Prologue
Rain pounded down in a torrential abyss around him. Dark gray clouds, almost black in color, blocked out the night life. No gleaming stars were present to gaze at, not even the moon's elegant radiant glow was out tonight. It seemed as though the whole world was holding its breath, waiting to see what would happen on this dreary night, for not even the wind was howling. All that could be heard in the still, damp darkness that surrounded him, were the far off sounds of gunfire, with the roar of an explosion to answer, and the rain beating against his scaled flesh.
Blades of moist grass seemed to cling to his exposed scales, as if telling him that what he was doing was a mistake. To turn back and never return. It was as good a warning as he had ever felt before. In his very bones he knew that if he continued that something dreadful was going to happen, but at the time, he was a soldier. He still believed in orders. Shaking aside the feeling that his gut was telling him, he progressed forward.
Roads, muddy from the rain, barred him from his target; a concrete bunker deep in the heart of the Chindler mountain range. A ruthless range of mountains that threatened to make even the toughest dragon quiver with fear. There he would find the sole pony who was responsible for the massacre of over twelve thousand ponies in Saddle Arabia. Cinder Flame, mastermind behind the mass genocide that his soldiers were committing. Tonight was going to be his end, his demise, but not without sacrifice.
Patrolling along the muddy road was a pair of jeeps, with no doors on either side and a swivel gunner in the rear. With a rotation of three hundred and sixty degrees, the drake knew that there was no way of being able to take the gunners in silent close-quarters. Protruding around the side of the jeeps were small sensors that would detect any movement or body heat within a two meter radius. Despite this, he had to make it past. The drake could not afford to be held up any longer.
Silent as a thief in the night, he inched forward. His trained eyes kept up with the distance of both gunners, his mind calculating the wind speed and projected trajectory of his bullet. Droplets of water dripped from his brow, his exposed arms, and his neck. A mixture of rain and sweat. His nose caught wind of it, but he paid it no mind. Instead, he focused on the whiff of oil leaking out from the bottom of the jeeps. Whether this was purposeful or not, he could not say, but even then, he knew that something was wrong. Regardless of his feelings, he took a deep breath and continued.
Wiping away the sweat from his mouth, he took a steadying breath. Swinging around his rifle, an SR-25 with a thermal scope and suppressor, he quietly took aim. Sights dead center over the lead gunner's head, his finger was grazing the trigger. His breathing slowed to an almost stand still, his heart rate dropping low, and his focus clear. Drowning out nothing but the rain and wind, he adjusted accordingly. Holding his breath, he began to gently squeeze the trigger when he heard the pulse tingling sound of a helicopter flying in overhead. Knowing fully well that he was in danger of compromising the mission, the drake draped his ghille suit down over before anypony could spot him.
Whirling overhead, a Russian built Hind flew by, carrying within its cargo net a heavy tank for the front lines. Heavy armor plating surrounded the body, but it looked to be covered in more of like a platinum armor rather than a metallic alloy, too it had a shining gleam to it. The barrel of said tank was shorter than most, but looked as if it had twins, yet they were connected by a small energy beam that surged forward between them.
He gasped. The tank was the new experimental prototype RG Tank. RG being Rail Gun, still the largest and most deadly weapon in Equestria. For years it had been no smaller than on a ship out in the oceans of Equestria, yet here it was, one of Canterlot's first every smaller variants of the Rail Gun, in the hands of the enemy.
Moistening his lips, his fingers reached for the collar around his neck. As he was about to speak, he noticed that the Hind had stopped not even forty feet in front of him. Just past the muddy road, he could see that it was hovering. Below, the jeeps pulled to a stand still as well, the various bodies dropping out while grabbing their rifles. Following their path up the road, his eyes grew wide. Just over the far ridge in the distance, infantry soldiers were beginning to pour over like milk from a crushed glass.
Chancing a glance up, he saw the thirty millimeter canon starting to wind up. Hearing it sound like a mixture between a screeching cat and nails against a chalk board. Gasping, he almost cried out when he noticed the canon take aim at the ridge a few kilometers down the road.
Orange and yellow. Flashes of light were caught out of the corner of his eyes as the sound of bullets hissing through the air whistled. Screams of pain echoed across the open road as the bullets thudded against the grassy rise. Chunks of grass and dirt flew up in high volumes. Mud was flung anywhere that it could find a safe haven. More soldiers poured over the rise regardless, most unwillingly.
“Gold Leader, fall back, fall back! Your soldiers are getting hammered up there! Gold Leader, do you copy over?!” Static was all that he could hear in his ear, despite the erupting sound of the canon. Looking up at the helicopter, he could not help but scream, “You bastards!” His voice was silent in the still darkness, broken now and again by either a flash from the canon or a flash of lightening overhead. Following another crack of thunder, and with no response from the soldiers that were being mowed down like stalks of corn in harvesting season, he decided to brake protocol.
Taking a crouched position, he brought his rifle up to aim towards the very tip of the Hind Pilot's head. A pregnant silence surrounded him as he blocked out nothing else but his calm, smooth demeanor towards the pilot. Only the lip of his head was visible from where the drake was, yet it was more than enough for a clean kill shot. As he looked down the sights, he felt his mind being guided by an unseen force, his father's voice aiding him with his kill.
Letting out his breath slowly, he made the proper adjustments in his aiming before pulling the trigger with a gentle squeeze. All fell silent as the bullet left the gun, nothing in the world making a sound. Rain drops paused to watch the bullet as it sailed through the air, the wind helped to keep it aligned with its target. Mother nature herself was guiding him, yet holding her breath to wait, to watch, to see what was going to happen next. All of his training, all of his combat experience, and in this one moment, he had made the one shot that he had only ever heard of in legends.
Piercing glass echoed across the vast open field that was beyond the road. Following was the sound of somepony screaming. Grinding gears were heard as the helicopter started to spin around in circles in the air above, the canon now tearing up the ground around the jeeps. Beeping was heard as he caught a glimpse of red lights flashing in the cockpit of the Hind. Without pause, it continued to spin around, growing closer to the ground with each passing moment. Just as the world began to breath once again, it was stunned into an eerie cold. Screeching like iron being scraped against steel was heard as the blades began to bend in, the loose soil proving to be tougher than the metal. Flames flew up into the night sky as the Hind crashed into the ground. Flickering lips of heat lapped over one another as they ate the oil and gas that was leaking out, turning whatever color the Hind was originally into a burnt, crumpled mess.
A bone chilling scream was heard as the co-pilot and gunner pulled themselves out of the wreckage, their bodies in a flamed blaze, trying to put it out. It was no use, for the minute that they touched the soil, they let out a gurgling sound that made the wind hesitant to keep billowing about. Their bodies ceased to move anymore. Lowering his head slightly, the drake knew that he had three more deaths to his streak if kills.
Gunfire from the ridge brought his attention back to the road. Both jeeps had left already ahead to help push back the soldiers, while the tank that has been in the net of the Hind began to slowly roll after them. 'Not really what I wanted to do, but what the hell right?'
Flinging aside his ghille suit, the emerald drake swung his rifle onto his back, then took off on a dash towards the tank. His feet throbbed as they pounded against the mud, sometimes his feet sinking into some very wet spots. Dirt clung to his pants and back as it was kicked up. Rain poured down his face, mixing with the sweat that was already coating his body from the heat of the mountain range. All the while, his eyes never left the tank. Mud clung to the caterpillar tracks as the tank made its way towards the ridge, to aid in the slaughter of the drake's fellow soldiers.
Reaching into his pack, the drake pulled out a small experimental EMP grenade. Thinking on his feet, he popped the top and depressed the small red button, listening to it begin to whine. Taking careful aim as he drew closer, he tossed the grenade where the driver would normally sit. Rolling away from the tank, he grinned slightly as the resulting explosion blew apart. Grinding gears could be heard halting, the motor whining down, and the groan as four soldiers began to crawl out of the tank.
Upon seeing that the four soldier were unarmed, he drew his hunting knife. Not wasting a moment, he stepped forward to drive the knife through the driver's skull. The blade went through the pony's lower jaw, ending with it in his brain and warm, crimson blood pooling around his hand. Pulling it free, he turned to his other three assailants. By now all three had their own knives, the two gunners looking like they were experienced while the commander looked hesitant at best. Tossing the knife between his hands, the drake barred his fangs as he growled at them, challenging them to charge. Both gunners took this as their opening.
The drake caught the first pony by the wrist, using his forward momentum to fling the pony over him into the mud. He parried the second one with his knife, stopping a cut that was headed for his ribs. Sidestepping the pony, he stuck his knife into the pony's shoulder, making him release an ear piercing howl. Knocking the pony's knife high up into the air, he caught it on the backside of his hand without much effort. With eyes as cold as the dead of winter, he thrust the dagger through the pony's forehead, snapping the blade off before giving him a mighty kick in the chest, sending him back against the tank treads His head rolled to the side as the last flickering force of his life left the body.
Pulling his own knife free of the dead pony's shoulder, he flung his prize towards the commander, striking him in the leg, preventing him from running anywhere.
Swiftly brushing the ground with his tail, he caught the first gunner off guard and knocked him down once more. This time the drake rushed over his prone figure and grasped his head. With a quick yank to the side, he heard the snap of the bones that told him that the gunner was dead. Dropping the dead body down, he made his way over to the commander.
Looking down at the sniveling pony, who knew he was about to die, he felt no pity. No remorse for what he was about to do. Having already slipped his own knife back into its sheathe, the blood on it now on his tiger striped shirt, he knelt down by the pony. Pulling free the knife in his leg, he knocked aside the other that was in the commander's hand. Taking in a sharp breath, he pierced the pony in the heart, driving in deeper and deeper until he heard the sound of silence, aside from the rain and distant gunfire.
“Fox-One, Fox-One, this is Gold Leader come back.”
Glancing over the bodies that were lying around him, the drake remained kneeling. Every time that he took a life he felt as if he was killing a part of himself. When he had signed up to be a Royal Navy Seal, he had not intended on this. He knew that he was going to have to kill, but he never thought that he was going to become a mindless killing machine. Mission after mission, year after year, it was all the same. Sometimes he could not sleep at night, seeing the faces of those that he had killed almost as he had to do slay them again in his dreams. “Read you loud and clear Gold Leader. Project four-twelve was active, but no longer. Moving in to target building now, over.”
“Roger that Fox-One, be careful, over.”
“Sure thing Gold Leader, see you at extract, Fox-One out.”
Another eerie silence lingered over him as he made his way across the now unguarded field to a small concrete door protruding from the side of a hill like a mud-house on the prairies' rolling plains. Rain continued to pound down hard against his scaled flesh as he drew out his knife once more, drawing in a shallow breath as he tapped lightly against the door. Two feet thick of solid concrete, and he had no key. He was going to need a bunker buster if he wanted to get into the bunker system that ran throughout the mountain range.
Running his fingers along the edges of the door, he could feel a slight draft, colder air billowing out into the world. It was a sign. It was another chance for him to turn back. For if he passed into the bunker, he knew that there was no going back. Nonetheless, he still believed in his mission. With another shallow breath, he slipped his fingers into the cracks of the door. A small sensor was stationed above the door to watch for hands, that way they would not get caught. Upon sensing his fingers, the door began to open outward. A small hiss escaped into the nightly abyss as it swung open, allowing him entrance.
Seeing nothing but darkness inside, he took one final breath of the night air before he entered the threshold of no return...
Whistling from the lead locomotive brought the drake out of his dreams. Sweat coated his palms as well as the back of his neck, while his lungs would accept nothing more than shallow breaths. His heart was beating so rapidly that he thought he had just run fourteen miles. When he closed his eyes to blink, he saw his face, no matter how much he didn't want to. Pain from what he had just left behind was prominent, but it was minimal compared to all of the pain that he has felt over all of his younger years.
Radiating warmth from the sun brought his attention to the window beside him. Directly below him was the metal tracks, with multiple layers of pebbles underneath. Beyond that however, was the vast expansion of beauty that he had missed for the last seven years. Canterlot's vast kingdom lands, populated by farmers, weather Pegasi, and the occasional soldier. Rolling hills cut into the vast open plains, where farmers were busy at work collecting their summer harvest. Rows of corn fields, or wheat, barley, tobacco, and of course, the dairy farms.
Rays of translucent gold were plastered against the normally blue sky, with hues of amethyst purple or violet twisting their way in. Clouds seemed to turn a light purple mixed with a shade of brown, yet thick orange seemed to hang over everything else. Overall, it was the most beautiful sunset that he had seen in a long time. This was his favorite time of the day, to watch the sun dropping below the lip of the world, kissing it goodbye.
Sighing with content, he began to think of the Canterlot that he had left. Over the years of his time in the service he had kept in contact with some of the ponies that he knew growing up, Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard, Princess Celestia after he needed somepony to write to for a while, and of course, his best friend and probably richest outside of royalty, Fancy Pants. What wonderful gift that stallion could get or give, even overseas. It was nice to have friends to write to when he was away, but now that he was coming home for good, he was ready to rekindle all of the old times again. He was not opposed to change however.
The drake knew that coming back would mean that at least some things had changed while he was away. He knew that he had for sure, but he still wanted to see the only real friends that he had grown up with.
His eyes watered slightly as he beheld his most favorite sight in the entire world; Canterlot at sunset. Canterlot already was an amazing city, with its crystal like streets, its gorgeously painted buildings, and its seemingly translucent Royal Castle; built to withstand even the strongest or longest siege. But when you mixed the beauty of the setting sun into it, then it made the picture that much more magnificent. Divine was not even close to describing what he was seeing right now. It looked as though each entity of the city had been hand carved by the Princess herself, as well as the sky, swaying grasses higher up the mountain, and the majestic gardens that greeted the train riders.
Screeching tires brought his attention away from the massive castle overhead to see the train station as they came to their final approach. With a sudden jolt, the train came to a stop. Smoke billowed out from beneath the locomotive, bathing the station platform in steam. Hissing was heard followed by the whistling of the bell. Grinning from ear to ear, the drake simple grabbed his bag from beneath his seat and made his way off the train.
“Thank you for the ride Shining. See you tomorrow at Doughnut Joe's for breakfast.” Beeping was heard before the small sports car took off back towards the massive castle in the center of the city. Its towering spires glancing out over the city like little bony fingers from a ruined hand. Before the drake was a tall three story building with a fairly beaten up sign over the top that read 'Dogwood Hotels'. Picking up his olive drab duffel back, he entered.
Smoked honey ham, bathed in what he assumed was vinegar, was quick to assail his nose. Despite this, he knew that this was his home. For the three months that he was in training, this was always where he had stayed when he was off-base. Nevertheless, for now it would serve its purpose, a roof over his head, warm, dry, and clean. Though they were no 'Royal' hotel, Dogwood always had a knack for making sure that everything was spotless.
In the lobby was a small desk wrought of a dark oak and a ceder mix. Behind it was a young pony with bright blue fur, golden yellow eyes, and long translucent waves of a golden blue mane down her neck. She smiled warmly at him as he made eye contact. All around the mare were various piles of papers that needed to be filed away, yet it seemed as though she did not care about them. “Hello. My name is Midnight Wave, how might I help you today sir?”
A grin crossed his face as he took in the sweet sound of her voice. It sounded as mystical as a babbling Brooke. Yet it was nice to hear a pleasant, sweet voice over the gut wrenching screams and yelling of orders that he had recently escaped. “Yes, I would like a room for the night for now. If it's alright with you, I would rather not state my name at the present. Cash is good here right?”
“Why yes sir, cash is always good with us. That will be twenty-five bits for the night. Would you like to pay upfront or wait until you are ready to leave?”
“Tell you what, I will pay for the room now and then we will see where it goes from there, sound good?” To her courteous nod he gave her a sly wink, laughing when she began to giggle and blush. “Have a great day ma'am.” Without another word he departed for his room after getting his key and paying her the required bits.
Relief washed over him as he looked at the room he was in. As always, he was given the same room as before, all those years ago. Room Twelve, where its window was backed up to two magnificent views. One was of the Royal Canterlot Castle, while the other was the deep cut valley that lead to the small town of Ponyville in the distance.
From the upper floor that he was on, he was able to see the gorgeously planted Canterlot Garden in the interior of the castle. Roses, both red and blue, mixed together into small bushels. Daisies were scattered throughout, dogwood trees shading a few guards, and various animals walking about. Standing in the center of the garden was Princess Celestia herself, a smile gracing her majestic features as she took in the soothing comfort of the wildlife around her.
No matter how much he wanted to, he could not seem to tear his eyes away from the Princess. Her flowing sun streaked rainbow mane, her smoothly pressed white fur, complimented more by her golden dress that flowed down to her ankles and reached the inside of her wrists, augmented with dazzling sapphires, brought to him a sense of joy that he had been missing since he was deployed. He was unaware when she glanced over at him, giggling when she saw the look of intense happiness that was on his features. It is nice to see you again Shadow. I trust that you are well pleased with your room arrangement?
The drake shook his head like a dog when it sneezes. Upon seeing the Princess flashing him a comforting smile, he was pleased to find that it was her voice that he had heard. Her voice sounded soothing like waves crashing against the sandy shore, yet it was rough like a raging sea of flames, but it was a voice that he knew belonged to only one mare in the entire land of Equestria. Yes Princess. For the time that I am here, this shall suffice. My time here is going to be short, but not without purpose. My mission now is to rekindle some of those old friendships before moving on milady. I wish upon you great fortune and prosperous happiness.
No Shadow, it is I who posses such values. It is I who bestow upon you a wish worthy of a knight, of purpose, honor, and valor. Go forth from Canterlot with my blessing, and my friendship Lieutenant Shadow Hawk. Before your departure however, a small request I must ask. Will you honor us with your audience for dinner tonight? The hour is late, but I wish to do as you said, 'rekindle'. All I have in your name are your letters, instead I think it rather appropriate that I should also keep a memory of one so mighty. Do I have a set made for you Lt. Hawk?
Yes milady, as you wish Princess.
No Shadow, not as I wish, but as you wish. An escort is waiting for you in the lobby. I look forward to seeing you soon Shadow.
Princess Celestia's smile grew broader as she turned and slithered inside, feeling giddy at finally being able to see whether or not Shadow was going to be as his reputation perceived him.
While the Princess was feeling giddy about finally meeting Shadow, said drake was actually rather nervous at meeting somepony as special, and as high up as Princess Celestia. He knew that the Princess wrote to most of the soldiers in her military, but he was still impressed then that she cared that much about solely him. It felt like for once in his life since his girlfriend had died, that somepony actually cared about him on a more personal level.
Other than his military uniform from when he was dressed up for the funeral the day that he left, he was without proper attire. Knowing that he was better than to keep somepony like Celestia waiting, he quickly slipped into his military uniform and proceeded down to the lobby, where the guard was waiting.
“Lt. Hawk, it is a true honor to be your guard tonight sir. Corporal Lake at your service sir.”
Shadow could not help but smile at the way that the guard was trying to get somewhat close to the drake, so as to make him feel more comfortable being around normal ponies once more. “Just take me to the Princess Corporal.”
“Yes sir.” Swiftly turning on his heels, he led the drake out to a long black limo that was parked in front of the hotel. Opening the door, he said, “If you please sir.” Holding back a fanged grin, the drake dropped into the limo, with Cpl. Lake following suit.
Shadow looked down the dinning table in awe. Larger than the entirety of his hotel room, there were at least thirty-three chairs aligning either side, with a single chair at either head. Sitting at one head chair was Princess Celestia, while to her right was Princess Cadence and her husband Shining Armor. Sitting to her left was Shadow Hawk, with Princess Twilight sitting next to him.
A pregnant silence hung heavy in the room, only interrupted when a pony guard would walk around the table before moving out of the room. All were waiting for one final member to join them, and though there were many questions that needed to be asked, nopony was willing to speak up. Thus it finally fell to Shadow to initiate the conversation and thus lift the silent cloud that had choked their vocal chords.
“Milady, I thank you for allowing my presence to be graced this evening.”
Sighing, Celestia grinned slightly to the side as she looked towards the drake. “Please, you may speak normally here Shadow. There really is no need for formalities. Here, and here only, you may call me Celestia, just as you may dismiss all other formalities surrounding us. This is a dinner among friends, not a public affair. So please, anypony speak their mind in safety tonight.”
Taking this as her que, Princess Cadence cleared her throat, “Shadow, I have to ask, what exactly did you do to catch the eye of my aunt?”
Feeling sweat starting to collect beneath his scales, Shadow gulped as he looked anywhere but towards Celestia. “Well, I don't really know why she picked me out of all the soldiers that are under her command, but I do know that there was nopony better than me in my field.”
“Which was...?”
Another pregnant silence fell around the room as Shadow took a sharp breath, looking towards Princess Celestia for permission to continue. With her nod, he took in another breath, “I was a Sniper. Serving under the command of General Whorse when I left. When there was a target that the Princess needed taken out for freedom to endure and nopony else could touch them, I was called in.” A single tear made its way down his face as he glanced towards the Princess.
Seeing the depressed expression that had morphed onto his features, she fell silent.“I am sorry Shadow. I meant no harm when I asked that.”
“It's alright Princess. I understand. May I ask for a subject change?”
This time it was Princess Twilight who spoke up, “So Princess Celestia tells me that you will be moving on in the morning. Just out of curiosity, where were you planning on heading?”
He sighed as he looked down towards the empty platter that was before him. “Haven't really decided yet. I know for sure that I am going to stop by Ponyville first.” He was unaware of a small smile starting to form on the lavender alicorn's lips. “Some farmer by the name of Applejack replied to my request for work. Sent a letter in the other day before I left the base and heard back from her almost a few hours later. Going to work there for a while and get some bits before moving on. From there, I guess that I am going to let life take me where it may.”
“Well, I was heading back to Ponyville in the morning. You c-could come with me Shadow.” Nopony aside from Shadow and Celestia were aware of the blush on Twilight's cheeks, nor the stutter that she had. “I-I would like to have an old friend for company.”
All eyes darted towards the back of the room as the giant double doors swung open to reveal Princess Luna, a cheerful grin across her lips. As she strode in, Shadow could not help but be mesmerized by her flowing midnight mane, which would sometimes swirl with her tail. Her deep aqua eyes displayed a sense of joy, mixed with an overwhelming sense of love.
Beside of the midnight princess walked a dragon covered in sensual deep ocean blue scales scales. Slitted dark sapphire eyes gazed out over the table, displaying both a longing for flesh as well as a deeper longing to be alone with his princess. Both had their tails woven tightly together while Princess Luna seemed to be favoring her stomach with an acute fondness like that of a mother. Upon seeing the wedding ring on both the drake's finger as well as Luna's, Shadow figured that the drake was the new 'Prince of the Night'. Even overseas the wedding was aired on whatever radios were available.
Standing behind of her sister, she beamed with both satisfaction and joy at what she had to say. “Everypony, we have an announcement to make.” Her voice was booming in the room, deep, daring, yet at the same time, peaceful. Letting her husband lay a hand over her stomach, knowing smiles spread across every face as she said, “We are going to have an heir.”
Without warning, the entire room aside from Shadow erupted in a chorus of cheers, followed by a bombardment of questions. Finding that he could care less about what they were saying, Shadow moved away from the crowd slightly so that he was able to face the one window that was in the room. Facing the West, and towards Ponyville, Shadow felt a sort of touch over his heart. It was calling to him, telling him that something grand awaited him at his new destination...
