Farachan

by QTXAdsy

The Trial

Chapter 11

The Trial

Despite the fact that the Red Hooves had utterly annihilated the Alaccan forces in Pass of Malum, sending only a handful of survivors running scared for their lives over the border, much to the relive of all those in Farachan, the celebrations from the Red Hooves had turned sour due to two certain young Red Hoof troops. Although the population of Farachan could finally relax that with the utter rout the Alaccans had suffered, they were all completely oblivious to the drama that was taking place within the Red Hooves' HQ.

Blue Arrow and Shadow's brief but furious punch up with each other nearly did cause the Red Hoof line to fail had it not been for the fact the Alaccan's moral had dropped dramatically, and now every Red Hoof troop could only talk about that punch up, nothing about their great victory there. Each one of them had their own theory's about the fate of the two Red Hooves, all of which seemed to point in the direction of deportation back to Equestria and face further punishment from Celestia herself.

It had been two days since that victory in Malum and both Blue Arrow and Shadow had been sentence in two prison cells from each other until they awaited their fate from their commanding officers. Whilst locked in his cell, with all his armour and weapons stripped from him, Blue Arrow laid back on the stone floor glancing at the look of the place around him.

Even though he had been living here on Farachan for quite sometime now, he hadn't really been round the prison section of the base, but all that he did know about it was the fact that it had been built for those captured Alaccan soldiers who had surrendered to the Red Hooves. But with the numbers of deaths the Alaccans had suffered at the hooves of the Equestrian elite side, there didn't seemed to be any there. Thus, Blue Arrow and Shadow were given the unlikable titles of being the first to be imprisoned in these cells.

For a certain blue stallion lying on the floor of his cell, it all seemed like madness. Blue Arrow didn't bother to move from the floor, he just lay there feeling bitter and angry after what had happened. It did seem though to be a good idea to keep the two Pegasus stallions away from each other as had they been placed in a cell together, they would likely had beaten each other to death, such was now the relationship between the two stallions.

Although he felt glad to have finally caught Shadow, he felt like an idiot for getting himself into bother, something in his head kept telling him that his time as a Red Hoof solider would be over. It was a terrible thought to him as he had trained for nearly his whole life to be the skilled fighter he had been trained to become.

"That bastard has to answer those questions now," Blue Arrow muttered to himself as he remained there on the cold, damp floor. "Either way, I'll find out more about that little shit soon enough."

Finally after what seemed like an age, he sat up looking directly at the steel prison bars before him. With no weapons or tools to break out, it was useless to even think about escape, and even if he wanted to get out, he didn't want to make matters for him to be more difficult as he still wanted to show his loyalty to his country, even if did mean he had to remain in this prison cell for Celestia knows how long. Feeling around his face, he could feel that he was started to grow a beard after the amount of time he'd been in here for without a shave.

Then he heard a clatter of hoof steps from across the room. Upon hearing this, he quickly dashed over to the bars and peered through the gaps to see what was going on. There on the other side of the room, he could see Commander Sky Rider and Pounce Hammer (a yellow Pegasus stallion with an striped orange and black mane and tail with brown eyes) opening the prison door for what Blue Arrow suspected was Shadow's cell.

After the two stallions fumbled around with unlocking the door, Pounce Hammer went in to bring out Shadow. Just shortly later, Blue Arrow saw Shadow, with his mane looking in a horrendous state with a grim look that could send a cold shiver up anypony's back. As Pounce led Shadow up the stairs, Sky Rider turned round and trotted up towards Blue Arrow's cell.

Quickly, he went back to his spot on the floor as he awaited the commander. Not long later, Sky Rider appeared with a key and prepared to open the cell door.

"Today's the day," Sky Rider said gruffly as he opened the door, but Blue Arrow said nothing as Sky Rider led him out of the cell. "Wherever you two like it not, you've made quite an impact around here."

Blue Arrow snorted. "For worse," he utterly coldly as he followed the older Pegasus out of the room.

"Perhaps," Sky Rider replied calmly. "But let's hope this little trial will go without incident."

Blue Arrow rolled his eyes, such an ironic thought, 'go without incident.' Anything with Shadow seemed to be a recipe for something to go wrong, even with it being a trial.

Even as the stout grey Pegasus led him up the stairs, Blue Arrow started to ponder his fate. Even with the amount of time he'd been locked up in that cell with the time to think about it, he had spent most of the time fuelling his grudge on Shadow and how he was going to make him pay.

He bit his bottom lip in embarrassment as he realised this, what was to be of him? For nearly causing the Red Hoof forces to collapse and start fighting with Shadow, his future didn't look bright. The only thing that he could do was just try and keep calm and even if he did come face to face with Shadow again…would try his best not to fight him again.

XXX

Wherever corridor Blue Arrow walked down along with Sky Rider to the commander's room (the location for the trial), an eerie silence hung in the air. It felt like all the Red Hooves had been told to give him a cold shoulder. Blue Arrow really couldn't argue if that was the case, he did wonder as well if his friends hated him too. Dynamo, Sunstar and Macca could be either worried about him, or perhaps completely broken their alliances with him.

That thought also made him think, did Shadow have any friends while being out here? If he living away from the base, then he would've had a lonely time here, a thought that while made his grudge still strong, he did felt a tinge of pity on him. He was deep in thought when the sound of Sky Rider's voice broke him out of his concentration.

"Alright Blue Arrow, here we are," Sky Rider announced as they ended up outside the commander room's door.

The young blue Pegasus drew a deep breath trying to calm down before entering, there was no way out of this, he had to go in and face his fate.

Soon Sky Rider opened the door for him and the two stallions entered the room, and for a brief moment, Blue Arrow could gaze all around the room. Sitting round a U-shaped varnished covered table was the other three commanders Woolwinder, Sixer and Pounce Hammer. Behind the four commanders, there stood there a large window that looked out upon the city of Coltfast. All around him, Blue Arrow could see the room had a plush look about it with a maroon carpet, cream coloured walls and pillers and a small statue of Celestia in one of the corners of the room. Looking to his left, he could see two doors that he presumed were the sleeping quarters and the bathroom.

Also in that direction, was the sight of Blue Arrow's archrival Peppercorn 'Shadow' Tornado.

The two untidy looking stallions deeply glared at each other, like one of them were about to suddenly start a fight yet again. That was until Woolwinder's voice broke them out of their state.

"Now then gentlestallions, let's not cause a riot in here, let's get this trial done." Woolwinder said.

Quickly the two Red Hooves turned to look at the commanders, now, both of their fates were in the hooves of the golden armoured Pegasus stallions around that table. A long silence followed before Sky Rider spoke up.

"Well…me and my fellow comrades can't begin to say that we are lucky to even win that battle with you two breaking out of line like that." He paused briefly looking at the baffled looking Red Hooves. "It may had looked easy for us in that battle when we defeated them there, but there is always a small piece of a battle that can either turn the tide of the battle for or against us."

"You do know that our defensive pack there we do is vital for us to push them back and if possible win a battle," Commander Sixer added. "Could you imagine if you had both gone out of line and not only that, but our defensive wall would've shattered and defeat would be staring in our faces?"

A sense a guilt washed up through Blue Arrow and Shadow as Sixer carried on speaking. "We'll probably say it again and again and we still consider ourselves lucky there. We are the last line of defensive for Farachan and maybe all of Equestria with it!"

Blue Arrow lowered his head shamefully and he felt his heart sink. He quickly glanced over seeing Shadow still staring at the commanders unfazed of what they were being told. Was he feeling anything? Blue Arrow didn't know and wanted this trial to be over.

"But enough from them," Commander Pounce Hammer interrupted. "I can see that you want to know will happen to you two."

Blue Arrow breathed a silent sigh of relive. "Good old someone knows how I'm feelin'" He grumbled to himself dryly.

The yellow Pegasus commander then brought up from under his desk a large leather book and opened it for the other three. The young blue Pegasus stallion wondered what that book was for, most likely something to do about their ID's maybe.

As the four commanders mused among themselves at a page in the book, Blue Arrow felt like they taken like an hour, even though it was only a few seconds. "Celestia have mercy," He thought sadly.

Finally after what seemed like an age, the four commanders looked over to the two Red Hooves, though they were all casting their eyes principally on Blue Arrow.

"Private Arrow?" Woolwinder asked him.

"Aye Sir," Blue Arrow replied standing to attention.

"From Alba I guess from the voice?" Woolwinder added.

Blue Arrow nodded. "Aye, born and raised in Alba from the early period of my life 'till I was sent down south to Equestria for Celestia to train me."

The four commanders remained quiet until Sky Rider spoke. "Ah yes I remember you, a small little skinny colt that would always listen to what his parents would tell them, a nice upbringing. Still, the Albaians have always been our closest allies through our darkest times since our union with Alba."

The blue stallion didn't say anything; he just wanted to know what was to become of him.

"Now with your actions," Sky Rider added.

"Here we go," Blue Arrow muttered in a low tone that only he could hear.

Sky Rider looked back at a page in the large book. "You decided to follow him out off line and then eventually fell into a fight with one another that nearly, as we said before, endangered all of the troops on our side."

"I was only tryin' to stop him!" Blue Arrow spat out.

"By breaking out by not following orders?" Woolwinder inquired.

"How else was I supposed to stop him?" Blue Arrow replied angrily, his words making the commanders silent. "I know what I did now was stupid, but I didn't want to let another one of us get killed by them—"

"So you went in to rescue him…then fight him?" Sixer asked calmly.

Blue Arrow's mouth opened, but nothing came out for a moment. "…Sirs…I'm not sure tae be honest wi' ye. You see I…"

"…Go on," Woolwinder urged in a relaxed manner.

"I…I had my suspicious about him ever since that night attack on Coltfast you may remember."

Now Shadow raised an eyebrow about what Blue Arrow was saying. "What the hell you taking—"

"Silence," Sixer interrupted casting a small glare at Shadow before looking back over to Blue Arrow. "Carry on then."

The red and white mane stallion bit his bottom lip as he prepared to confess. "Well…there many times that when I was around the base or even out on patrol, I never saw him and I began thinking…then again I just shook it off like it was nothin'. But it just still lingered on in my mind from then on. Then everythin' went more strange after I ended up in hospital bed after that defeat."

He could see the commanders shudder at the thought. "Yes…" Woolwinder uttered coldly. "I can remember we had you and a selected few troops out there to stop them. Oh Celestia it is a miracle we managed to find survivors like you. Anyway, you were saying about your suspicious?"

"Erm, well," Blue Arrow trailed off. "I was in bed when I saw one of the nurses walking around with a book that had all the names of all the Red Hooves out here, so I asked her if I could read and she accepted it. And in it I could find nothing that said anything related to Peppercorn Tornado or Shadow."

"Then you wanted to find him and get more answers from him," Pounce concluded, in which Blue Arrow nodded. "Well, I'll give you credit that you are being honest with us, and we can say that your suspicious are all true about him."

At once both Blue Arrow and Shadow's eyes widened as they both looked up at the golden armoured commanders. "What…what you talking about?" Shadow asked them hurriedly, Blue Arrow noticed that Shadow started to look quite flushed somehow.

This time, the four commanders turned their gaze over to the shocked black stallion. "So then tell us then," Sky Rider asked him. "Please tell us your name and where you're from."

Shadow didn't speak for a moment, looking like he'd lost his words. "…I'm…Peppercorn Tornado or Shadow, born and bread in Manehatten."

The four stallions on the other side of the room looked back on another page in the book for about a minute. "It says here there is no 'Peppercorn Tornado' or 'Shadow' out here fighting," Sixer answered. "But it does say in black and white here that there is a Peppercorn Tornado that should be back in Equestria training with Celestia am I right?"

Blue Arrow could only watch as all at once, his suspicious all started to come true. Shadow on the other hoof looked liked he was about to be sick. "I…I…"

"No point trying to defend yourself trainee." Woolwinder said with a stout commanding sound in his voice. "We had reports from home saying that they have lost a Red Hoof trainee over the last several months now which the description of this stallion is black with a dark red mane and tail and blue eyes…and I can say that there is no need to give out a name for this certain stallion."

The young blue stallion's mouth dropped as Woolwinder dropped the bombshell on Shadow. Surely there was no way out of this for the black stallion.

"And another thing Peppercorn Tornado, tell us…how old are you?" Woolwinder added leaning slightly forward on his chair.

Shadow was silent for some seconds, trying to find the confidence to utter anything. "….S-sixteen sir…" he finally uttered as he lowered his head in shame.

Blue Arrow shook his head in disbelieve, it was like listening how the world was going to end, he couldn't believe what he was hearing, and Shadow's world was caving in around him. Not only had Shadow sneaked out to Farachan but also he was also underage, and that last fact was certainly the final nail in the coffin for Shadow's fate.

The four commanders were silent and looked on with disappointed looks on their faces. It was Sky Rider however he finally broke the silence. " Well there we are then, it gives me the unfortunate task to tell you this but…with the facts here that you are the missing stallion that our fellow commanders have been looking for back on the mainland and we have at last found you for them. You've have also been fighting out here underage and it leaves us with little choice other than for you to be deported back to Equestria where you shall receive further punishment for your actions."

Sixer then looked over to Blue Arrow. "As for you Private Arrow…" Blue Arrow nearly jumped out of surprise, he was starting to think that they had forgotten about him. "As much as you did do such foolish actions, you did your part in tracking this stallion down and we thank you for that, but please, don't try to break anymore rules otherwise you will face expulsing, understand?"

"Erm…a-aye sir," Blue Arrow stuttered, breathing a sigh of relive that he wasn't going to leave Farachan.

"Very good," Woolwinder replied. "Now please Blue Arrow, could you lead this…stallion, back to his cell until he is ready to leave Farachan?"

"Aye sir," Blue Arrow nodded as he led the utterly shocked and stunned Shadow out of the room. The trial was finally over, but with one stallion staying, the other leaving to head back home and face more shame.

The two of them didn't speak for what felt like an age as they walked down the many corridors back to the cells. Shadow now looked quite literally a shadow of what he was before; a totally disheartened and shell-shocked pony in his place replaced the once cocky and brave stallion.

As much as Blue Arrow felt angry about Shadow and the state he had gotten himself into, deep down though, he did pity him and wondered what would happen to him.

Suddenly he found himself being slammed against a corridor wall by Shadow. Pure rage was written on the black stallion's face and Blue Arrow could've swore he could see fire burning in Shadow's eyes. "You bastard!" He snapped angrily.

"What's the matter now?" Blue Arrow spat out in confusion of what was happening.

"You should've helped me-no, you shouldn't have tried to stop me back at Malum, then I wouldn't in this damn situation!" Shadow explained, his eyes narrowing at Blue Arrow as he kept his grip on Blue Arrow up against that wall.

"For Celestia's sake lad!" Blue Arrow replied exasperated. "Even if I didn't go in to stop ye, you would've still gotten caught by them, it's a miracle I'm walking out this even!"

This time, Blue Arrow pushed Shadow off him and the two stallions squared up to win another. "Listen lad, don't start a riot here, let's just…get over it."

"GET over it?!" Shadow yelled. "Oh really bucking original, Blue Arrow! Many years from now I'll still remember this moment! But you do have a point about not fighting here…"

Shadow paused and began thinking it through. "Yes…I just know how to settle this…"

Blue Arrow was silent as he waited to hear Shadow's suggestion. "I know what to do…a good old fashion duel tonight at ten on top of the mountain over looking the city. No need to reply, you'll get it, you just head back, I'll lead myself to those cells."

And with that, Shadow left a dumbstruck Blue Arrow standing there in the corridor still trying to digest the information Shadow had said. A duel? Tonight? What had he gotten himself in for? Shadow had lost his mind it seemed and was after revenge on Blue Arrow. The blue Pegasus pondered what to do, he wasn't going back to get a squad of Red Hooves to come asset him in bringing back Shadow.

No. It was him who had to do, it just between him and Shadow. He would face the mad stallion tonight. A duel with no winners or losers.