A/N: well here' the next chapter, hope you all enjoy.
Return of the Shadow League: chapter 4: Disturbing News
The next day, following Twilight's nightmare, seemed like any other normal day, Flame had left for his new job, and Twilight stayed behind, and tended to the library, Flame had managed to get a job, working for the mayor of ponyVille, his job was to be her secretary, and messenger, he often had to travel to Canterlot, for a day, and came back at night, he grew tired of it, but still managed.
Twilight was walking around the library, rearranging some of the books, when she looked at the clock, "oh shoot" she said as she finished up her task, and turned to her assistant, "Spike, watch the library, while I'm gone" she said as she ran out the door.
"Okay, Twilight" he said back, spike had grown older, and was no longer a baby dragon, he was taller, but still not quite as tall as Twilight and Flame.
Twilight agreed to meet Flame, at sugarcube corner, for their lunch break, Twilight was almost late, when she reached the shop, she saw Flame already standing outside, "hey there you are" he said as she came up to him, and kissed her on the cheek, "sorry, got a bit caught up" she said smiling as they walked in, and took a seat, when Pinkie Pie, walked up to them.
"Hey Twilight, what can I get you two" she said, just as excited as ever, "I think we'll just have, two slices of chocolate cake" Flame said with a smile, Pinkie, immediately took off into the kitchen, and reappeared with two plates, both with a large slice of chocolate cake on it.
Twilight and Flame, thanked their friend, and immediately, started eating, to them it was the best thing they had ever tasted, nopony made better desserts than the Cake family, during their eating, Flame looked up at his wife, "so Twilight, I was thinking, we should take a trip to Canterlot, and visit your brother, eat at a fancy restraint, visit the Princess, what do you think" he said with a smile.
Twilight stopped eating and looked up at him, and smiled back, "sure, it's been at least a month, since we've seen Shining Armor, I think that's a great idea" she said, turning back to her cake, Flame was about to respond, but suddenly a pony burst in, catching everypony's attention.
"the Captain of the Royal Guard just arrived, the Mayor has called for an immediate town meeting, everpony is to come" he said before leaving, quickly the customers followed, him out the door, Twilight turned to Flame, "what's going on?" she asked worried, Flame shared her feelings, "I don't know, but your brother's here, so it must be important, let's go find out" he said as they followed the crowd outside.
(PonyVille, town square)
Everpony from the town, had filled up, town square, as they all tried to find a place to watch the mayor. As soon as they all arrived the mayor stepped up, and cleared her throats, "attention, everpony, I have called you all hear now, because I have received some shocking news, I have hear with me, captain of the royal guard, Shining Armor, and his wife Princess Cadence, Captain" she said gesturing to the pony, beside her, indeed, Twilight's brother stepped up, to the podium, and cleared his throat.
"attention, citizens of ponyVille, I am here to inform you that we are again at war" he said, and when he did, the crowd, erupted into confused shouts, but he remained calm, "it is my duty to inform you, that…Canterlot has been attacked" he said, and the crowd, repeated the same motion, "in the early hours of last night, a group of ponies, attacked the capital, we do not yet know who these ponies are, but rest assured the Princesses are safe, survivors of the attack, have been evacuated, and sent to other cities, until this matter is resolved, if any of you, can provide food and shelter, come and see my lieutenant, all I ask is that you remain calm, until this problem is resolved, that is all" he said as he left the podium, and walked away, leaving a very confused and scared crowd.
Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing, she began to remember her feeling, that something bad had happened, and now her suspicions were correct, Twilight had to talk to her brother, "come on, Flame" she said grabbing his hoof, and leading him to behind the stage.
They found Shining Armor and Cadence talking to the mayor and some other ponies, "Shining Armor, Cadence!" Twilight shouted, as they ran to them, they both turned their attention to the approaching ponies, the look on their faces was overjoyed, Shining Armor smiled as his little sister ran up and hugged him.
"Twilight it's so good to see you, were sorry we couldn't tell you of our arrival, but as you probably heard, things are bad" he said sadly, but still hugging her, "oh please tell me, that it's not true" she said, as she let go and looked up at him, his look only made her feel worse.
"I wish it was, but we were there, we saw it happen" he said turning to Flame, and shook his hoof, "good to see you again Flame" he said changing his attitude, "same here" Flame said with a smile, "come one, let's go back to the library" Twilight said as they began to search for her friends, and head back home.
(PonyVille, public library)
They all sat in the living room, as Twilight made them all a cup of tea, when she reappeared levitating a whole tray, she set it down and took a seat next to her husband, "don't you think it, might have been the guild" she said looking up at Flame, and then to her brother, "no, the guild is finished, even if they were around, they wouldn't have the numbers to pull a full scale assault, off that easily" Shining Armor said, with a sad look.
"Well there must be somepony behind it" impatient Applejack said as she sipped her tea, "you must have some idea, who it was" Flame said looking at Shining Armor, before he could answer, Spike came rushing into the room, obviously out of breath, he sat their catching his breath, as all the ponies in the room stared at him.
He tried to look up and speak, but suddenly his cheeks, puffed out, and he burped out a, small burst of fire, and then a note, rolled up, with the royal seal and all, landed on the table in front of them, the first to react was Twilight, who levitated it up to her face, and opened it, what she saw inside, shocked her as , her eyes widened, she turned her attention to her brother, with a worried look, "it's from Princess Celestia" she said as she got up, and turned back to the note, "but that's impossible we saw her get captured" Shining Armor said, as they all got up, and walked over to Twilight, who had turned around, and cleared her throat, ready to read the letter.
"My faithful student Twilight Sparkle,
As I wright this letter to you, my time dwindles fast, so I must be brief. I am sure by now you have received the news, from your brother, about the attack, rest assured, my sister and I are fine, but the truth, is not so much, indeed, Canterlot was attacked by an old enemy of ours, his name is Shadow Blaze, this enemy is far more powerful, than anything you have faced before.
It is up to you to stop him, but you can't do it alone, I have sent a friend to find you, please meet him on the outside of ponyVille, at midnight, tonight, he will help you in your quest to stop Shadow Blaze, the fate of Equestria, once again rest in your hooves.
Yours truly Princess Celestia"
When Twilight finished reading the letter, her eyes widened, as she turned to her friends, who all shared her reaction, except for Shining Armor and Cadence, "so what do we do now?" Flame asked stepping forward," if the Princess say's this stranger can help us, then we have to do it, everpony meet back here before midnight" Shining Armor said, as he left, followed by his wife, soon all the others left, leaving only Twilight and Flame alone.
(Outside PonyVille)
Twilight and her friends, again met up at the library, twenty minutes to midnight, after leaving they made their way to the outskirts, and found themselves facing, the shadows, of the Everfree forest, a faint layer of fog, came from the trees, as they waited for this mysterious pony.
"well, its midnight, where is this pony supposed to be" Flame said getting impatient, he got his answer, when they heard the sound of hooves coming towards them, they started looking in all directions, until they saw a strange hooded figure, emerging from the fog, he slowly approached them, none of them could make out his face, because of he kept his hood up, and his head slightly down.
When he finally reached them, he stopped and, lifted his head; an intense silence fell over them, so Twilight decided to break it, "are you the one, Princess Celestia sent" she asked, nervously, he turned his attention to her, and stared her in the eyes, and slowly walked up to face her, this action made Flame, cautious, as he readied a weapon, he decided to conceal.
When he reached her, he looked deep into her eyes and brought his hoof up to his hood, and slowly slid it off, revealing a pony, with a dark grey coat, and a light red mane, Twilight could instantly tell that he was a unicorn, but she didn't really care.
"Yes I am, my name is Silver Heart, and it is a great honor to meet you in person, Miss Sparkle" he said taking her hoof and lightly kissing it, making her blush, and Flame to be even more cautious.
"Well Mister Silver, this is my husband Flame" she said looking up at him, Flame hesitated for a minute, but extended out his hoof, which Silver shook quickly, "this is my Brother and Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor, and his wife, Princess Cadence" Twilight said, gesturing to the stallion to her left.
"an honor it is" he said shacking both their hooves, and turning his attention back to Twilight, "and these are my friends" she said gesturing to the last five, after all introducing themselves, Silver spoke up, "it's the greatest honor to meet all of you, I am here to help, but before you ask any questions, is there a place where we can speak in private" he said looking at all them.
"Yeah, there's the library" she said, but before she could give any other options he started walking in the direction of town, they quickly followed him.
(PonyVille, public library)
When they all arrived, they patiently waited for Silver to explain himself, "excuse me, Mister Silver, why did the Princess send you, she says you can help us" Twilight said, watching him, as he walked around the library, obviously lost in thought, her comment got his attention, "ah yes, I owe you all an explanation, you see, I am the leader of a secret group known as the Guardians.
This surprised, Shining Armor, "what, I'm the leader of the Royal Guard, and I have never heard of your group" he said stepping forward, "that's because officially we don't exist, the only ones who know of us, are the princess's" he said turning his attention to the Captain.
He cleared his throat, and continued, "the Guardians, are a secret organization, that goes as far back, as the beginning of Equestria, our sole purpose, is to protect and serve the Elements of Harmony, and those who control their power" he said turning to Twilight and her friends.
"Now that I have met your family, allow me to introduce you to mine" he said clapping his hooves on the floor, as if on cue the room filled with a bright flash, forcing all of them, to cover their eyes, when it stopped, and they looked, they saw three more hooded ponies, standing in the middle of the room.
They all took off their hoods, revealing a young mare, a young colt, and an older stallion, the first thing the saw, was that two of them were unicorns, and one was a Pegasus, Silver walked to each of them, "this is my family, this here, is Sapphire, she is my second in command, and also my beautiful wife" he said walking up to the mare, and smiling, which she returned, "an honor, to meet the Elements in person" she said taking a bow, he then walked up to the younger colt, who was slightly shorter than the mare.
"this is our son, Comet" he said, putting a hoof on his son's shoulder, he took a bow, "it is truly grateful, to be in your presence" he said returning to his former position, they nodded to him, and turned to the last one, the Pegasus, "this is my third in command, an my uncle, Sky Breeze" he said with a smile, and he turned to them.
"yes it is all nice to meet your family, but we need a plan, how do we stop Shadow Blaze" Twilight said, worriedly, Silver's smile disappeared, as he walked away, followed by his wife and son, "there is only one way to defeat him, and it isn't easy, if you want to stop him, we must leave here tomorrow" he said walking up to Twilight.
"What, but why?" she asked, he just looked at her and turned away, and walked to the window, "if Shadow's forces, have attacked Canterlot, then they have already, discovered your identities, and your location, it's likely they are already on their way here, and if they are, they will destroy anything in their path to get to you" he said looking out the window, and too the ruined city of Canterlot, off in the distance.
"hold on, I'm the captain of the Royal Guard, I'm the one in charge here" Shining Armor said, stepping forward, "yes, and you're doing a fantastic job, but this is what we specialize in" Silver said, walking up to him, even though, Shining Armor was slightly taller, Silver had the upper hoof here, the others looked on in awe, as the two stallions argued.
"okay, since you say you serve the Elements, why not let them decide" Flame said looking at them, and turning to Twilight and her friends, "Silver, he has a point" Sapphire said, walking up to her husband, he looked at her and sighed, "very well, we leave the choice up to you" he said walking up to Twilight.
She looked around nervously, as all eyes rested on her, she sighed and turned to look Silver in the eyes, "we will go with you" she said, which made Silver smile, "excellent, we will be back tomorrow, at sunset, pack only essentials, meet us on the outskirts of town, we will leave from there" he said as he turned and walked out the door, followed by the others.
"well, better not waste time, ah am going home to get some sleep and start packing" Applejack said, as she also walked out the door, followed by Twilight friends, leaving only Twilight, Flame, Shining Armor, and Cadence alone, Shining Armor turned to his sister, and said, "I hope you are right about doing this" he said before he said goodnight, and headed out the door, followed by Cadence, now it was only Twilight and Flame. They looked at each other and nodded their heads, and went up to their room, to get a good night sleep.
A/N: well something tells me, that Silver and Shining Armor, are not going to get along, but find out next time, see you then.