Legendary

by RoflNom

Chapter 14

When Arch and I entered the bar, it was already filled with many soldiers from the 5th Royal Infantry. They all gave out a cheer as we came in, though I was sure it was more far Arch than for me. When the cheer died down, SwiftWing, who was at a table with one of the Lieutenants, waved us over.

"Well, looks like the General becomes more of a war hero every day." Swift said as we sat down, "You're finally getting the respect you deserve, Arch. No more living under the other Generals' shadow."

"I've always had the respect I deserved, Swift. All this," Arch said, referring to the cheering earlier, "shouldn't really be for me." He stood up from the chair, and yelled out, "The cheering should be for all of you! You were the ones fighting and dieing out there! You were the ones that won the battle, not me! So don't drink to me, drink to yourselves! Drink to the 5th Royal Infantry!"

The bar filled with a cheer from the soldiers, and several of the civilians that were there at the time. As the cheer once again died down, a soldier in the group began singing. He was joined by several others, and soon every soldier in the room sang:

"From the mountains of Gyrphonia

To the plains of Zebrica

We fight our kingdom's battles

With hooves, horns and speed;

First to fight for peace and freedom

and to keep our ponies safe;

We are proud to claim the title

of the Royal Infantry!

Our banner's unfurled to every breeze

From dawn to Celestia's setting sun;

We have fought in ev'ry hill and plain

Where we could take our hooves;

In the snow of far-off Northern lands

And in the sunny tropic scenes;

You will always find us on the job--

The Royal Infantry!

Here's health to you and to our Army

Which we are proud to serve

In many a strife we've fought for life

And never lost our nerve;

If the Armored and the Cavalry

Ever look on Heaven's scenes;

They will find the streets are guarded

By the Royal Infantry!"

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"Yes, celebrate while you still have a reason too. Soon the only celebration will be mine."

"Excuse me, you said you wanted to meet with me?"

"Yes, there is much we need to discuss. Are the preparations ready?"

"Of course. Everything is going as planned. We have managed to avoid all of the Equestrian armies, and are ready to strike. Are you sure we should be talking about this in such a public place?"

"It's fine. Nopony suspects a thing. Even Celestia is completely blind as to what is going on. Will General Arch be a problem?"

"Not at all. I've arranged a surprise for him. Everything will be set into motion in two days time."

"Excellent. You have done well so far. If this succeeds, you will get what you have been promised."

"Thank you. When will we meet again?"

"When the plan is set into motion. We will meet once you have dealt with Arch. How goes the war effort?"

"It could be better. Arch has wiped out an important dragon army at the border."

"How important?"

"It was Lord Diamond Hide's army."

"Curses! We needed the support of his uncle, and now with him dead that won't happen."

"Diamond Hide isn't dead, he is being held here in Canterlot for interrogation."

"That may actually work in our favor. Is he in the military dungeon or the castle dungeon?"

"In the castle dungeon. Celestia didn't want to risk him being attacked by soldiers that wanted to get even. There are several Royal and Night Guards watching over him at all times."

"Are our agents within the Guards prepared?"

"Yes, as soon as everything starts they can extract him and leave the city. Though with the chaos the plan will create, he may be injured in the process."

"Injured is better than dead. We cannot allow him to die or we lose the support of both the Diamond Hide and the Topaz Claw clans. Make sure everything happens as planned. I must take my leave now, I have others that I need to meet with."

______________________________________________________________________________

"Oh, come on! Is that all you've got?!" Arch yelled at Swift.

After several hours of drinking, and half an hour of persuading the bar's owner, SwiftWing and several other soldier turned the bar into a boxing arena. Swift had gone undefeated the entire time, and the only two that hadn't fought were me and Arch. Naturally, I didn't want any part of it, since I could kill somepony with a single blow. The others had no problem with my decision.

Arch kept saying no to boxing with Swift until he started saying something about his wife. Apparently Arch loved her very much, because they had gone fifteen rounds without anyone so much as faltering after that. Either that or it was the alcohol keeping them up. Eventually ponies, both military and civilian, started pouring in hearing about boxing matches. Some started placing bets, and it ended up becoming the fight of the century.

"Is that all I've got? Not even close, Archy. I can still go all night! Not sure if I can say the same about you. I'm starting to think all that sitting on the sidelines has made you weak." Swift replied.

Arch laughed. "Weak? Last time I checked, you were always the one that got his flank kicked during training. I guess the little colt finally grew a pair." He said with a smirk.

SwiftWing visibly grew angry at that. "Little?! Who're you calling little?!" He jumped at Arch, throwing a right hook. It missed, and Arch countered with an uppercut, knocking Swift back. Before he could recover, Arch hooked Swift right between his eyes, knocking him to the ground.

"And that my friends," Arch said to the crowd, "is why you don't mess with a drunk unicorn from Manehatten." There were several cheers, curses, and groans from the crowd. Betting was never fun if you lost. "Hey, bartender! Keep the drinks coming! I've got one of the highest military payrolls and nothing but alcohol around me!"

I let out a sigh. Arch was drunk, Swift was knocked out, and I was the only one of us three still sober. I felt a smile creep onto my face. It was just like the old days, when I was still me. When I was still in my body. I was always the one getting Arch and Swift back to camp safely. Looks like some things really never change.

______________________________________________________________________________

I opened my eyes to see the ceiling of my room in the castle. I didn't remember much of last night after I left the bar, dragging Arch and carrying Swift. Once I arrive at the castle, I had some Royal Guards take them to their rooms. They probably hadn't even woken up yet, which might be a good thing. It gave me a chance to talk to the Princesses.

I left my room and made my way down the seemingly endless corridors and hallways of the castle. After ten minutes and asking several Guards later, I found the throne room, which I had apparently passed twice.

"I see you're finally awake. From what I hear, Arch and Swift had a bit of a fight. Are they alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, but it's when they wake up that they'll feel what happened last night." I replied.

"I'm sure the will. Was there something you wanted to talk about besides your drunken friends?"

"Actually," I started, "yes. I want you to tell me what exactly made you hate Legend so much, and why you hate me for being him."

Celestia sighed. "That is not an easy question to answer. I the two thousand years that my sister and I have ruled, he has been a problem several times. Each one of Legend's past forms has caused nothing but destruction and death. One even attempted to overthrow us, and nearly succeeded."

"I remember Death saying that the last time we were here. That still doesn't answer why you dislike me. I used to be an officer in your military, and damn good one. Now, as soon as I get this body and it's power, you treat me like the enemy. Why?" I asked.

Celestia remained quiet for a few seconds, then spoke in a bit of a softer tone. "Because power can corrupt even the most loyal of ponies. The last Legend, the one that attempted to stage a coup, was also an officer. He was also a friend of mine. When he passed away, and then returned, I was in disbelief as to why he was chosen."

"Do you know why? Or did you never find out?"

"I found out from Death several years after it had happened. He chose that pony because of how he died. He was helping with extinguishing a burning building. There were several ponies still inside, and he got them out. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough and the building collapsed on top of him." She said, "He was chosen because he wanted to protect the ponies around him. Death felt that the need to protect other would keep him from corrupting. He was wrong."

"How wrong? Did anypony get hurt?"

Celestia let out a sad laugh. "Hurt? A civil war almost broke out. There were skirmishes between loyalist and rebels all across Equestria. He wiped out entire towns, simply to send a message. Killed innocent ponies because he was suspicious of them. What happened to my little ponies was far worse than them just getting hurt. They momentarily lost hope, much like they have been doing recently."

I had no idea that somepony was capable of something like that. No wonder Celestia hated me. This body has caused so much pain and spilled so much blood. "Is that why you don't trust me? Because you think I'll end up corrupted and a monster?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes. This was has made good ponies into killers. Valuable allies and friends into enemies. While you were still alive and in your body, you were a trustworthy officer. Arch had recommended you for several awards, and if you had lived long, you could have become a Lieutenant General, given enough time."

I looked at her quizzically. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because," She said, with a sad look on her face, "you're just like the last pony to become Legend. I fear you will share the same fate as him."

"Princess, I can assure you, that isn't going to happen. I promise."

"Don't make promises you aren't certain you can't keep. Simply do not allow anything to change the way you view this war. If we do not win, Equestria will be destroyed. Ponykind will turned into a subservient race, just as the Diamond Dogs are. We cannot allow that to happen."

It took a little bit to let the conversation soak into my mind. I had to be strong. I couldn't let something like power or money corrupt me. It wouldn't matter in the end anyways. Once the war is over, Death would give me my body back and everything will go back to normal. The way things are meant to be.

Soon after our talk, I left the castle and spent most of the day sight seeing. It was a pretty boring day, to be honest. I had gotten so used to the recent battles that nothing else seemed to excite me. I wasn't too thrilled that fighting a war was the only thing that excited me, but there was nothing I could do about it.

After wasting the day away, I went back to the castle. It seemed almost empty, but I ignored that. If only I had know what was about to happen.

______________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Sorry about the short chapter, and the gap between updates. I've been really busy lately. And if this chapter seemed to go by a little slow or was boring, don't worry. Next chapter some fun begins.

Also, what do you think of my little revamp of the Marine Corps. Hymn? I'm not sure if it came out all too well. Also, also, Legendary has hit 500 views! Thank you to eveypony who has read this!

Comments

[Insanity X]

i love this fic

static.fjcdn.com/pictures/shits_d4b6f1_2509208.jpg

[RoflNom]

561237 Thank you, and I'm glad you're enjoying it.