After the discussion with Princess Celestia, Applejack and Rarity immediately returned to Ponyville to begin work on the tasks assigned to them. Fluttershy made her way to the other end of the castle where the diplomats were gathering to meet and discuss the current situation.
The room where Equestria's diplomats were concentrated was a large hall with an elaborately carved oak table in the center of the room. There were half a dozen other ponies gathered around the table already discussing the current situation. When she entered the room, a grey Earth pony stood up to greet her. "Ah, you must be Fluttershy. It's a pleasure. I'm Olive Branch, Equestria's foremost diplomat. Princess Celestia has informed me that you're to be my personal adviser in this delicate time. I look forward to working with you. Please, have a seat. We were just about to begin."
Fluttershy seated herself and asked, "Um, may I ask a question?"
Olive Branch was a bit surprised by her timidity. "Of course."
"How did this start? Why did the gryphons invade the Crystal Empire?"
"Ah, yes, that would be important background information. I apologize; I had assumed you'd been briefed," Olive Branch said, taking his seat at the head of the table. "We don't know for sure if this is their only motivation, but we do know that the gryphons have developed a new weapon that requires some manner of powder, a primary ingredient of which is sulfur. Gryphus has very little in the way of sulfur resources, but the mountains of the Crystal Empire are incredibly sulfur-rich. We don't know much about this new weapon as it has yet to be used in battle, but the Crystal Empire had rejected the griffons' offers for trade agreements and, later, their demands for tribute payments of sulfur. In short, Gryphus seeks to conquer the Crystal Empire for their sulfur deposits. The fact that they would involve Equestria, Germaneigh, and Prance, however, shows that they are confident in their military prowess, and that alone is reason for us to worry. It also shows that they may have additional goals besides control of the sulfur in the mountains of the Crystal Empire."
Fluttershy sat in silence, taking in what she'd just been told. "Is there any way to compromise? Maybe give them a little bit of sulfur to make them stop fighting?" she asked.
"I do not believe so. Appeasement has, historically, only postponed the inevitable. Not only that, but we have no idea what manner of weapon we would be indirectly helping them construct. While we know very little about it, we do know that it involves some kind of explosion. Our scouts were not able to see the weapons themselves, but they have heard the explosions from the facilities. The princess has made it clear that nothing to proliferate such a weapon is to be done, and I am in agreement," Olive Branch said
Fluttershy began to doubt the wisdom of Celestia's assignment for her. "How do we convince them to stop the war, then?"
"I don't think we can," Olive said to her. "Princess Celestia knows this. What she mainly wants you to do is help us forge alliances with other nations nearby. We're going to send some of our veteran diplomats to Gryphus City and try, however in vain it may be, to talk some sense into Mad King Ashnard. You and I are going to work on getting as many nearby nations on our side as possible. We're planning to send envoys to Ibexia, Neighpon, Glascow, and Gildedale to request assistance, either politically or militarily."
Fluttershy hadn't expected her new colleagues all but to give up on peace before they'd even started. "Okay," she said, rather discouraged, "how do we get started?"
"Grandmaster Flemeth?" Twilight asked cautiously as she walked into an office at the very top of the Tower of Magi. "Princess Celestia has asked me to train in the use of combat spells under you."
"Ah yes, Twilight Sparkle, the princess's prized pupil, come in. I've been expecting you," Flemeth said. She was an old unicorn with a faded purple coat and a mane so greyed with age that Twilight could not determine the mane's original color. Her cutie mark was a simple black hexagram.
Twilight walked towards Flemeth, observing the scrolls all over the walls detailing ancient battlemagic and arcane spells. "I'm afraid I know very little about combat spells, though I'm quite good with utility spells," she said.
"Ah, fear not, child. A combat spell is nothing more than a different application of the skills you already possess," Flemeth said. "You and I are not so different as you may think. Nay, we are no more different from one another than a silversmith is from a goldsmith; we practice the same art, just with different manifestations. I was once Celestia's star pupil many, many decades ago, just as you are now. We were still having trouble with the minotaurs then, mind you, so battlemagic was a bit more...applicable to the life of a unicorn back then than it has been during your life up until now."
Flemeth began slowly walking around the room as she continued. "To begin, we shall review the basics. You are aware of this information, I have no doubt, but for the sake of being thorough, we'll go over it anyway. Magic, Miss Sparkle, is divided into three 'schools,' of which only one is widely taught today - black, frequently called 'battlemagic;' white, or 'holy magic;' and grey, magic most unicorns today know. It is grey magic which you know best, that which you call 'utility' magic. White magic consists of defensive and healing spells whereas black magic deals with offensive and combat spells." She paused to allow Twilight, who had taken out quill and parchment since she began talking, to catch up and take notes. Hmm. Just like I was at that age....Even with information she's been taught a dozen times before, she takes notes. Good girl. she thought to herself. She continued, "You must learn both black magic as well as white if you wish to defend your home and those whom you hold dear."
She paused shortly and then continued, "I must warn you, however, that there is a point on this magical continuum that no pony must ever cross. There are white magic spells that would bend the very fabric of nature and warp the world in a way that the gods never intended - necromancy. While it is not only permitted but strongly encouraged to save the lives of the living, the dead must not be awoken from their slumber. It is possible, and not nearly as difficult as one might imagine, to resurrect the body of a dearly departed pony, but the soul cannot be rebound to the body intact. When such magic is attempted, the souls of both the deceased and of the spellcaster are shattered and contorted. The result is a spellcaster with a broken mind and an unholy abomination where there was once a deceased pony. Such abominations sometimes simply die again within seconds whereas others are consumed by an unquenchable blood lust, killing as many ponies as they can until they are...put down."
Twilight looked horrified. A thought then came to her. "But Flemeth, I have heard of such magic. I've read about ponies long ago that sacrificed their own lives to bring back the life of a loved one."
"My dear, that was no ordinary magic. That was alchemy, and it was no pony about whom you read. Alchemy is something of which we ponies are not capable. We use our own bodies' energy to power our spells; alchemy relies on equivalent exchange and a unique spiritual connection that only zebras possess. It is a sort of....bartering system with the heavens. What you speak of is pony transmutation, which is forbidden even by the zebras. It is not a life that is given up to bring back another; it is a zebra's very soul. A life for a life would be equivalent, yes, but to bind that life to a body - especially a specific body - requires more. Not only this, but it defies the most fundamental law of nature. Such a price is heavy - the annihilation of a soul."
Twilight sat in silence, taking in what she had just heard. The complete destruction of a soul...I guess it makes sense now why I could only ever find a couple of vague, ancient references to such a feat. She sat for a moment longer before returning to the task at hand. "I see. You said there was black magic that must never be used as well, didn't you? What about that?"
"Ah, yes, extirpation spells," Flemeth said as her face suddenly turned very stern. "These spells have been outlawed under numerous treaties between Equestria and Prance, the two nations which unicorns populate in great numbers, under even the most dire of military circumstances. These spells completely disassemble the molecules of the target, all the way down to the atoms of their base elements. There is no more complete a destruction possible."
Twilight's face had contorted itself into a look of absolute abhorrence and terror. "That's....that's unthinkable! How did such spells ever even come to exist?"
Flemeth sighed, knowing that the young mare would not rest until this story had been told. "Long ago, long before the birth of Celestia or the first appearance of Discord, there was a demon named Malefaction. Malefaction sought nothing less than the destruction of all intelligent life in the world. At this time, alicorns were still nearly as common as Earth ponies, pegasi, or unicorns. It was an alicorn mage named Ninurt who developed the first extirpation spell to defeat Malefaction. As you might imagine, it took a great deal of energy and concentration to perform such a spell, and it required time to prepare and cast. To buy Ninurt enough time, the armies of nearly every tribe and race - alicorns, unicorns, pegasi, Earth ponies, griffons, and even ibexes - united to assault Malefaction head on. When Ninurt was finally able to unleash the spell, over 90% of the combined army already lay dead, but Malefaction was annihilated. The spell should have taken literally all of his energy, his life included. Somehow he managed to survive casting the spell, albeit barely."
Twilight was amazed. She'd never heard of this story before. "How is this not in any of the Canterlot library's history books? I've never heard of such a battle or any demon named Malefaction."
"That is quite by design, Twilight Sparkle. When Equestria first united, each of the four tribes elected a representative-"
"Wait, four tribes? According to the unification story, there were only three," Twilight interrupted.
Flemeth chuckled. "No, my dear, there were indeed four. There was a tribe of alicorns that helped to found Equestria. Just as there are Earth ponies in Germaneigh and Gildedale and unicorns in Prance, however, many alicorns over the decades after unification left Equestria to return to their distant homeland. When their numbers had dwindled to nearly zero, the other three tribes 'rewrote' history to exclude their participation. Scholars since have attempted to correct this, but you know how folktales are." Twilight furiously scribbled notes onto her parchment. "As I was saying, each of the four tribes elected a representative to agree on a structure for the new kingdom. The first thing on which they agreed was that knowledge of the extirpation spell would be suppressed as well as possible to prevent the risk or temptation of its future use. Only the most advanced and highest ranking members of the Circle of Magi and the Equestrian royalty even know of its existence. Well, and now you, of course, though I suspect you will soon be counted among the former if I suspicions about you are correct. I do not think even Princess Cadence was made aware of the spell."
As Twilight finished writing her notes, Flemeth said, "Now then, as it is nearly time for Luna to raise the moon, we shall cover only the most basic principle of battlemagic today and begin in earnest tomorrow." She saw Twilight remove a fresh piece of parchment to take a new set of notes. "There are five basic elements of battlemagic - earth, fire, electricity, wind, and water. There is a pentagon of power for the five elements. Water is strong against fire; fire is strong against wind; wind is strong against earth; earth is strong against electricity; and electricity is strong against water. This would only be of particular importance against other unicorn or alicorn mages, but for the sake of being thorough, it is important for you to learn. That is all for today, however. Be in here again at dawn, and you will learn how to cast your first offensive spells."
After thanking Flemeth for indulging her curiosity, Twilight quickly left the tower to find Razor Blade and find out whether he would be traveling with the Equestrian Army or outfitting them.
As soon as they had been dismissed by Princess Celestia, Razor Blade had given Twilight a quick kiss goodbye and galloped out of the throne room to find this Colonel Iron Hide. It was not a difficult task; there was a particularly large Earth pony in uniform in the castle courtyard surrounded by several dozen other ponies, all in matching military uniforms, different only by their symbols of rank.
Razor made his way the courtyard and trotted up to the large pony. He had a flat grey coat and a dull orange mane. His cutie mark was obscured by his armor. He asked, "Excuse me, but are you Colonel Iron Hide?"
The pony looked at him curiously, responding "Yes, and you are?"
"My name is Razor Blade. Princess Celestia told me to seek you out and challenge you to a duel. If I win, I will be allowed to join the 4th Mixed Battalion."
"Wait, Razor Blade? The blacksmith from Ponyville? Why the hell do you want to join the army when you could be much safer and do just as much good by making swords?" Iron Hide showed the same puzzlement that Princess Celestia had.
"Because, sir, I'm better with a sword than anypony in Equestria," Razor said matter-of-factly.
"Ahahaha, is that so?" Iron Hide's laugh was incredibly loud, echoing off of the castle walls surrounding them. "Alright, son, I'll bite. You've got use our practice weapons, though. Training safety and all that. Don't want my first kill of this war to be another pony. I'll be using a greatsword. What's your weapon of choice?"
"A rapier will be fine," Razor responded. Iron Hide gave him an incredulous look. A rapier was a thin, nimble, and light-weight weapon wheras a greatsword was a massive, heavy blade. Shrugging slightly, however, he had one of his men fetch a practice rapier for Razor.
They moved to the center of the courtyard and took their places, roughly five yards from one another. "Alright, son, standard rules. Thrusts and cuts, head and trunk only. Best two out of three touches wins. En guard."
Razor Blade just smirked. "Ready." For nearly a minute, the two stared each other down. Iron Hide held his blade as did most ponies - in his mouth and standing on four hooves. The blade was massive, and it was now apparent how he had developed such massive, toned muscles throughout his body, especially in his neck. Razor Blade, on the other hand, adopted a relatively unusual stance. Standing on only his back two hooves, he held the lithe blade in his right fore hoof, his left hoof held out behind him. It was a classical, almost archaic stance not commonly used for centuries, and even then, only by Canterlot royalty.
A second later, the two rushed towards and then straight past each other, and a thunderous clashing of iron erupted when they passed. Their movements were too fast to see what had transpired. Iron Hide had pulled his head back and swung the massive blade with incredible strength as he charged; Razor had leaned forward in a sprint, holding his right fore leg across his body, and he quickly swung it out to the right. All that was heard was a grunt, and for a split second, it was impossible to tell which of the two ponies had been hit. It became apparent who had scored, however, when Razor continued standing, his back to Iron Hide and his sword still pointing behind him, as Iron Hide fell to his knees, panting and coughing. Razor had, in less than a quarter of a second, parried the massive sword and struck his opponent in the neck.
Still coughing, Iron Hide said "Ni..nice hit, kid. Beginner's luck, though; I never lose."
Razor Blade let out a short chuckle. "Funny, neither do I." As they set up again, rather than charging at each other, they began to circle, each trying to find a weakness in the other's form to exploit. Like a bolt of lighting, Razor rocketed forward, thrusting at Iron Hide. Moving his blade to block the incoming thrust, Iron Hide's riposte swung hard and fast to his left. In a seemingly impossible maneuver given the light weight of his blade, Razor brought his blade horizontal, making contact with Iron's sword and lifting his above his head. Now safely under the opponent's still swinging blade, Razor struck the killing blow - a thrust to Iron Hide's chest, squarely between his shoulders. Iron dropped his sword and, again, fell to his knees.
All things said and done, the bout had lasted only two minutes, but two minutes was all it had taken the blacksmith to best one of the most skilled generals in Equestria. "Damn, kid, I've never seen anyone fight like that. Absolutely I'll allow you into the 4th Mixed. Not only that, but with the kind of talent you have, I'll give you a field commission to be my new Lieutenant Colonel."
Razor Blade certainly hadn't expected that. "Won't that piss off the other soldiers in the battalion?"
Iron Hide thought for a minute. "Yeah, probably, but what are they gonna do? They just saw you whip my ass, and they're scared shitless of me; I can only imagine how scared of you they must be. Besides, it's my call; if they've got a problem with it, they can come to me about it. I've just got to get Princess Celestia's approval, but if she requested to see you by name earlier today, I doubt that will be a problem." He turned to the ponies who were standing around him, mouths still agape at seeing their colonel be so soundly defeated. "Alright, fillies," he shouted, "we leave at dawn! Go get some rest, and be ready to march to the Crystal Empire."
As Razor Blade turned to walk back into the castle, he saw Twilight's standing at the edge of the courtyard, probably looking for him. He trotted over to her, unable to keep the smile from his face. "So did you win?" she asked when he got over to her.
"I didn't just win; I straight up embarrassed him," he responded. "He went ahead and made me his number two."
Twilight smiled, but it as only halfway sincere. He's going to be up there fighting the gryphons... she thought as she struggled to suppress her rising panic. She closed her eyes and gave her head a quick shake to clear it of those thoughts as best she could. She embraced him tightly, saying, "Congratulations. Now please be careful while you're gone."
Razor smiled at her, again caught off guard by just how caring and loving she was. "Don't worry. I told you, I'm going to come back in one piece and bring your brother with me," he said. Putting his left fore leg around her, said, "Now let's go enjoy the rest of the night before I have to had north in the morning."