Chapter 21
The sound of rolling waves was soon interrupted by wood grinding against sand. The small oaken row boat’s keel bit into the sand of Equestria’s shore.
General Ironclaw was the first to step onto the Princess’s land, and he immediately began barking orders. “Set up camp! I want our food carts re-packed by midnight! We move at first light for Canterlot!”
As his mouth moved, his mind was elsewhere. This had made things incredibly difficult. How could he have been such a fool as to not come up with a plan for if the ponies won? Why didn’t he think that far?
The answer was, of course, that the ponies shouldn’t have been able to win at all.
But they had.
And now, he was here, just east of the Haysead Swamps. His force of 6000 griffons was a little more than half of what he normally commanded. His soldiers were cold and tired from the crossing, which they had barely managed to get through unscathed. To top it off, they had already started getting into their rations that had been specifically reserved for when they were on the ground.
However, this situation was manageable. His brother could always die of a “heart attack” another day, and a little extra land in the Equestrian hemisphere wouldn’t hurt.
“Armaments on the left side of every tent!” he roared as his griffons began their work.
As the hustle and bustle picked up, no one noticed the solitary pegasus fly from the shade of the thick trees of the swamp to the northwest.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Alan stared over the battlefield. His enemy was cunning and quick, his forces were surrounded, and if not for his foot soldiers, he would be pressed against the wall.
Shining stood beside him, Silver on his other side, and Twilight beside her brother. The three spectators were biting their lips and scanning the field, while Alan himself merely held a hoof to his chin.
“Take the knight,” Shining said.
Twilight quickly shushed him. “No backseat playing.”
“It’s the obvious thing to do,” Shining answered.
“What? No!” Silver disagreed. “He should take the bishop.”
Alan sighed, before looking over to Prince Julius across the chessboard. The griffon wore a smug, playful grin. Shieldhide stood next to him.
Alan took a quick look at both attacking pieces. If he took one, the other would get him. He couldn’t move his king, the threatened piece to the right, the rook had the column held. His only real option was to move the king left, and straight into a trap from which he could not escape. Especially with the griffon’s next turn.
“The obvious thing to do,” Alan said, “is to practice more often.”
The Prince laughed. “Truer words have never been spoken.”
A knock sounded on the door to the tower where the small crowd had been gathered. “Come in,” Alan answered.
A pegasus entered. “Sir, we have news from the Haysead Swamps, the griffons have landed.”
“Already?” Alan asked. “Very well, General, Captains, get to work, we need to be ready to move out no later than tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, sir.”
Alan turned back to the pegasus. “The scout team remembers their orders?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Excellent,” he said before returning to the game as the others left. “I’ll be there shortly.”
Julius watched in amusement as Alan continued to stare at the board. “Looking for a way out?”
Alan shook his head. “Trying to remember your setup.”
Julius blinked at that. “Um...if you don’t mind my prying, what exactly are the orders for your scouts?”
Alan looked up before giving the griffon a smile. “Simple, really. Actually, your uncle landing so close to the swamp works greatly to my advantage. First things first, they’ll attack the food carts in a way that leaves their presence hidden and the element of surprise uncompromised. This will both force the enemy to begin hunting as well as weaken them overall in the upcoming battles.”
Alan continued to smile. “Then, as the hunters spread out in the swamps, my scouts will ambush them, taking no more than two at a time. But, they’ll be the hunters, the fastest, and the best fliers. Before long, we’ll have picked and gotten rid of the best in the army, leaving only the chaff.”
The Prince blinked. “And how do you propose your scouts will simply get rid of their supplies?”
Alan gave the griffon a manic grin. “Trade secret.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
As the sun set, and the griffons began to settle down, four pegasi watched from the shadows of the trees.
“The packages ready?” one asked in a whisper.
“Got them right here,” another answered, holding out four glass canisters.
A third picked one up and looked inside. He frowned as he saw the small ball of fluff inside, with its large eyes and membranous wings. “You sure this is right? It don’t look dangerous.”
“You’ve obviously never lived in Ponyville,” the last one muttered. “A massive swarm of those little devils came in and nearly ate us out of the town.” The pegasus shook his head. “Leave it to a human to weaponize a parasprite.”
“Wait, you believe that?” the third one said. “You actually believe that the current Pendragon was a human?”
“Buddy, I saw him turn into a pony myself. I was there.”
“Shut up, both of you!” the first one whispered. “We’re in the middle of something right now. If you want to discuss rumors, do it when we don’t have a chance of getting caught and horribly killed.”
The argument died and the captured parasprites were handed out. “Alright, you know your targets, let’s wake them up.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Markus Ironclaw was having a nice dream.
He sat on the golden throne of The Onyx Keep, surrounded by tall piles of Golden Guineas and several women of...a baser nature. His twin brother, born a few years later in the world of his dream, had become a living ottoman and the small pack of advisers that surrounded the king at all times were laying at his paws, bowing at his power.
And then he woke up.
“Sir!” a griffon yelled, barging into his tent, “Sir! We have an emergency!”
The general sat up. “What is it?”
And then he noticed the forty-or-so balls of multi-colored fur covering the messenger.
“They’re eating everything, sir!” the messenger cried, before yanking some of the small insectoids off of himself.
As if to illustrate the point, a single parasprite fluttered into the room, and landed on the general’s table. It took one look at the breakfast that had been set out for him, a steak of venison with a biscuit and honey, and then swallowed it whole, plate and all.
The General briefly wondered if he was still dreaming.
The lack of wenches told him he wasn’t.
“Protect the food!” he yelled, jumping out of bed. “We need to save our supplies!”
Of course, it was far too late for that.
<<<|Ω|>>>
“Very impressive...” Prince Julius muttered.
He stood chained onto a cart being pulled by two stallions. They were at the back of the army, which now numbered a respectable five thousand-some-odd soldiers, and they looked quite impressive. Inside the cart were the rest of the prisoners, and Julius couldn’t help but approve of the sight of all of the soldiers marching in time as the tanks and airships followed closely behind.
“I’m glad you like it,” Alan said, trotting up beside the cart. He wore a black cowpony hat, tilted back on his head to allow room for his horn. Along his back was draped a black duster, much shorter than his original, with the sword and shield of his cutie mark, inverted colors of course, over the flanks. The back of the duster had a large piece of dyed leather for Volo to perch on, and a hint of metal plating at the shoulders. The sun-buckled baldric ran over his shoulder and over the new gold and silver chestplate the Princesses had fitted for him.
“It’d be a shame for all this work to go to waste,” the Pendragon said with a grin.
The prince shook his head, grinning. “Please, don’t inconvenience yourself on my account.”
Alan chuckled. “When we make camp, you can choose one griffon to hunt for you. Understand that I am putting a lot of trust in you and your men. I would hate to be proven wrong.”
The prince nodded before giving the pony a questioning look. “Men?”
Alan looked up at the Prince. “Soldiers,” he explained. “Something I picked up from the other Alan.”
“Oh...Well, anyway, I understand, I will keep my ‘men’ in line.”
“I appreciate it.”
Further down the line roughly in the middle of the moving mass of ponies. Twilight and Shining walked side by side. “So how’s Alan taking to pony life?” the older brother asked.
“He’s doing alright,” Twilight answered. “Mostly he’s happy to be able to eat, although I have had to lead him through some basic routines. You know, the basics, cleaning out your hooves, brushing your coat, horn care...” Going to the bathroom...
She didn’t say that one out loud. Mostly because they both swore to never ever talk about that horribly embarrassing situation again. She flushed at the memory.
“...stuff like that.”
Shining noticed the blush and, as brothers are wont to do, jumped at the opportunity to tease. “Or really? What kind of other ‘stuff’ have you gotten involved with? Hm?”
Twilight blinked before looking at him. “And just what are you implying with that tone?”
Shining sighed. “Oh, come on, Twily, I just teasing you.”
Twilight frowned.
Shining sighed again. Before suddenly brightening. “Oh! That reminds me! I need to tell you something!”
“What?” she asked, annoyance still hiding in her words.
“Do you remember Cadence?”
“Cadence? As in my old foalsitter?”
Shining smiled. “The same.”
“Yeah, I remember her, how could I forget?”
“Well~ Come this summer we’re getting married.”
Twilight blinked.
Twice.
“You’re getting married to Cadence!” she shrieked. “Oh my gosh! That’s amazing!”
“Yeah,” Shining smirked. “It is. She’s actually going to be in Canterlot in the next few weeks. We were going to get married earlier, but the whole war thing...”
“How in Equestria did you convince Cadence, the best foalsitter in the history of foalsitters, to marry you?”
“And just what are you implying with that tone?” Shining asked.
Twilight smirked. “What do you think?”
Shining made an attempt to answer; however, he was stopped at the sight of Phoenix Division flying past overhead.
“There goes the advance force,” he noted.
Twilight nodded before speaking over her communicator, “Stay safe, Rainbow.”
“Me? Safe?” Dashie’s voice answered. “Please, they couldn’t touch me if they tried.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
General Ironclaw moaned in annoyance.
His army was now slowly on the move, heading through the swamp, hoping that the trees would hide their presence.
He hoped they were because that would mean something is going as planned.
Their food was almost completely gone.
Their best hunters were missing.
They had had little to no sleep, and now they slowly moving through the deepest, darkest, dankest swamp he had ever seen.
In the general’s mind he would at least have had a good breakfast when they got to this point.
Instead, his lovely meal of venison was eaten by a small ball of fluff. Which was hovering around his head. Right now.
He swatted at the devilish bug. For a moment his eyes left the path they had been glued to, and with one wayward step—
P-glorp!
Straight in the mud.
His eye twitched.
Slowly pulling his talon out of the deep pit, he gave it a long hard stare, as though the mud would simply fly off of it at his death-glare.
The mud, however, simply sat there.
He let a quick, strong, annoyed breath out through his nostrils before he removed the caps on his talons. “Tell everyone to take off their weapons, we don’t need them rusting,” he ordered, and after a quick disarm they began to move again.
They continued to walk through the swamp, no flying, as the wagons had to keep up. Along with what little food they had, the carts also held medical supplies and equipment, which were both incredibly necessary for his campaign. Unfortunately, that meant they were going to have to tough this one out. Through the swamp. Though the mud. The noisy, disgusting mud.
He grumbled as he led his forces, his ears picking up the drone of the background, the buzz of insects and the calls of odd birds, as well as the haphazard flapping of disturbed fruit bats.
Then the general stopped.
There was something else.
Suddenly a tree branch snapped, and a large chunk of oak came crashing down on five or six of the griffons. Another yelled as he tripped into a mud pit.Thunder rolled down the line of the army as bolts of lightning struck griffons left and right.
“Ya Ya Huley!” a voice screamed from the trees.
The griffons scrambled, many trying to replace the talon caps they had just removed. Others ran and hid lest another bolt of lightning strike. Small fires caught down the line, dried wood of the carts blazing after the intense heat of the bolts of electricity.
Finally the griffons mobilized in a semblance of order, and they turned to the trees.
Only to be met with silence.
Their attackers were gone.
Completely.
Most of the griffons simply stood and looked at each other, wondering what to do next. The more mentally collected quickly worked on putting out the fires of the carts, trying to save the last of their rationed food.
General Ironclaw gave a low growl. “We keep moving!” he ordered. It was obvious they didn’t have the element of surprise, but they couldn’t get out of the swamp without taking flight and leaving the last remaining food behind. They were committed, now.
They were at the disadvantage, one that could only be recovered from by getting out of the swamp. So they had to move faster. Much faster. “I will personally skin any stragglers! Move or I will send you to the Nine Hells!”
The griffons moved as fast as they could. No one got on the general’s bad side.
<<<|Ω|>>>
The two white unicorns slowly circled each other, manic grins on their faces.
Bits changed hooves and bookies called for last bets.
Judgement gleamed in the moonlight, sending a rainbow of a reflection down its perfect edge.
Magenta shields hovered around Shining Armor, whirling around him slowly.
Alan’s duster, as well as his mane, fluttered in the wind as he stood on his hind legs.
Their smiles only widened as their eyes narrowed.
Frankly, this was gonna be good.
At an unseen signal, the two stallions charged each other. Enhanced steel met magick and sparks flew as they attacked.
Up came a shield in a powerful uppercut, while Shining moved forward to put a hoof into Alan’s face.
Alan’s sword hoof came up between Shining and his face, stopping the punch while he spun, dodging the shield as it tried to get his stomach.
The two of them danced in the ring of ponies that surrounded them, moving back and forth in a waltz of steel and mana. The sword clanged against Shining’s shields, and the shields whirred around Alan as he deftly, and dare I say, acrobatically, dodged out of the way.
His pony body, so lean and lithe, was also much lighter than he was actually used to. This had become obvious about a month back during the Mane Six’s now-annual snowball fight.
Finding the advantage, Alan had seized it, teaching himself as many acrobatic moves as he could.
Tossing Judgement into the air, Alan quickly spun, cartwheeling around three of Shining’s shields as they flew at him. Two missed entirely, while the third grazed the hair of his tail as it passed between his legs.
He landed on his hind hooves, sliding in the dry dust grinning wickedly as Judgement fell back to earth, and into his waiting hoof.
“Nice,” Shining commented.
“Thank you,” Alan replied.
Judgement rang in the night as it clashed against Shining’s shields, shadows being thrown around the onlookers as the two stallion danced their deadly tango. Alan suddenly jumped backwards, making room.
“Bring it, bro,” he said.
Shining smiled. “How hard?”
Before Alan could answer, a fist-sized ball of mana came flying at him, and slammed into his hoof. The connection between the black leather handle and the golden tissue of his hoof was disrupted, sending Judgement flying. The ponies behind him ducked as the sword went sailing over their heads.
Alan’s eyes widened as he suddenly found himself disarmed. “Too hard,” he squeaked.
Shining pushed the advantage, sending shield after shield towards the unarmed pendragon. Alan, thinking quickly, summoned a hard mana blade. It was a simple thing, a plain triangular prism, a single edged blade with no decoration to its name, the only kind he could safely summon.
But even then...
Alan parried the shield, hoping to save the blade from a strong impact, and succeeded, sending it flying to the side. Before he could celebrate, however, another shield smashed into the blade, shattering it.
Alan went down.
The ponies around him swam in his vision as the magical backlash hit him. A hoof went to his temple as the migraine assaulted his brain.
However, due to the simpler nature of his last blade, the backlash wasn’t as strong, and soon enough it passed.
Of course, Shining already had him caught.
By the time the world came back in focus, Alan saw he was stuck in a perfect sphere.
“Do you yield?” Shining asked with a smug smirk.
Alan raised an eyebrow. “Like I have much choice?” The unicorn then broke into a smile, “Yeah, yeah, I yield. Shining wins everyone!”
A groan from those who had bet on the Pendragon grew from the onlookers and bits began to change hooves.
Judgement was returned to Alan by Shining’s magic, and Alan sheathed it. “We should do this again sometime,” Alan said.
“Eager to be beaten again?” Shining taunted.
“Only if I get to return the favor.”
“Like that’s ever going to happen.”
“You wish it won’t.”
“Alright, boys, enough,” Twilight said, walking up to the stallions. “It’s time for you two to be adults again.”
“Awwww,” Shining whined, “but it’s so boring being grown up!”
Twilight looked her brother in the eye, “Well if you act like a kid, then I’m just going to have to call mom, won’t I?”
Shining pouted. “Spoilsport.”
Twilight gave her brother a smug look before looking over at Alan.
“Hey now! Don’t look at me, I’m as grown up as I’ll ever get!”
Twilight rolled her eyes.
“Um, Alan...” Fluttershy’s voice interrupted over the communicator. “The courier’s here.”
“Thanks, Flutters we’ll meet him in my tent. Shining, you’re dismissed, go eat some dinner. Twilight, I’d like you to come with me.”
“Of course.”
“Shining, tell Copper Pots we’ll take dinner in my tent.”
“Right, right, just be sure to take her on an actual date next time.”
Both of them flushed at the comment.
Alan coughed. “Uh...anyways, we have some business to get to.”
“Right, plans need to be drawn up,” Twilight agreed.
“Resources managed.”
“Communication optimized.”
“Units maneuvered.”
“Concordances received.”
“Yup.”
“Yup.”
A very awkward silence filled the air between them.
“Gonna be a long night.”
“Yup.”
More silence.
“We should probably get going.”
“Yup.”
A large red stallion passed by. “That’s mah line.”
Alan broke into a smile and laughed. “Always trust Equestria to give you random comedy!” He laughed again. “Oh boy, come on, Twi, we’ve got some work ahead of us.”
Twi followed the white-and-black unicorn back to his tent. He snickered as he went, and for a moment, an interesting thought entered her head.
What would it be like? What would a date with Alan be like?
She expelled the thought from her mind a moment later. Where did that come from? It was a highly inappropriate thought! She really had no business thinking that! She had no business thinking of candlelit dinners, long walks under the stars, or that handsome jawline and those deep, brown eyes...
Er.
No business at all thinking that!
Besides, he probably wasn’t interested in her.
She was surprised when she found that thought hurt.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Night passed, and as morning came, the Equestrian army was on the move again. Alan smiled as he replayed the courier’s message in his head again.
“The griffons are continuously on edge after the first few attacks, and we have continued to harass them since. They now continuously wear their arms, leading many of them to rust, and their lack of food has hit them hard. Our current number of captured hunters is 53, and many now dread being called to hunt.”
This was, of course, excellent news.
Alan could see the enemy morale drop from where he stood, and all because his enemy had picked the Haysead Swamp as a landing place. Admittedly, Alan had had plans for the harbor cities, but none of them would have been as good as the Swamp plan.
Things were going well.
All he needed to do now, was push the advantage, keep them off balance.
He had shoved them down and now he could not let them back up.
That was why they were already moving at a fairly brisk pace, well, for an army. He was pushing them to get to the Haysead Swamp as fast as possible. The sooner they got there, they sooner they could shove the griffons back off balance.
As the gears of war turned in Alan’s head, Twilight was also thinking.
Her thoughts however, were more troubled by the Pendragon himself.
After that pain in her chest the other night, she had been forced to think, to really think about what she thought about him.
Well, he was kind...when he wasn’t trying to kill you. When he was trying to kill you he was ruthless.
A little violent at times. Of course, that was sort of working to their advantage at the moment.
He was caring, and good with foals. That was obvious enough with his visit to Daisy Chain and Pipsqueak.
He was smart, which was always a good thing in her book.
Stubborn as a mule, but at the same time, willing to admit he was wrong.
He was protective, very much so. And for a second she allowed her brain to imagine being protected by him. Those hooves wrapped around her, those eyes looking down at her, a smile on his lips telling her everything would be alright.
But what if...what if he didn’t feel the same way? What if he had his eye on somepony else? What if he thought she was ugly?
What if—
She sighed. “Alright, Twi. Stop it. Take a deep breath. Think.”
She needed to sort out her feelings. They were a massive jumbled mess at the moment, and she could hardly think straight for them. Unfortunately, feelings were a little more stubborn than books when it came to organizing.
She need to deal with this professionally.
She needed...
She needed to consult an expert.
<<<|Ω|>>>
In the rear of the army, the seventeen griffon prisoners were softly being jostled by the movement of the cart.
They were silent, each staring at the floor with no real motivation to do anything else. Their own thoughts floated through their own heads, some berating their capture, others silently thankful for their generous host.
One of the griffons suddenly spoke up. “What is this guy’s deal?”
The others looked at him.
“I mean, we killed hundreds of his soldiers, and he’s treating us better than some of them! What’s up?”
“You complaining?” another asked. “‘Cause I’m sure he’ll hang you if you want.”
The first griffon blinked. “Well, I’m just wondering why.”
“He wants to be a good leader,” the Prince answered.
Every eye in the cart turned towards the Prince, who stood, leaning out of the back of the cart, watching the skies.
“I asked him the same question during winter. He told me the first Pendragon, Arthur, the one who bested Redbeak the Five Taloned, was a king in his own world. A good king, the legends say. Loved by all of his people and all of his soldiers. His second sword, of which many of the legends speak was named Excalibur, and on its blade were written the words, ‘Pick me up,’ and ‘Cast me aside.’”
The original griffon spoke again. “So? What’s that got to do with anything.”
“Let the Prince finish,” Talius said, staring down the offender.
“The Pendragon explained to me that those words were Arthur’s secret for being a good leader. Knowing when to take up his sword and when to keep it still. He wishes us no harm in the interest of staying his blade. He wishes to gain the love of his soldiers by showing that he is merciful. However, do not doubt me when I say he will kill us without a second thought if we were to threaten his soldiers.”
“If he could catch us,” the griffon laughed, nudging his partners.
The Prince turned before stepping down in the cart, staring his soldier in the eyes.
The laughter died in the griffon’s throat, and he nervously looked at his commander.
“He has honored us with his hospitality. He could show his mercy by keeping us in a dungeon just as easily as he can in the back of this cart. We will honor him in turn. Am I understood?”
“Yes, sir,” the griffon nodded.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Night fell again, and while Shining and Alan had round two, Twilight sat in her tent, carefully writing up her letter to the Princess.
Applejack wasn’t entirely thrilled to see either of those things.
She was bored. That was all.
She wandered for a while, looking for something to. The camp had several fires going to ward off the cold of late winter, and she received a few greetings from her infantry. She returned most of the with either a lackluster “Howdy,” or a tip of her hat, and she continued to wander.
She passed a few interesting sights as she made her way through. The anchored Ira sat next to the Vindicta, both no more than a few cartlengths off the ground, and hanging off the deck rails of the larger of the two, the farmpony could make out Pinkie, staring wistfully up at the stars, mumbling something about her “own Special Sous Chef.”
Applejack briefly wondered at her calm-ish demeanor, before continuing on her way. Not long after that, she saw Spike escorting Rarity to her tent, the former holding her close as she trotted forward, wearing a diamond encrusted coat.
She would’ve been surprised at the rather intimate kiss Rarity gave him if she hadn’t been made aware of the fact that they now had couple status.
She passed her brother, who, despite his suspicions, only received two scars from the siege. Fluttershy sure knew how to dress a wound. “Howdy, Big Mac.”
“Eyup,” he replied. Looking down his side, where a particularly nasty scar ran down its length. Combined with the one that ran down his snout, he looked rather fierce.
Getting nothing else out of her near-silent sibling, she continued to move onward through the camp.
“How are you doing tonight miss?” someone asked.
Applejack turned to see Silver Pauldrons standing nearby, wearing his armor so he appeared white. His mane, rather than silver, appeared blue, but his eyes stayed the same shade of sky blue she had become familiar with.
“You look better with grey hair,” she said.
“It’s silver,” he replied, with a deadpanned expression, “not grey.”
Applejack gave him a joking smile.
“So, if you don’t mind my asking, miss, a bit for your thoughts?”
“First off, stop callin’ me miss. It’s too frou-frou for mah taste. Call me Applejack, or AJ or somethin’.”
Silver gave her a devilish smile. “Alright then, Miss Applejack.”
She gave him a frown, before a light kick was sent his way.
Silver chuckled, “Alright! Alright, AJ it is then.”
The farmpony rolled her eyes.
“The second thing?” Silver pushed.
AJ sighed. “I just ain’t too pleased to be back here is all.”
Silver lifted an eyebrow.
“Well, it’s just...this whole war business don’t sit well with me.”
Silver stayed quiet, listening as Applejack continued. “Ah mean, have you heard some of these soldiers talk? They go on about lunch and dinner, when they know they may not come back. It’s just...” she chanced a glance at the bladed chain at her hip, the weapon that could easily slice a griffon in half, especially in her hooves. “It just ain’t right.”
Silver nodded. “Alright, Mis-er, AJ, during the harvest you gave me plenty of little nuggets of farmer wisdom, well now it’s my turn to give you some soldier wisdom. Let me ask you, is this right?”
She looked at him. “Didn’t ya just hear what Ah said?”
“Yes, I heard you say that this doesn’t feel right, but I’m not asking you how or what you feel. I want to know, is this right? Is this war justified. Are we doing the right thing fighting off the invaders?”
Applejack hesitated, but only for a second. “Well...yeah...Ah mean if we weren’t here they’d be hurting’ our families and friends.”
“So being here, fighting is the right thing to do?”
“Well...yes...but—”
“But it doesn’t feel right,” Silver finished. “Peace feels right. War doesn’t. And that is the truth for every single one of us, AJ. Every soldier worth his bits loves peace. And the thing about soldiers, is they do the right thing and fight for peace. They go out and do the right thing, again and, again, and again, until they physically can’t do it anymore. We’re here, Applejack to do what’s right. Even if it means I don’t come home.”
The farmpony sighed. “That sounds about right, don’t it?”
“Well,” Silver said with a grin, “as your brother would so aptly put it, Eyup.”
At that moment Big Mac walked passed. “Why are ponies taking mah line all of a sudden?”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Meanwhile, far to the east, across the sea, sitting in the tallest room of Onyx Keep, a young lady of the griffon courts stroked the King’s talon as he wept.
“My son! My son is dead!” he sobbed.
“You don’t know that,” the young griffoness consoled.
“He is dead and I am to blame!” he wailed, “I should have stopped this! I could have stopped all of this! Why did I not stop him!?”
The maid felt a tear fall from her eye. “He is alive, my King, I know he is. He has to be.”
The king looked over to the young griffoness. Her eyes were a light shade of pink, and her feathers were pure white. “Snowlily,” he said, calling her by her last name, “I am sorry, but now, you can never become my daughter. And now, the crown must pass to my brother.”
“No!” she said, standing suddenly, “No! You can’t believe that! He is alive! I know he is!”
“Lydia.”
“He will return, and we will be wed!”
“Lydia,” the king repeated softly.
“I won’t believe it!” she cried, tears falling from her eyes. “I can’t...”
The King took his would-be daughter-in-law in a soft embrace, and the two cried into the night.
<<<|Ω|>>>
“Run for it!” one of Ironclaw’s soldiers yelled.
They were being pummeled, the near-random strikes of lightning bursting through the air and the cries of pegasi kept them disoriented, and their rusted talon caps hardly moved as they rushed forward.
“This way!” Ironclaw yelled. “Towards the light!”
They were almost out of the forest, but they needed to make this last push.
The pegasi had been pestering them for days now, and they were finally going to get out of the swamp, and into some open air. They wouldn’t be able to ambush them from there, and the griffons would finally be able to fight back.
The squeak of rusty metal got louder as the griffons began to hurry for the open.
Markus grinned wickedly, once out, they’d be able to repay these pegasi for everything they did to his soldiers since they landed. They’d be able to exact revenge for the sleepless nights, those hungry mornings, and every other piece of bad luck they had no-doubt been responsible for.
Markus charged forward, flapping his wings as he ran through the thinning trees.
First his revenge, then his conquest, and then his rule!
Everything he touched would become his!
Finally things would go his way.
He would finally get the respect he deserved.
He would never be the King’s brother ever again.
He would be King.
No, Emperor!
He would rule over Gryphus and Equestria with an Ironclaw!
He would—
He skidded to a halt as his eyes fell on the horizon.
Two large ships floated in the air, and beneath them an army of multi-colored ponies waited for him.
Ancient Battle flags waved in the soft breeze, and as the other griffons followed, they too saw it.
Equestria had an army.
And they were ready for anything the griffons had to throw at them.
“Ya Ya Huley!”
“Ya Ya Huley!”
“Ya Ya Tarvisa!”
“Ya Ya Tarvisa!”
“Tarvisa Jorda!”
“Tarvisa Jorda!”
“Ya Ya Hu Langa!”
“Ya Ya Hu Langa!”
“Ku Tawey Ne!”
“Ku Tawey Ne!”
“Ku Tawey Ne!”
“Ku Tawey Ne!”
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyy!"
--------------------------------
Next Chapter, Alan’s first battle as a pony, and Ironclaw’s first taste of Human tactics!
Oh, and a quick note to help avoid further confusion. In my mind, the word “Magick” with a K is synonymous with mana. Magic is the arcane art.
“You weaponized Parasprites?”
Oh I’m going to do a lot more than that.
See you guys next time!
Bye!