Slowly the shadow of the cascading sunset covered the valley road in darkness as the four soldiers continued their journey to escape from the Griffin Kingdoms. With the argument between the two officers still in everypony’s minds, the group continued with an awkward silence. Sergeant Snow started trotting closer to Sergeant Major Storm and whispered, “Sir? Are they really going through with this? I mean, the major was a little out of line… but that’s no reason to kick him from the royal guard. He only spoke honestly toward the good commander’s question…”
Storm interrupted as quietly as he could, “Now isn’t the time to discuss this Snow. I agree that this is a little extreme, but it’s not as if we can do anything about it. Major Bolt spoke too far out of line this time… it’s up to the commander and the princess no…”
“HEADS UP!!!”
The two soldiers silenced themselves and looked to the sky after hearing Major Bolts warning. Flying above their heads was a large formation of griffin soldiers who were circling like vultures. As the griffin began landing around them, one griffin yelled out, “Commander Mist of Equestria! For being present in the Griffin Kingdoms after the time of war had abruptly ended, you have been accused of forging a secret attack on his majesty the king! I offer as evidence, your three soldiers. For this crime, the griffin king has ordered me to carry out your punishment, Death… as it were.”
Major Bolt stepped forward, “If it wasn’t for us your king would be dead! Did you ever think of that you featherbrained twit!?!”
The griffin smiled sinisterly, “Any arguments you have to change my orders must be given directly to his majesty. Too bad, he isn’t here to hear them... ALL SOLDIERS EXECUTE THE PONIES!”
All of a sudden, the formation of griffin roared loudly as they took off into the sky circling above like before, only this time, they were ready to kill their prey. Major Bolt, and Sergeant Snow held their weapons at the ready and Sergeant Major Storm readied himself, “Kinda wish I kept my Morningstar now.”
Commander Mist spoke as he used his magic to hold his spear at the ready, “There are too many to fight, we have to find a way around them…”
Major Bolt replied, “I know I won’t be a guard much longer… but I have an idea.”
Commander Mist looked at Major Bolt and replied, “Really? And what might that be?”
Major Bolt smiled, “The Lightning Orb.”
Commander Mist replied; “Don’t even think about it… You know you still can’t control it. If you use it and fail to contain it, you could cook us to a crisp.”
“What? You rather they kill us instead?”
Quickly one of the circling griffin charged in and tried to swing his sword at Commander Mist. Thinking on his hooves, Commander Mist used his magic to stop the sword in midair as he dug his spear into the griffin’s side, “Fine, but you better get them all, you’ll be useless afterwards.”
With increasing sarcasm Major Bolt replied, “Oh, then it shouldn’t be any different than usual, right?”
With the griffins still circling, Major Bolt gave his shield to Storm and began focusing for the Lighting Orb. As he began to focus, a small cloud began to appear as two more griffins charged the cornered ponies. Sergeant Snow dodged the first griffins spear and ran his blade along the griffin’s throat as he flew by, killing him before he hit the ground. When the second griffin tried to dig the claws of his gauntlet into Storm, he blocked it with Major Bolts shield and pushed the moving griffin’s body into the cloud that was hovering over the concentrating major. The griffin flew through the cloud like any other, only as he passed through; an arc of electricity followed him, knocking him unconscious with the powerful jolt.
After watching their unconscious friend pass through the cloud, the circling griffin soldiers became curious of it. Finally, the concentrating major spoke under the stress, “I… I think it’s ready… Every pony down!”
as the three pony soldiers dropped to the ground, seven lightning bolts flew out of the cloud, and into the formation of circling griffin, however, only three bolts managed to make contact with the attackers causing all three to fall out of the sky and hit the valley walls around them. As the cloud vanished, Major Bolt fell to a knee and tried to catch his breath, “I… I tried… but… but I can’t…”
as the major started to fall over, Sergeant Snow caught him and spoke, “It’s ok sir… it was worth a shot, Commander?”
As Commander Mist shook his head at the hopeless situation that befell his group, the leader of the griffin formation landed in front of him and smiled, “You see commander… we didn’t need your help after all… No mere pony could ever compare himself to the power that a griffin ho…”
The griffin went silent as the four ponies stared at him with horror-filled eyes. Wondering what happened; the griffin looked down at his chest and saw a long metal spike resting against the ground after being passed through his body. The griffin slowly turned his head to see Traipse standing on his back with Sergeant Major Storm’s, Morningstar in his hooves, “What-do-ya-know… you’re right, I can’t compare myself to a griffin… I mean, why would I ever see myself as a weak creature like you? I could never set my species that low now could I?... But, I digress.”
Traipse jumped off the griffin’s back, pulling the long shaft of the Morningstar from it and making the weak kneed soldier fall to the ground.
After landing Traipse smiled and called to the ponies soldiers, “I think you forgot something… to bad it has a crest of Equestria on it, otherwise I would probably keep it.”
Storm smiled, “Well you can borrow it till later then.”
Commander Mist then yelled, “Traipse? What are you doi…”
“SIR!!!”
After hearing Sargent Snow’s warning, Commander Mist turned to see a griffin charging him with his sword raised high. Knowing his foe was too close to avoid, Commander Mist closed his eyes as he flinched, only to hear a loud clash of metal on metal. When he opened his eyes, he saw Blade standing between them using her only Cupid’s Kiss blade to block the incoming sword like a shield, “Stay out of my WAY!”
With those words, Blade parried the sword away and opened her wing as she dug the razor sharp cupid’s kiss into the griffins head, killing him on contact.
Commander Mist stared in marvel at the strong mare as she turned and winked at him, “Looks like it’s our third date commander… better not get any ideas.”
Commander Mist could only smile, “Yes ma’am…”
Traipse then approached and suggested, “Maybe we should catch up some other time, from the looks of things, we’re still in a little trouble here.”
As the griffin, continued circling above, Sergeant Snow continued carrying Major Bolt on his back as Major Bolt looked at the cracks on the ground. As he looked, Major Bolt used his weak hoof to push a pebble into the crack and listened as it vanished and hit the bottom about one second later, then he spoke, “S…Snow? Below us?... is it a cave?”
Sergeant Snow looked at the exhausted major then at the cracks on the ground then he smiled and looked at Commander Mist, “Commander… you said yourself that in this mountains there are a series of caves right?”
Both Commander Mist and Traipse looked at the cracks in the ground then smiled as Traipse spoke, “Well commander? Care to explore the great unknown?”
Commander Mist looked at the circling griffin then replied, “Sure… but we have to do this carefully…”
Traipse nodded his head, “Well careful isn’t how we do thing in The Cutters… but I’m willing to improvise if you’re willing to help. Blade?”
Blade nodded her head, “Sure… but I’ll expect some profit from this… perhaps something shiny?”
As a griffin tried to charge from the circle above Commander Mist replied “Fine by me.”
Commander Mist used his magic to toss the spear at the attacking griffin only to have it deflected and thrown away from the group, then using her only open wing, Blade used her massive wing strength to toss up a large cloud of dust, as Traipse jumped between the charging griffin and Commander Mist, then he swung the Morningstar with all his might, “BATTER UP!!!”
after bashing the blinded griffin in the face with the ball on the Morningstar, the griffin was tossed into the air and colligated with a few of the circling griffin, as Blade continued turning up the dust around them, completely covering the ponies in a thick cloud too dense for the circling formation above to see. The circling griffin stopped in place and hovered trying to get a view of the ponies. All of a sudden, large boulders started flying from the ground and hit many of the griffin who were distracted from the cloud of dust.
Trying to avoid being hit and trying to prevent their targets from escaping, the formation split into two groups and landed inside the valley on both ends so that their targets couldn’t run away in the concealment of the dust. As the griffin watched in anticipation, the dust slowly settled, but only to reveal an empty valley. The highest-ranking griffin quickly called out, “What happened? Where did they go!?!”
Another griffin replied, “Maybe the unicorn used a teleporting spell?”
“WELL!!! FIND THEM AND KILL THEM!!!”
The griffin soldiers replied, as they all flew into the air in separate directions, “Yes sir!”
The griffin soldiers then quickly flew into the air and began searching for the missing ponies, while under a large boulder, sat a cave entrance that was dug open when Commander Mist tossed the boulders at the circling formation.
As Traipse listened through the sealed entrance for any sign of the pursuers, Commander Mist used a spell to make his horn glow so they could see, “Is everypony ok?”
Each one replied with a complaint, first Snow, “This cave is gloomy and depressing… completely unsatisfactory.”
Then Storm, “My side is killing me.”
Major Bolt next, “I’m too tired to care right now…”
even Blade sighed, “It’s gonna take forever to get this dust out of my mane.”
Commander Mist sighed, “It’s like I’m running a day care service…”
Traipse jumped down from the step used to enter the tunnel and spoke, “Well it looks like we’ve evaded our pursuers… for now anyway. That was a good plan Bolt, thinking of the tunnels like that took some real brains… hm… I wonder where you got those from.”
Traipse gave Commander Mist a sarcastic smile as Commander Mist shrugged his shoulders, “Don’t look at me… I was surprised he actually listened to me for once.”
Traipse continued, “Anyway, we’re in luck. This happens to be a secret refugee tunnel used during the last Great War to evacuate casualties to Equestria. If we follow this tunnel then we should reach the border in a matter of hours.”
Major Bolt tried to pick himself up as he replied, “Well… then… wh-what are we waiting f…”
Major Bolt fell to the ground in exhaustion as Blade caught him, “Now, now colt… you’re in no shape to be traveling.”
Traipse nodded his head, “Agreed, it would be best to rest for the night and continue in the morning.”
As much as Commander Mist hated to agree with the mercenary, he had no choice. With his next in line too weak to move, and his sergeant major wounded, there would be no way they would make it on their own so he nodded his head, as Traipse smiled, “It’s settled then. I know of a small crevice that leads to a nearby aquifer. We can rest there.”
The Small herd of ponies continued on their path until they finally reached a small room with two tunnels and a hole in the ceiling. Traipse pointed at the tunnel on the left and spoke, “This way leads to the aquifer that I told you about, while the other leads to Equestria, though we are still a few miles from the border.”
Commander Mist nodded, “Alright then, don’t bother setting up camp. Just get some rest. I want you all ready to move out by first light.”
Sergeant Snow wasted no time, “Don’t mind if I do commander.”
Sergeant Snow then removed his armor, propped his shield against it and used it as a pillow, as he laid down and went to sleep.
As Blade helped Major Bolt to the corner of the room, he spoke, “I’m fine… I don’t need any sleep. I just need to rest a little bit.”
She could only smile, “You really are stubborn aren’t you.”
Without giving him a chance to answer, she trotted over to a small stone circle on the ground and started making a campfire. As she worked on that, both Commander Mist, Traipse, and Storm removed their armor as Storm spoke, “If you don’t mind sir, I’m going to try to get some sleep too.”
Commander Mist nodded his head as Storm found a place on the side of the room, propped up Major Bolts shield and laid down. Once the fire was finally lit, the two mercenaries and the two Equestrian officers sat down next to it to rest. Without saying anything, Blade stood up and started trotting down the tunnel leading to the aquifer.
As Commander Mist watched her trot away, Traipse spoke, “So… it’s safe to say that the king wants you dead now. Can I ask why?”
Commander Mist sighed and replied, “The king offered us a place in his army, but he is hurt that I turned it down.”
Traipse smiled, “Is that so…”
“The king is a coward! If he knew anything it’s that an Equestrian soldier will never betray his princess?”
Traipse nodded his head at Major Bolts words, “Spoken like a true soldier.”
Commander Mist then asked, “So Mr. mercenary, are you trying to track down the rebel general? Or have you already caught him?”
Traipse sighed, “Actually I didn’t get the chance. When Blade and I went to Gryphus to search for him, we heard rumor that he was hiding in the noble district. However, what we found was a corpse with half of his head removed. Pity… I wanted to be the one to show him what it means to cross The Cutters. But that’s just how it is… you get what’s owed, unless it’s stolen by another.”
With Blade still on his mind, Commander Mist continued, “So, you didn’t get your pay like you wanted after all.”
Traipse nodded, “And so, we once again leave empty hooved. It’s not like the old days, when wars were all over the place. I have to say this string of peace is really getting on my nerves. How is a mercenary supposed to make a living when nopony is fighting anymore?”
Major Bolt asked, “So who killed the general then?”
Traipse shrugged his shoulders, “Beats me, probably a group of angry citizens. When a battle leaves a city like that in ruins, it’s not uncommon for a group of enraged citizens to start a riot or two against the losing side.”
Finally Commander Mist stood up and spoke, “Will you excuse me for a second?”
As Commander Mist went down the tunnel leading to the aquifer, Traipse spoke quietly to himself, “Go get her, tiger.”
Commander Mist made his way down the tunnel until finally he entered a large chamber with a massive aquifer. With the moonlight shining through a hole in the ceiling, Commander Mist trotted along the sides of the chamber looking around the room for Blade, but the only thing he was able to find was her armor sitting on the bank. Then, he heard a sound and looked towards the center of the underground lake to find Blade emerging from the water. With the lake water glistening in the moonlight, Commander Mist was once again captivated by her beauty. He couldn’t help but stare as the beautiful mare began trotting out of the water and shook off her mane, then the mare looked over at him and smiled, “It’s very rude to watch a mare bathe, very uncouth for a noble such as yourself.”
Realizing that he was staring, Commander Mist blushed as he spoke, “My apologies, I just wanted to check up on you. You did take a rather nasty fall earlier today. You know when the boulder hit you.”
Blade thought about it for a second, “Boulder? Oh, you mean during the battle in Gryphus. So that’s what that was… I honestly didn’t see it, even after it hit me. Nevertheless…”
Blade opened her wing straight out and showed it to him, “See… fit as a fiddle. No need to worry about me. I may be a delicate flower… but you will find that this flower has thorns.”
Acting noble, Blade trotted past Commander Mist and brushed her tail on his muzzle in a seductive manner as she continued to her armor and laid down, patting the ground next to her.
Catching her signal, Commander Mist trotted next to her and laid down beside her, “You were a noble once… weren’t you?”
She smiled and closed her eyes in a bashful manner, “Maybe… what makes you say that?”
Commander Mist smiled and looked into the moon’s reflection on the underground aquifer as he replied, “The way you trot… it is usually the same way that most noble mares trot, except… your knees are much too high…”
Commander Mist cleverly smiled and continued looking at the lake as he felt the cold steel of the cupids kiss on the side of his neck. As he shifted his eyes to Blade, he could see an enraged expression on her face as she held her weapon with her hoof, “… Got you… Serenade Song….”
Blades expression of anger faded as she spoke, “So… you do remember me? And you did call out my name when the boulder was coming at me. Nevertheless, how do you remember me? We were only foals back then.”
Commander Mist put his hoof on the cupids kiss and guided it down as he held her hoof, “How could I forget my future bride? Remember we were supposed to be married years ago.”
Blade gave Commander Mist an unentertained look as she sarcastically spoke, “You recently remembered… didn’t you?”
Commander Mist shrugged his shoulders as he replied, “Guilty… I remembered yesterday.”
Blade sighed as she pulled her hoof from Commander Mist’s, “Well, times change… Serenade died years ago… along with the rest of the song family.”
Commander Mist lowered his head, “I know… it was such a tragedy, first your mother announced that your carriage fell victim to a rockslide, then your dear mother was murdered shortly after that?”
“She deserved it…”
Commander Mist looked at Blade in shock, “Really? Why would you say that?”
Blade looked at her hooves in frustration, “You don’t know what it was like… growing up in that witches shadow. She cared more about her pathetic reputation then her own daughter.”
Commander Mist looked at the water and continued, “I guess you have a point, I saw how she treated you, and I was looking forward to the day I could take you away from her.”
Blade looked at Commander Mist in shock, “You… were looking forward to our wedding day? But I thou…”
Commander Mist blushed as he continued, “Back then, from the moment I saw you, I found myself in a foal-hood crush. But being the cocky stubborn colt that I was, I was too nervous to admit it. That’s the reason I looked forward to the day I could take you away from her. It made me think of all the ponytales mom used to read me when I was little. You know, the one where the beautiful maiden was being held against her will by her evil stepmother, and the brave prince jumps in and rescues her from her prison. A foal-hood fantasy… but I wanted to save you from the cruelty of your mother. That’s why I convinced you to sneak out of your house when we first met.”
Blade started to tear up as she smiled at Commander Mist, “You… you wanted to be my prince?...”
Commander Mist wiped a tear from her face as he smiled, “I still do…”
Blade looked away as she tried to speak through her tears… “I… I was foal-napped… and… and my mother refused to pay the ransom to protect her reputation… they… they could have killed me… but instead they asked me what I wanted to do… and… and…”
as she cried, Commander Mist put his hoof around her and held her close, “It’s ok Serenade… it’s ok…”
She shook her head and spoke with her face against his chest, “No… it’s not ok… I… I decided to abandon my life and become a criminal… I wanted to fly through the clouds without worry of what waited for me on the ground… I… I wanted to be free… That’s why I abandon you… that’s why I left… and that’s why I killed that witch…”
Somehow, Commander Mist expected that she was responsible for her mother’s murder, but he just acted surprised as he spoke softly, “So… you’re the one who did it…”
“I had to… she was the cause of it all… the only good that came from her is that it took her cruelty to show me just how undeserving I was. I didn’t deserve to have our family fortune… I didn’t deserve to live a noble’s life… I didn’t deserve a life of peaceful happiness… I didn’t deserve to be your wife, to be rescued from my evil mother, or even to have a prince in shining armor come and sweep me away to my happily ever af…”
Blade stopped speaking, as Commander Mist put his hoof on her chin and raised her head up to look at him, “You may not deserve a prince… but I would be honored still, to be your knight in shining armor… and I want to ask you, here and now… Serenade Blade… will you be my wife?”
The heart-filled mare smiled peacefully at the noble stallion as her tears rolled down her face. “Yes… I would give anything in this world to be your wife…”
Commander Mist wiped the tears from her face and smiled, “Then by the power invested in me… as commander of the Equestrian Royal Guard… I now pronounce us, husband, and wife.”
“You… you can do that?”
Commander Mist spoke softly, “I just did…”
With those words, Commander Mist leaned in and kissed his bride, as she threw her hooves around him and embraced him for their very first kiss, not only as a couple… but as husband and wife.
Back in the main chamber, Major Bolt and Traipse were sitting next to the fire as Major Bolt sighed, “So…”
Traipse looked back, “So...”
It seemed like an eternity of awkward silence before Major Bolt asked, “So… why are you helping us anyway?”
Traipse picked up a stick and poked the fire as he replied, “I have my reasons…”
Major Bolt sighed, “You not going to tell me… are ya?”
“Nope…”
“I didn’t think so.”
Traipse then pulled the now burning stick from the fire and asked, “So is there anypony waiting for you when you get back?”
“Anypony?”
“Yes, that special somepony who effortlessly awaits the return of the brave soldier that stole her heart?”
Major Bolt shook his head and replied, “As if it were any of your business… I don’t.”
Traipse nodded his head, “… I see, then what are you fighting for?”
“Fighting for?”
Traipse stuck the stick back into the fire and began poking it again, “A soldier always has something to fight for. Otherwise they wouldn’t be fighting.”
Major Bolt tried to act smart, “Really? And what are you fighting for then?”
“Money… what else?”
Major Bolt sighed, “Typical mercenary. I didn’t expect a mercenary like you to understand loyalty.”
Traipse sighed, “My loyalty is dead… thanks to your princesses, it vanished along with my home.”
Major Bolt gave Traipse a dull look, “Vanished? How? And what makes you think our Princesses are responsible?”
Traipse looked at Major Bolt and replied with a serious expression, “Because I watched them do it… with my on two eyes.”
Major Bolt had his doubts, “Ok… explain to me how they made your home vanish?”
Traipse sighed, “I used to be a colonel in the Crystal Empire. I was the most loyal soldier in King Sombra’s ranks. I would follow any order without question and without fail. I even killed innocent civilians and my fellow soldiers just because he gave the order. But then… I was ordered to steal the Crystal heart, the key to all hope and happiness in the empire… and eliminate all witnesses. At first it was a simple completed order, but I noticed that this not only made some ponies unhappy… it affected the entire empire.”
Major Bolt started to understand where the story was going since he had heard of the Crystal Heart before but he kept quiet and asked, “Then what happened?”
Traipse looked Major Bolt in the eye and replied, “My guilt caught up with me… soon I started to have nightmares of those I killed during the mission, and it got unbearable. Until one night, your princess, Princess Luna appeared to me. She and her sister heard of the pain that the king was putting the Crystal ponies through. She offered me a chance to redeem myself for my crime. She wanted me to help her get into the city with as little conflict as possible, so that salvation could be brought to the Crystal Ponies. So she sent a scout to help understand the situation… Your commander, no less.”
Major Bolt was surprised about the coincidence, “Commander Mist? Really?”
Traipse smiled, “Yep… he and some cadet were pretending to be newlyweds so that wouldn’t attract attention… I think her name was Dust.”
“DUSTY? Really? That’s hilarious; he will never hear the end of this now.”
Traipse smile slowly faded as he pulled the burning stick from the fire and looked into the flame on the end, “But then… both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came too. I led them into the castle directly to King Sombra… and they dealt with him the way they should have.”
Major Bolt asked, “How?”
Traipse blew out the flame on the stick and replied, “They extinguished him… Turning him into smoke, and imprisoning him. But, he casted a spell so that wherever he went, The Crystal Empire, and the Crystal Ponies would follow. So before my very eyes, the walls, the ponies, the entire empire vanished. Leaving me, A half Blood behind with nothing to show for it but the Snow below my hooves. I told them that since this was all their fault, that I would take my revenge on them if I ever saw them again… even in my dreams.”
“But you can’t seek revenge when Luna only wanted to hel…”
Traipse interrupted, “And why do you sa… wait… Luna?”
Major Bolt realized what he said and tried to correct himself, “I mean the princesses, you can’t blame the princesses for tr…”
Traipse gave Major Bolt a sinister grin, “You wouldn’t happen to have feelings for Princess Lina… would you?”
Major Bolt started to blush as he tried to defend himself, “What?... NO!... I… I mean we…”
“You said yourself that you had no real reason to fight right? Could you actually have feelings for your princess?”
Major Bolt got angry, “Shut up! It’s not like that at all!”
Traipse smiled, “Hmm… I though it sounded funny when you said a royal guard’s duty was to protect his Princess. Last I checked there were two princesses… not one.”
Major Bolt tried to stand, “I SAID SHU…”
Out of exhaustion, Major Bolt fell back to the ground as Traipse shook his head in a joking manner, “calm down, it’s not like it’s my business anyway, right? I just didn’t think you would aim so high…”
“JUST DROP IT!”
Traipse looked back at the fire, “Alright, alright…”
After the Subject was dropped, Major Bolt went silent as he put his hoof over the part of his armor that had a pocket on it. As his hoof was held on the pocket, Traipse asked, “That light… before Blade and I showed up… That was the Lightning Orb wasn’t it?”
Major Bolt was confused, “H-how do you know abo…”
“I, uh… read about it in a book once. And if I’m not Mistaken you used it in Kestrel too. How long have you been able to control something like that?”
Major Bolt sighed, “I can’t… I can only force it to happen and that’s about it… what it does from there is usually random compared to what I try to make it do.”
“So do you enjoy using it?”
Major Bolt looked at the ground, “I don’t want to talk about it…”
Traipse shrugged his shoulders, “Then what should we talk about?”
Major Bolt laid down as he replied, “let’s just get some sleep, it’s been a long day and tomorrow will be just as long.”
Traipse nodded his head as he poured water over the campfire, “Whatever you say Bolt.”
The two ponies then turned over and fell asleep.