Chapters
Chapter 1: Son of the Nile
Chapter 2: Juggling Feelings
Chapter 3: Hard Landing
Chapter 4: Hidden in Plain Sight
Chapter 5: Luna Eclipsed
Chapter 1: Son of the Nile
"How much longer until we arrive? I'm getting impatient."
"How am I supposed to know? All we have as a guide is the extremely cryptic directions that Ra gave us. Past the heavens and for thousands of my years a land will show itself, full of equine inhabitants with gods of their own, there the hunter shall find his mark. What the hell kind of wild goose chase does he think we have time for anyway?"
"SHUT UP! You do not disrespect the all mighty Ra. Besides, we wouldn't have needed his directions if your men had watched the Eye of Horus like they had been ordered."
"You're correct my lord, forgive my ignorance. I'm just saying he could have given us a little more to find this planet. Sure equine species are horses and ponies, but there isn't a single planet in our system where they are the main species.
"That is why we left our system, you may not understand the words of Ra, but I do. The heavens represent all that is within our sight, our star system for example. To go beyond the heavens we must travel farther than any have gone before. Ra is the god of light, so his years are light years, and for thousands we must travel. I am going to my room, wake me if another message comes through, it's obvious you haven't the capacity to handle it.
"Good, feel the magic build up inside of you. Allow it to become more potent, to develop a form of it's own, yet one you still control." Bo barked his orders at Sweetie Belle, the strain of holding back such a large amount of magic made the young filly experience extreme pain, tears began to form along in her eyes as she began to grit her teeth. "Wait for it, wait for it. NOW! RELEASE IT NOW!"
"Inceration Iteration!" Relief quickly spread across Sweetie's face as an intense blast of purple flames shot from her horn, her lush dual coloured mane was blowing in the back blast of the force. Finally the flames launching from her horn subsided, the ground around the pair was left scorched, and the target they used was nothing but a pile of ashes. "Did I do it? Did I get my cutie mark?" Her voice squeeked at moments as she asked the question on her mind.
"Afraid not kiddo," Bo stepped forward, wiping the soot from Sweetie's horn, his long golden hair pulled back to keep it out of the way. "But that was really good, if you keep improving like that there's no way it won't appear soon." He stared down at his young friend, his blue eyes shining with pride of what he'd taught her. He stood up slowly, looking towards the skies and enjoying his moment of peace. "That's enough for today, let's get you home." Bo didn't even wait for a response, he knew todays lesson had been tough, and as he expected Sweetie was right by his side the whole way.
When he arrived home at Fluttershy's cottage it was getting late, the shy yellow mare had already eaten and was reading a book in the foyer.
"Oh You're home, a package came in the mail for you. I set it in the kitchen for you." Bo didn't know what she was reading, but it must have been good, she didn't even look up when she spoke to him. Fluttershy could hear Bo walk into the kitchen, and she didn't hear anything for a couple minutes. It crossed her mind to get up and check on him, and as she walked into the kitchen herself she heard Bo loudly express his displeasure with the package he recieved.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS? He wants me to protect this worthless piece of Egyptian stone?
"What use is this to me or the gods?" Bo was furious, he didn't mind being used as a warrior, but protecting a piece of anchient stone was too much to ask.
"Why don't you like it? I think it looks pretty neat." Fluttershy spoke up, Bo could barely hear her, but he knew what she meant.
"It's not that I don't like it, it's the fact that it has some kind of weird magic coming from it, and I don't even know what it is, the paper literally just says, 'protect this magic relic', that's it." Bo thought about it for a moment, slowly an idea began to form in his head, once complete he knew he had to just shout it out. "Twilight! I'll bet she could tell me what it is." In his mind a more perfect plan could not have been made.
"Uhmm, but it's really late. Don't they you think Twilight will be upset if we wake her up for this." Fluttershy didn't want to bother her friend this late at night, she was trying to force the idea onto Bo, but she was just to shy to make herself seem absolute.
"What? Twilight won't be upset, she loves all of this stuff."
"You woke me up at two in the morning to ask me about a rock?" The lavender unicorn was very unimpressed, she was sleeping well which never happened as she was always fretting about something.
"Well, yeah, I just figured you wouldn't mind." Bo put on his most sincere smile and ran his fingers through his golden locks.
"Oh no, I don't mind being woke up in the middle of the night because you got some rock in the mail. I hate sleeping." Twilight rolled her eyes underneath her bed mussed mane. "Come on in and let's see what we can find." She led the way and shut the door behind her friends, trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes.
"All I know is that it's a magic relic, and it looks egyptian in design. If this thing does something I want to know, especially if it's useful."
"Egyptian? Well let's see, Eating in Las Pegasus, The End of The Age of Chaos, Erasure: Defining The RG and UG, ah here it is, Egyptian Relics: A Product of Human Mythology." Twilight used her magic to pull the book from the shelf, opening it and flipping through quickly, trying to get Bo to leave so she could go back to sleep. "Let's see, Ra's Anch, The Tears of Isis, Thoth's Golden Feather, The Book of The Dead...the only one that looks anywhere near close is this, The Eye of Horus. It says here that it's only been found in heiroglyphs that tell the tale of a man who can see through any lie, but has never actually been found, for more information see Combat Magic: An Overview of Egyptian Power." Twilight raised her head from the book and peered over at Bo.
"Oh me?" He was a bit confused at first but then he walked over to the bookshelf and started looking. "It should be under 'C' right?"
"Technically yes, but I don't have that one, we'll have to go to Canterlot if you want to know more." Twilight put the book back where it was and walked towards the door.
"I see, how pleased do you think Celestia will be to see us this late at night?" A mischeivous grin spread across his face.
"Oh no! When I said go to Canterlot, I meant tomorrow. I'm going back to bed, and you guys are going home." And with that Twilight opened the door and began to walk towards the stairs.
"Right, so see you tomorrow then?" Bo was a bit let down as Twilight didn't answer, but he and Fluttershy left the library and returned home to sleep. It was a calm and peaceful night, and Bo couldn't wait for the morning.
"There had better be a good reason for waking me up in the middle of a nap!"
"We're approaching our destination sir."
"Are you sure?"
"There is no sign of communications and the primary species appears to be ponies, I'm fairly certain this is where we need to be."
"Good, set down near a castle, or whatever they build. I want to make this quick and easy."
Chapter 2: Juggling Feelings
"Have you found it yet?" Bo was getting impatient, Twilight had been searching the library all morning and hadn't found the book about Bo's relic.
"No I haven't, don't you think this would go a little faster if you helped?" She was a little angry that Bo wasn't helping, he was the one who wanted the information.
"Help?" Bo laughed just a bit. "I'm a prince Twilight, I can't risk getting dirty." Twilight rolled her eyes as she kept looking for the book, she knew Bo was only joking, but the fact that he would even bring it up made her a little angry.
"Here it is," she said as she took it from the shelf and brought it over, blowing the dust from the cover. "Let's see what we can find." Anxiously she opened the book, flipping through pages quickly to find the one she was after.
The Eye of Horus
The Eye of Horus is a powerful support type relic which enhances The Eye of Ra. Support type relics similar to The Eye of Horus cause extreme side effects when paired with their proper Soul Glyph. Examples include the pairing of the Leo Pendant and Taboo Glove in which the effected becomes obsessed with math and takes on an extreme physical change known as a "Taboo Form" as shown below.
While pairing Balmung with Odinic Age Runes creates an excessive amount of strength as well as an uncontrollable rage. It is unknown what effects are caused by combining The Eye of Horus with The Eye of Ra as the two have never been used together in recent history. The Eye does, however, possess power of it's own much like other support type relics, but it's single effects are also unknown as it is believed to have been destroyed during the first crusade. Anthropologists and Egyptologists believe that looking through the center of the eye reveals the truth about ones surroundings, but as previously stated this is unknown.
"There, are you happy?" Twilight sounded content, as if just knowing what it might do would be enough to soothe Bo's appetite for knowledge.
"Happy?!" Bo couldn't believe what he heard, how could he be happy without trying it? "Just hold still, I want to see if you're hiding anything."
"NO!" Twilight forgot her setting as she shouted at Bo. "We don't know what that thing really does, there's a mirror over there if you really want to know but don't use it on me!"
The two just looked on for a second before Bo walked off on his own to the mirror. Slowly he raised the relic to his eye, focusing through it's clear glass at the image in the mirror, watching intently to see if anything would change. He was ready to lower it when the image in the mirror began to swirl, parts turned to smoke as Bo's figure grew shorter and shorter, it grew an extra set of legs and black fur all over it's body, brood lines marking it as a dragon, yet it's form was looking more like a pony. Bo glanced back briefly, expecting someone to be standing behind him, yet there was no one. Slowly he lowered the relic, not wanting to look forward any longer. Twilight looked over to see the pale look on his face as his knees began to buckle underneath him as he collapsed to the ground. Twilight rushed in behind quickly and used her magic to catch him, slowly lowering him to the floor, a blank stare on his face as he mumbled to himself. "I'm a dragon, that couldn't have been me. It couldn't have been me..."
"Bo snap out of it!" Twilight was back to shouting as she slapped him with her hoof, leaving an imprint on his cheek.
"Woah! I'm back...I'm good...stop hitting me." His sentence was broken, he was still in shock from what he saw, but he knew it couldn't be true. "On a side note I think we should lock this up, I don't want to use it anymore." Bo rubbed his face where Twilight had hit him, he sat there thinking not caring about his surroundings.
"Twiley! Were you just gonna come to Canterlot without visiting me again?"
Bo looked up in time to see a white stallion wearing a guards uniform approach. Twilight looked up as well, a face of elated surprise spread across her face.
"Shining!" Twilight quickly left Bo's side to run over to him, jumping up and down in circles in joyfully. "I didn't think we'd be in Canterlot this long, besides I figured you'd be busy being the captain of the royal guard and all."
The stallion just smiled, looking past Twilight at the friend she left lying on the ground. "And this must be that "special somepony" you keep telling me about in your letters, but to be honest I thought he'd be a stallion, not a human."
"No! Shut up!" Twilight jumped in his face, waving her hooves defensively.
"Special somepony?" A smirk shot across Bo's face as he began to stand up. "Why didn't you tell me you were interested in my Twilight, it would've made this moment a little less awkward for you."
Twilight started to laugh weakly, embarrassment seeping on to her face. "Okay so I may have exaggerated our relationship a little bit in my letters."
"Just a little bit." Bo walked over to Shining and stuck his hand out. "Bo, Dragon prince of Draconia, a pleasure to meet you."
Shining looked at Bo, checking him up and down before putting his hoof in Bo's hand. "Shining Armor, Twilight's brother and captain of the royal guard. So if you don't mind me asking, what is the prince of Dragons doing in Equestria without his own guards?"
"Well, truth be told, I've never actually been to my kingdom. You see the humans stole me before I hatched from my egg and tried to use me as military hardware. When I didn't cooperate they banished me here, I just can't seem to find a way home, of course why would I? This is such a beautiful land, no violence, everyone is friendly, I wish Earth had been more like Equestria, perhaps I would have been able to find a family there." A look of sorrow replaced his smile." But enough of pushing my issues off on you, captain of the guard must have it's fair share of issues itself."
Shining looked at Bo with a grin, he'd finally found someone who would likely understand. "Try an evil queen feeding off of your love to try and take over Equestria."
"That sounds rough, but I can sort of relate. The humans just wanted me to take over entire worlds, they didn't bother feeding off of me, they just fed me false information and said 'aim that way.' Never could stand the thought of killing someone that did nothing to me."
"Well I'm glad you two are getting along, but we probably should head back home to Ponyville." Twilight finally found a chance to chime in. "After all it's a long trip and I have to open the library in the morning. Besides Bo has to..." Twilight stopped as the entire building began to shake with a deafening roar, scrolls fell from the shelves, barely missing the group of three. "What's happening Bo? Is it another Drake?"
"No, there isn't any magic in this, it's something else entirely!" Even Bo was scared, he had no idea what was causing the sudden shaking. That's when they saw it, a large space cruiser with Eagle's painted on the side. It was flying really low, barely passing over the near by mountains. Once out of sight the rumbling quit, the trio looked at each other before Bo spoke. "Well that can't be anything good."
Chapter 3: Hard Landing
"Aileda pull up! Come on pull up!"
"I'm trying my prince, two of our main thrusters have blown and the ailerons are all locking up."
"Diverting auxiliary back up power to the crash avoidance systems!"
"No good, that last mountain was too high, we lost our bottom freezing!"
"We're going down, repeat we're going down. Mayday Mayday, AVC 299 Eagle's Regalia going down, no emergency systems active, royalty on board! Repeat Mayday mayday, AVC 299 Eagle's Regalia going down, no emergency systems active, royalty on board!"
"Ground closing, 500 meters...400 meters...300 meters..."
"Brace yourselves! Things are about to get bumpy!"
The cruiser passes slowly out of view leaving the trio standing in the library, wondering what it was. Bo slowly began to turn around as Celestia burst through the library doors, "Bo what's going on?" She sounded angry, it was just a week from the Summer Sun Celebration, she couldn't have anything going wrong now.
"This time I don't have a clue, but as low as that thing was flying I imagine it was either landing or crashing, and when was the last time something went right since I got here?" Bo ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed his cheek, he was trying to hide it, but it still hurt from where Twilight tried to wake him up moments before.
"Well what are you waiting for? You convinced me last time that I could trust you, now get out there and find out what that thing was, the Summer Sun Celebration is next week and I can't have any anything ruining the festivities!"
"Fine, I'll go, but just for the record I'm not doing this because I like you or anything. I'm only going because I'm friends with your sister." Bo crossed his arms and tilted his head back trying to emphasize how childish he was trying to act.
"Quit goofing..." Celestia was cut off as a scratchy sound came from Bo's pocket.
"Day...day...down...royalty...day...day...down...r oyalty..."
"Well that was a bit cryptic," Bo slowly pulled a phone shaped object from his pocket and began to quickly navigate it's system, tapping and sliding various prompts. "Okay let's see, cut out known channels, focus search range west north west, increase search strength to account for the mountains...and...replay!"
"Mayday Mayday, AVC 299 Eagle's Regalia going down, no emergency systems active, royalty on board! Repeat Mayday Mayday, AVC 299 Eagle's Regalia going down, no emergency systems active, royalty on board!"
Bo looked at the group that had assembled, thinking of what to say before he opened his mouth. "At least we know they're crashing, now I just need to figure everything else out." Bo sat down and raised his hand to his brow, speaking his thoughts to the group to they could keep up. "Royalty on board is one thing, but it might be something we can ignore and let it be. AVC 299, VC is a Vector Cruiser, but what Sector in that cluster has Vector technology?"
Twilight stepped forward and interrupted Bo's train of thought. "Slow down, what's a Vector Cruiser?"
"A Vector Cruiser is a vessel capable of jumping dimensions, kind of a man made way of manipulating The Edge. It's how the humans found us, the only problem is that Vector technology is unpredictable, where a Dragons natural ability to do the same thing is certain. Dimensional code states that any space cruisers must be marked with a single letter that delineates the native Sector, two letters defining the ship's class, and a three digit code stating the cluster it's native Sector is in. Most Sectors even attach a name to their ships, like..." Bo immediately raised his hand up and face palmed. "Like the Eagle's Regalia. I'm such an idiot, that cruiser is from Av-atria, a desert planet that profits from sending out VCs in trading caravans." Bo stood up abruptly, shaking his head in disappointment. "Alright we need to go now, Shining I want you to come with us, you're the captain of the guard so it's your call if anything seems threatening towards the princesses, you give the word and I'll exterminate it."
Shining looked on at Bo, then over to his sister who seemed just as shocked as him. "That seems kind of harsh don't you think? We can't just go rescue royalty and then kill them."
"It's what I'm no telling you that makes the difference, Av-atrians are powerful magic users, gifted individuals such as royalty can watch a spell once and master it on their first attempt. Some have even taken advantage of this and become pirates, stealing precious treasures from various lands and selling them to another. I wouldn't be surprised if they kidnapped a member of the royal family just to get first access to landing locations. These pirates are never peaceful if cornered, so we need to be prepared for every possibility."
"Well it seems you three will be quite busy, but I have confidence that everything will be just fine. Twilight you'll act in my place, if what Bo says is true than it is too dangerous for me to join you, if everything seems to be fine bring them here. The fate of Equestria is once again on your shoulders Bo, get out there, and don't let me down." Celestia nodded to all of them as they walked past her towards the door, ready to face anything.
"Aileda...Aileda can you hear me?" The young prince began calling to his crew, trying to find someone to comfort him in the burning debris of what was once a beautiful cruiser.
"I ...hear you Nero...are you...okay?" Her sentence was broken, pain made itself evident in her voice.
"Aileda, I know...that sometimes I can be a bit of a jerk, But I want...you to know that the whole time...I've kept a secret love for you..." Nero slowly tried to stretch his hand towards the sound of Aileda's soft voice but the debris had fallen too far making the crevice to tight for his arm to reach. "I can't...I can't reach you, but it's okay, we're gonna be just fine." Nero pulled his hand back and began to feel around himself, checking for injuries he hadn't felt yet. He seemed mostly unscathed, maybe a couple of broken ribs, and his leg was caught under a steel beam, he definately wouldn't be using that for a while. He lay there under the debris, waiting for a rescue. The time was passing slowly, and with is so was Aileda, Nero didn't want to face it, but deep down he knew. Every time she tried to speak he could hear her voice grow weaker and weaker, she was dying, and soon he would be alone. Suddenly Nero could hear another voice, but this one was new, he listened close and thought that there might just be a chance for Aileda to survive.
"Over here, I see it!"
"Hurry, there might be people still inside."
"Twilight give me a hand with this piece!"
Nero could suddenly feel the pressure being lifted from him as the metal sheet that once lined his ship was lifted from his body. He had been sitting in the dim light for so long that the mid day sun blinded him as he was slowly freed from the wreckage, his limp body easily lifted onto the back of what felt like a horse which led him away from the crash site before setting him on the ground. He lay there, it hurt to move and he still didn't know who had rescued him. As he waited in silence the conversations of his saviors could be heard as they talked about the event. He still couldn't see, but from what he could tell there were two males and a female, he listened as they spoke.
"Dammit! If I had known it was just a royal transport we could've been here faster."
"That doesn't mean it would have done any good."
"Twilight's right, most of the crew have pieces of steel through their bodies, even if we had been faster he still would've been th"e only one to survive."
The only one to survive, it hurt Nero to hear that, even more than it hurt to move. He rolled onto his side and used his arm to push himself onto his good leg which he used to rise to a standing point. Slowly he limped towards the crash, towards Aileda, there just had to be a way to save her. Bo saw him start towards the crash site as he rushed over and began to help him sit back down.
"Woah there grizzly bear, let's take it easy for a moment. Do you realize you just survived a crash that probably would've killed me?" He looked at Nero and could see the pain in his eyes, he knew what to do. "Let's start by taking the pain away, then we can talk." He stood up directly, focusing his mind until his eyes went from a deep, endless blue to a bright yellow. "Paranemista Valo!" Suddenly a cascading array of yellow light cloaked the clearing as Nero's bone's mended themselves in a matter of seconds. "Now, allow us to introduce ourselves. I'm Bo, Dragon prince of Draconia."
"I'm Twilight Sparkle, I'm here representing princess Celestia." Twilight raised her head and stretched out her neck, acting as if she was royalty herself.
"And I'm Shining Armor, captain of the royal guard." Shining was a bit more modest with his introduction.
Bo looked back to Nero and began to speak again. "So now that you know who saved you, tell us who you are, and more importantly why you came here."
Nero took a deep breath before he began. "I am Nero, prince of Av-atria. My crew and I came looking for an important relic. Ra told us that we would find it here, guarded by a man shrouded in lies."
Bo knew the relic he referred to, he stood there and offered out his hand to assist Nero in standing. Slowly he walked over to the wreckage, examining all that was in sight. "You know this is going to be a bitch to clean up right, all for this little piece of stone and glass." Bo held the relic in his hand, taunting Nero.
"That's it! You have to..."
Bo quickly cut Nero off as he handed him the relic. "Take it, I didn't want it to begin with."
"Wait, you were the one protecting it? You are the man shrouded in lies?"
"If that's what all of this means than yes, I am the man shrouded in lies."
Nero stood there, staring at Bo. Slowly he raised his hand, bringing the relic to his eye. "You can't lie to your friends anymore Bo, you have to start telling them the truth." The relic began to glow as Nero removed his hand, power emanating from it's glass center. He began to chant in a language Bo had never heard. "Oko bogova braniti istinu tvoju, rane nalazi svom snagom mora umiriti. Oko bogova braniti istinu tvoju, rane nalazi svom snagom mora umiriti." The light grew brighter and brighter before flashing out across the crowd, cloaking the entire crash site in a warming glow. The light continued for several moments before it began to fade. Everyone slowly gained their vision back, all looked around the site, trying to figure out what had happened.
"Bo? Bo where are you?" Twilight shouted as loud as she could, she looked around the crash site, but Bo was nowhere to be found. "Bo, please, I need you. Where are you?"
Chapter 4: Hidden in Plain Sight
"Hey take it easy! Don't I get diplomatic immunity or something?" Nero's complaints were made clear to everyone as he was drug into then throne room and thrown to the ground.
"Immunity? You just killed one of my sisters friends, you don't deserve immunity."
"I didn't kill Bo, how many times do I have to tell you that?" Tears began to form in his eyes as he was accused of killing the man that saved his life.
"Then where did he go? If you didn't disintegrate him than why wasn't he still at the crash site. Why would he just leave?" Twilight was in Nero's face yelling. She missed Bo already, she wanted to believe Nero but Bo was still nowhere to be found.
"I don't know!" He lowered his head, weeping softly as tears rolled down his face. "All I wanted to do was take away the lies, to let him be free of all the things he was hiding. I didn't expect him to disappear and I'm sorry that he did, but I didn't kill him." He kept his head hung low as the tears continued to flow.
The entire room continued to stare at him, waiting for someone to respond to his statement. "Let him up." Celestia spoke as she stepped from behind a curtain, walking over to Nero slowly, her presence exuded confidence and trust. "I made the mistake of not trusting Bo over our first impression, and he has been one of the biggest factors in keeping Equestria safe since he arrived. I'm certain Nero will find his place all the same, and eventually Bo will return to us."
Twilight stared at her teacher, a look of shock was on her face with just a hint of joy. "But how can you be so sure? Bo was nowhere around the crash site."
"Bo's journey isn't finished yet. In the time that I have known him I've seen him grow to be a better man than I expected, but he still has many things to learn. If he is alive he will return, if not for the lessons he has yet to learn he will return for the friends he has made, the friends he will make, and especially the few friends he will never forget." Celestia turned and began to walk towards the door. "I need to finish preparations for the festival next week. Help Nero get situated, I have a feeling he will be here for quite some time." She then proceeded to walk out the door, meeting a hooded stallion who followed her down the hall, talking her through various things.
"You're certain that everything will be alright for the festival? I can watch and keep guard from the shadows most of the time, but you'll be completely in the open next week. What if you-know-who returns? What will you do then?" His deep voice spoke the words on his mind, he truly cared about Celestia.
"That's what your job is for the next week, I want you to keep an eye on her. Don't be obvious, just ensure that everything is going to be okay, and if there's a chance of her changing then stop it from happening. It's simple really."
"It will be as you've asked." He finished his sentence by slamming his hoof into his chest and walking off.
Celestia continued down the hall alone, speaking to herself as she went. "Quite the turn of events, I really do hope everything works out for Bo, he may be embarrassed about himself, but I find him very likeable this way. Perhaps the festival will still work the way I imagined it, she really needs this to be complete." She kept walking still, this time silently as she tried to sort out her inner thoughts.
"And this is Sugarcube Corner." Twilight was busy showing Nero around Ponyville, she didn't want to do it but Celestia had asked her to do so.
"OH MY GOD! I've never seen you before, are you new in town?" Pinkie Pie suddenly showed up out of a vase in the corner, her wild pink mane flopping up and down as she jumped excitedly around the room. "I'veneverseenyoubeforewhichmeansIdon'tknowyouandI knoweveryonewhichmeansthatyoudon'tknowanyoneandtha tmeansyoudon'thaveanyfriendsandifyoudon'thaveanyfr iendsthenyou'relonelyandAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Pinkie froze and stretched out her body as she took a deep breath. "A PARTY!" In the blink of an eye Pinkie dashed off out of sight to prepare for it.
"That was, well, an experience. Is this an every day thing for her?"
"Maybe once a week, but her parties really are the best I've ever seen." Twilight took the chance to look out the door, hoping Bo would walk in to order his usual Friday night snack for him and Fluttershy but he never came. As she and Nero left Sugarcube Corner they could hear a commotion coming from down the street, they focused on it as a tall man walked down the street, brown hair flapping in the breeze like a flag behind him.
"Where the actual fuck is that asshole Bo, one of you pathetic creatures must know, or do I have to start burning this little town down until you tell me?"
There was another Drake terrorizing Ponyville while trying to find Bo. Twilight was going to step forward and tell him to go away, that he wasn't here, but Nero beat her to it. She stared up at him, she knew he did it because he was truly sorry, the look in his eyes said it all.
"He isn't here, I made sure of that, but I hope you'll settle for me." He made it a point to state that Bo wasn't there, hoping that would be enough to make him leave, but as Nero looked on he could see it was a failed attempt.
"Not here you say? Cut the bullshit, I know he's here, I can sense his strength somewhere nearby, so stop hiding him or I'll kill you, it's as simple as that." He stared at Nero, a hand out to his side, ready to strike. They stayed there for a moment, trying to intimidate the other into giving in.
"Töfra langur sverð!" The spell was shouted out loud by both as huge swords of pure white light flew through the air, clashing into each other, creating a blast that sent the two sliding back from each other, both still standing.
"Well well," said the unknown assailant. "Looks like we have a weapons master in our presence. Names Kambei Higariama, Gladiator class Drake." He stood up straight, his weapon resting at his side.
"Nero, Eagle prince of Av-atria." In an instance Nero rushed back into the action as Kambei retaliated with his own barrage of attacks. The weapons slashed and clashed hard, singing a song of war with each stroke. For what seemed like an eternity the two attacked each other, the brawl pushing one way then the other, neither gaining any real ground.
"Let the light shine!" suddenly a bright light flashed in the sky and planted itself between the combatants as a hooded black unicorn jumped between them, staring at Kambei. Wings of light adorned his back and faded into nothing as he raised his head, glaring at what seemed to be his target. "You come to this land and threaten it's inhabitants, you strike fear into their hearts. You are not ready to live in paradise, you must be vanquished for the good of this nation." He raised his horn straight in the air, a white aura cloaking it. "Light of the bound soul!" His horn sent out another flare, disintegrating Kambei in an instant. The light faded and the unicorn stood there in silence as Twilight approached him.
"Thank you for saving us, but who are you?"
He turned slightly, never looking Twilight in the eyes while he spoke. "I am but a humble guardian, I protect this land at any cost, but to you I am nothing more than a whisper in the darkness." His final words were a vague message as he disappeared in a way similar to sand blowing in the wind.
Twilight stood there, wondering what the message meant as the sun began to fade in the distance. There was something about this guardian that seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite name what it was.
Chapter 5: Luna Eclipsed
The eve of the Summer Solstice had finally arrived, the festivities stretched throughout the entire day. There were parades, games, parties, and a feast to satisfy even an entire army. Everyone enjoyed the day, everyone except Princess Luna. The ponies of Equestria had all gathered to celebrate her sisters sunlight, yet they still shunned and neglected her beautiful night. She felt alone in the world, as if nopony truly understood her. So there she sat, alone in the Ponyville library. The festivities had been moved there after Luna's return the previous year.
"Luna shouldn't you go out and enjoy the festivities?" Twilight walked in from the kitchen, bringing a glass of fermented cider to the saddened princess. "I mean today is dedicated to your sister, aren't you proud?"
"Dedicated to my sister? You are mistaken my dear Twilight, today is dedicated to my banishment. Why would I be proud of that?" Luna sighed and took a long drink, feeling the alcohol in it begin to warm her body and alleviate her worries. "If anything I should be furious that this is still celebrated a year after my return." She closed her eyes as she lowered her head, she exuded anger and discontent as she drank slowly in the library.
"Perhaps it is a little disrespectful to celebrate something like this, but most ponies have grown up with it. These days it really is about your sister."
"It is as I feared, you too do not understand my problem. I thank you for your kindness but I must leave." Luna stood slowly, stumbling a bit from the drink as she walked towards the door.
"Luna I think you should stay here, you've had too much to drink tonight, stay here and sober up for a little bit, please?" Twilight was begging the princess to stay, but she could tell it wasn't going to do any good, Luna walked out the door and used her wings to take to the sky, disappearing from sight. "I didn't think so, but I sure hope she doesn't do anything drastic."
It was a wide clearing that Luna decided to land in, it actually looked a lot like Bo's proving grounds, minus the angry demons of course. She stood there, thinking silently to herself. Deep down she knew what she wanted, she wanted every pony in Equestria to love her beautiful night, to embrace it and shun the day instead of the way they've lived for centuries. She also knew there was only one way for that to happen, and with the Elements of Harmony in hands that can use them there was no way she could succeed, yet she wanted it more that anything before. Slowly the thought filled her mind, began to take the form it had not held in a year. "Yes, I will overpower my sister, I will outlast the Elements of Harmony, and I will bring forth the eternal night! Muahahahahaha!" She began to laugh maniacally as she stood alone in the forest.
"Now now, let's not go out on a hostile conquest my dear princess." Slowly the hooded black unicorn walked from behind a tree, speaking without revealing his face. "I've been watching you by your sisters order, I must admit you lasted longer against the hate then I had projected." He walked circles around the princess as he spoke, never making eye contact with her as he waited, he knew he could discourage her from bringing an eternal night, but he didn't want to use his ultimate trump card.
"Oh, so this is what my sister does to show her love, she doesn't end this disrespectful celebration, but she can have somepony spy on me? All the more reason for her to fall."
"Now hang on a second, your sister loves you and felt like you were being neglected. She knew that someone who cared about you and respected you should make sure you don't do anything crazy."
It was at this time that Twilight and her friends had gathered to hide outside of the circle. They sat there watching as the two had their heated debate.
"What do you mean by somepony who cares about me? The way you worded that makes me think there is more to you than you're letting on." She stared at him, waiting for him to explain.
"Okay fine, there is. When we first met I was at odds with your sister, you left a note at my feet saying that you trusted me, that we would speak and here we are." He raised his hooves up and pushed back his hood, revealing a face that was unknown, but one that everypony recognized. "When I showed up you had faith in me to do the right thing, that everything would fall into place for me and you were right." Bo stood there staring deep into Luna's eyes.
"Bo!" Luna rushed forward, wrapping her forelegs around his ponified body. "I...everypony thought you were dead."
"No, I was merely waiting, your sister thought that you would have thoughts of becoming Nightmare Moon again, that this time you would be more powerful than ever before and bring harm to the ponies you want to respect you. So let's think about things before you go off and make a mistake."
"I have, the ponies don't love me, they don't respect me, I deserve everything my sister has but I don't get any of it."
"And getting rid of the sun is going to change that? The ponies need the sun to grow food, to see where they're going. Now let's think of what you're night does for them, at night the ponies rest safely, trusting in you to protect their dreams not haunt them."
"Then why does nopony love me? If they need me than why do they act the way they do?" Sorrow was showing deep in her azure eyes.
"I do, ever since I first saw you I have. It's just that you're a pony, and I'm..."
"You're what? From where I stand you don't look any different from me, and if I'm not mistaken I wouldn't be you're first pony love." Luna stared at Bo, waiting for a response that wasn't coming. "And you can't even hide behind a fear of dating royalty, you're a prince yourself remember."
Bo stood there staring at Luna, he knew she was right. Almost everything he hid behind before was gone. Finally he formed the sentence he'd wanted to say this whole time. "You're right, I have no more excuses to hide behind, no more running. If you'll take me, I'd be glad to love you more than anypony before me, and I'll never leave your side when you need me."
The moment between them lasted as the crowd grew outside the circle, eyes shining in the darkness like bulbs of green and yellow. The demons Bo needed to face were all at bay, no longer able to harm him. "Deal." Luna's statement was heard loud as the two embraced each other, their warm bodies pressed tightly against each other as the crowd burst into cheers. A single kiss between the new couple was the last show of affection before the two flew off into the waning night, lit by a sun more beautiful than Luna ever thought possible.
"So zetta boring. These are the zeros I have to erase? This is gonna be easy as π."