In Duty's Name

by Cloudhammer

08 - Go West, Young Ponies

Chapter 8 – Go West, Young Ponies

Cloudhammer opened his eyes to see the first rays of dawn peeking over the treeline back at him. Stifling a yawn he stretched, wincing slightly as his injured leg protested the movement, and then looked around the clearing. The others were still sleeping, though a glance to the log confirmed Applejack was hanging in there. He thought back to last night, how he had told the others about his family’s history. He wasn’t sure what it was that had made him feel like he could trust the mares with that kind of information, or even if he’d made the right choice in doing so. He had felt the sincerity coming from each of them when they promised to keep what he said between them, but it still felt weird to simply trust another pony so readily, especially given the meager amount of time he had known them. Getting to his hooves with a grumble, he trotted to a sunny spot of grass and sat down, looking up and letting the sun’s warmth soak into his skin, letting an honest smile crease his features at the comforting heat.

“I admit it is a curious sight, to see a Guard pony show such delight.” A soft voice drifted from the forest behind him. Zecora walked out of the treeline and joined him in the sunlit patch.

“We generally frown on it, but since my superior officer isn’t here to see it, I suppose I can let it slide just once.” Cloudhammer replied wryly. “So, mind telling me what you were doing in the forest so early?”

“Not at all my armored friend, replenishing my herbs should they be needed again.” The zebra smiled softly, closing her eyes to enjoy the sunrise too. They shared the simple moment together before Cloudhammer shook his head to clear the last vestiges of sleep from his mind and got to his hooves, barking out to awaken the others. Zecora watched him leave and shook her head before giving her various pouches one more look-over to make sure everything was in order.

“Alright, we’ve lost enough time here. The edge of the Everfree Forest isn’t too much farther, only another half day’s travel or so. If we move now, we can get a decent distance into the desert before nightfall; maybe find a more secure sleeping shelter.” Cloudhammer continued past everypony, trotting over to where Applejack stood. As he approached, the farm pony turned and tried to smile politely, but it turned into big yawn that almost had Cloudhammer joining her.

“Good mornin thar. Sorry bout the yawnin’, usually Ah’d just be waking up about now.” She yawned again as she got off the log. “Ah’ll admit, Rainbow done surprised me, Ah woke up a little bit ahead of mah shift and she was still as a pond in summer on this here log. Though once Ah told her she could get some shuteye she was out like a light.”

Cloudhammer looked over to where Rainbow could be seen spread-eagled, face-down on her blanket where it was obvious she’d simply crashed and not bothered to move. Almost on cue, a rattling snore could be heard, startling the half-awake Fluttershy into darting behind Twilight. A few seconds later, a pair of cyan eyes peered over the edge of their purple shelter, only to spring back with a squeak as Twilight sneezed and sat up, rubbing the remnants of sleep blearily from her eyes. The sight caused everypony awake to crack up laughing, and even Cloudhammer snorted his amusement before returning to his regular expression.

“Alright everypony, we’ve spent enough time on vacation in this clearing. So get your flanks in gear and let's get going..." His voice trailed off as Spike suddenly sat upright, eyes still closed, belched a cloud of green flames which quickly formed into a scroll that Twilight absent-mindedly caught, and then fell back over with a muted grumble and went back to snoring.

Opening the scroll, Twilight’s half-shut eyes snapped open. “It’s from Princess Celestia!” At that, everypony crowded in close as Twilight read the letter aloud.

“My dear student Twilight,

I hope this letter finds you and your friends well. By now I’m certain you must have reached the edge of the Everfree Forest and be starting into the desert. I hope that your journey will not be too difficult, do remember to drink lots of water! I also hope you’re all getting along well with Captain Cloudhammer, I know how he can get at times, but you’d have to look pretty hard to find a more dependable guardian. I look forward to hearing from you as your travels continue, and wish you the best of luck.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

P.S. Cloudhammer, Morning Sun sends her regards, and reminds you to not come home in bandages for once.

Twilight, along with everypony else, looked up in confusion at Cloudhammer as he simply shook his head, turned and started trotting to the edge of the clearing.

“Alright, let’s stop wasting time. Miss Sparkle, I assume you can draft a reply to the Princess while we move?” He once again spoke in the usual harsh monotone of the Guard, the almost relaxed voice they had started to hear from him nonexistent.

“Um… yes, that’s not any trouble at all. Cloudhammer, are you feeling…” She was cut off by a snap of a hoof.

“It’s Captain, Miss Sparkle.”

“R… Right. Sorry Captain.” Twilight looked nervously at her friends, who all looked as stupefied as she did.

“Good. Now let’s get moving, we’re burning daylight.” With that, Cloudhammer began to trot towards the path leading deeper into the forest.

“What in tarnation’s got all his feather’s in a bunch?” Applejack asked irritably, walking over to get her sleeping pad packed.

“I sense in our Captain great confusion, but for now I feel his answer will be found in seclusion.” Zecora stated cryptically as she began to follow him.

The others all looked at each other for a few moments more before shrugging and hurriedly getting their gear together. One pony in particular, however, let her gaze linger on the forest path where the captain waited impatiently for a moment longer before sighing and fetching her bags with everypony else.

…

As the group trudged their way along the path, Cloudhammer’s ears kept a constant swivel for any sound out of the ordinary. His mind, however, found itself spinning aimlessly with itself, struggling to come up with an answer to a single question. Why had he felt that he could just open up and talk about something so personal so easily with ponies he barely even knew? He hadn’t even told Flare about his family’s history, yet a simple promise from a bunch of mares barely old enough to be called such and he’d spilled the hay about everything. For Equestria’s sake, not even his son knew the whole story. His normally stern expression began to slowly morph into a scowl as he continued to struggle with his own convictions. Sure, the mares had seemed sincere, and it was obvious that even Celestia herself trusted them implicitly. For crying out loud she had let them have a chance to help her sister with her behavior after being purified of her corruption. He still remembered the argument he’d had with her when he’d found out she’d let Luna go to Ponyville…

…

“Celestia! What in Equestria were you thinking? You can’t just allow your sister to run around loose with her two guards! Where have they gone!” Cloudhammer shouted as he stormed into her personal chambers, the two Guards at the door following him in an attempt to haul him from the room.

Celestia looked up from the scroll she was reading. “Captain Cloudhammer, please, calm yourself. It’s alright my dears, please give us the room.”

With confused looks at first her, then each other, the two guards backed respectfully from the room, closing the doors behind them. Once they clicked shut, Celestia’s smile faded into an impassive line. “Cloudhammer, I understand your concerns, truly I do. What you endured at the Summer Sun Celebration is something that nopony should have had to go through, least of all you. However, my sister is no longer the monster that she was, and I would ask that you try to warm up to her. I’m certain that you might find some common ground with her if…” Cloudhammer cut her off with a sharp snort.

“With all due respect Celestia, I think you’re letting your personal hopes for your sister cloud your decisions. I do hope you are right in that she is no longer Nightmare Moon, but letting her out with no supervision, even covert, is something that seems somewhat impetuous…”

“Captain.” The tone of voice was no different than before, but the authority contained in that single word was enough to snap his mouth shut against his brain’s will, and to force him to his knees in a deep bow. He heard her getting to her hooves and stride across the room to stand in front of him. “Rise.” As before, his body obeyed instantly, though he kept his smoldering gaze from meeting hers. Suddenly, his vision was obscured by white feathers as she hugged him. Looking up at her in confusion, he could see the briefest look at her uncontained emotions. The raw fear and worry for her sister, that she might fall again. The sadness that he, one of her closest living friends, was still incapable of forgiving Luna for what she’d done as Nightmare. The infinite love she held for every being that lived in her land. And behind it all, a glimpse of something… something so beautiful yet terrifying in its complexity that his mind nearly shattered in its attempt to process it. Then the wall came down and her eyes were the ones he’d always known again. He was frozen to the floor where he sat, his mind still gathering a hold on reality. “I am sorry Cloudhammer. Believe me when I say that everything you’ve spoken is something that I’ve thought of as well. I am happy that you feel that you can tell me these things, though perhaps next time, you could just ask.” She said with a slight smile before continuing, “Now, I have faith that the ponies in the town I suggested Luna visit will be able to help her immensely with adjusting to the time she finds herself in.”

Finally figuring out how to speak again, Cloudhammer forced himself into movement and got to his hooves. “Where did you send her?”

“To Ponyville, of course.” She said with a smile.

“Are you sure that’s wise? All six of the Bearers are there! Should harm come to them…” He immediately stopped as she raised a hoof.

“Have faith my dear friend. I know that if anypony can help my sister overcome her social problems, it will be Twilight and her friends. After all, Twilight wasn’t exactly the most sociable pony herself when I sent her to Ponyville, and now look at her.”

Cloudhammer snorted agreement, and then frowned. “Celestia, I want to apologize for my conduct, it was unprofessional.”

Celestia smiled softly. “All is forgiven, nopony is perfect. Now, I believe you have duties to get back to, and I have a letter that needs to be read. After that trouble Twilight caused the other day, this promises to be an interesting one…”

…

Cloudhammer shook himself free of the memory with an irritable snort as he continued down the path. Celestia had made it sound so easy, to simply trust and have faith in the six mares. But every time he tried to make the logical jump, something held him back. But what was it? Fear perhaps? No, that couldn’t be it. He wasn’t foalish enough to think himself a fearless pony, but he knew how to handle fear. His pride maybe? No… well, he supposed it could be that. But he felt like he’d done a good job of curbing the disdain with which most Guard ponies tended to view civilian ponies after a few years of being treated like statues. He shook his head again as he recalled the past few days, and how these ponies just seemed… different. Even he could tell their sincerity was genuine when they called him their friend, but he found himself struggling to return the affectation. He was a Guard, they were civilians. Once the mission was over, they’d return to their lives in Ponyville and he’d go back to his job, end of story.

Twilight, following a little ways behind Cloudhammer, sidled closer to Rarity as she watched him shake his head again. “So do you have any idea what’s been bothering him? I’m really starting to get worried.”

Rarity frowned. “I’m not so sure myself darling, I think it may just be separation anxiety… I mean, how often do you think he actually socializes beyond other guards? And now he’s out all alone, with this crisis going on back home, and he doesn’t have anypony he feels he can confide in.”

Applejack, catching up to her two friends, joined in the conversation. “Ya might be right Rarity, but it ain’t like it’s any fault of ours this happened.”

“M-Maybe somepony should try and talk to him…” Fluttershy meekly stammered out.

“Ooh! I could throw together the last of my party supplies and throw him a Don’t-Be-So-Upset-Because-You’re-The-Only-Guard-Here party!” Pinkie Pie started bouncing eagerly as she strolled, but stopped along with everypony else as another voice cut across their conversation.

“Rarity you are right in a sense, the Captain’s mind is quite a mess. But give him some space, I’m certain he’ll work through it at his own pace.” Zecora said softly, her turquoise eyes watching the captain with an expression of compassion.

Rainbow, floating lazily overhead, initially wanted to chime in, but then her face lit up and she looked down towards the others. “Hey guys, I’m feeling kinda cramped with these trees pressing in, I’m gonna get some altitude and catch up later, ok?” Before anypony could answer, she banked upward into a steep climb and was soon a faint speck of color against the blue sky, obscured occasionally by the cover of the forest canopy.

The others watched her go, and looked at each other quizzically, but eventually shrugged and continued to follow Cloudhammer as they continued on the forest path. The trail at times seemed to almost fade from sight completely, but they managed to keep following it as the day wore on. Twilight, despite the concern she felt for Cloudhammer’s current state of mind, satisfied herself with drafting her reply to the princess, and once it was completed, she had Spike send it on its way with a burst of green fire.

As the sun continued to crawl its way across the sky, the trek almost became nice, like a walk through the smaller forests dotting the flatlands around Canterlot. The illusion was shattered, however, when they came upon a section of the trail that had been devastated, broken trees scattered haphazardly, and with a quick glance, Cloudhammer and Twilight confirmed it stretched off in both directions.

“What do ya’ll suppose did this?” Applejack mused, nudging one of the fallen trees and wondering if she’d have been able to buck it when it was standing.

Cloudhammer jumped up onto one of the higher logs, letting him get a more commanding view of the area. “To be honest Miss Applejack, I’m not too sure, it could have been any of the native predators…”

“I know what made this path, it was a Hydra venting upon the forest it’s wrath.” Everypony present turned to Zecora, who had climbed over another broken tree and was staring at something out of sight. Clambering up after her, they could all see the massive footprint dug into the mud. Fluttershy squeaked in fear and darted behind Rarity, while Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Spike and Applejack cringed, remembering the last time they’d seen one of the four-headed monstrosities as it attempted to devour them in Froggy Bottom Bog.

“Do you think it’s gone? I can’t tell when the trees were snapped…” Twilight trailed off as Cloudhammer jumped off the tree to the ground. Laying down flat, he put his head to the ground and swiveled an ear until it too was pressed to the trampled dirt. He stayed like this for nearly a minute, while everypony else grew steadily more nervous.

“Everypony, move into the woods ahead now.” Everypony jumped a little as Cloudhammer suddenly spoke.

“What is it?” Twilight asked, before quailing as Cloudhammer’s eyes flicked up to hers, still flinty, but now laced with something else, almost a tinge of… fear? The realization of what could make him look like that rooted her to the spot in terror.

“Now Miss Sparkle, no time to waste.”

She was about to question him further when there was a sudden crash a long distance off down the trail of destroyed trees. Looking over the debris, Twilight could see that a section of trees were swaying violently, and one fell over with another echoing crash. She could barely make out the shifting of something massive coming into view before Cloudhammer’s bellowed command jolted her into motion.

“EVERYPONY MOVE RIGHT NOW! INTO THE FOREST!” Cloudhammer leaped into the air and dove into the forest, landing in a gallop as he sprinted a short ways down the path before stopping near a long fallen tree. Twilight risked another glance and saw an enormous hydra beginning to crash its way up the path of ruined trees directly towards them. Then she felt a hard pull on her mane and stumbled, getting caught by Applejack, who spit her mane out and shoved her towards the path, grabbing Fluttershy by the tail and doing the same. Running blindly down the path, they soon caught up to Cloudhammer, who was in the middle of shoving Rarity into the hollow despite her complaints about the stench of the mud. As Twilight got to him, a cyan blur dove in through the tree cover and wordlessly swooped into the hollow, pushing Rarity the rest of the way in. Applejack and Twilight managed to keep Fluttershy moving and crammed themselves into the hollow as well, soon making the space cramped and uncomfortable as the mares kept accidentally stepping on each other’s hooves. Cloudhammer quickly grabbed a fallen branch with leaves still on it and dragged it over the hollow behind him as the crashing of the hydra grew louder by the second.

“Twilight, do you know any spells that will help mask our scent?” The urgency in Cloudhammer’s voice was almost alien, and the slightly wide-eyed look he wore only got worse as she shook her head.

“I’m sorry, all I know is a sound silencing spell.”

“That’ll have to do. Everypony, roll around in the mud. Be quick about it and no complaining.” Fixing Rarity with a glare, Cloudhammer immediately started to burrow into the mud, soon covering his coat and armor with the foul smelling mud. Applejack, getting the idea, started digging hard at the mud as well, shoveling great globs of it over everypony else, as well as over the ground around the hollow. Rarity nearly shrieked as the mud splattered over her immaculate coat, but a combined glare from everypony else present persuaded her otherwise. Soon, the hollow was filled with dripping, mud-covered forms that only superficially looked like ponies, as well as one small, dragon-shaped mass. One of the forms with a horn closed her eyes in concentration, and a glowing aura of purple light briefly surrounded the hollow before disappearing.

Soon after that, the crashing stopped as the hydra stopped at the trail’s connection to the path it had carved. It’s four heads lowered to the ground, sniffing at the trees and dirt with rasping breaths. It could smell the unmistakable scent of ponies, and it was fresh. The beast’s heads began to drool as they swept first one side, then the other. The one trail bore the scent leading off into the forest, but the area of fallen trees bore the sharp stink of fear, which led off in the other direction. The heads lifted back into the air, hissing and murmuring to each other as if in thought, before they began to follow the fear scent. Soon, it became clear that the scent led off the trail, but vanished a short distance later. The heads, confused at this sudden vanishing of the smell, began to sweep carefully around, one inching closer to a fallen tree’s roots.

Applejack, hearing the heavy breathing of the head drawing closer, motioned quickly for everypony to stay still and shut their eyes. As they did so, the head came into view and turned to get a closer look at the hollow. It could see that something had used the area recently, and the smell of pony was strong close by. Bringing its nose close to the ground right outside the hollow, it took a deep whiff, only to snort in disgust at the foul smell of the mud, spraying mucus and saliva over the hollow. Rarity came dangerously close to shrieking in a mix of anger and fright as a glob hit her square in the face, but was prevented from doing so by no less than three hooves and a dragon paw clamping down on her muzzle.

The hydra’s head, meanwhile, took another few sniffs, only to come up dry as to where the pony smells lead. Joining it’s other heads, the beast roared it’s frustration at being denied a meal before beginning to crash it’s way further into the forest. In the hollow, the group waited until they could no longer hear the crashing sounds before opening their eyes. After a few more minutes, Cloudhammer and Applejack both peeked out of the hollow and once they gave the area a good hard look, they nodded to the others, who visibly relaxed, only to jump again as Rarity shrieked and started wiping furiously at her face. Fortunately, Twilight’s spell reduced the sound to a muffled cry, and Cloudhammer finally let himself relax.

“I think we’re clear, though we need to move now, we don’t want to be anywhere near this place in case that hydra comes back for a second look.” Cloudhammer took a few steps away and shook himself hard, slinging mud everywhere. Applejack trotted around the tree and did the same, so she wouldn’t defeat the purpose of Cloudhammer’s shaking. Soon, the others all came out and got their mud mostly off, Twilight using her magic to help, while Rarity spent the whole time meticulously picking every last bit of the offensive substance from her coat until she deemed it satisfactory. Once everypony was ready, they got back onto the trail and began to follow it again, though their conversation was much subdued from before.

“Rarity, ya’ll need to learn to knock off that fancy stuff when the hoof hits the road. If we hadn’t shut you up back there that hydra woulda heard us!” Applejack stated furiously.

“I fail to see how having mud stain my coat serves ANY useful purpose Applejack!” Rarity fired back, her anger with the farmpony’s inability to understand even the basic tenets of personal hygiene growing by the second.

“I know ya’ll don’t like getting yerself dirty, but ah’d at least think that when it meant ya livin’ or dyin’ that ya’d see reason fer once!” Applejack shouted back. The two began to press their foreheads hard against each other, neither pony willing to back down. Suddenly, a shimmering aura of purple magic enveloped them and forcefully pushed them apart. The two flailed for a moment before they realized there wasn’t anything they could do, both looking to Twilight with angry glares.

Twilight returned their glares with the best one she could muster, her horn glowing brightly as she maintained her telekinetic hold on the pair. “No more fighting! I let it get out of hand at my first slumber party, and I’m not going to make that same mistake again. Now, you two are going to knock it off and behave or I’ll zip your mouths shut myself!”

Spike, who was peeking fearfully over Twilight’s shoulder, glad her anger wasn’t directed his way, nodded agreement. “It’s true, she can do that. Did it to me when that showoff Trixie was in town.”

The two mares thought hard about it for a moment before gulping in unison, and then cutting a look at the other, both tried to apologize at the same time.

“Rarity, ah’m sorry ah was being such a ‘ardhead about things. Ah just think ya’ll need to try to not sweat the small things sumtimes. Plus havin’ that hydra loom righ’ on top o’ us like that twas a mite scary.” Applejack admitted with a nervous smile.

“Think nothing of it Applejack my dear, I admit that I did allow myself to become caught up with my worry over that horrendous mud staining my coat. I’ll try harder next time darling, you’ll see!” Rarity said, trying to regain some of her composure and poise with the last part.

Cloudhammer, looking over his shoulder, only snorted and turned back to keep walking down the trail. As the group got themselves sorted out and following the captain, one of the group sighed, still unsure of what had made the captain change back to the way he had acted when they first met. She was trying to come up with some way to make him loosen up some, but was drawing a blank as to how.

…

The sun was nearly two-thirds across the sky when Pinkie Pie noticed the trees were starting to become more open, and that the temperature was starting to increase. The pink mare briefly thought about trying to use some of her remaining party supplies to organize a Thank-Goodness-We’re-Out-Of-The-Forest Party, but seeing Cloudhammer’s form reminded her that perhaps now might not be the best time for a party. She wished that she could help lift his spirits, but it seemed the only thing she knew how to do wouldn’t be of help. She sidled up to Twilight, nudging her to get her attention. “Hey Twi?” She whispered.

“What’s up Pinkie?” Twilight asked, her smile fading as she saw the expression on Pinkie’s face. “Is something wrong?”

“Well, I see Cloudhammer being all mopey-mopey-serious-grumpypants like he was when we first met him in Ponyville again, and I want to make him feel better again, but I don’t know how to make ponies feel better except by throwing them a party. Only I don’t think he’d want a party right now.” Pinkie’s hair began to lose some of its poofiness, alarming Twilight even further. She had no desire to see a repeat of the time that Pinkie thought that her friends were abandoning her.

“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it too much Pinkie… Sure the captain might not want a party right now, but I’m sure you’ll be able to throw him a really nice one when we get back home, when you have all your stuff from Sugarcube Corner to make it the best party you’ve ever thrown!” Twilight smiled warmly at her friend, though on the inside she was sure that Cloudhammer would brush off the offer.

At her friend’s encouragement, Pinkie’s hair sprang back into shape, and she smiled too, putting a leg over Twilight’s neck in a hug. “Thanks a bunch Twilight; you’re one of the best friends a pony could ask for!” With that, Pinkie bounced away happily, leaving Twilight to sigh in relief at her friend’s return to normal.

Continuing to walk, absorbed in her own thoughts, Twilight was saved from walking square into Cloudhammer’s backside by a timely tug on her mane from Spike. Wincing slightly but deciding not to lecture her assistant for now, she looked past Cloudhammer to see that the forest had given way to some sparse grass, which in turn gave way to the scrub that she remembered from her last train ride to Appleloosa. The sun baked the air to a near intolerable level, making shimmers of heat rise from the bleached earth. “Well, now what?” She asked Cloudhammer, to which he simply lifted a hoof to the horizon in front of them.

“We keep going west, not much else to it.” With that, he began to walk down the slight incline towards the desert ahead of them.

Comments

[Cloudhammer]

Alright, apologies if this seems rough, feel free to constructively criticize as usual.

[Nathan Traveler]

Predator tactics. They work every time.

[Cloudhammer]

120744 Excellent, I feel better about including the reference

[Mänic]

quite nice, quite nice indeed

[Rust]

If I were allergic to awesomeness, I would be dead now.

[colt45ws]

I think Rarity's whining needs to be turned down a good couple of notches. As it is, its grating. I ended up skipping a few parts as it was just overdone.

[Rainbow Sparkle]

I would think by now Rarity would have gotten over her issues with mud...though I suppose in this case it was an incredibly large amount of foul smelling mud.

Too bad they didn't just have an RPG launcher. Roasted hydra anyone ?

[Warwolf]

Hmm. An interesting chapter. I do have to admit, Celestia comes off a little weird to me in this though.

[Cloudhammer]

2200266
Basically, it was intended to give an idea of my interpretation of Celestia and her divinity, relative to my own fanon. Writing deities properly is hard. Even harder when this was my first work of fiction ever