Legendary

by RoflNom

Chapter 8

By the time Arch and I had arrived at the castle, Celestia had already risen the sun. I really hadn't expected it to be that long of an outing, but time flies when you feel miserable. Or something like that, I may have that wrong.

After spending a few minutes getting lost inside the castle, we found the throne room. Upon entry we were greeted by several stares, as there were many of Canterlot's residents in the room. Well, I got stares while Arch tried to shrink out of sight.

We made our way to the Princesses, who just sat there waiting. I was pretty sure they didn't trust me, since they seemed to keep an eye on me the entire time. A lot of the ponies in the room did the same.

As I walked, a small colt trotted up to me from the crowd. I stopped as he spoke, looking up at me. "Excuse me, mister, but who are you? Are you related to the Princesses?"

I stared down at the colt, who took a few steps back. "I am not a relative of the Princesses. If I were, I would most likely be their father or grandfather. I am beyond your comprehension, young pony, and you should refrain from asking me anymore questions."

I started walking and now even more ponies were staring at me. When I looked up at the Princesses, I couldn't help but smile. Celestia had a half angry, half unamused look on her face. Luna, on the other hoof, was openly laughing at my little talk with the colt.

By the time I made it to Arch's side, he was already bowing to the Princesses. I had a thought, then and there, maybe have a little fun? Yeah, I liked the thought of that.

"Celestia, Luna, I assume you wanted to see us when we returned." I said, still standing. I heard a few whispers behind me, probably about how 'disrespectful' I was being.

Celestia just kept a straight, serious face. "Yes, but I'm afraid we must speak in private." She looked over to the group of ponies in the room. "I have to ask all non-military personnel to leave the room immediately."

Slowly, all of the ponies began to leave the throne room. Once they were all gone, eveypony in the room instantly felt a little relieved. Nopony wanted to be seen any less than what they were, whether it be a Princess, a General, or a God.

"Well, now that they're gone, do we new orders?" General Arch asked.

Princess Celestia looked at Arch for a good few seconds before she spoke. "Yes, you and the 5th Royal Infantry will be moving to the border of Equestria and the Realm of the Dragon Lords. They have been making a substantial push and 3rd Armored Infantry and Cavalry are in dire need of reinforcements."

I was the next to speak. "And what of me? Am I to accompany General Arch?"

She looked over to me, the same expression as every other time she spoke to me. "Yes, due to little 'deal' with Death, you will continue to accompany the 5th Royal Infantry until the end of this war."

Right, the deal. I had forgotten about that for a while. At least if I'm out in the battlefield, I can help Equestria far more than if I were kept here in the capitol.

"Excuse me Princess, but are we going to be receiving any reinforcement to accompany us?" Arch asked, breaking my train of thought.

Luna was the one who spoke this time, "Yes, you will be joined by the 10th Special Pegasi Division, now under the command of Lieutenant Colonel SwiftWing. The 12th Unicorn Artillery, led my Brigadier General Aceymac., will also join you as a supporting unit."

Arch suddenly got a look of confusion on his face. "Wait, Aceymac is commanding a Unicorn division? Isn't that a bit odd, considering he's an Earth pony? I mean, I have nothing against him. All of the ponies from the Apple family are great soldiers, I have a few in the 5 R.I. It just seems strange to me."

"Yes, it is odd. But we believe that he is a capable enough commander to lead such a group." Luna said, "He has proven himself in many situations in which he has had to lead non-infantry units."

"You are to leave in three days time," Celestia added. "You have also proven yourself, so we have increased the number of troops in the 5th Royal Infantry from 1,200 ponies to 2,500. Both Luna and I feel you can handle this without any problems. Have we assumed correctly?"

Arch gave a salute, and replied with a proud "Yes, Ma'am!" He turned to leave, but stopped when he noticed I hadn't moved.

"Princesses, you need to know something." I said. "When I get to the battlefield, I change. I lose control of myself. I noticed this after I murdered Gryphon General Twin Feathers in front of his soldiers."

"Yes, we are very aware of Legend's abilities," Celestia said. "and we understand that his power is a very dangerous one. If used incorrectly, it could cause the fall of an entire nation. Death says you are different, my not-so-little pony, I pray that he is right."

I turned around and headed towards Arch.

"I pray he is, too." I muttered under my breath.

______________________________________________________________________________

I sat in the room inside of Canterlot's barracks alone. Arch had gone to inspect his new ponies, and would be gone for several hours. He also had to meet with Lieutenant Colonel SwiftWing and Brigadier General Aceymac later, but I had to be there as well by order of Princess Celestia. She treated me as a sub-commander to General Arch, and I didn't know if I like it or not.

As I sat there, I thought of what I had told the Princesses earlier. How I couldn't control Legend or his power. Yet, I hoped. An idea drifted into my mind.

"Legend, can you hear me?" I said aloud.

For several seconds, it was silent. I sighed and simply laid down on a bunk. Eventually, a voice rang out in my mind.

Yes, is there something you need? I assume you didn't call me to have a nice little chat.

"No, I didn't. I need to know if there is an easier way to control your po-" I managed to say, before being cut off by Legend.

Our powers, IronTrot. You and I are the same now, we share a body and power. The only thing that is truly yours is you mind. Even your soul is bonded to mine. And no, there is no easy way to control our powers. It took me almost 800 years to learn my full potential, mainly because there isn't much to practice it on in the Underworld.

"Wait, don't tell me I have to practice that long to learn to use you— er, our powers?" I asked in annoyance.

I doubt that will happen. You have a chance to practice since you're in the Realm of the Living. And even better, you're in the middle of glorious war. The largest war Equestria has seen since before it even had its name. Think about the possibilities! You may even learn things I have yet to discover!

He sounded way too enthusiastic about the war. Even if he is the God of War and Destruction, he shouldn't enjoy it that much. Nopony can enjoy killing, it's just not in our nature.

"What happens if I lose control again?" I asked very cautiously.

What you did before was not losing control. It was nowhere close to doing so. That was simply your anger taking control. Though, I fear that you will lose control soon. When you do, embrace it! Do not try to stop it. You will slay more soldiers than you thought imaginable! I have seen it done before, and I feel you can do it.

Me, killing more than I thought imaginable? I didn't like the sound of that. I wasn't a killer. A soldier, yes, but that is meant for defense not slaughter.

"Legend, I'm not like you. I can't just kill without feeling any remorse. I'm not... not a..." I couldn't finish that sentence. But Legend could.

A killer? A murderer? A monster? Of course you are. You ripped a gryphon in half without feeling any guilt. You killed thousands of dragons and gryphons without so much as a thought about it. And you will do it again and again, all for your kingdom.

I couldn't deny it. Legend was right. I would kill and kill until the war was over, until I beat them into submission. The fate of this war was resting on my shoulders, and everypony knew. Arch, the Princesses, even Death and Legend.

"I'm going to get some sleep, Legend. Mind leaving for a while?" It was less of a question and more of an order.

Of course. Just think about what we talked about. It's all true, there's no point in trying to run from it.

I laid my head down on the bunk and closed my eyes. The entire time I slept, I had the same nightmare. I was killing everything. And it just kept happening.

______________________________________________________________________________

I walked into the palace's war room. Inside were Arch, SwiftWing, and the Brigadier General.

Aceymac stood as soon as I entered to room. "I assume you are Legend? It is good to meet you, I am Brigadier General Aceymac." He held a hoof out to me.

I took his hoof and shook it. I liked this, being treated as just another soldier. "It's good to meet you as well. I have heard a bit about you. I assume you know exactly what I am."

He sat back down in his chair. "Of course, we must always know about our allies."

I sat down next to Arch, who sat across from SwiftWing. In front of us was a large map, showing the entire world. Well, the entire discovered world. There were three small pieces shaped like ponies near the border to the Realm. One was shaped like an Earth pony, Arch's army, another was shaped like a Pegasus, SwiftWing's army, and the final one was shaped like a Unicorn, Aceymac's army.

"So," I started, "what exactly is the plan? They most likely outnumber us, at least 2 to 1."

Aceymac moved to large pieces onto the map, opposite to the pony shaped ones. "You are correct, they have two armies in place, currently combating the 3rd Armored. From reports we've receive, the latest arriving yesterday, they have only about 2,000 troops left fighting the estimated dragon's 5,500."

General Arch then moved another pony piece, this one having all three species of pony on it, right in front of the two large dragon pieces. "This is where the 3rd Armored is currently holding out, on a large hill. They are holding it, but we're not sure for how long they can keep it up."

"How many ponies are going in with anyway?" Asked SwiftWing.

Aceymac pulled a small sheet and placed in front of us all. "This shows the roster for all three of our armies. The 5th R.I has 2,500. The 10th S.P.D has about 1,400. My 12th U.A has almost 2,300. In total, we have about 5,900 ponies moving in to take out the dragon's assault. We will outnumber them, whether there is anything left of the 3rd Armored when we get there."

"Yeah, let's try and get there before the 3rd is wiped out. We don't need any more casualties, we have enough as is. Do you know who's in command out there?" Arch asked.

Aceymac pulled out several more papers and began looking through them all. "Well... Let's see... Ah, here it is. Ooh, that isn't good." He put the papers down on the map. "From the reports we've gotten, Colonal Brisk has been killed in combat, along with his Major. They're being commanded by a staff of 4 Leuitenants."

SwiftWing simply dragged his hoof across his face. "Please, please tell me that they have some sort of expirience. We have enough problems without some rookie LT's screwing things up."

I shot him a look, which confused him. He still didn't know who I really was. Still, calling a Leuitenant a rookie was not okay in my books. I served as one, and I did so proudly.

"Don't worry, Leuitenant Colonal, these Officers have managed to keep the dragons on their side of the line for several days. If they didn't have expirience before, they have plenty now." Aceymac replied.

Arch stood up and trotted over to the window. Outside, the 3 armies could be seen preparing for the long march to the border. "When are we scheduled to move out, Brigadier General?"

Aceymac turned around to face Arch. "Sir, we should be ready within the hour. Preperations were started as soon as we recieved the orders from the Princesses."

Arch turned to face me and the two other ponies in the room. "Good, the longer we stand around, the more ponies die."

"With all due respect, Sir," SwiftWing began, "You really shouldn't talk like that. That's something everpony knows but nopony wants to think about."

Arch walked right up to SwiftWing. "Leuitenant Colonal, this is war. Hundreds are dying while we sit in this city. The more time we waste, the less ponies there are to fight this war. And we can't risk that. I expect all of you to be ready to move out in 30, understand?"

The two Officers saluted. "Yes Sir!" They said in unison. I simply stood there and watched Arch walked out of the room.