//------------------------------//
// Escalation 
// Story: The Prince 
// by BronyWriter 
//------------------------------//

"That's it. You're doing great, Miss Dash. See? Nothing to it. Just like regular walking."

Rainbow Dash shot the nurse a dirty look while she tried to hobble around on the prosthetic leg that had been made for her. She put pressure on it and must not have liked what she felt, as she sat down and began fiddling with the thin strap around her barrel. "Stupid bucking thing gets loose..."

"Oh, here," the nurse began, lighting up her horn. "Let me help you with--"

"I'll do it, I'll do it!" Dash snapped. "Jeez, lady, I lost a leg, not my brains!"

"Of course, Miss Dash," the nurse replied, backing away. Her smile never faltered.

"How's AJ, TD?" Rainbow asked as she tried tightening the strap. "She awake yet?"

I nodded. "She's tired. Sleeps a lot. We got her fake eye in yesterday. There doesn't seem to be any real damage to her brain, so that's a positive. She should be out of here in a few days."

"Good. Maybe by then I'll have figured this..." She growled and tried to get the strap tighter. "Feathering..." The strap slipped in her grasp, and the whole thing came off. Before the nurse or I could say or do anything, Rainbow let loose a scream of pure fury, picking up the fake leg and throwing it against the wall as hard as she could. It hit the wall and bounced back towards her, allowing her to grab it in her foreleg and begin slamming it on the ground, screaming profanities. She threw the leg across the room again, but before either of us could get it for her, she got to her hooves to get it herself. She tried to walk over to it, but the instant she put any weight where her leg used to be, she fell to the ground. I caught her with my magic.

"Just let me do it, TD!" she snapped. "I'll get the feathering leg, okay?"

I released her from my magic hold, and she crawled over to the leg. The nurse ignited her horn to help again, but Rainbow wasn't having any of it.

"I said I'll do it!" Rainbow shrieked. She snatched the leg off of the ground and began trying to put it back on. "Sheesh, it's not like I can bring you over every morning when I have to get this feathering thing on."

"Come on, Rainbow, she's just trying to help," I said.

"It's alright, Prince Antares," the nurse responded. "If she wants to do it on her own, I think that's a good thing."

"Blah, blah, blah, whatever," Rainbow grumbled as she worked on the strap.

The two of us watched Rainbow struggle with the leg for a few more minutes. She didn't seem to be doing any better with it, but she'd just get mad at us if we tried to interfere again. If she wanted to do it by herself, then we'd let her. Besides, she was right: we couldn't just do it for her every day. She had to figure it out on her own at some point.

At this time she needed some help, and she was too stubborn to let us do it.

A quiet knock on the door brought our attention away from Rainbow Dash. The nurse silently walked over to the door and opened it to poke her head through. She talked with the pony on the other side for a few moments before opening the door completely.

"Miss Dash, you have a visitor."

"Tell them to go away," Rainbow growled. "I'm not gonna talk to anypony until I've figured this out!"

"Aw come on, RD, ya won't even talk ta me?"

Rainbow's breath died in her throat as she slowly turned her head to see none other than Applejack standing behind her. She wore her trademark stetson and a welcoming smile. Despite that, if one looked at her left eye, they could tell that it didn't quite look as real as the right. Rainbow stared at Applejack for a few seconds before turning back to her leg.

"Go away. I'll talk to you when I've figured this stupid thing out."

"Rainbow..." Applejack moved closer to her friend as the nurse and I went to the end of the room closest to the door, where Apple Bloom stood waiting for her sister. "Ah don't care about that." She sat down next to Rainbow and reached a foreleg out to the strap. "Come on, sugarcube. Let me help you with--"

"I'll do it, I'll do it!" Rainbow snapped, jerking away from Applejack. "For Celestia's sake, won't you ponies just give me two freaking seconds to figure this out?!"

"Rainbow--"

"I don't wanna hear it, AJ!" Rainbow Dash retorted. "I'm the one who was dumb enough to get my leg chopped off, so I'm the one who's gotta figure this all out!"

"Rainbow, you weren't dumb, you were--"

"Stupid! Too slow! Not smart enough to get away fast enough!" Rainbow jerked the strap around her barrel a little tighter. "I should have rolled to the right! I should have known it wasn't Thunderlane!" She rotated until her back was to Applejack. "It's my fault, so I'm the one who has to get it right!"

"It wasn't yer fault, sugarcube," Applejack said, giving me a helpless look before scooting back to Rainbow's side again. "You didn't ask for it any more than Ah asked to lose mah eye."

"Whatever! You weren't there so you can't..." Rainbow lost her grip on the strap again, causing it to loosen enough for it to start coming off. Once again she let out a scream of frustration and tore the whole thing off before throwing it against the wall. This time I caught it in my magic before it hit. Rainbow didn't seem to notice. She began violently rubbing the stump where her left leg used to be before letting out an angry sob and slamming her hoof on the floor. Applejack sighed and wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow's shoulders.

"It's gonna be okay, Rainbow. It's all gonna be fine."

"No it won't!" Rainbow cried. "Everything is just... it's..." Rainbow's body began convulsing in silent sobs. She only tried to hold it in for a few more seconds before she gave up and leaned her head on Applejack's chest.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," she moaned. "I was gonna be a Wonderbolt."

"You still can be, Rainbow," Applejack said, stroking Rainbow's mane. "Once ya figure the leg out you can get back on yer hooves and into the air in no time at all."

"It w-wasn't supposed to be like this!" Rainbow began sobbing harder, and I saw tears pouring from her eyes. Single tears began streaming out of Applejack's eye as she tried to comfort her friend. "I w-wasn't s-supposed t-t-to get hurt!"

"It'll all be okay, RD," Applejack soothed. "Yer alive, and that's what matters. Ain't nopony gonna hurt you now."

Rainbow began crying too hard to respond. She simply rested in Applejack's grasp and wept. I noticed both Apple Bloom and the nurse began crying a little themselves. I couldn't, though. I needed to be strong so that they could see that somepony was going to be.

I hated it. I wanted to cry with them like I had cried the night after it all happened.

Feeling that the two needed a moment alone, I walked out of the room and into the hospital's hallway. I needed a few moments, too.

"Prince Antares, news from the front!" a guard shouted as he ran up to me.

Sigh.

"Yes, what is it?" I asked, turning to meet the guard. "Did the minotaurs attack again?"

"Yes, Prince Antares!" the guard said, sinking into a bow when he reached me. "The combined forces of the minotaurs and changelings overwhelmed our army! Both sides suffered massive casualties, but ours were more severe. They beat us back!"

I cursed and rubbed my temples. "Any good news?"

"Yes, Princess Luna captured another Nightmare Weapon and used that to kill Queen Chrysalis. It is unknown how long she will be out of the action, but the changelings were slaughtered once she was killed. I suppose the black magic in the weapon severely disrupted their hive mind."

"Well, that's good. One less thing to worry about."

"Yes, but there's a bit more." The guard grimaced and flattened his ears. "When our army retreated, the zebra berserkers stayed behind to hold the line. None of them survived."

My heart sank at that news. That was a massive blow to our forces, one we couldn't really afford. They were our best asset, and with them gone completely...

"We'll deal with that when the time comes," I replied. "I have a few ideas of how to spin that. Until then, what other news? Any casualties I know?"

The guard's head bowed low. "Yes, there was one major casualty among your ponies. According to the report from Princess Luna, Queen Chrysalis hit Valiant Shield with some of her magic. He was killed instantly."

Oh no.

Oh no oh no oh no.

Tulip. I had to tell Tulip that her husband was dead. I began walking down the hall of the hospital, my guard struggling to keep up with me.

"I'm going to the front."


*  *  *  *


I flattened my ears as River let out another piercing scream, but I didn't let her go. I held her down for the medic as per his instructions.

"Shh, River, it's gonna be okay," I soothed. "You're going to be fine."

"He bit my ear off!" Rapids screamed. "He bit my feathering ear off!"

"I know, I know," I said softly, dabbing at the deep cuts on her face with a clean washcloth. "You're going to be okay, River. You fought bravely. You got the changeling that did it, so there's that."

"I w-wanna go home, Blaze!" Rapids moaned while the medic cauterized the inch or so of ear that remained. "D-don't wanna fight anymore!"

"You are going home, River," I replied. "You can't fight like this. Prince Antares will know that, and he'll make sure you can go home with the other wounded, alright? You just keep being brave."

Rapids stopped screaming, choosing instead to begin sobbing. Her tears mixed with the blood on her face, which I kept dutifully wiping away with a clean cloth. The only sound for a few minutes was Rapids's crying while the two of us did everything we could for her. Eventually the tent flap opened up, and I heard somepony curse behind me.

"Hey, Commander Rapids, how is it?" Prince Antares asked, going to Rapids' side. She sniffled and her jaw wobbled as she turned her head to look at him.

"Lost an ear," she muttered thickly. "Wanna go home."

"Don't worry, you will," Prince Antares said with a comforting smile. "You're gonna go home and rest and you don't have a thing to worry about, alright? You did your duty to Equestria a thousand times over. More than I can ask of any pony."

"It hurts," Rapids whimpered. "It really hurts."

"I can help out with that," the medic said, preparing a syringe in his magic. "This will help you sleep. You need rest more than anything."

The medic injected the painkillers into Rapids's foreleg, and she was out like a light in only a few moments. Content that she was resting, I got to my hooves, which were stained with Rapids's blood. I grabbed another clean washcloth and began wiping the blood off.

"Are you okay, Private Blaze?" Prince Antares asked. "How was it out there yesterday?"

"Tartarus," I grumbled. "I still don't know how we survived. We should have all been slaughtered, the way we were over matched. Princess Luna though, she kept us all together, and when she killed that changeling queen, things started to turn our way a little bit. At the very least, it gave us a little breathing room. I didn't have to worry about being stabbed in the back by some changeling disguised as one of my buddies. We could focus on the minotaurs. That didn't last too long, though. It basically allowed us to get away." I sighed and looked back to Rapids. "Don't know what we're going to do without her. She was the backbone of the pegasus forces. Heck, she was the backbone for the entire army once you left. Everypony knew her and what kind of leader she is. She didn't believe she had it in her at first. I always knew it, though."

"So what do you think now?" Prince Antares asked. "Who should take her place as the backbone of the army?" Prince Antares took a step closer to me. "Who do you think she'd want to take her place?"

My response died in my throat. I knew what he was getting at. Heck, I knew he was probably even right. I just...

"I don't know if I can, Prince Antares," I muttered. "The last time I took control of a battle, you got shot."

Prince Antares sighed and shook his head. "Blaze, I promise that me getting shot had nothing to do with your prowess as a commander. Everypony who survived that battle praised you for taking charge. You can do it, I know you can. Besides, I'm not even on the field currently, and Princess Luna is immune to the Nightmare Weapons."

"But I might make a dumb mistake that gets a lot of good ponies killed."

"And if I was on the field, I could make a dumb mistake that gets a lot of good ponies killed," Prince Antares retorted. "Does that mean that I should just give up, or should I realize that there are still thousands of ponies who need a good leader?" Prince Antares put a hoof on my shoulder. "And you are that good leader. I've seen it a dozen times over. If you weren't you would never have made it to the captain's post in the first place. It's like I said before: we need you. I need you."

Behind us, Rapids stirred a little bit. She groaned and weakly pointed a hoof at me. "D'it ya bg idjut."

I stayed silent for a few moments, thinking it over. One one hoof, it was the right thing to do. On the other, I could get a lot of ponies killed. I could mess up and lose an entire battle because of my stupid orders. I could...

I could go through my life as a total coward, but I won’t be a coward for Prince Antares. I sighed and slowly nodded.

"Yes, Prince Antares. I will do my best."

Prince Antares smiled and nodded. "Excellent. I know you'll do well, Commander Blaze."


*  *  *  *


I walked through camp, largely ignoring the ponies greeting me. After my meeting with Blaze, I kind of wanted to go back to my palace, but that would mean informing Tulip of her husband's death. I know it was kind of cowardly of me, but I didn't want to deal with that right then. Of course, that meant dealing with the devastation that our army had just gone through. Last I heard, there had been some deaths from Ponyville. Raindrops and Time Turner had both been killed in the battle, while Sea Swirl and Flitter had both been severely wounded. Flitter we were hopeful about, but Sea Swirl didn't seem like she'd last the night. There was always hope, though, but even if she did survive, she wasn't going to ever go back to one hundred percent health. Still, they weren't the ones I was completely focused on at the moment. I opened the flap of a nearby tent and walked in.

Oh Cheerilee.

I sat down next to her bed and put a hoof on her back. She didn't even flinch. She looked catatonic. I picked her up in my magic and wrapped her in a comforting hug. Her gaze flicked up to me, but she didn't move more than that.

"I know you're not okay, so I won't even bother asking," I muttered. "We're going to do everything we can to help you." Cheerilee slowly leaned her head against my chest and managed to blink. "You're no good to anypony here like this. You've seen enough war, Cheers. I'm sending you home. We'll get you some help, then you can see your students again. Would you like that?"

Cheerilee slowly nodded, and I felt tears drip onto my forelegs. "Don't wanna anymore," she whimpered.

"I know, I know," I said gently. "You won't have to. I'm going to do everything that I can to make sure you get better, alright?"

"Don't make me kill anymore. Too many."

"I know, Cheers, I know. You're not gonna have to see another battlefield again. You've done your duty to Equestria. You can rest now."

Cheerilee sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hoof. I guess she decided that I wasn't lying, because she nuzzled up against my chest and closed her eyes. Within a few moments, I could hear the light breathing of her sleep. I didn't mind. She needed it after everything she had just gone through. She needed to feel like she was safe after fighting and killing.

As Cheerilee rested in my forelegs, I began planning. I needed to up my game if we were going to win this war fast. We needed more weapons. Better weapons. Mustard gas was illegal on my home world, but it wasn't here. Gatling guns would tear through their forces. I needed to get the tanks to the front soon.

Had to kill them all, no matter the cost.


*  *  *  *


“Absolutely unacceptable!" King Purgle roared, slamming his fist down on the table in front of him. "First that changeling queen is lost, then you let the Equestrians get away?! How could you possibly be so stupid?!"

"I hardly think repaying the honor and mercy that the ponies showed us is stupidity," I calmly responded as more and more minotaurs walked up to us to see what the commotion was. "It is a courtesy that I will only extend once. The next victory we will pursue them, especially now that the berserkers have all been killed. We even captured a little of Antares's napalm."

"You should have pursued them in the first place, Grorim!" Purgle snapped. "We could have completely broken the back of their army that way!"

"With Princess Luna at the head of the army? And her immunity to the Nightmare Weapon she had just captured from us? We would have lost tens of thousands more minotaurs before we broke their army."

"And we would have made up for all of that if we had managed to capture Luna! She couldn't have fought forever, and she would be a valuable hostage that could help us win the war!"

"Unlikely," I responded. "It's extremely hard to keep ahold of an alpha alicorn unless you have powerful magic, or a Nightmare Weapon that can be used to cripple them. We have neither."

"You... you are insolent! Perhaps I should choose another commander to lead my forces!"

"If that is my king's wish, then I will not stop you." I drew my sword and offered it to him. "If I have displeased you in any way by my victory over the Equestrians and the complete destruction of their berserker allies, then you may do with me as you wish. Clearly my victory has shown that I am an unfit commander. I offer you my life in return for my incompetence on the battlefield."

King Purgle's eye twitched, but he made no effort to take my sword and behead me. I even thought I could see a vein bulge in his forehead. Silence reigned over the scene for a few moments before King Purgle let out a noise of frustration and stomped on the ground.

"Just don't do it again!" he replied lamely.

"Yes, King Purgle, of course." I sheathed my sword again and bowed my head in respect.

King Purgle made a noise of disgust and stomped back to his tent, leaving me alone with the troops that had come to watch. None of us did anything for a minute, but eventually one of my clan approached me, his head bowed in respect.

"Clan Leader Grorim, should we withdraw our clan from this mad scheme? Many others will follow if we do. He can't execute everyone from one of the largest clans he has supporting him. Many of us don't want to die for his crazy schemes anymore."

I tapped my chin thoughtfully. "Hmm. It is tempting, isn't it? Tell you what: I'll let you know what his next move is and plan accordingly. All in my clan are good, honorable minotaurs, and I would be a terrible clan leader if I led you to your deaths for no reason."

"You should be king," another minotaur muttered, drawing murmurs of agreement from the crowd. I scoffed at that. 

"King Purgle is our king."

"But you would end the war," another minotaur pointed out. "You wouldn't send us out to die for no reason!"

"That is true." I smirked at the gathered minotaurs. "I don't know if we should be thinking about this right now. Yes, I would end the war. Yes, I wouldn't send you out to die. Still, King Purgle is our king for right now. An open rebellion would divide our forces, even if it would lead to him being overthrown and the war ending. We should be loyal to him."

The gathered minotaurs began murmuring among themselves as they dispersed. I did wonder what would come of my words. I wondered indeed. For the moment, I needed to take a look at the napalm we had captured. It could help us considerably if we did get into another battle with them. As I walked back to my tent I locked eyes with Marller, who had been watching the whole scene.