Tales of the Battle Foals

by Sirdubya


Empty Feelings

The blast had rocked the Battle Foals, and it took them a while to regain their senses; but when they came to, all they saw was devastation. Minutes felt like hours as the aftermath of the ice titan’s death left behind an enormous cloud of icy mist. They’re island paradise had been reduced to a localized ice age. It was freezing cold.

Zebota noticed Shrapnel vigorously digging through the remains of the behemoth. Immediately remembering what had just happened upon seeing him, he rushed over to his beast, calling for his friends to follow. After minutes of digging in the frigid air, the wooden titan finally uncovered the two carriage guards… or what was left of them.

Shrapnel gently carried their corpses away from the wreckage and lay them in front of the shocked foals. They looked as if they had been imprisoned in a freezer for centuries, their hides shriveled and hair crunchier than cereal; and their eyes… it was as if the life in them had been smothered, blackened by the sheer cold. Kickback immediately ran far to the pile of ice and heaved profusely, Quantum Tech having to go help him.

Apart from that, there was a dead silence amongst the young warriors. Greensprout started softly sobbing as she looked upon them, and Air Slash warmly put his arm around her, silently mourning them.

“We didn’t even know their names…” Spiral Galaxy muttered.

“Didn’t they… same them before…” Tidal Wave said.

“I’m sorry.” Air Slash said. “In the heat of the chaos, I… I couldn’t hear them.” He drew on of his swords and jammed it into the ground, solemnly bowing as he supported himself on it. “I’ve dishonored you two. You died a warrior’s death.”

Shadow Shroud heard something behind her and disappeared before anything could be said. Vibrant galloping could be heard seconds later, and there came the CMC joyously running towards the Battle Foals. “We did it!!” Scootaloo cheered upon their arrival, but the three were met without reciprocation.

The silence was awkward for the three fillies. “Why the long faces, y’all? We beat that varmint!” Applebloom said.

“Take a look for yourselves.” Fire Fight growled, sidestepping so that the CMC could witnessed what had been sacrificed, to which they gasped in horror.

“The… The guards!” Sweetie Belle stammered.

Turf War marched up to the them. “What in the F*** was y’all DOIN’!?!?” he bellowed, startling the fillies. “Y’all know DAMN WELL ya had a clean shot, but it only took y’all a hundred years to fire them cannons!!”

Bullseye swooped in right next to him, her eye bulging and bloodshot. “You had your signal, you had your chance, and you F***ING CHOKED!! THEY HAD TO SWOOP IN AND… and…” Her sorrow started to override her rage as tears formed in her eye.

Sweetie Belle started sobbing out of guilt. “I’m sorry… The cannons just wouldn’t light, and I don’t know why.”

“They were working just fine up until then! Honest!” Scootaloo pled.

“Reckon maybe we overworked ‘em…” Applebloom said.

“Yeah, that’s the one flaw our cannons had back then. They clogged up pretty quick if you fired them too much at once. You had to keep ‘em clean as a whistle if you didn’t want to get… awkward during a battle.” Valkyrie explained, grimacing at the deceased guards. “How’d you newbs even figure out how to fire them?”

“There was a really detailed instruction manual that basically showed us everything.” Sweetie Belle said as she wiped her eyes.

Turf War took a deep breath. “Sorry I went off on y’all. It’s just…” He turned towards the fallen guards. “They ain’t had to go out like that.”

“Yeah… That coulda been us.” Bullseye said.
Kickback was led back by Quantum Tech, still catching his breath. He happened to notice Frostbite vigorously clawing at the ground. “Watcha doin’ there, partner?”

Frostbite stopped what he doing and stepped aside to let everyone see for themselves. “What do you think?” Beside him was a shallowly dug hole in the ground. He eyed towards the deceased, hinting his intentions.

“Oh… Yes, I… I suppose we should dawdle no longer.” Quantum Tech said.

With some help from Shrapnel, Turf War, Valkyrie, and Spiral Galaxy, Frostbite was able to dig a big and deep enough hole for the two corpses which Quantum moved by channeling telekinetic magic through her railguns. She gently lowered them into the hole, and the other unicorns refilled the hole with the dirt they’d dug. They all gathered around.

All went silent as Greensprout stood before their grave. She held her hoof to her chest and closed her eyes. “It is said that with victory comes sacrifice, and today was a firm reminder. These two guards… whose names we never learned… Their last bout of courage saved our lives from certain catastrophe at the cost of their own… We thought little of them, but in the end, they were heroes. I regret that I have so little else to say, except rest in peace, brother and sister. You will be missed not only by your loved ones, but also us. We’re forever grateful to you.”

“Mad props, guys.” Valkyrie said.

“No life is without meaning, and no death is without purpose. This is the way of things.” Zebota said. Shrapnel let out a mellow howl while Kickback tipped his hat.

“We’re so sorry… We all are.” Scootaloo said.

“You’ll have hotdog eating contests in a better place…” Crazylocks said.

“Crazylocks, now is seriously not the time.” Bullseye said. A long, solemn of silence followed as they all gazed at the makeshift grave out in the cold. No seagulls were squawking, no sunlight was shining, and the only sound was a desolate wind and a deafening silence left in its wake.

Looking around, the foals saw the extent of the devastation. Their crops had been fatally smothered by the driving snow, trees were infected with icicles hanging from all over their branches and crowns, and the ruins had been further damaged by the raging blizzard as if it had centuries taken off its lifespan.

Kickback wiped some snow out of his bandana. “Well… back to square one, y’all.”

“Looks like it. Easy enough, right?” Fire Fight said.

“I’m more concerned about how we’re supposed to get back to Equestria now that…” Quantum Tech said staring at the grave once more.

“Couldn’t we just… go to sleep?” Valkyrie asked. “I was on a snooze cruise when your moon princess lady or whatever-her-name-is appeared my dream and told me to haul my butt over here. She was pretty chill.”

“You flew all that way?” Air Slash asked.

Valkyrie preened her feathers. “Like a total boss!”

“Would she even come to us when it’s not nighttime?” Tidal Wave asked.

“Didn’t one of you cause a super-mega star laser to fall from the sky? Everypony and their dog saw it.” Scootaloo.

“O-Oh… Seriously?” Spiral asked blushing a little.

“Don’t remind me…” Tidal Wave muttered. “Wait! You’re not about to ask her to do that again, are you!?”

“Actually…” Spiral said. “Let me try something else.” She focused skyward, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and lit her horn. A ring of starlight formed around her, causing the snow surrounding her to orbit in the light. Her horn then brilliantly shone, dispelling some of the overcast and showing a cluster of stars having lines of light connected between them, eventually forming the message, “Come to us, Luna.”

“Wow…” Sweetie Belle said as she and the other Crusaders stared in awe at the power of the Battle Foal’s cosmomancer.

“Pretty amazing, huh?” Tidal Wave asked as he let her stumble into him.

Spiral rubbed her head as she lean on Tidal Wave. She looked up and warmly smiled at him. “Thanks.”

Tidal Wave blushed. “S-Sure. Sorry I don’t have any water to splash around you.”

“Ehh.” Spiral leaned into his chest blushing. “Your heartbeat’s fine too.” Tidal Wave was bright red as he embraced her.

“Aww…” Applebloom cooed.

Bullseye rolled her eye. “Can we just get back inside already? I’m starting to know what frozen meals feel like.”

“Yes. Quantum and myself need to make you more blast arrows anyway.” Air Slash said.

“If enough resources survived…” Quantum said solemnly gazing upon the further ruined ruins. Without further delay, they all went back inside and hopefully into warmth.

Except for Fire Fight, who just sat there and continued to stare at the grave. It took these two guards’ sacrifice to defeat a giant, and he felt like he’d failed them. No matter how hot his fire had burned, it couldn’t do anything to prevent a tragedy.

“Aren’t you cold?” Shadow Shroud reappeared and approached him from behind. She sat down and leaned into him.

“Hey, Shroud…”

Shroud gazed at the grave with him. “Hey… Don’t feel too bad. You would’ve done the same for them, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeah, but…” Fire Fight couldn’t find the words. This wasn’t their first encounter with death, but it their most substantial.

Shroud wrapped her hoof around his. “I’m sad for them too, but this stuff just happens. You know that by now.”

“I just wish it didn’t have to happen to innocent people, even if they were military.” Fire Fight said.

“My clan and Air Slash’s are prepared to die if push comes to shove.” Shroud said.

Fire Fight turned to her. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? Seconds before the frozen world turtle made its grand entrance, you told me you hated being a Shadewalker!”

A wave of sorrow brushed over her. “I… I did, didn’t I? Never thought I’d have to spill that.”

Fire Fight gently tightened his grip on her hoof. “Shroud, I think it’s time you told me the whole truth… assuming you won’t have to kill me afterwards.”

Shroud giggled. “Don’t worry; I won’t. But… I think I’d rather everyone else heard me too.”

“Well that’s gonna be difficult at the moment.” Fire Fight said.

“Yeah… Wait here a sec.” Shroud briefly disappeared into the woods and came back with two long, straight sticks. She wrapped some loose cloth around them each and stuck them in the ground where the guards’ heads would likely be. “Wanna send them off?”

Fire Fight managed a faint smile. “Yeah.” He lit his horn, and the makeshift torches ignited. “May your weary souls find peaceful rest.”

“Hey! That’s my line.” Shroud said.

“Thought I’d do a little bit of your job for you.” Fire Fight said with a wink.

Shroud walked beside him as they approached the ruins, his magic keeping them toasty. “A gentlecolt to the end.”

“You know me so well.” Fire Fight said. He took one more glance back at the grave, thinking about what else he could’ve said to them, how sorry he was for disregarding them, how much he wanted to thank them.

As they neared the entrance, Shroud donned her mask. “Parting is such sweet sorrow.”

“Is it ever.” Fire Fight said. The two warmly embraced before the cloaked filly once again vanished from any range of perception.

*****

Entire hordes of guards marched across a plane to the north of Canterlot with Celestia and Luna at the head of it all. They were all primed and ready to face their foe, whatever form it may take. They could all feel the air around them being strangled by the inevitability of a grisly fight against a nightmare that spawned out of nowhere.

Celestia looked over and noticed her sister with a worried look about her. “Anxiety before a battle isn’t very becoming of a leader, sister.”

“Hm? Oh! Sorry.” Luna said.

Celestia chuckled. “We’ve faced greater foes in our day. This one will surely be a challenge, but we must keep our heads high. Combined strength has proven to be our ultimate weapon time and again. I have faith.”

“Truly…” Luna said. She then felt a sudden twinkle in her horn that prompted her to look up into the sky. She gasped when she saw the words, “Comes to us, Luna” written in the stars. “Sister!” She pointed to the anomaly.

Celestia looked up and was puzzled upon seeing it. “Is… there something I should know, Luna?”
Luna took a deep, regretful breath. “I know who has sent me this message. I… I must go there immediately.”

“And who is your messenger?” Celestia asked.

“The… The Battle Foals.”

“What!?” Celestia exclaimed. “Sister, how do you know this?”

“I’m afraid we’ll have to save this discussion for later. For now, I must go to them! And… I think I’ll bring Twilight and her search party with me.”

“I’d certainly hope so! Go! Waste no more time!” Celestia commanded, and Luna flew off without a moment’s hesitation.

“Your Highness! Something’s happening up ahead!” A guard shouted.

“Hm?” Celestia looked out to see an odd series of flashes lighting up the horizon. It continuously happened one flash at a time that were within seconds of each other. A moment of observation let her realize that it was rapidly approaching them.

“Weapons at the ready!” Celestia ordered. When the last flash shone right in front of their army, the solar sovereign oddly started hearing what sounded like a crying baby approaching her. Seconds later, a little fluff of pink had soared into her arms. “Flurry Heart!?”

Little Flurry was frantically wailing in her great aunt’s arms. “Oh, honey…” Celestia nuzzled the child until she calmed down some. “Goodness! You’re freezing cold!” She noticed that her little wings were slightly frostbitten. “Where’s mama and daddy?”

Flurry pointed north, and Celestia was met with the sight of an ominous blizzard brewing on the horizon with many shadows marching within it…