Burned Bridges

by suijin228

Chapter 2

Burned Bridges
By Suijin228

Chapter 2

The days that season seemed to pass by in a blur. For Skylark, these two were the first contact he’d had in years outside of Core builder. Every day he’d eagerly await for his chance to return to Harmony Pond to spend his time with his friends. Days were spent playing games, talking about one another, and just hanging out.

Apparently from what Skylark had learned, Shining Armor was on vacation and Cadence had come along since his sister was accepted into some sort of big school. When talking about Shining Armor’s sister, the two would seem to go on for hours at a time, speaking nothing but praise about the little filly. It was times like these that Skylark would think back and wonder about his own family, and what their relationship would have been like had he not been born differently.

Candence apparently had ties to Celestia through several generations. However she was the first alicorn to be born in the family. However unlike her uptight family, she liked to hang out and be amongst those her family would call ‘lesser ponies.’ Candence was probably the epitome of what Skylark strived for in a pony. She was kind, smart, and dare he say, beautiful? If there was ever a pony he felt he could relate with more, it was her.

The three friends shared many memories by the pond that summer. Skylark, for the first time ever, discovered what it meant to have friends. Each night, he would fall to sleep, dreaming of the fun to be shred when next Celestia’s sun broke the horizon and his training was complete.

But eventually all good things must come to an end. As the season grew later, the two seemed to get more and more nervosa. Skylark wrote it off, but still a feeling of dread began to sink into him. He knew they didn’t live around the area, but he kept telling himself they would never leave him. This continued until one day they didn’t show up at all.

For three weeks, Skylark showed up every day at the pond, hoping his friends would return and play. When they never did, his heart broke, and slowly he fell into a spiraling depression.

…..

“Come on, wake up maggot.” Came the voice of Skylark’s tormentor as he attempted to get his student out of bed. Grumbling a few times, Skylark pulled the covers around himself and turned from his guardian. Muttering a few curses, Core Builder grabbed a bit of blanket with his teeth and gave a hard tug.

Caught off guard, Skylark tumbled out of bed. Not bothering to lift his face, he cursed Core Builder to whatever hell awaited him when he finally died. His eyes adjusting, Skylark looked outside the windows, surprised to see that the moon was still setting. While early morning practices were rare, they weren’t unheard of for him. Stretching a bit, he listened in on what today’s morning exercise was.

“Come on, no training today, I’ve got a somepony for you to meet.” At those words Skylark shot up with a jolt. Guests? Here? Images of Shining Armor and Cadence filled his mind as he rushed to the door. Stumbling a few times as his blanket caught him, he shook it off and continued to rush forward. Almost blasting through the door, he skidded to a halt at the sight of who it was.

At first a feeling of disappointment invades Skylark’s senses as he looked at the pony before him. He was neither Shining Armor nor Cadence, but someone entirely new. He was a gray unicorn, dressed in a set of golden armor, and wore a golden helm with a stone cold expression. Just looking at his eyes he could tell the stallion was sizing him up.

The large stallion stared at him for a solid five minutes before giving a slight nod. “You’ve done good work Core Builder, seems you’ve produced another one.” The stallions’ voice was cold, yet the words held a small, yet surprising warmth.

Looking over at Core Builder, he saw the old stallion give a light chuckle. “I know, the maggot’s grown up.” Confusion surrounded Skylark as he tried to formulate what exactly was happening before him. This was the first visitor to actually visit the house since… forever! And judging by the armor, he was a member of the royal guard.

Adding them together, he drew his answer.

Turning to Core Builder with wide eyes, his voice carried out in a soft whisper. “You didn’t…”

The old stallion gave a cheeky grin as he nodded. “Ay, that’s the meeting I went off to a few months ago. Had to personally fly to Canterlot to sign you up.”

Needless to say Skylark was shocked. Thinking back, he remembered Core Builder flying off. However the events of meeting Candence and Shining Armor made him forget about said oddity.

There was a small silence between the two as the guard shuffled his hoofs around a bit awkwardly. “Yes, well, you’ve been formally accepted into the royal guard training academy. Here is your letter.”

Reaching into a small satchel he wore, the guard pulled out a thin white envelope with a golden ribbon tied around it. Almost hesitant to actually read it, Skylark slowly took the letter from the guard.

Using his magic, he broke open the envelope and took out the letter. Unfolding it, his first impression of the letter was how neatly written it was. The handwriting was neatly scrawled across the paper, a light scent of strawberries lingering as Skylark’s eyes gazed over the paper.

Canterlot’s Royal Guard Training Academy
Dear Honored Student,

You are cordially invited to addend Canterlot’s Royal Guard Training Academy. Beginning September second, you are to report to Canterlot’s gate to begin your training. All recruits are to be outfitted with basic armor and gear….

The letter went on for for about a half a page before the signature of the writer popped up.

Signed,
Princess Celestia

Skylark could only open and close his mouth as he re-read the letter several times, as if trying to find some sort of secret meaning within it. Looking up, he saw Core Builder chuckle at his face. “Ay, it’s the real deal.” As if on cue, all his manors, training, and will went out the window as Skylark proceeded to dance, cartwheel, and flip around in celebration.

Core Builder could only smirk as he watched his student celebrate as if he won the Equestrian lottery. ‘Although, this might as well be it for him.’ As he watched Skylark begin to settle down, he thought to the first time he met the kid.

......
(flashback: eight years ago)

The sky thundered outside as a slightly younger Core Builder sat by the fire, a book n one hand and a warm glass of cider in the other. Life had been peaceful for several years now that he had retired from the royal guard. No longer did he have to look out for the brats that passed through his training, complaining about every harmful exercise he created.

‘Core Builder! Stop the insane workouts!”

“Core Builder! Stop lighting us on fire!”

“Core Builder! Why do you keep hitting me and telling me to dodge?!”

Honestly, the brats should be thankful. Because of him, squads weren’t being killed by stray manicores or the occasional Hydra. Instead his students were beating those things to death and dragging the body back to show him.

Remembering a particular incident when one of his recruits brought him back a sack full of timber wolves brought forth a light, and yet subtle chuckle from him.

But as time went on, he began to grow old and even the simplest of tor- training seemed to get him more and more winded. Finally after over forty years, he retired, settling down in s small home far out in the country.

Now, instead of long days spent training brats, they were spent relaxing and exploring the vast fields that surrounded his house. And it was so… boring.

‘Growing old sucks…’ he thought as he took a quick sip of cider, finishing off the glass. As he prepared to douse the fire with a bucket of water, he heard the sound of a knock at his door over the falling of the rain.

Feeling suspicious, Core Builder slid over and picked up the fire poker with his teeth. Creeping towards the door, he swung it open to face his visitor.

At first glance, it seemed that there was nobody at the door. However after a quick glance into the darkness, he spotted his visitor. Immediately he felt the poker drop from his mouth at the sight of his visitor.

The visitor was nothing more than a child, a young colt not even over five. His white mane was covered in dirt and caked with mud. The child’s red eyes seemed to empty and tired, as if he was on his last legs. The child looked hungry, his ribs and bones showing through his pale blue coat. To put it bluntly, the kid looked like crap.

Taking a look around outside to see if anyone else was present, he moved aside, letting the child into his house.
……

(Flashback: End)

Thinking back to those early days, they were truly something. The kid, who seemed so happy now, was downtrodden and soulless. The kid clearly had some sort of bad past, but never had he confronted him about it. Everyone had skeletons in their closet, he himself had plenty, thus it was better to just move forward and let them collect dust.

Looking at Skylark, he felt a feeling of pride well up inside him. Sure the kid had his faults at times, but who didn’t? The kid always got back up and took life on. That’s what he cherished most about the kid, he just persevered.

Skylark had wormed his way into his heart, something he swore he would never do again. A commander should never have feelings for his unit, each soldier was a tool, and yet…

Yet he still had feelings. He loved the kid, like a father would a son.

As Skylark came outside, a chest levitating behind him, he knew what he had to do. ‘It’s time to let him spread his wings.’ Walking up, he put his hoof on Skylark’s shoulder…

…

…

…

And punched him in his face.

Reeling back, Skylark caught himself from falling on his face. Turning to face Core Builder, his eyes screamed ‘what the hell?!’ while his mouth was too sore to berate the stallion.

Core Builder just nodded his head, a wild grin spreading on his face as he tensed his muscles. “You didn’t think I was going to let you go without one last test did you?” Seeing Skylark’s bewildered look, he continued. “Before you get out of my life for good, I want to let you get everything off your chest. One fight’s all I’m asking for, and then I’ll be at peace.”

Skylark looked shocked for a moment before he steeled his emotions. Honestly he should have suspected Core Builder to do this; he wasn’t the ‘tearful goodbye’ kind of pony. So, tensing his muscles, he prepared to give his guardian the fight of his life.

The guard, seeing this, wisely moved out of the way, having heard of Core Builder’s ‘goodbyes’.

As the sun’s first beams shot across the landscape, the two launched themselves at each other like a pair of wild manticores. This could be their final moment as teacher and student; they wouldn’t let it slip them by.
…..

Core builder soared high in the sky as he looked down at the exhausted Skylark. They’d gone at it for more than an hour now, and no matter how hard he was hit, Skylark wouldn’t go down. ‘Seems I trained him a little too well.’ To go this long against him, even with his age playing a factor, was nothing but impressive.

Right from the start he’d dominated the fight, Experience always would beat training. No matter how hard you trained, if you didn’t use it, it was worthless.

Going down to another cloud, Core Builder dived directly into it. Meanwhile down below, Skylark was getting on edge.

Every hoof he threw was caught, every buck he did was sidestepped, and every bolt of non lethal magic he used was blocked by some object. Core Builder overcame everything he had, and then began to rain hell on him.

Pegasus magic was normally used to disperse clouds; however what many didn’t know was that It could also shape clouds. By putting in just a little bit of magic, pegasai could charge clouds for lightning storms, pump in harsh winds with their wings, and even cast down thick fogs. Pegasai had a near infinite amount of ammo once they had a single cloud, and unlucky for Skylark, today was an overcast.

Hearing a bit of rumbling overhead, he dived to the right just as a bolt struck the earth. Rolling, he put up a shield as three more bolts smashed into his defense. ‘Damn,’ he thought as his shield began to heavily crack from the abuse.

Just as the shield would break, Skylark summoned up a large piece of the earth to take the next bolt. Listening carefully, he heard the sound of thunder take up the air again. ‘Good, he’s creating more.’ Lightning, if used constantly, needed to be recreated after the magic used to create the bolts was spent. That usually left a window of opportunity for one to capitalize in on. Now all Skylark needed to do was figure out the window.

‘one… two… three…’

The thunder grew louder as he waited for Core Builder to restock his bolts.

‘Four… five… si-‘Halfway through six, the next barrage of lightning struck down overhead as Skylark began to dash madly around the area. Years and years of taking bolts from Core Builder seemed to give him a ‘sixth sense’ towards incoming projectiles. Now however, Core Builder was going all out, and these bolts wouldn’t just stun or knock him out, they could potentially put him in the hospital or even a coma!

Levitating up another rock, the bit of earth exploded in his face as it barely managed to take the hit of one of the bolts. For another few minutes, the bolts continued to rain down, as all Skylark could do was levitate objects into the bolts path. ‘Really wishing I was taught more magic,’ aside from some basic summoning, shield, and levitation magic, he really didn’t have much to use in long distance battles.

Levitating three pieces of the earth, he fired each one to intersect descending bolts. As they connected, the two canceled each other out, resulting in a small explosion as the earth burst into dust.

‘Damnit,’ Skylark thought as he felt a stray bolt connect with his leg, creating a decent sized burn. Trying to move the leg only resulted in a loud hiss escaping Skylarks lips as he stumbled slightly, his movement impaired.

This seemed to be the opening Core Builder was waiting for as his could seemed to spark heavily with lightning.

Seeing the amount of electricity being created, Skylark levitated up a large piece of earth, just as a large bolt of lightning shot out of the clouds. As the bolt connected with the rock, Skylark had a shocked look as he watched the bolt pierce through the rock and continue forward.

Not even having enough time to throw up a shield, he could only watch as it connected with his center mass. Instantly he was flung back, his fur singed and his body spazing out from the electricity forced into his system. Already blackness was seeping into his vision as his ears rang out.

Looking up at the sky, he saw the cloud move directly over him. This, he knew, was the end. Core Builder had shown him this Pegasus move years ago when a manticore had wandered close to the home.

Trying to get at least some response, he found that he could barely move his body, let alone stand up. ‘This isn’t good,’ he thought as the cloud sparked overhead.

The cloud seemed to darken for a second before Core Builder burst from the cloud. Only this wasn’t just Core Builder, surrounding him was a field of electricity, making his fur and feathers stand up. This was something he called the lightning blitz, a high speed tackle infused with the force of a bolt of lightning.

As he drew closer, Skylark felt… something. At first this feeling was like a few drops of water, leading up into his horn, but soon it changed into what felt like the force of a river. Straining his eyes to look up, he saw his horn begin to glow with a powerful looking neon blue light.

Power was all he felt coming to his horn, as he focused it all on his teacher. He didn’t know what the spell was; he just knew that it needed to be cast. As he let loose the floodgates, a powerful shockwave at what best could be described as a ‘push’ was thrown at Core Builder.

For a moment, Core Builders eyes went wide as he saw the magical buildup and the release before they softened. As the two forced connected, a strong wind was sent out from the clash before an explosion engulfed both Skylark and Core Builder.

……

As the smoke and dust cleared, both Skylark and Core Builders fates were shown. Standing over the prone body of Skylark stood Core Builder, his fur singed and his left wing broken if the odd angle it was in was anything to go by.

He was panting as he looked down at Skylark, his pupil knocked out from the backlash of the spell he’d used.

Core Builder was still amazed at the strength behind the spell that had been used. Cancel out his blitz was one thing, but to do it while on his last leg was another. ‘Maybe I really am getting old,’ he thought with a chuckle as he motioned for the guard to come over.

The guard, who’d been standing there, had a wide eyed look on his face as his mouth seemed to hang open on its own. He’d never seen such Powerful magic used, and to have it stop Core Builder’s infamous Lightning Blitz was a another reason o be shocked.

“Do you think you can carry him?”

Turning to Core Builder, the guard nodded his head as he used his magic to levitate the knocked out Skylark onto his back while using the rest of his magic to pick up what luggage Skyalrk would be bringing. As the guard prepared to depart, Core Builder stopped them.

“Tell the kid when he wakes up…” the words came out slightly strained, be it from the injuries or from emotion, however they continued. “Tell him that I’m proud of him. And that I hope he climbs to the top.” Nodding to core Builder, the Unicorn began to his journey back to Canterlot as Core Builder turned to go back to his house and dress his wounds, he gave one last look at his knocked out pupil and let a warm smile come to his face for the first time in years.

Meanwhile as the guard trekked down the field, he never noticed a calm smile also form on Skylarks face, one that mirrored his own teachers.

End

A.N. Sorry for the delay, I got a bit sidetracked.