corridor to her husband.
"What did she say? "asked Shinning Armour.
"She doesn't know that stallion, but she will ask Celestia in the morning",replied Cadence
"You know honey, maybe you should just forget about this, if Celestia hasn't told us about him now, I doubt she ever will, "said Shinning with a worried face
"Where's your sense of adventure Shiny? Are you afraid that your wife may end up with too much to handle? "Cadence's excited smile began to turn into a smirk
"Yes I do fear for you honey and I don't want you or my boss to get hurt because she will kill me to get back at you probably."
"Awwwwwwww, that's so cute come here", Cadence dragged Shinning into a deep passionate kiss and smiled at him with a suggestive wink.
"But I have to meet the new recruits, and-",Cadence using her magic grabbed her husband by the ear and slowly dragged him to their chambers.
The next morning, Celestia arose from her bed sheets and mumbled to herself, cursing the fact that her mane refused to untangle itself. She walked to her balcony and prepared her daily spell rise the sun. When she had finished, her sister approached her calmly clearing her throat to grab her sister's attention. Celestia still in a daydream was startled, jumped into the air, before realising it was her sister, she looked away, attempting to hide her red face.
"Ever since we were born, we have never see our big sister daydream, let alone blush, may we ask, what is wrong?"
"Some thing w-wrong? N-no surely you are mistaken little sister," Celestia was still blushing, unable to make eye contact with her sister.
"We have never heard stutter when being asked question. So we ask again, what is wrong?"
Celestia sighed and made eye contact with her sister and said "Its personal, Luna very personal."
Unconvinced Luna continued, "Has it anything to do the stallion in the stained glass window? "asked Luna
"Yes..no maybe just leave it a-"
"We were born forty years after you, and as we have no knowledge of this stallion. He must have lived during those forty years. Were you and this stallion very cl-."
"JUST LEAVE IT ALONE LITTLE SISTER!" screamed Celestia, her face was contorted into face of rage. A little shocked, Luna slowly carefully backed out of her sister's chambers ,fully aware of the angry gaze her sister was giving her.
However, Luna was not discouraged, instead she was even more interested with this stallion. She would have sought out Twilight, but she was on leave with her friends in Ponyville. So she sought out her niece.
Princess Luna walked through the corridors, engrossed in thought. The more she tried to forget about the recent event the more she thought about it. Celestia had never raised her voice to her, not about anything or anypony, not even when she had banished Luna to the moon.
She turned left and headed into the dinning hall and made a beeline to the table where Cadence and Shinning Armour sat.
"Something wrong Aunt Luna?", asked Cadence, seeing the distraught face that Luna wore.
"Yes, it seems that we may have angered our sister by asking about the stallion," replied Luna still in deep thought.
"Told you so honey, you should just forget about this and move on, Celestia is unwilling to talk about it and she just shouted at her sister because she asked", Shinning Armour said
"I will not be defeated so easily Shiny, I MUST find out who this stallion is," replied Cadence in an irritated tone.
"Why is our niece so interested in the past of Celestia? Even we are kept in the shadows concerning this,"
"I just want to learn more about my aunt Celestia and I already know a lot more than I should know about you. Celestia seems so closed and shy when it comes to her own agenda and feelings."
"That's because she is busy serving the needs of her kingdom, it has to be done, otherwise we would descend into anarchy."
"I know Shiny, but at the pace she keeps going how long will she last for? It seems her entire life revolves around making treaties with neighbouring countries and helping the problems of her ponies. She has no personal life, and the only connection we have seen her had with a stallion is on a coloured window. Doesn't that worry you?"
"Our sister has been tending to the needs of Equestria for over a thousand years, and she still hasn't broken."
"Who says Aunt Celestia won't break down tomorrow? Can you even begin to imagine the consequences if we leave this issue unresolved? Equestria could be plunged into wide spread anarchy!"
"We never thought of this like that, but we understand your concern. If you truly desire to, I can give you access to the royal library, maybe some light can be shed on this stallion there."
"No, thank you Princess Luna, I think I and Cadence will just forget about this whole thing", Shining Armour said, with a face of even more concern appearing
Cadence looked at her husband and said, "No Shiny, we are going to do this together, even if I have to embarrass you in front of your precious "Royal Guard".
"Fine", replied Shiny, preparing to leave and finally meet those new recruits who he had failed to meet yesterday.
They planned to meet up tonight, outside the library. Twilight was returning from Ponyville and Luna would tell her that Cadence wanted to see her, as she had to return to the crystal empire soon. In fear of Twilight revealing their plans to Celestia, they decided to tell her the truth that night.
Meanwhile in Ponyville ,
The mane six sat in a field, enjoying their picnic, all questioning Twilight about her new duties as princess.
"Dear, you must introduce me to some of the prestigious ponies you have met. They would simply adore my new range of clothes."
"Ah'm sure that they would love those clothes Rarity, but even ah have better questions than those."
"Twilight, we have to try out those new wings of yours, we could be the best flying partners ever! Even if you are an egghead."
"OmagoshTwilightweshouldhaveapartymaybeaTwilightisnowaprincessparty?Yesnoyesno?"
Fluttershy attempted to say something, but it couldn't be heard. Twilight was unable to speak over the intense bickering and Spike was too shocked for words. Twilight attempted to speak, but was again shouted down by another of Pinkie's questions. She looked over the field and looked at the town clock. It was half past twelve, the time her train to Canterlot was due.
"Sorry, I have too go, come on Spike", said Twilight
The others groaned and said goodbye in a chorus, as Twilight flew to the train station. Showed her ticket to the conductor and grabbed a seat in the royal carriage, sighing in relief. Suddenly a green flash of fire burst out of Spike's mouth and a letter from Celestia. There was something peculiar about it ,but Twilight couldn't put a hoof on what it was, never the less she still read it,
"Dear Princess Twilight,
I hope you had a good time on leave, you friends probably asked you a lot of messages. I have sent this letter as a welcoming you back to Canterlot, because I am currently very busy, and will lock myself away in my study for the time being. However, your brother, his wife and my sister, Luna will be there to greet you upon arrival. I regret being unable to greet you on your return.
Best Regards,
Princess Celestia."
Twilight was a bit discouraged, however her BBBFF, sister-in-law and fellow princess were there to greet her, so it was better. She hadn't seen Cadence since her coronation and as she was visiting, she may as well spend some time with her. Of course, Twilight had no idea how many rules and regulations they were going to break that night. As she drifted into sleep, she couldn't help but ponder about the way in which Celestia had written the letter, it seemed full of sadness and despair. But Celestia doesn't have those feelings....does she?
The sound of a dragon bumping around the cabin, the sudden stop of the train brought Twilight out of her slumber. As she disembarked, she could see a group of Royal Guards, with her BBBFF there.
"Hey little sister! Over here"
Twilight rushed to her brother and hugged him, almost crushing his ribcage in the process.
"You can let go now, Twilight, otherwise I'll have to get a medic."
"Sorry, just haven't seen you for a while."
Shinning grinned, "You saw me three days ago, when you went on leave."
"For me, that's too long"
One of the guards interrupted them, "Captain Shinning Amour, I advise that we should get a move on, your wife and Princess Luna are also interested in seeing Princess Twilight."
"Of course"
At the castle(at night),
(Spike had long left Twilight and was now sleeping in his guest room.)
"You want me to do what?!"
"Don't worry Twilight, Celestia won't catch us", replied Cadence, becoming slightly more desperate.
"But what if she does? She could banish us to the moon!"
"Do not worry Twilight, our sister would not be so impulsive.", said Luna with an assuring tone.
"What if she was, from what you have told me so far, if we delve into this matter, she just might!"
"Relax sister, if you just calm down and trust us, we might just get out of this unscathed.", Shinning said, receiving dangerous stares from the other two mares.
"Ok, but what are we looking for in CELESTIA'S PERSONAL READING WING!"
"Relax Twilight, all will be revealed in due time.", responded Luna
"Alright."
Then Cadence spoke up, "We are looking for any information on the stallion in the stained glass window."
Twilight sighed," Well then, lets get down to it."
For three hours the four ponies searched through every book, every word and every full stop that there was. Twilight in a frustrated sigh threw down a book, one that she thought could have the information they needed. Then she saw something which caught her interest. It was a chapter in a book called "A History of Celestia", the chapter was called "The Celestial Guard". She began reading it. After reading through it, she found a description of one the Celestial Guard Captains, it matched the stallion exactly. It even mentioned an unusual closeness between this stallion and Celestia. It also talked about Celestia's informal state, whatever that meant.
"Hey, I think I found something!"
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........
Twilight's horn glowed in frustration as she attempted the spell she had prepared. Beads of sweat poured down her forehead.
"Little sister, I think you should stop this before you hurt yourself."
"We agree, an injured Twilight is worst than a discouraged one."
"Fine...", Twilight's horn stopped glowing and she sighed in frustration. She looked down at the spell book she had thrown on the floor. She picked it up, reading it over to see what she missed.
"Twilight, I'm going to take that book away from you now."
"No! I have to do this."
"Why do you? To bring back this stallion would only cause more problems with our sister. It might actually cause the problems we seek to prevent."
"It seems wrong to just leave this stallion to die, if we bring him forward, Celestia might have another chance!"
"We don't even know if Princess Celestia feels like that! Little sister, give me that book now!", Shinning Armour reached for the book in his sister's grasp.
"NO!", with her aura, Twilight lifted the book out of her brother's reach, putting up a shield and starting the spell again.
The other three tried to stop her with their magic, but it was futile. Twilight's eyes shined with victory.
"I got him! I got him!", she felt the fabric of time open as the delved towards that day. She could feel herself getting closer and closer, and then the trail stopped dead. She spent a minute looking for him, but could find no trace of him. She sighed, stopping the spell and dropping the shield. The other three looked at her and said in a chorus,
"What happened?"
"I don't know, I found him, at the brink of death, and then he just disappeared, I tried finding him, but it was helpless."
"Well at least this means that Princess Celestia doesn't have to deal with him."
"I guess so, lets get back to bed", Twilight replied with another sigh.
In the Royal Garden,
Spike had woken early, and had been unable to find Twilight. So he went out into the garden for some fresh air. Princess Celestia had just started to raise the sun, and its light was just starting to coat the lands of Equestria. He could sense something odd in the air like magic, a very old magic, but he brushed it off, instead thinking that there were gems in the garden and he was determined to find them.
Swift Hooves couldn't feel anymore pain, but when he turned his head to his injuries they were still there, pulsating blood. He had been falling for a couple of minutes now, but he was still unsure of his whereabouts. The place seemed to go on forever, there was blue light everywhere. Suddenly, the place began to shake, he could feel the very bones in his body being shaken as well. He saw a green light underneath him, he was plummeting towards it, but what could he do?
"This is going to hurt a lot", Swift said to himself, as he passed out.
THUD.
Spike jumped into the air, turning around to see that something had fallen on the bushes behind him.
"Who's there?"
There was no reply, Spike felt scared, he looked around for a guard, but no one was there, it was only him and whatever lay in those bushes. He saw a pool of red liquid slowly roll out of the bush, he looked at it more closely and realised it was blood.
"GUARDS, I NEED HELP OVER HERE."
A lone guard was patrolling the corridor leading to the Royal Garden, when he heard the shout of somepony. He rushed towards the source of the shout, horn glowing and ready to defend. When he came into range he was Princess Twilight's assistant panicking, and urging him towards the bush. He saw the mangled body of a stallion, barely alive but breathing.
As other guards arrived, he took the initiative, hauling the stallion onto his back and rushing to the Royal hospital, the other guards following in pursuit.
In Celestia's Study,
Princess Celestia had just finished rising the sun. She felt exhausted, but she had to continue, for the good of Equestria, but she wondered how she was going to keep up with all the work she had. While still in deep thought, she had not realised that a black outline, like a burn, was forming on the outside of her cutie mark, when it was complete, it began glowing in a faint cyan colour. She heard the sounds of stampeding hooves and shouts, she sighed as she left her study to investigate.
In Princess Luna's , Twilight's, Shinning Armour and Cadence's chambers,
After breaking into the library, Luna was exhausted and knew she had to sleep, those financial reports would not process themselves, nor would the meetings between city councils conduct themselves. She had fallen asleep for only an hour when she heard shouts and the stampeding of hooves. That would be her sister's problem, not hers.
Twilight still awake tumbled in her bed still concern with the fact that he had just disappeared. It shouldn't be possible! She couldn't hear the stampeding of hooves and shouts that occurred, because of the logic war that was being waged in her mind.
Meanwhile, Cadence and her husband were engaged in their usual "strenuous exercise" that they partook in when they went to bed, and were unable to hear the commotion gripping the castle.
Swift Hooves body lay on a bed in the ICU, hooked up to a vast majority of machines. The doctors on call at the time had a hard time looking at him, due to the severity of his wounds. They had counted it up, four broken ribs and all four legs broken. It was a miracle that he was alive.
Swift Hooves opened his eyes, squinting as the white light pierced his eyes. He looked around, seeing strange machines huddled around him, making strange noises, a rhythmic beep could be heard. He felt numb, possibly some kind of painkiller, he still had the injuries from the fight but he hag no idea where he was. He needed to get out of here and find Celestia, if she was still safe. His horn glowed as he mended his legs and ribs, wincing as he felt the bones snap back into place. He got out of the bed and began to walk towards the door. Then as he was exciting he bumped into a large white alicorn. She looked at him with shock etched on her face.
"How are you, Celestia?" asked Swift Hooves, unsure to why she was shocked.
2 hours before,
As Celestia left her study, a guard gave her the report. A severely injured unicorn had appeared in the garden and was found by Spike. He was being held in the ICU while doctors were trying to stabilize his vital signs. No pony could see him, not even the Princesses, until he was ok.
So Celestia spent her time tending to some complaints about the water supply to Cloudsdale and other pegasus settlements. However, she could not take her mind of the injured stallion, who was he and how he get here?Also, who attacked him and why?
The others had not told Celestia or Spike what they had found, nor had they heard of the stallion in the ICU. They had just considered it irrelevant, the trail had gone cold and even Cadence had no more will to pursue this "Swift Hooves" anymore. Princess Luna was walking down the hall when she bumped into her sister. She noticed that her sister was in deep though, so deep in fact, that she had ignored Luna entirely.
"Sister, is there something that troubles you?"
Celestia looked up, at last realising Luna's presence. "Yes, have you heard about what happened in the royal garden?"
"No, we have not been informed. Was it serious?"
"It seems that a unicorn stallion appeared in the garden, severely injured. Twilight's assistant, Spike found him and alerted the guards."
"Do we know who this intruder is? How did he get past the defences undetected?"
"No, we don't know anything about him yet, he is still in the ICU, I wouldn't be surprised if he was there for a month", Celestia looked out a window overseeing Canterlot and all the busy ponies. There was something else troubling her, Luna was going to find out.
"It seems that there is something else bothering our sister, may we ask what is also wrong?"
"When the doctors described his injuries, they sounded familiar, but I am unsure where or when I remember them from.
"And this is what has been bothering our sister?"
"Yes it is, it sounds silly doesn't it?"
"A little, but it could be your overworked mind playing tricks on you."
"Never thought about it, maybe I should take a break.", Celestia grinned, eliciting a certain fear from Luna
Luna started to sweat. "That is not what we meant sister, we would not last ten minutes having to deal with your duties."
"I'm sure that you could handle it, sister, right?", Celestia's grin started to morph into a trollface. When she saw Luna's eyes beginning to bulge, she immediately reassured her, "don't worry I'm not that cruel."
"Says the mare that banished us to the moon."
"I didn't banish you, I banished Nightmare Moon." Celestia showed her trollface once again. Luna swore that she saw her sisters cutie mark change into a weird, twisted smiling face, it scared her.
Meanwhile in the dinning hall,
Twilight, Cadence, Shinning Armour and Spike all sat around a table. Spike was telling them about the garden accident that he encountered while they had been sleeping, in his own way that is.
"He bared his fangs at me and I just brushed him off like a fly. He didn't have a chance against me!"
"Spike, ponies don't have fangs, nor would one attack you, nor would you ever win in a fight. I seriously doubt that you could break all a stallion's legs.", countered Twilight.
"Why not? I'm a dragon!"
"And a baby one at that."
"I'm still a dragon!"
"Who can't fly, and has a magic breath that sends paper and does little else."
"I can cook eggs with it!"
"Eggs require very little heat to cook, and that is why I only let you cook them."
Spike was sent into despair." Whhhhhhaaaaaaaaattttttt??!!"
Cadence giggled, "I think you went a little far there, Twilight."
"You should leave the little guy alone, he's only a baby.", teased Shinning Armour.
"Screw you guys!"
"Awwwwwwww, we care about you a lot, its just fun to tease you."
"Really? So you don't just only allow me to cook eggs because I'm weak, right?"
Twilight paused for a second, "Yes......yes, I wouldn't have it any other way." It was obvious to everyone but Spike that she had just lied.Shinning and Cadence grinned. For Spike, it was probably better for him to lied to, in order to preserve his ego.
Luna entered the hall, approaching the others, taking a seat next to Twilight.
"Have you heard about the garden?"
"Yes we have Spike was just telling us.", replied Twilight.
"Yes, we talked to our sister about it, it seems that we have no idea who this mystery stallion is."
Cadences eyes gleamed, "What if it is this Swift Hooves?"
"That would make no sense, I failed to move him to our time period. "replied Twilight nonchalantly.
Shinning Armour sighed, "Why are you pursuing this again? I thought you said you would leave it alone."
"But wouldn't it be adorable to see Princess Celestia, the mighty ruler of Equestria, being flustered by a stallion."
"Yes, and then she would get so distracted from her work that Equestria would fall ap-".
Suddenly, a royal alicorn voiced boomed throughout the castle.
"I THOUGHT YOU DIED!"
The collision of a hoof with somepony's face echoed in the hallways. All were quiet and quite shocked.
Swift Hooves groaned as he unlogged himself from the slight indent made in the wall. No, broken bones, at least yet.
"What in the name of your father was that for, Celestia?", asked Swift
"How can you be here?", replied Celestia, visibly shocked.
"What do you mean? I just saw you yesterday!"
"How can I know you are Swift Hooves? Are you a changeling, is this some sick new plot from Chrysalis?"
"Changelings?!"
"If you are who you claim to be, tell me something that only Swift would know."
Swift Hooves grinned, "I remember the time in foalgarden, when we first met, you wanted a certain doll that you couldn't reach, and when you tried to climb the wardrobe to it, you fell on top of the teacher and pissed her off. You cried for almost four hours and when your dad found out, he laughed and gave you the doll. While you were boasting to the others, bumped into me and almost knocked me off my hooves as you were shoving that doll in my face."
Celestia's face turned red in embarrassment. She may as well have been on fire, the guard behind her just barely kept back the laughs building up. He was totally going to tell this to his pals.
"I guess it is really you...................., how did you get here?"
"Uhhhh....you still haven't told me what is wrong, or where am I? Is that Celestial guardspony wearing gold armour? Why would anypony wear such a soft metal for protection?" The Royal Guard frowned at Swift Hooves, confused and slightly insulted that he had been compared to those barbaric Celestial guardponies.
"He's apart of the Royal Guard, and we are in the Royal Castle."
"Why are there Royal Guards in the castle?!"
"That's the thing, you've been gone for 2000 years."
"WHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT?!"
From Luna, Cadence, Armour and Twilight's POV
The four sprinted down the hallway to the source of the noise. They entered the ICU and saw a shocked Celestia, a dent in the wall and an unusually tall stallion. He was an inch taller than Cadence, and he mirrored the pony they learned about EXACTLY.
"Sister? Who is this?"
"Oh... hi Luna, this is a friend, his names Swift Hooves."
The stallion looked at Luna, then at Celestia, "You have a sister? So I really was gone for a while. She's a little small for an alicorn, isn't she."Luna glared at Swift Hooves.
"She doesn't like being called small", sighed Celestia.
Swift Hooves realised the other two alicorn staring at him in shock, as if they knew who he was. "Well, it seems you got quite desperate, why are there two converted alicorns here?"
"What does he mean by desperate? "said Twilight and Cadence in unison.
"He means thaaaaaaaa-"
"I mean that when the head of the Royal Family, Celestia in this case, cannot find a "mate", he or she uses magic to create more alicorns. These alicorns do not carry the makers original blood, instead they carry a magic imprint of it. I am not very surprised, Celestia is very picky when it comes to stallions."
Celestia started to blush, looking away to avoid hearing her inner secrets being bled to the others.
Then Shinning Armour spoke up, just as 3 more Royal Guards showed up, "Who are you? What are you intentions?"
"I am Swift Hooves, Captain of The Celestial Guard."
The guards were visibly shaken. A Celestial Guard Captain, here? Idly chatting with the Princess? Celestia saw this.
"Do not be afraid, he is not like the others, he was a captain before the invasion."
"What invasion?"
"I will tell you more about the events you have missed during dinner, which should be now I believe.", Celestia looked at one of the guards.
"Yes...yes it is, if you would follow me." The group followed the guard.
In the dinning hall,
Swift Hooves caught up on all the crazy shit and stuff that had passed during his absences. Apparently, during his absence, he missed Discord taking over the Old Kingdom, Luna being banished to the moon and the discovery of the Elements of Harmony. Apparently Discord had been rehabilitated by Twilight and her friends, but he was in no hurry to meet him.
"You mean the rediscovery of the Elements surely?"
Twilight looked at him puzzled, "What? They were never seen until me and my friends discovered them."
Swift Hooves sighed, and looked at Celestia," How many government cover ups have there been since I disappeared?"
"Uhhhh...", Celestia pondered," I lost count 2000 years ago."
"Heh, bit of a co-incidence that I disappeared around there?"
Celestia blushed again, Cadence knew what was going on and she knew what to do. Twilight was about to ask about what he was talking about when she was interrupted by Cadence.
"So Swift, how many fillyfriends have you had? Do you have any special somepony?"
Shinning glanced at Cadence, and they seemed to share a silent conversation for a few seconds. Then Cadence looked back at Swift Hooves.
"So do you?"
"Uhhhhh....no, not really. Quite an odd question, don't you think reminds me of the ti-"
"Do you have a special somepony? Why are you deflecting my question?"
"Uhhh....Uhhhh"
"Honey, stop now, Swift Hooves obviously doesn't want to answer and you shouldn't press the issue"
"Bu-"
"Leave it alone"
"Fine, but this is coming out of tonight!"
Shinning's cheeks blushed. " Awwwww........, come on honey, I was just joking."
Cadence pretended to pout and ignore all of Shinning's pleas. The others sighed at their bickering and Twilight reasserted herself in the conversation.
"So what did you mean when you said the rediscovery of the elements?"
"When I was made captain of the Celestial Guard, my first job was to hide the elements. King Helios was going through a paranoid fit and wanted to hide them. There's not much more to it then that. But I may have hid them so well that only the blood relatives of someponies I trusted could find them."
"You knew an ancestor of mine?"
"Yes, I think it was Starswirl the Bearded. You do remind me of him."
"Really, I'm related to one of the greatest unicorns ever to exist?"
"Him, special? I think your confused, Starswirl was a drunk."
"What?!"
Celestia decided to intervene, " Yes he was, but after Swift disappeared, he got himself into shape."
"Yea, we were quite close."
Luna yawned, " I think it is time that we retired, I have to raise the stars tonight."
The group departed to their rooms. Then Swift Hooves realised that he had not been given a room.
"Celestia, it seems that I don't have a room."
"Oh yes, I forgot you can follow me to it."
Luna, Celestia and Swift Hooves walked down the hall. Luna said goodnight and Celestia showed him too his room.
"Goodnight for now Swift, tomorrow I need to talk about what you plan to do now"
"Sure, goodnight Celestia."
As Celestia exited the room, a figure stood in the hallway.
"Aunt Celestia, how much do you like him?"
"He's a good friend, If not the closest I Have ever had."
Cadence grinned and went for the kill.
"No, do you like really like him?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean Aunt."
Celestia knew then what she meant.
"No, no, not at all like that, why would you think such a thing."
"Since he has arrived, your entire attitude has changed and he seem to prance about the place."
"That is ridiculous! I can't have such thoughts about my own personal guard!"
"Why not ,in my opinion you need a stallion to soften your heart. Besides, I know that your minds are interconnected through the glowing mark on your cutie mark. The Magical Bonding Project, right?"
"How do you know such things, did you break into my private library?"
"Maybeeeee."
Celestia sighed and went to bed. All she could think about was him, she had failed to tell him before and now she was given a second chance, why wasn't she taking it? Over in Swift Hooves quarters, Swift was also thinking about Celestia. Her mane, face and flank.....Why was he thinking about her flank. She would probably think that he was a crazed time travelling perv. They were just friends,...right?
Swift Hooves woke to the repetitive sound of a hoof knocking on his door. He felt exhausted and he tried to ignore the knocking, but it only got worse. With an almighty groan, Swift Hooves got out of the bed. His long mane was tied in thousands of knots and it had lost it's shinning, replaced by a dull gold. The door opened and a guard looked in.
"Princess Celestia requires your presence in the throne room."
"okay, just give me a sec."
"No we must go now, and I have too accompany you."
"Fine.", sighed Swift Hooves, heading out the door. His horn glowed in his usual green aura. The aura then seeped down his neck and onto his mane. In an instant the mane assumed its previous condition, reflecting light in gold. The guard stared at him in shock with a jaw that could have touched the floor.
"What is it?"
"I've never seen magic like that! What is it?"
"It's basic reconfiguring magic. Surely you have heard about that?"
"No, actually I have never heard about it."
"Wow..."
"Yeah, whatever", said the Guard, slightly agitated.
They walked down the hall and before they entered the throne room, Swift Hooves spoke up.
"What's your name guard?"
"It's Flash Sentry sir."
"Not a bad name."
"Thank you sir.", Flash Sentry moved towards the door and opened it. He walked forward and bumped into Princess Twilight.
"Oh my, Princess Twilight I am so sorry! Please forgive me!"
"It's ok Flash Sentry.", Flash Sentry sighed in relief and walked over to where he could stand guard by the door. Twilight's eyes swept over his flank, then she realised that her sister-in-law was grinning at her. She quickly resumed her position beside Cadence and tried to ignore her sister-in-law sly grin. Swift Hooves stood for a moment, confused at what happened, of course, mares were a mystery to him.
"Ahem."
Swift Hooves looked over to the pony who made the noise, when he realised it was Celestia, he stood to attention. "What is it that you wanted to discuss with me?"
"I would like to discuss your plans here, have you decided what life you will lead here?", Celestia seemed slightly stressed, almost afraid to hear his response.
"I don't think I have of a choice Celestia.", Swift Hooves motioned towards the faint cyan glow around his cutie mark and then pointed to her cyan glow as well. " I would like to carry on being your personal bodyguard."
"I would very much like that, sorry for forgetting about that.", Celestia's face had lit up, now she was smiling.
"No worries, 2000 years does that to ponies", grinned Swift Hooves.
"There is also one other thing I would like to ask, and I forgot to ask yesterday, how exactly did you get here?"
"From what I remember, there was somepony who sent me forward into time, but I couldn't make out who it was."
"Hmmmmmm....strange, well I have other business to attend to, Flash Sentry will show you the barrack, you are allowed to use any facility you want in their. Tomorrow you can reassume your position."
"Thank you, I will check that out now.", Swift Hooves turned to the exit and walked along side Flash Sentry, not seeing the mosaic above the exit.
Celestia almost squirmed with delight as he left, but she was a princess who had to have higher standards then the ones she had at that moment. She felt like a little filly, it was only until now, with the return of Swift Hooves that she felt whole. She was stuck deep in though when Luna coughed in order to get her attention.
"We have a meeting with the town councils in ten minutes sister, we best not be late."
"Its always the town councils isn't it? Causing trouble with the treasury."
"We guess so, but we have not been accustomed to it as you have been."
The two sister awaited for the town councils and braced themselves for a lot of shouting, cursing and fighting.
Meanwhile in Twilight's chambers,
Twilight was at her desk, writing a letter to her friends, telling them about Swift Hooves and his peculiar arrival here. Hopefully rumour hadn't been spread by the Royal Guards, or anypony for that matter. She could only barely imagine the media firestorm that could brew if word got out. For some reason Celestia had never though of it, which was odd, Celestia though of everything, she had too as the ruler of Equestria.
However, Celestia's last thoughts would have been about the media, because she was trying to hide her giddiness from everypony, even her sister. The day was coming to an end and Swift Hooves had come back from the barracks, apparently something had happened there, but she wasn't concerned about that right now because he wasn't hurt by it, she was just tired and could not stop thinking about him. Celestia and Luna walked down the corridor to their respective chambers, Celestia heard the incredibly loud snoring of Swift Hooves and giggled in a very filly like manner. Luna gave a sly smile.
"So how long has thou two been dating?"
"What?! Who said that we were dating, are you working with Cadence now?"
"No, not yet, but you do act like it."
"No I don't, we are just friends."
"Well, that means that we must ask his intensions. Does he wish to steal your virginity from you?"
Celestia stopped walking and just stared at Luna, "You sound just like our father Luna, he could never bring himself to trust Swift Hooves. Also, you will never ask about his "intensions", you got it?"
Luna grinned, "Yes we do sister, you have a crush on him."
Celestia grew even more flustered and almost stomped her hooves like a little filly in a temper. "Goodnight sister!"
In a certain printing press in Canterlot,
A violet coloured mare sat at her desk, her mane was red, very long and was twirled around her neck. Her name was Quick Quill and she was the greatest freelancer in Equestria, deciding what story to follow next, should she follow a lead on the sex trafficking problems arising or go and discover more about the undercover "human" cult believers. What the hay is a human anyway?! As she flicked over to the next sheet she saw it, it was THE next story. It was a lead coming from a Royal Guard, called Bright Eyes, talking about a rather unusual intrusion into the castle two nights ago. Apparently Celestia warmed up to this intruder unusually quickly and already trusts him more than any other guard. This was going to be one hay of a story!
Swift Hooves departed from the throne room letting Flash Sentry lead him to the barracks. Flash Sentry had tons of questions brewing inside his mind.
"May I ask a question sir?"
"Yes you can."
"What gives you the right to address her without the title of Princess, sir?"
"Ah, I wondered when you were going to ask that. I and Celestia have been friends for some time and it never really bothered her, just like now."
"How close are you, sir?"
"I think your question has been spent", grinned Swift Hooves.
"Why don't you want to answer?"
"Because its non of your business soldier.", replied Swift Hooves coldly.
"Well if it puts her in danger it sure is, sir"
Swift Hooves chuckled at that. "If something could hurt Celestia, it would have done so already or I or some other pony would have killed it."
"So you two are close? Like close close, sir?"
"We're just good friends, that's all. Why are you so interested?"
"Uhhh..."
"Cadence asked you to ask me, didn't she?"
".....Yes..... sir"
"Ha, I shouldn't have expected less, she is one crafty mare."
"Well she is the Princess of Love after all, sir"
"So she can sense it?"
"Pretty well actually, sir"
"...Shit."
"What was that, sir?"
"Nothing, can you stop calling me sir, you can just call me Swift."
"Yes si-, I mean Swift."
"You'll get a hang of it eventually, I'm here to stay."
The two continued walking until they exited the castle and on the right of the main gate stood the barracks. It was two floors and the sound of training guards could be easily heard from where they stood.
"This is the old barracks."
"Quite nice for a Royal Guards barracks."
"What is that supposed to mean Swift?"
"Nothing."
The two entered the barracks and immediately received stares from the other guards. They obviously didn't like or trust him, not one bit. However, Swift Hooves had not noticed this, instead he was staring at one of the weapon and armour lockers, all the lockers were gold plated, except the one which Swift Hooves was staring at. It was carved out of white marble and had several black streaks running through it.
"What are you staring at?"
Ignoring Flash Sentry, Swift Hooves trotted over to the locker and stared at it.
"Oh your looking at that locker."
"Who owns this locker?"
"Nopony actually, nopony can open it."
"Really? Because it looks familiar to me."
"Well, once myself any some other guards tried getting into it, but Princess Celestia threw a fit and almost kicked us out of the guard. Do you have any idea what could make her like that?"
"Well its obviously very important to her."
Swift Hooves reached out to touch the locker and Flash Sentry blocked his hoof with his own.
"Don't, you might get hospitalised if you do."
"Is that what happens?"
"Yeah, so just don't touch it."
"Nahhhhhhhhhhh.", Swift Hooves reached out and touched it anyway. He was not hurt, instead the locker began to glow and it slowly began to open with a loud creak. All the other guards went silent as the large doors opened. There was one set of pony armour, covered in dust, beside it was a sword also covered in dust.
"No way...", mumbled Swift Hooves. His horn glowed and the dust was blown away, causing Flash Sentry to cough. The armour glistened in the light. It was silvery grey and streamlined, there were was one large shoulder plate that looked like it was meant to block blows, the other side had no should plate, just more of the armour covering it. The helmet had a hole for a horn and snout. On the flanks of the armour was Swift Hooves' cutie mark, but underneath it was a picture of a phoenix, one that Flash Sentry could recognise, that Celestia damned bird that never gave him any rest. Swift Hooves picked up the armour with his magic and placed it on the table, laboriously checking the armour for rust or cracks.
"Umm.. is this your armour?"
"Yea, how did it get here? Wait. How did Celestia get it and my locker from the old capital to here?"
"Magic, she does raise the sun you know."
"Oh yea, forgot about that."
Swift Hooves continued to check his armour and then moved onto his sword. It's hilt was made of pure emerald and the blade was so sharp that its seemed to cut the light.
"What metal is your sword and armour made out of?"
"Royal Forge Steel, only the best."
"I've only heard myths about that stuff, it really exists?"
"Yea but as the old capital was lost, the metal cant be made anymore. That was the only place where steel like that could be made."
"It seems you are acquainted here now, I must got on patrol now."
"Ok see you, Flash Sentry."
"Swift, forget the formalities you can call me Flash."
"Sure Flash.", smiled Swift Hooves. He turned back to his equipment and continue his checks. Flash Sentry turned away and walked towards the exit. Suddenly a large male Royal Guard blocked his path.
"I see weakling Flashy is making some new friends! How adorable, but we all know that nopony likes you! Not even Princess Twilight does!", he sneered cruelly.
"Shut up and get lost Bright Eyes, I don't care about your problems."
"As your superior officer I expect you to address me as Sargent Bright Eyes, or would you like another beating? AM I RIGHT?"
Flash Sentry sighed, "I'm very sorry, Sargent B-"
His mouth was sealed shut by a green aura. Swift Hooves had taken notice of the conversation and was intervening.
"Stay out of this asshole. Your kind have no place here."
"I have more of a place here then you if you treat subordinate officers like this. Where is your respect?"
"He doesn't deserve any respect he's a weakling and loser."
"Are all Royal Guards like you or are you just some exception? I'm not very impressed."
"HA! Who are you to judge, you are the Captain of The Celestial Guard!"
"I was once, but they turned away from the Royal Family, unlike me."
"I seriously doubt that, you are all the same."
"Then you are as ignorant and stupid as I first guessed."
Bright Eyes went into a rage and charged at him, roaring. However, Swift Hooves had already seen this coming and with his agility, moved to his left and swung at him with his right hoof, smashing into the stallion's face with a dull thud. Bright Eyes tried to counter with a left hook, but he reacted too slow. Receiving another hit, he flew across the room. Bright Eyes only grew more angry and sent an offensive spell flying his way. Again Swift Hooves dodged this and sent a bolt of his own magic at him. It stuck him in the face and he screamed in pain, before he could get back to his senses, Swift Hooves as on him, brining his right hoof onto his face
THUD
Bright Eyes' eyes rolled back into his head as he was knocked out. His face was a bloody and swollen mess, slightly burned by the magic Swift Hooves had used against him.
Swift Hooves spat on the pulp of a pony. He lifted up his equipment onto his back and headed out the door, back to his quarters. Every other pony stood still in shock, amazed at how quickly Bright Eyes had been despatched. Flash Sentry was also too shocked for words and had forgotten to thank Swift Hooves.
First day on the job again. Swift Hooves thought about how boring this was going to be, of course he would spend it with his favourite mare..........that came out wrong. He had to suppress his feeling for Celestia, because she could see into his mind, quite literally.
"Damn bond."
He got out of his comfortable bed and began putting on his armour that he had collected yesterday. It felt very cold and light, but at least it could withstand a meteor shower. Ahhh, those were the days. He opened the door and went over to Celestia's chambers where he waited outside.
In Celestia's chambers,
Celestia finally awoke, it was dark outside and she knew she had to raise the sun, like always. She felt that her bed sheets were damp, but her bowels didn't feel they had been released......Great, she could imagine what her dreams had been, what if Luna had seen those dreams? She felt blood rush to her face at the thought.
Knock, Knock
"Just a moment!", Celestia realised that it was probably her maid and she must hide her sheets before she saw it. Swift Hooves began to open the door as she turned around and began stuffing her sheets under the bed.
"Celestia? What are you doing?"
Celestia jumped to attention.
"Uhhhh, hi Swift, I thought it was the maid at the door, not you."
"What would you want to hide from the maid?"
"What makes you think I was trying to hide something?"
Swift Hooves face hooved, "You're sweating Celestia."
She rubbed her forehead with her hoof, feeling the beads of sweat lying there. She quickly tried to change the subject.
"So do you want to see me raise the sun?"
Swift hooves sensed the change in the conversation, but decided not to pry. "Sure, I would love too."
"Come this way then."
Celestia lead Swift Hooves to her balcony, preparing her spell. Her horn glowed and her face twisted in concentration. He had to admit, she looked cute when she did that. The sun started to rise and while it was a sight to behold, Swift Hooves eyes were on Celestia. His eyes moved from her beautiful face, to her mane and then her flank, where his eyes locked. He slightly lost control of his emotions, mostly his feelings for her. When he realised that he wasn't keeping them in check, he immediately stopped thinking about her.
HELIOS DAMN YOU, FLANKS OF CELESTIA
Celestia felt emotions brimming inside Swift Hooves, she jumped to the conclusion that he was amazed at the sunrise. She felt a pang of disappointment in her heart.
He probably never thinks of me like that..
They stood in silence for a few moments, Swift Hooves wanting to throw himself off the balcony in embarrassment.
Oh Helios, should I say something? Did she feel that? . He saw that she was turning to him and was going to ask him a question.SHIT SHIT SHIT
"Did you enjoy that Swift?"
"Yes I did Celestia, thank you for showing me.", Swift Hooves' voice had a tone of relief.
Why is he relieved that I asked him that?!
Celestia looked down at the floor, pretending to play with her hooves." If you want, you could see me do it everyday."
Swift Hooves was silent for a few seconds, Celestia though she had said something wrong, "Sure, sure, I would love to."
They met at each others eyes and stared into them for a moment.
"Ahem."
They both turned to the sound of the voice and saw Luna standing there.
"We are very upset that you started without us sister, but we see that you were not alone either. Shall we proceed to breakfast?"
Celestia blushed. "Yes I think we should."
The three walked to the dinning hall(yes that's where they have breakfast), at the entrance they were greeted by Princess Twilight, Cadence and Shining Armour. They walked over to their long table. Shinning Armour looked over at Swift Hooves, grinning.
"I heard about the fight in the barracks."
"If it makes you upset I can apologise, but it was necessary."
"I have no problem with what you did. That Bright Eyes prick needed somepony to put him into place, I will also put him on punishment duties."
"Well that's good to hear."
Cadence then interjected their conversation, "I see that there is a phoenix on your armour. What is its significance?"
"He was my pet, I got him when I was just a colt, my parents gave him to me when I had my 9th birthday."
"Just like Celestia? Heh, what was his name?"
Swift Hooves looked at Celestia.
"You have a phoenix? I thought you hated them?"
"I-I"
Again Cadence interjected.
"What was its name?"
"Philomena."
The other 4 stood in shock, Celestia was blushing as those four stared at her.
"May I ask, What is wrong?"
Cadence grinned, "What is the name of your phoenix, Auntie Celestia?"
Celestia stared at the ground in embarrassment. "Phi-Philomena."
"You named your phoenix after mine?"
"No, he is yours, I just kept him after you disappeared."
"Where is he? Can I see him?"
"Sure, Guard Flash Sentry can you bring him in?"
"Yes, Princess Celestia."
Flash Sentry turned and walked out to bring in the cage. A burst of fire, and laboured grunts was heard as Flash Sentry pushed Philomena's cage into the dinning room. The fiery bird caught sight of its former master and began to rattle the cage in delight.
Twilight giggled," He seems very eager to see y-"
Suddenly the bird caught aflame, melting the metal cage and flying around the room. It made a dive at Flash Sentry, who rolled out of the way, but his mane caught on fire. He screeched like a little filly and rolled onto his back to kill the fire. After the fire had been subdued, Flash Sentry retook his position beside the door, his mane singed black and giving the trollish phoenix an angry glare. Now the bird was happily perched on his owners unusually large shoulder plate. The others stood in silence for a moment just staring at how friendly the bird was with Swift Hooves. They finished their food and went of to their respective work.
In the Throne Room
"The first business of the day will be with the town councils,.... this might take awhile."
Swift Hooves shivered.
"Have they changed much since last time?"
Celestia sighed, "Not at all."
This is going to be fun!
The large gold doors opened as a crowd of angry, cursing ponies walked into the throne Room.
"That's not how you run a town!", shouted one pegasus to an earth pony
"At least I don't spend public funds on lubricant!"
"YOU BITCH!", the pegasus roared and hit the earth pony mare in the face. The guards rushed into help but it was too late. The entire crowd was fighting each other, throwing hooves and sending random bolts of magic. Celestia and Swift Hooves simultaneously face hooved.
"STOP THIS AT ONCE ", boomed Celestia in the Royal Canterlot Voice.
All the ponies stop fighting, with terror on their faces and looked at Celestia quietly.
"May we begin?", said Celestia with a smile on her face.
2 hours later ,
Celestia and Swift Hooves left the throne room, preparing for the daily tour of the city.
"I have too warn you Swift Hooves, the media has grown very uncontrollably over the last few years. If you find it hard to keep them under control just ask for my help."
"It is fine Celestia, I can handle a few reporters."
Celestia sighed.
I hope so.
They walked out of the castle and out of the gate. There they were met with an army of reporters screaming his name
How do they know my name?
He caught sight of a mare that was pushing her way through the crowd, heading towards the procession. She had a violet coat and a red mane, she charged through the guards and headed straight for Swift Hooves.
"Mr.Swift Hooves just a moment please! Would you like to comment on your relationship with Princess Celes-."
She was covered in a green aura and lifted back into the crowd. She stomped her hooves into the ground in annoyance.
Damnit! I have too find another way to get an interview from him......... That's it! I have an idea!
She grinned to herself and galloped to her office.
After the Procession,
Swift Hooves felt slightly tired after that, and he couldn't help feeling that the violet mare might cause some more trouble for him later on. Celestia walked over to her throne and looked at her list for today. It was empty and she could finally ask her friend what she had wanted at last(well, at least one of the things she wanted to ask).
"Hey Swift?"
"Yea Celestia?"
"You want to go fencing?"
Swift Hooves grinned," En guard!"
"What does thee mean that our sister has finished her royal duties? It should last her the entire day, as it has since the rise of our kingdom?"
"Princess Celestia left an hour ago with her guard.", replied Flash Sentry.
"Do thee know where they are heading?"
"Not really, Princess Luna but I did hear something about fencing."
A noise echoed throughout the castle.
CLING CLANK CLINK CLANK
"We wonder what is that? Guard, follow us."
"Yes Princess Luna."
2 hours before,
Celestia teleported to her room and took out that old wooden box she had stored away, along with some strange looking garments. They were completely white and had a wire metal mesh over where the face should be.
Today was Princess Cadence and Shinning Armor's last day before they had to return to the Crystal Empire, Cadence wanted to make the most of it by stalking Swift and Celestia. Right now she was doing just that, following the two from a distance as they walked down the corridors, to a less populated area of the castle.
They came to a stop outside an old door, with slightly rusted hinges.
"Why is this door so old?"
"After the fall of the Old Kingdom, the art of Fencing was lost, I tried to reintroduce it after I and my sister defeated Discord, but it was no use."
"That's a pity, so we are the only two ponies who still know how to fence?"
"No, my sister Luna also does too, but her skills leave a lot to be desired."
"Heh."
Swift Hooves opened the door and motioned to Celestia to enter. She went in and he followed and just before the door closed, a pink blur rushed through and disappeared into one of the thick plants that were inside.
What was that? It seems familiar...
"Ahem."
Swift Hooves turned around and saw the mare he knew best. Celestia stood there now equal to his height. Her mane was the same as before but it seemed much longer on her much smaller body. The golden ornament around her neck had disappeared. In her magical grip were the attire for todays activities, the whit garment and the two swords. Cadence hid in a plant, with her jaw almost scraping the ground, then she wondered if she could do the same. The two put on the white clothes and lifted up their swords with their magic.
Swift Hooves sighed,"That's not how you hold the sword Celestia."
"You sure?"
"Positively."
Outside the room,
A group of Royal Guards stood against the wall, their ears pressed against the door so that they could hear the conversation inside. They were all grinning and slightly jealous of what they thought was happening.
"No Celestia, you don't hold the shaft like that, hold the hilt first. Keep an eye on your magic, wouldn't want to run it up the shaft."
One of the guards whispered to the other," Is he really getting some from Princess Celestia? That lucky bastard, he just makes a crash landing and has the Princess in his hooves!"
"It seems so, I really wish I was him right now."
They didn't realise that the Princess of the Night was standing right behind the small group with Flash Sentry at her side.
"What is the meaning of this? How darest you say such lowly things about our sister?"
The guards turned around and may as well have shit themselves. They chorused a reply, "We must be getting back on guard duty." They scampered off as if Nightmare Moon were on their heels.
Cling Clang , the metallic noise had resumed and was definitely coming from inside the room where Celestia and Swift Hooves were in. Suddenly the noise stopped and the noise of metal falling to the ground was heard, accompanied by a pony falling on top of another pony. Luna had enough of this, she burst into the room, using her Royal Canterlot voice.
"THOU SHALL STOP DEFILING OUR SISTER AT ONCE!" ,
EVERYPONY heard it, the servants in the kitchen, the guards and even some of the ponies who just happened to be walking outside the gate, and they were all like DA FAQ?! (including Luna). Celestia had tripped over herself and had knocked him to the ground while she was on top of him.
"Its not what you think Luna!", said Celestia, deeply blushing.
"Then why are you still mounted on him?", Cadence walked out of the plant she had been hiding, with a huge grin on her face.
"Uhhhhh.....", she quickly jumped off and was unable to look at her sister or niece. None of them had realised that Swift Hooves had been knocked out, as he was still sprawled across the floor in the same position as Celestia had left him. Flash Sentry realised this and nudged him with his hoof.
"I think Swift Hooves is unconscious."
"Heis? OhnoImustgetadoctor!DoctorDoctor!SwiftHoovesdon'tdieonmenow!"
Suddenly Twilight appeared, "Pinkie Pie? Is that you?", then she that it was Celestia how had just reacted Pinkie Pie, she looked upset that her easily excitable friend wasn't here, "Oh.", her voice wavered. It was obvious she was upset, probably the stress was getting to her, and she left.
"Guard, follow Princess Twilight."
"Yes Princess", Flash Sentry exited the room and went after Twilight, hoping to comfort her.
Cadence smiled at Celestia and said, "Your coltfriend has a nice flank."
"He's not my coltfriend!"
At dinner ,
Swift Hooves had finally awoke and just in time for the leaving feast. Shinning Armor and Cadence were due to return to the Crystal Kingdom that they presided over. Swift Hooves was a bit confused to why he received so many sly grins from the other guards, that was until Flash Sentry explained and Swift Hooves went red in his face. Swift Hooves also realised that Princess Twilight and Flash Sentry were unusually close during the meal and that Shinning Armor was giving him an angry stare some of the time. In between those staring sessions Shinning asked Swift Hooves a question.
"Are you exited for tomorrow?"
"What's happening tomorrow?"
"Princess Celestia forgot to tell you? Oh well, tomorrow is the yearly Parade. Princess Celestia will be in the middle of it and as I'm not here to coordinate the security you have to do so."
"Great.......I must get going then and start to prepare then.", Swift Hooves stood up and walked away. He began talking to some of the other Royal Guards, as it seemed that he had finally gained their trust. Celestia was a little upset to see him leave but he knew he had a large job to do tomorrow and she would let him prepare for it.
1 hour later,
Cadence and Shining were preparing to leave Canterlot on the Royal Train,
"Take care Twili."
"I will BBBFF!"
Then Shinning looked at Flash Sentry, "If you hurt Twilight in anyway I'll hunt you down and kill you, do you understand?"
Flash Sentry gulped and nodded his head.
"Good!", now lets go honey!"
The two got onto the train and waved goodbye as the train left the station. Then before Shinning could react the blinds were closed and a piece of cloth was wrapped around his mouth, a spell was put up around the small room they were in and Cadence grinned. She began to change shape and became a tall mare, the size of Celestia(in public), retaining her colour and mane.
"I think I want to be a dominatrix tonight Shiny, ppppppllllllleeeeeeaaaaaaaassssssssssseeeeeeeeeee?", Poor Shinning he couldn't withstand the eyes of his beloved, which were all big and filly like.
"Okay."
"YAY!"
Somewhere in Canterlot............. ,
Bright Eyes walked the streets walking towards his home. But it really wasn't him anymore, it was just an empty carcass, filled with a stolen life force that was controlled by his new master. Master would show him the way to greatness, just as he had promised. Master would make him strong and respected, something he had always yearned for. But before that could happen, there was a certain somepony that had to die tomorrow. He..... It continued to walk down the cold night towards home, it bumped into a mare, stupid bitch, it would have killed her on the very ground she stood on, mailing the violet skin and red mane to her parents, just so it could see them cry. Because that made him feel good.
T-4 hours
The sun rose into the sky and washed the lands of Equestria with its warm light. The night receded into the corners of ponies minds as they awoke for their slumber. However Swift Hooves had not been in slumber at all, he had been preparing for the yearly parade, positioning guards, setting up patrol routes and scouting the path the parade would travel down. He could feel the tiredness in his body and every ache in his muscles. Flash Sentry had convinced him to take a rest and that he would handle the rest., while Swift Hooves did trust his friend, he could help but feel that something would go horribly wrong today.
Bright Eyes walked down the street to the castle, he had his trap to set for his Master. He had been told by his Master that this had to succeed and he was willing to do whatever was necessary. A group of guards stood outside the gate, preparing to be appointed a position by Flash Sentry, but he had other matters to attend to, so they were told to wait. Bright Eyes knew exactly what to do.
"Hey you, Flash Sentry wants you in the barracks! What are you waiting for?, get a move on!"
The guards groaned and headed towards the barracks. They didn't see Bright Hooves smirking, or the black figures that now lurked in the shadows in the barracks. He close the door and said,
"Goodbye now."
They looked at him puzzled, one was about to speak up but then a flash of green magic struck him in the back. The others were also slain by the black figures.
"Good...now hurry up and put their armor on, Flash Sentry is coming back, best not keep him waiting. The black figures obeyed and headed out the door.
Flash Sentry walked down the corridor, he couldn't understand how Swift had dealt with this pressure, he thought it would be easy, how wrong could he have been. Not all was bad though, he had finally Twilight's affection from last night. He felt drawn to her, ever since he first saw her in the Crystal Kingdom, she had also admitted that she liked him. Things couldn't be going better in life. He exited the castle and went over to the group of guards he had "abandoned" to go on more "important" business, well... it was more important for him, he didn't want Twilight to feel unwanted.
"Alright ponies! Lets get to work, Iron Hide I want you to..........."
T-3 hours
Celestia had been "kidnapped" by her personal beauty assistant, Soft Mane, sadly like any other mare she wanted to gossip, gossip about a specific stallion.
"So Celes? Is he your special somepony?"
Celestia sighed, while she was a great friend, she was quite excitable, especially when it came to stallions.
"No he's not my special somepony, we're just good friends."
"Then what's all this noise I've heard about from the castle? Apparently you were getting intimate with him, even going on top."
Celestia's face burned with greater intensity than the sun which she raised, "I did not, I simply tripped and felt on top of him and he was re-teaching me how to use a sword."
"Yea, his sword.", giggled Soft Mane.
Celestia blushed even more, "Do you want me to banish you to the moon?"
"If I got to the end of this, it would be worth it."
Celestia sighed, "Just get back to work."
"There....., I'm finished."
"What? So soon?"
"Uhhh....., I wanted to interrogate you more...."
The Princess shook her head in disappointment. She walked over to her mirror and admired herself. The image she was stunning. her mane had been combed and conditioner had been added, now an shiny multi-coloured mane flew behind her neck, in its typical rebellious fashion. Her dress was inlaid by diamonds and weaved from silk sourced from Saddle Arabia.
Seems like that trade agreement paid off. I wonder if Swift Hooves would like it?
Recently Celestia had been getting desperate. She felt like it was necessary to find out his feeling for her, if he had any. It would make the Princess feel vindicated.
I JUST NEED TO KNOW, SWIFT HOOVES DO YOU LOVE ME?!
It had really gotten desperate, on numerous occasions she used the magical bond they had to peer into his mind, however he had left his inner thoughts shut from her.
At least he cant read my mind...... yet.
She had forgotten about that, eventually the bond would change from the one way stream it is now to more of a two way road, he would be able to peer into her mind and she knew she couldn't shield herself like the way he did.
I hope it doesn't come to that.
"We must hurry now Celes. The meeting between the organisers will begin soon."
Swift Hooves was pushed put of sleep by Flash Sentry.
"Get off your flank Swift, the meetings in 5 minutes. I'll brief you on what I did while you were sleeping."
The two rushed off hoping not to miss the meeting. They burst through the doors panting.
"You're late Swift."
"Huh?". Swift Hooves looked at Celestia was put in a daze when he saw Celestia in her dress. It was a bit much to bear and his mind got fried. He just stared.
"Are you ok Swift?.....Swift?..SSSSWWWWWWIIIIIIIIIIIFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTT?"
That woke him up. He shook his head and looked down at the floor, blushing.
"That dress looks stunning on you Celestia."
"Th-Thank you Swift."
(Awkward silence ensues with all its awkwardness.)
"Let's just continue with this please.", interrupted the Parade Manager.
"Yes!", chorused Swift and Celestia at the same time.
T-2 hours
Bright Eyes sent a message to his master with his magic, informing him of what his minion has done. The trap had been set and ready to be sprung....
Meanwhile Princess Twilight had been working in the throne room, as Celestia was at the Parade and Luna had taken some sort of break, she was now stuck with all this paperwork and ponies whining about their problems, hopefully Flash would come in soon. Spoken to soon it seems, the doors opened and Flash Sentry walked in.
"Hi Twilight."
Twilight blushed, "Hi flash."
He walked up and nuzzled her cheek before kissing her there. Then he looked at all the paperwork Twilight had gone through, and what she still had to go through.
"That's a lot of work, I shouldn't distract you from it.", Flash Sentry began to walk out.
"Wait!"
Flash Sentry turned around.
Twilight was about to say something, but blushed at the thought of it.
"What were you about to say?"
"Uhhhhh.... could you sit down next to me?"
Flash grinned, "Sure"
He walked back and sat beside her, their fur making contact Twilight felt his heat and enjoyed it. They both leaned in for a kiss The kiss lasted a few moments but it was everything that she imagined.
"I love you Flash."
"I love you too, Twilight."
Celestia and her beauty assistant were in full panic, Celestia had been foolish enough to sneak a snack and her cupcake had fallen over her dress and it was now covered in icing.
"CELES! HOW COULD YOU, ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME HAVE A MENTAL BREAKDOWN?!"
"Relax Soft, its just some icing, I'm sure my magic will remove it!"
"WHAT IF IT DOESNT? I WOULD BE THE LAFFING STOCK OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY AND YOU WOULD LOOK LIKE A FOOL!"
"Just calm Soft, see? I'm going to remove the icing right now with my magic."
Her horn glowed and a bolt of magic hit the stain. A bright flash of light blinded them both, when they regained their, the stain was still there. It was now Celestia's turn to panic as Soft Mane collapsed into a stain induced coma.
"I'M SO SCREWED!"
Just outside the castle gates., the floats for the parade had just been assembled, they depicted moments in the founding of Equestria and the events that followed. The Royal Guards had been assigned to the floats, others were so keep order on the path to the main square. Princess Twilight had to overview the floats and check to see if they were ok, it wasn't exactly hard to do, but she still had a lot on her mind.
T-1 hours
Celestia and her beauty assistant had survived the icing and the preparations were being made. Now Celestia was taking her place on the main float, Swift had to hid in a compartment underneath the place where Celestia would be.
"This sucks...and its dark!"
"Quite complaining you big foal."
"Perhaps I like being a big foal! It is really dark, the only light I get is from these midget view holes!"
Celestia sighed and facehooved," Sometimes I feel like I'm the only pony here who is an adult."
Swift laughed," Really? Mare who stuffed her face with sweets and got a stain on her dress causing a national emergency calls herself an adult?"
Celestia blushed," I-I'm more mature than you!"
"Surrreeeee.", said Swift Hooves sarcastically.
"A princess with a crazy addiction for sweets is defiantly mature."
"Hey, that was you fault!"
"It wasn't my fault that you liked falling into a birthday cake."
"Touché!"
It was Swift Hooves turn to facehoof. Suddenly the floats began shake as Magic coursed through the metal frame, the floats began to move. Swift Hooves was unprepared and feel onto his back and hit his head of the side of the wall. Celestia could only giggle at Swift's clumsiness.
T-0 hours,0 minutes and 10 seconds
The parade had went proceeded without a hitch. No crazy bystanders, everything went as planned. Bright Eyes was standing on the platform behind Celestia, a smile was masking his true intentions, he could feel the excitement in his Tal'Meidir, who were disguised as guards around the town square, where the parade was to stop. This plan was of his Master's design. One thing that stuck odd to Bright Eyes was the fact that his Master insisted on calling his newfound allies "Tal'Meidir" and not the name which was more common to Royal Guards and the general populace. Oh well, who was he to argue with the pony who had tore his soul out from his body!
Bright Hooves however did not know where Swift Hooves was. He had failed to voice his concerns to his Master. The reason was that his Master's nemesis had been killed 2000 years ago. Was his master really that old?
Swift Hooves stood in his little compartment, surveying the town square. It had a large fountain in the centre, with a golden statue of Celestia and Luna.
Damn, even Celstia's statue had a nice flank.
T-0 Hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds
A green bolt of magic flew across the town square, it struck a guard, who flew of the main float and hit the pavement with a thud. The trap had been sprung. The Tal'Meidir revealed their true form in a flash of green flame, citizens saw this and began to panic, fleeing from the black creatures who were cutting them down. As the crowd stampeded to safety, like a herd of buffalo, they knocked down any royal Guard who tried to calm them. The next bolt of magic flew towards Celestia and she knew she had no time to protect herself.
This is going to hurt.
PATCHING
The green bolt bounced of a shield that was now surrounding her. Another bolt, of greater intensity flew in, however it was also easily deflected. Then she saw Swift Hooves standing beside her grinning.
"Getting slow in your old age I see."
The other guards regrouped themselves and began to fight back. Swift Hooves heard some of the guards shouting the word "Changelings", probably some sort of colloquialism for the Tal'Meidir. No time for that though, one of the assassins was coming strait for him, flying at him, fangs bared. It struck him on the side, knocking him over onto his back. They struggled for a bit, the black creature charged up his horn and attempted to hit Swift, however it missed and tore a hole in the float. Swift swung his hoof into the creatures jaw, with a loud crack it fell of him, unconscious. Another green bolt flew across the square, flying towards Celestia, there were no other guards around and Swift had no time to bring back his shield, so he went with the flow, throwing himself into Celestia, pushing her out of the way. Luckily it also missed Swift Hooves and hit a window, shattering it. He got up on his hooves, all had gone quiet, he couldn't see anypony on the streets, except for a few dead bodies, not the greatest sight in any ponies book. Celestia was tending a one injured pony, with a few guards around her.
WOOSH
Swift Hooves felt a burning pain on his left shoulder. A spell had gone straight through his armour and had burned his flesh. He screamed in pain and collapsed on his side. A few more spells flew out of nowhere, killing the other guards surrounding Celestia, however they dropped to the ground, without a sound. A blue bolt hit Celestia in the side, paralysing her from the neck down.
Bright Eyes appeared beside Swift Hooves as he got up, Swift Hooves turned to Bright Eyes.
"Come on! Help me with Ce-"
Another pain engulfed his left eye as he collapsed once again, falling unconscious . He saw the guard grin venomously at him, then he teleported over to Celestia, crafting a blade out of the air. He held it over her side for a few seconds before plunging it into her heart. Her eyes bulged in fear and panic, unable to scream in pain. Bright Eyes laughed evil before speaking up.
"Come with me minions, Master will be pleased.", in a flash of light, he and the others disappeared. The reinforcements finally arrived on scene, with Twilight leading them, they all stopped when they saw Celestia's body, blood oozing from a wound at her side. Twilight was the first to walk up to the Princess, she put her hoof on her neck to check for a pulse. Then she gulped nervously at the result.
"S-she's dead. The Princess is dead...."
All the guards were silent in shock. Twilight turned to where the battered body of Swift Hooves was, who was just regaining consciousness. His left eye was totally burnt and beyond use.
"What happened?"
"We were attacked by a few black creatures."
"Changelings?"
"If that's your name for them, yes."
"There's another name for them? Ug, I'm getting of topic, who led them, was it the Queen?"
"No, it was Bright Eyes."
"The Queen disguised herself as Bright Eyes?"
"No, it was Bright Eyes."
Then Swift Hooves got up, and looked over at the princesses body, which the guards were still staring at in shock.
"Is..is she dead?"
"Yes, I'm sorry, you tried your best."
"There still may be time."
"Don't delude yourself Swift, she's gone."
Ignoring Twilight, Swift Hooves stumbled over to the body, checking for any sign of the cyan glow around Celestia's cutie mark. It was still there, but fading, he would have to act fast.
He closed his eyes and began to concentrate, then he started to pull his life-force from his own body and channel it into a blue orb that was forming at the tip of his horn. It grew bigger and bigger, and its colour conforming to the colour of Celestia's magic aura. His muscles ached as they began to die, but he had to continue, so he did. The other ponies were staring in fascination at this little lightshow, unsure of its purpose. He step closer to Celestia's body ,whispering the words he always wanted to say to her, into her ear.
"I love you Celestia, and I always will."
Then his horn connected with her horn, an explosion of harmless blue light burst across all of Canterlot. Suddenly Celestia's eyes opened and she began to breath again, her wound had already closed up.
The pain was too much for Swift, he could feel his very essence burning up inside the cage which was his body, while the others were dumbstruck in shock as Celestia stood up, he took a detour to the other side of the square. Now he could feel a pressure building up on the inside of his horn, as he walked, blood vessels exploded as the magic previously used began to turn on its user.
So, this is it, never expect to go out like a firework.
BAM
His horn shattered, sending shrapnel into the air, some of it tore through his skin and bones. He screamed in pain as he receded from this world and into the next one.
"SWIFT!", screamed a pony in the Royal Canterlot voice.
Spirit World, Answers and Revalations
The presses had been rolling all night after the attack, many newspaper and printing firms were straining to keep up with demand. EVERYPONY was reading the recent news.
Quick Quill was currently irritated with her current situation, the article she had planned to use to get an interview from Swift Hooves would be over shadowed by the attack that occurred during the yearly parade, so she would have to delay it. News spread like wild fire across the nation, within the day the news had spread so far that it reached the boarder towns, even Appaloosa. The casualty list had already been made public, names were withheld unless there was a personal request.
132 citizens,
56 guards.
It had came as quite the shock, since when was any group of ponies, or other creatures for that matter, able to inflict so much damage? Because of the presence of changelings, it was expected that Queen Chrysalis was behind the attack. Nopony though any more, or less. Why should they?
Princess Celestia and Twilight were inconsolable from the recent events very well in fact they were not even working properly, Princess Luna had to return from her break in order to keep the country from falling into anarchy.
"Sister, we think that you should take a vacation, just to get away from all of this."
"I'm fine Luna, I've been running Equestria for thousands of years and I see no reason why I should."
"Not even when Swift is dead? To see somepony as special as him come and go is surely traumatic, is it not?"
"We were just friends, and what he did was what anypony in his position would do."
"But surely you are mad that he threw away his life so rashly for you?"
".....Yes."
"We know that you think of him more than a friend, and we think he did too."
"How would you know?"
"Because sister, you are blind, not literally, but in a metaphorical sense. You have looked for the wrong things in the way he acts, you have tried to see the awkwardness that a love struck pony would have around you, however, Swift was like that already, but you dismissed it as something else."
Celestia pondered the thought for a second. Had she been looking for the wrong things? Had she overlooked her friend's personality and looked for something that was already there, just underneath? The though brought tears to her eyes and she burst into tears. She buried her muzzle into the outstretched legs of her sister.
"There, there sister, let it come. We must go to the funeral now."
Swift Hooves groaned in pain as he got back up onto his hooves, he looked around taking in his current surroundings. Everything was dark, it was like standing in an endless void, just the darkness. Somehow though, it gave him a comforting feeling, like a mother embracing a son. Then came the clopping of hooves, he turned around to face the source of the noise and was shocked, it was him....
"Long time no see, Swift."
The Canterlot Graveyard was situated on the other side of the mountain on which Canterlot was built on. It unlike the city, had no colour, just the cold grey colour of the gravestones. Flowers left by loved ones had rotted away, leaving almost vomit colour piles in their wake. A crowd of ponies, 200 at most were attending funerals for the guards killed in action in the last attack. The coffins were of a magically enchanted oak, so that no pony could open the coffins once they were sealed. The Princesses were also attending, Princess Twilight left after one of the Royal Guard ponies had been buried. That left Princess Luna and Celestia, neither one would leave as the last body to be buried was Swift Hooves and when that time came, the only ponies left were them and the staff working to burry the bodies. The clouds looked like they were soaked with guilt, big grey blobs that crawled across the sky in a slow and mournfully way. The rites were said and the casket lowered into the hollow grave, then the soil poured over, covering the grave. On the grave stone it said,"Here lies Swift Hooves, dear friend of Celestia and last free captain of the Celestial Guard. May he run in the fields of Elysium for all of eternity."
The stone said no more, totally devoid of his achievements and sacrifices, but who knew of them apart from Celestia? Nopony in fact.
Swift Hooves stood gawking at the figure in front of him. Unable to make a coherent response he bowed in respect for the pony in front of him.
"Well, somepony looks surprised to see me."
"Well yo-your highness, I am."
"Did my daughter tell you that I was dead?"
"Yes she did. But she never once mentioned her mother, what happened to her?"
"Yes... her. "His voice faltered a bit." Her mind was twisted by Discord's offers of power. I was able to stop her, but barely. As we speak, she is locked away in a prison between worlds, similar to where we are now. However this is not a prison.", a smile appeared on his face, which was full of wrinkles.
"Then may I ask your highness, where are we?"
"Don't call me by that title, I lost it long time ago, just call me Helios. Right now we are in the Spirit World, a place where the dead reside."
"If we are both here doesn't that mean that we are dead?"
"No, it would seem reasonable, but that is not the case. For example, I am not dead, instead I found my way here after imprisoning my wife. You on the other hand, you are dead, but I intervened."
"How can you intervene with death? I though nopony could do that."
"I can't directly influence the passing of somepony, instead I can merely redirect it, like how a river can be made to change it's direction."
"Why are you doing this though? You have nothing to gain."
"Oh yes I do! Your friend Starswirl showed me the future after I sent you forward in time."
"Wait, you're the one who did that? Why?"
"Yes, it was to save your life, my little Celestia would have been completely broken had she seen you killed."
"Instead, you made her think I was dead, only to crash land in her royal garden 2000 years later."
"You landed in the garden? My aim was off, you were meant to fly into Celestia's bedroom."
"Somehow I think that would have gone down bad."
"No not really, I am expecting grandfoals from you two. May as well try to speed it up."
"Wha-What are you talking about?!" Swift Hooves' face burned in embarrassment.
"Spoilers! You'll find out soon enough. There is something else which is more pressing."
"What is that?"
"A PRESENT!"
"Really... has living here driven you insane or something?"
"Not sure if crazy or just eccentric from living here. In fact I have two." Suddenly a hissing noise could be heard and Swift Hooves' right hoof felt like it was on fire. He screamed in pain and lifted his hoof to look at it. Before it had been smooth, but now there was an symbol engraved onto his hoof. It was a circle with a crown and two swords. Then Helios began to speak.
"I, King Helios of the Old Kingdom name thee, Swift Hooves, as my heir and successor. I surrender the hoof of my daughter in marriage to thee as well, if thee wishes to take it. Rule in the name of the people and law, for those are everything."
The air around them filled with magic as an old spell took hold.
"However, thee shall my heir under one condition and one only. You must discover the second gift I have given you. Only then are you fit to rule along my daughter."
Swift Hooves' brain had not yet processed what had just happened.
"What?!"
"It's a lot to take in and I must send you back now. Don't do anymore stupid things though, I won't be here to bail you out all the time. It was just a fluke that I came across your soul here. Also, be a stallion for once and make your move on my daughter. She loves you like the way you do."
"She does?"
"Yes, is it not obvious?!"
"Nope."
"Sometimes I think you're hopeless with mares, and my daughter is hopeless with stallions. Its a perfect match!"
"Anything else before you send me back?"
"Yes, say hello to my other daughter, uhhhh...."
"Luna?"
"Yes, yes I knew that."
"What else?"
Helios' face grew cold in expression and he spoke gravely. "I fear that soon the peace Equestria has thrived in will soon end. The attempt to take my daughter's life has confirmed this. You and her will play a big part in it."
"Do you who it is?"
"No, not at all, but he is very old, and has recruited somepony you may know."
"Who is it?"
"Stoneheart."
"How?"
"I do not know, I lost track of him awhile ago and he did not travel through time. That is why I think some great evil is behind this. But enough of that, you must go now. Sorry about the eye though."
"Wha-"
The solid black floor underneath him gave way as he retuned to the world he had recently left. His eyelids opened, he felt cold and constricted, like he was in a box. Wait......
Did Celestia and the others bury me?
Well this sucks, I get brought back to life and I get bucking buried before I can get back! Thanks a lot Helios! You are sssssoooooooo much help!
Quit complaining.
What the... now I'm hearing voices? That's new.
I an mot a figment of your imagination, it is me, Helios.
Heh.. so are you going to be my backseat walker now?
No, but I'll be in to check in from time to time though, it will be fun to mess with your thoughts! I must go now, bye.
"Great", mumbled Swift, "Just bucking great." His horn glowed as a little bulb of light appeared.
At least I have my horn still, but what did Helios say about my eye? It feels fine, anyway I need to focus on trying to get out of here.
"Alright Luna, I will go on a vacation, but are you able to handle the work load while I am gone?"
"Yes, we will be fine, as our niece coming back from the Crystal Kingdom to help."
"Is Twilight still holed up in her room?"
"Yes", Celestia felt a pang of pity build up. It was quite sad that it had happened, and she knew that Twilight might not recover, but she was a princess now and she has responsibilities like her and her sister.
Swift Hooves suddenly felt an emotion course through his body, but it wasn't his, was it? No, what just made him feel pity just now? More thoughts swept through his head. Celestia was taking a vacation?
Never though this would happen for a long time.
1 hour later,
It was midnight and Celestia was in her chambers, still thinking of where she would go, she knew that where ever she would go, she would be recognised.
If only Swift Hooves was here....
Suddenly a guard appeared outside her door, with a face of exhaustion. He said, "There has been a breach at the graveyard."
"Dispatch a group of guards to the graveyard."
A plum of dirt burst out from where Swift Hooves grave was. It tossed dirt out all over the place. Swift Hooves climbed out, covered in dirt, he looked around, taking in the area. It had just rained and he caught sight of a puddle, he walked over to it, intending to use the reflection so that he could see what had happened to his left eye. When he saw it, all he saw was silver , no iris or pupil, only the whites of his eyes which had changed to a reflective silver. The puddle had gathered in front of a grave stone, Swift Hooves looked at it and went pale. It read,
Here lies Flash Sentry, a loyal member of the Royal Guard, killed in defence of his princess.
He heard shouts behind him and turned around, then a bolt of magic struck his face, slumping down on the ground, unconscious.
10 minutes later,
The carriage bumped along the stony streets, heading towards the castle. Two guards stood inside, eyes locked on the prisoner. The first guard spoke up.
"Hey dude, haven't we seen this pony before?"
"I'm not sure, he does seem familiar."
"Considering where we found him, he could be a changeling, sent to infiltrate the castle."
"If so, just do the check, that uncovers them all the time."
"Okay."
The first guard's horn glowed in his personal aura as a green beam of light shot out and swept over the prisoner. Nothing happened, no flash of green fire.
"Should we inform the Princess that he was near the grave of her personal guard?"
"I guess so."
In the castle,
There was one trunk in the room. It was crafted from wood, with a rich dark brown texture. A thin layer of dust coated it, an obvious sign of its age. Celestia was moving from drawer to drawer, while talking to a certain Draconequus who was lazily lounging on her bed.
"So he came back then? He didn't die in that forest?"
"For the thousand time YES."
Discord recoiled at Celestia's reply, then he paused " You know what, I miss him too."
Celestia stopped pacing and actually looked at him." Really?"
"Yes, I mean, I never got to prank him."
SMACK
"Ow, what was that for?"
"Be serious for once, you two were friends once."
"Its not like he had many friends."
Celestia raised her hoof once more.
"Uhhhhh. But he was friends with me?"
The hoof lowered, and Celestia gave an accepting smile. Then she spoke, "You should have really thought about apologising to him, I mean it was your fault that you wanted to take the throne from my father."
Discord would have replied, if not for the guard who knocked on the door, and entered the room.
"We have captured the intruder Princess Celestia, he's currently in the dungeon if you wish to see him."
"I will, would you like to accompany me Discord?"
"Of course."
On hearing about the attack, Shinning Armour had rushed back to the capital to assist in the increased guard presence that due to take affect soon(to the great upset of his wife)disbelief at the prisoner in the cell, who was still unconscious on the stone floor.
"This makes no sense!" mumbled Shinning to himself. "Its not a changeling and it looks like him, but his left eye..."
"What is wrong Captain Shinning?", asked the white alicorn, who was currently walking down the hall to where he was, Discord at her side.
"You won't believe this." replied Shinning, the moment Celestia and Discord caught sight of the white unicorn.
Celestia's jaw could have hit the floor at the sight of him.
THUD
However Discord's jaw actually did.
The room was shaking, as if some earthquake was coursing through it, but there was no earthquake. Swift Hooves groaned as he woke up.
Where am I? Don't panic, I need to relax and find out where I am.
He let his training kick in, he looked around. The walls were made of a fine oak and there were benches for sitting, and a very familiar trunk in the corner. Walking over to a window he was shocked, the ground was moving at insane speeds as the building he was in stood still, or was it the other way around? He just looked out the window, watching the world past by. Then a mare behind him giggled.
"I see you're awake. Did you sleep well?"
Swift turned around and saw Celestia, then turned back to the window, watching a tree pass by like a little colt would.
"It's a train."
"What?"
"This contraption we're on, its called a train."
"Since when did ponies have strange rooms that move?", Swift was still looking out the window.
"A bit, things have changed a bit."
"You don't say.", replied Swift, his muzzle following a bird which was flying beside the train.
"Ahem."
Swift turned around to Celestia, "Is something wrong?"
"Just how exactly are you here?"
"Huh?"
"You died, I saw it, the guards saw it, just how?"
"Ummmm...."
LIE
LIE
LIE
LIE
LIE
"I...I don't remember."
"Nothing? Nothing at all?"
"Sorry, nope."
"What about your left eye? I guess you don't remember that either?"
"No."
Celestia sighed, while it was a bit unnerving to see a dead pony walking again, at least it was him. An awkward few minutes ensued, then Swift Hooves spoke up.
"Where are we going?"
"Ponyville."
"Where's that?"
"The outskirts of Canterlot, its relatively new."
"But aren't we going to stick out?", ask Swift Hooves.
"No, we will be disguised as two archaeologists who are taking a break in Ponyville. You will be disguised as Fossil Tooth and I will be your partner, Opabinia."
Celestia's horn began to glow, in a flash of light she assumed the shape of a normal looking unicorn mare, with brown fur, black mane and blue eyes. The sun cutie mark was replaced by a pick and an ancient arthropod. Then she looked at Swift expectantly.
"Your turn."
A flash of golden flame engulfed his body, replacing him with a stallion of a slightly shorter height(as his normal height would stick out a bit.) He now had green fur and a brown mane, his cutie mark was also similar to Opabinia, instead it had an insect encased in amber.
The train jutted to a halt and steam hissed. Celestia lifted up her trunk and Swift's trunk(which was prepared by her.) She then grinned as she said,
"Let's meet the locals."
Later
The two walked down the street, passing a multitude of ponies who greeted them, then warned them about the "Pink Menace" and continued on down the street. Eventually they reached their house, it was like all the other houses in Ponyville, a two floored house with a thatched roof. The first floor contained a decent kitchen/dinning room and sitting room, the second floor had a bathroom and two separate bedrooms. It was fairly similar to other houses beside.
"How did you afford this, did you take a plunge into the Royal Treasury?"
"Don't play games, you actually did take a plunge into the Royal Treasury!"
"That wasn't my fault, Starswirl got me drunk!"
"And you didn't enjoy it?"
"...........only after."
Celestia giggled at that, Swift was cute like that. Wait did she really think that he was cute?!
"So wha-"
"HIAREYOUNEWHERE?????CAUSEIKNOWEVERYPONYHERE,EVERYPONYHEREANDIDONTKNOWYOU!!!!!!!!!!!."
Swift Hooves screamed like a little filly, and banged his head against the wall, knocking himself out, ...again.
Opabinia laughed, this was one of Twilight's friends, Pinkie Pie. The pink fur ball turned her reading to begin her verbal bombardment, Opabinia swiftly put her hoof to Pinkies mouth while stifling a laugh. She waited for her to relax before removing her hoof.
"Hi what's your name?"
"It's Pinkie Pie, and I'm going to be hosting your welcome to Ponyville party! I'm so excited, its not everyday somepony comes to stay here. By the way, how long are you here for!"
"Only for 2 weeks."
The stallion groaned as he rolled to his side.
"Oh I'm sorry mister for knocking you out, I didn't mean to, and your marefriend has been so nice to me!"
"Oh thanks, wait what?"
"Your marefriend?"
Opabinia and Fossil Pick both blushed and chorused, "We're not dating."
"Oh really, because you two look like the perfect couple!"
20 minutes later,
"Well that worked, we just about shook that pink demon of our tracks."
"Yes, but we still have to go to the party tonight.", replied Celestia.
"Great.., what now?", responded Swift Hooves.
"We have too meet the major."
10 minutes later,
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs.?"
They both blushed.
Opabinia said, " We're not married"
Fossil Pick said, "Just colleagues."
"That's all."
"Nothing more."
"What so ever."
"Yep."
"I concur."