//------------------------------// // For Want of a Horse, the Message was Lost // Story: All For the Want of a Horseshoe Nail // by Amante //------------------------------// The convoy really wasn’t that big. It was composed of twenty-eight ponies and a couple of wagons. Although, it did add a few dots of color to the otherwise blank landscape. Two particular dots, one beige the other yellow, were currently having a discussion. “Ah din’nae laddie. If whut them books o’ the princ’ss say ‘bout this place ‘re true, how long can we re’lly last?” said Horsemaster Smith, doubtfully. The Captain was starting to get more than slightly frustrated at the old pony’s reluctance. “Do you trust Flash, Smith?” “W’ll of cours’ Ah do! Still tha’-” “Then we have nothing to worry about. Once he gets to Canterlot we’ll be relieved in no time.” “Bu’ laddie, wha’ if-” “Wait,” the Captain interrupted as she signalled to the rest of the platoon. “Do you hear that?” Everypony’s ears were now perked up as they listened. At first all they heard was the winds of the blizzard, but in the cacophony of it all they managed to pick up the sound of a pony screaming. “Dammit!” the captain swore. “Bravo, on me! We’re going ahead to investigate. Smith, you’ve got the lead till I get back.” “Aye, laddie!” Bravo had only two pegasi and so those took the air to act as their eye in the sky. The other members, being earths or likewise unicorns, galloped forward with Vigilant taking point. The closer they got to the sound, the stronger the winds seemed to become. Finally, sight matched sound as they saw Bronze Plate and Quick Hoof battling black windigos, and losing. Without hesitation, they charged in to assist their fellow soldiers. The tide quickly turned in their favor as Vigilant charged through the enemies ranks, horn alight. Even constructs could tell when they were losing as the windigos began to disperse in various directions. A slight cheer was given at the victory. “Captain!” Bronze shouted. “We need a medic! Sharp’s been hit with something bad.” Vigilant immediately rushed to the Ensign’s side. She used her horn and had begun to scan when the energy she put out was forced back into her. “AHHH!!!” “Captain?!” several members of the one and a half squads sounded. She shook her head and took a closer look at her subordinate’s injuries. Her face paled as she realized just what was happening to the poor pegasus. Black crystals could mean only one thing. They were running out of time. She turned back to the waiting squadron. “We have get her back to the convoy, now!” Bravo’s pegasi stepped forward and picked up the Ensign to bring her back. Once they had gone Vigilant turned her attention to the remnants of Alpha. “Report.” Bronze heart skipped a beat as she had clearly looked to him for it. “W-W-Well Ma’am, we were uhhh… ambushed, I mean, we were scouting when one of the local ponies was being surrounded by those black windigos so… we, uh, rushed in to help and we managed to fend them off. But one of them looked like it got absorbed by Sharp’s wings. Then those black crystals started to come out of her wings so we decided to rush her back to camp.” Vigilant had an expression that could freeze a pony alive. “And what of the rest of Alpha?” “W-W-We split up to cover more ground. We, I mean, Sharp, Quick, and Myself went around clockwise, the others counter. We were supposed to meet up on the other side but…” The captain’s visage softened as she gave a quick nod. “Good work soldier,” she turned to face the rest. “Alright, we are to move ahead of the convoy and secure an area on the outskirts of the city. Once the convoy arrives we are to then secure the citadel and use it as our base of operations.” Receiving the necessary affirmations, she led them forward into the blizzard and towards the Crystal Empire. The orange pegasus was talking to somepony as he rounded the corner and as such, did not realize that he was about to run into an equally distracted beige unicorn. Books and papers took to the air as the two ponies were brought to their haunches, slightly dazed and slightly frustrated that that just happened. “Sorry about that,” said the pegasus as the two began to stand up. “It’s fine, although I guess I really shouldn't be reading while walking,” replied the unicorn. The pegasus noted that the unicorn had her red mane tied up in a ponytail. She was also reading a manual on military strategy. The unicorn in turn had noted the the pegasus’ hair was done up in a short, crew cut style. He also had a partial sun badge. “Hey, are you part of the Officer Recommendation Program?” was said in stereo. The two ponies shared a laugh. “I’m Flash Sentry,” said the pegasus. “Are you new here? ‘Cause I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.” “Vera Vigilant, just transferred over from the School for Gifted Unicorns. Always wanted to join the service, you see,” said the unicorn. The two smiled at each other as they walked to their next class. The city was the eye of the storm. An eye that was rapidly shrinking, the captain noted. Several of her soldiers approached her from either side. “The area is clear, ma’am.” She nodded. “Good work, now all we have to do is wait for that convoy.” As she finished her sentence an unequine sound reverberated through the snow mounds around them. It sounded, for all intents and purposes, like a horn that had been trampled, scratched, and blown by somepony who had breathing problems. “What the buck was that?” said Bronze and a few more soldiers. Vigilant, meanwhile, just kept her eyes on the horizon, scanning for what she really did not want to find. To her dismay though, something looked back at her. She tensed as the green eyes burned to straight into her being. She could feel the hate, the despair, the cruelty, the- “Captain!” said Bronze as he worriedly nudged his stock still officer. She looked to him, wide-eyed, then back to the horizon. It was gone. “Everything alright, ma’am?” She released a breath as she waved a hoof. “Yes… Yes, everything’s fine soldier. Anything new?” “Horsemaster Smith and the rest have arrived, ma’am” Finally, good news. “Excellent,” she said as she made her way through the blizzard. An orange pegasus and a beige unicorn made their way around the track. “So, what exactly are you planning on doing *huff* after all of this?” asked Flash. “To be honest, *huff* I’ve always been interested in history and the magic of the past. *huff* I figured that joining the guard, I could be assigned to places with rich history and stuff.” Flash raised an eyebrow. “Couldn’t you have just become *huff* an archeologist or something?” Vera smiled. “I could, but I always found it boring. *huff* The guard on the other hoof tend to be assigned to places that are much more… adventurous than where archaeologists go.” Flash let out a chuckle as they finished their last lap. “Whatever you say missy. Frankly I’d just like to be assigned here in Canterlot. I’ve always wanted to protect the Princesses to be honest.” The unicorn smirked as she said, “Oh, got ourselves a little crush on royalty, eh?” Somepony lit a fire in Flash’s cheeks. “No! Nothing like that… It’s more of a way of saying-” “I love you?” she said teasingly. “NO! A way of saying thank you. You know, for all they do for us.” “Awww…. That’s so sweet of you,” she said in a voice dripping with equal parts sarcasm and sincerity. Flash just rolled his eyes. “Whatever, let’s just get cleaned up. I heard there’s this really cool donut shop not too far from here.” They made their way through lifeless streets. “Ah din’nae un’erstand, w’ere is e’erypony?” said Smith. Vigilant clenched her teeth. “You and you,” she gestured to two of the ponies from Bravo. “Check out a few of the houses. If nopony answers when you knock, just break the door down.” The two saluted and proceeded to a house on the left. The captain looked at windows as they walked. “Something is very wrong.” “Ya don’ say laddie?” said Smith rather sarcastically. “I’m serious,” she chastised. “There should still be ponies around. At least, that’s always how we predicted things were going to happen.” “Perhaps ya sh’uld git yer seein’ eye glass polished.” “I suppose it doesn’t really matter. With the train, Flash should be able to get to Canterlot quickly. The princess can then easily mobilize a force to be here by sundown.” It did not take them too long to reach the center of the city. Several ponies proceeded up the stairs to secure the citadel. As they ascended, the two from Bravo returned and approached Vigilant. “Report.” “Nothing ma’am. First three houses we just tried knocking, nopony. The next seven we let ourselves in and checked the place out, again nothing.” The captain scowled, but not at them. “Good work.” She was about to talk to Smith when she was interrupted. “Captain!” shouted a guard who went upstairs. “We found the citizens! They were holed up in here the whole time.” She galloped to the entrance. Flash was in pain. This wasn’t just any kind of pain, of course. If anything, it felt like somepony had driven a sword through his wings. Actually, scratch that, he would have preferred a sword through his wings rather than what he was feeling right now. He opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of blue and white. He thought about what happened as he tried to appraise himself. Getting up itself was agonizing. He winced in pain as his body began to move once again. He looked to wings and his eyes expanded. They were covered in little black… rocks? His eyebrows creased as he took a closer look at it. One thing was certain, their presence was not pleasant. His eyes then shot open as he realized something terrible. His bags were gone. He looked around frantically but to no avail. The cloud cover was nice and even, meaning that he was basically standing on a field of pure white fluff. He considered digging through the clouds but decided against it. The weather down there was horrible, even if he managed to get through all the clouds, it’d be too late by then. Instead he decided to just head straight to Canterlot. At the very least, he was no longer being chased by shadow horses. He spread his wings to take flight. As he flapped, he realized that it was a HORRIBLE idea. A feeling of electricity arced through his body, causing all his nerves to flare in pain. He twitched in agony as he plopped back down onto the clouds. Panic began to build up inside the poor Lieutenant. His breaths became more shallow as his pupils dilated and his muscles tensed. He started to trot in place, right before his hoof moved to smack him on the muzzle. That helped. He started to relax as he let out a nice long sigh. With that episode now over, he considered that it wasn’t all that bad. He could still tell the four cardinal directions, which meant that he could still make his way to the capital. The only problem would be what he was to do once the white plains ended. He shrugged and started moving south again. He’d cross that bridge when he got there. “Is this all there is?” asked the crystal pony. Vigilant gave a solemn nod. “I’m afraid so, but more should be on their way by now.” “But,” the pony started to panic. “He’s out there! Moving, skulking, plotting, who knows what else?!” he said as he held his head in shock of pain. This worried the captain. “Are you ok?” “Yes. Yes, I’m fine. It’s just that remembering tends to bring back… unpleasant feelings.” She nodded as she returned to the other officers. “No word yet from my other ponies, worse comes to worst… the shadow got them,” said Corporal Sharp Eye, squad leader of Alpha. “The windigos also seem to be holding themselves just outside the city limits. It looks as though they couldn’t enter even if they wanted to.” said Corporal High Ground, squad leader of Bravo. “My ponies have searched all the houses, it seems as though everypony is indeed here. But some of them have said that the shadow managed to take away a few of them,” said Corporal Shocken Awe, squad leader of Charlie. The captain swore inside. Surrounded, underequipped, and understaffed, things were really grim right now. She couldn’t really blame the higher-ups though, considering the changeling attack a few months ago, it was no wonder they gave them less priority. Still it would really help if they had their usual two battalions stationed here. “I want the pegasi making rounds around the city. Don’t let them fly too high, though. I want a report on the status of those shadows every thirty minutes. Unicorns who are proficient with light spells are to be stationed on the main roads and are to be accompanied by two earth guards. Ten ponies are to be left here at the citadel to act as guards. Understood?” The three corporals saluted. “Yes, ma’am!” As they went to carry out their orders, Vera Vigilant, Captain of the Northern Guard, made her way onto the balcony. From here she could see half of the entirety of the Crystal Empire. It was a shame really, the city was beautiful and in the light, it literally sparkled before you. But there would be time to appreciate it later. She had a job to do, and that was to protect this place until Princess Cadence arrived. Besides, Flash wouldn’t fail. She knew she could depend on him.