Ch1 Kingdom of the Eternal War

Book 7/Chapter 1
Kingdom of the Eternal War
(Year 4, month 5, day 20)

An alicorn king sat with his head held high as he watched his kingdom from a distance as it was overrun by countless Minotaur soldiers. With his white coat, black mane, silver armor, and an iron cuff around his neck chaining him to a flat cart, the king continued to watch while hiding his internal pain as the grey monitor general stepped beside him and smiled at the burning kingdom in the distance, “Take a good look your majesty… And know that this could have all been avoided if you had just given up the relic as soon as you discovered it.”
The king replied with distain, “Don’t give me that… You had no intention on sparing my kingdom from this fate. My queen offered the relic in exchange for our kingdom and its subjects a few days ago… and you turned it down.”
The monitor could hear the anger in the king’s voice as he replied, “Now, now King Mathias, You talk as if I wanted to kill you’re kingdom from the very beginning. This is simply an example, any who refuse the order of the monitor king will face his wrath.”

King Mathias replied with disgust, “It’s my understanding that your king defied the words of your titan. If your titan knew you were doing this… he would be ashamed to call you his creation.”
The monitor gave the king an angry look before drawing his sword and swinging it towards the king’s neck. However before the blade could end his life, the monitor stopped himself just far enough so the blade did cut the king’s skin but not damage anything in his throat. Seeing that King Mathias didn’t flinch at the attack caused the minotaur to smile as he spoke, “What’s wrong your majesty? Putting up a brave face for your subjects? Don’t bother, as far as they are concerned, you died when you stayed to cover your soldiers retreat last week.”
The king shook his head as he replied, “I don’t need a brave face for them… if anything… I’d welcome death right now. It would be better mercy then to continue watching this mindless bloodshed over a relic that may or may not do anything at all.”

The minotaur smiled as he sheathed his sword and looked back to the burning kingdom, “That is a question I’ve been pondering since we captured you… How do you kill a king? Do you simply stab him in the open? Do you behead him in front of his subjects? Poison him during his speech? Or are there other ways?”
The proud king held his silence and continued looking at his fallen kingdom as the minotaur smiled, “How about… we ask your queen?”
The king all of a sudden gave the minotaur an angry glare as he spoke with whispered rage, “You lay one finger on her… and I’ll end you…”
The minotaur wasn’t swayed by the sudden change in tone as he smiled, “There… now that is the fabled king chosen by the Queen of Eden that I wanted to meet.”

Before anything more could be said, a minotaur soldier approached, “General… We’ve cornered the city’s residents in the keep. It would seem that Queen Anna is with them.”
Hearing the bad news, the king stopped glaring at the general and looked back to his kingdom as the general smiled, “Very good… take this pathetic has-been back to the main camp. He and his relic will be our gift to the minotaur king. As for me… I think it’s time I had a chat with the last queen of Lilith.”
With that, the general left the king chained to the cart as a few minotaur soldiers started pulling the cart away from the city. With the general moving towards the fallen city and the king being pulled away. The king could only feel disappointed in his failure as he looked down to the chain that bound him to his mobile prison.

As the king looked down the chain, Mathias noticed that the clamp that locked the chain onto the wooden cart was hastily applied, as he saw a two of the four screws loose and the other two most likely stripped. Seeing this, the king turned his head slightly to see that the solders hauling him away weren’t paying him any attention. Seeing the opportunity, the alicorn king griped the chain as tightly as he could before wrapping it around his hoof and mumbling to himself, “For Lilith… for my subjects, and for my queen.”
With those words, the trapped king jumped towards his kingdom while yanking the chain as hard as he could as the determined monarch striped the remaining screws on the chain’s clamp as he pulled himself free from the cart and started sprinting towards his kingdom.

Seeing the prisoner free, the soldiers pulling the cart turned towards him and started their pursuit as the king charged towards his home with as much speed as his chained wings would allow. As he charged forward, the king looked to his burning city as he spoke in desperation, “Hold on Anna… stay alive til…”
before he could finish his plea, something strange happened. The air went stale, as the battlefield grew silent. Then, from the center of the city’s keep, a bright flash was seen as a dome shaped ball of light started spreading away from the city as if engulfed Lilith, the solders, and everything in its path, crossing over the city’s main walls and spreading over the battlefield. With the light proving too bright for him, the king stopped his charge and shielded his eyes as the fast growing dome of light started nearing him as if to engulf him with the rest of the battlefield. However, as the wall of light neared him, the dome all of a sudden stopped growing as the wall paused just a few feet in from of him.

Confused Matthias tried as best he could to look at the wall of light until the wall slowly started moving away from him as the large dome of light quickly shrank back across the battlefield, across the city’s main walls, and back into the keep. Once the ball of light was gone, the king looked upon something he didn’t expect to see. The kingdom was still present and burning from the wrath of war, but there were no soldiers on the battlefield, no sounds of fighting in the city, not one soul to be seen from what the light consumed. Confused the king looked around, “Is… is this the relic’s doi-”
Before he could finish his statement, the perusing guards caught up with him as the first approaching guard raised a large club and bashed the king across the side of his head, shattering his horn as the king was knocked to the ground by the intense blunt force trauma. However as the king hit the ground, so too did Zeil’s face hit the surface of the river as Zeil opened his eyes to find himself sinking into a deep waters.

With his vision broken and his senses returned, Zeil quickly swam upward as he broke the surface of the water before grabbing onto the large boulder that he was meditating on prior to his vision. As the coughing changeling climbed onto the boulder, the winded enchanter wiped the water from his face as he mumbled, “That vision… that wasn’t normal was it… who was that… and… why did I see it.”
Confused, Zeil took the time to get a few more gasps of air before looking to the orange sky above, “It’s already evening… the vision caused me to meditate longer than normal. I better find a place to set up camp.”
With that, Zeil used a small number of surfaced stones to step back onto the riverbed before trotting to his saddlebag and cloak that were hanging from a low tree branch. As Zeil put on his possessions, he could only think about the book that still remained in his saddlebag as he remembered the mage who gave it to him. Though it had been several months, Zeil still couldn’t help but wonder if that zebra he met was who he truly thinks it was, and if so how was it possible?

Annoyed by the confusion of the question, Zeil finished putting the saddlebag on as he changed the subject in his mind, “King Mathias, and Queen Anna… and the Kingdom of Lilith… I never heard the names before. So… what does it all mean?”
As Zeil pondered the strange vision, he made his way away from the riverbank and onto a nearby road. The road seemed like it hasn’t been used in many years, but the placement of the old stones made even the most stubborn grass unable to grow as Zeil used the old pathway to follow the river west. As he continued he mumbled, “The coast should be about two days travel… but I haven’t seen the ruins the mage told me about in his letter… was he just some old coot after all?”
With the thought in mind Zeil continued as the darkness of twilight started making the road more difficult to see. As he continued, Zeil saw a strange formation on his path. With the river following on the right side of the road, Zeil could see a large tree covered berm following on the lift side that seemed too perfect to be naturally made. Curious, Zeil stepped off the path and climbed to the top of the small hill. Once he got to the top, Zeil saw a large clearing that stretched over an open area across to another tree covered berm on the other side.

As Zeil looked across the large clear area of unkempt grass, the darkness of the coming night made seeing anything beyond the tree’s difficult as Zeil could see something strange in the distance. He couldn’t make it out, but something very tall was towering over the tree line on the other side of the clearing. At first Zeil thought it could be some sort of ancient tree, but with no branches or appendages of any kind, he could only assume it to be a castle’s tower. However even with the approaching night, any castle with somepony living in it would be lit with a light source of some kind but this one remained dark, and still. Assuming it could be the ruins he was supposed to seek out, Zeil decided that where he was would be a good place to set up camp as he carefully climbed back down the berm and dropped his bag so he could set up his tent. After he set up the tent, Zeil preceded to pull out the book that the mage gave him and look through its pages in hopes that some of the unidentifiable lettering would make sense. However just like the night he met the mage, and every night since, the only words he could read were the books cover. Annoyed and once again beaten by the literature, Zeil placed the book back into his saddlebag as he ate some fruit before going to sleep.

The next morning Zeil woke to a surprise as he heard a loud sounds of stomping hooves, and rattling armor. As soon a Zeil heard the noise, he immediately sprang into action as he quickly exited his tent and looked around for the approaching noise. Though the area outside the tent seemed unaffected, Zeil quickly climbed up the berm to look over the clearing as he saw something that completely stunned him. In front of him marching in perfect columns were two massive armies. One a mix of pony races to include pegasi, earthpony, and unicorn. And the other, composed entirely of Minotaur. As soon as Zeil saw the army, he was filled with confusion. The two armies seemed to appear from nowhere, in a matter of hours, and to make it more confusing, none of their auras could be sensed by Zeil’s changeling abilities. The minotaur, the ponies, nothing on the battlefield gave an aura of emotion or presence. It was as if Zeil were looking through an empty field with only fog distorting his view.

With nothing sensed on the battlefield, Zeil felt a little uneasy. At first he assumed this was some sort of vision brought about by his sleep, however, the gleam of Iron armor and weapons, The sound of thundering hooves, and the smell of blood filled the air confirming all he needed to know. That he was awake, and he could be in danger. Reacting, Zeil rushed to his saddlebag and cloak as he put on his cloak and started rushing to put everything in his saddlebag, focusing on important items first. However as he quickly packed his bag, he heard a call, “YOU THERE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!”
Looking through the trees that lined the berm, Zeil could see a squad of pony soldiers approaching him. Stepping out and making sure they could see his unarmed hooves Zeil started to reply, “It’s al-”
At that moment an arrow came in from behind him as it flew downward, hitting his saddlebag and nailing it to the ground as Zeil looked down at his pierced bag.

Confused, Zeil quickly turned around as he saw a larger squad of Minotaur charging in his direction as they all gave a battle cry while holding their weapons at the ready. When Zeil saw this he turned to the ponies to try to call and say that he wasn’t with them, but before he could say anything the lead pony saw the charging army as he called, “It’s a scouting party! They are with a mercenary! Soldiers at the ready!!!”
At that moment the ponies drew their weapons and started charging as Zeil found himself in the direct path of both charging armies. Knowing that as soon as they met, both sides would see him as an enemy, Zeil decided that he only had one option. With only his cloak, Zeil climbed back up the small berm and looked over the ongoing battlefield.

With only a bracing sigh as preparation, Zeil left behind everything he had as he charged forward across the battlefield before finding himself mixed amongst the chaos of the fighting armies. With only the opposite side of the battlefield as his destination, Zeil charged across the fighting soldiers as he dodged all in his path in hopes of avoiding any conflict with any pony or monitor soldiers. Sadly this proved impossible as a minotaur in his path saw the charging zebra and readied his mace as he spoke, “Eager to die eh… then come at me zebra.”
With no intention of fighting back, Zeil waited till he was close enough for the massive creature to swing his club horizontally, as Zeil dropped down and slide under the minotaurs swing, through his legs and passed the hostile soldier.

With no hesitation in his speed, Zeil used his inertia to slide back onto his hooves as he continued charging in hopes of reaching the opposite side of the field. However he was soon met with another fighting minotaur, as the large shield bearing soldier saw Zeil and readied himself for what he assumed to be an attack. Seeing the soldier bear his shield as a barrier, Zeil decided to try going around him as he shifted his direction in an attempt to pass him by. However as Zeil passed, the minotaur saw this as an attempt to get around his defense as the creature lunged his shield towards the passing changeling as the force of the attack hit Zeil on his side causing him to lose his footing as Zeil fell to the ground rolling. Knowing he was in danger Zeil tried to get up but as he did the shield bearing minotaur drew his sword and charged his prey before dropping his swords down in an attempt to stab Zeil on the ground.

Seeing the danger, Zeil rolled out of the blade’s path as he picked himself up, kicked the large soldier in his face and started fleeing the fight with no intent on getting involved. Luckily Zeil was successful in alluding the minotaur soldiers, however as he reached the opposite side of the battlefield, Zeil was met with a small squad of pony soldiers as the officer, a unicorn with a dark blue coat saw him and called, “A merc! Soldiers at the ready!”
Stopping in front of the soldiers, Zeil noticed something odd about the ponies. When they readied their weapons, their stances didn’t seem normal for soldiers. In fact, it was obvious that none of them were trained as Zeil could see their fearful expressions and trembling weapons.

With his escape route in mind Zeil looked towards the thinnest part of the group as he charged forward with no signs of yielding. Terrified, the closest soldier charged and raised his sword to swing, however his movements were slow as Zeil reached him first before punching him in his jaw and knocking him to the ground. Still charging forward, Zeil soon reached the next soldier as the pegasus raised his battle axe and swung horizontally towards Zeil’s direction. With this soldiers movements too slow and no skill in his swing, it was easy for Zeil as he timed it right to jump up and land on top of the swinging axe as he stomped down on the side of the weapon causing the blade to dig into the ground with the swing. Jumping over without attacking the axe bearing soldier, Zeil continued his charge as the last three ponies, raised their bows as one called, “S-stop or we’ll shoot!”

Seeing the poorly trained archers didn’t slow his movements as Zeil continued his charge with no intent on stopping. Afraid the center archer yelled as he released his arrow, “F-FIRE!”
At that moment, the three archers released their arrows, however none of them made contact. The archers on both sides missed entirely while the center archer sent his arrow into the ground in front of Zeil as the charging changeling approached the three archers before they could ready a second arrow. With no intention in fighting, Zeil used his speed to plow through the three archers as he knocked two to the ground and continued passed with no hesitation in his speed. Seeing the tree line in front of him Zeil rushed into the forest as the final archer readied his next arrow. But, before the untrained soldier could release the projectile, Zeil had already vanished into the forest and his sight.

At the far end of the battlefield on the pony’s side, a ruling mare witness the charge from atop a hill as the mare spoke, “A zebra?... interesting.”
At that moment a soldier approached, “Your majesty! The front line is faltering! The minotaur are circling our troops and cutting us off!”
After hearing the information, the royal pony looked to the front of her army to see her soldiers falling as she nodded, “We can’t hold them back any longer.” She looked to the soldier, “Issue a full retreat. All ponies fall back to the city.”
The soldiers nodded as he rushed to pass on the order. After the soldier left, the royal mare looked back over the battlefields as she spoke, “I’m sorry my love, I couldn’t hold them back any longer. The field is lost. Now, all we have left is Lilith.”
That said the pony turned away from the battlefield as she started calling to her solders, for the full retreat.

A few minutes later, Zeil emerged from the thick tree line as he exited onto a wide brick road as he took this time to lean against a tree to catch his breath. Surprised he had made it through the battlefield, Zeil looked back behind him to see if any pony was following. Luckily he saw that he had lost the soldiers as he smiled, “Wow… I didn’t think I would make it through so easily. Even without being able to sense them… speaking of which… Why couldn’t I sense their aura? Their species, their emotions… even their very presence wasn’t there… am… I sick? Or did I eat something that’s causing this?”
Starting to catch his breath, Zeil sat down and put his hoof on his forehead to think about why his changeling abilities weren’t working. However his thoughts were soon broken when he heard a pain riddled grunt. Confused, Zeil looked down the road as he saw a lone wounded pony trotting up the road while using the banner of his kingdom as a crutch to carry his weakened body. Trying to keep himself awake, the wounded soldier looked forward and saw Zeil as he spoke, “H-help… m-me…”

With no intention in getting involved with either side of the ensuing battle, Zeil turned away with the intent to leave, but as he did, the soldier reached for him and spoke again, “P-please… don’t go… p-please help me…”
As Zeil heard these words, he could only remember when he himself spoke these words with the same amount of pain. When he spoke them to Zecora. Sighing in irritation Zeil mumbled, “This isn’t my fight… but…”
With his decision made, Zeil turned back to the soldier and approached him to try and help. As the soldier saw him approaching he smiled, “Th-thank you… I knew your weren’t like the ena-“
At that moment, the banner’s pole slipped from where he was bracing himself from as he dropped the flag and fell forward, just in time for Zeil to catch him.

As the banner fell to the ground and spread out, Zeil took a good look at the nation that this soldier fought for. The banner was a two toned flag divided diagonally with purple on top and light green on bottom. The green field had speckled red, but that was most likely blood from the wounded soldier. In the center of the banner stood two alicorn royals. Not the queen and king of Eden, but another pair. The first was a tall white king with a black mane and the second was a slightly shorter queen with a pink coat and a silver mane. As Zeil looked at the banner he couldn’t help but recognize the king slightly before the wounded soldier spoke, “I only need you to help me get back to the city… it isn’t far just up the road… see?”
As Zeil looked back at the soldier, he saw that the solder was pointing up the same wide brick road that they were standing on as Zeil looked down the opposite way to see in the distance the gate of what looked to be a large city complete with two large double doors and a metal portcullis which was currently up.

Shifting the soldier around till he was being held up by Zeil’s shoulder, Zeil nodded as he replied, “Sure… lets hurry then, your wounds look serious.”
With that, Zeil carried the soldier down the street towards the large walls as the soldier spoke through his pain, “My name… is Sourdough… and you are?”
Zeil replied, “Zeil… try not to talk too much… your bleeding quite a bit.”
Sourdough nodded, “Zeil… thank you…”
Following Zeil’s suggestion, Sourdough stayed quiet until he and Zeil finally approached the tall gate at the end of the brick road. As they approached the gate a guard looked down from atop the high wall as he called, “Who goes there!?!”
Sourdough replied as loud as his wounds would allow, “Sourdough, from the scouting party! Let us in!”

As soon as the guard heard the wounded earth pony, he called behind him to the ground, “Sourdough has returned! Open the gate!”
Slowly, Zeil started to hear the sound of wood grinding against wood as the sound progressed for a few seconds before the massive wooden doors opened. As the doors opened Zeil felt nervous, usually a changeling would know how many ponies are behind a wall this large and how they would react to his entry by their emotions. But with since he was unable to sense their number or emotions, Zeil felt as if he were blindly entering a minefield. However as soon as the doors were opened far enough, a small number of ponies rushed out of the city and they quickly surrounded Zeil as they took Sourdough from him as one spoke, “Be careful with him, we can let his wounds get any worse. I have a tent set up for wounded on the inside of the wall, let’s get him there.”

As the residents took Sourdough from Zeil, they seemed unconcerned as Zeil followed them through the gate as Zeil entered the city behind them. As he followed, one of the residents looked at him as he spoke, “You brought him back? Thank you… I wish we could repay you somehow.”
Zeil shook his head, “Its fine, it didn’t feel right just leaving him out there like that.”
As they entered the city, the massive wood gate closed behind them and a large drawbar sealed the door shut as Zeil saw a large tent set up immediately to the right of the gate as group helped Sourdough to the tent for medical treatment. As the wounded earth pony was laid onto a stretcher, a mare approached them as she spoke, “Sourdough? My husband and son were with you in the scouting party… tell me… what’s become of them?”
Sourdough didn’t look at her as he replied while being examined, “I’m sorry… but… I was the only survivor. They… they showed no mercy. I only got away because I was knocked unconscious and believed to be dead.”
Shocked by what she heard, the mare backed away before dropping to the ground crying in despair as another mourner picked her up and led her away so the doctor could do his work in peace.

As the widow was led away, Zeil watched her leave as a number of thoughts crossed his mind. Most circled the question as to why he couldn’t feel her sadness or aura, but others fell onto the fact that this apparent war was taking a large toll not just on the soldiers fighting on the battlefield, but also the families left behind. The doctor preceded to remove Sourdough’s armor as Zeil saw his cutiemark. Though it was no surprise that a pony with the name Sourdough had a loaf of bread as a cutiemark, it was surprising however that a pony with this mark was fighting in a battle. Confused Zeil asked the doctor, “His mark… is he a soldier or a baker.”
The doctor paid Zeil little mind as he replied, “Baker… we ran out of soldiers days ago when the king died. Now… everypony on the battlefield are volunteers. It’s all we have left here in Lilith.”
Zeil thought to himself as he replied, “I guess that makes sense, it didn’t seem like any of the soldiers out there were trained. Well… the ponies didn’t seem trained.”
The doctor gave Zeil a confused look, “What? What are you ta-”

Before he could finish his question, the guards standing on the wall called down, “The Queen!!! The Queen is returning with our forces! Open the gate and make way!!!”
With more work approaching the doctor looked to one of his nurses as he spoke, “His wounds are simple, but he had three broken arrow in his side. Remove them carefully one looks deeper than the rest.”
The nurse nodded, “Yes doctor.”
As the doctor left Sourdough where he was Zeil followed with concern, “Wait… you’re just going to leave him like that?”
The doctor nodded, “His wound is simple, and the queen has returned from the warfront. My services will be needed.”
As that was said, the large drawbar was moved from its locking position as the massive gate opened allowing the ponies inside the city to see the returning army.

As soon as the doors were opened, the wounded and defeated army slowly entered the city as Zeil looked in shock at the resulting faces of war. As the army stumbled into the city slowly, Zeil could see that almost every soldier entering the city was either wounded, or assisting wounded soldiers as the doctor rushed to each soldier, identified their wounds, and directed them to his set up field hospital. The doctor then rushed to a dark blue unicorn carrying another wounded soldier as he spoke, “Captain Rose! Here, let me take him.”
The captain handed the wounded soldier to the doctor as the stallion replied, “Here, his wounds are minor… but… he was one of lucky few.”
The doctor sat the wounded soldier on a stretcher as he looked over the wounds, “Looks like you went through a lot out there. I’m guessing… the battle didn’t end well… did it?”

The captain shook his head as he looked back over his army and replied, “No… we lost the field today… and now… the minotaur own everything outside the city.”
The doctor looked back at Captain Rose as he replied, “That’s troubling to hear… what does that mean for us?”
As the captain replied he paned his eyes over the rest of the field hospital, “I’m not sure, but whatever it means, we need to have our faith in- YOU!!!”
As soon as he saw him, the royal captain glared daggers as Zeil as the confused changeling quickly realized that the captain standing there was the same one commanding the squad of soldiers he faced on the battlefield. Before Zeil could say anything the captain pointed at Zeil and yelled, “Guards! Seize him!!! He is a mercenary fighting for the Minotaur!”

Surprised Zeil started to take a step back however as he did, he felt his hooves held in place as he looked down to realize his hooves were being anchored to the ground by magic. Confused, Zeil looked around to see that a few unicorn guards in the area were using their magic to hold Zeil in place as the captain drew his sword and started trotting towards the restrained changeling. As the captain approached, he reared his sword back as he spoke, “Any enemy soldier, mercenary or not who infiltrates the city will be charged with espionage and sentenced to death!”
Before Zeil could say anything in his defense, the captain lunged the sword forward in an attempt to stab him where he stood. At that very moment, something odd happened as Zeil felt an unexpected gust of wind, as a grey pegasus wearing a blue hoodless cloak and turban flew in out of nowhere and used a book to block the attack stopping the sword before it could cause any harm.

After burying the blade through a few hundred pages of the thick book, Captain Rose gave the grey interloper an angry look as he spoke, “Edelweiss... how dare you save the life of an enemy soldier.”
The pegasus used the book to parry the sword away as he replied, “And how dare you defile the works of Sir Jacob Hoofington the Third?”
As Edelweiss brushed off the cover of the damaged book Captain Rose replied, “I don’t even know who that is.”
Edelweiss smiled, “You wouldn’t… his work is of peace… not like a warmonger like you would understand anyways right… Compost Rose?”
The Captain glared at the pegasus as he replied, “It’s Compass… and I would advise you show respect to the captain of the Queen’s Royal Forces.”
Edelweiss smiled, “Oh I’m sorry… but I would assume one would need to earn respect to gain it… and I’ve yet to see how you’ve earned such a thing from me.”
In anger the Captain pointed his sword at the pagasus’s face as he replied, “For aiding the enemy… you are committing treason against the queen and kingdom. For that, I should execute you where you stand!”

With the tip of the captain’s sword less than an inch from his face, Edelweiss replied, “You could… but I would suggest you calm your bloodlust before you decide to condemn anypony, especially two innocent ones. Otherwise… it would incite some bad favor from the Queen.”
The captain reared his sword back as he replied in anger, “What did you say yo-”
“THAT IS ENOUGH!!!”
After that was said, the surrounding ponies to include Edelweiss and Captain Rose turned to the origin of the voice as they all bowed leaving Zeil to look upon the approaching pony in shock. Though he couldn’t since her aura, it was no denying that the approaching armored mare, was not only the Queen of this kingdom, but an alicorn as well. Though the queen didn’t stand any taller than Zeil would if he were in his changeling form, something about the pink mare made her seem different from the alicorns he had met prior. It could have been the battered and bruised armor she wore, or the demanding stance she held as if she were ready for a fight, or even the unamused stare she gave as if she were not only about to issue an execution, but to carry it out by her own hoof. Whatever it was, Zeil felt intimidated by the royal pony, so much that he felt he should also bow in respect, less he risk angering her.

However before Zeil could do just that, the royal mare looked at Zeil and focused on the magical aura surrounding his hooves as she demanded, “Guards! Release the zebra from your spell.”
Doing as they were told, the unicorn guards stopped using their spells on Zeil as the royal mare looked to Captain Rose and Edelweiss as she spoke, “Captain, Edelweiss… explain to me what is happening here! I want an explanation as to why two of my subjects, my most trusted in fact, are threatening one another while our true enemy stands beyond our walls.”
Both ponies rose from their bow as Captain Rose spoke first, “Your majesty! I was in the process of executing an enemy soldier, but this traitor stopped me before carrying it out.”
The queen looked at Edelweiss, “Is that so…”
Although he didn’t say anything in response, Edelweiss didn’t show any concern in his expression as the queen paned her eyes over to Zeil and replied, “This zebra… is he the soldier you claim to be judging?”
Captain Rose nodded, “He is, your majesty.”
The queen’s emotionless gaze intimidated Zeil slightly as she continued, “And… what makes you curtain that this zebra is an enemy soldier? I see no armor upon him, nor do I see a weapon of any sort.”
Captain Rose replied, “I fought him on the battlefield, no doubt he is a mercenary hired by the minotaur king. After neutralizing a few of my soldiers he fled the field and infiltrated the city.”

The queen nodded as she looked at Zeil, “Yes… I remember seeing him myself. But permit me to inquire… did he… slay any of your soldiers?”
Captain Rose replied in hesitation, “I… well… no the soldiers he neutralized loss consciousness, but I hardly see how that makes a difference.”
The queen replied with an unamused tone, “Actually that makes all the difference. You see I witness him entering the battlefield from the southern tree line. When he entered the field he confronted and neutralized a small number of pony… and minotaur soldiers. Each one he faced with plenty of skill, but none left lifeless in his wake. So I can only surmise that… he isn’t the mercenary you assume him to be. Perhaps, he is merely a traveler who’s ill fate led him into a fight that was not his own.”

Edelweiss gave a smug smile as Captain Rose replied, “But… his skill… he has to be a mercenary. How else could he neutralize highly trained soldiers?”
The royal pony replied, “Is it so strange to see a traveler with the means to defend himself? Perhaps he is the wandering knight from another kingdom. Nevertheless, he has shown no intentional harm towards our soldiers outside of self-preservation. So I hardly see him as an adversary, to us or to Lilith.”
Edelweiss finally spoke, “If I may speak in his defense your majesty. This zebra brought to our gates a wounded soldier he found on the road. If anything he had saved, more of our own then harmed.”
Queen looked to the doctor who still held his head down in a bow as she replied, “Doctor Grey… is this true? Did this zebra save one of our own?”
The doctor rose form his bow as he replied, “He did your majesty, the zebra saved Sourdough and brought him back to the city.”

The queen nodded as she replied, “Then it would seem that my theory is correct.” She looked at Captain Rose, “Captain… the zebra is now a welcomed resident to Lilith and will not be harmed while within the city walls.”
Captain Rose tried to object, “B-but your majesty I-”
The queen interrupted with an annoyed tone, “If I’m not mistaken, I believe the loss of this battle has taken a toll on our soldiers. So I would see it as your duty to gather my officers and give me a full report on how many we lost today. I will expect this report before dusk, so I would suggest you move with haste.”
Annoyed, Captain Rose looked at Zeil, then Edelweiss with anger before looking back at the queen and bowing in respect, “Yes your majesty… at once.”
Before leaving Captain Rose gave one last look to Zeil as he spoke, “As for you… watch your back stripes… cause the moment you show your true colors, I’ll be burying my sword through it.”

With his threat heard, Captain Rose left the area as the queen approached Zeil and spoke, “Brave sir knight… I must offer my most humble of apologies for my captains action, and my most sincere gratitude for saving one of my subjects. May I ask you for your name sir knight so that I may address you properly?”
Zeil replied while showing as much respect as he could, “My name is Zeil… and… forgive me for correcting you, but I’m no knight.”
The queen seemed surprised, “You are not? Surely a zebra of your skills and nobility would have been knighted by your ruling monarch. Or… are you from a place that doesn’t follow such traditions?”
Zeil replied, “I… I’m not from a kingdom or a tribe… I guess you could call me a traveler or… nomad of some kind I guess.”
The queen nodded, “Ah… I see. Nevertheless, one as noble as you shouldn’t be burdened with such an inhospitable welcome… nor be subject to the situation you are currently in.”

Hearing disappointment in her tone but unable to sense her emotions, Zeil replied, “Situation? I don’t understand, what situation am I in your majesty?”
The queen looked back to the city gate as the last few soldiers entered as the massive doors closed behind them, “I’m afraid… we have lost control of the land outside the city. Now, any who leave may be mistaken as Lithian soldiers and attacked on sight by the Minotaur King’s army.”
Zeil was confused as he replied, “What? You mean… I’m trapped in this city?”
The queen nodded, “For the time being… I’m afraid so. But fear not, upon the morn, we will attempt to barter with the Minotaur army in hopes that they will accept our full surrender and spare my kingdom. Till then…” She looked at Edelweiss, “I will leave you in the care of my most trusted scholar.”

The queen smiled at the pegasus as she continued, “Edelweiss? You keep record of all vacant homes in the kingdom do you not?”
Edelweiss bowed in respect as he replied, “I do your grace, I have record of every home… to include some that are recently and… morbidly vacant.”
Knowing what he meant the queen nodded, “I see… is there one that Mr. Zeil could take refuge in for the night. Since our defeat in this battle is the cause of his inconvenience, I feel that we are liable for making sure he has refuge for the evening.”
Edelweiss nodded as he rose from his bow, “I understand your majesty, I will see to it personally that he is comfortable for the evening.”
The queen smiled sincerely as she replied, “Thank you Edelweiss, I know I can always count on you.”
Edelweiss smiled back in a peaceful way as he replied, “It is my sole purpose to serve my queen.”
Edelweiss looked at Zeil as he spoke, “This way Mr. Zeil… I have a specific place in mind.”

Before he could reply, Edelweiss started on his way down the road as Zeil hesitated for a few seconds before following in caution. As the two trotted away, the queen watched for a moment then took a step forward to say something else, however the indecisive mare stopped herself as she turned away and she shook her head as if to remove the canceled statement from her mind. Though Zeil saw her actions, he still disregarded them as he continued to follow the strange scholar in silence. As Zeil followed he couldn’t stop himself from trying to understand the pegasus he was following. His grey coat, dark tail, skinny and seemingly malnourished body, turban and cloak seemed to match his appearance of a normal scholar but his actions when blocking the captains sword made him seem like more than a simple academic. His speed and precision seemed on par with Zeil, if not more so, while his confidence and fearless reaction to the captain’s threats made him seem like a stallion who knew how to survive.

As he thought about this, Zeil decided to speak, “Um… Edelweiss?”
Edelweiss replied, “Yes, Mr Zeil?”
“I wanted to thank you for… back there. With my hooves stuck, I would have been killed if you hadn’t jumped in.”
Edelweiss nodded, “I saw you in danger and knew I had to do something… besides no harm was done. I still have twenty-seven more volumes of encyclopedias to use should Compass Rose decide to try executing any other innocent ponies.”
Zeil was confused, “Encyclopedias?”
Edelweiss held the book over his shoulder so Zeil could see the damaged cover as it read, “Encyclopedia Titanica Vol. 4”

After seeing the cover Zeil could only laugh, “Wow, so much for the writings of Sir Jacob Hoofington the Third.”
Edelweiss chuckled as he replied, “Yes well, I’ve learned that if I vex Compass rose now, he tends to avoid me later.”
Zeil was confused, “later?”
The pegasus shook his head, “I’ll explain after the Queen speaks with you this evening. For now, lets just say that Captain Rose doesn’t have the skill to be a real threat.”
Not noticing the subject of the queen, Zeil nodded, “I noticed that… on the battlefield, I had to neutralize a number of pony soldiers to get out alive… but they seemed… untrained… terrified. Like it was the first time they ever held a weapon. Doctor grey said it’s because they aren’t real soldiers. Is that true?”

Edelweiss nodded as he replied, “It is… none of these soldiers are actually trained. The least few soldiers in the kingdom are a part of the city’s main guards. The rest… perished with the king.”
Zeil asked with suspicion, “And what about you?... are you trained?”
Edelweiss smiled but dodged the question as he replied, “Where did you say you were from Mr Zeil? I heard news of a zebra nation but the name escapes me for the time being.”
Ignoring the dodged question, Zeil replied, “The name you’re thinking of is Zebrica… but like I told your queen, I’m not part of a nation.”
Edelweiss looked back to his path as he replied, “A shame… one should always have a place called home… a place that if threatened he should take up arms to defend.”
Zeil nodded, “Well… I suppose there is one place I would call my home… but it’s more for who is there, and not the place itself. Equestria.”

Edelweiss replied with surprise, “Equestria?... the home of the two alicorn princesses?”
Zeil nodded, “the same.”
Edelweiss smiled, “How are the two princesses by the way. Are they in good health?”
Zeil was confused as he replied, “I… guess so… I’m not sure but I would assume they are. Why?”
Edelweiss shook his head, “Just curious… I don’t hear much from beyond the walls so it’s good to know that the bloodline of the King and Queen of Eden still lives on. It’s only natural to be curious of your titan’s lineage.”
Zeil nodded as he replied, “I… guess so…”
Zeil gave him a confused look as Edelweiss continued without a response to the subject. With nothing more said, Zeil felt confused, usually in this sense Zeil would try to feel his emotions and draw a conclusion based on that, however no matter how he tried, Zeil couldn’t feel anything. No aura of presence that identified the pony as a pegasus, and no emotions telling what he was feeling. It was as if his changeling abilities were disabled entirely. The only thing Zeil could do was rely on his eyes, and guess.

Outside the city of Lilith, the minotaur were cutting down the forests surrounding the city as the minotaur general watched and smiled. As he watched, a soldier approached, “General, the last of the pony forces have retreated into Lilith and locked themselves away.”
The general nodded, “Good, not set up a perimeter around the city and ensure that no ponies, not even civilians escape. Once we clear the forest we will have a perfect view of the city for the final attack. That will show these smug ponies who is superior.”
All of a sudden a second soldier rushed up from behind, “General! News from the rear! The main camp… it’s… it’s… It’s disappeared.”
The general turned to his soldier, “What!?!”
The soldier replied, “We were escorting our wounded back to camp and when we got there… it was gone. The tents the wagons even the prisoners, all gone. In fact the place looked as if we were never there to begin with.”

The general replied in anger, “What do you mean, we were never there to begin with?”
The soldier replied, “The grass was tall and untouched, there were trees growing there that weren’t there before. It’s as if the ground hadn’t been disturbed in years.”
The general thought to himself as he replied, “Hmm… then it’s some kind of trick then. Pony magic maybe.” He looked back at the soldier, “If the camp is truly gone, then we will set up a new camp here. We will deem all missing soldiers as deserters and if we ever see them again we will execute them for their crime. As for the captives, increase security around the city walls. If that king did escape, I want him found before he can return to his subjects.”
The soldier nodded as he left to follow the order, “Yes general.”
The general looked towards the city as a tree fell over revealing the first sight of the city’s wall, “If King Matthias had made it back to the city he would have joined his wife in battle, so it’s obvious he isn’t there yet… so if he is trying to get back in, I’ll get him. After all I haven’t decided yet… How do you kill a king?”

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