Honor For All

Evening had come quick, with the return of the Royal Protector, the batpony guard ecstatic to say the least. Strife had saluted her fellow feminine protectors in order to leave with the blue unicorn stallion, much to their amusement. They giggled as the two began to trot to a familiar area, caching Strife’s attention due to her specific genetic traits, being a batpony and all. However, she could care less, her best friend that she had known throughout the entirety of training and further was with her once more. As the two walked, they chatted happily with one another, each showing that they were happy to see eachother.

“So, how’s was the trip?” Strife asked with excitement, Dust let out a chuckle.

“Could’ve been better, could’ve been worse, word of mutiny spread quickly but that was all sorted…thanks to me” the unicorn said with a modest smile.

“Really?” she questioned in anticipation, hoping that she was going to hear his story and if it was a long one, well that just meant they were going to spend more time together.

“Yeah, it was rather interesting”

“Oh, I wish I could’ve come along” Strife said with a pouting look, Dust found that incredulously adorable before he took on a stoic look, much to the batpony’s confusion. She glanced at him with concern for a moment as they continued to walk through the castle. Dust suddenly glanced up at her again with a saddened look.

“I failed, Strife…The Griffin Kingdom refused to help…we’re…we’re on our own” at that, the batpony’s lightened face fell from the news. She looked away as Dust continued to stare at her, Strife suddenly stopped in her tracks before the unicorn halted aswell.

“Buck, damn those cowardly hybrids!” Strife yelled with anger, Dust knew she wouldn’t tale the news well but seeing her enraged like this was worse than he thought. She gritted her teeth and stared daggers at nothing, she would’ve been looking at him but she knew what the look in her eyes gave off.

“Strife, don’t worry…we’ll be fine, the princesses are working on it” the blue stallion tried to calm his dear friend. The batpony turned her head away from the unicorn, closed her eyes and began.

“Things have been slowly going to Tartarus right under our hooves, Dust, everything’s coming apart, more and more of the sick are found, rats are spreading like mad, ponies don’t know what to think and to top it all off-” Strife was suddenly cut off by something on her shoulder. Her eyes snapped open in confusion before her head slowly rotated to glance down at the base of her leg. A pale blue hoof rested there, her eyes scanned the foreleg up to the shoulder which was all covered by a familiar jacket. The neck, however, was not. Her slit, golden eyes travelled along the strong form of a stallion’s neck, his pale aqua fur coat was complimented by a short brown mane that covered portions of the back and sides. Up to his head, she stared at his face, large, golden eyes, much like her own stared back in a comforting look. His muzzle was formed into a smile as his eyelids lowered compassionately. Something brewed inside her at that moment, something familiar, the same feeling that had hit her occasionally in the past…the feeling felt good.

“Strife…” he spoke calmly, causing her surprised look to slowly fade into a calm attitude of her own “…It’s alright, we’ll get through this, I promise…” her own eyelids half closed as she moved closer to him while his hoof was still on her shoulder. Her mane was longer than the other batpony guards, it sometimes got in her eyes on occasions, a look, Dust was quite fond of. It was this exact look that she had when she moved centimetre by centimetre closer to the unicorn. “I…” he paused as he felt the mare’s form move ever so more near with passing seconds. “Strife…” he whispered as her muzzle was little more than an inch way, she stopped and stared up and down his face as he stared back into those gorgeous golden eyes. The feel of the metal armour on her chest pressed up on his own, the two slowly tilted their heads to the opposite side of eachother as their lips parted in the same fashion: slowly.

“Dust…” was all she managed to say before she lunged forward, bridging the small gap between them. Their noses made contact as did their lips, both guards’ muzzles pressed firmly against the others as their eyes closed in sheer bliss. Dust felt two hooves wrap around his neck, the new found weight was something to get used to. Strife began to slowly ease her tongue through his and her own lips, parting them gingerly as to savour the moment. The unicorn met the batpony on the entrance and wrestled her muscle with his own. Strife and Dust tilted their heads back and forth as they embraced eachother in a passionate kiss. The two remained like that for a what felt like a long moment before the batpony pulled away as Dust’s eyes groggily opened to see her, biting her lip slightly, almost trying to get an after taste. Her eyes snapped open to reveal a calm and rather sultry look that she directed at the blue stallion. He grinned at her before letting out a chuckle, she giggled along with him before coming to silence and staring into each others eyes once more.

“I really missed you, Dust, I’m very glad you’re back”

“So am I, Strife…I missed you too”

“So…what should we do now?” the batpony spoke in a hushed tone.

“You know I have my own private quarters, right? Ya wanna catch up, old friend?” Dust said playfully with a grin, much to Strife’s amusement.

“Lead the way”

“Dust Storm, if only there was somepony I trusted more to send, so you could remain near…but there is nopony else and the Spy Master insisted that I send you” Celestia’s words echoed through the greyish colt’s mind. He sat down on his recliner, watching the flame crackle in the fire place, because it was lit by his magic, it didn’t produce smoke, good thing too, as there was no chimney to speak of.

“The plague has taken so many and we must have a cure…Twilight and I will count the days until you return, hurry home and bring good news” the sun goddess’s very voice radiated in his head, bringing a cold feeling to come to his senses.

“Dust, you okay?” a familiar raspy yet feminie called from behind him, he turned his head to see the only other pony in then room, his best friend: Strife. The royal protector shook his head slightly to regain focus and tried to give the mare a genuine grin.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just…recalling history” the unicorn said, turning his head back to the fire, the batpony trotted towards the adjacent couch and sat herself down. However, she wasn’t just sitting, she laid there, spread across the couch in a rather sensual position, she grinned at him despite him not looking.

“Anything good? Anything about me?” at that, Dust turned to her, noticing her stance, shock fell over him before a smirk replaced it.

“A few moments, sure” the greyish stallion got to his hooves and walked over to the mare, she rummaged a bit to make room for him all the while, trying to keep her…what she called, her sexy look, at least that’s what she said in her mind.

“Care to share?” she questioned, trying to get him look at her once more, it worked. He turned to answer but failed to as she shot him the best pair of bedroom eyes she had in store…especially for him.

“You were there for all of them, can you think of any?” he spoke, regaining his composure in order to play along.

“Maybe a couple, like earlier today…” with that, she got to a more formal stance, sitting on her haunches before leaning into the unicorn. She pushed him down slightly so she could rest her front hooves on his chest all the while looking down at him.

“Would you like to remind how that went?”

“Gladly…” she almost whispered as she brought him into another kiss.

Celestia’s sun hovered gracefully out from the horizon, coating the land of Equestria in a faint orange glow. Through the window, the light shone proudly upon the two equines, nestled up against one another, sleeping with dazed smiles on their muzzles. Strife’s right wing draped over Dust’s chest as he laid on his back, caressing the mare with his left hoof as it rested around her shoulder. She laid on her side as she rested her own hoof around his neck.

The unicorn’s eyes groggily opened, they focused as he felt something warm and soft on is side, he glanced down only to have a dazed smile plastered on his snout. As the light focused on Strife’s face, her head rummaged slightly into Dust’s chest, she mumbled and yawned before her head slowly lifted up to meet his gaze. Her eyes, heavy and half-lidded, stared at him with her own sleepy grin.

“Mornin’” the blue colt greeted.

“Good morning” replied the batpony. In synchronisation, the two leaned into one another for a kiss before the door to Dust’s quarters flew open. The two lovers looked up in shock to see a rather embarrassed looking black stallion at the door.

“Oh, sorry for intruding but Royal Protector: Dust…” Shadow turned his attention towards the unicorn, of whom was rather stunned with the batpony in his hooves “You’ve been requested into the throne room, Sir” at that, Shadow turned into the hallway out of respect, Strife looked up at the unicorn who chuckled.

“Well, I best be off, then” Dust said with a smirk, turning his attention back to the mare.

“Oh, already?” the batpony put on a pouting look, much to his amusement.

“Yep…” he said as he began to rummage out of her grip up onto his hooves. He trotted over to a chest, his horn glowed that same dark aura before the lid popped open in the same glow. Inside was all his gear, his jacket, his tools, his weapons, everything that he wielded with pride. Dust Storm slipped the sleeves of his coat through his forelegs with his magic as he stood on his back hooves. He sheathed his blade into his jacket before turning to Strife. She got to her hooves when she caught his glance and smiled at him.

“…Gotta go” he said as he walked towards her, she grinned before dashing forwards, pressing her muzzle to his successfully, kissing him.

“Cya tonight, Dust” she whispered, he smirked at her as she beamed back. Wordlessly, he trotted towards the door before stepping out into the hallway. Strife paused and sighed happily before giggling to herself uncontrollably, bouncing up and down as her wings flapped excitedly.

Dust Storm trotted through Canterlot Castle with a grin, despite everything that was going on, he felt happy. He was home with Strife, with new found confidence, the unicorn continued to walk the path towards Celestia’s throne room.

The doors swung open in a black aura, allowing the royal protector to walk through. The solar goddess’s eye fixed on him, noticing his smile, she tried to give her own. It was then when Dust realised that another stallion was there, talking to the princess, a bat-pony guard he recognised…and despised.

“I’ll leave you now, princess” said that voice, the same voice that Dust had come to hate, the voice of the stallion speaking to Celestia. She wore a stoic look as she turned to him, looking down on him before he turned.

“Ahh, Dust, I see you have returned, full of surprises, aren’t we?” he spoke with a hint of irritation, he wasn’t fooling anypony, Dust knew he wanted to hit him, the feeling was mutual.

The colt’s coat was a darker grey than Strife’s as he mane was instead of dark blue, it was jet black. He was old compared to Dust, his voice was scratchy and malicious, it just screamed sinister. The colt’s name was Thunder Cracker, an odd name for a bat-pony but still, this was no ordinary guard on Princess Luna either.

Behold the royal spy master, the princesses most reliable informant and it was this stallion who glared daggers into the golden eyes on the royal protector.

“Hello, Thunder, did ya miss me?” Dust said with a tinge of spite. Before anything else, Celestia spoke up.

“Hello, Dust, how are you this morning?”

“Very good, Princess, thankyou and yourself?” Dust nearly spotted an expression of grief cross the goddess’s face but held his tongue.

“Fine, thankyou, master Thunder Cracker, leave us” she said sternly, most unlike how she normally acted.

“As you wish, princess…” he said in that almost evil tone of his before turning. Dust caught glimpse of a sinister grin on his muzzle before he stepped out of the room, he mumbled something as he walked towards the door aswell, Dust didn’t quite catch it. When the door closed, the blue unicorn caught something rather unsettlingly unusual…the guards were. Not a single stallion or mare in golden armour populated the room, twas only himself and Celestia in the entire throne room. The princess of the sun didn’t quite seem to notice though.

“You wanted to see me, princess?” Dust inquired.

“Yes, sorry to ask for your presence, I know how important your time is as of late…” she replied with rather smug looking smile.

“Princess?”

“I’ve been noticing you and one of my sister’s guards, Dust Storm”

“Oh…Strife? Yeah…I guess I deny it anymore, I suppose” he said with a chuckle.

“Indeed…” Celestia took on a frown before continuing “…In light of the latest news of the sickness, I-” was all she managed before a burst of white light exploded right behind Dust, he turned to face it calmly as the sun goddess looked down at it. The light subsided to reveal Princess Mio amore Cadenza, the pink alicorn of whom sported a long, flowing mane of yellow, purple and pink, it was this very mare that appeared before the two ponies. There she was, in all her majestic, regal glory, from her lavender eyes, to her golden hoof and chest pieces. She smiled at the white alicorn.

“Hello, princess” she said before noticing the unicorn colt beside her “Hey, Dust” she greeted in a less formal manner.

“Hello, Princess Cadence” he greeted.

“Just ‘Cadence’ is fine, Dust, haven’t I already told you that?”

“Yeah, a few times” with that, he rubbed the back of his neck, she gave him a grin before trotting towards Celestia.

“I have word about the ill from the Crystal Empire” she said, suddenly taking on a much more serious tone, Dust remained silent. The two alicorns spoke quietly to one another, the unicorn stood there in respect, not eaves dropping on their conversation even though he probably should’ve. After a few minutes, he looked up to see Celestia nod in understanding of whatever it was that she heard, the pink mare shared a glance with Dust for a moment smiling as she turned away from the sun goddess. She trotted down the steps and approached the blue stallion. She looked down at him with a smile.

“Princess, is everything alright?” he asked, she turned back to Celestia who gave a small nod before turning back to him.

“Nothing to worry abou-” was all she managed before a faint  springing sound caught their attention. Another sound struck, a grotesque impaling sound. The two quickly turned their gazes to Celestia of whom was…sleeping? No, not sleeping, unconscious, Dust observed. Just barely, he could make out the form of a thin vial like object, drained of it’s contents. In surprise, the unicorn was about to say something but was immediately cut off. Cadence quickly took on a concerned look before she spoke.

“Prince-?” at that, time slowed dramatically for the unicorn. Every second felt like an hour in that instant, his eyes widened as did hers, her mouth was agape in surprise as his was in shock. Right there, in Dust’s vision, right in front of him, the pink alicorn’s wings unfurled as her eyes widened further. In reality, this moment might have lasted little over a few seconds but that’s not how he saw it. Something long, something long, thin and sharp protruded from Cadence’s lower neck, red liquid poured from the wound as she went off her hooves, swaying ever so slightly to the right. In an instant, time returned to normal.

Dust quickly turned his head to see Cadence being violently javelined into the wall, she winced and cried out in pain. His looked to his left to see something in the distance, a pony…a stallion. Even from where he stood, he locked eyes with Dust and smiled, lowering something in his hoof. The pony jumped off the ground, revealing that he was a pegasus, his wings flapped up and down as he raised that thing, wrapped in his hoof again. It wasn’t long before Dust knew that it was a weapon, the pegasus glared right down the crosshair at him from the distance and smirked. Dust only had a brief instant to dodge the flying object that propelled in his direction. A thin, sharp, fast arrow quickly shot at him, the unicorn reared up on his back legs, the arrow almost scratched him crossed the stomach. He looked back to see that the pegasus was gone, he glanced over at Cadence of whom was bleeding profusely. The royal protector quickly galloped over to her in fear but before he could reach her, a bazaar pony wearing what looked like a gas mask with an outfit that covered most of her body stood in his way out of nowhere. He quickly noticed her before she immediately pulled out  a sword, in an instant, his horn glowed and his own weapon unsheathed from his jacket.

His sword glowed a dark aura as did his horn, the mare apparently was a unicorn, her horn sticking out from her forehead through the mask. Her horn glowed white as did her weapon. The sound of metal clashing together filled the throne room, Dust grunted as the mare remained silent, their swords, suspended in magic, came into contact with force. Dust managed to get her in a stalemate, their blades scratched at each others’ as they struggled, eventually the stallion swiped her sword away, in her confusion, he quickly plunged the sword into her neck. He retracted it and watched her body go limp on the ground, blood staining the floor. Without remorse, he just glanced at the body for a second before running over to Cadence’s side. He kneeled by her side, trying to see what the damage was, he didn’t get very far.

A green flash clouded his vision, Dust was sent off his hooves, suspended in a magical, dark green aura. He watched helplessly as a unicorn stallion trotted towards him, looking up at him with that same gas mask, his horn glowed the same shade, indicating that it was him who was controlling Dust. He struggled and grunted in the invisible restraints, trying to break free, he watched as the same pegasus colt form before flew into the room, stepping towards the pink alicorn. He paused as he witnessed the horrible act. The pegasus had a tan coat, his mane was brown, not unlike his own but he wore a red coat over his legs and chest. Every detail of the stallion was painted into his mind at that very moment. The pegasus just walked up to her and violently grabbed her mane with a hoof as…he unsheathed a blade from under his wing with his other hoof. She barely had time to scream let alone defend herself as he…mercilessly, plunged the sword into her. She gasped, blood poured from her wound in her chest. He retracted it like it was nothing from out of her, her body fell, limp on the ground, just barely breathing.

Dust nearly cried at the sight, the tow stallions just stood there, one facing the princess, the other looking blankly at him with those large, googly eyes. Another pegasus in the same attire, a mare, flew into his clouded vision. She…was carrying her, Princes Twilight, over her shoulder like it was nothing, she too, was unconscious. She landed on her hooves and looked at the unmasked stallion. The two shared a nod. The pony holding Dust looked back, the two colt’s nodded. In a flash, Dust was released, he fell to the ground but was able to raise his head up quickly to see the three ponies stand next to eachother. The unmasked one smiled at him and spoke.

“Goodbye, bodyguard”

His voice echoed like a curse through his mind.

Before he could do anything, there were gone. No lights, no known magic, they just…faded like they turned into dissolving shreds of paper. Only looking in the direction of the disappearing ponies for a moment, Dust quickly crawled over to the pink alicorn. He lifted the princess’s head up with a hoof placed at the back of her neck as his other hoof covered the bleeding wound, she gasped before looking him dead in the eye.

“Dust…It’s all coming apart…”

“Shhh, save your strength, I’ll get you out of this, I promise”

“No, it’s too late…” she paused as she coughed up a small platter of blood  “Find Twilight…”

“No, no, no, no, c’mon, stay with me”

“Tell Shining…I love him…you’ll know what to do, won’t you?”

“Princess, I-”

“Cadence…My name is Cadence”

“C’mon, don’t do this to me, I have to protect you” at that point, the unicorn’s eyes welled with sorrowful tears.

“You have…I’m glad to have called you my friend, Dust”

“Stop it, stop talking!” blood continued to stain the unicorn’s hoof as he held it there, where the blade impaled her. Of all things she could’ve done, despite everything that was happening, she smiled.

The pink alicorn wore a teary smile on her face as she lifted a hoof to Dust’s cheek, he just stared at her, wide eyed, panting in fear. He clenched his eyes shut, letting the tears ran down his face as she caressed him.

“You’ll know what to do…“ she whispered, Dust’s eyes shot open at the sound, she looked back into his golden irises as she continued to smile. She gasped in a choked voice as she released her hoof from his face, he continued to stare. Her eyes slowly closed as her head rested on it’s side on the ground. “I love you…Shining Armor”

With that, she died. Her last words were to her husband, in the royal protector’s hooves. Dust continued to stare at her unbreathing body, slowly becoming colder as Death’s icy embrace took her. He choked up as he sobbed through his tears. After a few seconds, Dust gently rested her onto the ground, making her looking as at peace as possible. He looked at her for another moment before a loud noise grasped his attention.

A group of guards ran through the open doors, including the spy master. They paused, eyes wide and mouths agape, looking at the dead princess.

“What-…Traitor!” the same old bat pony yelled as he looked at the unicorn with rage “He’s killed Princess Cadence!”

“What?!” Dust yelled before several spears were pointed directly at his face, every guard around him, dressed in golden armour glared at him, daring him to make a move.

“The royal protector himself, ironic” Thunder commented before a pegasus guard came flying towards him.

“Sir, Princess Twilight is missing” Thunder turned back to the blue stallion.

“What have you done with her?”

“Nothing, you bucking idiot, now let me get to Shining Armor, I need to-”

“Take him out! I’ll see you be-headed for this, Dust Storm”

“I’m telling you, It wasn’t m-” the blue unicorn was cut off by a blunt object hitting the back of his, he gasped in surprise before his vision turned black, he fell to the ground, unconscious.