You know. I had a plan. I really did. But the more I thought about that plan, the less it made sense. As during the writing process of this chapter, I had set something up unintentionally. Which was a shock. But hey, I ran with it and now I have something to look forward to. Enjoy~! (Oh, I also don't know how to write short chapters without it being suuper awkward. So this one's a lil' long. Sorry :D)
Chapter 2: Nightmare Moon
Yamano was bracing herself with her scythe against the nebulous storm that was Nightmare Moons power. Try as she might, she couldn't gain any ground, and the raised ground around her was starting to crumble from the levering force. The guardian started to formulate a plan, but her thoughts were cut short by the mayor yelling to the guards.
"Seize her! Only she knows where the princess is!" She said in a panic. At once, a squad of armed pegasi guards flew in from the sides. Nightmare Moon glared at them in disgust.
"Stand back, you foals!" Her eyes started to glow, and the storm of nebulous energy grew even more powerful, causing lightning to strike within the building and knock away the guards.
Yamano started to lose her nerve, as the platform she was standing on had started to crumble even further and started to list off down towards a cowering pegasus. She released her grip on her scythe, dropped down to the ground as fast as she could, and enveloped herself in a vibrant white light, originating from the opposite side of her horn as usual. As the platform collapsed, the rubble came bearing down upon Yamano like an adult dragon had just fallen onto her. The various stones and bricks making up the platform bounced off to the sides after colliding with the thin layer of light acting as a barrier. She turned her head to find the pegasus unharmed, although she couldn't tell if her eyes were skewed out of fright or if they were naturally that way.
"Derpy! You okay?! Come on, move!" Rainbow Dash had flown over and started dragging the unfamiliar pegasus off towards the door, before whirling back around to start pursuing Nightmare Moon again. The alicorn in question simply cackled, before bringing the powerful storm to herself, and vanished into it. The impatient, and rather angry, pegasus flew off at full speed to try and catch it, as the rest of the town hall was emptying.
Glancing about, Yamano tried to gather her bearings and find Twilight. After a few moments, she caught the unicorn staring with a look of shock towards where Nightmare Moon had vanished. She tried to grab Twilights attention by placing a hoof on her shoulder, before speaking with an air of urgency. "What now?" There was no response. "Twilight?" again nothing. She tried again, this time shaking the oblivious unicorn. "TWILIGHT?!" The third try seemed to snap her out of a stupor. Twilight looked back towards Yamano; whose face was contorted in a picture of rage.
"We need to find out where the Elements of Harmony are. NOW." Twilight spoke unsteadily, telling Yamano that this is the worst thing this pony has ever experienced.
"Then MOVE! We're wasting time just standing here!" Yamano snapped out, letting her anger get the better of her, before running out of the building. She was using her unnatural agility to its fullest, trying to get every possible perspective she could to make sure no-pony else was in danger. She eventually saw Rainbow Dash hovering nearby, who looked like the world was about to end. Yamano caught her gaze, and gestured her head towards the Golden Oak library, inviting her to join them. Rainbow nodded back and flew off to gather her friends. Yamano rolled her eyes, some of her anger finally leaving her. 'I hope I don't regret doing that.'
Yamano was feverishly searching the bookshelves for any hint on the elements. Twilight had gone into the other room to put her dragon friend to bed, so she wanted to get a head-start. After Twilight had re-entered, she started pulling multiple books off the shelves at a time, causing many of them to fly across the room, landing hard against the floor and walls.
"Elements, Elements, Elements, UGH. How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?!" Twilight was yelling at herself at this point. Yamano tried to go over to calm her down, but Rainbow Dash came flying right up into Twilights face before she had the chance.
"And just what ARE the 'Elements of Harmony'? And how did YOU know about Nightmare Moon, huh?! Are you a SPY?" Rainbow Dash was bombarding Twilight, not giving her a second to think. Yamano stepped up fiercely to Rainbow Dash's side, utilising her assassins malice to its full extent, warning the impertinent pegasus to back off. She quickly complied. Soon after, Applejack walked up.
"Simmer down, sally. She ain't no spy. But she sure knows what's goin' on, dontcha Twilight?" Applejack walked up to Twilight, the rest of her friends following closely behind. Twilight looked about the group, before hanging her head. She was about to speak, but Yamano was having none of it. She stood directly between Twilight and the five ponies accosting her.
"Everypony stay right where you are. I have no idea about you all, but from what I have seen, Twilight is going through a lot of stress. I'd dare say this is the most dangerous, fear inducing incident she has ever been a part of, so what right do you have to start demanding all this information from her?" Yamanos voice had darkened to a growl, causing everyone, even Twilight, to take a step back. Fluttershy bolted to the opposite side of the room, and Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie all looked at each other with a concerned look. Rarity, after having Yamanos scars revealed to her, understood the alicorns frustrations. She stepped up to talk.
"She didn't mean anything by it, dear. But I can assure you, this is just as stressful and scary for us. We simply want to know WHAT is so scary for us right now, you see." Rarity spoke with conviction. "We will apologize if we have caused any undue stress for Twilight, but right now, she is the only one who can settle our minds."
Yamano looked at Rarity while mulling over her words, before turning slightly to look at Twilight. She had a glint of determination in her eyes, as she was considering what she would say next. Yamano sighed and stepped out of the way. Twilight looked up to speak.
"I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her! But I don't know what they are, where to find them, I don't even know what they do!" Twilight was speaking hurriedly, obviously still scared out of her mind. Yamano was looking over the group but couldn't see Pinkie Pie anywhere. The brief silence that had fallen over the group was suddenly cut short by said pony, who had wandered over to a bookshelf.
"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference guide!" Twilight immediately rushed over, bumping Pinkie Pie out of the way.
"How did you find that?!" Twilight asked in awe as her protector moved to stand next to her. Pinkie Pie started bouncing past.
"It was under E~!" she said in a light-hearted tone. Yamanos anger vanished rapidly after this and gave a slight chuckle.
Twilight merely looked down a bit and said "Oh…" before pulling the book off the shelf with her magic. She opened it and started searching the book.
Yamano looked down at herself, and noticed she was still wearing the blue and red outfit Rarity had given her. She looked over to the fashionista, and to grab her attention, waved in front of her line of sight. "Could I get some help? I need to change." She started absent-mindedly fiddling with part of her clothing.
Rarity took a moment to grasp what she was asking. "Of course, darling." Both ponies headed to the back room, earning the attention of Rainbow Dash.
"And where are you two going?" Rainbow demanded, cutting in front of them both.
Yamano was about to forcibly remove the antagonistic pegasus, but Rarity put up a hoof. "It is a private matter, Rainbow Dash. One that you would not quite understand given the circumstances." Rarity spoke with dignity, before looking back to Yamano and smiling. The alicorn only nodded in agreement.
Rainbow Dash flew in place for a second, failing to glean why they would need to be alone, but eventually caved. "Alright then." She turned her attention to Yamano. "But if you do anything to hurt her, I swear-"
Yamano simply glared directly into Rainbow Dash's eyes, causing her to promptly stop talking. She tried in vain to hide her animosity. This caused Fluttershy to squeak in fear from somewhere to their right, causing Yamano to flinch in regret. Eventually she calmed herself and back towards Rainbow Dash, this time with a look of purpose. "Unless any of you do something to earn my wrath, you all shall remain unharmed. After all, it is my duty as a protector to guard my charge and her friends with my life."
The sudden shift caught Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy unawares. Rainbow Dash struggled to come up with something to say, before giving up and just waving indignantly. Fluttershy looked towards Applejack, looking for advice, but the orange pony merely shrugged back. Without saying another word, Yamano walked into the back room, followed by Rarity, who immediately set about undressing the struggling alicorn.
A few moments passed in silence as the unicorn calmly worked. A short while later, she spoke softly. "So, you are sure you wish to keep your heritage a secret, then? It might save a large amount of trouble in the future if you told them early."
"I understand, but if Twilight were to find out, she would cease treating me as a guardian, and instead she would see me as a royal. After all, the only other alicorns I know of right now are Celestia, and her lost sister." Yamano muttered wistfully.
Rarity stopped in her tracks at the guardians words. "Sister? I was unaware Princess Celestia had a sister." Yamano rolled her eyes.
"I was only told about her because my king is paranoid. He never believed she would be gone forever." Yamanos expression shifted at the mention of her king. "Our kingdom prides itself on its extensive and accurate collection of history. Even for kingdoms we have no ties to." She stopped to consider the situation they were in. "It's just… odd. The description I was given is remarkably close to how Nightmare Moon looks. It might just be a coincidence, but it seems too unlikely."
Her train of thought was cut short by Rarity, who was chuckling to herself. "You're sure it is your king who is the paranoid one?" She seemed unconcerned as she started neatly tidying away Yamanos outfit. Yamano sighed and started massaging one of her wings.
"Alright, maybe I'm paranoid too." She conjured her original black cloth and leather outfit over herself and summoned her scythe in preparation. Instead of carrying it around in her mouth like usual, she slotted it into a few small metal fixtures on the back of her clothing. She turned to Rarity, who had just finished storing her work. "let's go see if they found out where the elements are."
As the duo entered the main room of the library, the rest of the group had gathered around Twilight, who had settled on a page in the book. Glancing around, Rainbow Dash beckoned them both over to get a closer look. Rarity stood next to Twilight, while Yamano decided to take a position on the opposite side to Fluttershy. After everyone had gathered, Twilight began to read a passage out of the book.
"There are seven Elements of Harmony, but only six are known. Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, and Selflessness, the last being an augment to the rest. The seventh is a complete mystery, and it is said the last known location of the six elements is in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now…" Twilight paused at the last word. Everypony gathered in closer for a better look, before speaking in unison.
"The Everfree Forest?!"
The unlikely group had headed towards the foreboding forest mentioned within the book. One look at this place set most of the ponies on edge, except for Twilight and Yamano, the latter of which felt a strange familiarity with the way the place loomed. Without stopping, Yamano started to head towards the forest, followed by an excited Pinkie Pie.
"Whee! Let's go!" The crazy pony could hardly contain her happiness that they were going on an adventure. She was quickly cut off by Twilight.
"Not so fast." Pinkie Pie skidded to a halt, and Yamano looked back with a tired look on her face. "Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really prefer it to just be me and Yamano who do this." Twilight looked determinedly towards the forest, before Applejack chimed in.
"No can do, sugarcube. We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone." Twilight visibly cringed at the use of the word 'friend'. "We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple."
Pinkie Pie exclaimed in excitement. "Especially if there's candy apples in there." Twilight looked at her in with scepticism. "What? Those things are good!"
Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash all started to move ahead of the group, but they had their path interrupted by Yamano, who put up a hoof.
"If you're joining us, let me go first. I'm the most suited to handling a dangerous situation." Yamano looked back towards the trio. Fluttershy didn't seem too bothered by her presence for once, but Rainbow Dash looked annoyed.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever! If anything happens I'LL be the one to protect everyone, just watch me!" The pegasus boasted. Yamano merely stared right into her eyes.
"And if you're the one who needs protecting? What then?" Yamano spoke as calmly as she could, attempting to hide her growing annoyance with the brash nature of the speedster.
The sudden question made Rainbow Dash hesitate, before speaking with as much certainty as she could muster. "Then I'd just get myself out of danger! Simple!" Yamano gazed towards the ground, her frustration building further. Within the blink of an eye, the guardian leaped back, using her agility to reach the shadows at the treeline. With a sneer, she seemingly vanished into the darkness. "Wh- where'd she go?" Rainbow looked concerned, and slightly terrified.
"Right here." Yamano had appeared right next to the frightened pegasus and whispered directly into her ear.
"WAOH!" Rainbow Dash yelled at full blast, causing Fluttershy to jump in terror, and the bigshot pegasus flew high into the sky in a reflex reaction. Yamano walked back towards the forest.
"See what I mean? You're just as terrified as the others. I'll take point, you follow. Agreed?" Yamano looked back expectantly at the now petrified pegasi. "AGREED?!"
Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash nodded their heads slowly. The tension was under-cut by a chuckle from Applejack. "Who'd have thought the way to get a point across to Rainbow would be scarin' the livin' daylights outta her."
They had been walking through the forest for a long time. Yamano was ahead, flitting between the shadows in the trees, keeping an eye out for danger, while everypony else was huddled together in a loose group, looking about feverishly. The silence was only broken by the wind pushing past the unsteady branches of the wild trees. Eventually, nerves got the better of Twilight, who was the first to speak.
"So… none of you have been in here before?" She whispered cautiously.
"Oh, heavens no! Just look at it! It's dreadful!..." Rarity squealed back. Applejack nodded her head.
"And it ain't natural. Folks say it don't work the same as Equestria." She muttered worriedly. Twilight looked terrified.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She was cut off abruptly by Rainbow Dash, who had bounced back well from the scare Yamano had given her.
"No pony knows!" The cyan pegasus spoke in a wispy voice, while hovering out of the darkness of a nearby tree, heading directly towards the group. She touched down onto the ground, and started stalking towards Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who all looked creeped out. "You know why?"
"Rainbow! Quit it!" Applejack spoke in a greatly annoyed tone.
"please, stop." Yamano spoke under her breath.
"Cause every pony who's ever come in…" She paused for effect. "Has never… come… OUT!" she yelled out the last word, causing the three ponies to jump up in fright. Before anything else could happen, the ground underneath them crumbled and fell away, causing all seven to yell in surprise. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy managed to catch themselves before they started falling and started hovering in the air. "Fluttershy, quick!" Rainbow Dash flew off towards their plummeting friends.
"Oh, my goodness, oh my goodness!" The timid pegasus flew forward to keep up.
The five of them were sliding down a hill towards a cliff edge. Rainbow Dash managed to catch Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy caught Rarity and helped her slow her descent. Applejack gripped a nearby tree root with her teeth, leaving Yamano and Twilight still slipping. Yamano grasped her scythe, slamming it into the hill, skidding to a stop, but Twilight continued falling. She managed to stop herself hanging half over the cliff edge, barely managing to hold on. Glancing at each other, Yamano and Applejack both let themselves continue down towards the precipice.
"Hold on! I'ma comin'!" Applejack tried to call out as calmly as she could.
Yamano followed her up. "Try not to move! You'll only loosen your grip!" As both ponies started getting closer to the struggling unicorn, Yamano struck the ground with her scythe again to act as a grip for both to hold on to. Applejack held onto Twilights hooves as tight as she could, using one of her back legs to wrap around the back of the exposed portion of the blade to steady herself.
"Applejack! What do I do?!" Twilight asked desperately. Applejack and Yamano stayed quiet, for they couldn't think of anything. After a while, something caught Applejacks eye, and gave her an idea. She looked directly at Twilight, and calmly spoke.
"Let go."
Simultaneously, Yamano and Twilight spoke in shock and annoyance. "Are you crazy?!"
"No, I ain't. I promise you'll be safe." Applejack responded with a pleading look. Twilights eyes shrank.
"THAT'S not true!" Twilight was getting more and more desperate.
"Now you listen here. What I'm sayin' to you is the honest truth. Let go, an' you'll be safe." Applejack had a concerned look on her face. Yamano was having none of it.
"And I thought I was the insane one!" She grabbed Twilights left hoof and started trying to pull her up, to little avail. "Are you gonna help me?!" The ground underneath her started to shift, and she almost careened off the edge right then and there.
"Quit it! Just quit it! She'll be fine! It'd make things worse for us if both o' y'all end up like this!" Applejack looked harshly towards Yamano, who froze in place. After a while, she spoke.
"This had better work." She adjusted her grip back onto her scythe, before finally seeing what Applejack had so much faith in. before she could process the new information, Twilight closed her eyes and dropped off the edge of the cliff. She started screaming all the way down, before being stopped in her tracks by both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, who were now carrying her in mid-air. She sighed in relief, before suddenly lurching downwards as the grip of the pegasi wasn't too great.
"Sorry girls, I'm not used to holding anything more than a bunny or two…" She apologised timidly.
Yamano was looking down at the scene, when Applejack started to scale down the cliff using a few outcroppings of rock to stop herself rom falling. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were already down there as well. 'Thank goodness. Well played, Applejack.' She thought to herself, relieved that nothing worse happened. She dismissed her scythe and conjured up a set of metal claws that fitted over her hooves. She started climbing down the cliff, driving the claws into the rock and managing to find purchase, so she had no chance of falling straight down. When reaching the base of the cliff, the group aside from Yamano gathered together and started heading towards the rest of the forest. The alicorn however was keeping an eye on the surroundings again, before spotting a familiar looking mist of nebulous energy, which flew off in the direction they were about to head. 'Nightmare Moon was the one who destroyed the platform… Figures.' She decided that keeping the claws out right now would be more beneficial, as the forest wasn't a good place for a scythe.
As the group continued forward, Rainbow Dash was bragging and retelling her perspective on the cliff fall, much to the annoyance of Twilight. Applejack decided to catch up to Yamano, for a question was on her mind and it wouldn't leave. "So, Yamano. What'd ya mean when ya said you thought you were the insane one?" Applejack asked, treading carefully to not sound offensive. Yamano merely shook her head in resignation.
"There is a myriad of reasons I say so. I won't give you all the details, but my mind isn't exactly… stable anymore. If you really, REALLY want to know some details as to why, I'll give you some of them. But I'd rather not." Yamano spoke in a rush, firing off the answer almost as quickly as Pinkie Pie would have. She sighed, and side-eyed Applejack who was thinking to herself.
"I'd be lyin' if I said I wasn't interested. But only if it ain't too hard for ya." She spoke a little quietly, hoping she wasn't overstepping. Yamano sighed, and gave a look that said, 'you asked for it'.
"Then I'll tell you." She spoke bluntly, then spent a few more paces thinking on what to say that wouldn't reveal everything. She was trying to piece together an answer but threw away that idea and just went with something basic, but true. She spoke with purpose. "…Torture."
Immediately, Applejack gave a look of shock directly towards Yamano. She opened her mouth to say something but decided against it. Yamano shrugged. "Two years of it, to be exact. Every day." She sighed at the prospect. "Every day it got progressively worse. Seven hundred and twenty-four, give or take a few dozen, straight days of torture. And I can remember every second of it." She decided telling the world that she was an assassin would complicate things even further, so she didn't mention anything before her prison sentence. Eventually she looked back towards Applejack to see what she made of her confession.
Applejack spent a long time thinking after that. Every now and then, she looked to be about to start talking, but quickly stopped herself and continued thinking. This went on for ten minutes, before she finally figured out something to say. "Ah can't even begin to imagine what that's like. Two years, ya said?"
"Yeah…" Yamanos voice trailed off as a singular image appeared in her mind. A ghastly looking sceptre, with a pulsing dark sapphire, set in bones. Her self-suppressed memories of the pain this cursed object caused bubbling up to the forefront, causing her to falter in her movement. She instinctually grasped at her concealed scar on her left leg with her metal claw gauntlet and tried to shake the feelings out of her head. Her eyes were held tightly shut, almost as if she was re living some of the pain itself.
Realising Yamanos discomfort, Applejack put a hoof on one of her shoulders. This seemed to snap the ailing alicorn out of her delusion. She spoke quietly. "I'm sorry if I made ya remember somethin' bad. That wasn't my intention." Yamano waved a hoof in dismissal.
"It's not your fault. It would have happened on its own eventually anyway." She muttered through a long sigh. She picked up her pace a little, as she wanted to be alone. "I'll check ahe-"
Her words were abruptly cut short by a loud crashing sound coming from a distance in front of them. She whipped her head around fast, to see a looming shadow of a creature. Everypony present stopped in their tracks as it stepped into the light. It had the head of a lion, wings of a bat and tail of a scorpion. Twilight immediately recognised it and yelled out to the group. "It's a manticore!" As she finished, the manticore roared at the group. "We've gotta get past him!" As soon as she was done talking, the manticore lurched forwards towards the group, bringing its paw down to attempt to strike Rarity, who ducked out of the way and countered with a kick.
"Take that, you ruffian!" She yelled out in pride. But the manticore seemed unfazed and roared directly into Raritys face.
"Don't antagonize the thing! It'll only make things worse!" Yamano called out to the now panicking unicorn. She rushed in front of the manticore, who was starting to pursue Rarity, and glared with all the malice she could muster directed directly towards the manticore. This caused the beast to hesitate in its step, giving Applejack a chance to jump onto its back.
"Yeehaw! Git along, little dogie!" Applejack seemed to be enjoying herself as she rode on the manticores back.
Fluttershy meekly called out to the group to stop, but no-pony was listening.
Eventually, the manticore managed to shake off the orange pony, causing her to go careening off towards Rainbow Dash. "All yours, partner!" She spoke with a hint of glee as she fell back towards the earth. The blue pegasus saluted back, and flew off towards the manticore full speed, causing Fluttershy to remain ignored. She flew literal circles around the beast, trying to disorient it. It didn't work. The manticore merely batted Rainbow Dash away with its tail. This enraged Twilight and Applejack but made Yamano sigh in frustration. Everyone except Yamano and Fluttershy started a full-on charge towards their adversary. Eventually, Fluttershy was fed up, and cut in front of the group before yelling for them to stop. She looked back towards the manticore, while Yamano was keeping a close eye.
"Shh, it's okay…" Fluttershy started to slowly move up towards the manticore, who looked confused, but simultaneously threatened. What Fluttershy didn't see was that the beast in question didn't want her coming any closer. It pulled back its tail and attempted to lash out at the pegasus. Fluttershy saw the tail coming, but she was too scared to move. She reflexively closed her eyes tight, bracing for the sting.
But it never came. When she opened them again, she found Yamano standing in front of her, a pained look across her face. The guardian had used herself as a shield for Fluttershy, and the stinger was buried deep into her side.
"You- ow- you okay Fluttershy?!" One of Yamanos eyes were closed in pain as she looked back towards the timid pegasus. The look on her face was grim, and it seemed like she was only just keeping her wits together.
Fluttershy nodded and spoke in a scared whisper. "Are, uhm, are you okay?" She didn't get an answer, and instead saw that Yamanos façade of calmness started to crumble.
Yamano was furious. She turned her attention away from Fluttershy, and back to the manticore. She funnelled all her ferocity and rage into a single, bone chilling stare, eyes shifting from her normal blue to a grim yellow, that caused the manticore to stumble back in fear. She had lost herself and was trying everything in her power to stop herself from killing the beast right then and there. It wasn't until Fluttershy had cut in front of her to soothe the beast when she finally got the stinger out of her side, allowing some of her animosity towards the creature to subside. Eventually, her eyes shifted back, her brief moment of fury seemingly gone.
Fluttershy walked up to the manticore and nuzzled its paw with a look of expectedness on her face. The manticore looked exceedingly confused at this point and revealed its paw to the pegasus. The was a huge thorn embedded directly into the centre. Fluttershy looked at it sadly. "Oh, you poor, poor little baby…" She said quietly.
Everyone in the vicinity looked exceedingly confused. Yamano and Rainbow Dash Both exclaimed simultaneously.
"Little?"
Yamano walked up slowly to the manticore, making sure not to make eye contact to not spook the injured creature. She walked up next to Fluttershy and briefly gestured with a hoof, accentuating her claw-gauntlets. "Allow me." She said in a hushed voice, barely loud enough for the pegasus to hear. She hooked a claw onto part of the thorn with one hoof, and held the manticores paw steady with the other, making sure not to apply any pressure. The thorn was removed with remarkable ease, as the manticore didn't even flinch as it was removed painlessly. In a flash, the manticore had picked them both up, as it roared in happiness. The remainder of the group mistook this as an angry roar and yelled in shock.
Fluttershy was chuckling to herself as the manticore purred away, happily licking at her mane. Yamano was uncomfortable but tried not to do anything that would be considered threatening. Fluttershy was very happy as well, as she started talking to the manticore. "Awh, you're just a little old baby kitty aren't you? Yes, you are." She cooed lovingly. Yamano slowly gestured to the rest of the group, beckoning them to move forwards. When everyone was safely past, Fluttershy petted the manticore one last time, and hopped down from the manticores paw. Yamano followed suit but hit the ground hard. She was finding it hard to apply her weight onto her right side as she confidently limped towards her charge. Her head was foggy, but she continued as best she could. Twilight failed to notice and moved her attention over to Fluttershy.
"How did you know about the thorn?" Twilight asked in confusion. Fluttershy confidently closed her eyes as she continued walking.
"I didn't. sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness." Twilight looked at the pegasus briefly, and then looked slightly towards the floor as she thought about those words. Eventually her face settled into one of relief and happiness.
Yamano, being as paranoid as ever, turned her head to look at the manticore. It had started moving off on its own way, but she just wanted to make sure. She saw the thorn that had been removed vanish into a familiar blue nebulous smoke, which floated away. She sighed to herself. 'If it really is the lost princess, she obviously has it out for us… but why?' Similar thoughts, along with a myriad of strategies, stayed flitting through her mind for the next short while as everyone was continuing onwards.
When she turned her head to look forwards, a sudden wave of dizziness overtook her, causing her to collapse onto her side. A burning sensation that she hadn't noticed from the adrenaline still coursing through her had made itself known in full force, and it pulsed greater and greater pain from the still bleeding wound on her side. Her head was starting to fog up again, and she found it hard to think as she tried to stand again, only to fall back down.
Everyone present noticed Yamano falling over and grew more and more concerned as she started exclaiming in pain. It took a second for everyone to remember what had happened before the situation with the manticore was resolved, and everyone started to panic. Fluttershy was showing the worst of it, as a realization made her cover her mouth. Applejack was the first to make it to Yamanos side. "You okay? Where's it hurt?" She asked hurriedly. Yamano merely writhed in agony, holding onto the wound caused by the stinger. "Dang it all. Fluttershy, you know about animals, right? What's up with that tail of the manticores?" Fluttershy started stuttering, trying to get the words out.
Eventually, Fluttershy managed to spit the words out through a scared and strained whisper. "It's venomous." The whole group, minus Yamano, gasped in surprise and terror. She started thinking about how Yamano was struck by the tail in the first place, and started breaking down, realizing that it was her who could have been stung, but instead it was Yamano. "I'm sorry! Its my fault!" Fluttershy looked as if she was about to start crying.
Yamano heard something through the intense sound of her own heartbeat. It was Fluttershy, apologising. She couldn't figure out why. Everything around her was blurry, and she was in a complete daze. But she still heard the pegasus. She altered her breathing, trying to calm her body down. After a while, her grunts of pain had ceased, and a little of her clarity had restored itself. She looked about, and saw Applejack next to her, checking her wound, while Fluttershy was surrounded by a shocked looking Twilight and Pinkie. Fluttershy seemed to be crying to herself, and Rainbow Dash looked completely stunned.
Fighting through the intense burning feeling, she stood up weakly and started heading towards Fluttershy. She only made it about half way before collapsing again though, as all strength had vanished from her legs. She tried to call out, but her voice failed her. She tried again. And again. Over and over, trying to say something, anything. Until suddenly, a thought had occurred. A way to make this situation significantly easier for the injured alicorn. She looked at her hooves, and saw she still had her claw-gauntlets. She focused as much as she could, funnelling some of her dark magic into the gauntlets. With a sickening slice, the gauntlets fully embedded themselves into her hooves. She found that she was now able to manipulate the claws on the gauntlets to full effect, as if they were a new extension of herself. With little hesitation, she brought her right hoof across to her left leg, and slashed hard. In an instant, the new pain replaced the burning sensation as her mind focused all the pain onto that specific area. This allowed her to think and act again, if only for a while. Drawing a deep breath, she yelled.
"FLUTTERSHY!"
Everyone froze, even Fluttershy, who quickly started to apologize again. Yamano growled. "Fluttershy, shut up and listen to me! That goes for the rest of you too! Don't blame yourselves, I'm the one who threw myself in front of a raging manticore." She spoke harshly, but without anger. She was as calm then as she had ever been in her life. "I need you all to pay very close attention, assuming you wish for my continued survival."
After a moment, everyone nodded. "Good. Okay. Fluttershy, I know you must be good with natural remedies, so anything you can do to slow the venom would be wonderful." Fluttershy nodded and stared with tear filled eyes, as she looked about to gather herbs. "Rarity, Rainbow Dash, I need you two to look for something." Rarity was puzzled, but Rainbow Dash nodded with determination. "It is a flower, with petals of red and white and a blue stem and leaves. One is enough, but two would be ideal." Rainbow immediately grabbed rarity and started flying off. "Applejack, I need you to make a controlled fire. If anyone is good at survival it'd be you."
"I'm on it." Applejack said with a shaky voice.
"Twilight, you help." Twilight froze in place. Yamano shook her head, which was a bad idea as the burning sensation slowly started creeping up towards her neck. She clutched down onto her left leg even harder, digging the claw-gauntlet into her leg even further. "Pinkie, you're impossible, so you probably have a container or SOMETHING with you, right?" Pinkie, who looked torn between three different emotions right now, conjured up a small metal container, probably a cake tin, from… somewhere that Yamano couldn't see. Maybe her hair? Questions for later. "Go to the nearby river and fill it with water, then bring it to Applejack." Pinkie bounced off faster than usual, which was a sight to behold. The injured alicorn turned her attention back to Twilight. "WELL?! MOVE!" Twilight hurriedly scurried off to help Applejack, looking back with worry.
The guardian felt something on her right, as Fluttershy had arrived back with various herbs that she was applying to the wound. It soothed the pain and caused the creeping sensation of fire to slow down significantly but did not stop it entirely. She felt a hoof on her back, as Fluttershy started habitually rubbing it to try and assure her that it was fine. She would usually rebuff a gesture like that, but it was honestly helping to calm her.
When she looked up at Fluttershy, she saw that the pegasus was fighting back tears, seemingly like she would break down any second. "Fluttershy, listen to me." The Pegasus looked at Yamano in surprise. "Don't blame yourself for this. I know how a mind such as yours works in a situation like this. It isn't your fault." Her words were hushed, and she was trying to speak without showing any of her pain, which was difficult. Fluttershy looked like she was about to cry even harder, as Yamano reached up with a clawed hoof and brushed a few twigs out of the terrified pegasus' mane. "I sent Dash and Rarity out for a reason. They're currently looking for something. Something that my parents taught me about."
Fluttershy nodded quickly, not sure what else she could do. She started talking through sobs. "If I – I had just, paid attention then this- this wouldn't have hap-ppened."
Yamano weakly shook her head. "The fault is mine. If I had used a light barrier I wouldn't have been injured in the first place. I fully expected the manticore to just let you approach the first time, so I was careless." Fluttershy looked to be about to respond, but Yamano merely placed a claw over the worried pegasus' mouth. "Don't argue with me on this one. I'll win." She smiled wryly, before the pain of the venom started settling in again.
She looked up, and saw that Rainbow Dash and Rarity had arrived, holding one of the flowers she had mentioned. Through pained breaths, she spoke rapidly. "Take that flower to the others. have them grind it up and boil it." Rainbow Dash grabbed the flower from Rarity and flew it off as fast as she could, as Rarity moved up to Fluttershys' side. She sat a few steps back, unsure how she could help. Yamano was about to say something, but the pain pulsed back in full force, causing her body to contort. Fluttershy quickly replaced the herbs with fresh ones, as it slowly started dying down again. "How much practice have you had at this, Fluttershy?" She said with a forcefully added ounce of silliness to try and ease the tension.
"More than I care to admit…" Fluttershy spoke back, seemingly calmer now. She was so focused on tending to the wound that it didn't even register who it was she was helping. All semblance of fear she held towards the once dangerous presence had been replaced with frightened determination and worry. As she traced the veins leading to and from the wound, she noticed that they had all started turning black from where the venom was situated. This didn't go unnoticed by Rarity either, who was trying her best to stay calm, but was obviously worried, as her eye occasionally twitched violently.
The worried voice of Applejack rang out over the trio. "It's done!" Twilight was using her magic to carry the burning hot cake tin over towards Yamano. Inside, there was a dark pink, and rather thick, substance swirling about.
With little regard for her safety, Yamano grabbed the tin out of the air, which caused her gauntlets to start rapidly heating up, and started drinking. At once, the black veins on her neck and around the wound started vanishing as the liquid entered her body. The tainted blood that was slowly oozing out of the wound had started to clear up as well, for the substance was neutralizing the venom. Once she was done, she held the now cool tin out towards Pinkie Pie, who accepted it and stashed it away. Taking a clear, deep breath, she looked towards the group. "Thank you." She struggled to stand, as the venom had left a lasting effect, robbing her of her strength, along with the fresh gashes on her left leg causing her to shift her balance to the right side.
Almost at once, everyone present started to talk over each other. Apparently the experience was far more harrowing for them than it was for Yamano. She shook her head, unable to pick out each voice from the other. She raised a hoof before speaking. "Girls, I'm fine. That flower acts as a powerful antivenom when prepared like that." Everyone seemed to settle down as she spoke. Applejack spoke again, her face now looking puzzled.
"How'd ya know about that flower anyways? I ain't ever seen it before." She asked slowly. Yamano looked to be about to answer, but her face fell into a look of sad nostalgia. It was made obvious how painful this was for her as her claws clasped the ground tightly. "I'm sorry, sugarcube. Didn't mean ta-" She was cut off by Yamano, who put up a hoof.
"Don't worry about it. The flower was named 'Chorynthian' and it was originally bred by my parents. They are-" She caught herself and sighed. "Were botanical scientists. They taught me about it before… well, I'm sure you get the idea." She shook her head, trying to think of something else, before turning to continue down the path they were following. "What does it matter? Can we just carry on?" She muttered coldly. She started limping down the path, before landing badly on her left and almost falling over, cursing under her breath. The rest of the group looked at her in bewilderment, before starting to follow.
Rainbow Dash shook her head, before speaking out of earshot of Yamano. "Is she a super soldier or what?"
Tensions were high as the group tentatively made their way through the wild forest. Yamano had ended up being overtaken by Rainbow Dash, who seemed on higher alert than usual. Every now and then, she would feel another pulse of pain as her wounds from earlier hadn't closed despite the venom being neutralized. She Ignored it as best she could to not worry everyone else, but it made fast movement difficult. This annoyed her to no end, as her training demanded her to use the entirety of a given environment. Being confined to just walking never sat well with her. She glanced across to the faces of her current companions and found a consistent look of fear on each of them. Except Pinkie Pie. She couldn't quite tell what the crazy earth pony's face was trying to do as they bounced along at her own pace. The guardian shook her head, which caused her to go temporarily dizzy, before her thoughts were cut off by an indignant Rarity.
"Ohh… my eyes need a rest from all this icky muck." Almost as if the forest was listening, the canopy of trees over head grew tighter, cutting off the dim light of the moon, plunging the group into total darkness. Looking about in frustration, Rarity muttered to herself. "Well I didn't mean that literally."
Yamano lightly tapped Raritys shoulder, causing her to jump slightly, before speaking. "Be careful what you wish for. Places like this tend to grant them at the worst of times." She spoke quietly, to not draw too much attention from any wildlife in the area. After the manticore, she was determined not to run into anything else. "At least I thrive in this environment." Rarity looked over at Yamano, as there was just enough light to see something two feet in front of you. She saw the guardians eyes flitting about the place, picking out details that everyone else present couldn't even begin to see a silhouette of. She was about to say something else but was cut off by Twilight.
"That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces and we wouldn't even know it!" She spoke quickly, almost tripping through her own words. As if to prove a point, many of the group started tripping over each other, apologizing between themselves. Everyone froze at a loud squelching sound. Yamano looked over at Applejack, who was looking down towards the ground.
"Oh wait, I think ah stepped in somethin'." She sounded disappointed, but relieved. Yamano looked back to the way they were going and stopped dead in her tracks as she stared. Fluttershy followed Yamanos gaze, before screaming incredibly loudly. Applejack, not realising what had set this off, merely shrugged and continued walking, with her head turned back towards the terrified pegasus. "It's just mud." When she turned back around, there was a tree right in front of her. As she looked up, she jumped back and yelled in surprise when she saw the tree seemed to have a mouth with jagged looking teeth and glaring eyes. The branches whipped around and gnarled together almost as if they were reaching out towards the group. Every direction they looked, there was another two or three of these trees. They were surrounded.
Everyone in the group except Yamano and Pinkie started screaming. Yamano was glancing about rapidly, trying to keep an eye on their movements while looking for a possible way out, while Pinkie Pie was… laughing? She was laughing. At the trees. Yamanos eyes widened as the crazy pink pony started making funny faces at one, before breaking down laughing again. Simultaneously, Twilight and Yamano asked in shock. "Pinkie, what are you doing?! RUN!"
Pinkie merely smiled and looked back, before lightly bouncing in place. Instruments started sounding throughout the forest, creating an uplifting tune. Which baffled Yamano to no end, as nopony else seemed to react to it. Pinkie spoke back with a cheerful tone. "Oh, girls. Don't you see?" Yamano realised immediately what was about to happen.
"Oh no…" She said in a frustrated tone. "Nope. That's it. I can put up with a lot but leave me outta this." She took off as fast as her injured body would let her, but the trees had encircled them entirely, leaving her no escape route. "Now what?!"
Yamanos worst fears were realised when Pinkie started to sing.
:
[pinkie] When I was a little filly, and the sun was going do~wn.
[twilight] Tell me she's not.
[pinkie] The darkness, and the shadows, they would always make me fro~wn.
[rarity] She is.
[yamano] BUT WHY~?
[pinkie] I'd hide under my pillow, from what I thought I saw. But Granny Pie said that wasn't the way to deal with fears at all~.
[dash] Then what is-.
[pinkie] She said Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears! You'll see they can't hurt you, just laugh to make them disappear! Ha, Ha, Ha!
The scariness of the tree in front of her vanished immediately, leaving a boring, plain Everfree tree.
[T, F, R, A, RD] *gasp*
[yamano] NO! NOT HAPPENING.
[pinkie] So~ giggle at the ghostly, guffaw at grossly, crack up at the creepy, whoop it up with the weepy, chortle at the kooky, snortle at the spooky. And tell that bid dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and-if-he-thinks-he-can-scare-you-then-he's-got-another-thing-coming-and-the very-idea-of-such-a-thing-just-makes-you-wanna hahaha! *squeak* LAUGH~!
One by one the trees returned to normal, leaving everyone present giggling to themselves on the floor. All except Yamano. Yamano doesn't like to laugh.
:
Yamano stood with a look of livid furiousness plastered onto her face. She waited for a good thirty seconds before finally giving up and walking off on her own. 'better to be alone than snap at my charge and her apparent friends.' She mused to herself, absently trying in vain to remove the gauntlets that were now fused into her hooves. Seemed they'd be here to stay.
She saw one of the trees off to her side was still the same warped appearance as the others were before Pinkies… outburst. She almost considered, just for a second, to test out Pinkies idea. Then she thought the better of it and slammed the tree with her hoof. The hideous façade on the tree vanished in a puff of nebulous energy. "This again? That does it, come out and face me already." Yamano yelled fiercely. The energy hesitated in the air for a second, before coalescing towards the ground. A familiar form of an alicorn came together from the energy, and it stepped forwards, revealing Nightmare Moon. She looked annoyed but was keeping her composure. She looked to be about to start monologuing again, but Yamano cut her off first. "So, Luna, what brings you to this part of the forest."
Her question caught the lost princess off guard. She spent a long time thinking before answering. "How did YOU know who I used to be? Not that it matters, but you have made me… curious. It is obvious you are not from Equestria. No Equestrian ponies have EVER been trained in your manner of… combat."
Yamano smirked at the question. "You're right. I'm not from Equestria. I come from a relatively small kingdom far to the east of here. Maybe you have heard of it?" Nightmare Moon seemed unconcerned with her presence but started considering what kingdom it could be. Yamano shook her head. "here's a hint. It's ruled by the greatest tyrant known to pony kind, who personally trained an assassin who earned the name 'Reaper'. Ring any bells?" Yamano stood impatiently, tapping her claws on the ground.
Nightmare Moon spent a long time considering, before a look of realization crept up onto her usually sneering and taunting face. She looked quickly towards Yamano, before taking an instinctual step backwards. "YOU? YOU are the Reaper Assassin?" The dark alicorn spoke with an ever so slight waver in her voice.
"Archades prides itself on history. But honestly I'm surprised that the rumour even managed to spread to the moon." Yamano took a menacing step forwards. "I don't want to kill you. But I won't let you hurt anypony else. And if that's what it'd take then so be it." her voice was cold, devoid of emotion. Her eyes were empty, yet they bored deep into Nightmare Moons soul. She seemed paralyzed with the realisation but looked defiantly back towards the assassin. Her gaze brought her further and further into the dark alicorns soul, her mind relentlessly searching for something to use against her. She had almost found something, before seeing what looked like… a filly. Or somepony not much older, scared and shivering within the deepest depths of this depraved tyrants soul. She snapped back to reality, realising she let her dark magic get the best of her, and that Luna was still in there, alone. She looked away from Nightmare Moon sadly and scowled. She started walking back towards where she left the group, and sighed to herself, before looking back and speaking at the confused alicorn.
"I will save you."
Little to the groups knowledge, Fluttershy had also left them to follow the one who saved her from the manticore. She hid in a bush and was spying on Yamano during her conversation with the one who threatened to bathe Equestria in the night forever. She gasped at the mention of the guardian being an assassin and struggled with the knowledge for a long time. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't hear Yamano walk up to her, giving her a confused look, before realizing that the timid pegasus was within earshot of her previous conversation.
"I take it you heard all that." Yamano spoke with a sigh, before stopping a few paces in front of the spy. She was still favoring her right side as she walked, as the injuries on her left foreleg still hadn't fully closed.
Fluttershy looked like a train was headed toward her at full speed and had frozen in place. Yamano closed her eyes and looked down and shrugged towards the terrified mare. Fluttershy looked to be hyperventilating and her eyes were darting about, looking for some help. Yamano looked at the panicking pegasus and couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle. She walked up to Fluttershy and placed her hoof onto the side of her head, before running her claws through the mares mane. This seemed to calm her down for now, but she still looked afraid and confused. Yamano closed her eyes again and sighed.
"Everything you heard was the truth." She spoke softly, but the look on her face was serious. "But I have made a vow not to take another life." She tried to give a small smile, attempting to calm the mare, and herself, down further. "Will you trust me for at least a little while longer?"
Fluttershy just stared at Yamano for a few seconds, before nodding with a timid "mhm" in agreement. As she looked at the assassin turned guardian, her aura went from that of malice, to one of a soothing calmness. The fear that she had felt from her mere presence seemed to dissipate with the promise of trust.
"Let's go back. The others are probably wondering where we've gone. Stay close, just in case." Yamano started re-tracing her steps from when she left in the first place, while Fluttershy kept a close pace next to her left side.
They walked in silence for a while, before Fluttershy spoke her mind. "I'm, uhm, I'm sorry about when we first met…" She muttered meekly, making it more difficult than it had to be for Yamano to hear. She merely shook her head and looked at Fluttershy with an eyebrow raised.
"Don't worry about it. Honestly, at the time I would have been more insulted if you hadn't responded how you did." She joked with a chuckle. For the first time since, well, ever, she felt safe around another pony. She was going to make sure that continued.
Yamano and Fluttershy started quietly heading back towards the group, who were still recovering from the laughing fit they had fallen into after Pinkie Pies song. It seemed none of them realized Fluttershy was missing, so they were surprised when the duo pushed past some low hanging branches. Yamano held the last of the branches out of Fluttershys way as she re-joined her friends. Twilight raised an eyebrow through the remnants of laughter as Yamano stood a few paces off, not wanting to spoil the moment. As they all started to settle, Yamano motioned a hoof in the direction they were headed next, with a look that merely said, 'shall we?'.
The group were continuing to chuckle between themselves as they continued, when Yamano stopped at the bank of a river. She almost got thrown into it by her companions as they weren't paying attention, walking directly into her as she stopped. As the group all peeked out from behind the guardian, they saw that the river was turbulent, and impossible to cross by normal means. Pinkie was the first to speak.
"How are we gonna cross this?!" Pinkie asked, seemingly unfazed by the situation going by the tone in her voice. Yamano shrugged.
"Maybe I could build something to ford the river…" She sighed distantly, as her gaze shifted to the various trees on their side of the river. She had started planning out a bridge in her head, but her thoughts were cut short by a loud wailing sound and crying that came from further downstream. The group meandered cautiously towards the sound, which was revealed to be a sea serpent crying and thrashing about in the river, causing the turbulence. The sea serpent seemed oblivious to their presence for the moment as it continued to cry out.
"What a world. What a world!" The sea serpent continued to wail to itself, before slamming both of its clawed fists into the water. The group shared sceptical looks before Twilight spoke up.
"Excuse me, sir? Why are you crying?" She asked boldly as the rest of the group just stared in confusion. The sea dragon rose to its full height before responding indignantly.
"Well, I don't know, I was just sitting here, minding my own business when this TACKY little cloud of purple smoke just ah, WHISKED past me and tore half of my, beloved moustache clean off!" He responded in a barrage of words, not giving himself much chance for a breath. "And now, I look simply HORRID!" he declared before dramatically falling over into the river, drenching the group in its entirety, causing all their manes to fall over their faces. Rainbow Dash and Yamano muttered under their breaths.
"Oh, gimme a break." Rainbow whispered annoyedly.
"Tell me about it." Yamano seethed as she squeezed some of the water out of her mane and clothes. Applejack took a few steps forwards to speak.
"THAT'S what's all the fuss is about?" Applejack asked, not quite believing the story. Rarity cut in front of all of them, a look of horror across her face.
"Why of COURSE it is!" she started strutting in front of the group. "How CAN you be so insensitive?" She started walking up to the dejected sea dragon, before stroking its chin as it rested on the bank of the river. "Aw just look at him. Such lovely luminescent scales." The sea dragon sniffed.
"I know…" it sighed sadly.
"And your expertly coiffed mane."
"I know, I KNOW!" The sea dragon sat up as it ran a claw through its mane. Yamano looked unimpressed.
"Your fabulous manicure." Rarity added with a smile.
The sea dragon gasped, before speaking again. "It's so true!"
Rarity's gaze dropped as she spoke again. "All ruined without your beautiful moustache."
This sent the sea dragon into a sad fit. "It's true, I'm hideous!"
Rarity squinted her eyes with determination. "I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!" She looked back towards her companions, before resting her intense gaze on Yamano. "You, over here! I will need your assistance with this!"
The guardian looked quizzically at the marshmallow pony, before shrugging and walking up to her. "What is it?" She said coldly.
"Summon your scythe, if you'd please. I need it for something important." Rarity demanded.
Yamano scowled. "It's not summoning, its conjuration!" Rarity simply raised an eyebrow at her, causing the guardian to sigh. "Oh whatever. Fine." She pulsed dark energy into the left half of her horn and gestured in front of herself. The dark energy took the shape of her scythe, and it appeared in front of her. She grabbed the handle with her teeth before giving Rarity an impatient stare. Rarity leaned in to whisper something into her ear, which caused Yamano to look skeptically at the fashionista. She then shrugged, and moved to stand behind Rarity, before slicing off the marshmallow pony's tail with a quick flick of her head.
The rest of the group gawked at Yamano's actions, concerned that she had lost her mind, before realising that the marshmallow pony simply nodded in approval. Rarity immediately got to work using the part of her tail that she had asked Yamano to cut to mend the sea dragons moustache. The sea dragon looked delighted. "My moustache! How WONDERFUL!"
Rarity smiled at the sea dragon. "You look smashing."
Twilight walked up to Rarity as she was concerned over the whole notion. "Oh Rarity, your beautiful tail!" Twilight shifted her eyes towards Yamano. "What were you thinking?! You could have hurt her." Yamano chuckled emptily.
"I didn't spend most of my life training with this bloody thing-" As she spoke, she placed the scythe onto the ground. "-To mess up bad enough to unintentionally injure somepony." She gestured towards Rarity. "Besides, it was at her request."
Rarity smiled at the group. "It's fine, my dears. Short tails are in this season." She looked back worriedly at her now much shorter tail. "Besides, it'll grow back…"
"So would the moustache." Rainbow added quietly. Twilight chuckled at her comment, whereas Yamano tussled the rainbow pony's mane, causing it to poke out in a myriad of directions. Rainbow batted the guardians hoof away. Twilight shifted her attention away from the group, and gasped at the sight of the river, as it was now calm.
"We can cross now!" she called out to the group. "Let's go!" As she was trying to cross, her hooves were suddenly propelled upwards from below, and she was being raised into the air. The sea serpent had used its body to create a series of platforms for the ponies to jump across.
"Allow me!" The sea serpent said politely. The group, minus Yamano, all started to hop across the back of the sea serpent towards the other side of the river. Yamano decided to ford the river her own way, and shrugged at the sea serpent, before gesturing to her left leg, which had stopped bleeding by this point, but was still extremely sore. As she joined up with Twilight, she shook herself dry, much to the annoyance of Twilight, who was in prime splashing position.
"Really?" Twilight asked unamused.
"Afraid of a little water?" Yamano deadpanned. She started walking in front again, as she managed to pick up the pace a little bit with her leg now healed slightly. She shook her head in frustration as she was thinking to herself. 'Why must things be needlessly complicated?'
Travel was slow. The uneven terrain, the wild trees and vines blocking various paths through the forest, the general unease of the group causing slowed movement, all of this compounded upon the journey that was already long enough. The silence between everyone was deafening, and nobody could get their eyes to sit still. Everyone was moving forwards slowly, when they heard a twig snapping underneath their feet. Immediately, everyone present jumped into even higher alert. Fluttershy nearly jumped out of her skin and desperately grasped onto Yamano as she started shaking. Yamano considered pulling away, but decided it'd be best to let it continue, as she was obviously scared out of her mind. She merely placed her other hoof onto Fluttershys head and tried to stay as still as possible to not frighten the poor pegasus further. As seconds turned to minutes, the group finally started to calm themselves. Fluttershy was still shuddering uncontrollably as she buried her face into Yamanos shoulder. The guardian looked at the rest of the group for assistance, but they all seemed amused by the sight. Eventually she sighed and turned her attention to the terrified pegasus. She used her claws to gently comb through Fluttershys mane, trying to give an ounce of comfort. It took a long time for Fluttershy to calm down, and when she did, Yamano used her hoof to make their eyes meet.
"You okay?" the guardian spoke softly. Her usual stern coldness had vanished, making way for a relaxing warmth. Fluttershy nodded silently, smiling at the guardian. When Yamano smiled back, it was the first genuine smile she had given in years. Fragments of her old self before her time as an assassin were starting to come through, even though Yamano herself was unaware of it. "let's go. the elements won't find themselves." Yamano spoke broadly to the whole group, before helping Fluttershy back onto her hooves. She took a moment to look over the group, which seemed to have calmed down, aside from Pinkie Pie who seemed to be ecstatic. Yamano rolled her eyes. "What?"
"That was the first time I've seen you smile!" Pinkie yelled excitedly. "You didn't smile at the party! You look pretty when you smile. You should do it more!" The group just looked at Pinkie with skepticism, before Rainbow Dash burst out laughing. Everyone aside from Yamano laughed alongside her, but the guardian just looked tired.
"Can- can we just continue?" She said dryly. The moment of happiness had left her at the pink pony's comment, and she wanted nothing more than to leave the situation. Without saying anything about it, the group started to continue forwards while they all giggled between themselves.
As the group crested a line of trees, they saw that their destination was tantalisingly close.
"There it is!" Twilight exclaimed. "The ruins that hold the elements of harmony. We made it!" She started running full speed towards the ruins. Applejack called out to her.
"Twilight! Wait fer us!" She yelled excitedly as she and her friends all started following the purple unicorn. Yamano looked ahead, and saw Twilight was headed directly towards a drop-off.
"Twilight wait! Stop!" The guardian demanded. "You're headed for a-"
Before Yamano could finish her sentence, Twilight called back to the group without looking where she was going. "We're almost there!" the excited unicorn yelled out happily. As she finished speaking, her front hooves went directly over the edge of the cliff, where a ruined bridge hung down towards the base of a cavern. Yamano and Rainbow Dash immediately grabbed onto Twilight, pulling her away from the edge.
"I tried to tell you to stop." Yamano scolded. "Try listening for once." She narrowed her eyes at the mare, trying to drive the point home. Rainbow Dash shrugged.
"What's with you and falling off cliffs today?" Rainbow Dash asked sarcastically. The rest of the group ended up walking to the edge of the cliff themselves. Pinkie Pie sighed.
"NOW what?" Pinkie asked dejectedly. Yamano growled in annoyance, before pointing a hoof towards Rainbow Dash, who crouched down on her fore legs, before fluttering her wings.
"Duh." She smiled at the party pony before flying down the cliff face towards the opposite end of the bridge. She grabbed the bridge with her teeth before flying it up towards the opposing side of the cavern.
"Oh yeah!" Pinkie added sheepishly. "Woops."
As Rainbow touched down, both she and Yamano heard a voice on the wind that went unnoticed by the rest of the group. Rainbow immediately dropped the rope of the bridge as she looked about, whereas Yamano started creeping up to the edge of the cliff to get a better look.
"I ain't scared of you!" Rainbow yelled out before standing on her hind legs and punching the air with her front hooves. "Show yourself!"
Rainbow Dash's sudden shouts caught Yamano by surprise, and she reactively shifted her weight on the cliff edge. This sudden movement cause the rocks by the cliffside to fall away, causing Yamano to stumble forwards. She yelped in alarm, before digging her claws into the side of the cliff and sliding down a few feet. When she settled, she decided to turn her attention back towards Rainbow Dash instead of climbing back up, not before giving a sigh of relief.
Rainbow Dash looked about feverishly, looking for the pony the voice belonged to, before that same voice rang out around her again. "We've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flyer in Equestria."
The pegasus looked baffled to say the least. She raised an eyebrow before cautiously answering back. "Who?"
"You, of course!" the mysterious voice replied whimsically.
"Really?!" Rainbow Dash couldn't help but feel excited as her voice rose in pitch. "I mean, oh yeah! Me!" the flyers curiosity got the better of her as she responded again. "Hey, uh, you wouldn't mind telling the Wonderbolts that would ya? Cause, I've been trying to get into that group for like, ever!"
The mysterious voice softened as it spoke again. "No, Rainbow Dash, we want you to join US!" The sound of galloping cut through the dense fog, as three silhouettes of ponies came sprinting forwards, before the fog lifted revealing three uniformed ponies, one mare and two stallions, all of which had similar cutie marks and manes. They stood proudly before Rainbow Dash before announcing themselves as the Shadowbolts. Rainbow officially looked bewildered. "We're the greatest aerial team in the Everfree Forest! And soon we will be the greatest in ALL Equestria." The mares' facial expression shifted to that of mischief and manipulation. "But first, we need a captain." Rainbow Dash grinned in a full showing of teeth at the mention of captain. "The most magnificent-"
"YEP!" Rainbow Dash interjected quickly.
"Swiftest-"
"Yes!"
"most bravest flyer in all the land!"
"Yes! It's all true!" Rainbow stated proudly.
"We need…" The Shadowbolt mare paused before getting right next to the cyan pegasus' ear. "you!"
With little hesitation, Rainbow Dash leaped with all her strength high into the air, yelling in excitement.
"Whoo-hoo! Sign me up! Just let me tie this bridge real quick and then we have a deal!" Dash bent her head down to pick up the rope to the bridge but was interrupted as the same mare that was speaking zipped in front of her in the blink of an eye, standing on the rope in the process. Her tone shifted from admiration to harsh criticism.
"NO! It's them, or us!"
Yamano scowled, as she could hear the hidden layer of venom within the mares voice. Rainbow Dash merely looked on in scared confusion and consideration. Yamano heard the slight shuffling of hooves, as the group was getting impatient. She was also slightly annoyed, yet unsurprised that none of them had realised she had fallen.
"Rainbow Dash, what's taking so long?!" Twilight called worriedly across the cavern, afraid that something may have happened to the pegasus in question. Her vision shifted to give her a clearer view of the happenings across the bridge, where she saw the three Shadowbolts. "Oh no… RAINBOW!" Yamano once again flinched at the sudden raising of voices, and her grip slipped slightly. Frustrated, she climbed back up to the top and shook her head at Twilight. When she turned back towards the cyan pegasus, the shadowbolt mare glared towards the rest of the group, before the fog rolled further in, cutting them off from the arrogant flyer. Twilight tried in vain to call back out to her, but her voice was cut off by the thick wall of fog between them. She turned to Yamano, who she kind of figured had better senses than the rest of them given their time in the pitch-dark areas of the forest. "What were they saying?!" She said hurriedly, her worries coming out in spades in her voice.
Yamano growled slightly and continued to glare back at the previous position of the Shadowbolts. "They were playing to her ego. Trying to get her to ditch us to join them by saying they would surpass the Wonderbolts." Twilight and co. gasped, except for Rarity who scoffed.
"Preposterous! Rainbow wouldn't leave her friends just like that…" a hint of uncertainty entered her voice. "…would she?" An expression of shared worry settled on to all of their faces, as Yamano started staring at the general spot she last saw the arrogant pegasus, before channelling a small amount of her magic in the right half of her horn, causing a spell of light to transfer her senses into Rainbow Dash, allowing her to see what was happening. Rainbow was standing dumbstruck as the choice was laid before her. She seemed to debate within herself for a long time, before she started to mutter something under her breath.
"…you…" The eyes of the Shadowbolt mare widened in glee as she misinterpreted the mumbles as acceptance. Her expression shifted to shock as Rainbow Dash spoke up again. "Thank you, for the offer, I mean." She quickly shifted over and tied the rope to the stone post acting as an anchor for the bridge. "But, I'm afraid I have to say no." As she started to fly back, Yamano chuckled to herself at the surprise of everypony present.
"She hasn't left us. She's on her way." The group collectively sighed, letting the tension and worry flow from them without care. Yamano cancelled her spell and placed a clawed hoof on one of the pegasus' shoulders. She smiled mischievously at the now confused Rainbow Dash, before stopping by the bridge with an expectant look. The group all giggled to themselves, as Rainbow shook her head and smiled.
"See? I'd never leave my friends hangin'!" The group started to walk across the bridge, except for Rainbow of course, who flew, and a happy smile crept onto Twilights features. Yamano got onto the bridge just after Fluttershy, who tentatively tested each plank before stepping.
Yamano was gazing at the boards herself, seemingly distrusting of the old wood. She then glanced at a board directly underneath the path of Fluttershys next step, and before the soft yellow pegasus could finish her motion, she placed a hoof under Fluttershys stomach. As the timid caretakers hoof reached the bridge, she lurched forwards with a startled yelp as the slightly rotted board snapped in twain, leaving a perilous drop where once was what she thought was safe passage.
Fluttershy flailed about in fear for a few moments, before she realised she was being held in place by something. When she finally opened her eyes to look, she was surprised at Yamano saving her again. She smiled again at the 'assassin' before thinking to herself. 'I don't care what Nightmare Moon says about her, she's too nice to be an assassin.' She smiled at her own thoughts, but then thought over the events she had overheard earlier. From the sounds of it, Yamano had in fact confirmed the dark alicorns words about her past, which was confusing. 'if such a nice and caring pony as this is an assassin…' she shuddered at the implications of this thought process. 'what made them change?'
She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice she was still being held aloft by Yamano. She grinned shyly before re-situating her hooves to find purchase on the bridge but yelped again as Yamano sighed before picking her up and placing the pegasus on her back. Fluttershy immediately started to worry, as their combined weight would surely break through even more boards. It was surprising to say the least that her hoofsteps didn't cause some of the weaker looking boards to even creak. It was almost as if she was weightless, despite still being firmly rooted to the bridge. This fact seemed to confirm both thoughts she had about the one now carrying her. The assassin was considerate, that much was certain, but she also seemed highly trained. A little too trained. The thought lingered for a little too long, for as the time came that she was on the other side of the bridge, she was still debating to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted by a slight poke to the center of her forehead, which startled her again. Fluttershy looked about wildly, trying to find the source of the sudden intrusion, before realizing it was Yamano who had done so with one of her new claws.
Fluttershy smiled at Yamano in thanks before going to join the rest of her new friends, pushing the idea of her new Savior being an assassin to the back of her mind. She would ask the seemingly self-appointed guardian angel when she could build up the courage, but for now it was too jarring.
As the door to the ruins opened, a slight gasp was heard from Applejack, although all of them looked in awe. "Come on, Twilight. Isn't this what you've been waitin' for?" Twilight walked briskly up to a statue of some sort, with six podiums, each holding a dull, grey stone, with one giant stone in the middle.
"The Elements of Harmony! We found them!" She exclaimed in excitement. As the group came to a stop, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash started grabbing and carrying the six stones back to Twilight. They made sure to place them gently, as even though they were made of stone, they looked like they could be fragile. Pinkie Pie started counting them off as they arrived.
"Three, four, five… there's only six!" Pinkie exclaimed in confusion. Rainbow Dash shared a look before glancing around to the rest of the room.
"Where's the seventh?" The cyan pegasus said quickly as she was trying to hide her nervousness, much to the cold amusement of Yamano.
"Should have figured all this would freak you out, Dash." Yamano stated before pausing, before stating in fake mockery, "Need a hug~?"
"Wha- you- grh, shut up! I ain't scared! I bet you're more scared than the rest of us!" She paused to think, before adding quietly. "Except maybe Fluttershy."
Twilight quickly glared at them both. "Stop picking on her Yamano. And Rainbow, that wasn't very nice either." Yamano merely shrugged, as Rainbow Dash looked away sheepishly.
"You know it's true though, right Twilight?" Yamano stated in a bored tone. "Fluttershy does seem to be easily frightened."
Fluttershy smiled sheepishly at the comment, before Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. "I'm sure that's not true. Right Fluttershy?..."
The silence was palpable.
"Fluttershy?" Twilight tried again, but the pegasus in question merely shrugged. "Oh." She shook her head in annoyance, before deeming it best to change the subject. "Okay. The book said when the six are present, a spark will cause the seventh element to be revealed."
Applejack narrowed her eyes in frustration. "An' what in the hay is that supposed to mean?" Twilight shrugged.
"I'm not sure, but I have an idea." She stared down towards the elements with determination. "Stand back, I don't know what will happen."
At her request, all the girls backed away from the lavender unicorn with hesitation. The only one who stayed close by was Yamano, who only took two small steps back. As the rest of the group started to leave the room, Twilight began to channel a spell through her horn. Yamano slowed her breathing down to a point where it was silent, and briefly channelled a dark spell of her own, drawing the shadows from around the room to envelop her, keeping her presence hidden to allow Twilight to concentrate.
A few seconds passed in awkward silence, before Yamano felt another presence behind the both of them. She pivoted her head and saw a familiar blue nebulous mist start floating towards the stones. The mist started whirling around the elements, picking them up in a cyclone of energy. This caught Twilights attention, who yelled out in shock. It was just loud enough to catch the attention of the rest of the group, who were waiting outside. As they came sprinting back through the door, Yamano started to inch closer to the nebulous energy in an attempt to grab the elements.
Before she was successful, however, Twilight leapt forwards towards the elements, getting caught up in the energy. The group all called out to her, before Yamano jumped in immediately afterwards. The mist, along with Twilight, Yamano and the elements all vanished from sight, leaving the group highly confused.
In a flash of light and a blast of smoke, Twilight and Yamano appeared in a different room with a thud. Twilight was on the ground, coughing, and Yamano was recovering from sudden vertigo. Being incapable of arcane natured magic had its drawbacks, such as being unused to teleportation. Their attention was drawn by a low, sinister chuckle originating from elsewhere in the room. Crashes of lightning and thunder rang out around the dark alicorn standing menacingly in the center of the new area. Both mares gasped, before Twilight crouched down in preparation to charge the aggressor. Yamano subtly raised an eyebrow, and Nightmare Moons eyes narrowed in exasperation.
"You're kidding." The alicorn stated tiredly. She turned her attention briefly to the assassin standing nearby. "She's kidding, right?"
Yamano sighed in frustration. With a cheeky smirk, she turned back towards Nightmare Moon. "I'll never understand the ponies in Equestria." She threw a side-on glance towards Twilight, noticing a spell starting to channel through her horn. Realizing her plan, Yamano conjured her scythe. Throwing a challenging glare at Nightmare Moon, she clicked her neck and shifted her weight to prepare for a sprint.
Twilight started the charge, running straight towards Nightmare Moon with determination. Rolling their eyes, Yamano and the dark alicorn started directly afterwards. Yamano took up a position directly behind Twilight, scythe held out to the side, with the back of the blade held forwards. Nightmare Moon rushed directly towards Twilight; whose spell started to glow brighter. Just as they were about to collide, Twilight teleported past the aggressor, leaving her to clash against the assassin. In an almost invisible motion, Yamano grabbed onto Nightmare Moons horn, holding her in place. She looked past towards Twilight, before yelling as she struggled against the dark alicorn.
"Twilight, do it now!" She continued struggling against the alicorn, who was much stronger than she anticipated.
Twilight started muttering to herself, too far away for Yamano to hear correctly over the grunts between the two warring alicorns. It didn't stop Nightmare Moon from sensing the spell she was trying to cast however, causing her to vanish into mist again and reappear in front of Twilight. Yamano attempted to run forwards to protect her, but was intercepted as Twilights spell backfired, sending her flying backwards towards the guardian. Yamano skidded across the floor, taking the brunt of the momentum away from Twilight by catching the unicorn against her chest.
As they looked back up towards Nightmare Moon, they saw the elements sparking with magic, with the alicorns front hooves within the confines of the circle they created. Nightmare Moon started to panic as the elements glowed brighter. Everything was going to plan for Twilight... Until the elements stopped glowing. The unicorn in question gasped in shock, before Yamano helped her back onto her hooves.
"Where's the seventh element? It should be here by now!" The panic in Twilights voice was painfully obvious to Yamano.
She would have responded, but her voice wasn't playing along. Instead of words, all that came was a low growl, reminiscent of wild predators growling at their prey. She released her light grip on Twilight and started menacingly walking towards the now laughing alicorn. Her laughter continued, unaware of the assassin creeping towards her.
Yamano burst into full sprint towards Nightmare Moon, but instead of intercepting the annoyance, the dark alicorn reared onto her hind legs, and slammed down with a burst of magic, shattering the elements of harmony in one motion.
Yamano skidded to a halt, and Twilight stared on in shock. The elements of harmony, the one thing they were there for, destroyed in front of their eyes. A look of indignation crept onto Nightmare Moons face as Yamanos expression turned dark.
"You little foals. Thinking you could defeat me?!... Now, you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!" Nightmare Moon bellowed with ferocity and started cackling madly as her power whirled around her in another nebulous mist.
Her laughter was cut short by a flash of silver-ish grey flying past her face. Turning in surprise, she immediately noticed a short dagger with a viciously curved blade stuck in the wall behind her. The guard on the dagger was a black wing, starting at the base of the blade and reaching the small gem pommel on the base of the hilt. The suddenness of the dagger flying past had scared her, and as she looked back towards her opponents, she was visibly shaken.
The look on the assassins face to anyone viewing from outside would seem calm. Serene even. But there were subtle differences. Differences that only made themselves known to the one receiving her gaze. Her normally light blue eyes had shifted to a dirty mix of dark blue and yellow. Slight shadows covered parts of her face as her dark magic whipped around viciously and uncontrolled. Even though it wasn't a particularly frightening sight, the slight differences were enough to throw someone out of their guards, and the anger within her was still able to be felt, even if she didn't make it obvious.
Nightmare Moon was nervous. This was the first seemingly normal pony she had met that managed to deeply scare her. She instinctively created a shield around herself, the look she was receiving did not sit well and was making her paranoid. She expected the assassin to make a beeline for her and attack without remorse. As such, she was glad when the assassin got distracted by a noise from behind.
Yamanos attention was ripped away from the infuriating alicorn standing in front of her when the rest of her companions voices started getting louder. She turned briefly, glancing at Twilight. The unicorn in question had a sudden smirk on her face, as she turned to look at Nightmare Moon. She spoke with confidence and sass, much to the guardians surprise.
"You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony, just like that?" Nightmare Moon flinched at the sudden brashness of the unicorn in front of her. "Well, you're wrong! Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!" Everypony present took up positions around Twilight, Yamano standing a little in front while everypony else was behind.
As soon as Twilight was done with her proclamation, the shards of the destroyed elements started floating on their own, away from Nightmare Moon, and towards the group of ponies standing before her. Twilight continued with fervour. "Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of Honesty!" A group of shards started floating and surrounding Applejack. "Fluttershy, who tamed a manticore with compassion, represents the spirit of Kindness!" The shards then started surrounding Fluttershy as well. "Yamano Sagiri, who threw herself into the face of near certain death in protection of another, represents the spirit of Selflessness!" A small smile crept onto Yamanos face, and she held out a hoof, which the shards that hovered towards her started to surround. "Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of Laughter!" Pinkie bounced with excitement as more shards started surrounding her as well. "Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of Generosity!" Rarity had a look of apprehension on her face as the shards started surrounding her too. "Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire, represents the spirit of Loyalty!" The shards surrounded the seemingly unaffected Rainbow Dash. "The spirits of these six ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!" Twilights smile widened and she looked at Nightmare Moon triumphantly. The dark alicorn was exceedingly nervous at this point.
"You still don't have the seventh element! The spark didn't work!" Nightmare Moon spoke with venom and spite, but a slight undertone betrayed her fear. Yamano spoke up at this point.
"If it didn't work, Nightmare Moon, then why do you sound afraid?" Yamano chuckled dryly. Her eyes shifted back to her normal light blue.
"Silence! The spark couldn't have worked! You would have all the elements if it did!" Nightmare Moon was fully panicking at this point. Twilight interjected before she could continue.
"But it did. A different kind of spark! I felt it the moment I realised how happy I was to hear you, to see you. How much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me. When I realised that you all…" She paused as a few tears broke free. She turned back towards Nightmare Moon. "Are my friends!"
At the exact moment those words had left Twilight, a bright flash appeared above the group. In its wake, another stone with another mark hovered down towards Twilight. At the same time, Yamano choked on her own spit at the mention of her being friends with Twilight and the group. The thought hadn't exactly occurred to her, but she liked the idea.
"You see, Nightmare Moon, when those elements are ignited by the…" she paused a moment to think. "The spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the seventh element. The Element of Magic!"
The glowing element above the group tripled in brightness, and the shards hovering around each pony started congregating together. Each of the ponies, bar Twilight and Yamano, were suddenly wearing gold necklaces with gems that matched their cutie marks. Yamano's had traversed to her front left claws, changing the material from their usual steel to a purple-gold alloy, with a new Jet gem where the once-gauntlets met the rest of her leg in the shape of her spiked shield cutie mark. Twilight's element changed into a golden crown, with the gem adorning the top in a spire.
A burst of magic was released from the now floating ponies, twisting around the group and creating a rainbow, with two extra streaks, one black and one white, on either side. The rainbow energy hurtled towards Nightmare Moon, the main rainbow twisting around her and the extra black and white streaks headed straight towards the dark alicorn. The corrupt energy that made up Nightmare Moon was being stripped away, and the two streaks had latched onto her, pulling in opposite directions. The black streak dragged Nightmare Moon with it, and the white streak had dragged the small figure of another alicorn, seemingly not much older than a filly, out from the writhing form of Nightmare moon. Once they had been separated, all of the ponies opened their eyes, all of which were glowing white with power. The burst of power destroyed the remnants of Nightmare Moon before vanishing.
Yamano was the first to regain consciousness. Glancing around in confusion and panic, she saw the shivering form of a blue-ish purple filly with a dark blue mane, and a cutie mark in the shape of a moon, floating a few inches off the ground. Without pausing for consideration, Yamano ran forwards, using the light half of her magic to augment her speed, and caught the filly before she hit the ground. It was at this time that the rest of her… friends, had started to rouse themselves. She suddenly realised how bad of a headache she had but refused to turn her attention away from the shivering princess still in her hooves. She gently shook her awake, making sure not to aggravate any possible injuries she may have had.
"Are you okay, Luna?" She spoke softly, so softly in fact that her friends hadn't even heard her despite their relatively close position to her.
Luna shuddered, confused at the unfamiliar touch and voice. It took a few moments to realise who the voice belonged to, and her eyes widened in shock. When she looked towards her saviour, she expected to see scornful eyes and hatred, but instead, what she saw she couldn't comprehend. It was the eyes of what felt like a mothers love.
"Why do you look at me like that?... I do not deserve your forgiveness for what I have done…" Luna asked quietly, obviously downtrodden.
"Throw that way of thinking to the wayside, princess. No pony will blame you for what has happened this day." Yamano responded kindly, unexpectedly so even for herself. Before she could continue, or before Luna could respond, a bright flash of magic appeared from behind her friends, and in its wake, Celestia had appeared.
Most of the ponies present bowed their heads in respect, whereas Twilight ran up and hugged the sun princess. Yamano payed little attention, checking Luna over for any injuries. She placed her claws supportively on the princesses back, as she had started shivering in fear of her sister.
"Princess Luna." Celestia stated somewhat harshly. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this." As Celestia drew closer, Luna hid her head in Yamanos shoulder, highly unexpected by all present. The princess of the sun smiled softly at the notion, and silently thanked Yamano, who in return lightly nodded her head.
"Luna, listen to her." She ran a claw through the princesses mane, hoping to release some of the tension built up into the remorseful alicorn. She responded with a weak nod, before turning back to Celestia with her eyes closed.
Celestia broke the brief silence with a soft voice. "Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister." The silence that hang in the air after her declaration could have been sliced with a butter knife it was that heavy.
"Sister?!" Twilight broke the silence in shock.
Celestia continued unaware of the confusion. "Will you accept my friendship?"
All the ponies present, bar Yamano who was still holding Luna in as comforting an embrace as she could muster, were leaning in closer to hear the response. Pinkie Pie ended up leaning too far and fell on her face with a yelp. Luna thought to herself for a moment, a look of grief and guilt creeping over her features. She eventually broke the embrace that the assassin was giving, rushing to her sisters side.
"I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!" Luna responded sadly and desperately. Both sisters were in tears now that they were in each others embrace.
"I missed you too." Celestia spoke as calmly as she could manage, which all things considered was impressive considering she was crying equally as hard as Luna was. The touching moment was slightly ruined by Pinkie Pie's loud crying and nose-blowing, which evolved into literal waterfalls of tears.
Yamano was about to go and console the pink earth pony, but never got the chance as she switched so fast from upset to happy and bubbly that she couldn't even see the transition.
"Hey! You know what this calls for?!" Pinkie Pie let the question hang for dramatic effect. "A PARTY!" She announced loudly, much to the chagrin of Yamano who still had a pounding headache. The party pony started leading the charge as most of the group started heading out. Celestia and Luna stayed in each other's embrace as Yamano moved forward to stand next to them. She whispered into Lunas ear.
"Told you I would save you." Yamano spoke mischievously. The recent event had her elated, and she felt content with her new life. It was far superior to her old life, which felt like Tartarus incarnate compared to recent events.
Luna jumped at the sudden closeness of Yamano's voice. All the memories made as Nightmare Moon started creeping back, and she froze in fear at what she remembered. The pony standing before her was an assassin, if her memories were to be believed. She subconsciously shifted away from the purple element bearer and shrank into Celestia's embrace. She looked to her sister for assurance but was shocked to see her smiling at the assassin.
"Thank you for saving my sister, Yamano. It was more than I had hoped." Celestia spoke warmly, as if speaking to an old friend. The guardian in question shrugged.
"Just doing my job, Celestia. The history that Archades kept had records of your sisters existence, and her losing herself to Nightmare Moon. I would not let such innocence be lost to something as ridiculous as jealousy." Yamano's tone darkened as she mentioned her homeland but didn't make a huge deal out of it.
Yamano had turned her attention away from the bonding sisters and noticed Fluttershy hadn't left with the others. Confused, and slightly concerned, she walked up to the pink maned pegasus.
"You not going with the others?" Yamano asked quietly. She still walked cautiously so as not to frighten the pegasus, but after a little observation she realised she had calmed down around the assassin.
"oh. I, uhm, I was waiting for you. The walk through the forest still scares me." Fluttershy spoke hesitantly, making it clear she was hiding something. Yamano decided not to pry.
"Are you hurt or something? I'll carry you back with me if so." Yamano asked with a half chuckle.
"No. I'm fine. Uhm, I'm more worried about you. You, uhm, didn't exactly give yourself much time to heal." Fluttershy stated meekly, shifting her eyes sub-consciously to the spot where Yamano had been struck by the manticore.
Yamano waved a clawed hoof in dismissal. "I'm fine, Fluttershy. I may not be at peak performance, but I'm not going to collapse any time soon.
"Oh. That's good." Fluttershy responded quietly. Neither pony continued to speak, leaving an awkward silence looming over their heads. A silence that lasted a little too long, as when they glanced around the room, they realised they were both completely alone. The princesses had already moved on ahead.
The silence went from awkward to painful. Having been fed up, Yamano decided to speak.
"shall… shall we get moving? Before they completely leave us behind."
Fluttershy nodded as Yamano took point. They were both nervous about traversing the forest with just the two of them, but Fluttershy took it to an extreme. She ended up standing extremely close to Yamano, who by no means tried to force her away, but still felt weird having someone rely on her so much for safety. The trip was uneventful however, and they found themselves standing outside of the forest before they knew it.
"That… wasn't so bad." The guardian sighed in relief. "Let's go see what Pinkie has planned, I guess."
Fluttershy nodded again. She had tried multiple times throughout the trip to ask Yamano about what she had overheard from the conversation between her and Nightmare Moon, but each time she tried, the words failed her. She decided to think about it some more before trying again.
As the duo entered Ponyville, they were greeted by a heart-warming sight. The residents of Ponyville had no qualms accepting the appearance of Luna and were celebrating her arrival. Yamano and Fluttershy split away from each other at this point, and while Fluttershy went to stand with her friends, Yamano moved over to Twilight, who was standing a little ways out, looking sad about something.
"Hey Twilight. Are you alright?" Twilight remained quiet. It was obvious something was bothering her. Yamano had a sneaking suspicion. "You don't want to go back to Canterlot, huh?" A slow nod was all she got as a response. "I see. I'll go get Celestia then. Stay here." Yamano started walking towards the princess in question. She chose a spot just within Celestia's peripheral vision and beckoned her over. Celestia nodded in confirmation and peeled herself away from the adoring crowds.
"Why so glum, my faithful student?" Celestia asked with the tone of a caring mother. Her tone shifted to amusement. "Are you not happy that your quest is complete, and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?" Twilight hung her head low at the mention of Canterlot.
"That's just it." Her voice was laden with disappointment. "Just when I've learned how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them." The new group of friends had gathered around, and all looked sad at the concept.
Celestia gave a patient smile, before closing her eyes. "Spike, take a note please."
Spike was about to voice a complaint, but Pinkie Pie magicked up a quill and parchment for the baby dragon. Yamano was confused. Again. She needed to do some investigation later.
"I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree, that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings, from her new home in Ponyville."
All at once, the previous residents of Ponyville-turned-friends gathered around Twilight in excitement. They were all chattering happily, until two of them realised something. Applejack and Fluttershy both asked Celestia something at the same time.
"What about Yamano/Will Yamano be able to stay?" Celestia failed to hide a giggle at the question.
"I couldn't exactly separate my student from her guardian, now could I. Somepony has to make sure she stays out of trouble." Celestia gave Yamano a knowing look and smiled. The guardians eyes were wide with surprise, and all motor functions had ceased. "Besides, I'd say she is as much a friend of yours as Twilight is."
Yamano struggled with the information for far too long. All her new friends had smiles on their faces, but she couldn't just accept the realisation too easily. "So I'm… NOT being sent back to Archades? Or thrown in a dungeon? Or-"
The looks on all her friends faces looked confused. Except for Fluttershy, who squeaked in apprehension at the mention of a dungeon, her knowing what Yamano used to be. Yamano realised what she had said and brought a clawed hoof to her face. "That's going to take some explaining…"
Celestia sighed in slight frustration. "You realise that the moment I brought you here from Archades, you had forfeited all obligations to return to that place? I would never send you back willingly." Celestia shifted her gaze down to Yamanos left hoof. "And I also wouldn't send an Element of Harmony to a distant kingdom. Something tells me that it would be rather difficult to part you from yours."
Yamano didn't know what to think. So she didn't. A few moments of complete silence passed. Or at least what felt like silence. Eventually, she let out a short chuckle. Then a longer one. And then collapsed, laughing hysterically at the prospect of being free. It was a moment of pure glee, a happiness she had never felt possessing her entire being. She never had to face the bastard that haunted her nightmares ever again, unless she herself chose to.
The rest of the group all looked at each other sceptically. They didn't know what had happened to make Yamano break down so completely, but they were glad that she seemed happy. It was the first time they had seen her even remotely happy, and were glad they could be there to experience it. The immense jubilance emanating from the guardian removed any and all traces of the dangerous presence that had scared Fluttershy when they had first met. After a while, the joyful laughter from the guardian became infectious, causing everyone else to start giggling and laughing alongside her. Even Celestia seemed to be having trouble keeping up an air of professionalism. Even if they didn't know why they laughed, they were glad to know the once serious and broody guardian had opened up a little more.
Pinkie, surprisingly, was the first to try and calm herself down. She looked about her friends, and yelled out. "LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED! PRINCESSES, YOU AREN'T GETTING OUT OF THIS!"
Twilight was the next to calm herself, and turned towards the princess. "Thank you Princess Celestia! I'll study harder than ever before!" The princess smiled warmly at the declaration, and soon cheers were heard from across all of Ponyville. It was a good day. And this party would be HUGE!