Hurricane looked over the meager detachment he had been given. This was not good. It would not be enough. But there was nothing more they could do. He took his helmet off, ran a hoof through his close-cropped blue mane and sighed.
Since the events of Hearths Warming ten years ago the ponies had lived pretty much in harmony with the buffaloes and deers that had been native to this land. But as of late the woods and plains had become empty. None of the scouts that had been sent out had found any trace. Of course, the buffaloes could be on a great stampede that lead them away from pony country, but none of the traders or settlers had heard anything about that.
The deers’ disappearance was even stranger. Good old Pantsy himself had pretty much established the first contact with the shy and reclusive people. Once you got close enough to one of them they were really nice. For a race of cowards that would take flight from their own shadows, that is.
Now their woods were silent. Not the kind of silent you’d get in a normal wood, with birds and critters, but the dead kind of silence, where you feel like you are the last living thing in the whole world.
Or that’s what Pantsy’s report had said. Hurricane respected his friend, loved him like a brother, but sometimes that pony could get a tad melodramatic.
He put his helmet back on and once again assessed the situation. He would make the best of the situation, as any officer, as usual.
At least the site was ideal. This narrow gorge was the only passage into the heartland of Equestria and a group of foals could hold it against an army for days.
His ponies were few, but they were elite soldiers, the best the pegasus tribe had to offer. He would rather take these three hundred than any number of any other army Equestria could raise. Hurricane felt proud as he looked at the accurate lines his soldiers had formed. Clad in the best armor ponies could forge they stood with their spears and lances at the ready, prepared to stop any foe. There was even magic in the helmets to give every soldier the same coloration, a cobalt-blue mane and a white coat, his very own colors.
Seeing his soldiers like this for the first time had been the greatest moment in his career.
They might be here for days, for weeks even months, but no invader would get past this point.
Later Hurricane would say that this is where it all went wrong.
“A phalanx of spear ponies, how quaint.”
Behind him, a … something was hovering in the air, munching seeds from a bowl.
Mismatched hooves, legs, wings and horns, dressed in a toga and wearing a bay wreath the creature looked like taken from a child's imagination.
“You may call me Discord, Emperor of Chaos”, the being popped a seed into his mouth and spat out a grape, “or you might start screaming about ...” A rumbling sound could be heard from the entrance of the canyon. "now.”
In a cloud of dust a group of big, round, yellow forms rushed towards the front of ponies, utterly annihilating any semblance of military order in seconds. Hurricane was flabbergasted. The pegasus elite had been vanquished with …
“Victory on cheese wheels. Now that’s one for the history books”, Discord grinned a lopsided grin.
“Say now, do all you ponies look the same? Sooo boring! And what do you call this place?”
The monstrosity waved a claw in his direction. Hurricane watched in shock as his mane and tail started to grow rapidly, his proud blue turned into into all the colors of the rainbow. This would not stand, he decided. His own lance at the ready he fully turned to face the creature. Raising up dust as he pawed the ground, Hurricane stormed towards Discord and screamed.
“This Is EQUESTRIA!”