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What Goes Up Must Come Down

“Twilight!” See Twilight was the one that I think really made it ok for me to be a captain because there was no way Luna was simply ok with it.

“Shadow! There was a fight and Flash got hurt, he's with Doc now.” Twilight said. I knew my group wasn’t doing well but I didn't know they were fighting each other or why they were fighting each other.

“Where are they!”

“In their barracks I set one of the guards from another group there.”

“What caused it?”

“Same as usual somepony got somepony hurt”

“Alright that’s it, I'm ending this now!”

“Shadow wait!!”

“What!” I yelled at her, causing her to step back a little and get tense.

“Y-you know why they’re fighting. First you get hurt then flash now they think someones at fault.”

“That doesn't make it any better!” At this point I had heard enough to throw them all out but knowing Twilight any amount meant that would turn out too well. So I did the next best thing. The old oak door was shut so I kicked it in almost clean off its frame.

“HEY!”

“Uh what?” said Ace as he shifted uncomfortably waiting for the inevitable.

“Who started the fight?” I yelled the question in sheer rage.

“Chase did.”

“I did not!”

“I'm making it easy. If I have to go get it from Flash I'm going to make it a living hell on whoever started it!”

“I started it!” a voice from the corner I was only slightly familiar with. He was a blue-ish earth pony with a solid orange mane. He was a good kid who only got mad when picked on but he never resorted to violence.

“Don’t cover for him!” said Ace.

"Ace, I'm relying on your word. Whoever started it, I'll go to Flash if I have to!” At this point, I was fuming because my team had gone from trying to kill each other to protecting each other.

“Believe me or not, it was Chase.”

“Chase, take your belongings and go! I'll determine if you come back or not!”

“It was one–”

“That was an order!” Chase quickly grabbed the few things he had and left, running into me on the way out.

“As for the rest of you, you'll have plenty of time off. I quit!” With that, I left to the dismay of the group and Govend my best friend a griffon that could put any other to shame.

“Shadow what happened?”

“Twilight tell everyone I said bye... I quit!”

“What? Wait!”

“What!”

"Shadow, this is extreme! Think about what you’re doing!”

“I know what I'm doing, I'm taking a break longer than I have time off for!” and just like that, I was leaving as I walked down the marble halls I realized this would most likely be the last time I saw this place. I walked past Luna on my way out "so this is it?" she asked me "yeah you can rest easy now!" It would be five years before I talked to anyone from the guard. I spent most of my five years off getting drunk every night and wandering home. Until one night, when I got home and found that my house had been broken into. I didn't have much, but what I did have, they took. I got a better job the next day to try and make more money to get back what I lost, as the police couldn’t do anything. The money I got from the royal guard was only barely enough to sustain my life. You would expect to get more from such a job, but I guess not. I worked my new job for around a year, working hard and getting paid little—some nights there was no food to eat. It had been exactly 5 years and 2 months since the day I quit when I got a knock on the door. When I opened the the morning sun flooded my eyes and blinded me.

“I should’ve gotten to you earlier, it's about Govend. Two months ago he went missing on a scouting trip and he never made it home. I didn't want to say anything until we found him but we never did. I'm so sorry shadow.”

“He’s… gone?”

“Yeah we're still looking for him but at this point it's hopeless.” I ushered her in.

"I thought you were well off?" Twilight questioned.

"I was but I got robbed."

"you have..."

"Nothing? Yeah I know. How much longer will you guys look?"

"we're stopping today."

"what if someone funded it?"

"even if we found him he couldn't be alive."

"Govend is resourceful and resilient something would have to be stronger than him to kill him."

"over the Vinested forest?"

"why are we scouting that area?"

"a disease took out most of the vines and it's become a viable area for changelings and the alike."

"but if funded?"

"as long as we had the funds and there wasn't any real threat to us then yes we would look."

"I'll fund it."

"What? How?"

"That griffon was my best friend and I failed him by leaving I won't fail him again by letting him go unfound even if he is dead having a proper send off is deserved."

"You can't afford to."

"money doesn't matter. I'll go into debt to find him."

"you can't do that! I won't let you."

"then I'll go out myself."

"you're not fit to Shadow you know that."

"Someone has to find him! If you won't I will!" She stumbled back at my outburst.

"I'm sorry I'm tired and at this point... I don't know how to describe how I feel."

"What have you been doing these years?"

"Huh. You don’t want to know.”

“I asked.”

“Drunk.”

“When did you start drinking?”

“About 15 minutes after I left the guard. It helps me forget.”

“I could kind of tell, you look more depressed now than when you were with the guard.”

“Huh, depressed is an understatement.”

“What do you mean?”

“Drinking kept me from…”

“Shadow...” I hung my head both in disappointment of my self and sorrow for her.

“I’ve been really close some days.”

“Shadow why did you never contact me?”

"I don't want to rely on others and I didn’t want you to see me the way I was.”

“I could’ve helped you.” I looked back at her

“How’s flash?”

“He made it out alright, but he left two years ago when he hurt one of his wings. He had such a bad case of lock wing that it just closed and never opened again."

“What! He had the best wings out of the whole guard. What happened?”

“Another fight. Ever since his wing got hurt, he’s not been the same; he even started avoiding Shining Armor and me.”

“That’s not like him, you two were close, are you sure he’s ok?”

“I don’t know, he won’t give me the time of day.”

“What about Spike?”

"Huh, he didn’t care that you left; you never liked him anyways.”

"Whoa, that's not true!”

"You're sure because you did your best to avoid him.”

“Ugh, it wasn’t that I hated him, it was just… I didn't feel right around him. When I was alone for all those years, I made friends with a dragon roughly his age. We did everything together. Then the timberwolves came one night and trapped us in a cave. He made a distraction and ran out. He didn't see the river; stepped one foot in it and was gone. It's all my fault.”

“It’s not your fault; he was trying to help you!”

“He would’ve lived if I stopped him!”

“And this is why you are the way you are now?”

"mostly, there's other things but this is mostly why my colors are dark and I don't tell others about me. it's also why I wake up every morning wishing I hadn't.”

“You’ve told me all of this confidently.”

“I can trust you. When he disappeared, I looked for days for him. When I left, I vowed never to go back. Now I wonder if I should maybe just look one more time for any signs that might give me closure.”

“Do it now, nothing is stopping you.”

“It’s not that simple. I don't remember the exact location anymore, not only that it's at least a day's flight from here.”

“You need to go back there just to see.”

“I know. What would it take to be a captain again?”

“You’re hired!” It was getting pretty late so I let twilight sleep at my place in the guest bedroom. I thought I would get to sleep in but that didn’t work out.

“Shadow, I went to the police station this morning, and they think they found Govend.

“What?”

“Go to the police station.” With that I left turning a 5 minute walk into 1 minute flight when I got there an officer outside. I didn't notice until it was too late that it was Chase. As I began to walk up to Chase I noticed a new scar on his face as well as what was clearly some stab wounds.

“Chase?”

“Shadow?”

“When did you get a job here?”

“When you fired me!”

“Oh, yeah. You got hurt after that?" He put his jacket back on covering the scars.

“What are you here for?”

“Twilight sent me.”

“Follow me then.” He started walking in and I did the same. We passed through the main room nothing special just a tan painted room with dark oak accents and 9 desks spread throughout the middle of the floor leaving only just enought space for the two of us to walk. I saw a few ponies I knew but nothing spectacular. We turned a corner to a tan hallway and that led to a file room.

“Twilight told me about Govend. We found him a while ago.” He pulled out some manila folders and passed them to me “is this him?”

“Yep, that's him.”

“Here he’s at the general hospital. Show them that they’ll let you in. I found him about 1 or 2 months ago five miles into the forest.”

“Why were you five miles into the forest… scratch that. Why are you doing this for me?”

“My day off so I went on a hike. I'm doing it because you and Govend were better friends than anyone I knew.”

“Thanks...”

“I'll lead you out, if I don’t you’ll get stopped.” He led me out

"thanks again this means a lot."

"yeah no problem... oh and Shadow how are you holding up?"

"I'm still standing."

"don't do anything stupid..." he rubbed the front of his chest before turning around to head back in it was another scar. I took the flight to the hospital and showed them what Chase had given me.

“I'll have to pass you through with the doctor you've got documents that say you’re good to go in but I still have to let the doctor know” The nurse at the check in said. It wasn't anything special not too technologically advanced. Simple white flooring short distance to the ceilings and a white walls with a light blue stripe at about waist height. “Oh wait there he is, Dr.Whooves!” [aside from the story if you're confused it’s Dr.Hooves but his occupation is actually a doctor I liked the way he looked compared to the other doctors so I just changed it a little ;) ]

“Yes nurse?”

“We have a pony here to see Govend he has the documentation”

“Let me see”

“Wait Dr.Whooves!?”

“Shadow!”

“It’s been forever how are you!”

“I’m doing fine how about yourself?”

“Hah, I could be much better”

“I'm on break, can we talk?”

“Yeah!” I followed Doc to the outside tables where surprisingly no others were. It was just a few small tables with some shrubbery and trees lining the small courtyard of cobble ground.

“You left and you didn’t even say bye what happened?”

“Too much with me getting hurt and Spike questioning our friendship which I'll admit we really didn’t have and Flash getting hurt. I needed an escape and fast I didn't look back until 3 years ago”

“Why didn’t you just take time off?”

“I would’ve just come back to the same thing, a group that hated each other and I didn't have the heart to separate them myself so I fired Chase and then left.”

“What have you been doing this whole time?”

“Hah, pulling out my inner drunk every night then going home to bed and doing it again the next day”

“That’s not good for you. Wait, when did you start drinking?”

“About 5 years ago”

“Shadow, that's not a good thing.”

“It’s allowed me to relax and forget everything bad I've done”

“You sound depressed.”

“That's an understatement.”

“How bad is it?”

“I’ve come pretty close some days”

“I wish you would’ve contacted me.”

“I didn’t want to be seen that way, it would've just made it worse.”

“I want to talk more but my lunch break is almost over so I have to go”

“You didn’t tell me it was your lunch break, I would've declined so you could eat.”

“Believe me I'll be fine”

“So you're not the doc for the guard anymore?”

“No, I go up there every once in a while though. Let me see the files. I can tell you the room the one you’re going to see is” I passed doc the files and he opened it up. His eyes went wide when he saw the name.

“Umm… I know that you and him were good friends so I'll tell you straight up, he probably won’t remember you”

“What why?”

“He’s got a serious case of amnesia”

“What are the chances he does?”

“about not gonna happen. I was going there next. I'm trying to jog his memory on something. Maybe you can help, do you have anything he might remember?”

“I have myself.” he sighed.

"follow me” He lead me to the elevator and we went up three or four floors then walked down the hallway to a room.

“Govend how are you today” Said doc. Govend had clearly just woken up I could tell by the look on his face.

“Who’s he?” Govend said completely disregarding doc.

“I was hoping you would remember him it’s Shadow from the guard you two worked together.”

“Wait the royal guard”

“Yes! Do you remember anything about it?” Doc was ecstatic that he said this.

“Doc, how long have you been working with Govend?” I asked.

“two months give or take.” Doc replied.

“Umm… there were 11 no 17 no, yeah 17. fights happened all the time.” Govend said.

“Yeah that's about right.” I said confirming Govend.

“Good, do you remember anything else?” Doc asked.

“There was a fight some guy got hurt some guy got fired and some guy quit but I can’t remember any names”

"even looking at him you can't tell?" Govend looked at me hard almost studying me.

“Wait, you're Shadow?”

“Yeah” I said.

"You either got fired or quit."

"give him the other two names but don't tell him what happened to them."

"well there was Flash and-

"Flash got hurt you quit and Chase was fired."

"is that right?" Doc asked.

"yes."

"good this is the most progress I've made."

“Doc Whooves? Wait where am I?" Govend asked.

"Wait what do you remember?" doc asked.

"scouting out over the Vinested forest and that's it."

"Where do you work?"

"I'm a Royal Guard."

"I want to run some tests to see what changed while I get them ready you can remember you friend here."

"Shadow!"

"Hey Gov..."

"you're alive?"

"yeah suprisingly."

"there was a rumor you died."

"might as well have."

"I can see you doing well."

“According to doc you went missing 2 months ago. He’s been trying to get you to remember things for a while now.”

“When did you find out?”

“Yesterday.”

“Wow you really keep up.”

"yeah..."

"Alright I'm back there's no wait you're first today." Doc said.

"Have fun." I said. two hours later he came back.

"all good?" I asked

"yeah."

"Great I have to go though."

"wait take him with you." doc said.

"He doesn't want to go with me. I abandoned him.

“I’ll go with him.” Govend replied

“You sure?”

“Yeah. What kind of question is that Shadow?”

“Just making sure.” after the usual exiting the hospital stuff we made our way out and back towards my place

“What did you mean by that in there?”

“Don't worry about it.”

“Dude seriously what did you mean?”

“Sigh… I just feel bad for abandoning you and essentially screwing you over.”

“You were overwhelmed, it's fine.”

“It's really not.”

“Shadow are you ok?”

“Have I ever been ok?”

“Has it gotten that bad? I mean I knew you were bad off but I didn’t know it had gotten that bad.”

“There’s been days where I've come pretty close to… well…”

“And you never wrote to me?.”

“Yeah I didn’t want to be seen that way.” We made it back to my place and found Twilight sitting on the couch.

“Twilight I found someone.”

“Govend! Govend what happened to you?” She asked.

“I don’t know, the last thing I remember was scouting over the forest.”

“Alright, I’m going back to Canterlot to rejoin the guard and talk to Luna.” I said.

“Wait, you can do that?” Govend asked me.

“He’s always been able to, he's the only one that's not a relative or her personal guard that can see her.” Twilight responded.

“Are you guys coming with me?” I asked.

“Yes!" They said together.

“Twilight, do you know what happened to my partner?” Govend asked.

“Umm… you declined to have one after shadow left.” Twilight responded

“Seriously?” I said

“I didn’t want anyone else.” He said.

“Alright come on let's go.” I responded

“How are we getting there?”

“We can fly...” We left at once and made it there in record timing. I was expecting some changes after 5 years but not as many as there were.

“Alright I expected some changes but this is excessive.” there were guards everywhere literally swarming the place some were flying over head others were just walking around the place.

“Hah, a couple years back we got attacked pretty hard and their response was to put a guard wherever one fit that's just one part of the guard though.”

“Wait, they split the guard?”

“Yeah it got too big for just Shining Armor to handle.”

“So how does it work now?”

“He overlooks his own group and works alongside Luna and Celestia with the whole royal guard.”

“Huh, that's new.”

“Yeah you’ll like Shining Armor, you two will get along.” Me and twilight looked at him. I thought he knew me and Shining used to be friends.

“Alright I'm going to talk to Luna assuming she’s awake at this hour.”

“She should be. She doesn’t sleep much anymore.”

“Alright thanks Twilight.” I made my way down the halls trying not to get noticed by anyone but I had to go through Luna's personal guards and I was surprised to see that after 5 years the guards hadn’t changed.”

“Shadow?”

“Plains!”

“When did you get back?”

“About 2 minutes ago.”

“I never thought you would come back once I heard how you left.”

“I didn’t plan on it. What have you been up to?”

“Trying to be useful.”

“What? You are if it wasn’t for you anyone could just walk in on Luna.”

“Yeah whatever get in there.” I walked into her quarters and took it in it was different from the last time I saw it. Blue it was Blue everything was Blue. The desk had gold accents on every corner as well as ever other table, box, triangle, or corner owning item.

“Luna.”

“Shadow?”

“Hey.”

“When did you come back?”

“About 5 minutes ago.”

“I thought you weren’t coming back.”

“I came back because of Twilight.”

“What do you mean?”

“she convinced me that I'm a failure and I'm only worth something here.”

"that doesn't sound like her."

“That's probably not how she said it but that's how I feel."”

"we always have room."

"Captain?"

"yep."

"after all the time you had been around me before you're still weary of me."

"don't worry I was able to rest easy after you left."

"I see, well you can rest easy while I'm here as well."

"I'm glad. I'm willing to put behind the past if you are."

"I would like to although you still don't understand everything."

"I know what happened I know that you were forced into the position and you forced our enemy out of the castle."

"then why do you hold something against me?"

"I don't you do." I was confused but we promised to leave the past in the past. When I left I looked for Govend

“Govend.”

“Hey”

“I need a place to sleep.”

“I got my old quarters back you can sleep in the other bunk”

“Awesome.” I went to sleep and didn't wake up until around 10 am when Shining Armor woke me.

“You have a visitor that goes by rusty."

“What?”

“You have a visitor that goes by rusty." I shot out of bed.

“What time is it?!”

“10am.”

"that's my brother."

“you have a brother?"

"sadly. He's not here to visit I promise that." I walked out the the castle gates sure enough it was my brother.

“Well Rusty long time no see”

“Right back at you.” My brother said

“Why are you here?”

“I'm not allowed to be?”

“I never said that now did I?"

"I guess not."

"you never answered my question."

"I felt a little rampant."

"Can you pawn it off on some small village north of here?"

"the Crystal Empire?"

"I said small!"

"I like this place."

"Well you can't rampage this place!"

“What are you going to do about it?”

“find out.”

“The weakling of the family is stepping up to do something?"

“it's about time isn't it?"