Subject #7

by StarryDay

Chapter 5: The Last War

Chapter 5
The Last War
September 17, A.C. 989

A stallion clad in golden armor stood on the edge of a hill overlooking a training camp. Below, over a hundred soldiers were honing their fighting skills for the coming battle; throwing knives, casting spells, and training in martial arts. Above, the sky was a dull whitish-gray, signaling a coming late autumn storm. A white stallion in silver armor walked up behind him and spoke.

"How are the soldiers doing, General?"

"They are doing quite well, Razor." He huffed out a breath of steam. "And you may call me by my name, lieutenant. Though I've not been your superior more than a month, surely you must know by now that I am not as formal as the others."

"Of course... Fire Wind," he said, obviously uncomfortable not using the title. Fire Wind let out a long sigh. The army was ready for battle, but his king was not.

"I don't think he's going to last much longer, Razor," he said, turning his head. Razor knew instantly who he was referring to. He had been worrying about it all through the past week.

"He has to tell her sooner or later," he replied.

"Let's hope it's sooner," said Fire Wind. "But he'll probably keep trying harder, whether it will help or not."

"Hyah! Hah!" The young zebra stallion somehow managed to throw knife after knife, pulling them from belts on his shoulders, neck, and front. Each one hit a different target smack in the center. When the rain started, everypony else had left the training area to get some sleep, but he continued to practice. A quiet expression of admiration came from behind him.

"Wow, Zane," said a female voice. "You get better every day." He turned to see a beautiful unicorn mare with sunset-orange hair and a crown of stars as her cutie mark.

"Princess Starfall!" he said happily, bowing at her hooves with a smile.

"Arise," she said.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. She giggled, shifting her umbrella under the rain.

"I could ask you the same thing. Why didn't you go inside with the others?"

"You know me; always a hundred and ten percent." He went back to throwing knives, droplets of rain pouring down his coal black mane.

"You're not really going, are you?" she asked, concerned.

"Don't worry, my Princess," he said with a smile, grabbing her hoof. "I'll be back. I promise."

"You always say that," she said.

"I always come back, don't I?"

"Don't say that," she said frustratedly. "Ponies always say that, and it's not a good argument!" She sounded angry, but had a slight, sad smile on her muzzle. "Please don't go."

"I don't plan on dying, Princess," he said, before grabbing and throwing another knife.

A brown stallion with a curly black mane knelt in front of a golden throne, inlaid with sapphires matching his striking blue eyes. In the throne sat a reddish pink mare holding her belly with a pained look on her face. She had a noticeable pudge and was clearly expecting any day now. The brown stallion knelt with his head down, blue mist coming from his eyes and surrounding the mare. Her pained look almost gave way to contentment, though the discomfort was still evident. A dark blue unicorn mare in gold armor suddenly burst through the main doors.

"Your Majesty!" The mist winked out and the pink mare cringed, letting out the tiniest hint of a whimper, but she put on a strong face.

"What is it, Midnight?" asked the stallion angrily, turning to face her. "Can't you see I'm busy with Sunrise?"

"I'm sorry sir, but this is urgent!" the mare said, magically taking off her helmet.

"What is it?"

"The Princess is missing!"

Zane sat on King Rune's left side, shoulders heaving, trying not to let anyone see his weakness. He and another stallion were scheduled to be on guard duty for the King at the moment, but he was too distraught to protect anyone. King Rune leaned over to the other soldier on his right.

"What is wrong with him?" he asked the soldier quietly, but not quietly enough to keep the zebra from hearing.

"'What's wrong with me?'" he said angrily. "What's wrong with me is that the Princess is gone and it's because of me!" He went back to crying, this time not bothering to hide it; everypony already knew he was bawling like a foal.

"He was Princess Starfall's lover and self-proclaimed personal protector; he blames himself for her disappearance."

"Of course I do!" he said. "I was supposed to keep things like this from happening. I should be leading the search party, not Crystal Lake!" He slammed a hoof down hard on the stone floor with the last word.

"It's not your fault," said the King, placing a hoof on his shoulder.

"Don't try to comfort me!" He shoved the hoof off. "It is my fault; I should never have let her out of my sight. I was preoccupied with my training, trying to make myself the best soldier on the force, chasing after some vain vision of perfection." He hung his head low and cried some more. The King got off his throne and walked around to Zane's left.

"So," he said, draping a hoof over his shoulder, "you're the infamous Zane. My daughter was very proud of you." Zane lifted his eyes and sniffled.

"Really?" he asked. "She said that?"

"Absolutely." He jabbed his left hoof at Zane's chest. "You were the single most important thing in her life." He lowered both his hooves to the ground and took on a more serious tone. "When the war began, she was incredibly depressed; on the verge of taking her life. And then she met you, the soldier sent from above by Celestia herself. I must have heard enough about you to fill 10 books." He chuckled. "She was even willing to take time out of her astronomical studies to be with you because of schedule conflicts, and you surely know how important that was to her." The zebra nodded.

"She always joked that I shouldn't meet you because I might go protective-father on you, banishing you or locking you in the dungeon as punishment for 'fraternizing' with her. But the truth is that anything that makes her happy, I support in full. And I am glad that it was you, rather than one of the troublemakers." The zebra smiled, his tears all but forgotten.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. That means a lot to me."

"Call me Rune. If you're going to be part of our family, then I would like you to use my name." Zane's eyes lit up at the word "family."

"Really? Do you mean...?

"You have my blessing," said the King, "although it doesn't mean much until we recover Starfall."

"Wow," the zebra said. "That means a lot to me, sir."

"Again," he replied, "call me Rune."

***

Crystal Lake walked down the hall feeling very proud of himself. Everypony was completely clueless! Most likely because he had led the search party for the Princess himself. He was already set for life, but there was no harm in further deflecting suspicion. After the new foal was born, he would have to take care of it too. But King Rune had already made his suspicion clear; he would need to be exceptionally cautious. For some reason, he had trouble persuading Rune like he could others. His words could reduce the average pony to a sniveling slug, but Rune was different somehow.

He returned to his bedroom suite expecting to see a table piled up with his evening meal, but he was greeted instead with a pony in a black cloak balancing on his hoof a silver platter of dandelions, a rather common menu item, and blood-red poppies, which were much rarer in this part of the world. The pony placed the plate on the table next to him. Crystal Lake magically closed the door behind him so they would not be disturbed.

"Ken vüs na gütänin sho künos," he said in a rough, gravelly voice.

"Shuk chäfu nü Engläm. (Please speak in English.)"

"I am sorry," he apologized. "I said, 'here are the flowers you wanted.' I picked the entire bunch myself." Crystal walked over to the platter, levitated a poppy to his mouth, and took a bite. The petals had a silky texture and tangy taste, punctuated with the pleasant crunch of the opium-laden seeds. He would either have to speed this meeting along or hold off on the rest until later if he wished to remain lucid with his one-pony audience. He swallowed and placed the half-eaten flower back on the table.

"I am still mystified as to how you manage to maintain these wonderful poppies in a climate like this," he said. The pony grunted.

"Our methods are a prized secret. You think I would reveal it to an outsider like you?"

"Relax, Silverblood. I only intended to compliment. I have no intentions of that nature." The stallion pulled back his hood to reveal a gray head with a sparkling white mane cut very neatly into a jagged, bolt-like shape. His cobalt blue eyes gazed at Crystal Lake, giving off an aura of, if not hate, then at least strong dislike.

"Do not think I have forgotten; you are a Light-Wielder. It is with great difficulty that I do business with you, especially inside the city. The Tribe of the Gäld'kärin will only honor our arrangement with you to a certain extent. The Tribe is not quite content allowing a stranger to enter our lands."

"If all goes according to plan, then she will not be there for long. I cannot remove her from the picture on my own; I am counting on your Tribe to help with my predicament. It should not be difficult; all I require is that she never be found. You may do it any way you choose. Drown her, butcher her, choke her with cupcakes for all I care; just get rid of her." Silverblood stepped toward the window and turned back to look at Crystal Lake.

"You are playing a dangerous game, Advisor."

"Call me... 'Your Majesty,'" Crystal Lake said with a smile. Silverblood turned and jumped out the window into the stormy night.

Comments

[Notional Materials]

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