To Chase The Shadows of Redemption

Dire Comet laid his newspaper out on the living room table while he sat back lazily in the couch that accompanied the set. The soft steam lifted from his tea cup off the table as it sat besides the paper on top of a coaster. He could see the majority of upper Canterlot from the view of his window.

Unbelievable.

Dire had grown up a particularly uncomfortable pony. His talent had been such a rare thing, and while he had far and away surpassed anyone else in the field, it was basically useless in modern Equestria.

He had always had a masterful and potent affinity for destructive and combative magics. In his youth he had even adventured a bit in the hopes he'd find something to prove himself to be who he knew he was. It hadn't really done it for him. He never found any grand opponent, nothing even close to it.

Still, being so talented in magic he had eventually leveraged it into working his way into education, and eventually, teaching. He had become a professor by the second half of his life, and by now he had taught more generations than what he knew what to do with. What he taught wasn't that interesting in his opinion, but a lot of it still formed the fundamentals to reach out into the more esoteric branches that were. He had done a lot on the side. Some students had truly enlightened his existence as well, talented ones, pushing him late into his life when he had started to grow a little complacent. But with time his pure power had waned, replaced with a deeper knowledge to raise the efficiency of his magic to make up for it. Practice could never be replaced, however. Something he was sorely lacking in for the longest time now.

Yet now of all times, when he would be considering retirement in reasonably around five years or so now, this news struck.

"Griffin's Attempted Assassination Of Celestia, War Declared"

The headline had been basically all anypony was talking about in Canterlot, or any part of Equestria it had reached by now. So probably most places.

They were recruiting for the upcoming war effort, anypony patriotic enough to could join if they passed basic testing to be deemed fit enough.

He knew that in his old age, this was beyond him. His life had already passed him by.

So why did it call to him so greatly? He had been completely unable to let go of the thought the moment he had heard.

Again - he was lying to himself.

He knew why.

All his life, deep down, he had wanted to prove himself in combat as the great mage of this time. Now it had come in an opportunity to do it in the most honourable way possible - protecting his fellow ponies. It was something he had never even said aloud at any point, not even to his parents or the close friends he did have. It had sat there inside of him, treacherously whispering to his heart that he was missing something. It was whispering feverishly now.

'I want to prove myself'.

Yet why did it have to come now, so late in the final hour when he wasn't chomping at the bit to take action?

He let out a sigh, and began finishing off his tea.

He had no spouse. It had never been his thing, or perhaps he hadn't looked hard enough. His estate which most would consider quite grand was a wasted thing for a singular pony. He cared little except that it offered him a quality of life that few could afford.

What was holding him back?

Excuses. He realized it in a flash. It was all excuses. He had absolutely nothing holding him back, even if he had nothing to prove anymore.

He had everything to prove still. To himself.

Cracking his neck, his eyes lit with a fire not seen in many decades of that in his youth as he got up from the couch and made to head for the heart of Canterlot to sign up.

Celestia sat patiently while waiting for the signal for her to come out. She was about to give a speech that she had personally prepared, and it was important to solidify the morale and unity of her ponies for the future conflict.

There was going to be no breaks today. Right after she was going to be consulting with General Reacher to get an update on the preparatory progress. They needed to be ready soon, as they could not allow the griffin's to get a head start and attack the severely weakened outer provinces. They would meet them before it could happen, seize victory, and immediately march for the griffin capital to finish things quickly.

But this came first.

She hadn't even seen her sister recently. It was cowardly, but she had allowed herself to become buried in work and not made spare time to go see her. It had been a while, and who knew what her condition could be. Rosebud would report any significant changes at the least. She allowed that to comfort her. She would see her before they left for the Griffin Kingdom, that was sure.

Finally she got the signal to climb towards the podium, her introduction complete.

When she finally saw the crowd, it was a little larger than she had been expecting. This was an unprecedented event in recent times, so perhaps she had been naive. Thousands of ponies filled everywhere the eye could see across the streets and in buildings.

"My dear ponies! Thank you all for coming to listen to me! It was against all expectations that the griffins would ever make a move against us like this, coming straight at me when I had opened my hooves in welcoming nature like always. I may have been shocked but I will never be defenseless! Fear not, my ponies! I have survived their ambush and become a stronger mare! While their treachery breaks my heart, as I have always worked to improve the harmony across Equus, I will not allow it to destroy me. Make no mistake, my resolve has never been stronger! We cannot let this go unanswered! They act as savages and will be treated as such! They have already declared war before we could, as if to add insult even further when they were the aggressors! The only thing they have left is to lie and deceive, claiming it was actually I who turned on them. Who has ever heard of something so preposterous!

"But their threat is real my ponies. That is why we have been preparing, and we shall ride out to meet them and protect the ponies of Equestria! Any pony with the courage to fight and protect their brethren are welcome to join us! But nopony shall be forced to. That is core tenet of our civilization, a shining one! I will lead our forces myself at the front, and victory shall be assured. It is my goal to dismantle the griffins as quickly as possible with a show of force. We will reform them with a heavier hoof this time around, until they are beings fitting of harmony who understand the blessings we have granted them.

"No matter the struggle, we shall persevere like always!

Glory to Equestria!"

The crowd roared the same line back in response.

Six young ponies gathered at Sugarcube Corner, seeking solace in each other's company amidst the recent chaos of the world. The fresh aroma of baked goods wafted through the air, tingling the senses of anypony inside the cozy bakery.

"Too much is happening lately," Twilight murmured, taking centre stage of the conversation having being the closest to the epicentre of recent events. "It seems like the political unrest has been put to rest for now over the united front we've taken against the griffins. I still can't believe that they're leaving in a few days supposedly."

Pinkie Pie, ever the optimist, tried to lighten the mood like she always did and with a cheerful smile. "Hey, we always have found a way to handle whatever comes our way, right? I'm sure this will be over sooner than lickety-split!"

"Pinkie, dear, don't forget that war is a grotesque thing, no good will come of it. I fear for all ponies and griffin's involved. I just... I understand why we're fighting, especially since they attacked Celestia in such a cowardly manner and all, and that they were coming for us anyway after that, but I still can't... accept such a thing being normal or acceptable."

"Um... you're totally right Rarity, every single little creature has value. I just hope we can come to a peaceful solution sooner rather than later."

"Well I dun know bout y'all, but I had to convince Big ole Macintosh not to sign up. Come as a surprise I figure, him being to up and ready to go for Equestria. Sure fixed him a mentality real soon after hearing it though. We've gotta stay back here and home base and support as much as we can in our own way. I even sent a message to Canterlot through Twi that we'd send some food if it was needed for those out on the front lines."

"Well save me a slice! I'm sure I'll have worked up an appetite by then."

"What do you mean, Rainbow Dash?" said Twilight.

"Well, no duh? I signed up. It's finally my chance to kick some real flank!"

"Are you crazy! You could seriously get hurt or—"

"Relaaax. I've got this, guys, seriously. I promise I won't go too crazy out there, and return home. A hero that is." Her smirk threatened to stretch past her face.

"I don't know about that RD, I hear it could get real dangerous out there."

"I agree with Applejack, surely you must rethink this, Rainbow Dash! This is no light subject matter! We all want you here alive and blessing us all with your presence!"

"I don't know what I'd do if you... left us Rainbow." Fluttershy was playing dirty, it seemed.

"Guys, seriously, stop. No fair Flutter's. I made my final decision the other day. I'm not backing out of it now. I appreciate the gestures but... I'll be fine. I promise you."

"If that's how you feel, than we can't stop you. Please stay safe out there Rainbow. Personally, I don't know about the rest of you gals, but this affects me largely as well. I had originally even considered joining myself, but Celestia quickly talked me out of it. Instead, she wants me to do some work in Canterlot working with logistics and some other stuff on the side. A lot of seeing how it's done and learning to eventually do it myself. I'm kind of excited for it. Don't worry though, I'll still find time to come back here to visit. I won't be a stranger."

The rest of their conversation was calm and shifted into more innocuous topics, having gone over the weighty topic in the room already. As they departed, a few of them made sure to wish Rainbow Dash well and reminder her to stay safe. They all had different ways of adjusting to the upcoming storm, and only time would tell how it really effected them.