Chapters Son of the Night
Chapter 1 - Vow
It was about five and a half in the morning, the Moon was starting to set at one side of the horizon and already could be noticed a weak light rising from the other side, it was the cycle of day and night kept by ages by the regents of Equestria and, along with the night, several fillies and foals of the three kinds played together in an open field close to a nomadic settlement trying to enjoy the night to it's full extent before going to sleep. But there was one little foal that didn't share this thought and preferred to spend most of the night laying on his back admiring the Moon that shone high in the sky until the dawn.
With the end of the night voices were heard, they came from the settlement calling for the kids and, one by one, thet obeyed the calling and went to their tents. Nopony, however, called for the lonely foal for some time until one of the mothers did it. “Aster! You better come back too!” And with a leap the foal was standing. His fur was blue in a tone almost as dark as night's sky and that highlighted even more his iris that were white as cotton. He calmly walked heading for the settlement straighting his mane, which made his horn appear, and getting inside a smaller tent, he stretched his limbs and his two wings. After that and a long "YAWN", the young alicorn layed and put himself to sleep.
When he woke up it was still morning. He was alone in the tent as always, he was the only alicorn in the clan and even with the others helping and providing whenever possible, he had no family and lived alone. One of the leaders, a pegasus named Midnight Roar, said only that his parents had died when he was three and since then he was 'adopted' by the clan and, at that moment, with the age of seven, he had the biggest 'family' of all the foals. By the time he exited the tent he noticed a crowd at the center of the settlement, the council of leaders had reunited all the clan to announce something that would change Aster's life forever.
"The Council had a meeting during the day and we decided: the clan Nightkeeper isolated itself for too long. If the other ponys don't accept living along us who sleep during tha day and live during the night so we're going to the source of the night itself. Before me are the best blacksmiths, craftsponys, farmers and, above all, warriors that I've ever seen, all that talent gathered here instead of being used for the good of the kingdom. Today, my friends, we're going to Canterlot to offer our services to who, for our joy, rises every night the Moon we love so much!”
With shouts of joy and celebration the crowd dispersed slowly, Midnight Roar came down from a table on which was best to talk with everypony. "Cheer up, I heard that there are alicorns in Canterlot." He said to Aster who did not seem very excited about the news.
Four hours of travel seemed like a whole year for impatient children, but on the other hand Aster was alone in a corner, thinking. "What's the matter, son?" Asked an unicorn mare who was taking care of the children inside the wagon. "The Ruler of the Night, how is he?" Aster asked still with a thoughtful face. "Honestly, I have no idea." She said kind of disappointed with a little sigh. "But I'm sure that he is someone formidable, after all, to give us the night always on time so that we can live as we like most, he has to be." She continued, this time more lively.
The wagon stopped, everyone went down, the caravan had reached the gates of Canterlot. When Aster could see things ahead, another council member said: "Let us all walk together and calmly, we will have an audience with the king." The clan was instructed by the guard who was guiding them to wait at the base of large stairs that gave access to the main gate of the castle. Behind them was the end of the large market that was in the central area of Canterlot and alongside a delegation of dozens of guards to ensure the safety of the royal family during the hearing.
The gates opened, from it, came four ponies: A great white steed with mane, tail and beard all red with some orange streaks and that looked like a burning flame and a crown that looked like a Spartan helmet adorned with a sun made of some yellow precious stone faceted just below the hole to pass the horn. His cutie mark was a yin-yang red and yellow surrounded by bundles also of these colors; a mare almost as large as the male beside her, the color of her fur resembled aquamarine, only slightly darker, her mane and tail gleamed with the silver color they had. Her cutie mark was a full moon in the night sky with the silhouette of a dragon on the moon; a white filly almost the same age as Aster with pink mane and tail and a blank flank, her discreet horn was lost of sight within the voluminous mane; and, being carried by the adult female, a baby with no more than two years, a little dark blue coat and lighter blue mane and tail. All were alicorns.
"Hello visitors, welcome to Canterlot, I'm Solaris III, King of Equestria and Ruler of the Sun and this is my family." He spoke with Royal Voice of Canterlot which surprised the clan and made them to bow at a faster rate than they would when they knew he was the king. "So, what do you want?"
"Hail King Solaris, I am Midnight Roar, one of the leaders and representative of the clan Nightkeeper. Our clan was formed by the union of families that, unlike the normal ponies, are active at night and sleep during the day. We were born that way and we are proud of it but life in normal communities became complicated because the other ponies do not understand us and exclude us and this led us to unite. We became nomads but today we decided to fix it and to come to offer our services to the Ruler of the Moon and dedicate ourselves to his protection." Midnight Roar explained his history as the queen seemed to be more interested in the offer of the king himself.
"So in that case, I think the offer should be directed to me." She spoke including herself in the conversation. "I am Artemis, Queen of Equestria and Ruler of the Moon" She used the Royal Canterlot Voice sounding a bit lower than the King, just to make her heard by all, and when she spoke that she was the Ruler of the Moon, Aster immediately lifted his face to be able to see her, and until the end of the negotiations he was looking to the members of the royal family but most of all for the queen stopping only to see the fight.
"My queen," Midnight Roar spoke again. "So, we of clan Nightkeeper make this offer to Your Majesty: blacksmiths, craftsponys, guards, soldiers, all with exceptional skills and all at the service of the kingdom whenever necessary. Our warriors can provide protection to Your Majesty and your family as an elite guard and would be an excellent addition to the royal army. All we ask in return is the opportunity to live here in Canterlot."
"Elite Guard, you say..." said a pegasus with a similar armor to the soldiers, but more detailed and with white details in the golden metal, he arrived in the midst of the soldiers who were lined up next to the staircase. "But I see only a group of ponies as normal as any other. How will we know if what you say is true?"
"Captain Daggerwing, what do you mean?" She asked looking at the pegasus already knowing the answer but wanting to hear it.
"With all due respect, Your Majesty, we cannot guarantee that what they say is true. And since they spent so much living alone among themselves, how would they themselves know just how capable they are?" Daggerwing asked trying to put doubt in the mind of the queen.
"In this case," Midnight Roar replied looking at Daggerwing, "let us demonstrate our abilities. Meteor, Desert Thunder, come here." A pegasus stallion and an earth pony mare left the crowd and were each on one side of Midnight Roar. Daggerwing pointed to two soldiers and they put themselves ahead of others.
"So you want to prove your worth challenging the Lunar Guard? Alright." Daggerwing spoke in a tone of mockery.
"Lunar Guard?" Midnight Roar asked confused.
"The royal army is composed of two divisions: these here are the Lunar Guard, the other division, the Solar Guard is under the responsibility of another captain."
"Very well then, show what you are capable of." Artemis said at the top of the stairs, who knew her better could notice an excitement in her because the fight would happen in her honor. King Solaris did.
At the same moment the two Nightkeeper ponies drew their swords and began to fight each with one of the guards chosen by Daggerwing. Within minutes the guards were defeated and had barely tired the Nightkeepers.
"What did you think of them?" Artemis asked her husband in a normal voice.
"Not bad, I think it would be good to have them on our side. But the offer was made to you, so the last word is yours. "He also said in a normal voice.
"Midnight Roar, leader of the Nightkeepers, I, Queen Artemis of Canterlot and Equestria, accept your offer." Back to Royal Voice.
"We, the members of the clan Nightkeeper, swear our loyalty, our service and our protection to Your Majesty Queen Artemis, Regent of the Moon and the members of your family if one is needed or do you will." The whole clan proclaimed in chorus the vow.
"Then it is settled! From today on the warriors of clan Nightkeeper will be part of the Lunar Guard and I'd like to ask for the leader Midnight Roar to arrange for the Guard members receive training so that they will have the same skill displayed now by these two warriors." The queen turned and finished the sentence pointing to Desert Thunder and Meteor.
"As you wish, my queen." Midnight Roar ended up heading to the Queen bowing and then began to organize with the other clan members.
Chapter 1 - End
Author's Note
It was a long week of thinking on the story, it's alreadt finished on my head, all I gotta do is put all the thinking on Word and send to the web. The story is first being posted in portuguese here: http://sonicrainboom.com.br/showthread.php?tid=9154&pid=261886#pid261886 , so if there's any lusophone on the site, feel free to check it. i'll try my best to translate the chapters on the same day that they are made but I can't guarantee that I'll succeed.
Son of The Night
Chapter 2 - Training
"Alright ladies, I think that you all have received the notice that you will undergo a special training now that we came to Canterlot. My colleague Meteor was designated to pass the training to the Solar Guard and I was assigned to work with you, but it's better for you to know immediately: it's not because I'm a mare that I'll go easy on you and you should not underestimate me either, who was guarding on the staircase last week saw pretty well what happened."
Desert Thunder spoke to a crowd as if she was already used to train soldiers and who didn't know her would believe that she can use the Royal Voice because of the ease with which she could speak so loudly.
"I'll begin by analyzing you one by one and see what needs to be improved, some of you I've seen in action already but you'll all get the same commitment on my part so I want you to see your dedication as well. Now I want... Aster? What are you doing here?"
The surprise of the soldiers was the same as the trainer to see the foal at the end of rows carrying a sword almost as big as himself.
"I came here for the training, I'll become a Lunar Guard soldier!" The foal said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"How is it? Don't you think that you're still too young for that?" She replied.
"I also took the vow, I'm also a Nightkeeper, I can't do less than any other!" He replied with conviction, you could see in his eyes the determination of a foal with a blank flank wanting to find his place in the world.
"If you say so... But if you can't stand the pressure, do not push yourself to the point of getting hurt." And then the training of the guard followed and at the top of a watchtower a brown pegasus watched the whole scene.
At the end of the night Aster hardly could stand it on his hooves. Whew! This training really got me tired, but at least I didn't have to change the night for the day. He thought as he prepared to sleep. His tent was set in a favorable position right behind the castle: it was a covered area, which protected it from the sun and rain and had walls on two sides which prevented it from flying off in the wind.
A few hours later, Aster woke up and went out of his tent. The sun still shone and a winged shadow approached where the foal was until it was able to be seen clearly. It was a brown pegasus with a semblance of warrior and appeared to be in his forties.
"So you want to become a soldier, isn't it?" He asked in a serious tone but nothing threatening.
"Yes, I do." Aster replied curious with the visitor.
"So what about training with me?"
"And... who are you? "The little one's confusion only increased.
"Well, allow me to introduce myself. I am Hurricane Sword, Royal Army general and I am offering you the opportunity to go through training of the highest quality with me. Now if you'll tell me your name..."
"My name is Aster, of theNightkeeper clan. And you said general, that's..."
"A much higher rank than captain, for sure."
"And why me among everypony else?"
"See, Aster, you remind me of another foal I met many years ago that was about your age, he was also full of willingness to become a member of the guard but lacked somepony who would put faith in him and, unlike you, he had to make his way all by himself. Now I see you here and I want you to have a better opportunity than he had."
"I think I understand. And who was that foal? "
"Me."
Those bulging white eyes made the old general frown his face.
"When do we start?" The excitement was evident.
"It is already setting dusk, so go to sleep and in morning we'll start the training."
"But I'm nocturnal! Besides, I just woke up!"
"I know. And training in a situation which we are not accustomed improves the result, then getting used to the day shift is already part of the training. In a few hours I'll be back. But there was one thing that puzzled me: why an unicorn went to training camp? Wouldn't it be better to have gone to magic school instead?"
Aster looked at his own horn amid the blue mane and then his wings, fur and feathers were so dark that they could barely be noticed as different things. With a little effort he started flapping them and flew at eye of the geneneral stopping after a few seconds and staring at him like a baby dragon who had his ability questioned. Hurricane Sword was fairly surprised that his newest apprentice was not a unicorn.
Alicorn? But all known alicorns are... It's best to let go, if he really was, they would have already done something. He thought.
"Okay then, see you in the morning." And with that he flew off leaving Aster to return to sleep.
The next day they were ready to start training. Aster was carrying his sword.
"Good morning Aster, today I'll give you your first lesson in armed struggle but first you must have this in mind: your weapon, whether sword, spear, axe or whatever isn't just a tool, it's an extension of your body and as such must be felt. Don't just use the waepon, feel it moving close to you, it's important for not to end up cutting yourself. "
"Got it! Feel the weapon ... feel the weapon ... "he looked at the sword in a strange way, as if trying to talk to it.
"Riiiiiight... show me what you can do."
Aster began to swing the sword from one side to the other with a very good coordination for his age but the weight of the weapon quite hindered his movements.
"Stop for a bit, wait here, I'll be right back." Hurricane Sword flew to a barracks and returned with a short sword. "Let's try something more proportional, okay?" Aster took the new sword putting the other aside. And the skill shown was impressive, as if he had spent his whole life fighting.
"Are you sure you've never done this before?"
"Only when I played with the other children of the clan, but I never got into a real fight, why?"
"Nevermind, now let's see... I want you to..."
And the training went on. It took days, months, years, and Aster and Hurricane continued training. Aster's ability was growing and that could be perceived when he fought with another soldier from regular training of the guards, they never had a chance. The dedication of Aster didn't made for less either, he was always willing to do anything to become a better warrior. And over the years the training gained audience because two young mares, one white and the other blue sometimes attended by a castle window.
Aster became adult, the training has shown it's result as he had become a stately steed and extremely skilled in swordsmanship. Hurricane could not be more proud of his apprentice. Interestingly, however, the horn on his head was gone.
"Good morning, Hurricane, so what will it be today? Fight? Timberwolf hunting? Or maybe a new technique?"
"Ha, ha, hold your reins there, son. Today before training I have something to tell you."
"And what is it?"
"Aster, do you have any idea on what day is today?"
"Hmmm ... Saturday?"
"Well, yes... too... but the point is that today you complete ten years of training."
"Ten years? It's been all this?"
"But if isn't distraction in pony right in front of me, I still wonder how you can lose track of time so easily. But anyway, today your training completes ten years and it's time for one important thing: your test. If you pass then your place in the Lunar Guard is guaranteed, if not, another three months of training."
"I had an excellent teacher all these years, I'm sure I can do it. What do I have to do?"
At that moment Hurricane drew his sword.
"Fight me."
"What?"
"Fight me. You don't need to win, just show me that you have all the capability to be a member of the Guard. "
"If that's the way," Aster also drew his sword and stood on guard. "let's do this. Haaaa!!!."
The fight began. Aster was quick to attack as much as to dodge the attacks of the other sword, but the old general did not fall behind preferring to block the attacks than getting out of the way.
"Your weapon is part of you, Aster, feel it's movements."
"That's what I've been working all these years."
The battle followed intense and at the top of a tower of the castle, through a window, two expectators vibrated with what happened. With an unpredictable movement from below, Hurricane made Aster loose the sword hitting a kick in his belly right after. Aster fell on the floor and his sword right next to him, but before he could reach it, Hurricane was already leaping toward him to attack once more. The wisest thing to do would be to barrel roll but instead...
"But huh? And his eyes..."
And Hurricane's sword (no pun intended) collided with nothing and bounced back. At the time, nobody understood what happened until a translucent blue bubble formed around Aster who had a light blue aura coming out of his eyes and a silhouette where his horn was supposed to be.
Without thinking twice, Hurricane was all over again but instead simply bouncing off the blade, when it collided with the shield a small explosion threw him back. Aster seized the moment, grabbed his sword and when Hurricane opened his eyes the tip of the blade was just centimeters away of him.
"I thought that aside from the horn disguise you developed based on those books, you knew nothing of magic." Hurricane said as he released his sword.
"And I don't know. And also don't know how that shield appeared but it surely came in handy. "Aster said offering the hoof to the teacher. "So what? I'm approved?"
"Feel free to be happy, kid, because from now on you are the newest member of the Lunar Guard."
"Yeeeaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!" While shouted, Aster raised his arms and wings and left the floor a bit. Probably even the queen woke up with the noise.
"Hold on, boy, no need to fuss. Now let's go to my accommodation, I have something for you."
"Alright, let's go."
And when they started to leave, a distant applause could be heard approaching.
"Impressive. To make a shield like that I needed to develop the technique for weeks and you did it with such naturality"
They looked at who approached them: A gray furred unicorn, with white mane and a long beard also white. He wore a blue pointy hat and a blue cape with stars and moons and several bells by the clothing. The cape hid his tail and cutie mark.
Hurricane and him stared at each other with a straight face.
“Starswirl”
“Hurricane Sword”
Hurricane approached him slowly and sunddenly they hugged each other.
"How long have I not seen you, my favorite little brother?" Hurricane said.
"Hah, don't come with this 'favorite' on me, I'm your only brother. Furthermore you are only three years older and I still look older than you."
Aster looked at the scene gradually understand what was going on.
"So this is the apprentice of which you boast so much? Evidently he is a pegasus and it definitely does not explain how he managed to summon that shield." Starswirl examined Aster with a clinical eye. Aster then took a few strands of his mane, stretched them to become shaped like a horn and when he dropped them the horn was just at the right place and it was greater than a normal unicorn's. This left Starswirl gaping and made him whisper to Hurricane immediately.
"You didn't say he was alicorn."
"He himself developed the spell to hide the horn and it is the only magic he can do. He knows very well how would draw attention walking as alicorn out there so if he wanted to hide it, who was I to tell?"
"Do you have any idea of the impact that it can generate?"
"Of course I do, but he isn't even from Canterlot. I thought it would be best to keep quiet."
"Talking like this, yeah, you're right."
"H-hey, I'm still here." Said Aster intrigued by the conversation.
"Oh, of course. Young Aster, I am Starswirl, younger brother of the general here and High Mage of the Order of Harmony."
"Hold it, The Starswirl? Who has a whole wing of the royal library named after him?"
"Yes, that's me."
"By Artemis, it's a great honor to meet you, even more knowing that you're brother of general Hurricane."
"The honor is mine to know my brother's apprentice. But I heard that you cannot use magic even though having a perfectly functional horn, why is that?"
"Well, I lack the aptitude for doing so and never really practiced much. Aside the horn disguise and what happened just now, I actually never used magic."
"Lack of aptitude is all that this shield does NOT show and you have developed a spell and quite interesting: disguising the horn preventing it from being seen but without having to remove the cover to use magic. Even I never thought about doing something like that."
"Well, I'm flattered by the compliment but..."
"Nanananano, no 'but'. Come on, I wanna see this shield again, do it."
"But I don't even know how I did it."
"Think about what you felt when you summoned it, concentrate on this feeling, channel it to your horn and let it flow naturally out in the form of magic, c'mon."
Aster closed his eyes, and then his horn began to glow.
"That's it, focus and release the spell."
Suddenly the spell came out, not as a shield however, but as a beam of energy toward Starswirl that held it in his aura wrapped hooves.
"Wrong spell, boy, you can stop now."
Aster said nothing, instead his eyes got wrapped in that same blue aura and the power of the burst increased.
"Hurricane, a little help here." Starswirl asked his brother.
"What's the mater? Is the young apprentice too strong for you?"
And the strength of the beam kept increasing.
"Aaahhhh!! Do something, and do it quick!."
Hurricane realized that it was no joke. With a flick of his sword he hit Aster's neck with the handle knocking him out. Starswirl threw the energy that was accumulated in his hands upwards causing an explosion several meters above the castle. The soldiers were alarmed at first but when they realized that there was no threat nearby they concluded that it should have come from the school of mages.
Starswirl came closer to the young pony, passed out on the floor, talking to his brother.
"Star, what exactly was that? He shouldn't be capable of such... "
"So much potential, so much power, proportionately, the only pony I've ever seen do something this magnitude aside from myself was the king himself, and all that power in a body so young and without any control! He needs guidance."
"And is you who's gonna do that?"
"Do you know somepony better?"
Chapter 2 - End
Son of The Night
Chapter 3 – Legacy
As consciousness returned to his mind, his senses returned to work. Noises could be heard in the distance, the surface where Aster was lying was soft, a strong scent of coffee filled the place and when his eyes opened, bright figures slowly began to take shape. Aster was in a room he had never seen, to his left was a desk with feathers and ink and a window above, to his right, shelves with some books and, to his front, a door. The door opened slowly and Starswirl entered carrying a tray.
"Ah, you're awake. I was starting to get worried that it would need magic to bring you back."
"Ow, my head..." Aster spoke still sleepy trying to get up.
"Do not push yourself too much now, you've been there for a long time." Starswirl said helping him sit up in the bed.
"What happened? How long was I out?"
"You lost control and Hurricane knocked you out. You've been there for four days."
"That much?"
"Yes, it was. Drink some of this, will do you well."
The caffeine with the sugar did finish awakening him.
"What is this place?"
"Come with me."
They left the bedroom and came to another room not very large. There were shelves with books and material for making potions and magic development.
"Welcome to my home."
Aster looked around observing the details of rustic decor. Starswirl should not be the kind that gets many visitors. One thing, however, caught his eye: a large closet in the center of the room that clearly did not belong to that environment.
"What is this closet..."
"Hurricane asked me to give you this. He wanted to deliver personally, but had some... urgent matters... to take care of."
"And what's in there?"
"If I tell you, it spoils the surprise."
Aster opened the closet. Inside was an armor. A smile formed on his face and he dressed quickly.
"Fitted you very well. Few ponies complete infantry training at your age."
"But I didn't have a regular training, I learned from the best. And speaking of which, where is he? I'd like to thank him."
In that momment Starswirl turned away, he began to look worried.
"What happened? Starswirl, where is he?"
"He... went to war."
Aster was in shock for a few seconds.
"W-war? What war? I'm not aware of any war! When has he? And against who?"
"This happened while you were unconscious. Actually, it comes from much earlier."
"But... Why there's happening a war?"
"Aster, have you heard of Draconequus?"
"Those people who have a body made of various animal parts?"
"Exactly"
"I've never met one, but I read about in the library once. What about them?"
"The draconequi are worshipers of chaos unlike us ponies that seek harmony. They act almost randomly and not think about the consequences of what they do. The relationship between the pony kingdom and the draconequi has always been unstable, but it's been a long time since we have been managing to keep the peace."
"Then why there is war now?"
"A month ago the king sent a diplomatic delegation to the kingdom of draconequi for further negotiations. Only one of the envoys returned, he told Discord, King of draconequi, ordered the capture of the others and declared war on the ponies in order to spread chaos throughout the world. Since then, preparations were made and yesterday... the army left. And Hurricane, being a general, went along."
The worried expression of Starswirl came back every time he spoke of his brother.
"Starswirl... I'm worried too. For the past ten years Hurricane Sword was the father I never had. But he is also the strongest warrior I know. You'll see, I'm sure in a few months he'll come back with stories of the battle to tell."
"Yeah, you're right. I needed someone to remind me of that."
"So, when do we go?"
"Huh?"
"To the war. You are a high mage, I'm a Lunar Guard soldier, shouldn't we join them?"
"You're not going to the war."
"What? Why?"
"Hurricane gave you the trainings for earth ponies and pegasi. Now, like any good unicorn, you will train to enhance your magic skills."
"But I don't know how to use magic."
"And that's why I am not going either, I'm the one who will teach you."
"Learning from you? That would be a great opportunity and an honor."
"Thank you, and when we're done, and the king has returned from the war, I'm sure he will like to meet you."
It took Aster by surprise.
"The king went too? Wasn't he supposed to send the army and stay here, you know... reigning?"
"He could not, it's part of his legacy, it's in his blood."
"Legacy?"
"Aster, do you know how Equestria was founded?"
"Well, I read a story with three races and..."
"And the books do not always tell the history as it is. Sit, Aster, this story was told to me by the king himself a few decades ago."
Starswirl also sat after picking up more coffee.
"A few thousands of years ago, after Equestria was founded by the three races it did not become a unified country. The races were seeking harmony, but things are not that easy. At that time was not yet chosen a king so the nation's territory was divided into several dukedoms, each dukedom was dominated by one clan and each clan in turn was led by a duke. Battles between clans as attempts to unification were not uncommon and yet they were ineffective as food for wendigos, the draconequi, who wandered lonely at the time, took advantage of it threatening to take the territory of the clans and end up with the ponies. With this in mind the leaders got together and organized a tournament to unify the dukedoms in a single kingdom. Although the history only tells about the participation of three races in the founding of Equestria, there was one more race, a breed known little by the others and that after the foundation was in possession of only one dukedom, right here in Canterlot, this race was the race of alicorns. The tournament champion was the alicorn called Solaris, the Duke of Canterlot. From that day he was crowned King Solaris I of Equestria and Canterlot and, by consequence the king as well as the royal family composed of alicorns, which have characteristics of the three races, was also tasked to perform the cycle of day and night raising and lowering the Sun and the Moon. His greatest achievement as king, however, was to have driven the draconequi of Equestria with the help of the armies of the various dukedoms."
Aster had barely touched the coffee, gaping by the history.
"Wow! So Equestria's first king was crowned on the battlefield? How amazing!"
"Yes, he was, and centuries later, with the death of the first king came second reign with his son Solaris II. The dukedoms were not very confident that the new king would be as good as the previous one, and this led him to be challenged for the throne several times. He beat all challengers irreducibly until the last challenge, defeating a challenger from each dukedom at the same time he had had enough of this situation. At that time he made all dukes swear allegiance to him and the kingdom, and that day was also marked as the day of the founding of the Royal Guard and the officialization of Equestria's Army gathering warriors of all clans. The peaceful reign continued since then and this brings us to our current king, Solaris III."
"But if draconequi were banished during the first reign, why didn't they attack right there, or in the second? Why wait until now?"
"Probably because of the chaotic nature of them, they took too long to join, and that Discord, who they call King, certainly is the most powerful of all. And it is because of this legacy of battles to defend the integrity of the kingdom that the king could not do any less, do you understand, Aster?"
"I do. And now that they have come together, they're probably out for revenge against the heir of him that banished them."
"But as you said yourself, have faith in our forces, we will surely win the war. But enough about that, let's finish setting the details of your training."
"Okay. Wow, study magic from Starswirl himself, this is a chance for a few. And where will it be? Behind the castle, where I always trained, or you have somewhere else in mind?"
"No, it won't, in fact it won't even be in Canterlot, we'll go travel."
"And where would it be?"
"Nowhere, everywhere, who knows? Even thought the pegasi control the weather, most of the forests remain untamed They would be a great place to learn magic because of the strong influence of nature that we receive. We'll spend a lot of time outside so go get your stuff. It is also good to get food and water since you can not know when we will have access again."
"So basically, it'll be a journey into the unknown."
"Pretty much. Learning new things in new places, cheer up. Enjoy the rest of the day, prepare and meet me at the main gate of the walls of the kingdom to depart tomorrow morning."
"Then it's settled."
The two shook hooves, Aster left the house and they began preparing for the trip.
Chapter 3 – End
Son of The Night
Chapter 4 - Friendship
After about an hour setting his stuff up, Aster packed his belongings into a backpack trip that Hurricane Sword had given him for when they went to hunt. All that was left out were his armor and sword.
Looks like I'll spend this night under the moonlight... Aster thought as he walked to the market to buy groceries for the trip. I just hope that doesn't rain tonight.
The market was full as always, but you could walk without bumping into the other ponys. Aster was calmly doing the purchase of food and new canteens, he used the trick of hiding the horn, until something hit his back. When he turned he saw someone the size of a child lying on the floor with a cloak covering the entire body.
“Ouch...”
He offered the hoof to help the stranger to get up and the movement made during the process caused the hood of the cloak to subside revealing the blue furcoat, the light blue mane and the horn in the middle of the mane. Quickly, having recognized who it was, he took her arm and led her to a gap between the shop of a blacksmith and a wall, the seller was too busy negotiating to pay attention to the conversation.
“You Highness, what are you doing here in the market? And alone? Are you alright?”
“I'm fine, I'm fine, the fall hurt a little but I'm fine."
“But why are you walking around alone?”
“I'm not alone, I'm with... Tia! Yes, I'm with Tia.”
“Tia?” Aster asked thinking weird. “You mean Princess Celestia?”
“Yeah... I knew that this idea of disguising the name wouldn't work, as if nopony would put two and two together...” She mumbled to herself.
“But where is Princess Celestia?”
"Well, we were walking together through the market to see the gypsies who have arrived just recently, they always sell interesting things that they take on their trips. Then came a crowd, we got separatted, I started looking for her, I bumped into you and now I'm here. Hey! Aren't you the general's student?"
“Yes, I am.”
“Sometimes I saw you training. What's your name? And where's your horn?"
“My name is Aster and my horn... Well... It's hidden.”
“Uuhhh... I didn't know that you could hide the horn like this.”
“Yeah, I learned by myself, but now, your highness...”
“Luna.”
“Excuse me?”
“You're nice, call me Luna.”
“Erm... Princess Luna... Did anypony else come with you two?”
“No, only the two of us.”
“Then we must find your sister quick. What is she wearing?”
“Why?”
“It isn't much safe for the pincesses walk around the market alone.”
“All right, let's go. She's wearing a cloak just like mine.”
A few minutes by the market later and they found a mare wearing a cloak that also looked for somepony.
“Lu! Lu! Where are you?!”
Quickly the younger princess ran towards the older.
“Tia! I'm here!”
When she saw her sister, Celestia kneeled down to hug her.
“Where did you get yourself, girl? I was dying worried that you could get hurt.”
“I'm fine, Aster stood with me.”
“Aster? Who is Aster?”
“The general's student, over here.” She pointed to him, who, in the very instant, bowed down.
“Your Highness, allow me to escort you back to the castle, it isn't safe for the ladies to walk around the market with no company.
“Oh, please, there's no need for such formality here. But we can't go back yet.”
“But, princess...”
“Luna, stay here a little bit and see if you don't get lost again.”
“Alright, alright.”
Celestia took Aster to a place a little far from where Luna was and talked in a low volume..
“What post did the general put you?”
“I'm a soldier of the Lunar Guard, why?”
"All right, then you know about the war. Look, Luna hasn't the slightest notion of what that means, I myself took long to understand the idea, and knowing that our father is running such danger... it's disturbing. I do not want my little sister to pass through that too so from time to time I do something with her to avoid it. Our mother doesn't know that we're here and I don't want to worry her, so if you can keep it a secret I would be very grateful."
“I... I understand, I shall do as you ask. But still, allow me to accompany you, as a Nightkeeper it is my duty to guarantee your safety so I just can't let you go with nopony to guard you.”
“ALright, come with us, but seriously, do no talk anything about the war when close to Luna.” Celestia turned and talked to her sister. “Lu! Aster is going to walk with us.”
“Yay!!” Luna saind hapilly as she stood in between her sister and her new friend.
“By the way, you told that you are a Nightkeeper, how weird, I thought that all the young ponys from your clan would make the regular training... and what happenned to your horn?”
“Well, it was General Hurricane himself who offered to train me, and about my horn...”
The three chatted throughout the day. Aster managed to make his stock and Celestia managed to cheer Luna up. At the end of the day, with the sun already settin down, they were at a little used side door of the castle.
"This is where we say goodbye, my princess."
"Until next time, Aster." Luna hugged him making him blush (how do you blush under the fur is beyond me to know) and then went to her sister's side.
“Princess Celestia.”
“Aster. So, until next time?”
“Yeah... until next time. But unfortunately it will take long. Tomorrow morning I'm leaving.”
“I know... you will join the other soldiers...”
“No, it's not that... I'll train with Starswirl.”
“The general's brother? Good for you.”
"Yes, we'll travel without set time and he'll teach me what he knows."
“So, for now, farewell. And when you come back, look for us.”
“Farewell, princess.”
Aster turned back and followed his course while the princesses entered the door and disappeared into the shadows.
On the other day, shortly after sunrise, Aster was to the combined location already with all the equipment that he had separated for the trip. Starswirl soon came also.
“So, Aster, are you ready? Be sure that this will be an unforgettable experience."
“More than ready, I spent the whole night thinking about it. Finally, after so much time I will learn magic.”
“Then let's go, the workd waits for us." Starswirl spoke while the doors of the wall opened up. When they were leaving, a voice coming from far called.
"Wait! Aster! Wait!" The figure came running using a familiar cloak and with outstretched arms, another one was behind. Aster soon kneeled down predicting what would come next. When Luna came close enough, she jumped towards him, hugging him and then getting on your her hooves again.
"My princess? What are you doing here?" Although Luna asked him to call her by the name she ended up liking it more when he called her like that.
"Your Highness? You know that your parents say you should not leave the castle alone, even more at this time in morning."
"It's okay, Starswirl, we didn't come alone." Celestia said as she came closely accompanied by a pegasus in dark armor.
"Your Highness." Starswirl replied bowing. "And Captain Midnight Roar Nightkeeper."
"Luna just wanted to say goodbye to her friend, so we brought her here." Celestia continued.
"Aster, since you're a soldier I want to give you a mission." Luna said.
“A mission? And what is it?”
"First I give you this." She took from the cloak a small light emanating sphere.
“This is...”
"It is a shinning orb, I made it myself. This is your mission: I want you to take this orb with you and, when you have learned magic, bring it back. Since the Nightkeepers always fulfill their missions, so I can guarantee that you will return one day to Canterlot."
"Very well, my princess, I shall fulfill this mission." Aster replied guarding the orb in his own clothes.
"Good luck." Luna hugged him again, this time taking a little longer and then walked away.
"So it's really you, Aster."
"Midnight Roar? You became captain? And you stood here?"
"Ten years ago we all made a vow to protect the queen, and with everything that's been happenning, someone had to stay here and protect the royal family. But I'm admired to see you. I remember you so young, gazing upon the night sky, lonely in your corner, now a soldier in training and with the best teachers that the kingdom could offer." Now facing starswirl. "Take care of him, but don't take it too easy or he could end up getting convinced."
"Don't worry." Starswirl answered. "He's not my first student, and I know well how to deal with young ponys."
"In this case, 'till the return."
“Farewell, Aster" Princess Celestia said.
“Farewell, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Midnight Roar.”
And so, Aster and Starswirl followd their path to outside the town, heading to wherever they went.
Chapter 4 - End
Son of The Night
Chapter 5 - Travel
A long time has passed since they left. Aster learned the basics of magic, how to channel mana by the horn, how to achieve the desired effect and everything else that a magician should know. When they passed by a city or a village, Aster hid his wings the same way as he did before with the horn to be able to spend his time as an unicorn but when they were traveling he preferred to stay the normal way. Aster and Starswirl went through forests, caves, swamps, deserts, and every kind of terrain imaginable, and all this time made Aster grow a volumous and messy beard, and Starswirl, whose beard was already long, ended up with it almost touching the ground. Finally, four years after they departed from Canterlot, they arrived, around nightfall, in a village that was starting a big party. At the entrance, Aster spoke to a resident.
"Hi, what's going on here? What is this party?"
"Hello, travelers! Welcome to Ferrundia! (no, I'm not gonna make puns with names of real cities) Ten years ago we found large amounts of iron ore nearby and built a mine, which ensured our survival. Today we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the founding of our village. Come, join us in the festivities, all travelers are welcome."
"Well, looks like we arrived in good time, the best thing to do now is enjoy it." Starswirl suggested.
"Really?"
"Yes it is, dear student. After four years of training, you deserve this rest, go there, have fun."
"By Artemis, four years? I really have no sense of time."
"Hehe..."
"By the way..." The resident interrupted. "Where are you from?"
"From Canterlot." Starswirl took the lead.
"Wow! You have come from afar! A skilful Pegasus takes several hours to make the journey and apparently you came walking, that's what I call willpower. But hey, during your travel have you heard anything about the war?"
At this point, Aster had already joined the other ponies, with a mug of cider in his hoof.
"No, normally we just stopped to resupply, but never heard anything, why?"
"It's just that since it started four years ago, we also had no more news."
"So, as far as we know, it may still be going on. Oh, Hurricane, how are the things out there? "
"But today is a day of celebration. Our village is famous not only by its iron of excellent quality, but also the combats promoted in the central area. Because of the party, tonight we won't have any, but tomorrow, with luck, you will be able to watch one before you leave. Or do you intend to stay longer?"
"Hmm... yeah, we're gonna watch a combat or two."
On the other day, after the party, Starswirl woke up early like the rest of the town, Aster, however, was nowhere to be seen. With a little magic, Starswirl found him in a bedroom of a tavern. The bed on which he was laying was very messy and there was a barrel of cider and some empty mugs used, and only one of them wasn't marked with lipstick.
"Yeah, he had a great time, and he's not used to drinking. This will be good." Starswirl thought while slowly poked him with a stick he got from a tree outside the window. Aster grabbed the stick with a hoof, opened his eyes and looked at Starswirl.
“Hey...”
"Good morning, sleepyhead. Nice party, huh?"
"Ouch, speak lower, my head is exploding."
"Good, very good. That's how it's gonna be. Come with me. "
"What?"
"Come with me."
The noise of the crowd around the town square allied to the hangover made Aster want to kill himself, but he remained strong.
"And that concludes the first fight of today, folks. Anypony else out there who wants to get in the ring?" An unicorn narrator spoke on a stage using magic to increase the volume of his voice.
"We do!" Starswirl screamed and Aster put his hoof on his forehead.
"Very well, two travelers who came to enjoy the party, come closer."
"Starswirl, what's go..." Aster, confused, tried to ask.
"Go ahead, it's important."
"ON THE RIGHT SIDE, FROM CANTERLOT, what's your name, young man?"
"Aster."
"Aster of what?"
"Nightkeeper"
And then, suddenly: "AAAAAASTEEEEEEEEEER NIIIIIIIIIGHTKEEEEEEEEPEEEER!"
"Ooooouch..."
"AND ON MY LEFT SIDE, ALSO FROM CANTERLOT, what's your name?"
"Starswirl."
"And...?"
"Just Starswirl."
"Hmmm... STAAAAAARSWIIIRL, THEEEEE BEAAAAAAAARDEEEEEEEEEEED!"
"The Bearded, huh?" Starswirl looked at his immense beard. "I like it."
"AAAAND... BEGIN!"
"Well, dear apprentice, after all that I think I owe you an explanation. That's the deal: This is your first test, you will fight me, no weapons, just bare hooves and magic, and differently from your last test, you MUST beat me. And by the way, until you started drinking like a camel I was thinking how I was going to get you like that. No offense."
"None taken." Answered a camel in the crowd.
“Now, LET'S GO!!”
In one swift motion Starswirl pointed his horn forward, bringing out a beam of light green energy. The scream made Aster dizzy, but he managed to react in time and summon a shield to stop the attack.
Starswirl continued attacking and Aster summonned shield after shield to defend himself, but the screaming of the crowd made each time more difficult to concentrate.
"That won't do it, I need to go on offensive." And so he did. He launched a volley of beams against Starswirl who retaliated with another, and no matter how much Aster strengthened his attack, Starswirl always equaled his own until the apprentice lost his balance and received both direct attacks on the chest, creating a blinding light and making him fall to the ground.
The master approached to check on the condition of his student when Aster launched a surprise attack that almost hit him.
Starswirl made an attack stronger than the others and Aster held it with another shield, he had an almost impenetrable defense in his favor.
"When your cutie mark shows up, I'm sure that it will have a shield on it."
"I've told you already that i'm here to protect the Royal Family. I need no cutie mark to tell me that."
A new collision of magic, but Aster prepared to intercept the two attacks, this time with a shield, creating the same blinding light. When the light faded, Aster was gone. He used the blindness caused by light to remove the guise from his wings and fly into the sky, where there was nopony to make noise.
"Fine, let's see, how am I gonna do that? A direct confrontation won't work... aw, my head, it hurts even to think? Okay, I'll need to finish it in one single attack and I will come from up here, now... What do I do? Wait, I've seen in the Royal Library something that can help, what was the name again?"
And now, a flashback of Aster reading a book.
"Sonic... Boom... when one flies so fast that exceeds the speed of sound. Only a few dragons have been documented as capable, the act was tried by numerous pegasi, but all failed. The explosion releases immense energy. "
End of flashback.
"That's it, and I don't even need to do it, just to get close enough, but first..." Aster created a new shield. "Shield of movement suppression, it will bring the energy to the ground and I'll come out intact. Let's go."
Aster began to descend faster and faster with the shield ready to be used, the pressure on his face was suffocating, he could feel a incredibly hard wall right ahead. Everypony in the crowd watched as a body approached from the sky and were thinking he would crash on the ground. But when he was sufficiently close, he released the shield that was pointing towards the floor, which took the whole inertia with it. The crash raised a huge amount of dust, giving time for Aster to hide his wings again. When the dust settled down Starswirl was stunned on the floor surrounded by a cage of magic.
"So?" Asked Aster. "Did I win?"
"Yeah, you won."
The narrator was still trying to understand what happened when he yelled. "AND THE WINNER IS AAAAASTEEEEEER NIIIIIIGHTKEEEPEEEEER!"
As the crowd vibrated from the outcome, Aster dispelled the cage and extended his hoof.
"But what exactly was that?"
"Well I combined an advanced technique of flight with ..."
"It's over! IT'S OVER! IT'S OVER!!!" A pegasus came flying from the entrance of the city towards the stage. He said something to the unicorn who used the voice magic on him.
"Attention everypony, we just got the news that the war against the draconequi came to an end AND WE WON!" Everypony in the crowd shouted and cheered, including Aster, who had already forgotten the hangover and Starswirl.
"But... our king is not coming back. He, who went in front of the army, leading the troops, was found dead on the battlefield after the last draconequus have fallen."
All the screaming stopped. For a few seconds there was only the deafening sound of silence.
"OUR KING DIED AS A HERO!" He continued. "And as a hero he shall be remembered. His body is being brought back to Equestria along with the body of General Hurricane Sword who was found under the same conditions."
At the same moment, Aster's mind blanked for a few seconds. When he came to himself, he ran aimlessly until he reached an empty place, Starswirl was close behind. Aster muttered to himself, punching the ground.
"No... no... NOOO!!!"
"Aster..."
Aster turned, they look to each other as tears streamed down the faces of both.
"Starswirl, Hurricane..."
"Yes, Aster. Hurricane Sword died. But he will be remembered by the kingdom as the general who stood beside his king to the end. Now you must not disappoint him. Go back to Canterlot and complete your training, make him proud."
"I'm too close now. Hurricane Sword saw potential in me, he dedicated to me and, to make me become the best warrior and succeeded. I owe a lot to him to just let the sadness put me down and give up. We'll go ahead and when we arrive I'll thank him for everything."
"Very well, Aster. Straighten up, we are to depart at noon."
The two were trying to stay strong despite the loss. They were walking in their respective directions.
"And Starswirl... Thank you."
"No, Aster, I thank you."
At noon they were at the entrance of Ferrundia ready to return.
"So, as I said before, your training begins to end right now and you must take us back to Canterlot. I want to be back in half the time it took us to get here. What do you think?"
"It'll be good, I still have a mission to fullfill and right now I want to do it as soon as possible." Aster said while holding the orb that Princess Luna had given him four years ago.
"Then let's go."
And with that they they put the hoof on the road, in the direction back to home.
Chapter 5 - End