//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Whistling Rain 
// by Schwabauer 
//------------------------------//

After a week of cold and hard travel Twilight and her friends finally were nearing the fort. The captain had set up a small camp in the trees nearby, a small fire crackling brightly. The thirty or so soldiers went about their tasks, cooking, cleaning, or just trying to stay warm.

The beret wearing humans were not the only ones in the area, with others wearing navy blue uniform shirts, white pants, and a red trim on it all.  On their heads say black bicorns also scouting the forest and trailing them. Both groups seemed to avoid each other, only every showing up when the others were gone. They botched seemed to do the same thing, carefully watching while trying to remain hidden.

Observable from afar, the bipedal beings inside the fort dressed differently as well. They wore dark blue or grey uniforms with tall hats adorning their heads.  They too carried the metal and wooden objects, although theirs had a clearly defined blade attached to the end. These bipedal soldiers stood guard around the wooden walls, or in a few cases led weary patrols through the forest or quietly checked on Twilight’s camp from afar.

That is not all the ones inside the wall did. They would also march in formation with picks down to a quarry, mining out stone and forcing their enslaved horses, and even some mules she saw, pulling the heavy stones back into the fort. She and the captain both agreed that they must be preparing more permanent defenses in the area.

Both groups observing her without cooperation made her believe they were all something of rivals, not wishing to interact with each other. Perhaps the silent, stealthy ones were far more skilled and tactful than the ones inside the fort. She didn’t really know. But she was prepared to infiltrate the base and free the enslaved horses now. 

The horses in question were often ridden by the navy-blue clad bipeds, leather straps and strips binding them and forcing the horses to fall to their rider’s will. They marched along with little more than whinnies and snorts, making every pony fear what the treatment inside the walls was like. They must be punished brutally for such dumb obedience.

The observation from their days watching the fort led her to believe that they had more than mere forts planned. One eve, a group of the invaders arrived carrying food and other supplies, and not wearing the uniforms of the fort dwellers. They talked with one of the soldiers for the fort, who was an officer judging from his embellished uniform, before making their way to a point some distance from the fort. Direct line of sight was lost, but smoke soon started to rise, indicating some sort of camp or settlement. It seemed as if a permanent settlement was being built.

Twilight and Captain Grapefruit decided to launch the raid to free the prisoners that night, then turn the fort dwellers into stone, as well as any of the other bipeds they encountered along the way. The guards pony all sharpened spears and lances, while the mane six prepared their elements. Rope was gathered and equipped with hooks. Spells for sleeping and stunning were practiced. 

The night fell and what little warmth could be gathered in the day slipped away. The company made their way to the edge of the clearing around the fort, watching its wall stand stalwart against the unwelcoming forest. Fires burned along the sentry posts, casting light into the clearing. In some sports unattended fires blazed by the trees. It ultimately left little cover to hide in.

The sentries themselves were bundled against the cold, grey coats resting over their normal blue, scarves pulled tightly against their faces. They stood and watched the dreary snow with tired eyes, sniffling and rubbing their hands to keep warm. Between the main posts pairs of two would patrol between, checking on each other as the night progressed. 

When the shift change came, the party dashed to the wall, taking the moments of distraction with relish. The invaders didn’t notice, or so Twilight thought, until the harsh cry of alarm issued from the wall above them. A cry that was cut short by a unicorn hitting them with a sleeping spell. The alarmed soldier fell over the wall, landing on the frozen ground with a thud and crack, his neck bent at an odd angle. 

The spell came just in time, his cry not reaching more than the man right beside him, who was quickly silenced. The rapid actions of Captain Grapefruit and one of his unicorns managed to preserve the stealth of the mission for a minute longer. Every pegasus in the group began flying ponies up as quickly as they could, dropping them onto the walls then flying back down to grab another passenger. 

Dash singlehandedly got the entire main six, and two other soldiers onto the wall it took all the pegasi to take up two people. Once the entire company was up on the wall the rapidly dashed for the ramps into the court yard.  Twilight and her friends led the charge, hammering down the ramp, the company in tow. 

The thunder of their hooves were mildly muted by the dirt for a moment, before echoing off of the hardened wood making up the walls. The sounds drifted to the half dozen or more sentries dotted about the walls, drawing their collective attention towards the stampede.

For a minute they were stunned, giving Twilight and company time to reach the base of the walls and begin splitting into predetermined groups. One, led by Applejack, broke towards the gate. Another, headed by Fluttershy and Pinkie,  sprinted towards one building. Rainbow Dash led several towards a large, towering three story building. Twilight, with spike on her back,  led Rarity towards what looked like a large storage building or barn.

By now the sentries were shouting and screaming, “Marla! Egnilgnirdnie! Neckew!”

These shouts were repeated many times, the sentries raising their weapons and pointing them at the heroic ponies. Twilight and her group burst through the doors of the barn, speeding inside then slamming the door shut. Two guards braced the door with their bodies, pressing against it hard.

Twilight and the other ponies then skidded to a halt, horrified by what they saw. Horses, at least forty five of them, stood tied to stalls, no beds or baths in sight. Treated like common farm animals, not intelligent creatures.  Along either wall a trough of water ran. The saddles and bridles hung from posts just next to the horses, a cruel reminder of their burdens they were forced to carry. 

“We are here to rescue you!” Exclaimed Twilight, looking around at the enslaved creatures. And the creatures ignored her, continuing to eat, drink, or sleep in their stalls. 

Rarity chimed in, her voice swooning excitedly, “Come ON darlings, you need to make a dramatic escape!” 

And still the horses remained silent. Many turned away from the over exuberant ponies, trying to sleep. Worry crept it’s tendrils into Twilight’s mind. The horses remained silent. She kept over, Rarity behind her and Spike on her. The weary guards continued to barricade the double doors, tossing hay bales and pitch forks and anything else they could get their hooves around.

After a moment of study the rest of the stables, a thought struck Twilight. They must be too afraid to rebel and run. With this conclusion satisfying her confusion, she shouted sharply, “Come on! We need to go! These people can’t hurt you anymore once we free you. You have nothing to fear.” 

The horses still ignored her. All but one. This one stared at her dumbly. Almost like an animal. Twilight looked doggedly into it’s eyes, almost glaring at it’s stubborn refusal to speak or show some discontent. It simply whinnied, blowing hot air into Twilight’s face.

Twilight’s failure at convincing animals to speak was brought to an abrupt end when an ear splitting crack reverberated through the stables. It bounced off the walls hurting Twilight’s ears. She whirled to the source of the noise, and saw a golf ball sized hole in the door.

And a stallion bleeding on the ground, a gaping, jagged circular punch through his gold armor covered in a thick coating of red.

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A cold, brisk wind cut through the twinkling fires of camp. It’s harsh, reaching tendrils worming their way into the shivering guardponies’ thick coats. Two ponies, situated at the entrance to the high fenced outpost, stood watch over the snowy forest.

This newly constructed outpost had poor, oh so poor, wind protection. The guard post lacked snow or wind protection, while the watch tower had so many crack it may as well not have had a roof or walls. Th only warm building was a squat barracks, capable of housing ten guardponies. 

The two ponies in the tower sat huddled together, not watching the surrounding towers or landscape. Their position was just high enough on the hill to not give any wind protection, but not high enough to see over the tops of the trees. The one to their east sat on the other side of the hill, the one to the west in the valley between hills. 

The outpost on top of hill was so distracted by the freezing snow and cold that they failed to notice a warm glow begin to waft from the east. A glow that broiled hotter. And hotter. Soon it was too bright to ignore, even through the wintery cold.

And as quickly as the blaze grew, it shrank. Two small explosions echoed over the hill, the two guards in the tower having woken up the other ponies lead the way to the crest of the hill.

The smell of ash and soot met their noses, eyes widening. The ruins of the newly build outpost still smoldering lay before them. The eight ponies dashed down the hill in the hopes of finding a survivor, as a dozen, maybe more bipedal soldiers drifted away into the snow.