//------------------------------//
// Ch11 Discovering the Truth 
// Story: The King's War 
// by Priceless911 
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                Commander Mist made his way through the tunnels as quietly as he could while watching all around him. He was curious as to why he hadn’t seen any enemy guards for a while, and even more to how he was going to find the way back to the surface. It wasn’t long before Commander Mist found a fork in the tunnel so he carefully examined both paths. The one on the left seemed to go deeper into the ground while the one on the right turned away from the first. Common sense was telling him that the tunnel leading away from the other was most likely the way out but as he continued thinking about his next move, he started hearing voices down the turning path, so to avoid fighting he chose to go left which would take him deeper into the ground. As he continued down the tunnel for a few minutes, he noticed that the tunnel he took led him to a closed door. Commander Mist crept up beside the door and tried to listen to hear if anypony or griffin were behind the door. He could hear a faint mumbling behind the door, but he couldn’t tell who it was, or how many of them there were, so Commander Mist braced himself to attack, as he slowly and quietly opened the door. Inside, looked like a simple bedroom complete with a bed, table, wardrobe and a few chairs at the table, but what caught his eye wasn’t the surroundings, but the mare sitting at the table.

Commander Mist though he was in luck, at the table in the middle of the room was Blade. Without her armor or weapon on, Blade continued sitting at the table facing away from the door as she mumbled to herself, “Twenty nine years… twenty nine years I’ve been at this, and for what?... The boss is still gone and even Traipse is starting to worry me… I wish he would just tell me what’s going on.”
Commander Mist crept through the room as quietly as he could then he placed the blade of his spear across the side of her neck, “Don’t move.”
With a confident smile, Blade turned her head and looked at Commander Mist out of the corner of her eye, “… What took you so long… it isn’t nice keeping me waiting in anticipation.”

Commander Mist knew what she was doing so he got straight to the point, “Where is Traipse?”
With the spear still pressed against the side of her neck, Blade slowly stood up and started seductively trotting from behind the chair as she smiled, “Now why would you want to see that old blowhard, when you can play with me instead.”
Blade trotted close to Commander Mist as she opened her wing and ran it across his cheek, “I promise… it will be fun.”
Commander Mist repositioned his spear from the side of her neck to the center of her throat, “Maybe I'll take a rain check on that offer… but I'm not playing games. Where is he?”
Blade continued trotting around Commander Mist as she replied, “Why so serious? Hasn’t anypony told you to cut back and have a good time?”

Hearing Blade say that only angered him even more, while still holding the spear with his magic, Commander Mist took the blade off her neck and spun it around hitting her hooves and causing her to fall to the ground. Then rushed over to her and pinned her to the ground by her neck as he replied, “As a matter of fact, somepony did tell me that… the same pony you’re coltfriend killed.”
With a combination of anger and worry in her eyes, Blade replied, “He isn’t my coltfriend, just a business partner. That position is still open… why? You interested?...”
Commander Mist held his spear blade to her throat as he replied, “I'll pass… now where is…”
While looking into Blade’s eyes, Commander Mist saw something familiar. He knew he had seen those eyes filled with worry before… but he couldn’t remember where. Knowing that his guard was dropped, Blade slowly stretched out her wing.

While trying to remember where he had seen those eyes, Commander Mist tried to ask, “Who… who ar…”
Before he could finish, Blade swung her wing up and hit him on the side of his face causing the unsuspecting stallion to stop using his spell and take a few steps back. Then before he regained his senses, Blade shuffled to her hooves, turned around and kicked Commander Mist as hard as she could sending him crashing into the wardrobe. Then Blade picked up his spear and started trotting towards him, “Sorry cutie… but you time is up. It’s really a shame, I thought you would put up a better fight than this.”
As Blade reared up the spear to finish him off, Commander Mist used his magic to toss the chair at her from behind, knocking her out cold as it shattered against the back of her head.

As soon as Blade hit the ground, Commander Mist picked himself up and moved a part of Blades mane to get a better look at her face, “Sorry beautiful, it’s just business, I guess. Just be grateful I missed your face. I wouldn’t want to tarnish that gem, now would I?”
Commander Mist looked around to find that the room hade a door on the other side. Using the same caution as before, Commander Mist slowly approached the door and opened it to reveal a ladder-leading straight to the surface. Commander Mist looked back and sighed, and then he left his enemy lying on the floor as he continued out the door and to the surface. Knowing that Kestrel has fallen and that his soldiers retreated to Gryphus, Commander Mist decided it would be best to regroup with them there, than to take on Traipses’ army alone.

Meanwhile, in Kestrel, Major Bolt awkwardly sits in the castle dining room with Traipse at the other end of the table with a few of his guards around him. As the seconds slip by feeling like minutes to Major Bolt, Traipse casually continues eating his food with absolutely no concern about Major Bolt’s anxiety. Finally, Major Bolt lost his patience and slams his hooves down on the table as he shouts, THAT’S IT!!! DOES ANY PONY ELSE FEEL AWKWARD ABOUT THIS!!!”
Traipse continues eating with no reaction as one of the guards in the room raised his talon answering the annoyed pony. Ignoring the soldiers replying action, Traipse looks up and asks, “What are you going on about?”
Major Bolt continues, “THIS!!!  Yesterday you tried to kill me! Then you treat my wounds! Then you say I'm prisoner in this city! Then tomorrow you’re sending me back to Equestria to save me!!! WHAT EXACTLY AR…”
“There is no need to shout… this table isn’t that long. If you’re this nervous around me, then simply, leave the room. The door isn’t locked you know.”
“But the city gate is… Right!?!”

Traipse smiled at the major’s anxiety and continued, “Consider it insurance. So long as you’re trapped in a hornet’s nest, you won’t attempt to attack any of the hornets. Even a foal knows that.”
Major Bolt shook his head and replied, “A foal would avoid a hornet’s nest… so that analogy doesn’t apply to this situation.
Traipse nodded his head, “Then that would make you even more naive than a foal, wouldn’t it?”
Out of frustration, Major Bolt stood up as the surrounding guards gripped their weapons, “You wanna say that again?”
Traipse shook his head, “Sit down colt … before you get yourself hurt again. I don’t want to fight you here. I'm trying to get some rest before our next battle, so I would appreciate it if you would kindly stand down.”
“Next battle?”

Traipse took a sip from his drink then replied, “Yep… next battle. Meaning, the one after the last battle.”
Major Bolt sneered at Traipse comment, “So… where will the next battle take place?”
Traipse casually replied, “Canterlot…”
“WHAT!!!”
Traipse smiled, “I'm kidding…”
“THAT’S NOT FUNNY!”
Traipse looked around at the griffin guards round them as they all tried holding back their laughter, “Are you sure? Maybe there is something wrong with your sense of humor. I enjoyed it… and I don’t see any objection from the griffin soldiers.”
Major Bolt sat down with a relieved sigh and replied with sarcasm, “Yea, really hilarious. So… where are you going next?”

Traipse pushed his empty plate to the side and replied, “Where ever the griffin general orders… it’s his war.”
“General?”
Traipse smiled, “don’t you know anything about Mercenaries? We don’t choose the war, the battlefield, nor the tactics. We follow the order of the one who is willing to pay for it. and we choose which side we want… in this case, the highest bidder. Though I don’t see him paying us at all, so I'm only doing this so that I can show him the error of his ways when this is all over then there’s the pain he will feel once this is all done… I'm still debating on whether or not I should just kill him now or later.”
“Kil…”
Before Major Bolt could finish his sentence, the dining hall doors flew open as an angry griffin stormed in, “TRAIPSE!!!”

Traipse smiled and spoke, “Oh… speak of the coward now…”
Ignoring Traipse insult, the griffin general looked across the table at Major Bolt then looked back at Traipse, “What is this?”
Traipse smiled, “This? this is brunch… oh wait its well past noon. What would you call this Bolt? Linner? Or some kind of meal between lunch and dinner.”
The griffin general sneered at Traipse reply, “NOT THAT!!! I mean what is he doing here? Don’t tell me you’re taking pony prisoners now?”
Traipse shook his head, “Do you see chains on that pony? That’s my new recruit you’re talking to.”
Major Bolt looked at Traipse in confusion as the griffin general replied, “Recruit? Him? don’t tell me this… colt, had the skill that you actually see fitting for The Cutters?”

Traipse smiled as he stood up and casually trotted around the table to Major Bolt’s side, “This, colt you see before you, survived four encounters with us… to include two one on one fights with Blade, and one against me. He even managed to cut Blade’s neck. Blade hasn’t sustained an injury in battle in almost a decade. So… still thinks he isn’t good enough?”
The skeptic griffin smiled and drew his sword, “if he is that good… then let’s see if he can take me on.”
Just then, the large griffin charged towards Major Bolt, but before he got close enough, Major Bolt grabbed the back of the chair he was sitting in and flung it around using it as a club to bash the griffin across his face.

As the engaged griffin picked himself up from the ground, Traipse smiled, “Good reflexes… but I think you’re going to need more than a chair to beat him.”
Major Bolt looked at the shattered chair, then back at the griffin as he readied himself to charge a second time, “uh… what would you suggest?”
“… a weapon…. Preferably a metal one.”
The griffin general charged at Major Bolt again and swung his sword horizontally, barely missing Major Bolt as he ducked under the swing and used both his hind hooves and his wings to jump up and punch the griffin in the bottom of his beak. After the impact Major Bolt turned around and kicked the griffin in his face with both rear hooves as he replied, “Ya don’t say… do you mind landing me one?”

The large griffin fell onto his back, then rolled over and wiped the blood from his face as Traipse continued from the sidelines, “I fight unarmed. You’re gonna have to do the same here.”
Major Bolt continued watching as the griffin picked himself up again, “Um… how do I do that?”
Traipse sighed, “Watch his movements… he is carrying a two handed broad sword. So his swings will need to accommodate for its weight. Also he will need a particular stance to make his swings, so if you watch carefully you can predict his attacks before they come and counter through the openings that follow.”
The angry griffin charged forward, but was too fast for Major Bolt to focus on what Traipse was trying to tell him, so instead, he waited for the griffin to swing his sword downward, and dodge the blade by stepping to the side. When Major Bolt tried to counter by punching his opponent, the griffin general caught his hoof and smiled, “Got ya!”

The griffin general picked up Major Bolt by his hoof and flung him over the dining table and into a suit of griffin armor in the corner of the dining hall. Major Bolt stumbled to pick himself up as the griffin laughed, “Is that all you got? You’re just a colt with no experience whatsoever.”
Major Bolt picked up the spear that went with the suit of armor and pointed it at the griffin, “COME ON!!!”
The griffin smiled, “Well you got guts… but that doesn’t win wars colt.”
The general then readied his sword and began charging at the pony while Major Bolt did the same. With both foes charging at each other at full speed, Traipse was very interested to see what would happen when they colligated. As they drew closer and closer to each other, Major Bolt decided to change his strategy at the last second. As the general approached Major Bolt, he swung his sword horizontally, missing Major Bolt as the clever pegasus, dropped backwards and slid under the griffin with the spear held sideways so its shaft was stretched out tripping the large griffin as Major Bolt went between his paws, and out from under his body.

The large griffin fell face first into the ground, dropping his sword from the shock, while Major Bolt quickly rolled over and jumped into the air, smashing the griffins head into the ground with all four of his hooves. The griffin general tried to react, but stopped after feeling the cold metal of the spear blade as Major Bolt pressed it to the side of his neck. The griffin didn’t move, instead he just held his position as Traipse casually trotted around the two and kneeled down to speak to him, “Now… what were you saying about my new recruit?”
The griffin sneered at Traipse as he replied, “You better not raise your price for this recruit. I agreed on one price, and I won’t pay one bit higher.”
Traipse nodded his head, “I didn’t expect any more anyway, all this really means, is that if you fail to pay… then he will be the one to finish you.”

Major Bolt tossed the spear away from him and stepped off the griffin as Traipse spoke, “Let’s go Bolt… I want to talk with you for a second.”
the griffin general sneered at the two ponies as they left the dining room and entered the hallway of the great castle. As thy continued Traipse spoke, “At first I thought Commander Mist just trained you wrong… but I guess you’re just a bad listener.”
“What?”
Traipse continued, “I told you to watch his actions and focus on his next move, but all I saw was a quick reaction to whatever came your way. If you don’t plan ahead, then you will get yourself killed out there.”
Major Bolt sighed, “I didn’t expect a lecture from a mercenary. I beat him didn’t I?”
“Your moves are reckless and your technique is sloppy. One wrong move out there and your head would be lying on the dining table right now.”

Major Bolt shook his head as the two ponies exited the large hallway and entered the castle courtyard, “So I improvised a little… it’s not like I expected to fight him anyway.”
Traipse stopped in his tracks, “What did you just say?”
Major Bolt thought he said something wrong,  “um… I didn’t expect to fi…”
“No, before that.”
“Uhh, I improvised?… look I went in and I reacted to what was happening. Anypony else would be dead right now and you know it!”
Traipse smiled and mumbled to himself, “Improvise… just like we used to do.”
“What?”
Traipse shook his head, “nothing… if you choose to improvise in random situations then you need the proper stance for it.”

Major Bolt was a little confused, “Stance… wait, do you mean that you actually want to recruit me as a member of the cutters?”
Traipse replied, “No… I only told him that to get him off my back. But it would be a shame to let your skill die because you didn’t have the chance to use it properly.”
“Ok then what is the proper stance?”
Traipse stood in front of Major Bolt with all four hooves shoulder width apart, and with his head bowed at the height of his back, “Here is the best stance for defensive fighting. From here, I can dodge any attack and counter most. But for a pegasus, your best stance would be this same stance only from a thirty degree turn to the left or right.”
Major Bolt was surprised, “thirty degree turn? Why is that?”
“because a pegasus is better off fighting in the sky so this stance will allow you to take off into the air while dodging an attack”
“I prefer to fight on the ground, better defense that way.”
Traipse smiled, “As do I…”
“Traipse… we got a problem.”

Traipse looked over at Blade as she trotted up beside him, “really? What kind of problem?”
She looked at Major Bolt then replied, “The kind of problem that needs a better place to discuss.”
Understanding what she meant, Traipse looked at Major Bolt and spoke, “excuse me for a second Bolt try working on your stance and I'll be back in a second.”
Traipse and Blade left Major Bolt in the courtyard as the two started to discuss the situation, “So… how long ago did Commander Mist escape?”
Blade was surprised, “You mean you knew this would happen?”
“I expected it the moment I saw his expression after I told him Bolt was dead. The fire in his eyes, reminded me of the day Scy left. The rage I felt…”
Blade sighed, “he got away about three hours ago… my guess is that he continued back to Gryphus to link up with his solders there.”

Traipse looked back into the court yard at Major Bolt who was pacing around in frustration at his situation, then he smiled, “Then that’s where we will meet him again. back on the battlefield. Go get some rest, tomorrow morning we will be leaving here about an hour before the supply convoy.”
“Really? Why so early?”
Traipse smiled, “because if this colt is anything like his father, then he will also meet us in the battle. I just want to have a head start so that by the time he arrives, we will already be inside the city.”
Blade sighed, “I guess both he and Mist do share their determination.”
Traipse shook his head, “Yea… but Mist isn’t his father… I am.”
Before the shocked mare could reply, Traipse trotted back outside and started coaching Major Bolt on battle stances, leaving Blade speechless.

Way over in Gryphus, Commander Mist trotted into the griffin king’s throne room as the king was receiving lessons on proper etiquette. As the king walked across the throne room, his teacher stood aside, “Very good my liege, your form is getting better, though you might need to lower your head just slightly.”
The king corrected himself while criticizing the teacher’s lesson, “Lower my head? Preposterous! As king of the Griffin Kingdoms, I must remind my subjects who is in charge. Why must I lower my head?”
“Because some would see this as an opportunity to remove it!”
The King stopped and turned towards the doors as Commander Mist stood there smiling at his comment, “Who said… oh… it’s you. Back from the dead so soon commander? Pity, I was looking forward to giving your princess the report once we found your corpse. I planned on saying something like, we tried to rescue him, but the enemy proved too much for the likes of ponies.”

Commander Mist trotted into the room and spoke seriously, “Where’s my army?”
The king continued practicing his walking while he replied, “You mean your squad? I wouldn’t call that group of ponies an army anymore. Nevertheless, I am grateful you’re back commander. now you can get that Princess of yours to stop haunting my dreams. Ever since that dog of yours went missing, I’ve had to hear, What are your plans to rescue my solders? or Have your solders recovered information about them yet? and so on and so forth. And if that isn’t bad enough, Why are your princesses lining solders on my borders?”
Commander Mist replied, “They’re probably preparing themselves. If the griffin kingdoms should fall the…”
The king turned around and interrupted Commander Mist, “THE GRIFFIN KINGDOMS SHALL NOT FALL!!! THE GRIFFIN KINGDOMS ARE ETERNAL! THEY ARE AS ETERNAL AS THEIR KING!!!”
“And what if the King should fall!?!”

The griffin king’s feathers started to frizzle upward on his neck as he started walking towards Commander Mist talking in a lowered rage filled voice, “The griffin king shall not fall… he, and his kingdom will stand long after Equestria and its princesses are no more. However, if something should happen that may lead to its downfall, then mark my words now pony… you will fall first, am I clear?”
Commander Mist held his ground and replied with an unperturbed expression, “Yes… your majesty.”
“Good… now go see to your ponies, you will be my castles personal guards… and you better not fail again… commander.”
As the king turned around and tried to calm himself down, The teacher continued his lesson, “Now remember your majesty, don’t walk with your knees so high, if you were with your future bride then you might accidently step on her dress and make her fall down. Something like that would bring shame to the royal family.”

As Commander Mist turned around to leave, he heard the teacher’s words, “hmm… where have I heard that before? don’t trot with your knees so high? The last time I heard that was…” 
Commander Mist stopped in his tracks just outside the Throne room doors, “No… Blade? She can’t be.”
“COMMANDER!”
Commander Mist looked up as Sergeant Major Storm trotted up to him, “I hope you had a pleasant vacation commander, did you enjoy your leave?”
Commander Mist shook his head, “the hostess was rude, the food was terrible, and that hotel seemed like a one star at best. Hardly what I call a vacation, but at least I got a break from being commander for a few days.”
Storm smiled, “And what about your room mate? Did Major Bolt have a good time?”
Commander Mist lowered his head, “Storm… Bolt is dead. Traipse killed him.”

Sergeant Major Storm sighed, “Oh… I see… Does Princess Luna know?”
“Probably not, while I was imprisoned they had some kind of magic blocking bridle on me so I couldn’t speak with her.”
Storm looked down as he replied, “I feel terrible, she trusted us to bring him back. But this will surely break her heart.”
Commander Mist nodded his head, “It would be best if I tell her myself. Until then I want you to keep this just between us.”
Storm nodded his head, “Agreed… the soldiers were starting to warm up to him after that speech he gave in Kestrel, so it would decrease moral to hear that he’s dead.”
Commander Mist was curious, “Really? What did Sparky say?”
Storm replied, “He gave an order to retreat if things got too dangerous. He would’ve made you proud.”

Commander Mist nodded his head, “He has always made me proud. Go inform the troops that I'm back, I’ve got to gather my thought for a few seconds.”
Storm started trotting away as he replied, “Got it sir, I'll do that.”
As Storm was trotting away Commander Mist stopped him, “Oh, uh Storm? What was the name of that noble who was killed in her home the year I became a soldier? You know the one whose daughter I was betrothed to?”
Storm was confused, “Who? You mean Lady Song? Why would you bring that up? That was well over twenty years ago.”
Commander Mist replied, “No reason, I was thinking about that this morning but I just couldn’t remember the name for some reason. Carry on Storm.”
Storm shrugged his shoulder as he continued with his order, leaving Commander Mist to mumble to himself, “Song… Serenade Song… or should I say, Serenade Blade.”