Author's Note

GOOD GOD! I know it's been a VERY long time since I added anything to this story and for that I do apologize. Lot's of life happened, and overall I had a lot of struggles since starting this story as you can imagine. I won't get into it all...

Still, I am back and I am not only going to continue the story but completely REWRITE it! The story will be more or less the same, but with major dark parts added in. Not only that, but I want you all to see where my writing has progressed over the years.

Please let me know what you think of this new version of the chapter in the comments, Love you all! Take Care!

(REWRITTEN): Chapter 1: "Unconventional Meeting"

The sound of roaring hooves and battle cries filled the air, the battle hardened princess stood at the rear. Surrounded by the best her kingdom had to offer, those in the princess’s service were happy to live and die for her but none more so than these fine guards ponies.

“Princess Luna, the enemy is retreating. Permission to continue the advance and take over their stronghold.” requested the scout, a young stallion with dark blue armor and a pair of saddlebags. His cutie-mark covered and otherwise enchanting the young colt's fur with the same enchantment as any other guardspony making them either dark gray or dark blue.

“Slipstream if I remember correctly.” thought the regal blue alicorn, stepping forward only to be stopped by a white coated mare.

“Don’t step any closer guards pony, now your orders are to request we move forward yes?” Asked the intimidating unicorn guard, her red dragon-like eyes boring into the now frightened stallion. She had on a similar set of armor, but with the accompanying elegant patterns made it clear that she was above the young scouts station.

An audible gulp could be heard, but other than that the scout remained at attention. “Y-Yes Ma’am,” he responded with just a slight stutter to his voice.

“Can you guarantee that the princess will be safe to move forward soldier?” asked the mare, doing her best to grill the young stallion for simply existing.

“This mare…” thought the princess as she moved forward. “That’s enough, General Vinyl Scratch. He is only the messenger, and doesn’t deserve such a harsh tone.” she stated calmly, doing her best to hide her annoyance at the overly serious General.

“Princess, I am simply doing my duties as your guard and retainer. I was also ordered by your sister Princess Celestia to make sure you stay safe and in sight.” General Scratch stated bluntly, causing a slight ping of anger to flare in the Princess heart.

“That…may be, however I see no reason to not allow this simply due to how things are now. From here, it looks as though the enemy is in the process of fleeing and that our victory is assured.” Luna stated, not giving hint to her anger as she stepped forward passed the unicorn.”Now young Slipstream, let Commander Dark Armor know that he may advance but to show caution when searching through the stronghold. We may have won this battle, but it isn’t impossible for them to set traps.”

“Y-Yes your highness, I will relay this to my Commander immediately.” the stallion saluted, flapping his wings in a flurry as he rushed towards the direction of the battle.

“General, while I understand your orders are absolute when coming from either me or Celestia I don’t appreciate hearing about these orders only now that we have been at this battlefield for the past two weeks.” Luna expressed, her wings quickly adjusting to emphasize her mildly upset nature.

“Apologies Princess Luna, however it did not seem prevalent to bring up at any point till now.” Vinyl shot back, a hint of a smirk on her face as she turned her head towards her princess.

“She knows what she’s doing, that caddy mare…honestly you could at least try to act less smug.” thought Luna as she took a slow breath to calm herself. “I understand, however I request that any similar orders be made aware as soon as possible in the future.” Luna stated, making herself taller in front of the mare who did not even turn much less look intimidated by this.

“Yes your majesty, I shall do my best to adhere to this order.” Vinyl stated, still not looking back at Luna causing the Alicorn to grow more upset.

“At least turn and face me damn you!” Luna exclaimed internally, only for an idea to spark in her mind. An idea that is sure to make the General just as mirth-filled as her. “I’m glad we have an understanding General, now I will follow behind the army and help with the sweeping of the enemy base. Please try and keep up.” With that final statement the princess used her magic to teleport ahead.

Teleportation was a rather new spell, developed by the current head of the magic brigade and while the princesses could use this spell with ease. Unicorns like that of the General had to use the spell multiple times to reach as far as the Alicorn could. This fact caused a very easy to spot grin to form as she moved towards the now large looking building.

“That should change her tune…but damn my sister for making such an order to one of MY guards ponies. Not just any though, she chose my retainer.” This thought angered Luna enough to allow her to regain her regal mask, though if someone would’ve paid closer attention. They would see a small vein popping from the alabaster mare's head. “Regardless…”

“Commander Dark Armor, your presence is required!” bellowed the princess, using the all too recognizable royal voice that she and her sister were masters of to call to her subordinate.

The call was almost immediately answered when a rather large stallion rushed to her, stopping just a few hooves in front of her to offer a salute. “Princess Luna, Commander Dark Armor reporting. How may I assist you?” He quickly stated, not missing a beat as those nearby are in awe of the princess.
“At ease Commander, I am here to assist in sweeping the enemy base. I noticed they had a number of monsters in their ranks and even a few Manticores if I remember correctly. It would stand to reason they may have more sophisticated traps than normal, and I am here to offer my hoof in assisting you and those under your command.” Luna stated, doing her best to be brief while still maintaining decorum.

“Of course princess, we will be thrilled to have your expertise on the matter.” Commander Dark Armor stated, not questioning anything as he led her towards the building.

This fact both bothered and made the princess content, as a princess she should not be anywhere near the battlefield much less in the enemy stronghold before it has been sweeped. Not only that, but Luna was well aware that she had assigned the best scouts possible with the abilities to find and disable any traps found.

“While I appreciate his loyalty, it is concerning that he didn't even ask me about my guards.” Luna thought, as she followed the Commander into the building using her horn quickly to start scanning ahead for any traps. “Strange, it seems there are no immediate traps for this whole section of the building. Perhaps there are underground floors?” Luna surmised, keeping her guard up and looking towards the Commander he was doing the same.

“Scouts!” Dark armor bellowed into the small crowd of guards, not as loud as Luna of course but it did impress her that it was as loud as it was despite it not reaching the royal voice.

Three guards including the young Slipstream came into view, nearly taking Luna off guard but it brought her a sense of pride as well as they seem to be training well. “I’m pleased to see that they all have been able to learn how to hide their presence so well, I remember when I had to personally step in and teach the guard how to do this without magic.” Luna remembered fondly, bringing herself forward to follow.

“Follow me into the building first, and-” Dark Armor began, when a light pop of magic came from behind all of them. This caused Luna to grimace, nearly dropping her regal mask entirely.

“Damn…nearly made it.” Luna thought, as General Vinyl Scratch quickly trotted towards the princess with a clearly annoyed look on her muzzle as she looked at the princess with fire in her eyes.

“Princess…while I understand you wish to assist in every way you can. I cannot condon you leaving your assigned detail, as it will impede our ability to guard you.” Vinyl stated, a very clear hint of venom in her voice.

“Heh, she is definitely going to give me an earful when we are alone.” Luna thought smugly, continuing to trot past all the guards ahead of her towards Dark Armor. “Noted General Scratch, now Dark Armor let us continue. We best not waste anymore time on my account.” Luna stated, making it clear she did not care what Vinyl just said.

“Of course your majesty, General, if it pleases you both you and the rest of the princess’s detail may accompany us?” the Commander stated, doing his best to please both of his superiors as he did a quick salute.

“Ugh…may as well, carry on Commander Armor. We will stay close to the princess while you and your team scout ahead.” Vinyl sighed, clearly annoyed but accepting the situation as it was. This caused the lunar princess to smile smugly at this, nodding in agreement to Vinyl’s suggested formation.

“Understood, scouts form a perimeter around the princess! Keep your spells at the ready, and make sure not even a dust ball comes into contact with our princess!” Dark Armor bellowed, receiving quick salutes along with a collective ‘Yes Sir!”. In an almost startling pace the formation was formed and everypony entered the complex.

The silence was eerie to say the least, the lights were flickering and there seemed to be a number of files and paperwork strewn about the building. This was a clear sign that those here were definitely in a rush to leave, however it was also noticed by one of the scouts that was also very interesting.

“They were bipedal, your majesty.” the guard stated clearly for all to hear. Causing them all to look towards her.

“Minotaurs?” Luna asked, her face scrunched into confusion. “Could the Minotaurs be betraying us…?” Thought Luna, this was a concerning thought as there were a number of the creatures living within their kingdoms walls “...If this is true, then we may need to-”

“No your majesty, while they are bipedal they seem to be different as they don’t have hooves…it’s strange.” Stated the mare, a concerned tone in her voice as other scouts joined in to view the curious sighting.

“Allow me to see guards-pony.” Luna stated, causing the group to disperse immediately as she passed through to the sight.

The imprint was something that Luna could safely say she had never witnessed in all her 100’s of years of life. It was a flat imprint with multiple points of contact, it almost looked like…

“A horseshoe…?” Luna questioned, causing the others to look at her and each other in confusion at the statement.

“Your majesty?” questioned Vinyl, walking towards the sight as well.

“I-” The princess began, however the sound of something falling caught all of their attention.

The figure before them was unknown, it was furless aside from some hair on their head. It was clear that the clothing they wore was a method of protection from the elements, they were still and looked upon the group in fear as their eyes were shrunken to the size of pinpricks. However what was clear to all of them were two things…one was that they were not a minotaur by any means, and two they were in fact bipedal.

“Seize them!” Yelled Vinyl, being the first to gain back her senses as she bellowed causing the scouts to do the same as they raced to catch the strange creature.

“Wait-!” The princess started, but before she could stop the guards a loud BANG could be heard causing all the ponies ears to ring and fall to their knees in pain.

The sound was deafening, the flash accompanying it was quick…but what was even more terrifying was the thud of 2 guards-ponies. It was a few moments, just a few moments and 2 of her ponies had been taken down. She could barely hear anything besides a dull ringing in her ears, and more than likely the others had the same issue. So without missing a beat, she let her rage fuel her as she targeted the fleeing figure. She was angry, she was furious, no…she was desperate…desperate to protect her ponies and to make sure they could not perform what they did EVER again.

Luna launched her spell, and just as quickly the figure dropped to the ground. She rushed forward, past her guards to see if she needed to continue a barrage of spells. However, as she approached she soon saw that her spell tore through the creature's clothing and left a brute wound that no doubt was fatal. Luna sighed in relief, but despite this she still heard the creature’s shallow breathing indicating they were still alive despite the wound.

“P–please…s…hm…” the creature huffed, which surprised the lunar princess. It could speak?

“Then why run, why attack? What could cause a creature to-”

“Sav…him…” the creature tried to beg again, this time crawling to a nearby doorway. This caused the princess to lower her head to hear him more clearly.

“What are trying to say…?” Luna questioned, as her curiosity about this creature grew.

“S-Save…him…p-please…” the creature wheezed, but that was all he could say before he stopped…his last breath, his last ounce of strength used to save someone.

Luna looked towards the doorway the creature had been desperate to reach, it was a double door with two handles to open either side. She hesitated for only a moment, before quickly turning the knob and opening the door quickly.

“Princess, wait!” Vinyl stated, which caught Luna completely off guard. She heard the General clearly, which meant that her hearing had returned. However, the moment was lost as she looked ahead…

The creature inside was alike to the one currently dead behind them, however there was one clear and horrifying difference…

It was clearly a child…and that child’s chest was cut wide open for the world to see…

The sight was revolting, causing both mares to become nauseous for a moment. However, the princess recovered quickly. She may not have known what this was about, nor did she know if the child before her was a danger…but she knew one thing…

“No child deserves this…much less to be treated as an enemy in a battle he clearly didn’t have a part in…” Luna thought, as she turned towards Dark Armor.

“General! Get a medic now!”

She was met with silence, the sight before Vinyl being just as much of a shock to her as it was for the princess. However there was no time to falter…

“General Scratch!” Luna bellowed, causing Vinyl to snap out of the trance she had been put in.

“H-Huh?” the general responded, still lost in her thoughts.

“Get. A. Medic. NOW!” Luna ordered, and as soon as she did Vinyl acted on autopilot. The scene quickly turned to frantic movements as the remaining scouts rushed off to get the medics and the others checked and confirmed that every other room was empty. Meanwhile, the princess moved toward the child slowly.

It was clear to her that the child was alive as she clearly as his lungs and heart moving as she stepped closer, the sight caused pain and concern to fill her as she quickened her pace to stand by the child’s side.

“Child…? Art thou awake…?” Luna questioned, hoping to all the makers that whatever the creature was would be asleep or in no pain.

She was wrong…so terribly wrong…as the child’s eyes opened and all she could see was terror and pain.