//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Fog of War // by Teal //------------------------------// Chapter 2 Twilight jumped from her seat, as the loud barking of successive explosions erupted and bombarded her ears. Using her hooves to cover her ears, she tried to block the sound of, as it pierced through the air and created a painful and annoying noise. As the awful sound began to fade, Twilight removed her hooves from her ears, and started to wonder what had caused those explosions. While pondering, the first thing that popped in her head was the possibility of having another threat to Equestria. With monsters and powerful creatures always hitting the country, over and over, having another attack was not unlikely. Explosions that loud were sure to have been caused by something powerful, as fear gripped her with the very thought. She was still traumatized by the last explosion that hit Ponyville, which led to the destruction of her previous home. Images of her tree home blowing up to bits flashed before her, as shivered at the memory. The harsh new memories were made more bearable with the new castle she received, but it didn’t mean the memory didn’t hurt. Now, with explosions erupting somewhere from Ponyville, the possibility of losing this new home gripped her. Not wanting to repeat the past, she acted quickly, deciding to investigate the cause of those explosions. Moving quickly, she raced towards a nearby window to search for the source of the explosions. Thanks to the height of the crystal castle, she was able to see the entirety of Ponyville, as well as the surrounding outskirts of the town. This dominating height proved to be very useful, especially in situations like this. Looking out, she saw nothing out of the ordinary other than the worried ponies who cautiously trotted through the streets after hearing the explosions themselves. The citizens of Ponyville were worried about the explosions, as they feared for their safety once more. Some of them raced towards their homes, hoping to find safety inside their wooden walls, while others tried to get information from others, only to get shrugs and shakes of the head. Luckily for Twilight, none of the ponies looked up to see her by the window, for they would have surely bombarded her with questions while she still seeking for the answer. With everything alright at Ponyville, she decided to scan the town’s surroundings, as she turned her gaze towards the outskirts. Everything seemed fine, but once her eyes turned towards the Everfree, she saw something strange about the area near it. Normally, at this time of day, the area around the Everfree forest was clear, as the nearby fields glowed under the sun’s vibrant light. But that didn’t seems to be the case today, as a thick looking mist loomed at the area, slowly being blown away by the wind. Staring at the mist, Twilight knew that it was out of the ordinary and out of place. She then begun to fear that it might contain something evil behind it, a creature that used the mist to shroud itself from sight. If so, then Twilight must react quickly and examine what was behind it, hoping to observe whatever was causing the mist and identify whether it was a threat or not. It was important to identify if it was something that they should worry about or not, as she didn’t want to cause panic throughout the town. Knowing how prone to overreaction Ponyville was, she decided to get her facts straights first before alerting anypony else. So she immediately went into action, racing through the pristine halls of the castle. Her hooves touching the smooth and shiny stone, as she turned around curves and made through the various halls of her castle. As she raced through the halls, trying her best not to get lost, as this place was still fairly new to her and she hadn’t memorize every single area of the castle yet, she passed by her ever faithful and hardworking baby dragon assistant, Spike, who was walking out a room and rubbing his temples with his claws. “Hey Twilight…” He said, rather groggily before giving out a short yawn. “…do you have any idea what that noise was all about?” But once he saw the panicked and worried expression plastered on her face, he began to assume the possibility that Twilight caused the recent explosions. “Don’t tell me that those explosions were one of your experiments again…” He said. “Like come on! We just got this place!” Twilight shot him an angry glare for accusing her immediately. Although some of her experiments ended up in explosions, the explosive sounds those experiments created were nothing compared to the explosions that erupted earlier. Besides, her experiments only ended up in explosions eighty percent of the time. So instead, she ignored that earlier remark and put on a serious face. “Spike, there is no time for explanations right now. There is a suspicious mist outside the Everfree forest and I fear that it contains something bad.” “A mist…” Spike said. “…at this time of day? Its past noon and the sun is shining up high, I don’t think there would be a mist right now.” “ Yes, but that is what makes it odd. Who knows what could be hiding behind it?.” “You always think that som…hey wait!” Spike exclaimed in surprise as Twilight picked him up and placed him on her back, to the great disappointment of the dragon. “Hey!” Spike complained, as he held tightly onto Twilight, wrapping his hands around her neck, as they raced out of the castle. “Who said I wanted to come? I was enjoying a perfectly nice nap before those loud explosions happened and now I find myself outside trying to figure out what caused it.” “There is no time to by lazy now, Spike, we need to figure out what caused those explosions before it causes any trouble. I don’t want us being taken by surprise, so we must figure out what we’re facing. Besides, you need the exercise. You’re starting to become a little heavy to carry.” “Fine…” The little dragon mumbled under his breath, still not too happy in being dragged to this. The two were soon slicing through town, as Twilight desperately headed towards the field near the Everfree forest. Scanning the town as she galloped through the streets, she looked for any sign of her friends. She hoped to be able to run into one of them and asked for their assistance on her scouting mission. But to her disappointment, she didn’t run into any of them. They must have been in their homes when the explosive sound roared and decided to stay in there for their own safety. Although it would have been helpful to have the support of her friends in the investigation of the mist, she would just have to make do with what she had, which was Spike. At least he would be able to send a letter of warning to Princess Celestia when the need arises. As they reached the outskirts of Ponyville, the only thing that blocked their view of the field was a large hill that was in their way. Trotting towards the top and ignoring the fatigue she felt from running across town, she made her way up as Spike sat on her back, not really wanting to be here. Reaching the top, she took some gasp as she panted for air. Feeling tired, she diverted all the remaining amounts of her energy to face the field and see what the mist was hiding. But once she did, she saw a sight that she would never forget. Right in front of her, on the field where the mist was, were tall bi-pedal creatures that wore blue pieces of clothing and were holding weird sticks that were almost as tall as them. They stood in a weird formation, composing of at least two rows, in which each creature stood side by side. As the mist, that covered the field earlier, began to fade, she started to get a clearer view of the foreign creatures. She noticed that in the center of their formation was a long metal pole that had a flag attached to it. But the flag, from what little she saw, didn’t look like any flag she knew. From what she could tell, from her position, the creatures looked confused and dazzled. So she decided to approach them, with caution, and observe them more closely and figure out who and what they were. Who knows, maybe they were friendly? “I don’t get it!” A Captain, from his regiment, said as he waved his sword around. The confusion and frustration was evident on the Captain’s face, as he talked to Newman about their current situation. “I just don’t get it, sir. One minute we were facing off with the Rebs. The next we have a forest in front of us and no sign of the other regiments! It just doesn’t make any sense, sir.” Newman remained silent, as the Captain spoke, as he thought about the predicament that they were thrown into. He too was surprise to find themselves in a foreign place, with no one else but the men from his regiment, and no sign of civilization. He wondered about their current problem and was totally baffled on how it happened. But that confusion must be kept to himself and to himself only, because it could cause greater problems. If a soldier sees confusion on their officer’s face, panic might take over them, as it was a sign that they might be totally lost and helpless. So his face must remain calm and confident, no matter what the situation. Before Newman could wonder more about their situation, and receive empty answers from his own thoughts, an officer, wearing green uniform and shouldering a Sharpe rifle, approached him and saluted. Looking at the man, he immediately recognized the face in front of him. It was Capt. Wilson! A grin grew on his face, as he saluted back to the Captain. “Glad for you to join us Captain.” Newman said, giving him a pat on the shoulder. “I was starting to worry that me and my regiment were the only once experiencing this small problem.” “Well, Colonel, I don’t know if this is a ‘small’ problem, but I can assure you that me and my company are here with you and are ready to act in your command. So, sir, do you have any clue where we are and what we’re doing here?” “I’m afraid not, Captain.” He said, shaking his head. “Your guess is as good as mine. But I am glad that you and you’re company are here. You see, I want to scout the land around us and figure out where we are. So can I trust you with that task?” “Of course, Colonel.” Wilson said with a smile. “I’ll be happy to follow those orders.” With that, the Captain saluted and raced of towards his company. Newman shook his head and smiled, remembering the days when he was a young officer, filled with enthusiasm. “Uhhh….sir…” Sgt. Johnson said, looking back towards Newman. “…I think you might want to see this.” “What is it, Johnson?” Newman said as he walked towards the sergeant. He then looked towards where the sergeant was pointing and saw something that was walking towards them. At first he thought that it was a horse, but he later noticed that it was too small to be a horse. So he changed his mind and concluded that it was a pony. But as it got closer, Newman noticed that there was something odd about the pony. Picking up his binoculars, he looked through them to get a better close up view. That was when he noticed the weird color on the pony’s fur. It was a color that he never imagined a creature could naturally be born with. It was purple! This surprised him, since the last time he checked, ponies weren’t colored purple. “Are my binoculars playing tricks with me, Johnson, or is that pony really colored purple?” He asked, putting down the binoculars. “Oh, it isn’t your binoculars, sir. It’s purple to me too. You think the rebels are playing a trick on us, sir?” The sergeant asked as he looked at the pony that was approaching them. “Well, unless they can make an entire army disappear, then I doubt it.” Newman said as he shook his head. “A purple pony, now I’ve seen it all.” Suddenly a large flash came from behind him, radiating white light that temporarily blinded anyone who looked at it. It was like the powdered flashes of a camera, which sent out a bright light to illuminate the foreground for a photo. The flash was so bright, that Newman, Johnson and everyman around it had to look away and cover their eyes. Newman covered his with his arms, trying to look away. The rays of light were as bright as the sun and just like the sun; it radiated a hot beam of light that warmed up anyone nearby. It was as if the sun itself was present and in front of them. As the flash subsided and disappeared, Newman looked to the source to see a tall white horse. But this didn’t look like any horse he has seen before. In fact, this didn’t look like any horse man has seen before! The horse had long slender legs and a beautiful form, with its pure white fur matching perfectly with its figure. But what attracted his attention were the uncommon features it had. Its long mane, that seemed to be flowing, was composed of a wide variety of colors. While on its fore head was a horn. Newman was about to say that it was a unicorn, like the one written in far fetch tales, but when he saw the wings on its side, he knew that this was an entirely different creature. “Hello, Colonel Newman.” It said, in a feminine calm voice, which sounded as soft like clouds, yet smooth like silk. This surprised him even more and caused him to jump back. Thoughts were running through his head as he looked at the creature with pure amazement. Looking towards its face, he could see a small smile on its face as its eyes radiated a caring look. Those expressions themselves were impossible for a horse, so how was it doing it? Everything he was seeing just wasn’t possible. “Well, maybe I haven’t seen everything after all...” He mumbled to Johnson, who only nodded, as he stared at the creature in front of them.