The Living Past. (Forgotten Existence) (Concluded)

[CableZ]

The future was a boring place, with the universal peace that seemed to be present, the military had cut its recruiting drives, as such Aero had not been able to get a placement in the service that had been his life since he was 4. So, he pretty much had nothing to do, he was resorted to sitting around the house that he shared with Lux, and just going stir crazy. After he spent the day making the entire living room work to a 90 degree angle, he decided that he had to get out of the house. Sadly, the future was no place for Aero, frankly after living your life in the military, the real world was not a place for you, mainly because of the stairs he got at the metallic braces he wore on his wings, a mark of the age he was from.

One late night, while sat reading on the sofa, Aero looked out of the window of his Canterlot home. In the distance, he saw the only place that felt familiar from his time, Canterlot castle. Even that beautiful building had changed so much, but it was a point that gave him some solace in this future. Slamming the book shut, he had to do something...anything..to feel normal again. However, he couldn't walk around the castle at night, he was a civilian in this time...the audacity of it all! Anyway, he walked to the closet, he had one way in after all. Opening up the closet, he smirked as he saw the golden shine of the light hitting his armour. This was pretty much the only thing he had brought from the past. This ceremonial armour didn't even exist in this time, it had become known as the 'Heroes' armour. Frankly he didn't expect anyone to recognize the armour, the only record of it was in a book of military history, which was pretty fun, as Aero was in that book. Known as the Princess Guardian, Aero went down in history as a champion and hero...not that he really did much, but still, it was pretty cool. With this in mind, Aero was confident he would not be recognised as this Hero, so he donned the armour, and set out for the castle.

The gaurds at the gate didn't even stop him, they simply saluted his as he walked into the castle. Here he was..in the halls of the only place that felt sort of like home. With a happy sigh he began wandering the halls, his armour hiding both his identity, and clinking and clanging as he walked.

[ForgottenExistance]

The Captain of the Luna Guard walked the halls, clearing her mind as she walked past the windows that filtered in the moonlight. She enjoyed the simple patrols through the castle halls, it was a chance for her to relax and take a break from her usually hectic evenings. It was a time where she didn't have to talk to other ponies, and usually didn't have to deal with the bureaucracy of her office. Patrolling was a time where she could just be a guard again, which, truth be told, was far simpler then having to manage the whole system. The Guard wasn't the easiest thing to manage, especially when she tried to ensure that the Luna Guard kept no sector uncovered at night.

The patrol got bland from time to time, but it left her with her thoughts. And a pony with a primarily eidetic mind had plenty of thoughts. She could tell if anything was off because she remembered exactly where everything normally was. This being the case, she would often walk the halls while re-reading books in her mind, or running over theoretical tactics against herself. Even then, that really didn't make for an exciting night. Very calming most nights though.

When about halfway through mentally re-reading the Guide To Canterlot's Military: Tactics, Officers and Equipment, Volume 1, and finishing her rounds of the Eastern hallways, her concentration was broken by the sound of unfamiliar armor. It wasn't the light shuffle of Luna Guard armor, and was far too heavy to be any of the volunteer Night guard's armor. It peaked her interest, and so she picked up her pace to a slow trot, lest she loose her chance to find out who could possibly be wearing full platemail in the castle that late.

Nightfall came to a halt when she saw the other Pegasus, clad in golden armor. It wasn't a sight that she usually beheld, and seeing something straight out of a history book usually meant that she was either in a museum, or dealing with a thief. And she was pretty certain that the castle wasn't a museum. Flaring her wings out to the sides so the fleshy membrane served as an extension of her bodily silhouette, she shouted out, "Halt! Who goes there?" in the commanding and unflinching tone she was known for. A combination of rudimentary physical intimidation, along with the verbal assault she issued, she was confident that the situation would defuse quickly. Then she could see why this invader was in possession of stolen or counterfeited armor.

[CableZ]

Aero was enjoying the walk up until he had somepony behind his barking orders. Turning to face her, the shine of the white front plate of the helmet was the first thing she saw. By design, the front of the helmet looked like a skull, the armour he wore may have been ceremonial, but it was fully combat ready, in fact it was far stronger than most armours, while remaining light weight to allow for flight.

"Who goes there? Do you not see what I am wearing, I am a hero of Equestria, I have rank over even you..guard captain" Aero put on an intimidating voice, the helmet giving it a deeper sound.
The tell tale signs of the guard captain were easy to spot, Aero didn't know who this Luna was, but he had done a lot of reading on the military since he had gotten to this time, and he had looked up on the various aspects of the castles guard infrastructure. It was worrying really, how much of the castle's security details were in books open to the public.

Letting his own wings spread out, the metallic armour on them clanged slightly, and the blades that made up the metallic bone support of his wings cut through the air. The light beige metal that went along the bone of his wing was actually surgically connected, a practice long since outlawed in this time, and was mostly frowned upon in his own time. The metal supports provided greater strength and power to his wings, and meant he was bladed at all times. Of course there were some health issues to having metal jammed into your bones, but they were behind him, mostly. He brought his wings out to match her own, not realizing that the metal blades on his wings might give him away, or at least make her think that he had illegally been operated on as a foal.

[ForgottenExistance]

Nightfall frowned, revealing the signature fangs of her race. While not very useful in combat, they still served well for intimidation, and certainly got her point across when she was angered. She wasn't showing them to intimidate the strange Pegasus, she was legitimately aggravated at this point. As far as she was concerned, the Pegasus was breaking several rules; trespassing on royal grounds, in possession of stolen armor, a victim of wing modification, and insubordination to a Guard Captain. If she were still just a Guard, she would have had no qualms with killing him on the spot. But something told her that would be much easier said then done...

Keeping herself down slightly in a defensive position, she spoke again, "I see you wearing what appears to be stolen armor. Equestria has not had a Hero for generations!" she exclaimed heatedly. It was something to break the law on Nightfall's watch, but something entirely different to try and lie to her, trying to impersonate a pony as important as an Equestrian hero. Though she had to admit, the chances were astronomical that he so happened to get illegal wing enhancements, steal Hero armor, and just pranced into the castle. There had to be some anterior motive to it.

Of course, she would need plenty of convincing before she fell under the belief that he was indeed an old Hero of Equestria. There were a few in the old ages, when Nightmare Moon was still a threat. Some of the greatest heroes were made during that time, when the Lunar Pegasi were still prime warriors for the renegade Princess, and not just guards. Still, she found it peculiar that he recognized her as the Guard Captain, when the only distinctly physically unique thing about her was her ancient helmet, and the uncommon green color of her orbs. And with the wing enhancements, she would most certainly remember him if she had met him before.

[CableZ]

Aero tried to keep a straight face, honestly he did, but frankly with what she just said..oh the irony. He began laughing, the muffled echo of the armour giving it a chilling quality. He laughed and laughed, before taking a deep breath to get some air back into his lungs. Still chuckling, he reached up and moved the faceplate of the helmet up, revealing his face.

"You got that right, I was the first" He laughed.

His face was the spitting image of the first hero from history books, of course in most of the history books he was just wearing the armour, but there were a few that showed his true face. The tradition of the heroes armour actually came from this armour, it was Aero's ceremonial armour from his time, the only one of its design, upon his disappearance and assumed death, it was post-ponously named the Armour of Heroes, and a variant of the design was given to each pony who proved themselves a hero of the land. Of course each design was different, only one of each being made, and only a few surviving sets existed. Aero's looked brand new...well because technically it was.

"My name is Aero, Aero Tempest...I guess you might know me as the Princess Guardian if you are lame and read all those old history books" he laughed shrugging, no one read those books right?

[ForgottenExistance]

Nightfall was taken aback not only by the suddenness of his laughter, but also by his face and his words, and actually pulled her head back slightly in surprise, lifting her left forehoof off the ground slightly, as if she had been smacked in the face by a stick. Though she could scarcely believe it, her memory never served her wrong before. One of the benefits of having an eidetic memory, she supposed. But still, she didn't think it was possible. How could the first hero, Aero Tempest, be there in the Canterlot castle? The books said that he had died over a thousand years prior.

The Captain hesitantly straightened her posture, letting her wings relax against her sides. While she may have been skeptic, she certainly wasn't stupid, and wouldn't deny facts if they hit her in the face. And, considering that he probably could hit her in the face... she wouldn't tempt fate to be so ironic. Instead, she frowned and took a few steps closer to examine him from a distance. It was indeed the face that had been depicted in the books that she had read.

Giving him another quick look-over, her gaze finally settled back on his face, "I do recognize you. So calling those books lame is calling yourself lame... but how is it even possible? I mean; that you're here. Not you calling yourself lame, I did not mean that," she spoke quickly, and corrected herself even quicker. She wasn't one to get excited very easily, but seeing a pony who's been thought dead for more then a thousand years was no small thing to get excited about. He was the original hero, after all. If anything called for some excitability, it was that.

[CableZ]

Aero laughed again, reaching up and taking his helmet off, holding it down by his side. He brought his wings in a few moments after she had done, folding the armour in to his sides. He took a few steps forward as he did so, giving her one of those classic charming smiles, the kind the melted hearts.

"No no no, I'm far from lame...well" He looked down at his armour "Ok I may be lame, but the books are lame for a different reason." He gave a little chuckle. "The books are lame because they are wrong, I didn't die, I disappeared~" He stretched out the last word as if it should be common knowledge. "Time travel is a funny thing eh, seeing historical nobodies like me wandering about" He laughed, not so subtly giving away his secret.

Looking to his side, he saw the moon in the sky through the large windows that ran along the length of this particular corridor. Glancing at the guard for another moment, before walking over to the window and looking out. With a smile he turned his head to look at the bat-pony, a species he had yet to fully get used to.

"Am I under arrest?" He asked with a slight concern in his tone.

[ForgottenExistance]

The Captain hesitated as she watched the other winged pony walk to the window. It was strange, to think that he was alive and there in front of her. Aside from bringing mixed feelings, it also meant that he was exempt from most law, and there was nothing that she could do about his presence there. After a moment of thought, she walked over to the window and stood roughly a meter behind him to his left, giving him a wide berth. She sighed, "Under normal circumstances, you would be. But considering that you are both of higher station then I am, and that you don't exist in modern records, I can make an exception," she admitted quietly before turning her gaze out the window, thinking to herself.

Now, his presence meant that she would be tempted to ask him question after question, considering that it certainly wasn't every day that a legend walked straight out of the past and into the castle. But her need for formality meant that she would hold back on the onslaught of questions for as long as she could. Realizing that she still had on her helmet, which could be mistaken as a sign of defensiveness, she quickly reached up and pushed the helmet off of her head, letting her short, dull purple mane free. Nightfall slipped her helmet behind herself uncomfortably and folded her right wing over the helmet, holding it to her side with the strong membrane. It left her hooves free, and wasn't too uncomfortable for her.

Nightfall turned back to the window, her frown dissipating. She wasn't angry at this point, but was certainly confused. Her mind kept returning to that one question; how was it possible? She had never heard of any ponies traveling through time before, and wasn't sure how the ancient ponies could have managed it, if modern ponies couldn't. Of course, she was no Unicorn, and had never attended any sort of magic school before. So as far as she knew, it could have been a perfectly normal thing, just kept secret from the non-magic ponies. Of course, the idea sounded ridiculous to her.

[CableZ]

Aero raised an eyebrow as he glanced to her, with a little smirk he looked back out of the window, she was pretty easy to read, at least the easily readable parts of her were. They stared out of the window for a few more minutes, before Aero turned to face the guard captain.

"You're not very subtle you know, you can ask any questions you want" he laughed "You may be...part..bat or whatever, but anypony would want to ask questions."

Placing his helmet down on the wooden window ledge that was just below him, he stretched his wings out slightly, feeling them ache. It had been a while since he had maintained his supports, it was only natural that they ache, he probably should be wearing the wing armour.

[ForgottenExistance]

The Captain blinked in surprise and turned to look at him with curiosity. She didn't realize that she was being so easy to read, and quickly cleared her throat out of embarrassment. Usually she wasn't so easy to read, but then again, usually she wasn't so confused about something. She sighed and shook her head after a moment of uncomfortable silence before responding, "Lunar Pegasus, if you please. And sorry, it's just a lot to take in. I've never heard of a pony coming from the past," she admitted, looking at him with a mild degree of wonder.

Nightfall couldn't help but notice the movement of his wings. She took a cautious step closer to get a better look at them before she turned her gaze back to his head, so she wasn't talking while staring at the strange attachments to his wings. She hesitated before speaking, "Your wings, are they sore? The only other time I've seen somepony with wing enhancements like yours, they suffered from nearly constant wing cramps," She recalled the one time before that she had seen them. While she knew that they had perfected the procedure when it was still legal, she didn't know if that meant that there was no side effects. Now that it was outlawed, it meant that there were no professionals who practiced it, so she just assumed that modern enhancements were more prone to painful side effects.

[CableZ]

Aero smiled softly at her embarrassment, it was cute really. He stretched his wings out a little as she spoke, flapping them slightly to get try and work away their ache. He noted the sort of wondrous look in his eye, it was weird. It reminded him of times he had been part of military marches back in the past, and the young ponies would look on at him with wonder, he wasn't even a hero back them, what might they do today? He smirked slightly, but was a little surprised when he heard her ask about his wing blades, not really realizing he had been moving them so much. He looked to the side, at the metallic blades that ran along his wings, structuring his feathers and supporting the bone.

"They ache now, I haven't worn this armour in a few months, heck I've barely flown since I got here, I'm just out of practice" He said moving them slightly.

"In my time it was pretty common for parents who wanted their pegasi offspring to go into the military career to get fitted with these special supports at birth, they grow with you and strengthen and support the wing, molding it to be perfect for combat and faster flight...only problem is...well the problems hat would you would expect with having metal growing while embedded in your bone" He laughed, stretching his large wingspan out to its full expanse, it was an impressive site really.

He looked at her for a moment, he could help but stare at her wings, and fangs.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to stare, its just...well your kinda never existed in my time, and this is the closest I've been to one" he said with a sheepish awkward smile

[ForgottenExistance]

Nightfall nodded with sympathy at his explanation. She had read about how the augmentations were as much a blessing as a curse to the ancient warriors. She made a note of what he had said, and figured that she'd show him good places to fly around the country side if she ever got the chance. Being cooped up, especially with the wing additions, was never fun. If flying was a solution, then she figured the least she could do would be to show him where he could fly without being bothered by other ponies of the sky.

The Captain blinked at his comment and pulled her head back slightly in surprise. She had assumed that he would have seen her race before, at least in the wilderness, if not in Nightmare Moon's army. She gave a small, fanged smile after a moment, "It's alright, I don't mind. And I'm sorry for staring too, it's not every day that someone as important as you shows up on my patrol," she said with a little laugh. Try as she might, she couldn't stop staring at him. He looked much more regal then he did in the pictures in her books, which she thought gave him a ruggedly handsome quality. Pretty much how she pictured an ancient hero to look in his full armor.

After a moment of just awkwardly standing with a silly smile on her face, she quickly turned her head to look out the window, "If you don't mind me asking... How are you here? I keep trying to think of how it's possible, but I just keep running in circles in my head," she admitted, her smile fading and replaced with a look of concentration. No matter the evidence, she had no idea how it was possible that he was there.

[CableZ]

Aero just laughed at again at her words, the idea that he could be important was pretty funny. He never felt he was anything other than a glorified grunt in shiny armour, that idea that he was important was pretty funny. It raised an interesting point however, from what he knew, he was the only living hero of Equestria left, officially anyway, he didn't know what the situation was with those elements or whatever, he figured that title stood for itself.

He then raised an eyebrow at her wondering on his mere presence there, it did seem rather impossible, frankly he kept on wishing it was just a dream.

"You know I'm not entirely sure on the specifics, wasn't my place to know really...all I know is I was brought here against my will, and now I'm pretty much stuck here...it was a one off kind of thing" He sighed, he tried not to remember the past from whence he had came, there was only pain in it.

"HEY, your partrol, I'm holding you up" Aero quickly changed the subject "I don't want to be the reason the castle gets infiltrated" He chuckled

[ForgottenExistance]

Nightfall nodded slightly at his explanation. She had hoped that he had more of a reason for him being there, but if he didn't know, then she wouldn't really have reason to ask more. It was strange to think that for somepony who seemed to have so much influence was the victim of something that even he couldn't control. Though she doubted that there was any way to get him back to his time, and even if it wasn't intentional, she counted it as a blessing that he happened to show up in the time that he did. It wasn't a war that they were dealing with at the time, but considering all the things that had passed in such a short time, such as Discord's appearance for one example, she figured that he would be handy to have around if things got hectic once again.

She blinked at his comment, then chuckled, "Oh! I was nearing the end of my rounds, so you're only holding me back from the usual bureaucracy. I can't say that I really mind; office duty is far less exciting," she mused in quiet complaint. But he did have a point; she would have to get back to the last of her rounds and then to the administration duties. Though she had to admit, she didn't really want to leave. Seeing a hero straight out of the past wasn't an experience that many ponies got to live through.

[CableZ]

Aero gave her a slight smile, he was never one to give tooth with his genuine non silly smiles, it was always just the slight little smile with one side of his mouth, very charming. He looked down toward the gardens from the window, seeing the other Luna guards covering the night shift as they usually do, even such a menial task seemed like the best job in the world to Aero right about now, he needed a job.

"Hey...do you think...I could get a job?" Aero asked almost unsure if she could give him a job, like he was asking a librarian to make him a sandwich. "It's just, I've been bored for SO long now, I was hoping to get a job back in the military but from what I've gathered there really isn't much of a need for one these days" He rubbed the back of his neck in what felt like a real cliché

"I understand if you can't help, I'm just...SOOOOOO bored" He let out a tired sigh, it was true, he was going stir crazy, its why he was in the castle in the first place.