Thunder-hoof glanced across the ravine, casting a wary look at the sickly twisted bushes on the top of it. He eyes slowly scanned across the top of it, catching a small flash of light, signalling that they were ready. In the past three months, he had escaped from Paris, formed a small rag tagged band of resisters, and fought the Prench army. Or the stately police, as it was much of the time.
He’d glanced down the down trotted path, and smirked, knowing something important was coming. His informat, the Prench bakery, had heard there was somepony important being relocated to a large prison on the coast. And it was somepony big.
“When we see them,” Rapide started, is accent blatantly obvious, “We can take out the guards and see who is this prisoner really is.” Réparation Rapide, or Quick as Thunder liked to refer to him as, was a Prench blacksmith who joined the band a month into the resistance, seeing Stein as a false lord of Prance. He was also the bluntest unicorn Thunder had ever met. He always wanted to take the fight to the palace and take Stein by force, thinking it was the only way to win the war.
“Qui, monsieur,” a young mare said with an exotic grin. She was Thunders third, Doux Velours, who was just as eager to take up the fight. She shared the same view as Rapide, but she was more asymmetrical in her fighting. And the way of fighting Thunder currently preferred.
“I want some of them alive,” Thunder answered, shuffling about getting ready to move, “Now, quiet, merci. I think I hear them coming.”
He was right, and the two others fell quiet, whispering the command to the other three with them. A slow sound of trotting began to fill the air, as well as a distinctive sound of wheels on a carriage. He moved forward slightly, hiding his face in the bush and watched for the carriage. As it came into view he realized two things.
The first, his informant was right. It was clearly somepony important, since the Prench soldiers escorting the carriage’ a total of thirty stallions and mares, were what looked like the elite musketeers. They were the old royal guard, now being replaced by Stein’s Gardes de Lumiére, and the signalled the second thing to him as well.
The second was it was a royal prisoner. Somepony of noble status.
“Now. NOW!” he shouted a pair of bolts of magik, punching out and cutting down the lead musketeers. Two other shot up at a large log hanging over the path, cutting the ropes that held it up. When it landed on the path, it caught several Prench beneath it, trapping and killing. In addition to this, it stopped the carriage, and gave the group of resister their chance at a new asset. Thunder took off, leaping forward and down the side of the small rise towards the Prench soldiers, firing off several bolt of magik. Three more went down, one wounded with the others being killed swiftly. A fourth raised a shield in front of him, before barking out orders. Though dazed and confused, the musketeers began to respond. Three wiped out sabres, and raced towards him. The rest of Thunders group came racing down behind him charging silently into the ranks of the musketeers.
From the other side of the road came the rest, finally leaping out the bushes, the twelve of them shooting into the backs of the musketeers, putting more down quickly. They reacted quickly, launching several shots back while an earth pony charged them with a sabre.
Thunder met the first musketeer violently, using his armour as a battering ram against the body of the warrior, throwing him back and knocking the wind from him. He then aimed his horn at the neck of the stallion, and with two swift shots, put him down. The next, a younger mare, rushed forward with her sabre swinging up and into his face, which he side stepped and reach for his own sword, flashing out the short and wide blade. Another swing came, followed by a thrust towards his chest. He parried both swiftly, his open hoof coming forward and punching the musketeer squarely in the snout. She stumbled back, her right hoof coming to her nose and trying to grasp what had just happened. He wasted no time, stepping forward into her again, smashing her to the ground and gave her two swift punches to the face, knocking her out cold.
“Move, take prisoners!” he heard the other voices call from the other side. The musketeers, though good, didn’t seem to have much fight in them. Thunder watched as one of them cut down a pair of his six, before Doux stepped in and put him down. Rapide, on the other hoof charged the leader of the musketeers, crashing into him and throwing him into the carriage. He raised his hoof up for a punch only to be knocked back by the stallion. Thunder moved forward and parrying another blade from an older stallion, before tackling him, and pinning the musketeer down and cracking the hilt of his sword against his snout.
Swiftly, the musketeers fell back, the half dozen still alive and conscious formed a half circle around the carriage. Thunder grinned and watched as one of his old guard friends began to bark at them to surrender to them. The leader, who stood at the apex of the half circle looked at his remain musketeers then at the twelve resisters in front of him, and spat something back that even Thunder-hoof could understand.
“Go buck yourself.”
With that the musketeers leapt back into the fray, swiftly trading blows and putting down three more of the resisters. Thunder crashed into another musketeer, putting his hoof on the tip of his sword, pressing it down to lay across his neck, and wretched it across, receiving a spray of crimson liquid. He move on, leaving the gurgling stallion to die.
The commander charged him, swinging his blade around and catching Thunder on the right side. Thankfully it impacted his armour and he ignored the slight stinging pain of the blow. His right hoof came up and grappled the stallion extended hoof, wretched it in a sharp turn before smashing his head into the commander’s face. The stallion responded in kind, before his open hoof crash up into Thunder’s face trying to pry him off. He succeed but losing his sabre as a result. Thunder swung forward with his short blade, watching as the Prench soldier jump back and out of the way. Again he swung, and again the soldier leapt back. He repeated this several times, until the soldier was a few hoof lengths away from the carriage.
This time he surge forward, crashing into the stallion and pinned him against the carriage, giving several swift and painful blows to the stallions barrel, before finally throwing him to the ground for a swift kick to the jaw line. He rolled over and groaned, unable to get back up.
“Yeild?” Thunder-hoof panted out glaring down at the stallion. He hadn’t panted like this since Paris, and it made him feel good
The stallion spat on the ground, a large amount of blood coming out, before he glared at Thunder, “Jamais!”
Thunder gave another kick, this time to the stallion barrel and felt something give out, causing the stallion to clench is bloody red teeth and gasp, “Jamais!” he spat out again.
“Monsieur,” Doux said putting her hoof in his chest and pushing Thunder back, before glancing down at the stallion, “Vous cédez-vous? Ou allez-vous mourir ici san raison?” the stallion glare at her and rolled his head away, finally nodding.
“Tie the survivors up and make sure they are stripped of anything valuable or dangerous,” Thunder ordered, receiving a nod from others as the last of the musketeers yielded and dropped their weapons. He glanced over at Rapide, who got up and scowled at the trickle of blood down his nose, and came over to the stallion and glared at him.
“With permission, I’d like to check on the prisoner,” he said, glancing up at the carriage, causing Thunder to smile, before back down at the commander of the musketeers. Thunder nodded and let Rapide move over to the carriage door. He glanced down at the stallion at his hooves and smiled, listening to Rapide begin to wretch the carriage open.
“What’s your name, Monsieur?” he asked the stallion, who glared up at him for a good few moments and coughed, “It will be easier this way, and it will show me you’ve completely yielded to me.”
“Swift Étoile,” he growled out, before Thunder smirked and moved his blade down, cutting open the uniform of the stallion.
“Let’s take a look at those ribs then,” he glances up at Doux, who nodded and moved her hooves to pull back the cloth. Thunder eyes slowly widened as he glanced at the stallions ribs. There were bandages already in place, some a gentle pink with the distinct pattern of sword sweeps. On his left shoulder, the stallion had a large amount of gauss, with a thick red pad hiding the sever wound. He glanced around at the other musketeers and scowled, “You were wounded. Why would you fight?”
Doux translated slowly, beginning to tend to the wounds of the stallion, who growled a response back, “Monsieur, he says that they were protecting something valuable, and they would have given their lives for the crown if need be.” She looked confused, glancing up at Thunder with a worried expression. He stared hard at the stallion, then up at the carriage, waiting for Rapide to open the door.
“Well, this is somepony big,” he said walking over to the door, and grabbing a solid hold of it with his magik, pulling it open with Rapide’s aid. They stared into the large carriage.
There were three passenger’s. The first was a tall grey stallion, who sat facing the direction the carriage was moving. His crisp blue uniform told Thunder he was an officer, and the golden de fleur’s that were upon his collar signified he was the real commander of this group of musketeers. In his right hoof, which was extended out in Rapide direction, was a silver sabre. His frown showed Thunder and his partner that he wasn’t impressed they had entered into the carriage, let alone defeated his soldiers.
Sitting across from him was the other two, a stallion and mare. The stallion, a fair bit older and heavier than the lean commander, stared at the intruders with horrified expression, his vibrant yellow coat paling with fear. His clothes suggested a butler or a servant, fitting for whoever the mare was.
Thunder eyes finally fell on the alabaster mare, her features hidden behind the butler. He moved forward, the sabre of the commander coming to rest on his armour close to his neck. His hoof rose up as he grabbed the butler, and pulled him out of the way.
He froze as he stared at her, and she softly whimpered, “Bonjuer Monsieur, comment vas-tu guerrier du soleil?” Her voice was soft, and fear leaked out of it. Her eyes, a soft pink, sparkled in the now illuminated light.
“I am sore, tired, and suddenly scared about what I have stumbled upon in this carriage,” he states turning around and looking at Rapide, “Go back, find a cloak, and bring it here. She will need it.”
Rapide nodded, staring at the mare for a moment longer, before bowing slightly, “Ma Dame,” he said in a hushed tone and took off. Thunder turned back around, pushing the sabre away from his neck and sat down besides the musketeer.
“Now tell my, Chéri Fille. What is the princess of Prance, who is supposed to be dead,” he said glaring at her, “Doing on the road where I was supposed to capture a political enemy of Stein?”
_ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _
Twilight sighed as the train rattled down the tracks towards Canterlot, and looked at her cards in her magikal grasp. Two threes, a five, an eight and a jack. A good hand if she was actually good at bluffing.
She glanced at Rainbow Dash, who was just as terrible at bluffing. She was a smirk so clear that she had a winning hand. She had pushed the candies into middle, making it a big bundle of thirty-seven candies, in the stack. She looked around the table and smiled at Big Macintosh’s unreadable face, then Caramel who was dealing the cards at the end, and finally Lyra who sat next to her, her face grimacing at her cards.
“We ready to show?” Rainbow Dash asked, eager now with her wicked grin expanding. Big Mac pushed his hand forward revealing his hand first. A two pair, a solid hoof. Rainbow nodded in agreement, her grin not leaving her face. She showed her cards, revealing a full house. Big mac nodded in response and Twilight groaned, flipping her cards around and losing in doing so. She leaned back on the cushion and groaned. That was the last of her sweets. Lyra nodded and smiled.
“That’s a good hoof Rainbow Dash. A really good hoof,” she said with a smile, placing her cards face down on the table.
“Yea that’s right, I win~! Gimme all th-” Rainbow said leaping forward to grab the pile of candies, Caramel stopping her before she grabbed them.
Lyra smiled, and flipped her cards with one hoof and everyone stared. It was a Royal Flush, and she just smiled, “So do you think you win?”
“Uh… yea, I do. You don’t have a single match in your hoof, meaning you were bluffing the whole time,” Rainbow Dash accused, pointing at her cards. Caramel coughed gently, and pointed Lyra’s cards.
“She has a Royal Flush, meaning she has the best hoof in the game Rainbow. The best hoof possible. And also, she wins,” Caramel said with smirk. Rainbow Dash’s grin fell away and she groaned as Lyra packed the candies away into a small bag. Twilight chuckled and smiled at Rainbow began to argue. She got up and walked down the cars small interior and glanced around. That morning had been rough for a few of the volunteers, especially Doctor Whooves. He was there with Dinky and Ditzy who were hugging him, wishing him luck. Dinky was crying and asking him not to go. He did make a promise with her though, being simply that he would visit as often as he could.
There we twelve others too, one being Carrot Top husband Iceberg, who told her that he looked forward to seeing her when the deed was done. Iceberg looked up from the paper he was reading and smiled at her.
She was worried about all this going on, and the proceeding war happening in Zebrica. She glanced at the front page and sighed at the news. ‘Galastrian Army Strikes out in Zebrica.’ She shook her head and walked away, looking around.
Raindrops, Cloudkicker, Doctor, Iceberg, Lyra, Rainbow, Big Mac and Caramel, then there were a few others. She didn’t know all their names but she did recognize them from around town. Why did they all go along with this?
“Arriving at Canterlot! Get up, grab you shit and get sorted!” A guard pony barked out, storming down the aisle, moving past the majority stopping at the table that Lyra was sitting at. He glared at the cards, then at the candy, and finally her. She sheepishly grinned and offered him a candy, which he took and popped in his mouth, moving to the next car. He still wore an unimpressed look on his face.
The train slowed and stopped, Twilight grabbing her luggage and walking to the door. They weren’t at the main Canterlot station but the freight platforms. Around them hundreds of other ponies carrying packs, crowding around desks and clerks, forming disgruntled lines.
“Looks like most of them are here,” Twilight turned to the voice seeing Jager get off the train with a weak smile.
“There’s so many. How did you convince them all?” Twilight asked looking about.
“Nothing too hard, just offered them the job. But that’s something you turned down. So don’t worry about it,” he said, waving his hoof about and moved away, disappearing with the rest of his entourage. Richter stepped up beside her and grinned.
“Think you’re going to miss all this fun because you don’t want too?” he asked, “Good on you. Just so you know, the colonel wanted you cause of who you were and what you represented to everypony in your country.”
“I don’t follow,” Twilight replied, raising an eyebrow at the Kirin. His grin flattened and he rolled his eyes.
“You are the princess personal student, and a great hero. That means you would be throwing your support behind Galastria to win this war for everypony in Equestria. He also respected you greatly, told me you’d make a great officer someday,” Richter stated before walking away, “But I told him you wouldn’t go. I was right.”
Twilight watched him walk away, and grimaced. He was guilt tripping her. That was a low and selfish tactic and she didn’t enjoy it being done to her. It bothered her to no end to when she began to think if she made the right choice. Of course she did, she knew that and she wasn’t going to change her mind.
She slowly forced her way off the platform and to the main road. She trotted up the cobble stone path, making her smile as she remembered the city. It was majestic as ever, with the white building topped with royal purple roofs. The street itself was filled with busy businesses and a flurry of ponies buying and selling at small stands and shops. She fade though the clustered crowd, making her way to the common, heading for her home and to her parents.
Excitement began to course through her and she started to canter down the road, a smile appearing on her face. They were home and she’d feel silly for even thinking they might have been killed. Or they we out and getting some super and she would surprise them with a surprise visit. Or…
Her thoughts were cut short as she came around the corner and saw her old home. Look old and cold, almost empty of life. What worried her though was Cadence, Shining Armors wife and her sister-in-law.
‘No they must be visiting. Yes that the reason why Cadence and Shining are here,’ She told herself. She came up, smiling at Cadence and began to do their ladybug dance. She was stopped pre-emptively by the Princess of Love a crushing hug, as well as wet trickles down the side of her neck.
“I’m happy to see you too-” she started, only to stop and see Shining standing in the living room looking at a picture.
“I’m sorry. H-He said that they were fine,” Cadence stuttered out, shaking has she pulled Twilight closer to her, “And then we got here and he just…”
“This is got to be a prank, please let this be a prank Cadence,” Twilight started to shake and pushed her away. She shivered as she approached the house, Cadence right behind her. Her magik gripped the door handle and opened it slowly. The hope drained out of her, seeing Shining sitting on the couch, his face matted with wetness and his eyes puffy and red.
“Hi Twily. I take it you heard?” he said, his voice cracking as he glanced at her. He moved his head to face her, and then raised his leg up to invite her into a hug. She quietly walked over, embracing him in a hug. He nuzzled her, with far more affection then she knew he was capable of. He glanced at her and rubbed her back softly and sighed, “You don’t believe it do you?”
“I thought they were here. I-I mean… I mean,” she started. Her emotions were finally catching up to her, and she started to cry. She pushed her head into his shoulder, and took a deep breath in, “I thought they were just telling us and it wasn’t for a few more months.”
“I know. I know,” His hoof came up to her head, and stroked her neck. She took another breath, far shallower then the first.
“And they should be here right? They just can’t be-” she started. No. Don’t say it. Don’t accept it. “Dead. Right?”
“They are Twilight. I checked and doubled checked,” he said, looking at he, “Twilight, I’m sorry.” He started crying again, “I’m so sorry.”
All Twilight could do was cry.