Hearts and Ashes, Chronology.

by brony114

Rating: teen
Tags: Tragedy, Comedy, Romance, Adventure
Length: 7130

Ash, a talented young unicorn from Canterlot, learns the hard lessons of Friendship and love as he grows up to serve in the Equestrian army. Celestia will rely on his tallents to end an uprising in her kingdom, but at what cost?

Ash, a talented young unicorn from Canterlot, learns the hard lessons of Friendship and love as he grows up to serve in the Equestrian army. His talent for offensive magic earns the attention of Celesta who relies on him as he helps to bring an end to a costly civil uprising in the province of Southern Equestria. His missions will take him to dark places and those closes to him will be affected. Can he withstand the harsh realities of loss?

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2015-03-26 23:10:01 UTC

chapter 1

( ten years prior to Princess Twilight's corination.)

Ash, a young  dark grey unicorn colt with golden colored eyes, who lived in Canterlot, was getting his school bag ready to go to magic grade school. It was hearts and hooves day and all the city was in its decor of love.

Ash packed his usual suplies into his saddle bag and he also had a special card for a special somepony. He never talked to her, mostly because she had her head stuck in a book all the time, but he was definitely interested in the young filly because he thought she was the prettiest filly he had ever seen. She was a purple unicorn with pink and violet stripes in her mane. She still lacked her cutie mark as did he and she was always reading a book, usually a new one every day.

It was rare whenever Ash worked up enough courage to go talk to her. Unfortunatly she usually didn't notice him and would continue trotting on past him. Not that it would deter him from further attempts, but this hurt him. He felt insignificant and useless. However today was going to be different. He was going to stand in her way until she acknowledged him and took his card. It was an all or nothing plan. For better or for worse, she was going to notice him.

Usually he would cross paths with her on the way to school at the corner of a doughnut shop. The corner was close to the Royal Guard academy as well and many cadets attending could be seen around it.

" Ash hun, You'll be late for school!" Siad his mother, a light pink mare with white stripes in her mane and tail. This promted him to pack the rest of his supplies as fast as he could.

" Ok Mom, I'm going!"  Ash replied.

" What about breakfast?" His mom asked from the kitchen. Ash made his way down the stairs to the livingroom. His mother was poking her head out from the kitchen, looking at him with her light green eyes.

" Sorry mom, I got to Go!" Ash said as he cantered past her to the front door. " Bye Mom!" He said as he went out the door.  His mother looked on in confusion.

Ash set up his ambush site around the corner of the doughnut shop. He sat there with the card in his saddlebag and sure enough he could see the cute young filly trotting along with a book in her magic hold. Oh but he was extremely nervous and he had to continuously fight the urge to take off and not talk to her.

The young filly was about 30 meters down the street when Ash heard another filly crying.

"Hey, give that back!"

" What the hey?" Ash thought to himself. His ear's swivled to face the sound which came from behind him. Out of curiosity, he looked for the source of the crying. Then he heard an older colt's voice.

" What's the matter, you're gonna cry like a little baby? WAAAA! Ha ha ha!" The voice said. This made Ash drop what he was doing and trot over to the alley next to him, where he heard the fillies  voice again.

" Hey give it back, That's mine!" The filly screamed. Ash rounded the corner of the entrance into the alley. He saw a white pegasus filly with sky blue eyes and light blue mane. She was hopping up as high as she could, just shy of reaching a doll being dangled by an older brown pegasus colt who was hovering over the filly.

" Well then why don't you get it from me? What's the matter, can't fly? Ha ha ha!" He laughed at her as she tried to grab the doll. Tears had been streaming down her cheeks for a while now and her efforts became increasingly more desperate.

" Come on now you can do it. ha ha ha..." His cackle was aggravating . suddenly a stone hit his hoof and the doll landed on the ground.

" Hey! Who did that!?" yelled the colt. He looked behind him to see the aggressor.

Ash was levitating another stone as he stared down the older and much bigger pegasus colt. Normally, Ash wasn't too keen on picking fights with bigger ponies, but this one was a huge jerk and Ash wasn't about to just trot away. He wasn't' afraid to stand up for some pony, especially a filly being bullied the way she was.

" Do you have death wish or something?" the colt asked Ash.

" What's the matter, can't pick on anypony your age? You're probably too weak to pick on the bigger Colts aren't you?. " Ash just couldn't keep his mouth shut. He knew taunting the jerk would make him mad.

" Say that to my face." The colt said now facing Ash in a hover.

" Why don't you come down here so I can?" Ash smiled. The colt hoovered for a moment with a look of deep thought on his face. Then a smile showed.

" OK." he said calmly. Then , like a flash of lightening, the pegasus shot down at Ash and knocked him into the building behind him. The stone went skipping across the street and Ash laid on the ground in a daze. He didn't expect him to be so fast. The pegasus landed next to Ash and he was laughing.

" What's the matter, Don't you have something to say to me? Pft! You weren't even a challenge!" The Colt scoffed at him. Ash shook his head to clear his senses, then he tried to get up, he was slow.

" Looks like you were all talk little foal!" Ash thrust a hoof up that would have made contact with the pegasus's face, but he moved to the left and Ash went stumbling down past him.

"Leave him alone, you're going to hurt him!" The filly demanded.

" Shut up squirt! He asked for it when he showed up! Now hes gonna get it!" The colt looked down at Ash, who was trying to get back up again. The colt let him as he laughed at him. The filly wanted to help but she didn't know what to do.

Just then another colt trotted up to the alleyway and shouted to the older colt,

" Hey Blitz, come on already! Were going to be late for roll call!" Blitz turned to answer back,

" Yeah, Just give me a sec!" replied Blitz. Ash was up and still in a daze from the impact he had been in. The colt looked at Ash and with his left hoof, he punched Ash in the right eye and hit him to the ground.

" I hope you learned your lesson blank flank!" Then he flew off towards the Academy.

Ash didn't get up for a few while because his face was in too much pain. His eye swelled up so he couldn't see out of it, his lip bled and his head pounded with pain. The filly pegasus trotted over to Ash leaving her precious doll behind on the ground.

" Are you ok? Oh this is all my fault! I so sorry! please get up!" she said as she was sobbing. Her voice was high pitched but easy on the ears. Ash started getting up slowly and then he was on all hooves. He looked around through his open eye and surveyed the alley for the colt. He was slightly disoriented and wasn't sure what happened exactly. Then he looked at the filly, she was crying still and was looking him in the eyes.

" uhh,... are you ok?" Ash asked wearly

" Yes... are you?" She replied.

" sort of... you should do a better job of standing up for your self." He said while looking at her with his good eye.

" I know, if only I could fly..." She said. Ash got annoyed.

" No! Flying had nothing to do with it, it was because you were playing his game!" This warented a look of confsion from the filly.

"never let him control you!" Ash advised her. The filly stared at Ash in shock. What he said resonated immediately in her head.

"Really?" The filly asked.

" That's what my dad always tells me, 'never live by someone else rules when they don't care about you.'" The filly eyes brightened and a smile forced its way onto her. She was intrigued by her new friend.

" What's your name? I'm Blue Ember!" Her voice sounded perkier.

" I'm Ash. Whats yours?" He asked, ending with a moan as he was gently rubbing his face.

" I'm Blue Ember. What were you doing here Ash?" Ash looked up and his open eye was wider. "Oh no!" he thought to himself. Ash stumbled out of the alley way and towards the corner. He looked around in a desperate manner. Ember Followed right behind him. She had a look of concern and confusion as she stared at him.

" What's wrong Ash?" She said cautiously.

" ( grrr) She gone."

" Who's gone?" She asked.

" The filly I was going to give this to!" Ash levitated his card out of his saddle bag, which had been crumpled in the scuffle. Ember recognized it as a hearts and hooves day card. Suddenly she was sad again.

" Who is she?"She asked, saddened. Ash then gave up as he knew The filly had been long gone.

"( Sigh) A purple unicorn who trots this way every morning. I think we go to the same school but i don't even know her name." Ember looked down in dejection.

" Twilight." she muttered.

" huh?" he said with surprise Confusion.

" Twilight sparkle. her brother is an upper class pony at the royal guard academy." She said a little louder. Finally, Ash had a name to go with the filly.

" ...Thank you!" he said with a smile. " Well I need to go to school/." Ember was still looking dejected. Ash looked in the doughnut Shop's window reflection. He looked pretty messed up.

" My parrents are going to kill me!" He said.

" Take care, it was kind of nice meeting you Ember!" he said as he turned and started to limp off. Ember looked up in surprise. he said it was kind of nice to meet her. Another smile made its way on her face.

" Do... do you walk this way every morning too?" She asked timidly.

" Yes." he said looking back and then continuing to trot his way to school. Ember wanted to help him but she felt he wouldn't take her help and she was kind of shy.

" OK! See you around!" she said out to him. " See you around." she said softly to herself, as she blushed.

Chapter 2

( Canterlot 4 years prior to Twilight's coronation)

Celestia: "... And that concludes our lessons for today Twilight, do you have any questions?" The day was bright and sunny and the birds were out and about, chirping away the afternoon. Princess Celestia and Twilight were in a classroom set aside for them at the Academy. Twilight occupied the desk front and center and it was covered in scrolls for note taking, an inkwell and several quills, some of them used.

" Oh yes princess, I was wondering, why is Tyrus not considered a classical alchemist?" Twilight said. Her horn glowed with magic as she was levitating a quill over her parchment, ready to scribble down any information the Princess had to offer. Celestia smiled as she always did at her student. Twilight's inquisitive nature never seemed to get old.

" Many of his experiments implemented new spells that improved the metamorphosis phase of alchemy, many of them were non nature based spells. In short, he did not adhere to the strict rules of classical Alchemy." As Celesta finished her lecture the bell struck 2:00pm. Twilight finished writing what the Princess said, down.

" well looks like that is it Twilight, I better hurry and get to my meeting with the head of agriculture." Celestia said while levitating a book she brought with her to her lecture.

" Yes Princess, I should be heading off too, Spike's probably hungry." Said Twilgiht. They both giggled at this. Twilight packed her supplies and was out the door but not before she bowed to the Princess. Princess Celestia watched her pupil race out the door and then began to trot towards it her self.

Cadet major Ash of the Canterlot army academy was out at the training field alone, He was working on learning an offensive spell that was difficult to learn. He set up a plank of wood ten meters from where he was standing and was concentrating on his magic. His Horn glowed an orange hue. Sweat ran down his face from under his helmet and every time it ran into his eyes, he would lose focus and the spell wouldn't work.

" Well, well, what do we have here? It's an army mule, in training!" Said a voice from off in the distance as he laughed. Ash rolled his eyes and turned to face three Royal guard cadets trotting up towards him.

" Oh and if it isn't a bunch of Royal Pains who came to grace me with their presence!" Ash retorted. " What do you want Blitz?" Ash directed to the ring leader of the bunch.

" Oh I heard you were trying to learn a new trick, so I came to see you fail!"  Blitz Replied with distain.

" Yep that's right, I'm learning a new spell to fight! What do you all do these days, learn to polish armor or something like that?" Ash motioned his hoof in a clockwise fashion. This annoyed Blitz.

" I can kick your flank any day loser! How about i do it now!" Blitz flaired his wings open.

" Oh no! I'm so scared!" Ash Said sarcastically " You know what, Why don't you go play Royal Guard somewhere else. I have important things to do!"

" You're not worth my time fighting, loser! Now Hurry up and Fail for me!" Blitz Replied. Ash Frowned at Blitz and turned his horn towards the plank of wood. He took careful aim and concentration. Then his Horn began to glow even brighter than before.

Celestia was trotting towards the door to the classroom when a sudden flash of red orange light appeared from outside and then a loud boom thundered. Celestia spun around to look out the windows to see the training field engulfed in flames. Suddenly, Her two guards that were posted outside the door rushed in with swords drawn.

" Princess, are you alright!" One yelled to Celestia.

" yes I'm fine! but what happened!" Celestia demanded. The second guard was staring out the window as he said,

" Maybe its a dragon!" His limbs were quivering.

" We need to go see, Ponies might be hurt!" Celestia started trotting to the window. The two guards nodded their heads in unison and they followed their Princess out the window and were flying with her to the fire. Four cadets were making their way out of the smoke and were greeted with yelling of orders and questions. Ash fell to his knees and was coughing. His Face was black and some of his coat was missing.

" What happened? Who's responsible for this?" Screamed the troubled training officer

" This Freak did it! He tried to kill us!" Blitz pointed a hoof at Ash. Many of the Ponies began to fight the fire before it spread. The Canterlot fire dept. began hosing down the field. Ash was taken to the infirmary. Ash was questioned about the fire and to the investigators surprise he didn't deny his fault in the incident. Because Ash had submitted a request to attempt the spell, he was not at fault. The spell was a nature based fire spell and was a lost art. No pony had ever successfully cast it so no pony ever thought to supervise him.

Ash was ordered to stay in the infirmary for the night so he could be treated for his smoke inhalation. as the day progressed he had a visit from a very concerned filly. She made her way to his bed. Ash woke up and saw her gold armor

" Oh come on, can't you royal pains leave me alone!" Ash pleaded. Despite only suffering first degree burns, his face was covered in bandages.

" Royal pain? And to think I was here to make you feel better with this apple pie." Emmber replied with a hint of annoyance. Ash turned to look at her.

" Oops, sorry I didn't mean to call you one." He said with a smile. Blue Ember frowned at him so Ash tried to change the subject.

"So... did you make that pie your self?" Ash asked.

" No sorry, this time i picked it up at the bakery."Ember shook her head.  Ash looked dejected and Ember tilted her head in confusion.

" But I like your apple pies better! Oh well thanks anyways. " Ash levitated the pie twords himself.  Ember turned to hide her sudden blushing cheeks. This was something only Ash could bring out in her.

" So I heard you've been assigned to the 125 battalion in southern equestria." Ember Directed the conversation. It was news she was noticably unhappy about.

" Yeah i should be heading out a week after graduation!" he said with excitement, However Ember was not smiling at all. Her back was still facing Ash. In the eight years she had known Ash, she couldn't bring herself to tell him one secret she kept ever since she had met him. But today was the day she would tell him otherwise she might not get another chance to spend hearts and hooves day with him. She bit her lip and steeled herself. Then she turned to face him.

" Ash, I have something to tell you!" Ember said while she looked him in his eyes. Ash had a mouth full of pie and he swallowed it as she spoke.

" What, did you find somepony special for tomorrow?" Ash asked nonchelontly.

" Well... maybe." She replied.

" Oh is it that Orange stallion from that bakery! Oh wait I know! Its that one …." Ash began naming off ponies until Ember interupted him.

"What! No...Ash will you Shut up for two seconds!" Embers cheeks grew red.

" Ok, ok who is it?"  Ash asked. Ember was lost in her thoughts, she wasn't sure how to continue from there even though she knew what to say. Ash threw her off so she felt like she couldn't tell him at all. Her face was blush and her head sunk.

" ….Never mind Ash." She said in dejection. Ash saw that she was having a lot of emotions and for someone as tough as her to be like that, she had to have something of a doozy on her mind. Ash closed the door and locked it with his magic, then he scooted an empty bed so that it knocked Ember on it and made her sit down.

" No, you're going to tell me now, I'm all ears!" Ash glared at Ember as he waited for her to tell him what was on her mind.

" Ash.. I..don't..."

" Say it!"  Ash looked into Embers eyes as he demanded her say in the matter. Ember looked into his eyes and swallowed the lump that was in her throat.

" I …..have a ...crush on ….you!" she said in a shaky voice. Ash dropped the apple pie on his bead.

Celestia was in her personal chambers looking over cadet records. She found the one she had been looking for and levitated it out of the box with the others. It Read " Cadet Major Ash, Class 7" Celestia took a sip of tea from her levitated cup and then set it down on her desk. She read the record over and took note of the unit he would be assigned to. She noticed that he had requested to be assigned to the armies elite reconnaissance group. From his records Princess Celestia could tell that he was very studious and had a high espri de'corp for the Equestrian army. Also the fact that he had cast a spell that she hadn't seen for over seven centuries drover her to write a letter approving his request into the 125 battalion's RAC (Reconnaissance and Advanced Combat) unit.

(4:00 am Southern Equestria, Bridle town,three year before Twilights coronation)

Lieutenant Ash and his RAC squad and another squad form C company were racing through the streets of Bridle town. Intelligence they had come across the day befor indicated a rebel leader named Indigo Runner, was located in the town hall with members of his command. Their source was an informant who indicated that Indigo was after something of immense power.

A Rebellion movement started in the mining towns of southern equestria, their animosity stemmed from a financial crisis affecting the towns. The rebel movement leaders say the corruption and mismanagement by Canterlot was to blame. Their propaganda created a hatred for Canterlot and its high society.

Bridle Town was rumored to be built over an old Vault and the town hall hid the entrance. Ash's informant was cooperating in exchange for his freedom and said Indigo was planning something horrific.

A Pegasus in black and steel armor flew down from the sky and matched Ash's speed. The pegasus was blue and had a dark brown mane and tale.

" Boss, the town is pretty clear but it looks like somepony's in the town hall! There are lookouts posted in the belfry!" Said the pegasus.

" Blue star, you and star tail engage the watchers in the belfry! Sage Dust, Palomino, take the back entrance. The rest of you fallow me!" With those orders the three groups split and each one went to their respective entrance to the town hall.

The two pegasi engaged the belfry watchers with arrows from afar as they circled around, Sage Dust ( a green and blue unicorn ) and Palomino (a brown and white earth pony) circled around the back and broke down the door as Ash took the rest of his team through the front.

With the exception of the watchers in the belfry, there was no one else to fight. The teams cleared the building and made their way into the basement to find a hole dug through the base boards.

Ash and his team followed the hole down deep into the earth where they came across a large door that was partially open. At this time Ash was proficient in several spells including force fields. He took point, and created one in front of him self. then he opened the door fully. Dust blew all around the squad as they rushed into the vault.

The Vault was dark, dusty, and large. The Squads voices echoed throughout the large subterranean room allowing them to get a feel for how much bigger the room was beyond their field of vision. The vault was not just a room but a complete library. The precious treasures that were held in it were shelves and shelves of books that appeared to be Ancient.

" This... This place is huge! Who would hide a library so extensive?" Sage Dust quried.

" How far does this thing go?" Palomino said with a draw.

" Focus guys, we still have a job to do and a vault to clear! Sage, you, Blue Stare and Star Tail clear out the vault. Palomino,stay with me and look through these books!We need to find out what Indigo was looking for! The rest of you guard the entrance, we don't need any surprises!" Ash ordered. He eyed the pile of books that layed on the ground.

The squad went about completing their orders and Ash started looking through books that had been brought to a large wooden table in the middle of the room. Palomino was flipping through one old metal bound book that had dark designs on it. Sage finished clearing out the vault with his team and made his way back to Ash.

" Hey Boss, check this book out, I think I've found something!"  Palomino said while holding a the tomb in his hand.Ash trotted over to Palomino and levitated the book over to him. The book was in Latin but the title read " Pandora."

" Where did you find this?" Ash asked.

" It was on the floor but the dust was wiped off and the lock is broken. What Does the text say?" Palomino replied.

" I don't know. Sage?" Ash called for Sage.

" I'll take a look sir!" Sage said. Sage Dust was able to use a spell that instantly translated any written language into a language that he could read. It was an ability he developed during his studies in Canterlot. His horn glowed and soon the text rearranged itself into Equestrian. Sage read to himself. After reading a few pages his eyes widened.

" Dear Celestia, This...This is …..a catalog of the contents of Pandora's box!"

" What would Indigo want with this?" Ash asked.

" I don't know, but this has a detailed account of a disaster where the box had been opened four millennia ago. It has several references to a ….thing called the dark wrath!"  Sage flipped through the book ans showed Ash the page. Palomino was looking at the back of the book when he noticed it was thicker than the cover.

" Hey turn to the back! I think Isee something!" He said.

Ash levitated the book and opened it to the back. There was another broken lock and a chamber for a key. it was missing.

" Hey... there's supposed to be a key their right? Wheres the key, where the Hay it that key?" Palomino looked back at Ash.

" I don't know Pal... We need to search the vault! Look for it!"  Ash said. Every pony searched the volt to its entire volume. The Key was gone.

Soon after Ash and his squad searched the Vault, the 125th battalion was there going through its contents. Ash and his team headed back to camp with the book. His team was getting their rest and cleaning up after their 56 hour mission. Ash was completing a report on the missing key when a pegasus trotted over to him.

Captain Pale Moon was a pegasus who had a tall stature. His commision started seven years ago and he took command of the 125 battalions RAC unit that consists of three squads of five ponies. His coat was a light grey, his mane and tail were short and white and his eyes were silver. The Captain was known for being charismatic and generally cared for the wellbeing of his subordinates as much as the well being of a mission.

" Lieutenant." Said the Captian in a low voice.

" Sir!" Ash said as he stood up from the rock he was sitting on and saluted.

"At ease. How goes the search, I heard you stumbled on something scary." The Captain looked very calm but Ash looked serious as he spoke.

" Well I believe the rebels have a key to Pandora's box and intend to use it."

" I can only imagine what they would want with that. Try to have that report in ASAP, General Glory is still tooting his horn about calling marshal law on this whole dang region." Captian Pale Moon said to his suborndinate.

" I'm almost done sir, I'll have it in by 07:00." Ash proclaimed.

" Outstanding! Oh and how are your folks back home?" The captian was particularly fond of hearing about the families of his solders. The helped remind the ponies under his command of who they really were fighting for.

" Good sir, They're on vacation in Manehattan!" Ash explained.

" That's good!" Pale Moon said with a smile. " Good job today, we still have a lot of work to do so rest up when you are done with this." Pale Moon said.

" Yes sir!" Ash replied.

The two ponies saluted and the Captain was on his way to the Command Post. Ash finished his report and made his way to the command post where the General was going to hold a staff meeting.

As Ash aproched the command tent, he was saluted by two pegasi posted outside. Ash saluted back and trotted past them into the tent. the two pegusi contrasted to him with thier clean armor as Ash was freshly dirty from his mission. The tent was bustling with action, many different ponies were in and out of the tent. There also were many desks with ponies typing away on typewriters relaying messages. Ash was barely inside when he trotted into somepony.

" Hey watch it Army Mule!...Oh Well if it isn't Lieutenant Freak!" Said the unfortunatly familiar voice of Blitz.

" Nice to see you too Blizts!" Ash said sarcastically as he was dusting himself off.

" That's Captain Blitz to you! maybe you ought to show me some respect!" Blitz sharply ordered.

" Yes Sir Captain!" Ash said as he saluted in a haphazardly way.

" Now get out of my way!" Blitz pushed past Ash and went out of the tent. Ash was pretty irritated but he figured he had better, more important things to do. He also wondered why There were "Royal Pains" at the camp. Ash made his way to the center of the larg overly sized tent when his name was called by a booming and almost cheerful Voice.

" Ah there you are Lieutenant, Do you have my report?" General Glory asked as he trotted up to ash. He was an old war unicorn who had been serving in the Army for many decades. His Coat was a light brown and his Main, tail and eyes were black.

" Yes General, Sorry if I'm late!" Ash was saluting and so the General saluted back.

" Oh Nonsense son, you're right on time! Now how would you feel about attending the meeting? Princess Celestia and the Captain of the Royal Guard will be there." The general said with a smile.

" I would be honored sir, But if you don't mind me asking sir, why do you want me to be there?" Ash asked with a look of confusion.

" Ash my boy, it was your team that stumbled upon that book and discovered the Rebels horrible plans. Our Graceful Princess, in all her wisdom wishes for me to 'not be too hasty with enacting martial law upon the region' and I would agree with her if it weren't for the imminent threat posed by the rebels and that key. I need you to testify so that we can take the proper precautions! Do you Agree?" The general asked.

" Sir its not my place to question you, so I'll hold my tongue either way." Ash explained.

" Well then here we go! Just tell the truth as you know it!"

" Yes General!"

The General lead Ash to the meeting area Where many of the General's officers were already seated. Many Royal guards ponies were seated around and some were posted outside the tent. They all waited for The Princess herself. It wasn't long before she made her appearance. at that point a royal guard stood up and began to speak,

" Ladies and Gentle colts of the Equestrian Army and Royal canterlot Guard, I present to you her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia!" At that moment Princess Celestia garbed in royal armor was escorted into the tent by several of her personal guard and Captain Shining Armor. He led her to the Seating area of honor and waited for her to sit down. Everypony was standing at attention or bowing their heads. Then the meeting was started. General Glory bowed and welcomed the Princess to his base camp and begun to conduct the meeting. Several topics were discussed before the General was on the topic of the rebels.

" Your highness I would like to bring forth one of my subordinates to testify to you what he witnessed today this morning at 03:00."  The gerneral explained.

" You may proceed General!" Celestia maintained her calm demeanor throughout the meeting.Glory looked at Ash and nodded his head. Ash stood up and walked to the center of the meeting.

Ash was being stared at by everypony and he hadn't had a chance to clean up or rest so he was disheveled.

" Your highness, I present to you our hero of the day, Lieutenant Ash of the 125 battalion Second RAC squad! His team was the first to act upon intelligence leading them to this town. Here, he discovered the rebels devious plan to steal the key to Pandora's box." The general finished.  Ash trotted up to the center and bowed his head. he could feel the tension in the tent as everypony was quiet. Then he addressed her highness.

" Your highness, it's an honor to address you, may I proceed with my testimony?

" You may Lieutenant and the pleasure is all mine." Celestia replied.

" Thank you Princess." Ash bowed his head and then he spoke,

" Yesterday My team and I came across a rebel who informed us about the whereabouts of The rebel leader Indigo Runner, a miner From Goldhoof. He claimed that Indigo was in Bridle town searching for something of great power. We acted on this intel and made our way to Bridle town at 03:00, The informant also stated that Indigo discovered a vault rumored to be hidden under the town hall. We were met with little resistance and Indigo was nowhere to be found. What we did find was a hole in the basement of the town hall that lead to a vault door. Inside the vault was an ancient library. One of my subordinates found this book..." Ash levitated his report and the metal bound book his team discovered in the vault to the Princess. Shining armor took it in his ethereal hold, inspected it and gave it to the Princess. "...and in the back of the book it contains an empty chamber where a key should have been. The book is written in latin and my immediate subordinate translated the books meanings!"

Celestia looked over the contents of the book, reading it to herself as she knew how to read latin. She then closed the book and looked over the report. She then spoke,

" This is most troubling, The last time Pandoras box was opened happened before I was even born, but the tails I've heard were horrifying, and this Reference to " The Dark Wrath" is most terrible. If this book really did contained the key to Pandora's box, and the rebels have it in their possession, then we must act! General?"

" Yes your majesty!" Glory replied almost smugly.

" What requests do you have? What can I do to assist you in dealing with this problem?" Celestia directed her question to him.

" Your highness, I have two requests. One; I need to contain the rebels as much as possible to stop them from moving freely throughout the region so therefore I am requesting your blessings in enacting Marshal Law. Second; I need the help of the your Royal Guards to relive my troops from their security duties so that I may have a sufficient number of troops to go after Indigo Runner and his organization!" the General said.  Many of the Ponies began chattering amongst themselves, discussing what they thought of the situation.

Captain Shining Armor looked at Celestia with concern. If the princess allowed use of the Royal Guard, many of his own guards ponies would be stationed in southern Equestria. Celestia spoke with Shinning armor in whispers and they both came to an agreement. Celestia turned to face The general and spoke to him,

" General Glory, It is with caution and reluctance that I permit you both the use of the Royal Guards and the enactment of Martial Law on the Province of Southern Equestria." Gasps and cheers sounded throughout the tent. Ash was still in the center of the tent. He maintained his composure but he felt his heart sink. It was as if his testimony moved or even forced the Princess into making a decision. He felt she didn't want to escalate the conflict.

" Thank you your highness!" Glory said as he bowed his head and Ash caught a glance of the general smiling.

" Lieutenant Ash!" Celestia adressed Ash. He snapped out of his thoughts and sounded off.

" Yes Your Highness!"

" May I speak with you in private, shortly?"

" Of course your Highness!" Ash replied. He was confused as to what the Princess wanted with him.

After the meeting Ash made his way to the Royal Tent that was guarded by dozens of Royal Guards. He was then led inside by Shining Armor. Shining Armor left the tent and Ash was alone with the Princess who was laying on her bed where she was studying a tomb.

" Lieutenant Ash reporting as summoned your Highness!" Ash bowed to Celestia.

" At ease Lieutenant, I want this meeting to be Casual." Celestia smiled at him.

" Uhm.. yes Princess, of course!"  Ash stood up . Celestia continued to read over the book before she set it down on her bed. She then looked at him with a more serious expresion.

" I need your opinion Ash, I've had my reservations about taking more action in this region, but today my hoofs have been forced. It seems like no matter what I try, I'm unable to understand or reason with my people here in this part of my kingdom." Celestia stretched her wings and stood up.

" I've read about your work, and I'm rather impressed with how you conduct your self. Tell me Lieutenant, What is your opinion of the rebels and their agenda?" Celestia paused.

" Your Highness, I've been serving under General Glory for one year now, In all the missions I've completed with my team, I've seen poverty, hunger, disease, violence and cruelty. These ponies have something to gripe about and they need our help."

" Indeed Lieutenant." Celestia concured.

" ...but with lunatics like Indigo going around spreading propaganda and decent, we can't help those in need and now that Indigo has a key to Pandora's box, we don't have a choice but to put an end to him!" Ash stopped to compose himself as he was starting to become emotional.

" What would you propose lieutenant?" Celestia calmly asked.

" Our number one priority in that regard, is to find Pandora's box and secure it before Indigo does. We can't let him have the chance to use it for anything!" Celestia smiled at Ash's answer.

" Very good Lieutenant, then I must ask you, to use whatever means necessary to find it's location and stop Indigo." her request was simple and she asked calmly.

" I will your highness!" Ash replied.

" Very well Lieutenant, That is all. " Celestia looked back at the book she left on her bed.  she ment to pick it back up when Ash spoke up again.

" Your highness, I just wanted to thank you..." His exhostion was apparent in his voice.

"For what Lieutenant?" Celestia asked as she looked back at him.

" Your letter, your letter of approval allowing me to join the RAC Unit."

" I'm glad I wrote it, you have filled the role very well. You are Welcome." Celestia smiled at him again.  Celestia's first encounter with Ash had been over a year ago. She sensed that he was somepony who would be important one day. Apparently, that day was soon to come.

" Have a good morning Your highness!" Ash bowed his head and he left the tent. Celestia continued to ponder Ash's destiny. Seldom were there any unicorns with enough talent to gain her attention. It was apparent to her that Ash had the capacity to change the world. However, it was evident that he had a lot to learn about friendship. She could sense that he was sholdering all his burdens on his own. Perhaps he was sholdering the whole war.  If it weren't for the politics that surrounded this uprising, Ash's efforts probibly wouldn't be so underminded. Celestia thought to make it a point to keep an eye on Ash and maybe one day, find a way tofoster his talents.

Ash made it back to his side of the camp and wearily entered his tent. All of his Squad was asleep in their own tents so Ash was free to just walk in to his without being bothered.

He lifted the flap and trotted in. He levitated his helmet off his head and let it drop on the ground. His mucles ached  as his rack becconed for him. How ever, he then noticed somepony had entered his tent behind him. Ash turned around and with great surprise he saw the silhouette of a Royal guard. Ash was about to say something until the Guard rushed him and her lips met his. Ash fell on his back and the mare fell on top of him. Ash was confused but then the mare's eyes met his. She was Blue Ember.

" Em? What are you doing here?" he whispered

" I missed you." She whispered back. Then she nuzzled him.

" I missed you too beautiful!" he said as he nuzzled her back. Ember was lost in Ash's embrace and cuddled him tightly. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

" How are things back at home?"  Ash asked.

" Wonderful, Dad was talking about renting the Canterlot gardens!" She said as she stopped Ash from trying to get up. She burried her head into his neck with a big smile.

" for what?" He asked. Ember looked up at him.

" For our reception stupid!" She began to giggle. She then lifted the necklace Ash gave her the night he proposed. "remember you asked me a certain question?"

" Of course." Ash said. His mind had been elsewhere for the past few months that he almost forgot he was getting married. This brought some happyness into his heart.

Blue Ember and Ash cuddled until Ash fell asleep.