Whistling Rain

by Schwabauer

Chapter 7

The walk back was peacefully uneventful. Nothing leapt out at Twilight or her friends, threatening to destroy friendship in the name of evil. The prisoner they took did not stir and dozed the entire trip. Rainbow maintained her distance from the rest of the Elements, instead sticking close to Captain Grapefruit. The guardsponies kept a neat column the entire march, perfect hoof after hoof marching three abreast. Behind this well-formed march the carts trundled along, wheels turning relentlessly through the churned snow. Yet further beyond the carts all the horses were being pulled along behind by ropes. Twilight often stopped and looked back, watching the trot and behavior of the animals they had fought to free.

Twilight and Grapefruit’, plus company, arrival was met with cheers of victory emanating from all sides. Crowds of ponies held back by Crystal Guard led the company on a winding parade towards the towering spire of crystal that Twilight’s brother and sister-in-law rule from. The two- and three-story tall crystal buildings lined all the streets, their shine bragging of the beauty of this city.

At the palace waited Shining Armor, Cadance, Celestia, and Luna all sat upon a balcony far above the crowd, waving elegantly while waiting for Twilight and her friends to finish their impromptu victory parade and begin personal congratulations. After being regaled with the story of the Elements of Harmony’s success, that is. The guard company would receive their standard congratulations and then sent along their way.

Once Twilight rounded the corner, they hurriedly made their way down to display for the Crystal Heart to welcome the six heroes of Equestria. Standing beneath the cavernous arches the four royals watched the approach of the heroes. The six all looked tired, worn, and mentally tired. Behind them the company guard looked equally worn and tired. And further behind them horses trotted along almost cheerfully, their animal eyes looking around at the new scenery.

Twilight herself perked up when she saw the straight shot towards the castle ahead, the combined royalty of Equestria and the Crystal Empire both waiting for her and her friends. She turned towards the rest of the main six, Spike still on her back, and gave them encouragement. Rainbow Dash continued her attempt at aloofness and general air of annoyedness, but the façade was beginning to crumble beneath the friendship she shared with Twilight and the others.

After giving the moment of encouragement Twilight hurried towards the royals at a dead sprint, eager to get to be reunited with her family and mentor again. And Luna. Luna was there too. Behind her Twilight could hear the rest of her friends breaking out into sprints. Or speeding along in the air, wings flapping furiously to get to the foundations of the castle.

Twilight reached the castle, throwing herself into the hooves of her older brother, hugging her tightly. Her friends stopped awkwardly behind them, looking between Celestia and the rest of them. Cadance also joined in the hug, wrapping around Twilight and nuzzling her lightly. Celestia looked as if she wished to join in the hug, but decided to remain separate, instead looking at the other five elements she smiled. Luna too smiled and looked at the other five, giving them congratulations politely while waiting for the group hug between the family beside the small group to end.

Eventually Twilight ended her hug, pulling back and looking at the two. The various heroes of Equestria decided to trot quietly up into the upper reaches of the castle. They found an underused parlor and everypony grabbed seats and made themselves comfortable, and Celestia conjured tea for all the ponies who wished for it. Cadence, Luna, Rarity and Twilight all had steaming cups in front of them in an instant. They drank in silence for a minute.

“Celestia...” began Twilight trailing off as she tried to summon up what she wanted to say. Her hoof hovered in small circles as she tried to pull the words out on a spool. The silence pulled on, before Rarity continued for her.

“We managed to destroy the invader’s fort, darling. Turned them to stone and freed the horses enslaved there. While we were observing the fort, we saw settlers travel further to the northwest. We followed the path these settlers took to a new village. Once there we had a standoff that... fell into an argument between Twilight, Rainbow, and Captain Grapefruit over how to deal with the settlers. The villagers ran during the argument, and we then returned here.”

Celestia politely held up a hoof and waited for silence. “What do you mean by dealing with the settlers?”

“Well... the three did not quiet see eye to eye on what we were supposed to do with the villagers. Twilight thought we should leave them alone, while Captain Grapefruit and Rainbow Dash wanted to remove them with the elements.”

Celestia was silent for a moment. She then turned to Rainbow. Her gaze was neutral, not displaying any emotion whatsoever. “What is it that made you believe that the Elements should be used to harm innocent people?”

“I- I thought...” Rainbow Dash lost her voice looking into the eyes of Celestia, somewhat nervous and fearful. “I thought that because they moved here with the invaders that they fell into the group that needed elimination.”

“Rainbow Dash... when have we ever purposely sought to harm civilians?” Celestia said, disapproval creeping into her voice. “I understand that in your efforts to be loyal to the crown you wanted to... dispose of any threats to the crown, but you forgot about your loyalty to the protection of the innocent.”

Rainbow Dash looked down, shame on her face. “I’m sorry Princess. I won’t let it happen again. I’ll be sure to remember to protect the innocent.”

Celestia smiled lightly. “I trust you will, rainbow. We must be thankful that these settlers decided to run when they could, otherwise things likely would have turned out far less nicely.”

“Now who wants to eat cake!” Cadence burst out suddenly, and uncomfortable silence began to build after Celestia's discussion with Rainbow. A butler brought in more cake for the royalty to eat and enjoy.

---

Ernst Schellinger was sitting in his office looking over inventory reports when an aide respectfully entered, a stack of paper in hand. He was dressed in a white undershirt with a deep navy-blue overcoat. His vest sitting as a buffer between the two was grey, and each button was neatly shined to perfection. The aide waited silently in front of the desk for General Ernst to recognize his presence. The general finished skimming the report before acknowledging the aide with a small smile. “Yes, Mr. Bauer?”

“I have a report about Fort Southern Tip, sir.”

“What is the report, Mr. Bauer?”

“It was destroyed by the locals. They then threatened a village before disorder in their ranks ended the assault.”

Ernst was silent for a minute, hands folded in front of his face with his elbows resting on his desk. In the early morning light flowing through the windows his glasses gleamed, obscuring his eyes. “What is the status of the remaining soldiers from the fort.”

“There were no survivors, sir.”

General Ernst leaned back in incredulity, his hands coming to his stomach. “What do you mean, no survivors? There’s always some wounded or deserter who managed to escape.”

“Most soldiers had casts of stone made around them. A few were killed by spears or some sort of scorching weapon. Even fewer by bucking from a pony.”

“Is there any doubt that this was a local force? Perhaps well-armed bandits or...?” Ernst replied with trepidation in his voice.

Mr. Bauer shook his head, looking at his general directly. “No. The villagers reported the majority wearing uniform armor that was well maintained. This was a military force sent to destroy the fort and the village.”

“I see Mr. Bauer. Thank you for the report. I’ll see you in an hour to report this to the governor. I trust you can have copies made in that time?”

“Yes, General.” Mr. Bauer turned to leave, before pausing and turning back to Ernst. “I almost forgot sir, all the horses from the fort were taken by the ponies, why they need draft animals is beyond me.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bauer. I’ll be prepared to give a presentation of the current situation to Governor Heine Lange with your assistance. You are dismissed.” A moderate amount of impatience began to seep into the General’s voice.

With a sense of minor urgency, Mr. Bauer exited the office without additional comment. Ernst’s polite smile faded into his standard frown as he set aside his paperwork and began composing a statement for the Governor. If the governor was sensible enough to listen to Ernst’s plans, he would approve the raising of militia companies. Should this war escalate further Ernst would have to fight defensively until reinforcements could arrive from the Old World.

Alongside a general overview of his plans, Ernst began to pen a letter to his cousin in Bavaria. Perhaps the Bavarian army could have a chance to flex their muscles.

Comments

[WhatAWonderfulUsername]

Alongside a general overview of his plans, Ernst began to pen a letter to his cousin in Bavaria. Perhaps the Bavarian army could have a chance to flex their muscles.

Feels like the ponies may have just kicked a wasp's nest.

[Allsmiles]

(And like that, the penny drops, and the war begins.)

[Blueshadow_the_pony]

Finally got caught up. As a Prussian loyalist in the game as well I do so hope you bring out the heavy guns. Though I have also found that Heavy Calvary combined with Lime does wonders on the moral of the enemy. Though I would saynto try to lean away from the game and more into history with a lot of the details, as then everything tends to get a little dull in the details

[Schwabauer]

11312158
I plan on mostly doing in game things, with a few parts I found lackluster transferring to real life historical counterparts. I'll let you decide how good I do.

[Rehat6001]

I'm sorry, when will the sequel?

[Schwabauer]

11335039
I was gone all of July, and most of August up to this point. Next chapter is 80% written then will be edited. Maybe a week and a half?