This chapter isn't edited and the edited version of chapter 18
Note: I'm changing the bullets in Steels cutie mark back to 50 cal. rounds, using the other kind is too confusing for me while I'm trying and failing to draw a picture for this story.
Chapter 20: While I was Away
Medical wing, Canterlot Castle
Local time: 1300
One month, eighteen days since arrival
Seventy two hours, that's how long the doctors operated on Steel. They said that he's lucky to be alive. Once the castle's doctors were sure he was going to make it they sent for the best medical experts in Equestria. While they could save him the castle's doctors couldn't fix some of his more serious injuries, his eye was one such injury, but the experts that they called took care of them. Steel, while unconscious, is on the road to recovery. One of the specialists, Dr. Marrow I believe his name was, was even able to keep any scars from forming and removed the scars Steel already had, at my request. I know Steel has already learned to live with his scars but I know they are a constant reminder of what happened that day, and he sees them every time he looks in a mirror. Despite his best efforts to hide this from me, I still figured it out. The doctors aren't sure when Steel will wake up from the "coma" they put him in, they just said it would be whenever his body would be able to handle him moving around, not that I would let him get up and walk around when he wakes up. I haven't left his side since he got out of the operating room despite my sisters attempts to convince me to return to my room. I'm going to stay by his side until he wakes up, I just wish loving him was the only reason I had for staying by his side. And while I'll never tell anypony, the truth is I'm afraid… afraid that whatever tried to impersonate him will come back and kill him while he recovers. Tia sent the best guards we had to the ruins but they couldn't find any trace of the entity or any clues as to where it went. Our friends visit daily, Tia visits the most but I think she's more concerned about me.
As much as I want our friends to stay here they have lives too. Tia and I have decided to send them back to Ponyville tomorrow with a group of guards. Vinyl has been staying with Octavia for the past week and, after overhearing my conversation with Tia about sending the others back to Ponyville, has extended her stay in Canterlot. Vinyl said that the two of them would visit when they could, personally I'm glad to have some company, Tia's duties keep her occupied most of the day and I haven't seen Shinning Armor or Cadence since Steel got out of the operating room, as for Prince (Even in my mind the disgust can be heard) Blueblood… I could care less, his arrogance is insufferable. How Tia is able to even be in his presence without attacking him is beyond me. I've had my guitars brought down to me hoping that familiar sounds will help Steel regain consciousness. "Luna, we need to talk." Looking over I saw Tia standing in the doorway, I motined for her to sit next to me. She released an exasperated sigh, clearly she wanted me to go over to her. "Luna it's been six days, you need to go out stretch your legs, your wings… perhaps bathe." I opened my mouth to argue with her but closed it when I realized she was right… at least about the last thing. "But sister what if something happens while I'm gone, what if he wakes up and there's no pony around to tell him what's happened and he panics?"
"I'm sure Shinning and I can handle anything that happens." Said Cadence as she and Shinning walked into the room. Normally I would have argued and tried to convince them that I should stay by Steel's side but the hospital bed I've been attempting to sleep on was uncomfortable and I couldn't get more that a few good hours of sleep… a bath sounds nice too. "Fine… but let me know immediately if anything happens."
"Luna, go, relax Steel will still be here when you get back." I looked back at him as I stood in the doorway, "That's what I'm afraid of." Tia walked with me towards my room, "Do you need me to help you convince the others to return to Ponyville?" Tia shook her head, "No, I will handle it." I nodded and headed to my room. When I got there the first thing I saw was the bed, only when I looked at it did I realize how tired I truly am. As I began to ready my bath I told the guards to check on me ever fifteen minutes, I don't think I'm that tired but better to be safe than sorry.
POV change: Celestia
Once Luna left I headed towards the throne room where Twilight and her friends were waiting for me. I know they will be opposed to the idea of leaving while Steel is still recovering, while they don't have the same relationship Luna has with Steel they care about him very much and won't want to leave until he recovers or at least until he wakes up… good thing I have a plan. When I walked in they stopped what they were doing and walked over to me. "You wanted to speak to us princess?" Twilight asked. "Yes, I know all of you care about Steel but Luna and I have decided that it is time for you to return to Ponyville." They were about to argue with me but I motioned for them to stay quiet. "I know none of you want to leave while Steel is still recovering but you all have responsibilities back in Ponyville. Applejack, your family cannot take care of your farm alone, Pinkie Pie, the same goes for your job at Sugercube Corner, the Cakes need you. Fluttershy, the animals you care for can take care of themselves for awhile but not forever. Rainbow Dash you must return to your weather duties, your second in command can do your job but you were put in charge for a reason. Rarity, while your dresses have grown in popularity recently you cannot ignore the orders that have been placed by your clients. Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student, while I have no doubt about Spike's ability to run the library in your absence he is still a baby dragon." Looks of understanding appeared on all of their faces except for Rainbow Dash who seamed torn between her loyalty to Steel and her loyalty to the rest of Ponyville. In the end she realized the needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few… or in this case the one. They quietly talked amongst themselves before Twilight turned and addressed me. "*sigh* You're right princess, we were so worried about Steel we forgot about what we left behind in Ponyville and who was taking over in our absence. We'll return to Ponyville on the next train."
"Actually you'll be taking the private train Luna and I own. But first there are a few things we need to discuss." I looked around making sure nopony else was around. "Last night a small group of the gryphons we encountered last week attempted to enter the castle and make off with the Elements of Harmony." They all looked extremely worried, as I expected. "We were able to stop them, but they managed to reach the Element storage room before we even knew they were here. This troubles me greatly, so I have come to a decision. When you return to Ponyville a group of guards will go with you." Just then the doors opened and the two guard captains I would be sending with them entered. "Ah captains, just in time. I was just informing my student and her friends that you would be accompanying them to Ponyville. Is everything ready?"
"Yes princess," said the Celestial Guard captain. They then walked over to the others, "I'm Captain Broadsword of the Celestial Guard and this is Captain Silent Flight of the Lunar Guard. We've been tasked with protecting the six of you and the rest of Ponyville. Each of you will have two guards with you at all times, however they will remain out of sight as not to interfere with your daily activities. Along with the guards assigned to you another eight will be patrolling the streets of Ponyville. The two of us will be roaming around the town and occasionally we'll be following one of you. The shift changes are sunrise and sunset." Twilight opened her mouth to say something but was motioned to remain silent by Broadsword. "Only a few questions, I want to leave as soon as possibly so the guards coming with us have time to familiarize themselves with the town."
"Okay," Twilight thought for a moment, most likely to determine which questions are the most important. "How many guards are coming to Ponyville? How are you going to remain out of sight, two white, gray or black stallions following us is going to be suspicious. Where do you plan on sleeping?" I saw both captains release a silent sigh of relief, while they've never met personally I know Broadsword has heard about Twilight from Shinning Armor, clearly he knows about her tendency to ask too many questions… but I've grown to love that about her. "Well we're bringing twenty celestial guards, twenty lunar guards and the two of us. The princesses said we could stay in Flamingsteel's home since he… will be here for the foreseeable future." He took off his helmet which turned his head, neck, and mane back to their original colors. "Our armor is magically enchanted to change the colors of our coats and manes, white or gray for celestial guards and black for lunar guards. As you can see I have a brown coat and a grey mane. Silent Flight actually has a black coat and a light blue mane."
"Is your armor the reason pegasi in the Lunar Guard have wings like a bat?" Flight nodded. "Now if any of you have anymore questions ask them either on the way to the train or on the train itself." Broadsword opened the doors and motioned for the others to follow him. As they left I thought back to what Shinning told me earlier about sending the guards to Ponyville. I hope I am just over reacting and these guards aren't necessary, I don't think I would ever forgive myself if Twilight or her friends ended up like Steel… especially Twilight.
POV change: Twilight
As we left the princess captain Broadsword walked next to me, which gave me time to get a good look at him. He has a brown coat that almost looks like the synthetic leather saddlebags are made from, a grey mane that looks like gray marble and eyes such a light blue color they almost look silver. He was about to say something but I asked my question first. "Celestia said that you're a captain but I thought Shinning Armor was captain of the guard?" Broadsword nodded, "Yes, he is the captain of the guard… this is extremely hard to explain. Shinning is, well I guess you would say, the main captain, and captains like me and Flight serve under him, so were kind of like sub-captains." This left me more confused than before, he did say it was hard to explain. "Anyway, it's an honor to finally meet you face to face Ms. Sparkle… your brother speaks highly of you." I was shocked, "I didn't know he talked to the other guards about me." He chuckled, "No, just me, we've been friends ever since we met all those years ago in Fillydelphia."
"Shinning did tell me about a friend he made in Fillydelphia about fifteen years ago." Broadsword slowly nodded, "Yeah… how do you know it was fifteen years ago, I don't even remember how long it's been." I giggled… giggled I don't think I've done that since I was a filly, strange. "Yeah I have a very good memory." He shook his head at my response, "Well, knowing Shinning he never told you how we met… I doubt he wanted to worry you. You see when we first met Shinning was a rookie in the guard, he was probably on one of his first missions. Anyway the guards were fighting some members of one of the local gangs, I was watching from a nearby alley. During the fight Shinning lost his spear and was thrown to the ground, the other guards were occupied with their own fights and Shinning's situation looked hopeless. But in the heat of the moment I picked up his spear and blocked the attack that would have ended his life. I save Shinning but the gang member he was fighting saw me and chased me across the city with his sword, looking back I'm surprised nopony decided to help me. He chased me for a good two hours before I managed to lose him in one of the cities many alleys. On my way home I ran into Shinning, again, we introduced ourselves. He actually noticed that I got my cutie mark before I did. A sword in front of a shield, during training I learned that the sword in my cutie mark is actually called a broadsword. Looking back on that day I'm not sure how I was able to lift that sword, considering my condition…"
It took me a few moments before I could talk again, "Condition?" He sighed, "Yeah, condition. Back then I was an orphan, I was underweight, malnourished, had no training in magic… I couldn't even levitate anything." By this time we were at the train and we started boarding it. "Anyway, back to the story, after Shinning found out I was an orphan her brought me back to Canterlot and dropped me off at the orphanage." Orphanage? "In the beginning I thought it was strange that I was the only pony living there, but then I realized I was in Canterlot the richest city in Equestria, an orphan here must be a strange sight. I spent the best years of my life there, I had food, drinkable water, a bed, everything I ever dreamed about having. Shinning came and visited me whenever he could so I was never lonely, granted the care takers were very nice but I felt like Shinning and I had a bond. We were the best of friends, he even put some of his pay check in a bank account he made for me. I lived there for three years before I left and bought my own place in the city, a year later I joined the guards. With Shinning's help I made it thru basic training overcoming everything they threw at me, without him I wouldn't be where I am today." He sighed, "It's been a long time since I was at the orphanage, I don't even remember where it is. But I'll never forget Ms. Velvet, the caretaker of the orphanage." Then I understood and started to laugh, "It all finally makes sense now, there is no orphanage in Caterlot that was our house! Shinning took you home had our parents look after you!" He chuckled, "Sneaky, Shinning, very sneaky. Even after all these years he never told me. I'm surprised he brought me there, he offered to but I didn't want to feel like a burden." We laughed at how my brother was able to fool him for so long. "Um, broadsword… how long were you an orphan? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"I'm honestly not sure Miss Sparkle." I shook my head, "You don't have to be so formal just call me Twilight." He nodded, "Okay, Mis- Twilight, that's going to take some getting use to. In training we're told to be formal whenever were escorting or guarding somepony who wants to talk with us. Anyway, I'm not sure how long I was on the streets, I was four when my parents disappeared, died, even after all these years I'm still not sure what happened to them and I thought I was about fourteen when Shinning brought me to Canterlot (NOTE: I'm basing these ages on real life since they never went over how old any pony was or how long ponies live in the show.) When Shinning became the captain of the guard and friends with Celestia he asked her if she knew a spell that could determine my age. She said yes, the next day I'm in the throne room with both of them. After the spell and some calculations I found out I was twenty five at that time and fifteen when I met Shinning. When our business was finished I went to leave but Celestia wanted to talk to me, my first meeting with Celestia was not like I imagined. This was the first of many talks we had… and I just realized how of topic I am." We both laughed at this, "So broadsword, what was your time with my parents like?" We talked about the days he spent with my parents and brother, including an incident where he broke one of my mothers vases. About halfway to Ponyville I excused myself and went off to find the other captain, Silent Flight if I remember correctly. After searching for a while I found him in the dinning car, snacking on some assorted fruits while looking over a map of Ponyville and some other documents.
"Captain, can we talk?" He motioned for me to sit across from him. "Sure, I was just finalizing the duty roster and making the patrol routes. What did you want to talk about?" He rolled up the map and placed it along with the documents in the saddlebag next to him. "Since we're going to seeing each other daily I thought we should get to know each other."
"I already know plenty about you. I know about your parents and their history, your days learning under Celestia, even the adventures you had in Ponyville, at least the ones Celestia would tell me about. So let's skip all that and move on to my history. I had an average foalhood, loving parents, good grades, and some of the best friends one could ask for. Once I was old enough I left home and traveled Equestria looking for my special talent. I know, I was practically a stallion and I didn't have my cutie mark. After learning of Princess Luna's return I went to Canterlot and signed up for the Lunar Guard. I always wanted to be a guard but I knew I would never be selected to go onto basic training, only one out of every five applicants are sent to basic, I figured that, with many ponies still afraid that Luna or afraid that she would turn back into Nightmare Moon, they would take everypony willing to join. I've always had an above average IQ so they put me in charge of a squad… what a big mistake that was. On our first training exercise as a squad, I blew it. It was a squad on squad mach battle, they wanted us to learn our strengths and weaknesses as a squad and as individual guards. In the center of the area was a small fortress with guard towers, I had my squad move towards it slowly and carefully while the other squad rushed to it, they got there first and we had to find a way to distract them or confuse them. I tried to confuse them and break their formation by making one of the towers collapse and fall into the fortress on top of them, but something went wrong and the tower fell the wrong way and landed on us instead. We tried to get clear of it but we couldn't escape. I was knocked out instantly, other than a large headache I had minor injuries the others weren't so lucky. Two of them had broken legs, another was in a coma, and the last one… he lost an eye. Because of my mistake he was discharged from the guard and disfigured, while the others were in the hospital for three weeks. After that day I spent the next three days locked in the library researching tactics and war theory, basically anything on fighting, I would have stayed longer but my drill sergeant dragged me out, got me fed, then punished me for skipping three days of training. For the remainder of the time my squad was in the hospital I was scrubbing toilets and twice the amount of work the other trainees were doing. I still went to the library when I could and I learned so much, I even learned why the tower collapsed on us. When the rest of the squad was declared fit for duty we were put straight into a squad on squad training exercise, one squad was to defend a flag while the other was to take it, we had to take the flag. We finished our task in record time, it was also the day I earned my cutie mark." Looking at his flank I saw his cutie mark was a book with two crossed swords on the cover. "Since then I've learned that sometimes good things come from bad experiences. Anyway I continued to lead the squad and we continued to break almost every record, the other trainees nicknamed us record squad. When we finished training the Celestial guards training us picked me to be Captain of the Guard, apparently I was the only one who didn't see it coming. Now if you'll excuse me I have to make sure Broadsword is okay with everything." He said while patting his saddlebag. As he left I reflected on everything I learned from the two captains.
Ponyville
Local time: 1200
One month, twenty days since arrival
I'm starting to get really worried about Steel, its been eight days and he still hasn't regained consciousness or showed any signs of improvement. I shook my head to keep myself from continuing that thought and reflected on the past two days. True to his word Broadsword and his guards remained hidden, except for the eight on patrol who wore their armor. Silent Flight and his guards were more noticeable since fewer ponies are out at night. Things have started to go back to normal but Steel's condition was still on everypony's minds. Pinkie has been affected the most, she hasn't thrown a party since Steel's been in the hospital and rumors have started going around. Most of them were plain outrageous and some of them included the rest of us, saying that whatever is effecting Pinkie involves us too. I guess some ponies noticed how we were acting differently, none of them seamed to be concerned with Steel's disappearance though. Turning the corner I saw my friends waiting outside the spa. Rarity decided a day at the spa would help everypony relax, we all agreed. Even Dash agreed, she emphasized that wouldn't get a hooficure but agreed to some of the other things Rarity planned. When I got to the spa everypony was waiting for me, including Vinyl. "Sorry I'm later everypony, I thought you were still in Canterlot Vinyl."
"Yeah, I heard about a new sound system they were putting in at the club so I came home a day early to check it out, on my way I ran into Pinkie and she invited me. And don't worry about being late, we all know you're usually on time and have a schedule but with everything that's happened we don't blame you for being late, we know you're one of his closet friends… next to me of course." We all laughed and started to walk inside, "Wait!" We all looked at Vinyl, "Where's Derpy?" She's… honestly I don't know where she is, I don't think I've seen her since a few days before Steel was hurt. Looking around I don't think anypony else knows where she is either. "Oh yeah, she took Dinky on a moth long vacation to one of those islands off the coast. She must have saved up for a long time to afford it." She's been away does she know…? "Dash did you tell her about Steel?" Looking around the others were thinking the same thing I was, how was she going to react to the news. "Yeah I flew out there the day we found him, it took me and Dinky a while to convince her to stay there and finish their vacation, but she made me pinkie promise to tell her as soon as his condition changed… for better or worse." We were about to continue on to our spa day when we heard ponies screaming followed by a loud roar. It sounded like a manticore but it was different, twisted, distorted… I would even go as far as saying it sounded evil. Ponies galloped past us screaming and our guards appeared next to us, "Captain, what's going on?" Before Broadsword could answer the crowd thinned out and we could see what everypony was running from. Four manticores were walking down the street, but they weren't normal manticores. They were black with red eyes similar to the gryphons we encountered at the ruins. I heard hoofsteps behind us and saw the rest of the celestial guards and the lunar guards, all in full armor. The guards formed a phalanx unicorns and earth ponies of the Celestial Guard in front, Lunar Guard behind them, pegusi from both groups giving air support. "Get out of here, find someplace safe and hide." None of us wanted to argue with Silent Flight so we ran, looking back I saw the manticores watching us leave. Vinyl led us to the clock tower, the height of the tower makes it impossible for the manticores, whose wings are only meant for short flights, to follow us since the stairs are to small for them to walk up. We watched the fight… no battle, form the small window, the manticores charged the guards and broke their phalanx. The guards split into four groups to fight the manticores, ten guards per manticore. Normally ten guards would be more than enough to subdue or pacify a manticore, but these aren't normal mantiores. They seamed to be stronger, faster and smarter than a normal manticore and they would only get angrier when they were hit by both magical and physical attacks. As the battle progressed it was clear that they possessed unnatural stamina, while the guards were starting to get tired but the manticores were fighting as they did in the beginning. Almost everypony had to look away at one point and eventually they all saw something that made it impossible for them to continue watching the battle, except me. I kept watching frozen in place by what I was seeing. Already most of the less experienced lunar guards, and a few of the celestial guards, were dead or unable to keep fighting. But the worst part was that none of the mantiores were dead, in fact they didn't even look scratched. I didn't know any words to describe what I was seeing so I used one that Steel used when I asked him to describe his time in the military… bloodbath, the only word that comes close to describing what I'm seeing. It's painfully clear now that the guards never stood a chance. Finally able to tear my gaze away from the guards I looked behind me. Fluttershy and Rarity were both crying, Pinkie's main and tail were, for lack of a better description, flat and she was staring at the ground with a blank expression, Vinyl and AJ where in shock, and Dash was angry… angry at herself for being useless, I think. With all her speed she still couldn't help the guards and might feel that she's abandoning them by not helping. I tried to think of a way to help the guards but we're useless in this fight. None of us would be able to get close enough without being attack so physical attacks are out and I don't know any offensive spells, Rarity and Vinyl probably don't know any either, so we can't use magic a gains them… *sigh* I wish Princess Celestia was here, she'd know what to do. "Wait the princess… Princess Celestia, that's it!" The others all looked at me confused.
"Dash, find spike and bring him here, also get something to write with and something to write on!" It took her a moment to realize what my plan was and then flew out the window. About two minutes later she returned with spike, some paper and a pencil. I wrote a letter as quickly as I could and had spike send it. He had no idea about what was going on, Dash decided it would be best to cover his eyes, I would have done the same thing… he doesn't need to see that, none of us did…
POV change: Celestia
It's just been another boring day in the throne room, filling out paperwork and other forms, reading over proposals for new laws or to change the existing laws, and the worst of all staring at the same four walls all day. During the many I've been ruling and forced to do these things I've learned to hide the signs of my boredom… I really should higher an interior decorator though, these wall have been the same for over nine hundred years and extremely boring and bland. Bringing my focus back to the work in front of me I picked up the last form in what was once a very large stack,\. After reading the first few lines I tore it in half, it was another one of Prince Blueblood's many attempts to exile Rarity. Ever since she made him look like a fool at the Grand Galloping Gala he's tried to get rid of her, I encountered one of these forms every three weeks or so. I don't understand why he keeps trying, I've explained to him many times, not only is she one of the Elements of Harmony but she is also a close friend of Twilight who is my personal student and I consider her my friend as well. Now that I finished all of the paperwork, for now, I just looked out the window. I also shifted into a more comfortable position on the throne. "Note to self, get a cushion for the throne. It been a thousand years and I'm just noticing these problems now, it's probably because Luna's back and taking over some of my work which gives me a little time to myself, not counting when I'm sleeping." I thought as a scroll appeared in front of me ending that train of thought. "Ah, Twilight's latest friendship report, at least this will keep me occupied for a few moments."
Ponyville attacked, guards overwhelmed, help!
Twilight
It took less than two seconds for the letters content to register in my mind. "Guards, inform my sister that Ponyville is being attacked! And put the castle on high alert, nopony enters and nopony leaves unless my sister or myself escort them personally!" As the guards galloped out of the room I teleported to the letters point of origin, looking around I saw Twilight's… our friends in different stages of shock and grief, "Princess Celestia!" Turning around I saw Twilight running towards me, she pulled me into a hug and cried into my chest, "Princess… the guards… and the blood." After she said that, at least that's all I understood, I knew that they would all need to see a psychiatrist but right now I had to save the town… and any surviving guards. "Twilight, what's going on, who's attacking the town?" She pulled away from me and continued to cry as she pointed out the room's only window. I slowly walked to the window knowing I wouldn't like what I saw… but I was unprepared for the brutality I was seeing. There was blood everywhere, guards missing limbs, heads, one was even ripped in half. Captain Broadsword and the other two remaining guards stood back to back to back trying to hold off some sort of strange, mutated manticores, Captain Silent Flight was dragging himself away from the battle using his right foreleg, his only unbroken leg. In all the centuries I've lived I've never seen anything this brutal… I will feel no remorse killing these manticores. I charged my horn and fired a beam of energy towards one of the manticores completely vaporizing it. The guards were surprised by this and looked in my direction, the maticores didn't even care that one of their own was killed and pounced on the guards. I flew to the ground as quickly as I could and got into a position that allowed me to kill the manticores without harming the guards. I fired three more beams and vaporized the remaining maticores. I ran over to the guards and checked their conditions, one was dead the other was bleeding out and Captain Broadsword had three long gashes on his chest, most likely from one of the manticores claws, and was unconscious. I moved thru the dead looking for other survivors, there were only five including Broadsword. Picking them up I teleported them and myself to Ponyville General for immediate surgery. While there I got a few of the best psychiatrists there before heading back to Twilight and our friends.
POV change: Luna
Ten minutes earlier
Normally I wouldn't be up this early but I had a nightmare about somepony trying to kill Steel, its strange I'm supposed to keep our subjects from having nightmares and I have one myself. Thinking about the last month I realized that since Steel came to Equestria I've been up almost everyday and asleep every night. This would have been a problem but I can still watch everypony's dreams while I sleep and Tia took over night court for me while I pursued my romantic interest in Steel. I hit shuffle on Steel's iPod and sang along with the song.
(I Don't Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith)
I could stay awake just to hear you breathing
Watch you smile while you are sleeping
While you're far away and dreaming
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender
I could stay lost in this moment forever
Where every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure
Don't want to close my eyes
I don't want to fall asleep
Cause I'd miss you babe
And I don't want to miss a thing
Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
I'd still miss you babe
And I don't want to miss a thing
Lying close to you feeling your heart beating
And I'm wondering what you're dreaming
Wondering if it's me you're seeing
Then I kiss your eyes
And thank God we're together
I just want to stay with you in this moment forever
Forever and ever…
I stopped paying attention to the music when I heard a groan, looking around I didn't see anypony else in the room. Looking back at Steel I tried to find any indications that he groaned or was regaining some form of consciousness. I was about to assume I was imagining things when I saw it… the slightest twitch of his hoof, I would have missed it had I not been looking for a sign. "Steel? Steel…?" He remained quiet and appeared unconscious again. Then he groaned and shifted slightly, "L-Luna?"
"Steel, you're awake!" I wanted so badly to hug him and never let go but I knew he was probably still in a lot of pain. "Luna, what happened? Where am I?" He tried to move but cringed in pain, "And why does it feel like I was hit by a god damn freight train." He tried to open his eyes but immediately closed them again, after eight days without being used its no surprise they would need time to adjust. "Well, you're in the castles medical wing," As I was talking he started getting his eyes used to the light, "As for what happened… well, what do you remember?" Here's where reading those medical books will be helpful, still don't know why I read them in the first place… oh, yeah, I wanted to see everything that changed since I was imprisoned.
"I-I don't know, the last thing I remember was leaving Zecora's house with Twilights supplies." That's a big gap… I hope he doesn't have any permanent memory loss. "What do you remember before that?" He started to chuckle which caused him to start coughing, so I levitated a glass of water to his mouth. "Thanks, well I remember our date but how could I forget that it was one of the happiest days of my life." I could feel my cheeks start to grow warm from his words. "I also remember everything else, my Element of Harmony, the prophecy, the gryphon." Gryphon? "Wait… I remember, I was on my way back from Zecora's when I saw a gryphon that looked exactly like the ones that tried to kill you. I chassed it… somewhere, it went… it went into… into… the ruins. Then something happened and I passed out, when I woke up…" He gasped and whispered something that sounded like "Shadow Steel" but I wasn't sure. I watched as a look of horror found its way across his face, his mind most likely replaying the events of that day. "How long Luna… how long was I unconscious?"
"Eight days Steel." He started pulling off the various wires and IV's attached to his body. "Steel, what are you doing?!" He pulled off the last wire and the heart monitor flat lined. "I have to go, he needs to be stopped, he's a danger to all of Equiestria!" The doctors and nurses ran in while Steel was taking and were now trying to convince him to get back into the bed. "Princess Luna!" One of the guards came running in, "Ponyville is being attacked, Prin-"
"The girls!" Steel was now trying to gently move the medical staff out of his way, talking them into letting him go apparently wasn't working… not like it ever would have. Now that he was trying to "force" them out of the way the medical staff was now trying to pin him to the ground but being an alicorn he has a distinct height advantage, combined with is military training they had no change of stopping him. One of the doctors told a nurse to go get something but with all the commotion the words didn't reach my ears. I wanted to help but they're professionals and know what they're doing. The nurse returned with a syringe, most likely filled with a sedative, just as Steel realized he couldn't just push his way threw them and started punching them. Not enough to kill them but enough that they would be left winded and dazed. The nurse with the syringe was off to the side waiting for a change to sedate Steel without getting hurt or letting him see the syringe. I suddenly had an idea, "Steel, stop!" He looked at me, "But the gir-" He stopped when he felt the needle embed it's self in his shoulder. He watched as the nurse removed it, its purpose served, and disposed of it. Seconds later his legs refused to support his weight and he would have fallen to the floor if I hadn't rushed to his side to support him. I helped him back to the bed, he didn't resist since he knew it was futile. Once he was on the bed the sedative took full effect and he was asleep again… at least this time we have a general idea of when he'll wake up. After making sure he was okay and having no adverse reaction to the sedative I turned my attention to the guard in the doorway while the doctors tended to their injures and replaced all the things Steel had removed. "What was it you were going to say?"
"Huh, oh, yes. Princess Celestia has gone to handle the threat personally. Whatever attacked the town overwhelmed the guards stationed there." If they same entity that attacked Steel attacked Ponyville… "Casulties?" He shook his head, "Unknown, Princess Celestia hasn't returned yet." I nodded and dismissed the guard. I looked back at Steel who was 'resting' comfortably in the bed. I sat there watching him for a few minutes until I heard the door open behind me. Turning around I saw Tia walking in, her coat was stained with what appeared to be tears and blood. "Tia, are you okay? What happened?"
"I'm fine Luna, as for what happened…" I could tell that she was troubled by what happened. "Manticores attacked Ponyville but they weren't normal manticores. They looked like the gryphons that attacked us, they exploded into black mist too. What ever created those gryphons created these manticores, I'm sure of it." She paused and looked behind me, "How is he?"
"Better, he finally regained consciousness… your guards have horrible timing, by the way." Seeing her confused expression I elaborated, "After he woke up he tried to remember what happened. It took a few minutes but he remembered what happened. He tried to leave saying Equestria was in danger, I think he was referring to the entity we encountered in the ruins. The doctors were trying to talk him into getting back into the bed when your guard 'informed' me of the attack on Ponyville. The doctors were forced to sedate him to him from hurting himself or them in his desperate attempt to get to Ponyville." We sat there in silence for a while, "How bad was it Tia?"
"Bad Luna, I've never seen anything like it. Only five guards survived, both captains among the survivors… at least that's good news, they're two of the best losing them would have been a blow to morale and the guard in general." I asked her about the guards that were killed and she shuddered at the memory. "The manticores showed no hesitation or mercy. But the worst part was that Twilight, her friends, and your friend Vinyl could hear and see everything from their hiding spot. I've gotten them counseling but I fear that I may need to 'edit' their memories of the attack." We watched the gentile rise and fall of Steels chest in silence, "Its getting stronger isn't it Tia?" She didn't say anything, her silence was enough to confirm my fears. It's getting stronger and while she won't admit it I know she's afraid, afraid the guards won't be able handle it alone.
Authors Note: Sorry for the long wait life waits for no one, anyway I'm going on vacation and starting college in September so don't expect a new chapter until some time in October. While I'm away feel free to read the stories on my favorite list, I would recommend Legend of Spyro: Stormfront by marsh166, Mass Effect: Continuum by OceanLord, Light in the Dusk by AlphaTheGriffin17, Magic in the Stars by Australian Chaos, Dream Machine by shadowsythe22, and A New Hero by AlexLoneWolf Also I'm making a new story that I'll post by this weekend, it won't be an actual story just a compilation of ideas for stories that I may or may not write, more info in the first "chapter". Finally a shout out to shadowsythe22 for using my OC Broadsword in a future chapter of his story Reborn