Legacy of Illumination

by Metool Bard

The Arts, Promotion, and Family

Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain? Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

No and no. Even if I knew what either of those two things mean, I can't sing worth a damn, and painting just doesn't interest me. My mother used to use a lot of liquid rainbow in her gallery pieces, though, so make of that what you will.

When and how did you become a General?

I was promoted to General right when the EUP was formed. The reason for this was, well, we didn't really have generals before the EUP. But of course, Princess Celestia wouldn't have appointed me to that position without a good reason. And that reason was my greatest accomplishment in the Cloudsdale Militia. While I still consider the formation of the Wonderbolts to be my Moment of Glory, this battle can be seen as the moment I showed the world I was a great leader. And it was in the battle against the mad lamia Echidna and her unfortunate husband, Typhon. I still remember it like it was yesterday...

***

The alarm started blaring in the middle of the night, and I was one of the first to respond to its call. Having served in the military for a few years at that point, I was used to early wake-up calls. Some of the newer recruits were not so lucky, as they slowly shambled out of bed and griped about the midnight alarm. The rest of us, however, flew straight to the Briefing Room and stood at attention, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Our CO, Captain Monsoon, said that Cloudsdale had received a distress call from the town of Trottingham. Their militia was being overwhelmed, and they required reinforcements. Cloudsdale was the closest to the conflict, and we were already on the move to intercept the threat. Before Monsoon could go into more detail of what we were up against, another alarm went off, and we were given the order to scramble right in the middle of the briefing. When I took to the skies, I soon saw why.

Towering over Trottingham was perhaps the biggest, most intimidating monster I had ever seen. The shadow he cast completely blotted out the moon and stars. He had a hundred arms and a hundred legs, each of them large, writhing serpents that looked like they could gobble up Cloudsdale in one bite. Flames erupted from his soulless eyes every time he blinked. And right on his shoulder stood an even more horrible monster: The heartless bitch who made him this way.

They were known as Typhon and Echidna; a pair of lamias that hailed from the same far-off land Tirek and Scorpan called home. And just like the dark centaur Tirek, they wanted a shot at conquering Equestria. Well, Echidna did. I don't think Typhon even had the cognitive awareness to know what was going on. See, according to the legends Scorpan told us about his homeland, Echidna was obsessed with biological enhancement. She experimented with all sorts of potions, hexes, and charms designed to make creatures stronger, smarter, and more fit to dominate everyone else. And the test subject for these experiments was none other than her own husband, Typhon. Up until this attack on Trottingham, that's all Typhon and Echidna were. A legend. But much like the sea monster Scylla, some legends have a little bit of truth to them.

Already, I could see that taking them on in a direct fight was not an option. The Trottingham Militia was throwing countless waves of soldiers at Typhon, and he just stood there and took their attacks as if they were nothing. He would occasionally lash out with his many serpent heads, but Echidna held him back from doing any significant damage. Some of the braver soldiers tried to attack Echidna herself, but that only proved to be a mistake. Those unfortunate souls were either gobbled up by Typhon or horribly disfigured by Echidna's dark magic. They were fighting a losing battle to protect their town from these monstrosities.

From this scenario, I thought the strategy would be pretty straightforward: Defend Trottingham at all costs and stall Typhon and Echidna long enough for the Royal Pony Sisters to arrive. This was simply too much for any of the local militias to handle. Plus, there's no way an attack this big was going to slip under the Princess' radar. Whether it was Trottingham's SOS or Typhon's enormous size, they were going to find out about this attack, and they were going to do something about it. We just had to hold Typhon off until they did.

However, that was not Monsoon's plan. As soon as we were in formation, he ordered us to move in and attack with everything we had. Why? Because noble pegasus warriors don't pussy out of a fight, that's why. At least, that's what he barked at Thistle Whistle when she questioned his orders.

Now, to be fair, I had a lot of respect for Captain Monsoon. He was a no-nosence kinda guy who took crap from nopony, and he was always determined to get the job done. He certainly taught me how to shape up and fly right. But I don't think strategy was ever his strong suit. His solution to every combat situation was "hit it until it stops moving." That might work against Scylla or a wyvern nest, but using such tactics against Typhon and Echidna was only asking for trouble. And boy, did we get in trouble.

Five minutes. We threw ourselves at Typhon over and over again for five minutes straight, and in that short amount of time, all we managed to do was lose half of the squadron. Pegasi were dropping like flies left and right, getting burned by Typhon's fire-spewing eyes; snapped up in his many jaws; crippled by Echidna's various poisons and spells. And all the while, I could hear Echidna laughing and bragging about how she and Typhon were superior to all other lifeforms. I'll be honest, there were a few times when I wanted nothing more than to fly up to that pink-scaled cunt, pummel her into pulp, and feed her to her abused husband for good measure. Thankfully, Thistle's cautious whistle helped me keep a level head.

Then, it happened. Captain Monsoon was shot down by one of Echidna's spells. Luckily, one of Trottingham's medics managed to get to him in time, but it was clear that he couldn't give us any further instructions. With our CO taken out of commission, the Cloudsdale Militia's morale took a drastic hit. Everypony realized this battle could not be won, but without Monsoon's order, they didn't know whether they should keep fighting or not. That was my time to shine.

"C'mon, Thistle! Let's show these serpents what happens when you mess with Cloudsdale!" I hollered. "You're my wing!"

I charged Typhon at mach speed, creating a steak of pink across the sky. But once I got close, I didn't attack him directly. Instead, I flew just within his reach, and the moment he tried to snap at me, I darted away. Thistle and I continued this erratic flight pattern, baiting Typhon to attack us only to fly out of his grasp at the last second. This had the desired effect, as Typhon started getting so aggravated that all of his snake heads were fixated on us and us alone. The remaining members of the Cloudsdale Militia saw our tactic, and they saw how effective it was. Soon, they began to follow suit, distracting all of Typhon's heads to the point where he completely forgot about attacking Trottingham.

Of course, this didn't please Echidna any. She tried in vain to get Typhon to focus, but none of his heads were paying any attention to her. Infuriated, she started targeting me with her spells, seeing me as the biggest threat. However, thanks to Thistle's telltale whistle, I avoided all of her attacks without so much as getting a scratch. This only served to make her madder.

"You inferior creatures think you're so clever, flying around like that!" she screamed, taking out a flask. "Well, I can make Typhon fly as well! Then he'll have no trouble showing you who's super—"

It was at this time that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna arrived, basking in an eclipse that blinded Echidna and caused her to drop her potion. From there, the Royal Pony Sisters took over, using their magic to banish Typhon and Echidna to the depths of Tartarus. Trottingham, and indeed all of Equestria, was saved.

When I gave my debriefing to Cloudsdale's military council, I was commended for my quick thinking and morale-boosting talents. Even Monsoon admitted that I was a better leader than he was, and he stepped down as captain of the Cloudsdale Militia. I took his place until the day Nightmare Moon was banished, when Princess Celestia promoted me to general of the EUP Pegasus Division. The rest is history.

How did your life change when your son was born? How did you and Dragonfly juggle between raising a foal and your respective careers?

Actually, Dragonfly and I are pretty lucky. The adjustment wasn't nearly as difficult as we thought it would be. Truth be told, I was a nervous wreck when Admiral Fairweather practically forced me to take maternity leave. I wasn't sure how I would cope with being responsible to my son while at the same time being responsible to my nation. But once Snapdragon was born, I found that the two aren't mutually exclusive. At least, not when the Wonderbolts are concerned.

There was never a moment in my life when I felt like I was neglecting Snapdragon. He got to see his mommy every day, soaring through the skies and inspiring hope in everypony. And at the end of every performance, I would also go see him before anypony else. Sometimes, I'd even take him on tour with me as we traveled all across Equestria. Once he was old enough, of course.

That being said, it wasn't quite as easy for Dragonfly. While the dragons he researched were very understanding and told him to go spend time with his son, he didn't know anything about taking care of foals. He could take care of baby dragons just fine, but when it came to Snapdragon, he just had no idea what to do. Thank Celestia Medley was on call to help him out with anything he needed. She was also our go-to babysitter whenever we both had to be away for an extended period of time.

I know there are a lot of stories about military families where a child doesn't see their mother or father for months or even years at a time. I am truly blessed not to be one of those cases, and my heart goes out to those ponies who have to deal with that kind of thing. I might not feel their pain, but that doesn't mean I don't care.

Do you only have one son and one grandchild?

Yes, I only have one son. While I did have an easier time adjusting to my new life, Dragonfly and I agreed that more than one child was simply too much for either of us to handle given our respective careers. I don't see why you think there's something wrong with that, Mr. Book.

Funny you should mention grandchildren, though. See, that's why Easyglider is visiting me right now. My daughter-in-law, Sundance, is currently with child. Snapdragon asked me to look after Easyglider for a few days while Sundance goes to the hospital and gets herself sorted out. So, yeah. I'm going to have another grandchild pretty soon. They think it might be a girl, but you can never really tell with these things until the foal is actually in your lap, you know what I mean?

Comments

[theNDinspector]

Congratulations on becoming a grandmother again soon. Is Easyglider excited to get a sibling? What is he hoping for?

What are you doing with Easyglider now?

What about Medley? Did she ever get married and have children and grandchildren?
,
What would be the best way to woo a mare?