//------------------------------// // A Day in the War // Story: Triple Threat // by Violet Mist //------------------------------// Up on the cold snowy mountains of the North, one could only hope that amidst the chaos and violent ways of the three pony tribes would eventually ease the unrelenting cold front. It wasn't always this way. At one time, all three nations were once united as one. At the time, most ponies thought the peace would last for thousands of moons. Then it happened, and nopony knew how. Some said it was the still boiling hot hate of the ponies’ ancestors that came back to finish the job. Others say it was simply the distrust between the tribes in the first place that caused such a horrific split in unity. But even if it was one theory or another, one thing is certain: This means war. The Pegasi, who are known as the imperialistic tribe of the three, are determined to gain just the slightest edge in the conflict. The unicorns, with their princess who can't keep her mouth shut. Sooner or later, she's gonna say something that will cost she and her intelligent tribe of magic users the upper hand in the war. Now we have the earth ponies, who are just simply fighting for the freedom and friendship any other pony desperately needs. But each side has a major flaw. The first to exploit each of them will undoubtedly win the war and restore their standards over the solid terrain of Equestria. The question is… Who will be the first to strike? Will it be the intimidating and strong military of the Pegasi, the determination and good-minded might of the earth ponies, or the clever and powerful magic of the intelligent unicorns? •=+=• A magnificent young unicorn mare stood behind her brilliantly crafted wooden desk as her stallion cousin stood directly across from her on the other side of the desk. But this wasn't an ordinary mare, same with her cousin—this was Princess Platinum Gem, another pony of royalty from the lasting Platinum Royal Line. Her cousin was the well-known archmage known as Borealis the Blue. Both of the unicorns were engaged in heated glares as they stood there, motionless. “...this is a very bad idea. I don't care if it's ‘just a precaution.’ If we take the steps, they will automatically assume we intend to use these plans.” The princess scoffed. As she said the words with a confident and stern tone, she seemed to raise her head even higher. Another feat of the spoiled but clever unicorn tribe leader. Borealis was well-aware of this. If the princess wanted to convince him, it would be with ACTUAL logic. “Come now, Borealis. Is it normal for those who participate in magic to experiment? And if the worst were to happen, then these experiments would benefit to our cause and ultimately sheave the entire world!” The princess continued. Borealis could feel his anger boil up in his chest. By now, it was ready to burst. “Starswirl the Bearded is rolling over in his grave right now just for the mere fact that you have mentioned such a thing… We would only need maximum magic capacity in that particular area in order to commit genocide! I know for a fact that we are the leading race in Equestria, if not the world. Without our extreme magical abilities, the other tribes would not survive very long… and I'm having trouble believing that you will not use the facts that we would have such magic as an excuse to… to cut your losses and attempt to exterminate the other races like animals! Not to mention the college. They will object and would tell surrounding farmers and such other guilds. And with that, the guilds would assume we are plotting some kind of ‘final solution.’ Long story short, my cousin… No!” The archmage explained in a dominant tone of voice. In response, the princess scrunched her nose and clenched her jaw, leaning closer. “I can order you to do it…” She replied, hoping to scare her cousin. But the great archmage didn't budge. “And I can murder everypony in this room…” He countered, also leaning closer. His horn was faintly glowing the dark blue color of his eyes as he narrowed them upon the princess’s. However, the sudden movement of a pony behind the princess reminded him that the unicorn general, Crimson Mist, was still in the room. He clearly was on guard now. Mist was extremely loyal to the princess and would even rather have himself killed than the annoying cousin of Borealis. The general did not take the talk of the threat lightly. After a small session of staring, the princess raised her hoof to symbol everything was fine, and General Mist relaxed just a LITTLE bit. Borealis relaxed as well. He was used to this. The two cousins often talked like this to each other, so it wasn't exactly a first. The princess sighed. “Borealis, all I'm asking is that you develop a spell that will allow us to control the weather and the plants without the fear of failure. If this war ends with those petty races digging their hooves in the dirt and us being forced to kill them if they don't obey… it's not our fault. It's there's. We want things to be returned to their natural ways. If they would rather have the entire world perish, then it is time to prepare. All we need is to make sure the weather and farming guilds could be replaced. I am not asking you to research on how to kill the other tribes. I just want that safety net!” Platinum Gem told her cousin with a cold stare. Borealis grumbled but eventually nodded. “I will take it under consideration… however, I have much work to do at this time, and the nobles want another ball. You go do what you do best and I will do what I do best. If I can find a way to appease this urge of yours, I will. But, I will not risk the other two tribes turning on us at one time! We must let them see each other as more of an enemy than they see us. This is CRUCIAL to our survival.” He told the princess. She smiled slightly and nodded. “That is all I ask of you, cousin. Thank you very much for having this chat with me.” She replied. Then she looked over at the general as he stood to attention. “Come on, General! I need a new dress! We are going shopping!” The princess said, trotting outside. Crimson Mist slowly made his way to the door but made sure Borealis felt his flaming glare. It was well-known throughout the kingdom that if the princess were to die, the archmage would take control. However, it was General Mist’s job as the honor guard to die before the princess were to fall. He was not very keen on the intentions of those others. As a result, he was more suspicious of all, especially to those who benefit from the death of the princess. Before the door closed, Crimson stuck his head out the doorway, his deep red eyes laid over the archmage. “Study well, Blue… don't keep the princess waiting!” And with that, Borealis the Blue was now alone inside the princess’s office. •=+=• The great Emperor Breezescar sat on his throne, waiting. The Pegasus leader was not in a good form, and he knew it would only get worse. His age was weakening him, chipping at his bones and muscles thus limiting his every movement. One thing was certain, though he did not want to think about it: the emperor was slowly dying, his age withering at his heartless soul. But there was only one thing he cared about other than the determination to win the war. He smiled. “...and there she is,” He said in a slightly hoarse voice. His hoof gestured toward the young Pegasus mare that had just entered the throne room. It was none other than the future empress of the Pegasi: Zephyr Song. “I told you she was beautiful, Gallam… My dear! Come over and meet our most powerful ally.” The emperor continued. Zephyr slowly trotted over before coming to a halt and stood confidently before the powerful gryphon. Despite her rather small form, her stance was perfect, with her father's words of advice ringing in her ears: ‘When you meet a gryphon, a first impression success is key. It's all about the first impression for them. If you succeed, they will know the strength within you and learn to respect you over time. If failure comes, however, all will know you are weak! You will always know when you are under the stern gaze of a gryphon. When they lay their eyes upon you, you will feel a strong sensation within you. That is the piercing of their eyesight. They will scan you for your weaknesses and strengths. Stand proud as a future leader for our great Pegasus tribe! They all depend on you to gain a higher position in society, even if it means gaining an ally or two!’ Zephyr now believed her father’s word. The High Talon stood next to the emperor, staring into the young mare’s eyes like piercing daggers. The gryphon scanned for even the smallest flaw in her confident posture. The smallest dent of armor, the slightest hesitation in her step, or the indication of any kind of childhood injury pointing out her young age: it all mattered. The exact moment the gryphon’s eyes closed, Zephyr saw nothing that showed the High Talon saw or suspected a thing. When his eyes reopened, Zephyr no longer felt the daggers being sent into her body. She now felt the warmth of the gryphon’s relaxed gaze. Now the High Talon was only looking for the strengths and positive aspects of the emperor’s daughter. And he smiled. “Greetings on behalf of the entire empire. We are pleased to have you as our precious guest of honor.” Zephyr told the gryphon with extreme stability, bowing softly. She turned to her father, who was beaming emotions of pride down at his daughter. But much to her displeasure, his face contained the emotion of content relief. Pain boiled up inside of her stomach but she maintained the negative thoughts to herself. It wasn't enough for her to be the old emperor’s daughter. She had to be perfect in every trait. And she believed she was, and thought her father had the same thought in mind as well. Never once did the future empress fail her father. Even with all the relief on his face, Breezescar was still very proud of his young daughter. But to Zephyr, that's all she thought was inside of him. She doubted that he even would have known her name if the honor guard hasn't spoke to the emperor about it every time she appeared. To Breezescar, there was only the expectation to be perfect. Despite all the rough feelings Zephyr received she looked up at her father as a smile curled across her lips. “Now, what can we do to make this magnificent empire even greater today?” •=+=• “DEMIGRYPHS!” Havjaar’s voice echoed through the farm fields implanted in the valley. Every wingless gryphon raised their heads and listened closely. So did all the earth ponies, but there was not as much of them rather than the gryphons. Havjaar, with a strong surge of confidence in his voice and chest, spoke again. “Clans leader Iron Stud has assigned us this task. The Pegasus Empire reaches the village at noon. The filthy brutes want to take the hard-accomplished harvest you earth ponies all have been growing here. They claim it is their right! With the help of our earth pony friends here, we must make sure this does not happen… we, however, are here for a different reason fellow gryphons. It's true the clan's leader has tasked me with ensuring this village’s safety, but you were all here because the dirty tyrant High Talon Gallam has sent his honor guard to accompany the legion that comes for the glorious harvest. It is a show of alliance between the corrupted Pegasi and the tyrannical and greed-filled rule of Gryphos! We are here for that honor guard… not one of us will fall to gryphon steel this day. For every blood-stained and crushed helmet that once topped a honor guard’s head that I see before me by the end of the today… is yet another week the demigryph who presented me the gift earns double rations. Our earth pony comrades will fight tough today alongside us, but know this, the debts of honor that is owed to us cannot be paid by even the blood of the High Talon, their sins will not and never will be forgotten. Us demigryphs live long lived and remember much. We will hold our grudges until the end. And we shall fight against our dreaded enemies and honor our blood oaths until we breathe our last breath of life! Come now, brothers. Noon is almost upon us and our blades are thirsty for blood. Stand tall and show the ponies the honor that flows through every demigryph’s veins!” Havjaar raised his battle axe as the demigryphs roared and readied for the battle to begin. Diamond Dust and Ice Dust, earth pony twins, scoffed. “I can get the other ponies riled up if I wanted to…” Diamond complained. Ice smirked. “You could, if you were even loud enough to be heard by even the ponies in the front…” He replied. As a response, Diamond growled and smacked Ice over the head lightly with her sheathed blade. He chuckled and panned his eyes over the horizon with a smile on his face. “It is time, sister. Here they come.”