Enlisted

by The_Last_Centurion

Chapter 4

This story is a fan-fiction of MLP:FiM. I don't own any of it. It belongs to Hasbro, etc, etc.
Don't sue. Seriously. That would be so uncouth.

Chapter 4

I went downstairs after the twins, smelling the breakfast the entire time and hearing the twins snickering and smatterings of neightalian conversation. I came downstairs into the main room of the library to find out that two of the library tables, the ones that readers were meant to use, were put together and dishes lined them. The kitchen was filled with loud chatter between Dagger and Princess Luna, but I paid no heed to it as I saw the rest of the Unit sitting down at the table.

Butterscotch was already seated, the head of the table on her left and on her right sat, or laid rather-as no chair was big enough to hold him-Grey Tail. The twins at near the end of the table and started talking to some of their unit buddies. As I counted, Puck Unit was pretty diverse. Butterscotch and another were the only two earth ponies, while the twins were the only pegasi. I didn’t know any one of them, but the Unit held three unicorns and, of course, Grey, the only timberwolf. I realized that if they were all to be my future comrades, I better get to know them…but maybe after breakfast.

I wanted to take a seat towards the middle of the table, but thanks to the twins uncanny knack for knowing how to upset Butterscotch, they managed to move me all the way down the table until I was sitting right across from her. I gave a meek smile as she glared at me with ice cold eyes and felt pretty out of place as Luna walked in from the kitchen with Dagger. They each held platters, even though Luna held the brunt of the load in her magical grip while Dagger just hefted one onto the table.

“FEAST!” Luna said in the royal Canterlot voice as she sat down at the head of the table to my right and Dagger sat down on my left. I rubbed my ears until the hearing came back only to find Dagger trying to talk to me.

“What?” I asked him.

“You should eat up too.” He said. “We’re going to be packing and napping before tonight arrives.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” I said in a daze as I filled my plate with the different foods my brother and my princess had made for us for breakfast. I ate numbly, ignoring the conversations going on around me. I tried to focus on eating my meal, but everything seemed fuzzy and non-existent as I slowly chewed my tasteless breakfast. Tonight was when my life would spiral out of control. Tonight was when I would go against everything I had fought against, when I would end up doing exactly as ordained by family tradition. I suddenly lost my appetite. I stood up from the table and ignored everypony’s gaze as Princess Luna’s questions fell on deaf ears and I walked back upstairs.

Everything had already changed. Forever.

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“What’s up with him?” asked Grey with a mouth full of haycakes as Al walked back upstairs.

“He…he’s just a little stressed out from all of this happening so suddenly.” Dagger said in a concerned tone, putting down his utensils. “Just give him a little space. I’ll go talk to him in a bit.”

Dagger rose from the table after the meal, intending to bring the plates into the kitchen and wash them all, knowing his “guests” would leave soon and that would give he and his brother time to talk. He knew this was a bit much to him, but it must be much worse with Al. He remembered when Al was younger and how he always reacted to big changes slowly. He knew that his brother seemed to shut the changes away from his life until they hit him with such a ferocity and acceleration that it made his mind and spirit spin out of control, as if they were in the talons of a diving griffon.

Luna stopped him with a knowing look, though. “He needs your help right now. We’ll clean and then leave. We will return at dusk.” She said softly as her soldiers started to clean the tables.

“Thank you.” Dagger answered with a sigh, before he slowly climbed the stairs to Al’s room. He opened the door slowly, expecting the worst. Yet nothing was thrown and no shouting was heard. That was somehow the worse.

“Al?” Dagger said as he entered the room cautiously, looking around for his equine brother. When he didn’t find him in the immediate room, he went out onto the balcony, and then into the bedroom’s bathroom, looking to no avail. Finally, went over to a small space next to Al’s closet and knocked on the wall. Slowly, the wood receded with magic and a slight “Come in” reverberated out of the darkened cove.

Dagger could see into the darkness of the small hide-away as he took of his spectacles. This cove was originally made years ago to hid any important documents the Steelhooves’ may need, before they owned a special bank vault in the Royal Equestrian Bank in Canterlot. Now it just served Al as a good place to hide from all his conflicting emotions and the outside world.

“Not feeling that great, huh?” Dagger commented as he shuffled into the cove, sitting down next to the wide-eyed Al who was just staring at the wall. Dagger gave an attempt at a smile, trying to show Al that everything was alright.

“Everything I know is dying.” Al said slowly. “My values, my world around me, and even my future. I could die…”

Dagger gazed at the wall in front of himself, absorbing the truths about the barely-out-of-adolescences stallion sitting to his right in what was almost a fetal curl. It was true. What he thought of his world was coming down all around him. What he spent years of building up against, years of rebelling against, was crumbled by one royal order. Yet, he couldn’t hate the Princess; he knew this himself. So all that was left was accepting that the world he had made was gone. However, this is not a thing any pony, or creature, can handle easily. Al needed guidance, and Dagger knew this.

“This is the end, but also the beginning.” Dagger started, sounding cheesier than a day-time soap opera. “It sounds clichéd, I know, but believe me. When my mentor Spike ordered me to stay in Canterlot, I felt almost exactly like you do now. My days of travel, of adventure with Spike, were over. My world came to an end. But then new adventures leapt upon me before I knew it.”

Al turned to look at Dagger with scared eyes. “But I could die… We could die...”

Dagger snorted. “You could die every morning, chocking on Hay-o’s. It doesn’t matter how long live or how well your life follows your plans. Adults have to do things they don’t like to do, brother. Do you know why?”

“No.”

“I’ll let you in on a little secret.” Dagger said before leaned in closer to his brother, whispering into his ear. “One of the oldest dragons in my clan once told me this. ‘Adults act as they are because they know the truth. They know we do not live for ourselves, but to make those we love happy.’ That dragon is the wisest one I have ever met. If you are scared of death, you must realize that there is beauty all around you. That is the first step to knowing the truth.”

Dagger could see the attempt at comprehension of the words on Alder’s face as he climbed out of the cove and replaced his spectacles. “When you’re ready, come out of there and pack. They will be back at dusk, so you have plenty of time. I’ll come back up with lunch and dinner before we leave.”

As Dagger walked to the door and down the stairwell, a smile spread across his face. He knew the words wouldn’t be lost upon his younger brother, but that time would allow him to comprehend them better. He could only hope that his brother understood and chose the right path when the time came.

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The packing went quickly. With Dagger’s words stuck in my mind, I got out of my hiding place without even thinking and started to pack in a numb daze. I kept on hearing Dagger’s voice in my mind, repeating the words over and over as I tried to comprehend what he meant. I could understand the words from the wise dragon, that it was true that not everything an adult does is for themselves, but what did he mean about ‘the first step to knowing the truth’? I wondered about this as my clothes and other trinkets quickly flew around the room and into bags as I packed. I worked with speed and soon, the job was done.

I heard a knocking at the door and answered with “Come in.”

I saw Dagger’s icy-blue spines emerge from the doorway and soon he came into view carrying two plates with sandwiches on them. I sat down on my bed and he handed me a plate as he looked at my packing.

“You’re pretty enthusiastic.” He said sarcastically. “It isn’t even two.”

“Well…” I answered back between bites of the dandelion sandwich, “I just want to get this done.”

He looked at me with a smirk on his face. “It’s not like a sleep-away camp. We’re going to be involved with the Battalion until the Mountain King is caught… maybe even longer.”

I swallowed the bites of my sandwich dryly, feeling the fear clawing up my throat yet again. For all my punk looks and attitude, I rarely fought. Even when I first fought the Mountain King, it had surprised me. I didn’t know why I had flung myself to the aid of Puck Unit other than I wanted to get back at the pony who had ruined my dinner. In fact, most of the time, I just scared off ponies with a show of magical power. But this was different. Fighting for my life…no, I’d rather run.

But then I remembered Dagger’s earlier words. My fears were still there, but something else inside of me seemed to grab them and hold them down. It was true all I wanted to do was run from here, to keep running when the Mountain King would eventually find me. But that wasn’t what adults did. That wasn’t what I would do.

“It’ll be okay, right?” I asked Dagger seriously, not expecting a truthful answer, not really knowing what to expect.

“It will be rough for a while, but then you’ll be the best. Once, Spike showed me all his memories of Crimson Moon. He and you are alike, but not in the ways that you think.”

“Like what? Being great magical war-mongers and the Princess’s secret weapon?”

“Not at all. You know you can be…emotional. He was too. But, like you, he knew what was truly important. Now enough sulking, let’s go outside and tend to the garden.” Dagger said, getting off of the bed. He knew that the best way to cheer me up-throw me into my natural element.

We went downstairs and through the kitchen and into the back yard via the back door. The old stone of the patio seethed with age and hidden stories as I walked over it and into the garden. The garden was not big, nor was it filled with grandeur and ridiculous amounts of beautiful flowers. It was basically a plot of land big enough to fit a covered bench inside of a grove of trees covered in ivy. The bench was surrounded by flowers, as was the path that snaked through the tiny garden. The flowers were always beautiful in a quaint way, but what I liked the most was way the trees always let in just the right amount of sunlight and rain.

Using my hooves more than magic, I went straight into tending the place, pulling up weeds and making sure each plant was getting enough water. I checked their stems and leaves for insects and insect bites while also turning the topsoil around the plants so that the nutrients would cycle. I went through all the flowers along the paths first and then checked the trees, while Dagger sat on the bench in the middle of the garden and read a book.

Eventually, the sky started to darken and Dagger called to me. I was so engrossed with keeping the garden together and just making sure everything was alright that I didn’t hear him the first few times. Nor did I notice the sun sinking off to the west. However, Dagger left me alone for a bit and then started calling me again, this time, he came up to me and tapped my shoulder. My gardening induced trance ended there, as I saw him standing over me with a plate and the setting sun off in the distance. I looked past him and saw both of our bags on the bench and my heart drooped a little.

“Here.” He said, handing me a plate full of spaghetti. “This will be our last meals here, at least for a while.”

“Yeah.” I said solemnly, eating the spaghetti quickly and quietly. My heart raced when I thought about what was going to happen, the Battalion appearing out of nowhere, collecting me and my brother like the specter of death…

“POOF!” went the air around me and Luna appeared sitting right next to me, almost making me have a heart attack and choke to death at the same time. As I coughed and spluttered, Dagger rolled his eyes and looked at Luna who shrugged her shoulders sheepishly.

“Sorry about that. I’ll go make you some tea…” she said shyly when I had stopped coughing and cast a dangerous glare at her. She teleported away and I saw the light inside the kitchen go on while I heaved a deep breath. I was about to open my mouth to say something to Dagger, but he shoved a forkful of spaghetti in.

“You’ll need your strength tonight.” He said nodding towards the skies. I looked up and saw that the pink and yellow sunset was being beset by clouds. “A storm’s rolling in.” he finished as he stood up and walked inside, his plate empty. I was left alone outside with nothing but my thoughts and a racing heart. But as I started to think of the negatives of the Lunar Battalion, I shoveled spaghetti into my mouth, knowing to think right now would make me throw up out of fright. I finished and got up just as Luna and Dagger were walking outside. Each held a cup of tea for themselves, but Luna held one for me in her magical grasp. I sat back down, the others sitting on either side of me as they reached the bench.

I was given my cup of tea and I drank it vehemently, the steaming liquid scouring my throat as it went down, but the pain made me forget about anything else. Right now, I needed my mind to be a blank slate. To think would bring fear. Fear would bring my end.

“…ok?” I noticed Luna say after I had drank my tea. I looked to her face, full of concern, and realized she had been speaking to me. I blinked and asked “What did you say?”

“I asked if you were ok. That tea was still boiling…” she replied.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s…ah…let’s go.” I said quickly, stuttering as I tried to tell us we should leave. It was now or never. I got up, walked quickly inside, put the plate and my mug down in the sink, rinsed them out, and came out of the house, locking the door behind me.

“Come on.” I said to them as I walked briskly towards my suitcase.

“Just one minute, brother.” Dagger said as he calmly drank the rest of his tea and took his and Luna’s empty mugs and went around front. I knew he was going in and locking the rest of the house up. This was it. We were finally going. If I didn’t feel like I was going to throw up, I would have noticed I felt surprisingly excited.

Dagger came back around the house in a matter of seconds, which felt like hours to me, and we grabbed our suitcases and stood near Luna. Her horn began to glow and she looked over to my brother and me with a sad smile.

“I will take us to Canterlot Castle. There, we will outfit you two for travel with the battalion. Then, we’ll brief about where you two are going.”
“I think we’re ready.” Dagger said, patting me on my withers as the magic around us pulsated and we disappeared in a flash.

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The dark and cold stone barracks of the Lunar Battalion Headquarters in the basement of Canterlot Castle glimmered and then filled with the bright light of magic being done. From nothing we came, Luna, Dagger, and I to what would be the biggest turning point in my life. The headquarters somehow knew this and I could hear the stone that made up the building resonate in my magic. It was almost as if they were singing to me…

But my attention was torn away as torches of mage-light erupted in the hall, all thanks to Princess Luna. She strode down the long corridor of black granite and Dagger and I promptly followed, not realizing what would occur. Within moments, our true journey would begin, but now, I could only think of how majestic the place was, even if it was the home to the Battalion. Luna stopped at a large door of shining obsidian and it gently glowed as her lit horn touched it. Suddenly, it erupted with the dark-blue aura and changed colors from a deep black to a shining, silvery white. Luna passed through the doors as they opened and we, again, followed, amazed by what had just transpired. I felt the doors with my magic and was astonished to find out that not only had the doors changed colors, but they also changed materials they were made of! They had changed from sharp obsidian to gleaming moonstone, a magical element created from pure moonlight.

Again, Princess Luna stole my attention as we walked into the large room that was on the other side of the doors. Its walls and the large pedestals in the center of the room were made of obsidian too, but as a large circular slab of the stone moved on the ceiling via magic, moonlight streamed into the room, illuminating the center of the room. Suddenly, the obsidian started to change dramatically, the moonstone overtaking the other stone by leaps and bounds, all in intricate weaving fashion. When it ended the three of us were in the same room, yet we could see the obsidian walls now streaked with moonstone, which served as the outlines of a mural: the story of the Lunar Battalion. I saw the historic pictures, each one telling a different story I had learned in my childhood. There, the beginning of the Battalion, at a time where the night was never safe, ponykind was new, and we needed heroes. Over there, the dissolution of the Battalion as Nightmare Moon rose, some soldiers running away, some joining her cause, and others fighting her with all their might. The images raced through my mind until my eyes fell on one picture. It was of a pony without a horn or wings, a pony cloaked in shadows, a pony that had the earth around him shaking and pulsing with power. It was my ancestor and the first General of the Lunar Battalion since its dissolution. I felt a certain biting taste enter my mouth out of years of spite, but something quelled it. It surprised me, but it was awe.

“Come here.” Luna said to the two of us, standing in the middle of the moonlight that streamed into the room. We walked to her and stood next to her, bathed in the light of the moonlight.

“When your ancestor was in the Battalion, he received his own uniform just like you two will today. However, you two will not be joining, so these uniforms are going to be for pure protection and traveling purposes. I know you will object, Alder, but these will keep you safe even if the Lunar Battalion cannot. Now stand still.” She said as her eyes glowed in the moonlight, power streaming from her horn and wings.

I closed my eyes and suddenly was bathed in the power. I almost felt my knees buckle at the sheer amount of it, especially as it coursed all over my body, like if lightning was condensed into a liquid form and then poured all over you. I could feel its magic too, and that was what made me truly buckle. It chocked me a little from the emanations of power and magic. But, I still opened my eyes to see the thing as it covered my body.

A bright, yet thin veneer of the magical moonlight surrounded my legs and torso, stopping right below my chin on my neck and also at each of my hooves. My tail sprouted out the back from an unseen hole and the brightness of the uniform made me advert my eyes for a moment. Yet, as it stayed on my body, it started to change rapidly. It dimmed and darkened until it was the color of storm clouds at midnight, the dark grey of the night. I looked over to my smaller brother and saw that he did not have the same body-hugging uniform I did. But, he had tiny silver necklace around his neck instead. It was in the shape of a crescent moon and did barely anything to cover his body, but I could tell from the amount of magic it gave off, that it was just as strong, if not stronger, than mine. A small glance over to Princess Luna showed that she was impressed at her handiwork and her horn started to glow yet again. With that, we were off from that great hall.

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We appeared in yet another room, yet this one was well lit and full of ponies and one timberwolf, all around a table with a map upon it. They saluted as they saw Princess Luna and I noticed more than one set of eyebrows rise as they saw me and Dagger. I was most surprised seeing Butterscotch eyeing me up and down in my uniform. I guess the expression “mares love a stallion in uniform” isn’t wrong, even when the mare in question is surrounded by stallions in uniform all day. I smirked but then too, found myself looking with upturned eyebrows as I gazed across the room and saw my reflection in a window of tinted glass. I saw my grey, spiked mane stood rebelliously against gravity and my navy-blue coat separated the grey of my hair and the grey of my uniform. Not only did the uniform make me look more like a soldier, but it also made me look…different. I looked stronger as I stood, more like the statues I had seen of my ancestor than I’d like to admit. I stared for a moment too long and was pulled back to reality by Luna’s words.

“Finished gawking at yourself, Adonis?” she jested, leading my attention to her and the table she stood close to. Her horn lit up and the map on the table squirmed, the contour lines and other features of the map rising until the table was covered in a complete three dimensional model of the terrain we would be traversing. It was nowhere near my home of Ponyville, nor was it even close to Canterlot. From what I could see, it was in the deep south, past the borders of Equestria, in the land of fire and sand: the Ghost Desert.

“This,” Luna said pointing to the large mountain rising from the middle of the map, “is your final destination. At the summit of this mountain lives an old friend of mine, one that can keep these two safe while the Battalion and I handle the situation at hand. However,” she said, pointing to another spot on the map, one miles away from the mountain and in the desert, “Is where you will enter.”

“Why so far away, milady?” asked Grey Tail in a serious growl.

“This is because my…colleague has placed strong magical barriers around the mountain, barriers that will not allow entrance of any creature or magic, unless granted by the owner of the mountain. Luckily,” she said, her eyes aglow, “I have granted each of you a token of my magic, which she has welcomed into her home.” All of our uniforms and Dagger’s pendant glowed faintly as she finished her sentence.

“Princess, if I may?” Butterscotch asked. Luna answered with a knowing nod.

“Listen up soldiers,” she commanded to Puck Unit and then looked over to us, “and important personnel. We are to transport these two to the mountain promptly and without trouble, which could take anywhere between two to three days. Desert gear is a must, but I also want to make sure everyone is prepared for the worst. These two can fight, but will not be of much help if anything does happen, Faust forbid it does. We leave here in ten minutes. Meet in launching room C.”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” the unit answered back in unison before all moving out of different doors in the room quickly and quietly, leaving only the four of us. Butterscotch quickly turned to me and glared directly into my eyes.

“Listen, Al. This may not be ideal for any of us, but you need to listen to me and follow every order I give to the T. Understand? This entity…monster…whatever you want to call him is extremely powerful, deadly, and hell-bent on coming after you. I expect the worst for this mission, which means all of us dying just so you can get to your hidey-hole. DO NOT jeopardize this by being the non-team player you normally are.”

I felt a flare of rebelliousness flare up inside of me as she said that, but the glare in her eyes told me to shut my mouth. I saw in her eyes a lack of any self-preservation, a determination that meant she would give her life just to keep her friends safe, or her mission from being uncompleted. I tried to glare back, but I just couldn’t do it. I deflated under her gaze and let out a conquered “Yes ma’am.” She nodded curtly and walked out of the room through a door behind me. I could only think of the gaze and how in that moment she looked deadly, steadfast, and determined, but also amazingly loving.

I really wanted to be one of the reasons her eyes looked like that.