Avatar: The Last Alicorn. Book 3: Unicorn

by Jeweled Pen


Chapter 15: Pursuit

Creme's face had turned bright red with fury. Flowerbloom imagined he would turn into a cherry at any moment. The unicorn had ordered the crew to take them to one of the Water Nation outposts, before retiring to his bed.

When he woke up, he'd found them making the final approach to Appleoosa and, to his great rage, found her father had contradicted his orders to bring them here. His crew refused to look at him as they went about their duties, readying the ship for its landing. If he wasn't so uptight and rude, Flowerbloom would feel bad for him. As it was, she had to struggle not to laugh at his tantrum.

“FIZZY!” Creme finally yelled, while stomping his hooves like an angry child. “What do you think you're doing, directing MY ship?”

“Oh?” her father turned and smiled. “Ah have no idea what yah could mean.”

The stallion's face got even redder. “You know exactly what I mean! I gave direct orders to land at--”

“Somewhere other than our set destination. Ah had no intention of wasting time at an outpost when Appleoosa was only an extra hour away,” Fizzy said dismissively as he stared over the edge of the ship.

“But our supplies are--”

“Our supplies can be replenished at Appleoosa. It's still under our control.”

“They're earth ponies! Filthy, dirty earth ponies! I won't--”

Fizzy's eyes narrowed and Flowerbloom quickly darted out of the way. Her father stormed to the stallion, making him take few flustered steps back. “Ah've had it up tah here with your 'filthy earth pony' nonsense. One more word out of yah against mah orders and ah'll have yah confined to your quarters.”

“This... this is my ship, you can't--”

“Ah am the one in command here,” Fizzy said in a low growl, his eyes steely and cold. “Not you. Ah can do whatever ah please, short ah hanging yah by your tail off the side. Do ah make myself clear?”

The stallion's face got even redder, before his horn glowed. Flowerbloom cringed, but didn't stop watching. She knew what was coming next. Fizzy's hoof shot out instantly, smacking against the base of the horn before giving three quick prods down Creme's neck. He walked by him, hooves darting out and striking against key points as he went, until the pony collapsed, the entire right side of his body locking up.

Creme laid there, his eyes wide. “Youg cag aggack me! Ah'm ah--”

Fizzy laid a hoof on the stallion's face and glared. “Don't think ah'm a fool. Ah've spent years around water benders, ah know exactly how to tell when one of yah plans tah launch an attack.” He leaned in closer. “Ah'm not some helpless child, unable tah fight your bending. Ah've been fighting benders since yah were in diapers. If yah raise your magic against me again, ah'll snap your horn. Do ah make myself clear?”

Flowerbloom watched as the confidence and anger melted away, to be replaced by fear. The stallion tried to get up with his other hooves, but with half his body unmoving there wasn't much he could do except spin around in a small circle. Her father put a hoof to his horn and Creme let out a whimper. “F-fwine...”

“Good,” Fizzy said, before turning about. “Now. Prepare tah land!” he called out. The ponies got to work, flying around as the ship began its descent. He then looked down to the unicorn. “Somepony take the captain to his room, he requires rest. Flowerbloom, get ready to depart. We'll start here.” He looked to her and gave her a small smile.

She nodded nervously, though she kept her eyes on Creme. He gave them both an angry glare while he was gently picked up and hauled back into the ship, his crew still not managing to meet his eyes.

------

Scootaloo felt great! Not something she was used to feeling, to be honest. Her schedule was now full with every day running about and checking out each and every pegasus she could get her hooves on. Her first few days had been miserable, with her being so sick she could barely crawl out of bed. The stark temperature difference had finally got to her. To make it worse, Grimset had spent most of her sickness trying to nurse her back to health, feeding her soup and flirting incessantly. She had been too sick to walk out and leave him behind. Heck, she doubted she could avoid an another assassination attempt at this point, so the windowless room was well worth the move. Even if she did miss the breeze at night.

Unfortunately, Grimset kept pushing her until she banished him from her room until her strength return. When she finally passed whatever it was she had, she felt like a new mare. The heat didn't bother her nearly as much, she'd been able to travel to a few of the other outposts and found a few pegasi with potential and, best of all, both Grimset and Hornclipper were indisposed.

A letter from the Water Nation had arrived, sealed with the royal seal and hoof delivered by one of the Shadowbolts. It had been given to her directly, with the strict orders of giving it to the commander. Whatever it was(she knew better than to look into sealed letters of her highness), it had made Marble take Hornclipper and send him off with Grimset, and the two hadn't returned since, though it had only been a day. She hoped they'd be gone for weeks.

But the main reason she felt so good was because her new training grounds were prepared as of today, so she could finally go and start the basic training. She looked up at the roof and smiled. Today was going to be a wonderful day. She climbed out of bed, rushed through breakfast and told Marble she would be heading straight to the Shadowbolt's training grounds. He made a hasty objection, begging her to let him send dozens of guards. She allowed two.

The carriage ride through the city was fast and comfortable for once, with no ponies yelling or throwing rotten fruit. Her guards, two earth ponies, just stared out the window impassively as they traveled. “So, how about this heat wave?” she joked.

“It's been relatively cool, Lady Scootaloo,” one of them said, never looking away from the window.

She sighed and looked out as well. The ponies milled about, working their jobs as expected. She glanced up into the sky. There were very few pegasi flying about. Granted, that was namely because pegasi tended to be working outside the city, as messengers. She glanced at the ponies with covered foreheads and frowned deeper. She wondered how many of them would be singing the praises of the Water Nation if they'd had the good fortune to be born pegasi instead of unicorns.

She couldn't decide if she'd send the request to Sweetie or not. Allowing the fire benders to return, under control of the Water Nation, could be a major strengthening move. If they controlled the sun and moon, there would be no force in this world who would dare oppose them.

But broaching such a delicate subject to Sweetie would be far from easy. In fact, it could be considered treasonous. She'd considered it nearly a dozen times, but her mind kept flickering back to the de-horning. The frightened child, the blade, the horn being tossed into the boiling lake. She focused on the blade again, the way it had sliced through the horn in a single motion. Horns weren't just bone, they were magically infused.

Cutting or breaking one took prolonged stress. Even the small, black marks across Rarity's horns had taken Nightmare Moon more than a few minutes to create, and she was one of the most powerful Water Benders in existence. The ability to cut through a horn like that, even a child's, was disconcerting. Almost frightening. She glanced to her comrades.

“Tell me about Hornclipper,” she said suddenly. To her amusement, both ponies jumped.

The one on her right finally worked up his courage to speak. She wished she could remember his name, but she went through so many changing guards she'd given up a while ago. “What? Why? There's nothing worth knowing about--”

“The de-horning ceremony,” she interrupted. “He cleaved through the horn in one slash, that's hardly common. Do you know how?”

The two looked to each other, before the one on the left spoke up. “Lady Scootaloo, that's how he's always done it. Their horns are weak at that age, easily broken. It's one of the reasons they are clipped at such a young age.”

“Really?” she muttered softly. “I'd heard they were still quite strong.” A chill ran down her spine as she imagined what he could do to a fully grown unicorn's horn. Cutting one off in a single motion would be dangerous, even deadly. The feedback from magical energies would likely kill the pony in question, and possibly anypony unfortunate to be within a few yards. Then again, she'd never heard of anypony being able to do such a thing. Even with a massive battle axe or specially made devices, cutting a horn off of a fully grown adult was a slow, painful and troubling process. There had once been magics used to help the weapon, but such things had been outlawed long ago after an assassination attempt.

“They are,” the right pony said. “But not invincible. He's been cutting horns since he first was considered a stallion. He's had more than enough practice in it,” the pony said with a hint of disgust.

“You don't approve?” she asked quickly, making the pony jump.

“What? No! I mean, I do approve. All of the unicorn's must be de-horned. It is the way of the Water Nation.” The stallion bowed his head politely. “I just don't see... such need to take pleasure in it. The ponies who lose their horns have no choice. But he revels in it, enjoys watching them suffer. He loves it so much he refused to allow anypony else to cut them. Whenever he's not being used for something else, all he does is practice his blades, waiting for the next horn he can remove.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You've seen him? Practicing, I mean.”

“Well, no. I haven't. But plenty of ponies have. He's always cutting up logs or chunks of metal or anything he can. Just waiting for a chance to cut off a horn. If he was allowed, he'd probably try to cut off the horns of the Water Benders too.”

Scootaloo nodded, returning to gaze out the window. It was a troubling thought. Could he really turn on the Water Nation? Perhaps his de-horning was all just practice before he tried it on the water benders. “Those blades of his. I've seen wing blades before, but none like that. Who created them?”

Both ponies shrugged, though neither answered for a few moments. Finally, the one on her left spoke up. “We wouldn't know. I'd guess Black Marble would know if anypony would. I believe he supplies them.”

“You believe? You don't know?”

“We are just guards, Lady Scootaloo. We aren't privy to the discussions of our commander and his right hoof.”

She sighed and rested her head on her hoof. “Just how much do you know about Hornclipper that you know first hoof, not what you've heard from other ponies?”

The two were completely silent, their gazes lowering.

“Wonderful.” She wondered if that was Marble's intentions. To keep her from knowing things about the pegasus. Or perhaps she was just being to paranoid. Either way, she didn't imagine these guards would be any use answering her questions, so she focused on the world outside, preparing for her lessons of the day.

------

Twilight stretched out once she woke, groaning softly. "Okay everypony, time to wake up!"

“Aaaaaaaaavaaaaaaaaataaaaaaaaaar!”

------

Flowerbloom looked around the small town as they walked, being led about by a yellow earth pony stallion named Braeburn. The town was quite small, though outside it was filled with apple trees. Some of the many fields were twice as large as the whole town. Not only did earth ponies work here, but buffalo did as well. Above, a floating Water Nation outpost hovered, built into the clouds.

The outpost had only been recently created, based on one that had floated above the city beforehoof had and been destroyed by the avatar. When they had initially come here, Sweetie had been extremely keen on rebuilding it, as if it would wash out the Avatar's touch from the area. They'd quickly found out how the ponies here had maintained their control and, to Flowerbloom's relief, Sweetie had tried a different tactic. Rather, threats and imprisonment of those deemed dangerous, as opposed to holding the town's children and pegasi hostage. Reasonable quotas on food were set and a decently sizable force was left behind.

They weren't the only town that the Water Nation forces had done that to, though some had been nearly completely eliminated if they put up too large a resistance. Flowerbloom could still remember some of the talks they'd had about the plan.

“These towns are what will drive our forces forward,” Sweetie had said. “Even our most foolish of ponies will understand that, soon enough.”

“Why do you say that?” Scootaloo had asked.

“Our main attack on Fillydelphia will set the stage for how the captured towns react. If we capture it, our forces will feel strong and secure, while theirs will lose their morale and taste true defeat. However, should we fail and be forced to retreat...”

“The forces in the captured towns will follow suit?” Flowerbloom had offered.

“Exactly. They'll come from behind and attack us. The closer we get to Fillydelphia, the more our soldiers will realize retreat is not an option.”

The young princess had been right. Once Fillydelphia had fallen, the smaller towns had fallen into line and almost completely accepted the rule of the Water Nation. At least, they didn't put up much of a fight and so long as the commanders didn't abuse their powers, there were no true threats. Sadly, a few ponies had escaped into the wilderness and made up some of the current resistance groups they still had to deal with and they had nowhere near enough forces to smoke them all out. Even with all the ponies abandoning their home and siding with the Water Nation, they were far too spread out for Flowerbloom's liking. She just hoped the spark of rebellion didn't fan into a flame too large for them to handle.

“And that's everything,” Braeburn said once he showed them the apple orchards. He then glanced back to them and smiled. She didn't like the smile, it was obviously forced and didn't come close to his eyes. “Now, what brings yah fine ponies to Appleoosa? Lookin' for some right proper grub?” It reminded her of the smile her father forced, when he was fighting with her mom.

“Well, not quite,” Fizzy said before motioning him to follow. “Ah need tah talk with yah about a few things. Flowerbloom, would yah like tah look around?”

“Yes,” the young mare said. The two walked off without her and she trotted slowly into the fields. She glanced at the trees and frowned, gently reaching a hoof out to touch one. She got that... unsettling feeling again, the same one she'd been having ever since she'd left the Earth Kingdom. Something about these trees felt so familiar. Not as if she'd seen them before, but rather as if they'd been a part of her for ages. As if there was something in her blood, calling out to them. She tried shrugging it off, telling herself it was because they reminded her of the cherry trees she usually bucked, but it refused to fade.

She walked deeper into the fields, slowly closing her eyes as she felt the trees pushing in on her from all sides. It almost felt as if they were alive. Well, she supposed they were, in the way a plant was. She kept walking, eyes closed and gently sniffing the scent of apples as she went. It was a calm, gentle smell. Soothing.

She stopped and opened her eyes, quickly looking around. She'd come pretty far into the orchard, but she could still see the town off in the distance, so she shook her head and relaxed. She turned her back to one of the trees and gave it a soft, but solid, buck. A single apple fell down and she caught it in her hoof, before taking a healthy bite from it.

A solid blow to the back of her skull sent her toppling forward, rolling on the ground a few feet in a daze, her apple rolling away. “W-wha?” Her head throbbed with pain, but she quickly got to her hooves and backed away, catching sight of her attackers.

Three earth ponies, wearing black hoods and cloaks so she couldn't make out who they were. Her eyes narrowed. “Who are you? Why are yah attackin' me?”

“Child of the Water Nation, you'll surrender and become our prisoner,” the closer one said in a gruff, angry voice.

“And why would ah come with you?” Flowerbloom asked as she backed away slightly, quickly making a mental count of what weapons she had. Unfortunately, she'd left most of them back on the ship. She only had three knives, hidden in her mane. Fortunately, she still had her earth bending to call on.

“We are members of Twilight's Sunrise. We know who you are, pony.”

Flowerbloom ground a hoof into the ground, biting her lower lip. Did they know she was affiliated with Sweetie? Or just her father was a high commanding member of the military? Either way, she doubted she could expect much mercy from them. “Ah'm afraid ah can't come with yah. Ah already have previous--” A spike of earth thrust from the ground ahead of her, though she easily jumped to the left and let it stab past her. She pulled her hoof against the ground and the dirt thrust out from under their hooves, making two of them fall forward. The third kept his balance and jammed a hoof down, causing the ground under her to open up.

She let out a light yelp, pulling her hoof back so a platform of rock shot out under her. She landed on it and jumped out of the hole, a moment before it would have closed on her. She narrowed her eyes on them, all three back on their hooves.

“An earth bender!” one of them hissed.

“Pay it no mind. She'll be our prisoner regardless,” another said angrily.

“Yah all got no idea who you're messin' with if yah think yah can take me down,” Flowerbloom said with a smirk, pushing her hooves apart as she ignored the throbbing in her head. “Come on.”

The three charged, sending a hail of stones at her. She tapped her hoof down and a rock wall formed in front of her, taking the attack before collapsing forward and trying to crush them. She backed away quickly, the three spreading out and going around the wall. One came at her from the left and stomped a hoof down, sending a wave of mud at her. The other two came from the right, stomping their hooves, but she didn't see anything. She dove back, barely avoiding the wave as it splashed down.

A rumbling behind made her turn. One of the trees came crashing down, making her leap to the side. Or rather, try to leap to the side. She pushed out, but her legs had sunk deep into the ground, holding her still as she tried to pull away. Flowerblood thrust her head down, hitting the dirt a moment before the tree finished its collapse, slamming her into the ground.

She let out a sigh of relief, safely held in a small hole she made, the branches of the tree pressing against her back. It took a moment for her nerves to steady, allowing her to push forward and start tunneling through the ground. She burst out from under the ponies, sending them toppling back with an explosion of dirt. Her hooves smashed the ground twice, sending two boulders shooting at the ponies as they tried to regather themselves.

The boulder slammed into the lone stallion, but it molded around and crumbled against the pony. The other two dodged around the second, leaping out of the way before planting their hooves down. “You aren't half bad, for a novice.”

“Ah'll crush all three of yah,” Flowerbloom said with a growl. The ground under the three's hooves suddenly began to shake and spikes of rock shot out, forcing them to leap away from her. Flowerbloom turned back towards the town and saw Fizzy and Braeburn racing towards her, the latter of which stomped his hooves down to send more spikes at her attackers.

The cloaked ponies jumped back again, before one let out a curse and shook his head. “Retreat! We'll get her another time!” They turned and ran, leaving her behind.

“Are you okay?” Fizzy asked as he stopped in front of her, reaching out to pull her close and look her over. Aside from a few cuts on her back, she was fine. “Who were they? What happened?”

“Ah don't know. They said they were from Twilight's Sunrise and meant tah kidnap me. They didn't know ah was an earth bender though.”

Fizzy kept looking her over before smiling. “Good. You're fine... Braeburn!” he bellowed, turning to face the earth pony. “Who were they? Why were they after my daughter?”

Braeburn frowned, his eyes narrowed and troubled. “Twilight's Sunrise is comprised of... how... best tah put it. Radicals.” He glanced to Fizzy and gave a nervous cough. “Err, ah mean, more radical than--”

“Don't,” Fizzy said with a roll of his eyes. “Ah imagine you're all too happy tah have rebellions fightin' against us. Ah ain't gonna burn your town down just cause yah all don't like being members of the Water Nation. Jus' tell me about this 'Twilight's Sunrise' group.”

The stallion took a deep breath, before nodding. “They've been cropping up all over the kingdom since your nation took over. It started off with them ambushing supply lines, picking at Water Nation outposts, even trying to damage equipment. It was fine, until they began getting steam. Now there are dozens, probably hundreds, of groups runnin' around usin' their name, and not all groups are stopping at just attackin' supply lines. They've attacked prisoners, foalnapped ponies, I hear a group of them even took over a town an' killed all the prisoners to make a point. Both Water Nation and Earth Kingdom.”

Fizzy's eyes narrowed. “And why would they do that?”

“They say if we're not fighting the Water Nation... we're with them.”

Fizzy nodded slowly. “I see... so they tried to capture my daughter because...?”

“Likely as a hostage. You came in on a ship and are... obviously somepony of import. They were likely going to try tah trade her for something they wanted.”

“They didn't know ah was an earth bender,” Flowerbloom said quickly. “Ah doubt they knew who ah really was.”

“That's all ah know, really,” Braeburn said, bowing his head. “Ah swear, we had nothin' tah do with them.”

“So you're saying none of the younger ponies in your town went an' joined this rebellion, hoping tah...” Fizzy shook his head as his words trailed off. “Nevermind. Ah don't wanna know. Yah've given me all ah needed, so thank yah. Flowerbloom, come on. We're goin'.”

The young mare nodded and trotted after him. Once they were out of sight of Braeburn, she moved closer to her father. “So, what do yah think?”

“This is troubling. Ah hoped the place would be more stable than this, but rebellious groups like this cause nothin' but trouble. Both for us an' for the ponies livin' here.”

“What do yah mean?”

The stallion shook his head. “Nothin'. Just a silly notion. Ah found a few places we kin go to. A few apple farms that disappeared and were damaged all those years ago.”

Flowerbloom slowly nodded. “Ah see. Are there a lot?”

“More than ah expected. Then again, the war front has shifted a lot in the last hundred years. More than a few farms found themselves razed to the ground. If we're lucky... it won't be any of them.”

“So which are we going to first?”

A frown spread across his lips. “The one ah imagine is our most likely choice. Sweet Apple Acres.”

------

Rainbow shook her head and did a few loops in the air, easily burning off her breakfast as she maneuvered. She was sooooo borrrrrred! She wished the others would hurry up and finish eating so they could gooooo! It was bad enough all the walking was so boring, did they have to spend all day on their breakfast, too?

“Aaaaaaaaaavaaaaaaataaaaaaaaaaaar!!”

------

Scootaloo took a deep breath as she absorbed her surroundings. Just as she'd requested, the grounds were set outside the main city. Large tents were standing over the sand, holding supplies. The only solid ground was a large half buried stone, that had been carved and smoothed, with a stone building covering the center. That was the main bunker and where the majority of the initiates would be sleeping.

They had plenty of space to perform any maneuvers needed, though occasionally the winds would pick up and send the sand blowing in her face. Thick, dark lengths of cloth were set up to give shade and some protection from the elements. She'd put on the full Shadowbolt's uniform, grateful for the implementation of goggles that kept the sand from her eyes, though it did little to help her breath. A scarf wrapped around her mouth, a suggestion from one of the guards, helped with that.

The uniform was fresh as well, she'd changed into it while in one of the tents. However, she could already feel the sun beating down on it and the dark colors growing hotter and hotter. She casually, but quickly as she could without looking as if she was in a rush, walked under one of the overhangs to stand in the shade. Sweat was already starting to soak through it by the time she got under the much nicer shade.

There was no way to quickly alert the ponies they were going to begin. She made a mental note to have a gong brought down, or perhaps get a large bell. For now though, she had to alert the ponies to her presence the old fashioned way. It was early enough she didn't have to guess where they were. “Guards!” The two who escorted her quickly stood at attention, though their sweat soaked uniforms didn't help the impression. “Would you be helpful and wake my students?”

“As you wish.”

The guards quickly nodded, before heading into the barracks. She heard angry yells and screams from inside, followed by solid bucks to wood. As expected, the ponies soon filed out of the building and galloped in front of her standing at attention.

She quickly mentally formed them into three groups. The eldest, most fit and least ragged from this harsh wake up were the ones she'd chosen from the military and were, unsurprisingly, already used to getting up at the crack of dawn. They'd probably enjoyed the few days of rest they'd gotten until she had begun, but there would be no more of that now. They were the largest group, nearing almost two dozen. She doubted more than ten would make it.

The second group were the civilians, ponies who had caught her attention from other methods. They tended to have jobs with heavy physical activity, or hobbies that required it. They were a slightly smaller group and, while they tried to look alert and attentive, their eyes kept drooping and they were forced to stifle yawns. Honestly, she imagined a higher percentage of them would make it, as most had seemed excited when they had been chosen. Passion could not be underestimated.

The final group only had six. Colts and fillies, barely old enough to fly. Most were trying to stand at attention, but they were tired, fearful and fidgety. They had been nominated either by their parents or orphanages. Ponies with decent potential for ones so young, who could be shaped and molded into true fighting machines. She expected they would all become Shadowbolts, as would future ones who joined them. If they could endure.

She took a deep breath, quickly regretting it as the dry air made her mouth just as dry. She closed her mouth and had to take a few seconds while it moistened, remaining as still as she could and making an imposing figure as possible while she stared. Once she could speak, she opened her mouth again. “Well then. You all know why you're here. You have been granted one chance, and only one, to become a member of Nightmare Moon's most elite task force, the Shadowbolts. Don't for a second think this is going to be easy. Very few pegasi are ever even given the chance and, if you aren't found to be worthy, you'll be kicked aside so fast your wings will spin. As Shadowbolts, we're expected to go one-on-one against true benders, masters of their art. And we have to win. Any questions?”

She gave them a moment, but there was none. “Good. Today is going to be short, I just want to see how you fly and what you can do. Then you'd best get back to bed, because I'm returning at dusk and we'll be working all night. We're called Shadowbolts for a reason, we're masters of the darkness. We are the shadows. We fly silent and invisible. We strike with precision. We eliminate a threat before even it knows it's a threat. Our lives are meaningless, we become nothing more than tools for her highness, Nightmare Moon.” She paused for a moment. “In return, we become her most valuable tools. The Shadowbolts operate independent of all other forces. Water benders or otherwise. We answer only to her highness and follow only her highness. Into Tartarus if need be. Do you understand?”

There was silence for a few moments before a few of the ponies gave intimidated agreements. She sighed and shook her head. She glanced up into the sky, which were devoid of clouds. “Okay, your first task.” Internally she grinned as they began to tense. “Everyone of you is to gather a tuft of cloud and bring it here.” She motioned to the center of the camp. “I want the end result as big as your little cabin. Now go!”

The ponies took to the air and she watched them. A grin spread on her lips as she saw the first two groups helping the third, those with smaller wings and inexperienced at flight. The fact they jumped straight to helping each other meant she could avoid at least one lecture. Their levels of flight skill was all as she expected, rather advanced... for their training and ages. The youngest ones struggled flying so high and large distances, but still only needed a little help as they went. She suspected they'd all do just fine. They'd all had the potential she was looking for, after all.

------

“I will not!” Creme yelled, his face a bright red again. “You... you can't make me! There's not even a--”

“You will go where ah say, when ah say,” Fizzy stated factually, his eyes narrowing slightly. “And ah say we're going to this Sweet Apple Acres.”

“The place is a hot bed for rebels, we only have a fragile grasp on the town, at best! There isn't even a proper outpost to restock there,” Creme yelled in a fury, stomping his hooves as he walked. “You really expect me to fly my ship into that hotbed? You'll get all of us killed! My ship destroyed! I won't!” He stared at her father, who just stared back, unspeaking. “I won't! I don't care what orders you give.” He still didn't move. “I... I don't care even if... if Nightmare Moon has orders for me to follow you. I won't go...” He trailed off, sweat forming on the stallion's brow, which he nervously wiped off with a hoof. “You're a fool...”

“And?” Fizzy asked, lightly tapping his hoof.

“We'll depart once supplies are ready...” Creme muttered, though he glared so intensely at the two that Flowerbloom was certain he was trying to set them alight with his mind. He gave a low growl before turning and storming off, his hooves echoing against the ship's hull.

“How'd yah know he'd stop fightin'?” Flowerbloom asked.

“He knows ah'm in command. He wants tah argue, but he's a lot more scared of disobeyin' Nightmare Moon than he ever will be rebels. All they can do is kill yah, after all.”

Flowerbloom nodded before heading inside the ship. “Ah'm gonna get somethin' tah eat. When we're all stocked up, can yah send somepony tah let me know?”

He gave a nod, but was already chatting with one of the pegasi. She made her way through the ship, trotting through it until she came to the mess. She stopped in the entrance, staring at Creme.

The stallion was sitting on one of the stools, a few mugs scattered across the counter, some filled with fizzy liquid besides him. He took one and downed it in moments, before slamming it down on the counter. “Stupid... stupid earth ponies. Should... should toss 'em all overboard... make 'em fly. That'd wipe the stupid grin off their *hic* faces. Especially that... stupid Fizzy...”

Flowerbloom slowly walked closer, her eyes narrowed as she moved silently.

“Toss... toss his little welp first... that--” He was forced to stop for a moment as he downed another mug. “-- that'll show him. Make... make 'im fall on 'is knees an'... an' beg for forgiveness. Make 'im--”

Flowerbloom knocked the stool out from under him, sending him toppling to the ground. He let out a shriek, which was quickly silenced by her dagger pressed to his throat. He gave a pathetic squeak and stared at her, his eyes so wide they could almost pop out of his head. “W-what a-are you doing here?” The scent of booze on his breath made her want to gag.

“Ah'm here because Nightmare Moon decided you of all ponies should be our escort. Our ruler, if yah failed tah remember. So, yah plan tah toss me over the side of the ship, do yah?” Her eyes were narrowed into slits as she watched him for any sign of resistance. Fortunately, his horn didn't so much as flicker.

“I-I didn't mean... I-I was just talking! I wouldn't, I'd never go against the orders of o-our glorious leader!” The dagger pushed deeper against his throat, piercing the skin and sending a small trickle of blood down the blade. He began to shake and whimper, staring at her pathetically. “P-please! I never would! I couldn't, she'd have my head! I... I was just talking! It was the alchohol, I swear!”

“Ah've had it with you...” she said through narrowed eyes. “Ah think it's time yah disappear.”

“Please, oh please, please please...” he begged.

“You only respect benders, right?” she asked suddenly, placing a hoof on his side. “Then let's speak, bender to bender.” She moved in closer, her eyes staring into his. “Ah want yah to go to your cabin and jus' sleep, read a book, do whatever it is yah do. Mah father has command here. If ah hear one more word of yah tryin' tah kill me or mah father, ah'll toss yah off the ship mahself. Are we clear?”

The stallion gulped and nodded. “Y-yes ma'am.”

“Good.” She pulled back and the blade followed suit. She wiped it off on his coat, before placing it back in her mane. “The sooner we finish, the sooner we'll be out of your mane an' yah can get back tah hatin' all us earth ponies. Yah got it?”

He nodded and then jumped to his hooves, galloping away. He didn't even grab any of his drinks.

Once he was gone, Flowerbloom's legs began to shake and she sat down, hard. She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm herself, her heart beating so fast she was afraid it would burst from her chest. After her nerves calmed down she sat the stool up and climbed in it, pulling one of the filled mugs to her and taking a small sip.

“Hm. Apples... not bad.”

------

“AAAAAAAVAAAAAAAATAAAAAAAAAR!”

“Twilight!" Fluttershy screamed.

------

Scootaloo circled the large gathered mass of clouds, examining it closely. It filled the desired area. Unfortunately, the ponies she'd sent on the task were at their limits. The foals and colts couldn't even move any more, their wings limp on the ground, like noodles. The elder ponies weren't doing much better, even the soldiers she'd chosen could barely stand and their chests heaved with every deep breath. She glanced up to the sky and, as she expected, there was still not a cloud in it. The ponies must have traveled for miles to find this supply, not to mention lugging it back. It had taken them three trips to finally bring it all.

To their credit, they hadn't complained. At least, not to her. The youngest had complained to the elders, but it seemed they had dealt with it. They were already working together and looking out for each other, that was good. One of the reasons having a few colts and fillies in the group would work to their advantage.

Shadowbolts had to be willing to work together, regardless of believed superiority. They also had to be disciplined, skilled and even enthusiastic in their obedience to the ruler. The soldiers would bring the discipline, the civilians and youngest the enthusiasm. If they could all work together and not have any problems, they might be capable of doing their single pony tasks as well.

Still, their first task was complete and they had performed it wonderfully. “Very well!” she called out, looking to the ponies. A few raised their heads, but most were too tired even for that. “You have performed the task adequately. Had you failed, I would have had a few hours of lectures to give you. However, since you passed and worked... fairly well as a unit, I'm just going to say congratulations. You still have plenty of work to do, but we'll start that tonight. I'd get a nice, hot meal in your stomachs and a lot of rest. Because tonight we start the real training.” She looked to the guards. “We're leaving.”

The students were too exhausted to comment, a few merely giving her a salute as she turned and walked away. She jumped into the carriage and quickly slid into her seat. It took a few moments while the guards got the ponies who were to pull it, but they were soon galloping back towards the main city. She looked over the rolling dunes of sand, the clear skies and the few scorched trees. She couldn't help but chuckle at the irony.

Most of these students were likely used to the darkness and cold since many had grown up in the eternal night. Now they had to learn all they could about being a shadowbolt, while in the heat and end of the night. She wondered how many would succeed. More importantly, would it be enough to maintain the Shadowbolt's position of power?