The Stone Queen

by albedoequals1

Chapter 4: Immortal

Six Months Later

Inferno surveyed the battle from her perch atop a hill. Her forces were outnumbered, but she had chosen the ground carefully. Her phalanx was arrayed in the space between two hills, and the area in front of them was swampy enough that the attacking phalanx was having a hard time keeping their line straight.

In the months following Inferno’s start as an independent actor, many ponies had joined under her banner. Enough non-Sorraians had joined that the group had started referring to themselves as Fresians, after the larger area of Ponyland they hailed from. Not surprisingly, most of the existing Fresian city-states saw the upstart group as rebels to be quashed, and that is what Theristis and his army were trying to do right now.

Several of the newcomers had brought their slaves, but the army was still short on flank guards for the time being, so Inferno tried to anchor the formation in the terrain whenever possible.

From her elevated vantage, Inferno saw a small portion of the Corsican army circling around the hill to come at her phalanx from behind. “O, get them up and follow me.”

“Yes, ma’am!” O replied, running to the few dozen members of the army that were waiting on the hill with them and grouping them up.

O, Liquor, Vodi the Giant, and a few others made up Inferno’s personal guard. Most of these ponies were survivors of the original battle, and she knew they could be counted on in dire situations. “On me, everypony. We’re going to attack the enemy from behind, so try to keep quiet until we hit them.” Inferno checked her spear and shield, leaving the latter hanging over her shoulder instead of carrying it in her mouth. She started down the hill at a trot, making good speed, but not risking her footing. The others followed on either side of her in a wedge. The grassy slope muted the sound of their hooves and kept them from raising a dust as they ran.

As they drew near to the enemy, Inferno increased her stride to a full gallop, and the others did the same. When they were mere feet from the column, some of the soldiers in the rear heard them and turned to look, but it was too late.

Inferno drove her spear into the enemy ranks, spitting them on the point and then kicking them off again with her hooves. Once the initial momentum was gone, she drew her short sword and started slicing and stabbing. Many of the enemy scattered and ran as soon as the charge hit, but some stayed to fight. A sword glanced off Inferno’s shield, then another scratched her breastplate. With the sword in her mouth, she did not have many defensive options, so she pressed the attack all the harder, and tried to drive the enemy before her before they could mount a coordinated counterattack. A pony fell in front of her and she spread her legs to straddle him, so she wouldn’t lose her footing. The prone enemy swung the sword in his mouth and the point hit the middle of a dent in the center of her battered breastplate. Before Inferno could stop, her momentum carried her forward, driving the blade into her chest up to the hilt.

She stumbled forward a few steps before coming to a stop. Around her, the enemy was scattering and fleeing, with her troops in pursuit. She looked down in disbelief at the sword hilt pressed against her breastplate. Blood streamed down the grip and trickled on the ground in front of her. She could feel the metal inside her every time she took a breath. This was it. She was finished. Nopony survived a wound like this. But maybe she could still save her troops.

O had noticed she was missing and came back to find her. His face contorted in horror when he saw his captain. “Steph!”

“Don’t tell them, O,” Inferno said quietly. “They can still win if they don’t know.” Her hind legs folded and she sat down involuntarily. “Pull it out.”

“That could kill you!” O protested.

“I’m dead anyway. Do it.”

O reluctantly grabbed the bloody hilt and pulled the sword out of Inferno’s chest, trying to keep it as straight as he could. Inferno’s face twisted with pain and she cried out wordlessly. The wound started to bleed much faster with the sword gone, and she slumped to the ground. Her eyes watched her soldiers chasing the enemy until the darkness took her.

* * * * * *

Inferno woke with a groan. Her chest felt like it was full of fire, and her head pounded. And her breathing hurt and her heart was pounding and she felt cold. All of which puzzled her, since she fully expected to be dead. She opened her eyes to find herself looking at O’s familiar face. The blue stallion seemed positively giddy.

“She’s awake!”

“Unbelievable.”

Inferno slowly turned her head to look at the second speaker. The other pony in the room was wearing a bloody apron with pockets full of knives and bandages. He appeared to be in a sour mood, but was looking at Inferno with no small amount of wonder. Inferno had tried to remember all the faces in her little army, but this one was new to her. She opened her mouth, but her words came out as an unintelligible mumble.

“Easy, Steph, don’t strain yourself.” O put himself in her field of vision again. “The doctor there says you should have died. As it is, you’re hurt really bad, so don’t move around too much.”

“The sword went all the way into her chest,” the doctor reiterated. “On a normal pony, there’s no way through that doesn’t hit the heart or the lungs.” He stepped around O so Inferno could see him again. “You’re either the luckiest pony in all of Fresia, or a personal favorite of the gods.”

“We won by the way.” O abruptly changed the subject. “The charge you started carried all the way around, and the main enemy force saw it and broke. We took a lot of them prisoner, including their commander. He didn’t want to surrender to me, so I had to tell him you were wounded and some of ours heard about it. I downplayed your injury pretty heavily, and I think most of the army bought it. Liquor thinks you’re dead, but he kept it to himself. This fellow was one of theirs.” O pointed to the doctor. “His name’s Giatros. He was part of the group you charged. It’s a good thing you didn’t kill him, since he saved your life.”

“Under duress,” Giatros said grumpily, “but I guess one good turn deserves another.”

“Thanks,” Inferno mumbled.

“Yeah, whatever. You’ll probably die of infection soon anyway.”

“Are you thirsty, Steph? I could get you some water.”

“Yes.”

O left and returned shortly with a cup of water. He held up her head while she was drinking and still spilled a lot on her and the bed, but eventually got her watered. “How are you feeling? Better?”

“So weak.”

“Rest is what she needs,” Giatros declared. “Give her at least two more days before you bother her any more.”

“Right, sorry. Get well soon, Steph.”

* * * * * *

Over the next few weeks, Inferno gradually recovered her strength. The wound eventually closed up and Giatros removed her bandages, revealing a large scar on her chest. As soon as she could walk, she went out to talk to her ponies. By this time, they had all heard a rumor that she had died, so they were greatly encouraged to see her alive. Her scar started a new rumor. Ponies began to say she was immortal, and could never be killed by any normal weapon. Inferno went to O to ask him about it. She found him in his tent and stuck her head inside.

“I hear the ponies are saying I’m immortal now, do you know anything about that?”

“I might have dropped a couple hints here and there, maybe told a couple tall tales. Don’t worry, it should do great things for morale.”

“But it’s not true!”

“You don’t know that. How else would you explain it, anyway? It’s going to be great for your image; some of the prisoners have already asked to join our army, including commander Theristis.”

Inferno nickered in annoyance. “Anything else you’ve been up to in my absence?”

“Uh...funny you should ask…”

“Your majesty,” a pony said from outside the tent.

Inferno pulled her head out to see who was talking and found former commander Theristis standing nervously at attention. “Excuse me?”

“I wish to talk to you about my role in your domain, my Queen.”

“Queen?”

“Sir O, Starlight Shining on the Clear Sky told me that you intend to unite all of Fresia under your banner, and I wish to volunteer my expertise as a commander in your army.”

Inferno gave a dark glare at the snickering coming from O’s tent. “I would welcome your aid, but the force you fought against is all there is. I am no queen, and I do not think I could rule all of Fresia, even if some miracle allowed me to conquer it.”

“Then perhaps you could build your own city. Twice now I have seen the way you lead your ponies, and I want to be a part of it. Command me, my queen. I will see it done.”

“A new city?” Inferno looked at Theristis, but her eyes were focused on the distance. “Could we really do that? We could make a city with none of the problems from all these cities, somewhere safe where the other cities cannot reach…”

O peeked his head out of the tent and said, “It’s not a bad idea. There’re things about the world that none of us like. Why shouldn’t we change them?”

Inferno opened her mouth to object.

“And you’re the perfect pony to lead us, Inferno.”

Inferno cocked her head at O. “I think that’s the first time you’ve used my adult name when you were talking to me.”

He shrugged. “It takes some getting used to.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“I do love talking.”

Theristis cleared his throat. “If we’re going to strike out on our own, we should try to gain the recognition of the other cities, or at least some of them.”

Inferno nodded. “Do you have an idea of how to do that?”

“Perhaps if we invited them to send kings or generals to speak with you, so you could explain it to them and tell them you are not a threat to them as long as they leave us alone.”

Inferno pondered the idea for a moment. “That’s good advice, but I think we should invite ponies that are not currently allied so they won’t take the opportunity to overwhelm us.”

O nodded. “That seems prudent,” he said in an overly-intellectual voice.

Theristis nodded towards Inferno. “You’ll need to work on your appearance though. Leaders and important ponies usually wear clothing. You’ll need to look like a queen if you want them to believe it.”

“Well, if I must.”

Author's Note:

The original legend claims that the sword went all the way through Inferno and stuck out of her back, but after reviewing the evidence, I concluded that a Fresian shortsword does not have the length required for that to be possible.