Swamp

This time it was easy to tell that I was indeed dreaming. I could see by the way the moon looked above an imaginative Canterlot as well as the avatar of me which was patrolling through the streets with a squad of guards in search of any thieves or beggars to boot from the Shining Capital.

"Take two others and patrol around the secondary square and report back her in two hours" I ordered a few guards and they saluted and left to fulfil the task. It was a quiet night like the many hundreds which Canterlot slept safely and peacefully through without the worries of other cities pollution and such.

However I wasn't to know that having been brought up in a moderately well-off family in a quaint small town in the middle of meadows and bunnies so I believed at the time that all cities were like Canterlot. So I marched proudly without my legs tiring in knowledge that I had a duty to preserve something I loved and that it was good enough for me.

For some behind me however they were a little more realistic and walking around town for five hours was bloody freezing. However they like me were trained to be silent and visual of our situation and we all took this training very seriously.

Looking at another past version of myself I felt a mixture of admiration and disgust at the same time all jumbled in. On one hand I had a really great body but on the other my mind was stable if still naïve to the greater world but despite all that I missed not sleeping at night and when I did sleep waking up to nightmares.

"You were going to have a nightmare but I was able to block it and you filled in the space" said a voice from behind and I spun and saw it was Luna. Although she was like nothing I'd ever seen, I remember when she'd intruded on my dreams before that she was some broken and flicker movie image but now she was solid and in a dream looked a lot like Clearwater except with a kinder face.

"I suppose this is the first time we've been introduced properly" I said smiling weakly but not with humour in my voice but sadness. "Luna I just wanted to apologise for a few hours ago when we were defending against Chrysalis, I had seen how she was demolishing our moral from my memories but I thought that…she hadn't been one of those memories" I explained.

"No the fault lies with me Captain, I reacted disgracefully back there when you had just more than likely saved our lives my charging into the fray of ponies before they could change and confuse us with each other's forms" she said obviously trying to make me feel better for my recent but probably not the last sin I'd recently added to my list.

"Princess we all know that it was my own anger which killed without the need to and although I can't change what I did I can regret it for the rest of my life" I said feeling the need for alcohol all of a sudden greatly to…ease myself loathing.

"It was clearly a kill or be kill situation and if I were in your position I'm sure o would most definitely kill" she told me confidently but then I counteracted her argument when I explained "I once saw a chart which showed that a Royal Guard throughout five hundred years never draws blood of an enemy except for three cases one of which was me, I'm a bad pony Princess and I fear that the battle rage which I seem to go into will one day consume me".

Luna shook her flowing mane to and fro in denial and told me "Never, you can always stop yourself and come back to me, you came back after the Observatory and all those other times you defended and never left my side after little to no convincing when right now you could have taken me to your employer".

When she said this I became worried and recalled the ponies which I had killed in the desert and the crazy plan that I'd been considering before I had been interrupted. "My employer, I don't know who she is or how to find her, all I was given was the task to find you and wipe away all my debt which included my wife…" I mumbled the last words as I began to think carefully.

"What is it you're thinking about?" asked Luna. "Well the way I remember it going about Princess was that they didn't want to kill you but capture you and maybe utilise the powers which you had and when I found you I thought you were to be some kind of crazy criminal who they wanted to turn into a super weapon or maybe something to control the crown but, and this is a crazy idea…but if we go to Manehatten and then find this pony, then she will be able to get the contacts that we need to warn Canterlot and find out if and where the Magical source has been moved to" I suggested.

The idea sounded far-fetched and looking up at the full moon of my dream I even admitted that the result would most likely be Luna captured and the rest of us dead however Luna began to trot through the dark streets of Canterlot and I followed her as she seemed to relax and perhaps contemplate my crazy scheme.

"Canterlot is more sophisticated than I remember it to be, you have these lamps of electricity and the cobbles of the wide roads are all lined straight. My sister and I never visited Canterlot, it was the residence of the old Unicornian Royal Family and it had secrets built into the foundations of the mountainside which we did not wish to unravel despite the fact it was the centre of Equestria" stated Luna as she gazed around my dream.

"How is it that we can walk through my dream like this?" I asked and she looked at me and happily explained "Well I am in a way walking through your brain which is making up all the thought processes as we go, of course I'm restricted only to one part but eventually if I could regain my powers and with great concentration I can bend the wills of others".

"Wait…you mean you can take over ponies minds!" I exclaimed in amazement. "Oh yes but only those who are weak minded or lack any train of thought, your mind to me looks to be inaccessible" she commented looking around as if she were surveying a house.

"How's the magic going though, it's obviously affected you greatly I mean you can walk through dreams now" I said and then had a thought and asked "Can you see into the dreams of Clearwater"? Luna snarled and said "Neigh, my power isn't that strong in fact I can barely access ponies dreams which are more than a few miles away when once I could have protected the dreams of all of Equestria at the same time every night whilst I watched over the Kingdom".

She seemed bitter and I supposed that she was remembering Clearwater and after a short moment of silence she said "I'm not as strong a leader as my sister, I'm not as strong a politician as my sister, I'm not as strong a magical wielder as my sister and overall I'm not as brave as you who has kept me standing when I would fall. I can design amazing things and calculate trajectories of magical fluctuation using pencils and string and although my speciality is warding and illusion spells I know the basics in other fields and will put them to use whenever there is a problem".

I listened on in silence whilst she told me about her flaws and strengths, not knowing what she was leading up to if there was even a point or it was just talk. "I think we should do it…your plan is the only one right now that we can use since we are blind and deaf when it comes to Canterlot. I won't be able to defeat Clearwater without my magic and form restored to what it used to be" she finally said.

"You never told me, how did Clearwater do this to you? I mean you were one of the most powerful beings in Equestria and although from the file I'd read she looked to be a pretty special Unicorn I still want to ask how she could have bested you and how she could have done this to you"? I asked curiously since it would have taken some pretty powerful magic to do.

"I too don't know exactly how she could have done this, however my guess is she used some magical artefact long lost to our knowledge which enhanced her powers greatly" said Luna bitterly and I nodded taking the explanation before wondering about something. "Luna, Clearwater was Starswirl the Bearded's student correct"?

She stopped walking along the well-lit streets of my dream and stared straight ahead. "Yes she was" she replied quickly but I wasn't finished and carried on, asking "But the file I read mentioned that Celestia was also student to Starswirl so were you also his student?" I asked and she nodded and said " I was his student but long before Clearwater, however since Starswirl and I were doing extensive research on a multiple amount of things I came into a lot of contact with her and although I was never directly her friend we knew each other very well".

"It must have been hard though" I said putting a hoof on her shoulder. She remained cool despite the emotions churning inside her and replied "Yes It was hard, after the foundations of peace had been laid for the future everything seemed to look brighter but Clearwater's betrayal and from what I've seen of this new world I really want to ask myself whether or not it was all for nothing".

I knew it would be hard to convince Luna that although this world had its problems it was actually sunshine and bunnies but since I couldn't probably find the words I had a better idea and since this was my dream I focused on thinking of something bright.

Suddenly the setting began to change and shift from the gloomy streets of Canterlot to the balcony leading into the throne room. Celestia was there and smiling along with Prince Blueblood and a bunch of other very obscure relatives I'd never heard about or paid much heed too.

I too was there, standing by her side and looking straight and proper with no expression and a steely gaze as the loyal citizens cheered and threw flowers, streamer and balloons high up into the air in celebration for something important which even I couldn't remember although it was probably yet another law.

"What is this?" asked Luna and I chuckled and replied "This is what Equestria has had for hundreds of years Princess, your sister rules fairly and the land prospers with rich farms and industrious factories" I said spreading my fore hooves towards the adoring masses although internally knowing that I was lying ever so slightly since poverty still very much existed.

"This…this is incredible, in all the time I ruled with my sister we never received even one rose but now if this is what Celestia sees most days then I cannot understand why anypony wouldn't want to live in Equestria!" she exclaimed as she peered over the balcony.

She looked through the crowds and then at her sister who was smiling her classic warm and welcoming smile and waving her hoof gracefully as a Princess should. However her eyes looked over the crowds and not at Luna and I could tell that it was upsetting Luna being so close yet so far to her sister so I asked "Maybe we should…" but I was interrupted as suddenly a guard ran up to my other self and saluted before saying "Urgent message for the Princess about Cloudsdale Weather System".

I knew that voice all too well and looked as the young guard pushed his helmet up from where it had begun to droop down and seethed in anger when I saw the face. "Shining Armour" I said with venom, unable to retain my hatred for this pony. Luna looked across at me and asked "Oh do you know this guard"?

I tried not to scowl when I looked at her and watched instead as my dream self-walked up to the kid and told him to get lost however Celestia had already come over and asked "Oh was it the very important message from Cloudsdale I have been waiting for"?

I scowled and watched as she left with Shining Armour and I was made to remain on the balcony with a bunch of second-rate royals whilst getting streamers thrown at my face. "That was the real beginning of my decline, generally things began to get worse for me as he always solved a problem I couldn't or was there when I wasn't and slowly I watched as he climbed the ranks till finally I had to watch as my title was ripped from me and given to him on a silver platter" I spat and Luna sensing the animosity towards Shining in my voice decided it best to not comment on this.

I calmed down slightly and asked "Princess what are Soarin and Pick dreaming about"? She smiled and then tension developing melted and she said "Well Soarin is dreaming of pie and Pick is dreaming of a gold plated castle in Dodge City so I decided to stop by all of you" she giggled and I asked in wonder "you can visit us all at the same time"? She nodded and explained "Yes it's been a while but holding multiple conversations was what I would do all night once although the dreams of ponies back then were of demons and timber wolves and not whether the pie was going to make you explode or the golden house cost too much on tax".

"Well it was interesting talking to you…oh and when do I wake up because I'm starting to get really annoyed by the call of the crowds?" I asked and she giggled and suddenly I was awake.

"What the hay?" I immediately asked myself as I sat up and looked around the small camp we'd set up. Luna had been keeping watch by a dying fire and Soarin and Pick had been sleeping up against a tree whilst I'd chosen a piece of grass.

"Good sleep?" asked Luna smiling and Soarin stretched and said "Yeah, thanks for stopping me or else I would have probably exploded" said Soarin and I couldn't suppress a smile which only widened when Pick asked "So you're sure the tax collectors aren't real because I really don't want them to repossess my gold-plated armchair" said Pick worried.

"Ok maybe we should all come back to the present and tell you about the plan" I said cutting the chat and getting down to business. "What plan, I thought you had contacts or something in Canterlot, you were mentioning it before we got interrupted…" said Soarin and I explained "Yes, but I was talking about somepony else who might have sent a few hundred thieves and murderers after us which might have caught you and tied you up a few days ago".

There was a brief silence which Pick broke by asking sarcastically "So does this mean the plan is to put us through a meat grinder"? "No it means that we'll need to hand Luna over to a strange mare in Manehatten I might not be able to find and then possibly all get killed in the process but if not then we will somehow use the possible power which Luna might be able to exert over her to get help from contacts in Canterlot which will then steal any relevant documents on the Magical Source and where it was moved to and drop a note of the Changeling threat" I said plainly enough.

It must have looked like I was speaking some foreign language to Pick but Luna and Soarin understood this to some degree and Soarin asked "But how will we get to Canterlot"? "Knew I'd forget something" I thought to myself and mentally smacked myself. "Well since umm… the train stations will probably be under guard with the help of the militia or new Night Guard or whatever it might be then I suggest that we head through these swamps, north-east of here about a day and a half steady walk is Baltimare and one of the largest harbours in Equestria called Horseshoe Bay" I said.

"Wait a moment, your planning on catching a ship to Manehatten aren't you?" asked Pick who was probably the last pony to get what we were doing. "Yes well done Pick have a gold star" I mumbled sarcastically. "Well if we're going to reach Baltimare in a day and a half then we'd best get started" said Luna and although everyone but Pick agreed with her I had a slight itch at the back of my neck which was annoying.

However I brushed it off and thought nothing more of it as we began the fair distance through the rough and sometimes perilous swamp lands. "You know I think that this swamp is probably the smelliest place I've ever smelled" shared Pick but to me I couldn't smell a thing since I still smelled of dried blood and the strange smell of Changeling blood. "When we get to Baltimare the two things I plan to do is to conceal us aboard a ship and take a really long bath if we don't have to run for our lives" I said as my mane (which was pretty much green from changeling blood) whipped into my eyes.

So we traversed on through the disgusting and pretty much lifeless swamps with very few things happening apart from Pick rattling on about some famous band he'd heard when he was in Dodge called DJ Pon-3 or something and did a lot of that head pounding music which I'd never been able to actually get into.

Soarin was also a fan of the music most unfortunately for Luna and I's poor ears as for the next two hours they began to Beat box and occasionally mime a turntable for Vinyl records and do some power slide which ended up with Pick getting stuck in a fallen tree trunk on the ground.

"What is it with you ponies and this musician; surely her music cannot be as good as the Royal Canterlot Orchestra" she stated as if everypony still listened to classical music. "Please Princess nopony listens to that fancy music anymore I mean without DJ Pon-3 there is no music industry, surely even the Captain listens to music" said Pick pointing a hoof at me.

"Well despite the fact I once heard the song playing on a nearby phonogram the only records I listen too are A Band of Horses" I said as I remembered their cheery number "The Funeral" which I had playing in the Royal Guard Canteen every single day whenever it was lunch. "Oh yeah I think my grandpa used to listen to that stuff" said Pick which did little but infuriate me.

"Pick why don't you and Soarin shut up for the duration of the journey or speak about tactics to use in a fight since right now all it's been is Soarin throwing his knives and ending up in close combat which means he's grappling with another pony for hours before he's able to beat him meanwhile you cower on behind Luna as she barely manages to take down all her enemies before they reach her" I said harshly but truly.

Their faces burned slightly as they recalled their flaws in battle and Pick suggested to Soarin "I suppose if I stay close to you and when you get in close combat I could help you out". "What if there is some other pony that attacks you?" asked Soarin and this made Pick go blank.

"I guess" he began to say but Luna instantly threw herself face down and whispered loudly "Get down"! We all immediately were on the stinking and muddy floor and at first I thought it was something Luna had seen and looked around but suddenly I heard it. There was a slight whooshing sound which was audibly increasing by the second until it exploded threw a cloud above us and flew onwards, leaving a trail of the cloud like smoke behind it.

"What in the name of Celestia was that?" I asked quietly and Soarin crawled over from his position on the ground and told us "It's a Wonderbolt, by the looks of what I saw it was Rapidfire". I was first of all amazed by how keen Soarin's sight was but then I was angry since if they were combing along this area then that would mean chance of detection and most likely that slime of the Night Guard Thorn was probably not far behind us.

"Ok speak later we need to move now" I said and we all began to pick up our pace, Pick asking "So how many of them Wonderbolt's did you say there was"? "About eighty, although only about ten of us actually go to all these shows and concerts and other things to do tricks whilst the other seventy keep an eye on Equestria's skies for griffons illegally entering the land and in case a freak storm appears from overseas" he said which surprised me since generally my depiction had been that all they did was fly around with colourful smoke and eat cake with the elite.

"It seems that your Corp is quite an important part in society" said Luna and Soarin agreed saying "Yes it is, Pegasi from all over admire us and want to become one of us, we're portrayed in a bright light of glory and fame but sadly the only thing I do apart from occasionally doing some stunts and eating pie with some snobs is signing lots of paperwork and rueing the day I ever signed off to have myself made into an action figure" he sighed.

"Wait you're an action figure?" asked Pick and Soarin nodded but sheepishly smiled "Yea but only a back round one really, everypony buys the Spitfire one and if there is a sale then also me or Surprise as well although that still doesn't stop me getting fan mail, particularly from the Ponyville area which I find strange since although it's close to Cloudsdale it inputs more letters which all come from the same crazy fan every time" he said with a frown.

"Well that's spectacular, maybe by the end of this we can all become action figures which our crazy fans will buy to put on shelves and then admire and comb our hair and then microwave when they get bored" I said annoyed at our slowing pace.

Everpony looked at me and I asked "What didn't you all ever fry action figures when you were colts"? "What's an action figure?" asked Luna having no idea what in Equestria we were talking about. "Never mind I'll explain later, for now we have to pick up the pace and If I could I'd have us jogging but this marsh looks too bad and Pick would get left behind" I said increasing pace.

"Hay I resent that" said Pick but we all agreed that it was the truth and we'd probably be forced to leave Pick behind if we ran as it was visible that despite probably being more active than most ponies he was physically not the sharpest.

"You know sometimes brain counts for more than brawn" Pick remarked which although was a fair argument I simply replied "Yeah but your brain is made of squidgy pink flesh whilst your blade is made of steel and I can tell you that in a straight fight brain will lose". "Not if the brain of the one wielding blade is too small to understand how to use it" said Luna which was once more a good point.

"Yeah well next time we're in a fight let's put your theory to the test" I challenged and I could tell by Luna's face that it was gam on. On a practical level we knew we were just joking but on the other hand there was a slight competitive side to me that begged to show that there was nothing muscles couldn't do that brains could figure out.

Not wanting to alert a possible Wonderbolt which as Soarin had revealed had great vision and hearing and would be impossible for anypony but Soarin to catch and even then it would be difficult. So we remained in silence and trudged quietly through the swamps and saw the sun eventually set and the moon rise as normal.

We didn't risk fire once we stopped for the night since we'd be lit up like a barn on fire so we pretty much froze in the spooky swamps which had worryingly began to gather fog and suddenly come alive with eerie noises and suspicious rustling which I'm sure had us all awake.

Although I was absolutely exhausted and in desperate need of sleep I was too worried about our surroundings and about Baltimare to get some shut eye. I was unhappy that after the long journey we'd been on we had been rewarded with nothing but grief and still no power that could restore Luna and defeat Clearwater whom I'd never met.

Suddenly I heard a large rustle and stood up sharply. Pick who had been keeping watch also jolted up more in fear but I motioned for him to stay down and whispered "Stay here and keep your eyes peeled, I'm going to go check the surrounding to our camp". "Ok" he whispered back and once more lay down on his stomach and kept watch for anything.

I moved slowly, trying to stay silent and low with my sword clamped tightly between my teeth and an expression of steeliness on my face. I had gone about fifty metres and was about to head back since the camp was now vulnerable if I went out any further but something stopped me.

The rather annoying itch was developing into a rash and I scratched it hard and whilst doing so looked up at the trees to see something which truly freaked me out and had me once more questioning my sanity.

The same old pony with the same type of hat and cloak except now in a mottled green was sitting on a tall branch in the tree above my head with his stick hanging from a branch above along with his pack. "Oh hello there Captain, didn't see you passing by my way, then again it's a rather lovely night to be sitting in a tree" he said cheerfully.

I put my hooves over my eyes and told him and mainly myself "This isn't real, I am dreaming and at the end of this nightmare I will wake up and it will all be ok". I peeked and saw that Starswirl was unimpressed with my logic applied to this matter and he sighed and asked "You know if a gigantic observatory that could once see everypony and a magical source which can give ponies the power to blow up entire universes is believable, then why is it you can't believe in an old guy like me"?

"I can't believe because you are dead old man, that's why it isn't believable because you are dead. I read the reports and Luna confirmed that Clearwater killed you!" I argued quietly in case this wasn't a dream and Pick heard me and came to investigate me talking to a figment of my imagination.

"Oh I died then did I? Well death isn't really the end of the world is it?" he asked looking at me as if I should respond in some way to his little mind games. He sighed as if disappointed in my lack of speech and asked "You are a very angry pony are you not"?

I clenched my hooves tight and tried very hard to contain the foul language I wanted to spew at him. He chuckled slightly and said "I'll take that as a yes then" which infuriated me more since this was my imagination and I didn't like it very much.

"Well believe it or not old Starswirl the Bearded wasn't always bearded and as a young colt I was intrigued much by the battles of sword on sword usually between an Earth Ponies but one day I got a sword and began to practice it but with using my magic to levitate things.

"Now a few well trained unicorns can lift a pony high into the air and a select few know of spells which can blow holes in ponies or manipulate their sight to see friends where they see enemies and vice versa but back in my day magic was still pretty basic and levitation even hadn't been completely figured out" he explained to me without my knowing as to where this conversation was going.

"My father was a guard for the Royal Unicornian family and he wanted me his son to follow in his footsteps and he encouraged me to be angry all the time and drive me towards becoming a good guard" he said as his face suddenly changed from a smiley expression to a scowl.

"Well when I began to go beyond using my magic for practising how to wield a sword and begin to manipulate other things and found magic wasn't a weapon but as well as a tool a beautiful paintbrush which could do many wondrous thing. I forget about training and went to learn with some elite Unicorns who raised the moon and sun back then and my father got so enraged at my betrayal of the family tradition he went out and got extremely drunk, came back and killed my sister whilst she slept and burned my family's home" he said darkly yet with the same tone of voice.

The tone of his voice disturbed me and my eyes softened slightly as he went on and said "So upon the news reaching me I became enraged and once more took up the sword and travelled back from Canterlot which was the Unicornian Castle and after two weeks I arrive to see the drunkard, wife beater my father had become and the home my mother and he now lived in which was a shanty little joint once a farm now a storage room for empty liquor bottles.

"I confronted him when he was more sober and he drew on me and we proceeded to fight and despite his experience and my lack of my anger leant me such strength that I broke his sword in two and suddenly feeling rage build in my head my horn discharged a blast of deadly, evil energy which blew a hole through his chest and so creating the first destruction spell" he told me and then his tone sadly as he explained the last part to his tale.

"Although this was my father who had loved and raised me for years I had killed him so flamboyantly and still high in the murderous fire in my soul I reacted instinctively when I felt hooves on my back and spun round with the same sword and felt as blood splashed against my back and watched as my mother's headless body fell on top of me" he said heavily and although this was probably one of the saddest things I'd ever heard I still couldn't help but feel annoyed.

"So why tell me this, if you want pity then I'm truly sorry for what happened to a dead guy a thousand years ago"! I thought he would become angry but he simply smiled and asked "How close have you gotten during a battle to carrying on and killing Pick or maybe Luna? You can use your anger but use it wisely Backwater or else you will make the same mistake I made and kill a loved one and then the regret will be with you forever" he told me pointing at me.

"I've already killed a loved one, I have plenty of regret" I said angrily but shook his head and stated "That was different circumstances, the next time it will be of your own accord…by the way duck" he told me.

"What do you…" I began to ask but suddenly I felt and heard a large crack and my world became totally dark.