• Published 24th Mar 2016
  • 1,328 Views, 176 Comments

Strider - Olakaan Peliik



My name is Flame Strider, I am a Pegasus, and City Guard. This is my record of my time in the City Guard, and travels across Equestria.

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Las Pegasus - VI

“How long we been down here now?” Snow asked from her cell.

“I-I don't kn-know. M-maybe a whole day. P-p-possibly more,” I shivered. Would it kill them to turn up the temperature in this place? If it was any colder, I’d probably be able to see my breath.

“D-don’t worry,” I said. “Y-you’ve got the cr-crystal. Th-they’ll find you.”

Snow looked down sadly. “No, I don’t have the crystal,” she admitted. “While you were passed out, Halberd checked us for spells and detected the tracking crystal inside my stomach. They forced me to take a potion that made me throw it up, and one of his mercs took it away. It could be miles away by now.”

Great. So much for that plan. “I-it’s okay,” I shivered. “W-we’ll th-think of something.”

“Are you alright?” Snow asked, concern heavy in her voice.

“J-just cold,” I tried to smile at her, but it probably looked more like a grimace. My eyes suddenly felt really heavy and I laid down, closing my eyes.

“Strider, it’s gotta be in the sixties down here, it’s not cold.” I could hear her move closer to me. She put her hoof on my head. “Oh sweet Celestia, you’re burning up!” she cried.

Sure didn't feel like it.

She started shaking and hitting the bars on her cage. “GUARD! Please, he needs help! He’s sick!”

“Shut up back there!” a guard shouted from the distance.

Snow growled beneath her breath, then added, “I’d bet your boss wouldn’t be happy that you let an infection spread through your merchandise. What is the average price for a dead slave again?”

A moment of silence from the guards. “Fine! We’ll get you the medical kit and a blanket for him, just shut up will ya!” one of them snarled.

Snow turned back to me. “Strider, open your eyes,” she ordered.

“Okay,” I mumbled, forcing my eyes open. Her horn, with an inhibitor on, it could only do so much, but that didn't stop her from trying. She sat, setting her horn aglow and started muttering incantations over my wounds. Snow stayed like that for what seemed like several minutes while I faded in and out of trance. But I think it was really a few hours, cause at some point a blanket had covered me. The quiet had started to bother me, and I was tired, slipping in and out of awareness.

“S-Snow, I think I want to try and sleep for a bit.” I started to close my eyes.

“What! No! Strider! Open your eyes. Come on, stay awake!” She gently slapped my cheeks to keep me awake.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because with the state your body is in you could slip into a coma. You need to stay awake.”

I did my best to sit up. “Oh. Coma would be bad. Alright, I'll do my best.”


“You still awake?” Snow asked me.

“I am Strider,” I grumbled like a cavepony.

“Just think about Jett. How happy she will be that you made it home.”

“I’m thinking she’ll be mad that I let them catch me,” I joked.

Snow laughed feebly. “Good to see your sense of humor has not faltered.”

“How long we been here now?” I asked.

“At least two days.”

“I don't know how much longer I can stay awake,” I moaned. My head felt like it was encased in lead; keeping my eyes open took all the effort I could muster.

“Strider you need to, otherwise I don't know if you'll be able to wake up. Without the full use of my horn, I can't see if your concussion is gone.”

“I know. Just letting you know that we might not have a choice in the matter.” To try to keep my mind occupied, I thought on events of the past few years.

The guard compound in Tall Tale, the Baltimare guard division, the New Horseleans Guard-Army base. My daughter Jett, my brothers, sister, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. First superiors Sergeant Arrow, and Aurora. First real partner Knight Gaze. Friend and colleague Stone. Phillip Finder, the only PI I’ll ever trust, and all the ponies I had met in those locations. Snow was a big piece of my life, like Jett and my family.

And that meant I had to come clean with her.

“Snow?” I called to her.

“Yes?” she said, stopping her spells.

“I want to tell you the actual reason I passed by that pony on the street that day. When we were at the Equestrian Guard Ball.”

“Can it wait?” she asked, adjusting my blanket further.

“It could, but I can't anymore.” I sat up with what strength I had to look her in the eye. “I went to pick out a ring. For you.”

I wanna say the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. But she just smiled from her side of the bars and put her hoof to my cheek. Her touch felt wonderfully warm and soft.

“I would count my lucky stars if you'd agree to marry me,” I smiled, nuzzling her hoof.

“Strider, I…” She hesitated.

That was when my body finally decided that it had had enough. My vision went dark and I fell over. The last thing I heard was Snow calling out to me. I couldn’t tell what she had said.


“Wake up!” I heard somepony shout as a bucket of cold water was thrown onto me.

I jumped awake, shaking. Halberd’s son stood outside my cage with a bucket. “You’re no good to us dead, or broken for that matter. You, you're a healer,” he barked at Snow. “I’m tuning the inhibitor back to seventy-five percent rather than ninety-five. Heal him. My father wants him alive.” He stormed off.

“How long was I out?” I asked.

“Twelve hours. I was starting to get concerned you wouldn't wake up,” she admitted, casting healing magic over me. I noticed that her eyes were a little red; it looked like she’d been crying.

“Twelve?” I repeated in disbelief. “Well, at least I got some rest.”

“I did what I could while you were sleeping. Now that I have access to more magic maybe I can do something more. What do you remember from just before you blacked out?”

I looked at her. I remember asking her to marry me, but from her expression, I figured she didn't want to revisit that just yet. “It’s a blur. I remember us talking.”

She did manage to smile. “Oh, it can wait till we get out of here.”

Now that I was rested, and honestly feeling a bit better, despite how cold my wings felt, I knew it could wait. I looked around and for the first time since coming here, I bothered taking note of our surroundings. We were in a big warehouse of sorts, full of captured ponies. Each of them was in a separate cage, just big enough to allow them to sit up and turn around in, but not much else.

Across the aisle to me I saw a colt, teenager likely bored out of his mind the way he was messing with a yo-yo. “Hey, you,” I called to him.

“What you want, copper?” he said, not even looking at me.

“Do they ever bring ponies out of this place?”

“Nope. Only times they move slaves is to either sell them or dispose of them.”

“‘Dispose of?’ What do you mean?”

“You know, when one of us dies, they have to get rid of the body,” he grunted, turning away from me even further. “When I was working out in the fields one day I saw them pitch a body off a cliff into a ravine,” he muttered. It definitely wasn’t a memory he liked revisiting.

“A ravine? How steep is it?” I asked.

“I was able to get a look before they caught me peeking. It’s like a stone slide, I couldn’t see where the bottom was.”

“Hmm…” An idea began to form in my head.

“Whatever it is you’re thinking, the answer is no,” Snow said firmly.

I looked at her. “How are your sedation spells?”

Her eyes went wide, and she shook her head. “No.”


“I still think that this is a bad idea,” Snow whispered. “A number of things could go wrong, you are still recovering, and not to mention who knows how long it will take you to get back to Las Pegasus without your wings.”

“All valid concerns, but we can’t afford to wait that long. I can do this,” I assured her.

She made an anxious face before letting out a sigh. “I hate it when you make sense, Flame Strider, especially in these situations. Would it kill you to not have a plan just once?”

“The alternative is we stay here until we either die or get shipped off somewhere. Now let's get on with this.” I laid down to make it look like I was dead and closed my eyes.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” she sighed.

I hoped I knew what I was doing, but I didn’t tell her that.

She closed her eyes and began her spells. “It will start wearing off as soon as you leave your cage, so you’ll need to keep up the act.”

At first, the feeling was like my hooves going numb from sitting in it too long, slowly sliding up my body. Pretty soon I couldn’t move and I slipped into an aware sleep. She cast a cold spell over me on top of it. My eyes were closed but I could hear everything. After a time it was time for Snow’s part of the performance.

Strider?! Strider! No!” she screamed and began to cry.

There was the sound of hoofsteps. “What happened?!” I heard Halberd shout at Snow.

I could hear Snow sobbing. “He just blacked out and dropped to the floor. He must’ve had internal injuries I couldn’t heal.” How she cried on cue like that I’ll never know.

I felt a hoof press against my neck. Please don’t feel a pulse, please don’t feel a pulse...

“He’s gone,” Halberd’s son’s voice said.

“Dammit! Now I can’t enjoy my revenge.” I could feel the scraping of the ground against my coat and bare wings as they began to drag me away. “At least we can still get a pretty penny out of his friend here. Dispose of the corpse with the others, then meet me in my office.”

“Yes, father,” I heard him more clearly.

The spells were already wearing off. Come on Strider, you've acted before, how hard is to play dead? Very hard apparently: I had to concentrate on keeping as still as I could, on breathing slowly and quietly through my nostrils. They dragged me out of where they kept us; my head smacked against more than a few rocks, and the dirt stung against my wings. But eventually, they tossed me onto a cart. As they started to cart me away… on no.

Itchy nose! Why is it always at the worst of times! I had to remain motionless, ordering my nose to not twitch. As they carted me outside. I could feel the warmth of the sun beating down on me. I could hear the sound of tools striking dirt, stone, wood, and metal. Must be that field the kid was talking about.

“Come on, let's dump this one and get back. We’re missing the game,” one Griffin said impatiently.

I could imagine the eyeroll. “It's Griffball, I doubt we missed much. Those games take forever to get the ball to a goal.”

We came to a stop and I felt the wagon tilting. Now the tricky part. I cracked my eyes so I could see. That was a bit steeper than the kid advertised. I could see the blood smears where previous corpses had slid down the hill.

I started to slide as well. Here we go. I opened my eyes fully as I hit the rock. Sliding down the side of the gully quickly was a problem. What was it they trained us to do in these situations? I wish I paid attention for that lesson in training, I don't have use of my wings anymore so I’ll have to make do.

I did my best to keep my wings from scraping against the rock while simultaneously trying to slow down. I planted my hooves and could feel my shoes grinding away. Suddenly the hill changed directions on me, with the speed I was going I slammed into the rock hard enough to knock the wind out of me. After the direction change and momentary pain, it got less steep. I was able to slow down enough before slamming into a pile of partially eaten corpses. Flies buzzed over the mound, providing a constant background noise. The smell was incredibly pungent, the rotting odor hitting me like a sledgehammer.

I leaped over the pile of bones and meat. Once on the other side, I paused to catch my breath and vomit. Some animals had been eating well for quite a while. There was a breeze which allowed at least some fresh air. Following my survival instructor’s most important quote “Always follow your nose,” I followed the fresh air out of this nightmare, through the winding ravines.

There were a few tight squeezes between the rock, but I managed. It seemed like these caves went on forever. I’d been down here several hours, dizzy with exhaustion and dehydration, and was near ready to go back, to get recaptured. But I saw the soft glow of moonlight ahead through a gap in the stone. Scrabbling over a final rock wall and exiting out a narrow hole, I reached freedom. The cold wind against my skin felt wonderful; I could see the light of Las Pegasus on the far horizon.

I allowed myself to smile a moment. I was nearly there now. Just had to cross the desert and get to Nassor and my brother before rescuing Snow.


“That’s it. I want to leave Las Pegasus,” I panted as the morning sun beat down on my head. I had no water, no food, there were cicada beetles making that insufferable sound, and I had stopped sweating at least an hour ago.

Las Pegasus was in full view right now; I just had to get there, but it never seemed to get any closer no matter how long I walked. I heard another sound from above me, but I wasn't convinced that it wasn’t just my dehydrated mind playing tricks on me so I kept on moving.

“Strider!” I heard my brother’s voice. Nice try, brain, I’m not that out of it.

“Sergeant Strider!” I heard Vanity shout, her voice closer and clearer. Okay, why would I be hearing her voice? And was that buzzing noise getting louder? Was I about to get eaten by a swarm of cicadas?

The humming of an airship engine came more clearly when I finally looked up. Turning around I caught sight of my brother sprinting at me right before he hugged me.

“Oh geez, bro!” I fell to the ground.

“We were on our way to get you!” Atlas shouted over the roar of the airship hovering over us. “How’d you get away? What in Celestia's name happens to your wings? Where is Snow?”

“We have to get her out, she is still there!”

“Alright, come on let’s get you onboard!”

Atlas lead me onto the ship and rushed me to medical. I was treated for my plucked wings and dehydration. Nassor was there firing off questions faster than I could answer. Luckily the doc ushered him out of the room to give me a chance to rest.

After what felt like a few hours of treatment the doctor finally gave me a green light, with a lot of red tapes. “You should be well enough to walk about the ship now. But you are prohibited from combat, and anything else involving anything strenuous. Your body has been through enough in the past few days, best not add to it. You are not to resume your duties as a Guard Sergeant until a doctor’s release. Understood?”

“Understood doctor,” I nodded.

“Okay. I am gonna let your visitors in now.”

When he opened the door Atlas, Nassor, and Vanity all came charging in with questions flying. With them talking over each other I couldn’t understand them.

“HEY!” I silenced them. “I am going to point to one of you and so help me if it is not related to getting Snow back I will ask one of those nice guards at the door to remove you from the room. Understood?”

They nodded. I pointed to Atlas.

“Three military Airships are closing in on Halberd’s base of operations. We are hanging back until we get the all clear to go get the captives.”

“Good.” I pointed to Nassor next.

“Did Halberd reveal anything about his operations to you?” Nassor asked.

“No. But I know who he has been working through and how he got out of prison. He has a son, they never said his name but I can give a description.”

“I’ll get you with a sketch artist when we get back.” Nassor turned and left. I pointed to Vanity.

“I found the tracking crystal in the desert miles south of here. When I figured out what had happened, I interrogated the griffon who was guarding the fights,” she beamed proudly. “He spilled everything.”

“It was actually kinda scary,” Atlas admitted.

I could honestly imagine it was. “Good on you, Vanity. Thanks.”

“Yeah, she hounded us until we took action,” Atlas muttered.

Vanity just smiled. I took a deep breath, I wanted to go and see if they had found Snow yet. “Mind if we go up to the deck? I want to be there when we find Snow.”

“Yeah sure.” Atlas walked with me as I made my way up to top deck, Vanity followed.

When we got up there I saw that we weren't too far from the base. I saw two of the three Military Airships pursuing the fleeing mercenary airships, and the last one floating just over the base with Equestrian Army troops rounding up the captured mercenaries. Looked like the captured civilians were being brought up from the holding area. I couldn't see Snow from here.

A unicorn on the ground popped a magical flare. “That’s our cue!” Nassor shouted. “Take us down there!”

The magical engines on the airship pushed us forward. The helmspony expertly taking us in low enough to pick up the civilians. I had my eyes glued to the crowd of civilians down there; they stood in lines, staring up at the airship with hope shining in the dull eyes. Still no sign of Snow.

Once we were in position, the loading planks went out and the civilians poured onto the ship. I searched, looked for her distinct white coat. All the civilians had come aboard, but I still hadn’t found her. A horrid thought occurred to me, feeling like a breath of icy wind on the back of my neck: what if they’d shipped her off while I was gone? Or what if they’d...no! No, don’t you dare think that, Strider! She’s fine!

“Where is Snow?” I asked my brother. I was about to panic when I heard her voice come from just off the ship.

“I want all of them on double rations for the next two weeks, check-ups with a doctor every other day, and constant observation under the eyes of trained psychologists. Am I clear?” she was barking. I looked and saw her shouting at the medic, who was doing his best to not cower.

“Yes ma'am!” the medical pony saluted. He hurried off and that left Snow alone as she looked over the civilians.

I moved as fast as I could, which was not fast at all right now, and seized her from behind in a hug. She squeaked in surprise and turned to face me.

“You’re okay!” she cried and kissed me on the mouth. We held each other tight for several long seconds, neither of us wanting to let go.

“I was getting worried,” I admitted, resting my head on top of hers. The scent of her mane, even with the sweat and dirt clinging to it, was a familiar, comforting odor.

“You worry too much,” she said, leaning into me.

I snorted. “Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?”

“Shush,” she giggled.

We stayed like that, still holding onto each other as the airship took off for Las Pegasus. Soon, I’d be back with Jett. And then, it’d be time to ask Snow a very important question... again.

Author's Note:

I realize it took me way longer than it should have to finish this one. I've had a lot of Distractions lately. Video Games, Movies, family. Shiny objects.

Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter. Bringing Las Pegasus to a close in the next chapter.