//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Heart of Mercy // Story: The Weatherpony // by AlicornPriest //------------------------------// 9th Year of Rosy Apple October 23 Terror. They're hammering against us. I don't think the cloud hull will hold. My friends are underneath us, making sure the ship gets through, but I don't think it will. This is my time... isn't it? The earth ponies... they will kill me, just like they've killed everypony else. I'm not supposed to be afraid. Hesta's blessing, I'm meant to be strong. But I've always been a coward. I'm not meant to be on the front lines... Oh, gods and goddesses, preserve me. Don't let an arrow tear my wing. Don't let an earth pony end my life. Please, if you have any mercy...! Breathe... Sun on the 24th, rain rain rain. 12 thunderclouds arriving on the 28th; delay the attack until then. Stay behind the mountains. That's all. We're so close... so close! Once we arrive at Fort Anvil, we'll be safe. Hermes, grant us the swift winds! Just a little more-- No! Nononono! I've got to fly, I've got to escape-- No! Sun on the 24th, rain rain rain. 12 thunder-- The weatherpony changed everything. "That's it, men! Cavalry to the fore!" Five years ago, the pegasi did the impossible: they claimed the weather, the natural cycle of sun and rain, and turned it against us. When we needed light, they gave us darkness; when we needed darkness, they gave us light. They doused us in rain, then hammered us in our ruined clothing. An earth pony army that was moments away from total victory suddenly fell onto its back hooves. Two years ago, around the time I enlisted, General Sheet Lightning died, and in his place some new leader took over--Commander Hurricane, they called him. Younger, brighter, more cunning... it was like a flame had been lit that had been lying dormant for decades. "I need sling-throwers, now! Attack the defensive column!" Technology comes in fits and spurts. The earth pony discovery of agriculture created modern civilization. The unicorn invention of the experimental method changed the way we think about the world. And now this, the invention of weather control, had pushed us forward a century. Or rather, pushed them forward a century. We were still lagging behind, like fish trying to fight bears. "Amber Sun! Lead the 14th in direct combat!" "Yessir!" I hurried to get my troops into position. Our sling-throwers were taking down the cloud ship above us. Once the hull broke, we'd have direct access to the ponies inside. That would surely win us the day. For now, though, I focused on getting my troop to where the fighting was taking place. Pegasi were somewhat more difficult than unicorns, since they tended to stay in the air and throw spears or slash from above. To really keep up, you needed to get them down on the ground some way: slings, bolas, even a lasso in a pinch. My soldiers and I were masters at all of them, the best of the best. "All right, men! Let's spill their blood!" In response, they yelled a war cry and charged into the fray. I followed close behind, shield up to deflect incoming attacks. Suddenly, there was a sudden cracking noise, like wood splintering. Everypony paused and looked up. The massive cloudship was breaking apart, right on time. No, not breaking apart--it was collapsing down into the ground. It had been shoddily constructed, or we'd hit it harder than anticipated. Either way, it was a massive boon to us, as any pegasi still inside wouldn't be able to escape. They'd be easy pickings. "14s! Seize the cloudship! Kill anypony inside!" "No!" The pegasi we had been fighting swooped in to cut us off, but we ducked our heads and stampeded underneath them. Half of my contingent stood in front of one of the holes in the hull and fended them off while the rest of us slipped inside. The ship was surprisingly quiet. It seemed the belowdecks was composed of a few small rooms. In the central one we'd entered, a small lantern had hit the ground and was quietly burning by itself in the corner. I directed my soldiers to check the top deck and search the nearby rooms for survivors. I decided to look around and see if there was anything useful to salvage. It seemed pretty empty, all told--they seemed to prefer the traditional pegasus method of keeping as little around as possible. Very "spartan," as they called it. I opened one of the doors and stood agog at what I'd found. There was a pegasus, lying unconscious on the floor. She was young, not much older than my sister, who'd only just reached adulthood. Her coat and mane were a light blue, like the morning sky after a long period of rain. She bore heavy-looking saddlebags filled with books and scrolls--a rare commodity for somepony as young as her. And around her head was something I never thought I would be lucky enough to see: a green headband with a hurricane-shaped swirl on it. She was a weatherpony. I took a step forward, afraid she was only sleeping and that she'd wake up. However, she hardly moved; she must have been knocked unconscious when the ship crash-landed. I pulled out my bola and gave it a short whirl. Then, I threw it at her, locking all four of her hooves together. That got her up. In a panic, she thrashed about in her bonds, but earth pony tools are made of stronger stuff than that. She was completely incapacitated. She tried to fly but only succeeded in bumping into the walls and falling to the ground once more. I unsheathed my dagger and stood over her, ready to strike. But then I saw her eyes. I couldn't believe it at first, but she actually looked... afraid. A pegasus that wasn't ready to die in battle? Was that even possible? It would have been so easy. I'd trained my whole life for that moment. And if I'd done as I'd been trained, slit her throat and watched it dye her green headband red, everything that I'm about to describe would have never happened. Perhaps we would have held out for a few more years, or perhaps we would have beaten in a month. Either way, the light of the earth pony nation would have been extinguished. But I didn't do it. I saved one little pegasus, and because of that, I saved not one, but three nations. I clipped the tips of her feathers. They'd grow back eventually (unless I cut them again), but for the moment, that left her unable to fly. Then, I hoisted her up onto my back and carried her into the central chamber. I threw the weatherpony down onto the ground, where one of my subordinates was waiting. He seemed shocked that I'd kept her alive, but I stopped any protest by saying, "Carry her to the camp. We'll work on figuring out some kind of containment later. For now..." I exited the cloud ship and looked up at the swarm of pegasi hovering just above us. "For now, we've got a bigger problem on our hooves." "Twelve of your troops injured. Four of them severely wounded." I bowed my head and nodded gravely at the charges against me. It seemed that General Browncoat wasn't done, though. "You drew undue attention to yourself, opened up the right flank, charged blindly into an unknown situation, and for what? For a prisoner." He said this last word with such vitriol that I was shocked to hear it. "Sir, she's a weatherpony. She's a valuable source of--" "Pegasi never talk. They would rather die. You know this," he replied. He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his snout with a hoof. "I'm putting you in charge of her. It'll be your responsibility to keep her fed, clipped, and secure. If anything happens, I'll see to it you're court-martialled for it." "Understood, sir." Truthfully, I wouldn't have trusted anypony else to do the job right. I had no idea if I could get her to talk, or if she'd be any use at all to us besides bait, but from the fear I'd seen in her eyes, I figured there might be a chance. Besides, it was about time one of us showed one of them a little mercy. Once General Browncoat dismissed me, I headed to the tent where the weatherpony was being kept. If there was any hope for her--any hope for me--she needed to prove her usefulness. I prayed there was something she could do for us. If there wasn't... well, we'd be back at plan A--the green headband dyed red.