The Birth of a New Kingdom

by Dranz_89

Have the courage to disobey

Unicorns marched away to battle with an army of numerous pegasi that swarmed the sky. The army was divided into various squads and headed to different directions, but they all shared the same objective.

Not all pegasi embarked to battle, the pegasus stallions stayed to prepare the meals and do some housekeeping, and some of the mares stayed in the unicorn city as if they were some kind of tourists in a resort.

Just as Clover asked, Laurel had already befriended some of the pegasi acting as their guide, and gaining their trust. Clover knew that if there is an unicorn that can earn someone’s trust and learn their interests, that was Laurel, not only is she smart, she’s also very, very prying.

“Finally we get to leave that cloud!” a pink pegasus said as she pranced and hopped on the snow, she had a long yellow mane and tail, and she was wearing a grey tunic, “I had forgotten how the ground felt under my hooves!”

“Snow is not exactly what I’d call ground,” responded another pegasus, she was a blue pegasus, with a dark green mane and tail, also wearing the grey tunic, “But at least we get to see a new and exotic city, and meet even more exotic stallions! The pegasus stallions are… kind of disappointing.”

“I know, right? Earth stallions are huge and strong, if only pegasus stallions were half the earth stallions are, I would be a married mare already.”

‘Well, that was easy’, Laurel was walking alongside them, and with no effort whatsoever, she just watched and heard these two pegasi who talked and talked about everything they liked, they never ran out of topics to talk about. However, Laurel was somehow confused of their easygoing attitude in this times of war. “Isn’t it weird that you feel that way about earth ponies? I mean, they are the enemy, right? Shouldn’t you be something like… ‘Earth ponies shall die! Arrrgh!’”

Both pegasi stopped and shared a confused look, finally the blue one spoke, “Well, that’s just plain rude. I don’t know how tense is the conflict between unicorns and earth ponies, but to us pegasi, it’s nothing personal.”

“Yeah! We even respect them as warriors!” added the pink pegasus, “It’s like a sport, you know? Yes, the fight gets ugly but we are just doing our jobs, they are just doing theirs, and someone dies, just the daily stuff.”

“Fighting a war is not a daily stuff!” Laurel was weirded out.

“More than ten years of war and not a daily stuff? You unicorns sure are a strange lot,” the blue pegasus shrugged and kept walking on her way alongside her friend, Laurel didn’t know how to react, the pegasus was right.

Suddenly, a commotion was generated thanks to squads of pegasi and unicorns marching through the main street of the city and among a crowd of impressed unicorns. So many soldiers, one after the other, for almost thirty minutes, it seemed like an endless parade.

“So… how come you’re not marching to fight?” asked Laurel, and as soon as she made the question, the pink pegasus gasped and dropped to cry and sob like a little filly.

“Sheesh! You could at least have tried to be a bit sensitive about it,” the blue pegasus rolled her eyes and palmed her friend’s back to try to console her, “There, there, Azalea. She didn’t mean it, she doesn’t know.” The pink pegasus calmed herself, sobbing and cleaned the trace of tears in her face.

The blue pegasus, then, turned to see at Laurel’s regretful face, “Look, for a pegasus to not be deployed in battle is like saying that she’s not necessary at all. It’s usually true, but if a soldier is not needed in battle, what else she got? We’re on Stand By duty, it’s like having a day off but still ready for any surprises. It’s a bummer, but someone’s gotta do this job.”

“Oh! I’m… I’m so very terribly sorry, I didn’t know!” Laurel’s apology was well accepted by Azalea with a short nod and a sincere smile. “I just thought that just maybe you didn’t want to fight the war.”

“Why wouldn’t we want to fight? It’s the only way to show that we are stronger!” Azalea raised her voice, very inspired, as if she had forgotten she was crying seconds ago.

Laurel frowned, she rubbed her leg with the opposite, “Well, we are a minority but some unicorns are completely against this war and want to make peace with the earth ponies.”

“What!?” gasped the blue pegasus, “But the briefing said that Earth Ponies took your princess and killed your queen, and you want peace!? And besides, isn’t that going against your king’s will!? Who in their right mind would go against their leader!?”

Again, both pegasi stared at her with unbelieving eyes as Laurel continued, “Well, yes, terrible things happened, but we unicorns are no innocent either. We enslaved them and raid their villages. The king went as far as to execute those earth Ponies who defied him. And do you want to know the main reason of why the unicorns hate the earth Ponies so much?” Laurel tapped her own horn and raised her brows at the pegasi, “Because they don’t have one of these.”

Azalea gasped in horror hiding her mouth behind her hoof, her eyes wide and her pupils shrunk. Laurel kept her smile and cool, “Doesn’t look like a war for justice anymore, huh? It stinks knowing that you’re on the evil side, that’s why we try to speak up and stop the war, but we need as many ponies as we need.”

The blue pegasus stepped up and frowned at Laurel, somewhat offended, “Except that we are not on the evil side! We pegasi fight for conquest, but we do it with honor! Fair and square! No prisoners, no slaves, our enemies are either surrendered or dead! And we would NEVER turn against our General!”

“Calm down, Iris, she’s not accusing us of anything,” Azalea touched her shoulder and talked with a soft voice, “We didn’t know any of this, Miss Laurel. And this may sound a bit harsh, but we don’t really care the circumstances of the war. We just want to fight strong enemies, and get stronger ourselves. We are not interested in switching sides.”

“That’s ok… it’s an open invitation.” Laurel shrugged again, “If you ever change your mind, just find me. And sorry if I offended you, Iris, I didn’t know I was pressing a wound.”

“Don’t… don’t worry about it.” The blue pegasus got caught off guard, and Laurel just turned around and pranced away.

---

On the castle’s bailey, a group of chariots arrived, each pulled by two pegasi, the rescued unicorns including Princess Platinum. King Lancer and General Spades Ace were there expecting their arrival. The king breathed nervously, his lips trembled when he saw her daughter walk down the chariot beside Clover and Jewel, he eagerly ran to her, even pushing some of his own guards to reach her.

Princess Platinum received a tight and warm hug from his father’s endearing strength. His heart beating right next to hers, no words were needed, she embraced her father’s love, she could even feel the sorrow and fear melting away from his chest. “You are the only family I have left. I thought… I thought you were... ” he whispered, unable to contain the tears as he stared right into her purple eyes.

“Dad, I’m not sorry,” Platinum pushed him, and raised the volume of her voice, “I don’t feel any shame, and I won’t apologize. I am back, but I know that you won’t abort the attack to the Earth Ponies. All I wanted was to make peace. I earned their trust, I was so close. And you blew it! Sending your… your… miserable rat to ruin everything! Now hundreds will die!”

Jewel’s ears fell down, and her face felt like melting down from her head. King Lancer stepped back and his ears folded too by his daughter’s response, “Platinum, listen to me, I...”

“See? That’s your problem!” Platinum pointed at his father’s face with a front hoof and stomped the ground with the other, “You want everyone to listen to you, but you are not willing to listen! Now you listen to me very well, and I feel terrible for saying this but… Mom is dead! And she will not come back! Ever! And killing earth ponies will not make you feel better and will not bring her back!”

An awkward silence invaded the ambience. Unicorns and pegasi shocked until General Spades Ace broke the silence, she bowed to the king and the princess and softly said, “It seems that you two have a lot to talk about, so we’ll be on our way.” She smiled, gathered her troops, and commanded them back to their post.

“I tried my best to avoid this. I really did, I really did.” Platinum said, “All I wanted was to stop the war to prevent unnecessary deaths, but I was labeled as a weirdo, I was seen as a fool. And why? Because I wanted peace? Because I didn’t want revenge?”

“There was once peace, even before the endless winter.” King Lancer said, looking down, as if he would find an answer on the snow, “You don’t know the story, it was them the ones who started this war.”

“But now it’s different, dad!” Platinum talked with a demanding tone, ”They just want freedom! They just want to live! Some of them were even willing to share their food with us in exchange of peace! But you are blinded by your hate towards them. They are going fight back and defend themselves! Nor unicorns nor earth ponies will come out unscathed from this battle! And now you even dragged the pegasi to your stupid hatred!”

King Lancer swallowed and sighed, before turning his back to his daughter, “We’ve had this discussion before, Platinum. We both know how it’s going to end. Though I admit my respect for earth ponies has increased, I have to look for the good of the unicorns only. This time, I will treat them not like beasts or barbarians, but as real soldiers. As King of Unicorns I have to keep my promise to the pegasi, you do what you see fit as the Princess of Unicorns.”

Princess Platinum was left alone, she growled with impotence. The desperation she felt thanks to the stubbornness of her father grew on her, boiling the blood.

“Well, I’d say that could have gone a lot better.” Clover just shrugged off, “But in all honestly, we both knew there was no way it could. I hope you have another plan of action besides this one.”

---

“Private Hurricane, Private Pansy! Excellent job, your mission was a success!” Commander Cotton Cloud congratulated her soldiers, very satisfied. Pansy puffed her chest with pride, but Hurricane still had the princess’ reaction in the back of her mind as her commander praised them and talked words that she gave little importance, until… “Hurricane, the General wants to see you, personally. That’s a third this month. But this time, I don’t want her barking at me because you let her waiting three hours! You heard me?”

“Yessir,” said Hurricane, she sighed and left.

Two hours and fifty nine minutes later, Hurricane walked up the stairs as slowly as she could of the northeastern tower as slowly as she could, where the General’s office was. There was a satisfied smirk on her face. The door made creaking sound as she opened it to enter the office.

General Spades Ace stopped what she was doing, there was a map on her desk, with small pieces of wood carved in the form of pegasi on it, like chess pieces. With her, there were two stallion maids, one of them was serving a cup of tea to her, and the other was standing still, waiting for his next assignment.

“Leave us, please,” the General said to her maids, her voice as kind and soft as always. She sipped from her cup of tea, and the stallions immediately left the room and closed the doors behind Hurricane.

“I wonder if you really are this oblivious or you amuse yourself by annoying me.” Said General Spades Ace with kindness in her voice.

“I’m sorry!” responded Hurricane, saluting her, “It won’t happen again, sir!”

The general sipped from her tea again, “Hurricane, please, in here, you can call me…”

“I know, can we just get on with this?” Hurricane rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration, she took her helmet off and took a seat, resting her hind legs on the desk and her nape on her front hooves. A long yawn escaping from the imprisonment of her throat.

“I was informed that that most of the earth pony villages were evacuated before our units attacked. Since your last mission was to infiltrate in one of those villages to rescue the princess, do you know anything about these, shall we say, ‘clever maneuvers’?”

“Sure, Princess Platinum exposed the plan to them, she is protecting them,” said Hurricane, very relaxed.

General Spades Ace giggled, her ears perked up and she glared at Hurricane with an undivided attention to her words, “That’s a bold accusation. Are you absolutely sure of this? And you just let them go? You did nothing about it?”

“The safety of the princess was top priority. Besides, it was just Private Pansy, a group of tired and non fighter unicorns and me, against a whole village of angry earth ponies. I was not really in the mood of getting my tail ripped off my body.”

The general frowned, she stood up and looked through the window behind the desk, she gazed upon the barracks on her cloud fortress, “It’s true the princess didn’t look happy about the king allying with us, but we just saved her life. What the hay is she thinking?”

Hurricane shrugged, giving little importance to the matter, “She wasn’t too happy to see her rescuers, either. I felt like I was the one doing the kidnapping.”

“And if the earth ponies knew we were coming, I’m afraid that this can get very ugly and very fast. Hurricane, prepare to battle, and tell Commander Cotton Cloud that I wish to speak with King Lancer. He will not like the news, but we need to plan our next move.”

Hurricane stretched her four legs and yawned, stood up, and she said “Yes.”

“Yes, what?” Spades Ace turned to see her with eager curiosity, expecting the right words to come from Hurricane.

“Yes, mom… ”

---

North from the earth pony villages, there was a rocky valley behind a mountain with tunnels and caves connected to each other like a maze. The mountain gave them good coverage from the pegasi. Down there, the earth ponies used the caves as houses and stores, it was like a village inside the valley where they could stay safe from their enemies.

More commonly used to hide from the unicorns, they improvised an outpost on top of the mountain camouflaged with snow and white cloths to see the approaching pegasi, so they can warn the refugees in the valley.

Chief Puddinghooves led his army of earth ponies to march on the snow fields heading south. They snaked their way between mountains and hills, using the low ground to their advantage, moving as quickly as their tired hooves allowed them to.

Not more than an hour passed when they found a unit of pegasi flying by at great speed. Ten, twenty, thirty… the chief counted about sixty pegasi flying above their heads.

“Move on, quickly!” He shouted and sprinted forward, all earth ponies were alerted and obeyed immediately, following the chief.

Not far from them was their destination, a cave going across a mountain, it was a tunnel that snaked is way through it and reached to the other side. They took a short time to eat and rest under the cover of the mountain, away from the eyes of the pegasi. After one hour they embarked again.

The tunnel led to a pine forest south to the valley where Hurricane and Pansy traveled to the Earth Pony villages. Chief Puddinghooves knew what he was doing, using the cover of the pines to avoid being spotted, they prepared a camp to rest, eat and wait.

Hours later, another group of earth ponies arrived the forest, led by Seed Sower. And a few hours more, yet another group where Puddinghead, Smart Cookie and Estrella were part of. And more and more arrived before sunset, all of the earth pony villages joined together to form a decent army ready to fight under Chief Puddinghooves command.

“We could have taken those pegasi,” Seed talked to Chief Puddinghooves, “We outnumbered them about three to one.”

The chief responded laughed out loud and palmed Seed’s back with his heavy arm, “Har har har! Of course, but if they had managed to capture at least one of us, they could’ve found out where the refuge is, and that minor victory wasn’t worth the risk. Seed, you’re a stallion of action, I like that about you! You get things done! But also Smart Cookie is right about you. You’re not the brightest torch in the cabin! Sometimes you need to cool your head and think before you act. I thought you would have learned that lesson after your crushing defeat against the unicorns. Guess not, har! That’s why I’m chief and you’re not!”

After a short rest, all earth ponies reunited and armed themselves, and Chief Puddinghooves shared his strategy. “The enemy is too busy looking for us in our towns, leaving the unicorn city fairly exposed! But they will return quickly once we attack. We gotta blitz the castle before that happens. But don’t you go and expect a warm welcome there! The pegasi will have some forces ready to defend, and we’re no match for their flying tricks, so we focus on taking the castle! Once in there, they won’t be able to fly freely and we can give them hell!”

“Hooooh!” The earth ponies raised their lances, and organized in a formation of ten columns with Seed Sower and Chief Puddinghooves in the front line, they marched south, to the unicorn city.

---

Once the king left Platinum alone, she and Clover reunited on the outskirts of the castle, Princess Platinum widened her eyes on alert when Laurel jumped to her face to welcome her with another hug that could match the strength of her father’s. This was the first time she ever met with Laurel, yet Laurel behaved as if they have been friends since long ago.

“Your Highness! Am I glad to see you safe!” said Laurel greeting the princess with the brightest smile, “The rumors and gossips about you were awful. Everyone thought you were dead! Some said that you got hung until you died of asphyxia, and others said that you were burned alive!”

“BAHAHA! That was not even close to happen, BAHAHAHA!” Platinum’s laugh was overly loud and overly exaggerated, “Clover already passed the memo about it. At first, they wanted me dead, but I suppose I played my cards quite well… though not well enough, it seems. I wasn’t able to prevent the battle, and I was so close to getting some earth ponies to join me.”

”Oh! By the way, I’m sorry Clover,” Laurel shrugged, “I tried to convince some pegasi, but seems their loyalty is set on stone. Some even enjoy the fighting. But the other unicorns are ready to receive the princess, they all want to see her.”

“It’s ok, Laurel. I met an interesting pair of pegasi myself, and let’s just say that their diplomacy skills are not on par with their flight skills. But don’t matter, Princess Platinum already has a plan..”

“Really? That’s wonderful!” Laurel hopped with another ear to ear smile drawn on her face.

Platinum calmed her with a soft touch on her shoulder, “Ummm… well, it’s not exactly a ‘wonderful’ plan. It’s more like a… a desperate attempt to make things better.”

Clover led Princess Platinum to the ‘War Ender Team Headquarters’, also known as the abandoned building behind the market. The princess was received by a group of unicorns reunited to praise and celebrate her return, Platinum’s heart’s pounding grew stronger and faster for being seen as an example, and unicorns claiming that she was their heroine. They all crowded around her with excitement and yelled, “Welcome to the War Ender Team!”

Platinum turned a smile on Clover, rubbing her satisfaction on her face. Clover just frowned and snorted, “Not a single word! Look, I thought you were dead! I was depressed, ok? And I thought the best way to honor your memory is to carry on your goals and using that stupid team name!”

All sights were set on Princess Platinum, a gasp escaped her when she realised, she cleared her throat and fixed her mane, “Ahem… Thank you, thank you, thank you. But this is no time for celebration. The war already got worse, the earth ponies are being attacked and thousands will die. But we can still put an end to it.”

“But how?” Laurel asked, “If the battle is already underway, doesn’t that mean we failed? Isn’t better to seek refuge, and hope for the best?”

Platinum took a deep breath and turned to Clover, and Clover nodded to her friend with an encouraging smile. “I am going to usurp the throne from my father.” said Platinum. The unicorns watched her with blank, unbelieving expressions. “I know it sounds inconceivable, and I wouldn’t blame you if you quit now.”

She paused, closing her eyes for a few seconds. What would she see when she open her eyes again? An empty room? Her ears were alert, but she heard only silence. She took another deep breath and opened her eyes. All unicorns in front of her stood right there, no one moved. A few tears dropped from her eyes and she jumped to hug a few of them, “Thank you so much!”

---

The king sitting on his throne, gritting his teeth and his eyebrows strongly pressed against the top lids of his eyes, glaring at General Spades Ace’s as he heard the news about the earth ponies cleverly avoiding what should have been complete obliteration. There was a brief silence after General Spades Ace explained what happened, but she wasn’t scared at all, she had her kind smile and her calm eyes waiting for the king’s response.

“You said our armies together would be unstoppable!” The king stood up, almost jumping from the throne room. Jewel on his right, and the pegasi and unicorns all trembled as if the volume of his voice had caused an earthquake in the entire room, “Now you tell me that the hornless disappeared! I hought you pegasi were combat experts!”

“Oh, listen to you, talking all high and mighty,” the general responded with her soft voice, “When it was your own daughter the one who exposed our plan to them.” The echo of multiple gasps resounded in the throne room.

“Platinum… ” The king’s rage disappeared, picturing the image of his daughter’s rebellious behavior, “Jewel, did she warned the earth ponies of our tactics? My daughter, she has turned against me times over. But maybe it wasn’t her, maybe it was Clover.”

Jewel once again found herself being at the center of the spotlight, she’d like to disappear but teleporting is forbidden inside the castle walls. Once again she has to be the ‘miserable rat’, didn’t she? “She did… they both did. And the earth ponies fled before the pegasi arrived. They went to some kind of hideout, somewhere north, I’m not sure.”

“We will find them eventually!” said Commander Cotton Cloud, “I’ll order an exhaustive scouting, we will leave no stone unturned!”

“Your enthusiasm is inspiring, commander.” said Spades Ace, “But that would be a terrible mistake. Most certainly the earth ponies will attack us. How and when? Who knows, but it will be soon. Our best bet is to call back our units and hope they come back as soon as possible.”

The doors were blasted open and Raystorm came in running from the hallway, he could barely speak in between panting and huffing, “Your majesty! They’re here! The earth ponies are attacking! And they are a lot!”

“No way! Already!?” The King widened his eyes, and turned to General Spades Ace. He spotted a gasp escaping from her, “It’s time to battle!” The king commanded, “All unicorns in stand by intercept them! General, I expect air support from your units!”

“Roger that! Commander, if you’d be so kind,.” Spades Ace spread her wings and walked away, Commander Cotton Cloud saluted, and left the throne room following her.

---

The earh ponies blasted through the city’s main gate armed with spears and wooden shields. The crack on the city’s wooden gate caused by Seed’s previous attack was still weak, a few strikes in unison and the gates went down. Once in the city, a wall of unicorns prepared the defense, a wall that Chief Puddinghooves was determined to break through. A storm of magic beams attacked them, some earth ponies blocked with their shields as some other fell before the clash of both factions.

The earth pony army fought with unmatched organization, the front lines attacked first while the back lines supported them. Chief Puddinghooves headbutted the poor unicorn that tried to stop him, knocking him away a few yards. Seed stabbed another unicorn while protecting Estrella from frontal combat, she helped him with those who tried to sneak on him. The unicorn defense was outnumbered, a unicorn with golden helmet commanded the retreat, back to the main square.

There was another barricade of unicorns on the main square, they cast a spell in unison creating a cobalt blue magic wall. Chief Puddinghooves and Seed Sower attacked the barrier with their heads and spears, but the unicorns stood resilient. The earth ponies were stopped and the magic wall was the least of their problems when the pegasi arrived.

A swarm of pegasi flew by them, pulling black clouds above the earth ponies, and with a simple kick on it, a lighting struck the back lines of the earth ponies. “What the hell!?” Seed Sower covered his ears from the thunder’s roar, his comrades fell defenseless, and the magic wall still standing strong. He and Chief Puddinghooves attacked the barrier over and over without any notion of coordination while a black cloud formed above them.

The lightning was about to strike, Estrella and Seed hugged as if doing so would protect them from the lightning. But out of thin air, a light green barrier formed above the earth pony army, and the lightning was absorbed by the barrier.

Platinum, Clover and a group of unicorns came running from the alley to the earth ponies. “Chief Puddinghooves. I really tried, but my father didn’t listen. It pains me it had to end like this,” she closed her eyes and touched her own chest, before staring at him with her shiny purple eyes, “But know that I am on your side, please help me take over. My father brought war, so I will bring peace, even if I have to betray him to do so!”

Platinum gave a short nod to Clover, and Clover responded by giving her a palm on the shoulder, then she teleported to the other side of the magic wall. She aimed her horn at the unicorn army, and one by one she shot magic beams at their heads, they were too busy holding the magic wall to defend themselves, they helplessly fell on the snow, and the magic wall dissipated into nothing.

“They… they’re not dead, right?” Princess Platinum asked.

Clover smirked and shook their head. “Of course not, but they’re gonna feel a terrible headache tomorrow morning.”

“Harrr! Princess Platinum comes to us seeking our help!” The chief raised his spear skywards facing his army, “She claims that she’ll bring peace! How many of us believe her!”

“For Princess Platinum! Hooooh!”

“You risk your life for us,” the chief talked to her directly, “They’ll return the favor!”

The earth pony army was back on track with the ‘War Ender Team’ on their side and a barrier above their heads, the pegasi were forced to go around and attack from the ground. They showed to be formidable opponents, they blocked with their wings any incoming attacks, and were swift to counter with kicks, punch, and wing attacks. But when it came to compare the strength of their muscles, the pegasi mares couldn’t match the big earth pony stallions.

---

General Spades Ace was examining her map and her pieces. She turned to see the battle from the window, and sighed while scratching the back of her head. Commander Cotton Cloud and a blue pegasus were also looking at the map.

“If we can stop them enough time for the main units to return, we might still have a chance,” said Commander Cotton Cloud, she looked from all angles, but their remaining pieces were not enough, her hoof quickly tapping on the floor as she calculated their alternatives.

“The king’s lovely daughter, brought up this mess, and now she’s even helping them,” stated General Spades Ace, “The earth ponies are stronger than us, and they can actually fight. But we can show them that brute force and numbers are not the only way to attain victory. Commander, be a dear and execute order sixty six.”

“Uhh… are you sure, general?” Cotton Cloud gave her a blank expression, “The twister could cause catastrophic damage to the city.”

“I know… but sacrifices must be made.”

Cotton Cloud swallowed, she stared at the map one last time, but there were no options left, “Yes sir, I’ll inform the unicorns to take refuge.”

“Don’t. If you do that, then you’ll be also informing the enemy. I know it’s hard, but as I said, sacrifices must be made.”

The commander gasped, she stepped back, “But… the unicorns are on our side, general. They’re counting on us to help them fight! We can’t kill them along with the enemy, there’s no honor in that!”

General walked to Cotton Cloud, she gave her a smile while she lifted her chin with a tender touch of her hoof, “Commander, what is the most important aspect of life?”

Cotton Cloud trembled as her eyes met Spades Ace’s, “Strength, of course, to grow stronger. This world is governed by only one rule: Survival of the strongest.”

And the general slowly giggled and shook her head, “My dear commander. There is no such a thing as growing strong. Either you are strong, or you are weak. The one rule that governs this world is not survival of the strongest, it’s annihilation of the weakest. So execute order sixty six, immediately, yes?”

Cotton Cloud was paralyzed, she could barely breath, her hooves trembling. She stared at General Spades Ace eyes, kind yet cold, and her voice was soothing yet cruel. She regained as much strength as she could, and gave the most sincere answer she could think of, the only answer she considered to be the right one.

“No.”

The general giggled again, “I beg your pardon. Heh, I didn’t think I’d have to put you in your place. Oh, well… .” She slowly raised her wings, and slashing like a blade, her wing hit Cotton Cloud in the side of her helmet, and knocked her on the floor. Then she stomped on her rib.

The air was expelled from Cotton Cloud’s lungs, her sight became blurry and a burning invaded the insides of her chest, she tried to draw air, but only managed to cough and dry her throat. “Oh, you poor thing. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a second chance,” a voice whispered to her ear, a second blow on her side made the burn inside her grow hotter, her mind was blank, until her vision became pitch black.

The general turned her attention to the blue pegasus, “That was embarrassing. Sorry you had to see that, my dear. What is your name?”

“M-my name is… is Sergeant Iris, s-sir.” She claimed, trembling on the spot as General Spades Ace approached her.

“Tell them to take her to the dungeon, and prepare to execute order sixty six. Would you, please, Commander Iris?”

Author's Note:

Finally up! This chapter was supposed to end the first season, or first arc, but I needed to stretch it in order to come out the way I wanted, so not over yet.

I'm happy with how it turned out, I'm all open to comments, I welcome comments, so make sure to destroy my ego in the comments if you see it's necessary. Also thumbs up are much appreciated.