Dawn of Darkness

by Lawpony

Rating: teen
Tags: Tragedy, Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, Sad, Main 6, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Cutie Mark Crusaders
Length: 4876

Cobalt wants to join the royal guard in Canterlot, to help protect the princesses along with the rest of ponykind. But when strange things begin to happen, will he stay true to Equestria or its ponies?

Prequel to Twilight Gives Way to Dawn. So if you haven't read it, stop here and return upon doing so, or you'll be lost!

After waiting for so long to join up, Cobalt turns old enough to become a soldier. He's always wanted to be a soldier, to protect ponies, and especially the princesses. So why wasn't he told to protect the two princesses that night? And better yet, why did Princess Twilight Sparkle start calling herself Queen RedDawn? Why has he been ordered to kill Princess Mi Amore Cadenza? But most importantly, with all the shady business, why is he still following along?

This story will jump slightly to cover a good portion of the history from Twilight Gives Way to Dawn.

Published 2013-08-22 23:10:03 UTC
Last updated 2013-11-20 22:09:22 UTC

First Tastes

"Mom. I'm going to become a soldier!", Cobalt Blitz smiled happily at his mother.

"You...what? No. No Cobalt, I won't let you go and get yourself killed. Have you payed attention to all of the stuff going on lately? Not to mention all of those bad ponies tryin' to take over the land, but just last week somepony went and took Princess Twilight's crown! That's not a safe place for my baby boy now is it?", his mother patted his cheek with a forehoof.

"Exactly! That's why they need me! I need to be there when somepony steps up against the crown!", he looked into her eyes excitedly.

"I won't allow it! I don't wanna lose my baby boy!", she averted her gaze.

"Ma," he turned her face towards his, using his hoof on her chin. "I'm turning eighteen tomorrow. I can make this decision for myself."

"I know, but I just can't let go of my little Cobalt." She looked into his eyes with tears forming. "You've grown up so fast."

His father was standing with them. "Cherry, I think we should let him go."

"I know," she looked at him, then turned and hugged Cobalt. "I just can't bare to see him go!"

"Ma, I'll come and visit, I promise! But...I won't go without your blessing."

She let go of him and looked into his eyes, full of hope. "You know you have my blessing. Wherever you go, I will love you." She leaned his head down to be level with her face, and kissed the top of his head.

"Now go to bed, my little colt. The last time I'll tell you to," she began to cry again.

"Ma!", he hugged her tightly. "I'll see you tomorrow, I'm not leaving in your sleep!"

He ran up stairs to brush his teeth and go to bed.

"There's still a foal in that stallion. I can feel him every time he speaks," his mother looked dry eyed at the stair case.

"I know," Smelter put his fore-leg over Cherry's shoulders. "I know."

That night, Cobalt dreamed of knights and dungeons. He dreamed about saving the princesses, and winning the favor of mares everywhere. Little did he know what the next few months would do to that excitement.

One month later

Cobalt had fulfilled his dream. He was now in the Royal Guard. Well, technically he was still in basic training, but it was practically the same thing. He could serve Equestria and protect ponykind everywhere. He had learned a lot while being there a whole month. They had gone over basic battle strategies, medical procedures, and even touched on leadership skills. The physical part of training was going to kill him. He hated it, though, he had to admit, he had gloriously toned muscles. Three more months of basic and he would be a lower ranking hoof soldier, but if he stayed for a full year he would have the training to take control of a squad, which was his plan.

Life was going to go smoothly, and let him rise to the top in no time, but life sometimes has different plans.

"Shadow Blades!"

The call came out of nowhere. Cobalt was left in the center of the barracks, trying to think about what was actually happening. He had not been prepared for such an attack, and here it was, happening right around him. Some ponies are left to grow up over the course of their lives, to mature slowly and comfortably. Others were forced to grow up in a day. Cobalt was one such pony.

"Don't just stand there! Get to action!", came a strong voice. The voice of one who had become a friend.

"I...I don't know what to d-do! My whole body is stuck!"

The other soldier ran up and smacked him in the face. "You have to gain control of your own body! If you don't you're dead!"

Cobalt nodded quickly.

"Fear'll get you killed! So don't listen to it! Defy it! Tell it you're running towards the danger, that is can't do anything to stop you!"

"Yes sir!", Cobalt felt a surge of bravery and courage.

"Now get to action and let your training take over!"

The soldier ran around the corner and was gone. Cobalt, not letting go of his new-found courage, followed the older stallion into the armory. There were a lot of other soldiers putting on their armor, and getting weapons. The stallion pointed to the open chest and Cobalt nodded.

Cobalt pulled out his training armor and put it on. It didn't completely cover him, but it would save his life if it took a hit for him. Next he grabbed a pair of wing blades in his teeth and attached them to his wings. He put on his brass horse shoes. He was ready for combat.

The leader of the guard stood in the middle of the room. "Okay! These shadow blades are here for one thing, and one thing only! To kill as many ponies as they can!", he nodded to a pony beside him that held a picture in their teeth.

The pony put the picture on the table and turned it around. "For those who don't know, this is a shadow blade. They serve the dead king, Necromantus, the founder of necromancy. They believe that he is still alive, that he is undead. In reality, he's long been cast into the pits of tartarus."

The picture was of a pony-shaped being, clad in black hooded robes that looked as though it was edged with blood stains. It was currently hovering, using its Pegasus wings, and had two jagged, black, blades attached to its fore-legs.

"Their blades are coated with a deadly poison, which they believe devotes the souls of those who die by them to Necromantus, in his tomb-castle at the peek of Death Mountain. While it is not believed that their blades can actually affect the souls of their victims, they are still poisonous and deadly."

"Is that clear?", the leader asked.

"Sir, yes sir!", the solders said in unison.

"Hey kid!", the stallion from before came up.

"Yeah Flare?", Cobalt responded.

"You stay with me, you stay alive," he assured him.

"Okay."

Author's Note

I'm sorry for such a late upload, but I haven't had internet all this week so far. A storm came through and wiped out our modem/router Sunday night(when I was planning on uploading this). So I've had to edit at the library, while having to do school at the library(cuz I'm online schooled), so I haven't had much time for this. It actually took me until just today to get over half of the chapter done, edited, and uploaded. Hopefully though, my dad and I bought a modem/router today so the internet should be back up. Thanks for the patience and not being all mean about not having internet, but when have I had that problem with my followers?

Thanx!

-Lawpony (PS. I will go ahead and upload it a week from last Sunday instead of from today, because y'all have waited long enough already!)

The Face of Death

Cobalt and the others ran out of the barracks to see a swarm of black figures coming out of the Everfree toward Ponyville.

"They're not coming for us," Flare muttered.

"They're going for Ponyville? Why?", Cobalt asked.

"It's a small target. Probably just for a quick sacrifice grab," the squad leader approached.

"Well we can't just leave her alone and let 'em take her!", Flare was ready to jump down the mountain.

"Of course not! We just need to wait and see what we're up against."

After a few seconds, the swarm ended, not much over a hundred made up their numbers.

"They weren't expecting help from Canterlot were they?", Flare added.

"It appears not. It doesn't make much sense. Then again, neither does their choice in leadership."

"Well?", Flare had become impatient.

"Everypony! To the portal!", he ran toward a large dome built out of metal.

The portal was a unicorn activated object that was built shortly after an attack a few years back when there weren't enough soldiers in Ponyville. And with the Royal Guard needed to protect the palace, soldiers couldn't be used on such a small town. It was a sad truth, but only the major capitals were granted stationed help. The device could hold up to twenty soldiers at once, and they used it in ten second periods so the previous users could have a chance to exit the other end. On the other end, there was a similarly built metal dome that had a fence about it, and a sign that read, "for military use only".

The first wave of soldiers was sent, and after ten seconds, the second. The third went without an issue. Cobalt was in line for the fifth and final wave. Finally, it was his turn. As he stepped through the doorway, he could see that the dome had many mirrors built into the ceiling and walls. After a few seconds, the unicorn shut the door and began to discharge his spell into the spell chamber.

"I can't wait! I've only heard of these!", Cobalt squeaked.

"Just wait until you taste battle for the first time. It's scary, but they'll become easier the more you're in," Flare encouraged him.

In a flash the soldiers were coming out of the dome in a wave after the shadow blades. Cobalt followed all of the rules, and even made sure not to stray too far from Flare. In the middle of battle, another small wave came from the forest.

"This doesn't look good!", Flare yelled.

Cobalt looked at the ground. "There's no way they would be this interested in Ponyville. They would only send this many soldiers if...", his head snapped toward Canterlot. "No."

A few flying shadow blades could be seen flying into the city.

"FLARE! IT'S A DISTRACTION! THEY'RE IN CANTERLOT!", Cobalt shouted at Flare.

Flare's head snapped up toward Canterlot to see what Cobalt saw.

"NO!", he turned to run but was met with a spear through the side.

"FLARE!", Cobalt wanted to cry, but his training kicked that out the window. "No! NO! Focus! We need to get back to Canterlot!"

As if they had heard him, from the forest came a boulder that smashed through the roof of the metal dome.

He thought quickly. "Pegasi! On me!", he promptly began to fly in the direction of Canterlot.

Thirty Pegasi began to follow him. When they had gotten within a mile of the city, he put all of his strength into his wings and propelled himself toward Canterlot. As a teal flash followed the brave soldier, he could see that a boulder was headed right for the palace.

"Oh no you don't!", he propelled himself at the boulder, colliding with it, altering its course only slightly.

Him and the boulder fell just inches to the left of the palace, taking out a decorative roofing on the way. Finally, they landed in a forested area just outside the wall behind the palace.

Cobalt came to, not knowing how long he had been out for. He wearily got up, covered in blood, to discover that his left wing had been ripped through by a jagged rock.

"Oh my GOSH! OH! I have to get to Canterlot! I have to stop them!"

When he had walked five feet from the boulder, a shadow blade walked up to him.

"So you're the one that shot that boulder down. I'm surprised you're still alive! Too bad you won't be."

The necromancer flew at him with his blades aimed at his throat. Cobalt ducked out of the way, and the necromancer flew into the boulder. Cobalt turn around and shot his hoof into the face of the downed shadow blade, knocking him out. He then walked over to the crash site to recover his shield. He soon realized that it was lost. He walked over a pine tree the boulder had splintered, and found a thick piece of wood that had a hole it its side.

"This'll have to do."

He put the wood on his back and ran into the city. Upon entering the city, he found that the majority of the Royal Guard was still there. The battle was waging on as the necromancers were pouring in through a hole in the wall. Finally, the wave had ended, and following them through the hole in the wall, was a certain undead necromancer king.

"Necromantus! But...HOW?!", Cobalt cried out.

Everypony recognized him from many old paintings and pictures they had seen of him. He wore a similar black hooded robe as the rest, but his had black Pegasus wings attached to it. His horn was tattooed with red lines following a pattern around it. There were stitch marks around his neck, which were consistent with the way he was beheaded by Princess Celestia. His mane was spiked backwards, black with red highlights. His tail was spiked as well, the same color scheme. His coat was black, with tattooed red lines running in all sorts of designs.

He walked over the bodies of many ponies, shadow blades and Canterlot guards alike. The bodies reanimated upon his touch. Bodies of the living decayed upon his touch. He was truly death incarnate.

"HOLY HAY! What is he doing here?! He was killed centuries ago!", the guard commander exclaimed.

"I'M HERE FOR CELESTIA!", came the voice of death itself.

Necromantus ran right at the palace, killing all he touched. Cobalt did the first thing training told him, try to stop him. He ran full speed at the necromancer. He put his bad wing up to take the impact as he collided with the unicorn, knowing it wouldn't change much of what had already happened. Their momentum counteracted each other's making them both stop dead still. Cobalt looked over to his wing, and found it healthy.

"Well, how about that?", Cobalt muttered.

Necromantus was now up and on the attack. Cobalt remembered the chunk of wood. He pulled it off of his back, and and caught the unicorn's mace with it. Then he connected his fore-leg with the sword on his back and swung it around. Necromantus caught it with his fore-leg gauntlet. Cobalt kept the sword up and held the unicorn's fore-leg in place as he jumped into the air, and spun around. His sword flew out and severed the unicorn's horn from his head.

"NO!", the undead creature bellowed.

All of the reanimated dead around them crumpled and decayed into nothingness. Those that were recently living simply fell limp again. Cobalt's wing returned to its dead state. The shadow blades stopped fighting and looked on at the scene taking place. The undead unicorn bellowed in defeat, and looked up at the young soldier.

"You think you can defeat me?! I am death itself!"

"Well if death wants life, he can't have it."

Necromantus' eyes widened in shock. He quickly recovered in time to flash a quick smile.

"You're not the one who holds the key to that door, and neither am I."

As Cobalt shoved his sword into the unicorn's chest, Necromantus laughed wickedly as he fell limp to the ground.

All of the shadow blades that had been standing still, watching, were now running in terror.

"GO! CHASE THEM BACK LIKE THE DOGS THEY ARE!", the squad leader bellowed out over the masses.

"When did he get back up here? I must have been out for a while," Cobalt thought to himself.

"Oh my! Your wing!", somepony called from behind him.

"And, there's the pain!", he fell over unconscious.

Author's Note

Finally! Got the new charge cord for this laptop like yesterday! Now I can update as wanted. Also, quick thingy-merbobber! I'm not a sturdier of necromancy or anything like that...so I don't know the usual rules it follows. But for the sake of this fic, one who is reanimated is simply living again, whether it's not long or for eternity depends upon who does it. So does how powerful they can become...maybe in the future... wink wink, nudge nudge...

A New Name

Cobalt awakened in a bed of soft material. His mind felt clouded, as if he had been bucked in the face. He looked around the room. White bed, grey tiled floor, beige walls. He was in a hospital. The window on the wall to his left had the curtains closed. The door to his right was closed as well.

"Why am I in a hospital?", he thought to himself.

Just then, a nurse walked in.

"Oh, you're awake! Good to see you're doing well."

If Cobalt were coherent, he would have noticed the gem before him. In front of him, stood a beautiful, young mare with a ruby mane, and a turquoise coat. Her cutie mark was a star of life. Her physic was rather tone, and she was very thin, obviously a runner. However, Cobalt was too out of it to even notice her physical appearance.

"Whyam I inte hossspital?"

The nurse walked over to him. "You were injured in battle. Though, you should do fine."

His eyes widened in shock. "Did Imake it?! Dontell me I died! PLEEEAAASE! IHAV A WIFE AN-no wait...Idon't hav a wife, whater you talkin' about?"

The nurse giggled. "There, there. You're going to be alright," she rubbed his forehead with a hoof.

"Promise?"

The massive grin on her face only became bigger. "Yes, I promise."

Cobalt folded and unfolded his left wing a few times.

"Good. Now try to flap it in rapid succession."

Cobalt flapped his wing, it faltered a few times, but was usable.

"Congratulations kid. You're only slightly handicapped, but if you keep healing like you've been doing so far, you'll be back to usual in no time!", the nurse hugged him.

"Thanks! I didn't think I would pull through for a while there! I can't believe I'll be able to fly again!", he hugged back.

They ended the embrace, and the nurse walked over to the table of medical supplies. She grabbed a pair of scissors in her magic, walked back over to Cobalt, and snipped the leg band from his right foreleg.

"Now that you're all better, the Princesses wanted to see you. They told me to wait until you were all healed up. I told them that you'd be checking out today. They're probably waiting on you now!"

"Wow! A meeting with the princesses! I'll see you later Joule!", Cobalt ran out of the rehabilitation wing and would have made it out of the door, but the pony at the front desk stopped him.

"Hey! Cobalt! You gotta sign out before ya can go buddy!", the jolly older male physical therapist called from the desk.

"Oh, sorry Jim!", Cobalt came running back up to the desk.

"I hear you're all better, how awesome is that!"

"Yeah, I'm supposed to be heading to see-", he picked up the pen and began signing his name. "-teh puencesses."

Jim looked at him, confused.

He spit the pen out and repeated himself. "The Princesses."

"Oh wow! Such a great honor! I think it may have something to do with a certain somepony's brave actions during battle last month!", Jim lightly punch Cobalt on the shoulder.

"You really think so? That'd be awesome!"

"I do. Well, all done signin' out. Now go get honored!"

"Yes sir!", Cobalt ran back out the hospital.

With his wing not being perfectly healed, he had to walk all of the way to the palace. When he finally made it, he made his way to the court room, and found the Royal Sisters on their thrones, and Princess Twilight standing by.

"Ah, young Cobalt. I hear your wing is well," Celestia elegantly spoke.

"Um, yes. Your highness," he knelt on the floor. "Your humble tool is still functioning."

"Why thank you. Such manors. But please, this is a casual meeting," she leaned down towards him and whispered. "Mainly because the press know nothing about it."

He chuckled a little. Regaining his serious composure he asked, "What am I here for?"

"You, young sir, are here because we deemed it necessary, to honor you for your valiant service in banishing the undead abomination back to the afterlife," Twilight spoke up. "Without your heroic efforts, the Elements of Harmony may not have been able to stop him. You showed that sheer courage was enough to protect our land. You risked your life to save Equestria."

He humbly bowed his head.

"And for that, we have decided to personally further your studies, and place you in a higher rank as soon as possible. With skill and training, you could be one of our greatest soldiers," Celestia informed him.

"You want to...what??"

"We are furthering your climb up the chain of success. You will also be given a name, something that tells of your great battle with Necromantus," Luna triumphantly shouted.

"You shall be called..."

They all spoke in unison. "Pineshield."

One week later

Cobalt was walking with a spring in his step. He had never been so happy in his life. Not only was he now pretty much destined to become a great war leader, but he also had plans for a certain somepony.

He entered the hospital and made his way to the rehab hall. When he arrived, the young nurse that had taken care of him was coming from a patient's room, filling out paperwork.

He coughed.

"Yes? Oh, Cobalt. Good to see you! How is that wing?"

"Good, still a little stiff, but not too bad."

"Great. I'll be sure to tell Jim about your progress. He'd like to hear the news," she turned to put the file away.

"Uh...I'm uh...man I stink at this!"

"What Cobalt? What is it?", she turned her attention back to him. Her bright ruby eyes becoming very serious.

"Will you..."-, he took a deep breath. -"...go, outwithme?" He flinched a little. The words sounded extremely dumb coming out of his mouth.

"You know what? I'd like to."

Cobalt looked up. "You...would?"

"Yeah, since your first day here I thought you were kinda cute. Especially when you weren't even coherent," she giggled. That adorable giggle. "And you seemed like a cool guy while in here, well, when you were lucid. Who knows how cool you are when you're not in the hospital?"

"So...Friday?"

"I work Friday. Saturday?"

"Saturday."

Author's Note

WHAAAAT? Cobalt is Pineshield?! *gasp* And he got a GERFRIEND?! In just the THIRD CHAPTER???!!!! DUDE!

"But wait Law...I thought he was single, and falls for Rainbow later," you may say. Well, yes, he does...fifteen years later. So, yeah...you don't know what I got planned.

EDIT: Joule's hot but not in that way. Long author's note is too long.

Also, fan art of Joule?

The Sweetest Things

Two Years Later

Cobalt was eating breakfast in the mess hall when he saw his new friend walk into the middle of the room and begin looking for a table to sit at. The crowd of soldiers had been loud all morning. Cobalt got up and began waving his forelegs around frantically.

"Flash! Over here!", he called.

Flash Sentry looked over, saw his friend, and walked over to the table.

"Hey Pine, how's it goin'?", Flash casually asked as he sat down.

"Good I guess. I'm being moved to Ponyville. The guard is growing in number, and they can spare up to twenty soldiers now. After what happened two years back, nearly every stallion wanted to join up," he took a bite of his apple.

"You're being moved to Ponyville? I've only been there a few times. After the last time Twilight brought me there, I was promoted and couldn't travel as much," he took a sip of his water. "But good on you! Maybe you can spend more time with Joule once you're there."

"Oh yeah, about that," he brought out a black box.

"Woah. Pine, that's amazing!", he took the box from his friend and opened it. "WHAT! How did you afford this?!"

The ring was a large diamond ring. The diamond was a half an inch wide, and a fourth an inch tall.

"Pineshield. Where did you get the money to buy this?", Flash looked almost worried.

"Do you remember last month when I used all my leave time?"

"Yeah."

"Rather than go on vacation or take it slow, I got three jobs and earned the money for this."

"What?!"

"For her birthday a year ago, I took her to the jeweler to get a nice necklace. She saw that wedding ring and wouldn't stop talking about it for weeks. I know how girls think. it was obvious she wanted it."

"How did you manage the time for three jobs?", Flash asked as he handed the box back to Pineshield.

"I didn't spend much time doing fun stuff. I didn't even get to spend time with her. I would expect she's a little angry at me, but when I show her this...", he trailed off, smiling at the box.

"Well, when are you planning on proposing?"

"The first day after I get moved. I had a letter sent to her that said to open it next Monday. The letter will tell her to meet me in town square, where I'll be stationed."

"Next Monday? That's in two days!"

"Yep. I am so nervous!"

The bell in the mess hall rang.

"Time for drills. See ya later Pine," Flash got up and started walking away.

"See ya!"

It was a warm Monday morning. The birds were singing, and the sun was shining. It was the perfect day to propose to the most beautiful mare in Equestria. Cobalt nearly missed this scene because he was so worried.

He was standing guard by town hall when Joule walked up.

"Hey Cobalt, what did you want me here for, on this day specifically?", her voice didn't sound harsh, but you could tell she wasn't too happy.

"Joule, I have some explaining to do. And I know you may not like the fact that we haven't spoken in a while, but I have something important to ask you," he bent his forelegs so that he knelt. His right wing unfolded and a black box could be seen in it. "Joule, the most wonderful, most beautiful, most funny, most amazing mare in all of Equestria, will you marry me?"

She exploded into tears and slumped to the ground. Through her crying you could hear her apologizing over and over. The whole thing had caught her by surprise. She finally wiped her eyes and through her forelegs around him. "Of course I will!"

"I love you so much!"

"Is that why you didn't have time to spend with me? Because you needed money for that?"

"I had three jobs, but I couldn't tell you or it would have been obvious."

Her crying intensified. "I'm so sorry for being mad at you!"

He hugged her tighter. "It's okay. I didn't exactly look like I wanted to spend time with you with the way I avoided you. I just couldn't risk ruining the surprise."

"I love you so much!"

"I love you too," he nuzzled under her neck and then brought his mouth up to her ear and whispered. "You are the most perfect mare I have ever met. I'm glad that rock took me outta the sky."

The bells rang to a cheerful tune. The birds chirped along with it. The bride and groom came running out of the palace together, and climbed into the chariot.

When the happy couple climbed into the chariot, they looked into each other's eyes and smiled.

Joule shed a tear. "We're married! You're my husband!", she excitedly whispered.

"And you are my beautiful wife. And together, we're going to live forever!"

No sooner had he said this, the two shared one long kiss as the chariot flew off into the sky.

Author's Note

First of all. Before I get carried away (and I will) ICK! GROSS LOVIE DOVIE STUFF! EEEWWWW!

Now that that's outta the way...

"ER MER GERSH! YER FERNALER ERPDERTED!!!", you might say.

"Yes of course!", I would reply. "I did just promise earlier today that I would...better do it now before I forget again!"

But seriously tho. How did y'all like this chapter? I had to literally MAKE myself finish it. It was just so...dialogue-y and I'm more of an action writer myself so it was kinda boring to write this. Plus I had no clue how to write a wedding scene. I mean how does one write a wedding scene?! Ah well. Anywayz, this chapter is crucial to the plot so it was a must.

I gotta pause it. Thanks for watchin'! Bless your face! And if you sneezed during this chapter bl-wait this has been taken already! STEPHEN! BETTER SCRIPT NEXT TIME! WHAT?! I CAN'T USE THAT NAME?! FINE! THEN I'LL CHANGE YOUR NAME TO...STEPHANO! NOPE! I WON'T HAVE IT! THAT'S TOTALLY ORIGINAL!

See y'all next time.

Thanx!

-Lawpony

doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo SUB-SCRIBE!