The Dark Zoner

Like flashbacks? Thought so, well you're getting a flashback anyway!

Bit of a warning, what have you. This chapter is my attempt at making things more dark as the tag says. Shouldn't be any more graphic than teen but some peoples have weak hearts and tough hearts. Can't say if this is hard to chew or not.

It's a bit silly in some regards and...not so silly. A little more than mild cursing and some graphic(?) fights and deaths. (No one important dies, just so you know.)

I also removed the romance tags (Twilight flirting does not count!) and other things because I felt that it didn't represent the story as it is now. I'll be adding the tags/characters that come into play. Keep an eye on Applejack and Fluttershy later, they're important, too.

Who He Isn’t

“Dawdy! Dawdy!” A very small and young blue filly called out, impatiently. She was laying on her back on top of a big soft cushion, her wings were fluttering out from under the blanket wrapped around her. She watched the somewhat-teenage aged stallion beside her with huge eyes of wanton.

Reiner smiled and coughed in a hoof, trying to clear his throat. “Does my little Dashie want to hear another bedtime story?” He smirked when he saw the eyes of his daughter beaming. There, in her eyes, was the sharp glint of a determined adventurer who loved tales of glory and wanted to live every one of them.

“Are you telling her another one of your wild stories of how you faced that monster?” A voice called out from another room. “She’s too young for that war nonsense, try telling her a different story this time!” Cotton Dash urged as she went about finishing her chores in another room.

“Hmm,” Reiner frowned. “That is true. I have been telling you a lot of stories with Twilight in it, haven’t I, Dashie?” He rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. “Maybe this time I should tell a different story, to keep everything fresh?” The blue pegasus turned his head to look at his daughter who suddenly had a large frown on her small face. He laughed inwardly since he knew exactly what she was thinking. It was cute to tease her, but he couldn’t help himself and wanted to drag it on a bit longer.

“Want to hear a story about my wedding?”

She shook her head. Well, that was expected.

“How about when I first fell in love with your mother?”

The filly stuck her tongue out in disgust. Of course the young coltish filly wouldn’t want to hear something so saccharine like that. Love was never really her interest but who would be at such a young age when playtime was the only thing that mattered?

“How about when I first earned my Cutie Mark?”

The prepubescent Rainbow froze for a second, in thought, before shaking her head. Too bad, Reiner thought, that was a very interesting story in and of itself. Not to mention, he figured that she would have wanted to hear that one since the young Dashie was still a Blank Flank.

“Darn, I’d thought you would like that one.” Reiner chuckled and smiled, his teeth were shining as they seemed to force Rainbow to cover her eyes with a hoof. He was happy that his daughter loved hearing of his stories about the Dark Zoner and he especially loved telling her about his exploits against her, not to rub his ego or anything! “Let’s see, what story should I tell you this time?”

What story didn’t he already tell her by now?

Aha, an idea came to him. If Dashie didn’t want to hear about his first meeting with Cotton Dash, why not tell her about when he first started out, as a mere hoof-soldier against Twilight. A time when his brother Starry Lights was the most acknowledged and powerful name: A Starlight General.

XOX

“It was a cold and stormy night. A hoof-ful of Starlight Pegasi and some of the Royal Guards were with me. This was my first mission against Luna’s horde but I felt prepared for anything. I was, after all, training my entire life for this.” Reiner started as he tried to remember all of the gory details. “Even though it was night time, the entire area was well lit from the glow of the giant hovering moon above us."

“The moon seemed to give the other ponies and monsters an upper hand while its beautiful white glow seemed to all but drain our strengths. But we held our ground, we couldn’t let the Dark Ones reach the settlement where the civilian ponies were residing.”

“This is it! I can finally kick some Lunarian butts!” Reiner smirked from his spot around ponies much larger than him. The others looked grimly and didn't seem as ecstatic as the young blissful lad.

They didn’t mind his idealistic stance on everything but it was grating on a few of the much more experienced ponies who knew just how horrible this war was. It was especially worrisome if they had to go against the She-Demon. That witch was not of this world!

“Don’t get too hopeful, Kid Reiner.” A large bearded earth stallion shook his head at the colt who was no bigger than his own hoof. He looked on at the dark trees that hid all from watchful eyes. “Intel says that a small invasion force is coming along. A hoof-ful of Wickers, Crimsons, and even a few Derelicts. There even seems to be hearsay that the Whore of Conscendora is among their ranks. Though that last information is a bit doubtful.”

“We have to stop them from getting to this village, they‘ll land a major foothold and it will weaken our territories in the Outer Rim.” Another pony, a unicorn, commented. “We just need to hold out until sunrise. Though, we can probably handle what comes our way.”

Not only was this an important key point to protecting the Rim territories, the Dark Ones were known to do horrible things to our kind, something that we couldn’t just let them do! A few of us were more than uneasy with the gossip circulating around the guard post about the Dark Zoner, rumors or not, she was a being not to be trifled with, not something I learned until after I faced her.

Thunder sounded overhead as lightning cracked the skies into a million shards. The wind seemed to suddenly freeze as only the sounds of thunder and flash of lightning could be heard and seen. Everypony grew rigid, they could all sense a growing danger and all eyes fell onto the dark shadowy forest, just passed their outpost.

CZZT!

ZAP!

CZZT!

CRASH!

That last bolt of lightning fell in front of them, lighting the entire area for a good minute, revealing nothing hidden in the darkness. Though, once the darkness slowly fell back into place, a few dozen orbs blinked into view from behind the trees. All varying colors but holding one similarity - glowing eyes of indescribable rage and hate. They were all staring back at the guards, unblinking.

Another bolt of lightning shortly flashed, once again, and just as the light filled the perpetually dark forest walls, the eyes and their owners were nowhere to be seen. Just total darkness like before.

A giant roar from inside the forest had suddenly erupted out in an ear piercing screech, forcing many of the guards to hold their ears down and clench their eyes shut. Before they could react, a few dozen arrows shot out at them from multiple directions. A few guards and soldiers were already taken out of the count as they silently collapsed. Dead.

The sounds of many whips whizzed in the air again as more arrows were fired into the sky, blanketing it with death. This time, many of the unicorns managed to summon a barrier to deflect most of the projectiles once they shook away their initial shock, protecting everypony else.

The enemy finally began to show themselves as they appeared from behind the shadows of the forest, charging at them with their weapons drawn. His allies did the same and with just as much vigor. He decided to do the same and pulled out his Celestial blade, something that he's only used on monsters and never on another pony. To say that he was a bit hesitant, as adventurous and proud as he was, would be a great understatement.

Reiner could see Starry Lights coming into the battlefield from the peripheral of his eyes, along with a squad of pegasi, consisting of both Starlights and non-Starlights. Quickly, out from one of the clouds, a shadow whipped by. Three pegasi who didn‘t take notice of the flying shadow were thrown off their balance and were plummeting far in the distance. They could be seen struggling with their foe, valiantly, but feebly all the same. Soon after, more dark balls shot out and grabbed a couple more of his soldiers.

“Damn you, demon cowards! Fight like real stallions!” Starry yelled out in annoyance. Just as he said this, another shadow shot out, heading towards him but he raised a hoof and managed to grab the black pegasus in time by the neck, choking her. He continued to stare out at the dark void, ignoring the mare in his grasp. “Is this all you demon lovers are good for? Pthooie!” He spat out before wrapping a wing around the blue armored mare’s body and began to pull at her limbs, effortlessly ripping them clean off, one by one. The cruel general dropped her lifeless husk after he was finished with her.

XOX

“Eww!”

“I know, Uncle Starry was never really a normal pony. That‘s probably why fillies are so afraid of him. Anyway—”

XOX

Starry fell down and pummeled an unsuspecting enemy unicorn into the ground with a force so great that it left the stallion’s body mangled in all directions. The pegasus huffed as he raised his hoof around the other pony’s head and twisted it around to face his back.

“Damn you ponies, damn you all!”

Many of the Dark Ones backed away as they stood on their hind legs, prepared to either pounce or flee from the ruthless General. He was as cruel towards their kind as he was ruthless.

“Starry, Starry, you disappoint me. I thought you would have brought a more ‘welcoming’ party than this?” A voice that made a few hearts freeze spoke out. Twilight, in all of her unholy glory, appeared in front of Starry in a burst of electricity. “Although, I can say that you have a way about showing a mare around.” She eyed the dead unicorn under Starry’s hooves.

“I can say the same to you, you poor excuse for a mare!” Starry made a hacking sound before spitting onto one of Twilight’s cheeks.

XOX

“And, den yew came en’ puncha her!” Rainbow said giddily, waving a hoof in the air for added effect.

“No, no. I wasn’t always the stallion I am today, I was a rookie back when I met her. I was actually really useless that day. Actually, it was a day that I had almost died.”

“Ooh! Did yew die, dawdy!?” The little filly’s eyes were bulging out of her socket, her mouth were quivering with anticipation.

“Ha ha ha…?”  Reiner laughed nervously at the rather redundant question.

Instead of making the expected effect, Twilight simply stared at him and smiled. A row of fangs crept their way from under her lips and her eyes dilated into a pair of blinking red stars which made even the rugged Starry shudder a bit.

“Don’t disappoint.” Twilight said as she started to glow black. Her eyes were flashing a bright green and her form seem to melt into the background like a shadow.

Twilight raised one of her fore-hoofs and slammed it into the ground. At first, nothing happened but then the ground shook. She stamped her hoof down again. Each stomp had an interval of a few seconds as she continued this 'bongo' of hers on the earth.

“What the?” Starry looked at suspiciously at Twilight who merely smiled and looked behind him as he flew back up to dodge the shock-wave. Even in the air, he could feel the waves but less so. He turned around to look at their outpost and saw the stone structure crumbling, crushing a few ponies as they all scurried out like drowning ants at an anthill.

“Damn you!” Starry Lights fell back, intent on salvaging his troops at the base.

A few Starlights followed their General in assistance but the majority stayed behind, including Reiner and the Royal Guard Ponies.

Reiner wavered for a bit, his hooves were shaking and urged him to follow his elder brother back but his heart urged him onward, intent on proving himself to the others. A bold notion but also a reckless one that could end his life, he knew.

Twilight smiled at all of them but didn’t come any closer, instead, she simply raised a hoof at them and said, “Attack.”

Five pegasi landed around her out of the sky while making small craters as they landed and joined the battlefield. They weren’t wearing the usual armor and it had streaks of blue lightning carved into them. The Shadowbolts!

Reiner hesitated for a moment, he heard tales that the Shadowbolts could rival the Starlight Pegasi in speed and agility. He watched as his ponies and Twilight's ponies fought one another, viciously.

One Starlight Pegasus charged at the closest Shadowbolt head on, intent on not letting the dark pegasus gain any advantage.

The young Reiner gulped as he saw a unicorn, only a few feet away from him, impaled by a very wide and sharp spear from his mouth and through his stomach that was thrown by another unicorn.

‘I can’t be afraid!’ Reiner reasoned, ‘I am a Starlight. I am the elite! I have to help!’ He looked around the battlefield, wanting to join in but afraid of the fight cloud that surrounded him. Sharp and dangerous weapons were thrown all about and he could easily get his head chopped off, by his own allies no less, if he rushed in without thinking about the situation.

Just as the young pegasus was about to jump in, he failed to notice a looming shadow from behind him. The massive yellow earth pony yanked him by his mane and tossed him into the ground.

Reiner fell on his back as the pony stepped over him. The earth pony raised a hoof over Reiner’s neck, trying to hold him steady before delivering the final blow with a dagger held in his mouth. Eyes filled with malice and discontent stared down into his fearful own.

“Die, Starlight Worm!” The pony growled just as he lunged down, the dagger going straight for Reiner‘s skull.

“I closed my eyes, prepared for the oncoming blade but the feeling of the sharp metal didn’t touch my skin and I suddenly felt like I had lost 350 pounds of meat off of my shoulders.

“I opened my eyes to see Starry flipping the pony over and pinning him to a tree before he chomping at his neck with his mouth, pulling the earth pony‘s esophagus straight out before spitting the bloody organ out….”

“Super gross!”

“Haha, yes, Starry is…very thorough. As I've said—”

Twilight covered her mouth with a hoof, trying to stifle a yawn as she watched her own pony fall down dead, his eyes wide open staring at her own. It was the look of a hopeless individual who was crying for help.

“I see things don’t change with you, Starry.” Twilight giggled, looking back up to face the Starlight General. “Maybe if you were younger and less sore on the eyes, you could catch a few attention from the mares…or stallions.” Twilight’s eyes flashed green, then, red.

“Just because you Lunar Ponies have doors that swing both ways doesn’t mean that we Celestian Ponies swing like that.” Starry growled as he pounced on her. Twilight was momentarily caught off-guard by the sudden jump but simply smiled at his ill-fated attempt to harm her. They simply rolled across the floor, creating a small dust cloud, wrestling with each other in a way that two friends would. Or, at least, that’s how it looked.

For all intents and purposes, Starry was trying to kill the mare with all of his strength but even giving his best, Twilight was unimpressed. With good reason.

After they finally stopped rolling, Twilight ended up on top of Starry and held him down firmly. She leaned down so low that their noses were touching. “Why do you think I tore down half of your fortress’s walls?” She asked with a husky voice. Her warm breath could be seen due to the nightly cold.

Obviously, Starry figured that she wanted an opening to their base to invade. Why else?

“No, it’s not so I can weaken your forces. It’s so I can bring in a few of my friends.” Twilight laughed, making Starry nervous. Her eyes flashed green again. “I really don’t understand you mortal ponies, it makes me wonder how you can be the way you are. I almost…envy you.” Twilight said in a low voice, snarling at him.

Using her magic, she created over a dozen giant puddles of reflective water in the sky. The ’pond’ covered the entire area, reflecting the battle going below or above them.

That wasn’t even the most shocking part! The floating liquid seemed to glow and it was like an invisible hand was reaching out to grab at the ponies that it reflected upon.

“Screeeee!” A shattering cry sounded out from the liquid mirrors and the reflections within them started to come alive as if they were their own ponies.

“Jurelians.” Starry grunted as he kicked Twilight off of himself. He watched on in horror as spine-like creatures fell from the water. They fell on top of some of his ponies and started to squeeze the life out of them.

The creatures’ ribcage-like appendages were wrapping around his allies until they started to seep deep into them. The abominations called Jurelians were fusing deeply into his ponies’ nerves, eating away at their still living husk. He knew that it was the end for those that the Jurelians had attached to and the only thing he could do was spare them the horror of what comes next.

“Fire! Get a fire started now!” Starry roared at his ponies. “Stay away from the infected and fight at a distance! Use projectiles, magic, or fire just don‘t let them touch you!”

“Gen-General…!” An earth pony with a Jurelian attached to his spine was calling out to Starry, staggering with every step. “H-Help, I f-f-feeeel...soooo...coooolllddd!” The pony’s eyes started to whiten as his eyes rolled behind his skull.

It really was a pitiful sight. Reiner stepped alongside his brother with a look of disbelief and sympathy. He’s seen pictures of these creatures and wrote reports on them in the Starlight Academy but never has he seen them up close and in action. The books and lessons would never have been able to teach him of the horrors that he would learn that day about those creatures known as ‘Shadow Mirrors‘.

“I’m sorry, there’s nothing that I can do for you. It‘s too late.” Starry shut his eyes in pity as his wings started to vibrate at a high frequency.

“B-But you are a Starlight, our saviors!” The pony started to cry, but his eyes leaked black blood instead of real tears. “Wh—Screee! Kraaah! Kiiiccchh!” The pony’s head suddenly shot out, his neck torn but his spine growing, some of his blood and guts were falling out from the semi-disembodied head!

The hovering head started screeching at Starry, drooling out of its newly formed mandibles. His chest ripped out as a perverted version of his ribcage was sticking out more than horsely possible. The bony appendage was moving like the legs of a centipede as the husk of the former earth pony approached the Starlight General and his young brother, threateningly.

“S-Starry, can we help him?” Reiner asked in uncertainty, especially after seeing the pony‘s head tear off of his shoulders. There was probably only way to ‘save‘ him now.

“Twilight, you bitch.” Starry Lights shook his head. He opened his eyes as blue streaks of static electricity filled his irises. “I’m sorry.” A powerful burst of lightning shot out from the pegasus’s wings as the infected pony’s entire body was engulfed in the white light. After the light subsided, all that was left was ashes in the shape of the former pony’s disfigured body. Even that crumpled to nothingness as the winds broke the charred form apart.

Reiner’s heart sunk after watching his brother commit such a act without the slightest hesitation. It was an act of somepony who’s grown old and weary. A pony who can only save others in one way and only one way: War

“Should you be teaching her such bad words? And what’s with all of that gory detail, she’s only 4 years old!” Cotton Dash came into the room and chastised her husband. “She’ll be having Nightmare Moons for weeks!”

“Uhh?” Reiner looked back, stunned at his angry unicorn wife. His eyes shot back and forth between Rainbow Dash and Cotton Dash. Each time he looked at the young Rainbow Dash, he noticed that her eyes became bigger as giant wet blobs of tears were forming. And each time that he looked at Cotton, he noticed that her eyes becoming thinner as they were turning into a sharp glare.

“Oops?” He chuckled as he rubbed the back of his mane with a hoof. Cotton just glared and smacked him with a hard pan that she levitated in.

“Well, I’m going to bed, and don’t fill her mind with anything more morbid.” His wife started to trot out of Rainbow’s room. As soon as her flank disappeared from view he heard the threatening words, “Or else.”

“Ehe, hee, so where was I?” Reiner thought for a second about what his wife told him. “Well, let’s just say that I was running away from the infected ponies while Starry rallied the group together. I managed to kill a few on my own, though, not in the same way that Starry did.” The Starlight General coughed as he tried to sum it all up without going into too much detail.

“Well, we managed to destroy the liquid mirrors that were sprouting the Jurelians and all of the Starlights banded together to perform a super Starblaze Blitz, creating a light so big that it was a miniature version of Celestia’s Sun and burnt all of the infected ponies sky high. (Jurelians are super weak against intense light.)” Reiner sighed, “We thought that that was the worst of it all but Twilight had another card up her non-existent sleeves….”

Twilight bit her lips in annoyance as she watched all of the infected ponies standing there, screeching in pain as the bright light evaporated their entire bodies. The light was even having an effect on her own ponies, even though they weren’t Jurelians they were still more accustomed to the darkness, so she had to summon a shield to block off the intense light.

A tingle ran down Twilight’s spine as she watched the demise of her monster army. The green in her eyes suddenly faded back to purple. “Bastards!” She said under her breath.

“Oh, right, no foul words….” Reiner scratched his head.

 The frown on her lips quickly switched back to their cocky expression. They may have ‘cleansed’ the infected ponies but now they had less than half of their previous unit size.

The Ponies of the Sun started to fall back to their broken base as she and her ponies stayed behind to watch, not intent on giving in to the chase. It was more than likely that they had set traps behind and Twilight had anticipated that.

‘They think they’re so clever, don’t they?’ She thought with a smirk.

“Haaah!” Twilight took a huge intake of breath. All of her ponies watched in awe and backed away from her as far as they could. They knew exactly what was coming next. “AAAAAHHHH!!!”

The entire area turned black and white as her screams reached the pony encampment, everypony that was shot by her screams froze in their steps, their outlines turned white as they were filled with blackness.

Twilight held the screams for what seemed like another good dozen minutes before finally stopping. Life seemed to come back into the surrounding area as the colors returned where her screams had went. All of the ponies hit by the magical scream turned back to their colorful spectrums, thankfully, and found the ability to move once again. There seemed to be no physical harm done at all, at least to them.

After the inverted colors faded away, they watched in horror as the magical/physical barriers and traps that they had set ‘popped’ before their very eyes. All of the protection that they had prepared for had just vanished into thin air.

“It’s not over until one of us dies, after all.” Twilight bellowed out. The Dark Ponies charged towards the broken fortress in hordes, passing by the Dark Zoner as she stood there, patiently.

“Batten the hatches! Pony the working arbalests! Prepare the boiling oil vats!” Starry ordered his troops as he watched as the enemy charged closer. “And pray to Celestia that we can make it through this till sunrise.”

Giant arrows flung into the sky as they landed heavily on a few unprepared ponies. Even their unicorns couldn’t stop the thick arrows with their summoned barriers. But even as their enemy were suffering some losses, they marched on, without wavering.

‘Like true monsters!’ Starry thought with a grimace.

Suddenly, the sounds of giant flapping wings filled the air. *Whoosh! Whoosh!*

Giant black shadows started to fill the already dark skies above their fortress, to his disappointment, and Starry’s ears flattened as he felt the last of his strength leave his body. He was prepared to sound a retreat, leaving the settlement to the Dark Ones’ cruel hooves until he heard a voice.

“I guess we’re not too late, Starlight General?” The deep voice chuckled as a giant red dragon fell down on one of the black masses near the fortress.

“Sharptooth!” Starry grinned in joy as he looked at the giant red dragon who stood at half the size of their fortress walls. The red dragon started to blow a wave of fire, making the Lunar Ponies back away, many couldn’t escape in time and were singed to ashes.

“I’m glad that my brethren and I could come to assist you, Master General.” The dragon, Sharptooth, grinned before plowing through all of the ponies beneath his feet.

‘Yes! We’re gonna win!’ Reiner cheered as he watched his brother jump out into the foray to help the dragons.

“Dragons. Why does it always have to be dragons?” Twilight muttered under her breath. There were about two dozen dragons devastating her ponies. Even her elite Shadowbolts couldn’t stand up to that many dragons.

She had already spent a lot of power summoning the Jurelians and producing that Broken Haze spell, not to mention that the Sun was nearing within the hour. There was no way that she can take down the base and take over the settlement within time.

While she was contemplating this, a trio of full grown dragons broke off from their flock and rushed towards her while plowing her ponies out of the way. They were quickly gaining distance even though she was more than a few kilometers away from the base.

“There’s the murderous demon [bad fillyfriend].” The green one declared as he fell right in front of her. He dug his claws into the earth, grabbing some tons worth, before pulling his head back to breathe fire. After a quick inhale, the green dragon unleashed a blue fire that engulfed the Dark Zoner before she could react.

He held the fire with such intensity that it looked like he would not let up any time soon. After scattering Twilight’s ponies, his allies joined him just as he finished. There, where Twilight once stood, sat a curled up purple fur-ball with patches of burnt skin atop molten earth.

The three dragons eyed the ball curiously before a purple eye opened at them, one filled with anger and bloodlust. Her eyes turned red just as she used her horns to summon the shadows from nearby objects. The shadows that she pulled out were surrounded by a white glow as she kneaded them into sharp spikes. And in a flash, the spikes ran through the chest of the green dragon with one spike protruding out from his chest.

“That’s not too graphic, is it?” Reiner looked at his daughter who was sucking on a bottle of milk and rolling on her back. “So innocent,” He sighed and continued. A little blood shouldn’t ruin the mood since she’s at the age where ‘blood’ means nothing.

The green dragon’s body laid dead, instantly, with the spikes of shadow penetrating his thick scaly hide. His brethren grew angry as they lunged at Twilight, wanting to rip her in twain.

But before the two dragons could even touch her, a giant white claw fell from the sky and grabbed them.

“Claws off of our sister, serpent!” A giant phantom held the two struggling dragons. Its voice like the shattering of glass forced the surrounding ponies and dragons to attempt to cover their ears. The dark voice literally tore at their souls.

The two dragons struggled more and finally managed to break free, ripping off the phantom’s arm, while doing so. Just as they prepared to fly back around and attack the phantom, a silver liquid shot out from the phantom’s torn limb and wrapped around the closest dragon.

“Die.” The liquid instantly hardened as it closed in on the smaller dragon, crushing it while forming a new claw. The other dragon opened his eyes wide in shock and hastily flew back to join his brethren near the fortress.

“I didn’t need the assist, Sin.” Twilight moaned as she stretched her back on the floor. All over her body there were cracks where her blood were burnt and dripping out. The phantom lowered a claw in an attempt to pet the large pony but she moved just out of his grasp and shook her head at him.

“Sister….”

“I’m fine, you worry too much. My body may not be made of out pure moonlight like yours but I can still heal through any damage.” She shook her entire body like a dog after a bath and her crusty skin and blood immediately fell off like it was just a fabric of clothing, revealing newly formed fur and skin from underneath.

“Sun almost out.” Sin said quietly. “Can’t help our sister when daybreak.”

“It’s okay, we don’t need your help, we can take them down even if sunrise comes. I am the Dark Zoner, after all.” Twilight smirked and turned to watch the ongoing battle in the distance. “We still outnumber them by a good portion even if they have two dozen dragons.”

Twilight looked back up at Sin’s newly grown claw, noticing the dragon’s corpse still protruding from it. She grunted in disgust before jumping with a spin and sawing off the claw with her tail.

“I can’t believe you just leave your body like that.” Twilight complained before heading out to join the battle.

Sin was about to join the battlefield until he noticed the blare of the Sun’s light coming out from the distance. “We are sorry, sister.” He stood there as his body started fading where the sunlight touched his form. “We shall help, another time.” The see-through phantom walked away, back into the forest. He stepped on a few trees and ponies but they went through his foot as if it didn’t exist.

Back at the fortress Starry joined his friend, Sharptooth. ”Good to see you, you ol’ big fat lizard!” The pegasus greeted the large red dragon.

“Same to you, featherbrains.” Sharptooth chuckled and clapped his claw with Starry’s hoof in greeting. Reiner flew down beside his brother nervously. “Ah! Little Reiner, how good to see you! Still a runt, huh? You ponies get smaller every time I see you.”

“That’s just because you keep getting fatter!” Starry chuckled, “Gotta lay off them hordes of yours.”

“What a nice little reunion, isn’t it?” A patronizing voice called out to the group, breaking the conversation. A dozen meteor-like balls of fire fell down in a circle around the group.

Out from all of the points of contact, a group of Shadowbolts walked out.

“You old stallions should just croak already!” A small female Shadowbolt approached Sharptooth and the others, not afraid.

“Nice for the Vice Captain of the Shadowbolts to join us.” Starry spat out and returned the mare’s advance with his own.

“That’s Ms. Captain of the Shadowbolts to you!”

“What, they run outta reliable Captains?” Starry laughed.

“No.” The purple mare vanished in the blink of an eye. The Starlight General’s mane was cut and Sharptooth fell back as a powerful force knocked him to the ground. “Obviously, I’ve gotten better.” The Shadowbolt laughed as she hovered above the group. “Attack!”

The other Shadowbolts rose into the air before turning into a ball of fire, streaks of shadows paved their way before crashing into the ground like a siege weapon.

“Damn, they’ve learned some new tricks.” Starry muttered as he called out for covered from the exploding balls.

Sharptooth shot back up to his feet and swung a tail at a few of the fireballs, knocking them out of the air before they could explode.

Reiner found himself pressed to the floor as a large mare crashed into him. “Wow, you’re so tiny, how old are you anyway?” The mare asked, curious. Her face was so close to his that he was afraid that she might bite him!

“How does that concern you, S-Shadowbolt?” The small pegasus squeaked under her grip.

“It concerns me plenty, twerp.” The Shadowbolt quickly let go of Reiner before flying back at another target. “I don't kill the young.” She jumped away and fell on an unsuspecting unicorn, stabbing him in the back of the neck with the blade on her bracer.

“Huh?” Reiner looked around and noticed that many of the Shadowbolts were purposely ignoring him, not intent on fighting him where he stood. That was interesting. While it saved him from a confrontation with a Shadowbolt, he couldn't help but be a bit peeved at being overlooked just because he appeared small and young.

He could use this to his advantage, he grinned.

Reiner jumped into the fray, holding a long sword in his mouth. He snuck behind the Captain of the Shadowbolts in an attempt to kill her before she could make the situation worse but she noticed him too soon.

“Ah, sending little colts to attack me, now?” The Captain turned to look at Starry while she held the blade in her hoof.  Then, she ripped the sword from Reiner’s mouth before tossing it aside giving him a displeased look. “I knew that you Celestians were horrible but using the young to fight your battles is just disappointing. Careful, Starlight, I might accidentally rip your head off if you come my way again.”

He struggled in her grasp, amazed at how the tiny yet still larger pegasus was able to hold him firmly without weakening her hold on him, no matter how much he struggled. Her strength was comparable to Starry Lights'. This was definitely a bad idea.

Finally, she dropped him with a shake of her head.

Reiner sat there stunned as he watched the battle go on around him. The other dragons noticed their leader’s distress and rejoined him, quickly overwhelming the Shadowbolts killing a few with the survivors retreating.

A ray of light fell over Reiner‘s eyes, telling him that the Sun was finally out. Has it really been that long? We just need to hold out until daybreak. He remembered the words of his brother and he felt a newfound energy fill his body.

He looked around and still saw the battle going on, in fact, it seemed to get even more blood thirsty! There was no real sign of the battle slowing down at all!

Of course, it wasn’t like the Dark Ones were roaches and would flee at the first sign of light but it should have weakened them enough to make a tactical retreat. But this was a real battle, just because one side was weaker it didn’t mean that they would give up so easily especially if they had a cause that they believed in.

In short, it was stubbornness, just plain stubbornness. But the real question was, where? Where did that stubbornness come from?

As if it was an answer from Celestia herself, the Dark Ponies stopped fighting around him and made an open path. Shortly afterwards, Twilight came into view, walking with a high head.

A few of her ponies who could manage, bowed before her even with the ongoing battle around them and those who couldn't simply pinned his ponies to the ground enabling them to do so. The fact that they seemed to regard Twilight Sparkle so highly was amazing in and of itself. Reiner would never have been able to try to bow down to Celestia while his life was at stake like that as brief as it is.

“You know, I never really liked dragons.” Twilight laughed inwardly at the irony of her statement. “Scaly, obnoxious, and don’t even get me started on the crying and bedwetting!”

“Who are you calling a crybaby?!” A dragon quickly lunged at Twilight before he found both of his claws chopped off.

“I’ve never used the word ‘crybaby’, have I?” Twilight tsked at the dragon before charging a bolt of lightning from her horn and blasting a small hole through his chest. “But you can say that you are all crybabies, too, I guess. Crying in blood, at least!” His large form fell stiffly to the ground with a thud near Twilight who didn't even give it a second glance. She walked over the corpse of the dragon and approached Sharptooth and Starry.

Just how powerful is she? She fell a dragon single-hoofedly in one strike. A feat nearly impossible for any other pony! And she acted like it was no big deal, like it was the kind of thing that she's done countless times! A shiver ran down his spine as he realized that Twilight had killed dragons numerously throughout the years.

“I can’t believe that the Starlight General and one of the Dragon Masters are here. -Whistles- Wow, you really know how to show a mare around, Starry!”

“You are no mare, abomination!”

“So you keep saying….” Twilight shook her head. She looked up at the Sun that was now hovering over all of their heads. “You all probably thought that we would retreat just because the Sun is out? What made you come up with such a foolish notion, you dumb [female dogs]!”

'Really, these self-censorships are just getting ridiculous,' Reiner thought with a shake of his head. In the corner of his eyes, he saw a frying pan laying on Rainbow's desk, shining and in full view, mocking him. He rubbed the wound at the back of his neck, 'Oh, yeah...'

“You can’t fight anymore, Twilight!” Starry tried to reason. “Your ponies are a third of our forces and the more you linger here, the more ponies you lose! Don’t you care at all about their well being?” It was sort of amusing to see ‘Mr. General Ripper’ try to reason pony safety with the enemy in the warfront.

“If there is only one pony left standing on our side and all of yours are dead, then, we win!” Twilight declared, showing all of her fangs in a crazed smile. A number of Shadowbolts flew down beside Twilight, ready to assist her. “And my ponies still seem like they still want to fight.” She looked side to side before her eyes fell on the Shadowbolt Captain. The two mares nodded towards one another in silent agreement.

The Shadowbolt Captain jumped in front of Twilight and shot out in a straight path, setting everything in her way on fire.

The dragons who were pretty much immune to any sense of heat were better off than many of the ponies who couldn’t get out of the way.

“Damn you, Twilight!” Starry lunged at the Zoner but two Shadowbolts jumped in his way, blocking him. He was pushed back as he had to use his wings as guards against the attacking pegasi.

Each time one of the pegasi jumped in to attack him, they quickly rebounded before he could retaliate with the other one jumping in to deliver another blow. If this was one on one, he would have killed them already!

Taking a big risk, Starry stopped his steps and firmly held himself down. He immediately lashed out his wings at the pony that came to strike him, catching him completely in a tight bind before slamming him into the hard surface.

He got cut in the chest but he managed to wrangle the pegasus. Starry, without hesitation, stomped on the pegasus’s ribcage repeatedly until he felt the softness of the muscles pressing itself with the hearts and lungs. While finishing off the Shadowbolt, the other one came and stabbed him in the stomach.

Starry withstood the cuts and pains, and used that moment to take the other pegasus by surprise. As Starry brought the other Shadowbolt closer to him, the blade went deeper into his open wound but Starry could hold his pain better than any other pony and continued pulling until he could grasp the other pony.

Using one of his wings, he grabbed the pegasus and threw him up into the air before slamming him down on his teammate, crashing their skulls together, killing the both of them.

“Grr! Face me yourself, coward!” Starry roared as he smacked another pony aside with his hoof.

Twilight didn’t say anything and just smiled. She took a few steps back before she disappeared into the crowd. Her guards filled up the gap that she left behind, forcing Starry to push through them.

“Wait, Starry! It’s probably a trap!” Reiner called out as he saw his brother disappear. It was amazing as to how Starry ever managed to become a Starlight General when he was so reckless and careless.

Reiner went in pursuit of his brother, hoping to save him from whatever horror he might end up in.

Thankfully, he managed to evade falling debris of weapons and corpses due to his small stature. His small size was a curse but in certain cases like these, they were a godsend! Still, there were ponies who took notice of him and tried to give chase.

Reiner jumped backwards as a dagger nearly cut him. He was able to dodge the next blade and jump kicked the owner on the head, knocking her unconscious, as he continued on in his pursuit of Starry. “There’s big brother!” He saw a glimpse of Starry and flew above the crowd after him.

As he followed the two great powers, Reiner noticed that they were nearing the edge of the battlefield with the surrounding ponies becoming more and more scarce.

All of the signs led him to believe that this was some sort of elaborate trap that Twilight had concocted to lead Starry Lights into his doom. He bit his lips, hopefully his brother will be okay!

“Starry!”  Reiner cried out as loud as he could when he turned around a tree. The clearing was empty with no ponies, fighting or otherwise, in sight! Where was Starry?

Suddenly, he heard a loud and slow gasping sound, like somepony was hurt and in danger.

*Huff Huff Huff*

“Starry!” Reiner cried again, worry eating away at his small heart. Even with the light out, the clearing was a little more than ominous. He knew that Starry was strong enough to fend for himself but there was this nagging feeling that was just chewing him out! “STARRY!” Reiner grew more worried with each passing second, visions of Starry Lights’ gruesome fate flashed before his eyes. He saw dead accusing eyes staring back at him hanging by a tree branch by its own cord. Gulp.

Reiner Dash shook his head, no time for nightmares that can be prevented! “Starry!” He yelled out into the silence once again. He raised his head high, biting his tongue, as he listened to that labored breathing. It was near, very near.

“Starry!” Reiner walked closer to the sound but he didn’t notice a shadow grow out from a nearby tree that was behind him. The shadow stretched and twisted until it turned into the shape of a rather large mare with a horn.

“Hello.” Twilight hung her head low near the young pegasus’s ears.

At the sound, Reiner spun around while backing away, horribly falling to the ground from tripping over his own hooves. “T-T-T-T—”

“Twilight Sparkle?” Twilight took a few steps forward for every step that he took back. “Why, I believe that is what they call me? How nice of you to know my name.” She bent down with her face uncomfortably close to his and smiled from ear to ear, revealing a row of blade sharp teeth.

Reiner froze as he clenched his eyes and turned his head away.

“What’s wrong, little one?”  She cooed, he could tell that her face was still close to his from the cold breath of air that washed over his cheeks. He was surprised at how soft and gently her voice was. “Afraid?” Her voice quickly went deep and menacing. His nerves became unraveled as he fell back.

“You look just like my dear Starry.” Twilight walked over Reiner and breathed into one of his ears, making him clench his eyes harder. She laughed when she saw him shaking. ‘How cute.’

“You must be his brother or some other, right? Honestly, all of you blue-coated rainbow-maned freaks are related, so I wouldn’t really be making a wild assumption, would I? You inbredponies!” She hissed the last one before stomping on the ground beside his head, forcing his eyes open.

“<…….>?!” Reiner found some courage and spoke up in a low voice, so low that a normal pony wouldn’t have been able to hear him but Twilight did.

“What was that?” Twilight laughed before standing straight and trotting a few feet away.

“Starry <…>!”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear that?” She licked her sharp teeth in amusement, her tongue ended up being cut a bit as she tasted her own blood.

“Where’s my brother Starry?! I know you did something to him!”

“Oh? Why didn’t you ask?” Reiner felt something furry yet slightly metallic wrap over his shoulders and neck. When he looked down, he realized that it was her tail, somehow stretching with a life of its own. It even brushed against his cheek like a snake and left a small cut.

“You’re pretty stupid for a little colt, aren’t you?” Twilight laughed once again, her voice was like a dark choir in the church. “I could kill you where you stand, right now, don’t you know?” He felt her tail grow ‘sharper’ and ‘harder’. “There‘s just so many different things that I could do to you right now, alone and defenseless. I should chain you up, beaten and battered, and hold you as collateral against the kingdom. You deserve nothing less, Starlight Trainee!”

“I’m not a Trainee! I’m a full fledged Starlight Soldier!”

“Really? They let somepony as feeble and nerve-wracked as you, become a real warrior?” Twilight Sparkle let go of his shoulders and turned to look at him with amazement, truly impressed. She smirked, inwardly. ‘This could prove interesting.’

“I may be small…and a bit nervous! But I can do a Rainboom, Aerial Cutter and a bunch of other stuff!” Reiner pulled out his scabbard with the shield insignia that proved legitimacy of a Master of the Rainboom. His face was beaming with pride.

“I see, so they’re weren’t stupid, after all.” Twilight’s mood went down fast once her eyes fell upon the blade holder. Damn Starlights and their Celestial blades. “At least, not completely stupid.” She huffed at him, mockingly. “You talk to me like I‘m a pony, like I won‘t kill you this very second. Talk about naïve!”

Twilight closed the distance between him and her within the blink of an eye before slapping him sideways into a tree. “But I’m not a pony! I’m an Illaen! A monster! Mare of the Night! Your enemy!”

“No matter what you are, be it alicorn or pony or demon, you’re not a monster!” Reiner groaned from the pain in his chest. “There is no such thing as a monster!”

Twilight stood there with a blank expression, void of any emotions but deep down she was shocked at the young colt’s declaration. Her face grew soft as she became silent.

“My brother taught me that! No pony’s a monster so we don’t have to be afraid of them! We are all blessed under Celestia‘s light!” Reiner continued, his voice growing more and more passionate. “Starry spoke of the day that we would destroy you, not as a fearsome monster, but as a worthless pony who terrorized the innocent! Somepony who can be stopped. Somepony who’s not indestructible or invincible!”

Twilight’s face fell. She wanted to be angry at the words but she laughed to herself, knowing full well that that was typical Starry Lights behavior.

Reiner added with a soft whisper, “But while I don’t agree with the killing part, I do agree that you aren’t a monster and that you need to be stopped, peacefully! As another living creature, I think we can work our way pass our differences and reunite our two kingdoms back into one!”

Twilight shook her head at the young blue pegasus, laughing as rudely and loudly as in-ponely as possible. “Wow, great speech! I give it 4 stars!” She wiped a tear out of her eye. “You think this is some fairy tale? That everypony will forgive me for all of the atrocities that I’ve committed? All of the lives that I’ve ended prematurely and families that I ruined? How rich!”

“With the power of justice and love, anything is possible! Even a pony like you can be forgiven!”

“This is why I hate you Celestians! All so pretentious and high on that pedestal of yours! Never admitting to your wrongs but to everypony else’s.” Twilight stopped laughing and glared at Reiner. “Okay, so let’s say that we do magically become friends, what of it? Will your stupid princess ever accept my brothers and sisters as creatures who deserves life? Doubtful, but here’s a proposition, little one—”

“Reiner Dash!”

“My, a bold one, aren’t you?” She brushed off his rudeness with a flick of her mane. Twilight approached Reiner and pulled him in with her tail. “How about this…?”

The dark mare leaned in to whisper a few words into his ears, making his eyes widen in shock. Before she could finish her proposal, a ball of what appeared to be a timberwolf came tumbling down into her side, knocking her away from Reiner. The timeberwolf shattered into a million bits of wood shavings and Twilight was covered in sawdust.

“Huff, huff! Damn you, Twilight and your damned monsters!” Starry roared with a beat of his mighty wings. He swooped down and pounced on the mare.

“I didn’t take you for the rough lover, Starry!” Twilight smirked under his grasp as a white aura surrounded him, lifting him up, and slamming Starry into the ground.

Starry Lights growled before he rebounded and charged at her, swinging his bladed wing at her, cutting her neck and face before jumping back. She was momentarily stunned by the cut allowing him to rush her with all four of his hooves to topple her into the ground.

“I’m getting tired…of this game!” Starry got up and stamped on her face between each word.

“So am I.” She sighed, with her face bruised and bleeding, seemingly not at all affected by the more-than-fatal punishment that he was dealing on her. If she was any other pony, she probably would have died right there and then instead of shrugging it off.

“Starry!” Reiner jumped at his brother as he attempted to stomp on the larger mare some more. The two Starlights rolled onto the ground before hitting a large boulder that was nearby.

“Reiner, what in Celestia’s name do you think you are doing!?”

“W-We can’t kill her, not like that! We’re Starlight Knights, we have to do this honorably!”

“What in the world are you yapping about? This is no place for honor! This is a battle—” Starry was cut short as a flutter of Twilight’s tail brushed across his face, cutting him in the eye. “Aurgh!” Starry roared as he covered the afflicted eye with one hoof. “You-You…!” He turned to glare at Twilight with his one good eye.

“Aww? Poor widdle Starry needs meh to kiss his boo boo away?” Twilight laughed as her wounds were quickly patching up within seconds. Starry merely growled at her, showing his teeth.

Reiner backed away a bit in amazement and horror. He ended up with his flank bumping against his elder sibling who merely shoved him aside.

“Stay out of this Kid Reiner.”

“Wait, Twilight” Reiner tried to say something but his brother just ‘shushed’ him. He frowned and held his head down, not seeing the glint in Twilight’s eye as she watched on in amusement.

“Don’t ruin the surprise, kid.” The dark mare laughed in a deep and low voice. “Come at me, Scarry Eyes!” Twilight tempted the bigger pegasus, making a back-flip as he bombarded where she last stood with a flip of his wings.

‘Oh, dear Celestia!’ Reiner backed away as he watched the two titans take stance.

A shadow seemed to cover the two and a brilliant white light was surrounding Starry’s form while Twilight was consumed by a dark blue light.

“No more Mister Nice Stallion.” Starry muttered as he stomped each of his hooves into the ground to gather his bearings. Twilight merely smiled at him in return. “This is the day you finally perish under the might of the Starlights, She-Demon!”

“Many Generals have said that and yet here I am. Be more original, my little pony.”

Reiner found himself squeezing his eyes shut as the two opposing forces collided in a blinding flash of light. Starry stretched out his wing-guards in front of him as an offensive, slamming them against Twilight’s chest when he charged at her in lightning speed.

The force pushed both him and Twilight a few feet away but the mare held her stance, able to prevent herself from flying back. “Nice try.” Twilight spun around and whacked him with the side of her tail but Starry rose his wing-guards in time to block the attack.

He added more force into his wings and attempted to gain more ground, Twilight attempting the same. The two powers continued their little push as the air around them began to turn into a vacuum. The earth cracked, the sky changed colors, and rocks crumbled in a magical bubble covering them. Static electricity filled the air before turning into tiny bolts of lightning.

They both seemed to be giving it their all while destroying their surroundings in the process. Even though the bubble around them was tiny, Reiner tearing from the outside in from just watching them. Sweat protruded down their faces and rips and tears appeared all over their bodies. These wounds seemed to be so great that Twilight couldn't heal them fast enough.

They seemed to be on even grounds with one another to an outsider but Starry knew he was at his limit, much more than Twilight. His Ticorium-alloy plated armor set began to crack before exploding off. Then, his heart snapped. “Hwaah! Argh!“

“You’re getting too old for this….” Twilight seemed crestfallen as she took a step back. “Let me put you out of your misery!” Twilight did a somersault and kicked him hard into the floor. She smiled as she stood over him and charged a lot of raw magic into her horn. Sparks were ricocheting in all directions, one nearly hit Reiner but amazingly none were even close to hitting Starry. It was like there was a small invisible shield around the weakened pegasus.

“Starry!” Reiner cried out in terror. This was the first time that he’s ever seen his strong hearted and cool brother ever looking weak. Starry looked so…helpless like he‘s giving up hope! A rage seemed to fill his chest as his mind became clouded. Starry will not die, today, if ever! Not if he had a thing to say about it.

No more Mr. Nice Pony!

“Starry!” Electricity surrounded Reiner’s entire body as the entirety of his eyes turned pitch black. In an instant, Reiner found himself vanishing into thin air.

Twilight momentarily paused her charge as she looked through the corners of her eyes. A large smirk stretched across her cheeks as she saw the new power rise in Reiner Dash. ‘It’s about time.’

She looked back at Starry Lights, “Goodbye, Starry Lights.” Starry’s eyes widened in shock at the tone of her voice, fear seeping through all of the fibers in his being. He thought wistfully to himself, closing his eyes in regret of things done and not. Twilight’s magic was fully charged but before she could unleash it she was knocked off of her hooves, crashing through a few dozen trees before finally hitting a giant boulder that cracked in half.

“Stay away from my brother! I won’t lose another family member!” Reiner cried out. “I don’t wanna hurt you but I‘ll kill anypony who hurts my brother!” Tears started to fall from the blue pegasus’s black eyes before he kneeled over in shock.

“Heh, another Starlight General…?” Twilight looked at the young pegasus, “And so young, too.” Her body was engulfed into the darkness as Reiner’s vision became blurry and all of his consciousness flew out of his mind.

XOX

Young Reiner saw and heard nothing but he could feel the air around him changing constantly, like he was being constantly moved around and watched.

Slowly, but surely, everything returned to him as a small thin shred of light penetrated his lids in small trickles.

“Come over here! He’s waking up!” He heard a mare’s voice called out.

“Reiner!” Multiple voices were overlapping one another as they all cried out his name. The thin white horizontal line started to stretch out as a burst of light blinded him, temporarily.

There around him, he saw a crowd of strange ponies who were wearing medical garbs and a few were dressed in shining gold armor. The bed was soft and fluffy unlike the makeshift beds found in the battlefield so this must have been the hospital. But where were they, this hospital looked too modern to be anywhere close to the rural battlefield.

A large figure from behind the crowd started to shove its way pass all of them, roughly, before nearing the edge of his bed. Reiner squinted his eyes at the large figure before his mouth turned into a large smile. “Starry!” He cheered, “You’re alright!” Relief and joy filled his somewhat empty heart upon seeing his elder brother, still alive.

But when Reiner got a better look at his brother his joy suddenly collapsed. Around the large blue pegasus’ head, a bandage cloth, drenched red, covered over one of his eyes.

Starry Lights looked at Reiner, his good eye widened. He unconsciously rose a hoof to his bleeding eye before saying, “Damned nurses were intent on keeping my eye wrapped.” He laughed, gruffly. “I told them that I wanted them to gouge out the wound but they wanted to let it ‘heal’. Meh! I can’t even see outta the dang thing, what’s the point in having it in my head?”

For some reason, even though Reiner was worried for his older brother, he giggled like a little schoolcolt. It was like it was the funniest thing that he’s ever heard as he continued his giggling fit for a few more moments. Everypony looked at Reiner cautiously before  turning to look at Starry.

Soon, Starry’s serious face also grew into a smile, something that amazed everypony in that room before he too started to laugh with his younger brother. The laughter that they shared together seemed to be a secret laughter, a laughter that only those two as brothers could understand.

All of the ponies smiled in knowing as they all left the medical room, one by one. This was a time to leave the two brothers alone, to let them enjoy another day of living and happiness. That was all the normal ponies could give to the Saviors of Equestria, the Starlight Pegasi.

When all of them were finally gone, their laughter finally started to die down. Reiner wiped a tear from his eyes as he scooted on the bed closer to his brother, a feat he realized that was harder than he thought as the wounds were still fresh and his body ached so much. The young pegasus started to wipe more of his tears but felt them turn into waterfalls.

Starry’s smile quickly turned into a concerned frown as he held his brother in his arms. “S-Starry, I-I thought that I’d lose you!” He felt Reiner’s tears soak his bandaged wings. “I was so afraid!”

“There, there, little brother. I know, you were too young any of this, I wanted you to stay behind but you just kept growing and I couldn’t slow you down.” Starry’s eye started to water but no tears flooded their rims. “I’ll protect you for as long as I have left.”

“Starry, you’re wrong. I wasn’t afraid of the Dark Ponies or the Illaens or even Twilight! But I was afraid of the anger that I felt in my chest. I couldn‘t control it -hic-,” The little pony sobbed uncontrollably. “I wanted to destroy everypony and everything that was going to hurt you! I was afraid of that other Reiner Dash!”

“It’s okay, little brother. The nightmare’s over for now.” Starry became serious again. “You should be proud, you are going to be the new Starlight General soon! I’m not sure when but soon! And I could never be more proud of you, Reiner.”

Reiner pulled away from his older brother. “Huh? But I don’t think I’m ready!”

“Don’t worry, once she chooses you, you will become the Starlight General. She has an eye for the greatest Starlights, after all.”

“Huh? Princess Celestia wants me to become the Starlight General?!” His tears vanished as giddy replaced the feelings in his chest. Starry just smiled at his brother before solemnly leaving the room.

XOX

“And that was the beginning of my days into the Starlight ranks.” Reiner chuckled.

“Wow, was Uncal Stars weely dat nice?” Rainbow Dash asked with big glowing eyes. That didn't sound like the guy who threw her into the teethes of monsters in the Everfree Forest, or the guy who fed her rocks to 'toughen' her up!

“Maybe.” Reiner teased his daughter, nuzzling her on the nose. “Now’s time for bed, Dashie. You gotta get up in the morning to get ready for Trinity Elementary School.”

“Aww! But I wan ta goh ta the Starwight Acatemy!”

“Now, now, you’re too young for that Dashie. First you need to finish your education, not to mention you still need to go to Newton’s Flight Academy after.”

“But schewl’s so boring!” Rainbow complained as her father tucked her so tightly in the blanket that she could not wiggle or move an inch. Soon, the tight and warm embrace of the soft blanket lulled her into a peaceful sleep allowing Reiner to leave quietly without another word.

“She chooses the Starlight General…hahaha.” Reiner laughed morbidly. “What a cruel, cruel mare….”

Chapter End