Reunited on the Battlefield
A young Sunshine Smiles held her wooden sword with her magic as tight as one could with their aurora. It was far from a perfect design, just a piece of wood her dad carved for her and some glue, she'd even drawn the symbol of the guards on it for added color. She swung it around, getting a feel for it and going through some of the training exercises her mother would always do outside their backyard before she went on duty.
Of course, if her mother knew that her little filly was doing her best to copy them, she'd no doubt scold her even if it wasn't with a real sword. Her mother was no ordinary guard though, she was a part of an elite unit: The Canterlot Guardians, who were said to be one of the best mage knights in the land.
Naturally, the filly wanted to join those ranks and be like her mom, but she had a lot of growing up to do. She didn’t even have her own cutie mark yet.
“Hey! Sorry, I’m late!” Shouted a familiar voice, causing a smile to spread across Sunshine's face.
“Took you long enough, Raven. I thought I was going to be sparing against a tree or something.” The filly joked as she turned to face her friend; A light gray unicorn with a long, dark blue mane and amber eyes with slitted pupils. Moonlight Raven.
The gray Unicorn chuckled as she showed her own fake wooden sword. “Sorry, I spent an hour looking for this before finding it under my bed.”
“You should keep it right next to your mirror like I do! Now then, let's get ready!” Said Sunshine with a smile. The two friends nodded before they got into their battle stances, or at the very least ones that looked good enough from the times they saw their parents spar against each other.
“Ready?” Asked Raven.
"Let’s dance!" Shouted Sunshine before she charged forward.
Present Day:
"...ake up! Wake up!"
Sunshine grumbled as she felt a nudge against her head, waking her up from her dream. She groaned as her superior, the fiery redhead captain Flaming Courage, stood above her. “Enough sleeping, soldier! We gotta make tracks now!”
"Yes, sir." Sunshine yawned as she got up and stretched her legs. 'That dream... it’s been a while since I thought of her...' She thought to herself, levitating her trusty Sun Star Spear as she her fellow Guardians got up and prepared to move out.
She hadn’t thought of Moonlight since the last time they spoke... the last time before Moonlight left Canterlot and their friendship shattered. All because of that damn tyrant who dared to bring her evil into her home. She still couldn’t understand how Princess Celestia, the kindness of all beings, was related to that twisted sack of evil known as Nightmare Moon.
It was because of her, that Equestria knew no peace. Because of Nightmare Moon, she lost her best friend. Because of Nightmare Moon, her mother died and her father drank himself to death. Burying both of them in the same year would have broken most ponies, but Sunshine never lost hope that one day Equestria would be free and their deaths avenged. A day would come when Celestia and her forces would punish all the traitors and evils in the world.
She had to believe it because... there was nothing else to believe in anymore for her.
“Alright, listen up!” Shouted her commanding officer as she joined the circle of ten. "Just recently, we have received reports that Nightmare Moon’s been trying to tame demons from Tartarus to use them on the front lines against our forces. While they have been unsuccessful in the past few days, we need to make sure that it stays that way. We cannot risk having those vile creatures from the world’s most dangerous prison used against our forces!"
"How did Nightmare Moon even gain the ability to do this?" Asked one Guardian. "As powerful as she is, the ability to control demons as dangerous as them has been lost for thousands of years."
"Our spies have reported that there are rumors going around that Nightmare Moon may have made a deal with Tirek. What said deal was, even they're not sure." Flaming Courage explained with a bit of uncertainty in his voice. "However, given Tirek is the only being to ever escape Tartarus and has great dark powers under his control. We cannot take any risks."
"So, do we kill them all?" Asked Sunshine with a frown. Deep down, she personally hated the idea of taking a life, even though she had a high tally of corpses under her belt.
"The mages are the main priority. Even if we cannot kill them all, if we take out the more experienced mages they'll have no choice but to abort their mission, and by then our reinforcements will be on their way to secure the area." He turned to each of his ponies under his command. "Remember, if it gets too hot we can pull out, but only if we kill the mages first. Understood?"
"Sir! Yes, sir!" Shouted the group, saluting in unison.
"Good. Canterlot Guardians. Move out!" Flaming Courage shouted as the herd followed his lead. They might not have been as fast as Pegasi or as strong as Earth Ponies, but each member was in top peak condition. Not to mention they traveled light with little food and water.
The grass may have tasted bland, but it was better than hunger.
As Sunshine galloped with her fellow Guardians as she tried to focus on the mission, but couldn’t help but let her thoughts drift back to her former best friend. She didn’t know if she was even alive or killed in action. 'If she was... would I still feel sorrow for her?' A part of her wondered.
From their first meeting at Kindergarten to the day they got their cutie marks together. Moonlight was the one pony she trusted and loved most besides her family. 'And all it took was Nightmare Moon to split us apart...' Thought Sunshine with a growl,he still couldn’t understand how Moonlight could side with such a monster. Moonlight gave her explanations, but none of them made sense to her. Maybe when this is all over we can start over too...
She just hoped she didn’t have to face her... because duty would obligate her to kill her
The Mountains of Sin were some of the most dangerous terrains in all of Equestria, to the point where the very idea of traversing the area safely was deemed near-impossible due to the harsh storms, rock slides, poisonous plants, and vicious Thunder Birds that made their home there. Deep within these mountains were the very gates to Tartarus itself, a prison said to have been crafteref by the Ancient Alicorns eons ago to seal away any and all Ancient Evils, Demons, and those beyond redemption who posed a threat to Equestria.
Keeping themselves hidden on the upper cliffs just above the pathway to the gates, Sunshine and her fellow Guardians watched from their positions, waiting for the entourage that was supposed to come this way.
Sunshine felt the sweat drip from her eyebrow as she waited in silence with the others. The calm before the storm was always the worst part, not helped by the fact that the random flashes of lighting and booming thunder from the storms higher up in the mountain almost made her jump every second.
Finally, they spotted them. The group consisted of Nightmare Moon’s soldiers, mostly Unicorns and Earth Ponies in a circular formation with a few robed Unicorns at the center, those had to be the summoners.
"Remember, take out the mages first." Whispered Flaming Courage as he readied his weapon.
Sunshine nodded, preparing her teleport spell as she spotted her target, the second to last one on the right. She hated taking lives, but she pushed herself, telling herself that each life she ended for their side was another innocent life saved for their own…
It was all that kept her from staying awake at night.
Time seemed to slow down as the Nightmare forces were completely unaware of their soon to be final fate. The only thing she was worried about was the numbers, as they far outweighed their own small group. 'Doesn’t matter. Guardians answer with their blades or are buried with them in hoof.'
"Now!" Shouted Flaming Courage.
In an instant, Sunshine teleported right over her targeted mage and drove her Sun Star Spear into his head for an easy kill. She quickly pulled it out and swung behind her, sending out a pulse of magic powerful enough to knock down three of the nearby guards; two of which she easily dispatched with a stab to the neck while they were on the ground. The third one tried to aim for her head with his spear, but she quickly blocked his attempt to end her life with her armored hoof before drawing a smaller blade before rushing towards him, slicing into his throat before he could react.
She heard her fellow Guardians fighting everywhere as yells, screams, threats, and orders were shouted. It wasn't long before all of the targeted mages were dead, but escape was proving to be difficult as their remaining forces were starting to surround and overwhelm them. She was about to rush over to assist one of her injured comrades out when her instincts screamed at her to teleport. Doing so allowed her to narrowly miss getting hit by a dark blue spear with a moon curved blade at the end. Reappearing and lifting her spear to block another blow, she quickly realized this was no normal guard thanks to her armor.
It was dark blue with the eye of Nightmare Moon in the middle. She wore a velvet mouth guard over her face and neck, allowing only her cold looking eyes to stare at her. It was the rear greaves that sold it though. A pure black with a yellow lightning bolt. Only one unit held that and it was infamous as its members: The Shadowbolts.
Sunshine was about to push her off when she noticed the Shadowbolt's eyes widen as she jumped back in shock. Seeing a chance, Sunshine raised her spear, ready to charge her when her opponent uttered a single word.
"Sunshine?"
Freezing up, Sunshine wondered how this Shadowbolt knew her name until she pulled down her veil. Her expression changed from confusion to pure shock, her magic almost faded and nearly let her spear drop when she saw who it was.
"Moonlight?"
The two old friends stared at each other, even as the chaos around them continued. Sunshine couldn’t believe it, but the truth was right in front of her. Her best friend in the whole world had joined the Nightmare Army and become a Shadowbolt. A range of emotions made her start shaking uncontrollably, she wanted to both hug and slap her friend at the same time, ask her why she chose this path while begging her to come back, but instead just lifted her spear and prepared herself.
"I’m sorry…"
Moonlight's eyes held a dark sorrow in them as she nodded while raising her ownspear.
"...I’m sorry too."
And with that, the two got into their respective battle stances, focusing only on each other with their spears raised. The former friends now ready to kill each other for their respective rulers. The two continued to clash over and over again. High and low. Left and Right, Neither able to gain an advantage over the other. Almost completely ignorant of anything else around them. It was like nothing else mattered while the two of them were dueling; almost as if nothing changed from their fillyhood. The countless days they spent fighting with swords and pretending to slay the other.
Only now it was real life.
Sunshine charged forward with quick thrusts and swipes that Moonlight managed to avoid or block with her own spear. The gray Unicorn leaped out of the way and aimed a low sweep at Sunshine’s legs but the Canterlot Guardian managed to jump and backflip to safety.
What she wasn’t able to dodge was the sudden blast of magic from the Shadowbolt, catching her off guard and sending her crashing to the ground. Groaning as she tried to lift herself up, her eyes widened as she witnessed Moonlight leaping over her prone body, bringing her spear down to deliver the killing blow.
Sunshine quickly rolled her body out of the way, just narrowly avoiding being impaled through the side. As the spear buried itself into the ground the Guardian jumped to her hooves and slugged her across the face, knocking her old friend back.
Planting her hooves firmly as she shook her head, Moonlight licked some blood from her bleeding lip and spat it out before yanking her spear out of the ground and raising it once more. Without any hesitation, she charged forward but suddenly teleported out of sight, Sunshine caught a glimpse of a flash out of the corner of her right eye and quickly blocked her spear, she tried to slash at her but the Shadowbolt teleported out of reach, reappearing on her right before teleporting away and reappearing behind her, repeating the process again and again.
Growling as she blocked her strikes with every flash, the Canterlot Guardian tried to figure out Moonlight's pattern and avoid letting her opponent confuse her... before realizing that she always teleported to her right every three times…
'It's time to take a risk.' She thought to herself.
With a mighty roar, she swung her spear towards the area she was sure Moonlight would appear, pouring an abundance of her magic into the very blade of her spear to make sure it was one clean cut. And sure enough, she did as Moonlight's eyes widened upon feeling the spear slice through her neck, her head was cut off with one quick swipe, leaving her head and body to topple to the ground.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" Sunshine whispered as she gazed upon the corpse of her old friend, just barely holding back the tears that threatened to erupt from her eyes… only to notice something off about her friend's corpse...
There was no blood.
'It’s an illusion!' Thought the Guardian as she quickly summoned a shield around her body, just in time to avoid a powerful blow from the back.
She turned around and saw the spear that Moonlight held was now covered in a dark aurora with lighting coming out of it. "My turn…" She whispered before rushing forward, with just a few powerful blows from her enhanced spear, Sunshine's shield soon shattered, forcing the Guardian to teleport out of range with what little magic she had left.
"Damn, you’ve gotten better..." Sunshine grunted, doing her best to fight through her fatigue. "...your illusions are actually convincing now."
"Naturally, which is why you just spare yourself the pain and surrender." Replied Moonlight, twirling her spear. "I’m no longer that filly, Sunshine. I am a Shadowbolt, an elite loyal warrior of Nightmare Moon."
"Just as I am a Canterlot Guardian, protector of her majesty; Princess Celestia. like my mother was before me!" Shouted Sunshine, standing her ground despite how tired she was. "And I’ll sooner die on the battlefield than admit defeat! Just as she did!"
Moonlight was about to reply, only to pause as her eyes widened. "Your mother... she died?"
"... yes..." Replied Sunshine, doing her best not to cry… and yet a single tear managed to escape, trailing down her left cheek. "She’s gone, Moonlight. She fell in the line of duty."
"...I’m sorry, I-I truly am." Whispered the Shadowbolt, lowering her head in sorrow. "...she was a good mare, and a noble warrior."
"Thank you…" Whispered back the Guardian before she took a deep breath. "But don’t go easy on me because of that."
"Have I ever?" Asked Moonlight as she prepared to clash blades with her again...
However, at that very moment Sunshine screamed as she felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her right rear leg and fell to her side, unable to support herself. Her spear dropped from her magic grasp as she found herself at her complete mercy of her friend-turned-foe.
The Shadowbolt looked up to see a single Nightmare soldier standing over her with a bloody sword, her shock soon gave way to anger as she stomped towards the soldier and grabbed him by the neck with her magic, forcibly bringing him to her eye level. "Idiot! Who gave you the right to interfere?!"
"B-b-but she was an enemy!" The Knight nervously explained. "Th-The others had either been killed or escaped and-"
"I don’t care, this was my fight!" Shouted Moonlight as she tossed him aside with her telekinesis.
Sunshine struggled to get up, but before she could do so, the remaining soldiers came and held her down before clamping a small ring on her horn. In an instant, she felt her magic weaken to the point where she could barely feel it. 'Damnit! An inhibitor ring!' She thought in terror. Unable to use her magic, spear, or even walk, she was forced to stop struggling and observe the damage both sides had done on each other.
Many of the Nightmare Knights were dead, but she could identify at least three bodies of her fellow Canterlot Guardians as well; including Flaming Courage who had six arrows in his chest and one in his head. 'At least I’ll join them soon…' Thought the Guardian, having accepted that this was her end. She had completed her mission, stopped Nightmare Moon from gaining control of the demons, and a full platoon would be here the next day to make sure she didn’t try again. '...mother, father, I hope I've made you proud...'
"What should we do with her?" Asked one of the soldiers. "Chop her head off and be done with it?"
She glanced up at her friend, who watched her with silence. 'At least I got to see you… one final time…' She thought, closing her eyes, calmly reassuring herself that she'd at least see her parents and fellow comrades again in the afterlife.
The Guardian knew it would end like this one day. Death at the hooves of one of Equestria's enemies. At the very least, she hoped her name would be placed on the wall of the fallen, where years from now others would look upon her deceased name with respect and honor.
Moonlight didn’t answer for a moment, simply staring down at her, her blank expression hiding her conflicting emotions… eventually, she turned away as she spoke. "We’ll take her with us back to base as a prisoner. Bind her and do something about that leg. I want her unharmed, understood?"
"Yes, Ma’am!"
Sunshine's eyes shot open. 'What? Why? Why are you letting me live?! I… I'm your enemy! I tried to kill you and you tried to kill me! Why spare me and take me alive?!' She thought as she continued staring at the Shadowbolt in disbelief.
Yet as she was bound by chains and carried off, Moonlight gave her a single glance over her shoulder… and the answer came in a way that Sunshine could've sworn she'd heard itrom Moonlight's very mind:
'Because you're still my best friend.'
Despite all that… when her thought drifted back to her unanswered question… while she had been uncertain, Moonlight’s answer... was yes.
Author's Note
Sunshine Smiles; The Sorceress
(Source)
Bio (By Osipush):
Moonlight and Sunshine Smiles were best friends before Nightmare Moon's return. But Nightmare quarreled them and set them against each other. Sunshine joined the ranks of Canterlot Guardians, a troop of unicorns-sorcerers.
Sunshine Smiles' fate will be followed up on in the League of Nightmares chapter: For Queen and Country.
Special thanks to Silver Wind for helping write this chapter!
