Nova Blight: Good Evening, Mister River. It's wonderful to finally meet you after this time.

Stone River: Good Evenin' to you too, Miss Blight. Can't say I'm happy to meet over these circumstances.

NB: I would have to agree on that note, but here we are. I was hoping you might be able to give me some background into your childhood, leading up to your joining the Canterlot Royal Guard.

SR: Ah- I suppose that might clear up a little bit.

NB: You were a very hard pony to find, Mister River.

SR: Please, Stone will do.

NB: Stone then, Tell me about yourself. Where did you grow up?

SR: Dodge Junction. Small ranch outside of town but just enough to be part of the town. Had the usual family, Ma, Pa, two brothers, one younger and the other older. Ma was a bat pony and Pa was an Earth Pony, got two of a kind and me.

NB: What was your family like?

SR: Pa was... Wasn't the nicest fella to hang around. Rough on all of us, even Ma. Never thought he wanted foals, but got three of us anyway. I was the odd colt out so Pa had a habit of picking on me.

NB: Right. And your Mother?

SR: Ma was a saint. She made sure the three of us were well fed and groomed and made sure we didn't run our mouths around Pa. She was the kind of mare that would always put her foals first and always did, she loved us.

NB: I see. Now. What caused you to join the Royal Guard?

SR: Ha- That's a little easier than the other questions, don't you think?

NB: Hardly, Mister- Stone. But it is essential to the narrative.

SR: Yes. Of course. I joined the guard to escape my Pa.

NB: Can you elaborate?

SR: As my brothers and I got older, Pa started getting meaner. My older brother was the first to leave, moved to Manehatten, and got married to a stallion, Pa disowned him. My younger brother ran off when he was 14, couldn't stand being at the Ranch anymore so set off on his own. Got married young and had a daughter with his mare. I couldn't be at the ranch by myself. Ma died a year before and Pa wasn't worth staying with, so I figured myself a hero and joined the guard.

NB: And how old were you when you joined the guard?

SR: Sixteen, lied about my age to get in and back in those years with the Cold War starting? Well... The guards needed as many ponies as they could get should Equestria go into war.

NB: Of course. Now. What was being on the guard like for you?

SR: Bout the same as any pony. We trained, worked, and patrolled near about every day. We were trained to be strong yet elusive.

NB: They sent you on patrols? Can you elaborate on what sort of patrols you and your squadron were sent on?

SR: Squadrons would be sent around the Equestrian borders in a systematic procession.

NB: When were you sent to the borders of the Dragonlands?

SR: Three years ago now, I was 20 at the time.

NB: Tell me about the hours before the alleged attack.

SR: It wasn't Alleged. It happened.

NB: My apologies, for the intention of this article, we have to use the term allegedly rather than assumption.

SR: Fine- Our Squad Captian's name was Golden Flash. Big stallion, knew what he was doing with himself. We set up camp for the night at the borders of the Dragonlands, still on the Equestrian side, before the sun went down. We were having a good time, it was routine and we joked. Most of us were younger, not much older than twenty, and not much younger than twenty-five. A few of my buddies, Foliar Fortune and Taper Track, joked about the dragons finding us.

NB: When did the attack happen?

SR: Just before dawn. The sun was in our eyes and we didn't see the dragons surrounding us. There was nothing wrong could do but fight.

NB: Stone... I am going to need to ask you about the battle.

SR: I figured as much.

NB: Would you like to break before we begin?

SR: No. No... Foliar and Taper deserve better than that.

NB: Of course. If you want to begin with the start of the attack.

SR: Yes... Right... I woke up to yelling. Ponies were running, trying to wake the others, there were, maybe fifteen of us. Captain Golden Flash yelled at us to retreat, but we were surrounded.

NB: By the dragon guard, yes?

SR: No-

NB: No? Please explain.

SR: These ones weren't like the Dragons Lords Guards, we'd been trained to recognize the attire of the different kingdoms. These dragons had no armor, no sigils, nothing to identify them. Maybe a group that thought it'd be funny to jump and kill some guards

NB: Is there a possibility they were rogues?

SR: It's possible, but with the state of the Cold War? I can't be positive.

NB: Understandable. If you don't mind proceeding?

SR: Yeah, right. Gold Flash was the first to start fighting. I think he realized there wasn't hope for us, but he wasn't gonna go down without a fight. It was everypony for himself at that moment.

NB: And what do you mean by that?

SR: No one was thinking about the rest of the squad, not till we saw them die that is.

NB: Thank you for clarifying, please continue.

SR: It all happened fast- I remember trying to get over the dragons but his stray claw got my wing. I hit the ground hard enough I broke my leg, and when I opened my eyes again, there was a dragon standing over me... That's how I lost my wing.

NB: I'm so sorry-

SR: Ain't your fault, so don't be.

NB: I can still be sorry. But please, you are the only survivor, I need every detail to keep this narrative cohesive.

SR: Of course... I lost my wing to the dragon... Ripped it right off and left me to bleed out. That's when I looked around, I was too scared to move. I think any pony would be. But when I looked around, everyone was dying. Foliar, a lunacorn might I mention, well, he wasn't quite strong enough to fight off the dragon that ripped his horn from his head.

NB: Ripped his horn from his head? Can you elaborate on that for me?

SR: I don't think that's the kinda thing ponies want to read about, Miss Blight...

NB: Perhaps not, but for the sake of the truth and the friends you lost, ponies need to hear it.

SR: I know... It just... It's ain't easy to say or hear for that matter...

Starry Specter: Stone... It's hard... But it's the truth... You deserve to speak your piece since they can't...

SR: I know...

NB: Do you need a moment?

SR: No- Star's right. Foliar and Tapper deserve better than a coward, their family deserves the truth...

NB: Whenever you are ready.

SR: When I say 'Ripped his horn from his head', I mean it quite literally. They massacred us. Any pegasus or bat pony had their wings and throats torn from them. The Lunacorns and Unicorns lost their horns and half their skulls... And the Earth Ponies... they just tore them to shreds... It was hard to tell who was who after they were dead.

NB: How did you make it out alive?

SR: I played dead... When they walked through the bodies of my friends, I closed my eyes and held my breath. They walked right by me. 

NB: How did you get back to Canterlot?

SR: That's... That's a complicated question.

NB: How so?

SR: I don't remember a lot from when I was injured. I was awake for some time. I bandaged up what I could of my wing and tried my damndest to set my leg. The few supplies we were left with didn't save me from a limp. I didn't let myself sleep, and I walked, I think I would have died if I hadn't made it to Sneakiesville.

NB: Sneakiesville? 

SR: Small town just away from Canterlot. An older couple found me half-dead outside of town and got me help. When I woke up again, I was in Canterlot, cuffed to my hospital bed and under arrest for treason to Equestria.

NB: And then what happened? Was there any contact with the Princesses in the time between your arrest and the trial?

SR: No- I was never sent to an audience with the Princesses, I'm sure they would have shown me mercy.

NB: There is no doubt in my mind. Now... Can you tell me about the trial?

SR: I'm sure if you know there was a trial, then you know about it.

NB: I do... but the ponies of Equestria do not.

SR: Right... Well... On the day of the trial, I met my lawyer... A noble stallion whose name I can't remember for the life of me. I knew that I should have met him sooner, but he said there was no reason to meet him, the case was in the bag.

NB: Luster Might, correct?

SR: Yes... That's him. Luster Might. He took me to court and I don't think he was really trying to help me. Kept treating me like some country bumpkin. And the prosecution was a pony named Orion.

NB: Marquise Orion?

SR: Yes.

NB: He's not a lawyer...

SR: No?

NB: Not in the slightest. My suspicion is that your case was rigged against you.

SR: But I won...

NB: Your missing wing was the best evidence that you had. It saved you from prison. Not only that but there was no record except yours.

SR: Well... Never thought losing part of me would save my tail one day... Strange world, right?

NB: Indeed... Can you tell me about the end of the case? How it was resolved?

SR: Of course... Luster seemed to believe me by the end of the case, but the other, Orion, seemed damn determined to make sure I took the blame for the whole thing. I, regretfully, blew up at him. I told him that that squadron was full of my friends, more family than anything else. That I cared about them more than I cared for myself...

NB: And?

SR: And he asked me why I didn't save them...

NB: You couldn't have.

SR: That was what I said. He told me I could have tried, and he might have been right. But I didn't stand a chance. My instinct was to survive.

NB: Right. And the Judge ruled in your favor?

SR: Yes. I was still discharged from the Guard for espionage and paid a solid fee for my time, and I moved here, to Ponyville.

NB: How long have you been here?

SR: Four years.

NB: The case happened in the first year of the Cold War?

SR: I suppose, yes.

NB: Are you aware of any other battles between dragons and ponies?

SR: No- There was no report on our squadron.

NB: Because you won your case.

SR: I- I'm not sure...

SS: Nova- What are you implying?

NB: I'm saying that if there was an attack, there would be an account of Stone River's, but there isn't. I am hoping to present this to the princesses within the month and overthrow the Elite. I suspect that this was a ploy in order to overthrow the princesses.

SR: I'm sorry- That's-

SS: Nova, that's insane.

NB: It's suspicion, but there are documents that may shed some light on the attack if I have the princesses at my side and on your side. If I can get the papers legally, then there is the possibility.

SR: A possibility of what?

NB: Reinstatement of your title, a clearing of your name, and likely, a comeuppance for your troubles. There is the possibility that I am wrong, but the fact that we are here, speaking of this, it's a step in the right direction.

SR: If I say no?

NB: Do you intend to say no?

SR: No- I'm just... I'm curious.

NB: If you say no? I file these notes away and leave you to your life.

SR: My life... My life has been hard. I've lost everything over and over again. As everything changes for me... It keeps going up. I have things that I never thought I would, but the truth is, this is never going to end. I can't end it, but you can...

NB: Stone... I promise you, I will do whatever it takes to tell your truth. You have my word.

SR: You, Miss Blight, you are a far better pony than your father.

NB: No- But I hope to be.

SR: There's no need to hope for you.