//------------------------------// // Intermission 3: The Tale Continues // Story: Silent Ponyville: Duet Of Sorrow // by KillerSteel //------------------------------// Twilight paces back and forth in front of the monitors, giving quick glances to them. What was with that image that popped up, and why hadn’t anything like it appeared in the past? The picture was still clearly burned into her mind, despite 20 minutes of pacing in deep thought. “How long are you gonna do that? You’re starting to dig a trench.” Loki says, sitting in the middle of the lit circle, having calmed down from the trauma. “I’ll keep doing it until I can explain what just happened. Keeping the blood flowing helps me think.” Twilight says back, not breaking her pacing. “Anything coming to mind then?” “Well…something might if I knew what to relate that to, but Dash has never mentioned anything to me that could point to what I saw…I’ve got nothing.” Twilight sighs, her pacing still going but slowing down. “Well, think of the image, at least. What was it?” Loki asks, holding her knees and leaning forward, watching Twilight go back and forth. “It was a city, but the buildings were made of stone and concrete, not wood like Ponyville…did you see it too?” “I did, yeah. She was crying blood and howling at the sky…still chilling when I think about it.” Loki shivers, closing her eyes tight to try and push the image out of her mind. “Rainbow Dash sitting in the middle of a crowd of dead bodies…burning buildings…it was dark out but I know I saw sand dunes off in the distance…was that something random?” Twilight finally stops her pacing to rub her chin, then sets off on her path again. “I…I don’t know where that would be.” Loki says quietly, tapping her index fingers together. ‘That city was Tavin…but it was levelled, we saw it happen…’ She thinks, Twilight turning towards her. “I think I know where it was. There’s only one major desert within flying distance for a Pegasus, and that’s Mira Desert. But it doesn’t explain the buildings…that place hasn’t been inhabited for three hundred years…the Eastern War saw a full retreat from the enemy, and they fled across the desert, never being heard from again.” “I lived in the desert.” Loki speaks up. “Yes, but that was a small tribe with a couple of shacks, tents, and storage cellars. This was a fully developed city with a large population! It doesn’t make sense…” Twilight sits down, wracking her brain over it. How could a large city with so many living in it exist in Mira without her knowing about it? Her focus may be on history and magic, but geography was always a solid subject with her. “You think a city couldn’t slip under Celestia’s radar?” Loki asks, Twilight looking over at her. “No, I don’t think a massive city in the middle of a flat desert could go ‘under the radar’ with my teacher. And she’s PRINCESS Celestia.” She scolds with a bit of a cross look, continuing her pacing. “Right, sorry…Princess Celestia, she’s only one pony, no matter how much magic she knows or how powerful she is. Omniscience isn’t possible, even for her. But why does it surprise you so much? What about the tower I talked about?” Loki asks, slowly rolling back and forth on her rear out of boredom. “I knew about the tower, that was the first reported discovery since the War. A massive green tower standing in the center of the desert…and you did mention Hemorans living there.” Twilight says, sitting down again, rubbing her left hind leg. “How long have I been pacing for?” “22 minutes, thirteen and a half seconds.” Loki says. “…Wow, that’s…wait, how did you-“ “When I’m bored, I do things like count seconds passively.” Loki cuts her off. “Impressive. Still…22 minutes straight thinking about that image…can you think of anything, Loki?” “Hmmm…I didn’t really finish my story, did I…? Since they kind of run into each other, I’ll tell the rest of it then start on that thought.” “After the day Sehn told me to wait, he packed up my things and told me to wait at the front gate, told me he’d be ready in about a half hour. Considering I had some time, I started wandering around the tower. There were Hemorans living in the tower, lots of them, all looking like they were ready for war at any moment. They talked, insulted each other, fought, joked around like a bunch of brothers and sisters…it was an eye-opener for me then. I talked with a few of them, and despite the rough welcome they gave me, some hitting me on the arm and others rubbing my head with too much push, they were all actually nice.” Loki smiles, thinking back. “Surprising, I have to say.” Twilight says, moving back over next to Loki, lying down on her belly next to her. Loki leans on Twilight again and continues with her story. Twilight fixes her gaze on the monitors, still thinking. “I met a lot of lower ranked troops there, and learned some things about them. For one, they’re all pretty well terrified of ticking off the higher ranks, and I found that kind of strange so I asked why. They explained something called the Hierarchy to me.” “Hierarchy?” Twilight raises her eyebrow, casting a quick look down to Loki before staring back at the monitors. “Their ranking structure. They base it completely off of strength and intelligence of the individual, and there’s a massive gap in power between the foot soldiers and their commanders. Some of the lowest ranks bragged about being able to take on whole bands of Royal Guard soldiers without breaking a sweat, two of them proved it by getting into a scuffle at the border…” “And they’re scared of their commanders?” Twilight widens her eyes, thinking about the kinds of monsters that could be leading such a force. “Yeah, downright frightened whenever they’re around, and it started to rub off on me when I headed for the gate. I was there about five minutes early, and Sehn was waiting there for me. ‘You’re late, kid. I said half an hour.’, he told me. I said back it had been 25 minutes, and he just shrugged in response.” “You wanna go now?” Sehn asks Loki, standing at the main gate to Headquarters, wearing his typical camos with his beret hung at his waist. Loki looks up at him, the towering figure before her, before jumping up and climbing his jacket up to his head, where she lies down on her stomach. “Ready as I’ll ever be.” She smiles. Soldiers walk by staring at Sehn and the dragon on his head. “Friend of yours, Cap’n?” One of the soldiers asks, a male with a deep red look to his spikes, white stripes running along them to the tips. He has a rather young voice, not much older than 22. “Yeah. You seen Sorale?” He asks, putting a hand on his side above his beret. “Yeah, he’s on his way now. Doesn’t seem the slightest bit shaken about you asking for ‘em though. What’re you two doing?” The soldier asks. “Ehhh, nothing you need to worry about, Sarge. Aren’t you running the grid today?” “Yep, first squad movement I’ve lead. Colonel Bravo is personally overseeing it, nervous as all Hell.” He says, the fear showing in his eyes. “Buck up, kid. He may be a gigantic ass, but he’s not gonna dock you if you do your job right. Keep the Corporals in line and everything’ll be fine, believe me. I’ve dealt with him enough to be called an expert.” Sehn says with a chuckle, a voice speaking up next to him. “An expert on me, eh?” A loud voice speaks up from the door, Sehn turning to face him with a slow salute. “Colonel, sir.” “Captain. Might I say you haven’t lived long enough to call yourself an ‘expert’ on me. I’d suggest you keep that form of comment to yourself.” “Harmless banter with the troops, sir, a joke never hurt anyone.” Sehn says with a smirk, keeping his cool demeanor. “Except you. Let’s not forget what happened last month, Captain. Sorale is on his way, should be right behind me. Finish your business with him and report to Cerberus in three hours, your guard shift is coming up.” The green hedgehog stomps past Sehn, Loki crawling backwards on his hair, trying to expand the gap between her and the Colonel. He stops. “I don’t think pets are part of protocol, soldier. What is this thing?” Bravo says, looking up at Loki. “A dragon sir, fully sentient as well. Couldn’t be much younger than Corporal Sam.” Sehn says, maintaining his salute. “Be sure to get rid of it before your shift is done, Captain. I don’t expect she’d survive long in this environment.” The Colonel shifts his head to Sarge. “And what are you looking at? You were due for first squad movements two minutes ago.” “R-Right sir! On the way now!” Sarge nearly shouts, doing a quick salute before sprinting off into the desert towards a waiting company of 20 soldiers in the distance. Colonel Bravo slowly follows behind, holding his hands behind his back, soldiers all around him quickly saluting as he passes. Loki blows a quiet raspberry at him, her brow furrowed. “Well isn’t HE just mean? How dare he speak to a lady like that…” Loki says to Sehn, keeping her voice down. “Bravo’s earned the right to act like that around here, most respected soldier in the Guard before General Trak.” Sehn says lowering his salute and watching Bravo walk off. “Still, yeah, he can get on your nerves. He sticks to the rules like tree sap sticks to your hands.” He starts walking down the ramp to the desert, passing by a bunch of chatting troops, some throwing him quick salutes while others wave at him. “Why don’t these guys all salute you?” Loki asks, looking down from Sehn’s head. “I’ve always made myself out to be the one in a million guy. So long as I can help keep all these guys alive in a fight, it’s enough, and being friends with a lot of ‘em helps teamwork in a battle, which can mean life or death most of the time.” He replies, putting his hands behind his head. A quick run behind him catches both his and Loki’s attention. “Lieutenant Sorale at your service, sir. You called for me?” The brown hedgehog quickly salutes Sehn, who simply turns to face him. “Yeah, I did. You’re off-duty today, so you and I are goin’ for a walk. We’re heading out now.” Sehn says before turning away and heading out into the sands, Sorale following close behind. “Sir…what is that on your head?” “A dragon.” Sehn replies without turning around, continuing his walk. Sorale looks up at Loki, squinting his eyes slightly, thinking. Loki looks back at him and he quickly turns away, whistling. She turns back around and grabs one of Sehn’s ears. “So, what’s the plan?” She whispers. Sehn doesn’t reply, instead he just points towards Metropolis, both Loki and Sorale looking off in that direction. “Apparently there’s an encampment of tribals who are plotting against us. We’re going to clear them out.” Sehn says with a matter-of-fact tone, Loki gasping while Sorale simply stares at him. “I’m sorry, sir? Just the two of us?” “Having doubts in your rank, Lieutenant?” Sehn says, his eyes moving to Sorale. “N-No sir, of course not. Just, it seems strange where we’re headed.” “Why’s that?” “Well, there are no tribals over there, sir…my patrol route goes around the city and-“ Sehn stops walking, now a good distance away from the base. A single battalion marches past them about three hundred meters off to the right. “Sir?” “There are tribals over there, and I’ll give you one chance to guess why.” Sehn says, turning around. Sorale looks up at the dragon again, his eyes instantly opening wide, her identity all too clear. “You!” He blurts out, stepping back, staring right into Loki’s eyes with an anger that matches hers. “Yes, me! It’s time you paid for what you did to Mommy and Daddy!” She shouts, jumping off Sehn’s head, who stares Sorale down. “Soldier, you have ten seconds to explain yourself before I beat you into an unrecognizable red stain on the sand.” Sehn says with a cold tone that would freeze your blood solid. “S-sir, she’s lying! Whatever she’s told you, it’s a lie!” “Nine.” “I swear it, I’ve only gone to that village a few times! It was purely conjugal, just to check on them!” “Eight.” “T-They…dh…” “Seven.” “Sir, you have to believe me! I swear, I had all the best intentions!” “Six, time’s ticking down, soldier…” “ALRIGHT! I admit I’ve been taking tributes from them, but it’s for the good of the army! I swear it!” Sehn stops counting, simply staring at Sorale, and he looks down at Loki. “Satisfied?” “Not even close. He had one of his goons attack Daddy!” Loki shouts with an accusing point at Sorale, Sehn taking a step forward. “You do know what we’re meant to be, right…Sorale?” Sehn hisses, his look growing more aggressive. “The Hemoran National Guard are the guardians and protectors of both Hemora and Equestria…sir, believe me, I didn’t mean for things to go like this.” Sorale sputters, backing away. Loki jumps back onto Sehn’s head, both of them staring at Sorale, and he begins to run back towards the base. Sehn easily overtakes him, sliding out in front of him and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. “What do you think you’ve been DOING, Lieutenant?!” Sehn shouts into his face, “We’re meant to be HELPING these citizens, not extorting things from them!” “B-but s-“ “DO NOT SPEAK BACK TO ME. Every one of these soldiers is respectable, and you’re meant to be their leader. Now what do you think is going to happen when this news hits the ears of everyone at the base? Eh? You don’t honestly think this was going to stay a secret, do you?” Sehn hisses into his face, their eyes inches away from each other. Sorale squints his eyes, furrows his brow, and smirks. “I expect to be a secret a little while longer…”