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// Ch7 Moving Forward 
// Story: A Charred Stone 
// by Priceless911 
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                Sweat rolled down my face as I strained to hold the two buckets of water at shoulder height without bending either of my front hooves. It was difficult especially doing so while balanced on my hind hooves, but through it all, I continued holding them straight out as Captain Storm trotted around me and spoke, “you have five archers in your squad, one is hit with an arrow while the rest look to you for guidance… what do you do?”
Straining to hold the buckets up I replied, “t-two archers… see to the wounded… the rest continue firing volleys.”
Captain Storm nodded his head as he continued, “in the same scenario… Swish! An arrow hits on of your helping archers in the head!... what do you do!”
Straining even more I replied, “Remaining helper, continue seeing to the first wounded!... the second helper is gone… leave him be.”
Nodding his head to the right answer, storm stopped as he spoke, “With two archers fighting with you and the third helping the wounded fourth… you soon find the enemy racing over the hill less than one hundred meters from you… What do you do?”

With my straining hooves now too weak for a concentrated answer, I replied, “Helping pony! Drag the wounded back to the camp… Other two on me, we must hold this ground!...”
Storm smiled a little bit but then stopped as he continued, “they are rushing you… there are too many! You can’t fight them off! What do you do?!? HURRY!!!”
I tried to think fast, but my hooves began shaking as some of the water spilled out the side and ran down the side of the buckets. When this happened, my right hoof started to lose its balance with the bucket as it began sliding off the front of my hoof. In an effort to save the falling bucket I tried leaning forward more, only to cause the other bucket in my left hoof to fall as it hit the ground and spilled all over the ground. After losing one bucket, I dropped the second as I dropped to my knees to catch my breath. With me now down on the ground, Captain Storm sighed as he shook his head and spoke, “Well cadet… look like you died. Two of your archers made it to safety, but the other three are now laying on the battlefield next to you.”
With anger, I punched the ground as I tried to ask without showing disrespect, “Just… what does holding buckets of water have to do with being an archer?...”

Seeing my anger clearly, Captain Storm sat down a few feet from me as he replied, “the quiver I made for you holds fifty arrows. Sixty if we remove all signal arrows. During battle, you will be required to fire volleys of one arrow every minute. While the battle itself could last anywhere from thirty minutes to three days depending on the size of each army. Do you think you can continue to draw your bow after every arrow in your quiver is gone? And if so, will you have the energy to think rationally for your soldiers? As an officer, they are relying on your guidance to not only win the battle, but to keep them safe too. This is the responsibility that all officers hold, and not just you, Snow, and I… but even Commander Bolt.”
Seeing the logic in his point, I just stood back up as I nodded my head, “I understand… so… should I refill the buckets?”
Storm shook his head, “No… it’s fine… Break for lunch and meet me back at the flight grounds afterwords. We will go over a few counting drills before dusk.”
Great… I hate counting drills. Basically, I'm supposed to go through the trees on the field and tap all the marked trees and count up for all the green circles, but down for every red X. this training was supposed to teach me to keep track of how many arrows I have left. Although this training was fun at the start, it got old after doing it every day for the past three weeks.

Yea… it’s been three weeks since Commander Bolt left. I don’t know where he went, or even if he is all right… but to be honest, I don’t care. I was still annoyed after that crap he pulled right before he left. I know I wasn’t expecting much when I thanked him for my bow, but at least he should have nodded his head or something. Instead, he just turned away and didn’t reply at all. Nonetheless, he is gone, and Captain Storm has been a good Trainer, although he wasn’t as tough as Commander Bolt was, and it may be just me… but I sometimes catch him treating me as if I was his daughter or something… but it could be just all in my head. Either way, I’ve been training nonstop and I know that I'm getting better even if it’s just a little. With this thought in mind, I left Captain Storm on the training ground as I entered the camp and went to the mess tent. At first, this seemed like just another day, but then as I sat at the table, I heard a voice, but not just any voice, a voice that I hoped I wouldn’t hear for the rest of my life. “...Messy Mane?”
I froze… not because I was surprised to hear that voice again, but I wished with all my being that the voice I heard was completely imaginary. However, as I turned to look, I was only disappointed when I saw the pony I thought it was, one of the reasons my foal hood was completely miserable. I saw Heavy Weight, the bully from the orphanage.

When I saw him, I could only stare in shock as he smiled, “So it is you. I didn’t think I would ever see you again… and in armor no less… gosh what worthless excuse for a recruiter allowed you to join the Nightmare Legion?”
I couldn’t answer, I was still in too much shock to keep to the same subject as I replied, “Wh-what are you doing here?”
Heavy Weight replied, “Well after I was adopted I grew up in Manehattan and joined the royal guard right after finishing school. Then this war broke out and I thought that an eternal night wouldn’t be too bad. So I joined… but what about you? Last, I saw you were moping around in the old orphanage, but now you’re in Commander Bolt’s army?... did you lose a bet? Or do you just have high expectations about yourself.”
Knowing that he was making fun of me I gave him a serious look as I replied, “Shut up! Last thing I want is to see somepony like you making this place even worse.”
Heavy Weight smiled, “oh… looks like Messy mane still has that fight in her. Maybe the enemy will take pity on you and let you go afterwards.”
In anger, I stood up, “Say that again you dumb piece o…”
All of a sudden, another pony stepped between us as I realized it was Captain Storm, “Do we have a problem Cadet? Is this Private bothering you?”

I tried my hardest not to give the old bully a smug smile as he looked at Captain Storm as Spoke, “C-Captain!... Cadet?... S-Sir, I- I didn’t realize Miss… I mean… Cadet Stone was a Cadet Sir!... I- I apologize Ma’am.”
Knowing that there was some truth to what he said I didn’t reply, instead I just looked at Captain Storm and spoke, “No problem here sir… none that I can’t handle myself.”
Captain Storm looked at me as he replied, “Then I will leave you to finish your meal in peace.” Captain Storm looked at Private Weight, “As for you, Private… you would be wise to know who you’re talking to before addressing anypony with such a tone… Am I clear?”
Feeling a little uneasy as I listened to Captain Storms tone, I held my silence as Private Weight replied, “Y-yes sir… I-it won’t happen again.”
Captain Storm gave the private a stern look, as he replied, “no… It won’t… Now go see to your duties!”
The private quickly turned around as he replied, “Y-yes sir!”
As Private Weight trotted away with a lot of haste in his step, Both Captain Storm and I looked around to see that the entire mess tent had their focus on us as he called out to everypony watching, “AS YOU WERE!”
With a somewhat nervous response, Everypony in the tent went back to their business as Captain Storm turned to me and sat down beside me as he rubbed his head and mumbled, “I'm getting too old for this.”

As I turned back to my plate of food, I could only stir it hesitantly as I spoke, “C-Captain?... I um… Thanks for that. I don’t know if I could have handled that, but I'm glad you were here to help.”
Storm stopped rubbing his head as he looked at me and spoke, “As an officer, you must demand respect. All good officers demand respect but all great officers earn it. Nevertheless, not all soldiers show it, even if it is earned. For these soldiers, you must do one of two things. You can either prove to them that you’ve earned it by continuing to do so… or and I hate to say it, make an example of them. Not all ponies are willing to follow you into battle, so by making an example of them, you show that you will not allow disobedience, and that you will stand over even your own soldiers in order to complete your mission. It will both earn their respect and teach a lesson at the same time. Though I don’t like to, every now and then I have no choice but to make an example of a select few. Myself.”
Understanding his long and drawn out way of saying I should stand up for myself, I nodded as I replied, “Yes sir… I'll remember that next time.”
With that, Storm continued, “from the way he spoke, I would guess that you two know each other don’t you?”
As I continued stirring my food, I replied, “yea… I do…”
Storm leaned forward as he tried looking at my face and continued, “And judging by your expression… it isn’t of good relation is it?”

I tried thinking of what to say to drop the subject, however, since Storm was looking at me and waiting for a response, I decided to just answer the question, “no… it’s not… I didn’t know he was part of the Nightmare Legion, and if I had never known, I think I could have enjoyed it here more. But now…”
With no intention on finishing my sentence, I stopped talking as Storm nodded his head and replied, “He isn’t one of my soldiers, but I'll see to it that he is kept separate from you at all times.”
Thinking Storm may have made it a bigger deal then it really was, I looked at him and shook my head, “Wha… um… no! You don’t have to do that. I'm fine really. I’ve just had a bit of bad history with him that’s all.”
Storm smirked a little as he replied, “oh… I see… an ex coltfriend?”
My face turned beat red as I shook my head, “N-NO! Me and him were never that way. In fact, if I had the training I have now, I would have killed him when we were little. He… he just used to pick on me is all.”
Storm nodded his head as he replied, “Oh ok now I understand. Never the less you shouldn’t let him even attempt it now. You may only be a cadet, but as a lower soldier, he has no choice but to follow every order you give unless Anypony who outranks you give a different order.”

Hearing this did make me feel a little better, but it still felt wrong… I didn’t want to simply tell him to go away; I wanted the ability to force him to. If that makes any sense… anyways as I thought about this without replying to Captain Storm’s comment, he could see my thoughts in my expression as he smiled, “Don’t worry cadet. soon you will have the strength to not only take him down a peg or two, you’ll have the strength to take on an entire army… literally”
Hearing this, I couldn’t help but smile at Captain Storm as I replied, “Thanks… Sir, I hope I won’t let you down.”
Captain Storm and I smiled as a random soldier approached Captain Storm and spoke, “Captain! Soldiers have been spotted on the horizon.”
Captain Storm and I looked at the soldier as he replied, “friendly?”
The soldier nodded his head, Yes Sir… It’s Commander Bolt and his team Sir.”
Captain Storm looked at me and smiled, “Well looks like we should go greet him. Cadet? If you’re finished you can come too, I would like you to be present when I tell him of your progress.”
Since I did lose my apatite after seeing Heavy weight, I just nodded my head as I stood up, “alright I guess I'm finished anyways.”
With that said, I picked up my tray of food as I went to put it where it was supposed to go.

A few minutes later I met Captain Storm outside the Mess tent as we both went towards the camp entrance to await Commander Bolt’s Return. As we arrived, so did Commander Bolt and his soldiers as I saw Commander Bolt and Lieutenant Snow marching at the front of their convoy. As the two approached us, Both Officers stopped as the rest of their soldiers continued trotting by with an annoyed and exhausted expression on their faces. As the soldiers continued by, Commander Bolt looked at me and spoke with an expressionless stare, “Cadet… it’s good to see you’ve made progress.”
At first I wanted to smile with pride, but something bothered me so I asked, “Sir?... how do you know I’ve made progress?”
Still with no expression, Commander Bolt replied, “You look more confident than the last time I saw you. Although it’s only been a few weeks, I can see it in the way you carry yourself.” 
I stared at him in confusion as Captain Storm Spoke, “Sir… did you find what you were looking for?”
Commander Bolt shook his head as he replied, “no… the commander I met wasn’t Commander Mist. Instead, he was a decoy. After meeting him in Trottingham, We managed to chase him to the edge of the frozen north… but were ambushed and had to retreat… we lost a small amount… but had no choice but to abandon a few of our own.”

Captain Storm looked over the herd as he replied, “The wounded?...”
Commander Bolt nodded his head, “yes… the wounded.”
Seeing the flaw in this action I tried to speak without showing disrespect, “Y-you abandon some of our own? But… even if they were wounded… why would you do something so selfish?”
Realizing that my attempt in making my comment seem respectful failed, I lowered my head, as all three officers looked at me while Commander Bolt replied, “I know it was selfish… but it was either them or us. And as commander, I had to ensure that those of us that could fight could make it back in one peace.”
I had a strong urge to debate that his action still seemed cruel, but I kept my silence since I didn’t want to dig myself into a grave. Seeing that I kept quiet about my objections, Commander Bolt continued as he spoke, “And that wasn’t even the worst of it. I discovered that in my absence, Commander Mist and his force seized and occupied Cloudsdale.”
Captain Storm was surprised, “What?... but didn’t Princess Celestia state that occupation of a civilian city was out of her book of tactics? Why would she change her mind and put the residence at risk?”

Lieutenant Snow spoke next, “It would seem that the noble princess has chosen to make less noble decisions. And to make our predicament worse, the good commander appears to be on the move.”
Captain Storm looked at Snow as he replied, “you mean… Commander Mist is moving closer?”
Commander Bolt replied, “I know that Commander Mist was the commander who occupied Cloudsdale, but it’s unsure as to who is leading the moving unit of Crusaders. Regardless of which, since they are moving closer, I have sent a message to Nightmare Moon in request of reinforcements to move in and reoccupy this location.”
I was a little confused so I asked, “re-occupy?”
Commander Bolt replied, “Yes… Captain Storm, gather your soldiers and brief them. We are leaving here to set up a front base in defense of the moving army. We must drive them back to Cloudsdale and keep them from getting any closer to The Palace of The Royal Sisters. Be sure to inform them that we are moving into a hostile area and chances of getting caught into a battle… is almost guaranteed.”
Captain Storm nodded his head, “understood sir, what time frame should I give them for our departure?”

Commander Bolt continued giving Storm an unamused look as he replied, “we will leave within the hour.”
I was surprised that we would be packing up and leaving with barely any time to get ready, but what surprised me even more was how Captain Storm replied as he smiled without concern and spoke, “understood sir, my troops will be ready.”
With that said, Captain Storm trotted away as Commander Bolt looked at me and spoke, “Cadet, How long before you can be ready to go?”
Knowing that I arrived here with little to no positions, I replied, “um… about five minute’s sir.”
Commander Bolt nodded his head and replied, “Good… then I'll leave you to it. Pack your bag and return here as soon as possible. There will be a wagon sitting here by that time, just throw your bag in, and proceed to help the rest of the soldiers get ready.”
With that said Commander Bolt and Lieutenant Snow started to trot away as I asked, “um sir?... what about my training?”
Commander Bolt looked at me and replied, “Your training will continued… but after we get to the next location.”
With that said, Commander Bolt trotted past me as Lieutenant Snow followed him. As I watched them trot by I couldn’t help but see that something was on Commander Bolt’s mind. It been a while since I last saw him, but for some reason I could tell just by the way he was acting that he was deeply troubled by something. 

Either way it wasn’t my business so I decided to turn towards the direction my tent was in, however when I did I was caught off guard as I turned to see heavyweight standing right in front of me. I jumped back in surprise as he raised his hoof and spoke, “Sorry Cadet… I… I didn’t mean to startle you… I um…”
Annoyed by both the surprise and the fact that it was him, I spoke, “What do you want?”
Heavyweight paused as he rubbed the back of his head and continued, “I… um… I wanted to apologies for earlier. I know I was a bit of a jerk when we were foals but I didn’t want to be that way now. You know… since we are adults… anyways I just wanted to say sorry and if there is anything I can do to make up for what I did in the past, just say the word.”
Not buying it, I replied, “Okay… then you can get out of my way so I can get ready to leave.”
Apparently, he didn’t get the briefing as he looked at me with curiosity and spoke, “Really? You’re leaving? Where are you going?”
Still annoyed I replied, “We are leaving to meet the Celestial Crusaders who are moving towards us. Therefore, you better get your stuff packed. I don’t want to be late cuz somepony like you decided to waste time talking about useless crap like the past. Now if you will excuse me… I have to get ready.”

Trying to be as rude and disrespectful as possible I trotted by the large stallion and pushed him out of the way with my shoulder as I trotted by… even if it was a lot harder than I expected. Either way I got my point across as he just stood there with that stupid look of surprise as he watched me trot away without concern. Later after I packed my things, I returned with my small and almost weightless bag as I approached the wagon that Commander Bolt mentions. Only it wasn’t so much as a wagon, but fifty… all packed and ready to go in a straight line, that stretched almost completely through the now bare camp. As I approached the lead wagon, Commander Bolt, Captain Storm and Lieutenant Snow stood on the other side of the wagon as I overheard them talking as Lieutenant Snow spoke, “I don’t like it sir… I have a feeling of discomfort in this matter.”
Captain Storm replied, “You have a feeling of discomfort when sitting in a wooden chair… The fact of the matter is that if this information is true, then we are in for much more than simple ambushes.”
Commander Bolt replied, “I know… this could greatly decrease our chances of winning this war. For now, we will keep it on the down low. Nopony speak of this to anypony without my approval, agreed?”
The rest of the officers nodded their head “Yes Commander.”

After that was said, Commander Bolt turned towards the wagon as he looked in my direction and saw me. Feeling like it was something I wasn’t supposed to know, I looked directly at my bag as I acted as if I just approached to throw my bag into the wagon. I don’t know if he bought it or not, but Commander Bolt didn’t say anything as he turned towards the back of the convoy and started trotting along it to inspect their progress. Less than fifty minutes later, just as planned, Commander Bolt, Captain Storm, Lieutenant Snow, and I stood at the front of the long train of wagons as Commander Bolt looked to his officers and spoke, “Give the order to move out, it’s time for us to go.”
The two officers nodded their heads as Lieutenant Snow turned to the formation in front of the first wagon, “ALL SOLDIERS MOVE OUT!!!”
Although that order was loud, Captain Storm took to the sky as he flew over the entire convoy before hovering over the center of the line and relaying the order, “Soldiers MOVE OUT!!!”
After that, a number of higher-ranking soldiers called to their formations as each one said the same thing, “Company! Forward! March!”
As I watched all the soldiers react to the same order by starting there march, I couldn’t help but feel surprised. Each soldier, in each rank marched on the same hoof as there steps created a music less beat against the trail that we began trotting.

As this happened, I too found myself stepping to the same beat, only I wasn’t amongst the soldiers behind me. I marched next to Commander Bolt as he, Snow, and the landing Captain Storm made up the first rank in the entire formation. As I marched alongside them, I count help but feel a sense of pride. Although I always tried to cast myself aside, the fact that I was marching with a group gave me a small sort of accomplishment. Even if I felt like I had no reason to feel accomplished in anything. Trying to get this thought out of my mind, I looked to the side as I saw the last deserted tent in the camp vanish from my peripherals, as I turned to Captain Storm and asked, “Sir? What will happen to the camp now that it’s empty?”
Captain Storm replied, “Well the tents will stay empty for a few days until the replacing unit arrives and set up their position.”
I nodded my head as I asked, “ok so where are we going then?”
Commander Bolt looked at me and replied, “We are going to set up a small basecamp between here and Cloudsdale. We need a forward position to keep the enemy at bay. Luckily there isn’t any towns on the way so we won’t have to worry about civilian casualties… although that’s also a bad thing.”

I felt confused as I asked, “bad thing? Why would it be bad if we don’t have any civilians to worry about?”
Lieutenant Snow replied, “Without Civilians, We can fight with our full potential with no worry of collateral damage.”
I nodded my head, “Yea… But?...”
Snow continued, “With our full potential comes a bloodier battle, and… a higher fatality toll.”
I don’t know if it was his aristocratic accent that made what he said seem more concerning… but whatever it was, hearing him say that made me feel… uneasy. Luckily though, Commander Bolt broke the tension as he spoke, “This is why during a battle we seek out and attack their commanding officer. The laws of war set down By both Princess Luna and Celestia clearly state that if the commander of the opposing army falls, then it is up to the soldiers whether or not the battle should continue. Nevertheless, with this war being brother on brother, ninety-nine percent of the time, the opposing army will surrender. No pony wants to continue fighting if they don’t have to… which is why on occasion, the enemy army will retreat. Cadet, if this situation ever happens, you will allow them the chance to retreat to safety. Understand?”

Hearing him talk like this made my mind wonder, I don’t know what it is, but every time I feel like I have him pegged, Commander Bolt does or says something that completely changes my opinion of him. Either way, I could only nod my head as I agreed, “Yes sir… I'd rather let those who won’t fight flee anyways.”
Commander Bolt looked at me and smiled, “Then we both see eye to eye don’t w-“
although it was faint, I saw a shadow cross over Commander Bolt’s face as he stopped talking and immediately looked to the sky above. Confused as to what he was looking at, I looked up as I saw a glimpse of what I would assume was a bird as it vanished behind a cloud above us. Knowing that what I saw was too small to be anything other than a bird, I looked back at Commander Bolt as I asked, “sir? What is it?”
With no change in his trotting speed, Commander Bolt looked back at me and replied, “It’s nothing… I think. Anyways as I was saying, if the enemy wishes to run away, let him.”
Without any concern in his expression, Commander Bolt looked forward again as I decided to drop the unusual event that caught both our attentions. Besides, if a battle was what awaited us ahead, then I think it would be better to keep my focus on what was important… The Literal battle ahead.