//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Beginings of War // Story: Darkness of Ages - Book 1: Greyhield // by YoungQuillMaster //------------------------------// “I don’t believe it! That can be how it ends! It just can’t be!” A voice shouted from the dark. The last traces of light faded from view. “I’m sorry, but the visions you have seen are what shall be if the course you are on stay the same. You can only alter what shall be if you make the right choices.” Another voice replied. “She wouldn’t just leave me in Canterlot like that! It isn't like her, she doesn’t act like that!” The first voice argued. “Maybe not as you know her, but who’s to say how far that vision came from. Maybe on the path you now walk you will enrage her and have her forget her fondness to you. Many things can happen with time.” The deep voice replied. Celestia looked at the reptilous suspiciously. Blaze was holding himself back as best as he could from using his magic to take one of the Royal Guard’s sword and killing the three beasts right then and there. “And what is Greyhield’s message?” Celestia asked. “He wishes to invite her majesty princess of Equestria to a summit at his castle. You may bring an escort and one guest of your choosing.” The reptilous stated in an obviously practiced coolness. “So you are the lot that stole land from us! I demand you give back our lands or face the consequences!” Iron Side shouted angrily. “Sir, I would like to inform you that according to an ancient right I could ask the same of you and several of you neighboring provinces.” The reptilous replied calmly. “Really now? And when did you get this claim?” Iron Side questioned harshly. “We set our borders several thousand years before ponies even came to these lands. But if you just want us to take only what belongs to us than I suggest you leave your cities that are within the eastern borders of the great river.” Iron Side looked shocked at the reptilous’ proposal. “In a way, you may consider us generous in how much territory we are reclaiming and letting you keep.” The reptilous gave the ponies a smile of sorts, which exposed all of his pointed teeth, creating a much more menacing than comforting expression. “Is that all Greyhield said to us?” Celestia asked once more, interrupting before Iron Side could continue. The reptilous looked to Celestia and nodded, his smile ending in an instant. “I suppose you will be our guides.” The reptilous again nodded. “Very well, please wait outside while we finish matters here.” The reptilous turned, his two guards following after a second. “”Celestia, please tell me you aren’t considering taking this offer?” Blaze asked in a concerned tone. Celestia looked at him, and after a few seconds, nodded. “Y-you can’t be serious Celestia. Greyhield has never been anything but a murderous monster.” “I know this, but we must give him a chance to prove himself much as we gave Discord one.” She replied calmly, gaining several glances from the other ponies in the room. “Celestia, this is different than with what happened with Discord. With Discord we had leverage to keep him acting decently; with Greyhield we have no such leverage. He can’t be trusted!” Blaze attempted to reason with Celestia. “I believe this situation is as similar as we can get. Did not Discord also bring devastation much as Greyhield?” Celestia questioned. “No! Discord caused chaos and disorder, but he had limits, he never killed a pony! Greyhield killed armies! He is completely a separate case!” Blaze shouted desperately, the feelings of grief and heartbreak of when he heard of his mother’s death coming back. “And what, may I ask, do you even know of this matter? I don’t believe you introduced yourself, and as far as I’m concerned, you are as in the dark as we are.” One of the ponies at the table stated as he looked over Blaze. “My name is Blaze Eternal, son of Flame Eternal. Greyhield killed my mother and gravely injured my father. He has never wanted anything good for ponykind, he has only desired to murder and destroy.” Blaze replied, looking at every one of the ponies around the table. “Your majesty, if what this colt says is true, I believe you shouldn’t go, unless it is to make the first strike. Unless Greyhield can produce soldiers by magic than we obviously have the advantage in terms of shear military might.” Another pony said. “No, we will not attack unless provoked. He might actually just want to stop his ways of destruction and settle down in ease for the rest of his days.” Celestia responded. “Then explain why he surrounds himself with these… these reptilous. They are obviously a people of war.” Blaze pointed out. “And I think that even if you were to go you’d need to bring the entirety of the Equestrian army. Royal Guards, Equestrian Guard, even the E.U.P. would be necessary to defeat Greyhield’s forces.” “Why would you say that? Our forces are highly trained and quite able to handle a fight. I’d wager a single brigade of the Royal Guard should be able to take them all on without a problem.” The pony replied. Blaze looked him over; he was obviously the military’s liaison. “With all respect, sir, by the things I’ve seen about your Royal Guard, I doubt that the Equestrian Guard could even help, and the Royal Guard probably would only last a few extra minutes in the end. I’ve looked over your guards, their armor straps are exposed, they stand of balance, and even as we speak, their eyes and flicking about the room, instead of focusing on one point as it should. To be blunt, this guard is quite pathetic. By what I remember of the Royal Guard, they were such a fighting force that they were only sent in if there was an army, otherwise the Equestrian Guard could probably handle it, but by what I see of these guards I doubt you ever send the Equestrian Guard in for anything more than stopping a few arguing ponies, and at the first sign of trouble send in the Royal Guard. Trust me when I say that these creatures aren’t scared of shiny suits of armor. In the ancient days, Greyhield killed entire armies with ease, what would stop him from ending any force you can throw at him.” Blaze nearly shouted in anger. The pony looked quite insulted and outrage. “H-how dare you insult the finest fighting force this world has ever seen? How can you judge a fighting force as grand as this when you probably couldn’t even pass the entry examination for the Equestrian Guard Reserves?” The stallion questioned, disgusted with Blaze. “I show you why I can judge such a ‘fighting’ force. Tell your highest ranking officer of the Royal Guard to meet me for a sparring match. Last pony standing wins, and if, no, when I win, I’ll be granted permission to reform the guard as I see fit.” Blaze stated confidently. “You’re serious? You really think that you’ll win? Fine, but what happens when you lose?” The stallion questioned snidely. “What do you think is a proper motivation to make you commander win? How about I buy him two dozen donuts?” Blaze replied with a smirk. “How about… you scrub the barracks clean for the next two weeks… and have to go through basic training with the Royal Guard and never again even think about badmouthing the guard; that should teach you not to judge unfairly without true evidence to back up your outlandish accusations.” The stallion replied, obviously expecting Blaze to back down at that request. “Very well, I accept. It only is fair to offer a large reward for an action you cannot hope to achieve.” Blaze replied, his confidence still high. “Stallions, is this… competition quite necessary? A new kingdom has just sprung up from nowhere and you are squabbling amongst yourselves.” Celestia chided in a calm motherly tone. “Trust me, Celestia, it is well within what is necessary. In its current state the Equestrian Armed Forces will never stand up against Greyhield’s forces.” Blaze replied with his gaze still locked with the military liaison. “I will remind you that we are not a war with Greyhield, and there won’t be one.” Celestia stated. “War with Greyhield is an inevitable as breathing. War will start, and Greyhield will not surrender until his armies are dead and he is bleeding out onto his castle’s floor, and it is unlikely he’d do it even then.” Blaze stated grimly. “If I know anything about him, it is that it would be against his character to make peace with ponies unless it is to lure us into a false sense of security so that we are easier to pick off when he comes to attack.” “Well I’m sure the Royal Guard will be able to handle the attack while you are cleaning the barracks with bloodshot eyes.” The liaison sneered at Blaze. “Sir, you might want to summon your fighter to the training grounds before you continue to set yourself up for an embarrassing revelation.” Blaze replied. “Fine, I’ll have him sent to the main training ground, I’ll be there of course. I wouldn’t pass up on him schooling you on how to fight like a true warrior.” The stallion replied while motioning for a nearby messenger to come closer. “Tell Captain Bronze Buckler to report to the main training field for a special event that requires his presence.” The messenger nodded and galloped out of the room through a smaller side door. “I’ll show you the way, please, follow me, unless you’re getting cold hooves.” Blaze stood up and walked around the back of the table. “I don’t know why I’d be getting scared of a pony with the skills I’d attribute to an Equestrian Guard First Lieutenant.” Blaze replied while cracking his neck. Celestia sighed audibly as Blaze left the room following after the stallion. “I swear ponies like those two will be the end of me.” She mumbled in a low tone. As they walked, Blaze would occasionally perform a quick stretch of the legs or back. Blaze didn’t see any way he’d be underestimating this pony if he kept such a rag tag force of ponies under his command without making the slightest sign of attempting to fix it, but that was no reason to not limber up before a bit of practice. Flint’s laps around Ponyville had served a dual purpose in that way, limbering him up while making have to improve his stamina so that he could even have a hope to face Flint after jogging several laps around the town. Eventually they came out of the winding corridors and endless staircases and into a small sandy area where a few bit of training equipment laid at rest while, but what Blaze remembered of the guard’s schedule, the troops were out jogging laps or testing the limits of their wings or magic. Of course by testing the limits of either magic or wing or doing laps around a course they probably were doing a lesser version than what his father had shown him, probably an even weaker version than that which Flint put him through. As he scanned the field, a pony in uniform trotted up to the liaison with the messenger in tow. Blaze inspected him as best as his clothing would allow. The pony looked like he lay off the donuts more than Blaze would have guessed. He actually looked rather fit, but Blaze still couldn’t get at what he really wanted to know. “I was told that there’s something I’m need for. What is it, the troops are out doing maneuvers and I should probably be there.” Captain Buckler stated quite simply. Blaze was actually quite surprised, but it was a surprise he welcomed. In the very least this commander was actually there when his troops did their routine workout. “Don’t worry, Captain, this won’t be long at all. You see, this colt here was talking about how the guard is going soft. We made an agreement that if he loses the fight he will clean the barracks and go through the routine life of a Royal Guard for two week and never make criticism of the guard ever again.” “Wait, you mean to tell me that I’m going to have to fight this… this colt? Sir, that’s a bit much. Can’t we just, I don’t know, ignore him? It isn’t like he is a pony of high standing or anything.” Buckler questioned while eyeing Blaze. “I would be of the same opinion, but it appears as if this colt has the princess’ ear. I rather have him learn a hard lesson that poison Celestia’s opinion of us. Besides, it will show him the truth of that he is not as invincible.” The military liaison replied. “After all, he was the one who suggested it.” “And not to interrupt, you forgot the most important part of this whole arrangement. The one part that I’m sure the Captain would be more than needing to know before we get down to it.” Blaze interjected. “Yes, yes, I was getting to that. As part of this whole deal, if he wins, he will be given permission to ‘reform’ the guard as he sees fit.” The stallion said nonchalantly. “W-what? Sir, with all due respect, but have you taken leave of your senses? I realize that there is a low possibility of him winning, but even the mere suggestion of that in borderline insanity!” Bronze Buckler nearly shouted in an exasperated tone. “I realize that that is a large reward, but really, I have every confidence in you that you can be a colt when you have had extensive training and he has probably only had play fights with other children on the streets.” The liaison replied dismissively. The Captain sighed as he shook his head. “Fine, let’s get this over with.” Buckler said finally as he started off for the training area’s armory. Blaze fell behind him, leaving the other stallion at the entrance. “I’m sorry you fell prey to one of his more outlandish schemes. He might be my superior in politics, but I really don’t think he has the right stuff to lead me when it comes to matter like this.” The Captain looked over at him. “Honestly I’m surprised you were bad talking the guard, usually colts of your age are trying to get in and prove themselves good enough to do so, not saying that we’re getting soft.” “A new threat has come up on the horizon for Equestria. I have no ill will towards the guard or anyone in it. I merely believe that certain things need to be improved if we are to actually survive through this thing. And by what I’ve seen of the guards around the castle you guys really have lowered the standard for them.” Blaze explained, trying to not sound rude. “I realize we aren’t the fighting force we were back in the days just after Discord, but really you need to realize that we’ve not had a major conflict since then, so it is understandable in the very least that we might have become a bit soft over the years, but that is no reason to start making accusations like you were, that is unless Platinum Pen was lying, or at least exaggerating.” Bronze replied. “I might have gotten a tad carried away in how I expressed myself with him, but I really believe the standard of the guard needs to be raised.” Blaze stated again. “Well, in those wise old words we got drilled in our heads during basic training ‘you have to be an example of what you want before you can exact that difference in others’. So, if you actually want to have a shot at doing what you believe is right you’ll have to beat me in a match, if not just to please Pen.” Bronze said. Blaze nodded as they entered the armory door together. “So what will we be using in this little battle of ours?” “Swords, no shields, no armor, any attack counts, battle ends when one of us is knocked out or yields.” Blaze stated simply, reflecting the training style of Flint. “Very well,” Bronze then turned to the pony behind the counter of the armory. “Two swords, sir, and be quick.” The pony nodded and walked into the back before bringing back two heavy practice swords, made to replicate size and shape of the weapon in every way possible. “Thank you, we’ll have them back within the hour.” He finished as he turned to leave. Blaze briefly looked at the weapons lining the wall of the armory before walking after Buckler. The two stood in the middle of the field, each levitating their sword in front of them, the blades pointing at the earth. Blaze lifted his blade, Buckler quickly placing his blade beside it, the two touching briefly before the weapons snapped back to the sides of their wielders. “Don’t hold back on me because I’m young. I want you to go at it with all you have.” Blaze said to Buckler. “I won’t hold anything back. And I expect you to do the same.” Buckler replied. Blaze nodded before fully adopting his battle stance. Buckler took on a more defensive pose it seemed, a choice Blaze mentally commended. This stallion didn’t know what he could do, and so was actually taking on a stance allowing him to take on nearly anything he could throw at him. Blaze’s horn glowed a bit brighter, and then a bolt of fire shot of from the side of his horn and took a swerving inverse arc as it sailed swiftly for Buckler’s side. Buckler quickly smacked it away with his sword, then quickly redirected his blade and brought it down on Blaze. Blaze lifted his blade quickly, catching the blade in midair. Blaze charged the stallion, and smirked as he heard wooden scraping against wood as the stallion broke the sword lock to intercept his foe. Blaze rolled to the side and heard the sound of the blade hitting the earth, sending up a plume of sand. Blaze shot a bolt of fire straight at the stallion’s face. Buckler quickly popped up a small shield that caught the fire, but Blaze took the opportunity and swung his sword around the side, catching Buckler in his left flank. Buckler quickly shot his sword from the dust cloud, sending it straight for Blaze. Blaze hit the dirt, then kicked against it with his hind hooves. The sword glided over with a hiss as Blaze slammed into Buckler front hooves, causing the stallion to stumble. Blaze planted his front hooves into the earth and pushed as hard as he could, and found himself in a front flip, which he landed expertly, his red coat now turned into a slightly tanner color. Blaze shot his sword forward, but Bronze caught it with a quick shield. Blaze suddenly felt pain explode across his side over and over again as Buckler slammed his sword into his side. Blaze rolled to the side a shot a fire bolt at it. The fire bolt hit the blade square on, and sent it out of Bronze’s grip temporarily, but long enough to distract him so that Blaze could bring his sword back to his side. Blaze shot a triad of fire bolts coming from different directions. Bronze caught one with his sword and another with a small shield, but the other slammed into his right side, leaving no burn as the flame quickly dissipated. Buckler’s horn glowed a bit brighter, and then a slew of sand slammed into Blaze’s eyes. Blaze, in an act of blind instinct, sent a dome of fire expanding from him, causing Bronze to yelp as it passed. Blaze used the sound and sent five bolt flying in that direction as he rubbed his eyes with a dirty leg. Blaze blinked out the last grains of sand, and saw a wooden sword coming down quickly towards his face. The aura around Blaze’s horn turned into a whipping mass as he quickly teleported out of the way, and popping up on chance behind Buckler. Blaze felt the singeing on the edges of his coat and mane, but he focused passed the pain as he set a quartet of fire bolts towards the stallion. One of the hit him in the back of his left hind leg, another two hit him in his back, and the last struck him in the back of the head. Buckler was obviously dazed by this, and so Blaze took his chance and began striking him repeatedly with his practice sword and a few more fire bolts as he felt the effects of fatigue starting to inch up on him. Bronze popped up a brief shield that caught a few of the blow before falling once again. Bronze rolled to the side, but stumbled out of it, falling on his side. Blaze’s side heaved in and out as he continued his attack, sending more and more draining fire bolts, several of them being no more than wisps of flame that blew across the stallion’s coat. Buckler slowly stood to his hooves against the continuing onslaught. Blaze slammed his sword into Buckler’s head, causing the stallion to fall back down. Blaze continued to beat down on the stallion, no longer sending fire down, instead just slamming his sword down on his, even though with each blow he delivered he felt as if another was dealt on his mind as the taxing effort of fighting on began to drive him to the breaking point. Suddenly, Blaze felt a solid hit strike him in the back of the head. Blaze fell to his knees, his practice blade falling with his. Blaze looked at the blade, the handle enveloped in Bronze’s magical aura, as it came down on his back, causing him to yell in agony. The edges of Blaze’s vision started growing black as his overtaxed body began urging him to rest. As he began falling rage welled up in him. He was so close, yet now it seemed impossible as each strike against his flesh made the black impeding on his vision grow larger. Blaze's survival instincts suddenly kicked in as his anger and magic combined into one, the black was stripped away and a red filter came over his vision. Blaze stood up, the sword strikes beating on his back feeling distant and quite minuscule. Blaze shot a bolt of magic that disintegrated the wooden blade as it came down to annoy him once again. Buckler’s eyes grew wider as he watched the colt grow even taller. The once normal looking colt grew to nearly the size of the stallion, his coat’s edges flipping about in a nonexistent wind like tiny tendril of fire, his mane once a bit tan because of the sand turned pitch black, whipping around on his head and neck like a fire. But the most startling fact was that the colt’s once piercing blue eyes were now nothing but glowing white orbs. Blaze lifted his practice sword from the ground before simply tossing it away. The aura around Blaze’s horn began to grow in size as the once smooth aura became a whipping mass of wild energy. As Buckler stood up, readying himself for anything that Blaze could throw at him, he stared in awe as the young colt formed and magical blade beside him. Blaze shot it at Buckler, who quickly through up a shield that absorbed most of the blade, but a good portion still slammed into him. Buckler stumbled back and tripped over his own hooves as he reeled from the impact. As he slowly caught his breath, he looked up, and saw two magical swords bearing down on him, made of a shimmering silver metal that’s edges had been, fortunately, dulled. Buckler lit his horn, and a small staff formed beside him, made out of his own magic. Blaze swung both his swords down in unison, Bronze quickly putting his small magical staff in between himself and the weapons. The force at which they struck made an explosion go off in his mind as he struggled against the mental strain of keeping the shape of the staff solid and in place. As he struggled, another blade’s tip poked him in the underside of his chin. Bronze quickly rolled to the side while kicking it, but as he did his staff dissipated and the two other blades were freed. Bronze pulled up a magical shield as the three blades zeroed in on him. He flinched as the strain on his shield was projected onto his head. He looked up towards Blaze with tear welling up in his eyes. The colt who had no more had a few minutes ago been struggling to keep on fighting was now more than able to take him. “I will say this Captain, when I first thought of fighting you I felt as if I would be facing an Equestrian Guard Lieutenant, but you surprised me.” Blaze said in a booming voice as he continued to pummel Bronze’s shield. “You might actually have the skill of a Royal Guard Sergeant.” Buckler smiled at him as his horn glowed a bit brighter. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Buckler replied as he focused on both his shield and the small dagger forming beside Blaze. He was losing to a shifted unicorn, there was almost no doubt in his mind, but he wasn’t going down without a decent fight. Slowly the dagger turned into a short sword, than a decent sized sword, and then finally into a long sword. Bronze swung it down on Blaze, focusing all his mental power on it as he rolled to the side as Blaze’s magical blade flew through his fading shield. A dull thud resounded through the battlefield as the blade hit Blaze, and for a brief moment, he fell out of his Rage Shift out of sheer surprise, his sword that was inches from Bronze fading long enough to pass right by the stallion, leaving him unharmed. Blaze quickly went back into his shifted state as he grabbed the magical blade beside him and broke it with him own magic, as if it were nothing more than a twig. Bronze gasped at this, but quickly recovered as he sent another plum of sand at Blaze, but instead of blinding the colt, Blaze shot a bolt of fire through it, that effectively disrupted the cloud and slammed right into Bronze’s right foreleg, sending the captain to his knees. Bronze looked up at the colt. The only way he could win was by getting to the same state of power, and so, he got as angry as he could. He filled his mind with every negative thing from his life as he attempted to shift, but nothing happened as yet another sword shot out at him. Bronze quickly rolled to the side, but was met by three others that all pointed at his neck. Bronze lowered his head in defeat. “I yield, I… I admit defeat.” Bronze said, ashamed at his inadequacy. In that moment the blade faded away. He looked up, and watched as the colt turned back into his normal self. Blaze, when he was fully returned to his normal shape and size, his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell over unconscious, unable to remain standing even for a second. Medic rushed into the field, quickly attending to the two combatants wounds. Greyhield rested in his throne room, the gigantic stone walls giving an entire sense of foreboding that he so loved. Suddenly a shadow entered the room, keeping to the darker patches instead of the light. “Come out and say you peace.” Greyhield said in his deep rumbling voice. The form froze, than came out into the light. “You need not hide yourself here. You have full reign of the premises.” He said to his underling. “I know, my lord, but I did not know if you were sleeping, and so didn’t want to wake you.” She said her head hung. The two stood silently, before a small tapping noise came from the stone that was the center piece of the room’s floor. Greyhield lifted himself from his throne and walked over to it, and looked into it. Looking back was the face of his reptilous messenger. “My lord, I delivered your message to the princess. They accept, but requested a few moments of preparation; we should arrive later this evening.” He stated quickly. “Good, we will be waiting anxiously for her arrival.”