A Promise Not Forgotten

We got back to the castle and Luna instantly went to bed. Technically she should have been asleep half a day ago. Celestia took me to the throne room where Colin waited.

“Sup, man?” I asked, glad to see he was doing better than I was.

“Nothin’ , so how about them gryphons, eh?” He asked in response.

“Meh, they don’t like me very much. Seems they know more about us than I thought, too.”

“Great.” Colin said sarcastically.

“Celestia, mind telling me whats going on?” I asked looking to her.

She motioned for the guards in the room to leave then said, “What is it that you want to know?”

“What do you know about humans? Everypony here seems to know about us already, even you.”

Celestia sighed and looked to the stained glass of Prophet, “You aren’t the first to come to Equestria,” I shook my head knowing the princess would try to hide something like this. “There were two before you.”

“What did they do to the gryphons?” I asked.

“They tried to impose a new peace, but the gryphons didn’t want to side with the changelings who were more than happy to join the alliance,” Celestia said.

“Sorry, Celestia, but they were a little more angry at the fact that I was a human than any alliance. What did the humans do?” I asked.

“One was a true leader, knew what to do to bring our nations together. The other wanted nothing more than to help the first. Together they brought Equestria to a new level of peace.”

“Ok, story time. Start from the beginning, just before they came.” I said looking to the princess.

“We ponies had long since united before the humans came, but the changeling and gryphon nations hated each other and refused to work for peace. Tensions grew and the gryphons exploded in rage, war broke out among the other nations. Towns and cities were pillaged and burned down in the name of war. The two nations were indifferent to our demands for the war to end. The changeling nation was weak and was fought back to their home in the Badlands. The gryphons decided that they should be the only supreme rulers of Equestria but couldn’t beat the changelings in their home. They turned to Canterlot and demanded that we aid them, or they would destroy us too. Just when the war was on our doorstep the two humans appeared, similar to how you two did. It’s not often that humans come to Equestria, but when they do there is always change. They quickly worked their ways close to me, and worked in the guard. Before I knew it, they were leading something they called a crusade. They wanted to achieve the first worldwide peace that we have seen.”

“What were their names?” Colin asked in her pause.

“The second was called Mendax, he was the second in command for the crusade. The first and bringer of our new world peace was called…” Celestia seemed to shudder at thinking of it. “Prophet.”

“Continue,” He said, satisfied.

“Prophet and Mendax lead our guard to a new age of glory and fought the gryphons back to their home. Prophet welcomed the changelings into a new alliance to fight back the gryphons. Many inside their nation knew their end was near and rebelled. The gryphon kingdom was unstable from fighting a war for years and revolutions in their government, and fell. Prophet didn’t conquer the shattered remains of the gryphons, instead he helped them rebuild a new nation based on peace. For the first time in over a thousand years, Equestria was completely united. When all was well, Prophet asked to be turned into a pony, so he could be with me.”

“Then why do they hate me?” I asked.

“When Prophet lost his grip on reality Mendax vanished. Prophet was corrupt and began undermining our peace he fought to achieve. He worked with the gryphons who wanted to rule the kingdom that they though was theirs and rose up against Luna and me. Before he could do any more damage Luna and I purged the evil from him, but he couldn’t take it and died.” I could see that this pained her. No doubt she and prophet were close, but she said they had something more than that. He was a human, that’s kind of weird. “The gryphons that were left without a leader organized and took their kingdom back. They were again threatening a war when you two came here,” She said.

“So you hope we will bring a new age of peace?” I asked. The answer was obvious, but I felt like humoring her.

“Yes, if he did it, so can you. You are different, better.” She said. Better than a renown crusader was a nice complement.

Colin stood staring off into space, like he was solving a new mystery that was just uncovered. “But what does this have to do with Aidan, specifically?” He asked hoping this would clear up his unanswered questions.

“Before Prophet’s fall, he told me that there would be someone far greater and more powerful than he. He said that they would come and rid the world of an evil unknown even to me. I think he was talking about you two.”

Great, now I have to fulfill some grand prophecy? Though it makes sense. I am all the sudden more powerful than I could have ever imagined and the gryphons do hate me. Possibly they heard this prophecy too, and are trying to secure their seat on the throne.

“Celestia, I’d love to help with this prophecy, but I can’t do anything if you hide it from me.”

“I know,” She said with a guilty look. “From now on I will tell you everything.”

“Thank you, Celestia,” I said with a warm smile. I looked to Colin, “How about it Colin? Want to save the world?”

He responded with a smirk, our unspoken symbol for yes.

Our day was spent getting fitted for armor. It was awesome! I even had them make me a makeshift holster for my revolver. They also made me an ordinary sword, nothing like Colin’s. He received a matching set of armor, but with no holster.

“This is awesome man!” I said with an odd level of enthusiasm for having part in a strange prophecy.

“Yeah…” Colin seemed to be disinterested. Ever since our talk with Celestia he was acting strange, as if some horrifying truth was revealed. “Hey, what do you think happened to Mendax?”

I was a little confused by the question, “Well, I suppose he saw things were going south and bailed before things got real.”

“That doesn’t explain it, though. He led the crusade with Prophet, why would he bail just before Prophet changed?”

“I don’t know, maybe he knew something Prophet didn’t, or Prophet told him to leave while things were still ok.” I was hoping that Mendax was a good guy; I really didn’t want to piss off the second in command of a crusade to save the world.

“Maybe…” Colin said looking off into nothing again.

“He knows,” The raspy voice said.

“You need not fear; I have planned for everything. This he can’t escape from,” Prophet said.

“Prophet, the gryphons have discovered his presence and are willing to aid us.”

“Let them do what they do,” Prophet said. “They are not necessary for the plan to take effect.”

I walked alone down the long corridors of Castle Canterlot. The sun was setting now and the moon rising. It was a welcome peace amidst the troubling question that I now have. Am I really the one to bring about this new age of peace? As much as I’d love to talk with someone, I just want to be alone now. I used to think that coming here was a bad thing, but if I am supposed to be the hero of this world, how can I leave. What would they do if I couldn’t save them, what will the gryphons do? So many questions now present themselves that open a door to a multitude of different questions and answers that only take away from the big picture. Why me? What is so special about me, the prophet could have chosen people far more able than me. Something tells me that he knew how I would react; he knows something about me that I don’t. I’ll have to ask him when I end this. For now, it’s time to go to bed.

I was sitting with Luna on the balcony at our usual time. “Do you really think I’m the person the Prophet was talking about?” I asked, hoping to find something to help me.

“Yes, I suppose. Who better than another human to lead Equestria into a new age. Prophet was kind, loving, and would do anything to help anypony, no matter what the cost. It’s hard to believe that he was corrupt, he did so much for us all to fall victim to something we overlooked. He knew about you though, we can rest easy knowing that,” She said.

“That’s what im afraid of. He knew about me before he changed, who’s to say that he won’t use me for evil now?” I asked.

“Aidan, I know you. You will never let that happen. People like you and Colin are the real heroes, who will protect even when they have nothing left to give.”

I have no idea where that came from; I had never shown myself in that light. This princess was wiser than I thought; then again, she is over a thousand years old. “Thanks, Luna. What was Mendax like? Celestia’s story left him out of the picture.”

“Mendax was just as caring as the Prophet, but let him take charge. He knew that if it came to it, Prophet would die to save us. Deep down inside he knew that he couldn’t do the same. Martyrdom is something to both hail and hate. It is a fools way to gain fame,” She said.

“But sometimes it is the only way,” I said.

“You know? You are a lot like the Prophet, before he changed.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Yes, just please, promise me that you will do the right thing.”

“I promise.” Yet another thing I was made to promise, this is becoming a habit of mine. But, hey, if these ponies need me to promise to let them know that I’ll be here for them, so be it.

Luna walked inside to continue her royal duties and left me outside.

I must have dozed off outside under the blanket of night. I awoke to a bright flash of light in the sky. I looked up to see a meteor or something falling to the ground, it was on fire and falling fast. Not big enough to cause any large damage. It was on course for the Everfree anyway, nothing important is there except Zecora. The meteor crashed down in the forest loudly spreading dust and debris around. I have to go check this out, make sure Zecora is fine.