In the name of Canterlot

by Goldenglint

Why today?

There is a heavy knock on the door; the ponies in the room immediately know that the latest report from the guard is in. A black Unicorn stallion with a long shaggy gold and cream colored mane nods to the guard next to the door to open it. The guard’s horn lights green with magic, causing the door to open. A dark gray Pegasus stallion wearing a royal messenger uniform, his mane a dark gray styled after Soarin, walks with purpose right up to the black unicorn.

“First Lieutenant Golden Glint. Being that Shining Armor is withdrawn from his duties to prepare for his upcoming wedding, this report is coming to you.” He says with utmost purpose, causing Golden Glint to chuckle slightly.

“Come on I.M., you don’t need to be that way with me.” He walks over to the Pegasus, and puts a hoof on his shoulder. “We’ve been friends for years. I know you just got the job, but do your best to relax.” He says with a reassuring grin. The grey Pegasus lets out a sigh of relief.

“Glint, you have no idea how hard it’s been for me to have to be like that all day.” He says, showing signs of exhaustion from his first day on the job. “The only other time I could relax like this was when I delivered Celestia a report. She actually invited me in for tea, which I accepted of course.” As he tells Glint about his day, you could see he thoroughly enjoyed every second.

“Wow! You met Celestia!” Glint seemed honestly surprised. “I’ve only met her once, and that was at my academy graduation.” Suddenly a sly look comes over Glint. “So what did you talk about with the Princess?” he says with a grin. I.M. thinks for a minute, then it comes to him.

“We were actually talking about you.” He says pointing a hoof at Glint.

This utterly shocks glint. ‘Why would they talk about me’ he thinks. “What exactly did you talk about me for?” he asks, sounding almost accusing.

“Calm down Glint, we didn’t talk about anything so personal. She just found out I that knew you, and she thought it would be a good idea to learn about who you were as a person, not just the military records she had.” He says, trying to assure his friend of the innocence of the talk, but it doesn’t really work.

“You know what? That sounds pretty personal to me! So what did you talk about exactly?“ he snaps. His sudden outburst causes all the guards in the room to jump a little. The only one who doesn't jump is I.M.

“Now Glint, calm down!” he counters, his deep blue eyes flashing with subdued anger, which seems to calm Glint. This comes as a shock to everyone in the room. A guard on the other side of the room whispers to another “No one talks to the lieutenant like that.” Glint shoots him a piercing glare, which is only amplified by his green eyes.

Glint returns his attention to I.M., but now he seems to realize he overreacted. “Sorry Instant Message. I just think that anything you said to the princess could be detrimental to my career.” He seems to regret his accusation.

“Wait, why do you think that?” he sounds confused.

“Well, think about it: you’ve known me forever, and you know some pretty embarrassing things.” He chuckles at the thought of I.M. telling the princess about those moments. When he looks back, I.M. looks nervous. “What’s wrong I.M.?” he asks, knowing his friend is nervous now.

I.M. seems to be at a loss for words. “I didn’t tell her anything so bad, but I did tell her about when you were on patrol near the Everfree forest, and you came across the poison joke.” He says trying to make it sound better. Glint was at such a loss for words that when he tried to speak, all that came out was a horse whimper. “well here’s the good the part. She thought it was hilarious.”

Glints eyes twitch for a moment. He began to yell, but stopped himself, realizing his fellow soldiers were all listening in. He quickly changes the subject. “I.M., where is the report.” he says sounding official.

I.M., realizing why he came here in the first place, grabs the letter and gives it to glint. Glint lifts it with golden magic. As he skims it over he quickly realizes the gravity of the situation. Glint looks to his friend with determination. “Scotch, take I.M. to his home now.” He commands a guard off to the right. He begins to walk off, nodding at a few guards who immediately follow behind him.

“Glint, what's going on?” his words fall on deaf ears as Glint seems to change into a commanding officer. He can’t quit thinking about what is going on as he is ushered out of the room.

Glint looks to the officers and quickly issues orders. “Shield, take your two best to the west gate and confirm the report. If false, find the pony responsible for this report.” Shield quickly salutes, then selects two guards to leave with him. “Alright, the rest of you follow me. We need to alert Celestia to the threat.” The rest of the guards follow suit behind him as he trots a quick pace to the hall where the wedding is being held. Some of the guards are whispering worried suspicions to one another. Then Glint stops, realizing he didn’t tell them what the report had said. They had stopped in the main hall before the throne room, the light arcing down to give the scene an almost unneeded drama, considering what was about to follow. “Ponies, listen up and listen good! The report said that one of our scouts to the north saw a swarm of changelings headed this way.” This caused the guards to realize the gravity of the situation. “Now I know I don’t need to tell you this, but I’m going to anyway. You are the best! Me and Shining Armor trained you since you were recruits. You are more than the best, You are the best of the best!” He takes a moment for this to sink in. When he sees them beam with pride he begins again. “Canterlot and all its citizens are counting on you, Celestia is counting on you, but most importantly I’m counting on you.” They immediately salute him and yell in unison. “You can count on us, sir!” Glint takes this in, giving his troops an expression of gratitude. “I believe you!” he yells back to bolster their confidence.

As they stand there in pride, the first sign that the report was true echoes throughout Canterlot. The magic barrier shatters sending solidified magic crashing to the ground. “Quickly, to the princess!” They begin to race to the wedding hall. As they went on they saw the changelings appearing in the sky, their insect like wings beating so fast as to be a blur. They resemble ponies, but with hard black skin, sharp teeth, a piercing black horn, and gleaming, solid blue eyes. They seem to be systematically covering Canterlot, district by district. The guards are almost to the main hall when they come across a small flight of changelings that have caught a few ponies, and are rounding them up. Glint looks to find an opening for attack, and he sees that every time they put their captives together it takes all of the changelings to keep them under control. That is their moment. So as the changelings bring the next captive over, Glint looks to his troops and nods, signifying to steel themselves for the next moment. As the next stallion is forced in with the rest of the captives, Glint looks back to his troops. “Now!” He yells to start the attack. Glint rushes forward with his troops following in short order. Glint casts a spell to create a magical golden blade in midair, controlled by his magic.

They changelings notice them just a moment too late. Glint is the first to land a strike. he takes his blade and thrusts it deep into the first changeling, followed by a quick upward slash cutting a second changeling from hoof to muzzle. His guards follow his example taking their lances and magic to deal out equal amounts of controlled destruction. As the skirmish comes to an end, Glint rushes over to the civilians.

He kneels down next to them. “Are you all okay?” They don’t say anything, merely nodding yes. He looks over and yells to one of his soldiers. “You there! Take these ponies to the guard tower!” The guard salutes, then goes to asking them to get over to the tower. “Alright, the rest of you with me. We are going to make our way to the main hall once and for all.” They salute and begin again, this time quickening their pace to a sprint. This time there are no other patrols. So they finally reach the large double doors. Glint turn to his stallions. “Alright, this is where the princess should be. We need to secure her so that we can then begin our counterattack.” They all seem to look at him with true belief. “Alright, lets do this!” Glint bursts through the door with his guards in tow. As they rush forward, Glint stops in his tracks at the sight before him.

Inside the wedding hall was the changeling queen Chrysalis, standing over Celestia about to lower her into a cocoon. It takes them moments to realize what they must do, but Glint pauses in shock while his unit rushes headlong for Chrysalis, who sees them coming and prepares herself. As they reach her they are taken down with ease, each guard falling at naught but a whim. Glint’s mind screams ‘do something!’ but his body won't respond. Everything seems to be happening in slow-motion. The shock of seeing his princess fallen along with his squad seems to have hit him hard so he can't move. As the last stallion in his squad goes down, he finally gains control of his body and charges with not a thought for anything in his mind but the destruction of that thing.

When he gets within striking distance she tries to strike him down like she did the others, her green flames almost setting him ablaze, but he dodges landing a strike on her side with a blast of golden energy. That seems to stagger her for a moment, but she recovers quickly and does a swift turn, whipping a large blast of concussive green energy at him and sending him flying out the doors of the open balcony. As he falls through the air his mind doesn’t think of the obvious, that he is about to meet his end. His mind goes instead to those he is leaving behind; his parents, his friends, and those he has yet to meet.

“Dad, I wish you were here right now. I sure do miss you, and mom sure could use your help getting through the rest of this.” He pauses for a moment. “Instant Message, you have been my friend forever. I don’t want to leave. You know I wish I could be there for you.” He thinks he should have hit by now, but apparently not. “I guess this is the moment when people should pray for forgiveness or something, but you know what? I don’t regret anything, not a moment except….” He hits the ground before he could finish.

Glint comes to in a place made of blackness. It seems to be a void a place between worlds, much like limbo. He wanders for a time before resting on the black. “HELLOOO!!!” he yells out hoping for some answer. “Where am I?” He asks himself just to say it. As he sits there thinking about what to do, he hears a sound off in the distance. He turns to face the sound, but is blinded by a bright flash.

“Glint, wake up! I’ve stabilized you.” A voice says to him pleading.

Glint runs for the light, which has now softened, and become a bright beacon in the distance. It seems to get farther away the more he chases it, but rather than quit, he gives it more effort.

“That’s right, you can do it! You can come back to us.” This time they sound hopeful.

Glint sprints even faster than ever. He pushes his body to the limits of what it can do. As he begins to exhaust the last of his stamina, the light rushes forward, enveloping him. Glint's eyes open to find himself looking up at a mare whose azure eyes are only rivaled by her peach coat. Her white mane is stuck to her face in sweat. Her face shows exhaustion of trying to keep someone alive. He tries to move to get up, but as he tries his whole body screams with pain. He cries out, but she puts her hoof over his mouth.

“Calm down. The changelings are still around. We need to hide if we are to survive this.” She seems to be desperate, which is easy to see in her eyes.

Glint realizes that she said the changelings are still around. He begins to get up as he gets his second wind. She tries to make him lay down, but he won’t have it.

“Sir, lay down.” She pleads.

“NO! I have to get back in the fight. It’s my duty as the acting captain.” He says this as his legs shake almost violently, as though he will fall over any second.

“Sir, if you do this you will die!” She yells so he might reconsider.

He paused to look at her, and notices she is desperate. His forelegs fail, causing him to fall forward. She rushes to his side, and as he starts to fall unconscious a bright pink light surges forward, and then everything goes black. This time he seems to fall in and out of consciousness, first finding that mare looking down on him worried. Then he finds a crowd of ponies around, followed by a muffled yell from paramedics. As he wakes again, he finds himself being put on a gurney, and being rushed to the hospital. As he wakes for the last time he finds himself being looked at by doctors who are arguing back and forth. Finally one grabs a syringe with their magic then injects him with an anesthetic to knock him out. His mind travels far and wide thinking of things. ‘I will make it through this; I have to, not just for myself, but for those who fell this day. I will come back stronger and then I will hunt that fiend to the ends of the world!’ He feels a strong pull to the waking world. ‘If it means anything to anyone I will find her and I will put an end to her.’ He feels the pull again. This time it almost takes him. ‘I guess that means I’m about to wake. I know I’ve been talking to myself this whole time, and I guess that is weird, but if anyone should know this it should be me because I am the one who will carry it out.’ Then he feels it again, stronger than ever, and everything fades away.

His body wakes before the rest of him. He can hear the doctors talking about his condition, they say he is in wonderful shape having fallen over a hundred feet. His eyes finally open, and he finds himself in a private room with two doctors checking his chart at the end of the bed. As they talk, Glint surveys the room, seeing what is inside. He looks around and sees a bundle of flowers and a card on a bedside table. The flowers are his favorite snapdragons, and the envelope reads: ‘Glint, get better soon- I.M.’ Glint leans up to grab the letter to read it, but his wounds still throb in pain, causing him to yelp, grabbing the doctors attention. “Sir Glint, you must lay down. Your wounds are still much too serious for any physical activity.” The second doctor nods in agreement.

“To Tartarus with that! I must see Celestia at once.” he says falling out of the bed. As he struggles to get up, he feels hooves not trying to force him back, but helping him along.

“Now Glint, if it means that much to you.” comes the familiar voice of Instant Message as he helps him up. “Hey doc, I’ll take him to the princess.” He assures the two doctors, though they still seem to be hesitant at the idea considering his condition.

“But considering his current state, it would be best for him to stay here for further medical attention.” The second doctor states in a hope for them to see reason.

Glint shakes free of I.M. taking a firm stance without help, although on the inside his body is screaming out in pain, something he learned to do during boot camp to show his instructors that he was still in fighting shape, even though he honestly couldn’t take any more. “I’m fine!” he says through gritted teeth. The doctors sigh in defeat. Glint does an about face, and leaves quickly with I.M. in tow. As soon as he leaves the room he almost collapses, but he is caught by I.M. who lets out a huff because of the effort to keep Glint standing. “I guess I was hurt more than I thought.” He says giving a painful chuckle.

“We can still go back.” I.M. says, half joking and half suggesting.

“No, I have to see her now.” Glint says, sounding determined.

They make their way to the throne room at a slow, but sure, pace. When they finally reach the door, there are two guards at the door who, when they see Glint, give him shocked looks followed by quick salutes. “Sir Glint…” one of the guards starts. “Are you okay?”

Glint shakes free of I.M. “Yes, I am. Thank you for the worry, but my welfare is unimportant.” He walks over to the guard. “What is important is me seeing Celestia right now.” The guard simply bows. The other guard rushes in to tell the princess of her visitor. All of a sudden, on the other side of the door, they hear galloping followed by the doors being swung open, revealing Celestia who seems to be shocked.

“Golden Glint! What are you doing here?” she says sounding both angry and utterly joyful.

Glint walks right up to her and kneels weakly. “P,rincess I am happy to see you in such good health.” he says getting back up slowly, showing how weak he is.

“Glint, my health doesn’t matter. Yours does.” She says, catching everyone off guard.

“Princess, whatever do you mean?” Glint asks.

“What I mean, my dear, is that you should rest up so you may regain your strength.” She walks over to him and puts a hoof on his shoulder. “I saw your bravery during your fight with Chrysalis.”

Glint jerks away from her. “You mean my cowardice and failure!” he bursts, shocking Celestia. “I’m sorry your highness, but I didn’t save you and I didn’t save my stallions. All I did was fail you and all of Equestria.”

But that’s where your wrong.” Glint seems confused by what Celestia says. “If it wasn’t for you and your squad, Chrysalis would have won.”

“But how princess?” Glint seems almost dumbfounded.

“If it wasn’t for the distraction you provided, Chrysalis would have transformed me into a changeling. The distraction you provided gave me the precious time to recover in order to stop the process from working.” She smiles. “Glint, you have no idea what would have happened had I been turned into one of them. I say this with all the authority I have as the ruler of Equestria: You saved my life that day.” She leans down to him giving him a heartfelt hug. She then whispers into his ear. “I owe you one.”

Leaving the embrace, Glint takes an expression of seriousness. “I guess I’ll be cashing that one in now.” Celestia becomes quite curious.

“Whatever do you mean?” she seems very curious.

“What I mean, Princess, is that I want to go after Chrysalis. That creature attacked Canterlot, and killed my squad. I want to take the fight to her, give her the terror she gave our ponies.” He turns away from her. “The terror she gave me.” He says almost to himself.

Celestia pauses for a moment, taking it all in. “That was… unexpected to say the least. I don’t know what to say, except okay,” Glint smiles. “but not now.”

Glints expression changes to worry. “But, why, Princess?” he says desperately

She simply points to him, which makes Glint look at himself, and he begins to chuckle. That made Glint realize that he was in too poor of shape to take such an arduous journey. “So I guess you understand?” He nods. “Alright, so once you are truly ready, and not a moment sooner, do you take up this task.”

“Thank you, Princess, and I promise I will only leave once I can complete this.” Glint bows and then leaves.

Instant Message bows to Celestia. “Thank you for hearing him.” He then leaves, following quickly after Glint.

Celestia turns and enters her throne room, closing the doors behind her. As she approaches her throne, she stops abruptly, bringing a hoof to her head as if in pain. She lets out a slight yelp of pain. “No, why now?” She says as if there is another in the room with her. A voice echoes within her mind. "Obey!" it says in a loud, gravelly voice that commands attention. “No!” she yells out in defiance.

The door to her throne room bursts open, the two guards leveling lances toward nothing. The two have confused, but professional, looks about them. “Princess, are you okay?” one of them calls out.

Celestia turns toward them as slow as death itself. When the guards see her, they drop their lances in fear. Her face is a look of terrifying delight, her light pink eyes have turned a dark green. Her eyes overflow with a hunger. Then she speaks in a voice a cold as frost, a voice not her own. “My little ponies, why don’t you stay a spell.” She then paralyzes them with green magic. What followed was the most horrific thing Celestia has ever witnessed, because behind her actions she still fully realized what she was doing. Her magic tearing into those ponies, her mind tried it’s best to gain control, but it was all in vain as she went about the task with even more fervor. Then she heard it echo through her mind, a voice that terrified even her, the voice of Chrysalis it said in just a whisper, “This is only the beginning.” Then, just as quick as she took Celestia's mind, she left her to the horrible scene at her hooves.

Comments

[Parcly Taxel]

Well, looks like we have a copycat here! Don't put the whole plot in the description - put a teaser in there!

[Goldenglint]

thanks for the comment i was kinda tired when i posted it so i was a little too on the nose with my description.