//------------------------------// // 11. The Black Dragoons // Story: Trials of a Royal Guard // by Anzel //------------------------------// “Captain! Captain, they’re dead. They’re all dead. Come on, we can retreat now. You’ve done it. You’ve saved us,” somepony I didn’t recognize said to me. His hoof was on my shoulder, pulling me back. My House Guard armor was covered in blood and barely together. Was this my blood? Some of it probably was. Where was I? On the other bank. I’d saved the ponies trapped there? There were dead gryphons all around me. “Captain, you can fall back now. You’ve scared the gryphons off. We need to get back with the rest of the army. A full retreat has been issued. We’ve got to regroup. We can’t win.” I bobbed my head in a nod. I’d saved them after the major had been killed in the blast. Yes… I’d flown over here and… oh, Luna. My stomach turned and I fought the urge to vomit. I’d caused the carnage around me. They’d all been killed in my rage. The corpses were everywhere and ruined. “Retreat,” I practically whispered before backing up towards the river’s edge. “Retreat and regroup.” The soldiers around me did not hesitate and they started to rush off. All I could do was stand there, recoiling at the feeling of warm blood coating my hooves. Wait, warm blood? Hot. It was hot. The sounds of battle hit my ears. The same battle? No, a different one. Disconnected from my thoughts, I found that my forehooves were stomping. Stomping on the dead gryphon under me. All the archers near me were similarly dead… cut to pieces. It was a scene that didn’t bother me anymore. It should bother me. I just kept stomping the Sudramoar officer angrily. I couldn’t stop. He’d killed Tumble! “Why!” Clement Knight landed next to me and grabbed my hoof. “Major! He’s dead. Come on, this battle isn’t over.” I pulled away and stomped the gryphon again. Clement wrapped his hooves around my middle and hauled me free of the corpse. I struggled against him, trying to get back. “Let go! That’s an order!” “Sir, we need you. This isn’t productive. Get yourself together.” The old pony couldn’t hold me. Just knock him aside and go back to it. No! Yes. I shrugged him off and pushed him back. “He’s dead!” “Yes, you killed him and all of them. We need to keep moving forwards. We’ve got them on the ropes, but we can’t do that if you’re here in a fit. The dragoons need a leader, not a berserker.” “No, not him! I don’t care about him. Tumble! All of them. None of it matters, I can’t keep my ponies alive so I may as well kill through the enemy all by myself. You don’t understand, you never cared about anypo—” Clement struck the side of my helmet hard enough to make me see stars. Then he grabbed me by the breastplate. “Silent Knight! Enough of this. You can feel sorry for yourself later but right now you have a duty to the ponies that are still alive. Now while you were in your rage you may have missed the fact that Brigadier Hammer was wounded and carried off the field. “A lot of other ponies and gryphons are in the same state. Do you not notice we’re surrounded by our forces looking for somepony to lead? Now whether you like it or not you’re easily recognizable, so shove those emotions down, take command, and lead, or so help me I’ll beat you until you come to your senses.” No. He’s wrong, just let go. We’re nothing more than a weapon to be used against the enemy. No! Yes! Let me take care of it. You can just go hide in the dark again. Just let go and I’ll handle this. ”Enough!” What had Clem said? Hammer was wounded. I found some focus and looked around. The battle was still going but many of our forces were looking confused. Too much hesitation and the enemy would regroup, and then more lives would be lost. Clement was right. I couldn’t lose it right now. My promise to Crystal was too important and so were the lives of everyone around me. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and shouted as loud as I could, “Dragoons to me! We’re going to finish this now!” A rallying cry followed and, from the swirling melee, the black-armored lancers found Clement and me. “Form up, prepare for an aerial assault! I doubt they’ve got as many archers ready to go now.” As Captain Brynja joined us, she asked, “What iz ze plan?” “Kill the enemy general.” Many visor-covered faces turned towards me. I’m sure there were looks of confusion there but this was a sound strategy. We were deep through the lines—we just needed to topple the enemy’s remaining confidence. Cut off the head and let the body wither. That and seeing the Black Dragoons take flight and lead the charge would likely be the spark to rekindle the fire of our army’s assault. “I like it,” Clement Knight said finally. “Good! Everyone, with me!” I called before flapping my wings and leaping into the air. Only I barely got off the ground. Why? Oh… my wing was in a bad place. Sheer force of will was keeping me up but I wasn’t moving fast or up. Clement Knight grabbed me around the waist and lifted me. “Allow me, sir,” he gasped out. “Sergeant Major, you’re too o—” “Don’t say it! Just give orders and hope I don’t literally drop you on the enemy.” It seemed poor form to argue further. “Everyone, with me!” I called again as we started to move higher over the battlefield. It was the first good look I’d gotten at it, too. The lines stretched out for many meters in each direction. This was, without a doubt, the largest engagement yet. Our forces had succeeded fully in crossing the river and it looked like we were in different states as far as pushing the enemy back. The center was the furthest in. If we weren’t careful the Sudramoar would collapse in and squeeze us. My eyes darted about before landing on what was likely our target. A medium-height hill that offered a decent vantage point of the whole battle. There were gryphons on it using flags for signals. Flags… lots of flags. One caught my eye. Wait, was that what I thought it was? “I don’t believe it…” “What?” Clement grunted. “Is that Marshall Varmond’s heraldry?” “Would make sense for him to be here. How much do you weigh, boy?” “A lot and it is all muscle. Fly me closer to the Marshal, you old mule. I want to hit him with my sword!” I then raised my voice. “Dragoons! A thousand bits to whoever takes the marshal’s head!” There was a roar of approval and our course changed immediately towards the hill. The gryphons on it started to shift into defensive positions. They were not scared. They were ready. Crossbows took aim at us. “There is no way I’m going to be able to maneuver like this,” Clement said. He was right. I’d just get us both killed. What could I do… wait, what had he said about dropping me on the enemy? Well… we had zero chance of maneuvering together and some chance of doing so separately. “I know. Sorry, Clem. I’m going to play the odds. Be sure you kill the marshal,” I said before grabbing his forehooves and pulling them away. Under the weight of my bulk and armor I fell from the sky a lot faster than I had anticipated. I threw my wings out to shift into the best glide available in my condition. My descent was erratic and barely controlled. There would be little luck dodging the crossbow bolts now. I probably should have thought the plan through a bit more but time was of the essence. My dragoons sailed past me on their attack vectors and the crossbow bolts began flying at the same time. These gryphons were quite good. Each shot was well controlled. It would be a battle between acrobatic flying, marksmanship, and luck. Some of the archers figured out I wasn’t moving too well and lined up their shots. The first one I managed to dodge with a bank but the second hit my wounded wing. It caused me to drop faster which, funnily enough, resulted in some other shots missing. Thank you whoever shot me! The ground was coming up on me at an unnerving pace. All of my flapping just wasn’t making a difference so, at that point, I had to accept the inevitable: I was going to crash. That wasn’t wholly concerning. I’d probably survive it, but my trajectory was carrying me right at the enemy. Since that was the case it was time to make this count. I sighted myself on a gryphon that looked important. He might have been a colonel or, if I was lucky, higher. I was also fortunate that he seemed to be a stone cold officer. His back was turned while he worked on whatever role he had been assigned, trusting in his subordinates to keep him safe. That was the kind of officer I respected. A few more crossbow bolts hit me. I think the armor stopped most of the damage. It really didn’t matter, as I couldn't avoid them anyway. My course seemed set. I probably wouldn’t even need the sword. Most gryphons wouldn’t survive a large, armored pegasus crashing into them at full speed. He drew ever nearer. At the last second he turned around as a reaction to some shouted warning. The surprised look on his face was priceless. Still, as amusing as it was, deep down I wished the potentially last face I’d see would have been Crystal’s. That would have been better. Far better. I’m sorry, sweetheart. I braced myself before I felt the collision and then, mercifully, everything went black. ☾ Brigadier Hammer got up and hobbled towards me. From what I understood, he still wasn’t accustomed to the prosthetic leg yet. Even after all the time I’d been gone. “Captain Knight! Welcome back. I’ve been reading your reports from Saddle Arabia. Thrilling stuff. Your mission was a huge success.” I stood to attention until he acknowledged it with a wave of the hoof. “Yes, sir. Mission accomplished. I’m not going to lie, though, I’m glad to be back. Although, to be honest, I was expecting us to be… well… anywhere else.” Hammer nodded. “Unfortunately, the war has gone to a stalemate pretty fast. We haven’t been able to gain any traction. At least we’ve stopped back sliding.” “I’ll have to settle for that. Now that I’m back, I was hoping to join your headquarters staff. Maybe some of my skills can be put to use.” The brigadier shifted slightly and then cleared his throat. “Yes, I know we had discussed that. Unfortunately, the situation on the ground hasn’t changed that much since before and, after what I’ve seen, I think you have skills I can put to better use.” My ear twitched. “Sir?” “Dreyri River. You flew out of the water and, according to accounts, personally killed anywhere from five to twenty Sudramoar soldiers on your own. Your actions frightened them into retreating just enough to let you and the others escape. “After that, you took on an intelligence mission that was critical to our success in this war and carried it out flawlessly. Which, I might point out, also led to you personally engaging multiple enemies and defeating them. “On top of that, I can’t ignore the fact that you’ve also got plenty of experience commanding soldiers and doing it well. You may have gotten a little overzealous and listened to your princess a bit too much, but that isn’t enough cause to waste that talent. “Keeping you in the rear just isn’t a great use of you as a resource. I’m sorry, Silent, but you’re going to be taking command of a special company I’m putting together. All flyers, veteran soldiers, and combat experienced.” “I see.” It took all of my self-discipline not to frown. “Thank you, sir.” He snorted. “Don’t thank me. I know you don’t want it. That is how this goes, unfortunately. Nopony wants to be here, but here we are. If it makes it any easier, I’ve been busy in your absence. “The same ponies that made my leg have been hard at work making a new type of armor that is better suited to combat. It’s expensive but we’re working on that, too. You’ll be getting one of the first sets. Oh, and there is this…” His magic surrounded a small box and flew it over to me. It opened to reveal a single bar with two sunbursts. “Congratulations, Major.” Major… major. “Major? Major Knight. Are you awake?” I blinked a few times to find a green-eyed mare looking down at me. “Major? I said, are you awake?” My mind was pretty foggy. Where was I? A quick glance around shed some light on that. I was in a bed between two curtains. Hospital. I’d survived that? Thank goodness. Promise kept another day. “Major? Do you understand me?” “Yes, where am I? Did we win?” “You’re in the Dreyri field hospital and yes, we won. You and your dragoons hit the command post of the enemy, killed several of their senior officers, and scared off the field marshal,” the pony explained. She had a little white hat on so I assumed she was a doctor or a nurse. The field marshal had gotten away. Pity. “When you say hit…” She picked up my chart and snorted. “From what I was told, you flattened a general.” “You should have seen his face…” She glared at me. “I should hope not! Killing is awful and you shouldn’t make light of it. Now, you’re going to be with us a couple of days. Well, more than a couple. After that you can command but you can’t fight for a while. Your wing is in awful shape, you broke some ribs and left foreleg, your ear is torn, and several other lacerations. To be frank, I’m shocked you’re not hurt worse.” “Me too, to be honest, Doctor…” “Nurse Taffy. Now, I have to go check on other patients. Don’t do anything stupid like try to get up.” “Yes, ma’am,” I said before laying back. Another trip to the hospital. Dad had always said you get used to it. I guess he was right about that. It was still a dull experience. That and the fact I didn’t really have any data beyond that we’d won. How were the losses? How far did we push them? Were my dragoons alive? From the other side of the curtain to my left, someone interrupted my thoughts. “I am willing to bet a thousand bits it is going to be hard for you to stay in bed.” The voice was familiar but it couldn’t be… A straw-colored hoof pulled the thin white sheet aside. Thunder Tumble was laying in the bed next to mine, his chest bandaged up. “I asked them to put you next to me, sir.” “Tumble!” He wasn’t dead! Tears pooled in the corner of my eyes as I was suddenly overcome with relief. I rolled over, fell out of the bed, and scrambled weakly across the short distance between us. It was an effort but I managed to get up into the bed next to him. He groaned in pain when I hugged him. “Yeah… probably should have waited on the reveal. It is nice to see you well too, sir.” I wiped my eyes and squeezed him tightly. “How?” “Some fool of an officer let a bunch of gryphons shoot his wing. That and our armor. The stuff is pretty heavy, you know. Between it and your wing, the bolts hit just shallow enough not to be fatal. It also doesn’t hurt that dragoons seem to get medical attention faster. Either way, I’m going to be just fine. Physically.” I set my chin on top of his head so he couldn’t see me crying. The joy of him not being dead was overwhelming. We’d gotten too close. There was also a bit of sorrow in the pit of my stomach. He’d said it flippantly but I’d caught what he meant about being fine. “You know I have a mare back home, right? Not that you’re not pretty, too, sir.” By that point, all four of my hooves were around him and he’d been relegated to little spoon. “Shut up, Sergeant.” “Yes, sir,” he replied with a chuckle. His hoof slipped up to hold mine. “Thank you…” “You’re welcome.” We laid there together a while. He wasn’t dead… I hadn’t lost him. The choice Ferrel had spoken of hadn’t been obvious but it wasn’t about Tumble and I. Of course, she was wrong sometimes. Maybe I’d chosen to accept my fate by crashing into that general and she’d incorrectly foreseen me dying? What did it matter anyway? Her words never helped me avoid anything. “How long have I been out? Please tell me it wasn’t like last time.” “Not at all. You’ve been in and out for about a week. Not coherent though. I talked to you a bit but…” He shivered. “…well, anyway, the usual you is back now.” That was a relief. Crystal would have been worried if I’d not sent letters back for a month or two. “So we won?” I asked. “Yes, sir. We did. It was a bloody day but they shed a lot more of it than us. When we ran the field marshal off, it was pretty much over. The colonels pushed the army hard when they saw us take flight. “Now the Sudramoar have fallen back but General Ironhoof only chased them so far before stabilizing the line and calling for a resupply. He didn’t want to spread us too thin.” “Good thinking,” I yawned, my stamina starting to wane. Maybe I’d just take a nap here in Tumble’s bed. My eyes drooped closed and I started to nod off. “Oh, come on!” Nurse Taffy was standing next to us. “What part of ’don’t get up’ do you not get, Major? And if someone caught two mares doing this, just think of the rumors! But no… stallions can just cuddle and it is perfectly innocent.” Thunder Tumble looked up and replied, “It is called a double standard and we’re happy with it. He can sleep here.” “Great! Well, I’m glad you decide where my patients sleep, Sergeant. Why don’t we just double up all of the stallions then, huh? I’ll have more beds that way! I’m going to go get some orderlies and then I’m putting the major back in his bed.” I reached up, set a hoof on her nose, and whispered, “Snooze.” ☾ Captain Brynja, Clement Knight, a wounded Lieutenant Honey, and several other dragoons were crowded around Thunder Tumble and my’s beds. General Ironhoof had ordered the company back behind the lines for some rest. They promptly ignored that part of the order and came to see us. “I underzand you and ze zergeant have been zaring a bed. Haz ‘e propozed yet?” “No, he has refused to make an honest stallion out of me,” I replied, yielding a round of chuckles from my lancers. Thunder Tumble was sitting up, his forehooves crossed. “You knew this was just a fling. I’ve got a mare to get home to.” Clement just shook his head. He was leaning up against my bed. In the light of the field hospital, he looked old and haggard. More than I’d ever noticed before. “This is not the appropriate way for an officer and an enlisted pony to conduct themselves,” he grumbled. “So noted, Sergeant Major,” I replied before shifting to something more serious. “Captain, I assume you have the list?” She shook her head. “No, zir. Too zoon for you. You need to focuz on gettin’ well. I know theze wordz will not zuffice for you. Even though I ought not to… here.” The gryphoness took my hoof in her claw. I could feel chain links there. Carefully, I accepted them and peered down. Eight… eight… “Thank you.” My hoof clenched around them. She nodded. “Come all, we muzt go. Allow ze major hiz rezt.” She turned to Tumble, pinched his cheek, and whispered, “Zee you later, cute one.” Tumble turned bright red, sputtered, and swatted at her. The rest of the unit laughed and started filing out. All except Clement, who lingered a little while. Once the others were gone, he said, “Rest up, they’re going to need you more than ever now. They saw they weren’t invincible and that you aren’t, either.” I nodded. The old stallion timidly reached out and set a hoof on my shoulder. “I know this isn’t for you. I’m sorry you’re good at it. You’re doing well, though. Just… hold it together a while longer. For the others.” “Yeah… of course.” He nodded and then set a jar full of yellow goop on my bed. “Oh, and be sure to rub your wounds with beeswax every night before bed. It will help with the scarring and discoloration. You’ll end up looking better for your wife when you get home.” “Thanks… I’ll do that.” “Good,” he replied before turning and walking out. Clement Knight was a pony I still didn’t fully understand but he had been making an awful lot of effort to bridge the gulf between us. My gut instinct was to resist but I wasn’t sure that was the best thing to do anymore. I'd have to give that a think. There was a lot to focus on. Like the pony that had been lurking in the hall. A sunny yellow pegasus, to be specific. Once Clement was gone, he finally came in. “Sorry to bother you, sir, but I was told to bring all of your missives to the hospital for the time being.” My head tilted. The orange-maned stallion wasn’t in uniform or armor. He did have a delivery satchel, though. “Okay… where is the normal carrier?” “The Army doesn’t have carriers anymore, sir. They’ve all been converted to infantry, and Pony Express carriers were asked to volunteer to fill in… so here I am.” He brought three letters over and set them on my lap. One was in a pink envelope, clearly from my wife. “Oh… I hadn’t heard that. Well, welcome to Nordanver. I hope you’re not here long.” He shrugged. “We all serve the way we can.” “Thanks. Will you be the usual carrier for me?” “Yes, sir. If you need anything, just ask for Obsidian Sunrider.” I nodded and picked up the letters once he was gone. What perfect timing. “Hey, Major?” Tumble said, breaking my train of thought. “Hmm?” “Do you want to cuddle again tonight?” Tumble had been playing tough but he’d started having nightmares. That was new for him. “Yeah. Let me just read these letters and I’ll be over.” “Okay, great.” As carefully as I could, I opened the pink envelope and drew the letter out. First, I sniffed it. That was important because it always smelled of my wife and her rose scent. Nothing here smelled like her. It never dawned on me how important the senses other than sight were. Now with us so far apart, that is what we had. Scent and words. We had to work harder at our relationship but that was okay. We’d make it. My Brave Knight, If you're reading this, then my heart can rest at ease. I wish you could have received this letter before the battle, so that my words could have given you strength when you needed it most. I am unfortunately sure, however, that there is still a void to fill after such a dreadful occasion, so I hope they can bring you some peace in the aftermath. You are strong, Silent Knight, even though you carry a horrible burden. I can feel its weight across the ocean in your letters. I wish I could reach through this parchment and take some of it from you, but I am helpless to do anything but say that I still see you. Past the battles, past the fear, past the killing, I can still see you. Perhaps I will not recognize all of you when we are finally reunited, but I will love all of you because I know you. I will always know you. You are my Silent Knight, my brave Knight who has endured so much for so little reward, and asks for none. You are no monster, no creature of nightmares that kills mercilessly—you are a protector who does what he must for those he loves. You are my protector. My Knight. I hope with all of my heart and soul that the dawn after the battle came for you. I hope that each dawn and dusk that separates us continues to come for you so that you may come home. I hope the light of each sunrise is a reminder for you that you are another day closer to me. My love is waiting for you in the stars, where it always has been and always will be. Your Crystal Wishes Gently, I folded the letter and slipped it under my pillow with the two unopened envelopes. Somehow she always said exactly what I needed to hear. My chest felt tight from her absence but it was good to know there was a reason to fight on. I had to get home. Carefully as I could, I fumbled out of my bed and over to Tumble’s. I slipped up next to him and looped my hooves around his middle. I wasn’t the only stallion who was struggling in this hospital. I knew what Tumble was about to go through and I wanted better for him. I’m sure Crystal wouldn’t mind if I shared some of her words. “You know, when we get home, ponies will still love us. They’ll still remember who we were before all of the killing and wounds. We might look a little different, but they’ll recognize us. I know that for sure, okay?” Thunder Tumble nodded, keeping his face hidden from me, and replied, “Okay, sir… thank you.” My head settled against his pillow and I slowly drifted off, thinking about how I’d surprise Crystal Wishes when I inevitably got home… because I was going to make it home. I’ll come home.