-PROLOGUE-
900 YEARS AGO...
As a soldier, you are meant to fight for something that you think is worth fighting for, whether it be for a kingdom, for a loved one, for loyalty, or for your life. When Equestria was deliberately attacked, some ponies began to question what exactly they were fighting for. Themselves, or for something else? This led to betrayals in the royal guard, and joined forces with the enemy. Some did not, and continued to fight for what they believed in.
There was one soldier, however, that fought for the princess's safety, and he would prove that on the Final Night of the War.
The soldier rushed back into the castle after hearing about the plans for the defeat of the princess. He burst through the doors, and found that the group was already marching up the stairs to the Throne Room. The Shadows looked back at the soldier with a sword clenched between his teeth, their round, red glowing eyes staring directly into his soul. The soldier shoved the feeling fear to the back of his mind, trying to ignore it, but his stomach rebelled in saying otherwise.
He had butterflies in his stomach.
When you stared a group of Shadows in the eyes, with them staring back at you with their sharp as razor teeth with drool dripping between them, you were going to end up being scared. Why? You would usually die.
He bit his sword harder, and got into a battle stance, his armor reflecting off in the moonlight. One of the shadows let out an earsplitting screech, and rushed at the soldier. He swung his head, and hit the shadow with the side of his blade. Another one rushed towards him, and he only ended up doing the same thing. One-by-one they rushed, and he continued to hack away at them, hitting them and making them disappear into thin air.
When one almost bit him, he whacked it in the face with his sword handle, and finished him with a swipe of the sword. One stood in front of the soldier, dressed in armor, unlike the other shadows. He must have been the leader. The soldier was about to rush him, when he realized that this one was armored, and instantly backed off. The shadow cocked its head slightly, as if trying to study the soldier.
"What do you fear?" it asked. The soldier did not talk. The soldier had a look in his eye that told the shadow to run, and it did.
The soldier dropped his sword in shock of the shadow being as fast as it was, and took off after it.
It was too late when he caught up to the shadow, as it had already reached the Throne Room. It opened the doors, and ran toward the princess. It began to glow red, preparing a charge attack, and aiming its helmet, which had a sharp point that would end anything that it thrust into. The soldier stopped running, as a stream of attack magic had defeated the shadow.
The soldier looked at who did it, and saw the only pony that could use magic in the room: Princess Celestia. She smiled at him.
"Do all of you soldiers think I can't protect myself?" she asked. The soldier smiled. All of them did, actually.
"Do you really expect them all to think you CAN protect yourself?" a disembodied voice said. The soldier back up towards the princess.
"Who is that?" the princess asked, and then yelled, "Show yourself!" The soldier recognized the voice instantly.
"You really have to spoil all the fun, don't you?" the voice said, a pony standing at the door. The pony had a grey coat, with a combed back mane, and glasses that looked like an old pony would wear.
The soldier put on an angered expression. The dark pony looked at him, and chuckled. "What?" he said. "You thought that I wouldn't expect you to be able to defeat all of the pony shadows, and save the princess? You thought wrong! Though, I must admit, I was a little disappointed when you let that last shadow run away to the throne room. You're surely better than that I hope."
"Enough!" Celestia said. "You and your master has lost! The Guardians will aid us in your defeat!" The pony laughed at this point, making Celestia more confused than ever. Why was he laughing at his own defeat? He wasn't Discord last time she checked.
"It's so funny how you think that we can be defeated! Where did you develop such a sense of humor princess? Was it Discord? Oh please tell me you got it from Discord."
The soldier took a step at the pony. He stopped laughing when he heard the sound.
The pony then cleared his throat, and said, "It's time we finish this battle!" he said.
Celestia opened a chest that sat on a pedestal nearby, and revealed its contents to the dark pony. The pony's eyes widened in fear at what he saw.
The Elements of Harmony.
"You-you do know that those can't be used on The Shadow, right?" he asked. Celestia nodded in response.
"I am going to use them on you," she said. The pony thought otherwise, and smoke erupted from the bottom of his hooves.
"I may be an earth pony, but that does not mean that my master has not granted me a power!" he said. The smoke tried to lunge at Celestia, but the Elements created a bubble that protected her as they powered up around her. The pony thought quickly, and lay his eyes on the soldier. The smoke wrapped around the soldier.
"If you do not withdraw, I will end the pony!" he yelled. The soldier opened his mouth, but no noise came from him. Celestia took notice of this and said, "Stop! You are chocking him!" The pony smiled a big, wide smile.
"I'm not even squeezing, princess. No matter what he does, he can't speak."
Oh great...
"What do you mean?" Celestia asked. The pony clenched his teeth in anger.
"For a princess, you really are dull. HE'S MUTE!"
The smoke spun faster around the soldier. Around, and around it went, completely covering him now. When the smoke withdrew, the soldier was gone.
"NOOOO!" Celestia yelled. She had seen enough losses in this war, and charged the Elements of Harmony to full power. A blast erupted from her, and went hurdling towards the pony.
He sighed, "I guess it's time for a rebirth then, isn't it master?" The stream hit him, and he screamed. The light from the blast completely covered the room in light, blinding Celestia.
The blast ended, and the Elements fell down to the floor. The pony was gone. She looked out of a nearby window, and saw the Guardians had defeated The Shadow. Finally, after all this time, peace would return to Equestria once more. She smiled as a new day began to dawn upon Equestria, as she began to raise the sun.
Celestia had lived with guilt over the soldier's death. She had felt that it was her responsibility that he had lived, and yet she failed. This was the burden of living forever. You meet ponies, become friends with them, and then they die, and you continue to live on with them still carved into your memory. Eventually though, Celestia had moved on, and put all that guilt behind her. Little did she know that her guilt would come back 900 years later...
-MY LITTLE PONY: THE DARK CROWN-
