//------------------------------//
// Part Two: Journey On 
// Story: Broke Equestria: The First Battle 
// by Ashtree and Tealove 
//------------------------------//

		"We will attack here," boomed Celestia to the crowded tent of captains and generals, using her horn to stab a point on her map of Broke Equestria, "then Captain Illusion will head east with his troops and come around on the north side of Newlia, then we will have them surrounded."
The watching stallions and mares nodded solemnly then Celestia, in her full battle armor, turned her horn towards her son who stood to her right, also displaying new, shining battle wear, and asked, "What say you, Captain Illusion? Are your troops able to take on such a task?"
Illusion was thankful he was wearing his helmet because he was pretty sure he'd turned red when the spotlight was pointed his way, but her quickly puffed up his chest, held his head high and declared, "The stallions have been training all their lives for this. We're ready."
Celestia suppressed a proud smile at her son's words, then fiercely turned back to her audience, "Twilight, is Starburst well enough for battle yet?"
Captain Sparkle, Celestia's right hoof mare, gave the Princess a serious look and declared, "She isn't yet well enough to run, so it may be a week or so, but she says she's willing to fight at the drop of a wing."
Celestia's eyes narrowed and Illusion could tell Starburst had been one of her greatest fighters, and he almost felt jealous for the attention she was getting even though he was now a captain.
"And Applejack," the Princess barked to another leading solider, "Have we gotten word from Golden yet on the reports on the Colony's patrols?"
"No, Princess," General Apple replied, trying to conceal the bit of sadness in her tone, "He hasn't been heard from in five days."
Illusion saw his mother's jaw tighten, then she said, "We will deal with this later. After today's travels. It will be a three day's journey to Newlia, so brace yourselves...now prepare the soldiers for half march!!"
And with that, all the stallions and mares filed out of the tent, not daring to even whisper to each other, then it was just Celestia and Illusion in the room. 
"Nicely said," Celestia stiffly complimented, "Now be on your way. Today's going to be a long day."
So Illusion quickly shuffled out of the room, into the glaring sun that reflected off if his golden armor and practically blinded him as he trotted towards his army's camp ground. 
It was said that the Empire's armor was made form the very gold of the Sun, but no matter how much ponies made them sound like an honor to wear, Illusion hated it. The heavy metal seemed to envelop him like a thermal mirror, stabbing at his joints and keeping in the sweat that often dripped down his muzzle. Celestia's Glory was getting brighter and hotter everyday-it was a sign of her anger, of the approaching war, but as much as Illusion loved his mom, he was starting to hate how easily she got mad. And how that lead to desert-like heat.
"Afternoon, Captain!" a solider sharpening his horn saluted to Illusion as he marched into his troops' weaponry tent, "May Celestia be with you this day!"
Illusion didn't return the greeting. He just stiffly nodded and moved on, as he'd been taught to do by Captain Sentury. He hated doing it-it was like he had to ignore every pony who ever tried to talk with him and keep acting like he knew everything in the world. And for the soldiers, age wasn't a barrier that kept them from obeying anything Illusion told them to do, which sometimes came in handy and was hilarious to watch, but not being allowed to smile dampened the fun of it all. 
Sometimes Illusion would zone out of battle plans and would find himself wanting to laugh. It was such a foreign concept to him, and nopony ever laughed in the Empire, so that only made the craving for laughter grow. If only he could laugh with Ashbolt...she knew how to. She would have burst out laughing with him in the middle of his mother's meetings. But she was gone...no. Every time this thought would cross his mind, Illusion forced himself to believe Starburst's words, that she was alive, that she had a chance at living still, but it was hard to set as truth sometimes and Illusion would find himself imagining the torturous souls deep withing the Crevice of Abyss, eating at Ashbolt's very soul...
"Afternoon, Captain," the stallion at the weaponry tent's makeshift counter, "What brings you here today? Has you throwing knife broken again? Are you in need of polishing for your armor? Oh, or is it your-"
"No," Illusion firmly interrupted, causing the stallion to nervously push his glasses up the bridge of his muzzle, "I've come for the blade I ordered to be done two days ago."
"Ah, yes!" the counter pony exclaimed, quickly regaining his self confidence, "Quite a demanding order that was! Took ten of our finest black smiths to finish on time! Do step this way, Captain."
Illusion gave a serious but grateful nod then followed the stallion behind the counter, past the curtain that separated the rest of the tent and the space used specially for the Royal weapons. The two ponies stepped inside the dimly lit corner, then the stallion began combing down the cases, stabbers, tools and parchment orders strewn across the dirt floor.
"It's around here!" the stallion exclaimed as he stuck his head under a pile of sword cases, but as he searched, Illusion wanted to say, 'Take your time,' because of the great relief it was to be out of the beating Sun. He knew he shouldn't have been thinking it, but he thought at that moment that it would have been nice to be under Luna's Glory.
"Ah! Here it is!"
Illusion snapped out of his daze and looked down at the weapon being levitated before him.
"A serrated edge sword, melded in the very fire and heat from our Celestia's Glory!" the stallion exclaimed proudly as he carefully fit the orange glowing sword into a stabber, "It's all yours, Captain!"
"Th-"  Illusion quickly caught himself before he'd finished saying 'thank you' and corrected his mistake with a solemn nod, then fit the weapon into his own armor's stabber and went on his way. He trotted through the camp grounds, past the arrays of white tents, past the millions of saluting soldiers, but turned the the twentieth row of tents, away from the Captain's Quarters and instead toward the Nursing Tent. And when he proudly strutted into the tent and found that nopony was there, he instantly slumped, threw his stabber onto the nearest bed and flopped onto the one to its left.
"Ugh," he groaned, then heard something stirring from inside the Nurse's Quarters, but he didn't even budge from his bed.
"Oh, you're back already?" a voice from the Quarters asked, then from the curtain door came trotting out Starburst, left hind leg still tightly wrapped in a bandage, "Did you get it?"
Illusion flung off his helmet then scooped up the stabber with his muzzle and unsheathed it for her to see. 
"Whoohoo," Starburst whistled, "Some beauty," then she allowed Illusion to slid it into a stabber hidden just under her nurse apron, "Thanks. It'll come in handy when we get to the town of Bridgemend. You ready for your first battle?"
Illusion shrugged, "Sure...but it's so hot out there! We'll all die of heat stroke before we even get to Newlia! And this armor is killing me-if I hadn't been through all those training sessions with Twilight and Flash back in the palace, I'd be falling over in these. And I have a million cricks in my neck from nodding so much-why can't I just talk like normal ponies and-"
"Because you're not normal," Starburst butted into his pity party, "And save your voice for battle-you'll need it to scream over all the dying ponies. Plus, it'll be over soon."
For once Illusion didn't want to say 'thank you' for the advise he'd been given.
"So how's the leg?" he asked instead.
Starburst grimaced and shifted her bandaged limb, "The stupid doctor keeps putting be on bed rest, but I bet you a hundred bits I got run at the top ranks right now."	
Illusion grinned, "I'll let you off that bet for now, but at least you get to march with us."
"In the back," Starburst scowled, "With the worthless servants and arrow fetching foals. Yah, I'm lucky."
"Well, don't worry," Illusion imitated Starburst's drawling tone when she said, "It'll be over soon."
That only made her eyes narrow into a glare, but it amused Illusion how much this mare wanted to suffer through the heat and sick of war-no, she wasn't a mare. Filly. She wasn't yet Of Age until three weeks.			
"Anyways," Starburst trotted for a moment into the Nurses' Quarters then returned with a heavy duty saddle bag, "Princess Celestia delivered your weapons a few minutes ago."
Illusion quickly came forward, but stopped when he'd processed what had been said, "Wait, why did she give if to you?"
The orange filly smirked, "Apparently someone's finally realized that you come here about three times a day."
The new captain felt his ears heat to pink. He'd been visiting Starburst a lot lately, but only to get filled in on all the plans for the upcoming rebellion. And if his mother ever found out about that...
Illusion snatched the saddle bag from Starburst, then set it on a bed, flung open the flat, then the tent instantly exploded with light, spilling from the bag and blinding and deafening both ponies standing by.
"What is it?!" Starburst's whinny was distant as Illusion was sucked into the endless glow, then something from the illumination's depths began to rise. It slowly flew from the saddle bag, into the air, then an explosion of orange wisps was shot from the object and it's form became visible. 
Hovering  just above Illusion's horns was a double edged sword, the top half made from the burning flames of the sun, the bottom, a celestial blade reflecting the flames of its brother blade and shining clear as a crystal. Both upper and lower swords radiated the heat and light of the Empire's Glory, able to burn and cut through almost everything in Broke Equestria. This was the weapon used by only royal, only top ranked soldiers, only the greatest ponies in history. This was the Key of the Solar Empire. And now it was Illusion's.
The double edged sword spun slowly as it hovered as if allowing its audience to take in its full luster, then it began spinning faster and faster until it was just a dizzying blur of light, and then it started flying towards the Prince.
At first Illusion wanted to run-what else do you do when a flaming blade is coming at your head?- but something forced his hooves and claws to root themselves to the ground, to stay put as the Key drew nearer and nearer to the Sun still faintly branded on his forehead. Once the celestial blade was only a nudge away from the surface of Illusion's skin, it stopped, tilted itself towards the emblem on the Prince's forehead, then suddenly lunged forward and stabbed him.
Illusion screamed, but there was no blood. The double sword was being sucked into his head, a heat pooling around his brain, toasting it to unimaginable temperatures that made the burn of war feel like a snow trip. It seared, stung, blinded him. He heard the far off shriek of a filly, then his own screaming as the pain intensified. He was going to die. He was sure of it. And if not, he was wishing he would. Illusion heard a crackle, a deafening crack that raced up his nerves and shook his very soul, then the lightning surge left his forehead, twisted up each of his horns, and then it was silent. Dark. And Illusion was on the floor. 
Words were a mere dream at that point, and apparently Starburst felt the same. 
The Prince willed his eyes to open. They did surprisingly easily. He dared his muscles to work, to lift him off the puddle of sweat he'd formed in the dirt, and soon enough, he was on his hooves. There was no pain, no ache or struggle. Just strength. And it felt as if the very energy of the Sun was pumping through his veins.
The engraving of the Liars was gone from Illusion's forehead, but a new surprise was hovering in the exact same place. Coming form his horns was a mix of yellow light and orange wisps that twirled before him, causing the Empire's double edged sword to float level with the new Captain's eyes. Illusion blinked. The sword was much too close to his face and would soon blind him. He wished it would move and then-
The sword flew to the side. Illusion gave a start. How did it-? He squeezed his eyes shut and wished it would once again float-and it did. Again and again. With just a simple thought, Illusion could send the sword zipping across the room, stabbing into the ground, spinning and hovering at the same time-it was a if he had the powers of a unicorn! But this was different, this came with more responsibility, this was better than any unicorn horn.
Illusion found himself grinning as the Sun's light and wisps raced around the tent, but when he turned towards Starburst to exclaim, he found that the filly had taken a step back. Her face looked like none he'd ever seen before on her-she was scared.
"Isn't this cool?" Illusion asked cautiously, trying not to set her off, but Starburst just stood there. Frozen.
"Well...we I should be getting the troops together to-"		
Then Starburst ran out of the tent, head down, apron flying, and then the Captain was alone.
Illusion stood there, suddenly feeling empty. What had he done? Or was she just embarrassed about being so shocked? That seemed reasonable, so the Prince shrugged off the thoughts, brought the Empire's Key to his side and marched out of the Nursing Tent.
"Attention, stallions and mares!" Illusion boomed to his troops, who instantly fell into silent formation, "We are now prepared to march to Newlia! We will be traveling all day, non-stop in full march! Anypony who can't make it will be left behind for the Colonists to trample!" 
Illusion kept his face straight as his troops shifted, but inside he was grinning and proud, feeling as if he could take on all of Broke Equestria with his new weapon at his side, and what pleased him even more was how every solider eyed the Key wearily and him with renewed respect. 
"This is our fight for your King!" Illusion continued, "This is our trek to his and your freedom! Show that you're willing to fight and let's FIGHT! Fight to the death, fight for your Empire, you family! FOR CELESTIA!"
The army of ponies roared with approval as Illusion failed to hide it and grinned. They were ready. He would soon get his dad back. Soon King Discord would be back on his Imperial throne, soon-then he remembered. How could he have forgotten? Starburst. The Joints. They weren't actually going to make it to Newlia...but what about his dad? 
Illusion's smile was quickly whipped off his face. What was he to choose? His family or the eventual joining of all of Broke Equestria? He squeezed his eyes shut, blotting the question out, then turned back to his troops.
"Now to Newlia!! Full march east! Stay in your ranks and be prepared for anything!!" he shouted as the army began moving out in a trot, the clang of armor, rumble of hooves and scrape of weapons covering his next words, "The Colonies await."

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The Crevice of Abyss was the only place in all of Broke Equestria that didn't receive light from either Princess's Glories. It was dark, too dark for a fire to be lit, a dark that seemed to consume any and every source of light. And it was a maze. From a stone ledge on the Crevice's wall, you could look over the side and see the millions of pathways, hedges, and complex networks that twisted together to create a giant labyrinth. Its trails were clogged with thick, gray fog that numbed the senses, its walls changing from stone to ivy to currents of black steam in seconds, each as solid as the next. Occasionally, the endless warren would let off into black tree forests, black waters, windy, black deserts and black fog so thick it felt as if you were walking through muck. But it wasn't any of that or the marred skeletons that lined the paths that scared Ashbolt. The Crevice was always full of wind, always threatening to knock you off your hooves, mostly around pits or dips in the path that begged you to jump in, to join the dead souls, and it was Ashbolt who always had to dive forward to save Dinkleberry from falling in, and after he was safe, he'd always excuse himself by saying, 'I'm just not used to feeling so..real,'.  
And it was that wind that scared her.
Sometimes, as the wind would whistle by, Ashbolt would hear things, voices, and they grew even louder around the ditches Dinkleberry would stumble into. Sometimes she wouldn't be able to understand them, the voices would just talk over each other, giving her horrible headaches, but other times there was only one voice. And when it was one, she could understand it perfectly, but at the same time, her brain couldn't comprehend the words, so they'd just feel like shivers, hisses and temptations to let herself fall into the pits, to end the miserable journey. Every time that happened, Ashbolt had to force herself to think of Illusion, of her family, her parents and friends, but even their faces began to grow distant and faded and soon she was worried she'd forget their names.
"Come on, Missy!" Dinkleberry cheered over the howling winds as the two ponies were traveling through a stone labyrinth, "I think I see the end!"
Ashbolt had been falling behind, dragging her hooves as the wind pounded against her face, as the crowd of voices inside her head began to overpower her hearing, but she struggled on, hiking towards Dinkleberry's image in the distance as she listed her brothers and sisters in attempts to focus herself.
Dusk. Star Twirl. Nebula. Midnight Summer. Dusk. Star Twirl. Nebula. Midnight Summer.
"Hurry up! The path lets out up ahead!"			
Obviously Dinkleberry was more adapted to the Crevice than Ashbolt, but she wished that he'd at least wait a minute without calling her again.
"Hey! Why'd you stop?"
Ashbolt felt her legs shaking. She slowly looked up and found herself almost muzzle to muzzle with Dinkleberry. She hadn't even noticed that she'd stopped and would have stepped away from him if her hooves would move. But they wouldn't.
"You okay?" Dinkleberry's neigh was distant and muffled. Perhaps because of the wind. Or the blazing headache caused by the throbbing noises in Ashbolt's head. 
"I'm...fine," she replied, and for Dinkleberry, that was enough to send him trotting back up the path.
"Come on then! We're getting closer!"
'Closer to what?!' Ashbolt wanted to shout, but instead she forced her heavy hooves to walk and followed Dinkleberry down the ivy covered stone corridor that suddenly let off to a large clearing that extended into the fog so far, it was impossible to see the end. And there was something blocking the pathway forward. 	
Before the two ponies was a river peacefully flowing, a blue so bright against the dreary dead of the Crevice that it seemed to almost glow, but not enough to shine through the black fog, and, just like everything else, the water faded into the dark vapor on either side. It flowed along to calmly, as quiet as an owl in flight, that Ashbolt found herself letting out a relieved breath and relaxing a bit. 
“You a good swimmer, madam?” Dinkleberry asked as he examined the lazy water flow, and this time, Ashbolt found the energy to kick him in the flank and reply,
“I’m swim fine, thank you.”
“Alrighty!” the stallion exclaimed from his new position on the ground, rubbing the place he’d just been struck, “After you.”
As Ashbolt approached the gentle river, she realized that the nauseating voices that had been screaming over each other had finally decided to hold their tongues and as she stepped into the warm water, she found that she could finally think straight.
“I’ll be following close behind you, no worries!” Dinkleberry called from the shore when the water had reached Ashbolt’s knees, and she quickly turned to face him and scowled,
“There is now need to follow close. I can take care of myself.”
She only felt a small pang of guilt as she turned away from a taken aback Dinkleberry and continued to trot across the powdery soft sand below her, deeper and deeper until the water had reached her neck. 
Ashbolt turned back to the shore and said, “It’s safe! You can follow n-!”
Just then, the river turned ice cold, the water from upstream began flooding in in giant, angry, white rapid waves, the floor below suddenly curdled to a blanket of rocks and slime, and jagged rocks began flying out of the ground, up to the water’s surface like spears ready to kill. Ashbolt was instantly overturned by a wave, thrust under the filthy black water and swallowed a mouth full of extremely salty liquid. She choked, the rocky sand grains being swept into her eyes and dragged down her throat as she kicked desperately towards the surface, but that only sent gashes up her legs from the blows of the sharp stalagmites jutting out of the water. Soon blood red was added to the river’s canvas and the only thing Ashbolt could see when the rapids weren’t forcing her eyes shut was a scene of black, scarlet and gray smears. Her mane churned in the water around her, being torn this way and that as slimey, dead plants began weaving themselves into her hair and just as Ashbolt was about to surrender to sucking in another bucket full of grimey water, a gust of thin, cold air shot her in the face and she noticed that she had been swept to the surface. 
“Ashbo-!”
But she was only above long enough to gag once, then she was once again dunked under and was sent hurtling down stream, tumbling and spinning uncontrollably, dragging across the floor and rock that cut at her skin and blinded her with pain. Then her hooves felt something rising from the sand-another jagged knife flew upward and Ashbolt quickly wrapped her hooves around it, gripping the rock for dear life and trying to ignore the pain of the stone digging into her flesh.
The water lowered seconds later and she was once again able to breath just before she was slapped by another wave, and when she came back to the surface this time, she heard another scream, 
“-shbo-!”
And right then, a frothy black wave came plowing down the river and smashed into Ashbolt, full force into the chest, so abrupt and forceful that Ashbolt was left with all the wind knocked out of her. She silently gasped for air, choking on the mucus (or sand slime, she couldn’t tell) and  sourness rising in her throat, and just as she was beginning to see stars spinning in her throbbing vision, Ashbolt threw up. 
Even though it left a horrid taste in her mouth and sent her nose burning, Ashbolt actually felt a bit better having a stomach rid of waste filled water.
“Ashbolt!”
Even though the salt stung at her eyes beyond tears, Ashbolt could just make out the smear of brown on the shore that was Dinkleberry.
“Ashbolt!!” he cried over the raging water, almost sounding relieved, “I didn’t recognize it at first, but this is t-”
Another wave slapped across Ashbolt’s body, punching at her aching muscles and forcing her to hold tighter to the jagged rock that began digging deeper into her flesh, but she forced herself to hold back a cry and yelled back desperately,
“What?!”
“This is the River of the Forgotten!!” Dinkleberry screamed, “You need to swim to the other side NOW!!”
“I ca-!” but before Ashbolt could finish her sentence, the booming, roaring voices that had been so silent suddenly returned, louder than Ashbolt had ever heard them, louder than she knew was possible to hear. The unbearable noise caused her to cry out, opening her mouth at just the right time to swallow another salty, slimy plant filled river load, and as she sputtered, her ears began to ring. Her head began to throb, her lungs felt as if they were collapsing, and then she felt it. The coldest touch she’d ever felt. So cold, it made her very bones shake, made her mind paralyze as something under the water grabbed her hind hoof and pulled. Ashbolt instantly came free from the rock, its edges giving her one last gash down her eyelid and cheek as a farewell, then she was dragged under, just as the cry, ‘Help!’ escaped her lips.

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