Forgotten warrior
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Order and Harmony: Judgement

Forgotten warrior

Chapter 2: Forgotten warrior

I do not own any of the My Little pony franchise, only my own OC's.

‘How could this have happened?’ were the thoughts of Princess Celestia as she and Luna stood vigilant outside the door of the castle's medical ward. Despite the protest of the guards about resting, Celestia insisted on staying until the doctors had finished patching up the unicorn. Luna sided with her on the matter, and that had allowed her to convince the guards to let her stay. That was no longer a concern for her. Now she was faced with the recent events of the night. A unicorn had fallen from the sky in a ball of fire. In all her reigning years she had never even heard of an event like this, and not knowing only further put her in unease. Her thoughts were interrupted when the doors opened.

One of the doctors, a brown earth pony, stepped out. His expression was hard to read: somewhat relieved yet at the same time, defeated. "Well your majesties, the good news is that our guest's condition has for the moment stabilized. However…" He removed his glasses and, carefully closing them, placed them into his coat pocket. He gave a heavy sigh before continuing.

"The extent of his injuries was…quite severe. He has sustained a concussion, two fractured legs, second-degree burns across his flanks, and broken ribs which have caused internal haemorrhaging. It is highly unlikely that he will last through the night."

The news came heavy to Celestia, hitting her like a train. This poor pony most certainly faced death. To die in such a manner…nopony deserved it. A look into Luna's face told Celestia her sister felt the same way.

Luna, who spoke first, shattered the silence. "May we see him?"

The doctor thought about this for a moment before answering, "Well Princess, he is unconscious, and given the circumstances…I'm unsure if it is a good idea, but it won't do any harm…" He opened the door for them. Inside, there were almost no staff on duty, and all of the beds were vacant, except for one.

The unicorn looked pitiful in his current state. An oxygen mask was fastened to his muzzle, and his breaths were so shallow they could hardly see any movement of his chest. A heart monitor next to his bead registered a steady beep…beep on its monitor.

There was tense silence as both princesses looked over this pony's broken form. Luna once again was the first to speak. "Tia, do you object to me doing this?"

The question came as no surprise to Celestia. She knew what Luna was asking, for as they had both discussed the matter in great detail while waiting outside. She nodded her head, conveying her blessing.

The doctor frowned skeptically. "Wait, Princess may I ask what you plan to do?"

"Luna wishes to enter this pony's dreams to try and contact him. We both are very curious as to who he is", Celestia explained.

The doctor opened his mouth to object, but was too late. Luna had already cast the spell she needed to enter the pony's dreams.

With a sharp pop, Luna successfully entered into the realm of the pony's mind. She quickly took in her surroundings, and she was in no way prepared for what she saw. What she was standing on looked to be a single pane of glass, stretching as far as she could see. The sky above was a dark shade of blue and void of any sort of stars most other dreams possessed. His mind was completely blank.

"This is impossible!" she exclaimed, "All ponies have dreams, even those with dark nightmares experience something, even if only the beat of their hearts. This is…"

Before she could finish her statement, a blanket of pure darkness engulfed her surroundings. It did not frighten her; the darkness was still her own realm. The ground suddenly shook, but she managed to her balance. The shaking stopped abruptly, and the curtain of darkness lifted to reveal what had been hidden from sight.

What she first noticed was that she was standing in front of a massive lake of lava hissing and spitting up at her. Luna quickly scampered backwards, stumbled, and fell onto her back in her rush to get away from the pit of magma. It was then that she noticed the other changes to the landscape.

The ground had changed into rough rock, and there was no sky visible, only more rock, creating a sort of cave. The lava provided just enough light to be able to see. Suddenly seeing movement from of the corner of her eye, Luna turned her head sharply to the left, resting her gaze on the first form of life in what was now a nightmare.

It was a pony, but not the pony in the medical ward, for it was a Pegasus. It stood with its back to her and wings outstretched. Its colour was hidden in the dim light, and all that she could make out was a dark silhouette. Luna could see it struggled greatly to hold itself up and just as much to carry something in his wing. Abruptly, a shadow rose in front of the Pegasus. The gargantuan shadow made Luna's skin crawl with fear and her heart turn to ice.

The shadow soared high above the Pegasus, ready to strike with sharp claws and mouth full of needle-like teeth. Above all its terrible features, the eyes stuck out, glowing blood red. It was so horrifying that even the air seemed to quaver and shift in terror under its massive presence. The shadow opened its mouth and roared with so much force that Luna was blasted into the air screaming in fear before the whole cave collapsed around her.

Luna opened her teal green eyes so suddenly when she woke from her trance her eyelids stung. It was then she noticed she was lying on the ground. Before she could question how she made it to the floor, she caught a glimpse of her sister's fright-filled anxious eyes.

In a tone that betrayed her shock, Celestia spoke: "Luna! What happened?"

Not understanding her sister's cause for alarm, Luna stood up calmly. Her face felt crusty, and when she lifted her hoof to investigate, deduced they were tear trails. "Was I…crying?" she queried bemusedly.

"Yes. As soon as you entered his dreams you collapsed and started crying. What did you see?" Celestia asked a little forcefully.

Luna couldn't answer Celestia's question, for something caught her attention. The unicorn's neck was twitching. Usually that would be of no concern, but he was out cold.

The twitching was the only warning they got before without warning the unicorn's eyes burst open. Instead of ordinary eyes, his blazed like miniature suns, causing both the princesses and the doctor to shield their faces. A split second later a massive blast exploded from him, sending all others in the room to crash against the walls. The unicorn leapt off of the bed, tore the wires of the equipment off, and nearly took the door off its hinges in his escape.

The blast, a massive kinetic force spell, left Luna dazed with double vision. In her stupor she made out the unconscious form of the doctor lying against the opposite wall. Her legs felt like jelly, but was still able to shakily get to her hooves. She almost pursued the unicorn, until she felt the slight pressure of a teleportation spell on her back. With a loud pop she found herself staring at the same pony, only inches away from him this time.

Celestia had managed to teleported her there, having recovered faster than her sister. Unfortunately she had miscalculated where they had warped, and transported them barely inches behind him, allowing him to continue on his thunderous charge.

Two unicorn guards appeared at a fork in the corridor to find the source of the blast. Seeing the charging unicorn, they quickly levelled their spears in attempt to stop him. He continued undeterred, heading straight for them.

At the last moment, the unicorn launched himself over the two guards completely to their amazement and hit the ground behind them running. One of the guard's swords flew out of it sheath surrounded in a golden aura and shot after the unicorn around corner into another wing. Recovering from the shock of what just happened, the guards set off in pursuit with the princesses right behind them.

As the guards turned the corner, the two smashed into a magic barrier, collapsing into a heap. Through the transparent force field, the sisters saw the unicorn now only advanced at a slow walk. The sword he stole hung low beside him, and their hearts stopped upon seeing his intentions.

At the end of the corridor stood the large doors that belonged to the royal library. It was not that however that had captured the unicorn's attention. It was the lone brown unicorn guard that bravely stood in his way holding out his spear to the unicorn's chest.

The unicorn stopped dead in his tracks. He gave no warning before firing a thin, gold beam of energy at his obstacle. The guard instinctively flinched, and was relieved to find the beam simply stopped at his chest. He relaxed for a moment, before he exploded into a cloud of white smoke, blinding all from the terror that just happened. The haze dissipated quickly, and what emerged made the princesses gasp.

What now stood before them was a large brown creature. It stood upright on two legs. Long, thin arms hung at its sides. Two large teeth dominated its face, rising from the lower jaw to just above its beady eyes. At its full height, it dominated the corridor, towering above everypony watching.

"Eh? Wha—?" Its voice nearly sounded comedic as the creature examined itself in surprise. Its face twisted in anger.

"Oh, you are gonna pay for that!" it roared in a heavy gruff voice that neither Celestia nor Luna had ever heard before. He drew his spear, which too grew until he now wielded a large, wooden club. He swung the club at the unicorn with a deafening bellow.

With little effort, he sidestepped out of the way and countered with a downward strike, cutting into the creatures arm.

"Ah!" the creature yelled. Instead of bleeding, the small wound glowed dull red and, amazingly, in no time at all healed over. "Hehe, it's going to take more than your puny sword to hurt me, pony!" With a triumphant smirk the creature once again went on the attack, swinging the large club wildly.

He couldn't land a single hit on the unicorn, who stepped out of the way of the attacks with the graceful skill of a dancer. His hooves slid along the floor almost like it was covered in ice. He struck and stuck with the sword he wielded, but every blow simply healed just as quickly as it landed. The princesses watched with wonder, silent as the epic fight unfolded.

The creature attacked downward again with both hands. That was his final mistake. The unicorn stepped under the strike and slid through the creature's legs. Before he could react, the unicorn raked the sword across his exposed back legs, and slipped back through them as the creature buckled.

"Waaaaa!" he yelled as it fell backwards, shaking the whole room. Wasting no time, the unicorn leapt onto the centre of its chest. He buried his sword deep into the creature's body and tapped the hilt with the tip of his horn, setting the blade ablaze with light.

The creature didn't utter a sound as its body glazed over gray and quickly crumbled into dust. The unicorn twirled the sword victoriously before letting it fall low to his side. The glow around it flickered and disappeared, letting the sword fall to the floor with a clang. With no more energy, he collapsed forward onto the floor.

The barrier faded away as he fell, giving the two now-conscious guards a way to him. They lowered their spears at his unconscious form.

"What is to be done with this murderer Your Majesty?" one guard asked with disdain.

Princess Celestia shook her head. "This pony is no murderer. You saw that creature. If this brave unicorn had not dealt with it, it would have remained hidden within our walls. He will be taken back to the medical ward immediately. Is that understood, sergeant?"

The guard who spoke quavered in fear at the princess's sternness. "A-at once your majesty!" He and his companion swiftly exited, carrying the unicorn in their magical grasp.

Luna stood beside her sister, her eyes showing worry from her sister's outburst. "Tia, is everything okay?"

Celestia let out a large breath. "Yes Luna, it's just…If that pony hadn't dealt with…whatever monster that was, it could have caused untold destruction. That creature healed so quickly…nopony would have been able to stop it. We owe that brave pony nothing but our lives. Perhaps most worrying is how could it have snuck in?"

"I don't know, Sister…But you are right, we do owe that pony. We must make sure our debt is repaid upon his awakening."

Celestia nodded in agreement, and together they made their way back to the medical ward.

As the two sisters once again waited outside the doors of the now-restored medical ward ten minutes later, they couldn't help but feel a combined sense of déjà vu. Fortunately for them the doctor from before strode out of the doors. He valiantly volunteered to check the unicorn again after the incident, but unlike last time, he was beaming.

"Your Majesties! I-I can't explain how, but all of his injuries have completely healed! It's a miracle!"

Celestia smiled at the good news. "Thank you doctor. Luna and I will take it from here."

"But I—of course Your Majesties." Slightly disappointed, the doctor trotted off, allowing the two princesses inside.

The ward looked almost normal after the blast thanks to the efforts of the night staff. In the same bed as before, they found the unicorn lay asleep. His white coat now had a glossy sheen and his golden mane glinted in the light. He no longer needed an oxygen mask, but a heartbeat monitor still kept tabs on his pulse. Overall, he looked like a brand new pony.

"Luna, would you please tell me what you saw?"

Luna shivered before hesitantly answering her sister. "It—At first…there was nothing there Celestia. Nothing at all, not even a single thought. But then—"

She was interrupted by the heart monitor, which had suddenly filled the room with alarming beeps. They turned to the monitor and gasped at seeing the unicorn wide awake.

His irises were tiny with fear and his whole body rocked with shivers as he gazed upon them. He quickly tried pushing himself away, but ended up crashing to the floor, sending a yelp of pain from his mouth.

"It's okay, don't be afraid", Celestia coaxed gently as she approached the unicorn, who backed against the wall. He was breathing sharply and watching her intently. Celestia lowered herself to look into his eyes. They were the same beautiful shade of gold as his mane and even seemed to glint slightly.

"It's alright. We're not going to hurt you. You are safe", she contended softly in an attempt to soothe the frightened pony.

Slowly, the unicorn's breathing returned to its normal rate, and his irises grew back to their original size. He was still wary, but no longer afraid.

"My name is Celestia. May I ask yours?" she requested gently.

The pony hesitated. "I…..I don't know…" His soft voice shook with the fear of not knowing his name.

"You don't know your own name?" Luna inquired, puzzled at the pony's answer.

"No…I-I don't." He closed his eyes and his body tensed. When he opened them again, there was a twinkle in his gaze. "My name…my name is…Valerian."

Author's Note

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