Enlisted

by The_Last_Centurion

Chapter 6

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 6

Warm morning sunlight chased away the chill of the desert night and woke me. At first, I was warm and felt comfortable, a thin, yet warm survival blanket that had been tossed over me slid away from me as I got up, rubbing my eyes. But then the events of the night prior raced up and lunged onto me. I felt my heart shatter again and my eyes become wet as I looked down to the ground and saw Dagger’s spectacles near where I had been sleeping. I felt like screaming, but remembered that there were others still asleep.

On the ground lay Grey Tail, the Blast twins, and the unicorn I had yet to meet. Butterscotch was missing, but I saw that her hoofprints in the sand led off into the distance. She would be back, but I felt like I needed to leave. So, I walked towards the mountain until I crested a large sand dune. I sat at the top and wept my heart out to the world.

Eventually, my sadness left me, leaving me feeling alone and empty. I knew that Dagger was gone and I wished that I could just sit there until the world ended. But as the sun rose higher in the sky and the land around me baked in the sun, I too felt heat. However, the heat came from inside of me. I knew that the Mountain King wasn’t gone and I knew I was the only one who could kill him completely. I stood up, wiping the tears from my face, and I laughed to the heat of the desert and my heart. There was no more fear. I knew what I had to do, but first I had to approach Puck Unit with my decision.

I started to walk, but I heard something very faint on the wind. I turned my head to the direction of the mountain and saw a small opening of a cave, barely discernable, even in the light. I stopped and heard it again: a tune of some sort that sounded eerily familiar. I don’t know what possessed me, but I walked towards it…

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Butterscotch woke earlier than the rest, granted the amount of sleep she had from the night before. The eastern skies were lightening, telling her that the sun was on its way to clearing out the last vestiges of the night. Still, she laid in the sand with her eyes open, just thinking about what had happened already.

Last night, as she cradled the delirious Alder, she started to show her emotions too. Tears of frustration, a rare sight, seeped onto her cheeks. Within days of what should have been a quick and simple mission, a precursor to what she knew would be a long fight that would include the other units of the Lunar Battalion, she had lost one of her “packages” and three good ponies and soldiers. She cursed the Mountain King, but she blamed herself for their deaths. She could have pushed them harder, traveled faster, made the dragon carry them the whole way, something, anything.

But she fretted for naught. Her dear friends, her trusted soldiers were dead. She looked over to Alder’s sleeping form, fretful just as she, and realized he had lost someone just as loved and trusted as she did. Yet, she also remembered what had happened afterwards. While it seemed none of her soldiers could even touch the monster, this civilian pony ripped him to shreds. Just as the Mountain King had done to three of her soldiers and the pony’s brother. She frowned and was reminded, again, of her failure the night earlier.

So, she rose before the sun did, before the rest of her soldiers did. She strode away silently, a whisper of night across the dawn desert. Before the sun rose, she sat down in the darkened clave formed by a sand dune and started to scribble arcane runes in the sand. When she was done drawing a circle about two hooves across with seven smaller divots around the sides, she pulled out a small, polished moonstone and placed it in the center. It started to glow fiercely and the circle reacted, glowing as well. The divots became wells of light and blasted the light upwards at an angle, until they all converged. They formed a large, translucent, silver circle. Shortly, Princess Luna’s tired face appeared on the screen.

“Ma’am.” Butterscotch saluted.

“I expected your situation report last night, Captain.” Luna said with a little grumpiness from not being able to go to bed on time.

Butterscotch winced. “Sorry milady.”

“Apologies accepted. Give me your report.” She said with a sigh and a wave of her hoof.

Butterscotch gulped and felt as her pink eyes grew wide and a little wet with tears. She started her report telling her Princess about everything. First, about the Mountain King. Then, about the dead ones. Then, about Dagger. Then, about their arrival and survival thanks to the magical barrier. Finally, about how she had failed in her duty as a captain over and over.

As she felt herself cry silently, Princess Luna spoke up from her quiet and grim listening.

“Do not cry my Captain.” Luna said evenly. “We all knew the risks, even if they did not seem apparent. This just teaches us to be prepared for this creature at all times. You did well to keep as many ponies alive as possible. It saddens me to hear about Thundershot, Fire Brand, and Zephyr Song, but they died as any Lunar Soldier should: protecting their loved ones by fighting evil. To hear that Dagger died as well is… strange. The necklace that I gave him would teleport him to safety here in the castle if he or his brother ever encountered the Mountain King’s deadly powers, but he never arrived here.” She said with a suspicious look on her face.

“However,” she continued, “We must assume the worst. Also, I have bad news for you.”

“Bad news, milady?”

“Yes. A diplomatic emergency has erupted in Saddle Arabia. Apparently, one of our ambassadors has been sleeping around…” she said as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Nevertheless, my sister and I will be leaving the country for a short while. Our magistrates will be handling everything, but I fear that with what the Mountain King has been doing, our nation is threatened. It pains me to leave at such a time, but it is either this or bad relations with the one of our closest and oldest allies.”

“Don’t worry Princess.” Butterscotch said. “If you saw how the Mountain King died last night, I doubt you would worry. How long did it take him to reform himself last time? A few generations?”

“Thank you for trying to quell my fears.” Luna said with a sleepy smile. “But the threat persists…Because of that my sister and I have stationed the majority of the Solar Guard and five of the Lunar Battalions in Canterlot. Phobos is leading the other units and that only leaves the last of Puck Unit and all of Proteus Unit. If the need arises, they are currently stationed in Manehatten.”

Butterscotch groaned. “Couldn’t you call them in for guard duty and put some other unit, like Charon out in the field? They’re always helpful.”

Luna smiled knowingly. “No, Proteus stays. I know they can be hard to get along with and they are very..." she paused, trying to find the right word, "flippant, but they are also the most adaptable out of all the Units. They might not always look or act like a Unit should, but they are some of the best…”

“When they want to be.” Butterscotch deadpanned, making Luna laugh.

“Exactly. Now excuse me, Captain, but I need to take care of some matters before retire. Good morning, Captain.”

“Good morning and goodbye Milady.” Butterscotch said with a sad sigh as the moonstone dimmed and the communications portal disappeared. She picked up the stone and wiped the circle away, noticing it had become decently light out. The sun had risen during her report with Princess Luna and she knew that the rest of them would be awake. While she walked towards their position with a heavy heart, she was also filled with resolve. She would finish this mission without any more unexpected trials and would be the captain she needed to be.

“Where’s Alder?” she asked Grey Tail as she reached them.

He simply shrugged his shoulders sleepily and Butterscotch facehoofed. She was about to reprimand the timberwolf for not noticing he had wandered off earlier, as she just saw his hoofprints in the sand, but then some unexpected trial occurred: she heard a loud shout coming from the direction of the mountain.

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The strange music pulled me into the cave in a dim lull. I wondered what, and more importantly who, could be out here. My body tensed as I thought it could be the Mountain King again and I instinctively connected to the earth, my magic ready for use in a moment’s notice. But I felt no ill-will like I always had with the Mountain King. Instead, I felt something stronger, something older, something wild. I went deeper into the shrinking cave, squeezing between rocks and steeping on capricious footings until the walls opened and I gasped at the sight.

I walked into a dimly lit, yet majestic, glen. The rocky walls were filled with the green of growing moss and ivies, a few trees littering around the only sources of light-open crevices in the ceiling-and I saw a small babbling brook snake its way through the verdant floor. The stream came out from between a few rocks at one side of the glen, crossing it with a gentle happiness, and then departing from sight down yet another crack in the stone. However, steam rose from this crack. I connected with the earth and was surprised to find that this mountain was actually a volcano and that I should have been standing in its caldera. But something had changed the mountain to what they willed. Something or someone who could shift the earth just like I.

The calming quiet of the small alcove became a dreadful silence as I felt like I was being watched. My magic raced through the earth, feeling around like tendrils, and I knew something else was in here with me. I also remembered the music that initially brought me into here and I knew that whatever, or whoever, was in here was at least sentient. Or so I hoped.

“W…who’s in here?” I asked, my voice a-tremble as I readied to protect myself with my magic. Nothing but silence answered my question, but I still knew that there was something else in the room with me. So, I walked around, investigating what I could, my fear starting to lessen as I did simple tasks like flipping rocks and looking at certain rocks for details.

I found nothing. There were no clues of who could have been in here. In fact, it felt like me finding this whole place was just a fluke. But I still wondered…who could have made this place? Who would wield so much power? And why was that faint whisper of a song so familiar?

My eyes widened as I remembered the song. I couldn’t name it, nor could I place where I heard it first, but I remembered it. I knew the rest of it. So, I started whistling. It wasn’t a long tune, nor did it carry much depth, but it struck me. For some reason, I could feel a deep pain within me. It reminded me of Dagger’s death. Tears started to drip from my eyes as I finished this unknown song. I sunk to the ground and felt myself start to sob again.

“There is no need for that.” Said a motherly voice in my ear. I jumped back and whipped my head over to where I heard the voice. There was nothing there. I took a deep breath and shook my head. It was just my nerves. I stood up and realized that it was time for me to leave this place; it was messing with my head. I turned around and then my eyes grew wide. I screamed loudly as I saw another monster standing in entrance of the alcove.

It was covered in leaves, moss, and other natural camouflage. Its face was elongated and drawn out; dead eyes looking straight into my soul and bloodied fangs hanging from its mouth. A darkness seemed to present itself around the freak and I knew that it was what I had known to be in the alcove earlier. It must have been watching, lying in wait, and ready to kill me whenever it chose was a good time. That time had come.

I shifted the earth with my magic, the creature unmoving until two large slabs of rock raced at it. Then it simply raised a limb covered in the same forest-like skin and the rocks smashed into it. My jaw dropped as I saw that its limb had cut through the earth like it was warm butter. I started to back up, the walking towards me to lunge while I was scared. But then it did something unexpected. It raised its limbs to its face and grabbed it. In a sickening scene, it ripped it off, only to leave me even more dumbfounded.

As the impossibly well-made mask fell to the ground, I was left staring into the eyes of an amused Zebra. Her eyes shone amber and there was not only strength, but love within them. I gaped as she pulled the rest of her costume off, the “skin” falling off of her body and instantly becoming one with the floor of the alcove, all by her will. Her long black-streaked-white, or white-streaked-black, mane fell around her shoulders, individual curls twining themselves around her ears, shoulders, neck. Around her neck was a golden necklace that held three things: a medicine pouch, a strange medallion inscribed with heavy magicks, and a moonstone. I immediately knew that this was the pony that Luna sent me out to.

“W…who are you?” I asked, still dazed by the sudden paradigm shift in my psyche.

She opened her smiling lips to answer, but Grey came howling into the alcove, the rest of the unit on his heels. He lunged at the zebra and she just only managed to dodge his sudden attack. However, she didn’t see the Blast brothers. They tackled her to the ground and held her there…for a moment.

In a tumble, they rolled around on the ground, Grey jumping into the fray, I screaming to stop, Butterscotch trying to solve what was going on, and the unknown unicorn sitting on the ground, his horn lit up and a semi-interested look in his eyes.

But then the melee broke apart, both the Blast brothers being flung into the only tree in the alcove and Grey Tail being thrown back, bounding on the ground once before regaining his footing and snarling at the zebra. His growl lost a little volume as he saw the zebra that had just thrown him off of her. Her eyes were not narrowed, but there was a fire within them that blazed in the light of battle. Her smile grew wide as she stepped into a shaft of light pouring down from the ceiling. Her whole body shined in the light and I gasped as I saw it. It looked like a moving, breathing armor, but it was her skin. She had not cast any spell I could feel; she had just become that way.

Yet, Grey wasn’t daunted. He rushed her with a howl and slashed her repeatedly, his claws making sparks fly as they contacted her metallic skin. Soon, his emotions took over and he became nothing more than a blur of fur and sparks on the mare’s skin. I could hear howls infused with cosmic energy bombarding the zebra and the reflected magical energy pushed Butterscotch, the unicorn, and I back. I looked around in fear that somepony would be hurt and something rose up inside of me. It wasn’t as silly as the anger I felt when my food was taken from me, but just as powerful.

“STOP!” I screamed, my magic convulsing through the earth and air, separating the timberwolf and zebra a small distance. Butterscotch acted in a flash of platinum mane and bright yellow coat, dashing into the space between the two fighters, halting their battle.

“Stop.” I reiterated. “This is who Luna wanted us to meet.” I said, pointing a hoof to the sinisterly smiling zebra.

Grey glared at her. “I can see the moonstone around her neck, but are you sure this isn’t some imposter? Some sort of test the master of this place would put forth to challenge us?”

The zebra and the unicorn both laughed.

“If I were a ‘test’ you would have failed it, puppy-dog.” The Zebra chided with mirth in her eyes, the metallic sheen fading from her skin. Grey growled at the rebuke, but stayed where he was.

“Yeah, Grey. You’re way too suspicious. Sometimes things are just what they are.” He said as he stood up and strode over to the tree where the Blast twins were still stuck. He helped them down with two bolts of magic to their rumps, sending them crashing down through the branches of the tree and into the hard embrace of the earth below.

“Ow.” The moaned in unison.

“Captain Butterscotch, Captain of Puck Unit of the Lunar Battalion.” Butterscotch said to the zebra mare, putting out a hoof in a sign of friendship.

The zebra eyed it with a mischievous look that faded slightly as she took it and shook Butterscotch’s leg until it almost fell off. “I’m Circe, witch of Mt. Purgitorio and the last of the Zambaru tribe.” As she said her name, I could feel magic seep out of her rune-filled medallion and it overcame me.

Suddenly, my vision dimmed, time slowed, and I could see an astral projection of the zebra floating around in the air above my head. While she may have worn nothing in the real world, her astral body was wearing heavy bits of tribal armor. She smiled down at me and I rose, leaving my body. She pulled me into the air and laughed at my form. I was able to see myself in the reflection on her armor and I was wary about what I saw. My body was made of stone, my eyes were golden flames, my mane a wisp of storm cloud, and my tail a whip of water. I looked to my cutie mark, a seven-sided star, and found it to be leaking a strangely strong, golden light.

“Don’t look so glum.” Circe said, floating around my head, her armor sounding like chimes in the wind. “It might be a shock, but that’s you.”

“But…”

“No ‘buts.’ If you don’t like who you are, change it. That’s not your problem though. You’re scared of yourself.” The zebra said sagely, her cutie mark, a large spider, aglow in the darkened world we resided in.

“What?” I asked her. Like she was taunting me, she smiled and mysteriously sailed over towards her body, the room slowly returning to normal light, my form becoming heavier and heavier.

“We’ll talk later. I just wanted to see who you were. Now I know why Luna sent you to me.” She simply said as we were brought back to the real world. It all happened so fast, I barely even understood what had just happened. Yet, I knew that this zebra was more than just powerful…she was cunning too. I could tell she had her own agenda, but what?

“Yeah, yeah…” Circe cut off whatever Butterscotch was saying. “We can talk up in my house.” She said as she lightly walked over to the tree, past where the twins were arguing with the unicorn I still didn’t know, and straight against the rock wall behind it. She tapped it lightly and with her strange magical influence, it melted away like molten gold, opening up to a path that led back outside. However, as we all followed her in single file, it was apparent that the outside of this mountain was not what it seemed from further away. We rose, the temperature and humidity rising with us, until we reached a small plateau and the end of our climbing, winding path.

I gasped as I saw what laid ahead of me. In the middle of the desert, a land of aridity and golden brown earth, there rose a mountain on which a jungle thrived. The humidity and the swampy heat of the jungle, not to mention all the sounds of the mountainous and jungle life mingling, weighed upon my back, furthering my disbelief. Yet, I could see even further up the mountain, the jungle growing up the side of the mountain with large waterfalls draping into the green every so often. At the top of the mountain, the green receded and the dusky, ashy grey coated the summit as shimmering heat waves rose from the top, visible even from where I was standing.

“Welcome to the Holt.” Circe said with a smile.