War Pony

by CreeperZone

Where Roads Lead

“It's clear!” Midnight's voice echoed down the staircase.

“You sure? It hides in the clouds; look everywhere!” Hopeful yelled back up at him as he stood beside Aurora at the bottom of the water-logged stairs.

“I don't see any fucking sky ghosts, Hopeful! Get up here!” Midnight yelled back, leading to the Earth Pony scuttling up the stairs, his head popping out of the hatch like a meerkat who never thought he'd see the sun again.

Hopeful guarded his eyes from the blinding rays as he stumbled outside onto the snow, his head swaying side to side into the sky, affirming Midnight's observations.

Behind him, the fair lady, Aurora Sunshine, featherly stepped up each stair until she was met by the morning sun, beaming between the clouds down at the group. She released her breath, feeling a calming warmth flow over her chest as she felt the cool breeze of freedom. She took only a moment to take in the taste of fresh air before trotting over to her lover, leaving her hoof impressions in the newly forming snow.

The three of them stood facing one another in the snow, a comfortable silence falling upon them as they pondered the time they had just spent together, seeing as now they might be going their separate ways.

“So...” Aurora attempted to prompt a conversion.

“Yeah, well. It's been... good.” Hopeful lowered his guard, a subtle smile appearing on his face.

“Yes it has, I am quite surprised I didn't have to kill you.” Midnight slid his spear along his back into its sheath, nodding in appreciation to Hopeful.

“The same.” Hopeful nodded back jokingly.

“So, it seems as if this is it, so I bid farewell to you.” Midnight gave a gentle bow to the Earth Pony before looking to Aurora.

“Yes, I also believe it is time. It was a pleasure to meet you, Hopeful.” Aurora smiled to the both of them.

“Yeah, it is...” Hopeful turned his head outward, seeing the glossy snow landscape. He then turned back to the two star-crossed lovers. “Where are you two going? Just wondering; we never got to that part.”

“North, through Zebra territory,” Midnight answered him.

“Zebra territory?” he questioned.

“Yes, neither of us can be seen in any pony tribe's land, but I did some research, reading some old scriptures about the world written by Unicorn Scribes hundreds of years ago, and I believe there is a whole continent unoccupied by ponies or ancients. It's north of Moondust, which is where all of the Zebras were forced to migrate to,” Aurora monologued.

“Well, good luck with that then,” Hopeful affirmed.

“Where are you off too?” Midnight blindsided Hopeful with the question, “If were sharing that knowledge.”

“Oh, uh...” Hopeful's hoof wandered to his chin, gently stroking it in realization. “I just lost the one windigo I've been tracking for the last month... So, I don't know,” he confessed.

Aurora's gaze shifted over to Midnight, giving him a comforting glance to encourage him.

Midnight received the message and let out a faint sigh before turning his head up to Hopeful. “Hey, if you don't have anywhere to go... I guess we can allow you to join us, at least for a bit.”

“Are you serious?” Hopeful laughed a little, “I haven't had company in a long while.”

“So will you travel with us?” Aurora beckoned him.

“Sure, why not?” Hopeful nodded.

“It's settled then,” Midnight asserted. “We should get our bearings and begin traveling. We have a long journey ahead of us.”

And with that, the three of them moved out into the wild.

---

“No, you didn't. There's no way.” Aurora asked of Hopeful in awe and a playful doubt.

The evening sun gradually fell from the cloudy sky, the three of them bathing in the shadows it created as they traveled along a desecrated, frozen landscape. About half of the day had passed by as they set out for the first time together, the time passing by without them noticing as they continued to speak and laugh with one another. After each of them having to bear the wilderness alone for such a long time, the company they provided to each other was a welcomed change. Although, they did not feel the cold nearly as intensely as other times where they went alone. Between their thick fur and cloth wears, they almost felt warm. The snow felt easier to trot in, more on the lines of a soft pillow, instead of the rigid ice blocks they grew accustomed to.

Midnight hovered above and in front of the other two, navigating the group's way forward, keeping his compass steady between his feathers, along with a map strapped to his hip. Meanwhile, Aurora and Hopeful followed along, their hooves forming two potent trails in the snow, slowly being covered up as they went on. The two of them had just struck a conversation about Hopeful's childhood.

“I'm not kidding; we actually burned down the whole barn. We just wanted to sneak in there and find where Old Missus Peach hid our ball and you know, maybe mess some stuff up to teach her a lesson, but then Quake just dropped the lantern we had with us and it fell all the way to the ground floor and burst into flames. The next thing I remember is jumping out of a second story barn window into a pile of hay and running faster than I ever had before. Somehow, we didn't get caught, and I'm pretty sure my parents still don't know that it was us. But Old Missus Peach definitely got the message, cause she never stole our ball again.”

Aurora was overcame with a great genuine laughter. “That's... That's amazing, you did things like that every day as a child?”

“I didn't really burn down barns every day, no. But I was a really stupid child, and pretty unsupervised, if that's what you're asking. Parents were always busy with the farm.” Hopeful chuckled in his recollection.

“I was never even allowed outside of my room before the age of sixteen without an armed escort... I find it fascinating. Midnight has told me many stories of his childhood.” Aurora turned her head up to Midnight. “Nighty, tell Hopeful the story where you accidentally stabbed a colt when you were six!”

Midnight sighed, before shifting down to their level, still in flight. “Firstly, it wasn't an accident; that motherfucker had it coming. Secondly...” He cut off his sentence, his head jolting to the distance, eyes wide like a startled cat. “Ugh...” he moaned, uneasy.

“What's wrong Nighty?” Aurora spoke up in concern.

“Please tell me you can hear that,” he said, lacking any cynicism in his voice.

Hopeful pointed up his ear attentively, trying to make out the noise that had shooken Midnight. “I think I can...” he mumbled, concentrating on a very distant shriek, almost a cry. “Is that a pony?”

They exchanged glances, each of them equally concerned about the situation. They then turned to sprint towards the source of the sound. With the exception of Midnight, who flew ahead, they ran as fast as they could through the thick snow, rushing past dead trees and hilly landscape, flowing up and down like a cascading river.

The sound still beneath the uneven horizon, although it became far clearer as the crying pony screamed out, “PLEASE, I HAVEN'T SEEN ANYPONY, DON'T HURT ME!”

Midnight shot down into the snow and crouched down once he could see past the hill crest, watching whatever was going on. The other two quickly made it to his side and hunched down beside him.

On the far side of the snowy field, a stark contrast stabbed out at them. A deep, black smoke crackled as if a vague silhouette of a creature was made of lightning, coming from several sources, all encircling an earth pony being held to the ground, struggling, bleeding, and crying as one of the shadowy anomalies stood atop of them. Nearby, there was a busted up wooden cart filled with boxes and bags spilling out into the snow, its trail still visible.

Hopeful laid there in shock, watching this pony be beaten to a pulp by whatever horrid magic that it was.

His attention was then stolen by Aurora as she gasped uncontrollably. She tried to shout and whisper at the same time. “I know what those are!” She stumbled over her own words in her haste, pointing out at the shadowy apparitions. “Th-those are unicorns!”

“Aurora, those don't look like a unicorns,” Midnight pointed out.

“It's an enchantment on their armor! It makes them look all dark and scary. It's an intimidation tactic. They are very elite Unicorn soldiers, called the Shadow Service and they are used for assassination and infiltration...”

“But what are a bunch of Unicorn super soldiers doing this deep in Earth Pony Territory?” Hopeful questioned.

Aurora dropped her head, she almost looked guilty. “I... I think they're after me...”

Hopeful's head jumped back, “What? Why would they be after you?”

“I...” She hesitated.

“Look, it doesn't matter! Let's just beat it before we're caught!” Midnight interjected.

“But what about the pony!” Hopeful turned back to the scene, watching as the shadowy illusion stabbed a large dark blade into the Earth Pony, a fountain of blood being projectiled out of their throat.

The smokey Unicorns then began retracting their shadowy lightning that emitted out of them, sucking it back into themselves, their colour lightening from a pitch-black storm into a shiny silver set of armor tightly fitted onto a unicorn. Now four distinct ponies stood around each other, their armor covering their bodies completely, camouflaging them into the pure white of the snow.

“Quick, let's bounce.” Midnight stood up, prepared to dash away. Although he was immediately lept on by Aurora, leaving him sunk into the snow on his side. “AURORA!”

“One of them looked this way!” she whispered to him in a panic. “I think they saw us!”

Hopeful held his sight trained onto the four unicorns, seeing one motion towards their position. “Guys...” he muttered.

“We could have just outran them!” Midnight tried to keep his voice low, not succeeding as much as Hopeful would have liked.

“They are the highest ranking Unicorn soldiers in our army! They know the flash teleport spell!” Aurora pulled her head close into Midnight's face, getting more frustrated with him. “You cannot outfly teleportation!”

“Aurora...” Hopeful lifted his voice as he watched the four of them slowly trot in the group's direction with curiosity in their step.

“They may be the best Unicorn soldiers, but I'm one of the best soldiers period. I could take them.” Midnight rolled Aurora off of himself into the snow at his side.

“Midnight...” Hopeful pleaded them to stop, seeing the Unicorns begin to pick up their pace into a slight jog. His mane begging to sway as a cool breeze set in, Hopeful took notice as an icy chill rose up his back through his fur jacket. The sudden weather change stealing his attention completely, he was left searching the sky for the cause.

“Midnight, I refuse to let your ego get us killed!” Aurora smacked him in the shoulder.

Hopeful felt as the wind continued to kick in, letting his head fall back down to see that the squad of Unicorns had already covered nearly half of the ground they had between each other. Then he shifted to look to his two companions, in a heated argument.

That's when it clicked. “GUYS!” He got both of their attentions.

“What?!” Midnight almost yelled back, the wind masking the volume of his voice.

“It's arguing! That's what causes the storms!” He sounded absolutely delighted with himself, “Whenever me and my team would get into a fight, that is when the weather would turn extreme!”

“Hopeful, what are you talking about?” Aurora turned to him, perplexed.

He wanted to explain, but Hopeful was very aware that any moment now that they would be jumped on my an elite force of Unicorns. “Argue more!”

“Huh?” Midnight joined Aurora in her confusion.

“Just start insulting each other, like this!” He turned to Aurora with his big, dumb smile, prepared to say whatever would come out. “Aurora, you're an annoying, pretentious, Unicorn-supremacist bitch!”

Aurora recoiled in her offended state, not even being concerned about them being spotted anymore. “How dare you!?!”

Midnight butted in on defense for his lover, “Do you want me to peel off your flesh, Ant? Because that’s what will happen if you speak to Aurora like that!”

His threats did not phase Hopeful as he lifted his head to the chaotic storm beginning to brew around them, the snow particles being thrown around the air, adding difficulty to see far away. The other two then began realizing that whatever they were doing, it was beginning to work.

With a slightly awkward hesitation that soon turning into a devilish feeling, Aurora took the first strike at Midnight. “Nighty, you try so hard to be cool and you aren't. You look more like a deadbeat father who can't afford to bathe than a real soldier!”

He gasped, as if a stake was jammed into his heart. He quickly fired back. “You are the saddest Unicorn I have ever heard of! If it wasn't for me, you would die a virgin!”

Aurora gasped sharply, “Well, you... YOU CLAIM TO BE THIS AMAZING FIGHTER BUT YOU COULDN'T PROTECT YOUR GIRLFRIEND FROM HOPEFUL, WHO IS AN EARTH PONY! IF IT WASN'T FOR YOUR MOTHER'S POSITION IN THE MILITARY, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE MADE IT THROUGH TRAINING!”

Midnight yelled back with as much power as he could put into his voice. “WELL, YOU WERE THE ONE WHO WAS STUPID ENOUGH TO TRUST THAT FUCKING EARTH PONY IN THE FIRST PLACE! I'VE SEEN DISABLED FILLIES SMARTER THAN YOU!”

“YOU’RE ABOUT AS TOUGH AS A FOAL WITHOUT LEGS!”

“YOUR MOTHER IS BETTER LOOKING THAN YOU ARE!”

“GUYS!!!” Hopeful rustled both of them as hard as he could, the two of them snapping out of their trance, now seeing the full blizzard cascading around them. Their position was completely hidden from the Unicorn squad. “WE HAVE TO GO BEFORE WE START TO FREEZE!!!”

Midnight and Aurora nodded, finally noticing the freezing wind barraging them with a heap of snow and ice. They blocked their faces from the wind with little to no effect, guided out by Hopeful away from the Unicorn Soldiers.

---

“We should be safe in here! They're only searching towns; they won't bother with a forest!” Aurora said in between inhales as she sprinted.

“Holy shit! This is amazing!” Hopeful exclaimed as the group came to a running halt, stopping at the brim of a dead forest.

“I personally wouldn't describe being hunted down like that...” Aurora said as she collapsed down, finding herself leaning against a tree, panting in exhaustion and shivering from the cold.

“No, not that, I mean the storm thing! It all makes sense now! If only I had my notebook!” Hopeful was so excited it almost disguised the fact he was trembling completely, his face turning red, a chilly cloud steaming from his breath.

Midnight fell down beside Aurora, disregarding Hopeful as he had more important matters to attend to.

“You didn't mean those things you said back there... Did you?” A genuine and awkward concern in his eyes.

Aurora avoided his gaze. “No, no... No! I uh... Did you?”

“No! Of course not! I just made all that up.”

Hopeful looked down at their pitiful attempts to take back what they said, “I'll go... uh, get a fire... started,” Hopeful stated before wandering off.

Aurora huddled herself together, breathing onto her hooves while speaking in a shaky voice. “Alright, good. Cause for a second I was a bit worried... Especially when you said-”

“Yup, made that up. There's no reason to talk about it now...” He worryingly shivered, trying to comfort her, and himself.

“It's just, things got kind of heated back there... I know it was to make the weather get stronger, but I don't want to have to be worried about us getting into a real argument like that... My mother left my father shortly after I was born, they used to argue all the time. Still do if they see each other.” Aurora snuggled up to Midnight, setting her chin onto the frosty wool of his shoulder pad.

Midnight wrapped his leg around her, keeping her close. “I swear, baby, we won’t be like that... I want us to be together for as long as we live.” He kissed her on the forehead.

“Midnight, can I have your lighter? I lost mine with the rest of my shit.” Midnight didn't even notice Hopeful building a bare shell of a campfire at their hooves.

“I only have a flint and blade. Let me get it.” He unwrapped himself from Aurora, sliding his saddlebags out from behind him and holding out a jagged piece of flint and a miniature knife out on a wing.

Hopeful swiped the items from him and went off to work, allowing the other two to return to cuddling for warmth.

After the fire was set ablaze, the three of them huddled around its warm aura.

“So, Aurora...”

“Y-yes Hopeful?” she said, still shivering.

“You never told me why you are being hunted. In fact, you two have been kind of keeping me in the dark about some things I feel like I should know. If we're going to be traveling together, I think it would be important that I'm on the same page.”

Aurora sighed gently, looking to Midnight for approval, which he reluctantly gave with a nod. She turned her eyes up to the Earth Pony. “I'm sorry, it's just... we didn't know how much we could trust you... We were worried you might have done something...”

She prepared herself with a few breaths, “It's... well, I'm being hunted down because my mother wants to get me back. She probably has figured out I ran away...”

“And?” Hopeful motioned her on, compelled by her explanation.

“And the reason she could send the highest ranking soldiers in the Unicorn army, it's because... my mother...”

“My mother is Princess Platinum...”

Hopeful wasn't drinking, but if he was, he wouldn't be anymore. “Wait, WHAT?!”

“And Midnight's mother is Commander Hurricane,” she continued, while she was at it.

“EXCUSE ME?!” Hopeful turned to Midnight in shock.

“It's true,” Midnight confirmed.

“So you're saying that the both of you-”

“Are royals, yes,” Midnight finished.

Hopeful's utter disbelief was soon transformed into historic laughter, falling onto his back as he lost control of his upper body. “You... You thought I would... That I would try to hurt you, cause you're royals?”

“You don't need to rub it in,” Aurora said to him, unimpressed.

“I just find that priceless. I mean, that does explain a lot, but damn. That is amazing.” He slowly regained his composure.

“Alright, alright... Let’s just eat, why don't we?” Midnight asked, retrieving what was left of his rations, with a slight reluctance giving some to Hopeful, although afterward giving him a trusting nod.

They spent the rest of the evening and night there, after making sure to cover the fire and keep it as only a smolder to ensure they won’t get spotted. They slept inside the two sleeping bags they had from Midnight and Aurora, the couple having to share one while Hopeful got his own.

---

“Hey. Hopeful, wake up,” he heard being whispered into his ear, blinking an eye open in reaction to see Midnight sitting at his side.

“W-what?” Hopeful exclaimed, weirded out by this odd wake-up call.

“Hopeful, remember back in the bunker, when we told stories about ourselves and you talked about your wife?” He spoke with an almost fearful tone, which just made things a whole lot stranger for Hopeful.

“Yeah...” He wiggled his torso out of the sleeping bag, sitting up while keeping his hind legs in the cosy, wool-stuffed tarp.

“Well um...” Midnight actually choked up for a moment, swallowing down what seemed to be his pride. “How did you, uh... propose to her?” he whispered as he uncomfortably scratched the root of his mane from beneath the cotton-padded helmet.

“Wait...” Hopeful rubbed his eyes, not yet awake enough for this. “Are you going to...”

“Shh!” He covered Hopeful’s mouth, stopping him from saying the word too loudly for Midnight's liking. “Just, tell me how you did it... I mean, I know she'll say yes... I mean, I think she will... But how did you, you know, build up the confidence to... ask?”

“Holy shit.” Hopeful smiled, “You're unsure of yourself.”

“Shut the fuck up you, or I will gut you and string every muscle of your flesh until you look like a mangled pony meat pile.” He sighed, “Just tell me your secrets.”

“Alright, I'll help you. Calm down there, big guy.” He felt a bit nostalgic, “I had a friend back in the day who came to me with the same problem. Ended up with him being so nervous it was when he dropped the engagement bracelet and she saw it that she said yes, before he could even say a word... Do you have a bracelet?”

“I actually have one better.” He pulled over a bag and began scrounging around in it, going deep down to find a very tiny object wrapped in a velvet cloth, far too small to fit around a pony's leg. It was only once Midnight unwrapped it with his wings that Hopeful realized what it was for. “It's a ring.” Midnight stated, holding it up with care. “I stole it from a Unicorn at a Great Hall. I think that's a diamond, and it was a real rich Unicorn I stole it from, so it's sure to be legit.” He then quickly wrapped it back up, tucking it back into his bag. “So, what's your advice?”

“Well, firstly, I'm sure she will say yes. Secondly, if you are finding it hard to just do it, you just have to force yourself into a situation where you have to do it. Because once it becomes scarier to not do it than it is to do it, you'll, well... do it.”

“Right...” Midnight lowered his head, “You really think she’ll say yes?”

“Why wouldn't she?” Hopeful patted Midnight on his shoulder.

“Why wouldn't I what?” Aurora said, followed by a large yawn.

“Uh...” The two boys exchanged guilty looks, Midnight going in for the save. “Why wouldn't you help and scavenge food, we’re running low on rations and soon we'll be both cold and starving.”

“I would love to,” Aurora said, then flinching as she scrunched her face in a pain. “Actually... I think I have a stomach ache from all of that dried wheat... Would you mind going by yourselves this time?”

“Yeah, that's fine, don't worry about it. Rest up.” Midnight hopped up and trotted over to Aurora, exchanging a kiss before she snuggled back into her sleeping bag.

“Hey Hopeful, you down for some scavenging?” He turned to his comrade.

“Sure, let's go.” He hopped up as well, meeting Midnight at eye-level. “Although we won't find much out in the wild, but there is a village around here somewhere. I saw it on the map. We could sneak in and steal some hay from their hold. I did that once when I was alone. Seemed to go pretty well.”

“A stealth mission, you say?” Midnight grinned.

“So that's a yes?”

“Oh yes.”

The two took out the map. With the rustic set of navigation tools they had, they gained their bearings and left as soon as they could.

“Be safe, Aurora! Me and Hopeful will be back in an hour or two!” Midnight shouted back to her as he left the forest.

“I will! Good luck, you two!” she tiredly yelled back.