//------------------------------//
// Chapter Two: By The Moonlight 
// Story: Snowrunners 
// by Argonaut44 
//------------------------------//

When the branches of the trees hang low and the unknown surrounds all by the moonlight, and when the dark of night ascends from the broken bones and suffering screams it has wrought, still there is a light to be seen. Soft and pure, blinding and true, it is there. Through even the longest and darkest of nights, it will be there.   

Snow trickled down from above, blanketing the trees of the northern forests in sheets of pure white. For months now, the wildlife of the forest had, for the most part, all scattered out of fear of the rowdy havoc and environmental destruction reaped by the war. Because of this, there was little sound in the forest that morning with the exception of the wind, and the snowbound hoofsteps of two exhausted ponies. From the branches of the trees, sharp fingers of frozen ice clung steadily, dangling precariously over the snowladen ground below. 
The snow had come down heavy all through the night, finally letting up by the morning. The sun was completely hidden behind the great looming grey clouds, which tugged and wrestled with one another for dominance of the sky. Deep rumbles of thunder shook the forest from far away in the mountains, where a storm had been brewing for days. The distant sounds of cannonfire had dimmed, and a temporary, ominously quiet sense of peace seemed to have descended around the woods. 
Throughout that night, Guardian Angel had been thinking of the words of a poem she was loosely familiar with, having learned and analyzed it in high school for an essay contest. She was terribly afraid, trotting through evil stalks of slithering darkness, and to try and comfort herself she read the words in her head, until it became all she could possibly think about. Her companion in the dark snowy trek, Silver Saber, simply took the route of repressing her doubts, in an effort to stay focused and avoid any clumsy mistakes.
 
After traveling all night through the forest without stopping, by the next day’s morning Guardian and Silver had finally reached the point where they absolutely required a rest. 
Guardian gave out first, collapsing beside a tree right atop a small hill of powdery snow. She sunk down against the bark of the tree, gasping for breath, letting her duffel bag slide off her shoulders into the snow. Silver stayed standing, frantically glancing around the forest in every direction to make sure they weren’t too exposed out in the open. 
“I don’t know if here’s a good place to stop…” Silver said, cautiously. She would have loved a break more than anything, but not if it meant risking their lives. 
“Just for a moment…” Guardian said, catching her breath. Her muscles were exhausted, both from the long trek and the heavy pack she had to carry around with her. 
After a series of endless panting, Guardian took one more deep breath, trying her best to recover as quickly as possible. She reached into her bag and retrieved the map of the area that Colonel Splinter had equipped her with. The map was slightly tattered and bent after being stuffed inside her already-cramped duffel bag all night. She laid it out flat on the surface of a nearby rock that jutted out from the snow, while Silver subtly leaned against a tree to relieve some of the stress on her legs and back. She was just as tired as Guardian, though didn’t think it wise for both of them to sit down at the same time and be too vulnerable. This was supposed to be extremely hostile territory, after all.
They had yet to find a sign of anypony else since they had first left the camp, to their relief. Their only company was the trees, standing over them like giants, reaching up towards the clouds above with dark leaves and thin fingers of wood. 
“Here...We’ve made a good few miles,” Guardian said, pointing at the map at where she believed they were. 
“Time?” Silver asked, after taking a gulp of her canteen. 
“We’re doing fine, I think. We should keep going a little bit farther north...This time we’ll set up camp for the night,”  Guardian said, picking herself up after a considerable effort. 
“You know, we probably should’ve discussed this,” Silver said, feeling as though they had yet to properly acknowledge their situation. 
“There’s nothing much to discuss, is there,” Guardian replied dismissively, picking up the map, folding it, and stuffing it back into her bag. She was too stressed to have an argument right now, especially with the famously stubborn Silver Saber. 
“We’ve only just started, Silver. The worst you can complain about is how heavy these stupid packs are, and they’re not nearly as bad as what they gave us back in training,” Guardian said. 
“I wasn’t complaining. I volunteered for this the same as you!” Silver fired back. 
Guardian didn’t reply. Though she was undeniably grateful for her friend sticking with her on this mission, it also meant having to look after another pony instead of just herself. This mission was about those battalions up north, as Guardian thought, which meant they couldn’t waste time on petty arguments or unnecessary detours.  
Silver sighed in response to Guardian’s silence. She was still hesitant about this entire mission, she had really only agreed for the sake of making sure Guardian didn’t get herself killed. She brushed off some of the snow that had piled up on her armor, and then glanced up at the ominous cloudy sky through the trees above, letting the snow fall right onto her face. She closed her eyes, enjoying a brief bit of calm in the center of so much death and chaos. When she opened her eyes, that bit of calm dissipated in less than a heartbeat.   
“Guardian, get down!” Silver whispered as loudly as she could, dashing to the ground by a snow-covered bush. Guardian didn’t think twice, rushing to a tree and staying as still as possible. She had no idea what Silver had seen, but it probably wasn’t worth the risk to question it. Her eyes scanned the forest vicinity for any threats, though she came back with nothing. 
This better not be a prank.
After a few moments, Guardian had become fed up, unsure why Silver had beckoned her to stay hidden. She rose up from the snow, trudging towards the spot where Silver was hiding. She then froze, when she noticed something up above in the sky. 
They were pegasi, at least four, flying far up overhead through the sky. Perfect formation, one in front and three behind, flying at precisely equal pace. They were just specks to Guardian from the ground, though as a pegasus herself, she was well-acquainted with the sight of pegasi in flight. She stayed completely still, hoping that the snow coating her body would conceal her well enough not to be seen. 
She watched the pegasi slowly fly by, until they were at last completely out of sight. She gave a great exhale of relief, assuming that she hadn’t been spotted. 
Silver quickly sprang out from her hiding spot to join Guardian in staring up at the sky, also relieved they were safe. They glanced at each other, coming to an unspoken agreement that they’d have to be far more careful if they intended to survive. 

They put their packs back on, heading back out to march through the light, fog-like flurries of snow, making sure to watch their step for any obstacles ahead in their path. 
Through the forest, they came across a steep rocky cliff that descended downwards into an even denser forested area. From the top of the cliff, the ponies both couldn’t help but enjoy the view, the mountains in the distance like faded shadows guarding the forests below. There was a cloud of misty grey fog hovering above the trees, which swayed gently in the cool breeze. Guardian tried her best to enjoy the calm weather, though she was also concerned, recognizing those soft winds as the precursor to an upcoming storm. She could see dark, clouds festering in the mountains beyond, crackling and shifting restlessly in preparation for a raging uproar. 
Silver took the lead heading down the jagged rocky cliffs, using her magic to clear the occasional fallen tree or boulder that was obstructing the narrow path that led downwards. Dust slipped off from the stones with each crack of the distant, endless thunder and cannonfire. Neither of the ponies were really able to tell the difference between them anymore. 
Guardian’s shoulders were aching. She found it odd, that despite her likely being the more physically fit of the two, she seemed to be struggling more. Part of her wanted to ask Silver for help or ask to slow down, but she decided to put up with the pain to preserve her dignity. 
Descending into the forested valley below, the ponies found that it was even colder here than back up above. The shadow of the Smoky Mountains in the distance cast the forest in a sulking darkness, along with the help of the sun-obscuring clouds, which decorated the sky like rough grey strokes of a paintbrush. 
 
Neither spoke too much to the other, both due to them having to focus on making good time and their fears of calling attention to themselves. They were both on high alert, especially after that close encounter with that rebel pegasi patrol.  
Silver was increasingly finding herself stoically dead-set on making it through the mountain passage alive. She wasn’t exactly sure she actually expected to survive the war, given how careless she considered the officers to be with their troops’ lives. But now that being killed was a very realistic possibility at any given moment, she couldn’t help but want to defy fate, to secure her own destiny, to prove to those officers that she was not only capable of completing this task, but worth far more to Equestria than any of them would ever be. 
“Hold it,” Silver said, suddenly. Guardian was a few yards behind her, struggling to step through the snow, which reached a few inches off the ground. She was trying her hardest to lift her legs high enough so that she didn’t trip, though that only ended up making it easier for her to fall over into the snow, off-balance. She came to a stop shortly behind Silver, taking advantage of an opportunity to catch her breath. 
“What is it?” Guardian asked, fear teetering on the edges of her words. Again, she took a wide look around the forest, and up above too, for signs of rebels or traps. 
“There’s a landmine...or something else. Just ahead,” Silver said, keeping her voice at a low, steady volume. 
Guardian narrowed her eyes to try and see farther ahead in the forest, though everything appeared the same, an unspoiled blanket of snow that peacefully rested along the tree trunks. 
“Where? I don’t see it,” Guardian said.
 “Over there, the pattern in the snow, it’s not uniform,” Silver explained, pointing at a spot right ahead. Guardian realized what she was talking about, an abnormal layering of snow around some sort of object slightly off in their path. 
Guardian was slightly impressed with how Silver was able to instantly recognize the anomaly, though she still wasn’t sure what they could do about it.
“It’s probably just a rock,” Guardian said, bluntly. 
“I’d rather not take that chance,” Silver muttered, trying to figure out a solution that didn’t involve taking a detour.  
“Do we walk around it?” Guardian asked. 
“Let’s just...Let’s just think about this,” Silver said, unsure what to do exactly. 
“It’s either a perimeter check or just a stray trap,” Guardian said. 
“It’s safer to assume it’s a perimeter check...Which means rebels might be nearby,” Silver said. 
“So if we set it off, they’ll be on us in no time,” Guardian realized, gravely. 
“It could be connected to a tripwire...Damn it…”
“Well, I could just fly over it,” Guardian pointed out. 
“What about me?”
“I can carry you,” Guardian offered. 
Silver knew she’d be slightly embarrassed to have Guardian carry her around in the air, but supposed they didn’t have a better idea. She relented, taking off her bag, swinging it backwards, and launching it to the other side of where the landmine was. After a terribly nervous period of waiting, they were both delighted to see no trap had been set off.
Guardian threw her bag over as well, and spread her wings out.  
“Alright...Help me pick you up,” Guardian said, awkwardly stepping through the snow towards Silver. 
Guardian locked her arms underneath Silver’s arms and around her chest, hoisting her up into the air with all her strength. She took flight, desperately trying not to drop Silver. She was grunting and wheezing the whole while, until she finally made it to where their packs had been thrown. 
Guardian dropped Silver into the snow and fell down right beside her, gasping for breath. Silver turned to her from the ground and broke into laughter, relieved they had both made it out unscathed. 
“Thanks,” Silver said, bonking Guardian’s helmet with her hoof.
“Any time,” Guardian replied, adjusting her helmet with an exhausted smile. She thoroughly hoped she’d never have to do that again. Already, she had gotten more of a workout in the past day than any of the physical labor she had to do back at camp. 
Silver too was worn out beyond reason, desperately counting down the minutes until they’d be able to take a break.
The ponies picked themselves up and slipped their packs on their backs, setting off once more into the dark forest. 

Guardian replaced Silver in the front once Silver began to get too fatigued. In the army, they were typically accustomed to having the slowest one go first, though they were so pressed for time that they had to commit to the faster pace. Combined with an unending sense of competition between them, neither pony was ever too far behind the other. 
At one point, Silver noticed the very first wild creature she had seen in the forest. A butterfly, with immaculate bright blue wings, so vivid and colorful it was as if the creature was a work of art on canvas, dancing around in the air by Silver’s face. She smiled at it, amazed by it's fluorescent, delicate beauty. She felt an internal desire to protect the poor creature, as if it was a lasting vestige of brightness in this place so dark. She extended her hoof out into the air, and, to her delight, the butterfly landed on it, pacing around as if it was settling in for the day. It flew off after just a few seconds, though Silver was glad to have any cherishable moments at all in this long, cold voyage.  
The ponies both noticed the snowfall begin to wither as the day went on. The sun was beginning to set soon, the ponies only able to tell from how dark the sky was getting in comparison to earlier. 
In a small clearing they happened to stumble upon in the forest, Guardian decided there would be a decent place to set up camp. 
“We should stop here for the night,” Guardian said. 
Silver didn’t protest, as she was so exhausted she could barely speak. She dumped her pack in the snow, immediately retrieving a large plastic tarp from inside and tossing it to Guardian.  
Together, they pitched their tent, after which Silver began starting a small fire, using some stray twigs and sticks from the forest that weren’t too wet. 
“I’ll take the first watch. Two hour shifts,” Guardian said, opening the tent for Silver to step inside. Silver agreed to the proposition, shuffling inside the tent and opening up her sleeping bag to hunker down for the night. 
Guardian took a seat outside on a cut-down tree stump after zipping up the tent for Silver. Silver had the lantern inside the tent with her, which provided some mild warmth. The temperature in the forest kept dropping as the night progressed, Guardian shivering to her core more and more the longer she stayed outside. 
Near the end of her shift, she was very much on edge, having occasionally heard strange noises in the forest from all around them. Cracking twigs, animal noises, grunting, among other bizarre sounds that made Guardian’s heart skip a beat. She wasn’t sure what was real and what was just her imagination, but the longer she stayed awake, it was difficult to tell the difference. She clutched her spear, which was wet with snow, as she waited patiently for something to strike in the night. 
She practically leaped to her hooves, when after a few hours she noticed a pair of glowing red eyes suddenly peer towards her from the darkness. It was a wolf, slightly smaller than a pony, but still capable of doing severe damage if attacking. There was only one as far as Guardian could tell, after she carefully inspected the rest of the area. The wolf remained stationary, as if it was a part of the forest itself, and Guardian too didn’t budge at all. 
When her shift had ended, Guardian decided to let Silver sleep a bit longer, unwilling to turn her back on that wolf for even just a moment. 
They kept eye contact throughout the night, Guardian constantly expecting the beast to lunge out at her and tear her apart. The thought was terrifying, worsened as she felt herself drift off to sleep. There was little she could do about it, after not having slept for two days and being subjected to a physically intensive journey through the wilderness.

When morning came, Silver woke up promptly at 6 a.m. as she was used to doing, and realized she had slept through the whole night, despite Guardian’s plan to take shifts. She practically threw herself out of the tent to make sure Guardian was still alive. She found the pegasus sitting right where she had left her, her head lowered, asleep.
“Guardian!” Silver yelled. 
Guardian jumped, startled awake.
The last thing Guardian could remember before she fell asleep was that wolf’s glowing red eyes, and instinctively she checked to see if the beast was still there. It was gone, to her relief, though the knowledge that she had fallen asleep while it was still watching her sent shivers down her spine. She then noticed Silver standing angrily over her, and she realized what she had done.  
“Oh...Oh I’m sorry, I…” she said, pausing to yawn, “I didn’t fall asleep until like, 3...I didn’t want to wake you…”
Silver shook her head, both relieved that Guardian was alright, but annoyed that she had endangered their lives by falling asleep. She couldn’t fully blame her, however, as she knew all too well how exhausted they both were. 
“You’re trying to get us killed?” Silver asked. 
“I’m sorry...I’m really sorry…” Guardian said frantically, realizing how much danger she had put both of them in. 
“It’s ok, but next time I’m taking first watch, sleeping beauty.”
Guardian cursed herself for being so careless, though since no lasting damage had been done, she took it as a careful warning not to make the same mistake twice. 

Together, they took down the tent and prepared to head back out into the forest for another day of journeying. Overnight, some of the snow had melted, both ponies now able to actually make out the dirt on the ground they were walking on. 
They both felt slightly more motivated to make good time, perhaps due to getting to take a real rest after so much exhausting traveling. 

They continued on through the forest, Guardian up front, wary of possible threats around them. Most of the trees in this part of the forest looked the same, cast in soft grey light that shone through from above. Every now and then, the downdraft from the storm growing in the mountains would sweep through the forest all the way down to the ground, blowing up stray mounds of snow, sending snowflakes tumbling into the ponies’ faces. It was actually a refreshing sensation, or it would’ve been if it didn’t happen so often. Despite the reputation of the mountain passage as being a dangerous cesspool of death and misery, they had yet to encounter anypony. 
 It wasn’t until three hours into the day, when Guardian finally found something concerning.
“Holy-! Silver!” she whispered, terrified. 
“What?!” Silver asked, startled by Guardian’s sudden panicking. 
“Hide! Hide!” Guardian said, rushing over to behind a tree for cover. Silver followed suit and hid behind a different tree, though she was unaware of what had Guardian so spooked. She peeked her head out to get a glimpse of what lay ahead, and then quickly saw it. 
There was a clearing in the forest lying up ahead, though it wasn’t empty. Guardian and Silver had both seen a collection of tents filling up the clearing, complete with a firepit and clotheslines, all signs of an active campsite. 
Guardian peeked her head out again to see what else she could find. 
“Wait...Silver…” Guardian said, realizing that the campsite was dead-quiet. 
“Yeah?” Silver replied, petrified from behind her tree. 
“It’s...I think it’s abandoned.”
Silver gave her a funny look, cautiously peeking out again to get a second look. She waited to see any signs of movement, though none ever came. 
Before Silver could protest, Guardian stepped out from behind the tree, resuming her march forwards to investigate. 
“Guardian!” Silver whispered. She groaned in frustration before following after her, reaching into her pack to retrieve her spear. 
Guardian too armed herself, holding her spear pointed outwards in case of a surprise attack. 
They approached the campsite, and, the closer they got, the more they relaxed they became. There was a remnant of a campsite, but nothing more. Just ruins and old supplies left behind, and definitely not any ponies. 
“This was a rebel camp,” Guardian said, noticing some weapons left behind, their designs explicitly being used by the enemy. 
Silver couldn’t believe their luck, and wondered if they’d really encounter any danger on this mission at all. 
“We should get out of here in case anypony comes back for it...And take a different route, to avoid any trouble,” Guardian said, taking some steps deeper into the camp. 
Guardian’s ears then twitched, and she swiveled around, to find Silver already rifling through a bag of supplies that was left behind. 
“What are you doing?!” Guardian asked, shocked. 
“They might have some food, or maps, or something…” Silver said, intent on finding anything useful. 
Guardian didn’t try to stop her, though she didn’t have as much interest in searching the belongings of ponies who may or may not be dead. It was a disturbing thought, if she was to know that the enemy would be rifling through her belongings if she was ever killed.
“Those ponies could be dead, you know,” Guardian said, finally speaking up after seeing how careless Silver was with the personal supplies she had found leftover in the tent, tossing them into the mud as if they were meaningless.  
“Good riddance then. Whose side are you on again?” Silver said, continuing to dig through what lay inside the tents. 
Guardian scoffed, put off by how little regard Silver seemed to have for basic pony life. 
“They’re still ponies,” Guardian said. 
“Ponies! Yeah, traitor ponies. Murderers, rapists, thieves...Oh yeah, Guardian, but let’s show some concern for old Frolick Sunshine’s toothbrush here,” Silver said, as she tossed a foul-smelling toothbrush she had just discovered beneath a cot in one of the tents. 
“What do you think they say about us? Probably the same thing. The longer we keep thinking it’s us versus them, the longer this stupid thing is going to go on,” Guardian contested, not wanting to appear weak-willed in front of Silver. 
Silver stood up from the tent and walked back up towards Guardian, who stood her ground, undeterred by Silver’s steely, piercing glare. 
“How could you defend those rebel filth?” Silver demanded. 
“I’m not defending them, but-”
“But what? Newsflash, Guardian, we didn’t start this war! They did! All this? All those corpses, all those cities burned and destroyed, lives ruined? That’s all on them! We’re just doing what we’ve got to do! I mean, for Celestia’s sake, Guardian! They killed your-” Silver began, but quickly cut herself off, realizing she was about to cross a line that probably wouldn’t be wise to cross. 
Guardian sighed, already aware of where Silver was heading. 
“Silver, don’t you get it? I really want to think that they’re just some enemy on our doorstep, that they’re just some evil monsters that only exist to be horrible...Because that would make it a hell of a lot easier to live with what we do. But they’re not that. We’re all just ponies, Silver, like it or not. They’re the same as us.”
Silver decided not to continue the argument for fear of saying something she’d regret, angrily turning back to the tent. 
“Any supplies we find here is just practical, Guardian. And if it meant so much to them, they shouldn’t have left it unattended,” Silver said, bitterly. Few ponies earned her sympathy, and rebels weren’t even up for consideration.
Again, Guardian made no effort to stop Silver as she returned to scouring every tent, bag, and firepit in the campsite for anything of value. 
Despite her thorough efforts, she came back with little.
“It’s mostly just stupid personal stuff...They must’ve taken everything useful already, or burned it….Found this though,” Silver said, revealing a hoofful of objects. Catching Guardian’s eye was a blue star, the traditional centerpiece to the Royals’ armor. She also saw a standard knife used by the royal soldiers, and a crumpled up letter. Guardian picked up the letter in her hoof, uncrumpled it, and read it silently. Her face contorted in shock when she realized what its contents were. 
“Fanfare…” Guardian said, regretfully, her voice strained and full of sorrow, handing the letter back to Silver. It was addressed to his wife back in Baltimare, consisting of the typical ‘I love you’s and ‘I’ll be home soon’s. Why the rebels decided to take that letter off of Fanfare was a mystery. Silver expected they kept it as a cruel joke, though Guardian hoped that the rebels intended to send it to its recipient as Fanfare would’ve desired. Likely, they would never really know. 
“Guess Colonel wasn’t lying. Poor guys...Didn’t even make it halfway,” Silver muttered, clutching the letter in her hoof with a burning hatred.
Guardian took a few moments to regain control over her emotions, remembering that they had a mission to complete and there wasn’t time to mourn the dead, no matter how much it hurt her heart. 
“There’s no point in holding onto those…” Guardian said, softly, mostly for her own sake. She didn’t particularly want to be reminded of all those ponies’ deaths for the rest of their journey.
Silver ignored her, stuffing the possessions in one of her pack pockets. 

Guardian made her way to the other side of the camp, altering their course slightly with hopes of avoiding the rebel company that had given up residence in their old campsite, wherever they were now. Silver caught up to Guardian, who was trying to focus on other things besides the weight of the loss of Fanfare’s company. 

The alternate path, surprisingly, ended up being more of a shortcut to the forest creek they were supposed to be travelling along. 
“Would you look at that,” Guardian muttered, smiling, as the duo came up over a snowy ridge and caught sight of the trickling creek down below.   
The snow had already begun to melt around the creek, occasional patches of grass now free from the suffocation of the snow. They began walking right alongside the creek, careful to avoid falling into the freezing cold rushing water. 
“I don’t suppose you’re feeling any better about this than me,” Silver said, bluntly. Guardian shot a quick glance from in front. She had been wondering how long it would be before Silver would say something like that. 
“Hard to say,” Guardian replied.
“How long before we just call it and turn back?”
“We’re not turning back,” Guardian said firmly. 
“Guardian, I know the commander thinks the rebels will be distracted with Periwinkle and all that, but this place...it’s a death trap.”
Guardian stopped in her tracks, turning around to face down Silver, whose hesitations about their mission had finally reached their breaking point. 
“All those ponies, in the 19th? And those other battalions too? They’ll all be dead, all of them, and then what? You heard the commander, if we lose the Northern theatre, we very well may lose the war, Silver! It’s all up to us!” Guardian exclaimed. 
“Us? Guardian, come on. It was never about us. We’re expendable, that’s why they picked us. We could both be dead once we reach the 19th, nopony would care as long as they get that message,” Silver said. 
“We have a responsibility, Silver. Why did you agree to this, if you don’t care at all for any of those ponies?”
“I do care! I just...I don’t know if we’re gonna make it, Guardian...I just don’t want to lose you,” Silver said. Guardian relaxed her aggressive stance, realizing Silver was coming from a place of fear rather than stubbornness. 
“You’re the bravest pony I know, Silver, this shouldn’t be anything to you! And just wait until we’ve made it, and the war is won! We’re going to be heroes! They’ll promote you back up for sure. Maybe even some statues in Canterlot for the both of us!” Guardian said, putting her hoof on Silver’s shoulder, raising her head back up.
Silver smiled, appreciating Guardian’s attempt to bring her hopes up. 
“Let’s keep going then,” Silver said. Guardian nodded in response, turning back around to continue on their journey. 
They trotted along the flowing water of the creek, which floated around some small patches of drifting ice. They stepped over the occasional downed log and around the trees that hung right at the edge of the bank, doing their best to avoid getting wet from the freezing-cold water. With the loudness of the rushing water in the creek right beside them from the snowy edge of the bank, they began to feel more comfortable speaking aloud, unlike before.   
“I’ve got a story. You want a story?” Silver said. 
“Well now I’ve got to hear it,” Guardian replied. Silver smiled, clearing her throat dramatically to begin her revisiting of the good old days.
“Ok, so I had a dream about this yesterday. Like revisiting a memory, but it felt like it was real, like I was living through it all again. There was one day, in the guard, with Luna...Before things went bad between us...There were these ponies, from some dumb organization in Manehattan. I was the only guard on duty with her at the time. She never liked having guards around, you know. I don’t blame her, she probably didn’t need us anyway, but...oh, I’m getting off track. These ponies, they come up to her, and start pestering her, they want her to agree to some dumb proposal, and she tells them she’ll get back to them on a later date. And once they’re gone, she turns to me, and she starts complaining, about those ponies and how they’re just a bunch of cheats and swindlers. And she called me by my name, instead of just ‘guard,’ for like, the first time ever. And she talked to me, like I was a pony, and not just...an accessory that hung around her all day. It was fantastic…” Silver said, whimsically reminiscing about better days. Her demeanor then changed, her face scrunching up in bitterness. 
“One day she’ll realize what a mistake she made kicking me out of there...Insubordination. Just because I’m not a mindless drone, they tell me I’ve got insubordination…” Silver said, bitterly. The wounds of that demotion were still fresh even after over a year. Guardian knew better than to ever bring it up with Silver, as it was something that had hurt the unicorn deeply. Her life had never been the same since then, and Guardian dearly hoped Silver would regain her happier spirits again one day. 
“Do you remember that one pony? Salty Saddles?” Guardian asked. 
Silver raised her head from her glum moment of regret. She sighed, realizing Guardian was trying to distract her from focusing too much on that incident with Luna. She did appreciate the gesture, though. 
“Salty Saddles….Oh yeah! Oh yeah, I remember him! First week of training!”
“Right...And he quit, because of ‘unmet expectations,’” Guardian said, laughing. Silver laughed too, recalling the day he threw his tantrum in the cafeteria and stormed off out of the room.
“It was because the goon’s chow wasn’t cooked medium rare or something like that!” Silver bellowed, remembering how outraged the pony was. 
“I was thinking about that the other day, what he would’ve said if he saw what they give us nowadays,” Guardian said.
“In the 14th, when our first sergeant was transferred, we got this new pony, and he was like that. A complainer, I mean. I should’ve said something, I should’ve said, ‘Look, we’re all in the same boat, pal.’ But he was uptight. Canterlot uptight.”
Guardian snickered, well-aware of the arrogant Canterlot elite’s attitudes towards the rest of Equestria. 
“You know, that’s why Captain Radiance is so great. For a Canterlot pony, she’s not like that at all,” Guardian said. 
“Oh here we go, fangirling on and on about Periwinkle Radiance,” Silver said, mockingly. Guardian laughed, aware of her obsession-like fixation with her idol. Her smile began to fade though, and Silver could quickly tell that Guardian’s fears were enveloping her mind. 
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Silver asked. 
Guardian broke from her temporary gloom to catch Silver’s concern. She hated to acknowledge all of the death and misery that so egregiously held a sturdy grip over Equestria as of late.  
“The other day I heard Rocky say-...You know Rocky, right?” Guardian said, interrupting herself.  
“Yeah,” Silver replied, unsure what Rocky the earth pony had to do with Periwinkle Radiance or the 13th Velvets. 
“He said-...He was talking to me and a few other ponies, we were cleaning the stockhouse. He was telling us about that scouting mission he was on, with him and some of those ponies from the Recon platoon. It was probably around here, actually. He said it was by one of the creeks on the western side of the forest. They were looking for Iodine’s company, this was a while ago. You know there were a few griffins in that company?”
“Yeah. I knew one. Goldie. She was nice,” Silver replied, worried about where Guardian’s story was heading. 
“Rocky said his scouting group found six of them. The griffins in Iodine’s company. He said they were…” Guardian hesitated, struggling to go into detail with what Rocky had told her, “Mutilated. Badly. They were all dead, stacked on top of each other...With parts missing and...feather ripped out, horrible things. Rocky said that after he saw it, it messed him up for weeks.”
“Is that why he kept skipping dinner?” Silver asked. 
“Probably. And, he said, they were stacked up in a clearing, like it was supposed to be a message or something…”
“That’s terrible,” Silver said, disgusted. She knew the rebels didn’t care for non-pony creatures, though such barbarism was inexcusable. 
“They found Iodine and his pony troops left in an open mass grave not far from there...Yeah, I’m worried. That Periwinkle could end up just the same. That we could end up just the same.”
“Don’t talk like that…” Silver said, consolingly, “We’ve made this far, huh? How many ponies have said that?” 
A small smile found its way across Guardian’s lips, and she was relieved that Silver seemed to be more engaged in the mission now that she was aware just how terrified Guardian was.  
“Hey, how about we stop here, get some water for the road,” Silver said, nodding at the creek right beside them. Guardian agreed, coming to a stop, dumping her pack off on the ground and falling down on her flank to take a rest.  
Silver retrieved a pot from her pack and held it in her mouth, trotting down to the creek and bending over to collect some water. Once the pot was about three-quarters full, she trotted back to the bank where Guardian was lying. 
“A pot?” Guardian asked, confused. 
“Gotta boil off the bacteria,” Silver said. 
“It’s already the clearest water I’ve ever seen,” Guardian said, skeptically. 
“Better safe than sorry…” Silver said, taking out a portable stove from her pack and fastening the propane tank. 
“You’ve got the matches,” Silver said. 
Guardian realized she did indeed have the matches, reaching into her pack and tossing them to Silver. 
Once the stove had been lit and the pot rested atop it, Guardian’s smile began to fade, as her concerns over the mission resurfaced. 
“I’m not as strong as you,” Guardian said, feeling as though it had to be said. Silver turned away from the pot to Guardian, taken aback by the statement. 
“I didn’t want to go on this mission...I still don’t, and I know you don’t...But they picked me...And when they were telling me that I’d be saving Equestria, all I could think was...that will do it. That will make me strong, that will make me a hero. Worthy...What could anypony say about me after that? Even my dad, what could he say then?”
“Guardian,” Silver said, sighing in distaste, “It doesn’t matter what your dad thinks,” she said, speaking of Angel’s father with great scorn. She had long been critical of the patriarch of the Angel family, Archangel, predominantly on the grounds of how cold he had always been towards his only daughter. 
Guardian shook her head, unconvinced. 
“I’ve always been a disappointment. This is my chance, Silver. If I’m going to die, at least maybe he’ll know I was trying to be brave...and be strong. I’ve got to do this.”
Silver rose to her hooves, trotting right up to Guardian until she was forced to make eye contact.
“You’re already brave, and you’re already strong,” Silver said. 
Guardian didn’t respond, her eyes fixed on the rushing creek below, its running water scurrying across the riverbed carelessly. In the passing waters she saw opportunities of the past drift by, unreachable, mocking her with their cold distance and implied unfulfillment. She cursed herself for her failures, and thought on better days, though lately those came fewer and fewer. 
Guardian sighed, wiping her eyes out of instinct, though there weren’t any tears. 

Guardian took the map out from her bag in an attempt to distract herself, flipping it open to try and locate their current position. Silver turned back to her pot, which was now boiling. She took Guardian’s extra canteen and filled it up with the boiling hot water, re-securing it and tucking it away. Silver joined Guardian on the ground, taking a look at the map herself. 
“There...We should take that route up into the mountains. It’s a shorter path to the other side of the passage, faster than following this creek,” Silver said, pointing towards the mountains on the map. 
“The Colonel told us to stick to the creek, and then-”
“I know what the Colonel said, but this will be faster!”
“If we head into the mountains, the weather will get worse. We’ll have a harder time making progress,” Guardian countered, strictly opposed to the idea. 	
“It’s three days on the creek or one day pushing up over the mountain. Do you want to risk getting to the 19th too late?” Silver asked. 
Guardian, despite believing it was a bad idea to break orders, couldn’t help but be persuaded. 
“Alright, fine...northwest it is…” Guardian said, sighing. 
“That a girl,” Silver said, putting her arm around Guardian, together standing up to their hooves.   
“Come on then, we might be able to make it a good distance up before nightfall,” Silver said, gently grabbing Guardian’s hoof to check her watch. 
Guardian took a deep breath before following after Silver, together jumping over the stream to the right side bank of the creek. 

Guardian had grown up with two older brothers, and was therefore well-accustomed to being rough-housed and berated. Still, both of her brothers had always been very protective of her, which came in handy when dealing with bullies at school, or, far more often, an uncompassionate father. Vambrace, the eldest sibling, enlisted in the royal guard right after he graduated university, working his way up to an officer position in the Celestial Corps, serving directly under Princess Celestia. In the very first month of the war, when Celestia made her grand effort to confront the rebel Witch Queen, Vambrace came to an unfortunate end in the midst of the battle. Despite being family, Guardian had never been told exactly how he had been killed, and she had never been shown his body. She had a burning desire to know the truth, however, even going out of her way to find some of the soldiers who survived that terrible battle. Those that claimed they had seen the officer’s death, said it was too gruesome to describe, that he was killed defending Princess Celestia against the witch herself. Guardian took comfort in the fact that her beloved oldest brother died bravely, though, of course, was consumed with grief. It was Vambrace’s death early in the war that made her so eager to join the 23rd, to do her part for her country and have some sort of vengeance. She vowed should she ever meet the witch pony in the flesh, she would never stop in trying to kill her, to avenge her brother’s death. 
Chain Mail was the middle child, originally working as a lawyer in an attempt to find an identity of his own apart from the rest of his military family. Though, when Vambrace had been killed, he, like his sister, was compelled to join the fight. He had been a star athlete back in his high school days, and was naturally suited to be a soldier. His family legacy earned him a proud reputation walking in, though, unfortunately, it wouldn’t save his life. He was killed while deployed in the Crystal Empire, reportedly having sacrificed himself to save the other ponies in his unit from a grenade thrown into their trench. 
Guardian, therefore, was the last remaining sibling still fighting out in the front. Her father, Archangel, was an esteemed military general, who had overseen operations from a command position starting from a reasonably early age. He intended to retire shortly before the war broke out, a war unlike anything he had ever seen before. He had decided he was still needed, and rejoined the army with a strategic command position in Canterlot, rarely seeing any field work at all anymore. 
Guardian’s concerns over her father’s opinion of her were not unwarranted. Growing up, she was constantly overshadowed by her brothers, when she wasn’t being compared against them. She had never been good enough for Archangel, who took great pride in parading his sons around with him, but would often leave Guardian at home. He had never wanted a daughter, and Guardian was unfortunately well aware of that. She was constantly ignored and criticized, in spite of every achievement she had ever made, in both academics and athletics. Her brothers had never been comfortable with the way their father treated her, but there wasn’t much they could do about it. He was a no-nonsense, demanding stallion, who wouldn’t ever take ‘no’ for an answer, and never tolerated failure in the slightest. Guardian often made herself laugh in her head, when thinking about how growing up under his roof was a more intense experience than anything she ever did in army training. 
Silver, who was something of a best friend to Guardian ever since they met in their training days, was also aware of how Archangel treated his daughter. She despised the old stallion for how blatantly cruel he was towards Guardian, treating her as though she was better off dead or given away. She had witnessed numerous instances of Guardian being made the subject of cruel put downs or off-handed slights, though, because Archangel was so esteemed, she had never found the courage to say anything on behalf of her friend. Silver couldn’t recall how many nights she'd overheard Guardian breaking down into tears in her cot after receiving just a single letter from her father once every two months, that would only ever give her a report of her regiment’s current situation. Nothing personal, no concern for her safety. As much as she missed her brothers, she had to think it was divine karma against her father, that now the only child he was stuck with was the one he never wanted. 
In contrast to Archangel’s stern unforgivingness, Guardian’s mother, Hyacinth, was a far more loving and gentle parent. She was too meek to ever have even tried to stand up to Archangel, but she did go out of her way to make some time for Guardian, who greatly appreciated having at least one parent who cared about her to some extent. Strung around Guardian’s neck, tucked beneath her armor, was a golden locket that had been given to Guardian, on it inscribed only her name. She wore it always, even into the perilous depth of the mountain passage, as it was one of the sole lasting keepsakes she had with her of her family back home. Still, Hyacinth had largely been a distant mother, not because she resented Guardian, but rather due to the increasing dominance her strict husband had over her and the family. The mission was therefore turning into something far more personal, as if its success of failure very well could finally prove her worth in the family.   
“Stop,” Silver said, suddenly, yanking Guardian out of her melancholic dwelling over her family troubles. 
 Silver stopped dead in her tracks, as did Guardian, who tried to become alert of her surroundings. They were still in the woods, cast in grey shadow underneath the shade of the forest canopy. 
“Do you hear that?” Silver whispered, nervously trying to locate the source of what she had been hearing. 
Resonating from an indiscernible distance deep in the forest, Guardian picked up on the sound of subdued voices, muttering amongst each other.
Silver and Guardian stared at each other in terror, realizing that they were now no longer alone in the forest. 
“We gotta get out of here,” Silver said, taking off at a jogging pace through the forest, Guardian wasting no time following after. 
Once they had made it a good seven yards, they believed they might be safe, though their hopes came crashing down fast. 
“Over there!” they heard a pony yell from somewhere behind them. 
Silver looked back out of instinct, though Guardian was more concerned with escaping than confirming their enemy was in pursuit. 
“Go!” Guardian yelled, practically shoving Silver to make her start running. Guardian was picked for this mission specifically because she was fast, though Silver, unfortunately, hadn’t. The unicorn struggled to keep up with Guardian as they sprinted through the woods. The sounds of cracking sticks, jangling of gear, and clicking of weapons, made both of them anxious, as they ran for their very lives. They were motivated to go even faster when a hot blast of magic zapped right through a tree not too far from where Guardian’s head would have been a few moments earlier. 
“Shoot!” Guardian muttered, considering the worth in dumping her gear to go faster. But the letter was inside her bag, and without the letter the mission would be pointless. 
Silver kept turning her head back every now and then, and each time it seemed as though there were more ponies pursuing them. They were rebels alright, about twenty of them, recognizable by their solid black armor. The rebel helmets were similar to the royals’ with the exception of more armor around the face, effectively concealing the face of the wearer except for the eyes, which had to be allowed space for visibility. 
“Guardian!” Silver squeaked, as she whistled for breath, still on the run.
“Just keep going!” Guardian said, as another magical bullet zoomed by her head. 
“Guardian!” Silver yelled again, seeing what Guardian was ignoring up ahead. The forest floor ended on a muddy cliff up ahead in the direction they were heading, and Guardian was completely unaware, as she was focusing more on not running into any trees or tripping on some roots. 
She realized what the problem was once it was too late, practically running right off of the muddy cliff. Silver braced herself, running right off, hoping that the fall wasn’t too far. 
To her relief, it wasn’t a life-threatening tumble. 
Guardian was taken by surprise as she fell down the muddy slope, her wings unable to spread due to her confusion. 
Once they had reached the very bottom, and were both thoroughly caked in mud, Silver picked herself up as fast as possible, and rushed over to Guardian.
“Guardian! Get up! They’re coming!”
 The rebels quickly descended down the hill, just as Guardian finally snapped back to consciousness. 
The duo took off again, though now the rebels were practically right on their tail. 
Guardian made a sharp right around one tree in an attempt to trip up their pursuers, though the only real ramification was separating herself from Silver, who continued heading straight, oblivious to Guardian’s plan.  There was no point in fighting, given how outnumbered they were, and above all else, that letter couldn’t fall into enemy hands. 
Silver saw that the terrain cut off again, standing above a muddy dirt road that stretched through the forest. Silver managed to dive around a rock for cover, just to spring back up and blast a rebel directly in the head, searing his flesh right off his face. 
Silver didn’t relish in violence, though if her life was at stake, she would take to whatever means necessary. 
She continued firing, until the approaching rebels became too great of a force for her to handle. She turned and scaled down the dirt hill to the road below. 
However, she made the unfortunate mistake of tripping right over a root that was poking out of the ground, flipping over and landing hard in a mud pit at the edge of the dirt road below. 
She groaned in agony, trying to climb her way out of the mud pit, only to find herself completely stuck. 
“Oh...shit!” Silver muttered, realizing she was practically helpless in the mud, which stuck to her like thick glue. 

Elsewhere in the forest, Guardian had already taken out her spear, and was preparing for a fight. She was by herself now, with about seven of the rebels close behind her. Without delay, she took flight, darting up towards the treeline to reduce the numbers of rebels who could pursue her. 
Two of the rebels were pegasi, who quickly followed after her. Guardian had planned on that, however, stabbing one of them straight through the chest as soon as he broke out from the canopy. The other rebel made a twisting maneuver in the air before heading straight for her. Guardian was faster, though, dodging his tackle and cutting back with her spear across the back of his neck, slicing apart the upper section of his spine. He, along with the other pegasus rebel, fell down to the forest floor below for their comrades to find, now bloody heaps. 
Guardian sped through the air to another part of the forest, orienting herself to find which was the correct route to take to follow the plan.
She landed down back at the forest floor, now far away from the rebels. Her escape route was right in front of her, and without much thought, she was about to take it, until she heard the distinct cry of a pony in trouble. 
“Guardian!” 
It was Silver’s voice that carried over from deeper on in the opposite direction from Guardian’s escape route. She was in danger, certainly. 
Guardian hesitated, glancing back and forth between where Silver’s cries were coming from and where her escape route was. 
As much as she knew it would hurt to leave Silver to die, she had to consider the mission, that if they were both captured or killed, then they would have failed their task, and thousands of royal ponies up north would be killed.  She was sweating with the weight of her decision, but she knew she had to choose to do something, fast.

Silver desperately tried to free herself of the mud, but was completely stuck. All four of her legs were buried deep in the pit, and wouldn’t let her budge a bit. 
She was panicking, as she could hear the sound of rustling in the forest above signal that the rebels were closing in on her. 
Then, in a cloud of dust, a pegasus pony descended down from up above, her light blue coat concealed in mud. 
Silver’s eyes widened in relief, to see that Guardian had come back to save her. As much as Guardian cared about the mission, she just couldn’t bring herself to have left Silver to die.  
“Guardian, help me! I can’t get out!” Silver cried, desperately.
“Hold on!” Guardian said, reaching over to help pull Silver loose. It took some muscle power, but eventually Guardian had pulled Silver hard enough that she could get herself free. 
Silver crawled out of the mud pit beside Guardian, though it was already too late. 
“Both of you! Drop your weapons!” yelled one of the rebel ponies from up above on the hill. The other rebels arrived too, both up on the hill and around on the dirt road. Guardian and Silver were surrounded, and now virtually out of options. 
“Guardian, fly out of here,” Silver whispered, figuring she could cause a distraction to give Guardian some time. 
“I’m not leaving you,” Guardian said, watching as the rebels encircled them on all sides. 
The rebels had their weapons drawn and were closing in on all sides, though neither Guardian nor Silver had any intention of surrendering. 
“Guardian, you’re the one with the letter, now get out of here,” Silver said, gritting her teeth, preparing herself for an imminent confrontation. 
Guardian stayed where she was, steadfast and unwilling to abandon Silver. 
They stood their ground, fully expecting to have to fight to the death at any moment. 
But before they could carry out any sort of heroic last stand, a whistling beam of magic came soaring out from the brush behind them, striking one of the rebels right in the face. 
Two more blasts came from above on the hill, nailing two more rebels in the head and back, respectively. 
Guardian and Silver were both stunned, watching each of the rebels surrounding them be shot down by a new surprise ambush. Eventually their rescuers revealed themselves, running out from the forests on either side to deal with the remaining rebels who hadn’t already been shot to pieces. 
“They’re on our side,” Guardian whispered to a frazzled Silver, recognizing that they were all wearing golden royal guard armor. 
The surprise offensive had disoriented the rebels, who were now being cut down in rapid succession by these new arrivals. Once they realized they were unlikely to be able to hold them off, the surviving rebels, numbering about six, fled back into the wilderness, taking whatever weapons and supplies they could from their dead comrades first. 
“Let ‘em go. They’ll starve anyway,” said one of the royal guards, a young pegasus stallion with a stubbly face, pale blue coat, and a short-cut, light cerulean mane, presumably their leader.
Guardian and Silver stay close beside each other, both relieved to have been rescued. Guardian, still, had her spear raised up towards these new ponies as they approached them, led by the pale-blue stallion. 
“What do we have here,” the stallion said, still holding onto his blood-stained sword. There were three other ponies alongside him, all male, all filthy, and all holding their weapons with hostility towards the duo.
Guardian had first considered them to be rescued, though it seemed she may have been mistaken.