//------------------------------// // Part Two: Tragedy and Betrayal // Story: Winter Moon Rising // by Gloominosity //------------------------------// It had been a week since the official war declarations had been made between the three pony tribes, but an attack had yet to happen. King Tellurium had met with his counsel several times, Platinum constantly by his side. The scholars and wizards were working together to create new spells that would aid in the fight against both the earth ponies and pegasi. Cobalt had been denied access to any of these meetings, but he was able to eavesdrop using the secret passageways and hidden doors that his grandfather had built into the castle. After the week of silence and anticipation crawled by, the unicorns were finally ready to put the first step of their plan into action. They would begin by sending a magical plague that would only affect the livestock on the earth pony farms, not the ponies or the crops at all. The unicorns were only concerned with the fruit and vegetables, and had no use for other resources such as milk, butter, or fleece. All of their clothes were made magically from a variety of abundant materials. Cobalt was able to keep his conscious guilt-free by telling himself that the plague would not affect the ponies, and therefore not affect Dahlia, the mare that he had decided was his friend. It might have been wrong to consider a lowly earth pony mare as a friend, but he had never felt this kind of kinship with another pony before. The only unicorn he knew well enough was his sister, and she was much too strict and focused on politics to get along with. And so, Dahlia Dawn was his friend, whether she agreed with it or not. When the time did come for the second step, almost three weeks after the declarations, Cobalt knew he could not stay idle any longer. That night, unicorn soldiers would march on to the earth pony kingdom and set fire to a quarter of the earth pony farms, not caring if there was anypony still in the fields or within the barns. To Cobalt, it seemed foolish to destroy a quarter of the resources that they desperately needed, but Platinum told him it would all be worth it. If they could get the earth ponies to surrender the rest of their farmland, she was confident they would be able to build a fortress around it and keep the pegasi out. Without having to worry about the hungry pegasi or earth ponies, there would be enough food to feed every hungry unicorn. Any of those farms could be Dahlia’s. He didn’t know the earth pony kingdom, he had had never been there, so what chance was there that Dahlia would be killed in the attack? He guessed it was something around a twenty-five percent chance, but then again, math had never been his strongest subject. Who knew if Dahlia even lived on a farm? Or if she lived in Chancellor Hambone’s estate with her friend Amaryllis? Could he accept a one-in-four chance of his friend being killed? The deal was sealed when his sister confided that they also planned to attack the Chancellor’s estate itself. The unicorns were launching an all out attack against the earth ponies, and with it, an assassination attempt on Chancellor Hambone. Cobalt’s hooves were tied. He had to find a way to get the news to Dahlia. He had to make sure she was safe. The moon has been suspended in the sky for over three weeks now. In that time, a day had not dawned. He wondered if the earth pony crops could survive without sunlight, and if his father had even considered that. Despite the constant moon, Cobalt knew the nighttime was just beginning. One of the unicorn counselors had somehow built a time-telling contraption that would tick once for each minute. When sixty minutes had passed, it would chime a certain number of times. He didn’t understand how it worked, but he could distantly hear it chime seven times. It was time to go. He pulled a cloak around his shoulder and trotted out of his bedroom chambers, heading down the spiraling stairs and down a hallway. Just a he reached the grand entrance, a passing scribe called his name. “Your highness!” the scribe trotted up to him, levitating an envelope. “This was to be delivered to you from the far reaches of our kingdom. I’ve been instructed to warn you that no pony has yet read this letter and that it could be dangerous, what with the war going on.” Cobalt took the letter and thanked the scribe, then hurried on his way. He soon forgot about it, as Dahlia was the only thing on his mind. He left the castle far behind him and pulled the cloak over his head, hiding his face...and his horn. When he reached the edge of the kingdom, he trotted through the gate without a greeting to the guards. He doubted they even noticed his presence. No pony was foolish enough to attack the Unicorn Kingdom. It was a long trot to the earth ponies’ land, but there was no doubt that he would make it there before the army, and the attack was not scheduled to take place for several hours. He would make it in time to save her. He had to. After what seemed like an eternity of trotting, he finally reached the outer edges of the earth pony kingdom. He had no idea what time it was, as the moon was frozen in time at the peak of the sky, but his hooves ached like they never had before. The first farmhouse came into view with a lantern hanging from the porch. It’s light cast a warm glow onto the front lawn. Cobalt trotted up to it and looked in the window of the house. It was a cozy little home with rickety, hoof-made furniture, but there was nopony inside. Of course there wouldn’t be, everyone would be asleep. He left the house behind him and continued down the dirt pathway. How was he supposed to find Dahlia in this entire tribe? There had to be hundreds more farms in this part of the land alone. Perhaps the best place to look was Chancellor Hambone’s estate. If she wasn’t there, maybe someone would be able to point him in the right direction. Cobalt wandered down the path, passing farm upon farm along the way. The plowed fields were slowly replaced by orchards. Then abruptly, the trees and the dirt path ended, creating a near perfect line. This couldn’t be the end of the Earth Pony Kingdom, could it? He looked down at his hooves and found that he was now standing in a field of flowers. Flowers weren’t the only thing in this field either. There were trees, some sort of fruit tree that he thought he had never seen before. It was difficult to tell what kind of tree it was in the pale moonlight. Past the trees, atop a hill, stood a building. A large building with a stone base and wood frame, lit by dozens of lanterns on poles surrounding the exterior. This wasn’t the end of the Earth Pony Kingdom at all. It was the heart, the center. This was the building that his father was planning to burn down in an attempt to kill the Chancellor. After making sure that his cloak’s hood covered his head, he slowly trotted through the flowers and fruit trees to the Chancellor’s Estate. There was light coming from the windows, shadows moved back and forth within the room inside. Cobalt ducked and sat down under a window, listening in to the discussion happening on the other side. He recognized Chancellor Hambone, Puddinghead, and the Chancellor’s daughter’s voices. “The unicorns attacked our livestock two weeks ago,” the Vice Chancellor was reciting. “The pegasi have yet to make any true threats against us.” “Maybe they’ve given up?” Hambone suggested with a nervous laugh. There was a snort, a familiar snort, but whoever made it did not speak up. “I don’t think so,” Amaryllis replied. “The unicorns think they’re better than us. They won’t back down until they prove it. Why don’t we attack them back, father? We have the army. Why are we hiding it from them?” “It’s not the time,” Puddinghead argued. “If we show them our army now, we lose the element of surprise.” Cobalt peeked his head over the windowsill to look into the room. Amaryllis was standing by the door, glaring at her father. Chancellor Hambone and Vice Chancellor Puddinghead were seated on opposite ends of a long table. Smart Cookie was there as well, though she had remained quiet all this time. Beside the door, stood a silent mare with a pale blue coat and a sunset mane. She caught the movement outside the window and locked eyes with Cobalt. Her glowering expression turned surprised before she quickly covered it with indifference. “Excuse me,” she said softly to the group, then turned and trotted out. Cobalt ducked below the window again and crawled over to hide in the shadows under one of the mysterious fruit trees. Dahlia stormed out the building, the dim lantern light illuminating her coat. She looked around in confusion before Cobalt waved at her. “What are you doing here?” she growled as she trotted to join him under the tree. “Someone might see you!” “Dahlia, please listen to me. You can’t go back in there. You have to get out of here.” “What are you talking about?” “My father’s army is attacking your kingdom tonight. You have to leave.” She stared at him. “Cobalt, why did you come here?” He looked down at his hooves, unable to meet her eyes. “I had to make sure you were safe.” “I’m an earth pony.” “You’re my friend.” Dahlia fell silent and looked away. “Earth ponies and unicorns can’t be friends. That’s how it has always been, and it’s even more true now that we’re at war.” “I don’t care how it’s always been. Maybe earth ponies aren’t so bad. I only hated you before because I thought it was your fault that we were starving. But it’s not. It’s ours. We could help you to farm, so that there’s enough harvest to feed all of us. You could teach us.” “It’s too late for that now. How long until the unicorn army is here?” Cobalt scratched his head. “I don’t know, but they’re planning on attacking the Chancellor’s Estate. And killing everyone inside it. Please don’t go back in there. Come with me, I’ll keep you safe.” “I have to warn Chancellor Hambone…” She shook her head. “He won’t believe me. You have to warn him. Tell him you’re a unicorn spy.” “They all met me at the negotiations. He knows I’m Tellurium’s son.” Dahlia stomped a hoof. “You’re right. They wouldn’t believe the prince of the unicorns.” “I didn’t leave much earlier than them, and I wasted a lot of time looking for y-” He stopped abruptly and grabbed Dahlia’s hoof, pulling her against the trunk of the fruit tree. In the darkness, there was light. Hundreds of pinpricks of light. If Cobalt hadn’t known what they were, he might have believed it was some magical occurence or hundreds of pixies, but he did know what they were. Unicorns. An army of them, each carrying their own torch. They were here to set fire to the earth pony kingdom. “No!” Dahlia screamed, tearing her hoof away from Cobalt. Before he could stop her, she galloped back into the building. He could hear her from even this far away, shouting at everyone that there was a unicorn army on the move, and heading right this way. From his hiding place under the tree, he saw Vice Chancellor Puddinghead press her cheek to the window and look out over the dark landscape. Her eyes went wide and she shouted something to the Chancellor. Cobalt waited for Dahlia to return, but she didn’t. Earth ponies spilled out of the estate. Vice Chancellor Puddinghead was leading a parade of earth pony soldiers towards the oncoming unicorns. “Charge!!” she screeched in her high-pitched voice. The unicorns responded by lighting the nearest farms on fire, then charging into battle. As the two tribes clashed, a group of unicorns broke away from the battle, galloping to the building at the top of the hill. “Light!” the leader of the group shouted. The unicorns still carrying their torches threw them at the building. The straw roof immediately caught on fire. Cobalt watched the flames for a moment, frozen in place. He could feel the heat from this far away. Dahlia was still in there. His only instinct was to save Dahlia. He didn’t care that he could die in the fire just as easily as an earth pony could. She was all that mattered. Cobalt galloped for the window that he had been watching the Chancellor through and leaped straight at the glass. It shattered as he jumped through the window frame, thousands of glass shards cutting him as he landed inside the counsel room. The room was filled with smoke. The fire had already spread to consume everything, including the table and chairs. He stumbled backward, holding a foreleg over his eyes. “Dahlia!” he shouted. There was no reply and he could barely see anything. Only fire and smoke. The heat was nearly unbearable and he could already feel it singeing his coat. “Dahlia!” he screamed again, somehow making his way to the door and looking out into a large entranceway. “Dahlia, where are you?!” There were dozens of ponies in the room, several were still alive and trying to find a way out, but the doorway had caved in, leaving only the windows. “This way!” screamed a voice. A mare with a pale blue coat galloped from out of a branching hallway and over to a window. She turned on her front hooves and bucked her hind hooves straight in the middle of the glass, which shattered upon contact. Dahlia waved the trapped ponies through the window, then fell to her knees, coughing. Cobalt galloped over. “Dahlia! There’s unicorn soldiers all over that side of the building. You have to come this way!” “Co-“ she broke off into a fit of coughing. Her face was covered in dirt. “Why did you come in here?!” “I’m not going to let you die in here! I came here to save you and I will!” He grabbed her foreleg, pulling her to her hooves. “Let’s go!” She leaned against him, barely able to stand on her own. Cobalt wrapped a foreleg around her shoulders and helped her back into the counsel room. The window was so close that he could smell the fresh air. The flames were unbearable and out of control. His coat was blistering under the immense heat. Dahlia crumpled to the ground with a groan. “Dahlia, come on! We’re so close!” He dragged her over to the window. She didn’t say anything. Her eyes were closed. “Dahlia!” he screamed, picking her up and fumbling to check her pulse. He turned to look at the window. Cobalt levitated her body as high as he could, but he was much too weak to pick her up more than a few inches. It was enough to get her limp body onto his back. He backed up a few hoofsteps, holding on to her with as much magic as he could muster. Then he pushed off and galloped forward before leaping clean through the window and collapsing in the grass. He could hear the sounds of battle from the other side of the estate, but he knew that this place would not be safe much longer. Him and Dahlia needed to find somewhere safe, and he doubted any of the earth ponies would let a wounded unicorn carrying a limp earth pony into their home. “Dahlia?” he whispered, taking her face in his hooves. “Are you alright?” She didn’t move, not even a twitch. Cobalt took a deep breath and dragged her away from the burning building. It would only be a matter of time until the grass and trees surrounding the estate would catch on fire too. He lifted Dahlia in his magical field again and slid her body onto his back. She would be alright when he found a safe place to take care of her. Without the slightest clue where he was going, he weakly trotted away from the estate. Every now and then he would stumble and almost fall, but the thought of Dahlia laying limp on his back kept him going. He hadn’t slept in over a day, he had been too worried about the attack on the earth ponies. Cobalt left the Earth Pony Kingdom and headed into a forest surrounding, looking for a hidden place to rest. He finally came across a cave and gently set Dahlia down near the entrance, ripping off his cloak and collapsing in a heap beside her. Only after he had made sure she was safe did he start to feel the itching, burning pain covering his whole body. He looked over himself and found several burns, but the ones covering Dahlia were much more severe. He couldn’t worry about himself when she was clearly in far worse shape than he was. Cobalt forced himself to sit up and looked over Dahlia’s body, locating the worst burns and performing a soothing spell. It wouldn’t heal the burns - that would take time - but it would help her be in far less pain. Exhausted and weak, he laid down beside her and closed his eyes. She was finally safe and he could let himself rest.