//------------------------------//
// The Elements of Harmony 
// Story: The Prince 
// by BronyWriter 
//------------------------------//

As a safety measure, Celestia and I agreed to kick Marller out of our country. We knew he was talking to an informant of some sort, so it was better safe than sorry on that front. When we told him, he just nodded... then left.

But not before shooting me that freaking smug/condescending smile I'd gotten too familiar with.

Needless to say, we didn't like it. Plus we weren't any closer to figuring out the identity of the spy or spies. We knew that none of them were changelings, which meant that some of our own subjects had turned against us.

I really didn't like executing my subjects. Hanging Soaring Skies was definitely one of the low points of my reign, but it had to be done. Once we caught the spies, we'd have to do it again. That kind of betrayal only had one outcome.

No reports of any other Nightmare Weapons had surfaced. Either that meant that the remaining few were too well hidden, or an enemy nation had gotten ahold of it. I'd prefer the former option. Either way, we had ponies searching for them. Once we won the war and taken all of the ones that Cromwell and Purgle had, we'd be in pretty good shape. The knowledge of how to even make them was lost when Nightmare Moon lost the civil war she started.

But above all of that, at least on a personal level, was the fact that Celestia had started to show. Somehow that drove it in even more, that we'd be having a son together. Every time I thought about it, my drive to end the war quickly renewed.

"You look lost in thought, Antares," Celestia said, snuggling up next to me in bed. "Anything in particular?"

I shrugged. "Not really. Just everything, I guess. Sometimes I feel like we can't even just focus on one problem at a time and fix things that way."

"I know the feeling," Celestia admitted, laying her head on my chest. "It's at moments like these where I am glad you ascended and Luna returned to me. I have fought wars as the sole leader of Equestria. It is not an experience that I wish to relive."

"I imagine not," I admitted. "Though were any of them on this scale?"

"No, but they were no less terrible." A slight frown creased Celestia's face. "I am uneasy these days. I cannot shake the feeling that the hammer has not yet fallen, but it will very soon. Our draftees and volunteers are not quite ready to take the field. The border skirmishes we've had so far are nothing more than tests of our defenses. They are trying to discern what we can and cannot do."

My mind wandered back to my weapons room and the napalm. I hadn't told Celestia, but I'd been perfecting the recipe over the past few months. On top of trying out new things with scientists under the effect of secrecy spells.

We were reaching a prototype for a pistol. We'd already figured out bullets.

"There are those who are wishing for us to use mega-spells to wipe out the invaders." Celestia chuckled and nuzzled my chest. "I do find it flattering that they think we are that powerful."

"Well, you and Luna move the sun and the moon," I reasoned. " Not to mention what I did when the griffins attacked my palace. I can see how they'd jump to that conclusion."

"Of course. However, I do not think that we have the time to create a spell of that scale."

"Not to mention that even if we did create one quickly, I can see it being too crude to be used as a precision weapon."

Celestia nodded. "Naturally."

I sighed and slid down further so that my head laid on my pillow. "But I do wish we had something that could end this war quickly."

"We have the will, the magic, and one hundred and fifty thousand ponies who will all fight to the death to defend their home," Celestia pointed out. "I foresee the minotaurs enduring the same morale problems that the griffins are currently suffering."

"Possibly."

We really did need to start exploiting that more. Cromwell had fully barricaded himself in his palace by this point. Not even the Blade Wings in the area could get near him. Still, no griffin soldiers had come within a hundred miles of Equestria in the last month, so that was an obvious plus.

"Antares?"

I looked down at Celestia. "Hmm?"

"You're lost in thought again."

"I guess I am." I moved one of my forelegs into a more comfortable position and wrapped it around Celestia's shoulder. "I can't help but agree with you though. The hammer hasn't fallen yet, but our ponies aren't quite ready to take to the field if the minotaurs began their invasion in earnest. We might not have time to fully train them yet."

"I think it would be wise to start sending whatever ponies we can to the front in the next few days," Celestia said. "That way when it does come, we won't be completely unprepared."

"I agree. We should talk to Luna about it tomorrow."

"Agreed."

With that decision, a creeping feeling began taking hold. One that said that the war had now truly begun.


*  *  *  *


"Any news, Agent L?"

I looked up from the sights of the crossbow I was wielding and shook my head. "No, Agent H. Twilight and Pinkie don't appear to be in any danger right now."

Agent H nodded and sat down next to me. "Good. I'm here to relieve you. After all, a daffodil sandwich sounds nice this time of day."

I tilted my head in acknowledgement of the password Princess Cadance gave for us to use. "Of course. Though I prefer rosemary soup."

"Then go get some," Agent H said as I scooted the crossbow over to her. "I can handle things over here. You can go send out the reports to Princess Cadance. Agent D and Agent B are waiting for you in the usual spot."

"Who's got duty for the rest of the Elements?" I asked.

"Agent R has the Apples. Agent D is going to relieve Agent T for Rainbow Dash. Agent B is watching Rarity, so the usual spot is around her today. Agent C has Fluttershy."

"Good. So everything's set then." I started to get up off of my spot on the roof opposite Sugarcube Corner. Laying on my belly for an hour really didn't do any favors for my spine. Before I did, I chanced one last look at Twilight and Pinkie.

Just as Pinkie began shaking like she'd swallowed a ten pound joy buzzer.

"Pinkie Sense." I said, laying back down next to Agent H. "You know what this one is?"

"Not off the top of my head, no," Agent H said.

I grimaced and opened up a manila folder. I scanned the documents listing all of Pinkie's little twitches and my eyes narrowed when I landed on one in particular.

"Full body shakes indicate a 'doozy'." I snapped the folder shut and looked back to Agent H. "That can't be good."

"I agree. Go get Agent D. Tell her to get a message to Princess Cadance. It could be something relatively benign, but I'm not going to take that chance."

"Neither am I." I got back on my hooves and began making my way towards the ladder leading to the interior of the building, when Agent H's voice put that thought to rest.

"Uh... Agent L? You're going to want to see this."

I frowned and moved back to my previous spot. I immediately saw the issue.

"That's not supposed to be, is it?" Agent H said.

"Uh... no, it isn't."

It's not every day that you see an exact copy of yourself moving through a crowd of ponies like a shark hunting for prey.

"She's moving towards the Elements," Agent H said.

"We've got a changeling," I said through gritted teeth. "Take the shot!"

"I know. I need a clear line of sight."

"If he has a weapon then you might not have time!" I hissed. "Take the shot!"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Pinkie convulse again. Twilight looked worried. She should be.

Agent H took a deep breath. Just as she exhaled, she squeezed the trigger of the crossbow.

She always was a better shot than me, even though I'm no slouch.

The bolt embedded itself in the neck of my doppelganger, and it flew back from the impact. Its disguise fell as it hit the ground, revealing a changeling. Not surprised.

I swore and picked up my knives, strapping them to my back. I could already hear the screams coming from the townsponies. "I'm going to go get the Elements to safety." I took a communication gem out of one of the pouches at my side and slid it into Agent H's ear. "Let the rest of them know that we've got a situation. See if you can't get Agent D to contact one of the royals for backup!"

"Roger that," Agent H said, her voice coming through the gem I was wearing as well.

I put on my mask and teleported down from the roof of the building all the way to the ground outside. Without missing a beat, I made a beeline for Twilight and Pinkie.


*  *  *  *


"Pinkie, I think we have to move!" I shouted, my eyes still locked on the dead changeling. "Get inside, quick!"

"We can hide in my room, Twilight!" Pinkie said, shooting up out of her chair. "I have a hidden room in there!"

"Sounds like a good idea to me."

"Miss Pie, Miss Sparkle, I need you to come with me."

I whirled around and saw a pony dressed in light armor and a blank mask walking towards us. She was armed with a pair of kukris strapped to her back.

"It's not safe for you here," she said with a metallic, clearly magically disguised voice. She motioned to the changeling. "We don't know how many of them are here!"

"How do we know we can trust you?" I said, backing away from the mysterious pony. "You could be one of them too!"

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. I work for Princess Cadance."

A feeling of relief flooded through me, and I took a step closer. That was today's password so that I would know if a strange pony worked for Cadance. It changed every day.

"Where are you taking us?" I asked. "What's going on?"

"I think they're trying to assassinate you, Miss Sparkle," the pony said, nudging us into Sugarcube Corner. "I'm here to make sure that you get to the secret room safely."

A plain white glow surrounded the pony's horn as I saw one of the kukris being unsheathed. "Don't wait!"

"What about the Cakes?" Pinkie asked as we ran up the stairs of the confectionery.

"I'll check on them. If they're the real deal, then I'll get them down there with you."

We reached Pinkie's room and the pony hit the hidden switch to Pinkie's party planning room. She hopped in first to see if it was compromised.

"It's all good! Come on down!"

I let Pinkie go first, then went down the slide after her. The pony unsheathed her other knife and floated it over to me.

"If anypony comes down that slide who doesn't have the password, do what needs to be done."

I flinched back and didn't take the kukri. "What?! I'm not a fighter! I couldn't kill anything!"

"If it comes to that, you have to." She poked my chest with the butt of the knife. "You have to be a soldier now, or Equestria could lose the power of the Elements. We can't have that. Just be brave and remember that these aren't ponies, and if you don't do it, they'll kill you and Pinkie. The Cakes, too."

I bit my lip, but hesitantly ignited my horn and took the knife from her magical grasp. "I'll try," I whispered.

"Don't hesitate. I'd say disable it magically, but you don't know what they're capable of. Do it quickly just to be sure."

"Okay," I said even quieter.

The pony nodded and moved to the slide. "Remember. No hesitation. I'll bring the Cakes down here personally. Find a place in here to hide so that if something bad does come down, they won't see you right away."

Before I could say anything else, the pony ran back up the slide.


*  *  *  *


The door to my boutique burst open in a manner quite unbefitting an establishment like mine. I set my glasses down and put my pencil behind my ear as I walked into the main room of my home. My eyes widened in shock when I saw a pony in armor shutting my door and moving furniture in front of it.

"Excuse me, but who are you?!"

The pony didn't respond right away. She merely threw a few more dress forms in front of the door.

"Is Sweetie Belle home?" the pony asked.

"Yeah, I'm right here."

I looked down next to me and saw my sister. She looked just as nonplussed as I felt.

The pony turned around and extended her hoof. She was holding a bright red gem of some kind. She was pointing it at Sweetie Belle! I made to light my horn up to get her behind me, but before I could, the gem glowed green and the pony nodded.

"Good. I just had to make sure it was really you two." The pony moved quickly towards us and motioned her head to my basement. "I need you two to get in there and don't come out until you're told. Sunshine sunshine ladybugs awake. I work for Princess Cadance."

I admit that my confusion did lessen after she said the password, but that quickly gave way to fear.

"What's going on?" I asked as I levitated Sweetie Belle onto my back and moved toward my basement.

"Changelings are here. They're here for you. They've already made an attempt on the lives of Pinkie and Twilight. We neutralized the threat and they're safe. We're securing all of you."

"Changelings?!" My breath died in my throat at the mere idea. Sweetie Belle whimpered on my back as we reached my basement. I removed her from my back and wrapped her in a tight embrace. "They're here for me?"

"You and your friends," the pony confirmed. "We don't know how widespread it is yet, but we're going to get you out of Ponyville today."

"I understand. What do you need me to do until then?"

"Just stay put. Don't trust anyone who doesn't have the password. Anypony who's on our side will give it to you almost immediately. So you don't--"

The pony's ears perked up and she turned her head to listen. I paused to listen as well as I heard hoofsteps coming from upstairs.

"Rarity? You home? I'm here to place an order."

I frowned at that. It sounded like Cloud Kicker. Oh, of all of the times to place an order!

I opened my mouth to get the attention of the soldier, but my heart sank when I saw her holding the gem again. It glowed a dark red.

"That's no more Cloud Kicker than it is Princess Luna." She stuffed the gem into a pouch strapped to her side. "Wait here. Don't come up no matter what you hear. Hide and find something you could use as a weapon."

The pony moved up the stairs with an impressive amount of quietness, given her speed. Once I heard the door shut, I moved Sweetie Belle into a dark corner of the basement and began looking around for something.

"I know you don't like the dark, Sweetie Belle, but you'll have to be very brave for me, okay?"

Sweetie Belle nodded, and I even heard a sniffle from her. Poor dear. She didn't deserve to live with this kind of fear.

I spotted an old sewing machine of mine and decided it would do. It wasn't a precision weapon by any means, but if I hit with enough force, it could certainly do some damage. Content that I had armed myself adequately, I sat next to my sister and doused the lights. The basement went pitch black, and I felt Sweetie Belle grab ahold of one of my forelegs. I couldn't risk light, otherwise I'd illuminate my horn for her.

I did my best to quiet my breathing as I heard the sound of two ponies taking above us. I couldn't make out what they were saying, or even their tone, but in a moment, I heard a crash and yelling. I gripped my sewing machine in one hoof, and Sweetie Belle in another. I wagered a guess that this intruder knew the two of us were home.

I flinched back when I heard a scream. I couldn't tell who made it. The soldier had her voice disguised.

I needed to be brave for Sweetie Belle. If the soldier lost the fight, the changeling would tear my home to its foundations looking for the two of us. My basement wasn't an impenetrable fortress. All that stood between myself and a fight was this soldier and a flimsy wooden door.

My jaw wobbled when another scream echoed through my home. A groan quickly followed, and I knew that somepony had won the fight. The anticipation was starting to get to me. .

As quickly as the noises began, they stopped. The upstairs of my house became deathly silent as we waited. Finally, the hoofsteps began again, and the sound of my basement door opening up filled my ears. Somehow it sounded louder than a rainboom.

"Rarity?" My breath caught in my throat, and I adjusted my grip on my sewing machine That voice didn't sound magically disguised. It wasn’t fake Cloud Kicker’s though. Yet it did sound familiar.. "Sunshine sunshine ladybugs awake. Threat neutralized. Don't come up here for anything short of that password."

Before I could respond, the basement door shut once more.


*  *  *  *


I set down my teacup when I heard a knock on my door. How strange. I wasn't expecting anypony today. I looked over at my calendar. No, Rarity and I weren't set to go to the spa until the day after tomorrow. I gently shut the book I'd been reading and set it next to my teacup. Angel Bunny hopped off the sofa and began bouncing to the door. I followed him and looked through the peephole.

I let out a quiet gasp at the sight on the other end.

A pony I didn't recognize was holding a knife in his magic. It had blood all over it. The blood of the dead soldier lying on the ground behind him. The pony looked straight at the peephole with a grin and waved at me. Before I could run away, the pony slammed into my door and broke it down. I screamed and opened up my wings to get away, but the pony swiped his knife at me. The screams of terror turned into screams of pain as it left a deep cut on my left foreleg. I tumbled back and hit the coffee table. I tried to get up, but the impact had knocked the wind out of me.

"Good morning, Miss Fluttershy," the pony said, twirling his knife in the air. "I've been wanting to see you for a while now."

"Please," I whimpered, grabbing at my cut and squeezing my eyes shut. "Just go away!"

"But I spent so much effort getting here!" the pony said. "It's hard to kill one of those accursed Blade Wings. Why, if she wasn't just about to knock on your door when I hit her, I don't think I could have won. But I did, so--"

My eyes snapped open when he made a noise of pain and annoyance. My birds had begun flying around him and pecking at his face. He swiped at them with the knife, but they moved out of the way. A ferret charged at the pony and bit him right on the leg. He started to attack him, but several mice came out of the wall and swarmed his legs, biting every part they could. He screamed in pain and fell to the floor. He dropped his knife when one a raccoon bit him right on the horn.

I whimpered and backed away as more and more animals attacked the pony. I didn't like hearing his screams as my friends bit and clawed at his body. I shut my eyes and flattened my ears so that I didn't have to see or hear it. That just made me remember how much my leg hurt. I tried to stand up, but the pain meant that I couldn't.

The last thing I heard before I fainted from the shock and pain was a bear charging through my front door.


*  *  *  *


Speed up. Loop around. Backflip. Backflip and loop around again. Fly higher. Dive. Pull up just before I hit the ground. Perfect.

Yeah, I'm kind of awesome.

Though I was getting a little tired. Not too much, but enough to call it a day, maybe.

I flipped onto my back and lazily propelled myself though the air. It was some good cool down exercise stuff. It made me realize I was kinda getting a little hungry, though. Maybe I could stop by Sugarcube Corner. It'd be cool to catch up a bit with Pinks.

"Miss Dash."

I turned my head to the source of the voice and saw Thunderlane flying next to me. I quirked an eyebrow and gave him a little wave.

"'Sup, Thunderlane. What are you up to?"

Thunderlane smiled at me. Not the friendly kind, either. It creeped me out, to be honest.

Not as much as when I noticed that he had a sword in one of his wings.

He swung at me and I dodged, but not fast enough. My left foreleg started to really hurt when he hit me with the sword. I did a barrel roll and backflipped to get behind him and kicked him in the back before he even knew what had happened. My leg stopped hurting, though. I guess that was the adrenaline.

Thunderlane spun out of control and dropped his sword, but he recovered a lot faster than I expected him to. He righted himself and pulled a knife out of his feathers before charging me again.

Okay, this was seriously bad. I like a good scuffle as much as the next pegasus, but he was trying to kill me. I'm not a scaredy-pony, but even I know when it's time to fight and when it's time to get away.

I turned tail and put on as much speed as I could. No way he could match me in pure speed. Though I had to admit, I was feeling kinda... woozy. My leg started aching a little bit. Guess he cut me pretty deep. I had to slow down or I might crash. But if he caught me, it was game over then, too. But I couldn't fight him with my head that fuzzy. Just had to take a break for a minute.

"Rainbow!"

I heard some metallic voice calling my name, and I slowed down enough to see some pony in armor flying towards me. Body type of a mare. She was carrying a crossbow and pointing it in my direction. I managed to do a barrel roll just as I heard the soldier firing the crossbow. It didn't come close to me, but I heard it hit something behind me. I righted myself and turned around to see Thunderlane falling like a rock. The pony had hit him right in the chest. Something weird, though. He burst into green flames as he fell. I realized what it was almost immediately. A changeling had just tried to kill me!

"Rainbow, we gotta get you to a medic! Come on!"

A medic. Yeah, that made sense. Starting to feel really woozy. Worse than before. I turned my head and nodded at the soldier, who had just come up beside me.

"Yeah, sounds good." Geez. My voice had started to get a little slurred. "Gotta..." Felt kinda tired. "Gotta get fixed up, you know?"

I grabbed at my leg to rub some feeling back into it, but my hoof hit nothing but air. Weird. Guess he did more damage than I thought. Not so coordinated right then. I looked down at my leg, and all of the drowsiness went away. The pony grabbed onto my side as I began whimpering.

"Come on, Rainbow. We need to land so I can start to help you."

"W-where's my leg?" I whimpered. "W-where's my leg?"

"Rainbow, I need to get a tourniquet on that or you're going to bleed out!"

"Where's my leg?" I moaned, desperation creeping into my voice. "Where's my leg?"

"Rainbow, calm down and land with me, alright?"

"Where's my leg?!" I screamed. "Where's my leg?! Where's my leg?!"


*  *  *  *


I poked my head out of the clubhouse when I heard what sounded like screaming. Weird. It sounded like somepony was really scared or something.

Maybe Applejack would want to know about it.

I put my hammer down and hopped down the ramp of the CMC clubhouse. I heard the screaming again. Sounded like somepony was saying something, but I couldn't really make it out.

It scared me. I really wanted Applejack now. Something felt wrong. Really wrong.

Right as I was moving to the house, I saw a pony dressed in armor walking to me. I stopped and began backing away from the pony. She looked kinda scary with that blank mask she had on.

"Apple Bloom, it's okay," the pony said. "Sunshine sunshine ladybugs awake. I'm here to help you."

I stopped backing away when she said that. Applejack said that if ponies told me that, it meant that they were working for Princess Cadance to protect us.

"What's goin' on?" I asked. "Ah heard screamin'."

"I'll explain when we get back to your house. Is the rest of your family there?"

I nodded and walked up to the pony. "Should be. Is everything gonna be okay?"

"I'll make sure that it will be. Just follow my instructions, okay?"

I wanted to agree with her, but before I could, I saw two griffins flying at us! I screamed and pointed at them, making the pony in the armor turn around and pull out a sword. The griffins attacked the pony from different sides. She managed to hit one griffin with her sword, killing him I think, but the other griffin shot her right in the neck with a crossbow before she could do anything! I felt something warm splash on me. Blood. I screamed again and tried to run away, but before I made it even two steps, the griffin grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the ground.

"Don't hurt me!" I wailed. "If you do, mah brother and sister are gonna kill you!"

The griffin chuckled and began shoving my face into the dirt. "Oh, I'm not going to hurt you if you cooperate. I just want to have a talk with your sister Applejack, that's all."

"Yer a liar!" I shouted. "You're never gonna get mah sister! She's too strong for you! Yer gonna--"

I screamed in pain when he slammed one of his legs into mine. I didn't need to be a doctor to know he'd broken it.

"I told you. I just want to have a talk with Applejack." I began crying in pain and fear as he picked me up by my hair and started dragging me to the house. My broken leg kept bumping on the ground. "It'll be a short talk, I promise. Then I'll leave you alone."

I tried to shove his claws off of my hair, but he slammed my head into the ground again when I did. When he lifted me back up, he tore out some of my hair. I think I heard my hair bow ripping.

I groaned in fear when I saw the house get closer. Applejack and Big Mac were already running out the front door to fight this griffin, but he threw me to the ground and put a leg on my back. I felt him poke me in the back with his crossbow. Applejack and Big Mac stopped in their tracks right then.

"You wouldn't want your dear little sister to be hurt, would you?" he sneered. "If you wish her more agony, then by all means keep moving forward." He lifted his leg off of my back and stomped on my other back leg. I heard the crack that time. I didn't wanna scream. I wanted to be brave for Applejack, but it just hurt so much. "Big Mac, you can go back inside. I just want to have a quick talk with Applejack."

Applejack and Big Mac glared at the griffin, but Applejack nodded at Big Mac to go back inside. He never took his eyes off of the griffin as he backed into the house. When he got inside, he glared through the screen door. It was only me, the griffin, and Applejack.

"Ah can guess why yer here," Applejack growled. "You'd better let mah sister go. She don't have no part in this."

The griffin shrugged. "She does now. It's just you and her out here. Nopony's coming to help you. Nopony's going to come crashing through those apple trees to tackle me at the last minute. Somepony might have at some point, but I already killed that one."

"The griffins don't even wanna be in the war no more!" Applejack yelled. "You have no cause to do anythin' to me or mah family! We ain't even gonna be doin' any fightin'!"

"I know you're not."

"Applejack, no!" I wailed. "Run!"

"AB, just hush now. Everythin's gonna be fine."

"Applejack!"

"Applejack! Applejack! Applejack!" the griffin said mockingly. "Yes, call out to your sister, dear Apple Bloom. I wonder how close she'd get before I managed to kill you. One step? Two? I doubt even that."

"Applejack, just go! You don't halfta do this!"

"Apple Bloom..." Applejack stopped glaring at the griffin and sighed. She looked tired. "Like Ah told ya. It's gonna be fine. Just you see."

"It certainly is," the griffin said, raising his crossbow. "Just keep telling her that. Maybe it'll make it true."

I could see Big Mac pounding on the floor. He wanted to kill this griffin. I wanted him to hurt the griffin too. Make him go away! Applejack looked scared, though. I saw her legs shaking.

"Just run, Applejack!" I pleaded again. "Go get TD or Princess Celestia!"

"Apple Bloom..." she said softly. She took a slow, shaky step toward the griffin, never taking her eyes off me.

"Hush little filly and don't you cry,
know yer sister loves ya, this isn't a goodbye,
for we'll see each other in paradise's halls
in a beautiful land where darkness never falls."

"Applejack, stop it! Run!"

"Yes, Applejack," the griffin said softly. "Run. Run away. I won't stop you. I'll even leave your brother and grandmother alone."

"Don't cry little filly, dry those sad tears,
your sister's love will abide throughout the years,
I'm going to a place that badness cannot touch,
we'll see each other again, Big Sister loves you very--."

I heard the crossbow fire. I saw Applejack drop like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Just like a rock.

My legs didn't hurt anymore. Everything did, but a lot worse than just the kind you get when you get hurt. I screamed. I kept screaming, begging Applejack to get up and run. She didn't move.

"One down..."

I heard the griffin loading his crossbow. I guess he was gonna kill me next. I didn't care. Then everything would stop hurting.

He never shot me, though.

I stopped screaming when I felt Big Mac charging straight at us. The griffin didn't even have time to finish reloading before Big Mac hit him with his back hooves. The griffin flew through the air, and I heard his back snap in half when he hit a tree. Big Mac reached him again before he even hit the ground. He let out a kind of feral screech and began pounding the griffin with his hooves hard enough to break rocks. But after the third hit I saw that it wasn't a griffin. It got surrounded by green flames, and when they stopped, I saw it was a changeling instead. Big Mac didn't care. He just kept pounding on it until I couldn't even tell what it was no more. I didn't wanna watch. But I couldn't look away. The only other thing to look at was Applejack.

If those were the only two things to look at, I didn't want to see anything anymore.


*  *  *  *


"Prince Antares? They need you in there."

I didn't move. I just kept staring at the blank wall in front of me.

"Prince Antares, Princess Celestia asked me to get you."

"Th--" My voice cracked and I cleared my throat before continuing. "Thank you, Private Blaze."

How could I possibly help them when I didn't even know what the Tartarus to do?

But they needed me, I guess. And that's what being a prince is about. Or whatever. I didn't really care right then.

I got to my hooves and walked past Private Blaze. He started to talk to me again, but I didn't listen. I just walked straight into the private waiting room that the hospital had given us.

Being inside made me want to leave again. Celestia had wrapped Twilight in a wing hug as Twilight was sobbing into Celestia's chest. Pinkie laid on a bench and just stared at the floor. She didn't even blink. Rarity and Sweetie Belle were both crying into each other, while Scootaloo paced around the room. Cadance focused on comforting Rarity and Sweetie Belle. Big Mac was sitting against the wall with a destroyed chair in front of him. Luna sat beside him with a wing around his shoulders. A group of Cadance's soldiers stood watch around the perimeter of the room. We'd already talked to them, but I still couldn't believe it. My brain said that they'd done their jobs to the best of their abilities. Most of the Elements had made it, half without a scratch. They'd lost friends too.

But my emotions wanted to blame them for everything. If they'd just... something. If they were better at fighting, or... I don't know. They should have seen this coming! It's what they were there for! Or Cadance should have gotten more Blade Wings! Forget keeping track of Purgle and Cromwell! Just...

I don't know.

Cadance had allowed us to know their identities once they'd started guarding the room. Derpy, Lyra, Bon Bon, Berry Punch, and Redheart. Roseluck had been killed at Sweet Apple Acres, and Carrot Top had been killed trying to protect Fluttershy.

But for now, all we could do was wait. Rainbow, Fluttershy, Apple Bloom and Applejack had all been taken away by medical personnel. I figured that the only reason they hadn't taken Applejack in a body bag was because they didn't realize her situation.

I could hardly believe it myself.

Not knowing what else to do, I walked over to Celestia and sat next to her. Twilight seemed to have fallen asleep in her embrace. Good. One less pony suffering right now.

"What now?" I whispered to Celestia. "This can't go unanswered."

"It won't," Celestia said, her voice like iron. "There is no part of this that will go unanswered. We have been too passive in this conflict. We haven't taken enough action. That ends now." She looked over at me, and I admit feeling a little uneasy at her expression. "You will have everything you need to make as many human weapons as you can imagine. The heads of Purgle, Cromwell, Marller, those dukes... they will all be put on pikes outside of my palace. They will not survive long. I will teach you every combat spell I know. We will decimate any foe that dares step into our nation."

"Agreed." I nodded and looked around at the other ponies in the room again. "Agreed."

The door opened, and a doctor walked into the waiting room. Twilight woke up and nuzzled into Celestia's chest, keeping one eye on the doctor. He didn't wait for any prompting from us to begin speaking.

"I'm sorry. I can't imagine what this must be like," he said, bowing his head. "I've done all I can for all of them. I'm optimistic, actually. Fluttershy just needed thirty five stitches. She just needs to rest and not re-open the wound and she should be as good as new. Outside of the scar she'll carry for the rest of her life. Apple Bloom's legs have been re-constructed. She'll be fine as well. It will take a lot of time and physical therapy, but she will walk again. We've given her some medication to help with the concussion she suffered as well."

The doctor sighed and began idly cleaning his glasses on his lab coat. "Rainbow Dash... well, she lost her leg. But as I'm sure many of you know, prosthetic technology has come a long way. She'll be able to fly, walk, anything she'd normally do." He paused again and took another deep breath. "And Applejack..."


*  *  *  *


A cheer went through the drunken crowd as another effigy of an Element of Harmony was set alight. I admit feeling a little disgust at it all. I could see why King Purgle wanted to have this celebration. It was a big blow to Equestria, after all. It let them know we could hurt them, and hurt them badly.

A three day celebration felt excessive to me. And on top of that, I knew that what we'd done wouldn't be enough.

I pushed past a minotaur tossing a stuffed blue leg up and down to the amusement of the crowd around him. Tasteless. If this is how we treated our enemies in defeat, I wasn't so sure I wanted to be part of this anymore. I wouldn't dare say such a thing to King Purgle, though. Nor would any of the other minotaurs who felt exactly the same way. I'd lost count of how many times I'd heard such murmurs among the troops. No one had been punished for it. Yet.

I pushed through another crowd and reached King Purgle, who had just finished draining another tankard of beer. He saw me approaching and let out a loud, gleeful laugh.

"Marller! The minotaur of the hour! The one without whom, none of this would be possible!" He clapped me on the back before handing me a small crossbow. I felt my stomach drop when I saw an effigy of the Element of Honesty strung up to a tree in front of us. King Purgle giggled drunkenly and pointed at it. "Fifty points if you get it right through her eye!"

Goodness, I wanted to vomit right there. This isn't what I did all of that work for. We were protecting our nation from Equestria. That's what he said in the beginning. I was so stupid to believe that, I realized. A lot of us were starting to realize that on some level.

I grimaced and gently set the crossbow down. King Purgle frowned at me. "What's wrong? You can't get into the spirit of things?" He motioned to a nearby servant. "Bring this minotaur an ale! He works far too hard!" Another cheer went through the crowd.

"King Purgle, I don't want ale, I want to speak with you."

"Like I said, you work too hard. It can wait just one night."

"No, King Purgle, it can't. You need to hear this."

King Purgle groaned and motioned for the crowd to be silent. "Apparently our greatest asset has something to say." He threw his arm around my shoulder and poked me in the chest. "Well, go on, spit it out!"

I wanted this be in private, but the drunken lunatic wouldn't allow that at the moment. Just as well. Everyone would find out soon anyway.

"It's about the Element bearers, your highness," I began. Another cheer went through the crowd, and I could hear some congratulations being thrown my way, including from the king. I waited for it to die down before continuing. "I was checking up on the health of the ones who had been wounded in the attack. I wanted to see if we could do anything else, but I didn't have time to think about that." I took a steadying breath. I wasn't looking forward to this. "It was during those investigations that I heard news about the Element of Honesty. It seems... it seems that when she was hit with the crossbow bolt, she turned her head just at the right time. The bolt hit her skull instead of going into her brain. She's alive, King Purgle. And from the looks of things, she'll make a recovery. Obviously they couldn't save the eye, but..."

There I said it. I wanted to leave right then. Let these drunken fools handle the news as they wished. I did notice the complete change in the atmosphere. It was like all of the revelry had been sucked out of the courtyard. Good.

"You are sure of this?" King Purgle said quietly. "I need you to be sure."

"I'm completely sure, King Purgle."

"I see." King Purgle took a deep breath and rubbed his jaw in thought. "Well... then we'll have to try again. Maybe--"

"King Purgle, you'd have a better chance at killing Celestia's foal than seeing a single hair on the heads of an Element bearer or their families. The freemind mercenaries were our best shot."

"Hmm..." Purgle removed his arm from my shoulder and began pacing. I wished to leave, but I knew he'd never let me. The joys of being his "greatest asset." Whatever the Tartarus that meant.

Finally he stopped and turned to the crowd, who stared at him without blinking. Here we go.

"You have all been very patient. The time for patience is over. We have tested their defenses enough. Tomorrow at dawn, we will march upon Equestria with our full strength. They will burn before this has ended."