Three Brethren, Three Kings

by Wither

The Rebels - Chapter 2

Scott POV

We've been walking for well over a day. I have been leading our merry band of travelers on this grassy plain. Ever since we all saw the pile of those bodies... None of us have said a single word, to scarred by the sight. All of us, Andrew, Cullen and I were just on a sidewalk, about to go our separate way, we didn't want this! Still, the sight only emboldened me to continue forward, after all, looking back to that grizzly site would do nothing. I didn't bother to loot them, however smart an idea it would've been, I couldn't bring myself to it. And besides, anything we could've used for sustenance must have already been taken by what had killed them. Further more, disrespecting those lifeless forms... I couldn't bear the guilt. I doubt the others could either.

I have been leading us all along the edge of the forest, hoping it got us along somewhere. The memories of the forest, those creatures sorrounding us, jumping at us... at me! One of those creatures snatched the sleeve off my arm. How close I was to certain doom, I only shudder at the thought of what was nearly my fate had I been a centimeter closer. I shake those grizzly thoughts away and continue on the walk towards hopeful sanctuary. None of us know exactly where we are heading anyway...

After a few more hours of walking we all were beginning to grow wary and tired, not to mention incredibly parched. After all, walking in the sun all day will do that to you, luckily the sun had fallen, giving us some respite from its glare. We all were only stumbling through the grass, wishing for rest and water.

"Hey guys, we've been walking for... hours, I don't know, still we should rest." Andrew said, speaking my mind.

"Yes... please!" Cullen wheezed as he promptly sat, squishing the grass underneath when he lay down. I give a crisp nod and joined my friends getting cozy on the grass. The night sky above the three of us was like a picture crafted to perfection. Every star I could see was bright and full, shining individually on us like beacons themselves. The bright moon helped to light up the place, helping us to make out our surroundings quite easily, if not shrouded. Everything we all have seen so far has been incredibly surreal...

Ok, maybe not everything, that forest was the scariest thing i've ever experienced, but still. Even if we've been walking through a large grass plain for hours on end, it never got boring. The grass was tall and luscious, the forest, however creepy, provided ample scenery. All of this not to mention the humongous mountain range in front of us, the snowcapped peaks all making for quite the amazing sight. Occasionally I could even see a few birds flying by, which just helped my mind to be at ease. Almost at ease I should say, considering that we all are still lost in a large field who knows where, with no available source of food or water that we know of. If we die, at least it's somewhere pretty I guess.

A good hour of resting got us enough energy to take a short walk to find a better place to stay for the night, with nightfall being a good two or three hours ago, there was plenty of time till morning that we all agreed would be better spent in a more advantageous position. We all gathered ourselves and got back up to begin a hopefully short walk to safety.

"Alright boys, lets get going" I proclaim, hoping to lighten the mood a little bit at least. Cullen was tired, obviously, slouching a little from the days events, and I could tell Andrew was only masking his fear and such with a stoic mask. I can't blame him, I may not be thinking it but I can feel myself doing the same. With this, we begin our trek over again.

"Do you all hear that?" Andrew said. I strained my ears to try and get what he is going on about. "Sounds like running water! Come on" With that, Andrew takes the lead, and Cullen and I begin to match Andrew's quick pace. Soon enough, I began to hear it. The trickling of water over rocks being a pleasant noise to my ears. To eager to speak we all begin to head towards the noise, and soon enough we can see our savior. There is a river in front of us, that small trickle turning into the sound of water rushing past rocks. All three of us quickly go to the banks of the river and stumble into the water and begin to scoop the substance into our parched mouths. This went on for a few minutes, all of us practically drowning ourselves to get our fill, not caring about wet clothes or the like.

"Oh God, it's almost like you forgot how it feels to not be dehydrated" I say, regaining my breath after my fill of water. "Please, I could've gone awhile longer, no sweat" Andrew responds to my statement. Liking to act tough, but I could tell he was on the verge of collapse, same as Cullen and I.

"Cullen, how are you feeling now?" I ask, only to have... no response? Me and Andrew look at each other, then back to where Cullen was on the bank of the river only to see... nothing but a a pair of foot prints. Wait, a pair?

"Where did Culle go t- Ack!" I turn back around to see Andrew being dragged onto the bank with a bag over his head, and somebody in dark clothes. I barely get a glance towards that spectacle before my visions turns dark, and i'm forced onto my knees. The water laps at my knees as sharp pebbles dig into them, making me grunt in annoyance. Suddenly, a sharp pain appears in the back of my head and then darkness consumes me.

---

I rewaken only to find myself staring at the wall of a flapping tent. There is still a dull throbbing that makes me wince whenever I feel it, obviously the result of whatever had hit me and taken the rest of us hostage. Speaking of which, where are they?! I glance around the tent only to see nothing but a hastily constructed table in front of me, splinters still visible on the legs, and a equally rough chair opposite of me, on the other side of the table.

"wha- what is going on?" I murmur to myself. The uncertainty of this entire situation is getting to me, Where's Cullen and Andrew? I try to stand and sit up, but I find my arms bound together in rope. I sit in silence for a few moments, trying to gather my thoughts. That man or woman, I couldn't tell, that took down Andrew... There is something familiar about it's physic... Maybe it was the face? I don't know how I could gather anything from under that hood in the dead of night. This is all to surreal for me. Suddenly breaking my thoughts, there is a shuffle outside, reminiscent of footsteps on gravel. In fact thats probably exactly what it is now that I think about it.

Suddenly the flaps of the tent open to reveal a... I have mo idea what ever that thing is. Fur covered Human? With the face of a horse?! What the hell is going on? The ... Horse man takes a look at my awake form, and seems to examine me. "Hmmm" The horse man only hums before leaving. While leaving I got a glimpse of his tail and hooves, and the tip of a sword... Ok, so I don't want to make these people... Horses? mad. Got it.

A few minutes go by, allowing me to ponder on what is actually going on. Obviously me and my friends were taken hostage by some Horse man things. So either we are all in a shared fever dream or some divine powers decided to screw with us. Soon enough the sounds of footsteps grace my ears, this time it's different. There's more than one, and is that clanking? In mere moments the tent flaps opened to once again reveal two Horses this time. One of which was a light gray with a dark blue mane and tail. The other had a white coat and blue mane and tail. Also did I mention he's covered in plate armor? Cause he's covered in plate armor, and I really don't like how he's looking at me. Especially with that sword on his hip. Still, his armor doesn't feel right, theres parts missing, or at least seem missing. There is a shoulder pad gone, along with other plate pieces, there's tone of dents and scratches and grime coating the whole set.

Either way, my staring is interrupted by a grunt from the gray Horse man thing, and he pulls out the char opposite from me and takes a seat. I have no idea what's going on, but I hope it doesn't end with me being executed or something.

"Ahem, hello. I know this is all a little confusing and disorienting, in fact I have no idea if you can understand me or not, but if you can, please know that, even if we cant trust you, we don't want to harm you." The gray Horse says, shocking me a little... More than a little, in fact my eyes became as wide as saucers. "I take your response you can either understand me, or didn't expect me to speak. Either way, please, could you tell me your name?" This... Horse thing just spoke again. I'm still not sure whether or not i'm seeing things, but honestly I don't care anymore, i'm just going to roll with it.

"My names Scott. Who are you? Better yet, why am I here? And where are my friends?!" My sudden outburst seemed to provoke the guard, I assume him to be, in the corner. He stand a little stiffer and put a hand on the hilt of his sword. The interrogating Horse seemed just as shocked as I was when I first saw him talk.

"W-well, Scott" My name seemed foreign to him as he had a little trouble pronouncing it. "My name is Soarin, and I can see it is rather obvious that you care for your friends safety, and I can assure you that there perfectly fine. After we took you all, we tied you to some chairs and simply waited for you to wake up. As far as what has been reported, you are the first to do so. I can swear, as long as you don't show signs of dark influence or aggression, you will remain perfectly fine." Good, Andrew and Cullen are ok. I hope so at least, I don't entirely trust this things word.

"Why did you take us then?" I ask with a glare. After all, being kidnapped isn't entirely pleasant

"Well, you see, our little group is being hunted by the usurper who took the throne. As far as we know, we are the last major resistance group out there. We don't entirely know what you are, no less WHO you are, and we couldn't risk you stumbling onto our camp, our location would be at risk. I do hope you understand" Soarin said with a bit of resentment. Especially when he mentioned this 'Usurper'. But then again, this Usurper could be good and replaced some tyrannical ruler originally in possession of the state. Soarin seemed to see my skepticism and continued to elaborate on the whole situation

A good hour after, at least what felt like an hour, had gone by. Soarin, the leader of this little rebel group, explained the whys and hows and whens of what has been going on. Why him and all of his 'pony' followers were resisting. And I have to say, I would be too if I was in there shoes- er, hooves.

"I believe that wraps up our story, don't you? Now, speaking of you, where are you and your friends from?" Soarin asked, genuinely interested. This will be difficult. How do I tell him that we're from another world? Will it cause some sort of paradox rift or something? I think the best option would be to just say the forest... I guess. He'll have to buy it, that forest was completely wild.

"W-well, you see... We don't really have a place where we came from per say. All we've been doing is.. wandering. Yeah, going around the place, never staying somewhere too long. We got lost in those woods a little ways back- "The Everfree you mean?" Soarin interrupts, glancing up from the table I gave a curt nod. "Y-yeah, the Everfree... that place." He seemed suspicious at first, probably due to the uncertainty in my voice, but when I mentioned the Everfree, that seemed to grab his attention.

"I can tell why you seemed so shocked discussing that horrid place, it isn't exactly a place you want to stay in for long." Phew, I think i'm good.

"Yeah, pretty creepy in there" All Soarin did was sit there with a blank expression before before nodding and standing up from his chair.

"Well Scott, I believe we have been aquatinted well enough, Gleaming, release his bonds." The armored Pony standing near the entrance of the tent nods and moves behind me to untie the rugged ropes binding my hands together.

"I trust in you enough to not hold you captive, besides, if you try anything we know how to fight." Soarin says with a reassuring smile before heading out of the tent flap, his armored companion following shortly. I rub my wrists, finally being free of the bonds, and stand up to see where we are. I walk outwards and the sunlight blinds me. I quickly move my arm to block out the glare, and when my vision clears, i'm met with a quant little sight. There are rows of tents to either side of me with a small wooden wall sorrounding the whole camp I presume. There were ponies in ragged dirty clothes milling about, some carrying bowls of fruits and other foods. I could even here the laughter of children some way behind me, the wall of tents blocking my view. Above me lay a huge mountain, the peak miles above me. I could tell I was going to be here for awhile...

---

One week later...

A week had passed since our untimely arrival to the little resistance camp. I was quickly brought to my friends where we were then situated into a tent with other Ponies, some of which were guards, likely a little extra precaution on their part, not that I can blame them. Over the course of the week our new tent buddies got warmed up to us and became used to our presence, some even tried conversing with us! If that's not a step in the right direction, I don't know what is. We also all tried our best to learn more on what had happened to the country, Equestria it's called, as a whole. Apparently this 'usurper' I heard Soarin name was a guy called King Sombra, some old cranky Unicorn bent on conquering this place.

With this short week I think us three became apart of the resistance, which is cool I guess. It does mean if Sombra gets a whiff to our location we'll all be slaughtered and tortured, but hey, it's worth the risk right? I doubt the three of us would last long in the wilderness anyway. We all decided we wanted to help out, if not needing a little convincing, and we started to do some routine exercises with the guards not halfway through the week. We all had started to take a liking to our own ways of combat, even if we all needed a bit of practice... Ok, not a bit, a lot of practice, I dropped my sword the first time I tried to swing it. But still, we're all prepared to try!

Frankly, I'm surprised by the fact they accepted us so fast. Now that I think about, we aren't entirely 'accepted' yet. We still have an armed guard follow us around every where, meaning we are constantly watched. However uncomfortable it has been, we cant help it, even if some of us don't like the idea. Right now, I'm currently doing some of the drills, following the orders of a staff sergeant like Pony named Stark Shield.

"Scott! I expect a shorter arc in that swing of yours! This isn't some pretty competition, this is life or death now, so get used to it!" Stark Shield barks out as I cut through the air with the short training sword I was grasping. "Yes sir!" I gasp as I ready myself to try and perfect my swing.

"I believe he has had enough today Sergeant, besides, I have something special for him." Soarin says as he walks up behind me, startling me enough to drop my sword. "Come here Scott" Soarin waves me over as he begins to walk out of the small training circle. "Cut off that swing time Cullen!" I hear Stark Shield yell as I walk out and away from his gaze of perfection.

"Why did you call me out Soarin" I ask tediously, still unsure whether to call him Soarin or 'Sir'.

"Well, it involves you and your friends. I want to trust you three, you all are good folk it seems, and have already begun to train in the arts of the sword under Stark, and i'm confident you'll get the hang of it sometime, after all, you have Stark Shield there to make sure you notice your failures" Soarin says with a smirk. "I am confident enough in your ability to send you on your first mission"

This really shocked me. "A mission sir?" I asked hesitantly

"Yes, nothing big at all, so there is nothing to worry about, all we ask of you is to go with a squad and scout the area around the camp to make sure none of Sombra's armies or hit squads get close." A mission? For me and my inability to fight? I was shocked, but I wanted to prove to Soarin that I was capable enough to fight in this little cause he has going on.

"Ill gladly do it, when would you expect me to be ready?"

"Preferably tonight, it is sudden I know, but you move out early tomorrow morning"

"Ill do it sir!" I say with a mock salute, getting a grin on him. "Glad to hear it Scott, good luck" Soarin offers with a warm smile before walking deeper into the camp. I walk back towards the training circle to sharpen whatever little ounce of skill I had before I went on this mission, who knows when I need it.

Author's Note:

And the second chapter is now finally out! About time to, It was supposed to be out a week ago! And as such, I am sorry for the delay to anyone reading this

Still, expect faster uploads, as they will be coming! Because of the short delay I cut this chapter in half to get it out a little faster, I hope it helps

See you next chapter

Comments

[Bronycommander]

Nice Work!

[Wither]

9065295
Thank you!

[Bronycommander]

9065977
Your Welcome.