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The Covenant: Sunburst

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July 7, 2543 Canterlot, Equestria

Celestia slowly strode through the hallways of Canterlot Castle, her mind absorbed in thought. How did it come to this? How could I let them just take everything? She sighed and glanced wistfully at the top of her head, which was once graced with a long, sharp, elegant horn, which was now conspicuously absent, cut off by one of the very creatures that now roamed her country.

She stopped in front of a large set of double doors. This was the entrance to the throne room, a place where she once ruled the ponies with kindness. Now, an alien creature ruled from there, one who cared little for her little ponies’ needs.  With but a hint of trepidation, she raised a forehoof and pushed one of the doors open. Taking a moment to compose herself, she strode in to the room, hopefully exuding her usual air of confidence.

Inside, the one known simply as “the Prophet” was seated atop his hovering throne, listening to one of his bodyguards give a report. “‘Smashed’? What do you mean the Harvester was ‘smashed’? What could possibly do such a thing to a Harvester?” the Prophet demanded.

“We do not know, Hierarch. The excavation crews are searching the nearby caves, but none have returned,” the Sangheili messenger replied.

Celestia had seen one of their Harvesters before. It was a large mining vehicle with a powerful tunneling beam. It was about half the size of her palace. There was only one thing she knew of that could inflict that kind of damage to something so large. “Sounds like you’ve got an Ursa Major hoov- er, hands,” she noted, unable to completely hide her smirk.

“A what?” the Prophet asked in confusion.

“An Ursa Major. It’s a large creature native to this planet,” she explained. “A newborn cub alone is the size of one of your Scarabs. An adult could stomp one flat as though it was an insect.”

The Prophet instructed the messenger to research the creature in the castle library and dismissed him. He then turned to the Princess. “While your information is helpful, I don’t think I like your tone,” he began. “I’ve been meaning to speak with you about your role in our covenant. I’m beginning to wonder why I keep you around. I am in charge of the planet’s government and religious affairs, and your sister is capable of taking care of the day and night cycle. I see no reason for you to stay here, eating the palace food, distracting the servants who could be more useful elsewhere…” As he spoke, his guards formed a circle around the princess.

“Those [i]adornments[/i] are Covenant property. Remove them from her person and get her out of here,” the Prophet ordered. The Sangheili were on her in an instant. Despite her struggles, they pinned her down and took her royal regalia. Then they picked her up and carried her out the door and towards the entrance to the palace. Opening the door, they unceremoniously threw her out the door and down the steps.

Celestia tumbled to the ground and groaned. She could already tell she was going to be sore the next morning from the fall. She rose to her hooves and looked around. Ponies were staring in shock, not quite sure what to think of what they had just seen.

“Don’t be alarmed,” she assured them. “I will return when I’ve recovered my magic. It may take a while, but be patient. Until then, just go about your business as usual.” As the ponies murmured among themselves, she flared her wings and took off into the sky before they could inquire further.


As Celestia soared away from her former home, she found herself lost in thought. She couldn’t go back to Canterlot—the ponies there would insist on still treating her like a princess, which would likely put them in danger from the Covenant guards. No, she would have to go somewhere else; somewhere she was sure the locals would treat her normally. But where? She couldn’t think of anyplace in Equestria where that would happen.

As she continued her flight, she noticed a storm up ahead, and rose to fly above it, still lost in thought. Perhaps she should try somewhere outside of Equestria, then. Of course, there was no guarantee the locals wouldn’t treat her like a slave, which would make it very difficult to return when the time came. Maybe there was some obscure corner of Equestria where the ponies knew little about her…

As she thought this, she failed to notice a hollow roaring sound approaching. Suddenly, a magenta form burst through the cloud bank just ahead of her—a Covenant Banshee aircraft. Startled, Celestia banked right, to avoid it. She heard a loud crunch of bone and felt an immense jab of pain as her left wing collided with the Banshee’s right one. Her flying disabled, she found herself tumbling out of control towards the ground.

She hit the cloud layer beneath her. The clouds slowed her descent, but she was falling too fast for them to catch her. She burst through the bottom and into a canopy of trees. Celestia tumbled through the branches before finally slamming to a halt in a puddle of mud.

Groaning in pain, Celestia struggled to her hooves and assessed her condition. Her right foreleg was sprained from the impact, and she was covered in scratches and bruises. Her left wing hung limp— it would take at least a year to heal properly, assuming she could find a doctor. The weather hadn’t looked like much from above, but on the ground, she now knew it was a veritable downpour. She needed to find shelter before she froze. With another painful groan, she started limping forward.

Celestia wasn’t sure how long she had been walking. She’d been following what she assumed to be a trail through the woods, but the ground was so soggy, it was hard to be sure. She knew she needed to find shelter quickly; the already-dim light was starting to get darker. [i]Luna must be lowering the sun right about now[/i], she figured. She spotted a variety of animal burrows, but none were large enough for even a foal to hide in, let alone an adult of her stature.

She arrived at a clearing. She didn’t dare head out into the open with this much rain, so she started walking around the edge, making sure to stay under the branches. As she reached about halfway around, she looked up and spotted an abandoned cabin on a hilltop. She increased her gait, relieved at having found a place to stay.

Suddenly, she felt like something was wrong. Her earth pony senses were making her uneasy. Sparing another look up, she spied the cabin just in time to see the ground beneath it give way, turning the building into a pile of timbers. Her ears lowered in disappointment at its destruction. Then a realization hit her: a mudslide like that wasn’t going to stop no matter how many trees were in the way, and it was heading right towards the clearing! She broke out into a trot, hurrying out of its path as quickly as she dared in the damp conditions. She could hear the rumbling and the crack of trees falling as the mudslide drew closer.

Finally, she found herself at the other end of the clearing just as the mudslide broke through. It rolled right behind her, missing her by just over a hoof length. She took a few more steps to avoid being caught in the debris before finally pausing to release the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. Having narrowly averted one crisis, she continued on to find a place to stay for the night, hopefully one built on flat terrain.

She must have been travelling through the cold and rain for nearly an hour before she finally came across the first signs of civilization—a wooden fence. However, despite its shortness, she was in no condition to jump over it, leaving her no choice but to go around and find an opening. After about five minutes of searching, she finally noticed a broken section ahead of her. Her morale slightly bolstered, she quickened her pace as much as she dared. She had barely gone three steps, however, before she slipped in the mud and fell into a puddle. She rose to her feet again, now covered in even more freezing water. She noted with concern that she no longer felt cold, a sign that hypothermia was setting in. She was running out of time.

After carefully stepping through the gap to avoid being hurt by the exposed splinters, she raised her head to assess her location. The forest had given way to what was clearly an orchard. Fruit trees grew in regular rows all around her, though in the darkness, she couldn’t see what kind were growing. Squinting into the distance, she saw what appeared to be a light. With her destination in sight, she trudged on ahead.


Apple Bloom sighed as she watched forlornly at the rain pattering on the window. Applejack and Big Macintosh had been gone for about a month now, drafted into an alien army to go fight other aliens she’d never heard of. She missed them dearly. Every day, she was afraid a Covenant messenger would show up saying one of them had been hurt, or worse. They’d likely try to put a positive spin on it—some rubbish about how they died with honor for Covenant glory, or something like that.

She could hear Granny Smith in the kitchen shouting orders at the farmhooves as dinner was prepared. With her brother and sister gone, along with half the adults of Ponyville, someone had to help. The Covenant had assigned two Unggoy to them, but they weren’t good for much more than errands. Thus, they had to hire someone else to pick up the slack.

Apple Bloom noticed a flash of dark crimson feathers with a pale orange head fluttering out with a pot of soup. It was Ginger, the griffon they had hired to assist in the farm labor. She wasn’t as skilled or efficient as the older Apple siblings were, but she was still perfectly capable of getting the job done. As she set the pot in the center of the table, another figure made itself known—a little purple dragon carrying a stack of bowls. Spike had been staying here since Twilight was drafted with the others.

“Apple Bloom, I think I hear someone at the door.” The filly was snapped out of her reverie as the griffon addressed her.

“Alright, I’ll go check,” she replied. She hadn’t heard anything, and she found it unlikely that anyone would be out in this weather, especially this far from town. Still, a griffon’s senses were known to be sharper than those of a pony, so perhaps she had indeed heard something. There was only one way to find out. She grasped the handle and pulled the door open.

Standing in the doorway was an incredibly tall figure. It was panting and covered in mud. Its breathing was shallow and it looked at her with tired eyes, glazed over from fatigue. Despite the sorry shape this pony was in, she was still clearly recognizable. “Princess Celestia?!” Apple Bloom gasped.

The former princess opened her mouth to reply, only to have her eyes roll back as she slumped over onto the ground. The little filly screamed.


Consciousness slowly returned to the former princess. She felt something holding her broken wing in place, and another soft, warm object covering her body. The sound of a fire crackled nearby. What stood out the most, however, was the fact that she was dry.

Opening her eyes, she surveyed her surroundings. She was inside somepony’s home, lying on a pile of cushions on the floor. A large blanket covered her body. Lifting it up, she saw her wing and foreleg had been bandaged. She noticed a tube sticking out of her foreleg, which led to an IV machine. She surmised someone had taken it from the hospital. It made sense, in a way—in the shape she was in, it would’ve been too dangerous to take her to a doctor, so they must’ve brought the doctor to her.

She lowered her blanket and took in the rest of the room. A fireplace cracked close by, with a little yellow earth pony filly asleep in front of it. Celestia realized she must have tried to stay up all night, keeping watch over her. The ex-princess smiled at the thought. Turning to look out the window, she saw it was still dark and raining.

With a bit of concentration, she reached out with the tiny sliver that remained of her horn. While she may not be able to raise the sun (or anything else, for that matter), she still retained a slight connection to it. It was her special talent, after all. Making the connection, she felt for its location. Judging by its distance below the horizon, she calculated that it was a little past three in the morning. She let out a sigh as she severed the connection. Then she closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.


Apple Bloom stirred as the first rays of sunlight hit her face. Shielding her eyes, she cracked them open. She felt stiff- she wasn’t used to sleeping on the floor, but it was for a good cause.

Before her thoughts could go any further, she heard a small chuckle. She turned to the source. “Princess! You’re awake!”

“Yes, and I’m feeling much better, thanks to your hospitality.”

Apple Bloom then began a tirade of speech as she rapidly described the events of the previous night. “After ya fainted, Ginger, a griffon we hired ta help around the farm, pulled ya in and got ya set up by the fireplace. Then, she flew through the rain all the way to the Ponyville hospital an’ brought back a doctor an’ stuff to fix ya up. Spike wanted to stay up an’ keep an eye on ya, but he fell asleep right away so Granny Smith took him to bed and I tried to watch over you instead, but then I fell asleep, and-”

“Shhh. Slow down,” Celestia interjected. “Now, I’m not even sure where I am. You mentioned we’re near Ponyville, right?” Apple Bloom nodded. “I noticed some sort of orchard outside, and the last time I checked, the only orchard near Ponyville  was Sweet Apple Acres.”

“That’s right,” Apple Bloom confirmed.

“And you’re the little filly who lives here. That would make you… Apple Blossom?”

“Apple Bloom,” the filly corrected.

“Right, sorry,” Celestia said sheepishly.

“‘S’all right. Ah can’t expect ya t’ remember all yer subjects’ names,” Apple Bloom assured her. “Now, could ya tell me why you were out-” she began, but was interrupted by the sound of hoofsteps coming down the stairs.

The two ponies looked up to see two figures standing at the bottom of the staircase. One was a tan unicorn with a brown mane and a heart monitor for a cutie mark. The other figure was a more familiar violet dragonling. “Princess! You’re okay!” Spike cried as he rushed forward, only to be stopped by the unicorn’s magic.

“Hold on there, little guy. She may be awake, but she’s still in no condition to have a dragon jumping onto her,” he said before turning to the alicorn. “I’m Doctor Stable. You gave us quite a scare last night. Would you mind telling us what happened?”

“I’m kinda curious, too,” another voice said. Celestia saw a red griffon enter the room from what she assumed to be the kitchen. “Breakfast will be ready soon, by the way,” she added.

“You must be Ginger,” Celestia said, and received a nod in response. “All right then.” She began to recall her story, starting with the incident at the palace, which garnered a few gasps from all those present. She told them of her accident with the Banshee and her travails through the woods, up until she collapsed at their doorstep. As she spoke, she noticed another pony enter the room—an elderly green mare.

After a long pause ensued as her audience absorbed the information, until the old mare spoke up. “That’s quite a story there, prin- er, missy.”

“Indeed. A smaller pony would likely have perished,” the doctor added. Spike and Apple Bloom simply stared, still not sure what to think.

“Breakfast is ready!” Ginger called, holding a plate stacked with pancakes. With impressive dexterity, she grabbed another plate and tossed the stack. She moved the second plate through the stack of pancakes so that the top two landed on it, while the others remained neatly on the first. She then nudged a small lamp stand over next to the former princess and set the second plate down on top of it.

“Come on; up to the table,” Granny Smith instructed.

“Can I eat in here, please?” Apple Bloom begged.

“Me too?” Spike added.

“All right—just this once,” she relented as the griffon served up their plates as well. She and the others in the room then headed out into the dining room.

Setting their plates on the floor, the three began their meal. “So, whatcha gonna do now that ya ain’t a princess no more?” Apple Bloom asked between mouthfuls.

Celestia thought about this for a moment. “Well, first, I have to rest and recover from last night’s injuries. After that, I thought I could find a job like any other pony until my horn grows back.”

“You can do that? Grow your horn back?” Spike asked incredulously.

“I know a spell. It could take years, though, especially considering how little I have left,” Celestia explained.

“Well, I’m sure yer welcome to try helpin’ out around here,” Apple Bloom offered. “Things have been tough ever since Applejack an’ Big Mac got drafted by those aliens.”

“I’d like that very much,” Celestia replied.
This has been finished for a while now. I was so excited to get it up elsewhere that I forgot to put it up here.
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