//------------------------------//
// Strength in Unity 
// Story: Consorting Strength 
// by Holocron 
//------------------------------//

	"And finally, the country has entered a state of peace under the rule of our new King Alexander." Bucephalus said, concluding his hours of discussion and lecture about Manedonia to a more than eager Twilight; who by now has filled more scrolls and books than she thought.

"That's so fascinating Bucephalus." Twilight commented, almost down with the current scroll. "And Bucephalus, I noticed you haven't yet explained why you yourself are here."

"I was sent on a journey to find "True Strength" by my King's mother Helestia." Bucephalus explained, much to the slight irritation in his voice at remember the cause of all this. "The Manedonian Tribunal, which is just a collection of Senators under the King insult me by saying I would become a disgrace if I were to serve as King Alexander's Adviser. And Helestia, in all her "wisdom" claims I can find great strength out here. Though she never mentioned a place called "Ponyville", but this town does remind me a little of home."

"Oh that's still nice to hear." Twilight said, finishing her writing before having Spike carry them all away to be shelved. "I can understand you must miss your home, and I am honored you feel our town feels like home."

"Well the specific part of Manedonia I live in is more a...marble city." Bucephalus corrected. "But this Ponyville reminds me of the neighboring countryside and the other city-states. But now, if you would help me with my concern over my offense to Applejack."

"Oh! Of course." Twilight smiled. "I'm pretty sure she's calm enough to talk to now. What I think we should do it-"

"Your highness!" A Unicorn stallion floating several papers and documents in the air rushed into the room. "You have to appear before court now, I can't hold off your appointments any longer!"

Bucephalus had to resist ever urge to crush this unicorn under his hoof for such an insult; how dare he interrupt a Goddess. If this were Manedonia, such an insult would end with that Unicorn being a pile of ash and salt for interrupting a god. But Bucephalus noticed that Twilight did not seem the least bit annoyed or irritated. Ponyville was indeed lucky to have such a kind and forgiving god over them. Twilight's eyes did open a bit over reading all the documents. 

"I'm sorry Bucephalus." Twilight apologized, getting from her seat with the documents in the air around her. "I do need to handle these appointments first, then we can discuss how to make it up to Applejack. I promise." Twilight was nearly at the door, when a new idea reached her. "How about you join me Bucephalus. You want to be a King's Adviser, so how about you see how Equestria court functions and observe how our culture does things."

Bucephalus only nodded at the offer, following close after Twilight. She was right, if he wanted to serve his King, he had to gain some experience. 'So maybe Helestia had some idea behind her words.' Was all Bucephalus could think as he followed into the main audience room. 





The hall of the Friendship Castle was just like the outside, crystals adorning the walls and ceiling. It stood out midst the rural huts and cottages in town. The central audience chamber held but a single throne of crystal at the far end and a massive door at the other. Bucephalus's mind once again felt a sort of resemblance to the audience chambers back in Macedonia. His heart missed his country and a new found determination to prove himself was slowly sparking inside him. The smell of polished crystal and even the faint aroma of worried ponies hung in the air. The large sun roof let in natural light and the reflective crystal illuminated the hall. Looking at the ponies, Bucephalus counted maybe a dozen ponies. Bucephalus took a deep breath, he was going to do the best he could to assist Twilight in her appointments and prove he can become a King's Adviser.

After Twilight took her seat and gestured to have Bucephalus on her left and the previous Unicorn with all the scrolls to announce the ponies. The first ponies were called forward; two stallions, one was chestnut colored and had no mane or tail, but a bushy dark brown beard and a ho farming cutie mark, the other being a dirty grey in color, crop short black mane and tail and with a shovel cutie mark. Both stallions were both angry staring at the other, though remaining silent. Bucephalus and Twilight sat and listen to the ponies' protest.

"Your highness." The chestnut one started. "My farm grows the finest potatoes in Ponyville and as I was getting my fields ready, I was considering an expansion. So naturally I moved my territories a little outwards until I reached a large rock. It took a little effort, but after a few hours, I was able to move the rock off my land-"

"And into mine!" The second stallion snapped. "Princess, my farmland grows the local rooted vegetables and while I was going to plant this year's harvest, I found this pony pushing a large rock onto my land, and destroying my precious cabbages! So naturally, I pushed the rock back on his land, and even expanded my ruined cabbages into his area. It's only fair, taking back what he took from me."

"Hmm I see." Twilight pondered for a moment on the two ponies. It would be easy to simply lift the rock with magic, but that would only lead the two farmers to fight over the new spots of land. She needed something that could settle this. She then turned to Bucephalus. "Bucephalus, do you have any suggestions as how to settle this?"

"I may in fact your worship." Bucephalus said, walking to one of the guards. "May I borrow this?" The guard nodded and gave Bucephalus his spear. "Now you two claim that you wish to expand your lands, but this rock seems to block your way?" The two nodded. "I offer this, whoever removes this spear from my hoof gets claim to the lands that belong to the one who cannot."

"Bucephalus, I asked for advice, no to bet lands." Twilight said, about to tell Bucephalus that his method seems too much.

"With respect your worship." Bucephalus politely responded. "I am certain both ponies will reach a satisfactory conclusion."

Twilight sat back, accepting Bucephalus's decision and watching the first stallion try. The chestnut stallion gripped at the spear with both hooves and pulled with full force, straining his limps and tensing his muscles, but to no avail. The spear remained firmly in Bucephalus's hoof's grip. Realizing his loss, the first stallion let go, allowing the other to try. With both hooves and even the strength of his teeth weren't enough to even budge the spear. Both stallions then tried again, but this time, whether it was planned or not; or merely both were infuriated that they could lose their lands over something so trivial as to be unable to move a spear. But both stallions together were just barely enough to budge the spear from Bucephalus's grip, the sudden release of his hoof caused both stallions to fall to the ground. 

"That settles it." Bucephalus announced, but to the two stallions' and even Twilight's confusion. 

"Settles what?" The chestnut farmer snapped. "We both took the spear, we can't both take from each others lands. This was pointless!"

"Bucephalus? Was there a reason for this?" Twilight politely asked. 

"There was a point." Bucephalus answered, taking a deep breath, remembering that this wasn't his home and that there might have been a confusion in his intent. "Allow me to explain. Back in my home country, we tell a story of an apple tree and two farmers. There were two farmers, both lands were separated by a large apple tree at their borders. Half of its sweet fruit fell to one side, and half fell to the other. One day, a fruit fell in the center, and both farmers laid claim to it. Unable to accept surrendering this single fruit to the other, both farmers fought over it, beating and striking each other until their very conflict struck the tree, casing every leaf and every fruit, both ripe and unripe to fall upon them. This left the tree bare and near dead. It wasn't until the wisdom of our first King came and divided the fruit into two perfectly even halves. It was then that the farmers learned the error of their actions and made peace with each other."

"What was the point of that story?" The other stallion asked. 

"It appears I must show you." Bucephalus started walking towards the two. "Take me to this rock."

"Bucephalus?" Twilight was curious what he was planning even leaving her seat to follow behind; which left the Unicorn attendant to handle the other appointments. 





The fields with the large rock was only a few minutes of a walk away from the castle and Bucephalus gave it a quick look over. The rural farmland was quite large, Bucephalus was amazed how such a small town could have so much farmland. But that was besides the point of his walk, his purpose was this rock, the cause of the farmers' complaints. Pressing his hoof against the rock, Bucephalus immediately knew that something like this could be easily pulverized or even be pushed off the land with ease. But that wouldn't help these farmers learn. They had to learn for themselves the lesson Bucephalus had in mind. 

"So this is the rock?" Bucephalus asked, as both farmers nodded in response. "And you claim that alone all you could manage was to push it on the others land?" Both ponies nodded again, with a little more anger across their faces. "I want you both to move this rock."

"If we couldn't do it alone, what makes you think both of us will make a difference?" The chestnut stallion asked.

"Just do it." Bucephalus snapped, intimidating the two to move to the rock. 

Standing side by side, the two stallions pressed their hooves against the rock. Their muscles tensed as they pushed, not towards one field, and not towards the other, but down the middle. Both stallion pressed and pressed, sweat beading down their faces as they struggled with the rock. But, just the spear, their joined effort started to pay off. The rock budged, and not just that, because of its own size and weight, once the farmers pushed it enough, the rock fell forward, landing directly between the two farmers' lands. The sight of how those two were able to work together to move the rock brought a faint smile across Bucephalus's face, and it widened Twilight's eyes a little.

"You did it." Bucephalus congratulated, walking over to the tipped over rock. "But the task is not yet over."

"We barely could knock it over, even together." The other farmer commented. "It'll take all day, maybe even a week to move this off our lands."

"There's no need." Bucephalus said, raising his hoof and with a firm and swift motion, sent it down on the rock. The impact was more than enough to shatter the stone into smaller pieces. "This should be much easier to carry."

"Wait a minute?!" The chestnut stallion snapped in anger. "If you could've done that, why didn't you from the beginning? Why make us do all the work when you could've done it on your own?"

"Because you wouldn't have learned." Bucephalus explained. "It would b so much easier to simply hand over the answer, when it's more rewarding to learn it for yourself." Looking over at the rock and the farmers, seeing their eyes widen with realization. "I don't know how Unicorn magic is here, but in my country, the few Unicorns we have could've easily lifted or destroyed this rock. Yet instead of choosing the path where you learn to work together, you chose to complain and do nothing when the answer was obvious."

Bucephalus said nothing else as he left the two farmers, and walked over to Twilight, who wasn't alone. Standing next to her was Applejack, with a more amazed, rather than angry look at Bucephalus. Bucephalus said nothing, only looked at Applejack, as if he wantd to say something but couldn't find the words. 

"That was amazing Bucephalus." Twilight commented, breaking the ice. "I didn't think you'd be able to break that rock so easily. I was worried I'd have to use my magic."

"I'm thankful that I was able to reach a similar conclusion to the problem as you your worship." Bucephalus nodded in gratitude, happy he didn't do anything to make the situation worse. "Hopefully they'll learn to work together rather than against each other."

"I have to say, I was wrong about you." Applejack spoke up. "After talking to Pinkie, and seeing how you handled those two. I want to say, I'm sorry for what happened."

"No." Bucephalus said, bowing forward. "I was wrong to let my anger get the better of me and risk the safety of your kin."

"Applebloom is fine, and Big Mac's injuries were not severe." Applejack explained. "But I'm curious, how'd you know those two could move that rock? What made you think to suggest that?"

"It's something Alexander would've done." Bucephalus said quietly. 

"What was that you just said?" Applejack asked, but before she could answer, a blue blur flew by the group. Landing besides the ponies was a blue coated Pegasus with a spiked rainbow hued mane and tail. "Rainbow Dash, what was that for? You could've crashed into us!"

"Yeah yeah sorry, but hey Twilight." Rainbow said, ignoring Applejack. "I was just flying around by the mountains, trying out a new move, when all of a sudden, I was attacked."

"Attacked?!" Twilight quickly looked Rainbow over. "Are you alright, what attacked you?"

"Some strange bird-thing. It was like some hairless monkey, but had feathers, and wings. And even short, pointy teeth." Rainbow explained, only to have Bucephalus, whose eyes were open in shock, walk up to her. 

"Harpies? You were attacked by Harpies?!" Bucephalus's mind was racing over the concept. 'What are Harpies doing this far? Could they even fly this far? I have to find out.' "You, uh Rainbow Dash correct? Can you take me to where they dwell?"

"I was attacked by them, I didn't exactly see where they lived." Rainbow replied. "And who are you anyway, you look kinda suspicious."

"My name is Bucephalus and if there are Harpies in the area, then I must find out why." Bucephalus explained. "They roast in caves in high regions. Is there a large cave located within the surrounding mountains?"

"Well a few, but there was a cave large enough that a dragon lived there a few years back." Applejack explained. "Why are these Harpies so important? Shouldn't we contact Celestia, Twilight?"

"I agree with Applejack." Twilight stated. "We should contact Princess Celestia first. Why are these Harpies so important Bucephalus?"

Bucephalus took a deep breath and held a serious look in his eyes. "Because these Harpies are from my country."





Less than a hundred leagues from Equestria, Antenor's ship was nearing its destination. Below deck, in his Captain's Quarters, Antenor looked over a world map; charting Bucephalus's possible courses. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud thudding sound from above deck. Not surprised by the sudden noise, Antenor took a deep breath and headed to the ladder leading to the deck. All around his ship were several Harpies, their bodies were slender and rag covered. Their large, feathered wings were folded and their large clawed feet dug into the wooden ship to stay firm. The sight of these creatures brought a small smirk across Antenor's face as he headed towards the helm. 

Roasted above the helm, was a large Harpy, easily twice the size of the others. Unlike the smaller Harpies, who wore rags and torn clothing, this one wore hardly anything. Only a pair of bronze, claw-like clasps on her breasts and bronze covered her lower areas. Her large blue shaded wings covered the majority of her arms, all but hiding her iron-like claws. Her ears were pointed and her head was adorn with a natural crown of a lighter shade of blue feathers. But unlike the others, this Harpy had no beak on her face, but rather a mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth, and her yellow eyes stared down at Antenor. 

"Erinyes." Antenor greeted the large Harpy with a polite bow. "Have you and your daughters anything to report?"

"Yes we do." Erinyes responded with a near hissing tone of voice; her large claws digging deep in the wooden frame. "My daughters that scouted the Northwest of here have found the stallion you described. We even found a suitable location for your scheme."

"Excellent." Antenor relished that his journey may be shorter than expected, but no less satisfying. "I assume you know a way to lure him to his fate?"

"It appeared some small Pegasus spotted us." Erinyes's grin revealed her fanged teeth. "We spared her but saw she was talking to Bucephalus soon after. He will come to us, and you will come to him."

"Excellent." Antenor bowed in gratitude. "Recall your other daughters and head to your new lair. So long as Bucephalus is alive by the time I arrive. Do what you wish to any companions he brings, they are of no consequence."

"And the reward you promised?" Erinyes tilted her head in a predatory hunger. "Do not forget what you promised me and my daughters."

"I have not." Antenor said, placing his hooves on the helm to steer the ship to the Northwest. "So long as I have his head and his cutie mark to return home with, you and your daughters can feed on the body. Now go!"

Erinyes raised her head in a loud screech, flapping her massive wings to lift her in the air. The other Harpies followed in suit, flying besides their mother in a small formation ahead of Antenor's ship, preparing for a trap and a feast. Antenor, now alone with himself and his thoughts looked over towards where his destination lay. He couldn't help but let out a chuckle with how easy they might be. But his nerves and expression settled when he remember who he was dealing with. Bucephalus was not considered the strongest of Manedonia for nothing. Antenor had no intention of facing Bucephalus fairly, if he was to bring down this behemoth, he would have to be clever and strike his target when he is at his weakest.