Scarlet Rose
Scarlet Rose lounged back on the bed, reading over the latest reports. Over by the table, her brood sister, Orchid Wings, was writing out orders; all at the express orders of the Consort. It meant that failure would not be tolerated, or forgiven.
"Are you done yet?" She asked, looking over to Orchid Wings.
Orchid turned, still in the form of General Stonewall, "Almost. Honestly, I don't know why ponies need all this paper."
"Well, they can't communicate vast orders like the Hive can." Rose said.
Orchid smirked, "True. It is perhaps the reason why we could so easily manipulate their forces."
Scarlet chuckled, "Yes. I must say, that was rather genius of you, managing to convince their Princess to allow a mass teleportation. It will make ridding them of their magic advantage all the easier when the Consort arrives soon."
Orchid smiled, "Well, I had some help. Our sisters amongst the mages was a big help."
"True, but those vanguard scouts was a rather smooth move. Fewer cavalry to deal with." Rose said.
"Oh stop, you are making me blush." Orchid said.
Scarlet smirked and lounged back, flicking up her tail, "Why don't you come over here, and I can try to do more then that."
Orchid laughed, "You are insatiable. I can see why you made it into the Infiltrator brood so easily."
"It helps to have a health appetitie." Rose said, smiling as Orchid began to approach.
Soon, soon it would all come to fruition. She might as well relax now. After all...
...The Consort would soon be here.
Valen
Valen fell back as a pony swung a heavy hammer at him. His rough leather hide shield only just barely brought up to take the brunt of the blow. It did little good, as he was lifted off his feet and he felt the bone crack. Pain however was a vague numb sensation, as the feel of battle took central focus.
Around him, hunters fought with all they were worth, as ponies from the sky swooped down on them. On the ground, ponies fought them with spear or blade, though a few held huge hammers. Most worked to avoid those ponies, preferring to use their bows on the heavy hitters.
Within the center of the conflict stood the Fire Man. Though he held no weapon, Valen knew that it was he who had sent the ponies animals into a frenzy and thus threw their riders. But Valen could tell the Fire Man was barely standing, even as he worked his arms to use whatever magic he could use, causing snow to pile onto ponies or for the wind to blow viciously upon the fliers; sending them into the ground.
Valen was worried however, as he was sure that the Fire Man was in no condition for such a battle. They had to get him out of here.
But the sight of the ponies hammer swinging for his head, one which he barely managed to avoid, made it impossible to worry about that right now.
Valen swung his blade at the pony, but all he struck was the armor. The pony didn't stop, and came at him again with his hammer. Valen rolled away, hearing the hammer strike the ground. He leapt to his feet, but a misplaced step in the snow caused him to slip and fall onto the snow with a grunt.
"Valen!" Someone shouted.
Valen looked on with fear as the pony then stood over him, hammer raised to crush it down upon his skull. But before the hammer came down, an number of arrows pierced through gaps of the ponies armor near the shoulder, neck and side and the pony screamed as its hammer fell, but slightly off center. It was enough for Valen to roll to the side to avoid the blow, then roll back to square himself with the pony and leap to his feet, his blade out as he tackled the pony to the ground.
The pony grunted as the fell, but Valen merely began to stab with his knife. He stabbed at gapes in the armor, twisting the blade each time before pulling out. He kept it up, till the pony lay still.
Valen breathed heavily as he sat upon the ponies still body. A scream turned him toward a pony, a female, who rushed him now. The look in her eyes was one of murder, as she charged him with two sharp blades. But the female pony didn't get far as one of the hunters struck her across the head with his own hammer. The pony went forward, and into the ground.
She did not get back up.
Valen didn't focus long on this however, as he got back to his feet and grabbed up his spear from the ground. The fight, was still going on.
The battle finally was over, though it came at a cost. Ponies and hunters all lay upon the ground, some dead. Others dying or injured. But they had won, and a few hunters who were not aiding the wounded up, were moving amongst the ponies, taking weapons or tail hair.
"Gather up the wounded. We're leaving." The Fire Man said, helping a hunter to his feet. The hunter's leg hung at an odd angle that Valen was sure was not normal.
"But what of the ponies? Some still live." Krul said.
"Leave them." The Fire Man said, giving them all a hard look.
Valen didn't like the look Krul got at those words, or from the other hunters of Krul's tribe. But they all nodded, and began to move toward a tear that the Fire Man made.
Valen went to follow, but stopped as he caught a glint of something on the ground. He stopped, curious, and saw that the glint was coming from the pony he had killed. The one with the hammer.
Or perhaps it was the amulet that lay around his neck and on the ground. Valen looked at the amulet curiously, it was not like the Fire Man's amulet. It wasn't bright and glittering, it looked more like a dull brown metal. Also it was not a tree at the end of the chain, but a simple oval, an oval that was open slightly in the snow.
Valen reached down toward the amulet, and lifted it up to look at what was inside. He gasped, and felt his body go cold as he looked at the contents of the strange pony amulet.
"Valen! Now!" The Fire Man called. Valen ignored him, staring at the amulet he held. His hand began to shake.
"Valen! Valen!" Finally Valen turned his head, and saw the Fire Man standing over him. He looked pale and tired, and angry.
"I gave you an order, what are you-.....oh my god." The Fire Man said, his voice going from hard to soft and horrified in seconds.
"God. Oh god." The Fire Man said again as he knelt down and took the amulet from Valen's hand.
The contents of the amulet were very odd to Valen. One looked like the images of two pony females. But the other half of the oval had an image of a pony he knew. A pony with purple hair and orange coat.
An image of Scootaloo, holding the pony whom he had killed.
'What have I done?' Valen thought, as he looked at the body of the pony.
Valen and the Fire Man stood before a pile of snow that the Fire Man had placed over the body of the pony. Valen clenched the pony's amulet in his hand, as he stared at the mound. He and the Fire Man had stood there silent for what seemed like forever, but in truth it had only been a few minutes.
Finally, the Fire Man spoke.
"Speak nothing of this. Don't show that amulet to Scootaloo. Do you understand." The Fire Man said.
Valen looked at the Fire Man in shock, "What? But....but....she...I...shouldn't she know?"
The Fire Man turned on him with a look of pure anger, that Valen stepped back in fear as the Fire Man spoke at him.
"No! She doesn't! Now do as I said!" The Fire Man yelled, and began breathing heavily, biting his lip till it bled.
"But Fire Man..." Valen started, but the Fire Man cut him off.
"No buts! I am in command! I am in control! I always in control!" The Fire Man yelled, "I am commanding you to be silent, so be silent."
The Fire Man brought a hand to his head, as he stumbled a bit. Despite his fear, Valen got ready to catch him if he fell. But the Fire Man straightened and shook his head.
"Do as I said..." The Fire Man said again, more calmly, "I....I...we will deal with this later...when...when I figure out how to go about it. Do you understand?"
Valen bit his lip, but he nodded, "I....understand."
The Fire Man nodded, "Good....now...hide that thing," he said, pointing at the pony amulet, "and come on....we need....I need to see the injured before I get the other hunters."
Valen watched as the Fire Man went through the tear, before following. But as the tear closed, he looked back to the mound of snow.
"I'm sorry." He said.
Luna
Luna readjusted her cloak as another blast of biting cold wind assaulted her. It felt as if things were only getting colder, but...that couldn't be true. It was probably just her imagination.
It had a lot of work to finally get the Equestrian Army back into Equestrian territory, but their marching was still not done. The human forces were widely scattered it seemed, but only in a single area of Equestria. The Bread Basket region.
It was this region where most of the food was grown in Equestria. True other communities had local farms and orchards, but they all paled in comparison to the vast fields, and pastures that resided in the Bread Basket of Equestria. The only thing besides fields was the extensive train tracks which crossed across the region, and to every corner of Equestria, in short making the region not only where all the food was both grown, stored and shipped, but also the main nexus hub in which all trains of Equestria had to pass through to get anywhere else in the kingdom.
So naturally, it was the most strategic place to hit if one wanted to destabilize the kingdom. Normally this was impossible, given its location at the center of Equestria. But Valhruan Magic threw impossible out the window. It was a bitter blow to Equestria, and Luna had to give Castus credit; he knew where to hit them.
'Even if we do defeat him, it could take months to fix the tracks and that will have a drastic effect to our economy.' She thought bitterly.
But that before that, they had to defeat Castus.
The main army was still some miles from the region of interest, but at the advise of her general Stonewall, Luna had sent nearly all their fliers, and a number of advance cavalry units to act as a vanguard. If they found any human units they would be the first to engage, and if they found any pony villages in need, to be the first responders. It made sense.
'Though the mass teleportation...I still question the wisdom.' Luna thought.
True, by using both her powers and the all the battle casters of the army, they had managed to cut their march by more then half. But it had meant that the magic units would operate at half strength, if any. Even with her added power, the spell had been tough on all of them. Even she felt a bit light headed.
Still, Castus was but one mage.
"Your majesty. A scout returns with a report." A soldier said, bowing before her.
Luna turned from her view of the horizon and looked at the soldier, "Bring them to me."
"At once your majesty." The soldier said and went to fetch the scout.
'Hopefully some good news.' Luna thought.
When the scout was brought to her, Luna saw he was Stonewalls Nephew. Path Finder if she remembered the reports, one of the armies best scout leaders.
"Scout Path Finder. Report." Luna said, giving him leave to speak.
The scout looked up from his bow, "Yes your majesty. As instructed I led my unit of fliers out to scan the area for any signs of aid needed or human movements. During our patrol, spotted what looked like a battle. When we investigated, we saw that it had been one of the vanguard units, and a small number of Pegasus scouts. They had apparently made contact with a human band, as we found a number of their dead amongst our own."
Luna bit her lip, 'More lives lost.'
"Continue." Luna said.
Path Finder nodded, "We checked the bodies for survivors. We managed to find a few, and I had my units take them back to the main force here for recovery. But myself and a few of my scouts spotted something else...in the distance."
"What did you see?" Luna asked.
Path Finder looked at the ground, then back at her, biting his lip before saying, "It was a town...it was....it is gone....and....well...you should see for yourself."
Luna blinked, and felt a cold feeling in her heart. But she nodded and flew off with Path Finder and her guards. They followed the scout for a distance of several leagues, and Luna saw as they approached the smoldering ruins of a small town. The scent of freshly burnt wood still lingered and assaulted her nose as she landed.
"Animals!" One of her guards spat.
"This isn't the worse of it. We looked for injured or dead, but we couldn't find any in the town." Path Finder said.
"Then they are prisoners?" Luna said.
Path Finder was silent, and he shook his head, "No....we didn't find them in the town....but....when we expanded our search outside....well...follow me."
Pathfinder began walking off toward an area outside of town, and as they reached the top of a small hill, Luna caught sight of a lone great tree standing in the distance. Though the tree seemed overly bulky and its limbs were splayed out in ways that did not look healthy. As they got closer, Luna could see why the tree looked odd.
Those limbs...had not been tree limbs.
"By all that is holy..." Luna breathed, falling to her knees as she stared up in horror at the sight before her.
"Faust." One of the guards said.
Another turned and retched, and Luna herself felt ready to sick up.
The tree before them had looked odd and bulky....because the entire population of the town lay nailed and impaled upon its branches. The bodies covered the tree from the trunk, to the very highest branch.
Man, Castus really fucked up. It's obvious that the massacre at the end is Krul's fault and that Castus doesn't have as much control of his tribe as he thinks. Plus, it seems Zecora was right about Castus being a child as, judging from his reaction about Scootaloo's aunt's death, he seems unwilling to face the reality that his actions have consequences. Nice chapter as usual.
Preferably, I'd rather prefer the sequel, but if the companion story helps to improve the story, then I think it needs to come up first.
No, you're just pathetic.
6530075 I can't see what in this makes him pathetic.
Its not as if telling Scootaloo what happened will change anything, it may in fact complicate things further, there is really no easy way to brake that kind of news to someone.
Further more its not like her parents were non combatants, they were trying to kill Valen and were themselves killed in battle. Valen was totally justified in defending himself.
6530260 It's not that the problem, it's Castus childish reaction that annoy me. I can understand that he's shocked by the situation, but I still find his behavior immature. A member of Scootaloo family is dead due to his actions, there's no way to sugar coat the pill, and she deserve to know it.
The only right thing to do is tell her the truth and face the consequences, his position or his powers doesn't give him the right to do differently.
....I feel sick. This took a turn for the grim, God I hope it turns back before the end.
If I'm Castus I free Zecora, Tiara, Blue Blood, and Scootaloo. Tell her I killed her father and aunt. Tell the humans that it's over, have them escape into the mountains. Send word to Celestia that I surrender, last thing I do is go to Fluttershy's house, see her one last time, then I cut my own throat. Die in absolute disgrace
By the response I see others would have greater fortitude. Well, good.
6530260 Things are spinning out of control, all things are going to hell and it's taking its toll on Castus, this is good writing.
Scootaloo was the first friendly pony face Castus saw, a reminder of simpler happier times and now through his actions he has devasted her life. He is now staring into the void.
6530075 True, but his world is literally crumbling down around him. He is exhausted in ever sense of the word, his species is on the brink of extinction, they are at a war they can't possibly win, and now he is responsible for the murder of the parents of some one who looked to him as a cherished friend. Under normal circumstances I would agree, but psychologically he is probably about to break.
So yeah, he is not at the top of his game.
I really wish, that Scoots Dad and Aunt were merely replaced with Changlings and that they are just hanging around some where. Sadly, I don't think this is the case.
Also if you don't update this again soon or go MIA I will lose my mind on how this ends, hanging on by my fingernails!!!
6530553
You would continue to let your entire race by mindless slaves without trying to free them then? I doubt Celestia would have ever let them be released diplomatically, she's too scared of both humans and not being in complete control of things. War is really the only option for him to free his people since Castus can make the cost of keeping the humans in captivity more expensive(both economically and morally) than letting them go.
Although the way the story is going, we're likely going to be seeing both sides have to cooperate against the changelings.
Well, that was the last shovel-full of dirt on the grave of any hope of peace unless the changelings make a huge mistake.
6530553
Extremely unlikely. Once you get into the realm of killing civilians (especially children) and nailing corpses to things, the primary response in most minds is absolute genocide- "we will never be safe until they are all dead". Unless you get an uncrossable ocean between the two sides for about six or so generations, you can forget any sort of detente- someone's going to want to kill 'em all.
6530995 Emotionally I would be a wreck. Castus has tried to be merciful while going to war, avoiding casualties where he could, but he is trying to play the middle ground.
On one side is a Renegade committed to independence at any cost, his followers trust him because they have no choice, he gets results through his tenacity and ruthlessness.
The other side is a peaceful paragon. Non violent protest, appealing to the "better angels" of his oppressor. The road will be hard and filled with pain and suffering but in the end his true followers will love him and protect him.
Trying to play both would be extremely hard because once you fall into renegade it only gets harder to get out.
I'd like to hope someone could pick me up, and dust me off and tell me that I'm the best damn soldier they have ever met... Or savior.
6531336 Then I would need someone like you to pick me up and get me moving again.
You said previously that this story was coming to an end soon, but the more this goes on, I just hope you know what direction you want to go.
So good..... I need moar!
Sparta reference
The marks of war will scar even the most peaceful of places.
And Krul sounds like a man whos heart was broken when the one he loved was cut down.
And also the nailing thing, I get the reference but I would done something much worse, I would have watered the crops with their blood, used their flesh as fuel for the fire, and made souvenirs of their bones, I would parade the fact that I slaughtered them to the ponies, and when they grew angry lead them into a slaughter. Archers on cliffs above( Disguised as brush) strongest melee fighters with the best weapons available in hiding in caves to the side, and Assassins creeping through the shadows of their army poisoning them and killing officers, and finally saboteurs sent in with fire bombs or something of the like to set them in places like the med bay, armory, tents, supplies, and wagons. And maybe thieves to steal whatever they can get their mitts on. And if i could prepare the trap dryed hay and grass on the ground soaked with pitch to set a fire line, then a few fire bombs made especially sensitive to weight for the medics to set off. And while they're panicking and trying to save the injured, order the archers to aim for the flyers, then any of the ponies trying to reach a fallen comrade( aim to wound), then have the warriors come out of the caves and start killing all of the fools, and when it was over cut off the heads of the pony dead to make sure they are actually dead, and then nail them to the cliff walls so all that pass through their know a battle was fought here and the ponies lost.
Reference from 300. Xd
This is pretty god damn dark...
6530553
"Grim"
7635237
"Dark"
I see you don't read many YHAY stories
6778592
He sounds kinda like the punisher TBH