Chapter 55: The March; Part 3
Elias scowled silently at the bowl of bloody water beneath his steadily scrubbing hands. The other generals had decided to return to their positions once he had gathered the rest of his equipment and descended the hill, and the rest of the day’s march had gone according to schedule. They had only a few miles left to trek anyway, and with a small break, they had made up the time lost with the pointless “negotiation”. Aside from asking for a towel to clean his hands, Elias had done little to change anything. Scouts were already searching far and wide for any enemies, and he would be the first to know if an attack was coming. In truth, all there was to do was to keep to the march schedule and make sure the guards were diligent in their duties each night. Other than that, Elias was breathing a mental sigh of relief. There would be no great ambush, no surprise attack. No, word of the minotaur chief’s death had spread through the camp like a wildfire, and now everyone was on guard, constantly scanning the trees for their new enemy. The only surprise would be if the minotaurs heeded his advice and fled.
Elias picked up the bowl of water just as Nightshade slammed her hooves into the table again, emphasizing another part of the group tirade she, and the other generals, primarily Shattered Shield, Dragon-Eye and Chaser, had been slinging his way since they had convened in the command tent. He had long tuned them out, especially when words like “stupid”, and “idiotic” started flying around. He vaguely remembered an accusation that he wasn’t thinking whatsoever, and that the princesses should remove him from command, but Elias ignored that. Ignored all of the yelling really. If battle was to come, and he believed it was, Feather needed to be sharp and clean. The blade becoming stuck in its sheathe was one of the worst things that could happen in a fight.
As he scrubbed away a particularly clingy spot of dried blood, he heard Nightshade say;
“He’s not listening, he hasn’t been listening! What the buck is the point of all this if he won’t listen?”
Elias caught Celestia’s scowl in the reflection of his gladius as he combed the blade up and down for any remaining dirty spots. He upturned his hand and stared down the blade at the openly furious Nightshade.
“I see reason is starting to return,” he said. “Because you’re right, what’s the point of talking if nobody listens? Haven’t you wondered why I’ve been completely silent since we got here?”
The thestral’s orange eyes flicked with anger, and her fangs bared as she growled at him.
“We are not beneath you Bright. We’re all Generals, yet you acted without our say. Even if you hadn’t outright murdered somebody, this is wrong, and the fact that you’re being flippant about it is pissing me off even more.”
Elias turned Feather over and stared up the blade.
“I’m not being flippant,” he replied. “I am merely remaining calm, which seems like flippancy to those who are so hopelessly angry that they aren’t thinking clearly. Once you’ve calmed down, maybe then I can explain the sense behind-“
“Calm down?” Nightshade shouted. “You stabbed a Chieftain through the chest! You threw his decapitated head at a Warchief. I agree he was being an ass, and that negotiations were over, but you murdered someone. Nothing about this says calm down!”
“Hold General Nightshade,” Celestia interjected. “I would very much like to hear what General Bright has to say in his defense.”
Elias paused in his inspection, carefully replaying the last part of her statement in his head. He then decided that the blade was clean enough and sheathed it, turning around as he did so.
“In my defense?” he echoed. “There is nothing to defend. I eliminated an enemy combatant that prided himself on unarmed, unarmored combat. I merely struck first and killed him. Was I to let him report his count of our forces to the Warchief that threatened to enslave your sister?”
Midnight Chaser scowled at his back.
“What counting? I didn’t notice anything.”
Elias glanced his way and offered a nod.
“And I don’t blame you for that, for two-fold reasons; one, you were further away from him, and two, you don’t have fingers.”
Elias let one arm rest at his side and began silently counting the number of pillows on the princesses’ throne. The ponies remained silent, with Nightshade’s ears flicking hard to try to catch some hint of his voice. Her muzzle curled in frustration when she couldn’t, and she snarled at him.
“Stop wasting time Bright. All you’re doing is twitching with your mouth open.”
Elias snapped his fingers.
“Exactly. It looks like little twitches to you, but to me, I could clearly see him counting how many soldiers we brought. Don’t you understand why he spoke so little? Don’t you understand the point of Stone Horn’s grandstanding?”
He looked to Celestia.
“He was intentionally keeping eyes on him by being loud and provocative. It allowed his man to get a count of our troop strength so that they could plan a better attack, because so far they haven’t been able to get such a count due to the good work of our scouts. If I let Bare Hide walk away, you can better believe that the minotaurs would have laid the perfect ambush and then acted on their threats.”
Celestia frowned at him.
“You’re accusing them of violating a flag of truce.”
Elias shrugged.
“So I am. If they had any intention to negotiate, they would have done so, but that wasn’t their goal. They wanted a reason to attack us, they wanted an excuse.”
“An excuse you gave them,” Cadence said evenly. “Yet you claim you knew that was their goal. So why did you do it?”
Elias bowed his head slightly.
“Because it would have happened with or without my intervention, and at least now we can almost guarantee an attack and prepare for it, while also depriving them of information. Bare Hide was the only one counting, Stone Horn and Stone Hoof were focused on the false negotiation. They may have a bare estimate, but that won’t be enough.”
He spread his hands.
“Additionally, I made it personal. From all indicators Stone Horn is young, and has never fought in a battle before. He likely believes that simple overwhelming force is enough, but I assure you that it isn’t. Let them come. I will ensure that we are prepared.”
The pink alicorn mulled silently on his words for a moment, then sat back with a dissatisfied, but understanding frown. A frown matched by her aunt. Celestia looked past Elias to the other generals.
“And what say you all? Do you believe General Bright’s words? Do you believe he acted appropriately?”
Nightshade snorted and shot Elias another glare, but remained silent, merely shaking her head. Shattered Shield and Dragon-Eye remained likewise silent, but after a few more silent breaths, Everfree’s muzzle curled upward slightly in a smile as he looked from Elias to Celestia.
“Historically speaking, tribal law states that Stone Horn issued a challenge to your crown. Such a challenge used to be recognized by all tribes; pony, zebra, minotaur and gryphon alike, but the tradition has faded as nations rose and tribes merged.” He glanced toward Elias. “But you did name General Bright your champion, if only under a different name. He recognized a challenge and acted in your stead, slaying the challenger’s champion. By killing Chief Bare Hide in such a quick, brutal manner, he has secured undeniable proof that neither you, nor your people are weak. If this matter becomes one to be put on trial, I will voice my support of General Bright’s actions with little hesitation.”
Celestia’s frown shifted slightly in thought, and she glanced to the only black-clad general.
“And your thoughts?”
Midnight Chaser frowned at Elias for a moment, then sighed and looked to Celestia.
“If he saw signs that Chief Bare Hide was gathering intel on us… I can’t say I approve his methods, or the fact that he made a unilateral decision… but I don’t blame him either. If I saw some danger nopony else could, I would have acted in a similar manner and would hope my friends would see that I did what I had to. I don’t support something like this becoming normalized… but I don’t think General Bright is lying. I think he killed Bare Hide out of strategic need.” His eyes flicked back to Elias. “Though he could have been more professional while doing so.”
Celestia nodded slowly at the pegasus’ answer, then looked to Lionheart. Elias looked toward the red-maned unicorn as well, already steeled for what would no doubt be a tirade full of insults that would fill the tent. Lionheart hadn’t yet spoken against him, was the only general aside from Everfree to have remained silent during the opening tirades.
His amber eyes rose to meet Elias’ for a moment, then he looked to Celestia.
“Respectfully Princess, I fully agree with General Bright and his actions, unilateral they may have been.”
Elias was sure he heard the far-off wailing of angels as their wings were torn away. Hell froze over, and the oceans became fire. Lionheart had agreed with him?
Evidently, he wasn’t the only one who was surprised, because Nightshade shot a glare toward the unicorn.
“Excuse me? He decapitated someone!”
Lionheart nodded at the thestral.
“Indeed, and while I wouldn’t have done so, I must appreciate the strength behind the message he sent.” Lionheart looked back to Celestia. “Respectfully Princess, you entrusted the army to the two of us, and General Bright was able to read the precise moment when diplomacy failed, and military action was needed. It is his job to act, and act he did. We have deprived our enemy of a powerful fighter and have, as General Bright mentioned, exposed the minotaurs’ intentions for us. They meant to attack us if we paid or not.”
He let out a small snort.
“I mean really, a thousand bits per pony, as well as their choice of our supplies? We would have to sell Canterlot to meet such a price, and then I have little doubt they would have attack anyway, escaping with wagons filled with loot win or lose.”
Lionheart gave Elias a nod.
“General Bright’s actions were, I believe, within his boundaries. Extreme, yes, but Princess,” he looked to Luna, “they threatened to enslave you for eternity. Warchief Stone Horn promised to make you serve him in life, and then continue serving him in death. If nothing else, it is barbaric and deserves punishment in its own right. Had General Bright not acted when he did, I might have acted in his stead. I will not let you bear such threats, and I won’t let anyone think you so weak as to bear even the notion. Your strength is boundless, tamed only by your devotion to your people. At minimum we should match that devotion, and while General Bright and I have…” his muzzle curled in mild disgust, “disagreed in the past, I believe he has proven that devotion. I wish that we could all be so quick to display such.”
Luna nodded silently at his words, but Elias knew she wasn’t really listening. She was another pony that had been completely silent, had merely stared at him in silent thought. He still couldn’t tell if she was angry with him or not.
Celestia shuffled in her seat, clearly surprised at Lionheart’s answer.
“That is… enlightening General. Thank you for your thoughts.”
She then looked to Elias, and she stared hard at him. He could tell that she was struggling with trying to justify the fact that some of her ponies agreed with what she viewed as a cold-blooded murder, but she also couldn’t outright ignore the voices of support behind him, especially given that one of them was a pony who seemed to hate him. Elias glanced over to Lionheart and found the unicorn watching him carefully. The two stared at each other, each analyzing the other. In Elias’ mind, two voices argued one another. One was glad for the support, was glad that someone, anyone had understood what he did. While the voice didn’t like the fact that that someone was Lionheart, it was willing to forgive the unicorn for his many snakelike faults, for the moment at least. The other voice, on the other hand, warned that the very fact that the unicorn voiced any kind of support meant that Elias had done a bad thing, and that he should be analyzing his future movements very carefully.
Both sides had points; the supportive side pointed out that Everfree and Chaser had agreed with his brutal methods, while the paranoid side pointed out that Lionheart’s posture screamed ‘hidden motive’. Additionally, the paranoid side pointed out, by killing Bare Hide, Elias had all but guaranteed a fight, in which some of his friends would undoubtedly get hurt, and possibly die. The supportive side argued that the guarantee of a fight was a positive, and that while yes, there was that dangerous risk, it was far better to anticipate it and act prior to the fight, than to be ambushed later down the road. An ambush, it argued, was a guarantee of death.
Elias found himself listening more to the supportive side, but as he stopped his inspection of Lionheart, he made a mental note to have someone keep tabs on the unicorn. While he appreciated the support in the moment, he didn’t believe for a moment that Lionheart was warming up to him. The unicorn had an agenda, Elias just needed to find out what it was.
The soft clearing of a throat brought all eyes to Luna, whose muzzle remained a careful frown as she rose from her pillows.
“This is a fruitless debate,” she declared. “What General Bright has done is done. Bare Hide is dead, and it is highly likely that the minotaurs will attack us sometime in the coming days. I think our attention is best served on preparing for that attack, rather than debating the morality of a single lost life.”
She looked toward Celestia.
“If we truly consider this a crime, it is one best saved for when our mission is complete. I already have several of my scribes detailing a careful log on our march, and this addition has already been made in its pages. Let us move on and prepare.”
Celestia turned to Cadence.
“Your thoughts?”
Pink eyes matched the frown on the youngest princess’s muzzle as she stared at Elias, but after a few quiet moments, Cadence let out a sigh and shook her head.
“I defer to your judgment Auntie.”
Celestia looked like she wanted to match her niece’s sigh, but she remained silent, looking back to Elias.
“Then we are in agreement. General, I cannot express with words my abhorrence to your actions, but if nothing else, judgment shall fall a different day. While I do understand a distaste for… aggressive words, threats to our persons are not new. We cannot act on words until they become action. To do so makes us no better than those we claim moral superiority over.” She let out a sigh and closed her eyes. “Perhaps once all this violence is behind us and we’re in the peace of Canterlot once more things will become clearer. For now, I am merely tired, and wish to rest.”
She closed her eyes and let out a breath, then looked to Open Flame.
“If you wouldn’t mind, I could go for a nice, steaming bowl of soup for dinner. Something hearty to drive away this,” her eyes flicked to Elias, “frigid business.”
The maid bowed her head, and with a flick of her tail, the other two maids peeled away from their respective princesses and began making their way out of the tent. As they did so, Luna rose from her seat, her eyes settled on Elias.
“While dinner is being prepared, General Bright and I will be going for a walk.”
Nightshade frowned at the small alicorn.
“Would you like any additional company Princess?”
Luna snorted and brushed her mane out of her eyes, tucking it behind her ear.
“I believe that is unnecessary my friend, though I thank you for the effort.” Her muzzle quirked up in a smirk. “If General Bright is unable to protect me a few feet from our camp of thousands of trained guards, then who can?”
Nightshade scowled and shot a short glare Elias’ way before bowing her head.
“Of course Princess.”
Luna gave Elias a look as she trotted down from her makeshift throne, and he fell in step beside her, giving her the slightest lead so that she could direct both their speed, and their destination. The alicorn lead them through the main thoroughfare of the camp, offering a warm smile and a few compliments and words of praise to the ponies they passed. As they made it to the edge of the camp, Elias saw the flap of the medical tent open for a moment, then just as quickly fall closed. He frowned, briefly wondering if Scalpel was spying on him. A second thought quickly followed the first, reassuring that, no, that wasn’t the case, but rather, the unicorn doctor was finally listening, and was staying away from him, as he had demanded.
If Luna saw the flap move, she said nothing as they approached the eastern gate, leading into a dark copse of trees. Paranoia sparked in his mind, and Elias glanced about, quickly finding two of his legionaries involved in a game of cards with a trio of Royal Guards. With a whistle he grabbed their eyes, and with a quick nod to the camp exit, the two grinned and dropped their cards face down to grab their gear.
“Sorry boys,” one of them, a pegasus mare called. “Duty calls.”
The Royal Guards protested as she scooped back up her bits, but she and her fellow legionnaire made a getaway without issue. They both fell in step beside Elias, with the mare grinning up at the human as she put on her helmet.
“Thanks for that General, I was bluffing hard, and I’m pretty sure nopony was buying it.”
The other legionnaire, a pegasus stallion, snorted derisively.
“It’s because you play with civilians too much. Your poker face with guards is terrible!”
“Just be lucky you’ve never played with General Nightshade and Princess Luna,” Elias said as they passed the gate guards. “Luna can sniff out the slightest bluff, and I’m pretty sure Nightshade counts cards.”
The stallion stared in open-mouthed shock, glancing between Elias and Luna, while the mare managed to find her voice.
“Y-you gamble with General Nightshade and Princess Luna?” She fell silent for a moment, then squealed. “That’s so cool! Oh buck, nopony ever told me you were that cool!”
She immediately blushed and cringed sheepishly when she found Elias staring down at her.
“I-I mean, I know you’re really cool, but being friends with Princess Luna? That’s so cool.”
She blushed harder at Elias’ continued silence, but relaxed a little when Luna chuckled and glanced back.
“Don’t mind him Legionnaire, General Bright doesn’t want to talk more about the subject because he’s embarrassed about the amount of times he’s lost those little games of ours.”
Elias stared impassively ahead at the dark forest.
“That information is confidential, and is not subject for conversation with my subordinates.”
“Which is to say he lost frequently,” Luna said with a wink at the legionnaire mare. “General Nightshade and I extracted many cuddles from General Bright, before he was a general of course.”
The mare looked up to Elias with wide eyes. The human saw immense excitement hidden in those eyes, and her being a cute little pony, he resisted the urge to smile.
“C-cuddles?” she squeaked. “Is that t-true?”
Elias ran his tongue along his teeth.
“There is an awful lot of not watching our flanks going on right now. Perhaps the assassins trying to kill the Princess will thank you once they have taken her down.”
The mare’s eyes widened, and she looked away, quickly scanning the forest with narrowed eyes. Luna giggled again, drawing a lightning-fast glance from the mare.
“Worry not Legionnaire, I’ll tell you all about my human cuddle-buddy once the march has concluded.” She flashed Elias a smile. “He won’t be able to protest then.”
“You’ve gotta teach me how you do that,” the stallion whispered up at Elias.
The human glanced his way, finding the pegasus scanning the surrounding forest carefully, sparing only the occasional glance his way.
“I mean buck General Bright, I heard rumors, but you really are a mares-stallion. What’s the secret?”
Elias tried to ignore the stallion, but found Luna still grinning back at him, eager for the answer. The human let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead.
“Find ponies too stubborn to leave you alone,” he grumbled. “That’s how it worked for me.”
The stallion nodded slowly as if Elias’ words were sage advice, then they all fell silent, walking into the dark with only the sound of crunching leaves disturbing the silence. Luna continued leading the way, but it quickly grew obvious the alicorn was tiring. She led them for perhaps a minute or two, then, her breathing strained, she let them stop amongst some fallen logs. The blue alicorn huffed and brushed her hair out of her face, then smiled at the two fully alert legionaries.
“Could you two please give us some privacy? I would like this conversation to just be between General Bright and I.”
Both subtly looked to Elias for confirmation, and he gave it with a flick of his fingers, waving them away. Luna smiled as the two legionaries split into different directions, disappearing in the dark. She then looked to Elias, the smile dimming slightly as she scanned him up and down for a silent moment. Elias felt a brief flutter of nervousness, like he was being inspected by the alicorn.
As her eyes continued to roam, Luna said;
“Please General, take a seat. I would like to have a conversation with you considering some of your recent activities.”
‘Ah,’ he thought. ‘It’s going to be a scolding then.’
He let out a small sigh, then picked out a stump that wouldn’t cause him to bend his knees too much. He took a seat, and Luna moved herself and sat just before him, staring up into his eyes. Elias chewed silently on his cheek, waiting for her to flip, waiting for her anger to lash out at him, perhaps a belittling comment or two, something about how wrong he was, how what he did was murder, how he was some wild-
“General, what are your current thoughts on Doctor Scalpel?”
Or she was going to ask about something completely different. Elias frowned as he truly met the alicorn’s gaze.
“I thought this would be about today’s events.”
Luna shrugged.
“There is nothing to be said Elias, and I am not going to yell at you like you’re a child. You knew what you were doing, you know why you did it. If you feel guilty about it, nothing I say will make that guilt better or worse, and while I am extremely disappointed in that particular action of yours,” her eyes flashed for a moment with irritation, but immediately cooled, “I can move past it, because I know you won’t do it again.”
“And your sister?” Elias said. “She seemed quick to jump on my back in the past over smaller slights, and pains she had no business being a part of, but now when an enemy to Equestria actually threatens you…”
“My sister is tired,” Luna interrupted. “As are we all. The gathering of our magic makes us slow and weak, not just in body, but in mind as well. Being the most powerful, Celestia is a touch more affected than usual. It is why she defers judgment to others whenever possible for now.” She smiled. “My niece is plagued by indecision, and she relies heavily on Celestia’s opinions. I am the middle ground, and as I said, I trust you, because I know you won’t repeat today’s action.
“And how do you know that?” Elias challenged.
Luna smiled sweetly, but her tone was anything but.
“I am your friend Elias, and I want us to be more still, but don’t test me. If I have to choose between you and an innocent life, I will choose that life, because I know that the man I love wouldn’t ever dare take a life that didn’t deserve it. If you murder an innocent, which I don’t believe you yet have, I will cut you down where you stand, because I love you so dearly.”
Elias snorted and smiled faintly.
“That’s actually far more comforting than you would believe Princess.” He drooped slightly. “But I’ve taken innocent lives before.”
Luna’s smile took on a more genuine light and she placed a hoof on his knee.
“I know General, but not here. Right?”
“No, not here,” Elias answered.
Luna rubbed his knee.
“Precisely. I will make sure that day never comes, one way or another. I will make sure you never blacken your soul.” She retracted the hoof and straightened. “But that is why I will not comment on today’s events. Chief Bare Hide was a warrior, and I agree with the conclusions you drew concerning him. While I find it disconcerting that you killed him while he was unarmed and unthreatening, I will let it pass, only because he would have killed ponies in time. His life was forfeit when he decided to fight us, he knew that, as do I.”
She let out a sigh.
“Doctor Scalpel, on the other hoof, truly believed that you would ignore his deception. I wanted to know your thoughts on the situation.”
Elias put on an impassive mask as he quelled a bit of internal fury.
“So you’ve spoken with him. I’m sure he told you all about the part where I slapped him.”
“No, actually, I saw that part,” Luna said. Her smile vanished, but was replaced by an equally impassive mask. “I cannot express my support for that action either, understandable though it may be. I just wanted to know what you were thinking, what you are currently feeling, and what your thoughts on the future may be.”
Elias toyed with the three parts of the question, then decided to answer it piecemeal, and in order.
“I felt angry and betrayed that one of my closest friends stabbed me in the back with lies and deceit. I currently feel that I was justified, and that Doctor Scalpel received a just punishment, especially given that he didn’t accept the simple verbal dismissal. If he didn’t want to get struck, he should have just accepted the fact that I was angry and hurt at face value.”
Luna’s hoof returned to brush his knee in a calming gesture.
“Good,” she whispered. “Let that anger out, let the hurt into the air, not so that you forgive him, but merely so that you forgive yourself.”
Elias frowned down at the alicorn.
“So this isn’t a play to get me to play nice with him?”
Luna chuckled.
“It could be, but no. I want to ensure that your head is clear, and that you are making the most logical decisions you can. This matter, which may seem trivial, weighs on you. Why else would you flinch when we walked by the healers tent?”
Luna smiled knowingly as Elias looked away with an embarrassed frown.
“Precisely. Now, let’s get to the true meat of the issue, because I believe it will bring you the most closure, then we can get dinner.”
Elias’ stomach rumbled in reply, causing the human to blush harder. Luna chuckled, and she hopped her forelegs onto his shoulder, gently guiding his chin so that he faced her. As soon as he was, she leaned in, gently pressing her nose against his.
“Now,” she whispered. “I want you to tell me honestly, do you truly hate Doctor Scalpel for what he did? Or is this perhaps a temporary anger that will fade with time, so that, in the future, he can offer a proper apology, and then perhaps you two can rekindle your friendship?”
Elias suppressed a sigh, not wanting to spray his stinky day breath right into Luna’s mouth. The restriction of the moment also gave him a moment to think, and he closed his eyes. He recognized that he was still blisteringly furious with Scalpel, the unicorn’s personal betrayal was worth such anger, but hate… He searched long and hard, scanning every divided piece of his mind for something that even resembled hate, but he came up lacking. No. He didn’t have hate in his heart. A great deal of anger, but not hate. He opened his eyes, meeting Luna’s emerald gaze.
“I think… that forgiveness is possible, but… not for a very long time. Not immediately after the march like with everything else, but years away. I need time to forget.”
Luna smiled.
“That’s more than your right Elias, and I think that is a very emotionally mature approach to the situation.”
“Are you going to tell him I said that?” Elias asked.
Luna shrugged.
“Perhaps, but not for a day or two, I think. He does need to stew on the fact that he hurt you a little while longer, but perhaps if I tell him the full extent of our conversation regarding his actions, that will make him stew a little harder. We shall see.”
Elias nodded in understanding, then waited patiently for a moment for the alicorn to draw back. She didn’t, instead smiling at him with what looked like pride. She continued silently staring for one moment, then two. When the third began to pass, Elias coughed lightly and met her eyes again with no small amount of flush to his cheeks.
“Princess, aren’t we going to go eat?”
“Food calls more than the presence of a princess?” she teased. “Why can I not say that I’m surprised?”
Elias’ eyes flicked down.
“Isn’t it tiring to stand like that?”
“Many a stallion would sell their souls to be in this position,” Luna replied, her smile not dimming at his repeated escape excuses. “Are you telling me that you don’t like me General?”
Elias looked her up and down as she put on a pout. Then, an idea popped into mind, and he grinned at the alicorn.
“Oh, I like you just fine princess, it just took me a second to understand your new orders.”
Her brow furrowed in mild confusion, but she spoke with confidence.
“Yes, my orders… and what were those exactly?”
“To carry you back of course!” Elias said with zeal. “You’re tired Princess, of course you are!”
Luna blinked at him, then smiled seductively and waggled her hips.
“Of course I am,” she purred. “Won’t my big strong human general carry me to the warm safety of my tent?”
Elias’ smile widened at her words, and he scooped her up, doing his best to suppress his laughter as her sultry expression quickly morphed into one of panic. With how light she was, it was almost too easy to throw her over his shoulder, bracing her barrel with one hand. The alicorn wriggled and squealed in protest, drawing both of his legionaries crashing through the bushes. Both immediately froze when Elias swung in their direction, giving Luna’s rump a light pat.
“Evening legionaries, Princess Luna headed back to the castra early, but this devilish enemy decided to ambush me, so I took her prisoner.” He smiled as Luna’s tail flicked him in the face. “Unfortunately, being an enemy, my little prisoner is being unruly.”
“Elias, put me down!” Luna screeched. “This is not how you properly carry a princess!”
Her hooves thudded fruitlessly against his armored back, and Elias’ grin widened.
“Truly lawless. Can I count on you two to help me get her back to camp?”
The pair of ponies before him exchanged a look before the stallion smiled brightly and saluted.
“Of course General! We must secure all enemies of the princesses!”
“Beheading!” Luna cried out. “Vile traitor, your head will decorate my mantle!”
The legionnaire looked to Elias, who winked back, then looked to the mare.
“And what about you Legionnaire? Are you ready to assist in this special mission for Princess Luna?”
The mare licked her lips and looked at the kicking alicorn rump, then back to Elias’ face.
“W-well, if the princess really wants to be free…”
“Yes my friend!” Luna cried. “Untold riches await you! I will gift you all of Canterlot as reward for your dutiful service!”
The mare frowned.
“Ooh, I’m a Manehattan mare.” She grinned at Elias. “I guess we’d better get this prisoner back to camp.”
“Traitor!” Luna screamed, increasing her desperate wiggling. With her decreased strength however, she could do nothing but wriggle against Elias’ strong arm. “Beheadings for the lot of you! I will spread the word of this day far and wide, if only so that nobody will ever again so double-cross me!”
Elias clicked his tongue, and he, flanked by his legionaries, began walking back toward camp. Luna’s ranting continued, though he could tell she didn’t completely mean it. Some revenge for the act would likely occur, but he knew he could quiet the blue alicorn down quite easily.
“I’d quit squirming “prisoner”,” Elias said. “Only good prisoners get one-on-one interrogation time.”
Luna immediately stiffened, and a glance back found her staring at him.
“Snuggles?”
Elias raised an eyebrow.
“Does that sound like a punishment?”
“To you perhaps, oh cruel captor,” Luna giggled. One of her legs kicked and her tail flicked him in the face again. “But then again, I have information that could confirm such dangerous rumors….”
Elias patted her rump again, earning a knicker of protest.
“Keep talking prisoner, and I’ll leave you alone overnight.”
Luna mulled silently, then asked;
“Checkers?”
Elias snorted, but smiled.
“I think that can be arranged.”
Taking care not to legitimately jostle her, Elias popped her off his shoulder, and let her choose a more comfortable position. Luna wrapped her hooves around his neck, then, with his hand bracing her rump, she nuzzled his neck, letting out a hum of contentment.
“You are a very good friend Elias,” she whispered. “But what’s brought this on? I was under the impression we were still under agreement.”
“And we are,” Elias replied evenly. He couldn’t help but hold her a little tighter as they walked back to camp. “But there is a very real possibility that this will be the last opportunity I have to do this.” A chill raced up his spine, chased by a micro-dose of adrenaline. “I can feel it in my blood. There’s going to be a fight, soon.”
Luna’s grip also tightened, and her eyes closed.
“Promise you’ll try to come back.”
“I can’t promise such a thing. Battle is-“
“Ugly, and messy, chaotic and random at the best of times,” Luna interrupted. She nuzzled his neck. “But promise me anyway Elias. You hate breaking promises, and perhaps it will give you the extra bit of inspiration you need.”
Her eyes opened and stared into his, shining in the dark.
“Now promise me.”
Elias let out a small sigh, looking around the slowly lightening forest for any excuse he could to shift the conversation. Luckily, the moon poking through the trees cave him such an excuse, and Elias pointed toward the sky.
“How is the moon up? I thought you raised and lowered it with you magic.”
Luna’s eyes seemed to light up as the distraction worked to perfection.
“A very good question, but the answer is quite simple. The moon and sun aren’t as unwieldy as one might believe, and in truth, we don’t need to strictly raise and lower them each and every day. No, that tradition is merely to keep them on their most ideal rotation paths.” She looked up through the trees with a grin. “It would take nearly a year for them to become out of sync, and we will be back managing their alignment shortly. We made our last course corrections a day or two before we left Canterlot, and so far, I can see no major shifts.” A frown touched her face. “Though the moon is starting to spin slightly, which I rather don’t like.”
Elias frowned as they broke from the tree line and into the manufactured clearing around the castra.
“Is it just me, or does the moon also seem… dimmer.”
Luna giggled.
“You have a good eye Elias. Yes, the moon dims somewhat without my magic to fully absorb the glow of the sun. There are also less stars in the sky, for while all the natural constellations are there, you should notice that none of my constellations are. When ponies say the night sky is my canvas, they are absolutely right. Every few months I clear out all of the stars I have created and start fresh, sprucing up permanent constellations and adding a few of my own to keep the astronomers on their toes.”
She smiled at him.
“And while I enjoy your interest in my night sky, I still didn’t hear my promise.”
Elias sighed and stopped walking a few meters short of the castra gate.
“I was hoping you would forget that.”
Luna hummed and nuzzled his neck.
“You are many things my friend. Forgettable is not one. Now, do I have you word that you will try to come back?”
Elias sighed, but smiled and rubbed her cheek with his thumb. He supposed there was no point in trying to fight the alicorn, and it was just a promise after all. He always fought his hardest, and when battle with the minotaurs came, it would be no different. If they happened to drag him down in the fight, all he had to do was take as many with him as possible. His promise would always remain intact.
Elias closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Luna’s, causing the alicorn to let out a small, almost unhearable, satisfied sigh.
“I promise.”
*****
After a short dinner, during which he and Luna played a short game of checkers, came a lengthy planning session. Elias laid out battle plans for as many situations he could think of, but knew that ultimately, he would have to decide the specific game plan on the day of battle. There were simply too many variables, most of which involved terrain. Trying to decide on a concrete battle plan early was an impossible task that would only lead to failure by inflexibility. Instead, Elias focused on general plans, laying out the best battle lines and compositions that would counteract their opponents’ strengths.
When the planning was concluded and the princesses withdrew to their tent, he made his way into the open night air. Immediately his feet began to carry him toward the forest. Before he could even make it through the main thoroughfare, however, a trio of ponies and a loveling fell in step beside him, steering him toward their tent with the press of their bodies.
The human let out a quiet sigh as they walked.
“I’ll have you know that I think this is a bad idea. The fact that you’re out here means Snowball told you what almost happened.”
“He did,” Book Binder answered. “So we’re going to try something new, after we go over the march log of course.”
Elias frowned and glanced down at the unicorn.
“Under Equestrian law, I’m not privy to the march log until after the march has concluded. That’s what makes it more impartial.”
Book Binder nodded and stared up with a concerned expression in her eyes.
“True, but I need to hear your account of today’s events. I’ve already gotten everyone else of significance, and excluding your viewpoint from the log makes it partial.” Her gaze hardened. “And some of the generals could have been more understanding. I won’t let history paint you in a bad light when you haven’t done anything wrong.”
Scarlet flapped his wings and let out a squawk of happiness.
“Oh but the history of it all.” He did a small twirl. “We’re going to be in the history books! Ponies are going to look back through the centuries and hear all about the Legio I Equus, and all her fantastic officers!” He did another slight twirl and squawked again.
“And I’m one of them!”
His turn made it so that he could see Elias’ stern frown, and the pegasus shrank and chuckled lightly.
“In all seriousness and with the utmost respect of course.”
Elias grunted, and decided that punishing the pegasus wasn’t worth seeing his tiny crushed spirit. He really didn’t want to face a crying pony.
“Keep your cheers to a minimum Strategist,” Elias said evenly. “You may be excited in private, but this is still a dangerous job, and I can never emphasize enough how serious you need to take it.”
As the pegasus began to droop, however, Elias bent over and scooped him up, carrying him under one arm, while using the other to scratch under his chin. The crimson pegasus purred, doing his best to nuzzle up against Elias’ armored chest. He immediately frowned as his cheek rubbed against segments of steel plate, and he scowled up at Elias.
“I don’t like cuddling like this.”
“That’s good,” Elias responded. “Because we aren’t cuddling. You know the rules.”
Book Binder chuckled.
“Ah, but didn’t you once say that rules are meant to be broken?”
Elias frowned at her.
“I have never said that in my life, and if I ever did, it was; bad rules are meant to be broken. My rules aren’t bad, in fact I think they’re quite good.”
Book Binder smiled sweetly.
“Okay General ‘Good Rules’, get in the tent so we can see if we can’t get you a good night of sleep. We need to make sure you’re as sharp as possible for the coming battle.”
Elias’ frown deepened, but the argument the green unicorn made was far too convincing. If he was sloppy, he could make mistakes, and mistakes were always costly…
The human blinked when he realized that he was lying on his back, barren of his armor, his arms bound to his side with ropes, and a pair of pegasi hugging him tightly. Night Flash’s muzzle snuffled away against his ribs, while Scarlet’s mirrored the motion. Snowball perched himself on Elias’ chest with a soft smile. Making the loveling seem light in comparison, Gray Granite flopped down on Elias’ legs, his eyes shining with silent joy just before they closed and he settled in.
Elias glanced up to Book Binder to find her muzzle curled in a motherly smile, and she settled down at the top of his head, drawing a notebook from her saddlebags.
“Now General, why don’t you tell me the events of today from your perspective. Start from the beginning, and tell me everything you believe is important.” She chuckled and nuzzled his face. “Maybe if you’re quick I can read you a bedtime story.”
Snowball snickered, earning him a silent glare from Elias. The loveling’s chuckle shifted to one of awkwardness, and looking to Book Binder found an unsupportive snarl. The loveling shrank and he hugged Elias’ chest.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “I’d quite like a story, if General Bright is up for it.”
His purple eyes flicked to Elias again, and the human snorted and looked up to Book Binder.
“We’ll start at the beginning of the meeting. Lionheart stopped me before we were at the top of the hill, and...”
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I really do wonder, what could Lionheart's hidden motive be? Otherwise, this was another engaging chapter. It left me wondering how the coming days will be, both from within the army and from the impending battle.
It was certainly interesting that ponies were agreeing with Bright's "brutal" actions. Could he be normalising the actions he takes?
I'm going to be honest, I think Celestia's reaction here was poorly portrayed. She showed little to no conflict in herself over the threat to her recently returned sister, and the brutal yet warranted actions of Elias.
Given how you portrayed her acting when Elias and Luna broke up, one would assume that any effort to protect her sister from rape would be met with gratitude, only to be tempered with the nature of the retribution.
10657032
Bright is a target now, and if you think poorly of his Legions- well, a badly wounded, dead, or failure of a general removes him quickly from Lionheart's list of annoyances while winnowing his loyal ranks.
makes no sense without the missing word
Normally I'm content to ignore typos unless asked for fixes. When they completely REVERSE the meaning though...
The princesses disappoint me with their disapproval of their General doing what they hired him for, but I'm not surprised. I do wish Celestia would acknowledge that she made Elias a General for a REASON though.
10657292
Both are fixed, thank you for pointing those out
woo another fantastic chapter is out thanks so much!
While morals are important, especially during war, one should not let them cloud their judgement amidst a battle. Furthermore, while honor is another aspect that should held high, it too has no place on the battlefield. You would think Celestia and Luna, after all the years they’ve lived, would’ve learned this.
Also, why the hell is Cadance even asked for her input? She has no real war experience, and until she does, I personally believe the weight of her thoughts and words be kept to a minimum. Princess or no.
Hm, this feels like the calm before the storm.
10660084
As horrifying as it may be, this is true. In battle, morals are put to the wayside despite what people may think. They’re still there, you’re not gonna slaughter innocents unless you’re a monster. But in the same vein, if a child is running at you, firing a gun at you, you’re not gonna stop to consider the implications of shooting a child, you’re going to see them as an enemy combatant and fire back.
You may like to think you’d act to disable instead of kill or injure, and some would congratulate you as they write that in your epitaph, but sadly combat isn’t that simple, you’ll find stopping and thinking will get you killed in most situations, and as said you won’t see a child you’ll see an enemy combatant.
Granted, if the child isn’t actively firing or is otherwise simply acting with intent to become a combatant, you’ll disable, because in that situation they’ve yet to become an actual threat. But once they start pulling the trigger, you have to act in the interest of you and your fellows/men.
Same deal with honour. There is no honour in combat, that’s for movies and stories. Combat is chaos, it’s quick, it’s dirty. It’s not a prolonged battle like in stories, and in one versus one battles it generally only really lasts a few seconds, maybe a minute. Reason being is it’s all about mistakes. You make one mistake, the enemy gets a hit in, it’s over. There’s no “I can fight with this injury”, it’s just over. So to limit yourself with something like “honour” I.e. no “dirty” strikes (kicks in the genitalia) or otherwise is giving the enemy the upper hand, because they sure as hell won’t fight with honour unless they’re also an idiot.
I have to agree on the Celestia and Luna part. They've likely experienced combat many times over the course of their lives and yet they act as though honour and morals have place in combat. While yes the story portrays everything as cutesie and innocent as the show, reacting as if Elias’ methods are barbaric (which they are, but they’re also effective) it also admits that combat is realistic. It’s a dichotomy that doesn’t make sense, you can’t have innocent but also realistic combat.
As for the Cadance thing, we don’t actually know whether or not Cadance has experienced combat. It’s easy to assume she hasn’t, all things considered, but who knows?
10661959
I thank you for the detailed analysis of my words, as I am sure others will benefit from the explanation and description.
But going back to my Cadance segment, I said war experience, not combat experience. There is a difference, slight as there is...least, my dad says there is, and he was in the Army so there must be some merit to what he said. From what I could gather from him, combat experience focuses on the small scale, where a wrong decision or bad timing can get a few killed. War experience is large scale, where bad moves can cost hundreds if not thousands of lives.
Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong please. Part of loving to study military history is learning new things, even if those things prove what you thought was right actually isn’t.
10662991
I mean, it's the same general gist. Combat experience and war experience (or leadership experience). In both situations you're in command, be it of yourself or of men, and the decisions you make affect so much, and have far-reaching ramifications.
It's like how this one story I heard, about how we came so close to WW3 at one point due to a miscommunication, but the people involved kept level heads despite ALL THE THINGS going wrong, and avoided such a disastrous conclusion. These people, so low down on the rung in terms of military rank, yet their actions decided whether or not the world experienced nuclear war.
10663462
Either way, Cadance has no experience. Biggest threat I know she ‘faced’ is Sombra, and even than all she did was sit in a chair and hold a shield up.
10664684
Except the end, where she got thrown like a spear. But I don't think being used as a weapon counts as experience in war or combat lol