//------------------------------//
// Escalation 
// Story: Discord`s Gate 
// by elmagnifico 
//------------------------------//

“Teeeeeeeeeeeen-shun!”

The line of ponies, all colors and species, drew themselves up, each standing straight as an arrow with eyes riveted front.  The light green unicorn that had spoken moved down the line, followed by an aide.  The speaker looked the ponies in front of him up and down, judging them.  

Not one of the ponies at attention dared comment on the stallion's bulk, or rather lack thereof.  A wicker crop wreathed in an orange glow levitated ahead of the pony, marking him as a pony of authority.  The officer's guttural voice ripped into the recruits like a scythe into wheat.  While the tirade lagged behind the Royal Voice in sheer volume it more than made up in malice and attitude.  

“Alrighty, under normal circumstances the application process tends to vet the complete idiots out of the lineup, but we're in a hurry on orders from the Big Poobah Sir Arcane Bolt due to that portal and the tensions that are rising with our own neighbors as they slowly but surely realize we now have access to what is effectively an entire planet's worth of resources!  So, for you idiots that made it thus far, I'll summarize the situation.”  

The stallion halted in front of a fuchsia mare and flicked her nose, redirecting the errant snout up from where it had dipped to take in the diminutive pony.  

“You are the recruits.  You want to join the ranks of Equestria's finest.  Don't let some Guard puke or Legion slob tell you different.  When the Princess wants something done as thoroughly and efficiently as if she were there herself, she sends Rangers!”  

The crop flicked out faster than the recruits could follow, smacking a slouching white stallion across the forelegs, making him jump back to attention.  

“We are not the Shiny, Impressive Scepter, to be waved around and look impressive.   Nor are we Big Freakin' Stick, to be brandished at threats to make them back down.  We are the Knife, quick, businesslike, and effective.  We are not the Wonderbolts, we are not here to look pretty.  We are here to ensure that threats from outside Equestria STAY outside Equestria.”  

A pegasus recruit hurriedly shifted her stance just as the short stallion was about to come level with her.  Seeing nothing out of the ordinary but knowing that it had only just been made that way, the officer paused momentarily to drive home that he was not blind before continuing.  

“That's the big picture.  Now for the small, tiny drip of paint on the frame that constitutes your part in this.  You are the aspiring recruits who want to join my prestigious unit.  Fat chance.  As you may or may not know, the Rangers have the highest dropout rate from our application process in the Armed Forces.“  

Having reached the end of the line of recruits, the stallion rounded on them and redoubled his tirade.  

“I am the Drill Sergeant.  My name is not important, as until you graduate from this training regimen, you will refer to me as Drill Sergeant, Sir, or Drill Sergeant Sir.  It is my job to find the weaknesses amongst you lot, and weed them out.  Sometimes, this means helping you get over personal problems.  Other times, that means finding the idiots that would get killed doing our job and kicking your flank to the curb.  For instance...”

The Drill Sergeant stopped in front of the pegasus from earlier, a teal-colored mare with a golden mane.  

“You, do you know why you are here?”  

The mare looked nervous, but stood rigid and replied as forcefully as she could.  

“Sir, I want to join the ranks of Equestria's finest!”

The Drill Sergeant grunted, and then returned to full volume.  

“Good job idiot, you can parrot back an explanation I gave you barely a minute ago!  Time for a harder question.  Why do you want to join the ranks of Equestria's finest?  Think about your answer, if you can.”  

The recruit began to sweat, obviously considering her next words carefully.  

“I got kicked out of the Wonderbolts academy for being reckless.  Couldn't get a job in weather, didn't want to join the Legion, not got the pedigree for the Guard.  I also think I'm qualified sir, I was regional Best Young Flier for the Manehattan Flight School three years running.”    

The Drill Sergeant remained impassive.  

“Well at least you're honest, even if you are an idiot.  I am the one who decides if you're qualified to be a Ranger.  Your achievements up to now mean nothing.  Only your performance from here on in counts.  Honesty we can work with, but you've just volunteered to scrub the latrines after parade.  Get some humility into that head and there might be something worth working on.”  

The Drill Sergeant turned to the rest of the group.  

“Di-SMISSED!”  






Twilight Sparkle left Shale's room, lost in thought.  Her head bent nearly parallel to the gound as she built her mental checklist from the ramblings.  

"Need to arrange a friend-making tutorial session, perhaps get Pinkie Pie to help with the assignment itself.  Being an ambassador is going to be the most difficult thing I've done.  Can't just charge in with the other girls like we did with that dragon.  Good thing that backup spell worked, who knew how badly things could have gone with Shale if we hadn't been able to understand eachother..."  

At that thought, Twilight's head came upright, and her ears flattened against her head.  Dread settled in like a heavy wet blanket as the realization dawned on her.  

With that, she kicked up her hooves and took off running.  

"Gotta get to Spike, have him send a message to the Princess.  I can only hope I'm not too late to stop a war."  





Shining Armor was immensely displeased.  

Long before the nuptial ceremony that had elevated him to royalty, he had been a soldier.  Not just any soldier, he had been a Royal Guard.  A member of the elite, not by dint of birthright or some lofty sponsor, but by virtue of the sweat from his own brow.  Alongside that work had been training that had instilled in him an unerring loyalty to Equestria.  As symbols and representatives of Equestria in the Court of Lords, the nobility held a share of that loyalty.  After all, one of his most common duties had been keeping those nobles safe.  

That hadn't stopped Shining from despising them.  The Equestrian aristocracy had become lethargic and hollow in the days since the first Hearth's Warming, largely devoid of feudal power.  Many of the more proactive members had, in the meantime, become obsessed with image and retaining "superiority" over actually doing anything.  Especially their own duties as servants of the common pony.  This irritated the duty-bound Captain Armor.  

One of the more infamous sources of that irritation stood before him, arrayed in barding similar to his own.  Prince Blueblood, renowned the world over as a narcissistic twit, as well as a backstabbing politicker when he put his mind to something.  The gold-maned stallion had been escorted in by two of the Royal Guard pegasi on overwatch, who had intercepted the noble's sky chariot just in time to prevent a flyover of the fallen timbers.  

Blueblood reciprocated the frown Shining Armor was giving him as the less military of the two unicorns explained his reason for being there.  

"I'm not entirely certain you grasp the gravity of the situation here, Prince Armor.  Politics has always been about power and certain individuals' desire for it.  This world, and the Eponans that live here, represent a shift in power.  There are certain elements in the Lords, some among my own family, that would like nothing better than to carve out their own private barony far from the Princess' watchful eye.  As Duke of Canterlot, I have a vested interest in keeping that from happening.  The fact that I personally abhor the idea of exploiting innocent ponies and the stigma of dishonor it would bring to my social strata only goads me further.”  

The other white unicorn raised his eyebrow in a very clear nonverbal message:  Get to the point.  

“I am here to ensure the Court of Lords, is represented in any negotiations or agreements.  This will lend legitimacy to any treaties and keep my less scrupulous peers from objecting later.  Hopefully.  In any case, I need to be there at the first contact.  If I'm not there, you lose any credibility in the Lords this entire affair may have.”  

Shining Armor grunted.  

“Very well.  But you'll be the one explaining to Celestia if this operation goes south.”  





The unfettered sun was beating down serenely, albeit not its strongest, the time being well past noon.  Far below, a white stallion bedecked in purple-and-gold raiment was marshalling a large force of ponies.  

At the edge of that force, Corporal Sharp Halberd narrowed his eyes.  The group observing him from the thicket ahead was not what he had expected.  The tracks he and his Rangers had found were those of a large party.  Only seven of the what-looked-like-earth ponies stood staring at him across the gulf between the deadwood and the edge of the forest.  

They were wearing that same canvas barding he recognized from Shale.  The garments' pockets bulged with Celestia-knew-what.  Unfamiliar on these newcomers, however, was their headgear.  

Six, including the large black one, had their heads adorned with odd helmets, which looked like upended metal soup-plates and looked like they would provide little protection against a sword or claw swing, while the seventh, central Eponan had a tall peaked cap, similar to a train guard's and obviously marking him as the leader.  

Hovering at the ready (and there was a wonder in itself!) were six of what looked like wooden clubs mounted with long tubes.  While there was no way of knowing for sure, by the way the thinner ends of those things were being aimed at him, they could only be weapons.  

The Corporal's eye was drawn back to his own party.  The Equestrians had arrayed themselves among the trees at the edge of the forest.  Halberd stood at the far right end of the line, anchoring his Rangers in case the situation turned ugly.  None of them were making use of their fieldcraft, under orders from on high to not attempt to conceal themselves.  Didn't want this to look like an ambush.  

In the center, and making up most of the line, Royal Guards stood in their resplendent glory, golden armor shimmering in the sunlight.  Most of those arrayed there were unicorns; Pegasus Guards were being held in reserve.  Wards shimmered in the quiet, their ambient protection evidently giving the Guards as well as Prince Blueblood a feeling of security against the rumors of powerful magics wielded by those in the woods.  The fact that those wards also distorted their images, like looking through a heat mirage, was beside the point.  

At each end of the Equestrian force stood the Rangers, faithfully keeping their traditional station as flankers and outrunners.  No wards quivered here.  Ranger unicorns had found over hundreds of engagements that it was more efficient to use their power for taking the fight to the enemy.  Standing around and taking lumps was for Guards or Legiomares.  A Ranger simply didn't get hit.  

These thoughts flitted about Sharp Halberd's mind like the butterflies in his stomach as the pony in command of his expedition spoke in clear Equestrian, echoed in a foreign tongue by the enchanted quartz crystal strung about his neck.  

“Greetings, representatives of Epona.  My name is Shining Armor, prince of the Crystal Empire, and nephew-in-law of Princesses Celestia and Luna, monarchs of the sky.  We wish to establish peaceful contact between our races, and clarify what might be taken as a terrible mistake.”  

The Eponans paused, uncertain what to make of the long stream of foreign language.  They looked at each other, obviously trying to decide what to do.  The crystal made no attempt to translate their jabber, which was slower and more lilting than the fast, clipped speech that had emanated from the crystal.  Shining Armor scowled at the offending gemstone, poking at it first with his hoof, and then with his magic, to ensure the translation spell was in place and functioning.  

Then, the leader of the group stepped forward and spoke slowly in Shale's language, which was turned into halting Equestrian.  

“You talk Surkholti.  You take Shale.  Where Shale?”  

Blueblood turned to his fellow prince and spoke.  

“Perhaps you should let me deal with this, Shining.”  

The prince with the blond mane turned to the Eponans and ignited his horn.  The enchanted gem on the back of his barding lit up in response, and lightning bolts began to arc over Blueblood, forming wings of electrical power in an impressive display.  Shining Armor's eyes widened, and he leapt to stop the fool.  

Too late.  

The Royal Voice echoed everywhere, bounding off tree and rock like a tidal wave of bombast.

Among the fallen timbers, Pathmark's pupils dilated.  Here it was, the attack they'd been preparing for.  Any second now the commander would give the signal to fire.  Can't shoot before, orders being orders.  

“GREETINGS EPONANS.  WE ARE PRINCE BLUEBLOOD.  YOUR COMPATRIOT IS-”

The unicorn's monologue was cut short.  Shining Armor, despite his best efforts, was not responsible.  The blue-maned prince had been interrupted in his efforts to shut up his royal peer by a single thunderclap, which the Rangers present recognized as the same sound that had occurred back in the pines that first day.  The sound's echoes were punctuated by the thump of somepony falling over.  

Pathmark looked around in horror.  Who had fired prematurely?  Who had twitched?  Whose nerves had given-

Then he noticed his weapon was smoking.  

Blueblood's wards dispelled, his magic no longer fueling them.  He had turned at the sound in astonishment as Shining Armor slumped to the ground.  A single hole, like unto a crossbow bolt wound, had appeared just below the enchanted plating that protected the Prince's shoulder.  The look of surprise on his face would have been quite humorous, had it not been immediately followed by the next-highest ranking noblepony freezing up, leaving the Equestrian forces without a clear chain of command.  

Now, despite appearances, Blueblood was not completely stupid.  Far from it.  His narcissism, which did get the best of him from time to time, kept him from being much of a serious statespony.  Nevertheless, he had jockeyed in the race that was court politics with the best of them, and as such was not without foresight.  Moreover, he knew magic, although he was not a half as good with the art as he thought he was.  

He thought had come prepared for this sort of unpleasantness, with the aforementioned ward in place to block whatever infernal magic these upstarts from another universe would dare to level against a prince of royal heritage.  In a bit of misguided foresight, Blueblood had gone all-out with said ward.  

Due to his own not-inconsiderable magical training, the spell's protection should have stood up to the attacks of all but his adopted aunts and cousin, a few of the highest-ranked military unicorns in Equestria, and perhaps those of his cousin-in-law and said cousin-in-law's sister.  Alas, this level of preparation was brought to nothing by way of a simple fact of arcana, albeit slightly more advanced than the basics learned in magic kindergarten.  

Blueblood's eyes widened as he looked over at Shining Armor, a lesson from his tutor of thaumaturgical science echoing in his memories.

"Wards are fields of anti-magic, essentially localized counter-spells attuned to not interfere with the user's aura.  As such, they can only stop magical effects, such as ley lightning, conjured fireballs, arcane missiles and the like.  Deflection of physical projectiles is the purview of shields, that is, bubbles or panels of solid mana formed around the protected subject."  

Blueblood realized his problem.  The Eponans' weapons had not punched through his ward.  An arcane assault like that would have left him with a massive migrane.  He would have felt his ward being penetrated.  Those strange weapons were not magical.  They probably worked by way of moving a small physical object very fast into the target.  Since the erstwhile noble had sunk all of his defensive energies into preventing some powerful magical attack, a projectile would have no trouble flying straight through and into his cousin-in-law.  

Shining Armor, for his part, had not raised any magical defenses that could counter a projectile either.   

This all dawned on Blueblood a bit too late.  At the realization that he very well might have caused the death of a fellow prince and touched off an interdimensional conflict, the unicorn's sky blue eyes rolled upwards, and he let out a pitiful moan.  He fainted dead away, joining his cousin-in-law in a landward descent.  

As the dumbstruck and downstruck unicorns crumpled to the ground, mayhem broke out.  With their caster no longer controlling their path, the lightning bolts that had made up Blueblood's fake wings began to arc wildly, striking tree, sand, and pony indiscriminately.  

One of the first to fall was Sergeant Backdraft, commander of the Royal Guard detachment, who had not raised wards of his own at the behest of Shining Armor.  The unfortunate unicorn fell writhing in agony as the bolt of electricity sizzled down his horn, thankfully being channeled off by purpose-made conduits in his armor into a nonlethal but still painful path.  

Next to be struck was the lead Eponan, his scream cut off as the jolt found his heart.  With that, several more thunderclaps went off, the remaining Eponans discharging their weapons into the assembled Equestrians, wounding two Rangers and a Guard.  

Before the Equestrian officers could get the situation under control, several Guard and Ranger unicorns had replied in kind with battle-spells.  Fireballs, arcane missiles and more lightning bridged the gap between the two parties.  

At this point more noise from the Eponan weapons carried through the timber, and Equestrians began dieing left and right.  Command broke down as crested helms were perforated with merciless lead.  The scene soon devolved into a melee of acrid smoke, burning timber and fallen ponies.  

Although it felt like hours, only a few seconds passed before Backdraft recovered enough to rein in the troops.  Equestrians had long since ceased to fall from Eponan fire.  With order restored, first-aid ponies started filtering among the trees, stabilizing the unfortunates as best they could and preparing the chariots for medivac duty.  

If those ponies had gone immediately into the fallen timbers, they would have seen one of the last two living Eponans staring into the eyes of a green-and brown bird.  No verbal message was passed, but the description was Whispered across the gap.  The last thing Tall Sands saw before his eyes closed for the last time was the little bird taking off, flying east.