//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Return of the Strong Ones // by HockeyPony //------------------------------// The Return of the Strong Ones Chapter 3 By: HockeyPony Edited By: Sujamma “Join the Royal Guard! Defend equestria!” The recruiters shouted. Young stallions were lining up for their chance of glory on the battlefield. Some were there out of necessity, looking for a job due to the trade cut off. Whenever Big Mac walked past the recruitment table, they all would holler at him to join the Guard, but Big Mac never looked up or even acknowledged them. He just kept walking toward the clearing near the Everfree Forest that he and Rock had used to practice magic. When Big Mac arrived at the clearing to see the ghost laying down in what he could only describe as a sleeping position, he chuckled a little. To his knowledge, ghosts didn’t need to sleep at all. Big Mac walked up, noticing that Rock was snoring rather loudly. To get his attention he cleared his throat. “Have you ever walked up the stairs and miscalculated your steps.” “Eeyup.” “That’s what it’s like to be a ghost. Taking that last step, anticipating it, but all you find is air. That falling sensation... that’s what I feel. I know I should feel the warmth of the sun, I should feel the breeze, or how the grass moves as I walk, but I can’t.” Big Mac could only nod, not quite comprehending. “Alright, back to work. You ready, filly?” “What was that wind spell that you hit me with the first day?” Rock had a nice chuckle to himself. “Set up the targets, and I’ll tell you.” Big Mac walked over to the five targets that were leaning on the nearby pine. They were very simple targets wooden stake with a bullseye on the top. Twilight was nice enough to place a spell on them that made them as strong as steel for the magic they would eventually be using on them. Big Mac set all of the targets in a pentagram and walked back over to where rock was standing. “Listen up. The key to this spell is imagining snapping the wind like a whip. The bigger you make your whip the more power it will have. The smaller it is, the more accurate and deadly. For now don’t worry about the size, focus on a quick release of the energy to have a sharp snap.” Big Mac nodded and stepped up to the targets. With a deep breath he focused In an instant he flexed every muscle and focused every ounce of mental and physical strength into breaking the magic barrier. Time seemed to stop as he felt the magical energy flow around him. He let in some of this energy flow into his body. “Snap like a whip,” was all he was thinking. “Snap like a whip. Snap like a whip.” He forced all of the energy out of his body using it to grab the air around it. He imagined the snapping of a whip as the magic reached his target. The wind struck the target with a weak pop. Big Mac exhaled exhausted from such a weak attack. Breathing heavily he turned around to his mentor for feedback. “Good. Do it again, you will grow stronger with repetition. Continue to the other targets in one minute. Focus on the beginning where you are drawing energy, that’s the most important part. It’s the foundation of all the magic you’ll use.” “Got it.” The exhausting training continued as he tried to strike the five targets one after another. He began to get into a rhythm, where he could hit the targets one after another, but there was no power to his attacks. “Enough! You’re done for today! If you keep that poor performance going, you’ll end up flat on your back, just like before. Your fundamentals are improving, and you will overcome that lack of power with practice.” With this the ghost stood up, nodded his head, and disappeared. Big Mac began walking back to the library. The library had become a second home to him in the last couple months, just as Spike had become a little brother. “You can’t be serious! You can’t join the Royal Guard! You have to stay here in Ponyville, in case this escalates and the Princess needs us as the Elements of Harmony.” Big Mac looked up through the door of the library to see Rainbow Dash and Twilight arguing. Twilight seemed to be winning this argument seeing as Rainbow was keeping quiet. “What about the Wonderbolts? You wouldn’t be able to join them if you were in the Guard! What if you died? Come on, Dash, think for a moment.” “But I feel like it's my duty to Equestria to go out and keep everypony safe!” Rainbow was on the verge of tears. It was all she could come up with to respond to Twilight’s well-reasoned arguments against her joining. Twilight sighed and dropped her head. Rainbow was now just sitting there sobbing, slowly trying to use her bangs to cover her eyes. “Rainbow I- I’m sorry but you just can't join the Guard because we are needed right here, right now. Not just you but every one of us.” Twilight walked over and picked Dashes chin up. “You are the most loyal pony ever, but right now being loyal to Equestria means staying here.” “Th-thanks Twi.” She got up and started walking to the door. “Hey Big Mac.” “Miss Dash.” Replied Big Mac as he opened the door for her to leave. Big Mac gently shut the door behind her as she stepped outside the house and took off. Twilight let out a big sigh, devastated that she had done that to her friend. She picked up her head, trying to give the most sincere smile to Big Mac to welcome him home, but then she let herself slip and a small tear slid down her face. “Big Mac, what should I have done? I hate making my friends sad.” Big Mac walked up and sat down next to her. “I don’t know.” “What would we have done if she had gone off and gotten herself killed? What would happen to us back here if she didn’t come back?” “I couldn’t tell you.” Twilight leaned her head against Big Macs shoulder. “I hope this whole war thing blows over before any of my friends get hurt.” Big Mac could only nod and sit there, trying to comfort the purple mare. Big Mac sat there until he could hear the soft breathing of sleep coming from the head resting on his shoulder. At this he slowly got up trying not to wake Twilight. He carried her to the bed and set her down. With a big yawn he turned around and walked to his room. “You’re a smooth one, aintcha? Well don’t go falling in love, you still have a duty to all of Equestria.”  Rock materialised standing next to the table in the guest room. “I have a duty to my friends too.” “Hmph! You may not talk much but you choose your words well. Rest up.” Big Mac nodded as the ghost evaporated. Before he slid into bed he looked at the lamp that was lighting his room. He used the same magic attack that he had been learning all day to blow out the candle. The small flame was extinguished and the room plunged into total darkness, and with a satisfied smile Big Mac slid into bed and let himself fall asleep. ________________________ Big Mac awoke to Rock floating above him with a dark smile on his face. Big Mac pulled himself out of bed. “Leave your harness, you’re not going to be wearing it from now on.” Big Mac had been reaching for said harness, but stopped at the command. “This harness belonged to my father, and his father before him. I have worn this harness ever since he died and you're telling me to leave it here.” “Yes.” “You better have a good reason for me to leave it here.” “You don’t get to make that decision. It’s time for you to put it down for good, go hang it on a wall. You aren't going to need it anymore.” Big Mac stared at the ghost, who only held the same stern look he always had when he was in his “training” mode. With an angry grumble, Big Mac dropped the harness on the ground and walked towards the door that lead to the main room of the library. As he walked out of the door he saw Twilight busy at work, reshelving all of the books. Without a word he walked out the door into the blinding sunlight. He blinked to let his eyes adjust to the brightness. The pegasi must have been hard at work for such a beautiful sunny day. “Unfortunate that you don’t get to enjoy it.” Rock said, almost reading his mind. “What makes you say that?” Replied Big Mac turning to face him. “Because the Everfree Forest isn't known for being sunny.” The ghost started walking towards the entrance to the forest that lay near Fluttershy’s cottage. They walked in silence as they entered the shadows of the sinister-looking forest. Everything had an eerie, unnatural feel to it, as a cool breeze blew across the back of Big Mac’s neck, making him slightly more alert. From what Applejack had told him of their adventures, the two stallions were headed towards the old city that was once the capital of Equestria. All that was left of it now was crumbling, broken ruins, overgrown with vines and home to various creatures. They continued through the town making their way to the ruined castle in the middle of town. Rock stopped and looked at the doors of the castle then turned to look at Big Mac. “This was the capital of Equestria for several hundred years after the banishment of Princess Luna. It actually turned out to be an extreme advantage when the griffons attempted an invasion: the trees were so dense that the griffons were forced to land to attack, and that pretty much won the whole conflict for us.” The ghost motioned for Big Mac to open the door as he continued his history lesson. “After the wars ceased, the capital was relocated to where it is now and where it would stay.” They continued to walk through the castle. Big Mac could see the pedestal that the Elements of Harmony had lay on before his sister and her friends had gotten to them. Instead of going up into the crumbling towers of the castle, they went down every set of stairs that they came across. As they delved deeper into the castle, it was like taking a step back in time as they continued to descend into the darkness. They continued to walk until they reached a door that was a dirty yellow color. The dust and cobwebs covered the door but there was no rust anywhere to be seen. This intrigued Big Mac because the cave was dripping from the ground water seeping through the walls. Yet the door stayed unrusted even though it must have been over five hundred years old. “This door is made of adamantium. Has some weird properties like nullifying magic and being ridiculously heavy,” A smirk crossed the ghost face, “I wouldn’t hang around it though, it'll make you sterile.” With a slight chuckle he walked up to the door. Big Mac looked it over, the door was completely flat, and had no handles to grab onto. “How am I supposed to open this thing.” “Push, hay-for-brains! Only somepony strong enough can enter the forge.” Big Mac ignored the last bit of the sentence as he readied himself. With a grunt of exertion, Big Mac drove his shoulder into the flat surface of the adamantium. He could feel a strange draining effect coming from the gigantic slab as it started to turn inward. With a groan of protest, the door gave way to a huge cavern. Stalactites hung down from the ceiling, occasionally dripping. A small creek flowed through the cave, disappearing into the wall on the far side. The cave was a dim green as fluorescent mushrooms lit the area. They walked the path down and over the underground creek. The path wound its way through the cave. “Welcome home. This was both our barracks and training room before the wars. Unfortunate that the Princess abandoned this place for Canterlot, so many secrets hidden in these walls...” They made their way through the cavern, Big Mac taking in the the dilapidated ruins, before they came to a door. This one looked more like your standard door, wrought iron and wood, but it was old and rotting with age. Big Mac watched as the ghost phased through the door, and assumed that was his cue to follow. Big Mac started to open the door, but pulled back from the incredible heat that burst forth. Mustering himself, he closed his eyes and pushed through to enter the room. Big Mac opened his eyes slowly, expecting to be blinded by the small sun he must be standing in front of. As his eyes crept open he was shocked to realize that it wasn't a sun of any size, but an enormous roaring purple flame. The flame surged higher and hotter, almost as if it had realised that he was staring. “This, filly, is the Eternal Flame. As long as this cave survives, so does this flame. Celestia may have power over the sun, but this flame isn't hers. This is a product of the Earth, this is our Flame.” The ghost walked took a step towards Big Mac, making himself as tall as he could. “It is time for you to prepare for war. Your harness will be replaced with something that will become even closer to you: your armor. Not even death will separate it from you.” The ghost turned to look at the flame again “You will forge your armor just like everypony that came before you, in the fires of the Earth.” He smirked as he let out a small chuckle. “Now that the formalities are finished, I can tell you what is going to happen.” Big Mac dumbfounded by the flame could only nod his head. “First things first, you need to go back into the cave and get some ore. Adamantium is better used for armor than doors and doesn't affect our type of magic, so it makes for incredibly strong, if heavy, armor.” The two ponies exited the forge and walked back up the winding caves. They reached an offshoot that Big Mac had not noticed, and they walked all the way to the end of the cave where a pickaxe waited for them. Big Mac struck the vein of golden metal as hard as he could, knocking out some of the golden metal. “Good, but you're going to need a lot more than that.” Rock spurred Big Mac on. Every time he hit the vein, more ore would fall from the wall and pile up at his hooves. Sweat crowned his brow as images of long days at the farm crossed his mind. “Stop, that’s more than enough!” Big Mac, startled by his sudden jolt back to reality, realized that he had a massive pile of ore on the ground. Big Mac took some seconds to gather himself and look around. Until then Big Mac had not realised how much he missed the simple farm work, but now was not the time to worry about it. Gathering the ore, Big Mac and Rock made their way back to the forge.  When they got there, they found old smelting molds and pots that they could use to refine the adamantium. The metal glowed a magnificent gold as it began to melt and the impurities were removed. Once all the gathered ore had finally melted, Rock directed Big Mac to place the molds and retrieve the purified ore. Sweat dripped from Big Mac’s brow as he stretched toward the fire to grab the pots of molten adamantium. The flame seemed to see him, and it parted for just an instant so he could get a easy grab with the tongs. The adamantium was taken directly to the molds and poured into each one. All the metal that had been mined earlier was used, not a drop of the rare material wasted. When the metal slowly solidified, Big Mac knew it was time to douse the pieces in water. Many years of making horseshoes for himself and the farmhands had prepared him for the backblast of steam as he plunged the shaped metal into the water with a hiss and a boil the water cooled and tempered the armor pieces. After several more hours of stitching and binding the pieces with links of chain, his work was done. “Not bad for your first attempt.” Rock critiqued, inspecting it with his keen eye. Big Mac set the armor on the floor in front of him, looking at the gold chest and back plate. His new helmet looked almost exactly like the ones the Royal Guard would have worn, but with spikes so that headbutts would be more damaging. Big Mac pulled the chest plate over his head and slid it down into place around his neck. The weight was something that he would have to get used to, but other than that it felt like it was just another harness, only this one would protect him from claws, arrows, and magic. “Back to Ponyville, move out.” Rock commanded after Big Mac finished donning the helmet that would keep his head safe in the battles that would surely come. As he started walking the only thing that Big Mac could think about was how his life as he knew it was now over. He would likely never be able to buck apples or squeeze cider again. He was a soldier now, and he had to protect his country. At this thought he dropped back a half step from Rock and shed a tear in mourning for his old life. The walk home was somber, with no words spoken between the ghost and the soldier. As they reached the outskirts of Ponyville, they realised that the sun was just starting to creep up over the eastern hills. As they walked through the marketplace, nopony selling at this hour, Big Mac’s fatigue finally caught up with him and all he wanted to do was sleep. Neither the pony nor the ghost knew how long they had been in the cave, and neither cared at the moment. Big Mac arrived at the library around the time that Twilight would have normally been waking up to find that the lights were still on. Big Mac opened the door to see Twilight passed out at her desk again, reading another book on science and magic. He walked past the sleeping mare noticing that his harness was sitting next to her desk. As he walked over to go pick up his harness so that he could give it to Applejack to take back to the farm he noticed that the spell that she was trying to learn was a tracking spell. The spell required something of great importance to the pony that you wanted to find. “She was trying to find me?” Big Mac was interested as to why she would be worried about him. He picked up his harness and gently nuzzled the purple mares are to wake her up. With a yawn, Twilight’s eyes slowly opened. A moment later, after seeing that it was Big Mac that had woken her she fell out of her chair, wide awake as if ice water had been dumped on her. “Where have you been?! You have had me worried sick! I was scared that you had done something stupid with that ghost!” “Now hold on-” Rock began, only to be cut off. “And what do you do, you come back three days later! Who do you think you are scaring me like that? Why are you dressed up in all this armor? Where have you been?” As the questions kept rolling in Big Mac noticed tears slipping down the mare’s face at the sight of him. Big Mac did the one thing he could think of. He took a step forward and wrapped his foreleg around her. As soon as he had the mare in his embrace she stopped talking. “It’s okay, I'm back now, and I won’t leave without telling you first.” Big Mac reassured the crying mare in as gentle a voice as he could muster. “You better, Big m-Mac...!” Said twilight between soft sobs. As she said that Big Mac let her go. “How long have I been gone?” “Four days now.” “Four days? Really...?” At this, he could last no longer, and Big Mac closed his eyes to blink and fell to the ground snoring. ________________________ Celestial Daily UGR moves forces towards the border. The United Griffon Republic announced today that the forces near the Equestrian border are conducting a training exercise and are not intended as a threat towards their neighbors. As forces move towards the Equestrian border, a spokespony of Princess Celestia had this to say: “Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia respectfully requests that the United Griffon Republic conduct their training exercises elsewhere, and continued advancement toward the border will be considered an act of aggression.” In other news, Equestrian Army recruiters around the country have recruited enough able ponies for a solid defense force but with these current events we may need more soldiers soon. Cont Pg. 4C, “Soldiers” Authors note: Thanks to my editor Sujamma.