Era of Grogar

by Pulsar Wave

Chapter Five

"Commander? Commander?! Commander!"

Gusty opened her eyes in a snap, and winced at the sharp tone of the just arriving squad leader's voice. The armored unicorn stallion's subordinates examined the corpses around the scene, and they all shot regretful glares at him in succession, or shook their heads, confirming the deaths. The squad leader, whose badge identified him as holding the rank of sergeant, turned to Gusty and addressed her again.

"Commander, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, sergeant," Gusty replied. She was apparently beside herself, as if she had just gone through a highly eerie experience. The sergeant couldn't decide whether the commander had lost all her memories, and was suddenly intrigued by the seemingly renewed environment, or she'd just returned from an unearthly voyage, which showed her everything in the world, with all the beautiful and wretched, hopeful and vile, contrasting and harmonious qualities, and she couldn't handle the newfound omniscience. Her behavior definitely seemed to support those crazed assumptions.

The sergeant pointed toward the row of lifeless bodies close to them with his hoof as he said, "These corpses display no bites, no scratches, no stabs. They don't have any wounds! What happened to them? Whatever killed them, it must have done it from the inside."

Gusty heard what the sergeant said, but in her mind, she was elsewhere. The eager threat about the end of peace Grogar had rammed against her echoed in her head. She recalled her conversation with him, where Grogar talked about testing and hardening the unicorns. Gusty didn't know what to think of that. Did he genuinely believe he was doing the right thing? Did he really care for them in his own twisted way? Or, more likely, he just took pleasure from torturing, and the whole monologue was just to provide cover for his sadism. But why would he want to deny it? He could have just admitted it, or did he take her for a fool? Maybe he didn't admit it because he didn't believe it, and that would prove the first assumption right. Namely, that he thought he did good, just on an another level, that she and her people didn't yet understand, nor wanted to understand. To be fair, he was right about one thing. They wouldn't have wanted to understand, she didn't want to understand why Grogar did what he did. Any and all justification must be rejected. All she saw there, on the ground, from where she could observe those exalted, high-minded ideas with sober horse sense, was the pain and death Grogar had brought. An idea like this, a subversive idea the world had to be purified from. And that was what she was going to do.

"Commander, are you sure you're all right?" She heard the sergeant's voice again.

"Yes, sergeant. I just have to talk to the king at once!" Without further ado, she left in a hurry.

"What' s on your mind, Gusty?" shouted Astral.

The already running unicorn mare looked back at them. "To defeat Grogar!"

Gusty knew what they had to do. They had to finally make the first move. They had to go to him. She knew it was dangerous, but she also knew it had never happened before, which meant its possible outcome was not determinable. Gusty realized what she had in mind was a long shot, but it was their only chance.

At the castle, she began to look for somepony and found him; the supreme commander of the Royal Unicorn Legion, General Hardboil. The aged stallion had brown coat and brown eyes, his mane silver. As always, he was wearing his officer armor with the insignia.

"General, I have to talk to you and the King immediately."

---

"What is it? I take it the manticores have been dealt with?" the general asked, after the three of them gathered in the royal chambers for the urgent discussion.

"Yes, sir. But I regret to report that the corporal and his squad, as well as some of the farmers who held the beasts off didn't make it. And the manticores weren't the only menace, nor were they the biggest one. I... I don't know how or why, but... Grogar himself was here."

"Wha-? Grogar was here? How? What did he want?" The king was astonished, and the general himself was short of words.

"He... had a message for us," Gusty answered.

"What message?" asked the two stallions in unision.

"Before he left, he told me to 'enjoy our peace, for it will not last.'"

"And?" Hardboil asked, waiting for the continuation.

"Nothing more," she replied.

"And how do you feel about this message?" the old general inquired.

"I believe him. I know it may sound like an empty threat to frighten us, but I talked with him, and he said some curious things."

"You talked with him?" King Taxis was completely dumbfounded. "I don't understand. Why come here and talk? It makes no sense!"

"He talked about... a lot of things. He talked about struggles a lot. How they strengthen us. And why he makes us go through them. I still think he does it because he takes joy at it, but that's irrelevant now anyway. Either way, starting conflict is not something he'd have problem with doing."

"So you believe a time of war may be upon us," the general said with anticipation.

"I do, sir," Gusty confirmed.

The elderly officer pondered on what had been said before he shared his thoughts with careful phrasing. "Commander Gusty, I've known you long enough now to know to trust your judgement. But this one time, I have to disapprove of your sentiment. That message he left you with was most likely another attempt to boost the terror. Also, telling us about his plans, and giving us an opportunity to prepare is simply foolish. Surely you can see why I harbor feelings of discredit regarding the veracity of his words."

"I do understand your having doubts, general," Gusty replied. "But why would he lie about this? To make us be afraid, I know. But fear must be nourished! An ambiguous comment will not cause enduring fear. And giving us a clue to prepare for what is to come is not illogical. He doesn't want to wipe us out. He never did. He just wants to toy with us. Grogar knows we've gotten better at dealing with his monsters in the end. We're right at the time where he places the ordeals on a new level. This is the lull before the storm."

"Well" the monarch broke the lingering silence, "you make a good point, Gusty. And I assume you already have something on your mind, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. I say this is our call to action. We have to face Grogar! Finally! We have to break this endless cycle of misery we've been doomed to! In part due to our own mistake of being even unwilling to at least try standing up to Grogar, and letting him have his hold of fear on us for generations! I know this is risky, but waiting idly is no less dangerous. if we're ever going to break free, we've got to act! And what better time to do it than now, on the brink of... something big!"

After listening to the enthusiastic speech, General Hardboil sympathetically said, "Commander, I understand where you're coming from. Normally, I would agree with you, but this is Grogar we're talking about. What you're saying is far too hazardous. How exactly do you imagine such a mission would go?"

"Take the army. Have the Legion march up to Grogar's lair, and-"

"And then what?" the general interrupted. "What will we do?"

"We use overwhelming odds against him. Give him everything we've got. He wouldn't be able to hold out against hundreds of unicorn warriors without exposing himself to us. If we have enough men, he will have to divide his attention. We will use our Rainbow Beam to weaken him. When he's vulnerable... we strike him down."

"So, is it going to be an assassination?" the king asked, somewhat surprised.

"You have to understand we're not doing it for revenge or bloodlust. He's simply too dangerous to be kept alive, your majesty," Gusty explained.

"I agree," the general said.

"Could it work?" asked the regal unicorn.

"It will not be easy." The general sighed before he continued, "We can expect a lot of casualties to his powers and the monsters, which I have no doubt we'll encounter. But this might be our only shot. And getting rid of Grogar for good would be worth the sacrifice."

"Then it is settled. The Legion will prepare for an attack on Grogar's lair," King Taxis declared. "Let us hope for the best..."