In front of Blazing Streak, a vast gathering of every soldier in the Royal armed forces. They were all looking serious, with a hint of apprehension in their eyes. To her unease, they were all paying attention to her, staring up, curiously, as if looking for some sort of encouragement. All the attention made her pelt prickle, but she tried her hardest to hide it from her soldiers' view. She had thought hard about what to say on her way here, and was only partially sure what she would tell them to encourage them. Nervously, she stepped up to the podium which overlooked the entire barracks and gazed across the massive clearing. She felt herself begin to panic. She quickly darted her mind back to her wife, Applejack and her friends. The ponies she would protect with her life, the town that she loved, and how it would look if she failed. Thinking of this brought new determination to her, sparking something in her heart. At that moment, she knew what she would say. She stood up proudly, looking down on every pony gathered there. She moved to the microphone and started to speak.
"I'm sure that you've all heard of the news. Tartarus is predicted to attack in a week's time. And you know what? I believe with all my heart that a week is more than enough time for us to be ready! I've watched you all train, you all work hard every day to ensure that you're the best soldiers you could ever be! You will all be heroes! Heroes to your wives, husbands, foals and heroes of Equestria! Every single one of you! I could not be prouder to lead you all into battle! This threat from below will mean nothing so long as we face it together. We will be the strongest force known to Equestria! As yor blades become laced with blood, think of all that you are fighting for and how much blood you're willing to spill to defend it!" Before she had even finished, the crowd of soldiers exploded in applause, they whooped and cheered. Blazing Streak's pride swelled as she watched them throw their hooves in the air with their high morale.
"That was quite the speech, Blazing." She was startled by Princess Luna's voice. Turning around, she saw the Princess of the Night walking up to her. Unease stirred in her heart, remembering the argument the day before. Thinking about this shifted her mind to Rainbow dash's lies. Resentment boiling her blood. After a moment, it was replaced by guilt.
"We have recently developed a new way to communicate over long distances, thanks to your friend, Twilight. We sent this speech to them live, and all of your friends heard it. I thought they could also benefit from it." Blazing Streak nodded in agreement. An idea then came to mind.
"Do you think I could use it to talk to my friends?" She asked. Princess Luna shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Blazing, but it is in early development and only works one way. It also takes a lot of magic to run for more than ten seconds." Blazing Streak's heart twinged with disappointment. She tried to shake it off as she decided to go and overlook the battle training that was about to start in the training gym.
.--...--...---...--...--.
In the same room Blazing Streak and Thunder Slash had trained that morning, two guards wielded the training weapons, one a fake sword and the other a fake battleaxe.
Blazing had instructed them to practice on each other while she gave them tips on how they could do better, along with Thunder Slash. They both watched from the sidelines as a bulky stallion and a small but agile mare Pegasus circled each other, prepared to fight.
"Whenever you're ready!" Blazing called. Moments later, the Pegasus swiftly darted forward, intending to catch the stallion with the tip of her 'sword'. The earth pony Stallion backed up just in time and the Pegasus barely missed, stumbling slightly. The stallion hesitated, as if cautious to go on the offensive. After a heartbeat, he stepped forward and tried to swat the mare with his rubber axe. She jumped to the side and this time, caught his chest with her sword.
"Don't hesitate like that, if she stumbles, it's enough time to counter." She advised the earth pony, who grunted in acknowledgement.
"Well done, Swift." She praised the Pegasus, who nodded and smiled slightly. The two then got back to their practising. This time, the stallion attacked first, swinging his training weapon towards Swift. She tried to sidestep again, but the stallion was ready this time and quickly changed the direction of his axe, striking her in her shoulder.
"Nice hit, Gale. If this was a fight, she would be severely impaired after that." Gale, the stallion. grunted in acknowledgement once again. He reminded her of Big Mac, her wife's brother. Homesickness threatened to stab her heart, but she concentrated on the training. In the next round, Swift managed to get behind Gale and poke the tip of her training sword into his kidney.
"Don't let your opponent get behind you, it will leave even the most skilled fighters vulnerable to attack." She advised, remembering her days of learning back in Helvada and her experience since. This training went on throughout the afternoon with different opponents and weapons. By the end, everyone there seemed tired as the sun started to set. As Blazing Streak was about to dismiss the practice, Swift got her attention.
"Ma'am-"
"'Blazing' is fine, Swift." She corrected with a smile.
"Blazing, is it okay if you and Thunder Slash demonstrate to us how a fight might actually play out? Most of us here haven't been in a real fight and this might help us." She asked, eager to learn. Blazing Streak looked to Thunder Slash, who shrugged.
"I guess we could. Good idea." She and Thunder Slash walked into the clearing. Thunder Slash had previously been through the same process that Blazing Streak had went through to get her new weapons, Slash had chosen hatchets as weapons. Blazing Streak tensed her hooves and thought of her two swords. A moment later, her hooves sparked orange and the two flaming blades materialized. They glowed a bright orange as the flames curled up from the backs. She was acutely aware that this practice could end up fatal, but the experience of a life-threatening situation could give her experience to learn from in a real fight. In front of her, Thunder Slash's hooves sparked with electricity before two bright blue hatchets flashed into existence with a pulsing electrical charge through her arms. Electricity pulsed through the blade, making Blazing Streak a bit nervous. She grit her teeth to shove aside her unease. She nodded to Thunder, who reciprocated the motion. A heartbeat later, Thunder Slash darted towards her, lashing out with one of her axes to hit Blazing in the arm. Thinking quickly, she darted to the side and placed her own blade in the way. Sparks erupted from the clashing and a small bright light emitted from where they had connected. Not standing around to marvel at the spectacle, she ducked underneath another strike, her mane starting to stand up from the electricity. She rolled to the side to evade another downward strike from Thunder Slash and lashed out her wing to trip the other Pegasus. Not prepared for her wing, Thunder Slash stumbled and almost fell over, dropping her hatchet. This gave Blazing time to kick the hatchet out of her other hoof. The two weapons slid across the floor and vanished in a puff of electricity.
Not giving up over the loss of her weapons, Thunder Slash throw a swift right hook, catching Blazing right on her throat. Coughing and struggling for breath, Blazing Streak stumbled back. She saw the two hatchets reappear in Thunder Slash's hooves. She regained her breath just in time to catch Thunder Slash's attack, hooking her hoof with her hatchet still being gripped. She rolled back and pushed against Slash's stomach with her hooves, forcing her up and over Blazing's head. Just before Thunder Slash was out of reach, one of her axes grazed Blazing's ear. Electricity pulsed through her mind, completely messing up her senses. Pain throbbed as energy sparked through her. Panic started to cloud her already straining senses.
After a few minutes of struggling to her senses, she noticed Thunder Slash looking down at her, concern clouding her gaze. Struggling to her hooves, she rubbed her head. Around her, a few of her soldiers had stepped up to help her.
"Thanks guys, but I think I'm okay." She put a hoof to her ear, a sharp twang of pain followed by stinging erupted at the contact. She winced and looked at her hoof to see blood. Sudden embarrassment at being beaten in front of a large group of soldiers found it's way into her, Turning her pelt hot.
"Blazing? Think you're okay for another go?" Thunder asked.
"Yeah, I reckon so." She confirmed, shaking her head to help recover her bearings. Once she could see clearly, and her hearing was back to normal, she put her hoof down.
"Wow, that lightning packs a hard punch." She praised.
"I had good mentors." Thunder replied as her bright blue hatchets reappeared in her hooves. Blazing re-summoned one sword this time. it was longer than her two short swords she could have used, but not long enough to have to use two hooves. She felt like one sword would suit her more. Like before, Thunder Slash was the first to go on the offensive. She swiped with her left hatchet. Blazing Streak was ready, she stopped it with her sword and curled round to the outside of Thunder to prevent her from striking her. She twisted to avoid the other hatchet launching towards her. Turning around, she delivered a hard strike with the pommel of her sword to the back of Thunder Slash's head. The blue Pegasus stumbled forward with an exclamation of pain. Seeing the back of her head where Blazing had struck, she was guilty to see a burn mark on the back of her head.
"Jeez, I underestimated the strength of your magic." Blazing Streak's face got ever so slightly redder at the praise.
"I-I'm sorry, Thunder Slash. Didn't mean to hurt you like that." She apologized. Thunder Slash looked back up, a hoof on her injury.
"No matter, I'll live. Gonna need some water though." Blazing Streak nodded before calling off the meeting. Everyone in the room filed out of the doors at one end of the room and towards the dining room - apart from Blazing Streak, who veered away.
"Hey, where are you going?" Thunder Slash asked. "Don't you want dinner?" Blazing shook her head.
"Nah, I'm just going to sleep. 'Been a rough day." She replied, yawning.
.--...--...---...--...--.
After having a shower and brushing her teeth, skipping dinner, Blazing Streak wearily entered her room and sat on her bed, looking out the large arched window giving her a view of the night sky. Snow drifted down, covering the rooftops of the Palace in a white blanket. For the first time for four years, she started to feel alone. Her wife was nowhere to be seen, all the way in Ponyville so far away, along with all of her friends. She just wished she didn't have to stay so far apart from them. She then realized with a stab in the heart that the next time she saw her friends would likely be in battle. She had to tell her wife. She immediately got up from her seat on the bed and made her way towards the dresser. Opening a small chest of drawers to the side, she took out some paper and a quill and started to write.
Dear Applejack, and all my friends in Ponyville,
I wish this letter was in better circumstances, but Tartarus doesn't allow me this. I'm sure you've all heard the speech, thanks to Twilight's magic; Tartarus is predicted to attack next week. I'm afraid that the next time we meet will be side by side in the battle that could end up destroying all of us.
Keep your Elements of Harmony close and prepare yourselves for the hardest fight we will likely see in our lives. Understand that I would not put you all in a dangerous fight like this unless it was the only way that we have a chance of beating them and stopping them from ruining Equestria.
Applejack, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash,
She decided to add.
I hope all is well for each of you. I know that we can pull through this. We made it through Night Whisper's attack, and you all have faced much before I came to this world.
Applejack, I love you, and hope to write to you again sometime before Faint sends his... her... Its army.
Yours faithfully,
Firefly.