Chapter 8
“Linus, we sent scouts to the location of the fire. We found three Leasath soldiers there dead. They seemed to have died from a gas bomb.” A soldier said as he reported their findings.
“So, Blaze is alive and on the run. Did you follow the tracks?” Linus asked. He knew he disregarded protocol by sending the scouts after the first fire, but he wasn’t going to lose him again.
“We did, but they ended at a waterfall. There’s a ravine before the waterfall so he had to of flown off.” The scout reported.
“Did you look around the waterfall? Did you see if there were any overhangs or caves in the vicinity?” Linus asked. He knew that the first thing Blaze would do would be to find shelter in a cave of some sort. And if one was near the waterfall, he would be pretty well protected.
“We are proceeding with that as we speak. They will report their findings by the end of the day. Linus, if I might ask, I noticed that while you were fighting the Gorner, he turned into Luna. I overheard him say something about your love for her. I don’t mean to sound like I’m prying, but I wanted to know if you had feelings for her.” The scout asked.
“Rook, I’ve known you for a long time now. I trust you as a friend and as a soldier. But…I would rather not talk about stuff like that right now. We need to find Blaze.” Linus said. He didn’t want to discuss his feelings at the moment.
“I understand Linus. I lost Starbolt in Baltimare. Don’t worry. We’ll find Blaze. And Luna will be fine. She’s the sister of Celestia.” Rook said.
Yea. And now she’s dead. Linus thought to himself. He didn’t doubt Luna’s magical ability, but Chrysalis killed her sister. “Yea you’re right. Anyways, I would like to see this waterfall. Maybe there’s a clue of where he’s at.” Linus said. “You say you saw two pairs of tracks heading to the ravine?”
“That’s right. Neither were soldiers though. The hoofprints were too shallow. Blaze must’ve found somepony who was in trouble.” Rook said.
Linus laughed. “That sounds like Blaze. Always seems to find trouble. Well we might as well move on then and see what kind of trouble he’s into now.”
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Blaze slowly drifted awake. He heard rushing water. He could barley make out the stalagmites in the dim light of the cave. Blaze slowly lifted his head off of the ground and stood up. He could walk, this time without any pain. How? Yesterday I crashed into the cave because of my burns. He walked toward the entrance where the waterfall was. He heard voices and instinctively hid behind the rocks. After a while he realized it was Cadence talking. Blaze calm down. You’ve been getting jumpy lately he thought to himself. He turned the corner and saw a familiar face. “Linus? How did you find us here?” Blaze asked in delight as he walked toward the two.
“Well don’t think it was me. I’m terrible at tracking. It was all Rook. He’s the one who figured it out.” Linus replied. “That was one hell of an explosion you set on them. It screwed up my communicuff.” Linus said as he held up his damaged cuff. “Yea sorry about that. But I figured they deserved a big boom. Would’ve been bigger too if I could guarantee you and your teams safety. I see you met Cadence.” Blaze added. “I know you guys are having a great chat out here, but I have some questions for Cadence. Most involve what happened while you were imprisoned.” He said looking at her broken horn.
“I guess you’ll learn eventually. Let’s take a seat in the cave. Tomorrow we can go to the camp.” She took a seat in front of both Linus and Blaze.
“After Shining Armor and I defeated Chrysalis during her first attempt to take over Canterlot, We started getting threats. We ignored them for a while, until we got one from Chrysalis herself. It had her insignia on it. She warned of an attack. A war that would ravage the land. We brought it to Princess Celestia and she put the guard on high alert. After 2 years with no sign of the changelings, the guard was put out of high alert. Most forgot about Chrysalis and her threat. But, I believe that was her plan. Make us forget so we wouldn’t be ready. After a few months, the skies above Canterlot grew dark with the Leasath.
“We were unprepared. She struck major cities, striking fear into their citizens. When Chrysalis herself arrived at Canterlot, I knew that Canterlot would fall. I told Princess Celestia and Princess Luna about what I feared. They told me to gather the civilians and evacuate them. Shining Armor was busy fighting the changelings off with the guard. I left with the civilians I could find. I haven’t heard from him since. I thought he may be dead. But he’s alive. I took the civilians to Fillydelphia, the one place that had been able to fight off Chrysalis’ army. We were safe for a few weeks. But then, she came. She came and destroyed the entire city. Leveled it to the ground. She killed everypony. Every pony I had saved, died by her will.
“She found me, and brought me to a prison. She wanted to know where Luna was, where the Elements of Harmony were, where any survivors were. But I didn’t tell her anything. She broke my horn because I wouldn’t tell her where the Aureolian’s camp was at. I had no clue. No matter what I said she would have gone there, and then killed me when she realized I sent her in a false direction. I was moved to the camp you guys attacked 2 months ago. While I was there, I heard rumors, stories from the guards who would patrol our cells. They spoke of Shining Armor. He hadn’t given up any information about Canterlot. They wanted us dead though. For defeating Chrysalis all those years ago. I’ve been imprisoned, tortured, for 40 years. I want to see Shining Armor again. I want to see Chrysalis pay for what she has done.” Cadence explained as tears ran down her cheek.
“I’m so very sorry. About everything. We will get Shining Armor back. And we will kill Chrysalis. She’s killed more ponies in her first year on the throne than the Brotherhood did in Nova’s Return where 3,000,000 ponies were killed in a 20 year conflict. Chrysalis is a deadly creature. There are only 2.5 million ponies left on Equestria because of her. We were 150 million strong before she arrived! Payback, Cadence, will be so sweet.” Blaze said with a fire in his eye.
“Blaze, you should get some sleep. We’re going to go straight to the camp tomorrow and you need to rest.” Linus told him.
“You’re right. Besides I could use a good nights sleep. Oh and Linus? What happened to my burns? They’re gone. It feels like I never had them before.” Blaze asked. He knew Linus wasn’t a healer, and with Cadence unable to use her horn to cast spells, there was no absolute way that the burns could be gone.
“They’re not gone, per say, simply numbed down and treated. You know the supplies we raided? Well it turns out they had barrels and barrels of burn cream. You are getting ponies very paranoid with your bombs.” Linus said with a grin.
“Ah I see. But won’t they return?” Blaze asked. If they returned in mid flight, it would be a long way down. “And why does my wing feel completely fixed? It doesn’t hurt or anything.”
“There was a manual in one of the crates. Linus brought it with him and helped me mend your wing. You can now fly with perfect control, balance, and precision.” Cadence said.
“Thank you. Both of you. We all need sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.” Blaze said.
They all got up early and had a poor excuse of a breakfast meal. Blaze and Cadence stayed close to the ground for Linus’ sake. “You know, there are times when I really wished I was a Pegasus. And then I realize, I hate heights!” Linus said with a smirk. “Now, how about a race? Which is faster? Earth Pony, or Pegasus. Cadence, you can be the judge. You’re faster than both of us when you fly. So what’s the distance? A mile? Two miles? Name it!” Linus said. He hadn’t had a race in years.
“Two miles! I can easily beat you!” Blaze boasted.
“Prove it then.” Linus said.
They shot off with Cadence flying ahead to mark the two-mile point. Blaze had a good lead on Linus, but halfway he caught up with him. “You’re going to have be faster if you want to win.” Linus said as he zoomed ahead.
“Hey Linus? You want to know something about us Pegasi?” He shouted as he zoomed up to Linus. “We never lose.” He sped past him and reached the finish line before Linus even noticed what had happened.
“Nice flying Blaze. I’ve only seen one pony who can fly that fast. She flew on my wedding day.” Cadence said. A small tear ran down her cheek. “She was the best flyer in all of Equestria. I don’t know even know if she is still alive.” Rainbow Dash. The stories about her were legendary. She joined the army after Fillydelphia was destroyed. “Hey, let’s get you to Princess Luna alright? She can get you caught up on everything that’s happened.” Blaze said trying to comfort her. Linus finally reached the finish line, out of breath. “Ok Blaze. You win round one. But next time, I choose the distance.” Blaze only smiled. Cadence gave a light laugh. “How much farther are we from camp?” She asked. “About 5 miles. I sent my team ahead of me. They put markers every 5 miles for me. See that ‘L’ on the tree? They are meant to be lightly brushed on so they can’t be tracked by any unwanted parties.” Linus explained.
“Sounds simple enough.” Blaze said. “Let’s get going. I want to get ready for the next attack.” Blaze always wanted to know who to attack. Not like Hex who only talked about battle, but he always had to be in the loop. “Cadence, Luna is going to be so happy to know you are all right.” Linus said with a smile.