The Sword and the Spirit within/BOOK 2

*Morning-time: Out in the streets of Canterlot. At a breakfast buffet.*

Today was the big night for the Grand Galloping Gala. Syrus and Red were eating at some breakfast buffet in the streets of Canterlot Square. Red was at the table with Syrus eating a big batch of eggs and had up to three pieces of toast along with apple juice. Syrus also had eggs, but, instead of toast he had a muffin with chocolate in it.

“It’s a good thing this place has what my world eats.” Syrus said happily, eating a piece of egg.

“Nom nom mmmmhh” Red said muffledly.

Syrus pointed his fork at Red while putting his elbow on the table. “You know, you shouldn’t eat with your mouth full. Where I come from, it’s bad manners.”

Red quickly closed his eyes and swallowed his food, he opened them and grinned. Syrus could see the egg yolk on his teeth, and it made Syrus laugh a little.

“Before you speak.” Red said, holding his left hoof up. “I already knew that was bad manners.”

Syrus looked down to his plate and sighed, he decided to forget about the subject and look at the window near them. He saw so many ponies running back and forth like they were in one big rush. “I swear, I’ve never seen Canterlot this busy before.”

“It’s because…” He swallowed another egg. “It’s because of the Gala. It’s tonight” Red said, with a smile.

“Indeed, it is.” Syrus said, putting his fork down and continuing to look at the ponies running around. “Celestia has been trying to show me how to dance with other ponies all week.”

“Well, I think you’re doing a great job so far.” He said, while holding a piece of toast on his right hoof. “I think you’ll do just fine if you ask me, and look what she’s done for us today.”

“Yeah I know, she gave me the day off,” He said, turning his gaze to Red. “So I could spend more time with you.”

“Yeah! For once we spend the whole day together, including time at the Gala. I still can’t believe she’s letting me come with you, I bet it’s going to be awesome.” Red yelled with excitement.

“Uuuuhhhh, yeah I hope” Syrus said, remembering what he heard after his lesson with Celestia yesterday.

(Scene break...before lunch...)

Daytime: Canterlot Throne room. 22 hours ago.

“Good job on todays lesson, and you young one.” Celestia said, turning her gaze to Red. “Feel free to come with Syrus to the Gala, I’m sure you and him will have a wonderful time together.

Red cheered and flew around the throne room with excitement. “OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH~”

“Okay Red!” Syrus yelled. “Take it easy and calm down, you little pony…”

Celestia giggled and looked at Red Scale. “I’m glad you’re happy, now come down from there.”

Red did another sonic the hedgehog speed back to the side of Syrus. “Okay, how do you keep doing that?”

“It’s magic, Syrus.” Celestia said. Syrus turn his gaze to Celestia.

“What?” He said, while scratching his head. “I thought only unicorns could use magic.”

“All ponies are one and the same, magic comes from our Cutie Marks.” Celestia said.

“Yeah! You see how the cloud is black and the lightning is red and yellow on my Cutie Mark?” Red said, showing his Cutie Mark to Syrus. “With this I can fly at the speed of light. That’s what my Cutie Mark tells me.”

“Little pony.” Syrus said, giving him a funny face. “I think I get that already.” He said, returning his gaze to Celestia.

“If you did than how come you never asked me how it worked before?”

“What?!” Syrus yelled, turning to Red. “I asked you that question weeks ago! And what did you do? You shoved me in the face!”

“With good reason! If you haven’t been so mean when I first met you, I would have told you before all this!”

“Syrus! Red Scale! That’s enough, both of you!” Celestia yelled, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Syrus and Red both looked at Celestia, than return to face each other. Syrus and Red both nodded. “Sorry for yelling, Red.” Syrus said. “Me too.” Red said.

Celestia was overjoyed to see what bond Syrus and Red had together. “Syrus? Red?”

They both turned their gaze to Celestia. “Yes Princess?” Syrus questioned.

“I want you both to get some good sleep tonight. Tomorrow I’m giving you the day off.”

Syrus’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “You serious?”

“After the progress you’ve given me, I believe you deserve a day off on the best night of the year.”

“That’s awesome!” He said with excitement.

“Now Both of you get some good sleep tonight and enjoy your day off with young Red Scale tomorrow.”

“Thank you. We’ll see you tomorrow night! Come on Red!” He yelled, with both of them running out the throne room door.

They were walking through the corridor of the castle, Syrus and Red were both excited to go to this Gala thing. “I really hope this Gala won’t be a downer.” Syrus said. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, besides, if Celestia and Luna go then it’s bound to be fun.”

“I bet it will…”

As they walked down the hallway, one guard pony over heard them. “They’re in for a surprise now aren’t they…” The local guard said.

Syrus kinda heard what he said as they were walking away, but it didn’t bother him.

(I’m a scene break in a cardboard box...Don’t tell Gregheff051 I’m here...)

Morning: Canterlot Square. Breakfast buffet. Present time.

“Syrus? Hey Syrus! You in there?!” Red asked, waving his left hoof at him to get his attention.

Syrus blinked and shook his head. “Sorry! I... Dozed off. What did you want?”

“I was asking if you had anything to wear beside your usual all white clothing to the Gala.” Red said.

Syrus looked down at his clothing. “You know, I guess I never planned ahead for the Gala.”

“We better change that!” Red shouted.

Syrus sighed. “Get real. How many bits do you think I have? How many do you even have?” He asked, knowing full well what the answer will be.

Red picks up his pouch and opens to count how many bits he has. “How much would 12 give us?”

Syrus allow his head to fall on the table. Red sat up and started to tap his head with his left hoof. “Syrus? Are you having a break down?”

(Damnit! This Scene break was caught. Game Over.)

30 minutes later.

Syrus and Red were sitting outside on a bench, Syrus still had his head lowered. Red was just sitting there minding his own business. “Maybe we could see if Celestia prepared you one.”

“If she did… She would have called us by-” Than Syrus had a thought, he remembered that Celestia once had him measured so she could create for him new clothing of his own for the Gala.

Syrus quickly got up and turn to Red. “Come on! We’re going to the castle.”

“What, why?”

“Because, I just remembered something.” Syrus said, as he started to run in the direction of the castle.

Red didn’t argue with him and followed him by flying over his head. They made their way to Canterlot Castle, where Red landed right in front of the entrance of the castle and saw Syrus just a few feet away.

“No time to stop, to the throne room!” He said as he ran right through the hallway of the castle.

Syrus and Red made it to the entrance of the throne room, Syrus slowly opened the throne room door and saw it was a lot darker than he remembered it to be. They both walked in, not knowing why the colored glass windows were covered.

“This is weird, since when does Celestia block the windows?” He said, but after he spoke, he heard nothing else from Red Scale after that. He looked around to see why Red didn’t say anything, and saw that he was alone and the exit to the throne room was completely gone too.

The dark began to expand, covering every bit of light that was in the throne room. Syrus saw nothing but complete darkness. “Red?”

“Syrus………” A female voice hissed to him.

“Red, was that you?” He asked, looking around for him in the dark.

“Syrus……….”

Syrus flinched and looked around him again to find the source of the hissing voice. “Red?” He said again and began to run to get away from the darkness. “Red! Oooff!”

He couldn’t see what he hit at first till he looked up and saw glowing white eyes. The glowing white eyes came close to him began to speak. “My shadows are everywhere and where they are, so am I…” She hissed, Syrus tried to keep his distance from her.

“Your voice... you can’t be... You’re the one from my dream when I saw this world destroyed.” He said, surprised to see the thing he hadn’t seen since he left his world.

“Yes, we’ve met the day before you came to this world. I did warn you, didn’t I?” She rasped.

“So you planned my death?” He asked, while looking at the glowing eyes.

“No, but it was never meant to be that day. You friend has been keeping more secrets from you, hasn’t he? You compassion for this world has blinded you to the truth.”

“What truth?” He asked, while still moving away from her.

“The night when he stabbed you with the sword of light, you were meant to die... But before he merged himself with your soul, he saw courage and wisdom inside you... It's no wonder why he picked you to be the new Guardian, most the Guardians before you weren't very good company.” She hissed.

“I know I died in my world, and I know he saw something the other Guardians didn't have.” He said.

“But did you know that he was intending to let you die, if he didn’t see what the other didn't have?...”

“If you’re trying to scare me, you’re wasting your time. I’m not afraid of you.” He said, getting back on his feet.

“Even my shadows cannot hide your fear, or the truth.” She said, walking closed to him. “You will not complete you training in time to defend this land and deep down, you know it...”

“Maybe not me, maybe Celestia and Luna could.”

She leaned closed to him. “And if they can’t, everypony you care for will die because of you...”

“I’ll save them. I will become the Guardian, I will be strong.”

“Your magic is far from matching Celestia’s and her sister...”

“I’m learning and I’m getting stronger everyday.” He said.

“It’s not enough, if you truly wish to save your friends. You must take what Thunder Wave wants you to have. Only then will you be at the level of a true Guardian. Don’t be a fool Syrus, the dark ones will make their move on Canterlot soon. Don’t allow that to happen.”

She began to fade away into darkness. “Wait! When will it happen? I need to know!!!”

(Two scene breaks… walk into a bar.)

“Syrus?” Red said.

“HUH!!!” He woke up from what seemed to be a dream, he saw that they were back sitting on the benches at Canterlot Square. He looked around and saw Red still sitting right beside him.

“You blacked out there for a good 10 minutes.” Red said, giving him a hoof beat to his arm.

“What? I thought we were at the castle just now.” He said, confused out of his mind.

Red cocked his head and thought Syrus was dreaming about being there. “We’ve been here for 43 minutes Syrus.”

Syrus’s eyes widened. He thought the whole thing was real. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, we’ve been here ever since we left breakfast.” Red said.

Syrus started to give this whole thing a bit of thought and figure if it was a dream then why it felt so real. “Guess I went on a snooze cruise…”

“Okay, I guess that would make some sense.” Red said.

Syrus smiled at Red Scale, but what he saw and heard was still haunting him. The creature that came to him in his dreams, the night before he entered Equestria, found him again and this time she came with a warning.

Danger was coming, but when and where? Syrus got up and waved Red a signal to follow him. Red got off the bench and followed Syrus. “Where are we going?”

Syrus didn’t respond to Red and continued to walk through all the ponies running back and forth for the Gala. Red ran up to the side of Syrus and patted the left side of his leg to get his attention. “Syrus? Where are we going?”

“To the castle… I need to speak to Celestia.” He said, while continuing to walk in the direction of the Castle.

“To the castle?” Red said, and stopped himself in his tracks. “But I thought we were going to spend the rest of the day together?!”

Syrus stopped and turned around to talk to Red Scale. “We will.”

“But if we will then why are you seeing Celestia?” Red asked.

Syrus walked over to Red and leaned forward to rub his head. “Just trust me on this, okay. Can you do that for me?”

Red lowered his head and allowed Syrus to do what was needed. Syrus got back up and turned towards the trail leading to the Castle. Syrus waved Red to follow. As they were getting close to the castle, Syrus noticed Celestia was waiting outside the entrance. It was almost like she was expecting them. Syrus turned his head to Red Scale while they were still walking and gave him a signal to stay put. Red stayed put and saw that Celestia began to walk over to him too.

 “I take it you’re not here to just say welcome.You know why I’m here.” Syrus said, Celestia lowered her head.

“Yes…”

“Then you’re aware of the danger.” He said, crossing his arms together.

“I’ve seen it coming for a long time, but now the visions are getting stronger. I feel it will happen when we all least expect it.” She said, knowing the dangers to come.

Syrus closed his eyes and lowered his head. “I had a dream about 10 minutes ago, I don’t know if you knew this, but in my dream I saw-”

“A dark creature telling about your fate?” She said, already knowing since she went through his head once.

He opened his eyes and looked at Celestia. “Do you know who that creature is?”

Celestia shook her head no. “Whoever she is, she seems to mask her identity very well.”

“Alright, I don’t know if you already have this planned but we need to be ready for the attack,” He stated.

“I agree, I’ll have every guard posted at every corner during the event.” Celestia said.

Syrus nodded and smiled, but lowered his head. “What am I really? Am I a weapon?”

“Syrus, you are a living creature, not a weapon.” Celestia put her right wing under his chin to make him look at her straight in the eyes. “Whatever that creature in your dream wants you to become is not her decision, you must make your own destiny.”

Syrus was overjoyed to hear those words. He smiled at her and turn his head to look at Red. Red noticed his smile and smiled back at him, he returned his gaze to Celestia and spread out both his arm and hugged her around her neck.

“Syrus!”

Syrus heard his name, and also heard laughter and cheering. He let go of Celestia and turned toward Red. Right next to Red Scale was their two best friends. “MOSA!! TANA!! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’RE BOTH HERE!!”

“We did say we were coming tonight, but don’t let us ruin the moment.” Tana said.

“Syrus?” Celestia asked, Syrus turn to face her and on the top of her head, she was levitating two white boxes. “These are for you and your little friend. I think the Guardian should wear something fancy for the gala tonight.”

Celestia lowered the boxes to his hands, he put the one for Red down and opened his. Inside was the answer for the Gala, a hoof crafted suit for the Gala tonight. It was just like the tuxedos back at his world. “Thank you, I shall never forget what you have done for me today.”

Syrus got Red Scale’s box and uses his magic to teleport it right in front of him. “You’re going to like this buddy!” He exclaimed.

Right after Red Scales box came to him, Tana and Mosa walked over to him and peeked over his shoulder.

Red grabbed his box and opened it, and when he saw what was in it, his jaw dropped and smiled at his new tux.

“It’s perfect for tonight…” Red saw it was like the suit Syrus received but made for a pony.

“I’m glad you both love them, but now I suggest we get inside and prepare.” Celestia stated.

“Prepare?” Syrus asked.

“For the Gala, of course. It will be quite crowded if you come during the night.”

Mosa rushed toward Celestia and Syrus, looking back at him while running inside the Castle. “She’s got a point, you know!”

“Yep, I wouldn’t miss this for the world and if Celestia is giving us a head start, I’m totally there.” Tana said, walking pass Syrus and into the Castle.

(This Cliffhanger brought to you in part by-)

Preread with Sexy Cliffhangers and Scene breaks by IkioStar.