[Friday]
At last, dawn had come once more. Blaze carefully left the room in which he and the others slept, then opened the scroll from his sibling.
“Hey, Big Bro…
Me again!
Today Princess Celestia told me we have less than a week left before continuing school, but that’s not the point.
I’m going to be brave with this, okay?
Remember the pony I told you about? From the mines? He came with me to Ponyville to visit mother’s grave. We even had a conversation with your friend, Twilight. She was quite nice and welcoming.
The point is… On our way back home… On the train… We…
Kissed…
Yes… We found out we love one another…
I hope you’re not upset about it. I AM old enough. Trust me, he’s a great guy, I hope one day you’ll meet him in person. I’m sure you’d come along well.
I hope you’re just as happy about the news as I am!
How are things on your end? Have you made any progress?
Best of luck,
~Blossom”
He had mixed feelings about the news… He was happy for her finding her other half, but he knew what would happen if it went wrong… He grinned, and wrote a letter to said colt. With a flash of magic it disappeared, knowing all too well where to appear.
“Morning Blaze. The rest just arrived. I think we have all the refugees who could come…” Sigmis exclaimed cheerfully.
“Great. What of the Night Guard?” He wondered.
“He might be able to tell,” Avala threw in, a few ponies in black armor by her side.
“Commander Mithril Blaze?” The stallion asked.
“Sergeant…” Blaze replied.
“Not for this mission. By orders, command has been transferred to you until this ordeal is settled,” He explained.
“Both the Ascendants and Night Guard? Blaze, your Gods seem to have all the faith in the world in you…” Sigmis whispered.
“And so it would seem. yet, as we must, we shall not judge their decisions,” The colt reminded them.
“Who would you be?” Blaze wondered.
“Colonel-472”
“Is… That the way you do? Numbers for names? What about Shadow?”
“I don’t know who you speak of…” The Colonel replied. Just moments before said colt appeared next to Blaze.
“Him,”
“Oh, you meant Lieutenant-23,” The colt replied.
“What’s up Sarge? Boss? Guys?” He asked, first Blaze, then the Colonel, and at last the twins.
“You heard it all, so get ready for a fight…” Blaze informed him.
“I hope you didn’t mean it the way I think,”
“What? You want to stay and sit all day, or finally finish this damn thing?”
“I guess you didn’t…”
“Call the Generals and Senior Officers. Avala, Sigmis, rally all of yours. I’ll get the Ascendants,” Blaze explained with a plan. Everyone did as asked to. Just half an hour later they were ready, so Blaze explained his first plan to shorten the enemy lives. As he expected, soon a diplomat and another group of armed Centaurs arrived to the gates. The Night Guard hid in the forest around town, the Ascendants went to the opposite end of town, just as a lone Centaur arrived.
After allowing the diplomat in, the gate closed, leaving the rest outside. “Speak, or attack,” Avala exclaimed.
“My King and Queen are wary of the Prince’s disappearance… They suspect you have something to do with it…” The diplomat said.
“Here’s my answer…” Blaze replied, throwing a severed head to him. “Tell your King and Queen to leave, or they shall walk the same path,” Blaze continued.
“If that is what you wish. I’m a mere messenger, and no fighter. Allow me to leave, and your word is delivered,” Came the reply. The gates opened. The diplomat left, the head in his left hand. The other Centaurs took offense, and turned to attack the town. Before they could take a step, a loud bang shook the forest, as their heads were blown apart. The Night Guard approached, surrounding the diplomat. Their armor was more detailed, and better. Their weapons were different as well. Much more superior to what Blaze knew they would have.
The guards pointed their weapons at the diplomat, slowly closing in around him. “Run…” Shadow said, a way opening in the circle. The diplomat ran as fast as his legs could carry.
“What now?” Sigmis wondered.
“We wait. Now we know for sure that the royals WILL come to us… We will kill most of them, but spare the two, forcing them to retreat to your capital. THEN we proceed, and starve them out by cutting off food from their home country. They will either surrender, or die,” He explained. They spent the rest of the night with their guard the highest, ready at each moment. Only the next day had brought forward what they waited for.
[Saturday]
“Today’s the big day…” Blaze muttered, shaking his night’s nightmare out of his head.
“At ease!” Sigmis yelled, the Turul Army at full equipment. Their armor seemed light and weak, but after a worthy explanation, Blaze understood why they looked weak, but only looked. Their weapons were varied. Bows, spears, swords, halberds, maces… Even scythes and pitchforks.
“Ready!” Lumes exclaimed, the Ascendants at full attention.
“Attention!” A General yelled, the Night Guard facing the twins. The three branches stood aside one another. The Turuls in the middle, separating the two others.
The twins and Blaze stood in front of them for a few words of encouragement.
First came Sigmis, addressing each faction. “Ascendants… For what I know, you only follow the words of your leader, Princess Celestia, and for now, that of my friend, Blaze. I can not put my gratitude into words for what you have do for my kind. Your efforts have truly helped the civilians back into health, and even gave them hope…” Finishing with them, he turned his attention to the Night Guard. “Ponies… I have seen what your appointed Commander is capable of. Yes, he is just a Sergeant and from the Royal Guard, but if you can do just as much, my trust and faith is in a good place. For what I know, you have a simple task: Kill. I can not grant you a safe return, but I can promise you plenty of lives to take…” Then turned to his own kind. “Brothers, sisters… Friends and family… We have gathered here to push the invaders back for the final time! Our numbers and odds are greatly increased by our newfound allies… Their presence is a gift from the Gods themselves… It must be… As such, we must show out new allies of what we are capable of for our freedom!” The crowd roared in agreement. Following his speech, his sister continued.
“The problem is… I’m not quite a talker. I know what to do, and then do my best to accomplish it… Right… Ponies in white… You’re the embodiment of good will. Of health, of hope…” *Looks at the Night Guard* “Ponies of black. I myself know the thrill of the hunt. Be tracing down a fleeing foe, or killing them face to face. The thirst for blood is just as strong in me as in you… As such, today we shall satisfy our thirst!” The Night Guard cheered. *Turns at her people* “My brethren… You have been trained from childhood. Your profession matches that of your allies in black. Show them the spirit which lies deep inside all of us…” She said.
At last, Blaze took a stand. “Ascendants. My friends, I have come here on my own. Not as Commander. Not as Sergeant. Not even as Royal Guard, but as who I am: Mithril Blaze. The only pony unfortunate enough to be hit by a catapult and live… I have never asked for your arrival, take no offense. Now, I’m honored that you follow my words, even for a time as short as we have left…” *Turns to Night Guard* “Ah, yes. The Night Guard… Soldiers of the darkness… Defenders of Princess Luna… No… Of all of our kingdom… Those who would dare oppose Nightmare Moon, or even Luna herself… Those who would give their lives for any other… Today I will prove my worth to you, so you can see that you’re not the only one with such determination!” *Cheer* *Turns to Turuls* “Friends… No… Family… Yes, family. I came here as a total stranger to your kind, but you chose to trust me just by their request. You took me in. Fed me. Granted shelter… Trusted me. Today, the twins appointed me as one of their own… Now, as one of your own, I can bravely say, that I WILL make your kind free again!” The factions cheered. A small group from each Faction remained in town to defend, similar to all other cities freed. The rest had began it’s march for the capital. Upon arrival they gained sight of the Centaur army. A vast legion for sure, but not larger than theirs.
“Commander,” The Colonel exclaimed.
“Yes?”
“Do you authorize the Final Stand protocol?”
“Yes,”
The Colonel nodded, and turned to face his comrades. Since they were out of the Centaur’s hearing range, he yelled. “FINAL STAND!” Their weapons were gone, in their place were much powerful ones.
“On my mark… We will it them with everything we have…” Blaze explained.
“Sir… I must ask you to tell yours to stay back,” The Colonel asked Sigmis.
“Stay behind!” He yelled in response. The Turuls line up behind the Night Guard.
Blaze drew his swords. Sigmis his, and Avala prepared her bow. “Attack!” Blaze yelled. The Night Guard slowly marched forward. Their weapons spitting many projectiles at the foe. Some fired quick, some exploded on impact… They made quick progress, until they ran out of ammunition.
“Kill the Sun!” Avala yelled after noticing it, The Turul archers fired their bows. A volley of arrows flew high into the sky, blocking out sunlight from above for several seconds. By the time the Centaurs knew they are attacked, only 200 of their soldiers, and their royals remained.
Our heroes allowed them to retreat. The King approached on top of the city walls. “We yield… We will leave, but we ask you to allow us…” He exclaimed.
The trio took some time to think. After Blaze convinced them, they agreed. The King, Queen, and the rest have left the town in lines of 10, slowly disappearing in the horizon. They celebrated their victory until late night, when most of them went to sleep. Having done their task, only 100 of Ascendants, and 100 of Night Guard soldiers remained. The rest were teleported back to the motherland. At 1 am the guard patrols were set up. Each group was made up of 1 Turul, 1 Night Guard, and an Ascendant.
“You guys sure made short work of them…” The group’s bird exclaimed.
“If only it was the first time I saw such massacre… You know, if we die, Princess Luna can decide whether or not bring us back… Living that way… You can tell how many things one can see…” The Guard replied.
“At least you get to defend yourself… All we get is a metal plate to the chest. Not even a dagger to protect ourselves. Magic, if we’re lucky…”
“As if you would need to arm yourselves in our presence. Just because we obey our respective Princesses, we still are to stand up for the other…”
“So, how does your line of orders go? I’m a bit confused…” Asked their avian comrade.
“Usually, on the very to is the chosen Princess. Nothing above. Under them are the Generals,Senior Officers, Officers, Warrant Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, Junior Non-Commissioned Officers, and the very bottom, those with no rank yet,” The Guard explained, the Ascendant nodded.
“So now this Blaze guy is…?”
“Appointed Commander during operations. After we return, he will be no more than a Sergeant of the Royal Guard he was before,” The Ascendant replied.
“How are your Kind and Queen?”
“They died millenias ago,”
“Then why do you call your monarchs Princess still? Shouldn’t they be Queens?”
“There can’t be two monarchs of the same name… Not two Kings or Queens…”
“Really? In cases like this, the offspring, like Prince Sigmis and Princess Avala are to be referred to King and Queen. It’s what we call Twin-Monarchy,”
“To each their own rules, right?”
“Hey… What’s that?” Asked the avian.
The Guard had put a hoof to his head, as if he had a migraine. He looked up, the others followed. “What’ the…” The Ascendant wondered..
The Night Guard grinned. “Behold, my friends… This, is the Blood Moon… A call to war. It seems my God demands blood…” He exclaimed. His hoof guards changed, and began to function like Blaze’s limbs. Standing on the hind legs. Before reported to the three in charge, the remaining Night Guards rallied in the town square, demanding they move on and take the Centaur capital as well. Little to no success to convince them otherwise, the army had began its journey. As they approached the end of the Tuvale Basin, they saw mountains reaching for the clouds, soon passing through one of the three passes.
“This is where our ancestors arrived thousands of years ago… Legend says, that one of the leaders of the seven ancient tribes stayed behind, to fend off the army chasing them. Him and a few fearless remained, and died, so others can live…” Sigmis explained while walking past.
“I guess you either live free, or die, fighting for it…” Blaze replied with a guess.
“Pretty much,” Avala noted.
After a few more steps, they stopped. “Stand!” Blaze yelled.
“What is it?” Sigmis wondered.
“Shhhh…. Listen…”
The forest and bushes began to move and shake… “It’s a trap!” Avala yelled.
“Retreat!” Blaze yelled, before they could be surrounded.
“Stand your ground!” Avala yelled, denying his command.
“No time to argue!” Blaze replied. The Night Guard and Ascendants obeying him. “Get them out of here! Protect them!” He exclaimed, forcing the Turuls to retreat through the pass. On their way through, two Turuls flew up high, their sharp wings collided with wooden beams, supporting the arch above. The arch collapsed, blocking the way entirely. Before it reached the ground, all Turuls were past including the twins. The Night Guard used their magic to teleport the Ascendants, and lower ranked, thus less trained, more likely to die Night Guards to the other side, exhausting their magic for a while. Before sending them off, Blaze gave them one command: Obey the twins, and protect their kind.
Having exhausted their magic, the remaining group turned to face the foe. It was only Blaze, and two dozens of high ranked militarymen. They gathered to a small circle, the foe still far away. A General approached Blaze. “This is the end of the line…”
“And the final journey…”
Suddenly, a group of Turuls returned to them from above the rubble. “We are the best the twins could send. Or so they said. We will fight until the end,” One of them exclaimed, joining them.
“The enemy’s leaving the past…” A Lieutenant continued to sing.
“It’s the Equestrian troops…” Blaze added.
“And the Turul army… “ Said one of them.
“Joining together at last!” They sang out in unison, ending their song.
Followed by the Night Guard. “As the sunset fades to away, the yellow fades to gray. The Moonlight shines upon the land, a calling we obey. The purest black of shadows rise, to fight a greater fight… My brothers and sisters move as one, we soldiers of the night. We stand at arms before our liege, each of us just a pawn and now We reign supreme throughout the dark, until the light of dawn The memories we left behind us might cripple lesser men But those of us brought back from nothing have risen once again We see it in her moonlit eyes, a fury held at bay A battle waiting in the ashes, to resume another day And as we disappear into the shadows, we fill their souls with dread We fight tonight to rule tomorrow, and a dark day lies ahead…” They sang on through the end, filling themselves and others with spirit, courage, and a determination to fight until the last breath.
“In haste, our rights are erase… All for the glory of King and Queen. Defend, the honor of our kind. All for the glory of fade and freedom… Until our last, dying breath…” A Turul General muttered.
At last, the Centaurs arrived close, and stopped for a brief moment. “Surrender now, or die!” Yelled the King. Blaze drew his swords, the others prepared their weapons in reply. “Move aside, and let us pass,” The King continued.
“Over our dead body!” Shadow yelled.
“So be it!” The Queen exclaimed. The two lines ran toward the other, and just moments later they met.
[End of Chapter 12]