Chapters Learning for One, Chaos for All
"Hurry up Spike! Everypony is on their way by now!" Twilight said as she hurriedly ran a brush through her mane with one hand. While holding a book on customs and cultures of foreign lands in the other as she ran down the hall leading to her chambers. Having recently vacated said room in order to wake a certain dragon teenager who, should have been up hours ago in order to be ready for Luna and Celestia's sudden visit.
While the princesses visiting so suddenly was indeed out of the norm, it was added to by them saying in their letter that they had need of a guest room for two people to as they would be on leave from a military for quite some time and due to their exemplary service record, only the best would do for them. Twilight sincerely hoped they didn't mind rooming with someone especially now that Spitfire had been embarrassed somehow and had asked if she could live there for the time being. She opened the door with her magic and shut it causing a pained yelp to spring forth from the other side. And since the letter had been decidedly vague she was worrying more than usual.
"Seriously Twi, you need to calm down." Spike said as he opened the door to Twilight's room as she slipped into her own personal bathroom, Probably to shower for the third time and make sure she is really clean the young dragon thought with no small amount of frustration. "You are considered to be an equal to the princesses now and you better save some hot water for me!"
An eep that would have made Fluttershy proud came from behind the door to Twilight's bathroom and Spike instantly wished that he hadn't said anything. There was a loud popping sound followed by Spike clapping a claw over his eyes in order to keep himself from oogling Twilight...she had teleported out of the bathroom in a hurry after all. "You are right Spike! There is so much to do still and here I am worried about smelling nice?"
"Twi you smell fine you've already had two showers today, but could y-"
"EXACTLY SPIKE!!" She said waving her arms about wildly (not that Spike would know...he wasn't peeking...) "I've already lost sooo much time already I should be studying up so I don't offend their guest, especially since I know only that they are from a military!! I don't even know which one! Oh what if I offend them? CELESTIA MIGHT SEND ME TO THE MOON!!!
"Twi calm down you know she won't do that."
Twilight sighed,"I know I know but what if she is disappointed with me?" She said throwing her arms into the air in exasperation. "What if I offend their friend and they end up hating me?
"Twilight we both know that you won't let that happen" said Spike "But could you-" This time Spike was rendered speechless by the feeling of Twilight's bare body pressed against his as she hugged the teen-aged dragon.
"Thanks number one assistant." Twilight said as she hugged her friend close, completely unaware of what she was causing him to feel. "You always know just what to say to calm me down."
All Spike could do was repeat the same thing in his head over and over. 'Rarity, Rarity, Rarity, Rarity, Rarity...are those piercings? Never mind her nipples just hardened...No! Bad! Bad Little Spike, bad!!
"Okay Number-One Assistant, let's get to it. Let's head to the library and then we will go check and make sure the kitchen staff''s preparations are underway after all this important guest might be a griffon or some other meat eater we have to be sure that they can do the job without throwing up. Alright? Spike?"
Spike had fainted and was bleeding from his nose, his pants noticeably tented.
"Spike are you-" Twilight was unable to finish her sentence as she had begun to feel a light breeze across her naughty bits...
"Oh...my...Faust...so that's why he was covering his eyes..." Twilight said blinking slowly.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
Meanwhile...
Luna was doing her very best not to stare at the pegasus in front of her. Even though he had told them his story, right down to the truly horrific details she couldn't bring herself to trust him. Other than having a lie detector present during his interrogation as well as a mind reading spell somehow she got the feeling they were being had on a monumental level. He had told them he was part of an elite unit of the military from before the fall of Discord, meaning that he was immortal and if he was telling the truth, older than her and her sister. This was only possible if a true genius had figured a way to make somepony immortal without also making them an alicorn. Needless to say it was impossible and not only this but that he only wanted to re-enter Equestrian society and be a citizen once more. The fact that her brother was dead was yet another mystery, who had done it? How had they been able to take down an alicorn strong enough to fight toe-to-toe with Discord and buy enough time for the Elements of Harmony to be used. And for him to choose this being before her to be his heir to have all his power-
"Sooo..." The mysterious pegasus spoke jolting Luna from her thoughts. "I know I'm meeting this new student of yours and her friends but the only one I know about so far is this Twilight Sparkle, whoever that is. I'd like to know more about them if possible."
It had noticeably unnerved both princesses at just how fast he was adapting to modern life, also it noticeably 'pissed off ' Luna as he had put it. After tearing his way through two thousand years worth of reading material (he had taken his time with Daring Do though) in less than five days, and mastering every nuance of modern Equestrian culture. All while keeping to an extremely demanding physical and mental training program, saying the princesses were unnerved was the understatement of the millennium, which they knew to be true.
"Very well." Celestia said attempting to regain her composure. "where shall we begin?"
"Hmm..." he said his brow furrowing in thought, "Let's start with the farmer."
"Applebloom ah don't want ta hear it!" Her sister had been complaining near constantly since yesterday when Spike had arrived with a letter from Twilight saying that the Apple family would be required to attend a small gathering in which somepony special would be in attendance and that this was to see how well they would be able to mesh with Equestrian society. That was all Twilight had written and it was all Applejack needed to know. 'Rainbow Dash might be the Element of Loyalty but that don't mean ah'm not loyal '
"But Applejack, ah was supposed ta git together with Scootaloo an' Sweetiebelle today!" The filly was clearly distraught. Since the school year had started up her and her friends had been finding less time than ever to get together and it had been more than little disappointing. Between homework increasing in volume and Sweetie's part time job they had only had a handful of days together. In the last eight months.
"Ah know sugarcube but if'n Twilight needs us we gotta be there for her. Besides Scootaloo an' Sweetie Belle will both be there."
"It just ain't the same big sis, ah know we gotta be there for Twilight an' she's one of yer best friends, but don' ya think me an' my friends could just leave after a bit or somethin'?
"See? You found a solution to yer problem after all." Applejack said with a wink to her younger sibling." Sides it ain't like we are gonna hafta dress up fancy er nothin'. This is all about makin sure somepony new doesn't feel outta place, and that he will be able to live in Equestria." Applejack said as she led her little sister into the kitchen where Big Mac and Granny Smith were talking about what was cooking in the oven. Something about canning a pecan pie? Regardless she pushed it from her mind as she focused once more on her sister.
"So ya think ya can handle it?"
"Yeah ah got it."
"Besides summer'll be here in about a month and then ya'll can do whatever ya'll want to."
"Applejack?"
"What is it Applebloom?"
"Thanks." The filly spoke her gratitude towards her sister easily apparent in her voice and eyes. The admiration there burning bright for all to see.
Such a beautiful moment couldn't last however thanks to Moophy's Law. And this particular moment ended with a bang, as the can of peas placed in the oven by the moderately senile Granny Smith suddenly exploded covering everypony in a goopy green mess which quickly stained their coats and clothes a nice bright shade of green.
"Well Mac," Granny said as she slumped her shoulders and hung her head,"looks like you were right. That doll is yers, it's under ma bed." Mac's only response was to fist pump and run away upstairs to reclaim his prize.
"We're gonna hafta show up like this aren't we Applejack?"
"Eeyup." Applejack responded in a very melancholy tone.
"They certainly sound like good ponies. But where are their parents?" The pegasus asked.
"That is something you will have to ask them." Luna stated firmly, establishing that this was a personal matter that had been trusted to be kept secret by a dear friend. Something he was unwilling to breach due to the way he immediately dropped the subject.
"Perhaps you wish to learn about another one of Twilight's friends?" Celestia asked him.
"The seamstress this time I think." he stated coolly as he reclined into the seat of the carriage.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo sighed in exasperation as they waited in Carousel Boutique to go to the tree castle...thing. The main problem being that Rarity was prone to panic almost as much as Twilight. And right now the worst possible thing was happening. Rarity had been told to wear everyday clothes. Meaning T-shirts and jeans or a simple skirt and blouse. Rarity would have to dress down for this occasion. And she was terrified, she was wearing shorts that reached slightly above mid thigh that were white in color she was also wearing a simple baby blue blouse that had purposely been left partially unbuttoned to expose a small amount of cleavage.
"Rarity!!" Sweetie whined, clearly believing they had waited long enough to get going."When are we gonna go?! We've been here watching you try on clothes forever!"
"Yeah" Scootaloo chimed in, also clearly bored out of her young prepubescent mind "Honestly you should just wear what you are right now I mean it looks good without trying too hard to look good, ya know?"
"Hmm...you are quite right Scootaloo, thank you."
"Besides we are supposed to be making them feel at home not hitting on them." Sweetie said while rolling her eyes.
"Very well girls let me just finish-"
"Umm Rarity?"
"Yes Scootaloo?"
"Aren't we supposed to be there at three o'clock?"
Rarity stopped brushing her mane for a moment to recollect what the letter had said. "Yes I do believe so. Why do you ask Scootaloo?
"It's 2:57."
The white unicorn mare paused mid stroke and became still as a statue. She simply sat there in front of her mirror and stared.
"...I think you broke her Scoots."
It was at this point the formerly catatonic Rarity shrieked and bolted from the room yelling at the other two occupants to move their butts.
"C'mon Sweetie lets go before she has a cow."
"I hope she remembers that her brush is still in her mane before it gets tangled in there again." Sweetiebelle sighed as she followed her friend out the door.
"Obsessive compulsive overly dramatic unicorn fashionista? Sounds dangerous..."
Luna simply stared stared ahead while Celestia shuddered briefly.
..."You have no idea." Celestia said, unaware of the former trauma threatening to bring itself to the surface of her little sister."You just need to be careful what you wear around her really then she is very nice."
Luna's eye began to twitch alarmingly. "Favorite bathrobe... favorite flannel pajamas...bonfire..." she muttered as energy crackled around her horn.
Eager to change the subject, the utterly terrified pegasus stallion spoke way too fast,"WhataboutRainbowDashwehaven'ttalkedaboutheryet!!"
"This rather abrupt statement seemed to jolt Luna from whatever self-destruct cycle she had fallen into. The pegasus was immediately filled with relief as he sighed and gathered his composure.
"Well she is somewhat-"
"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!!!" Rainbow exclaimed angrily, "I can't believe that cloud drifted that far!"
Rainbow Dash was flying as fast as was possible, her tank top and short shorts fluttering around her as she tried desperately to make it back to Ponyville in time. Though her watch said she was almost twenty minutes late. 'And I still need a shower. Dammit!! I knew I should have just headed home and showered and then taken a nap but no I just had to be stupid and now I- '
Her thoughts stopped (which is never a good thing) as she saw a river up ahead... 'Perfect!! now I won't stink! ' she thought as she paused over the middle of the river before diving towards it...
"Ma'am we are here on the outskirts of Ponyville as requested."
"Thank you guard, once we have departed bring the carriage back to the palace and then feel free to take a few days off."
" Thank you Princess." The guard said with genuine feeling dropping his stoicism for a moment.
"Please do hurry you two, we are already twenty minutes late after all," Celestia said as she exited the carriage.
As the mysterious pegasus stallion left the vehicle, he was plagued by a momentary wave of doubt. What if I end up not belonging here? Perhaps it was foolish of me to return home after such a long time...but I have promises to keep. So it's time to stallion up and move forward. *He thought as he gathered up the cloaks they were to wear until they reached Twilight's tree castle...thing. *
**Sometimes I wonder if I should have left right then...but if I had it wouldn't have brought me the happiness that it did...
Disturbing... Yet Hilarious
The three of them made their way through the streets of Ponyville with surprising ease. Nopony even stopped to look at the odd trio who continued to progress towards the tree castle, palace...thingy that stood high above the other buildings in Ponyville. The pegasus was starting to feel some discomfort due to being in close proximity to sapient life that didn't want to wear his pelt as a jacket oddly enough. And considering just how long he had been a soldier in that particular war, he was doing rather well...until an extremely rude griffoness tried to shove him that is. Luna and Celestia both stopped dead and turned when they heard it happen.
As she touched him, he dropped down and swept her legs out from underneath her and started spinning. He kept his momentum up, and spun and kicked her six times. This was especially frightening because he was much larger and stronger than your average pegasus. For the griffoness it went like this.
"Hey dweeb in the cloak! Get outta my waAAAAAHHHHH! AH! OH! OOF! OW! GAH!" *whack* *thud*......"Ohhhhhhhh..." The griffoness groaned softly in pain as she curled up into a ball, and folded her arms across her stomach.
Luna ran up to her pegasus companion and asked him in a loud whisper, "What did you do that for?" He gave her a very sheepish look before answering. "To ensure she would stay down and couldn't make much noise." As soon as he saw the look on Luna's face he regretted his actions even more than he already did.
"I thought she was a threat!" he slumped his shoulders slightly and he looked down at his feet "I'm still getting used to not having to look everywhere for them." He looked to where the griffoness had landed. She was just laying there...and sobbing. "I must make this right." "Go on ahead. I'll be fine."
"Very well, we will meet you there, just do so quickly we are already rather late." Luna responded before returning to her sister and resuming their trek to the palace.
The pegasus felt as though he was being watched which was the real reason for his response to the overly aggressive griffoness. And while she had been rude, he didn't think she deserved what he had given her. He approached her slowly as everypony returned to their business with comments like "got what she deserved" and "hope she dies next time." These mean spirited offhand comments about a fellow sapient being served only to ignite his anger. So he blocked them out and continued to approach the sniffling griffoness. Unsure how to approach the situation, he went with the first idea in his head.
"Are you hurt?"
"..."
"Look, I'm sorry for, well assaulting you." he said as he very gently laid his hand on her upper arm. "You startled me, and I've had this feeling that someone is watching me for a while. It's no excuse for what I've done and I am truly sorry."
"Where did you learn to do that?"
The pegasus was momentarily stunned because she had talked to him and her question had caught him off guard. "What?" He was completely dumbfounded. Until he took a closer look at her. She was clearly a fighter. Her body was very well toned, not an ounce of fat in the wrong places. Her eyes held a distinct spark that said she was intelligent, ruthless, and relentless. They also held something softer, a sense of loss and sadness, as well as a broken heart and a bruised ego that had yet to be mended. He saw her hands were calloused and rough in a way that was clearly indicative of fighting and had a few scars. As he looked her over he stole a glance at her wings,and they were beautiful, well preened, and powerful. Her rear end was toned and shapely and her breasts were- 'No! Bad. You just met her. ' *ahem* "Well since you asked my parents taught me how to fight now I need to be going miss so if you'll excuse me."
She rose to her feet unsteadily wincing with the pain and said, "My name isn't 'miss' it's Gilda."
"Well Gilda I do need to get going so if you if you don't mind."
"Not at all, but when we get to the tree castle palace thingy I have to go inside."
The pegasus sighed, "So do I. I am going to be living there actually."
"What?" Gilda was completely shocked. This stallion she had just been attacked by was on his way to Princess Twilight Sparkle's tree castle palace thingy to live there. "I'm gonna need to know why now."
All he did was shrug and say "Okay just tag along then I don't mind."
Gilda seemed hesitant, "I don't know if I should."
"There will be a lot of food and booze."
Gilda had to admit it, she was beginning to like this pegasus.
I always thought it was funny nopony had asked for my name yet...
Luna and Celstia stood in the entrance hall of the (at this point I no longer care, so from this day forth Twilight's new residence shall be called The Treeastlace
Finally Celestia spoke her concern palpable in her voice, " It has been far too long for a simple apology." She rose from where she had seated herself and began to walk towards the door before being stopped cold by Luna's offhand comment.
"You are starting to notice how alike they are aren't you?"
Celestia turned around and glowered at her younger sister before adopting a look of tiredness mixed with infinite patience and heartbreak. "Yes they are nearly the same. From their behavior to their mannerisms. Their morals, work ethic, intelligence, possibly even the power they wield. She took a deep breath and steeled herself for what needed to come next. "But he is gone Lulu, he died, and doing this, placing everything our big brother was onto this stallion... well that isn't fair to either of them.
Celestia could feel her voice begin to hitch in her throat her breath came slowly in shudders, as she watched her little sister begin to cry. "I know how much you loved him believe me I did too, when that pegasus told us he was the sole survivor and our brother had died completing the mission he set out to do... It felt like my heart had stopped, like somepony was in there ripping it apart and it would never get better... Do you remember what he said to us when he gave us our crowns?"
"Of course sister, he said 'All you need to do is speak my name and if I'm alive, no matter how far I am from you, they will glow.'
"And for the last five hundred years I have tried it once a month and it hasn't." Celestia explained, tears now streaming from both her eyes and Luna's. "I have checked the spell, nothing is wrong with it. He is gone Lulu, as much as it pains me to say it, our big brother is dead."
Luna looked at her big sister, saw the tears in her eyes and whispered "I refuse to believe that our brother, the pony who drove that 'thing' that killed our mother and father from this world, is dead." She wiped her eyes as she continued, " He raised us, even after Hurricane and the others found us, and he was only twelve at the time! He protected us, taught us, told us how much mother and father loved us and how much they loved everypony. He protected us the night that mom and dad died and lost one of his wings and was given a scar that ran across his face from above his right eye to the area beneath his left in the process. He wouldn't die without seeing us one last time."
Celestia sighed, "Maybe he didn't have a choice Lulu."
Luna put herself into a defiant stance and crossed her arms, "Maybe you are right Tia and maybe I am, and maybe we will never find out. But I refuse to believe otherwise."
Celestia smiled, "Very well we will agree to disagree." she said as she walked forward and hugged her sister close. And as they parted the door opened revealing none other than the pegasus and the griffoness from earlier.
"Hello everypony" he said, "I brought a friend. That I told you I was capable of making."
"Yes you just had to beat her into the ground first."
Celestia rolled her eyes and looked the griffoness, who seemed very frightened and awed. "Calm down young one, we will be seeing Rainbow Dash and the others soon."
The griffoness' eyes went wide with shock and she spoke in a small voice "How did you know that I was here to see Rainbow Dash?"
Before Celestia could tell her of the very accurate description Twilight had included in the report, the sounds of a large commotion reached their ears.
Celsetia growled under her breath as the group headed towards the commotion which was coming from the library. As they neared the source of the noises Gilda spoke "Umm I just remembered that I need to go and check on my living arrangements, sooo... bye!!
"Well considering how horrible these sounds are, she lasted longer than I thought she would." the pegasus said.
Everypony nodded their heads in silent agreement. This was by far the single most horrifying collection of noises they had ever heard. And it was about to get worse. When they reached the library Celestia steeled herself for what may lay beyond those doors. She opened the doors to find the most curious thing.
It was Twilight and her friends, but several things were very wrong. The apple family was green, Rarity had a brush, several twigs and what appeared to be some sort of live animal in her mane. Fluttershy was chasing a small randomly assorted pack of animal pleading with them to go back to her cottage, Pinkie Pie had attemped to eat one of the dishes with meat in it from the kitchen, and was throwing up in a corner that was no where near a garbage can. And Twilight was flitting about in the middle of the chaos with a manic look in her eye, and her T-shirt and jeans both of which said Best Princess were on backwards and was throwing books around while screaming at the top of her voice "I know it's hear somewhere, I can find it don't worry everypony I just have to erase time and space and then everything will be better heeheehee." Spike was in a corner curled up in the fetal position with toilet paper wads in his nose, rocking back and forth saying "I am a rock, I am a rock, I am a rock," with varying levels of intensity.
"What in the name of Creation is going on here?" Celestia hollered above the noise successfully quieting everything but Spike who despite everything continued his creepy chanting.
"I am a rock."
"Twilight come here, now."
"I am a rock!"
Twilight walked forward as though she had just been condemned to wash Discords privates and armpits with her toothbrush for the rest of her eternal life.
*whispering*"i am a rock..."
As Twilight reached her former mentor, Celestia enveloped her in a massive hug and said, "Twilight we both know this isn't your fault, these things happen from time to time."
"I AM A ROCK!!!"
"Though poor Spike might need therapy at this point..."
"I. AM. A. ROCK."
All else was put on hold as Rainbow Dash walked in through the other door, her shoes squelching with each step, water dripping from her and her clothes, forming puddles as she went. Her tank top clung to her breasts showing there how perfectly round and perky they were, they weren't the biggest in the room, but they weren't small either. The pegasus could see her nipples through the fabric. No! Bad!...Screw it.
"I am a ROCK."
Her head hung in defeat, she spoke rather demurely, "Hey, Twi...can I use a towel? And maybe borrow some clothes?"
"I AM A ROOOOOOOCCCKKK!!!!
Laughter. True, happy, contented, long and loud laughter rang throughout the room as everyone looked for the source. The place it came from was perhaps the most unexpected. Their guest the pegasus whom had born witness to events too horrifying to describe, whom had spent the grand majority of his life watching people die in the most horrible ways possible, while trying to stop it, was laughing. Tears were streaming from his eyes as he doubled over clutching his sides as though they might burst apart.
And then as everyone looked around and saw the sight that he had seen, the laughter slowly grew as everyone realized just what had transpired. Everyone except Rainbow Dash who promptly tackled him and sent both of them outside the library and into the hallway while shouting "YOU COLOSSAL DICK!!!"
Over the laughter still present in the room they heard his reply to Rainbows accusation. "No I'm not! I have one. There is a difference.
Luna stood aghast at everything that had transpired.And yet hope had taken root in her heart. This was the first time the pegasus had laughed, and this was something her brother would have found very amusing. They are so very similar...
Looking back I can easily see why we all became such good friends...if only I hadn't failed them...
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The Immortal Pegasus...Bob? or Piece of His Past Pt 1
Rainbow Dash had pinned the dark blue coated stallion to the ground and was straddling his waist. She was beyond angry, he had laughed at her and her friends misfortune. But as she stared into the near glowing red gold eyes of the pegasus beneath her, her anger melted away. Maybe it was the happiness on their surface, or maybe the sadness beneath. Or perhaps that these eyes while in appearance were young they held within their depths a sort of timelessness, a wisdom, yet still retained an element of childishness. His mane lay flat yet formed spikes that looked like it was made of black spears with the tips dipped in blood. His face had one large scar running diagonally across it from above his right eye to just beneath his left. Yet it somehow suited him, as though without it he would have looked odd. And judging from where she was currently sitting, he was ripped. Not grotesquely like a certain pegasus stallion she had seen around town rather more like Twilight's brother just on a larger scale. She absently began to trace the lines of his abs through his black shirt feeling them ripple and flex beneath her fingers, she shuddered slightly and bit her lower lip as she thought to herself 'Holy Faust he's hot...I wonder if he was telling the truth about his dick...oh man what am I thinking I just met this guy and now I'm mentally undressing him? A blush crept over her features as her thought continued to become even more lewd. She suddenly realized this wasn't some fantasy she had dreamed up involving Soarin or Spitfire, this was actually happening. And from what little she did know about male anatomy, he was enjoying this too. Unfortunately for her though the pegasus beneath her interrupted her thoughts before she could do anything else.
"Having fun?" He asked while sporting a look of that was at the same time both playful and inquisitive,"They seem to think you are." He said as looked to his right side.
Rainbow Dash froze as she realized what he meant by his statement. Her face began to feel as if it was in a sauna as she turned to look where he was indicating. She quickly adopted a look of complete chagrin as she saw who was standing there.
"Umm... Rainbow? What are you doing?"
"Well Princess Cadence I was really mad at him for laughing at and all of us, so I tackled him and we ended up out here and I got lost in his eyes and this is really embarrassing so I'm gonna shut up now..."
"Rainbow you seem to be very nervous, so I'm going to take that as meaning that you have never been sexually active. And warn you that it can affect your physical performance in things like aerial acrobatics."
The mystery pegasus who was still underneath Rainbow Dash laughed again, "Like you are one to talk Spitfire, weren't you in this exact same position not to long ago?" "Also" he continued, "didn't you mumble something about never having been with a stallion?" he said as he grinned in such a way that would make Discord feel jealous.
Spitfire blushed as a look of shock overcame her features,"It was NOT exactly the same!" she exclaimed.
"Right that's because you were grinding yourself against me."
"Stop telling everypony about that!!!" Spitfire was livid at this point and Shining Armor decided that now was the perfect time to show up only having heard yelling not the actual words he assumed that this pegasus had attacked these mares and since his waifu was among them you can probably tell how well it went. Eeyup.
"Don't worry everypony I'll handle this!!" he yelled as he pulled his sword from it's sheath and charged, "Get outta the way!!
"Shining wait!" Cadence yelled but it was already too late. Shining Armor had reached them.
There was a flash of movement and a clash of steel. The pegasus and Shining had locked blades. "So your the current Captain of the guard...pathetic." And with that the pegasus shifted his weight and shoved Shining away from him. He swung his sword and, faster than seemed possible and connected with the hilt of Shining's sending it into the air. He then leaped forward twisted his stance slightly and planted the sole of his boot onto his opponents chest with metallic wham. Shining was sent flying across the hall into the wall...twenty feet away. He then nonchalantly caught the sword in the air.
The three mares in the vicinity stood aghast at what they had just borne witness to. After all it wasn't every day you saw Prince Shining Armor beaten down like an inebriated halfwit who pulled Twilight's tail, making her cry in front of Celestia herself, Cadence ran towards her husband to find him groaning in discomfort, but otherwise unharmed.
"You big dummy... he could have killed you..."
"Sorry Cady I thought he was attacking you and you had managed to subdue him."
"Pfft."
Everypony in the hall turned toward the source of the noise, unsurprisingly it had come from the pegasus who, had just set Shining Armor's sword against the wall next to the entrance to the library.
Spitfire had had enough. "You are a completely worthless little maggot you know that? You constantly pick on people and derive some sort of sick twisted pleasure from it. You told me that you are here to protect Equestria and her citizens yet, all you have done so far with your miserable little life is beat up a griffoness and Captain Armor! Oh and embarrass Rainbow and myself. You make me sick." Spitfire didn't know that the door to the library had opened, or that everyone had heard her rant. All she knew in that moment was a relief of stress and anger.
"Perhaps you need to see what I've seen to truly understand the way I work. perhaps at that point we can be friends, but then again somepony who doesn't need a reason to demean somepony else other than 'they are different' will never make good company. Besides I honestly doubt you would even care. So for now I shall bid you all good day. I need to go remember why we swore to protect a land of ingrates" And with that he walked away towards the window opened it, and jumped out. The occupants of the hallway watched him as he slowly disappeared from sight...in the direction of the Everfree forest.
Celestia was the first to speak, "Spitfire you are hereby ordered to go find him and apologize."
"What? So because he was being a dick to those cadets who saw him doing things they had only dreamed of and asked how to do them, I am to blame for this whole debacle?" Spitfire asked.
"No." Celestia said evenly "You are to blame for not understanding or bothering to. He told them the honest truth, that they would never be able to do the things he can."
Spitfire threw her hands into the air and said " But he was-
"He is Immortal."
Spitfire's eyes looked rather like dinner plates at this point. Her mouth opened and closed several times without words, rather like a dying fish. "What?" she asked in a very small voice.
"He is in fact older than I am." Celestia explained with her arms crossed over her chest, "It stands to reason that he would more advanced in his various types of training." "Immortals also have the ability surpass the limits that usually stand in the way of a mortals gaining of power." "That is why we are so powerful, we don't have limits.
Spitfire slumped against the wall, "Why didn't he say anything?"
"You didn't let him."
"Alright I'll go apologize." "And Princess?"
"Yes my little pony?"
"I'm sorry."
Celestia smiled softly at the remorseful golden furred pegasus "I am not the one who needs to hear you say that."
Rainbow stood there taking all of this new information silently, knowing she was still attracted to him.Crap, now I have to think about emotional stuff, she thought dejectedly.
I miss them all. Especially those three...How could I have let this happen...
Trixie was very glad to have run into Sunset, especially now that they were running for their lives from a pack of timberwolves. Sunset had proven to be an indispensable ally before now and now she was proving her worth again. but there were still at least thirty-five of those monsters still standing and the Dramatic Duo were growing tired. They had heard of something powerful crashing into the land beneath canterlot and had been curious as to what it was. So they had set off for the mountain city with two goals in mind. The first being their need to apologize to the princesses for their past wrong doings, and the second being the object of power. However when they had heard of this mysterious object being a moved to ponyville their hopes were dashed until they learned that Celestia was going there to stay with Princess Twilight Sparkle they decided to cut through a small portion of the Everfree to save time and so they could say they were chased into town by a monster or something which would make ponies more at ease with their presence due to their previous misdeeds.
'Didn't think it would be for real though. '
Her thoughts were put on hold when Sunset yelled to her, "There is a clearing ahead Trixie, we can get out of this!"
And sure enough Trixie could see a light up ahead between the trunks of these twisted trees and for a moment she allowed her hope to fill her heart and give her a burst of strength. Which pushed her out into the clearing and...straight into three fillies judging by the sounds they made as the five bodies collided.
"The Great and Powerful Trixe is hoping you will get your boobs off her face now." Trixie's voice was slightly muffled due to one of the aforementioned fillies bosom's currently pressing down on her mouth. A light gasp was heard above her as the vibrations from her voice caused...things to happen to the female above her. "Trixie when this is over we may need to go somewhere we can be alone." Sunset said, causing the azure unicorn to blush.
And so it was with quite a bit of shock that the two unicorn mares that they were still alive. There was a whining sound coming from the edge of the woods. Quickly the five mares turned to see a very large pegasus between them and the wolves. All he did was stand there and look at them. They coward before him whining in absolute terror able to sense something the ponies were not. As this realization passed through the minds of the five others in the clearing they shuddered in fear of this newcomer. And then he spoke.
"As long as I stand no harm shall come to those weaker than myself. And none are stronger than I. Leave now wolves,...or die."
As he finished his small speech all of the wolves turned and fled into the forest as fast as their legs could carry them. The five mares stood now in awe of what they had just witnessed. Sunset was the first to speak.
"Those wolves could have killed you!" she said completely unable to comprehend how he had done that.
"Funny, they appeared to be too busy shitting themselves to attack." he said rolling his eyes. and walking away.
"Wait! The Great and Powerful Trixie demands to know what just happened!"
"Well, the Immortal pegasus Bob refuses to tell you."
The pegasus filly seemed perplexed, "What kind of a name is Bob?
"It is my name...sorta."
"Where are you going?" The unicorn filly asked.
"To immerse myself in memories of a less pleasant time in my life. To remind myself of why I came back to Equestria," Bob responded slowly, "You are welcome to stay if you wish. I'll just edit out the worst of it."
"Hey!!"
Bob gave a sigh as he heard her familiar voice. "Feel free to stay and watch as well Spitfire." He said as she landed, "you'll have time for your fangirl freakouts later, for now let's see those memories." Ashe said this he pulled a small diamond the size of a bit from one of his pockets on his baggy shorts. "Oh and before I forget you are all now sworn to secrecy, none of what you see or hear in this place will ever be repeated or hinted at. Especially to the Princesses. You will until such a time as I say refer to me as Bob."
And with that he grimaced and began to change, the fur on his left leg began to fall off as well as the feathers on his right wing, A horn protruded from his skull appearing instantly, while his fur darkened in color turning blacker than night. His left leg was made of a strange shimmering metal as was his right wing. The three fillies and the three mares in the clearing stood completely still and silent upon realizing they were in the presence of a MALE alicorn. One whose hardships had caused him to lose part of a leg and an entire wing. Not to mention the other scars...
As soon as his transformation was complete his horn sparked to life and shot a beam of magic into the diamond situated on a rock in the clearing. Instantly an image formed above it. A first person view of a stone corridor with the viewer running down it. Faint wisps of smoke curled through the air and suddenly the view shifted to the left showing an eight year old alicorn filly with a waist length light pink mane and alabaster fur in a dress of the same color. She was carrying a another filly about half her age with a shoulder length light blue mane and fur of a darker blue than Bob's had been.
"Hurry Tia we have to get away before it catches us!"
"Eclipse! Slow down I can't run tha-WOAH!"
Both fillies had been scooped up into his embrace, and he began to run faster. They made it to the end of the corridor and through the door at the end when something blasted through the ceiling and rained rubble and dust down upon him as he quickly turned and knelt to cover the fillies in his arms. Before the dust had a chance to settle he set the girls down and blew a hole in the nearby wall with his magic.
Eclipse (as he had been called) whispered to the girls,"Tia, Lulu Run to the place we talked about...the one mom and dad showed us...Okay? I'll hold it off. Go!"
The girls ran from the room out through the hole in the wall just as the dust began to settle. A menacing laugh sounded from behind him as he turned around. Only to see his mother struggling to her feet, in front of a large winged bald creature. It had no fur but its skin looked as though it had gotten the mother of all sunburns. It was a sickly orange color looking almost like a dragons scales in texture and jagged metallic red,metallic green, and metallic blue four inch spikes protruded randomly from it's skull. It's eye's were solid black with pinpoints of blood red color in the place of pupils. His mother turned toward him and her face became awash with fear, and she spoke to him saying, "Run child, run and don't look back." Before the creatures blade found her heart. Before the light faded from her eye's she smiled weakly as her son ran forward to her and held her the image blurring her once beautiful red mane now disheveled with blood caked in it she whispered to him "We love you, all three of you...so very much." And with those final words Queen Faust left this world, while being held in her sons arms, with him begging her to stay.
"So pitifully weak, I should have left this to Discord after all..." " Equinox died even faster, here boy" it said in it's deep voice, as it threw a sword to the floor between them, "have his sword so you can die like your father did." It smiled showing jagged shark like teeth. "Pitiably and begging for his life offering you and those girls in exchange for himself."
A wordless cry came from Eclipse as he charged forward and picked up his fathers sword without missing a step and continued forward to impale the disgusting creature. At the last second It sidestepped and swung it's blade shearing off one of Eclipse's wings.
As the image wavered slightly and an agonized cry came from the image. Everypony in the clearing was struggling to not throw up at this point. Four of them had already failed.
Spitfire had covered her mouth with both hands and whispered "By all that is holy..."
A shadow fell across the image as the creature leaned down and whispered into Eclipse's ear, "Did you think you had saved your sisters? You have saved nothing and after you die so will your little sisters..." With a flash the image switched to being a third person view with the creature dragging his blade across Eclipse's face diagonally with Eclipse crying out in pain. The creature kicked the young alicorn and turned away form him. "There was no way for you to win anyway. I am Kaus the All-being of Chaos, and you are but an Immortal.
"You have scarred my face..."
"Don't worry you-
"YOU HAVE TAKEN MY WING.
Kaus immediately froze staring at the colt in front of him. Fury was pouring from him rolling off in waves
YOU KILLED MY PARENTS!! AND YOU THREATENED MY LITTLE SISTERS! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS WITH YOUR LIFE!!!"
The young alicorn rose to his feet and turned towards Kaus. Pure terror surged through the creatures body as he looked upon the boy's face. His eye's were lost within a pure white fire. In the next instant the boy was gone and back again as his right foot impacted against the side of the All-beings face. Sword still in hand Eclipse plunged it into the Kaus' chest before continuing to pummel him with attacks from his hands and feet. He ripped the blade from the All-beings chest and slashed at him with it faster than the creature could hope to block. Before long the Creature as it would be known to other ponies outside of the royal family, fled the battle very much the worse for wear. And Eclipse following Discord's take over the next day would go into hiding with his sisters, unable to regain the power he had wielded that night.
"And that was my twelfth birthday." The real life Eclipse stated to his now catatonic/horrified audience. "The second worst day of my life." And with that he walked away, him, Prince Eclipse the rightful heir to the throne, the rightful King of Equestria.
In retrospect it was probably a bad idea to show those children my memory, though the adults who had been present never brought it up...
"I failed..."
The stark reality of it hit him full force as he breathed the words into the near collapsed ruin of his castle. As he lay where he fell when the explosion went off in his laboratory in the dungeon, bleeding and slowly being crushed by one of the larger pieces of debris. He realized with no small amount of shock that with this failure, depression had worked it's way into his thoughts. He threw the debris off himself in anger causing an avalanche of once beautiful stonework to cascade down around him, forcing him to dodge by diving through a small opening to his left. Having done so, he found himself in a small pocket of open space under what was probably several hundred tons of his home, considering his room was in a tower. After all, his bed didn't have the ability to teleport in front of him. He didn't have the patience or the magic to fix it now. Especially considering he was still healing from the blast, opting instead to clear the debris from his once taller bed and fall to his back letting himself lay spread eagle on it and think, slowly allowing his thoughts to wander.' Where did I go wrong? Why out of all of the universes, out of all of the different forms of myself, was I the only one to survive this long? Which act of supreme evil did I commit that has led to my life becoming a torturous experience? What am I doing wrong that keeps causing these explosions? Where have all the joyous frivolities that I once enjoyed goon? ' As he realized his mind was becoming slurred he let out a loud burst of near hysterical laughter causing the now ruins to shake in what would be considered a frightening manner to most others.
It also caused him to cough violently sending spikes of pain shooting through his diaphragm and some blood flying from his mouth. But seeing as he did not want to dig himself out again he ceased laughing forced his coughing to stop and let his thoughts roam once more... And near immediately regretted it. For as his luck continued to hold his mind had strayed back to when he had arrived home...to when he had first met her. Tears began to stream from his eyes as every carefully crafted barrier between his emotions and him came crashing down around him, not unlike his castle.
"To Tartarus with it." He said, his once rich baritone voice filling the small hole he currently found himself in with a pitiable sound, broken and choked due to the emotions currently filling his mind. It would be a welcome distraction to visit old memories especially those of family, friends, lovers, and her...
Five years ago...'Well, for them anyway '
Spitfire and Twilight stood outside the former's room listening to the clatter of dishes coming from within ( Bob hadn't eaten yet) and wondered briefly why they had chosen to make her share a room with him.
The motley crew of mares and fillies from the clearing had returned before Bob, and had proceeded to the dining hall where everypony awaited her news of an accepted apology. The shock on their faces, primarily (Celestia and Twilight's) had been almost comical as Spitfire told them how she had come across not only Bob, but two dangerous unicorns and three very soon to be grounded fillies. For a time the most pervasive emotion in the room was anger as Trixie and Twilight, Celestia and Sunset all glared at one another. It all came to a crashing stop as Bob returned, surveyed the situation, sighed, and promptly slapped all four mares.
"Did you really come all this way to fight?" he asked them, complete calm showing across his form.
Sunset Shimmer looked into the eyes of her former mentor, rose to her feet, and sprinted towards her. As she reached her destination she threw her arms around Celestia's neck, and simply stood there. After the initial shock wore off of having somepony practically throw themselves at one of the Princesses, the others in the room were able to hear them as they spoke as well as the broken hearted sobbing tearing through Sunset as she clung to Celestia.
"Please," Sunset whispered, now crying in earnest "Please forgive me, I know I don't deserve it after everything I've done to you, and I know that I was vain, selfish, and greedy." she took a shaky breath as she continued on, oblivious to Celestia's increased breath rate or that she was now being held by her. " I know now that I not only took my lessons for granted, but that I threw aside the first and only pony who bothered to care about that little filly in the alley who was smelly and underfed and bring me into her life. That you thought of me as your daughter and not until it was too late did I realize that I loved you as a mother. You protected me, gave me a home, a teacher and all of your love...and I threw it all in your face. I don't deserve any sympathy for what i've done even though I have turned it around and-
