//------------------------------// // (2) - Grim Calling // Story: First Contact War // by Datsuzoku //------------------------------// First Contact War - Chapter 2 Grim Calling "There is no time to waste, so come with me." Sunspot turned on his hooves and trotted away. 'Trottingham, of all places.' Corona was lost in thought over the Princess' orders. She registered a slight breeze hit her as Sunspot left, followed closely by Cobalt and Radiance. She glanced over her shoulder, only to see Celestia and Luna quietly watching the group's exit, their expressions torn between pride and worry. "Unless you're preparing to teleport us all there at once, I suggest you join us." Sunspot's voice registered in her ears, and Corona jerked into action at once, doing her best to hide her embarrassment at the moment of inattention. She trotted to catch up with the long-legged stallion, grimacing as the luxurious throne room melted away behind her. 'Talk about going back to where it all began...' Corona had barely caught up to the others when Sunspot darted through the first available side door, leading the group back into the much smaller service halls. The four of them fell into a comfortable silence, though only the sound of hers and Radiance's hooves greeted their ears. 'Both as silent as the shadows they embody.' she mused as she watched Sunspot and Cobalt traverse the floor without making a sound between them. She hadn't been able to put a hoof on it, but there was something about Sunspot; something she felt every time she was near him. When he would step by her, it felt like that single moment of tension before a static discharge, only immensely more powerful. "Quiet as a lightning bolt." "What's that?" Sunspot barked, his voice booming through the narrow passageway. He spared Corona a look over his withers, though the quick glimpse she got of his duo-chromatic eyes was lost in a swish of his fabric as he rounded a corner. "You. You're quiet as a lightning bolt." "Now that's a strange analogy, young one." Sunspot replied as he continued on. "Why do you say that?" "Well, if I may be brutally honest, it's just in the way you do... well, everything. Look, I know Radiance and I can never master the art of silence as well as Cobalt." As if on cue, Radiance tripped over an uneven cobblestone, uttering a very un-marelike curse that even Cobalt raised an eyebrow at. "But you, you're different." Corona kept talking as she did her best to keep pace. "You walk silently, yet I sense an air of raw power followed you everywhere you go. Like a lightning bolt." "But lightning bolts are very loud, are they not?" Sunspot countered. Corona chuckled at that. "That is a question for the pony that survived a lightning strike." She only got a smile in return. Corona was just about to ask if Sunspot used the service corridors out of a desire to save time or a love of tight spaces when his horn sparked to life and threw open a nearly invisible door mere seconds before they would have walked right into it. They emerged into another wide, opulent hallway. Sunspot wasted no time moving down the short hallway to a large set of double doors, each one bearing an image of his cutie mark - a partially darkened sun - gilded in silver and gold. The heavy doors swung open as he swept into the room, and for the first time, Corona and her friends glimpsed into the personal office of Equestria's most powerful mage. What they saw would have been described by any mother as a total disaster area. Laboratory equipment, dozens of magical test apparatus, and even a small cauldron spread out across the room, filling the air with a cacophony of hisses, whirs, dings, chimes, and pops. Beakers of brightly-colored liquids bubbled and steamed atop blue flames, while in a far corner, the cauldron simmered away as if it were making potato and vegetable stew instead of unknown magical concoctions. Sunspot was nowhere to be seen, though his mutterings and occasional curses emanated from somewhere between two tables and three storage cabinets. Corona and her friends scanned the room in silence as they slowly entered, their eyes wide as they took it all in. What space the equipment and chemical tests left free was covered instead with towering stacks of books and scrolls. Parchments and scrolls sat side-by-side mysterious tomes of knowledge in long-dead languages that Corona could only begin to guess at. Corona paused at a particularly large book that was left open on a table next to her. 'Is- is that the lost Draconic tongue?' She stared in wonder at the script-like shapes that filled the thick pages, each one glowing as if it had been written in molten lava. She turned from the book and for the first time noticed that she was standing on a rather expansive - and plush - rug. Aside from the endless clutter, Sunspot's office turned laboratory was nearly as well-appointed as the throne room itself. Lush carpets and rugs covered much of the floor, complementing the dark woods and subdued paint tones on the walls. Three floor-to-ceiling windows were spaced around the room, each positioned to perfectly catch both the sun and the moon as they rose, peaked, and receded from the sky. If not for the semi-organized chaos around her, Corona would have called this one of the best panoramic views in the entire castle complex. "Aha! Found them!" Sunspot finally emerged from behind the tables and threw three sets of saddlebags across the room with his magic. Corona winced as she watched one of the packs pass through a rather large gout of green flame on its way towards her. She caught the pack with her own magical grip, and she couldn't suppress a grimace as her nose picked up a very odd mixture of turnips, cinnamon, and blood. She quickly passed that pack to Cobalt, who gave her a judgmental glare before slipping the packs across his back. "Supplies for your journey. If you are to succeed and return with your flanks intact, you'll need more than your cloaks and some spells.” "Um, Sunspot?" "Yes, Ms. Belle?" "Do you really think we're going to need these on our journey to Trottingham?" Radiance hoisted three paperback novels from her pack, fanning them out for all to see. Corona raised an eyebrow at Sunspot's apparent choice of literature as well. 'Seriously? Cheesy adventure novels?' "Of course you do!" Sunspot harrumphed. "You need an occasional distraction to keep you sharp. Trust me on this. Now move, Radiance, you're standing on your blanket." "My wha—" Radiance jumped back as he shooed her away and lifted the article from the floor. What Corona had originally thought to be a luxurious rug instead turned out to be a large, soft blanket - with what looked to be a very old coffee stain near the bottom hem. Sunspot gave a sheepish grin as he buffed the stain out with a quick spell. She hadn't realized how cluttered the floor was previously, and as Corona examined the space around her hooves, she was dismayed to find a half-used sketchbook and what looked like a mostly-empty mug of coffee. "Egh." She kicked the mug away, scrunching her nose at the acrid scent that assaulted her nose. She turned her face away from the smell, only to be hit in the muzzle by another puff of steam coming from a nearby test device. Instead of coffee, she now smelled burnt sugar and... "Aloe?" "My hooves get dried easily, alright?” Sunspot answered a bit hurriedly. “Now, are you three going to dawdle all night, or will you help me pack your gear?" They glanced at the floor around them, where Sunspot had somehow accumulated a small mountain of gear and other supplies, including the aforementioned blanket and books, along with other hiking and outdoor gear. Next to this was an equally impressive array of potions, chemicals, orbs, and vials, many of which looked completely foreign to even Corona's well-read mind. A well-timed - and obvious - grunt from Sunspot spurred the three unicorns into action. Corona quickly moved to corral and organize the stack of books that the Archmage had gathered, leaving Radiance and Cobalt to sort out the rest of the supplies. Nearly a dozen tomes and reference guides floated around Corona's head as she sorted them by topic before slotting them into her saddlebags. She paused mid-sort as her mind caught the title of one of the reference books. 'Layered Spellcasting Theory?' Corona stared at it for a second. 'How did he get this? The librarians never even let this one leave the desk it sits on.' Filing the question away for later, she cast a quick protection spell on the book before adding it to her pack. She looked up as she tied the straps on her now full saddlebags to see Cobalt and Radiance finishing their up as well. Radiance's unreal packing skills had managed to cram all of the assorted equipment and supplies into her pack, while Cobalt had gingerly arranged the vials and potions in his own pack. "Alright, that should do it." Sunspot muttered as he nosed through their bags one at a time. "You've been at the academy the past two years, so I'll tell you now, Trottingham might not be what it was last you visited..." "None of us have- oh." Radiance began to speak, but a quick look from Corona silenced her. "What's changed?" Corona continued, trying to ignore Sunspot nosing around her saddlebags with a very curious lack of respect for personal space. "Well, for one, Trottingham isn't within our borders anymore." He sighed as he stepped over to Cobalt and checked his pack, being much more cautious with their specific contents. "The frontlines of the war have pushed back and forth constantly, never staying put for more than a few days at a time. Yet they have slowly receded as time has wore on. Trottingham used to sit on our North-Eastern border, and now it's almost fifty miles inside theirs." "Wait, then wouldn't that mean-" "Yes. Horseshoe Bay has been under attack for almost two months now. I'd suggest you go there first, though you may need to swing further South along the way in order to avoid the frontline along the way... And while we're on the subject, you need to leave immediately. Tonight. Do not take the main road out of the Everfree; the guards will ask you your business and that's something I'd just as soon not have any common soldier knowing." Sunspot swept around Cobalt to stand before the three of them, his head held high. The tone in the room shifted immediately. "Yesterday you were students. Today, you are soldiers. And tonight, you depart on a mission that is undoubtedly fraught with peril." A melancholy look passed his face as he met each of their gazes in turn. His lips softened, and Corona could just see a faint glimmer take hold of his mysterious duo-chromatic eyes. "You are not defenseless citizens anymore, nor are you mere unicorns. You are mages of the highest order. We would not be sending two Solar Rays and a Shadow fifty miles into enemy territory if you weren't every bit as powerful and capable as we believe you to be." His expression darkened as he turned towards the nearby window and gazed out to the night sky. "It goes without saying that the griffons are as skilled as they are brutal. They would see you gutted in front of their king before they take you prisoner, and that goes double for we unicorns. I, as well as the Royal Sisters, have faith that you will succeed. But if you do not..." He turned back to them, the glimmer gone from his eyes and replaced instead with an iron, hawk-like glare. "Take as many of the feathered bastards with you as you can." The grass sifted beneath Corona's hooves, whispering quietly to their ears as the trio made their way across the palace grounds. Each of them had the hood of their cloaks drawn up, the long fabric draped over heavy saddlebags. None of the few ponies they came upon dared to question two Solar Rays and a Shadow moving with purpose, but what struck Corona was the silence that had settled over the three of them. 'When even Cobalt is quiet, we must really be on edge...' "Do we really have to leave tonight?" Radiance groaned as they stopped just outside the edge of the Everfree Forest that butted up against the castle grounds. "I have to agree." Cobalt's sober tone was slightly uncharacteristic, but understandable, given the task before them.. "Even I don't like going in there..." "Come on, what could be so bad about the Everfree?" Corona tried to bolster their confidence with bravery. "Two Solar Rays and a Shadow? To be honest, it ought to be the Everfree that fears us." "Yeah, well," Cobalt pushed ahead, his horn glowing densely already. "You can say that to the first Ursa Major or dragon we run across." Corona felt a tingle around her hooves, and she looked down to see a dark aura similar to the one around Cobalt's horn surrounding them. "A muffling spell. The academy prohibits students from travelling outside of the grounds for a reason, Corona." Cobalt whispered over his withers before disappearing in the shadows. Radiance and Corona shared a pensive look before following him. Cobalt was but a grey streak among the shadows in front of them, but unlike her experience in the throne room, this darkness was bearable for Corona. There was just enough moonlight piercing the forest's canopy to cast their surroundings in a low - if slightly eerie - glow. Cobalt's muffling spell only added to the eerie feeling too; Corona could feel twigs and leaves crunching under her hooves, yet neither she nor Radiance made a sound as they followed in Cobalt's steps. So they spent the night, traversing the trees in stark quiet. Cobalt paused twice to renew the spell on their hooves, and once more to direct them around what looked to be a wide, bubbling pool of very foul-smelling liquid. But as the moon sank towards the horizon and the first light of the day crept over the eastern horizon, they finally emerged from the forest. "Well, that was an ordeal." Cobalt sighed, his horn glowing once more as he dispelled the sound on their hooves. "You two make more noise than a team of lumberponies. Not that any of them could hear it, but it makes my job more difficult." "We do not." Radiance grumbled tiredly. Indeed, the all-night hike through the forest had taxed Corona as well; the streak of light on the horizon promised daytime and energy, but she felt exhausted. "You do, but that's not a bad thing." Cobalt chuckled a bit. "Then again, you can split entire trees in half with a glance, so I suppose a bit of noise is to be expected." He curled up on the grass of what looked to be an open, unclaimed field. "Are we... Resting?" "Well, I would imagine so." Cobalt groaned a bit as he tucked his muzzle under a foreleg. "I did just lead us past three Ursa Minors, a Chimera den, and a boiling pit of ooze, all while maintaining three aura hiding enchantments..." Corona grimaced as he spoke. 'Wow, I did not realize he was doing all that at once...' Corona gave Cobalt a sympathetic look, but that turned into a grimace when another thought hit her. 'He had me under multiple spells at once, and I never felt a thing.' "We should get some sleep while we can." Radiance sighed, curling up opposite Cobalt. "I'm exhausted, and I know Cobalt won't have as easy a time as we will moving through the day." "I suppose." Corona mirrored her partners and stamped down a patch of long grass into a passable bed. "Six hours." "Five." Cobalt grunted. "Alright, five it is." Corona tucked her head down and closed her tired, dry eyes. Sleep enveloped her easily, and not even the brightening sky could keep her awake. What the sun could not wake, however, a tapping hoof and a soft whisper could. Corona's eyes fluttered open after a moment, only to see Radiance standing over her with a gentle smile on her face. "Let me guess - I drooled on myself or something?" Corona yawned, smacking her lips dryly. "No, though I will keep that in mind,” Radiance answered with a smirk. “You just look peaceful when you're asleep… Like that cloud that follows you all day goes away for a while." Radiance only got an equally cloudy glare in response. Chuckling, she turned to Cobalt, who was fishing around in his pack for something. A few moments later, he emerged with a small, wrapped package of something delicious-smelling. "What’s that?" Corona groaned, getting to her hooves. She looked up in the sky and saw that the sun was at its zenith. The direct sunlight warmed her coat and chased away the last of her grogginess. "Manna bread." Cobalt said simply. "Courtesy of Sunspot, apparently." "That much?" Corona blinked as Cobalt unwrapped the package and held what looked like a full loaf of the bread in his hooves. Baked in an extremely specific manner using many rare and exotic ingredients, Manna bread was a valuable commodity among unicorns. Packed with nutrients both practical and magical in nature, it could replenish a unicorn’s magical reserves in a matter of minutes instead of days. Supplies of this bread were hard to come by, and a loaf the size of the one Cobalt was holding would take nearly six months to fully create. ’Likely because we can run for six months on this stuff...’ Corona added as an afterthought. Cobalt carefully broke off three small chunks, keeping one for himself but giving the other two to Radiance and Corona. Corona had tasted Manna bread twice before - once after her first full exam as a Solar Ray candidate, and again during a laboratory exercise to study its composition. Now though, as she bit into the fluffy bread, she really began to appreciate it on another level; not only was it a good balance of crunchy and sweet, but now she could feel the full effects of its magical properties. Raw, fresh magic flooded through her veins, replenishing her strength and then some. 'I could smite a hundred griffons, wrestle an Ursa Major, then go run ten laps around the castle at the rate this bread is going.' "We'll have to write a letter of thanks back to Sunspot for this," Cobalt muttered, tucking the magical bread back into his saddlebags with care. Corona and Radiance nodded their heads in agreement, feeling much more prepared for this day than they had last night at the outset. "So... Trottingham." Radiance led them away from the Everfree, turning their path towards the ever-distant mountains of Corona's home. "How long will it take us to get there?" "Accounting for potential skirmishes, avoiding patrol routes, and possible changes in the battle lines around Horseshoe Bay, I'd estimate about ten days," Corona replied as she continued to calculate possible outcomes in her head. "I think we can stick to major roads and cities for the most of it, but we'll need to gather information about the conflict on the way. The way Sunspot made it sound, the entire Eastern border is touch-and-go, so I suggest we swing South through Baltimare and meet up with Mirabelle. We can get some intel and reports from her before we press East through the Talon Passes and into Griffon Territory." "Hmm..." Radiance mulled it over, but Cobalt simply stood there and smiled at Corona. "Let me get this straight - Your first recommendation is to march straight through the frontlines and into enemy territory without a second thought?" "Well, you tell me if you feel like sailing North around Wingpoint in September." Corona huffed, recalling the tales she had heard of the treacherous North Sea. While they fared better than their Earth pony cousins, unicorns had never taken to the sea as well as their pegasi friends. 'I'm not sure if I'd be more worried about being eaten by a Leviathan, or keeping my lunch down' Corona grimaced at the thought of hanging over a railing for hours as her face turned green. "True..." Cobalt muttered. "Well, I'll have to start thinking of ways to conceal the two of you from prying eyes. I think I can synthesize a long-term disguise spell between then and now." "And if that fails, we can just break the lines and force our way in." Radiance groused. "And just like that," Corona chuckled. "You get the difference between a Solar Ray and a Shadow." The trio broke into uproarious laughter as they set off to the East, towards Baltimare - and their first glimpse of war. The journey went smoothly after that. Heeding Sunspot's advice, they avoided regular roads and larger settlements on their way East, favoring small towns and rural barns where two gold bits were enough to allow three weary unicorns to sleep in the hay without being questioned about their journey. As they neared the Eastern front of the war, however, the Equestrian forces began to grow more and more dense. Guards were more frequent and, much to their chagrin, more inquisitive too. The first time they had been stopped and asked their agenda, it had taken a good amount of talking and a healthy sum of bits to send the guard on his way. The second time, Radiance had batted an eyelash. The third, she batted her hooves against the overly touchy guard's cheek. But as they neared Baltimare, the guards hardly stopped them at all anymore. The clasps on their cloaks, to say nothing of the red mark on their heads, deterred all but the most stubborn and unsocial guardsponies. The guards had stopped bothering them for the moment, but the same could not be said for the citizens of Baltimare, who gave the trio an exceptionally wide berth as they made their way into the city center. Even from a distance, Corona could see the whispers as they passed between rows of ponies that lined the sidewalks ahead of them. "A-are those Solar Rays?" "The new unicorn troops? The ones blessed by Celestia herself?!" "Has to be! Just look at the mark on their foreheads, and their manes." "Why are they cut like that?" "So their magic doesn't set their mane on fire when they use it. They command the same magic Celestia herself does, I heard." "Who is that, then? The darker one?" "Don't look at him! He’s a Shadow! He'll give you nightmares if you look at him." The whispers - and the absurdity of the claims they contained - grew thicker by the moment; Corona was about to stop and shoot down a particularly crazy rumor she heard when she saw a unit of uniformed guards turn onto the street ahead of them. "Aah, the welcoming party. About time." Cobalt muttered under his breath. "Corona, I suggest you handle this one.” He glanced to his right. “I don't want to have to conjure another ice pack in the middle of the summer again." "Hey!” Radiance knocked him in the shoulder. “That guard deserved it! He touched my-" "Quiet. Both of you." Corona growled as the soldiers grew closer. The commoners had made a passage of sorts between the two parties, their eyes going back-and-forth as if watching some grand tennis match. Corona lifted her head high as the unit came to a halt before them, their armor gleaming in the early sunlight. A barrel-chested stallion, who Corona recognized as a Captain from the insignia on his helmet, strode forward from the line. "I am Captain Steelhooves. While it is a pleasure to see you here, I must ask what brings two Solar Rays and a Shadow to Baltimare." "We're passing through on our way to the frontlines." Corona answered immediately. "I'll not say why, but we need information on the current status of the conflict before we continue to the East. Can you direct us to your commanding officer?" There was a silence as the captain scrutinized the three of them. Corona's patience was beginning to wear before he nodded slightly. "We'll escort you. Commander Mirabelle will be glad to see you." Corona's eyes went wide at that. 'Commander?' "Corona! Radiance! So good to see you!" Mirabelle beamed at them as the guards ushered the trio inside the Baltimare town hall, though from the looks of it, it had not seen anything civil or peaceful in a long time. Maps, charts, and gear littered most of the space, many of the windows had been boarded up for safety, and guards patrolled the adjacent hallways. She was so lost in thought, she never saw Mirabelle lunge forward for a warm hug. "What brings you to Baltimare?" "Business, I'm afraid." Corona sighed, still reeling a little as Mirabelle went to embrace Radiance warmly, though she settled for a gentle hoofshake from Cobalt. "Can we speak privately?" "Of course. Follow me." She said with a bubbly tone before turning to the pair of pegasi guards that stood beside her. "You two are relieved for the moment. This is Solar Rays business." "Yes, ma'am." The pegasi both hoisted their spears and exited the same doors Corona and her friends had entered through. Corona watched them go with interest before following Mirabelle into a nearby doorway. Up a flight of stairs and halfway down the hallway, she led them into a warmly-lit office sporting a wide but cluttered desk, a well-worn chair, and two large windows looking out over the Southern edge of the sprawling city. "So, what's going on?" Mirabelle's bubbly demeanor turned stoic and professional as she sat behind her desk. "You recall that all of us received assignments shortly after our respective ascension ceremonies." Cobalt spoke first as he shrugged out of his saddlebags and cloak. "As you can tell, the three of us received the same assignment." "Hopefully you weren't surprised." Mirabelle rolled a hoof as she spoke. "You three have been close since the day we all took the pledge, so I can see why the Princess kept you together for this one. Speaking of which, what is your assignment, anyway?" "We need to get to Trottingham." Corona's words seemed to take the air out of the room, and the color from Mirabelle's cheeks. "That's suicide." "Well, in that case, I'm glad we came here then," Cobalt replied in a sarcastic tone, "at least we can say we saw a friend before we meet our demise." "You know what I mean." Mirabelle sat in the chair behind the cluttered desk, rubbing her eyes with both hooves. "Trottingham is buried, you guys... It's fifty miles behind the front lines, and the storms are rolling in as we speak. I'm not in charge of Horseshoe Bay, but I get reports from them almost weekly.” Mirabelle’s face darkened more than Corona had ever seen it. “It's hard out there; harder than we ever anticipated." "How bad is it, Mirabelle?" "Here." Her horn glowed as she turned towards the wall behind her, where a map of Equestria was pinned up. Her magic began tracing lines along the map, leaving glowing imprints behind that pulsed faintly. "This is our frontline right now, where we're fighting regularly." She drew a line that hugged the North-Eastern edge of a small dot labeled 'Horsehoe Bay' at the top of the map, and began tracing it almost straight down. It swept left and right at key points, defining which of the Eastern Mountains Equestria forces controlled, and which of the peaks the griffons had captured from them. As Mirabelle had warned, the line was well within established Equestrian borders. "Baltimare is a good bit removed from the conflict, so we've been offering support and training for new soldiers." Mirabelle finished the line with a right-hoofed hook to the border of Equestrian territory, near the edge of the Appaloosian desert. “Griffons can’t fly well in the dry air, so the campaign there has ground to a halt for the most part. The war has mostly been fought in the East, with the hardest battle lines dipping into and out of these mountains. I needn’t remind you what lies on the other side of those mountains.” “The Everfree Forest and the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters,” Radiance answered. "The main fight is for the peaks. Our Pegasi Calvary can assault a peak about once every three days if conditions are good.” Mirabelle pointed to two spots on the map as she continued. “If we take a peak, we can usually hold it against most attacks, unless they bomb us with Emeraldfire." "Emeraldfire?" Corona perked up. "Is that the-" "Yes, those are the green orbs they dropped on Trottingham long ago." Corona nodded. "We don't know what it is or how to stop it, but they must not have much of it, as they rarely use it. They prefer open-air conflicts, where they can needle the pegasi flights from a distance, or pester the Unicorn Corps from above. These three peaks here," Mirabelle's horn shimmered as three mountains glimmered on the map. "Change sides almost weekly. I'm surprised they're still standing after all this time, to be honest..." She cleared her throat and continued on. "Still, the Emeraldfire - an unofficial designation, mind you - stays on the ground for almost four days before dissipating. As soon as that happens, a skirmish breaks out. Either the pegasi overpower their forward scouts and we can make a post there, or we get pushed back and lose the mountain. This back-and-forth has gone on since day one, with neither side making any lasting gains. "The more mountains a side controls, the more flexibility they have in pushing the attack, and let me tell you right now," Mirabelle cast them a pointed look. "It is not easy to win those mountains, much less hold them." She turned back to the map and highlighted Trottingham, its spot on the map placing it a good fifty miles inside of the enemy’s lines. "Trottingham is a ruin, so it doesn't really have any use for either side right now. We don't have the resources to push our lines back that far, and they have no need for a burned city. So it sits there, abandoned until we can reclaim our borders." "I see." Corona frowned at the map as she turned options over in her head. 'We could move North into Horseshoe Bay and go East from there to Trottingham... That could work. Or, sail North around the conflict, try to land behind their lines entirely and sneak in the back way, but ugh, that means endless days of puking my guts up.' She shuddered a bit at the thought. Radiance broke the shared moment of silent contemplation. "What do you two think?" Cobalt answered first. "Well, stealth isn't exactly our collective forte, and the Archmage did instruct us to get there as quickly as possible, so I say we take the most direct route available." "Through the Talon Passes?" Mirabelle asked in surprise. "That's right between the three peaks; you'd be in the center of the hot zone." Cobalt pointed to the same trio of mountains on the map. "We can assist with the fight along the way, or at least blitz our way through the middle as quickly as possible. I can conceal us once we're on the far side. From the sound of it, Trottingham is more-or-less abandoned, so we should be relatively safe once we arrive there." 'Hmm... I kind of like it.' Corona thought. 'Never would have expected him to pick the highest-risk option though.' She turned to her right. "Radiance?" "I..." Her friend stared at the map some more before sighing. "I don't like it. Going straight through the middle will likely bog us down, and take longer than if we skirt the fighting. But those peaks are one of the only things standing between the griffons and the heart of Equestrian territory. If we help take them on our way through, we can deal a blow to the enemy and help cement our hoof-hold in one fell swoop.” She glanced at the map again before turning to the others. “As much as I think it detracts from our mission, I have to agree with Cobalt. We should go straight through." "It's settled, then." Corona nodded to Mirabelle, who was looking at the three of them with more than a bit of worry on her face. "We'll leave tonight at midnight." Being a friend of the local commanding officer did have one perk though - it afforded the three of them rooms for the night in the small inn next to the command post. Most of the quaint-looking inn had been converted into officer's quarters and a mess hall, but a few rooms had been left untouched in case guests visited the command post. Cobalt asked for a room to himself, but Mirabelle insisted that Corona and Radiance share her personal quarters. "It'll be a little tight, but I figure I can stay up late to afford you two the chance to rest." Mirabelle bubbled, letting them into what had once been a small suite. The past two years had been relatively kind to the room, and Corona could still see the mild luxury the warmly decorated room once offered. The available desks and tables had been cluttered with battle reports, maps, ledgers, and official letters, but underneath it all was a sense of quiet comfort that she found relaxing. 'If the bath is as comforting as this room, I might not leave.' "You didn't have to do this," Radiance said as she took in the room around her. "We would have been fine finding a place of our own tonight." "Nonsense! Like I'd put my fellow Solar Rays out on the streets." Mirabelle ruffled Radiance's mane playfully. "It'll be good to have you two here. I do have to get back to work soon, though, so we might as well catch up while we have a chance." She leapt up onto a couch near the small fireplace, leaving enough space for the other two to curl up on either side of her. "What happened after I left? I mean, the way it sounded, you two were the only Solar Rays not put on the first train out of the Academy. I heard about the Shadows and their induction as well. Looks like Cobalt made the cut after all." "Yep, that crazy pony made it, somehow..." Radiance smirked a bit at her own words. "But we weren't left behind for long. We got our assignments the next day and were told to leave that same night." She sighed as she rested her muzzle on her hooves. "Still, things are just so different out here." "Oh are they ever." Mirabelle grinned. "You wouldn't believe the hassle I had to go through when I got into town." "Speaking of different," Radiance perked up a bit. "Weren't we all commissioned as Lieutenants? How did you get to Commander in less than a month?" "Oh, yeah… that" Mirabelle’s tone drew the others’ attention immediately. "After receiving my assignment, I booked the next carriage I could get that was headed this way. I was able to get here in three days, and Celestia as my witness, this place was a mess. The commander - Bright Eyes - had let things devolve into utter chaos in the eight months he had been assigned here. Our supplies were going to the frontlines in disjointed, mis-labeled messes, training had fallen behind almost an entire month, new recruits weren't getting their armor fitted properly, ugh." She threw her hooves up dramatically. "It was a disaster. Needless to say, I began digging around for answers, and well, I quickly found out why he'd allowed things to get so out-of-hoof." "Why's that?" Radiance asked, and judging by her voice, she seemed to fear the answer. "Turns out," Mirabelle lowered her voice. "Bright Eyes was working for the griffons the whole time. Apparently, his younger sister was captured during an assault on Eggshell Peak, and the griffons were using her as leverage to squeeze him for information. He was even getting coded messages from the frontlines, threatening to kill his sister if he didn't do all he could to bog down training and distribution of supplies." "That's terrible!" Corona's jaw dropped in shock. "How could anypony help those feathered bastards?!" "What would you do if they had your sister captive?" Mirabelle offered sympathetically. "Still, it seemed almost too simple, so I dug deeper..." She leaned in again. "I sent a request for information to the Captain in charge of the Talon Pass front, and got a report back the next day. Bright Eyes' sister died six months ago. A cavalry unit found her body while securing the site of an abandoned griffon camp. The report indicated that she had likely been tortured and dehorned before they killed her." "My stars..." Radiance paled. "But if his sister was dead, why was Bright Eyes still sabotaging for them?" "Because he never knew she was dead." Corona and Radiance both choked on their breath for a moment, their eyes wide with shock. "They fed him misinformation the whole time, assuring him that they'd release her if he let things fall apart just a little bit more." Mirabelle's horn glowed to life and she retrieved a glass bottle from one of the nearby cabinets. "They even had the gall to reward him for his sabotage." "Bootleg vodka?" Corona asked. "Not bootleg, the good stuff." She pointed to the seal on the bottle's neck. "This is the mark of the Griffon King. Only bottles from his private reserve get this seal." Corona felt the anger boiling in her veins already. "I know they had his sister, but to sit here and sabotage his own soldiers while trusting the griffons' word - and their booze - is disgusting." "I agree," Mirabelle answered as she put the bottle down on a nearby table. "When I had my information set, I confronted Bright Eyes immediately. He was in his office, crying like a foal and drunk out of his mind. The griffons must have known the game was up, because they dropped the news of his sister's death on him right after he intentionally botched yet another supply run for them. He confessed everything to me without hesitation... He was broken in every way possible." "What did you say to him then?" Radiance asked quietly. "Me? I said nothing to him." Mirabelle's gaze turned cold as ice. "That gallows had the last word." Corona's mind nearly froze. "Mirabelle, did you-" "Without hesitation." her usually-warm eyes seemed distant, as if they were looking past them to another place entirely. "He's still hanging in the Town Square... A reminder to any who would sabotage Equestria for their own means. Mirabelle had excused herself after that, leaving her quarters to her friends. The weight of her story - and the fate of Bright Eyes - weighed the room down like an anvil, and Corona and Radiance could find nothing to say to each other, save for coordinating food and bathing. The luxurious oil that Mirabelle kept in her bath did little to calm Corona’s nerves, and the water seemed cold no matter how much she heated the water. She plodded through the necessary tasks instead, scrubbing her mane and coat in utter silence. Radiance helped her re-apply the red mark to her forehead with a small tin of red paste they had brought from the academy before taking her turn in the bath. Corona returned the favor, and the two of them settled down for the night. Sleep eluded Corona though, and what little she did get was plagued by dreams of Bright Eyes hanging limp in his noose, of his sister's tortured body, and a haunting nightmare that had Corona fleeing down Baltimare's streets as a tidal wave of black mud chased her. She awoke half an hour before midnight, though Radiance slumbered easily on Mirabelle's bed in the other room. 'So much for a restful night.' Corona thought as she quietly packed their gear. After double-checking everything, she moved to wake Radiance. "Time to go?" Her friend asked groggily. "Yeah. Come on. Here's your cloak and bags." Corona ushered Radiance out of bed, moving in the candle-lit darkness of the former hotel suite. A few minutes later, the two of them emerged into the hallway, cloaked and ready to travel. Wordlessly, Cobalt emerged from his own room just one door down. The three of them shared a nod before silently leaving. "So, straight North-East, then?" Cobalt asked quietly. "Yeah, but we need to make a stop first." Corona muttered. She glanced to Radiance, and she saw all the support she would need in her friend’s blue eyes. Without another word, she turned to her left and led them towards the Town Square. "By the stars, what is this?" Cobalt bristled at the sight. The gallows had an eerie glow about them in the moonlight, looking just as grim as Corona had ever imagined they would. "Read for yourself." Corona gestured to a sign that had been nailed to the front of the gallows, next to the steps that led up to that grim platform where Bright Eyes had last stood before he met his end. Cobalt read the sentence chiseled onto the wood grimly, and turned to them with a sober expression. "So that's why Mirabelle was named commander... Remind me why you brought us here, Corona?" "You remember the words Celestia spoke before she shared her magic with us, right?" Corona's horn glowed to life, casting a warm yellow glow over her face. "Of course," Cobalt answered. "She said to bring light to the nation and to renew what was lost. Why? What are you doing?" He gave Radiance a quizzical look, but the other unicorn kept her eyes locked on Corona. Corona dug past her own magic, tapping into the new power at her disposal. The yellow glow around her turned nearly pure white as the Day's power channeled into her horn. She looked to Cobalt as she stepped over to Bright Eyes' limp body. "Close, but you forgot the most important one." Cobalt's mouth hung open as he watched Corona's hazel eyes turn a blinding yellow as the spell form took shape around her, and a second later, she touched her horn to the dead pony's hooves, instantly engulfing his body in flames. "’And burn those who would do us harm.’"