The light from candle flickered as I gathered a few belongings, sliding on my armor and strapping my swords to my back. My pale blue Unicorn magic, the same color as my eyes illuminated the dark corner where I kept my cloak. Before I exited, I checked myself in the mirror. There was no reason to walk outside, looking like a mess. My light grey body, smaller than most ponies my age, contrasted with my dark grey mane and tail. My cutie mark, of two crossed magical swords wasn’t normally visible under the armor and cloak, but I had the designed sewn on the outside of my cloak.
Turning to my table, I skimmed the letter that was there one last time.
Dear Dust Storm,
There’s a matter of very great importance I must speak to you of. Please come as soon as you can after receiving this letter. Please meet me at the center of the Canterlot Castle Gardens. I cannot explain any more than I have already in this letter.
From,
Luna
Wondering what Luna could possibly want at this hour, I exited my room, locking the door behind me. For some reason, I began thinking of what happened that day.
***
“Be cautious.” Luna warned her guards. “There’s been a large increase in the number of Timberwolves. We have to make sure that they don’t pose a direct threat to Ponyville and its surroundings.”
“Of course, Princess.” The two guards answered, staying on either side of her.
They walked in silence for some time, before they heard rustling in the bushes. One by one, a group of Timberwolves walked out of the dark forest.
“Stay behind-“ the first guard was cut off as a Timberwolf struck him with a massive paw, crumpling his armor as if it were nothing more than an old tin can. He slammed against a tree, slumping to the ground, unconscious.
“Eclipse!” his friend shouted, moving into a defensive position. He drew his battleaxe, swinging at the Timberwolf that struck his friend.
With a snarl, it bit into the axe and swung its head around, flinging the Lunar Guard into the brambles. He struggled to get up, but another Timberwolf smashed him into the ground again.
Luna backed up a little, drawing her own sword, biting her lower lip. She counted at least eight of them. She knew that there was far too many for her to deal with, even with her magic. The wolves circled around her, nasty smirks on their faces.
A flash of light attracted everyone’s attention. A tiny Unicorn, no more than six years of age, leapt down on top of the Timberwolves, stabbing his horn into the base of its neck, a Blaze spell erupting through the Timberwolf.
Its allies howled with rage, charging at him. The Unicorn gave the now-firewood a quick buck, shattering it into tiny shards of charcoal, before striking the ground, a whirlwind of magic blasting along the forest floor. Dust swirled up into the air, obscuring the Wolve’s senses. Luna could hear more magic spells being used, and when the dirt cloud cleared, the Timberwolves lay in charred scraps, no chance of reanimation not a single bit of the black magic that formed them remaining. His flank was glimmering, and when the glimmer faded, two crossed, sparkling swords could be seen. His cutie mark. The Unicorn looked up from one of the piles of burnt wood, regarding Luna with an odd eye.
It was strange. The eye was cold on the outside, but behind it, Luna could sense something else. Pain.
“You saved us. Thank you.” Luna managed to say, bowing her head.
He didn’t answer, looking over at her guards, who were starting to regain consciousness. Thankfully, they weren’t badly hurt.
“Do you have a name?” Luna asked, trying to press some words out of him.
“Name?” Despite his size and tone, his speech had an air of maturity around it. He looked away. Luna noticed he kept his distance from the other ponies, as if afraid of them. She slowly walked over to him and reached out with a hoof. He leapt back as if she were about to strike him, eyes wild and hostile.
“Easy.” She said softly. “I won’t hurt you.”
He was silent some more, before getting out of his defensive stance.
“Your name. You don’t have one?” she asked again, being sure to stay back.
“Not one that I wish to remember.” He answered, beginning to walk away.
“Wait!” she called out after him. The small little unicorn paused, turning his head to look back at her. “How would…. You like to join the Royal Guard? What you demonstrated just now, that was amazing. We could use a pony of your skills.” It was true. There had been a low number of Guards with the skills that the Royal Division required.
“Me? A Royal Guard?” he asked, now fully facing her. “Then you are...”
“Yes. My name is Princess Luna.” Luna answered his question before he could finish.
He gave a short bow, looking back up at her. “I don’t work well with others.” He shook his head, backing away.
“Well… what are you doing here, anyway?” Luna asked. “Isn’t your family worried about you?”
His eyes grew cold once more. “Family?” he asked. “They’re probably just upset that their favorite punching bag is gone.”
Luna understood his pain now. She took a step towards him, extending a hoof. “Then come with me. I’ll show you what family is supposed to be. The Royal Guard is the place for you.”
He looked at her hoof uncertainly, taking a step forwards.
“Come on now, Dust Storm. Come with us.” She said, nodding at her guards, who now were getting up. “It’s okay, he’s on our side.” She said to them as they looked over at the gray Unicorn.
“Dust…Storm?” he asked hesitantly.
“Yes. Dust Storm. I thought that would be a good name for you.” She gave him a smile.
Dust Storm hesitated, then put his hoof on top of hers, returning the smile. “Very well. I pledge my service.”
***
Ever since then, I had been in the Guard, as a Combat Technician, and an Arcane Researcher. I did not know what the status of my former family was, but I had a family now with the Guard and the Royal Family.
A little warmed by these thoughts, I now noticed that I was just about to reach the Canterlot Garden Centre. I heard the voices of other ponies as I pushed aside a set of vines.
There were a couple of other ponies there along with a certain creature, made up of many different animals. He turned to me and smiled a sly little grin. “Glad to see you could make it with the others. Well? How was it? I got Luna’s writing style pretty well, didn’t I?”
I groaned. “Discord.”
Guys, I'm not dead ^.^
I've just been incredibly busy with my real life, my job, and a secret project I'm working on! (Secret project won't be released in a LONG time, don't blame me, I'm just a worker there :P)
But yup, I wrote my part for the collab! I'll admit it was a bit rushed, so it may not have been my best work. ~DustStorm
What a troll Discord is.
4283970 dont worry... Discord is nowheres near done with us... He keeps saying something about the foalish zone, and a mansion, and regression..... Not really sure what it means but its starting to scare me a bit
4287953 dont worry..... no one is regressed.....
yet
hehehehe
4287953
First of all, thank you very much for your feedback. Secondly, I'll admit this chapter was very rushed, and nowhere near my usual/best quality.
Hhmmm. So...not just a story with characters going to an alternate universe. Delightful.
But, with Dust Storm, I have a few issues.
Okay.
One, it's not stated how many years it has been since the first time he met Luna.
He's age 18 now, it's been about 12 years. Forgot to clarify.
Secondly, where's his regression scene, then?
Not yet implemented.
Thirdly, a pony six years of age managed to fight all these Timberwolves alone? And, an alicorn's just several feet away?! I'm sorry, but if a little one such as Dust can defeat those wolves, then what does Luna have to fear...at all?! Alicorns have access to m-u-c-h more powerful spells than a common Unicorn, so a Blaze spell should be super easy to do for Luna. In fact, she probably could use a serious spell involving fire to scorch those wolves before they even got a jump on the guards and herself!
You don't get it. His special talent is combat magic, which is why he was easily able to dispatch them. And she's a cautious battler, she wouldn't just blast magic everywhere like Dust did. Dust is a completely reckless battler, which is why he threw himself on top of the enemies, unlike the wary movements of the Lunar Guards and Luna herself.
Also...Dust was a punching bag? To his whole family? Look, the phrase, 'whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger', isn't gonna work here. Keep in mind, this is a very young pony. For two adult ponies to beat him up, would either kill him or leave him with severe injuries. So, he would probably not be able to even stand up from the pain of his broken bones. And, most certainly, couldn't survive in the Everfree forest for very long. OR, fight off several creatures in the night!
I've based his story off of my own. He was heavily abused by his family, so he fled at a very young age. He had to learn to become strong to survive in the Everfree Forest. He eventually healed from the physical injuries caued by his family. And he, like me, did get broken bones, but as nopony was there to support him, he had to learn to deal with injuries like that himself. He taught himself field medicine. (although, irl, I did have a doctor treat me)
Also, why send guards and Luna to defend this position? It's apparent that Ponyville's problems usually are solved by the Mane Six, so why send in the troops when they obviously aren't needed? Or useful, truthfully. Luna and those guards were horrid protectors of Ponyville! They were almost killed in seconds!!!
This isn't a story about the Mane6. If we followed the canon TV show to a pinpoint, then there would be no point of fanfictions. And again, I don't think you read. They were not sent to hold the position, they were sent to scout the location. It was just bad luck that they were attacked. And if somepony attacks you off-guard, I'd like to see you not get hurt at all. The point was- the unit wasn't prepared for the strength or speed of the Timberwolves.
And, if the Mane Six are to be involved in this story at the same age they are, then it can't be many years since that event with the Timberwolves for Dust Storm. Maybe one or two, but not anymore. Dust was six when Luna first encountered him. So, if he is now eighteen or above, the Mane Six would be twelve or around that many years older. Logically then, it's been a really short time or a really long time since thàt fight was fought against the Timberwolves.
I don't know about this part.... I don't know how the story will go, I just wrote this part off.
4293392
You're right; I don't get it. Never was it stated that magic was divided into categories, so how was I to know somepony could work on just one magic type?
No idea, nothing's really canon about magic types
Anyways, if he does know combat magic, who taught him? Was it from his parents? Because that seems like sorta a stretch when you think about it. They beat him up often by the sound of it, so why would they care enough to teach him magic?
Again, it was self-taught, just like how I taught myself to fight with blades IRL. Because nopony was there for me, I had to grow strong on my own.
And, if Luna is a cautious combatant, then it should also be written in. How was I to know Luna fights that way? And, what does it matter if she battles with more thought than action? This is a intensely close life-and-death situation, so she will most likely try to kill the wolves as they lunge at her out of instinct.
I'm not entirely sure how to answer this, poor writing on my part.
I'm very sorry that happened to you. I hope they got (or, will get) what they deserve.
They weren't prepared? But...a six year old was? So, if we put Luna and Dust in an arena, Dust would come out victorious? I mean, wouldn't it make sense?
He was watching them from a distance, and decided to jump in. Dust would probably lose in a battle against Luna, the only reason why he was able to win was because he caught the wolves off-guard.
Dust took out all those wolves within seconds. Had he not been there, Luna would've been killed because she couldn't hoofle that many enemies at once. But, Dust could. So...then a six year old Unicorn is much more lethal than a fully grown Alicorn. Damn. I wonder how much more powerful he's become since then. Probably could destroy entire towns or cities, I'm guessing.
See above.
4309543
I haven't had the time to do writing, I'm juggling my job, personal problems, and finals. But I promise to improve my writing and push out good chapters like I used to with the current two stories I am working on.
You're honestly one of my favorite critics on FimFiction, you've helped me improve a lot of my writing, and you know how to say it so it's clear, yet still polite and kind.
4309745
I'll send you the links when I get back to writing. Don't know when that will be.
4309604 much much better than that darkentrophy asshole
Discord. That little b-
Luna: Night Mist! Not in front of the kids.
NM: Oh, sorry.
(Great chapter, must read on.)