A Promise Not Forgotten

Aidan:

“So what do you say we head back on to my camp? Then we can get Rainbow and Pinkie back,” I said.

“Sounds like a plan,” Firefly said, following me through the alleyways back to the outskirts of town. After a few minutes of walking she said, “So what got you into this mess?”

“Heh, I have no idea. I got possessed a while back, then when I woke up I was free, but Celestia still didn’t trust me I guess,” I said. It must have been around midnight at that time; I couldn’t see a thing.

“And the other two humans?” She asked.

“They’re my friends from back home. They would never leave me,” I said. I let out a long drawn out sigh, “It’s my fault they’re in this mess.”

“Why do you say that?” Firefly asked.

I looked at her with a half-smile, “I was the one who got involved with Prophet in the first place.”

“Really? You mean, he’s really back?” She asked. I could hear the worried tone in her voice.

“Yeah, but he isn’t how ponies remember him. He’s different. Sure his morals are questionable, but the big picture is what counts here,” I replied.

“And what’s that?” She asked.

“The plague,” I said.

“Plague? What plague?” She asked, worry lacing her voice.

“That’s just it. The reason I killed all those gryphons is so that it wouldn’t spread to Equestria. As soon as you come to border towns and cities like these, you start noticing that everypony is sick.”

“Oh my. That’s why you did it?” She asked, slightly scared at the confirmation of her fear of me, but also scared because of the revelation of another thing to worry about.

“Yeah. Prophet didn’t give me much of a choice. His less than favorable reputation kept him from telling the princess, so he took matters into his own hands,” I said as the two of us neared the edge of town.

“There isn’t a cure?” She asked.

“None that we know of. After I was, shall we say, threatened by the princess, I was told to head south to the uninhabited southern wastes,” I responded.

“Really? All the way down there? What is there anyway?” She asked.

“No clue, but apparently it’s supposed to help us,” I said with a shrug.

“Wait Celestia told you to go there?” She asked.

“No, someone a little less... pony,” I said, really hoping to avoid naming him.

“Less pony, what does that mean?” She asked, completely confused.

I rolled my eyes, “Prophet…”

“What? No way! Why are you still working with him?” She asked.

“As I said before, he needed help to stop the plague. I’m the only one who was willing to help him,” I replied.

“Can he hear us talking?” She asked, slightly unnerved.

“Every word.”

“I can even speak too!” Prophet said ominously.

Firefly jumped, “WHAT?”

I sighed, “Come on now, we should keep quiet.”

“Then is it true? I want to hear it from you, Prophet!” Firefly said with a smile.

Prophet audibly sighed, “Yes… I controlled Aidan to kill the infected to save the healthy. Celestia doesn’t trust me anymore, so I had to resort to things I wouldn’t normally do.”

“Wow… that’s just… wow,” She said. “After all this time, you’re actually good?”

“Well good is a strong word… very limiting indeed...”

“Let’s just say he has good intentions and leave it at that,” I interrupted.

Firefly and I approached the camp. She was tired from staying up all night waiting to talk with me. “So we’ll sleep here?” She asked through a yawn.

“Hold on,” I said, stopping her before we got to the camp. “Tell me where Rainbow and Pinkie are.”

“Aidan, I…” She started.

“I have to do this now. I just can’t leave them with those damn bounty hunters. You know what they’ll do…” I said.

She nodded in understanding, “There’s a safehouse of the other side of the border in the town down the road. It’s the building with an eye on it.”

“An eye?” I asked.

“Yep. Listen, do you need me to come with you?” Firefly asked.

“No… It’s not safe there,” I replied.

“I can fight too ya know!” She said, stomping a hoof.

“I know, just… I can’t let you come, ok? Get some rest. I’ll meet you near the tree line on this side of the wall in the morning,” I said.

“Ok,” She said. I turned and started walking away. “Good luck!”

I looked back, “Won’t need it!” I said with a grin before I started a sprint.

Firefly walked to the camp. A smoldering fire pit was in the center of a ring of tents. It would have been a peaceful sight, had the situation not been so dire. Upon arriving she noticed that everypony was sleeping. Everypony that is… “Who the hell are you?” Colin quietly asked as he hopped off a nearby rock.

“A friend!” She said albeit quietly. “My name is Firefly!”

“You should leave, now,” Colin said, trying his damnedest to be threatening.

“You’re not very good at that… Aidan is much better,” She said with a smile.

“How do you know Aidan?” He asked, reaching for his sword.

Firefly responded, “Hold on a sec… I helped Aidan out of trouble with some bounty hunters. He crossed the border to go get some of your friends. He said he would meet us on this side of the border tomorrow morning with Rainbow and Pinkie.”

Colin let go of the sword’s handle, “Why would he go alone?” He asked.

“I don’t know. Probably because he doesn’t want anypony else to get hurt. He already blames himself for this whole mess,” Firefly answered.

“Why are you here?” Colin asked.

“Aidan said I could stay here… Please, I don’t have anywhere else to go! Celestia already took my family and burned my home!” Firefly said. She tried as hard as she could to forget what happened, but she will forever be haunted.

Colin’s eyes opened in shock, “Really?”

Firefly nodded as tears welled up in her eyes, “Don’t make me leave… please.”

“Alright, you can stay,” Colin said. “Wait, where is Dan?”

“I don’t know… He wasn’t there with Aidan,” Firefly said.

Colin couldn’t help but feel terrible because he inadvertently caused this pony to cry, “Why don’t you take Aidan’s tent for tonight. Hell he never uses it anyway, won’t miss it,” Colin said with a welcoming smile as he pointed to the empty tent. Firefly slowly walked past Colin to the tent.

“Thanks,” She said.

“No problem,” Colin replied before walking back to his own tent. He knew that nothing could stop Dan, and it was unlucky if it tried to stop Aidan, so he went to sleep.

Aidan:

I stopped sprinting when I reached the tree line. The amount of guards was halved at night. That made for an easy crossing. Simple in and out, no problem. At the checkpoint there were five guards and two patrolling on each side.

“Wait a minute…” I said to myself, noticing their strange stillness. I edged my way along the buildings of the town until I was close enough to clearly see the guards. None of them were moving, not a single muscle. “Wait… frozen? Fuck… maybe Dan found out too.” Even though Dan had killed before, and was ready to again, he left these guards alive. Each guard was held to the ground with ice, and wore a mask freezing their mouths shut. I left my place of hiding and crept closer to the wall. When the guards noticed me they started struggling to get free of their bonds. I slowly approached, seeing the terror in each of the guards’ eyes. Standing there in the middle of the checkpoint I was surrounded by the ponies I thought I fought for, but now they fear me.

I stepped closer to one particular guard who had given up on struggling. I reached a hand up and shattered the ice mask. The guard looked at me with ever growing fear in his eyes. “Please… Aidan,” He started. “Don’t do this. Remember who you used to be.” My mind returned to the ruins, to the patrols, to the warehouse. I killed so many ponies. My hands started shaking, and my legs grew weak. I collapsed onto my knees. “You’re better than this!” The guard said. His voice was unmistakable. I looked back up to him.

“I’ve killed so many without a second thought…” I said while staring into the guard’s scared eyes. “What makes you think I’m better than this?”

“Aidan, that’s not who you are! Remember back in Equestria! When you saved Ponyville from that dragon!” He said. “That’s who you are! You’re our protector!”

“Then why do I kill those I should protect?” I asked.

He fell silent. It was a good try, but nothing can save me now. “Aidan…” He said. “Aidan… Is Twiley ok?” Shining Armor asked.

I looked back down to the cold ground, “Yeah…”

He closed his eyes and muttered something I couldn’t hear. “Can I see her?” He asked.

I returned my gaze to him once again, “Can I really trust you now?” I asked. “You’re the leader of the guard I have been so ruthlessly murdering. How do I know that you won’t take her away?” I asked.

Tears welled up in his eyes. “Aidan, the elements of harmony have been charged with treason. Celestia wants to kill her now. I can’t let that happen…” Shining said.

“There’s no backing out of this you know. Once you join us, there is no going back. Any life you still have is gone,” I said. “And if we fail, we will all die.” I said with eyes cold as stone.

Shining Armor nodded, “I know what Celestia can do, Aidan. And I know what you have done, believe me; we are safer in your hooves.” Shining said.

As I feared, Celestia has indeed been corrupted. “And what if I have a hard time believing you?” I asked.

“Ask one of them!” Shining said nodding towards the other frozen guards, who were still struggling free of their bonds.

I let out a low chuckle, “Don’t worry, I believe you…” I said while raising a hand. Light shot out and struck every guard but shining. I leaned in closer to him, “If you even think of betraying us, you will end up the same.” I said as shining watched the life from his guards slowly fade away.

“We have to go get Rainbow and Pinkie back first…” I said before standing again.

“Why? What happened?” He asked, trying his hardest to forget his guards as we walked through the gate. “Are they hurt?”

“Could be…” I said as if it was unimportant. “Some bounty hunters caught them in the night. I tried to find them but they were taken to the other side of the wall while I was knocked out.”

“Knocked out?” He asked.

“It can happen,” I defended as we walked.

On the other side of the wall was a long unlit road. Way off in the distance, through a forest, I could see the glow of another village. “That must be it,” I said before breaking off into another full on sprint.

“What exactly are we looking for?” Shining asked, having trouble keeping up with me.

“A building with an eye on it; apparently that’s their hideout,” I said.

“An eye?” He asked.

“That’s what I said…” I replied.

The town itself reminded me much of a slum back home; homeless lying on the ground begging for bits and everyone else keeping to themselves. I chose to keep my distance for now. I have no idea what a nation run by gangs would do if they found out I was lurking. I’d rather not give them the benefit of the doubt though, just to avoid any potential inconveniences.

Shining and I kept to ourselves near the edge of the town. “Hey, listen. This needs to be a quiet thing and walking right up in there lookin’ like this isn’t quiet,” I said. “Here’s a chance to prove your worth. Go in there, and look for this building with an eye on it. I’ll keep watch on that hill over there,” I said, pointing to a hill to the north of the village. “If something happens, I’ll be there. You just need to not die in the meantime.”

“Thanks for the confidence boost…” Shining said as he looked to the corpse of a town.

“When you find the building, leave and come get me. I don’t want you running in there alone. And for God’s sake loose the armor, that’s a dead giveaway,” I said.

Shining sighed as he removed his gold plated armor and set it on the ground. “Hey, Aidan…”

I looked at him expectantly.

“Thanks…” He said. “For keeping Twilight safe…”

“Yeah yeah,” I said, waving a dismissive hand. “Hurry up now, don’t want to keep her waiting, do you?” I asked.

Shining gained a determined smile and turned to walk into the village.

“How long before he blow’s it?” Prophet asked.

“Five minutes… tops,” I replied.