Author's Note

Here it is, I finally just sat down and wrote. In related news: I am still looking for an editor.

Demons run when a good man goes to war
Night will fall and drown the sun
When a good man goes to war

Friendship dies and true love lies
Night will fall and the dark will rise
When a good man goes to war

Demons run, but count the cost
The battle’s won, but the child is lost

Poem by Steven Moffat, excuse the excessive foreshadowing.

Enter: Ponyville

“Make some friends she says, I have all the friends I need!”

“Twilight, when was the last time you talked to somepony other than me or the princess, more than you absolutely had to?”

“Spike, that’s irrelevant.”

“Shining Armor stopped to talk to you the other day and you told him that you were too busy studying. Which is, conveniently, the same excuse you apparently gave Twinkleshine and the others.”

“What? How could you possibly know that?”

“In the hour and a half you spent deciding which twenty textbooks to bring on a two day trip, I went and apologized on your behalf for missing the party. You know, Moondancer’s birthday!”

“Oh.”

“At least you already know our escort, or so the Princess says.”

Twilight and Spike were on their way to the castle’s landing zone, a massive platform jutting off the mountain. The platform led into a cavernous space carved into the rock which itself had smaller hangers carved into its walls, with the only entrances leading into the castle or into the air.

“What do we know about them?”

“Just about nothing.”

“Spike.”

“Fine. They aren’t actually guards, they’re part of the defense corps. Huh, that’s weird, they just got transferred here a few months ago.”

“That is odd. I wonder why?”

“Can’t have been anything bad, or they wouldn’t be coming with us.”

“Yeah…”

They continued on their way towards their destination, pad 16. They were going to board a chariot headed towards the village of Ponyville, two soldiers would be accompanying them, why they needed an escort was unknown to Twilight.

“Pad 16, pad 16… Ah! There it is. Come on Spike!”

“Don’t need to tell me twice.”

Twilight saw two ponies standing next to the chariot, talking, one had his back to her while the other appeared to be in the middle of telling a story.

“...and then she says to me ‘Oatmeal! Are you Crazy!”

The second pony let out an exasperated sigh and seemed somewhat antsy, like he wanted to leave.

“Damnit, where’s this VIP we’re supposed to be escorting?”

Twilight decided this would be the right time to introduce herself and get underway.

“Sorry, sirs, to keep you waiting. We ran into a few difficulties packing.”

She could practically hear Spike rolling his eyes. The second stallion jumped at the sound of her voice and spun around, he had a smile from ear to ear.

“Twilight!”

“Silver?”

Twilight was surprised, she had thought that Silver was mid-deployment, yet looking back, Spike had said their escort had been transferred to Canterlot.

“Oh man, Twilight, it's good to see you.” Silver said as he gave her a hug “What has it been, a year?”

“Yes, about a year, how was your deployment?”

“If I’m ever ordered to go back to that Divines forsaken tundra somepony is going to get hurt.”

“Really? Was it that bad?”

“Worse. Twilight I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Sturdy Shield.”

Sturdy Shield waved his hoof, “Hi, nice to meet you ma’am.” Spike waved back enthusiastically but Twilight merely gave him a nod.

Silver cleared his throat, “What are you heading to a place like Ponyville for? I don’t think they have nearly as many rare books as Canterlot.”

Twilight rolled her eyes “The princess has put me in charge of the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration.” she smirked, “Not like you would know anything about being in charge.”

“Well you should be careful, ponies might think you’re a vampire with how much you avoid the sun.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Spike and Silver Shadow burst out laughing while Sturdy Shield looked on in confusion. Recovering, Silver spoke “We should probably get going, we need to be in Ponyville in only a few hours, hop in.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight was off checking on the various different preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, leaving Silver and Shield with a bit of free time. The duo had decided to use it to explore the town, and had seen some unusual buildings, but the one before them was perhaps the most absurd of them all. The pair had been all over the world, from the icy tundras of the north, to the burning savannahs of Zebricca, but they had never seen anything quite like what now lay before them. It boggled the mind and defied comprehension.

“I’m gonna bite it.”

Silver slowly turned to face his friend, a deadpan stare graced his features, he had grown far too accustomed to Shield’s unpredictable nature.

“You’re an idiot.”

Shield did not turn away from the bewildering sight.

“It looks delicious!”

“It's a building.”

The structure in question was a bakery that, upon first glance, appeared to be made of gingerbread. closer inspection, however, revealed that some of the roof tiles were missing, some of the support beams appeared chipped, and one of the windows was missing a shutter, whoever the proprietors were they clearly were in need of more income. Despite this Silver was more preoccupied with his comrade’s apparent failure to comprehend that the building was not actually made of food.

‘He’s done some stupid shit, but this takes the cake. Seriously, what does he hope to accomplish?’

“Oh is the prince too high and mighty to take a risk?”

Silver sighed, he was growing steadily more annoyed with Shield’s apparent lack of intelligence.

“No, unlike you, I have an IQ higher than room temperature.”

Shield turned to face him with a surprised expression.

“Well that’s just rude.”

“Celsius.”

Surprise turned to slight anger, and Shield struck back with the most scathing retort he could muster.

“Suck my dick.”

A devilish grin slowly grew on Silver’s face, only accented by his sharp fangs.

“Well if I knew that’s what you wanted I would have introduced you to my cousin, he loves a stallion in uniform.”

Shield gagged loudly and whipped around to face Silver.

“Sweet Celestia, fuck no! I’m not into stallions, and especially not some prissy noble!”

Trying his hardest not to laugh his ass off, Silver smacked Shield on the shoulder and said, “He’s not nearly as bad as you think, but definitely not your type. Now come on, let’s grab some food, we’re going to be here for a few days.”

Entering the bakery the two soldiers were greeted by the sound of a busy restaurant, the quiet conversation, the low tunes of a nearby jukebox, and the sounds of various baking implements. The chatter quieted upon the sight of the armored individuals, particularly the thestral, a race not exactly common and the subject of many rumors. Suddenly Silver’s vision was filled with pink, jerking back, he realized that there was a bright pink earth pony standing before him, practically vibrating. The noise in the bakery had suddenly ceased, all eyes focused on the thestral and the pink mare.

“Hi I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name? Wait don’t tell me, let me guess! Dark Armor! Grey Knight! Blood Raven! Black Templar! No wait, this is Equestria, not THAT.”

Silver simply stared in bewilderment as she began to mumble something about chaos.

“Hello.. Pinkie Pie? My name is Silver Shadow, I’m here beca…”

She was suddenly in his face again.

“Ooooooooooh! Are you with that new mare in town? The Purple Unicorn?”

Silver couldn’t have helped but to think that Twilight would greatly despise this mare.

He eyed the mare suspiciously, “Yes actually, we’re her security detail for the Summer Sun Celebration. Why do you ask?”

She began to excitedly bounce in place, “I throw a party for every new pony in ponyville!”

“A party?” Silver glanced back at Shield, who was struggling not to laugh. Facing Pinkie again he smiled, imagining Twilight's expression upon such an event, “I’m sure she’ll love it, she loves meeting new ponies.”

By this point the bakery had returned to normal, ignoring the new arrivals. Pinkie’s smile grew even wider, it unnerved Silver, “Perfect! Now, what can I get you fine stallions to eat?”

Silver looked up at the menu, pondering his choices, “I’m not sure. What do you recommend?”