The old world

Up until that point, Luna and John had been enjoying some time alone in the outskirts of town, before it would be necessary to raise the moon. The Princess of the Night had spent the entire morning and early afternoon running affairs of state, giving her a small amount of peace, with which to spend with her mate. Just as the town clock struck four, the pair returned to the town hall. Luna ordered the guards to remain outside, unless there was an emergency. Luna cast a muting spell, giving the pair an added layer of privacy. As Whitehooves fumbled with his shirt, Luna took the liberty of undoing his buttons with magic, causing him to blush slightly, quickly replaced by a wry smile. Before the Admiral could take the situation further, there was a harsh nock on the door.

“What is it, Private?” Luna said, rather in annoyance.

“Your Majesty, the daughter of Miss Sparkle was teleported on the road moments ago. She claims to have an urgent message concerning her mother’s expedition.” After glancing to her mate with worry, the Princess ordered the guards, along with Sparkling, inside. The filly came bursting inside, hoofing a scroll to the alicorn, who unravelled it immediately. The note read:

We are in a clearing, eight kilometres east of the last outpost. Have been ambushed by a large number of predators, sustained one fatal casualty, civilians Darwin and Sparkle in mortal danger. Reinforcements and extraction needed ASAP.

Gunnery Sergeant Hooves.

The moment she finished reading the note, it was discarded. “Admiral Whitehooves, guards, listen well. Assemble six teams of Pegasii drawn armoured pony carriers, twenty musket ponies in each. I shall draw a seventh carrier with my night guard, serving as the first wave of responders. You are to lead the first assault and extract Twilight, Cavalier and the guards back to the carrier. Once this is accomplished, my guards will fly you, Admiral, back here. During this time, I will remain on the ground with the others, and sweep the area in search of clues as to why this happened. Understood?”

“Yes, your Majesty” The three replied in unison.

Once the night guard left to follow her orders, Luna gave Whitehooves a quick kiss. “Be careful John, remember that I love you.” She cast aside her royal regalia in preparation for donning her armour. “And one other thing, make sure that Shining remains ignorant of the situation… for now. I fear that he may act brashly, given his relation to Twilight.”

“I love you too, Lulu. Whatever happens, don’t hold yourself responsible.” Not wanting to waste any more time, John rushed out to ready the large pony carriers, which had to be unloaded from the ships. It was over a kilometre to the docks, but Whitehooves covered the distance in just a few minutes. With some relief, the Admiral noticed that the two guards had already begun assembling the troops and carriers. A group of seventy Pegasii were fitting harnesses for the mission at hand, while the sailors lowered the armoured carriers down to the docks. They had originally sat in the centre of “The Explorer”, requiring a fair amount of muscle to attach the large vehicles to cranes, overhanging the sides of the vessel. Only a few of the musket ponies had assembled, giving Whitehooves time to rush to his cabin on “The Chalice of Hope” and don his red commander’s coat. John clipped his belt around his midsection, which carried both his rapier and pistol. By the time he returned to the docks, the rest of the force had assembled, awaiting orders. The musket ponies wore their own bright red coats, distinguishing them from the various other troop types. On their sides, they wore a leather holster, containing their muskets, removable bayonets and a shoulder high stake, with a fork at one end. This could be placed into the ground, allowing the ponies to rest the barrels of their muskets in the fork, whilst firing single hoofed. On their right shoulder’s, a small pad, strapped around behind their front legs, created a site to reinforce their muskets when aiming down the sights. Once the carriers were on the docks the Pegasii donned their harnesses, in preparation for the flight. Only the strongest would be able to carry the huge weight, meaning that training for such a position was, in the utmost degree, extremely selective. Once the ramp on the back of the carriers had been lowered, Whitehooves gave the order for the musket ponies to board the carriers, which they did so in haste. Luna marched up to her carriage, greeting her guards with a nod before slipping on her own harness.

“Your Majesty, all troops are accounted for and we shall lift off in approximately ninety seconds.” John donned his black cylindrical helmet, which, unlike those worn by the other ponies, held his Admiral insignia, an obvious symbol of rank.

“Excellent work, get aboard, and we shall make all haste.” Obeying the Princess without question, John joined his comrades, made up of Luna’s guard, unlike the musket ponies in the other carriers, counting down silently in his head.

“Sixty seconds… thirty seconds, mares and gentlecolts.” John’s countdown continued, ignoring the whispered prayers to Celestia. “Six, five, four, three, two, one, brace!” the entire floor seemed to wobble as the carriers rose steadily upwards. “ETA of landing; twenty minutes, draw swords in ten.” The force of twenty night guards was split into two units; one, led by Whitehooves, which would secure the civilians, and the other, led by one Captain Ditzy Hooves, which would secure a perimeter. Ditzy was an odd character. Without the magical change in appearance, she was a grey Pegasus, with a gold mane, tail and eyes that pointed in opposite directions. This gave her difficulty in the skill depth perception; however, she had quickly proven that she could overcome her disability. After her daughter, Dinky grew up, Ditzy decided to quit her job as mail mare. Dinky had gotten her cutie mark in combat magic, joining Celestia’s Special Forces the same day she became an adult pony. Wanting to be close to her daughter, Ditzy enlisted for training in the Equestrian Army. The war with the Griffons had already started by then, so the enlistment ponies placed her in a special training program, despite her disability, as they needed the numbers. With the addition of an eye patch, and the correct guidance, she quickly became one Equestrias best soldiers. Rising through the ranks, she eventually became a prime candidate for Luna’s night guard, where she met and fell in love with her current husband, Gunnery Sergeant Tod Hooves. John could see the look of worry in the mare’s eyes, instinctively knowing that her mate was in danger. He walked over and tried to comfort his comrade, who responded by simply double checking her armour and weapons. With nothing left to do but wait, Whitehooves steeled himself for the mission ahead, the carriage rocking from side to side, due to air currents.

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“Down to three shells, Gunny.”

“Only one left here, Gunnery Sergeant.” The commander of the group had long since drawn his sword, preparing for the moment when his comrades ran out of ammunition.

“Right then, Twilight, save what energy you have for now. I want you to use whatever you can to destroy these beasts, only after we have fallen. Is that clear?” Gunnery Sergeant Hooves glanced back at the purple unicorn, who was almost at the end of her strength.

“You mean… do you mean after...” Twilight had never faced such a threat before, aside from the Changelings. Even then she had, like Cadence, refused to kill any of the parasites. A new type of scar was busy imprinting itself on Twilight’s soul.

“Yes, you wait until the rest of my guard and myself, have fallen. We are expendable, you are not.” He then turned to face the lions, which were only just realising that they could approach unharmed. One of the beasts made a leap at the Sergeant, who deftly side stepped, plunging his blade into the lion’s spine. Death was instant and unforgiving. Cavalier sided up to the guard.

“What do I do?” He asked quickly. The scientists question was met with a snort.

“Fight for your life… and that of your friend.” It did little to calm Cav’s nerves, indeed; it only made him more worried.

“I am not a soldier...” Before he could finish his sentence, the Earth pony was rushed by another lion. He held his sword up defensively, only just managing to thrust it under the creature’s lower jaw, into the skull. The fresh corps slid off the rapier silently. Cavalier could do nothing but stand in shock, before realising he had a job to do. Sergeant Hooves turned to face another assailant, almost whispering.

“Then now, is your chance to become one.” As more lions approached, the red glow in their eyes became intensified, as if some exterior force was providing them with greater strength and speed. After ten straight minuets of fighting, the situation was becoming critical. One of the lions leapt over Cavalier, attacking the younger guards from behind. They were fast enough to face and eliminate this threat, but upon dispatching the creature, the smaller of the two was pulled backwards. She screamed terribly, as the lion slashed the tendons on her back legs. The other guard rushed to her side, slaying the lion with an angry snarl, before dragging her wounded comrade into the centre of the circle. Just as all seemed lost, above the trees, the survivors heard the sound of wing beats, echoing through the forest.

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“Thirty seconds till we hit the ground, everypony at the ready.” John was forced to shout, on account of the wind howling as they were carried above the canopy. “Five seconds, brace for impact.” The huge vehicle came to a shuddering halt. Were it not for the railings on the side of the troop compartment, everypony would have been thrown off balance. The giant ramp swung down, revealing the now fading light. Rushing out of the vehicle, the night guards immediately split off into their two respective units. The subsequent battle was ferocious. Captain Ditzy Hooves and her squad cut a path through the lions, slow to face the new threat. Whitehooves picked his way towards the centre of the clearing, where four of the five survivors were crowded around a single guard. The downed mare was bleeding profusely, her back legs severely torn. Her left leg had several deep puncture wounds, while her right was almost completely severed, the bones around her ankle in several splinted pieces. Only a few centimetres of muscle, skin and fat held the limb together. The other, uninjured mare had by now cast aside her helmet, tears streaking down her face. Through the sobs, she tried to encourage her comrade. Much to John’s surprise, neither possessed cutie marks.

“Hang in there Vitanni, you’ll be fine… I promise… you’ll be ok.” The blood pooling on the ground started to flow slower, Twilight had just enough strength left to heal the smaller wounds before collapsing. The other mare started breathing more rapidly, whispering to the weeping guard.

“It’s ok, Gloria. Just go, my path ends here.” The light slowly started to fade from her eyes, the mare’s brain becoming starved of oxygen.

“No, we can make it out of here, we can still be together.” Gloria brushed the mare’s magically dyed purple hair back, revealing the slitted pupils and gold irises. She only vaguely heard Cavalier say that amputation would be necessary. The Gunnery Sergeant put a hoof on the scientists shoulder and simply shook his head.

“It’s ok… live a good life… I’m… not going to last… we both…” She started to cough. Breathing for Vitanni was now becoming more of a struggle.

“Shhh, I’m with you… I love you.” With one last kiss, her breathing stopped. Gloria held her comrade tightly, the warmth flowing out of her body.

…

…

…

Then, something completely unexpected, started to occur. The heartbeat of Vitanni restarted. Her body became hot, as did that of Gloria. The two opened their eyes, to reveal a bright light, shining where their eyes would have been. Their armour shot off, magical appearances were discarded, revealing two Unicorn mares, one a dark purple with a red mane, the other, had, curiously, the same colouration, but in reverse. Their injuries were healed and they slowly sunk back down, into the soft matted grass below.

Upon witnessing such powerful magic, a faint glow in the undergrowth, which all present failed to notice, died away. As it did, the lions simply disappeared. Not just the survivors, but the three dozen corpses as well. As more carriers began descending, unloading the musketponies, a single pair of blood red eyes closed. The owner of those eyes retreated back into the forest, where nopony could find them.

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Luna witnessed the spectacle in silent awe. It simply went to show how love could be such a powerful force. When she looked closer, the princess was surprised to see that they each had a cutie mark depicting… each other? That can’t be right. And yet, as she examined closely, the mare named Vitanni had a distinct image of Gloria on her flank, while Gloria’s mark depicted Vitanni. She wanted to talk to the pair, but Luna had to get the mission underway. She commanded first that a makeshift outpost be built along the perimeter of the clearing. Several dozen shovels were passed around the musketponies, who busied themselves, digging trenches and small fortifications. Luna’s temporary command tent was erected, along with a small first aid station. Ditzy Hooves approached with her husband, Tod.

“You did a very good job today, Gunnery Sergeant. I will spare you the burden of explaining why this occurred, as I can see you are just as baffled as I am.” Tod looked to his wife before looking to the ground.

“They got Rolling Thunder… I will have to get started on the letters once we get back.” With a stoic expression, Tod walked off with his wife, moving Twilights limp, unconscious form onto one of the carriers. As the Princess watched them walk off, her thoughts drifted to John, who was busy commanding his ponies. As bottom of the sun touched the horizon, a slight magical disturbance was detected by the alicorn, followed by the lion corpses vanishing into thin air.

Looking around with confusion, Luna immediately called for her the highest ranking unicorn present.

“Autumn Dawn, what was that?” The slightly aged stallion walked up to Luna. He was the only civilian on the expedition. His purpose was to aid in the investigation of the surrounding forest. He was the second most powerful magician in Equestria after Twilight Sparkle. Whilst sweeping his silver mane back and checking for dirt on his black fur, he sided up to the Princess.

“I haven’t a clue, Your Majesty.” Although it was likely the truth, Luna was still annoyed he couldn’t shed, at the very least, a shard of light on the situation. Before she could dismiss him, Cavalier approached, sheathing his rapier; now clean of blood, thanks to the magical disappearance.

“I believe I could offer an explanation.” Luna nodded her approval. “I may not be a soldier, but I do know an ambush when I see one. Ha, I dare say I would, I was in the middle of one! Anyway, Twilight and I documented this entire area; there are no mammalian mega-fauna on this island, hell, the only mammals on this island are ponies, bats and rats. My best guess is that something… or somepony, created them with some sort of magic.” Luna pondered the situation for a few seconds before agreeing that it was the only scenario which made sense, especially given the number of assailants. Lion prides where known to become quite large, twenty individuals was about the most that could live together without threat of starvation. From the report however, I appeared there may have been over fifty, until they disappeared. Luna prepared to raise the moon, as the sun would soon be gone, thus she kept her answer brief.

“Very good, I will consider your hypothesis during my investigation of the surrounding area, Mr Darwin. I want you to board my carrier and return to the colony. You will be in charge of looking after Twilight while she recovers. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Bowing low to his superior, Cavalier trotted off towards the carrier, where Twilight was sleeping peacefully. He lowered his bulk to the ground, resting his neck gently over hers.

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Marcus looked at the door with curiosity. It soon clicked in the Praetorians mind who it must be.

“Marcus, That will be my wife… and our adopted son, Clear Sky. He will most likely be scared of you at first, so I think it would be best if we take introductions slowly.” It was indeed a very delicate situation, prompting Marcus to agree. The small room was dimly lit, which Marcus liked, but knew from stories, that darkness frightened young ponies.

“Maybe you should light a few more lamps first.” The Unicorn nodded and lit the room to a more satisfactory standard, revealing the family photos which lined the cabin walls. Most of them depicted Twilight, Cadence, and Shining’s parents. Marcus knew none of them and to him, it was slightly unnerving. Even so, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

“I will go out and make sure everything is ready… you just… keep your sister company.” With a look of apprehension, Shining opened the door just enough for him to slip through. “Hi love, hi Clear, did you talk about out two guests.” Clear just sat still, not saying much. Meanwhile, Cadence gave her husband a cold look.

“He was frightened at first, but… after I told him they were orphans, he agreed.” Shining sighed, glancing towards Clear and then back to Cadence apologetically.

“They both deserve a chance.” Shining sighed again, bending down to look Clear Sky in the eyes. “Listen, I know this must be really hard, but… I think you will find, you might share some common interests.” Clear seemed to lighten up a bit, but still held an air of fear mixed with anger. Gulping, Shining did his best to supress his fears, opening the door to reveal the two Praetorians… lying on their backs? Apparently Clear was just as confused as the married couple.

“Umm… Are they dead?” Clear walked up slowly, and then jumped, when the smaller of the two raised its head, smiling at him curiously. It giggled before speaking.

“We are not dead silly; we are showing you that we want to be nice.” This took all three ponies by surprise. “Don’t ponies lie down to be friends?” The innocence of the young Praetorian was not enough to hide the unintentional innuendo, its meaning fortunately lost, by all but Shining and Cadence. Before Shining could ask them to stand up, Clear took the initiative.

“Umm, ponies play games with friends.” It was a statement, but voiced like a question. Even so, that was all it took for Andromeda to become a flurry of excitement.

“Ohh, I like games, wanna play fights?” Shining face-hoofed a little too hard, mentally cursing himself for not thinking about the culture difference. It was time he took control.

“I don’t think, Clear likes fights, how about you both try drawing?” Much to his relief, Andromeda ran over to the table, grabbing a few sheets of paper in her jaws. Clear looked up at Shining, the young colt was still worried, but at least he was smiling now.

“Go on, I think she likes you.” With an approving smile from Cadence, Clear found the courage to walk over and start drawing, talking softly about the different drawings Andromeda presented. Marcus rolled over onto his belly before standing up. Tip-toeing his way to Shining, head held low.

“It was Andromeda’s idea. In Praetoria, It is tradition, when making a gesture of absolute peace, to roll on our backs, exposing our stomach. It is only symbolic now days, but it is still widely used.” Cadence reached forward slightly, rubbing the small Praetorians back with a light touch of her hoof, causing his muzzle to darken slightly.

“Your sister is very clever.” Marcus was about to mumble an embarassed thanks, when a knock was heard against the door. Shining was the first to respond.

“Who is it?” Attempting to hide his frustrations of being interrupted, he walked over to the door, listening through. He refrained from opening it, so as not to reveal the Praetorians presence.

“The Night Guard, Princess Luna has requested that you meet her at the town hall in twenty minutes.”