It took a good full minute to make Twilight understand just what Rainbow was saying.
Quickly, she ran back to her castle after sending a message to Celestia. Rainbow flew ahead to tell everypony so the local guards, the mayor and the other elements were waiting outside of the castle with a large crowd was millowing around unsure what to do.
Spike burped and up came a small piece of ripped paper.
"What the-?"The dragon began, but was interrupted as Twilight floated the scrap over and began to read the message.
Mordane rushed over, his heart beating into his ears and mind hyperactive. He intentionally blocked the others from viewing it.
”Shouldn't she take that inside? I mean, if it's bad news-”
Twilight gasped as Mordane quickly read through the note..
Twilight, Luna and I are on other side of Equestria.
Discord unreachable
Diamond Dogs attacking over here and other places.
Get to you in one day.
If can't hold town move elements to Canterlot.
"She's abandoned us!"shouted a stallion who forced himself so that he could look over Mordanes shoulder. Instantly the crowd began to grow hysterical. Fear starting to sink in.
"Mayor Mare, is there no plan for this?" asked Mordane.
"N-no. We were just supposed to contact the Princesses or run away."
"That won't work here. The dogs are too close. They'll be here in six hours. We won't be able to move fast enough with the kids," said Rainbow.
The crowd began to get out of control. Mordane could almost feel as the fabric of the town began to break down.
“They will become violent soon!”
"Twilight," whispered Mordane harshly into her ear, "you need to take command."
"I know, but what do I say? We are abandoned." She seemed wilted under her former teacher’s orders. The shock of it rocking her down to her core.
Mordane would have none of it.
"Listen, Twilight, the crowd’s fear is going to turn on them. They will panic and start to rip each other apart. Do you want that on your head? Take command. Get them to bring in everypony who lives just out of town." He thought for a moment." Then go into the library. We can work out a solution in there."
Twilight looked at him then nodded.
"Um, excuse me."
The crowd was growing more restless. Now there was shouting. Already the order was breaking down. Twilight frowned, here she was trying to help them...
"SILENCE!"
Dead silence fell over the townsfolk. Even Mordane’s eyes grew wide.
"What the heck? Where did she learn to yell like that?"
"Now, everypony be quiet, have you forgotten where we are?"
The crowd murmured, but Twilight continued uninhibited.
"This is Ponyville! Ponies everywhere talk about how crazy we are! Floods, timber wolves, earthquakes, stampedes, fires, monster attacks, the sitting place of the Elements of harmony, ponies with impossible powers, Discord’s chosen chaos capital, A LIBRARY IN A TREE! "
She paused.
"These are just some to the things we have faced weekly here. YET WE DID NOT LEAVE!"
She had their attention now. Mordane did not know she had it in her.
"The town destroyed. Disasters so common that every citizen is required to have hazmat suits, and yet we stay! Why?"
She lifted her hoof to her chest.
"This is the best town in Equestria, and I'll die before giving it up!"
The crowd roared. Mordane just chuckled. Perhaps there was some ruler in her.
When she raised her hoof again they were silent.
"Now, Mayor Mare, find some ponies to go and bring in the citizens who live outside Ponyville. As for the rest of you, go and collect your valuables. Make sure you can still run though."
"You there,"she said, turning to a pegasus mare. "You're Blossomforth, right? Acting head of the weather team?"
"Um, yes ma'am. We were supposed to be setting out soon to head off a storm that's building."
"There's no time for that I'm afraid. I need you to gather as many pegasi as you can and start carrying the foals out to Canterlot. I know there aren't enough of you to get everypony out, but we still need to try."
"Yes ma'am," the pegasus replied before taking off into the air.
Twilight turned and went into the library with the other elements, Mordane, and Spike. She talked to the guards and confirmed that they were basically militia.
As the door closed Twilight cast a spell to prevent anypony from overhearing. Too deliberate. The mood in the room was depressingly bleak. Even Pinkie was looking defeated.
"What are we going to do y'all? I can't abandon the farm," moaned Applejack.
"What about my animals...Can I just go tell them I'll be gone?"
"Stop! Just stop, everypony. She needs time to think...don't you, Twilight?"
The mare in question seemed almost panicked. She was moving from bookcase to bookcase. Her ears were at attention as she did not hear her friends.
"Spike! Is there anything on strategy in the library?"
"No," said both Pinkie and Mordane.
The pink mare raised her eyebrows from behind her deflated mane. He chose to raise only one in response to hers. Even so he filed it away as a pinkie thing before speaking up again.
"This library seems devoid of any books on military strategy...It was difficult to acquire the few I have."
"You have military books?"asked Twilight, rushing up to him. "Why?"
Mordane moved back a step, his ears drooping as he looked down at the ground..
At the same time Rainbow and Rarity moved over to Pinkie Pie as Rarity comforted Fluttershy, and Spike made every pony something to drink.
"Pinkie, I haven't seen you like this since...well, a long time ago. It's ok, we will do fine," said Rainbow Dash putting her hoof under the pink mare's chin.
"That's right, sugarcube. It's going to be fine."
"No...no it's not going to be fine," she said looking down at the floor. "My Pinkie sense says something really sad is going to happen...lots of sad somethings. My ear is aching and my front right hoof is numb..."
She paused, the dread was heavy upon her.
"Uh, Pinkie?"asked Applejack, "What does that mean?"
Tears welled up in her eyes.
"It means one of my closest friends is going to be hurt...real deep down. Like in here." She poked Applejack in the chest where her heart was. "A hurt that no kind of partying can help with...then there is all the little ones...Applejack, Rainbow...ponies are going to die."
Stricken looks played across the two mares’ faces. Across the room another discussion was wrapping up with a bang.
A minute earlier and across the room Twilight stepped in closer to Mordane. Her ears drooping.
"You have military books?" Twilight asked placing a hoof on his shoulder "Why?"
Mordane shifted uncomfortably.
"...It is, interesting to me."
"It interests you?" she asked, a disturbed look crossing her face. "In what way?"
"...Well, I find the ar- err, -methodology of combat to be interesting. I have studied it on my own for some time."
”Studied is probably too light of a word.” he thought
He had dug up Equestrias books on war. What little there was.
Only three books were given out to modern guards, and Mordane found them to be complete rubbish.
He had then taken to looking for ancient tomes under aliases so as to avoid any attention.
What he found overall was that the lack went back centuries, nothing had been really written on how to win a war in over eight hundred years, contemporary writers prefering to write on how to avoid it.
"Sigh I remember when I could just turn on a computer and pull up anything on military strategy that hit my fancy."
Though he was not deceived by this lack of material. Equestria was far from a demilitarized country. It had succeeded in installing such a long term permanent military control that the people had forgotten what it was like without it. All of the personal were military, be they called police, guard or rangers. In the end they answered to the crown, he was sure of it.
He had heard whispers of books given only to the commanders, or captains, to use the official term. Yet the day he accepts that a captain controls over two thousand troops is the day he goes to Canterlot and prances through the streets without his disguise while singing, 'I am an alicorn, I am an alicorn.'
Twilight looked at him patronizingly.
"Mordane...I told you years ago. I want more for you than a talent in war. What purpose would you have in studying it?” She said in exasperation.
"...Uhhh, this one?"He mumbled..
"...Right," she said, rubbing the back of her neck and backing off. “So...how much do you know about it?"
Mordane relaxed a little his ears rising halfway up.
"Enough, I understand the nature of it, and the necessary give and take of combat." He waived his hoof vaguely in the air “The flow of it I mean.”
"Flow?" she asked cocking her head to the side.
"Yes. Battle is all about flow. But I don't know what to do, without information,"He rubbed his chin “What we need to do is...take care of the basics.”
He looked pained.
“We should send out scouts, immediately. We need to know exactly were the diamond dogs are.”
“I already did that.” Twilight says
“Also, I must ask if you allow me to use war magic.” Mordane nodded curtly.
“No.” twilight said simply
The room was silent as Mordane grit his teeth.
"Well, I already said that we should send out scou-"
"Princess Twilight!"
Mayor Mare came running through the door, panting.
"I sent some ponies out like you said, but about a few hundred meters out they started to fall in holes. There are pitfall traps surrounding the village!"
"Has the railroad been checked?" spoke up Mordane, already putting the last mental line through this being a series of isolated raids.
"Uhh, yes! It seems to be working fine!" she said quickly before turning away from him dismissively.
"No no, I mean is the track compromised?"
Surprise flashed across her face before mentally reminding herself Mordane was not a child anymore.
"...No, we have not."
"Then it can't be risked. Twilight? We should move the remaining children to town hall, it is the best place to defend from."
"What? It's closest to the side they are attacking from!" The mayor shouted.
"Yes! And it’s right next to the river. We break the bridges and build a defensive line all around town hall.” He shook his head “The river will help prevent dogs from digging under our flanks and funnel them from one direction.”
The room grew silent. Everypony’s eyes focused on him.
Princess Twilight stood silently looking at her student. The last few years flashing through her mind. She knew Mordane and what it meant when he was so certain about something. She had no idea how to command troops. But he seemed certain, and simply he was the only one with any connection to a military understanding.
She looked Mordane in the eyes, searching for any uncertainty.
"Mordane, do you know how to defend this town? Are you certain about this?"
The stallion looked straight into his master's eyes. For years he had been taught by her, and in that time she had earned his respect. So he told her the truth.
"If you do as I say, then most of these ponies will survive. If not...then we will all be slaves."
They held each other's gaze.
Twilight just felt...she just knew he was telling the truth.
"Mayor Mare, please listen to Mordane and follow what he says."
"But princess I-” Twilight glared at the mayor eyes narrowing “Y-Yes, Princess."
“And Mordane.” Twilight said as she headed toward the door.
“Yes master?” He replied.
“The first thing a leader must do is protect those under them. With everything they have.”
“Indeed.”
“Forget what I said earlier, you may use war magic.” Her eyes began to glow as she headed out. “I certainly will.”
Mordane gave most of his orders directly to the mayor. Twilight went to work as well. She handled most of the logistics while Mordane focused on defense.
At first the townsfolk assumed it was Twilight giving the orders. Soon, however, it sunk in that it was her sixteen year old student without a mark who set about to work.
By then though the tasks he had set kept them too busy to dwell on that.
Mordane had only allotted five minutes alone with his parents. The amount of time they had didn’t allow any more, no matter how unfair it was.
"Mom, I need you and Dad to go into the town hall...I won't be able to command properly with you fighting."
"I just don't understand why you must fight for her!" Many of the surrounding ponies looked confused at the statement, but kept on with their tasks anyway.
Mordane whispered fiercely to his parents. "Look, I know you want me to run, but I won't abandon you to be slaves. Now, please stay in the town hall."
His parents reluctantly complied after a bit more wrangling. Mordane kissed his mother and hugged his father goodbye.
Folks were compelled to abandon their homes. All the children and elderly were crowded into town hall.
Over two thousand ponies lived in the small town. Of them, perhaps a thousand had the spirit to fight. Most simply cowered and did what those braver than them ordered.
Honestly, it surprised Mordane that there had been so many ponies willing to fight. Most came across as cowards to him. Thinking on it though, this was Ponyville. Just like Twilight had said, the ponies here were crazy. Mordane took that to mean crazy brave.
His mind was working overtime.
"Ok, there are just over fifty Pegasi in the town. Maybe they can air lift some of the children out? No, no there may be scouts with bows. At least the river was expanded years ago. As it was, it would not have acted as a good barrier. The enemy likely number a thousand strong, and have probably trained as well. The ponies will fight well with their families behind them and no place to retreat to."
As Mordane sat staring at a map of Ponyville Mayor mare had given him, he simultaneously tried to figure out how many weapons they would need to improvise and exactly how many he had.
He had thought that the fighter would be using pitchforks until the mayor revealed an armory was under the town hall filled with bows and spears.
Enough for about four hundred soldiers. Just under half the amount he needed. The mayor said they were put there if ever Equestria went to war and large numbers of ponies were drafted.
Applejack was getting the water supplies in order, leaving her friend to think of the plans. She did ask one question before leaving both the tree and the planning to them though.
"Twilight, Mordane, ah don't get it."
"You don't get what?" replied Mordane, without looking up from the map. Twilight was busy making a list of things needed to be taken from the hospital.
"Well, like you said. Why can't Twilight just fly over the enemy and destroy them. Better yet, why don't y'all just raise one of those shields like what Shining Armor did during the changeling invasion?"
Twilight laughed.
"Well, do you remember what happened to that barrier? Yes, my brother was drained by the changeling queen, but those things are meant for big stuff like weather attacks or siege spells. It is simply too difficult to hold it against many small, but strong, attacks."
Mordane cut in.
"Not only will Twilight be focusing on preventing the Diamond Dogs from tunneling under the town and pulling ponies down into underground tunnels, there is also the issue of difficulty and, well, it basically would be suicide for anypony except for Celestia, and maybe Luna. Look, war magic makes fighting much easier for magic users, but it still requires focus. Sure, I could go out and throw my will at the enemy, attacking without direction, but I would kill as many of our fellow ponies as them."
"Kill?" She seemed put off, scared even.
"...Yes, Applejack," interjected Twilight, walking up and giving her a hug. "Sometimes we don't have any other choice."
Fluttershy was busy helping the doctors set up a trauma center. She worked as hard as they did.
Rarity told Twilight and Mordane that she and Spike would be working together for combat.
"Rarity, why do we need to go to your boutique? What could you have there to fight with?"
Rarity laughed at him as they turned the corner, and made the last few yards to her place of business.
"Let me show you, darling."
They walked to a well locked room in the boutique where the fruits of their labors were stored.
"Most ponies assume my mark means that I am good at fashion. This, however, my dear, is not all it's good for."
Spikes eyes widened as Rarity's horn glowed.
Within the village a mere fifty ponies were considered guards. They were poorly trained and acted as a reserve police force when needed. It irked him that not a single one had any strategy training. Most had already heard that the princess was putting faith in him; however Mordane knew that their faith in her was lacking and if the defense was to hold he would need to inspire confidence in his command ability.
That is why he was speaking to them now, alone.
His heart beat hard in his chest.
"Listen, we only have about two more hours before the enemy arrives. There is something I must say to you..."He stared unblinking into their eyes before continuing. "You are soldiers."
The ponies in armor gathered before him shifted uncomfortably. The word 'soldier' carried a negative connotation in pony society. It is why the army was called the guard.
"Yes, soldiers. Well, at least that is what you need to be. In truth, you are shopkeepers," He started walking in front of them. "Secretaries, and farmers. How many of you have drawn blood? One, maybe two? This, however, does not matter, your nation calls you, and it is my responsibility to lead you sorry excuse for fighters to victory."
Many of the soldiers were shocked at the tone of his voice. They found themselves standing taller; they easily fell into their training, especially when being chewed out by a superior.
Mordane was looking throughout the crowd, judging them. He looked for the ones who would resist his orders, those who seemed hesitant, and the ones who seemed willing to obey.
It was during this, that he could determine where to place them.
"This is obviously a defensive action. Therefore, as I'm sure you know, we will be barricading the town square and reinforcing it with this town's militia. The strongest among you will act as a reserve force while the most...charismatic will be spread among the barricades in order to give strength to those who have less than yourselves."
The guards grew confused. A complement, even if it was a half of one?
"Yes, strength. Do you doubt it? Speak up!"
There were murmurs. Mordane had kept his voice calm through the speech, but now it was on the rise.
"Must both project and instill strength. Without that there is no victory." He thought, steeling himself for what was to come.
"Victory goes to those who believe in it the most! Look to those on your right - now your left. I do not have to tell you they are your brethren. You know that already! Behind those illusions are your friends. Perhaps some of them have helped you in the past. You know these people. You know their strength. Tell me this, do any of them alone have what it takes to save this town?"
Downcast eyes and shamed looks played across the soldiers faces.
"No, of course not, but together? You have the strength. Yet that strength, without direction would be wasted. If your spirit fails, you look to the next. We are all but ponies, however, together we can become so much more."
He straightened even more, standing tall and proud.
"Together we are soldiers, you and I. With my command, we will save this town!"
The guards cheered. Mordane's eyes glared. In many there was no more doubt that they would obey him.
"Now listen as I tell you my plans..."
Thunder crackled in the east.
Mordane dismissed the soldiers. In truth, there was next to no strategy involved in such a battle. Receive the attack. Repel it. Send reserves to enforce trouble spots.
Twilight was already starting up her spell, but unluckily, it would tie her down. Mordane was embarrassed. Earth was one of the things his war magic could work with, but he didn’t have the strength to cast a spell over such a large area.
He could certainly harden up a patch of ground if he knew something was coming up there, kind of like a game of preemptive whack-a-mole. Unfortunately, he probably wouldn't get the chance to concentrate on the things happening below his hooves enough to actually use this tactic.
Looking out from the second story window, he stared at the barricades and ponies who were lining the town circle. His eye caught Rainbow zooming in.
She hovered in the air yelling through Mordane's window to catch Twilight's attention.
"Twilight! I'm back. This is bad. Really bad!"
The alicorn mare looked over, after telling a colt everything would be fine and yelled out so Rainbow could hear her.
"Calm down, Rainbow. Tell us how many there are."
Mordane butted in, "I'm guessing about four hundred."
Rainbow blinked.
"How did you know?"
"That is double what you guessed at night. It is commonly double that. Though there is no need to worry."
"No need!?" exclaimed the pegasus.
"Of course. The defenses as they are now could hold against six to seven hundred. As it is, we will likely repel the attackers' first wave with minimal casualties."
Twilight looked at him strangely. He did not notice and continued talking however.
"We need only to hold what we have."
"Rainbow, can you go the fifth barricade?" Asked Twilight.
"Yes ma'am!" she saluted and flew off.
Mordane smiled and nodded to his master before walking through the courtyard. The dust clung unnaturally to the ground as Twilight's magic took effect. All around him, ponies moved to and fro. In some way all the ponies were surprised at how quickly the defenses had been raised. It spoke volumes how some of the regular towns folk parted to let him pass. Their conversation growing quiet.
"...word is trickling down. Perhaps even the militia will obey me without Twilight's authority after the first wave."
Nothing in him doubted there would be a second wave. Maybe even a third, but the parameters were set. Something always went wrong, but Mordane was certain he could deal with it. In fact, that was bothering him.
"Why am I so...calm?"
As he looked for a secluded spot he listened to his heart. It beat calm and strong. In fact he could hear the beating in his ears like a drum. Thinking back, it had always been like this. Even before.
Before Equestria. When he was still human.
"John! John Triston! Come back in here this instant! I have to go to work!"
The hag, who called herself his mother, yelled out across the field of his childhood home. Holding a cigarette in one hand as she tried to get the young boy to come into the house. Her 'work', as she called it, he later found out to be a complete farce. It was her way to tell him she was going to be out for a long time. In truth, she was whoring around.
"But, mom! Can't I just go to Grandpa's?" he yelled back during the upper cast of his tire swing. “It’s way funner to go to his place than to stay in my room."
His mother rolled her eyes.
"Fine, just be back before sundown."
John smiled, jumped out of his swing, and ran across the field.
The town was currently just under two thousand people. Soon a new interstate would go through. Then the isolated community would explode.
He loved his grandfather, who happened to be a crazy old man. He talked about war stories and even let the boy smoke once. Said 'so he would never be stupid enough to pick it up again.'
His plan worked surprisingly well.
He was not his biological grandfather, just some random guy who lived across the field.
Which goes to show just how uncaring his parents were. Luckily, he had turned out a wise old man and not a pedophile.
"Hey, John, get your scrawny ass over here!"
Not that he did not have a mouth.
"What's up, Gramps? Got any stories today?"
The crazy man was fiddling with what looked like part of a dishwasher as he scowled.
"Of course, why do you think I yelled at ya’ to get over here? Need ears to tell a story." John smiled.
"But, Grandpa, you already got two ears. What do you need mine for?"
"What, these old things?" he replied flicking an ear lobe. “They're just made of grit and pus by now, need a pair of young ones."
"Well, I suppose I could lend you one."
The old man laughed and stood up setting aside his project.
"You want ta’ work on the trains, first?"
The boys grin grew wide as the San Andreas fault.
"Yah!"
The old man smiled and they walked into the house and down into the basement. There they tinkered with trains and radio controls. He learned more on how to repair the tiny boilers and repair the transmitters. It was good fun.
About an hour later, however, the old man wiped the sweat from his head and gave a good hard long look at John.
"Good, now you listen here boy...how old are ya’?"
That struck him as odd. The old man had never cared when telling him stories before...what was different about this one?
"I'm thirteen, sir."
"Thirteen hmmm..." He scratched his chin and spat into his Dr Pepper bottle." Then I guess you're old enough."
The old mad sat down his tools, much to the increase of the boy's tension. Grandpa was acting strange.
"'Long time ago, in a land far away, there was once a ...well, I won't lie to you, a very angry and proud young man. War had come to his young life, and for the pride of a nation he fought against their foes. He thought himself an artist and a student of history. Perhaps it would have ended there, if not for bad luck.”
He reached into a small fridge and pulled out two sodas. Handing one to John, he continued.
"He was partially gassed in a conflict, but did not die. I sometimes wonder what he must have thought as he laid in pain...as he felt the touch of gas. Before he had lacked much drive at all. Afterward though, it was like he changed. Perhaps he felt fear, and endeavored to never feel it again. To never be exposed like that again. The man changed that day.”
The man's eyes grew distant.
“His voice began to speak out as he joined a minor party within politics. Soon, with his impassioned speeches the party grew, and with time he was named its head. He played the political games, and fed the fears of those around him. But fears cannot support a nation. So he painted for them a glorious picture. One of victory."
His eyes took on a watery sheen.
“Who can know that man's heart? No one. Yet we do know what he did with that power. He marched and with the whole of his nation behind him he plunged the world into war. The Second Great War, World War Two...men like Hitler do not come along, often. They are mad. They are intoxicating. I sometimes wonder what that man was like as a small boy in a broken home; eyes bright with desire."
The old man was looking at him strangely. John shifted his eyes away.
"I wonder if he heard the call of drums. If he had lived in a time of peace, and had been taught kindness and the beauty of simple things, if he might have taken a different path...I like to think so. I like to think we all have good in us, but if that is true then we all must have that evil. The kind to burn the world. The kind that lays mass graves. The kind that forges empires on the backs of slaves."
They stared in silence. The old man at him, he at a stone. He spoke again.
"Great men are born, John. Then they are made into what they will become by the world around them. Yet they were always great. Don't forget that...Will you do something for this old man, my son?"
A tear came into John's eyes as he looked back into those wrinkly eyes
"Promise me...promise me, you won't hate. I saw the world burn once. I don't want it to, ever again."
The boy who would be Mordane looked deep, and for the first time, he did not feel alone.
"I promise, Grandpa."
Mordane found himself on the edge of the defenses staring down the road to the direction the dogs would come. He stepped back and went on to confirm the barricades integrity for the fifth time.
Memories pulled him back.
The fist collided with Mordane's face. The one who dared to try and harm him fell back, blood pouring from his nose. John felt he had won that exchange, though the fight was close.
The kids all around him stopped cheering them on, as surprise overcame them. It was not often the smaller kid won. John, however, inwardly smiled. His small size was just an illusion brought on by color lines. If any of them had really looked, they would see he was normal size.
But winning a fight that way would not be as effective.
I must seem impossibly strong. My money situation is bound to make me a target.
The boy in front of him shifted, to put down his hand and stand back up. John felt a flash of anger.
"How dare he stand up to me?” he thought.
John shifted his weight preparing to kick the throat. Perhaps losing the ability to speak woul-
"Promise me...Promise me you won't hate."
The voice of his grandfather came back to him. Was it only a year ago that the promise was made? Had he already forgotten?
John lowered his foot and stepped forward, grabbing the boy by the back of the neck. He pulled him at the time he was off balance. Sprawled on the floor the boy glared at John, but looked in surprise as a open hand was stretched out to him.
"You're a good fighter. Why don't we be friends?"
If the other children were stunned before, they looked like their jaws were unhinged now.
The boy gave him a strange look then smiled, reaching up to grab the hand. As John pulled him up a good feeling started to fill his chest.
That was until he felt the boy's hand on the back of his head.
He woke up a week later, the boy was in juvenile detention. He never had to fight again and even became mildly popular. With the students that is; the teachers hated him.
His parents decided to sue the school for medical bills. Which they would spend on beer. They did not get much, but it was enough for all the teachers to have to receive pay cuts.
Funny how Miss Larson seemed to have misplaced his test...twice.
He did like telling Grandpa. Both of them had a chuckle.
Mordane moved through the pony militia, smiling at the civilians and nodding at the guard.
Rainbow came in one more time, declaring the enemy to be just around the bend. Mordane moved to the porch and prepared his spell.
If they were coming with bows, he would only have a moment to cast an impulse field to block the arrows. He doubted they would though.
"Only a moment..."
The water hit against John's face. In front of him the preacher looked at his watch and glared as his robe got wet.
The beads of water flowed in streams down the tin casket.
John stood alone in the wet.
Only a moment...and he's gone.
Not that it was raining, it was just the grave site had not bothered to repair some sprinklers. There weren't even any staff.
John himself threw the last shovel of dirt onto the grave. The old man had put in his will that he wanted those who came to bury him.
The old fart must have thought it funny, thinking no one would come.
"May I begin now?"
The boy in his shorts and tee shirt simply nodded his head yes. The preacher began.
"Carson Louis was a good man-"
“His name is Carson Louis?” John thought
John stood by his grave alone with the preacher until he finished. He was surprised when a man in a suit walked up afterwards.
"Hello. Did you know this man?"he asked with an air of boredom.
"Yeah, why?"
"It concerns his last will and testament. There was a stipulation leaving his worldly possessions to anyone who came. Including..." he looked at a clipboard “One house, two cars, a motorcycle, thirteen vintage rifles and miscellaneous physical and financial assets.”
"...That crazy old bastard."
The lawyer did not notice the crack in the boy's voice.
"Yes, well some of my clients are eccentric."
"Yeah, of course. There is a problem. I'm sixteen. My parents will take it all from me for themselves. Any way you can hold off transferring ownership?"
The lawyer furrowed his eyebrows.
"...Not legally. But for five thousand, sure."
"How much does he hav- ...did he had in the bank?"
"About five thousand actually.” He smirked, “I guess we are in an understanding?"
"Yes, see you in two years.”
He was a long cry from the little, angry, rosy cheek boy. He did not hate, but neither would he be blind to other's faults.
”Let the world burn...or go to glory.” he said looking at the guys burying the second grave he had attended this day. “History can pass me by.”
He smiled as a weight lifted from his shoulders.
He did not even notice the hole that opened in his heart.
Mordane was still preparing even as the dogs came into sight. He felt a small disappointment since they were approaching down a single street. He had perhaps over-prepared.
A strength flooded his limbs in confidence. They probably were thinking they could flank them, but would find the other routes closed off. This would serve to string out their forces.
The dog leading the column lifted his paw and a sounding brought them to a halt. Thunder sounded in the distance.
"Ponies!" he yelled in a grating voice that shrieked at random times, “We come for you. Give up. There is no fighting.”
“WE ARE PRINCESS TWILIGHT OF EQUESTRIA! THIS TOWN IS UNDER THE PROTECTION OF CELESTIA, AVATAR OF THE SUN, AND LUNA, AVATAR OF THE MOON! I STAND HERE WITH THE CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! LEAVE NOW AND WE OF EQUESTRIA MAY STILL CALL YOU FRIEND!”
Mordane spent the time staring intently at the equipment of the dogs. What he saw surprised him.
”Their gear is the same sets and well mixed together, though they do not seem to have any bows. The armor is simple, but well made. Much better than what Rarity described those other dogs gear as...they must be from a stronger force. Or at least more organized..”
His heart beat hard in anticipation for the conflict to come. A particular tune coming to his memory.
The dog growled.
"We don't want friends with ponies!" he yelled, "We want slaves. ATTACK!”
The dogs charged. Mordane ordered the reserve to the one barricade they were attacking.
The ponies leveled their spears. Some were trembling. Others let out cries.
“For Celestia!”
The earth ponies steeled themselves against the wood of the wagons and signs.
A pause.
Then the dogs met the barrier.
Mordane stood back, picking up bricks from a pile with magic, and throwing them into the dog ranks at high speed.
The ponies on the barrier stabbed and pushed against the wave of flesh.
Then the dogs' forward surge ground to a halt.
“Fire arrows! For Ponyville!" yelled Mordane, pointing his hoof as the reserve hit the other side of the barrier.
A pony nodded to Mordane and lifted his bow, the others around him mirrored his angle and direction before releasing; arrows arched over and pierced the dogs packed behind the front.
It was then that Rarity and Spike made contact.
They came from the air and crashed into the middle of the dog ranks. At first, Mordane thought they had gone mad. Then he got a better look.
Rarity and Spike where clad in armor made of gems. They seemed stuck to their forms. Spike breathed fire, felling dogs left and right. At the same time, his mare danced about with two diamond swords wrapped in magic cleaving through armor and flesh alike.
Mordane took note of this, and at the same time he saw the uncertainty entering the dog ranks. Their will was wavering.
"Second reserve, follow me!"
Some people are born different from others. To these humans, the way of fighting comes naturally. When thrust into battle, if they survive, they learn to fight with a skill beyond their training. They become soldiers.
Mordane may no longer have the body of a human, but in his soul that still was the case. Throughout the battle to come, he would gain ferocity to stun his fellow ponies and earn the respect of the guards.
The thirty guards fell in with him and they ran to the next alley over.
"Open the barricade!"
The ponies cheered as the group ran through the open barricade.
They ran down the street and took a left at the first chance.
The Diamond Dogs never saw them coming.
Mordane reached for his war magic, the matrix bursting to life. He felt as it reached out to draw in energy.
He focused intently on what he wanted to happen.
Just as his eyes picked up a slight glow he let loose and channeled his strength into the wind and earth.
An wall of earth, stone, and air blasted through the alleyway ripping into the dogs. Twenty died immediately. Many more were knocked unconscious. The ones that could flee, a small group, were cut off between the barricade and his group.
"Surrender!" Mordane yelled at the lead dog who was battered and bruised.
The dog snarled.
"Pony foolish. More dogs will come."
They formed in a V shape to pierce through them. Their spears dented and ragged.
Mordane gave an order that no pony in Equestrian memory ever had. Those that were with him would later admit it did not shock them, even if they would later regret it.
"We have no place to keep them...kill them all."
The battle had lasted all of five minutes. Mordane had sent out skirmishing forces. It did not surprise him that the other four hundred troops had been waiting outside the village. These were professionals.
If there had been some question of who was running this battle before, but there was none now. Mordane had led them to victory. Twilight found that fewer ponies were coming to her to confirm what Mordane had ordered. She found it quite surprising.
What worried her more, however, was how easily he had taken to command, and the ferocity in which he had counterattacked. Mordane was predicting the enemy would wait no more than three hours before coming in force. The second battle would be longer.
Twilight found him standing over the fallen. Dog and pony alike. All had been gathered and placed under cloth in rows.
Mordane was thinking how different this made the ponies from human. What did it mean that they would even bother to respect the dead of their enemy?
He heard Twilight walking up.
"Twenty ponies dead, fifty dogs in kind." He spoke, a slightly depressed tone coming into his voice.
"...It's ok, Mordane. You had no other choice." Twilight walked up and wrapped her wing around his back. It was a sign of closeness in pony society. Mordane took note of it. Feeling a pang of guilt in his heart, "It is terrible when so many die."
Mordane looked up, staring into the distance, his eyes hardened.
"I only regret that there are not more bodies here."
Twilight stepped back in shock.
"How can you say that!?"
Mordane turned his head.
"I regret that we did not kill them all. If we had, the other dogs may have retreated. Now more will die."
Tears flowed out of his eyes.
"I tell you this now: the scars left by the dead will lay on this town for time untold. Because of your Princesses' failure I am forced to meet the enemy head on. If I had but another two hundred soldiers with proper gear I could have forced the dog's surrender without having to bring civilians into this. Now the dogs will rush against us in a tide, and break like water on the shore. They will die. Ponies will die. All of it is at your Princesses' hooves."
Mordane turned and stalked off, leaving Twilight trembling. Trying to understand where such words had found purchase on her students lips.
Mordane received word that the dog army was mobilizing. He found a box and then stood on top of it.
"Hear me, my fellow citizens!"
The ponies rushing about quieted down as the pony they had all been talking about stood for them all to hear.
"Now is the time..."
Mordane had studied war as a human, and once again as a pony. In many ways there were parallels. He knew that the ponies did not have the skill or the numbers to hold the town, so he pulled on Sun Tzu and Napoleon.
"Put them on dying ground, and they will live. If they are to die there, what can they not achieve? With their families at their back they will not break. They will fight to the last. Now I must make them know it."
"The dogs are coming in force, and will strike at this town."
Murmurs sprung up at this. Didn't they all know that?
"The river is impassable, as the dogs could simply swing around and catch you on the other side."
The murmurs turned to fear. Why would he say this?
"Within town hall, children and the elderly rest huddled. The enemy would make slaves of them and you."
Silence filled them again.
"There is no retreat. No surrender. We face a strong force, but we can defeat them! Hold the line."
He looked from eye to eye.
"There is no retreat. Hold the line."
Many of the ponies began bobbing their heads in agreement, stories of Diamond Dog slave-based society filling them with dread. Through their eyes, he could see that death would now be preferable to them.
"Get to your positions, and remember - There is no retreat."
Five minutes later the first divisions of dog troops appeared down the street to the resounding of ponies. Mordane paid close attention, and as he saw them lift their paws he cast a barrier. Arrows arched through the sky and ricocheted off the wavering field. It took all his will to not let it fall.
"Return fire!"
The battle passed in a blur. For a few minutes Mordane maintained a barrier against arrows and paid dearly in strength. Troops were moved around from barricade to barricade reinforcing positions.
The dogs grew weaker and weaker. Mordane watched as ponies he had lived with, talked to and called neighbors fell, pierced by blade and spear.
It was not until the fourth hour that it all seemed for naught.
Mordane stood cut and bloodied. Panting, he issued orders for the reinforcements to reposition again when he heard a crack.
The dogs had broken through the fourth barrier where he had stationed Lyra. .
They were now pouring in. He had but a moment to make his decision.
If he did not reinforce another barrier it would break as well, but without reinforcements the breach would stay open.
Mordane turned and rushed toward it, making judgments along the way. Five ponies, including Lyra, still struggled at the breach and would hold for thirty-odd seconds. With that he could fire multiple spike spells, but using it would mean that the ponies around the dogs would die as well.
He charged the spell and fired. Spikes of rock and compressed earth erupted from the ground, impaling both dogs and ponies indiscriminately. Mordane wasn’t sure all who had been hurt, and he didn’t have time to consider. The breach was sealed. Turning he galloped toward the other failing barrier.
It was then that he saw her, his heart leaping into his chest.
There was Sweetie Belle. She was fighting beside Applebloom. They were torn and battered, but that is not what drove his attention.
Sweetie was fighting two dogs at once, and losing. She fought desperately and savagely, but to no avail. Mordane saw a third dog approaching from behind. In a moment she made a mistake and jabbed too far. One of the dogs pierced her leg as she collapsed with a cry.
"NO!"
Mordane demanded more from his muscles, but his legs had nothing more to give. The dog lifted his blade to strike her down.
Suddenly he teleported to the air over them. At the same time he caused three broken spears teleported beside him as he fell, and with magic thrust it into the three dog’s throats.
For the next few moments he fought like a madpony. Thrusting and parrying he fought like never before.
He fought like a soldier.
"ENOUGH!" The sound wave caused Mordane to lose his footing. Scrambling around his eyes turned upward.
A hole had opened up in the cloud cover allowing a blindingly bright light to shine through.
"RETREAT DOGS, OR FACE THE WRATH OF THE SUN!"
Upon seeing the princess, all will to fight left the dogs. Simultaneously, most of them broke and ran. Mordane began to look around joy filling him as well as fear as Celestia flew off in pursuit of the dogs.
Standing over Sweetie Belle with spears still floating around him he panted and watched as the last of the dogs began to retreat.
"Victory..."
Mordane looked around at the cheering ponies, joy plastered across their faces.
Most of the ponies and dogs had survived. The battle was a resounding victory for the town, but the stallion felt a much more personal success.
Mordane felt a smile come on his face as he turned to look at Sweetie Belle. Some part of his mind told him he was forgetting something.
The mare he had almost kissed the night before was pointing at something. His eyes turned slowly to what she pointed at.
With horror, he looked at his back and saw his wings out for and to see. It surprised him so much that they flared to full attention.
...
Slowly, Mordane turned to Sweetie, his eyes catching the sight of ponies staring. The mare looked him in the eyes, hers wide with awe.
"Alicorn?"
The revealed stallion stumbled back with a flap of his wings, his mind grinding to a halt as a few things clicked over.
He had asked his parents what he should do if suddenly revealed. They had given only one piece of advice. Go south, fly far, fly fast.
”Run”
Mordane blasted into the sky and made a line directly for his shack. His eyes looked toward the town hall as he processed what this would mean. There he saw his parents standing, both holding spears as they guarded the townhall despite his orders.
His mother griped her chest, eyes open in terror at the sight of him.
His father simply pointed toward the south with his spear.
Mordane veered off and headed straight for his shack. Eyes tearing up as he flew, even as the matrix thrummed in his chest.
Celestia landed in the town square where the Ponyvillians had set up their impromptu defensive line. When she received word that the attack would begin before she would be able to arrive, she had dreaded the scene that would greet her, but she was overjoyed to see how well they had done in her absence.
"Greetings, my little ponies. I had feared that I had not arrived in time, but it looks like you were not as helpless as the invaders had anticipated," she greeted them as she approached the shell-shocked crowd. "Tell me, how is it that you held off the brutes?"
Her grin lowered when at first none of the ponies reacted to her.
"Mordane..." one of them finally said. “It was Mordane."
"Twilight's student? So he was the one who organized this?" her eyes widened slightly. The skill to organize a defense was not something she had attributed to the young stallion.
The shaken and awed crowd did not respond until one guard spoke up.
"Yes, but...that's not all."
Twilight had seen Mordane revealed and stood in shock for nearly thirty seconds afterward before giving chase.
Mordane arrived at his shack in forty seconds. Normal speed for a pegasus. He was in and out in twenty seconds.
He didn’t wait, charging his horn he ripped off his front door and charged in. Then grabbed his bed and tossed it off its mattress to get at his bug out bag. Turned out his pillowcase and stuffed it with all the food from cabinet and ice box.
Wood cracked as he slammed open the door to the hidden cellar. Under a bench down there he grabbed his bugout bag and slipped Kindle into it.
"Are we going on an adventure?"
"NOT NOW, KINDLE!"
Sixteen seconds after entering he stood at his open door ready to fly off. There was only one thing to do. His horn glowed. Five pots filled with oil and placed throughout his shack caught fire.
In moments the place was ablaze.
Mordane was about to take off when his master tackled him to the ground after having caught up with him.
"Mordane? What are you doing, and how do you have wings!?"
A shockwave from the blazing shack threw Twilight into the air; Mordane tried to run in any direction, but was stopped by Twilight. They began to circle each other as she landed.
"Let me pass."
The mare would hear none of it. Her questions continued unabated.
"Mordane, you need to calm down, we have to find out why you have wings."
"Stay out of my way Master...I don't want to hurt you."
Twilight stepped back. Shock playing out across her face. She placed her hoof on her chest ears splayed back.
"Hurt me? What are you talking about? Look, let's just sit down and talk about this..."she trailed off as his eyes narrowed and she felt his power start to gather. The stallion’s horn glowed. Twilight prepared herself.
"Mordane, something is wrong with you. If this is because of some kind of magic, then you need to let me help you. You don't have to worry about accidentally hurting me, you know that I'm strong enough to stand up to your magic. Mordane, please..." The stallion was gripped with sadness. Yet she was right, she was at least four times his raw strength and a thousand times his skill.
That is why he had prepared for this years ago.
For a moment he hesitated. He felt a great welling of wanting to stop, to submit to his master. The matrix thrummed in his chest.
He knew knew what his fate would be if he stayed here.
"I'm sorry,Twilight." he whispered.
A purple pulse flashed out of Mordane's horn. Twilight raised her shield and was surprised as the pulse passed through both it and her, seemingly causing no injury.
"What did you-" She was cut off as her strength began to fade away. Confusion filled her until her eyes caught a red glow.
Looking down, the amulet Mordane had given her for her birthday sparkled with red and purple. She collapsed to her knees as the amulet took its toll. The last words she heard from her student before slipping into unconsciousness would stick with her for the next thousand years.
"I didn't want to do this Twilight. But I won't be a slave to Celestia. I'm so sorry...I thought of you as my second mother."
Twilight did not hear what happened next.
"Mordane...what did you do?" His head turned and there stood Celestia.
No time to think. No time to answer. Mordane rocketed off from where he stood. Celestia had followed shortly after maintaining order. What she had seen of following her student however was Mordane standing over her broken form.
The stallion flew as fast as he could, but Celestia was faster.
It was only a matter of time until she caught him.
So he would have to take risks.
Mordane dove into the forest, dodging left and right. The princess gave chase.
"Stop, Mordane! I cannot let you get away with this."
Mordane felt fear and the impulse to obey, but he set his will against it. Celestia would be denied.
They shot off soon finding themselves in Ghastly Gorge. Already he was tiring, but that would not be enough for him to give up.
Still she chased him through narrow pass and dangerous paths through the air. He grew more and more desperate.
As he flew high on an updraft his eyes grew surprised as a massive thunderstorm loomed before him.
"That's right...with the dog attacks they must not have had time to manage the weather."
Yet it might just be his ticket out. He gave himself to the wind currents and was thrown about randomly. Celestia just couldn't stay close.
It was at that time that Mordane made a fatal mistake. He pulled in power while forgetting the nature of his environment.
Celestia gasped in horror as fifteen lighting strikes converged on the young alicorn. An enormous blast of air threw her back. She smelled burning pony flesh and a cloud of smoke and ash was dissipated on the wind.
She had seen many wondrous things in her time, yet never before had she ran across another of her kind who was born naturally. It had been pure luck, that she had been able to learn to change Luna before her death.
Now a possible new alicorn lay dead before her. Gone before his life had really began, because she failed to act strongly enough. Shaking, she hung her head.
"We were simply caught off guard."
Celestia stared level-eyed at the commanding officer of the southern border defense of Equestria, and she was not happy.
"Commander Trueshot. Your duty was to prevent this kind of thing, why were your forces not mobilized?"
"...The dogs attacked too quickly. By the time I knew what was going on, Baltimare was under siege. I could not get any orders out. We were lucky you received word."
The border defense of Equestria had failed miserably. As much as seventy percent of the guard was never engaged in combat. It was a disgrace.
"Well, commander, what would you suggest we do to rectify this situation?"
The blustering fool stuttered excuses, trying desperately to hold on to his job. The public was in an uproar. Celestia even had to deploy troops to restore order. Over seven thousand ponies had been taken prisoner in the cross-country raid. The monarch intended to get them back, but she could not do that with disorder at home.
Already she was laying the framework, and it seemed Trueshot would be serving as a political sinkhole. Essentially, he would be thrown under the cart for his complacency.
"Was that not the same excuse that you gave me after the changelings invaded?"
More bluster. Celestia felt empathy for the general. He had only done what those before him had.
However, politics had their demands.
"Trueshot, I want you to read this."
She passed over a paper to both the Commander and Shining.
"...Where did this come from?"
"The old records," Shining spoke up. "A two hundred year old assessment of Equestrias total military capability. If this catastrophe has taught us anything, it's that Equestria is woefully unprepared for any kind of wide scale attack."
"Divisions of command structure too scattered?...More ranks required? What is this nonsense!? The ranks have been the same for the last thousand years!"
Celestia winced. The current system had been a stopgap measure as trained officers ran low during the Lunar Wars. It had stuck over the centuries and become standard. Her sister had made it very clear to her just how much of a failure this was to her the night before.
The commander of the border defense was paid for and appointed by the parliament. Despite being properly funded she had now found them lacking in supplies and transport during this time of war. What had happened to the money Celestia didn’t know.
She looked over at Shining Armor, thanking her lucky stars she had raised her personal Royal bodyguards into a military force under her employ.
The three army commanders sat on her war council along with the captain of the Royal guard as she tapped her chin thinking and reading the old document.
The problem was that border guards were significantly out of date and politically aligned. Nobles and mayor alike sent their unwanted sons to fret away days earning pretend honors. They hadn’t functioned as a military in generations. That was even before the main army had been disbanded.
The power had been split between the three major border bases across Equestria with each acting as its own self contained army. Except even that had broken down and the bases under them had little to no communication except for reassignment orders.
"I don't know, Commander. This has merit. Corporal, Captain, Lieutenant, then Commander. With five guard to a Corporal, five Corporals to a Captain, and five Captains to a Lieutenant, then however many Commanders we need and...Commander-in-chief? One pony in control of the entire military? Well, I can at least agree with the Captain and up to Commanders, but not this chief business." Said one of the old Army commanders.
"I, however-" cut in Celestia, "-am ordering that it be implemented from the captain’s promotion. Shining Armor, I name you Commander-in-Chief and charge you with implementing this system. Please utilize all Equestrian army assets as you see fit."
"Yes ma'am."
"W-What!?” Shouted the three commanders taking a step back. “You can’t- The council”
Celestia slammed her hoof onto the table, eyes flaring up.
“BE SILENT!”
The three of them grew still and listened, eyes widening at her sudden outburst.
“Listen here, it has been the duty of the Equestrian Army to watch Equestrias borders for hundreds of years, but now I find your duty lax and unfulfilled. As such, I find that this nation's security can no longer be held in your hooves.” She said softly.
“W-what are you saying?”
Celestia sighed
“I am saying that I utilize my position as princess to revoke the Equestrian Army's charter. The council funds will be redirected to pay for damages done by the Diamond Dog Army. Lets see them complain about that. As the Army assets are Equestrian government property, not congress states property, I will be taking those as well and staffing them with my personal guard. You can leave the defense of Equestria solely up to me.”
The three commanders looked at each other, then her, unsure of what to say.
“You three are discharged.” She continued. “Please leave, your assistance is no longer required.”
Turning red, Trueshot sputtered.
“This is outrageous, you haven’t had that power in- in.”
“I’ve always had the power to remove the head of the Equestrian army without parliament approval. I approve their selection don’t I, what makes you think I couldn’t revoke it? As for your assets, they are technically crown property, even if the senate pays for them.”
“I...see.” he said. Looking at each other again the three old ponies all seemed to wilt. Slowly they took off their hats and sat them on the table before heading toward the door.
“The parliament won’t like that.” Shinning spoke up. Looking at the doorway with disdain.
“No, they will not. Luckily I don’t need them.” She said with irritation creeping into her voice. ”What do you think sister?”
Her sister came forward to join them at the table. She shook her head in dismay..
"It has been some time since our war, sister. Why hast thou not updated the military before?"
Celestia turned to her sister sitting next to her.
"It was never my major concern. I simply expanded the guard to fit the need. Military was never my strong suit."
"True. It has always fallen to me...Yet I did not take it back with my return. Only the Night Guard answers to my commands."
"That will need to be rectified," she sighed. “It is too bad we cannot go back to the way things were before."
"Really?"
"Yes. I don't think modern Equestrians would accept fortifications and barracks in every town with ease."
Luna chuckled sadly.
"Yes, though this event may have changed their mind."
"Well, I for one think that stone walls would look tacky around towns."
Celestia and Luna looked up at Discord. The Draconequus was floating upside down, while sitting on a throne.
Made of cotton candy.
And peanut butter.
"Discord. I'm sure you care greatly about the aesthetics of our cities. But If I remember, did you not turn half of that Diamond Dog army to chocolate. Then eat one in from of the stunned Las Pegasus crowd. The factory owners had to file bankruptcy."
Discord threw his paw and feigned backward...which resulted in him spinning.
"Oh woe is me. What can a part-dragon do to amuse himself if he cannot turn a mountain to fudge?"
"A fudge mountain would smell after a while...plus put even more businesses under."
The part-pony creature laughed and snapped his fingers...then was gone.
"I do not see what you do in him, Luna...there is nothing of Star Swirl."
"I told you he would be reformed and he was...mostly. What else could you ask of me? I still love him."
The two stood in silence, thinking back to so long ago. How Star Swirl had come running into the throne room telling Luna of how he found immortality. How at first his magic had been wondrous...then how he slowly changed. All too soon, Discord was born.
"Luna, I have a report that Mordane's parents have been found. They were cornered in Appleloosa. Can you tell the guard to bring them in?"
Luna simply nodded, not envying Celestia's task of telling the parents of their child's demise.
The two ponies were brought in. Both were in good health, though a bit ragged as they had been on the run for days.
Celestia walked out of the throne room, leaving a wailing mother behind her. There was no comfort to give. After all, what could you say to the mother of a pony you drove to their death?
She had, however, gained two important pieces of information from the exchange. One, that Mordane had always been an alicorn, and two, that the two ponies feared her. That fear had been reflected in their son's eyes. It did not take much to conclude what had driven the stallion to such extremes. He had thought she would take away his free will.
"What a terrible, terrible waste of life."
The monarch turned her mind to his survivors. She had received notes on many. Anything with the Elements involved, was her concern.
Only four other ponies had been directly and profoundly affected by the loss.
Spike, Sweetie Belle, Pinkie Pie...and Twilight.
Sweetie would recover with time...her wounds were there, but not enough to break her. Spike was the same, yet Celestia felt he would carry some guilt for the rest of his life.
Pinkie Pie was another matter. She was depressed over the colt's death, as well as both the townsfolk and the dogs...it would simply take time for her to recover.
Celestia dreaded what would come next. Twilight had been moved to the palace hospital. Shortly after waking, she had gone into reclusion. The news of his death had hit her hard. She just could not make sense of it.
The monarch made her way to the library. Even Spike had been told to leave her be. On the top floor, the place was in perfect order. Every surface had been scrubbed clean. Even now Twilight was flipping through pages, cleaning books one page at a time.
"Twilight?"
"I just don't understand. Could he have been under a spell? But the amulet was given to me years ago..."
Celestia wrapped her wings around the purple alicorn. Tears streaming out of her eyes.
"Fluttershy has found more help. Plenty of volunteers to take up charge, for the hero. Rainbow is helping patrol the border, trying to find the dogs' trail. Rarity has thrown herself into her art. Spike thinks she is repressing what happened. Applejack is having flashbacks. I'm locked in this tower..."
"Twilight...it's ok to be thinking about your student. I'm not sure if you've heard, but we managed to track down Mordane's parents. They were reluctant to speak to me, even before I broke the news of their son's fate, but when I mentioned that he was in an alicorn form, they didn't seem surprised. In fact, if I understood them properly, then they believed that he'd been that way his entire life. I'll need to talk to them on the matter further, after they've had some time to grieve, but in the meantime, I plan to have them placed in protective care under false identities and feed the media false data to give them a measure of peace.."
An hour later, the Princess of the Sun found herself looking at her sun as it passed over the horizon. She floated over an envelope. A single bloody brown feather came out. It had been picked up by Sweetie Belle.
She walked over to a cabinet, and floated out one of five boxes. All of them contained small piles of feathers.
Now with one more.
A week earlier, far south of ponyville and the Everfree. Upon the edges of the great desert. A smoking crater blasted into existence in the wilderness. Soon, the silhouette of a broken and bloody hoof reached out of the hole.
Mordane was not even fully conscious. His body had lost a lot of blood. Blinking and Teleportation are two very different things. Though they are called the same.
One is making a pony’s relative mass near zero, then quickly applying force twice. The other involves connecting two space-times along the same time point, and should be cast by as few as ten unicorns.
Not even Celestia would use it. Or even could without being drained. It was suicide without weeks of planning.
Mordane, however, had done it while in a storm and panicked. Now he was paying the price. Burns scoured his left side. At least five ribs were broken. Two legs were injured. One fractured the other broken. To top it all off, his wings felt broken as well. Hundreds of small cuts covered his body and nearly every extremity was swelling in some spot.
"How am I alive?"
He worked to hold himself together as his mind located a nearby cave. It took time, but soon he crawled into it and after making himself a splint and casting a kill bacteria spell he went to sleep. He woke some time later. His two hurt legs as if aflame. In agony, he forced his bones into align and cast a spell to hold them there. Looking out he counted his good fortune that a wild apple tree was in sight.
Using magic, he soon had a small pile in front of him.
For a long time he laid there, drawing in food with magic. By day five, he could move around as his pain was lessening. He mostly slept, and at all other times searched the forest mentally for his next meal.
On day twelve since the lightning strike, he walked out of the cave an able-bodied pony.
Unfortunately he did not have the energy to hide his form. So instead he used the cloak, and tried not to be seen.
A nearby town proves easy to enter without too much attention. He replaces his used food and buys a newspaper.
Attack on Equestria
Of all the towns that were attacked, few stood against the onslaught as well as the small town of Ponyville. The ability of the town to hold is attributed to a stallion called Mordane-
The paper went on to talk about how he was revealed as an alicorn, but that is when it started to deviate from the truth.
- The alicorn named Mordane died in a skirmish with Diamond Dog forces, after rushing off from the town. Further investigation shows that his parents, who had been present in Ponyville, died in the first wave.-
Mordane reread that line again and again trembling in rage. The paper bursts into flame.
Alone, with no one to hear, the alicorn roared to the sky. Years of pent up frustrations pouring out of him in a fit of rage.
He sat down and panted. Trying to think.
"Celestia took them...killed them? I don't know. She did something. I saw them. They were safe."
Mordanes heart froze in his chest.
"Could that have been a message from her. Letting me know she had them? Trying to get me to come to her?"
He stomped his hooves into the dirt with a dull thud. Thousands of questions ran through his head. Then he remembered the last image of his father. Face frozen in fear. His hoof pointing to the south.
Trembling, he stood. Knowing what he meant. No matter what, his family was under the eye of Celestia now. There was no way to be free of her. Not without power. Not without something to make her leave them alone.
He took to the air and flew south, out of Equestria. Headed for land beyond the tyrants reach. He didn't know why he was going but he knew one thing.
"One day, I will kill Celestia."
Celestia stands before a statue commemorating the fallen dead. Beside her were Mordane's parents and the Elements of Harmony. On the statue's plaque fifty names are listed.
Sugar Heart : Sugar Sprinkles : Honey Heart : Spring Darling : Honey Withers :
Peach Darling : Mud Petal : Winter Sprinkles : Honey Song : Sugar Withers : Peach Hooves : Mercy Flow : Brawny Boulder : Lightning Flicker : Rota Scope : Soda Fizz : Border Line :
Tulip Fields : Colgate Crystal : Royal Lace : Southern Runner : Chocolate Curl : Mandarin Candy : Carrot Lionheart : Winter Withers : Thunder Wave : Star Whistle : Hollow Mane : Curl Green :
Lyra Heartstrings : Rock Bottom : Royal Star : Stiff Retort : Skitter Rainbow : Starry Strike :
Mercy Rune : Stable Pot : Dew Drops : Peach Treat : Heavy Space : Steel Bound :
Mercy Shower : Wood Cutter : Sound Wave : Ruined Heart : Stiff Lip : Reality Flare :
Marching Beat : River Song : Rain Storm : Firm Cut : Mordane Stronghoof
Celestia bows her head, and sheds a tear.