Chapters Twilight Falls On Equestria
Prologue - War at the Door
It has been 3 years since Discord was set free, 3 years since Equestria has fallen into chaos, 3 years since I have become tactician of the Shadowbolts and Councilor of Defense of the Royal Lunarian Army.
No pony knows quite what happened except perhaps the Alicorns and Discord. I will do my best to tell the story as accurately as possible. As I mentioned before, it all began 3 years ago during zap apple harvest season. The first three signs had already occurred and everypony in Equestria was anxious for the zap apple delicacies which were only a day away. It was the night of the fourth day and we all looked to the sky. Meteors were falling as expected, but there was something strange about the pattern of the shower. It was not a haphazard light show of flaming rocks as one would expect of a meteor shower. Rather, it almost appeared as if the meteors were being directed…
Everypony in town followed the direction of the meteors as they streaked through the sky. It became clear all too soon that they were on a collision course for Canterlot. They were making a beeline for the castle and nopony knew what they could do to prevent it. Twilight Sparkle immediately had Spike send a message to Princess Celestia, however, it was too late. Before he could incinerate the scroll the first collision was heard. Then the next, and one after that, and one after that… so on so forth until morning. Canterlot was unrecognizable the next day. Nopony even cared about the zap apples which would go rotten if not picked today. Everypony had their eyes on our sovereign alicorns. Only they could make sense of this tragedy.
This is where the story begins to diverge depending on which sovereign you choose to follow. What is known for sure is that Discord was released that night. While the meteors struck the towers and battlements of the Palace he stealthily disappeared into the night. No doubt HE was the one behind their strange paths. What is uncertain is who released him. Princess Celestia walked up to a podium in front of everypony without her sister and made her declaration to the anxious ponies.
“My younger sister, Princess Luna, has betrayed us once again", she began, much to the dismay of everypony.
"In her malice she has released the chaotic beast of Discord with the sinister intention of destroying me and ruling Equestria on her own. She did this due to a dispute between us. She demanded that she be allowed power over the night once more. She believed that she had proven she reformed herself and deserved the right to wield her old powers once again. In my sound judgement I told her to first do more acts as a civilian to help the community before taking on such a large burden. She became angry and after our lengthy argument she stormed out of Canterlot. Last night I did not raise the Moon."
At this remark the nervous ponies who had been chattering about went silent. To wrest control of the moon from Celestia against her will would take immense power.
"By way of dark magic she stole the night from me. It only makes sense that she also released Discord. It would cement her power as sole sovereign of Equestria. At this moment I have no doubt that she and Discord are plotting my deposition. Everypony, I request that you search high and low for her and report any sightings of her to royal guards who will be posted in every town until she is dealt with…”
Her speech went on for hours more. Needless to say it was the last thing we needed. We lost the zap apple harvest, our greatest city was in ruins, and one of our beloved sovereigns was a traitor, needless to say Equestria was in a dire state of affairs. We all went home and did our best to live our lives as we always had. For a while things seemed the same. We ignored the guards seen walking around town and taking ponies into empty buildings. We accepted that the grand gala would be cancelled this year. Gradually we got back into our flow of things. There were rumours that Discord had begun to wreak chaos somewhere in Froggy Bottom Bog. The cutie mark crusaders had also gone missing much to the dismay of Applejack and Rarity. They spent months putting up fliers and having search teams go through every nook and cranny in Ponyville. Ponies just assumed that Discord or Luna got them and once again, went back to normal life. It’s funny how adaptive we are. One day we have two queens, the next we have one. One day we have a royal city, the next we do not. Yet regardless of our hardships we keep pressing on. I guess that’s why we’ve been able to stick around for so long.
I digress. We were able to return to our normal lives quite effectively, that is until the day when Luna returned. She walked out of the shadows of the trees of the meadow ragged and clearly traumatized. She collapsed in front of Fluttershy’s cottage. Poor Flutter didn’t know what to do so she brought Luna into her home and nursed her back to health. One day, Derpy was delivering the mail and caught a glimpse of Luna’s shadowy mane through the window. She immediately called the royal guards and Fluttershy was taken with Luna to the newly rebuilt Canterlot Jail to be tried for high treason against the state. Most ponies were unsure of who to support here. On one hand Luna probably destroyed Canterlot, on the other hand Fluttershy was only being kind. Also, if Luna was so evil, why did she allow the day and night cycle to occur regularly when she took the power of the night back? Questions like these and many more were buzzing about Equestria in the days leading up to the trial. This truly was the tipping point that would lead to civil war.
There was no trial. That’s not to say there was no physical ceremony, but rather the entire judicial process was clearly being overridden by the will of Princess Celestia. When Luna and Fluttershy entered that court room they were already pronounced guilty. The proceedings of the trial meant nothing. The lawyer for the crown, Flim. The lawyer for the defence, Flam. It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic. Everypony watched with growing unease as these two individuals of Equestria were being made out to be fools and court and would most likely receive death for their “crimes”. However, don’t get me wrong, many ponies believed that this trial was being done entirely by the book and truly believed that Luna and Shy would be receiving the punishment they deserved. These two opposing ideas caused a rift between ponies. Families would become silent with one another because two brothers supported two different sovereigns. Businesses would only deal with likeminded ponies to their chosen sovereign. Civil war had already broken out to be honest. People just weren’t saying it out loud.
On the day of the sentencing it went without saying that Princess Luna and Fluttershy were given the death penalty to be beheaded for their crimes against the state. As the royal guards approached to lead them away Luna made her move. She made some kind of signal and suddenly three Shadowbolts shot out of the crowd.
“FOR THE HONOUR OF PRINCESS LUNA!” They shouted as they barrelled into the guards. Luna picked up Shy and shouted to all who would listen in her royal Canterlot voice.
“THIS TRIAL HATH BEEN A FARCE. ALL YE WHO HATH ANY LOYAL BLOOD IN THINE VEINS, FOLLOW ME TO MINE SANCTUM IN EVERFREE FOREST. FOR THE SAKE OF EQUESTRIA, FOLLOW! FOLLOW ME AND SURVIVE THE COMING STORM!” With that she galloped out of the courtroom and left everypony in a state of confusion.
For a moment there was silence. All that could be heard was the sound of the Shadowbolts beating the guards unconscious. Then all hell broke loose. Unbeknownst to those at the trial, the Wonderbolts had been stationed just outside in case such an event occurred. They rushed in and immediately began to brawl with the Shadowbolts. The rest of us began to fight amongst each other. Those too weak to fight ran and hid, but the bulk of us just let our tension flow out of us freely. Months of bitterness and anger that had built up between neighbours and family was released that day. I killed my first pony that day. Flim. He and Flam were facing a great deal of threat from the enraged masses. Many ponies like myself understood that they were simply paid to put on a show. Flam was taken town by Applejack. After those brothers nearly ran her out of business she was just looking for a reason to end them. As his brother fell, Flim just looked in awe. Then ran. The coward. He would have escaped too had I not pursued him. I flew from the courtroom out into the streets. He just ran and ran… I’ll give him credit, he really didn’t want to die that day. Unfortunately for him, Canterlot is positioned on a mountain. No ferries were active at this time and he was trapped as he approached the edge of the precipice. I remember walking… one step… two steps… three steps… He kept begging me, promising money, fame, love, anything. Then wouldn’t you know it, he slipped. That was the end of Flim.
I knew I had sealed by fate at that point. You cannot murder in Equestria, that’s the law. Even if these men were fools, a murder is still a murder. So I ran… well flew I guess… into Everfree Forest. At this point Luna’s offer of protection seemed like a good deal for me. Many other ponies joined us. Criminals, sympathizers, and opportunists all came in by a trickle to join Luna’s cause. Eventually the territory occupied by us had been established. We called ourselves Lunaria to combat Solurnia which was established following the trial. Despite being “at war” most hostilities were just skirmishes. That is until Discord’s true might became known. His twilight began to stretch into both Lunarian and Solurnian territory. Our night and their Day became a grey blank as he expanded his control. This is where our story begins. My name is Sylvan, I am a member of the Shadowbolts, I serve Princess Luna, and we will win this war.
Twilight Falls On Equestria
Chapter 1 - Everyone Hates Mondays
KRRKAW!KRRRRAWK! KAW!
“Worst alar-“KRRRRRAAAAAAWK! KRAWK!
“WORST ALARM IN EXISTENCE…but effective…” I muttered to no one in particular. Shy could have found any animal in Everfree forest to wake me up. A lark, a mockingbird, anything would have been fine! Instead she gives me a cockatrice. The thing sounds like a choking buzzard. She said it was the only reliable animal to wake me up an hour before dawn. I guess beggars can’t be choosers.
I groggily stepped out of my bed. Waking up this early isn’t fun but it sure beats having to deal with all the other ponies on my way for my morning dip in the communal baths. As I began my descent to the ground floor of my apartment I noticed that Alectrona hadn’t moved from her perch.
“Come along then, beast. We haven’t got all day”, I called up to her.
She snapped to attention and gave me a quizzical look, still remaining firmly seated next to the windowsill.
“Fine then, stay home”, I remarked as I left the building.
What a strange creature, that cockatrice. Every day at 5:00 am it’s up and roaring, yet its morning routines are entirely unpredictable. Today, I guess it decided to stay in. Maybe there will be rain soon.
The streets were empty at this hour. It makes sense; there was yet no light in the sky. In Lunarian Territory there is only night. There is the “daytime” of night which occurs when the moon rises and falls, and then there is true night. This is the time during which there is no light at all being produced naturally in the sky. We navigate the town and our homes with torches and candles in order to keep from having accidents.
As I neared the bathing pool I noticed the moon begin to rise. It slowly inched up along the horizon, painting the land in a soft blue tinged light. In this light my dark blue fur completely camouflaged me. I blended in perfectly with the grass around me. The same applies to my mane. Blue is a rather common theme with me nowadays. I used to have a purplish coat with a red and white mix for my mane and tail, but such luxuries must be forfeited during wartime. In the soft blue light of day at night, you'd hardly want to look like a giant red target, now would you? So I dyed my fur. It's not exactly something I'm proud of, but what's a pony going to do, right? I guess that may contribute to why I go to these early morning baths. We wouldn't want a member of the interior council to look anything less than his best. An early bath, then a quick change into uniform and nopony is given any time to question my curiously consistent colouration. A pony in my position must maintain his appearances and having gossip spread about me, no matter how harmless, could be compromising. Ergo, early mornings suit me fine. Call me anti-social but I have things to do and I would prefer not to be hindered by such frivolities!
I approached the pool and unfurled my wings as I prepared to jump in. The first jolt is always the worst.
*SPLASH*
“Just as freezing as expected” I muttered under my breath as I rubbed my hooves together to warm myself. I would say the same thing to myself each morning. It helped to keep the idea fresh in my mind for my next meeting with Trixie. Hopefully if I can bug her frequently enough she will get one of her unicorns to magic up some heated water for this thing. Until then I guess I’ll just have to tough out these cold dips. At least they wake me up.
The moon was now completely visible. Full as always. Ever since Luna separated night from day the light of the moon seemed to be constant. No waxing or waning. Just one ever present disc. She said it was possible because she matched the path of the moon with the path of the sun that Celestia had set out. Her moon would always perfectly reflect the light of her sun.
“Even at war they seem to be working together” I chuckled to myself as I cleaned the dirt out of the feathers of my wings. Ponies were beginning to file out of their homes now. I took that as my cue to vacate the pool and make my way home as quickly as possible before being waylaid by some idle ponies looking for a conversation with one of the Shadowbolts. I stepped out of the pool, shook myself dry and began to part my mane with my wings. I’ll never understand how earth ponies groom themselves. Unicorns have their magic, and pegasi have our wings, but earth ponies have nothing! I guess that’s just one of the secrets of the universe that will forever remain unsolved.
As I pondered this mystery I noticed a page cantering in my general direction.
“Great”, I thought as I finished cleaning up.
“I guess I can’t avoid all conversations. At least this one is with a soldier. Perhaps he will be giving me useful information”.
“Good morning, sir”, he said as he approached. The boy kneeled before me, much to my disappointment. Another greenhorn. Getting a message out of him will be like pulling out teeth.
“I am sorry to interrupt your bathing, sir, but I have an urgent message from Luna. See, I was going to tell you this message at your home, but by the time I arrived you had already left. I wasn’t sure if you were going to come back so I asked your landlady where you went and she told me that you went for your morning bath at the pool. So I came running and that’s why I’m here so—“
“If this message is so urgent just spit it out. I could have gone to Luna and asked her for the contents myself in the time you’ve just spent blabbering.”
“Right, sorry, sir. So, sorry. It won’t happen again! I’ll be sure of it, I know better now!”
“I’m still waiting.” I seethed as I began to walk away from him.
“Ah okay! Right! Princess Luna would like you to make your way to the castle as soon as possible. There is an urgent meeting of the interior council that is to take place as soon as all of the members are assembled.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes, sir”
“Good boy, you may go back to your regular duties now.”
“Thank you, sir”
Greenhorns are all the same. Yes, sir. No, sir. May I have some more, sir? It would be cute if I didn’t have to command them in skirmishes. The minute danger is real they just piss themselves and cry for mum. I guess that’s why I’M the one commanding them and not Shy. Goodness knows, she’d probably kiss their boo-boos and give them all purple hearts for trying. Oh well. I got my message. I guess I may as well head off to the castle. It’s only a ten minute canter from here, if I gallop I could make it in half the time and perhaps avoid any further awkward situations.
* * *
As I approached the gates of the azure palace I made sure not to make eye contact with any of the ponies of the court that were mulling about. The palace looked just as impressive as ever. It was fashioned by Fluttershy by hollowing out the base of the largest tree in Everfree Forest. The hollow base made for the grand hall and the numerous council rooms and congress. She also fashioned a stairwell of fungus along some of the outer branches. These led to the royal chambers and the chambers of several of Luna's protege. Those ponies who were under the tutelage of Luna to lead if she fell in battle or through illness received bed and board in exchange for their service.
As I walked through the grand hall I became uncomfortably aware of the fact that I was most likely already late for this meeting, though I could hardly be blamed. It’s not as if I knew that the messenger would be coming for me so early in the morning. Hopefully they didn’t start without me. A matter urgent enough to warrant a pre-moonrise meeting would definitely be something that had to be dealt with quickly.
As I entered the council room I saw the rest of the council assembled and discussing certain matters amongst themselves. The room was rectangular. It fit the entire council comfortably whilst not being too large. The ceiling was incredibly high as Luna wished for a skylight and being that the council is directly in the center of the tree that meant hollowing it out straight through to the top. The integrity of the tree was kept by artificial pillars made by trixie. These things were built to last a millenia. However, the pillars were not my focus today, the round council table and its current occupants were. I could not discern anything specific from their discussions for upon my entry they stopped discussing and turned their gazes to me.
Trixie spoke first. “I see the mighty Sylvan Cloverhoof has finally decided to show up”.
“I was taking my morning bath. Please pardon my lateness, Luna, I hope that the meeting did not begin in my absence.”
“It did not. We will now take our attendance seeing as all members of the council have arrived”
“Minister of Supplies, present” said Applejack
“Minister of Common Welfare, present” chimed Shy
“Minister of Technology, present” Trixie sighed
“Minister of Defence, present” I said at last.
“Do we really have to do this before every meeting?” whined Trixie.
“There are only five of us here! I think we would know if anyone was missing.”
Luna paused for a moment. Perhaps she too did not think this ceremony was necessary. Or maybe she did not give it too much thought. “We do this because it is royal tradition. Every council no matter how small has always done attendance, ours shall be no different”, she said.
“Now, on to more pressing matters. It has been three years. I think it is safe to say very few, if any, new ponies will be joining us in the future. With that in mind we have a very large problem. Celestia secured Cloudsdale’s support at the beginning of the war. Our only pegasi are defectors or criminals. Not only are these low quality soldiers, but they are far too few to make a decent air force.”
“Excuse me, but I am one of those criminals you just passed off as ‘low quality’”, I asserted.
“You know what I mean, Sylvan. For every one of you there are a dozen cutpurses and cowards. We just don’t have the numbers or power to fight Celestia’s air superiority.”
“But we have the ground secured!” piped in Fluttershy.
“All the nice forest creatures were more than happy to fight for us when they learned that Celestia wanted to kill me. None of her troops can advance very far into our territory without being ambushed.”
“That’s all well and good but it just leaves us in a state of stagnancy.”
“Is that so bad? So few ponies get hurt when there are no large offensives”
“You want this war to end, don’t you?”
“Well… yes.”
“Then we need large offensives.”
“I’m sorry…”
This meeting seems to be going about as well as most of them. Why would Luna call us out here so early if it was just to discuss the same thing we always discuss at these meetings. Air control is what will make or break our position in this war. We’ve tried everything from magic, to flying machines, to recruitment flights by the shadowbolts. None of these worked. One almost killed one of my flyboys.
“Luna, we know the problem. Do you have a new solution?” Applejack asked.
Straight and to the point. I always liked that about AJ. She had things to do, much like me, and would rather be doing them than wasting time.
“Right. Well, there is one last aspect of aerial control that we have yet to try to obtain.” Luna began.
“You can come out of hiding now Fleetwing.” She called out. Out of the shadows of one of the pillars a gryphon came walking.
He looked rather scrawny. He had beady eyes and the typical brown and white coat of a gryphon. His beak was slightly crooked and he appeared to be in a state of permanent agitation. This was our secret weapon? A gryphon with an anxiety disorder?!
“With all due respect, Luna” I began as he took his place, “What can this one gryphon do to turn the tide of the war for the skies?”
“Let me answer that question”, Fleetwing responded. His voice was nasally, most likely due to a sinus problem caused by that crooked beak of his. Fantastic, could he be any more pathetic?
“I am the ambassador of Eaglerock Plateau. The gryphons there have been neutral to this war for the past three years. Recently, a new Roost Leader came into power. He took a great deal of interest in your conflict. After all, Equestria and Eaglerock are ancient Allies. Watching your land fall into chaos is most certainly not in the best interest of our people. I and two other gryphons were sent to each of your warring factions in order to discern exactly which side is most deserving of the Gryphons' support in this conflict.”
The table went silent. This was the chance we had been waiting for. A real viable solution to our greatest challenge in this war. Applejack could always keep us supplied with food, Trixie and Fluttershy could always keep us hidden and comfortable, and I could always defend us when things got dicey, but none of us could ever envision the ability to perform counterattacks on Solurnian soil! How should we proceed? That was the question on everypony’s mind.
“I have arranged for the most appropriate of my ministers to give you a tour of our land and a description of our cause. Hopefully he will be able to convince you to support it” Luna said.
“Mhmm, yes. Hopefully. So who is the minister assigned to me?”
“Sylvan.”
The four of us stared at Luna in absolute shock.
“Me? You’re kidding right? Are you out of your mind?! Why not Shy! She’s the… the people pony! She would be much better at chatting with the ambassador!”
“I would appreciate it if you spoke in a more respectful tone, young one. You are my subordinate and you will follow my commands. Besides, I have another job for Fluttershy. One that is much too dangerous to take the ambassador on.
“What job do you have for me, Miss Luna?”
“You will try to coax the Hydra out of the Bog again today.”
“I already told you, he won’t listen to me. Something is wrong with him. It’s as if his ears are stuffed with wax”
“We can still try. What do we have to lose, right?”
“Right. I’ll get right to it. Am I still required here?”
“No, you may leave”
“Okay, see you soon everyone”
With that Fluttershy left the room. I was still furious with Luna for putting me in such and awkward position. “I am a general! Not a chauffeur! I have jobs that must be done, troops that must be trained, patrols that must be overseen. How can I do these things if I must also entertain this gryphon?”
“I’m right here you know…” Fleetwing remarked as he became quite aware of my lack of enthusiasm.
“I mean no disrespect to you, gryphon—“
“Fleetwing”
“—Fleetwing. However, I am under qualified. I simply cannot be trusted to effectively convey our ideals to you.”
“On the contrary”, interjected Luna, “I have absolute confidence in your abilities. You are my most dedicated general, and one of my first followers. Who better than you to show the ambassador what we stand for?
“But—“
“No further discussion. You may take your leave now with Sir Fleetwing.”
“Luna, Ple—”
“NO FURTHER DISCUSSION”
So I left. This is starting to be a rather unpleasant day.
Twilight Falls On Equestria
Chapter 3 - A Bump in the Night
A bright flash coming from the windows of my followed by what may have been muffled shouting woke me up from my peaceful sleep.
“This can’t be good”, I muttered as I threw off my covers and looked around for my uniform.
THUD
True night… is called such… because it has very little light… My foot concurs… as does the night table. Regardless, I’ve found my optics and that will suffice for now. As I left the dormitory I was keenly aware of how little was out of place. With my optics on, pure darkness had become clear as day and as I spread my gaze across the horizon all I found was a sleeping Lunaria.
“Perhaps it was just a dream… or something”, I whispered to myself as I turned to close the door to my dormitory and head back to bed. That’s when something caught my eye. There was a small, smoky patch to the upper right of my periphery which didn’t seem right.
“These optics are supposed to make night into day! I should have a word with Trixie about this glitch”, I thought as I turned my sights to the peculiar patch. That’s when I noticed dark tendrils rising from the spot. It wasn’t a glitch, it was real smoke. What made this smoke even more disconcerting was its location. It was where Fleetwing had been sleeping.
“I should have forced him to sleep in my apartment”, I thought as I darted over to the caved in remains of his temporary home. No doubt there has been some kind of sabotage, but by whom? There are three possible answers here. Discord, Celestia, or someone beyond my knowledge. I will rule out the third until the first two are conclusively disproven and determine more about those two parties once I’ve inspected the sight.
As I approached the wreckage I saw the Royals who I had placed to guard the building in crumpled heaps on the ground. I feared the worst as I approached the one nearest to me. After all, two crumpled bodies next to a collapsed building don’t yield many pleasant stories. My fears were slightly assuaged as I saw him shift a bit upon my approach.
“What happened here?” I asked him as he stood shakily on his hooves. He had a standard Royals look about him; a mottles green and black mane and coat attired in a battle saddle and active optics. “Nothing but the best for our Royals” chimed those propaganda Parasprites in my skull…
“They used some kind of concussive Magitek on us” he began, “They’ve learned how to engineer explosive light orbs or something of similar purpose. Our optics were set to night visions and when we were flashed… It’s a good thing we still have our sight”
“Did you see the assailant?”
“No. We were both completely blind”
“Do you know anything of any use?” I cried desperately as our chances of cornering these attackers became slimmer and slimmer.
“Not at all, sir. I’m sorry, we’ve failed our task” said the crestfallen soldier.
“You weren’t briefed to be prepared for concussive blasts, one of you would have been without optics. It was an honest mistake. We have no time to pity ourselves, we need to move quickly”
By this point the second royal - of nearly identical appearance to his companion – was beginning to stir. The only difference that I could discern between this rising pony and the one in front of me would be the G.I. helmet that he donned and startling lack of wings. Those helmets were definitely not standard issue. It surprised me that an earth pony would have one, let alone even be a member of the Royals.
“That’s a neat little hat you got there, son. It’s a pity it did no good with that old grenade” I said as he joined our huddle
“Course it wouldn’t do no good, it’s G.I.! Metal isn’t exactly known to be flash proof!” he replied defensively.
“I know, I know. I was just trying to break tension while you got your bearings.”
“Right.”
“Do you boys have a CO in this vicinity for me to coordinate things with?”
“No, sir, the helmeted one replied. Our CO and most of the group was sent down to Wellings to deal with a small insurrection. Probably just a couple of Solurnian Sabs trying to stir shit up”
“Saboteurs or not, you need a commanding officer. For the moment you are to be under my command. If you say Solurnians were causing problems over in Wellings that means that they must be trying to destract us. Wellings is in the East, right?”
“Yes, sir”, replied the helmetless one. “Why does it matter?”
“It means they were trying to move our troops away from the path their kidnappers would follow. If they caused unrest in the east we should look into the nearest village to the West. That would be…”
“Gillycrest Hills! I’ve got family there, Cap! Oh we’ll get a real good welcome!”
“I would appreciate it if when you called me by my title you called me by my proper ‘General’” Oh metal headed one. However, since we will be working in company you should know my name. I am General Sylvan Cloverhoof
“Arc Light, Corporal Arc Light” said the helmeted one.
“Like the missile?” I replied incredulously.
“Like the missile.” He said with a small smirk. “After all, demolitions is my specialty in the Corps”
“You don’t say?”
“I do say, sir”
“Well if anyone cares to know my name, it’s Lance Corporal Battle Gear”
“Battle Gear?!”
“Yes, sir.”
“These are pseudonyms right?” I guffawed in absolute shock at the absurdity
“Of course, and yours isn’t?” said Arc.
Technically I took Cloverhoof on to replace Koin so as not to implicate my family in any way once my treason was discovered, but I felt that could remain my little secret.
“No, now tell me your names. Your real names.”
“Firecracker”, muttered Arc.
“Snaps”, murmured Gear.
“Fantastic, all you need is a Pop and you’d make an outfit rivalling that of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”
“Hey Applebloom is a distant cousin of mine, that’s not cool!” cried Arc.
“Alright, I’m sorry. Once again, just trying to break the tension. Now that we know each others names we ought to start heading off to Gillycrest. Was there anything of any importance in the dormitory worth rummaging for?”
“Nothing but the Ambassador” said Arc, “Though I doubt he’s worth searching for in THAT mess”.
“Alright then, let’s head out” I said as I began my descent down the stairs of the palace.
“Sorry, sir, but that’s a negative” I heard from a short distance behind me.
“What was that again, I’m not sure if I heard you correctly” I said as I turned around to see the two ponies still standing where I had left them
“Listen General, we know you’re good at Generaling and stuff. It’s just that… you’re not our commanding officer! Our Sarge has real field experience. He knows how to use us right and how to take heat without breaking. You’re more of a… tack moving kinda guy. You move our tack here, we move to that position… that kind of stuff.” Said Arc as I began my ascent.
“What Arc is trying to say is… You don’t know how to utilize us like our Sarge does and if this really IS a Solurnian raid party we should wait for our field officer to come up and organize a real reconnaissance team to track them down” said Gear as I reached their platform and fixed a steely gaze in their direction.
“Let me make this absolutely clear. I may have tried to ease tension before, I may have even asked for your civilian names, but you are still my subordinates. I say jump, you say ‘how high?’, I say run, you say ‘how far?’, I say we go to Gillycrest, you say ‘we arrived yesterday’, is that clear?! Oh yes, I’m the general that plays with tacks, that’s definitely a truth not worth mentioning to my face, Lance Corporal Firecracker”
“Corpora-“
“I know what I said ! Let me make this nice and clear for you. I’ve spent three years co-ordinating the entire defence force for all of Lunaria. No one knows HEAT better than me! I was training your ‘Sarge’ back when he was still a private. Now form up and move out!”
Our descent was silent. Having an earth pony in my party is not what I would consider a benefit to the expediency of our pursuit. The fact that he had the gall to call me an inexperienced field officer; to hell with the kid! His father must have paid a pretty penny to get him where he stands now. At least the Pegasus seems to have some respect for authority. I wonder what he specializes in. No matter, we can cover specifics like that once we set off for Gillycrest, for now silence is the best option.
As we reached ground level I saw Shy run across to us from the nurses’ quarters.
“Sylvan?! What happened, I was tending to some wounded when I heard a loud noise from upstairs! Who are these ponies? Are they hurt? Are you hurt?!” she chattered frantically.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Please calm down Fluttershy or you’ll pass out.”
“O-Okay… Please, what happened?”
“The Ambassador was kidnapped, these are his guards, they are thankfully unhurt and we are off to go rescue our quarry. Are you satisfied?”
“The Ambassador was kidnapped?!” she cried on the verge of hysterics.
It’s times like these that I’m glad Shy is a borderline mute. Any other pony would have woken up the whole hall with this shouting.
“What are we going to do?” she said as tears began to flow.
“Tut, Tut. Shy don’t go crying for no reason. I told you we’re on our way to go retrieve Fleetwing. We believe his kidnappers took him to Gillycrest Hills. Now go to sleep and tell Luna where I went off to in the morning meeting. Knowing my track record we should be back before then, but it’s always best to be prepared.”
“Well, before you go, take these” she said between sniffles as she shoved a necklace of three whistles onto my neck.
“What are these?” I asked.
“The blue and green ones are just random animal calls that I’d like you to use as communiqués with your men and the red one is a secret weapon I’ve been working on” She replied.
“What kind of secret weapon?” I pried further.
“The kind that doesn’t get explained”
“Why?”
“If you knew what it was you’d be tempted to use it pre-emptively. Let’s just say it solves problems quickly but shouldn’t be used often”
“A special forest creature?” I said with a hint of understanding.
“A very special forest creature” she replied.
“Alright, thank you for the assistance Shy”
“No problem, Sylvan. Good luck getting back Fleetwing!”
“You don’t need luck when you’re me!” I said as I turned back to Arc and Gear
“Come on then, we have a long road ahead of us and now that I’ve got you sufficiently scared shitless I’d like to make good use of you. Goodness knows fear doesn’t last long” I said as I rejoined them and led them towards the doors of the courtyard.
That got a smile out of Arc. A smile he’d rather I didn’t see, but a smile nonetheless. What can I say, I’m a bastard, but a bastard that gets things done. Boy do we have a lot to get done. The moon was rising over Lunaria. Ponies were beginning to amble out of their homes. A few of them looked quizzically at me and my troupe. I guess that’s to be expected. They probably expected me to be running home with a towel over my flank. No bath today. Baths can wait. We have an ambassador to save.
Twilight Falls On Equestria
Chapter 2 - Things Are Coming Up Sylvan
It was half an hour before Fleetwing came out of the council chambers to meet me at the entrance of the palace. This gave me some time to collect my thoughts. I paced about for a good while, most of the other ponies probably thought I was a nut in general’s garb. Oh well, since when have I ever cared what other ponies think of me?
“Fleetwing… No AMBASSADOR Fleetwing. Dear Luna, why do you torment me so…?” I mutter as I trotted hither thither across the courtyard of the palace.
When I initially fled from Canterlot I had several ideas of where to go. The first was ponyville. After all, that was my home. Perhaps no one saw me kill Flam. After all we ran from the court didn’t we? That idea crumbled immediately. We were the ONLY two to run from court and I was chasing him. It would seem awfully suspicious if he were dead and I alive and without blame.
Then I thought, Cloudsdale! It is home to the pegasi, any crime I may commit by Ponyville law would be null in Cloudsdale! The problem is that the powers that be in Cloudsdale are definite Celestian sympathizers. I would probably be turned over to the Celestian authorities behind closed doors regardless of my rights as a Pegasus.
So I took the only safe route and followed Luna. Down I flew from Canterlot straight into Everfree forest. Things seemed rather quiet down near the forest floor as I entered. That silence didn’t last long. Luna left rather heavy tracks in the ground which made her easy for me to follow. However, these tracks also attracted rather unwanted followers. By which of course I mean Celestia’s royal guard. I could hear them in the distance
“… halt… you mUST… PENALTY…”
They were getting louder…
“IN THE NAME OF THE QUEEN CEASE AND DESIST YOUR FLIGHT”
I had caught up to them. They were in clear pursuit of Luna. If I wanted any chance at getting out of this conflict alive I needed her alive too. As I flew alongside the soldiers I knew I had to think quickly.
“Hello gentlemen, a fine evening for a casual flight, no?
“Colt, please go back to your home, we are attending to royal matters.”
“Royal matters? It looks to me like you’re chasing a shade!”
“A shade? Sir, speak clearly, we don’t have time to waste here.”
“That isn’t Luna. It’s just a magical apparition made to throw you off her trail”
That stopped them dead in their tracks. Good.
“Where did the real Luna run off to?” they asked as she continued to make her escape into the darkness.
“I believe I saw her heading towards the Froggy Bottom Bog to join her cohort, Discord.” I replied as I found myself running low on options. If they suspect me of lying I could be taken out at any moment.
“Froggy bottom… Then she’ll be out of our reach by now… Thank you for your assistance, colt. You’ll be sure to be repaid for your service to Equestria. What’s your name?”
“It’s… ummm…” I hesitated for a moment, prompting upturned eyebrows from the two guards.
“G-Gildur Fallenstride” I spat out as my heart dropped into my guts. A silent tension that felt almost palpable existed between the three of us as I stared back and forth from pony to pony and they fixed near identical steely gazes on me. "This is it", I thought. "There's no way they believed me, I stuttered! A stutter is such a tell! I'm an idiot! Such an idiot. How could I--"
“Well carry on then, Gildur”, they said, interrupting my train of thought as they walked off towards Canterlot, “It’s not safe to be out at night anymore, you ought to seek shelter.”
“I will”, I called to them as I followed Luna’s trail.
* * *
Several hours later I had met up with Luna and Shy. Us three were the only ones in her palace at the time. I explained my journey to her and she was positively ecstatic.
“How can I possibly reward you for your service to me?!” she exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. My guess is she has not had many ponies act kindly towards her. It must feel nice to have someone on your side for once.
“No thanks needed highness. Just protection” I replied meekly. It's not every day you speak to a royal. Even rarer does a day occur when a royal feels indebted to you! I felt it was prudent to be on my best behavior so I might keep her favor.
“Oh come now, show me your cutie mark, I’ll be sure to find you a royal position befitting it”.
I turned to show her my flank. There, along the side, there was illustrated a broken foil with its tip covered in ink with a sheet of parchment adorning the background.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cutie mark like that before” commented Luna as she surveyed me. “What does it mean?” she asked.
“It’s a play on the old story of Cyrano de Bergerac”, I began, “ He was a pony with wit as sharp as blade. Rumour has it that he could write a sonnet of his victory whilst duelling an opponent. Hence, the broken foil dipped in ink. In my case it speaks of my problem solving ability. I come from a long line of banking ponies on my father's side. The Koin family goes back as long as the Apples in Ponyville! I was next in line to take over the Teller position at the Bank.
“Interesting… But we don’t need Tellers. We need Generals. How would you like a leadership position amongst my Shadowbolts? After tonight, I’ll most likely be down three of them, one of which used to be a captain. I guess some sacrifices are necessary, right? So what do you say?”
“It went without saying tha—“
“Eh hem. Are you listening? At first I thought you were just pacing about to keep your legs from falling asleep, but now I do believe you’re ignoring me” said that all too familiar nasally voice
“My apologies, Ambassador” I replied.
“Fleetwing, call me Fleetwing from now on. I hate titles”, he replied in turn.
We stared at each other for what seemed like aeons. His beady eyes were set in a cold steely gaze. It seemed like he was judging my worth strictly based on my appearance. I must have been doing the same to him because after a while I began to see the tell-tale signs of discomfort appear on his face. Perhaps he didn’t like my staring… or maybe our silence… Regardless of that fact I had to entertain him and it seems like I’m off to a piss poor start.
“So… what would you like to see?” I asked tentatively as we began to walk out of the courtyard of the great hall
His gaze faltered as he thought of his reply. “What do you do for recreation around here?” he asked.
“We don’t”, I replied curtly, “Everypony here has a specific job. The earth ponies till the soil under the guidance of Applejack, the pegasi train to join the air force or keep the night skies clear, and the unicorns come up with inventions and magic to keep us ahead of Solurnia. If we take time off for recreation we’ll just fall behind.”
“Are you serious? Come on, you know the old adage ‘All work and no play makes for a dull dull pony’. There are no FUN things to do around here?” he asked incredulously.
“Occasionally one of my flyboys will put on a show for a filly he’s interested in…” I began, “and sometimes Fluttershy gets a couple of ponies together to help her train the animals. That’s recreation, right?”
He gave me this sort of pained look, but prodded no further. What did I say? I am no good at talking! No, that’s a lie. I’m great at talking about certain things… strategy, deceit, politics. All of these come easy to me. It’s small talk that eludes me. I just find talking about the weather and my health to be an absolute bore.
“I can tell this conversation is going nowhere slowly” Fleetwing sighed.
“It’s not like I didn’t warn you in advance”, I replied.
“Roost Leader will be so disappointed. He had high hopes for Lunaria” he continued.
“Oh don’t be like that!” I cried desperately, “Please, let us talk about something that I might impress you in!”
“What might that be?” He replied with an upturned eyebrow as if to say “There’s no way you could ever impress me”. I’ll show him…
“Tactic. Let’s talk tactic.”
"Let's not", he replied tersely.
"What? Why?! It's my expertise!"
"That's exactly the problem. I don't feel like listening to you lecture me on all of the bells and whistles of your military. I'm looking for reasons to support Lunaria, not reasons to fear your military prowess. If all you have to offer me is a bland overview of your weak culture and a seminar on the wax you use to polish your bladed gauntlets then I may as well return to Eaglerock right now."
We were silent for a good while after that. I'm ruined. My ONE chance at fighting back is drifting away and there's nothing that I can do to prevent it. This has been an unmitigated failure. This silence was broken by a rather deep sigh from Fleetwing.
"Come on now, I'm a tourist, show me some sights while I'm here", he said in an effort to break the awkward silence.
"I'll do my best. Really, Fluttershy would have done much better--", I began.
"Would it make you feel better if I called you Fluttershy for the rest of my tour?", he said with a sly smirk.
"Yes, that would make me feel a great deal more confident in my ability to 'chat'", I replied in mock defeat.
* * *
The day went quickly. I showed him around our capital in the morning and a few nearby hamlets in the afternoon. By in large the tour wasn't a COMPLETE disaster... that's not to say it wasn't still a disaster... just not a complete one. It felt like he had warmed up a bit by the evening. Maybe I was just fooling myself... Anyways, the two of us were on our way to his executive lodgings. He was to spend the night in Lunaria and is to set off back to Eaglerock with his report in the morning.
“Ah is this the room”, he called out to me as he climbed along the fungal stairwell of the outer Dormitories of the palace.
“No, that is one of the protégé’s rooms, yours is one to the left of that one”, I called up to him.
“Here we go. I see you have some goons here”, he commented as he entered his room and noticed two of my men from the 5th royal marines, our shock troops, standing in wait of his arrival.
“Can’t be too careful, right?” I said. “We ARE at war”.
“Right, right, well I can go to bed on my own. You ought to go get some rest yourself” he said as he began to enter his dormitory.
“If that's what it takes to get the gryphon's support!” I shouted to him as I opened the door to my own.
"You're going to have to be a little more creative if you want to win me over" he called down to me as he closed his door
"Creativity", I muttered "Is something I carry in spades", with a small smirk and not one ounce of humility as I closed my own door. Luna had arranged for a lodge to be made for me at the palace so that I may attend to all of Fleetwing's needs efficiently and effectively. As I entered the room I found it sparsely furnished. “A bed, a night table, and a mirror, how do these protégé’s live?!” I asked myself as I stepped onto the threshold. “Oh well, I guess home is where the heart is,” I thought as I lay down to sleep.
Maybe Mondays aren’t too bad after all.
