Author's Notes:

i know i cant write a song worth shit i know, and as to why this took so long and why it is so short, i'm a lazy writer and i don't go into every little detail, anyways here is my Christmas present.

The walk to Raritys shop was quiet, the ponies were buying and trading. As I stepped into the store her bell went off and I heard her say coming but it came out muffled and it sounded like she was doing something before I came in. Well it is true, I was really paying attention to the main 6 and there shenanigans, but it was thanks to pinkie that I had been. By what pink told me last night, Twilight, Rainbow dash, and Applejack had crushes on me, thanks to pinkie and futtershy talking to them about what goes on with us. I didn't think futtershy would of talked about what goes on in the bedroom. pinkie yes, futtershy no, but anything can happen. Pinkie said applejack had the strongest crush on me, with twilight coming second and rainbow third.

Pinkie thinks that after seeing my strength and my caring heart had helped as well. After saving Applebloom and Winona from a timber wolf involved crusaders incident did help a lot as well. With rainbow dash it more of a competition of speed between us, and i guess by what i can tell she likes her stallions faster then her, so she goes 100% to keep up with them. In a lame mans terms the faster the boy the wetter she gets. Twilight likes me for my mind and my heart much like futtershy. After all 250 years by myself learning all I can, and training pays off. Mental note, that's why I was gone for 2 years, 250 years don't pass in one day. Granted I still don't know how that room of space and time or better known as the hyperbolic time chamber works. How my sanity is still with me after being alone to a point is beyond me, though having Jak popping in every once and a while helped, I think. But back to the point rarity came down the steps with a faint blush on her face. A few seconds spike comes down the steps after her sharing the same blush. Oh time to rub it in on what went down with a cheshire cat smile.

"Well, seems like you took my advice Rarity, I take it he was good." I said, watching the blushes turn deep red.

"Guilty as Charged." They both said before looking at eachother.

"Well, like I told you rarity, get him while the getting is good." I said with a smile.

There blushes stayed red as I grab my tux, as I turn to leave they where heading back up the steps, and I could tell she was not going to be walking right for a while. As I made my way back home to put the tux on I heard twilight going on and on about her list as I walked past her home. She was listing off things she was bringing. I paused when I heard one keyword that made me feel sorry for her, being smart has its down sides and I guess she knows it the hard way. That its not easy to find love. The moment I opened my door pinkie and futtershy were there waiting for me. They told me they where going to get ready with me, aka they wanted to see me butt naked again. Girls I tell you cant make there minds up over what they want or not.

As we all walked to the train station I saw my pride and joy steam engine I had worked on in my shop to help the railroads with there early steam engines. The Big 1 was her name, a big boy class engine made by me. Welded boiler, cobalt wheels, side rods, pistons, and to sweeten the pot, a small sun acting as the fire. Though it was what the rest of this train was carrying. 5 Coaches back sat my favorite little toy. The 9 barrel main battery of cannons. Now Big 1 could not get the plasma rounds or shots to work so it's using the classic rounds.

406 mm cannons rounds, nice and big, with enough stopping power to take down an army, or a battleship. Not to mention what waits to be used on the flat beds just behide the main cannons. Call me paranoid, but a rather have a lot of shit then none at all. Or as Bert Gummer would say, If you need it and I don't have it you sing a different tune. Its better to go overkill then be under gunned. As I have learned in the past more then once.

As they slowly begin to bored, I take my tux coat and pants off placing my work mans suit on. I tell the crew that I will be the driver of her today and that they can go and relax. As I check the steam pressure and open that gates of hell to see the fire ball burning inside, I know she's ready to go. I step over to the right window and see the guard is waving her flag. I grab the whistle and give a quick 2 pull conformation whistle, I grab the break and the throttle and slowly open the throttle, and slowly ease the break to 75%. The big girl slowly begins to move, the first puff the loudest one. She begins to pick up speed slowing climbing from 2 mph to a nice 60 mph. As I ease the break to 5% she begins to pick up speed again.

Now she is at a nice cruising speed of 96 mph and still climbing. We pass 100 and are still going. I look out the window watching the line ahead. I see the old Friendship express just ahead of us on the left side track heading up. I grab the whistle cord and with a long pull let the 4017 whistle scream out as we pass. As we passed i saw a small colt watching the train go by, eyes wide with wonder and excitement. The thunder of the 12 drives wheels pounding the rails told the world she was going and nothing was going to stop her. Up ahead I saw an old tree at fallen on the rails. I guess that's why the friendship express was going so slow. Well guess I should get it out of the way for them. I open her wide open, with no break on. She hits 135 mph as we hit the old tree, it blasts into dust as we past it. The girls starts her rhythm as she goes down the rails or as I call it her song. The drums pounding as she goes along, I grab the guitar that I keep in the cab and slowing play along to her drums.

The world passes by, the sound of the drums beats to the tune of war, war that never changes, that never changes.

The sound of millions of the dead scream out wanting there war to fight, there war to fight.

The sound of the drums shale pass us to the next life, just follow the beat, just follow the beat.

The world passes by, the sound of the drums beats to the tune of war, war that never changes, that never changes.

(insert guitar rift here)

The world passes by, the sound of the drums beats to the tune of war, war that never changes, that never changes.

The sound of millions of the dead scream out wanting there war to fight, there war to fight.

The sound of the drums shale pass us to the next life, just follow the beat, just follow the beat.

So just follow the beat, follow the beat of war, follow the beat of war, just follow the sound of the drums that shale pass us to the next life.

As I sit there looking up at the engine, I hear the drums beating, myself slowly getting lost in my head thinking about my old friends. As I set there lost in my thoughts the girls had come in, and I guess at that point I had a tear slowly falling down my face. As it falls I come back to the world around me, with lightning fast reflexes I grab the tear. Holding the single tear that I had shed in 345 years over what had happened. I looked up at the girls, futtershy was the first to walk up to me and she jumped up and hugged me. I just slowly rap my hands around her and finely let go of what I had held back for all these years, my tears.

The girls did not what I was crying about, so after getting myself under control I decided it was time they find out what had happened. I kept the part they should not know out, the ones they could not handle. Due to me being numb during my duty I didn't have that bad of a PTSD. Sure I had my times when I would wake from a nightmare, but I was used to them.

The girls reactions varied, futtershy was in shock, pinkies hair had lost its puff, rainbow dash jaw was wide open but had a look a respect in her eyes to me, rarity had fainted half way though, twilight was the same as rainbow dash, and applejack held a strong face of stone but one with respect in it. They now knew they where in the presence of vet of a 42 year war. A vet who had lost his family, his love, and the men and women he came to see as family, his new family.

As I pulled myself back together once more, I shooed them off so I could get back to driving the engine. I know it was wrong to send them off like that but I had to focus on what I was doing. As I slowed as down as we slowly starting to claim the mountains. I soon saw Canterlot Station. As the switches went off we pulled in, and the automatic decoupler sent the flat beds into a siding off to the left. The payload on it shifting ever so slightly. I then noted the changelings that were on the outside of the shield. Oh, I hope chrysalis lessons to me or I will have to enjoy what I have planed to deal with her invasion forces.

As I get off I watch the girls look up at me for a second before hear Celestia call out to them. As I watch Twilight run up to her mentor and nuzzle her and then her brother, and right after scorning him for not telling her that he had found someone. While that went on I watched futtershy walked up to me and nuzzled my arm with an understanding look. It was that look of we will talk later even if I didn't want to. God at times she is just like my late wife, she was always able to get me to open up about what ever bothered me.

I looked back up to see chrysalis coming down the steps, disguised as cadence. As twilight runs up the steps and starts her and cadence's greeting dance. I start to slowly rebuilding my mask that I use to hide my emotions and to show fake emotions, Much how like Celestia does. Time to put my plan into motion. As I walk up to "cadence" I ask her if we could talk later about the music that would be playing and that I want to personally congratulate her on bagging a stallion like shining armor. She giggled and said she would like to talk about that later. After talking with her I walked over to shining armor and ask him if he show me how that guards trained.

"Why should I show you anything, you don't fight, you don't have a rank, nor do you seem like you care."

"For one jackass, I do have a rank and its general, 4 star motherfucking general." I said getting closer to him till I was right and his face staring him down letting the mask I had on fall for a moment.

"Second I have seen more fucking combat then you or any of the fuck pansy's up here will ever see, so I want to see where I could help improve there training and maybe make then a true force to Protect the rulers." I said my killing aura fully covering the area around me, my eyes turning red with my rage, and him the feeling of the truth in my words finding there marks.

"And third, I'm sure you need someone to teach you when it comes to truly fighting over just putting up a shield. A shield is made to defend but you need a sword to push them back as well." I said pulling away, putting my mask back on and calming myself down.

Shining armor was on his ass scared out of his mind, I looked up at Celestia, Luna and the gang and the looks varied. I saw though Celestia and Luna's masks and they both show respect and wanted to speak to me later. The rest of the girls weren't that surprised at my rank, though I didn't tell them it when we spoke. I saw "cadence" show worry to me having saw my bad side. Shining finely snap out of his stupor and saluted me. He knew for a fact it was wise to even though I might not be a general here, I was back from were I am. I looked around the room and all the guards who had moved closer after my outburst, were now saluting me as well.

"It would be an honor to have some pointers from someone who as severed, right this way." He said leading me to a door way.

Though it was the train grounds that the guards train in. The grounds had several wooded training dummies around, some with wooden swords, or simple shields. Crossbow and bow targets, even an armor and weapons forge. I grabbed the create of ingots I had out of my pocket (bigger on the inside), summoned my Solar hammer and walked of the the forge. Celestia who had followed me raised her eyebrow at me as I grab a few ingot and started to forge a sword. I was going to make a Damascus sword, using a cobalt and two mythril ingots. As I slowly started to forge the 3 ingots together and form a alloy of the two metals. One strike and the bars were fused.

I pulled the alloy bar out and fold it over to pull it out 3 more times. I started to form the blade and ran the blade over to the sharping wheel to out a blade to this dull blade. As I ran it over the shaping stone sparks shot off ever where. After it was sharp I grab the heavy acid I had in the create and polished the blade with it. The acid took the top layer off and revealed the Damascus design below. I took the blade and shined it, tested its weight and once I know it was done, I turned to shining and handed it to him.

When he looked up at me I told him he needed sword fit to lead with. As a captain, he needed a sword that would fit him well. As he took into his magic grip, and walked over to one of the test dummies and tried it, it cut straight though it splitting it in two. He looked at the blade then me, I lifted the hammer, showing the engraving on the side of it. Then I pointed at his blade and the same engraving sat there. Made to last was the rune, to never to dull or break.

I turned to Celestia and lightly toss the hammer to her. She grabbed and felt its power course though her giving her it power to call upon her own Hammer of Sol. She looked at the hammer and watched as hers appeared. Her hammer colors where different, matching her mane. While mine was crimson red with the hammer face being dark red. She tossed me my hammer and I grabbed it, I placed on my hip where it would hang. I felt it power slow and fade as the flames died down till they where cool.

Shining looked at his blade, I walked over to him, grabbed it, and pointed it at one of the crossbow targets. I channeled some power into it and and the ghost like blade shot from it and embedded itself in the target. I handed it over to him again and said try it do what I just did. He grabbed it and focused on the blade, I felt the blade charge up slow at first, but i think he was finding the path, and once it hit its peak, the ghost blade shot out and hit the target.

His reaction was funny, he was both shocked but happy. I had given a way of fighting close up and a way to fight at range. he seemed to have liked it. As I looked the blade over in his magic grasp I told him grab it by the handle, his swings will have more power behide them. As he did I watched him, his swings where lazy and simple, but easy to work into a proper form of fighting.

"How do you know so much, pyro?" ask both Celestia and Luna.

"When it comes to swords, i was self taught and learned from my mistakes. When it come to my fighting with ranged weapons, most i learned from when i went though boot camp, and later on just using different weapons. What im most skilled with and long range weapons, like sniper rifles, the least would have to be unusual weapons or homemade weapons. I was the lead sniper on my team for a reason, and was known by the enemies as The Blue Death. The name came from my weapon I used that was the metallic blue paint I used on my rifle, and the color for my scope lens."

"Not to be rude but what are these rifles you mean." Asked Luna.

"Rifles are weapons that are made to fight at range, you already have muskets, which is like the ancestors to rifles. But the big difference is that mine use self contained rounds while the muskets you have to load down the bore, which i bet a unicorn can load very easily then a earth pony or a pegasus can. Not to forget rifles are just a class of weapons, with many different child groups. Like Assault rifles, sniper rifles, heavy rifles, even sub machine gun rifles. When it comes to range warfare we humans excel in aces."

As i look back on shining swinging his new sword, a thought comes to me. I call out to him and tell him he should name his sword, to give it a name that his foes will come to fear. His pauses lost in thought, then said he would call it, wuuthrad. why wuuthrad though, and how would he know the name, but its his choice, not mine. It would honer the companions to have there best know and feared weapon be used again, if only by name.

I told it i was a very good choice to use for a name, and that the last weapon to hold the name would be proud. He smiled at that. As I look away from him and back to my two shadows, I see celestia tossing the hammer of sol around, and luna looking at it, jealous of it.

"Luna, don't think i didn't come without a weapon for you, this luna is the void bow." I said calling forth the bow. The power of the void flowing though it. I turn pulling the string back, the arrow forming as i do, i take aim at the archers target and let the arrow fly.

It hits and it explodes and flash of void energy. The shards of the target being pulled to the void tempest that is the arrow made of the void itself. As I turn back to her I hand the bow to her, she takes it her magic pulling the string back and lets a arrow fly to her next target. As I watch it sore, I saw rainbow dash coming around the castle and landing next to me.

As I watch Luna's void arrow blast apart her target, I tell them I have one more power to give, but it will stay with me. I channel the power of arc into my hands and I will the storm ready to be unleashed. Rainbow jumps back feeling the bolt of lightning that I was calling down. It seemed like that other pegasuses in the guard had felt it to and had backed up. The arc storm bolt hits me and I feel the power enter me, changing me up, I begin to levitate, the lightning running down to my hands ready to be unleashed.

"Oh can I have it please, its so cool please?!" rainbow begs.

"Wait till you see what it can do." I said focusing myself for the show.

I float over to the targets as the guards back away, the Pegasus guards feeling the power. As soon as they where out of range and let the lightning out the arcs fly from my hand burning the wooden targets around me. Then I focus it into bolts and start shot at each one. The bolts toss some of the lighter ones back, then I charge the finale bolt. Calling it down, it hits and blasts all the targets away turning them to ash mid air. As what is left of the arc power in my system dissipates, I look around me. The guards looked shocked(no pun intended), and most of the training dummies are gone. Guess i will have to make more for them.

"And to answer your question, rainbow dash, no. You need to be of sound mind and be in a state of peace to even begin the channel the raw power that is lightning. You currently have neither. But when the day, you realize that show boating is not that way and you find peace, and calmness i will teach you then. Because if you don't have any one of the needed parts you could harm those you care for or hurt those that you do not wish to hurt." I said while looking at her.

Her jaw was wide open, having a hard time finding words and shifting though being angry confused and understanding. It think or hope some of my words got though. The clouds began to part showing the sun once more.

"Now don't we have a wedding to plan and a party as well?"