Chapter 5: Arrow Vale
Chapter 5: Arrow Vale
“Spiderweb?” Captain Runeward inquired with a bemused raise of one thick eyebrow.
“I know it sounds odd, sir,” said Coldiron, who stood at rigid attention next to Trixie and Coco. The trio were meeting with the aged Captain in his office, the morning after their strange discovery, “There isn’t much else I can think of to describe what we found. The strands were sticky, yet silky, near exactly what it feels like to touch a normal spider’s webbing, only these strands were the size of a coil of solid rope.”
“I see. And you found nothing else?”
“No sir. We made a thorough sweep of the area and even double checked other areas of the fort, but we didn’t find anything else out of the ordinary,” Coldiron said in a clipped, steady tone, “I made sure to inform the head of the nightly watch before making my report to Sergeant Counter Charge. “
“Hmm,” Runeward turned his steady gaze onto Trixie and Coco, “And which of you was it that first claimed to have seen something?”
Coco hesitated a moment before coming forward, doing her best to stand at proper attention, “That would be me, um, sir. I’m certain I saw a shadowy shape moving around the wall of the fort, and I’m certain that whatever I saw it wasn’t a pony… oh, uh, sir.”
At her bashful look Runeward merely raised a hoof, “At ease. While I compliment your enthusiastic vigilance I think this is merely a case of stress and jitters.”
Coldiron’s eyes flickered with a hint of anxiety as she said, “Sir, whether recruit Pommel saw anything or not, those strands we found are real. You could examine them yourself if you want.”
“I already have,” he said, standing and slowly walking around his desk to stand before the three mares, “While I admit it does look much like spiderweb I see no reason for concern. It might very well be the webbing of a spider, but merely several normal ones forming a collective web. If there were spiders out there that were abnormally large you’d think the Legion would have encountered them by now, after all.”
Coldiron grimaced, not sure if she should bring up what she was thinking. It’d sound ridiculous and would make her sound like a scared foal… but she couldn't help herself. Her intuition said there was something more to this than just a few normal spiders happening to weave an unusual web, and though she’d only known Coco a short time she found she also trusted that mare’s intuition as well. She didn’t think Coco had been seeing mere shadows. Besides, this reminded her of something from long ago.
“Sir, permission to speak freely?” she asked.
“Of course,” he replied with a warm, grandfatherly smile.
“While you may well be right and this is nothing, I don’t think we should dismiss this. There’s… well I’m sure you’ve heard the old stories of the Lurkers in the Woods,” she began, and Runeward laughed.
“Those tales? Mere campfire fancy. Horror stories to keep foals in their beds. A Legionnaire should not concern herself with imaginary terrors, as we’ve enough real ones to deal with without our imaginations adding to our number of foes.”
“Excuse me,” said Trixie suddenly, “But Trixie has seen a giant star bear that she thought was just a story come to life in front of her once, and it smashed her wagon like kindling. Sometimes stories have a bad way of coming true…er, sir?”
Runeward cast a stony look Trixie’s way, which did cause her to flinch, but she held the old stallion’s stare, and eventually he turned back to Coldiron, “Are you proposing, Corporal, that there may be some truth to the old tales of the monsters that haunt the woods of the Western Barrier Lands?”
“I don’t know sir. I only know that the stories never specifically state what the Lurkers in the Woods are, only that they’re deadly, unseen shadows that snatch the unwary sentry or the wandering foal. Anypony who wanders too far from hearth or platoon in the dead of night, who finds themselves alone with only the dark trees as company… well the Lurkers come and take them away. There have been incidents…”
“Rare,” Runeward said, “Every now and again a sentry might go missing or a pony from a village might vanish, but that could easily be attributed to ursan raids, or even ponies getting lost in the woods and dying of exposure. We don’t need shadowy monsters to account for such rare missing ponies.”
“True, but…” Coldiron trailed off as she wrestled with her memory. It’d been so long ago, and her sense of pride didn’t want to make her sound like a frightened foal in front of her commanding officer, but she had seen something, once.
“When I was young,” she began, “Just a year before I joined the Legion, I actually did get lost outside Arrow Vale. I’d gone looking for some berries to help my father make a special pie for when mother would come home from leave, but the berry bushes I normally picked had already been picked clean by others, so I had to range further afield than I had before. I ended up losing track of where I was. It turned dark before I could find any landmarks to find my way back home. I spent the night out there, in the forest just south of the town. That night I… well I know this will sound like the scared imaginings of a young pony, but I swear I saw something. I had been looking for shelter and came upon a cave, only this cave… well it was covered in strands almost identical to the ones we found last night by the wall. Before I went in I heard a skittering noise, and I saw eyes…”
Coldiron shook her head, shivering a but at the memory, “Gleaming eyes, eight of them. I ran, of course. I didn’t look back, I just ran, for half the night. When morning came I found myself not far from the road between here and Arrow Vale and used it to get back home. Father was furious, but also relieved to have me back, and I didn’t bother telling the story of the cave. Didn’t want to embarrass myself further.”
Runeward nodded slowly, “A chilling account. Are you saying then, that you believe the tales of the Lurkers? That there are giant spiders that hide in the forests of the Western Barrier Lands, and that we just haven’t had any solid accounts, bodies found, or violent encounters between Legion soldiers and this spiders, despite constant patrols against the ursans?”
Coldiron sighed, “I’m sorry sir, I know it sounds crazy. I suppose if there really were giant spiders out there we would have found them by now.”
“Unless they were intentionally staying hidden and avoiding contact,” said Trixie with a shrug, “It’s not hard to obscure the truth from an audience with the right tricks up your sleeves, and what species could be better at hiding than spiders? Trixie thinks this bears further investigation.”
“Noted, recruit, but we have more immediate and real problems to deal with,” said Runeward, going back behind his desk and sitting down, “Now aside from wishing to hear your own personal account of last night I called you in here, specifically you Corporal Coldiron, because I have a mission for you.”
Coldiron immediately forgot her own doubts concerning the veracity of her own story and the events of last night and stood more stiffly, “Sir.”
“Since Beartrap Fortress is lacking in proper forces to withstand an attack I’ve been considering methods to boost our chances. Reinforcements from the more southern forts will be a long time in arriving, but it is possible a closer source of help can be found. Specifically your own hometown, Arrow Vale. I want you to assemble a small squad from the Heartlander recruits and proceed to the town. I want you to use both your own connection to the town and the example of our Heartlander draftees to see if you can convince any volunteers from the town to come to the fort to aid in its defense.”
Coldiron was quiet for a moment. She had not been home since her last leave the previous year, and the thought of seeing her father and older brother again warmed her, but she also felt a stab of worry. The citizens of Arrow Vale were a hearty, tough folk, and certainly were brave… but Coldiron knew well how stubborn the ponies of her hometown could be. If there was one thing an Arrow Vale pony hated, it was being told what to do. Really kind of a miracle any of them joined the Legion, but then again her father was a native of the town while her mother had been from elsewhere, only marrying her father after Arrow Vale had been protected from an ursan raid. She’d joined the Legion to honor her mother, and her father had actually… well he hadn’t necessarily liked the decision.
“I will carry out this mission to the best of my abilities, sir,” she said finally.
“Very good. I look forward to having more ponies like you here at the fort, Corporal,” Runeward said with a salute, which Coldiron, Trixie, and Coco returned, the latter two somewhat awkwardly.
Outside his office was just a short jaunt down some stairs to the bottom of the inner keep of the fort, which was a large central hall lined with arrow slits for side chambers that could be used to create a bottleneck in the event of an enemy breaking through the keep’s sturdy main doors. Once the mares were outside Coldiron paused, glancing back at Coco and Trixie.
“I need to get a squad together of you Heartlanders,” she told to the two, “Squad size varies by its task, but a loose number is four to five. I… well, I’ll be blunt. Lulamoon, I may not like you, but I acknowledge you have some skill. Pommel, you’re perhaps the only Heartlander I’ve met so far that I’d fully trust at my back in a fight. So if you two are willing I’d like you both to be part of this squad.”
Trixie blinked, surprised. Coldiron didn’t blame her. Just the other day Trixie had been at Coldiron’s throat over Legion training methods and Coldiron’s remarks over the Heartlander’s cutie marks; marks that the ponies of the Legion lacked because they hadn’t grown up under the field of Celestia’s special magic. Coldiron also suspected Trixie carried no small amount of resentment towards the Legion over the draft itself. But ultimately that didn’t matter to Coldiron. As she’d said, she didn’t like Trixie, but she’d be a fool to ignore the other unicorn’s skill with magic, even if it wasn’t focused on the traditional evocation spells favored by the Legion. Trixie had shown she could form an array, even with just one other unicorn, and that was a skill Coldiron could use.
As for Coco, Coldiron had seen the mare kill an ursan in her first battle. Coco seemed mild mannered, but there was a burning flame inside her that Coldiron found admirable. They’d both make good Legionnaires, given time, and if she had to form of squad from the draftee’s both of these mares were first picks in Coldiron’s view.
“I…” Trixie stammered, then caught herself, holding her head high, “Trixie supposes she can lend you her impressive talents, since you’ve so humbly requested her help. Though Trixie is surprised you bother asking. Isn't it more akin to Legion practice to command instead of ask.”
Coldiron sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, “I could make it an order, if you’d prefer, but I’m trying to meet you halfway here, Lulamoon. We don’t have to like each other but I want us to be able to work together, if for no other reason than so that we both better serve the Legion.”
Trixie seemed to consider that for a moment, let out a small snort, but nodded, “Very well, Trixie can… accept that.”
Coldiron turned her eyes to Coco, “And you, Pommel?”
“I’d be happy to be a part of your squad, Coldiron,” Coco said, tilting her head in a small nod, her eyes closing with a gentle smile.
“Good to hear,” Coldiron said, glancing away as she thought, “I don’t know who else to pick, though. We need at least one more pony for a minimum sized squad...”
A faint voice called out from across the fort, “Hey! Guys! Trixie!”
Coldiron, apparently not hearing the voice, kept talking to herself, “Ideally a pegasus, to round out the squad with somepony who can scout ahead…”
“Look at me, I’m out of the hospital!” cried the voice, and Trixie and Coco exchanged looks as they watched the pegasus mare who was making the racket flying at them while Coldiron continued to talk to herself.
“I’d at least want a mare I knew could handle herself and not panic if we ran into ursans again.”
“Ahem,” Trixie cleared her throat and pointed, causing Coldiron to finally break out of her musings and look over her shoulder, just in time to duck as Blossomforth buzzed overhead.
Blossomforth adjusted her flight rapidly, twisting her body in an almost impossible looking angle as she halted mid-air, flipped around, and hovered upside down in front of the other three mares.
“Hiya guys!”
Trixie smiled, “Good to see you’re doing so well. That stuffy doctor let you out, then?”
“Oh, you mean Quick Needle? He’s not stuffy, he’s nice! Said I was all healed up, and with that magic of his I really do feel one hundred percent better!”
As if to prove it Blossomforth did another aerial flip, twisting and contorting her legs in a manner that made Coldiron at once feel a tad queasy and a tad… embarrassed. Flexibility like that could be an asset in a lot of… situations. Coldiron did not the slight wince on Blossomforth’s features after she was done with her flip, though. Coldiron had met this mare last night once the report on finding the sticky strands had finished, though the visit had been brief on Quick Needle’s insistence.
“You do seem well,” Coldiron said, “And I trust Quick Needle’s judgment. If he says you’re clear for duty then I won’t question it.”
Trixie was giving her a strange look, blinking at her, then flicking her eyes towards Blossomforth, then waggling her eyebrows. Coldiron frowned, hoping she’d never have to rely on this mare using Legion hoof signals. Still, she got the gist of what Trixie was suggesting.
“Recruit Blossomforth, if you’re feeling well, perhaps you’re up for a mission?”
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The road to Arrow Vale was half frozen in the cold morning air as the four mares left Beartrap Fortress’ east gate. Each carried full saddlebags of provisions and gear, and were appropriately armed and armored for the trip. Coco Pommel didn’t feel right in the full chain-mail suit she’d been given to wear, the fine iron chain links much heavier than the recruit leather’s she’d been wearing before, and the links kept getting caught in her coat. Even heavier was the arrangement on her back. A thick leather harness connected the large crossbow on her back, which actually poked somewhat over her right shoulder with its tip. A brass monocle-like arrangement extended from the side and upwards, a crude sight for the weapon. On her left hip was a huge quiver filled with the bolts the crossbow fired, large shafts of wood tipped with wicked iron spikes.
“I’d be more comfortable with a sword,” she said before they’d reached the treeline to the east.
“It can’t be helped,” Coldiron said, “The claymore you used in the fight wasn’t yours, but scavenged off of one of our dead, and has already been assigned to another Legionnaire. Those blades are in short supply at the fort already, but we’ve plenty of the heavy crossbows. You need to get used to the weapon anyway, since you’ll be using it regularly from now on. I know you can handle a sword alright, and I’ll be the first to vouch for you when the time comes to assign you to proper field squads so you can be part of a claymore unit, but for now just learn to be comfortable with that crossbow.”
“I think it looks kind of cool,” said Blossomforth as she flew alongside them. She was wearing light leather armor, a bit thicker than the recruit coat, and carried a spear as she had during the fight days ago, “Way cooler than a spear, but I guess normal crossbows don’t work good on them ursans.”
“At least you two get useful weapons,” Trixie muttered, “Trixie only gets this silly dagger. What good will that be against those terrible bear monsters?”
“The dagger is more a tool than a weapon,” Coldiron said, “A sword doesn't do a unicorn much good against an ursan, unless you’re strong enough with magic to hold a claymore, and if you’re that strong in magic you’re better off using spells in an array than trying to fight an ursan in melee. In the Legion we fight as a unit, each pony doing their part. It’s not about glory.”
Trixie rolled her eyes, “Trixie isn’t interested in Legion glory either. She just wants a backup in case her powerful magic happens to not be enough to keep an ursan away.”
“In that case you’re best bet is to run,” Coldiron said simply, “Unless there’s nowhere to run to, in which case, perhaps you can annoy the ursan to death with your banal tone.”
“C’mon guys, no fighting,” said Blossomforth, “It’s a beautiful day. Let’s enjoy the walk!”
“We need to be alert,” said Coldiron, “Remember that there could easily be ursans out here. Blossomforth, I want you to stick just above the treeline. Not too high that you can be spotted, but high enough that you can range ahead for trouble.”
“Right, right, on it,” Blossomforth said and flew ahead a bit, skimming the top of the trees as she kept about fifty paces ahead of the other three.
Coco Pommel watched her go, sort of sympathizing. It was a nice day. Cold, but with a clear blue sky of pure azure above, with nary a cloud in sight to mar it. Clestia’s sun had risen just above the east horizon and was bathing the land in its warm, golden glow. Coco reflected that where this a, well, ‘normal’ day back home she’d have been up for an hour or two by now taking care of morning chores, and would have been taking a breakfast break at a local café and enjoying the morning buzz of Manehattan before going to Suri’s shop for another day’s work. Peaceful, quiet… no threat of horrible monsters, bear shaped or otherwise, that might tear her or her friends to pieces.
She’d thought she had it rough dealing with Suri’s trying personality. Right now Coco would’ve given anything to be back in Manehatten getting yelled at by her often unpleasant boss. But then again she now knew that if she was back home living her peaceful life there’d still be ponies out here fighting and dying to protect her.
Coco Pommel didn’t think it was right, or fair, but she wanted to do what she could to make the wrongness of this strange new world right. It seemed crazy, because she’d heard these wars with the ursans, the wolf-like wolven to the north, and the reptilian ophidian’s to the south, had been going on for a long time, since even before Princess Luna’s decent into Nightmare Moon. How could she, just one little seamstress from Manehattan hope to end a cycle that’d been going on for more than a thousand years?
But that was what she hoped for. That hope helped keep her legs strong as she trotted alongside Coldiron and Trixie, and kept her alert as she watched for danger amid the tall pine trees that surrounded the road they trotted upon.
She practiced working the loading mechanism on her crossbow as they walked. It was a little awkward but she found she could easily enough reach a bolt and set it in the loading slot with just some bending of her neck. The crank to pull back the bow itself was mounted on a apparatus on her chest. Once a bolt was loaded she just had to reach down and work the crank with her mouth, three quick turns, to properly set the bolt. Then it was just a matter of aiming with the monocle that she could flip out to hover in front of her face and hit the trigger on the right side of the crossbow with her hoof to fire.
She had to admit it was impressive somepony had invented such a weapon. The Royal Guard back home just used normal spears. Coco’s spirit dampened a bit when she thought that it was unfortunate somepony had to invent a weapon like this.
“Coldiron,” she asked, many hours into their trek, “Why do they do it? The ursans, and the others. Why do they fight the Legion?”
Coldiron glanced at her, and Trixie gave her an interested look. Coldiron grimaced, her brown mane bristling slightly.
“The reasons differ,” the Legion mare said, “The wolven are predators through and through, and hunt ponies purely for the sake of food. They don’t care that what they hunt are intelligent creatures, wolven consider all other forms of life simply prey. The ophidians are an empire of slavers. They capture ponies not for food, though they indulge in our flesh when it suits them, but rather to have slaves to build their cities, serve in their palaces, and fight, race, and compete for their amusement. There are entire families of ponies who have been born, bred, and raised as slaves in the ophidian lands. As for the ursans…”
She spat, a dark glower on her features, “They fight for the least reason of all. Ursans crave battle. It’s in their blood. They fight because it’s what’s in their nature. If they didn’t fight us, they’d fight each other. They don’t even try to hold territory, or plunder goods. They just kill, for the sake of the killing.”
It wasn’t what Coco had hoped to hear. She thought back to the ursan attack, and the rage boiled inside her. She’d hoped somewhere in her heart that there’d been some kind of reason for such violence, for so many ponies to die horribly. To think that the ursans did it just for… the fun of it? It simply added to the pressure of hot anger inside her that she tried hard to keep from showing on her face.
“Hmph, I somehow doubt that’s true,” said Trixie, suddenly. Coldiron turned a sharp look towards the other unicorn.
“What makes you think that, Lulamoon? You think I don’t know ursans? I’ve fought them most my life.”
“I don’t doubt you believe what you say,” said Trixie, “There is probably some truth to it as well. However if the ursans were so mindlessly violent then they couldn’t even work together. As you said, they’d fight each other, probably to extinction. Trixie knows well how the truth can be a subjective thing. It stands to reason the ursans have reasons to fight that go beyond simply a need to fight. Though if it was… well, that could prove useful in and of itself.”
“What are you prattling about?” Coldiron asked.
“Simply that if ursans just want to fight, then why not get them to fight someone other than the Legion?” asked Trixie, “Like, say, these wolven you speak of? You’d think it’d be easy enough to just say ‘Hey, you like to fight? Well here’s a whole bunch of wolf things that just love to eat ponies, so maybe you can do us a favor and come fight them? We’ll even pack your bags for the trip!’”
Coldiron snorted, “As if we hadn’t tried diplomacy before. If it was as easy as just talking to them don’t you think we’d have done it by now?”
“Have you ever seriously tried?” asked Trixie.
“In case you weren’t paying attention, Lulamoon, our last encounter with ursans didn’t leave much room for dialogue! That’s how every encounter with ursans go. Now be quiet. We’re making too much noise as it is.”
The conversation petered out and Coco regretted she’d brought the topic up, but it’d been eating at her since the battle. She desperately wanted there to be some kind of sensible reason for all of this, or to feel justified in her growing… ill will towards the ursans. She didn’t even want to admit that it was hatred that was starting to take root in her. Justified or not, Coco didn’t want that feeling inside her. But it was there, and it was growing.
They walked through the entire day, passing through the craggy hills near the fort into a large, wide valley. The forest here was thinner, broken up by patches of thick, tall grass, and rocky hillocks. Coldiron somewhat relaxed, as once they were out of the thick forests the terrain became less suitable for ambush and Blossomforth’s ability to see the land around them increased tenfold. The road winded about a bit more between the hillocks, but none were very tall. In the far, distant east Coco could see the smaller chain of mountains that separated the Barrier Lands from the Heartland. Beyond them was Equestria. She wondered how things were going there.
They saw the occasional distant smoke trail in the sky, which Coldiron explained were from the farmsteads that dotted this area. Apparently her father ran such a farmstead, closer to Arrow Vale itself. The town was still a day away, and they likely wouldn’t reach it until the next morning, which meant camping out here in the valley lands.
After hearing Coldiron’s story about the Lurkers in the Woods and what she’d seen last night Coco wasn’t keen on spending the night out in the open, but she supposed that with three other armed mares with her she shouldn’t need to worry. Still, her nervousness increased as the daylight faded and the sun dipped behind the much larger mountains to the west, bathing the world in murky purple shades of twilight.
Blossomforth flew down to the group, wiping some sweat off her brow as she landed, folding her wings against her sides.
“Alright, getting dark enough that I can’t see much of anything, so hope you don’t mind me coming down, boss lady,” Blossomforth said with a tired smile.
“It’s Corporal, and yes, its fine, I was just about to call you down,” Coldiron said, her eyes surveying the area around them, “We’ll set up camp soon. That copse of trees ought to do.”
She nodded towards a collection of a score or so of pines hugging a low hillock to the right of the right, less than a hundred paces ahead. Coco thought it looked a tad… dark and ominous, but she didn’t question Coldiron. Trixie, on the other hoof…
“Wouldn’t it be easy for something to sneak up on us from those trees?” asked Trixie.
“Yes, but it’s just as easy for us to use it to hide from view. It’ll keep the light of our campfire from being seen, mostly.”
“What about the smoke?” asked Blossomorth.
“There’s a method to make a fire that won’t give off much smoke,” Coldiron said, “I’ll show you recruits how, as it’s an invaluable skill for survival.”
The type of fire in question apparently involved the digging of two separate pits, connected by a small tunnel filled with brush that filtered out smoke from the spit with the fire to the other pit that let out a thinner, harder to spot smoke. Especially at night this thinner smoke trail would be all but impossible to spot. The four of them sat around the shallow fire pit after Trixie and Coco had gathered wood and Coldiron and Blossomforth had dug the pits. Dinner consisted of hard bread, cheese, and some dry vegetables. Hardly a juicy carrot-dog with mustard that Coco loved so much from the street vendors in Manehattan, but after a long day of walking the food went down so fast she hardy recalled eating.
“Well, what’d you girls chat about while I was busy watching the horizon for marauding bears?” asked Blossomforth, and at the sullen looks the pegasus mare chuckled sheepishly, “Bracing conversation was it? Right, so to lighten the mood we can swap cutie mark stories…”
At the glaring looks that Coldiron and Trixie exchanged at that Blossomforth gulped and said, “Or not… uhhh… well, Corporal, what’s your hometown like?”
Coldiron’s tension didn’t entirely dissipate but Coco saw the mare seem to take hold of herself and visibly clam, “It’s probably the largest community in the northernmost region of the Western Barrier Lands, with somewhere around five hundred ponies living in the town proper and easily a few hundred more living among the scattered farmsteads and smaller hamlets that could be considered part of the township. It’s headed by a mayor, currently Straight Lace, whose family has held that position for generations. The townsfolk are a tough lot, and heavily attached to their land and families. If the ursans come through here in force, Arrow Vale will fight hard for their land and won’t likely evacuate even if ordered to by the Legion.”
“Hehehe,” Blossomforth laughed, and quickly held up her hooves in a placating gesture at Coldiron’s hard look, “Sorry, sorry, I’m not laughing at you. It’s just, I mean, that’s kind of a dry description of your hometown. Don’t you have any stories about the place?”
“Not… really. Not anything that’s really what I think you’re looking for anyway,” said Coldiron, looking away, “I haven’t lived there in years, and there really isn’t much for me to say. Our mission is to seek volunteers to fight at Beartrap Fortress. I don’t see how telling you any stories about my foalhood there is going to help with that. To be honest I’m not expecting much from this. We might get a few ponies willing to join, but not many.”
Trixie laughed dryly at that, “Why not just draft them, if you want them to fight so badly? Isn't that what you did to us?”
Coldiron’s eyes briefly narrowed, but then she just solemnly nodded, “If Beartrap Fortress had the means I don’t doubt that Captain Runeward would have ordered a draft issued on Arrow Vale. The simple fact is, though, we don’t have the means to enforce a draft if we did issue one. The fort just doesn't have enough Legionnaires to spare for that. The Captain is hoping that diplomatic approach you were talking about earlier will work better.”
Trixie looked as if she was chewing on something sour as she lay down fully, propping her head on her folded forelegs, “Trixie sees. How lucky for the ponies of Arrow Vale they’ll have the luxury of choice, then.”
“Trixie, I don’t think is that simple,” said Blossomforth, “These ponies are in just as much danger as we are because of the ursans. I wouldn’t really call this choice a luxury. It’s either fight at the fort, or fight at the town. Either way they’re stuck fighting.”
A soft sigh escaped Trixie and a wince crossed her features, “Fine, fine, Trixie is sorry to have brought it up.”
“You know, I’ve been kind of curious,” said Coco, looking over at Coldiron, “The Legion has an alicorn ruler, right? Prince Terrato? Umm, why hasn’t he just taken care of all these horrible creatures that keep threatening ponies?”
The expression that came over Coldiron’s face was one of a mother having to explain the facts of life to a filly or colt who was just getting old enough to ask embarrassing questions. She rubbed one gray hoof on her chin in thought before saying, “The problem with the Prince trying to fight alongside the Legion is that, well, he did in the distant past. And it caused horrific casualties, on both sides of the battles. The reason for this that the ursans, wolven, and ophidians have their own incredibly powerful rulers whose strength match the Prince’s. When he would clash with these otherworldly titans the destruction was immense, and because he was so evenly matched with any one of them, he could never guarantee victory. The Prince created a… a agreement o sorts with the rulers of the other races to personally remain out of the conflicts as long as they too did not become personally involved in the battles. It’s been that way for generations. The Prince does sometimes direct a campaign, but by and large he leaves the day to day operations of the Legion to us mortal ponies.”
Trixie looked like she was about to say something, apparently thought better of it, and laid her head back down. Coco on the other hoof was still curious.
“Okay, I suppose that kind of makes sense, but… but if there are three alicorns in the world, Prince Terrato, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, then why didn’t all three of them fight together to defeat these other rulers? If the Prince could match any one of them, like you said, then couldn’t he, along with the Princesses, completely overwhelm any one of these other rulers?”
Coldiron’s visage darkened, and she stared at the fire pit, “And there, Pommel, is exactly where some of the Legion’s long held ire for the Heartland comes from. Because you’re right. If Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had stood side by side with their brother against the rulers of the other races, they probably could have prevented generations of war. The Legion would not have needed to exist. But Princess Celestia was… unwilling to fight. According to our lore she detested bloodshed so much she refused to fight, despite the Prince’s urging, and it was Princess Celestia that created the Heartland, taking a number of Chosen ponies to live inside her magical barrier… and leaving my ancestors to fight on, alone.”
Trixie this time didn’t remain silent, “Sounds a bit like propaganda to Trixie. Perhaps it was your Prince Terrato that started the battles with these other races in the first place? Perhaps any chance Princess Celestia or Luna would have had to resolve things peacefully was ruined by a warmongering brother?”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Coldiron spat.
“Oh, and Trixie’s supposes you were there yourself? You saw it all happen with your own eyes?”
“Please, girls, no more arguing,” Blossomforth said, “Does it really matter what happened way back when? Whoever was at fault doesn’t change what we have to deal with now, which is getting a good night’s sleep so we can carry out our mission tomorrow morning.”
Coldiron flicked her tail once with clear irritation, but relented, “Yes, yes you’re right. I’ll take first watch. You recruits get some sleep. I’ll wake one of you in two hours to take your watch.”
“Trixie will volunteer,” Trixie said, “She is used to long nights and uneven sleep patterns.”
Coldiron hesitated a moment before nodding in acknowledgment, “Very well. Sleep well, recruits.”
Coco and the others got out thick blankets from their backs and sleeping bags. The night had gotten quite cold despite the fire and all of them were shivering a little as they settled in to sleep. As she adjusted herself, laying on her back, Coco starred up past the spreading pine branches to the night sky. Perhaps she shouldn’t have asked so many questions. Perhaps Blossomforth was right. Did the past really matter? But she couldn’t help but wonder how the world had gotten the way it was, and why things had turned out the way they had. She wanted there to be… to be justification for it all. Good reasons that made all the death and pain necessary. Otherwise what was the point?
She’d never met Princess Celestia of Princess Luna, but she wanted to believe that the Princesses, and even this Prince, had the best interests of their little ponies at heart, whatever the truth of the past was.
----------
After an uneventful and only somewhat restful night the four mares packed their gear, cleaned up the camp, covered the fire pit, ate a fast breakfast, and got right back on the road. Coldiron told Blossomforth that she didn’t need to take to the air this time, as the more open terrain gave them all a large field of vision across the gently rolling landscape. Blossomforth seemed more than happy to keep off her wings, and Trixie found herself feeling a current of worry.
“Are you sure you’re recovered?” she asked the pegasus after the first hour of trotting.
“Huh? Oh! Yeah!” Blossomforth flexed her wings. There was a faint grimace that Trixie didn’t miss, however, and she gave Blossomforth a level stare.
“Trixie is a skilled performer,” she said, “Which means she can also sniff out another pony’s performance. Your wounds still hurt, don’t they?”
Blossomforth was still smiling, but she did look abashed as she said, “Well… okay maybe not one hundred and twenty percent better, but I can fly just fine! It wasn’t my wings that were hurt, after all, but my leg. It’s just that when a pegasus flies it really uses a lot of muscles besides just our wings, and… yeah, it’s still sore back there. Not a big deal, really, unless I try landing too hard. A bad crash would smart something fierce, that’s for sure. But really, it’s not biggie. I’m good. Honest.”
“She speaks the truth, Lulamoon,” said Coldiron, “Quick Needle cleared her himself. He would not have done that if she wasn’t fit for duty.”
“Trixie apologizes if she is just trying to make sure her friend is alright,” Trixie said with a surly huff, but didn’t say anymore as they kept walking,
After another hour Trixie noticed Coldiron’s gait quickened slightly. The Legion mare’s eyes started to flicker left and right and there was a unmistakable line of tension in her back as she stiffly walked, ears tuning down against her head. Trixie glanced around herself but couldn’t see what had Coldiron on edge and neither Blossomfoth or Coco seemed to notice what was happening.
After another ten minutes Coldiron had gone from a simple trot to a full on canter and Trixie was tired of the other mare’s silence.
“What is it, Coldiron?” she asked, “Something is obviously wrong.”
Coldiron started, as I she hadn’t realized how she’d been acting, and slowed her pace, nearly stopping, “I can’t say for certain. Something feels off. We should have seen another pony by now. A few farmsteaders coming into town for the day, or leaving town back for one of the farmsteads. Also, there aren’t any smoke trails in the sky. The town normally produces a few dozen trails of smoke from fireplaces, and we should be able to see them by now even if we can’t see the town.”
“What does that mean?” asked Coco worriedly.
“I don’t know,” said Coldiron, her expression grave, “But it may be best you load that crossbow, Pommel.”
Trixie bit her lower lip, “If you’re worried we’re going into danger then why don’t we just turn around?”
“We need to check it out,” said Blossomforth, spreading her wings and taking to the air, “Right Corporal? We can’t turn back until we know for sure what’s up in Arrow Vale.”
Coldiron gave a firm nod, “Yes. It may be nothing. A strong wind carrying away the hearth smoke. Just a rare day when no farmers have decided to head into town. We will need to make certain, one way or another. And we still have a mission to perform if it turns out nothing is wrong.”
“And if something is wrong?” asked Trixie.
Coldiron’s flinty gaze was the only answer Trixie received before the mare resumed her canter down the road. Coco followed, loading her crossbow, and Blossomforth gave Trixie a helpless shrug, flying up into the air to scout.
Trixie let out a sigh and followed as well, wishing for the thousandth time that she had left Canterlot long before the Legion had shown up to turn her life upside down. Though even as she thought that she realized something else; that a small part of her was eager. Her whole life she’d tried to live up to an image she’d held of herself in her mind, and image that at times seemed very far away. The incident in Ponyville had left her wondering what it even meant to be ‘Great and Powerful’. She still seethed thinking of that purple unicorn that’d shown her up so… so easily. Trixie had worked hard to get as skilled as she was with magic, but that mare had blown right by Trixie’s abilities.
It hurt, and Trixie hated feeling that way.
But maybe out here she’d get a chance to really show what she was capable of! No stories, no fibs, no made up tales to make herself look good. No. Now she’d do things for real. Face real monsters, and perhaps when it was all done with she’d be closer to that image she held in her mind.
Of course that would require surviving. A prospect Trixie was only half confident she had a chance of seeing through to the end.
----------
Blossomforth spotted the town first, flying only about fifty paces above the ground, but that giving her just enough leeway to spot the cluster of tightly packed log buildings nestled within a log palisade that was built at the base of a large, forest covered hill.
Arrow Vale consisted of at least eight or nine dozen buildings by Blossomforth’s estimate. The palisade surrounding it was actually a bit taller than the one at Beartrap Fortress, but it lacked the steep, trap covered ridge that the fortress enjoyed and the palisade itself didn’t look quite as solid to Blossomforth as the spike covered affair back at the fort. The buildings themselves were log cabins, most with thatch roofs. Really it almost looked like any other rural pony town from back home, by her estimate. A bit rougher but no less homey.
There was one central building that stood out as the largest, with a tall wood bell tower sprouting from the back of it, a brass bell hanging limp and still inside. In fact ‘still’ was a good way to describe the whole town. As she shaded her hoof against the morning sun to get a clearer look she noticed none of the dirt streets had any ponies walking along it, and every cabin looked dark and lifeless. This didn’t look like an occupied town with a population of ponies waking up to greet the day.
It looked like a ghost town.
She spotted Coldiron waving her down, and when she landed and reported what she’d seen, Coldiron’s expression went as hard as ice.
“I don’t know what we’re about to find, but we’re going in. The gate looks closed from here. Blossomforth, can you carry me over?”
Blossomforth nodded. Her leg did still hurt, but it wasn’t so bad she didn’t think she could manage to carry the stout little gray mare. Trixie and Coco waited outside the gate while Blossomforth got her hooves underneath Coldiron’s barrel and lifted her over the wall and dropped her off on the other side. The town, up close, looked even more deserted. Also Blossomforth quickly noticed details that had been absent from a distance. A broken window. A torn cloak. A spear laying in the dirt, no blood on its tip.
“Corporal?” Blossomforth said, and Coldiron nodded.
“I see it too. Wait here. I’m opening the gate. Shout I you see any movement.”
Coldiron trotted to the side of the gate where a wooden beam could be moved to unbar the large wood doors. As the unicorn used magic to pull the thick beam through its grooves to open the gate Blossomforth continued to turn her gaze over what she could see of the town from here. A main road gently curved along the same arc as the hill to the south, cutting through the center of town. She saw down the bend of the road what she thought might have been a tavern, or inn, and what looked to be a few market stalls. The rest of the buildings looked to be residences, at least of the ones close to the gate. She kept seeing small signs of struggle, or at least that something amiss had happened. An overturned cart. A fallen foal’s doll. A strand of webbing…
A strand of webbing!?
“Corporal! I think we’ve got a serious problem here!” she said, not quite shouting, but feeling a distinct rising panic. She hadn’t seen what the other three mare’s had seen back at Beartrap Fortress, but she’d been filled in on the events. The sticky white strand that was hanging down from the lip of one of the nearby cabin roofs looked a lot like what had been described to her as the webbing of a spider. A pony sized spider.
Just as Coldiron was getting the gate doors open, pushing them open with her magic, and Coco and Trixie trotted inside, Blossomforth caught movement in the window of one of the nearby cabins. She hadn’t seen it clearly, only that a tiny shape had moved away from the window when her eyes had turned that way. A chill ran down her spine, despite having not seeing what it was.
“Seriously, I don’t think we’re alone here.”
“What did you see?” asked Coldiron, Trixie and Coco beside her as the mare trotted up next to Blossomforth. The wreath of magic hadn’t left Coldiron’s horn and the mare looked around with narrow eyes, clearly ready to cast magic.
Trixie looked tense but determined, her own horn starting to glow as well, while Coco extended the targeting monocle on her crossbow.
“I saw something move over there,” Blossomforth said, pointing, “And, and there’s some stuff over on that roof that looks like the spiderweb you girls found.”
Trixie let out a soft hiss and Coco gulped, but Coldiron simply set her eyes calmly upon the cabin Blossomforth had pointed out.
“Right. I’ll take point. Blossomforth, be right behind me with that spear ready. Pommel you’re in the middle. Don’t shoot unless you know what you’re shooting at. Lulamoon, you’re on rear guard. Don’t let anything sneak up behind us. We’re going to do this building by building until we either find out what’s going on, or find something we can’t deal with. Stay calm, stay alert, and don’t wander out of sight of the rest of us.”
After looking at each of them in turn to confirm every mare understood her orders Coldiron lead the squad into Arrow Vale.
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5143960
I do kind of understand how you feel, and if I were to go into some of my own thoughts on the Upheaval series when it came time for the critiques it would be aspects of the world's set up that'd get the most scrutiny. But by and large I found it to be a good read, but as always tastes vary a lot between the individual reader and I totally understand why you'd be less than enthused with the set up for the Legion. Even when they're at their best they can still be overbearing jerks, but I try to present something of a balanced view here. Or at least I hope I am. I very much wanted this story to not be about one side being right and the other being wrong so much as both sets of heroines from Equestria and the Barrier Lands to have their own valid views and the story to be about resolving the differences in those views.
In any case I do appreciate you taking the time to read things thus far, even if the setting isn't your particular cup of joe.
Nice chapter. I'm looking forward to seeing how they deal with some action now that they've already gotten some experience with it.
5197807
You're doing a fine job. You're a talented writer, and whatever gripes I have about the setting, your handling of it isn't among them. And this chapter here certainly does reflect the various viewpoints well.
Still on Team Trixie, though, for the time being.
That does raise the question what exactly an Ursa Major/Minor is in this universe.
In Breaking Point it was explained the primary reasons Fenrir (Wolven) and Arugek (Ursan) were fighting Equestria was because Fenrir wanted to marry Luna and Arugek just hated non-Ursans. We know the Legionairs know this so it seems weird you changed the reasons here. Also seems weird Ursans would fight amongst themselves when their leader's primary motivation is racism, you'd think he'd keep in-fighting to a minimum.
Well Trixie, who are the Ponies going to talk to? It's actually quite ironic that Changelings, the only enemy that's actually managed to successfully hit Canterlot, is the only one they could talk into joining forces. It would be nothing but beneficial for both sides and both are Equines so there you go.
8652803
I'll freely admit that its been so long since I read Breaking Point (and I'm fairly sure it went through a overhaul of edits after the point I read it) that I either completely forgot any details given about the Ursans or simply missed it altogether. As it stands I'll let you know that in this story (and its sequel) I've done some of my own stuff with the Ursans that probably highly contradict the Upheaval series at this point. As for Fenrir wanting to "marry" Luna, I do recall that tidbit, but I never got the impression it was common knowledge. Again this probably just stems from it having been so long since I read the story.
Oh, and to briefly touch on an earlier comment of yours concerning the Western Legion's weaponry. In my head the crossbows that a pegasi could carry would be too small and light to do more than minimal damage to the thick hide and musculature of an Ursan warrior. It'd be kind of like small bee stings to them. However a pegasus driving down a five foot long spear from above at high speed could penetrate enough to do serious harm. Crossbows in the Western Legion are more like ballistae, carried by earth ponies with the back strength to mount and fire large enough bolts to actually do damage. As for the claymores, my take on it is that to fight ursans the Legion still needs capable ground troops to engage in melee, and earth ponies are the only one's with the strength to even come close to doing the job. The claymores are almost exclusive to the Western Legion as a result, huge swords designed to be heavy enough to get through an Ursan warrior's hide. As for how earth ponies wield such weapons, well, with MLP I tend to just ignore the realistic physics behind ponies using mouths and/or hooves to do the things you'd normally need hands for. Life is simpler that way.