//------------------------------// // Chap. 2- Old Pony, Old tricks (updated) // Story: My Little Pony: The Pony in the Crystal Cage // by Ilikadederp //------------------------------// Chap. 2- Old Pony, Old tricks The night air was cool and arid; the full moon loomed overhead, complimented by its many tiny scintillating counterparts. Its soft ambient glow fell upon the puffy mounds of the vapor as they were pushed along by the ever shifting winds like a shepherd leading his herd to pasture. The only thing that could be heard over the howling airstreams high above was the hard beats of the dragon’s massive wings as she darted threw the sky. The colossal creature raced across the skies above the clouds like a missile. The majority of the dragon’s scales shimmered like volcanic glass, while her bottom jaw, throat, belly and the arrowed tip of her tail were a brilliant vermilion. Her large swept horns were as large as a pony from mussel to tail. “Venite Caldera...” A blue Pegasus stallion bellowed on top of the mighty beast. The pegasus was a ultramarine blue and nearly black mane with streaks and patches of gray, his eyes covered by a pair of tinted goggles witch held his HUD. His large bat like wings clung to the sides of the dragon’s neck. The pegasus wore a long blue jacket with purple trim running along the edge. A silver shield with the eye of nightmare and his rank insignia were embroidered onto either sleeve of his jacket. And his name, Hail Storm, stitched on. "OSTENDE MIHI QUID POTES!" The dragon known as Caldera grinned widely, her fiery eyes narrowing. She snorted a bit of smoke from her nostrils as she banked to her right; she swept back her wings and began to spin. Hail clung to the dragon by her horns and neck, holding on tight as the dragon spiraled and banked in-between loose clouds. He let his eyelids fall on their own weight, he took deep even breaths and visualized himself and Caldera flowing through the open skies. Caldera arched her neck upward and beat her wings heavily, ascending rapidly. Time seemed to slow as she halted her wings and the two began to free fall downwards. This was a regular routine for Hail and Caldera, the dragon was able to practice her aerial maneuvers, and Hail was able to perfect a meditation technique he developed. Hail would enter a deep state of concentration while Caldera would try to shake his concentration threw some trick flying that would have a normal pony begging for mercy within the first few seconds. The night air chilled his lungs like he had just dove into a tub of ice. Caldera would rock his body till his bones hurt, and his fur felt like it was being torn from his skin. But threw all this, Hail was able to still focus on the steady beating of his heart and both of Caldera’s. Hail’s world condensed into an area of only a hundred or so feet. He could feel himself leaving the world behind, the pains from the flight left him and numbness took over his body. The smells of the Everfree forest bellow him faded. Her wings beat like drums in his head, their unified strokes rubbed his mind like a talented masseuse. He was alone with his friend in an ever stretching void of only the two of them. Caldera rapidly killed her acceleration, signaling Hail to snap out of his mediation. The Night came crashing back into reality, as well did his cognitive abilities. His could smell the forest bellow again, his nose tingled from the icy winds, and his eyes felt like they were being sucked into the back of his head. and in the distance, was the Palace of Everfree, one of the three seats of power in Equestria and Central Command of the Equestrian Imperial Guard. Before Princess Luna had returned to Equestria, not many know of the ruins hidden in the center of the Everfree forest; even less knew that it was once the home of the Obsidian Throne, Luna’s seat of power. But shortly after her return, Luna had begun the reconstruction of the ancient city, and now that the Palace of Everfree had been returned to its former glory, ponies had begun returning to the old city. As time went on, Everfree grew in size and scope. Luna’s new outlook on her duties as the princess of the night and the guardian of her subject’s dreams had inspired her to revive the old Night Guard. Within the following decades Everfree evolved into an impregnable citadel. The city is now the very heart and nerve center of Equestrian’s Armed Forces. Caldera circled the fortress; the palace itself was nearly double the size of the Canterlot palace, the entire fortress having an area of about six miles. The walls of the castle were in the shape of a smooth slanting circle, with watch towers spread out every few hundred meters. Numerous smaller separate structures surrounded the main castle, which consisted of a massive main rectangular hall with an arched roof and numerous spires. At the base held the heart of the city, Luna’s court, EIG Central Command, and ancient room that once held the elements of harmony; it was refurbished into a type of shrine of the history of the Mane six, and the princesses of the triarchy. The city itself beamed in the light of the full moon, like one of the night sky’s many glistening jewels. Very little lights were ever needed in Everfree, seeing as how the moon supplied most of what they needed to see, and most of the ponies who called Everfree their home could see very well in the dark. Around the city going about their business were a few squadrons of Night Guard pegusi threw the air on their patrols. “We have you on PsiDAR now Commander,” PsiDAR; Psychic Detection And Ranging, the Equestrian’s primary means of tracking “You’re clear to land on pad three. Welcome back.” Hail guided Caldera to the right by gently pushing and pulling on her horns in the right direction. Caldera obediently banked to her right, when they came close to the landing pad protruding from one of the secondary spires of the castle she began flapping her wings furiously to kill her velocity. The Dragon landed on the platform with a thunderous stomp and the creaks and screeches of metal, shaking the landing pad and most of the palace when her claws met the reinforced landing station. Caldera rested her neck on the deck and allowed her passenger to dismount. Hail folded his wings back up and dropped to the ground. He fixed a few imperfections in his jacket, and slid his goggles down around his neck, revealing a pair of marigold colored eyes. He gave the dragon an encouraging pat on her head with a hoof “That’ll do old girl, that’ll do.” "Commander!" Shouted a stallion, galloping onto the landing pad. A honey colored unicorn with a bright cherry colored hair and an olive eye. He was missing both his back legs below the knees, his entire left foreleg and his left eye. Them being replaced with Bio-mechanical prosthetics. "Commander, I have something interesting you'd like to hear!" Hail turned his head to the side catching site of the officer calling in his peripherals "Admiral Ratchet,” he said, patting Caldera on her snout. “If you’re going to tell me your rank on your collar is crooked I will personally ensure you will get a good scolding from the princess on the importance of proper uniform Etiquette." Hail fixed the collar, and began walking down the path off the landing pad. Caldera took to the skies once again and disappearing from sight behind the castle. Ratchet took a look at his collar, mentally slapping himself and beginning to adjust the insignia. “I would have expected a little more creative chastisement from you actually.” Ratchet responded; the hydraulics of the lift door hissing open as the Commander stepped inside the polished silver interior of the elevator. “The Drill Instructors still don’t allow sugar in the barracks after last time you decided to ‘Educate’ the recruits.” Hail let out a chuckle as he recollected the memory. “Coming from the one who calls me ‘excessive’ and ‘overzealous’” Hail added as his XO (Executive Officer) slid like a cat into the lift just before the doors hissed closed and began rapidly descending into Everfree. Ratchet chuckled as the lift hummed to a halt and the doors hissed open again, the two stepping out into a corridor simultaneously and beard to their right. “I digress sir. I just got back the latest reports from our the new project and the recruitment stations-“ Hail speed up to a trot down a large corridor decorated in the signature blues and purples of the Night Guard, banners fluttered aloft in the slight breeze as the two ponies walked by. Ratchet’s metal hooves clanking on the stone floors. The air tasted crisp and had a smelled slightly eclectic. The few ponies in the corridor diverting their paths to allow their superior officer by them “Let me guess, we got another stream of convicts who’ll rather enlist than spend their time and I need to whip em’ into shape via a bit of demonstration?” “The new recruits are non-nationals, sir.” Hail physically and mentally stopped in his tracks, and stared into the air for a moment. Hail whipped around and snatched Ratchet’s data pad from his magical grasp and read the contents carefully. “We’ll I’ll be a son of diamond dog… how in Tartarus did this happen?” Ratchet snatched back his data pad, the two continuing their slow trot down the hall “In some recent weeks we’ve had a steady increase in immigrations, and in the applications from said non-nationals. We always need bodies in armor, and they’ve got the bodies and we got the armor. The Night Guard has earned quite the reputation since you took over, sir.” Hail rolled his eyes “Sometimes I think I’m too good at what I do.” He sighed “Isn’t there some kind of law that says only citizens can enlist?” Ratchet raised a brow in confusion. “Her Majesty Luna just signed the order that’ll allow them in- Sir.” He trailed off “This is a historic moment in not only Night Guard but world history! The Night Guard is now THE first multinational military organization ever. The Night Guard was always a symbol for new beginnings. Taking in the less fortunate, giving them second chances at life. Now it’s a symbol of unity, it will be the different mentalities that these outlanders will bring to us that will make us stronger. The world is changing and it’s starting to see Equestria as its center.” “Oh how the young like to dream.” He murmured under his breath. “Ratchet, we’ll always be fighting each other. There will always be those who will be rooting for their adversaries on all sides. Every now and then I still come across a Changeling sympathizer calling me a butcher. It’s only just a matter of time witch one of us comes out on top. And as to whom that’ll be? Well I guess it’ll be the one who has the most cunning and ruthless commanders.” He winked to his Executive Officer. “And this nation was founded and tamed by Equestrians. It was built by the blood sweat and tears of Equestrians. And Equestrians continue to fight and die for its defense. Any war that threatens Equestria should be fought by Equestrians. Ratchet cocked his head and glared at his Commander “Will there ever be a day you stop fighting and take the peace when you can? The world is changing, and its people are changing with it. Maybe there is a better way don’t you think?” Hail smirked again and chuckle rose from his gut “There’ll never be peace as long as they’re still players on the board, that’s why ponies like me are still in existence.” Ratchet rolled his eyes “You mean cynical old bastards like you?” he said as they both arrived at a large steel door. A series of numbers appeared in holograms on the right side of the door, and Hail began to punch in a number code on the holograms “Cynical old bastards like me.” Hail said, grinning for a moment before punching the enter key on the door’s holograph. “C.O.L.T. online” A smooth, masculine mechanical voice came from the consul. The Controlled Operations and Logistics Terminal, or COLT, was the main computer that ran the entire national defense mainframe in Equestria. “Supreme Commander Hail Storm. Full access granted.” The steel door bellowed as it was pushed horizontally into the wall. Beyond the threshold was a long hall filled to the absolute brim with ponies in uniforms of many colors trotting to and fro, going about their days. “So is that how you see the world? As a game of never-ending chess?” Ratchet asked. Hail smirked again and shook his head, “No, not chess Admiral. Goh.” Ratchet raised a brow “Goh, Sir?” “It’s a Cerivdinian game, the object is to capture as much territory as possible with as few pieces as possible. Chess players is the favorite pray of Goh players. Where Chess players run battles, they see the field as a grid, where if you win a battle you think you’re winning the war. But with Goh you wage war, you see that a battle is a means to an end to do just that win the war. The great Prince Thunderhead of the 3rd empire won numerous wars, some he won without raising a single blade.” Near the center of the hall Hail made a sharp left and pressed the up button on another lift. “But Commander, you’ve been in lots of battles, I doubt I can name half of them if I tried.” Ratchet asked as the doors to the lift sprung open again and the two stepped inside. Hail punched the top level key and the elevator shot upwards “I’ve seen a lot of combat yes, but I have only waged a war once in my career… it was…” Hail quivered in his uniform like he had just taken a bit of a particularly good slice of cake “enlightening to say the least. Even in a hairball the clever Goh player can even best the master chess player on his own board. Using as few pieces as possible to outmaneuver and accomplish a goal set by the player.” Ratchet looked to Hail with keen “I never thought of it that way Commander, how did you came to that conclusion?” he asked. The doors to the lift hissed open once more and the two were met by the cool breeze of the moonlit night. The smell of the forest around the city once again filled the air. And the sounds of the many animals in the forest overlapping the ponies and machines in the city could just be made out. Before them was a large observation deck at the top of one of the tallest spires in the city, around them were lite décor of grassy patches with a few assorted trees and bushes with a cobblestone path leading to the edge of the deck. At the edge was placed were a couple of chairs, a small table and a tin bucket with ice and assorted bottles sat between the two. Caldera skulked up from around the skies and landed almost gingerly on a grassy part of the over watch and made herself comfortable near the two chairs. Hail turned to the cyberpony and grinned deviously “Poor me a drink and I’ll tell you a story.” The two warriors made themselves at home on the deck overlooking the Everfree forest, this was the reason the two had made this place their spot in the castle, you could see the Everfree forest from end to end, the moonlight reflecting off a near endless see of lush green with the faint glow of Mt. Canterlot in the Distance. The two would spend most of their free time up on this spot, staring into the horizon and up at the vast skies with the billions of twinkling little heartbeats, and far in the distance the northern lights can be just made out. And they were so high up that the noises of the city were barely audible due to the winds. Ratchet cracked a bottle of Spiced Rum and pored it into two glasses one he levitated over to himself the other to his commander who was lighting up. “What’s the brand tonight boss?” Ratchet asked, sifting his drink and taking in the sent. “Saddle Arabian Hash... The good stuff.” Hail responded passing a box over to his XO Ratchet floated a joint into his mouth and lit the end with a spark from his horn. “So, what was that old war story you wanted to share this time?” Hail took a sip from his rum and set the glass back down on the table “It’s not really a war story, technically,” He paused to take a puff “it was back in officer’s training… I was taking the Buttercup scenario-“ Ratchet cringed at the memory of the so called “unbeatable” test given to every young officer in training at the Imperial guard academy. This scenario involved a civilian airship that was shot down over the badlands, with possible survivors and valuable cargo to be recovered. A team is dispatched to secure the crash site, rescue the survivors and recover the cargo. But when the team reaches the crash, they are ambushed and swarmed by an overwhelming force. The test is meant to see if the officer can maintain control of the situation and is able to keep his men together to the bitter end. Only two ponies have ever “Won” the no win situation. Both of them have been in Hailstorm’s Family. “Oh gods, that test! I almost had the bastards pegged but the game cheated me!” Ratchet exclaimed in frustration at the memory of the said unbeatable test. “Aye brother, it is unbeatable. To those who play the game the way it wants you too.” Hail said, smirking in delight. Ratchet perked his ear up to this. “Oh this I have to hear.” Said the Admiral. “My solution to the no win scenario… I turned to one of my troopers and ordered him to arm a Tac *Tactical* Nuke and vaporize the transport.” Ratchet couldn’t restrain himself, he busted out laughing. “You! You blew up the transport!? HAHAHAHAHAAA! Where in Tartarus did you get that idea!?” Hail took another sip and continued “first of all you see, I spent most of my life living in the badlands, I know that wasteland inside-out, backwards and forwards. And you tend to notice the flight patterns of Airships that fly over your head on a regular basis. They really like to give the interior of the badlands a wide birth. Second, it was an obvious trap from the beginning. Third, the Transport was possibly filled with raiders ready to swarm us if we managed to board her. Fourth, I’ve seen first hoof what those Badders do to their captives… if that ship WAS filled with survivers I was doing them a mercy by letting them die quickly than live at the hands of creatures like that… now does that answer your question?” Hail turned towards Ratchet, and saw Caldera glairing over at him and shaking her head. Ratchet stared at the commander in shock “Dear gods Hail… I suppose that is the… logical and… merciful thing to do. I know it’s a test but… I can’t help but feel for the people that actually happens to. I just wish there was a better way.” Hail chuckled, “It’s a cold world out there Ratchet… Cold and harsh… that’s why Equestria thrives as it does.” “I know what you mean there sir; Ponies have been fighting since as far back as history goes… we’ve been tried threw pain and suffering. And in that pain and suffering we grew closer to one another, we began to rely on each other because we were the only friends we had.” Ratchet paused for a moment, he turned to his commander. Hail sighed deeply, setting aside his drink “The Griffins tried to break our people, and for a while they succeeded. But it was threw the fires of war and the temper of friendship that our people rose as one race, one people with one voice screaming to the world ‘We are Ponies godsdammit! And we won’t stand for this anymore!’ We are brothers and sisters in arms, all of us. The best and worst in everyone comes out when they are challenged and no race knows a challenge like the Ponies of Equestria.” Caldera stretched out her neck and laid her head next to Hail’s chair, the commander rested a hoof on the dragoness’s head. “Our hardships bring us together,” Ratchet added “as long as we have a challenge to overcome, the heart and soul of our people can never be broken. And we have our friends and family to remind us of that.” Hail raised his glass to no one in particular “Cheers brothers and sisters.” “And may we be granted better challenges.” They both gulped down the last of their drinks and sat back. Starring off into the endless distance.