A Just Cause

by GJT_Productions

Survivors' Camp

"So, you said you heard yelling and saw flames in the distance last night?"

"That's correct, sir."

"And where do you think you heard and saw those things coming from?"

"To the north, sir. In the direction of one of the old forts."

"Thank you, ma'am. We'll let you pass to Canterlot now."

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Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor steps aside on the path of the Canterlot-Las Pegasus road so as to let the earth pony mare he had been conversing with pass by with her cartload of goods toward the city of Canterlot, which still was visible in the distance from the location Shining Armor and his force were currently located. The two squads he commanded, lead by Lieutenants Vigil and Vanguard respectively, do the same shortly after. Once she and her cart are clear, the squads form up again, but do not immediately resume their interrupted march. Instead, Shining Armor calls over the two Lieutenants into a brief conference.

"What did she have to say, sir?" Lieutenant Vanguard asks his commander.

"Based on her description, there may have been a battle last night." Shining Armor answers. "But if there were any survivors, they'll drag their hooves in coming back to Canterlot. We'll still have to go get them."

"Where should we expect to find any kind of camp of survivors, sir?" Lieutenant Vigil now speaks.

"The best place to look would be where the old supply path to 'Fort Beta' branches off. The track would be worn and rutted, but still passable by hoof and cart. If there was an attack and they had to fall back, that would be the best place to fall back to."

"And how far a march would it be, sir?"

"It'll definitely take the rest of the day, Lieutenant. So best we get moving again. Return to your squads and we'll continue down the road."

"Yes, sir!" both Lieutenants answer simultaneously, giving a salute as they do so.

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The two squads continue down the twisting, arid path, armor gleaming in the sunlight. The day dragged on for the marching members of the E.U.P. Guard, and as the last rays of Princess Celestia's lowering sun touched the surface of Equestria the force reached the fork that lead northward off to "Fort Beta". Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor saw the rugged, potentially hoof-twisting condition of the supply road leading northward and quickly decided not to try going up the path in the dark. Instead, he ordered Lieutenants Vanguard and Vigil to scout out for any sign of a survivor's camp.

The minutes passed slowly, Princess Luna's rising moon providing an oddly comforting reminder of why he was doing what he was doing. Finally, news arrived from Lieutenant Vigil - one of his squad had spotted a pair of campfires from the air, about a half-mile northwest of the fork. This news was both a relief and a concern to Shining Armor, who noted that area was unprotected and relatively close to "Fort Beta", which he had to presume was still occupied by a rebel force.

"Gather your squad and Lieutenant Vanguard's, and proceed immediately toward where you saw those fires. I suspect the Hornpoint survivors will be there. I will start there immediately, and provide a beacon to follow should I get there first." Shining orders, immediately starting in the northwest direction from the fork as he does so. Lieutenant Vigil's response is barely heard to Shining as the latter begins cautiously treading the arid surface, aware there were many potential hazards of going off the trail...

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A half-hour passes, then an hour, and Shining is frustrated by his own tentative hoofsteps, necessitated by the dangers of the terrain. He takes a quick look around, and spots a pair of flickering lights about 500 yards off to the southwest, hidden from previous ground view by a semi-circular rock outcropping. Besides shielding the survivors from any wind on the arid plain, it would also prevent anypony travelling along either the main road or supply path from seeing them at ground level, although considering the pegasi composition of the rebels this wasn't as much of an advantage as it might've been.

The Lieutenant Captain turns to face the pair of lights, then his horn glows with magenta-colored magic. A few seconds later, a dome of magenta-colored energy encloses the entire area around the two fires, both trapping and clearly illuminating whatever is inside. As he presses closer, he sees a few pony shapes tentatively push against the magic barrier, as well as other ponies begin converging on the location both from air and ground. Shining doesn't yet know if he is facing friend or foe, but presses on regardless.

A few minutes later, he reaches the edge of the barrier he had generated, and can clearly see the ponies inside - eight in total, all unicorns, but none now resisting the barrier. To his frustration, Shining does not spot Prince Blueblood or the renegade Lieutenant Troilus inside that dome - only one pony does he recognize from the tattered and muddy E.U.P. dress uniform that still barely clings to his scratched-up body. He also notices two ponies by one of the firepits are lying facing upward, and Shining can only guess based on the broken horn of one of those ponies that they have been gravely injured.

All six that are still up and moving stare back with looks of guilt and shame, and at that point the Lieutenant Captain knows he's found the survivor encampment - or at least one of them, considering the initial Hornpoint force was much bigger. Out of the corner of his eye, several other members of his force begin converging from the air, and he brings down the dome temporarily.

"In the name of the alicorns of Canterlot, you are all under arrest for treason and participating in an unauthorized campaign." Shining coldly states as he steps into the camp, several members of his military group improvising a perimeter around the area not blocked by the rock outcropping. The unicorn leader now recreates a small sphere on top of the outcropping, blinking as a beacon to alert the rest of his group to the position.

There is no resistance from those in the camp - all give looks of guilt and shame, staring at him in a stunned silence. Doubtless the former Hornpoint members were still in shock from the apparent defeat and separation from the rest of their force when everypony had told them they would doubtless be victorious against the "unholy" rebels of the Agents of Chaos.

Shining Armor turns and faces the stallion with the tattered uniform - Guard Lower Class Petronius, now heavily scratched and bruised from what he had suffered. Petronius tried to shrink back, but backed into the rock outcropping and, recognizing the futility of further resistance, shakily assumed an at attention stance.

"Guard, tell me what happened to the fort to the north. And don't you dare lie to me, you are already in extremely deep trouble as it is!" Shining Armor yells in the verbal equivalent of a shove, recognizing Petronius as the closest thing to an authority figure here.

"Sir, I... I..." Petronius begins stammering out as Shining's squad begins moving into the camp.

"Wait a second, something is bothering me about your appearance." Shining adds, and but a moment later he uses magenta-colored magic to rip off the remnants of Petronius' uniform, dramatically tossing them into one of the firepits. As the dirty and torn cloth goes up in flames, the stunned shock of the entire survivor group is broken, and some begin quietly sobbing as Shining Armor's group moves in to arrest them, putting previously distributed horn rings on all but the unicorn with the broken horn.

All Petronius can do is look back and forth between Shining Armor, his glare steadily growing darker under the glow of magenta magic, and the burning remnants of his E.U.P. uniform until his indecision finally earns him a hoofslap across the face from Shining Armor.

"ANSWER ME, PETRONIUS! WHERE IS TROILUS? WHERE IS PRINCE BLUEBLOOD? WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FORT?!" Shining Armor shouts into the night, now going in full drill sergeant mode as his patience runs out.

"I don't... I don't know, sir. Both Troilus and Lyacon... they... they disappeared after ordering the charge at the fort." Petronius answers, his tongue finally released by the wrath directed his way. "It was chaos there... don't know what happened to Blueblood... the rebels were buzzing and ramming us... I had no choice but to run back..."

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Shining Armor looks over at Lieutenant Vanguard, who had just arrived at the scene, and saw the shock in his eyes as he too realizes the implication of the words of Petronius. The campaign Troilus lead was indeed all a ruse, to lead ponies to their deaths and allow the rebels to capture or kill the very important Prince Blueblood. But there was the one vexing question of why - the motives of Troilus in doing this. Whatever the stated intent had been, it was just a ruse to ensure the plan would work - the real motives were as yet unrevealed.

"Vanguard, where is the rest of the group?" Shining Armor asks as he pauses his interrogation to address the Lieutenant.

"Lieutenant Vigil should be on his way with the rest of his squad. Everypony in my squad has been accounted for, and all survivors here had horn rings applied." Vanguard reports.

"Very good. Don't let anypony wander away from this site unescorted." Shining Armor answers.

"Yes, sir." Vanguard replies with a salute, before turning away to attend to the squad and arrested survivors.

"I can only hope that the righteous magic will protect the..." Petronius begins to speak again when Shining Armor turns back to face him, but he never gets to finish the sentence before getting another hoofslap, this one producing a fresh slice along his cheek that begins to dribble out a reddish liquid.

"THAT MAGIC IS A LIE, A DECEPTION! EVERYTHING HE SAID WAS A DECEPTION!" Shining Armor shouts out, returning to his drill sergeant mode in indignant rage and drawing the attention of everypony around him. "Don't any of you see what you are doing?!? You have all been deceived by the lies of the confusio magic, that will corrode and destroy our society! It gains hold of belief and power by appealing to the selfishness and ego within all of us. That's why we must all stand for the amicitia magic! What's wrong with amicitia that you would abandon it so eagerly?! What is wrong is being loyal? What is wrong with being honest, kind, generous, all the virtues of the Elements of Harmony?! Why did you turn your backs on amicitia to embrace the great deceptions of confusio?! ANSWER ME!"

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Of course, the survivors of the failed Hornpoint had no answer to Shining's questions, and are left silent as the echoes of Lieutenant Captain's wrath are lost into the open plain around them. Petronius, and several other immobilized survivors, begin openly shedding tears, no longer unable to live in denial of their sins against their country and its ideals.

"I don't think they'll cause us any more trouble now, Vanguard." Shining Armor addresses his Lieutenant. "Your squad needs to remain on guard here, as soon as Lieutenant Vigil arrives with the rest of his squad we'll figure out our next move."

"Yes, sir." Vanguard answers, looking over from the shamed unicorn prisoners to the darkened plain around them and up to the moon glowing over all. The immediate future was still uncertain, but at least Hornpoint was well and truly dead. What would come next though, would prove far worse...