//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: The Carriage Ride // Story: Casualties of War // by Deathscar //------------------------------// “So, is everypony packed and ready to go?” Twilight asked as she stood next to the carriage, staring at the ponies in front of her. “Wait a minute… One…Two…Three…Four… Where’s Fluttershy!?” Twilight shouted, the other ponies looked at each other and shrugged. “I’m here!” Fluttershy’s voice echoed from the market which was just behind them. Fluttershy was trotting quickly, saddlesbags on her back. She quickly joined the others, trying to catch her breath. “I’m so sorry! Its just… my animals… I need to make sure they’re okay and…” “Relax Fluttersehy, Spike will take care of your animals while you’re gone!” Twilight reassured Fluttershy but Fluttershy didn’t seem to be any less nervous. “A-are you sure? What if we’re gone for too long? Can he really take care… I mean…” Fluttershy was getting more nervous the more she thought about it. “Relax, Darling. The princess said that carriage should only take a day or two to reach Gryphus.” Rarity took a few steps forward to the carriage before boarding it. “Ooo! Ooo! That’s the capital of the Griffin Kingdoms am I right?” Pinkie let out a small laughter. “That’s such a funny name…” Pinkie started bouncing towards the carriage, her bright pink mane bouncing up and down. “Gryphus, Gryphus, Gryphus!” Pinkie boarded the carriage with a huge smile. “This is going to be so cool!!” Rainbow excitedly yelled. “Dragons, Griffins and the whole of Equestria counting on who? Me!” Rainbow’s right hoof was pointing to herself, her back straightened, a huge grin plastered on her face. As she slowly opened her eyes, she saw the other ponies staring at her, irritated. “I-I mean us! The whole of Equestria is depending on us!” Rainbow let out a nervous laughter before quickly boarding the carriage. “I hope we don’t meet any d-d-d-dragons…” Fluttershy’s hooves started shaking as she bowed her head down in fear. “Don’t worry, sugercube. We’ll be right here with ya!” Applejack gave Fluttershy a small huge before the both of them boarded the carriage. “Okay, you girls have everything?” A resounding “Yes!” came as a reply. Twilight boarded the carriage next. “Now before we leave, remember, this must be handled carefully. The King isn’t up for much negotiations but if we can convince him that starting a war with Equestria won’t solve anything, then we can fix this crazy situation.” Twilight turned to the two stallions at the front of the carriage, dressed in grand and shining armor. “You may go, good sirs.” “Yes Ma’m.” The stallions said in unison as they started trotting off along the path. “So how exactly are we suppose to convince King…” Rarity tried to remember the king’s name, closing her eyes to force out the memory. “Trela! King Trela!” Pinky Pie seemed to sing her words to Rarity. “Yes, King Trela. How are we suppose to convince him to not go to war with Equestria?” The carriage had entered a small forest, trees surrounded the dirt road they were on. “And if the Princess couldn’t convince him, how in the hay are we suppose to?” Applejack inquired. “I…I don’t know…” Twilight replied, diverting her eyes away from the group. “but I’ll figure something out when we get there!” Twilight shouted, stomping her hoof on the wooden floor. “The whole of Equestria is depending on us!” “No sweat! We represent the Elements of Harmony! There’s nothing we can’t do!” Rainbow Dash spoke arrogantly, her head resting on her hands. The other ponies remained silent, ignoring Rainbow’s comment. ---------- Night had fallen on to the group, the carriage had just entered the Griffin Kingdoms and all of the ponies had fallen asleep. All, that is, except for Twilight, who sat, gazing at the stars above her head, her mind lost in her own thoughts. “Twi?” She heard Applejack’s voice calling from behind her. Turning around, she saw Applejack was in between Pinkie Pie and Rarity, her green eyes staring at her. “You all right? Ain’t you tired?” “I’m fine AJ. I just can’t sleep, I mean, what if we fail? What if the war does happen? What’s going to happen to us? What’s going to happen to our friendship?” Twilight voiced the questions which plagued her mind. “Now Twi, you can’t keep thinking about all them negative stuffs. We ain’t gonna know if we’re gonna fail or pass unless we try and no matter what happens, I promise ya that our friendship ain’t gonna change.” Applejack walked towards Twilight, giving her a hug. “We’ll always be friends, Twi. Ain’t nothing anypony can do to change that.” “Thanks, AJ. I’m just so scared…” Twilight felt Applejack lighten the hug before she walked back to her seat. “I understand, sugercube, but we’re all here, ain’t nothing to be scared ab-” Applejack was cut short from a sudden jump in the carriage. Yelling resonated through the sky, startling Twilight and Applejack. “What in tarnation!?” “Girls! Girls, wake up!” Twilight yelled as loud as she could, scaring all the other ponies straight awake. Small projectiles started flying through the air, all aimed at the carriage. “What’s-What’s going on!?” Rainbow asked, still rubbing her head from the sudden call. Just then, an arrow flew towards Rainbow. Stunned, Rainbow was unable to move out of the way, only barely dodging the arrow after being pulled down by Applejack. “We’re being attacked!” Pinkie Pie shouted out in distress. The carriage had halted to a full stop, one of the stallions had already been hit and his lifeless body laid on the ground. Staring at it froze Twilight’s heart as the carriage continued to get bombarded with projectiles. Twilight turned around to see all the ponies hiding their heads, lowering their bodies as far as they could. “Run milady! Run!” The only other stallion alive shouted, but his yells were cut short, only a scream followed his warnings. “Girls! Get out, run now!” Each of the ponies bolted from the back of the carriage, their heart racing, their bodies filled with adrenaline. They sped to the nearest tree they could find, fear consumed them. Nopony dared to say a word as they hid, soon the bombardment stopped, arrows were strewn all about the floor, road and in the carriage itself. They surely would have perished if they hadn’t acted fast. Silence filled the air for a short while before Twilight noticed an approaching beacon of light. Keeping her head down, she felt the quivering and whimpering of her friends behind her. She saw three silhouttes approach the carriage, inspecting the two dead stallions and the back. She saw their wings, long and white, covered with feathers and their feet were yellow claws, ending with razor sharp talons. “Griffins!?” Twilight whispered to herself, forgetting she was not alone. “What!?” Pinkie Pie shouted from the back. Applejack immediately stuffed her hoof in Pinkie’s mouth, stifling her shocked cries. Twilight examined them closely, two of the griffins had identical armor, both held bright lanterns in their mouths and they examined the carriage. The third griffin had a much more eye-catching armor, decorated with symbols of Gryphus. He stood tall and straight, his face was emotionless as he watched the two other griffins search, their armor sparkling in the dim lantern light. “Found anything important!?” The tall griffin asked in a commanding voice. The other two griffins flew back quickly towards him, bowing down. “I’m afraid not, sir. They seem to have gotten away.” One guard said in a nervous voice. “What!? How is that possible!? They should be incapacitated at least!” Twilight felt dread fill her, she thought of the worst. Was he referring to them? “No matter, spread out and find them! They are definitely around here somewhere…” His voice trailed off as the two bowing griffins darted in opposite directions in the forest. As the scene cleared, the ponies came out, their faces twisted in horror at the things they had just heard.