//------------------------------// // Necessary sacrifice // Story: The Birth of a New Kingdom // by Dranz_89 //------------------------------// "I don't do that! Never, never, never!" objected Princess Platinum, while she used her magic to build a snowpony that resulted with six hooves and had only one ear over its head. "You just did it," responded Clover, sitting nearby and writing on the yellow book she always carried, "it's not that often, but you totally do it occasionally, don't you notice?" "No, because I never do it!" Platinum raised her voice, and lost control of her magic, decapitating the innocent snow pony she was trying to build. Both mares stared at what was left from the snowpony, then they stared at each other in silence. "Well, at least you put him out of his misery," Clover pointed out at what was left of the snow pony, and both friends bursted into laughter. "Your highness, the building spell requires absolute concentration," explained Sarge Raystorm, he was next to the princess, evaluating her progress, "you got it all wrong from the start, even the most meaningless distraction can disorient your spell. If you don't pay enough attention to your target, you lose control of your spell. And for the record, you DO repeat what you say, sometimes." “No, I don't,” mumbled the princess between her teeth, she stood in position to try the spell once again.         "Miss Clover, can you do me a very important favor?" asked Sarge Raystorm. "I would do anything for you, Sarge," replied Clover, she immediately closed her diary, and turned her attention to the soldier, her blushing face was melting as she got closer and closer to Raystorm's personal space, the stallion awkwardly stepped back. "I must complete my duties and report to his majesty," the unicorn pushed the mare away as gently as he could. For some mysterious reason, Clover was so close to him that he could feel her breath, and her mellow eyes were piercing through his soul. "Can you look after Princess Platinum while I'm gone?" "Oh… I see… alright," responded Clover, somewhat disappointed. "Thanks, I appreciate it, so... I'll leave the princess to your trusty hooves, I'll go and pick the princess from your place." The soldier left in a hurry pretending that nothing happened. Clover let go of a sigh as the stallion left, contemplating his golden mane dancing back and forth at the pace of his trot, her eyes were lost in her own little world now, "Did you hear that? He said he appreciates me." "Don't even think about it, ‘Lover’," Platinum commented on Clover's reaction, "Raystorm is old enough to be your father, you are just a young little filly to his eyes, and a creepy one for that matter: If you want to get his attention you just need to be more direct." "Or maybe I just need a different approach! Mom always says that a full stomach is the path to true happiness, what kind of food does he like?" Clover tapped a hoof on her chin, "And now that I think about it, I've never seen him eat anything, or doing anything he enjoys, or even... smile. The only thing I know is that... I don't know anything about him." "But he has dreamy eyes, doesn't he?" Platinum mocked her by making the sound of kisses with her lips, "Sometimes I wonder if you're really my friend, or if you're just using me to approach him." "I don't have to answer to that!" Clover pushed Platinum away, and both burst into laugh again. Then, Princess Platinum turned a bit more serious. "Actually, he used to be all smiles and he ate pretty much everything. But one day, he left on a mission. I was young so I don't remember the details or purpose of such mission. But what I remember is that that mission was the one that started the battle where my mother died. Maybe you know that he took responsibility for my mother's death, he didn't have to, but he felt guilty, and that costed him everything. He lost the respect and trust of the higher officers, and in the end, he was reduced to complete the most terrible mission of them all. The most cruel and the most ruthless, the only mission that makes the bravest ones cower in fear. Many have tried but none has returned with their sanity untouched." "What is it? Tell me! What mission could be so horrible?" said Clover, anxiously waiting for an answer. "Well, taking care of yours truly, of course" Princess Platinum puffed her chest in pride. "I… understand their frustration…" Clover narrowed her eyes, "He was reduced to be your foalsitter?" "More like someone to prevent me from embarrassing my father, but anyway, that's how Raystorm ended taking care of me. I feel kinda bad for him, he used to be someone important. Now all the respect he has left is his rank as sergeant." “But you don’t feel bad enough to make his life easier, huh?” Clover smirked. “Hahaha! Shut up!” "It seems like the day the queen died was a sad day for every unicorn.” Clover added, she turned to glare at nowhere in particular,  “His story is kind of like yours, the whole city sees you as a weird bug because of your behavior. You don't have to stand for the earth ponies, you could just leave things as they are, and your life would be a lot easier." "That's why we need YOU!" Platinum beamed at Clover and hugged her with one of her front legs, "You have all the respect we need, my words will be listened if they see that Starswirl's student also listens. They're willing to give me a chance because YOU give me a chance, I am the voice and you are the respect!" "Okay... and what is Raystorm's role in all this?" "He is the handsome one! And together we are the ‘War Ender Team’! Now, are you ready to train me?" The Princess cheered and raised her opposite front leg as she hugged Clover.                 "Only on one condition!" Clover also cheered, raising a leg of her own. "Do tell!" asked the princess, keeping her huge smile. "That team's name is dumb and we shall never use it again!" "Deal!" Raystorm walked all the way to the city's main gate where he received the reports of entries and exits. A unicorn with a golden helmet saluted him, and handed over a list of unicorns’ names, and a list of supplies. His next duty was his least favorite, visit each and every single watch post around the city, it would take him all day if it weren't for the teleport spell. Every watch post reported no sightings, except for the southeastern one, the sergeant lost his cool when he received a document that described large amounts of earth ponies reuniting dangerously close to the city. He turned around and teleported to the castle gates, he was astonished when he saw an army assembling at the castle gardens, he wasted no time to teleport again to the throne room. "Your majesty! What is going on here?!" Raystorm yelled as soon as he appeared. "Sarge Raystorm, you are well aware that teleporting inside the castle is against the rules," the king calmly responded, he waved his right front hoof to two guards standing next to him and they ran off to the garden, "You never know when an intruder may attack using that spell." "Why wasn't I informed of this sooner?" Raystorm stomped the floor with great strength. “It’s in the regulation, Sarge,” the king smirked, summoning a scroll and reading it carefully, “even the the soldier of the lowest rank knows this rule.” “I meant this!” Raystorm showed the document he received, “As Sergeant of the 142 Unit, I should be aware of enemy activities!” "I have a more important mission for you, Sergeant," said the king as he stood up and stepped closer to Raystorm, the soldier got an uneasy feeling upon staring at the king's cocky smile, "And a chance to recover your honor as a soldier." After receiving orders from the king, Raystorm walked as slowly as he could with a shaky feeling  on his shoulders, the little light that came from the sun through the snowy clouds on the sky was getting darker. He approached a small house's door and knocked three times. "Coming!" warned a voice from inside, and shortly, the door was opened by a light green mare with pale yellow mane and tail and golden eyes. "Well, hello there!" she gave the stallion a welcoming smile just before she was aggressively pushed aside by Clover. "Sarge Raystorm! Please come in!" she eagerly beamed at him and quickly opened the door and stepped aside to let Raystorm pass. She noticed that he was even more serious than his usual self, her brow furrowed, "Is anything wrong?" "What?! No! Everything is perfectly fine!" the stallion snapped out of it, "How... how is her highness doing?" "Well, she did very well, I made a good job training her if I say so myself, she's having dinner right now," Clover pointed at Princess Platinum, who was unconscious and her face was submerged in a bowl of apple pie, Clover turned her sight back to Raystorm and grinned nervously, "I might have overdone her training just a teeny tiny bit." "It’s ok, she falls asleep anywhere. I'll take her home, then. Thank you, Clover," said the soldier as he prepared to wake the princess up. "Must you leave already?" protested Clover, "I mean she's fast asleep and you look really tired, why don't you stay just this night?" "I couldn't, what would your mother think of a grown stallion staying with two young fillies?" said Raystorm not realising that a yawn escaped his mouth. "He's right! I will not allow it," Clover's mother was quick to respond, then she turned a soft voice at Raystorm and fluttered her eyelashes, "But you can stay in my room if you want." "I... I appreciate the offer, ma'am, but I'd better be on my way, thanks again." "Oh, don't be silly!" smiled the mare, "Your job is to protect the princess, right? Wouldn't be safer if both of you stay here rather than taking her to the dark streets all the way to the castle?" "Well... the princess IS my top priority... but... alright, then, but I'll stay the night in the dining room," said Raystorm, after thinking for a second. A few hours later, Clover and Princess Platinum shared Clover's room. Clover was trying to sleep as she tightly covered her ears from the loud snoring of the princess. While Raystorm and Clover's mother were both sharing a cup of milk in the dining room. "Sorry, I would offer you some coffee if I had some," said the mare as she took a sip from her cup. "It's fine, I'm sorry to intrude, ma'am," said Raystorm, he looked around and contemplated at the humble house that has seen better days. There were only two bedrooms, one restroom, and the dining room which also served as the living room. "Oh, please! Just call me Arcana," the mare hid her giggles by covering her mouth with a hoof, "So... what is it that is bothering you?" "It's nothing, really... I just never been inside a mare's house before," he laughed nervously, while playing with his cup, but the mare glared at him with a skeptic smile, arching a brow. "You know? My husband died the same day as the queen, he was also a soldier," she took another sip, and her smile weakened a bit, "Because of that, he was rarely at home, he worked so hard for us, and this family was the happiest when we were all together.” Raystorm frowned upon Arcana’s confession, he looked down to gaze upon his cup of milk with a trace of regret in his eyes as she kept talking. “One day he left to some kind of intel mission, he was part of the Explorer Unit 142, if I remember correctly. I thought it was normal, but something felt off. He was usually very active and sometimes childish, even. But at that time he was very calm… he even looked sad. When I asked him what was bothering him, the only thing he said was: ‘It's nothing, really’, and he had that same disoriented face that you have right now. That was the last time I saw him…” After drinking the last drops of milk, she made another smile, as if her face could only make different kinds of smiles. This smile, however, looked like it was hiding something, “I am no fool, Sergeant, experience has taught me more than I've wanted, I know more things than anyone suspects, and I know that whatever it is that is bothering you, it has something to do with the princess and my daughter." "I have a mission that I'm not sure I can accomplish," said Raystorm, admitting that he was busted, "I don't know what I'm supposed to do." "You may begin by talking to me," Arcana lightened up her mood as always, "Sometimes the first step to solving a problem is to share it with someone else. Is it a dangerous mission?" "No... it's something that I just don't want to do." "Well, there comes a time in the life of a unicorn when he has to make a decision: Do the right thing, or the selfish thing. The right thing is not always the one we want, but a lifetime reward will come in due time. The selfish thing, however, may bring a faster reward, but it won't last as long, and it won't be as sweet. When I find myself in this situations, I just keep on mind what’s really important, and do what’s best for everyone." The next morning, Clover felt something moving on her bed, she turned around and spotted Princess Platinum turning and wallowing on the bed. Clover rose from bed quickly, very worried, the princess was sweaty and mumbling words of fear and agony as Clover looked around not knowing what she could do to ease the princess' sleep. Suddenly, the princess woke up in a jump. "Please, stop!" screamed the princess, she turned her sight and gasped upon noticing her friend's presence, "Clover! What are you doing in my room?!" "It's MY room, you fell asleep immediately after you arrived here, remember?" explained Clover, "But don’t mind me, what happened to you!? It looks like you were having a bad dream. I was worried sick."          After consulting her memory, Platinum nodded and giggled humbly. "It haunts me every night, ever since that horrible day. It's a torment that I don't know how to end. Maybe you can help me find a way to get rid of this nightmare!" "Sorry, I have no clue, but I'm sure Master Starswirl does, come with me to his study, he'll know what to do." Platinum nodded and hopped off the bed, very excited. Clover put on her hood, her cape and token as always and both unicorns walked out from Clover's bedroom to the dining room, where Raystorm was already awake, waiting for the princess. Princess Platinum was somehow nervous to see him, but Clover was more than happy to see him. "I'm sorry, Raystorm," spoke the princess "This could be troublesome for you, I'll speak to my father about this, but I really, really need to go to Starswirl's." "You can't, your highness, there is business to attend," the soldier stood and bowed to Platinum, "You may go after you're done, for now, we must resume your training. We should thank to Mrs. Arcana for her hospitality." "Oh, don't bother," Clover stopped him, "Knowing her, she'll wake up in about two hours. But I'll let her know of your gratitude. It was a pleasure to have you home, Sarge Raystorm... Oh! And you too, princess, I'll be waiting in the study once you're done." "Ok... See ya, see ya!" Princess Platinum rolled her eyes, and walked alongside Sarge Raystorm out of the house and heading to the castle, while Clover cast a lock spell on the door of her house and walked toward Starswirl's study. As Clover walked through the streets, she noticed there were more patrols than usual. Unicorns in armor marching around in small groups across the city, ‘I don't even remember if there was a street patrol before’, she thought. However, she was more concerned about the princess' nightmares than the soldier's activities. As soon as she arrived, she wasn't welcomed by Laurel's smile as always. The green unicorn always left everything aside to celebrate Clover's arrival, she was never too busy to help her, but this time there were no signs of her presence. Her concern became more and more active when Starswirl wasn't present in his office either. She quickly turned around and ran outside the streets, and after looking around, she noticed that the guards were moving in large groups heading to the city's gate, the civilians rushed to their homes and shut all the doors and windows. "Clover!" called Laurel's voice, "I'm glad I found you! We must take refuge, now!" "What is going on?" asked Clover. "The hornless are here, they're invading us! No one said anything, it happened so suddenly! Master Starswirl is taking a defense post in the castle! It's going to get ugly!" "Oh no… the princess… we must find her!" Princess Platinum and Sarge Raystorm walked on a snowy hill where the princess' training was supposed to be, ‘why is he so quiet?’, she thought, usually he always gave her a briefing of her training as if he was assigning her a mission of some sort. She slowed the pace with an uneasy feeling and let Raystorm walk slightly ahead of her. Upon reaching the top of the hill, a group of unicorn soldiers along with King Lancer appeared from a teleport spell, surrounding them, Princess Platinum looked around her, very confused. "Father?! What are you up to this time?" she asked. "I just want what's best for you, Platinum," he responded while casting a spell on her. The princess was suddenly caught in a red bubble, she tried to teleport, but the bubble teleported with her, "This will keep you away from any danger. Well done, Raystorm, you may now join with your brothers in arms, now." "Shall we take the princess to the palace, sire?" asked one of the soldiers standing next to the king. "And leave my daughter escape under your nose again!?" the king raised his voice, "This time, I will guard her personally! You will accompany Raystorm, he might need some unicorns to cheer him up while he does the fighting, you incompetent foals." The king turned around and took Princess Platinum with her. "Raystorm! Did you do this!? Why!? You were supposed to be on my side! You had promised to me!" Platinum screamed as hard as she could and tears dripped from her eyes, Raystorm avoided eye contact, he just turned his tail to her and marched away. The king took her daughter to the southern tower in the castle, the battle was visible, and the princess was horrified at the sight of earth ponies and unicorns killing each other. "You may have saved a few of them some days ago, but this is reality, Platinum. This conflict will only end when one race kills the other. Thousands of unicorns and thousands of hornless won't stop just because you ask them." "You can't know that if you don't let me try," said Platinum. "Your mother tried... and what happened to her!?" the king yelled at her, his voice cracked and his eyes were watery, "I don't want that to happen to you. The day your mother died... I realised that our kinds can't live together, if one must live, the other must die." "Daddy... the day my mother died, I realised how sad and painful is the path we're going. I want it to stop, I don't want to live in a kingdom stained in blood. And now, I realise that we both want what's best for the kingdom, our goal is the same, but our ideals are completely different. Please, let me go! Let me share my ideals!" "How will I know that you'll be safe?" "I don't know, you’ll just have to trust me." The king turned to the princess, he was in shock and breathless. Then the door was blown away by Clover's magic, she watched the princess' actual state, then glared at the king and snorted. The king was not intimidated, though, "How did you find us?" he said, his imposing stance grew stronger towards Clover. "The guards are weak and they sing like my mom in the shower when they are interrogated," she smirked. "You dare to defy your king, a young spellcaster trainee like you?" barked the king. "Actually, I'm here to nicely ask you, if you could please release the princess," said Clover, her smile growing more confident. "And if I say no?" the king stood between her and the princess. Clover quickly cast a flash spell, the king shielded his eyes, and next thing he saw was Clover taking Platinum with her. Clover turned her sight to the king again and mocked him with a cocky smile. "Even as a trainee I'm smarter than you, your Majesty. Keep in mind that this would have been less embarrassing for you, if you had said yes," Clover smiled at the king and then teleported out of the tower along with Princess Platinum. "How did the king caught you?" asked Clover as they ran across the street. "Raystorm... he... he lied to me," the princess frowned, but shook away her sadness, "but nevermind that, we must find a way to stop this savagery!" The earth ponies tried to break through the gate, they were wearing wooden armors and helmets and wielded spears and javelins and shields, they attacked in groups to overcome the unicorns' spells. Sarge Raystorm was fighting fiercely one earth pony after the other, but his attacks were not lethal, and he was getting exhausted as more and more earth ponies attacked him.. As some earth ponies attacked the gate, another group stayed behind for reasons unknown to the unicorns, they were joining together some pieces of wood and steel. Until they built a giant wheeled needle made of wood with a steel point. Several earth ponies positioned to push the needle and aimed toward the gate and charged. The unicorns were shooting magic beams at it, but the contraption was immune to it, nothing could stop it until it slammed against the gate, the earth ponies pulled back their invention and prepared to charge once again. The unicorns did everything they could to stop it, but the giant needle was unstoppable by their weak spells, and the earth ponies that fell were quickly replaced. The needle slammed the gate twice more until the gate was pierced, and the earth ponies pressed forward into the city. Princess Platinum and Clover were running on the main street, when they saw the whole lot of earth ponies coming their way. "To the castle!" commanded a light blue earth pony. The princess deduced he was their leader, she cautiously approached him. "Hey, you!" she called, "you are their boss, aren't you?" The earth pony stopped, he grabbed his spear and quickly turned around, and charged at her. "No, wait! I don't want to fight!" Platinum warned, and the earth pony was easily repelled by Clover's barrier spell. The earth pony prepared to attack once again, waiting for an opening, but Clover shot him with a weak magic beam. "Didn't you hear, you big bully? She doesn't want to fight!" said Clover, "Lucky you, she would totally kick your tail." "Please, I ask you to stop the fighting in the name of all unicorns!" the princess bowed down to the earth pony. "Hah! And who are you to ask such a thing?" laughed the earth pony. "My name is Platinum, Princess of the Unicorns, please, stop the fighting." The princess bowed even lower. Clover didn't like it, but she imitated the move of the princess. The earth pony laughed louder.         "It doesn't work that way, ‘your highness’. Look around you, the unicorns are fighting back, and even if I accept such request, I don't think your father is willing to let us go freely. This will end badly for one side and it's not going to be ours." "I understand… you're right" the princess raised her hand, she paused and tapped her chin with one of her hooves for a few seconds before continuing, “Then, make me your prisoner, I surrender." "WHAT?!" both the earth pony and Clover gasped at the same time. The princess stood on her knees before the earth pony and explained, "If I do that, would you promise to stop the fighting? My father won't attack you as long as I'm at your mercy." "What are you doing? They're gonna kill you!" whispered Clover. "Let me get this straight" the earth pony glared at her with a suspicious look, "If we retreat, you'll be our prisoner, but why would I rather do that, instead of simply defeating the unicorns here and now? The battle is going our way." As soon as he said that, the earth ponies began to be routed by the unicorns of the castle. King Lancer and Starswirl have descended to the battle, the king fought with a raging expression on his face, his bursting spells blew the earth ponies away, and Starswirl cast a spell on the needle and burned it to ashes. The leader earth pony gasped in terror upon witnessing the king's terrible power. "What the hell!? Those monsters!" he said, the King approached him quickly from ahead, and from behind, the remaining forces of the unicorns leaded by Sarge Raystorm cornered the earth ponies on the main street. "Freeze!" shouted the leader earth pony, he pointed his lance at Platinum, "we have the princess!" The unicorns stopped their attack, while the earth ponies regrouped. "Tie her up!" commanded their leader, and the princess was immediately tied by two ropes and held captive by to big orange earth ponies, and a spear was pointed at her neck. "We'll retreat for now, but we'll take your princess with us! If you try anything funny, she will pay the price!" "Curse you, cowards!" barked Sarge Raystorm. "What are you saying?" laughed the earth pony, "This was all thought by your princess. You! Stay away!" he aimed his spear at Clover. "I hope you know what you're doing," Clover said, she slowly moved backwards away from the princess. "Don't try to rescue me, I'll handle this peacefully," the princess whispered, "And if I don't make it... then, you'll be free from my crazy ideals." "I swore my loyalty to you," responded Clover, "I'll spread your crazy ideals from here." All the unicorns were baffled, their princess once again was risking her life for the sake of  the earth ponies. The earth ponies began to march to the gate, the captured princess marched with them placing no resistance at all, the spear still close to her neck, she passed beside Sarge Raystorm. "I don't know what you're thinking, but just... promise me you'll be fine, okay?" he said. But the princess narrowed her eyes, and gave him a disappointed glare, "what's the point?" she said, "Apparently promises mean nothing to you." The earth ponies left the city, the princess among them, and the unicorns could only watch. The king, speechless and breathless, he had lost the only family he had left and he was unable to prevent it, just like that other day.