Triple Threat

by Violet Mist

Chapter 2

Borealis the Blue paced in his study, brainstorming. If there was a way to keep his cousin satisfied AND less annoying, he needed to find something quick. He couldn't stand another second of her nonstop complaining. Sighing, he picked a book from his personal library. The library consisted of major historical events and scrolls that were rich with history. Some dated back as far as 1000 years, the time the first ponies came to be. Borealis walked to his desk and began reading. He hoped the book contained valuable information to help him, but after several minutes of reading, he realized he had picked the wrong book. Frustrated, he picked up the book with magic and shoved it back into its place on the shelf. He then grabbed the book next to it. “Ok, A Spellcaster’s Ultimate Guide To Success. This should help.” Borealis said, opening the book. Just then, a knock came to his door. He was surprised that another pony would come to his doorstep so early—the sun hadn't even raised yet. Eager to see who it was, he unlocked the door with his magic.

“Come in.” He said. The door opened slowly and there stood a knight in armor in the darkness. Judging by the armor pieces sizes, Borealis guessed it was a female knight, not a common scene within the kingdom. The knight stepped in and flipped back its visor, revealing a yellow mare with purple eyes. Not only was Borealis surprised to see her so early, but he was also shocked to see how early this knight got her armor on for practice. Borealis felt himself grin a little.

“You know, if you wanted to meet me, you didn't have to be so formal.” He told the knight. The knight sighed a little, stepping more towards the wizard.

“I just felt it would be more official if I came in like this.” She replied. Borealis nodded and shrugged.

“Fair enough. Whatever works for you. I don't care.” He told her. After a few moments of silence the knight cleared her throat, indicating she was going to speak.

“...the princess has seen quite a lot of potential in me as a spellcaster and a knight. She brought me into her office just last night and gave me some advice. She told me to go see you about spells and magic, that you are the most powerful wizard in the kingdom. I come with the objective to become your apprentice.” She said. Borealis almost laughed. Instead he sealed his lips together to make sure she didn't see how he was disapproving. But instead of formally denying it, words came out of his mouth that he couldn't control.

“Of course you can. I've always wanted to pass my skill onto other ponies.” He said, bringing his hoof to his mouth. He tried to cover it up with a cough, but the knight was grinning, so he guessed it didn't work.

“Great!” She simply said. Sticking out her hoof, Borealis thought she was grinning even more. He reluctantly took the hoof and shook it, wondering what he had just put himself into. After a few moments of shaking he calmly pointed to a chair next to his at the desk.

“Sit there. We shall begin a small lesson now.” He ordered. The knight almost saluted but stopped herself and walked to the chair.

“Oh, and my name's Sparkling by the way.” She said. Borealis just wanted to shout oh you could have just told me earlier but he knew there wasn't any room to complain. He too had to be mentored to perfect his skills.

“Nice name.” He replied. What else was there to say? Sparkling nodded and took out the chair and sat.

“Hey, was your name originally Borealis the Blue? ‘Cause that would be a weird name to start out with.” She asked. Borealis didn't know if it was supposed to be make him laugh at all. But he just decided to fight back with plain logic.

“That's a good question. As a matter of fact, I was. Because I was born all blue really. And I furthered my reputation because first, I am the cousin of the heiress, and I am the best wizard in Equestria. Simple as that.” He answered. This left Sparkling with a focused expression on her face. Obviously she enjoyed that story. After a few moments of awkward silence Borealis grabbed a book and placed it before them. He then opened it to the first page and glanced at Sparkling. “You're sure you're up to this?” He asked. Sparkling nodded and smiled. Borealis noticed that her horn was already glowing.

“Positive.”

•=+=•

After a long day, Zephyr Song sank in her throne. Showcasing her strength wasn't easy, and having to do it for an hour straight? Ugh. Tiring. She was happy to be spending time alone until her father came barging through the doors. It was a show Zephyr had not seen for years. The strength the old emperor presented was something he hadn't shown since he was at most in his forties. Breezescar gathered himself up and very formally the rest of the way walked to his throne. Zephyr watched, noticing there was a slight limp in his step. She knew he was falling apart, and that the time would come soon for herself to take the throne. The emperor carefully sat in his throne and let out a grunt. Clearly he was tired too. There was a long minute of silence before Breezescar broke it by clearing his throat.

“...gryphons and I got a job for you, hon.” He informed her. Zephyr’s ears perked up and she focused her attention on her father.

“Yes, father?” She asked. Breezescar leant forward and became face-to-face with his daughter.

“It's very important.” He told her. This just got her more anticipated. The emperor coughed as a servant brought a gleaming golden cup of water for him to drink. He took steady sips until placing the empty cup on the side table. “We want you to retrieve a valuable object from those blasted unicorns. One that could ultimately change the tide on the war to our cause. It's a risky mission, but if you keep a low profile. It could be done. Just a few simple steps should do the trick,” he told her. “Listen up. Here's what you need to do.” Zephyr nodded. She was quite surprised that her father and the gryphons had come up with a final test so fast. At least that's how she saw it—a final test of strength and persistence. “First you must pick a few gryphon warriors to accompany you on this mission. I want the highest level of security on you at all times, so what better than to choose the best fighters in the Gryphon Kingdom? Next, you must sneak into the Mountain’s Edge Observatory, a unicorn research center. The object you'll obtain is not hard to spot—a large glowing stone that could fit into a saddlebag. But those are your steps. The gryphons will coordinate your escape from there. Obey them.” He finished. Zephyr took in all that information and simply nodded.

“Will do father.” She replied. The emperor smiled a little and patted his daughter’s shoulder. Just then 3 groups of about 4 gryphons each walked gracefully into the room.

“You have quite a few options, dear.” Her father said. “The group on the left is more brutal, middle more wise, and right more strategic. Choose wisely, you can only choose one.” Zephyr rubbed her chin. It really was a tough choice, one that could definitely affect the fate of the mission—maybe even herself. She was leaning towards wise and strategic, not necessarily brutal. Zephyr Song was not a believer of the war. She felt that violence was not needed to settle border disputes. Therefore the brutes were not the proper group to choose. Eventually she decided on the strategic group. She wanted a squad that could get her out of the observatory safely.

“I would like the strategic team to accompany me on this mission.” She answered. Breezescar held a fake smile on his face, Zephyr could tell.

“Excellent choice, dear.” He lied. His daughter went along with it and nodded. The two groups backed out while the strategic group, only holding 4 gryphons, bowed at the princess’s hooves. Zephyr had made an important decision… for once. Breezescar must've thought it was ‘first steps into leadership.’ But, oh well. The best decision was just to play along with the act until it was the right time.

•=+=•

The earth pony camp was cold, bloody, and dirty. Injured ponies lay everywhere, and nurses and doctors tried desperately to help them. Below the ridge, the battle raged on, with the Pegasi annihilating the earth ponies. Which made Diamond Dust wondering—what kind of false information had scouts given them to make them so shorthanded and really, outskilled? She roamed through the makeshift camp, determined to find her twin brother. They had been separated in the midst of the battle and she had been worried sick. The sky was gray and it looked like it was going to snow soon, so she needed to look fast. An older pony with a bandage covering one eye seemed to notice her frantic expression. “Filly… come here.” He said in a croaky voice. Even amidst the noise, Diamond was still able to hear the old pony and walked towards him very quickly.

“Yes, sir?...” she asked. The old pony coughed a little bit of blood and shook his head.

“You look lost… or maybe you're looking for somepony…” he told her. She found herself nodding and speaking so fast they she could not even understand herself. The old pony put his hoof on her mouth to shush her. “Obviously you're looking for somepony… calm down and tell me who.” He said, releasing his hoof from her mouth. Diamond took a deep breath and made sure she was calm.

“Ice Dust. He's my twin brother, and he has an axe… have you seen him?...” she asked. The old pony rubbed his chin and looked around with his one good eye. Then he stomped his hoof back on the ground and smiled a bit.

“Oh, yes, I've seen him around. As a matter of fact, he asked me where you were about 10 minutes ago.” He answered. Diamond facehooved and ran off once more, with the old pony watching. The battle had gotten even worse. It was going uphill, closer to the camp. Doctors and nurses were already evacuating the injured to a safer place. But Diamond continued her search, despite the commands to move away from the battle. Just then, she caught a glimpse of blue behind a wooden crate. She ran behind the box only to find another blue pony, a doctor, fixing up a patient. Diamond looked down in shame until a hoof tapped on her shoulder.

“Diamond… I'm right here.” A familiar voice said. Diamond whipped around and immediately threw her arms around the voice—her brother.

“Ice! I'm so happy you're ok!” She told him. Ice ended up hugging her as well. Even as the battle approached, the two twins stood there, enjoying their moment together. It wasn't until Ice looked in front of himself when he realized the situation.
“Cmon,” he said. “We have to go.” He grabbed his sister and ran with the rest of the ponies. A full retreat was called for the earth ponies, with the Pegasi hot on their tails. If the Earth Clan wanted to survive, they needed to get to their secret base in one piece. The Pegasi were catching up fast, thanks to their amazing flight speed. The Earth clan could be faster if they weren't hauling many, many injured ponies. Eventually Ice put his sister on her back because he was starting to hear her drift behind. They were at the back of the retreat, with spears landing all around them as they ran. Diamond hit a few away with her sheathed sword but it came to a point where there was too much that she had to use both her sword and her brother’s axe. Finally, the Pegasi halted as the earth ponies entered a narrow cave system spreading in many directions. The Pegasi had won the battle, but not all hope was lost for the Earth Clan.

Author's Note:

Keep in mind that I actually wrote this chapter nearly 3 years ago so my writing skills are not the same ^^

I don't know what took me so long to post this chapter, but here it is. Enjoy!