The castle gardens are beautiful this time of year. It was winter, the snow lightly falling and the moon was causing it to glitter and shine. The animals that normally scurried around the gardens were dormant, as their instinctual hibernation took hold. Those that remained awake also remained quiet, out of respect for the gardens annual visitors.
Luna and Celestia landed quietly, neither daring to break the silence. The princesses carried a somber air as they made their way to the part of the garden that held the statues. They have performed this annual ritual a thousand times, and will continue to do so until he returns. They walked in silence, their hoof steps deafening. They entered an area surrounded by a hedge row. The area had four entrances, all with a stone road leading to circular stone pathway which surrounded a statue.
The statue was on a raised dais. The dais was surrounded by benches, which had a small moat of water between the benches and the dais. At the intersections of each road, there was a silver plaque that was meticulously maintained. The plaque read, 'Damien Raus, Night Guard Captain during the Coup of the Sisters. By his sacrifice, the sisters ended their fighting and Equestria flourished.'
The statue itself was as tall as the two sisters, the bat wings coming off the sides of the helm made it slightly taller. The statue was of a bipedal man, broadly shouldered and heavy set. It's body was clad in metal plates, revealing nothing underneath, just the formerly intimidating Night Guard armor. Despite the implications of a guard title, the statue bore no weapon. On each arm, the creature donned two halves of an interlocking shield. Both halves were much to large for a pony to wield, but it held them without problem.
Griffonian berserkers were not pushovers, able to fly in and ravage anything that dared stop them. Even in land based combat, they fought with deadly efficiency. The berserkers surged forward through the cave entrance that the Equestrian forces were using to retreat, their moral broken.
The unstoppable met the immovable.
Damien and his squad had arrived to cover the retreat. The tunnel that the berserkers had funneled themselves into was cut off by Damien locking his shields together and bracing himself, and standing, unmoved as the griffons threw themselves at him. The stunned invaders could do nothing as Damien coated his shields in raw, destructive magic and led the charge that ended in an Equestrian victory.
The statues breastplate bore a sigil that was unknown, even to the princesses. Even in it's ancient state, the sigil gave off immense power that any unicorn can only describe as holy magic. On the neck of the statue hung a stone necklace that looked as if it had once been a crystalline bell. It carried faint traces of magic, much like a catalyst.
We shouldn't be doing this! Damien ran through the castle halls, each step filled with determination as the sounds of battle roared around him.
Siblings should not spill each other's blood. He glanced outside the windows. The courtyard of the Everfree castle was ablaze in both fire and battle. Night Guards clashed swords with Day Guards. Damien could make out the bodies of both Night and Day guards in the fire light. He also saw the Night Guards were losing. Fighting along side his troops was the Day Guard commander, swinging his large morning star in his magical grip. That fool.
Damien heard the clatter of armor as he rounded the corner to see five Day Guards on approach.
"So, tis is where the yellow bellied ape cowers. Too scared to battle?" The lead guard says as the others enter their formation.
"Remember thine oaths!" Damien yelled at them. "Thou swore to Equestria, not an individual. Let us not needlessly shed blood!"
The guards brandished their weapons. "Sorry, but thou shan't leave this wing alive!" The lead guard yelled as he charged.
As the guards charged, time slowed as Damien let out a silent prayer, tensed up, and flexed his chest out. The result was a blast of divine magic that surged in every direction, knocking the guards off of their hooves and into the walls or floor, rendering them unconscious.
Damien resumed his trek. Force is such a useful spell. I just wish I wasn't turning it on my fellow guards.
His stance showed struggle. He was kneeling, shields locked and angled. His arms were bent as if holding back a force that threatened to crush him. The air around him spoke a different tale, however. The statue gave off an air of determination and pride. If one were to take his helmet off, they might see a strained, but determined look on the statues face; it's mouth open mid-sentence. There was also an emotion that seemed to linger in the air. Noble couples would often come by and sit near the statue. When changelings were caught, it was most often near the statue.
Any who were in tune with the world around them could feel the love in the air.
"Argh!" Damien charged his shields and plowed through the throne room doors. The doors magical lock refused him from opening them, so he just made a hole in them.
The scene before him was a terrible one. Scorch marks marred the walls and floors. Pillars were decimated, the ceiling has fallen in some places. One of the thrones was broken in half and the tapestries were alight with brilliant red and orange.
*THUD*
Luna, clad in her battle regalia, had fallen out of the air and struck the ground. Her war scythe, Thanatos, fell and embedded itself into the stone floor. She shakily tried to get up, but failed due to all of the burns, bruises, and cuts that covered her. Still airborne was Celestia, with nary a scratch on her frame. As she charged the Elements of Harmony, Damien could hear he quietly say, "I'm sorry, sister." Rainbow light then streaked towards Luna.
Luna winced, but the light never touched her. When she looked forward, she saw Damien blocking the light with his shield. He dropped to a knee, strain evident in his voice. "Princess Luna, let go of your jealousy and hate." Stone covered his legs. "Your sister loves you," Stone covered his legs. "Your ponies love you." Stone covered his chest. "I lo-" Stone covered his head, silencing him for a millennia.
When the light faded, Celestia didn't see empty space or an enraged alicorn. She saw Luna weeping over the sacrifice of her closest friend.
Luna and Celestia remained silent as they sat in silent vigil, in honor of their dear friend.
The two sisters stood up, and as they do every day, brought forth the morning and end the night. As the sun rose, the statues shield blocked the suns morning rays and the moon disappeared behind it, as if the statue was protecting the moon from the suns light.
As Luna left to go to sleep and Celestia left to go to morning court, both failed to notice one detail on the statue of their old friend.
There was a crack running down it's back.
Author's Note
Here's that rewrite that I promised. I decided to turn it into a one shot and, maybe, write a prequel about good ol' Damien Raus. Hope you guys enjoyed it!
