My father died a few years ago. I was 10. They said it was an accident, and I believed them, but now I know the truth. Now I know that my father was not a miner, and that he was in fact a soldier. I know that he learned things this country was struggling to keep secret. I know that is the reason that a sharp piece of steel was shoved into his back and out through his heart. At least it was quick.
I was at school when my family was informed. A teacher approached me during recess. I heard them walk up to me, but I kept my eyes on what I was doing. A couple moments of awkward silence passed before the teacher spoke.
“Do you know your father?” they asked. I stopped what I was doing and looked up at them. I saw that they were obviously uncomfortable about this subject of conversation. The teachers liked to yell at me for no reason when I did something wrong, so I decided to make this conversation last as long as possible.
“Yes,” I replied, the simplest form of answer possible, besides “no”, but that would be lying. ‘Of course I know my father!’ I thought, as the teacher paused to consider their next words.
“Aegis, I’m sorry to tell you this but… your father’s dead. I’m sorry for your loss.” With that, they turned and walked off. I stood there, wondering what they meant by that, before the full weight of the words hit me. ‘My father is dead...’
A few more seconds passed, with me just standing there, a shocked look on my face. Then, suddenly, I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I knew that I’d be the laughing stock of the school if I just stood there, so I ran into a corner. I tried, unsuccessfully, to hide my tears from my classmates, but there was no redemption at that point. There was only sadness. And depression.
7 Years Later
“Hey, Crybaby!” A voice called from across the schoolyard. I didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was who had called for me. By my nickname, of course. Oh, how I despised that name. I quickened my pace, yearning for the sheltering walls of the school. Which were beginning to shelter me less and less, by the way. I heard hoofbeats rushing up behind me before they abruptly stopped. I sped up again.
“Hey, I’m talkin’ to you!” The voice called again, angrier this time. The hoofbeats rushed towards me once again. I felt something grab my mane and pull me around a corner. I hit the ground hard and felt my breath get knocked out of me. Looking up at my attackers, I recognized them as Skulls. They were the most feared ponies in school, and they always wore masks with skulls painted on them when they did their thing. Which usually included beating their target until they couldn’t walk anymore. By ANY means necessary. I gulped with fright as I looked up at those red eyes.
I’d taken many beatings before, some hurt less than others, but this one was sure to be the worst. Focusing less on what they would do to me, and more on who they were, I noticed that both of them were unicorns. That was, until they stepped aside to make room for a smaller pony of slighter build. They had a slim, lithe body and were a pegasus. They wore the same skull mask, but the eyes on this one were green, not red. With a single motion of their hoof, the pegasus ordered the two unicorns to keep watch. As they moved to do so, the pegasus in front of me did something I’d never seen before. They took off their mask.
As they did so, beautiful golden ringlets rained down from underneath it, framing their forest green eyes and light gray face perfectly. She was beautiful, I can’t deny. She moved the mask onto her back.
“Hello, Lunar Aegis. I’m Storm Chaser. I would like to talk with you,” she paused for a moment before continuing, “In private.” I felt my wings go a little stiff at that, but I quickly ruffled them a couple times and they went back to normal. I nodded my head quickly at her, and she gestured towards a nearby door. I opened it and followed her through, closing it behind us. The door lead to an abandoned storeroom for the school.
“So… what did you want to talk about?” I asked quietly, not quite sure of my own words.
“Oh, I think you know very well what I want…” She trailed off, looking at me with half-lidded eyes. ‘Don’t think perverted thoughts! Don’t think perverted thoughts!’ I repeated to myself, trying to calm my wings, which were now painfully stiff. After a few seconds, though, my wings calmed down and settled against my back once again.
“Yeah… I’m pretty sure I do. But why me, out of all your apparent bodyguards?”
“You’ve only got one chance at this,” she replied, gesturing at her body before continuing, “Are you really going to waste it asking stupid questions? Or are you going to join me in my endeavors?”
“I’ll join you, there’s no doubt about that! It’s just…”
“It’s just what? Am I not good enough for you?”
“No, never mind. Are we going to do this or are we going to just stand around talking about it?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Storm Chaser replied with a smile.
• • •
My eyes snapped open at the sound of snickering. I stood up quickly and surveyed my surroundings. Storm Chaser was lying on the ground next to me, sound asleep. I laid back down, content that no one was watching us. My movement woke up the sleeping mare next to me, her forest green eyes flashing open and her mouth forming into a smile.
“Hey,” she said quietly. She slid closer to me as I finished settling back down.
“Hey,” I responded simply. She didn’t seem to notice. “Did you hear anything just now?”
“No,” she replied, giving me a quizzical look before continuing, “Should I have?”
“No, not necessarily. I just thought I heard laughter.”
“It’s nothing, Lunar. Don’t worry about it, just worry about me.”
“Gladly,” I quickly stated. After a couple more minutes, I thought of something, “Storm, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
I took a deep breath before continuing, “What made you want to do… THAT... with me?” She looked surprised at my question.
“Why, did you not like it?”
“No, it’s nothing like that, it’s just… You’re the leader of the Skulls, why would you want to do that with one of the Skulls’ prime victims? Not that I didn’t appreciate it…” She stood up abruptly.
“Why can’t you see me for who I am, instead of the leader of a bunch of jerks?” She asked, obviously hurt by my words. That just made me feel even guiltier.
“I try to! But it’s kind of hard when your bodyguards are snickering behind that bookcase over there!” I pointed my hoof at the bookcase that her bodyguards were, indeed, located behind. She let out a deep sigh before replying.
“I didn’t want you to find out. It was actually really nice, being with you.” I was shocked at this, but she continued before I could say anything. “Now that you’ve found out my secret, though, my “bodyguards” as you put it, are going to have to kill you.” She sighed once more, before walking out the door. She threw one last comment over her shoulder before she closed the door behind her, “Oh, and Lunar… I’ll be at your funeral.”
• • •
As the last Skull fell, I ran for the door. I felt a presence next to me, but before I knew it I was outside, and the presence was gone. I rocketed up into the sky, knowing that I’d get in trouble if I went to my classes. I flew out into the skies above Ponyville. ‘Storm Chaser most likely couldn’t have gone far, although she is a pegasus. Meh, I should get some rest.’ I thought to myself as I landed on a cloud to take a nap.
I had just closed my eyes when a noise caused me to be fully alert. A scream. As if it couldn’t get worse, the scream came from my house. Flying up as fast as I was physically able, I dashed over to my house and saw that the door had been bucked open. I saw shapes moving around inside, all heading up the stairs. ‘That’s where my mother’s room is!’ I realized, sprinting after the shapes and tackling one to the ground. Ripping off their face mask, I recognized them as one of the Skulls. One swift kick to the head later, he was out cold.
Turning around, I literally flew up the stairs. I sped past the figures going after my mother and landed in front of her.
“Leave her alone!” I yelled to the figures, “It’s me you want revenge on, not her!” One of them, I’d assume he was the leader of the operation, started snickering.
“Yea, we want revenge on you. But what better way to do that than killing your mother?” Upon hearing him speak those last three words, I saw red creeping in on the edges of my vision.
“You… are going… to walk… away… now,” I said calmly, yet dangerously. I don’t know where it came from, but I felt stronger. I felt a presence again, only this time it lingered for longer. It seemed to be just as angry as I was, but then it was gone.
“I don’t think so, bub. Nice try tho-” He was interrupted by both of my rear hooves slamming into his skull. The other Skulls instinctively took a step back as they saw their leader drop to the ground, unconscious and close to death.
“I warned you,” I said simply, before charging at the remaining Skulls full pelt. They turned tail and fled down the stairs. I stopped just at the top of the stairs, turned around, and ran for a window. Suddenly, I felt an electric charge pulsing through my body. I looked up at my mother’s mirror, and saw that I was sheathed in shadows. The shadows flashed periodically with electricity. Not expecting what came next, I ran and jumped for the window. Before I even hit it, I was down on the ground. ‘Whoa...’ I thought to myself as I ran around to the front of the house.
When the Skulls came bursting out through the doorway, they looked surprised to see me standing there. I felt the presence by my side once again and when I looked in that direction this time, I saw the smoky image of a pony. He had a very dark grey coat, slightly darker than my own. His eyes were lizard-like in appearance and an amber color. He had dark navy blue wingblades and a sharply pointed horn. He had four dark red, non-magical, horns poking out of his head. His mane and tail looked like an electric current. His mane was a warm gold closer to his head and black on the outer edges. His tail had the same colors, only the black surrounded the gold on three sides. His hooves were navy blue and braced in anger, and he wore a scowl on his face. He looked to be about a year younger than I was.
As soon as I got a full look at him, he was gone again. I shook my head quickly and gave my mother’s attackers an icy glare. I decided that it was probably a good idea to give them a chance to redeem themselves.
“This is your last chance. Run away and never return for me, or you will be killed next time. I’ll make sure of that,” They nodded hastily. “Good. Now GO!” I yelled, and they did. I didn’t actually see them run off because I flew up the stairs again before collapsing next to my mother out of exhaustion. As I was overtaken by the encroaching blackness, my thoughts turned to those of how I was going to deal with what I saw. Who was that mysterious stallion, and what did he want with me?
