Family Ties

Not much research occurred for Guardian Angel the next day, or the next week even. Sometimes being involved in school and the military had a way of being more than time consuming. He had not forgotten about the tattered journal sitting in his room on his desk, but a library book from the Canterlot Archives was good for a month. This was fairly important since if he wanted to stay in school he needed to actually do the normal homework that he was assigned during the week.

When Guardian Angel finally sat down to read that Saturday evening, it was already well into the night. He was very pleased that Sunday was the day they did not have PT. Praise Celestia and her orb! He simply could not wait to see what other secrets he would discover in the musty old journal. Thus, Guardian Angel again opened the fateful book and began reading.

Unfortunately, most of the entries were Star Swirl’s magical calculations, spell lists and nonsensical speculations. Reaching about two-thirds of the way through the journal before taking a break, he started taking notes of how much was actually missing from the book.

The tome had once been able four times as thick. The binding was mostly shredded, though it was still marvelously strong for being 1000 years old. This meant it had likely been saved from destruction by Star Swirl himself and magically preserved, that alone was one Tartaros of a discovery. If he took the book to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, he’d never see it again, because of the amount of magical analysis they would do to it.Without even reading it.

Done staring at the journal, Guardian Angel picked up from where he left off. The last third of the book finally had some information in it that he was trying to find. It was on a mostly full page, that had Star Swirl’s thin magical-quill-writing only missing from a burn in the top left corner that had normally been indicating the entry number. The journal read:

-able. Malgust  was forced to reveal to me the true nature of his body today. I still am trying to recover from the sight as I write this, but I do not believe I truly ever will. I cannot believe those *Things** were Lord Splinterwing and Lord Stormwalker.*

Omnipegasi, definitely are not to be trifled with. They must never be allowed to realize that we Unicorns are sheltering the only Alicorns remaining.

The mixing of a Shadow-pony and pegasus, is something both terrifying and overwhelming. I could not teleport out of the Splingterwing estate quick enough! However, now that I have my wits about myself once more, I will attempt to make sense of all my previous notes, and what I just witnessed.

Omnipegasus:

A rare species of pony that is typically much larger than their more common pegasi brethren. A good place to see them is the Cirran Empire, they comprise the nobility of the land there.

This pegasus’s main characteristic is that they are half-demon half-pony. Capable of taking different forms, and negating magic cast from a horn as if it did not exist.

This pegasus-genus is exceedingly dangerous and are extremely hostile towards non-pegasi. They possess the normal behavior of a pony however, and are generally very intelligent. Though as mentioned, they also have a different form that I have witnessed that I intend to desc-

The page was covered in dried blood staining certain sections, making words unreadable. The message still came through.

--Flaming Mane and Tail. Boosted muscle struc----   --fangs, slitted eyes, like that of dragon, that glow a bloody re-----

----Fearsome and horrifying they--- magical powers that===-//

=-/ elements, lightning in partic-----   ---Regeneration also seems to be something they are capable of, when converted physical wounds do little to affect them.

Guardian Angel had to stop reading there. He sat gaping at the journal, jaw slack and hanging.

It simply wasn’t possible was it? A different species of pegasus? That he was descended from? Clearly, when Malgust Splinterwing had said that the Stormwalkers had been thorough in their containment of the true nature of the Cirran Lords, he had not been lying.

“WOW!”

He practically yelled to trying and kick-start his brain again, in an attempt to raise it from its stupor. When it came back to functioning in a semi-logical manner it told him to read more. Though Guardian Angel protested, his curiosity got the better of him, but he turned to the back of the journal first trying to avoid any more information about his ancestors brutally murdering their comrades.

What he found there was worse. In the very back of the book. There was a page of paper that had been carefully placed there as if to make it fit in with the rest of the journal. Turning it over Guardian Angel found Star Swirl’s writing again, though it appeared less thin and curvy than the other entries. The paper itself was also tattered with age, in comparison to the journal which looked as if it could have still had small fires burning its edges. Guardian Angel gulped down some fear as he began to read.

I, Star Swirl the Bearded, write this note to whomever finds this journal.

Know that what I discovered could have saved Celestia and Luna’s Parents from the Omnipegasi, and I was a fool not to have used its knowledge to my advantage.

Alas, I did not, in my age, and in my fear, I forgot entirely of the importance of these notes, and that they recorded the reactions of the Omnipegasi, to their possible exposure as demons. And the possible existence of Alicorns.

But with my entries on their actions destroyed now, i must write a new note on how they behaved, particularly the Stormwalkers.

Violent warriors possessing neither pity nor mercy. They were created long ago, before even the formation of the now defunct Cirran Empire, from demons known as shadow-ponies. The demons combined with the ancestors of the pegasi we see today. They granted the pegasi unimaginable strength and powers that defied magic, and even death himself.

IT was with my discovery of a diary kept by our two young princesses’ great-grandfather that I learned this. Alas, that history was destroyed by those infernal wretches as well. Thus, I will try to recall my memories of their behavior and what I have witnessed in that tiring year.

It was not long before Lord Stormwalker began to get suspicious of Malgust and I’s activities. I wish he had not decided to appear without warning in the midst of my magical calculations. I had been conducting tests based on the amount of magical energy Malgust actually kept stored in his body when the incident occurred.

“Unicorn.” He had snarled at me. Even then I think I realized what they truly were, but I kept the thoughts from my mind. It should have been no surprise with his attitude during the visit, but fear clouded my mind. Pointed questions, sneers, and the like were how he addressed me, yet I chose to ignore him.

Thus, even when he revealed his true nature I still was struck with utter terror.

“You will not reveal to the world what we have been trying to keep from it! I will never let you expose what we did, how we ruined all of pony-kind for no other reason than hatred. That secret shall die with you, unicorn! For I shall have your head served to your pathetic Princess Platinum on a platter!”

“No Maelstrom, you will not.”

**“You dare challenge me Malgust? We already know who will win.”

“It doesn’t matter. The Gryphons are soon to attack and the other Tribes must know what we are if they are to trust us. We will need their help if the Empire is to survive. Run Star Swirl! AGH!”

Stormwalker’s blade plunged into Malgust’s chest. It excited not much more than a growl from the noble Lord as he drew his own sword and began fighting. They wounded each other greatly before I teleported away. But they persisted, blood splattering everywhere as they continued to fight as my vision of them evaporated. I believe the description of their converted forms is still intact in the journal, though the drawings were destroyed. More importantly though, It was then that i realized what was at stake for the Pegasi and how far some of the would go to make their goals become reality. However, I was unable to stop what happened to them. Luckily, the current Pegasus leader, Commander Hurricane, is not one of the previous Lords of Cirra. I am sure that they will appear again once things have settled down and our young Royals forget the warnings I tried to provide them with. The Stormwalkers are good at putting themselves in very subtle positions of power and I suspect they will be elected to the nobility of Equestria some time soon.

I leave you with this my reader, tell the Royal Pony sisters about the treachery of the Omnipegasi. They will kill Alicorns without hesitation once they have their chance, I'm sure of it, that is what happened to the Princess's parents and it will happen again if they are not aptly warned.

Guardian Angel let out the breath he did not realize he had been holding. Slowly, thought returned to him. All that it chanted to him was:

His family had killed the Alicorns.

Alicorns.

The parents of Princess Celestia no less had been slain by his family.

Horror and revulsion is not capable of describing the disgust and nausea Guardian Angel felt as the reality of Star Swirl’s words fit together.

He simply could not believe what he had read. To have ancestors that played such a dark role in the forming of Equestria and if the book was to be believed the very world itself was unsettling to the point of causing a nervous breakdown.

Guardian Angel began gasping for air as he started to hyperventilate. Somewhere in his mind, the Scholarly Logic section in particular, something told him to remain calm, that this journal had no validation, just breathe and look for other texts to back it up. However, animal instinct told him to burn this book where it sat on his desk. That what it spoke of was an unfathomable truth that should never be told to the world. Luckily, the logic won out just barely and he calmed his breathing, wiping the drool he had created from his mouth. Talking to himself always helped to relieve a little stress so he did so, allowing his Logic to remain strong as he did.

“Okay. There are no other sources to prove this correct. In fact this may be an elaborate fake....”

“Except for the blood...and the burns...and the clear difference in the writing style of ‘Star Swirl’”

“But that doesn’t mean this text is legitimate. In fact, it makes no sense for Star Swirl the Bearded to have written a document based around the Cirran Lords at all. The three tribes had not even met yet!”

“Except it is explicitly described that the nobility knew of the other tribes...common for the times, monarchs and nobility liked to really keep a grip on the pony public...and...History does state that the parents of Celestia and Luna were in fact murdered and the culprit never caught....”

And Scholarly Logic said unto Guardian Angel, heir to the title of Lord Stormwalker:

“O.K. You can panic now.”

“But how? WHY?! NO....no..... Dad....Dad has to know about this! He has to! If it’s real he’ll know or not! Please by the stars let this all just be a crazy speculation by an overly eager student!!”

Guardian Angel jumped from his chair and half-hovered half-ran to the door to his balcony. Opening the door he took and moment to back up. He caught a glimpse of himself in his bathroom mirror as he did. His yellow-colored eyes piercingly bright for the low light of the apartment. For a moment the image of flames engulfed his mane and his face in the mirror began to change, but he did not stay to look at it. Sprinting from where he stood he jumped over the railing of the balcony snapping his wings open just before he reached to top of the arch of his jump. The big feathers catching wind with ease, he began gliding. Pumping the great limbs he climbed away into the night, the moon casting her blue light on his white coat. He planned on forgetting about this whole night and if possible forgetting to ask his father. But as terrible and disturbing his discovery was Guardian Angel still happened to be just a tiny bit curious.