The Last Pack

At the dawn of a new age, one will stop to think, to wonder, to pray, that all of that which they fought for was truly without loss. In the end, it isn’t those who survived that have won, no, not even the dead win. The only true winner in the endless game of war, are those who sacrifice their souls for the sake of a better future. Those who sacrifice their very souls are the ones who also lose the most, they lose their happiness, they lose their peace, and some even lose their very sanity. So in the end, where do you stand in this game of war, this game of death, this game of life, do you stand with the “victors” or do you stand for the “losers” or do you sacrifice yourself for the future of all?

With a sigh I look down at my hooves and shake my head in hopes to rid the ever present feeling of uncertainty of this world. Even as I have been here for little over a month and a half, everything still feels as if it were a dream. I closed my eyes and felt as tears started to well up behind my eyelids and start to stream down my face.

Why did this happen to me of all people…Why couldn’t it be somebody else…

I felt a hoof wrap around me and hear the pony say, “Lionel, it’s okay.” I look up to have the pony hug me even tighter as my tears slowly come to a stop while looking at the darkened faces of the generals and others. I break apart from the hug to realize that this pony, was Jazmine. I felt as my heart broke and I started crying again this time falling into her to hug her again. “Shhh, there there Lionel, it’s okay…” she cooed to me.

We sat there for a good ten minutes before I finally stopped and said, “Jazmine…I’m so sorry…I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you back then…” choking as the words came out. She stroked my mane trying to calm me down. I let her out of the hug to see that she was crying as well. To my embarrassment the generals and others were still standing there.

“Lionel, there was nothing you could have done to prevent it, I was reckless and ran in guns a blazing instead of using my head.” she replied in a soft tone. General Rose cleared his throat getting our attention.

“Excuse me, but may I ask, who in the name of Luna are you miss?” He asked angrily. I stepped in front of her only to be pushed to the side by her letting her stand in front of him.

“I am Major Jazmine Lynn of the United States Marine Corps, and who might you be?” she demanded holding her head high dwarfing the general. She was about a foot and a half taller than any of the generals, two feet taller than General Rose.

“Major Lynn huh? Well your rank from your previous affiliation does not carry much hold here in Equestria, just as Recruit Varellian used to be a Captain in the United States Marine Corps, his rank carries no authority here either. As to who I am, I am General Rose of the Strategy Division in Alpha Company here at Fort Brathio. You seem important to Recruit Solstice, but currently he is in trouble so if you would, please come back at a later time.” He finished with an angry huff and stomp of his hoof. Jazmine was completely unphased by this and shook her head. She looked back at me and nodded and left in direction of the medical tent.

“Sir I k-” I was cut off abruptly by General Dusk bucking me in the chest sending me flying through the tents entrance onto the floor. I slowly started to recover as the generals and other recruits stepped in, most of them grinning.

“What do you think he’s gonna do?” I heard one of the other recruits whisper to General Light. He responded with a slight shake of his head. I stood up straight and apologized to the general much to the surprise of the other generals and recruits.

“Sir, I am sorry for that outburst, it will not happen again, sir.” I said as I rose up from my bow to General Dusk to see him laughing at my gesture. “Sir, what is so funny?” I asked only for his laughter to increase.

“You’re funny Recruit, that’s what is so dang funny! I buck you to get you in here, for you to apologize to me? I was bucking you because I got impatient, nothing more!” He continued to laugh as he said this. I felt as my right hoof slowly started to come up, I quickly stopped it before I let it hit him. My self control for hitting him has grown. Over the course of my training me and Dusk have become more of good friends, than him being my superior.

“Well next time sir, please show a little restraint, that kind of hurt this time.” I said giggling gaining even more confused looks from the other recruits and small laughs from the generals. “Now, lets get down to business sir, about this whole prank business because I have a horn now and I need to learn how to use magic asap.” As I said this I felt my smile fade to a flat toned face and saw the Generals faces turn into their normal angry looks and proceed to take seat behind the large crescent moon desk as me and the other recruits stood in the middle.

“I suppose you’re right Solstice.” General Rose said casting the normal spell that kept all prying ears and eyes from seeing or hearing inside the tent.

“Recruits, tonight you pulled a prank on a fellow recruit that ended in 3 injuries from the broken chains whipping them and having an entire bunk bed destroyed because the recruit retaliated to this prank. Which one of you had the bright idea of pissing off the only known recruit that could transform into different creatures at a whim?” General Frost said from the middle of the table. His silver eyes piercing through me and the other recruits.

A jasmine green pony stepped forth. “Sir, I Recruit Vasquez am the one responsible for this prank. I planned it from the start getting the other recruits in on it as we were getting tired of doing extra miles of jogging in the morning due to Recruit Solstices lack of respect towards the Drill Sergeant. We are also stuck on base wide latrine duty because Solstice decided to knock out the Drill Sergeant. Sir.” as he finished saying this I stared at him in complete and utter disbelief. Was this really him? If so how in the world did he ever find his way here of all places? I stepped forth.

“Sir, permission to ask a question to Recruit Vasquez, sir?” I asked to General Frost who simply nodded and gestured towards him. I walked my way over to the jasmine green pony and stared him in the eye where he started to shake holding his breath. “Staff Sergeant Vasquez, is that really you?” I asked, surprising everypony in the room.

“Recruit Solstice, what do you mean Staff Sergeant? He’s a recruit only joined a month ago.” I heard General Frost ask. I turned around and took off my hat and walked straight over to General Frost.

“Sir, with all do respect, I lost a Luis Vasquez upon entering this dang world, and if I lose him here or never find him, I will not be able to live with myself. He may be only a recruit to you, but to me he is Staff Sergeant Vasquez of Alpha Squad of the United States Marine Corps Alpha Company stationed in Indonesia. He may not seem important to you, but he is the only family I have here other than Jazmine, and if I lose him then I-” I was cut off by a pony clearing his throat.

“Recruit Solstice, I am Luis Vasquez at least, that is to my knowledge, as when I woke up one day a month and a half ago, I had no clue who I was, the only thing I had was a card. It had a picture of me and a name, nothing more. I came here seeking refuge only to be recruited by the pack. To my knowledge, this is my first time formally speaking with you, but I felt something strange happen to me when I saw you in, whatever that thing was. I felt oddly comfortable and knew somehow, you weren’t going to hurt us so I just stared at you, trying to grasp what you were.” he said lowering his head to the ground hiding his eyes only to be yelled at to lift his head back up. He shot up straight to reveal his eyes had changed to slits. At least I thought they did, so I did a double take to see that his eyes were normal. It must have been my imagination.

I slowly walked towards him and put my hoof on his shoulder. “Listen Vasquez” I said looking into his eyes. “I don’t know what happened to you, but I promise, you are not alone and th-” He slapped my hoof away and glared angrily at me.

“Don’t you DARE touch me again Solstice!” he yelled angrily. I felt as a pang of guilt surged through my body. I shook my head and walked back to my spot in the center.

“Back on topic, I believe that the punishment suit for this is 35 bits from each of you to pay for the damages and to pay for the medical expenses for the 3 injured ponies.” General Frost concluded. The other Generals simply nodded. “You all are dismissed, except for Recruit Solstice, and Recruit Vasquez, and somepony please go find that other pony that was outside. I want her here as well.” He finished up only to have the other generals sigh.

It took only about 30 minutes for the recruits to find Jazmine, with a little help from the other ponies of course. When she walked in I felt as if a 200 pound weight had been lifted off my back. She walked up next to us and stood straight staring ahead towards the Generals who readjusted themselves.

“Okay first off, we don’t need these formalities so do away with sir, or ma’am for now. We all more than likely know what we are here for right now.” Said General Dusk calmly putting his rear hooves up on the table, leaning back in his chair. Two of the other generals followed suit while the others silently shook their heads. “Now, Luis was it?” probed Frost.

“That’s my name as far as I know, so yes.” Vasquez responded silently with a hint of hatred in his voice, no doubt towards the generals and I for bringing this up.

General Frost simply nodded and continued. “Well Luis, you know when we took you into The Pack, we didn’t know jack squat about you, and the only pony that might know ANYTHING about you, you are mad at.” The general said trying to keep his calm composure, “You said you would do anything to know about yourself, am I not correct?” he proceeded to ask only to get a small nod from Vasquez. “Then why don’t we let Solstice speak, how does that sound? Sound good to you?” He stated cockily. Vasquez nodded again.

“RECRUIT, SPEAK WHEN YOU ARE SPOKEN TO!” General Dusk yelled slamming his hooves onto the desk. For the first time ever since I have known him, he used his rank to get what he needed.

“Sir yes sir!” Vasquez responded loudly, standing at attention now. He proceeded to face me as the Generals put two seats in the middle of the room so we could sit down. I walked over to the chair and sat down whereas Vasquez was still standing at attention.

“Sit down Son” General Rose said aloud. Vasquez walked over to the chair and sat in it still holding his posture. “If you don’t stop with that Vasquez, you can do 20 miles with him tomorrow.” the General stated making Vasquez stop being so formal with this and sat down like any normal pony would. He then proceeded to glare at me as I told him our history together.

It was about 2 hours later when I started to finish up, “After we had exited the building from getting Jazmine back, you were knocked out and we were captured and we watched as they threw your limp body into the pit that teleported you here, to Equestria. The same as we were thrown in only seconds later. After that, we have no clue what had happened to you, me and Jazmine woke up in Canterlot Castle in audience of the Tyrant Queen so say. I knew no more than you did when we awoke here, but I was out for a week and Jazmine out for nearly a month.” I finished with a sigh. Vasquez had his head down rubbing his temples. The generals were at attention listening to every detail taking in all they could from our history together, no doubt they were listening because we had technology far beyond theirs.

“This is all too much…” Vasquez said quietly still massaging his temples.

“I know that it sounds fake, like it is nothing but a joke, but I can promise you, it’s not.” I said putting a hoof on his shoulder trying to comfort him. This time he let me keep it there. He looked up at me with a look I haven’t seen in a very long time from him. It was there, the look of terror, the look of loss, the look of despair. He lost more than I did when we entered this world.

I may have lost friends and lost my home and possessions, but he lost so much more than I did. Not only did he lose his only memories, he lost a family, a wife and 3 kids. He lost his grandmother, his grandfather, he lost his brothers and sisters in law. He lost the love of his life, he lost all he had worked so hard for, he lost the last of what he had to hold onto. He lost everything.

“I’m sorry Solstice…” I heard him whisper as he let his head droop down again. “Even if it’s all true...I don’t think it matters anymore…” he said louder this time. I felt as the anger seeped through my body, resisting the urge to hit him. “Even if you knew the me before I lost my memory, It can’t change the fact that I’m here now.” Him saying this calmed me a little, because even I knew, we may never get back, that nothing may never be the same for us, even if we wanted to. He looked up into my eyes this time, the despair was replaced with a glimmer of hope. “My life, before I came here, may never be able to be returned to me, but I won’t let that bring me down. I have to live so that one day, I may have any hope of returning to that family of mine you speak of. I have to survive for them, I have to survive for everypony, and nothing will stop me from doing so.” He said this time with a smile on his face, causing me to grin at him. I shook my head.

“No Vasquez, nothing will stop US.” I gestured towards Jazmine, Vasquez, and me. “You may not remember who you once were, but you are still a good friend of ours, and we will help you survive, no matter what it takes.” I said holding my hoof out into the middle of us. Jazmine was the first to put her hoof on top then oddly enough the generals came over and did so as well.

“As long as you’re here, you’re also under our protection and we will help you all home, somehow.” General Dusk said smiling at me. I smirked. Vasquez looked at all of us just staring at him waiting for him.

“What do you say Vasquez? You don’t have anything to lose by betting on us, so come on.” I said gesturing my head towards the pile of hooves. He giggled and put his hoof on top. “Together as one, we shall fall together, or we shall rise from the dirt and bring down the heavens.” I said pulling my hoof out as they cheered. Vasquez and Jazmine both smile at me as Vasquez lightly punches me in the shoulder. I punch him back and start walking towards the exit with the other two.

“Where do you three think you’re going? We’re not done here!” I heard General Frost yell. We all look back to them looking at them quizzically.

“What do you mean you’re not done?” I asked raising an eyebrow towards the general.

“I mean, we’re not done yet.” the general said gesturing towards the other generals. “First off, you” he said pointing towards Jazmine. “You aren’t a recruit yet so you have to stay in sight of an officer until you are accepted. So until you decide you will be staying in the company of General Lotus, she’ll watch after you. Now Recruit Solstice and Recruit Vasquez.” He looked towards us, his look hardening. “Don’t think this gives either of you an excuse not to do your training, Luna comes back in a month and a half, so get to it. Vasquez you get to your flight classes, and Solstice your flight classes are to be replaced with magic classes, your instructor is General Rose, you better be good or General Dusk will show you a whopping in your fight Classes, got it?” He finished smirking at me. I nodded my head and said my goodbyes to the Generals and to my wife.

Hey Luna, are you there? I thought, reaching out to Luna hoping to contact her easily.

I…I’m…I’m sorry…

Taken aback by this I open my eyes breaking my concentration. Why was she sorry?

Luna, is something wrong? I asked her hoping for a response, only to be met with utter silence. I kept asking for around half an hour before finally giving up.

Guess I’ll just go to sleep then, goodnight Luna. I thought to myself hoping this would guilt her as I fell into my sleep. To no avail the effort was.

“Oh where is it THIS time!” said the lavender unicorn sweeping over the books in a field of magic. Her concentration was interrupted by the sounds of over a dozen books falling and the yelp of pain from the young dragon. “Spike! Be more careful when you get on that ladder, would you?” She yelled at the dragon.

“Would you calm down twilight? I’m fine, I was just surprised.” the young dragon quickly retorted trying to calm the mare. The unicorn watched as he got to his feet glaring at him. “What?” he asked to the glaring unicorn.

“Fine? You could have died from that height if you landed wrong!” Twilight yelled again. Causing Spike to cover his ears. She walks over to the dragon inspecting him for any cuts or scrapes. She sighs, “Spike, just be more careful will you?” she asked putting on puppy dog eyes as she did so.

“I can’t be more careful than I already am Twilight, stop worrying. Now, here is the book you wanted, “Legends of Equestria”, correct?” Spike asked holding the book out to her so she could see the cover.

She simply nodded and took the book in her magic and brought it over to a desk. She used her magic to flip through the book skimming over the pages as she went until she finally found what she was looking for. “Here it is!” She exclaimed excitedly.

“Here what is?” Spike asked hopping onto the chair next to her.

“You know how as of late there have been reports of a group with a wolf insignia forming on the outer reaches of Equestria?” she asked as she looked over to Spike who simply shook his head. “Well, as of late there have been reports of that wolf insignia popping up all over Equestria, mostly at the outermost reaches of the country, Celestia said that it belonged to a group from a legend from over a thousand years ago. So I thought that I may be able to find out what it means if I read the old legend.” She stated happily, returning her eyes to the book.

“Why are you so interested in it Twi?” Spike asked hoping to get an answer other than her normal raised eyebrow. He simply sighs in aggravation then walks to the door. “Fine, if you won’t answer me I’ll just leave you to it then, make sure you don’t stay up all night again Twi, you know Celestia hates it when you do.” He stated only to have her shake her head and smile at the young dragon. He closes the door leaving the room still and quiet.

For hours Twilight sat there in the light of a single candle reading the legend, taking in all there is to know about the legend, from the small details that had no pertinence to the tale to the major details of how Celestia managed to nearly kill Lost Solstice but ended up banishing her sister to the moon. At the end of the story she sat there reading the very last line, over, and over, and over, and over. Her eyes were widened in astonishment, not only had she just read of her teacher, Queen Celestia herself, killing innocent ponies, but also read that Starswirl the Bearded, the grandfather of magic, the bringer of justice, the most powerful unicorn in existence had not been killed by a heart attack, but by this...thing ripping his heart out and popping it in its own claws.

She had to hold down the throw up that was trying to purge itself from her body at the pure detail of the legend, what was even more surprising was that the images were masterfully crafted so that one would feel as if they were there when the legend took place. For almost an hour she tried to convince herself that this was fake, that this legend was just that. A Legend. What scared her the most was that the insignia described and shown, was being worn by members of all species, from the Earth Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasi, Minotaur, Naga, Dragons, and even the Gryphons. She finally managed to convince herself that people were doing this because it was part of the newest fashion trend and they were just wearing it because they liked it.

She slowly got out of the chair and walked towards the door after blowing out the candle. She opened the door and closed it quietly. She turned around to be staring into the regal neckbrace of Queen Celestia. She stared into her reflection that was seen from the Amethyst. She quickly looked up to see that Celestia was staring down at her, her face instead of the cheerful smile, it was an flat face.

“Twilight Sparkle, you’re out late, may I ask why?” she probed quickly and flatly, not changing her expression as she said this.

Twilight quickly bows down and returns to her hooves. “Sorry Queen Celestia, I was doing a bit of late night reading.” she replied trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice, sadly to no avail. Celestia gives a small giggle finally smiling a little bit.

“Care to tell me what about Twilight?” she probes in a friendlier tone, giving her a reassuring smile. Twilight nods and starts walking alongside Celestia towards the courtyard.

“Well...You know those insignias that have been popping up all over Equestria, right?” Twilight asks her, she simply nods. “Well, when you said it was one from an old legend, I decided I might do some research into it.” she states sheepishly. Celestia looks at her then sighs.

“I knew you would go and do research on it, but tell me, what do you think?” Celestia asks sitting down on the closest bench gesturing Twilight to sit next to her. As Twilight hops onto the bench Celestia relaxes a little as she tries to get comfortable on the bench.

“I honestly don’t know what to think…” she started, “I mean I don’t know if it is real, mostly because it was said in history of over 1000 years ago, the only war around that time frame was the discordian war but that was around 1215 years ago, but the legend told that 1200 years ago, you banished your sister from Equestria and that she spent 100 years building up a rebel group to take back Equestria, from you.” she started to hang her head and speak louder so that Celestia could properly hear her. “It said, that you banished and killed ponies, because you were fearful that they would overthrow you, that they were trying to kill you, but Luna tried to dismiss your worries and when she saw ponies getting banished still and confronted you, you banished her from Equestria. After 100 years from her banishment, she returned with a group of rebels, they were called, “The Pack”, and their insignia was the insignia I’ve been seeing all over as of late.” She looked up to her teacher who simply stared at her listening to every word she said.

“After 99 years of fighting the war had changed into the favor of them by a pony named, Lost Solstice who has no known history here in Equestria, but was found to be of different origins from that of Equus. What was even stranger was that this pony could change into a wolflike form, but even odder from my analysis, he only ever turned when it was night time or close to night time, but it was like he could control it. It even said that Starswirl the Bearded was killed by him, not by a heart attack. Only a couple months later when he was seen on the last field of battle, he had a mane that flowed like yours but it was a red starfield with floating orbs of color lacing it. He was also the last wielder of something called, “The Element of Magic” and he was defeated by you with the power of other Elements which were called, “The Elements of Harmony”. In the end you banished Luna to the moon for a thousand years and according to the legend that thousandth year is this year, more precisely next month! And-” Twilight stopped as she saw her teacher looking up towards the stars of the night. She saw a tear come from the corner of her eye as she looked back towards her. “Are…Are you okay Celestia?” Twilight asked.

“I’m sorry Twilight…” was all she could manage to say before she disappeared into the night-sky. Twilight sat there with her hoof out in the air screaming for the queen to come back to her.

After ten minutes of screaming she finally gave up and made her way back to her room where Spike was sound asleep. She was both exhausted and filled with many questions still that were left unanswered by Celestia. Why is it all hidden? Why did she hide the truth? Is Nightmare Moon the only myth there truly is? How much else has she lied about? Why did she run away from me? All these questions she thought of as she went to bed. As she finally fell asleep, she woke up on the Moon.

“Concentrate on creating a spark in front of you Recruits! Once you see that spark keeping pouring your magic into it!” yelled General Rose at us. I already had a fire blazing in a perfect sphere in front of me while the other recruits were still trying to get a simple spark to appear. It’s been 6 days since I started my magic training and I’m catching on fast, I’m able to form perfect shapes out of my magic making it a deadly weapon. Sadly I am still not advanced enough to move into the higher classes per say General Rose. “Solstice! Stop messing with the sphere and start over! Practice mak-” As he said this I created a flat plane of magic below each of my hooves and started to use them to hover. The other recruits stopped to gawk at me in amazement. The General wasn’t impressed though and bucked me in my right knee sending me to the ground dropping the planes of magic and the sphere of fire into multiple shards yet still perfectly sitting in midair causing the recruits to laugh.

“Sir, with all do respect, my skills are advanci-” I was cut off with a hoof to the jaw, I looked to my left to find General Dusk was standing there. He simply smiles and helps me up onto my hooves. “Okay, that was just unfair!” I exclaim to the general. He simply smirks and nods towards General Rose.

“Your skills may be good Solstice” he said as he took off his cap. “Yet if you want to get to the next classes, you’re going to have to learn to listen.” he continued as he slowly removed his coat. “Or better yet, you can fight me, magic only. No hooves, no killing, you can severely injure, but if you kill, you will be killed, got it?” he said turning his gaze back towards me and General Dusk. I look to my left as General Dusk busts out laughing, falling to the ground holding his abdomen.

“What’s so dang funny General?” I ask to the pony who stops laughing and walks over to the side of General Rose and takes off his coat and cap. “Oh, so two generals versus a 6 day recruit? Now that just isn’t fair.” I exclaim as I see them smirk at each other and whisper. “At least, not fair for you two.” I say aloud catching their attention.

“Change of plans recruit, you’re going to have your final fighting test with me as well. Your first magic and your last hand to hand combat? This will test your skills to see if you will be able to come with us in 25 days.” General Dusk says easing into his normal fighting stance. General Rose just nods his head and conjures a sphere of what looked like a starfield. I simply smirk and assume a calm stance.

“Ready?” I ask to the two generals. They nod their heads. “Get back everypony, it’s about to get serious.” I say as I conjure one…two….three...six...twelve spheres of light slowly forming them into daggers. The generals eyes widen but they don’t retreat, the other ponies around us back away clearing a 50 meter radius for our fight. “Seems you know this spell?” I ask them assuming a fighting stance now covering the ends of each limb with the daggers pointing outwards. They simply nod. “Then lets begin!” I yell charging at them both, jumping and slamming right back hoof into the ground where they once were. I look above me to see the starfield encompassing the hoof of General Dusk who was dropping like a bullet towards me.

I narrowly evade the attack by backstepping then sending a dagger flying towards General Rose to be met with a twang as it rebounded off a shield he created last minute. As I saw General Dusk getting up I ran up and punched the general sending him flying about 9 feet away turning around just in time to see the starfield gauntlet that was created of the starfield as it zipped past me flying right into the recovering General Dusk. All you hear is a solid thump as General Dusk is sent flying into a tree, knocking him out.

“You know General Rose, you’re supposed to hit me, not your teammate!” I yell up to the unicorn who is floating on a field of violet magic. He simply winces as he realizes what he did. I take this advantage by sending 4 daggers into the platform making him fall as I use the last of my daggers turning them into fists and sending them where he was falling where I used them to punch him left, right, up, down, and to all sides for about a minute before finally stopping.

As I walk over to General Rose he slowly starts to get up so I ready another sphere of magic hoping for him to continue fighting. He simply waves his hoof, signaling the end of the fight. “That’s enough Solstice! You passed!” He says continuing to wave his hoof before finally fainting from exhaustion. No doubt, I went a little overboard with punching him with my magic. As I rid my magic from the field I hear a yell from my left, looking over I see General Dusk charging at me punching me in the jaw sending me flying a few feet back.

“I’m not done with ya yet Solstice!” He exclaims angrily. I look up to see him huffing and puffing struggling to keep his balance. I looked down to his left hind leg to find that it was broken and he was barely trying to put any weight on it. I smile conjuring a platform underneath him and quickly zipping it from underneath him then jumping at him and kicking him in the stomach sending him 7 meters away. No way he could take a hit like that and still be conscious. As I start to walk away I hear him yell, “You aren’t done till you knock me out Solstice!” Luna be damned, he was still awake! I walk over to him this time not lifting a hoof to hit him, but I put out my hoof to help him up.

“Listen General Dusk, I don’t care if I lose this test, your left hind leg is broken and so is 2 of your ribs from what I can tell, you need to be taken to the ER stat, no ifs ands or buts about it. You can fail me, but I won’t run the risk of letting you die because of your pride in not ever being knocked out by a recruit. Now either you can accept this help and fail me, or I will sedate you, your choice.” I say towards the General hoping he would be smart and listen for once. He simply laughs.

“You’re sure something different Recruit, you sure as Luna are.” He said before fainting finally. I roll my eyes and pick him up as another recruit runs over to me to help. I smile and explain his injuries to the pony and tell two other recruits to get General Rose and bring her to the ER to get them both fixed up.

“Commander, we have located the targets.” he says quietly through the headset as he uses binoculars to spy on Fort Brathio. His squadmates stand at the ready hiding in several other clouds in the sky. Tonight was cloudy as the local weather team planned for a dark night, of course payed off by the royal guard to do so.

“Are you sure its them?” the commander asks through his radio from Canterlot Headquarters.

“Affirmative, Permission to engage the enemy?” he asks readying his wings to take flight from the clouds.

“Permission granted, but keep this a stealth mission, we don’t need to lose any unneeded soldiers Captain Shard.” He said harshly through the microphone.

“Roger that Commander Bolt.” Captain Shard then proceeds to switch communication channels from Hotel Quebec to Delta India Echo. “Listen up soldiers! We have permission to engage, but keep it quiet, we get the targets we get out, no more no less. Only kill if you have to then hide the body quickly. Now move!” As he finished his sentence the pegasi zoomed from the clouds towards the ground into the shade of the trees and the brush.

Slowly they crept up on the Fort meeting no resistance. Oddly, there were no guards at the gate as usual and there were no guards on the walls either. The Captain signals them to stop as he continues towards the gate and slowly opens it. He sneaks in to find that no pony was around. It was a ghost town, he gestures for the other ponies to join him in the Fort, they quickly enter and hide again.

They searched for the barrack that their targets were in for a good hour before finally finding it. Captain Shard split the group into 3 Squads and surrounded the building while he went to find the targets.

Five

Four

Three

Two

ONE!

As we all hit one I bust through the door making Jazmine yelp in surprise.

“Happy 8 year anniversary!” I exclaim towards her whereas she is holding her hoof to her heart both to try and calm down and because she was so happy. Today, September 18th, 2013 it has been 8 whole years since me and Jazmine have been together. Eight wonderful years spent with the one I love, eight years I will never regret ever, even this time in Equestria.

“You remembered?!” She exclaimed back as I held a rose out to her in my field of magic as she took it in her mouth and set it down on table. She was staying with General Lotus had left for the week as she had work to do over in the Gryphon Kingdom more specifically Companies Whiskey through Zulu. Before she left, I asked if I could stay with Jazmine in her place for a few reasons, mainly since it was our 8 year anniversary, she said I could as long as we keep it in the guest bedroom. I smiled as I hugged Jazmine holding her close landing a peck on her cheek.

“How are you holding up Jazmine?” I asked as I pulled away from the hug. She sighed and opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it and shook her head.

“I want to say I’m doing okay Lionel, but…In reality I’m not…While you’re out there training every day to help bring back this, Princess Luna, in a week I’m stuck doing nothing. It’s really boring.” She says walking into the living room which was furnished in what was the pony version of a seaside home. White walls, furnishing that resembled Shells, some walls were painted with a background of a beach and some were painted with a simple sky blue with a sun somewhere on it. She had a nice place to be honest. I walked over to Jazmine as she sat down on the couch putting her head in her hooves.

“I know it’s boring Jazmine, but I’m not doing this for them, I’m doing it more so that we can get home or have at least some hope of getting home some day.” I say putting a hoof on her back and stroking her mane as she fell down onto my lap.

That’s mean, I thought we were friends! I hear Luna yell into my mind causing me to wince.

“Yes, you’re my friend, but I have priorities, Family first, Rebel groups trying to overthrow a Tyrannical Queen second, you know how it goes!” I say out loud. Jazmine looks up to me.

“Who are you talking to Lionel?” she asks raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t you know? I’ve had this connection with Luna and Azriel for about a month before we had arrived and we’ve been using it to talk when we need to ever since, I thought I told you?” I probed making her roll her eyes. She closes her eyes then sighs. “I know it’s a little weird, but hey they aren’t so bad once you get used to them.” I said hoping they heard.

HEY! I hear Luna yell into my mind while I hear Azriel laughing in the background.

“You’re the one who cast a spell on me to do this Luna, heck, I didn’t even know of you before I came to this world, can’t expect me not to think it is one, weird and two, creepy.” I say aloud getting a small chuckle from the white pegasus laying her head on my side as I bicker with Luna.

Fair enough…but that’s still mean to say… she replies solemnly.

“Sorry Luna, I can’t say I really blame you especially since well, for a thousand years you had no one or pony to talk to, or at least be able to understand your feelings of loneliness.” I said letting my face grow dark as I remembered my father, and the mother who abandoned me after he was killed. I felt Jazmine start to stroke my mane trying to calm me, I return to her a warm smile.

“Lionel, can…can she hear me?” I heard Jazmine ask as she continued to stroke my mane. I simply nodded. Jazmine smiles at me and hugs me. “If she can, I want to speak with her, but I want you there with me Lionel, think you can ask her?” she proceeds to ask.

I can Solstice, let me cast a sleep spell on both of you then I’ll bring you both here, along with a pony I want you both to meet. Luna replies quickly into my mind. I nod.

“She’s going to cast a sleep spell on us, so lets get to the bedroom so we can wake up somewhere comfortable, and not in a hospital bed.” As I finished saying this we both got up and walked into the guest bedroom and cuddled together as we felt the spell take effect. Drifting off to sleep and appearing on the moon.

“Squads regroup, targets are nowhere to be located in the barracks, we’re moving to the Generals Quarters, they may be holding them in there.” Captain Shard said through the headset quietly as to not wake the sleeping recruits. He slowly makes his way out the door and shuts it as softly as he can and takes off, off the balcony into the cool night air. Making his way towards the Generals Quarters, seeing only one light on, it was coming from General Lotus’s home.

“Make your way towards the home of General Lotus, we will check her place first for the two targets.” The Captain says as he sees the other pegasi take flight, staying low to the ground as to not attract any roaming recruits up for a late night snack or jog. Captain Shard makes it to the home and lands on the balcony that rests in the living room area. “Captain Shard, in position.” He says through the Headset.

“Alpha Squad in position.” says Master Sergeant Tome.

“Beta Squad in position.” says Master Sergeant Umbra.

“Charlie Squad in position.” says Master Sergeant Sol.

“Alpha Squad and Charlie Squad, stay put, Beta Squad enter through the back door, front door and the balcony of the study, now MOVE!” Captain Shard whispers harshly into the headset, he gets the normal reply. “Sir, Yes Sir!” As they say this he watches as 3 ponies enter through the entrances. Defined by the Captain, entering quietly as possible and closing the doors behind them immediately.

Captain Shard opens up the balcony window making his way into the center of the room, looking over everything making sure not to leave any spot unchecked. After thoroughly checking every spot in the living room he makes his way down the hallway to the master bedroom making sure not to touch anything. As he reaches his hoof out to turn the knob he hears a rustling come from the bedroom to his left. He retracted his hoof and opened the door to the bedroom.

My sight came back as I stood up onto my two feet again. It was nice to be back in a human body, even though it wouldn’t last that long. I look over my shoulder to see Jazmine getting up slowly from the grey surface shaking her head as she got the last bits of dust out of her hair. I smile at her and she smiles back.

“Alright, c’mon honey, let's go find Luna, and this other pony she brought.” I said putting out a hand to her, she grabs it and smiles at me. We start to walk towards a mound no more than 30 feet away and use it for a viewpoint to find Luna and this other pony.

“There they are!” Jazmine Exclaims causing me to look over in the direction that she was pointing. I saw Princess Luna sitting on a rock and in front of her a fire blazed, across the fire was a Lavender Unicorn. I couldn’t help but feel as if this Unicorn was someone that I knew, or someone that I once knew. I simply nod my head and start walking towards them.

Luna is talking as the lavender unicorn is staring intently taking in everything that she is saying no doubt it was something important as she was using her magic to furiously jot down notes as she spoke. I couldn’t help but laugh causing them to both look over at us, I simply wave and continue walking towards them. Luna returns it with a warm smile while the unicorns eyes grow big and she hides behind the rock she was sitting on. I simply smile at the unicorn trying to reassure her that I wasn’t a threat. It took about 5 minutes to finally reach them.

“We were just talking about you.” Luna says as she moves two boulders over for me and Jazmine to sit on.

“Oh, and what about may I ask?” I probe causing the unicorn to widen her eyes in amazement.

“It...It can talk?!” I hear her practically yell. I wince at the voice as it pierces my eardrums.

“Ow! Please don’t yell, one my hearing is very sensitive and two I’m only a few feet away. Yes I can form fluid sentences in the language I speak, just as you can, miss?” I end with a question to try and get a name from her. She regains her composure and returns to her spot on her rock.

“I’m much more interested in getting to know who you are, more specifically what you are.” She replies quickly while raising an eyebrow towards me. I look over to Luna and gesture her to continue her story.

“Well Twilight Sparkle, I would like you to meet…” she stopped mid sentence putting on a grim face. “...Lost Solstice.” She finishes causing Twilights smile to disappear entirely and be replaced with a horrified look before teleporting a few feet away. “Twilight, it’s okay, he won’t hurt you.” She says to Twilight who conjures a sphere of sunlight.

“Twilight, listen, from what it seems, Luna has told you the legend of what happened over a thousand years ago, about Starswirl the Bearded and my history or at least what she can tell you. I promise you, I mean no harm to you and I will not fight you.” I said opening my arms and walking slowly towards the mare stopping a few feet in front of her as she still held her position. She slowly started walking towards me and as she got close to me she slammed the sphere of light into my gut sending me to my knees grabbing my stomach in pain. I hear Jazmine getting up from her rock as well as Luna, I tell them to sit back down. “Okay, I guess I deserve that, but I seriously don’t want to fig-” I was cut off by her slamming the ball of light into my chin sending me flying a few feet back before she teleported on top of me holding me down.

She slowly analyzes me up and down feeling with her magic making sure I have no weapons before letting me back up. “I can’t take any chances in letting you get the jump on me, sorry.” She says holding a hoof out to help me up, I grab it and get up off the ground.

“Well, you sure know how to pack a punch with that sphere, I’ll give you that. But I have no intentions to harm anypony other than those who get in my way of getting my wife back to my world.” I finish gesturing over to Jazmine who simply waves at us with an uneasy smile on her face. Luna is smiling as we start to walk back over to them

“Besides if you did mean any harm, you could have killed me by now, from what the legend says.” Twilight responds looking up to me and smirking. I shake my head.

“No I couldn’t of killed you, primarily because I don’t have a single reason to, and secondly this is only a dream, not reality miss Sparkle.” I reply putting on a flat face as I sit down on my rock. As Twilight sits down I look back over to Luna who was waiting patiently for us to sit down. I smile at her, “So, where did you leave off?” I asked.

Luna clears her throat, “I finished telling the history of the 100 year war.” she replies returning to her normal voice and demeanor. I smirk.

“Well then,” I start, “Twilight, do you know of anything that happened after she was banished? Anything that would tip off any of this? Anything at all?” I asked hoping she had some information that wasn’t readily available to me. She nods. “Care to tell us?” I gesture towards Luna and Jazmine when I say this. She nods again.

“In the legend from the book it says after Princess Luna was banished to the moon, Lost Solstice was captured and spent a month in the royal dungeons before being publically executed by guillotine. Your last dying words were as follows. “My last words? You would not care for them, none would listen, so why should I even try. No one respects a rebels wishes no matter if they fought for the better of a country because of tyrants like you. My life has no worth anymore to you or any of the other ponies living here today. You banished Princess Luna to the Moon the first chance you had on the field of battle showing no honor. You are no queen, you are no noble, you are nothing but scum! Your sister would have done anything for you to help you, but you turned your back on her and chose to go down the path of darkness. She tried to help you, yet when she insisted you banished her from the country in fear of her overthrowing you. That’s what has truly led us to make, “The Pack”, because she wanted what was best for Equestria, and she knew that you were a tyrant that needed to be dethroned. Kill me, maim my corpse, burn my corpse, drown me, do whatever fate you wish to me, but one day. One day, when Princess Luna Returns, we will be back. I will be reborn just as my brothers and sisters who fought alongside me. When that day comes Celestia, that day will be your last.” “ She finished quoting him and brought a long silence upon the moon other than the occasional crack of the fire.

Did I really say that? I thought to myself as she finished quoting the legend. I looked away towards Equus allowing myself to drift off into thought only to be quickly brought back to attention by Jazmine slapping me on the back of the head.

“HEY! Snap out of it!” She exclaimed as the smack resounded across the surface of the moon. I simply shake my head to tell her I wasn’t. She pinches the bridge between her eyes with her forefingers and lets out a small sigh. “Well listen this time, or next time I’m going to do worse than just hitting you in the back of the head.” She said angrily. I nod and return my attention towards Twilight and Luna.

“Okay I’m only going to repeat this one time Lost Solstice, ONCE!” Twilight stamped her hoof to make a point. “First off, Queen Celestia, you may not see it, but she is done with fighting and doesn’t want another w-” I cut her off.

“Done with fighting Mrs. Sparkle? Obviously you hadn’t heard of the recent dragon attack on the castle did you? Two months and three weeks ago, or have you just not gotten the truth from her?” I asked harshly changing my calm demeanor to a harsher one. Glaring right through her.

“You mean the dragon that attacked the castle and the royal guard apprehended? Queen Celestia had nothing to do with it, she di-” I cut her off again.

“Than you obviously were misinformed Mrs. Sparkle, she was deeply involved, how do I know? I WAS that dragon, I didn’t attack her until she raised the guard against me threatening to kill me and Jazmine escaping from the royal guard who took to the air after us and blocked out the sun with Celestia leading the assault on us, only to be saved by Glistening Star, a unicorn from The Pack in Fort Brathio.” I started feeling the anger seething my face as I stood above the fire looking over Twilight who was now quiet. I shook my head at her and sat back down trying to calm down.

“That...that can’t be true…” She said quietly, trying to shake the thought from her head.

“Well it is, I was there, I was the one attacked, that was the day I came to this world, the day I met the very thing responsible for my brothers death by disembowelment and using his blood to write me a message along with using his large intestine to make a heart and write that message in the middle of it.” I said angrily getting my point across. Twilight simply sat there dumbfounded. No doubt she couldn’t wrap her mind of the very pony that had taught her since she was a foal, was actually a menace to the world.

Twilight started to cry falling to the ground and covering her face with her hooves. “I...I can’t…. I can’t believe this! She lied to me…she lied to the world…why…just…why…” she muttered between her sobs. Jazmine walks over to Twilight and pulls her into a hug holding her tight as she cried. Luna sat with a sad look on her face looking at Twilight.

Lionel…I never wanted any of that to happen, trust me. It hurts me just as much her to have my sister turn into something evil in the blink of an eye. she said into my mind causing me to turn to her and give a small smile.

I can only imagine the pain and sorrow the both of you feel, but at least you have the chance to get her back from her darkened state of mind, as I don’t have a chance to get my family back. I replied taking on a solemn look. She simply nods her head at this.

Both of you are at least in your own body, I have to share one with Lionel for eternity! Not to mention share with Tiamat as well. We were both taken aback by Azriels interruption. I couldn’t help but snicker a little. Luna was just shaking her head with a small smile on her face. When I looked over to Jazmine and Twilight, Jazmine was gone and Twilight was still crying.

I started to worry, “Hey Luna, Twilight, where is Jazmine?” I asked to them, Luna replied with a shrug of her shoulders and Twilight didn’t even look up. “Crap…” I muttered to myself. “Luna, can’t you track her on the moon with some sort of spell or something, I mean this is a Dream of YOUR creation isn’t it?” I asked.

“It may be of my creation but it doesn’t mean I can sense the entities present in it. Just like I couldn’t sense him coming until he was right next to you.” she said pointing a hoof behind me to my left. I slowly turn around to find myself face to face with a pony in a black robe draping over his entire body and covering all but his face.

“Hello again Lost Solstice.” He began. I recognized the voice from my dream a few weeks ago when I was laid out on the table. I felt the anger flow through my veins as I punched the stallion in the jaw. He didn’t even flinch. “Not very wise to be picking a fight with me, especially when you have no control of anything in this dream.” He said taking off his hood to reveal his face. He was a dark brown unicorn with a black mane and dark blue eyes. “I’m not here to fight, I’m here to give you a message which I hope you shall heed with haste.” He said calmly. I simply nod my head and keep myself from trying to punch him again.

“First off whoever you are, why should I listen to you, second off what was with that dream, and lastly who are you?” I asked furrowing my eyebrows.

“First, because it pertains to the disappearance of your wife, second that is none of your concern, and lastly my name is Kale of the Order of Harmony.” He finished up and started to speak again. “Your wife and you were just kidnapped from the generals home by Captain Shard of the Royal Guard, your wife was awoken by the touch but gagged so she couldn’t wake you. You and her are currently being carried out of Fort Brathio so make haste Lost Solstice and know we are always watching.” He finished saying as he disappeared from sight.

I sat there horrified for a couple minutes. How could I have let them take her again…why…why does this always happen. I shook my head ridding the thought of losing her again. “LUNA! Send me back to Equus, NOW! I WON’T LET THEM TAKE HER AGAIN, SEND ME BACK NOW!” I yelled across the moon causing the ground to shake under the voice, I recognized it as the voice of Tiamat. Luna simply nodded and I felt as I fell back to Equus landing into my body as I was being carried by some pegasi.