Origins of the Ponies of War

by Tagshadow

Book 1 Hello, Exercise (Instead) of War

Chapter 3

Exercise (Instead) of War

--

Crystal Shine woke up on her own sleeping bag. Standing up she shook off the cobwebs of the previous night’s rest. She stepped out of her tent; she could see that Celestia’s sun was resting peacefully above the trees to the east. She let out a breath and felt yesterday’s doubts burn up as she bathed in the light. Harrow had already taken it upon himself to raise the others. She heard him whisper a few words before moving onto the next tent. She stretched and casually sat down on her stump.

The first pony to appear was Armoured Command. She assumed that he didn’t need anypony to get him up.

“Good morning Armoured Command.” She said. He nodded.

“Morning commander.” He said.

“I was wondering if… if I might have a word with you?” She asked slowly; he raised an eyebrow.

“Is something wrong?” He asked taking a seat.

“I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t terrify the more sensitive ponies like you did last night.” He was silent.

“Do I have permission to speak freely?”

“…I suppose so.”

“Do you really expect to train these ponies into anything? I mean, look at them. That Free Thought pony, not to mention Matheniel, I find it VERY hard to believe that they’ll be able to swing a weapon let alone fight against this… this enemy of ours!”

“What rank were you Armoured Command?” Crystal Shine asked. He stared at her.

“I don’t see-“

“What rank were you?”

“… Second lieutenant.”

“So you were in charge of ponies then.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Did they not follow your every order, did they ever question your judgment?” Armoured Command’s eyes grew very dark.

“Yes.” There was a silence.

“Good morning ponies.” Tag said coming into the small clearing. Neither pony said anything. He stopped and looked at each of them. “Uh… I can see that something’s going on, I think I shall come back later.” He spun around.

“It’s alright Tag.” Crystal Shine said without taking her eyes off of Armoured Command. “There’s nothing happening. And there’s the morning meeting that must be attended.” Tag sat down reluctantly. It wasn’t long before Saren came out of her tent; her shades were crooked on her nose and her mane was disheveled. She didn’t say anything as she sat down.

“Isn’t Harrow around here somewhere trying to get ponies up?” Tag asked looking at the almost deserted area.

“He got me up. He seemed to be collecting ponies to make sure they didn’t wander off.” Saren explained. Almost as if on cue Harrow came into view followed by everypony else. Crystal Shine stood up as they sat down.

“Good morning everypony, I trust you all slept well?” There was a resounding utterance of agreement. “I suppose that’ll have to do for today. And speaking of today, we have to discuss what’s going to happen. We’ve divided you into three groups for training’s sake. Group one will consist of Free Thought, Terrabyte, Matheniel, Allko, and Saren. I will be training this group. Harrow will be training the rest.”

“So, would everypony please split up now, you know where you need to go.” Harrow called out. Everypony jumped up at once in an attempt to get going. Crystal Shine watched as her ponies formed a line in front of her.

“I guess we’ll be wielding weapons… when do we get those?” Matheniel asked worriedly. Crystal Shine shook her head slowly.

“I think we’ll wait until Harrow is finished getting his ponies outfitted before we get ours. Besides, I don’t think we’re quite ready for that yet.” He seemed slightly relieved, if at all. “Come now, let’s see if we can find a place to start training.

--

Tigrean watched Crystal Shine’s group leave frustratedly, he was desperate for the answer Allko promised him, but there was nothing he could do.

“Come on, professor, we have some training to do.” He heard Harrow call out to him. Tigrean turned away from the retreating group and faced his own. Phantom and Tag were whispering to each other, Ardennes sat patiently, and Armoured Command sat with an angry expression on his face.

“Are we meant to train all together?” He asked nervously looking at Frizel who appeared to be very angry at being woken up early. Harrow did a quick headcount and shook his head.

“No, this group will be broken into two other groups, those that have seen combat, and those that need to start fresh. At any rate, we should move onto our little armoury to get some weapons to start. This way.” Harrow started off at a brisk pace towards one of the far tents. Inside were several rows of racks with a small variety of weapons that glinted in the dim light. Phantom coughed.

“Uh… do we just pick one up?” He asked.

“I can’t tell you what weapon you feel comfortable with. Take a look around and see what fits… if you can’t find anything that works I guess we’ll have to figure something out.” Everypony just looked at him. “Are you going? Or do I have to assign things?”

Tigrean sighed and trotted over to a rack. On it were several axes ranging from large ones to small ones, he shook his head and immediately moved away. The next rack he saw caught his interest; on it were several rapiers. He picked one up with his magic; it was light, beautiful even. The golden handle was shaped like a unicorn, shooting a beam of light that turned into a cup hilt, and continued to form the think blade. The blade was about as tall as Tigrean was, the jeweled pommel touching the tip of his horn.

“Yes… I think I could work with this.” He muttered to himself. He turned to Harrow. “I do believe I have found what I’m looking for.”

“Well then get over here and let the other ponies have a look.” Tigrean trotted outside to wait.

Tag stood, he didn’t really need a weapon, he already had one.

“Harrow? I don’t need a weapon… I already have one.” He showed his knife. Harrow seemed unimpressed.

“That little thing? What could you possibly do with that?” He asked.

“I’ll show you when we get to training… but I had him for a very long time.”

“Him?”

“It.” Tag avoided Harrow’s eyes.

“Right, fine, whatever. If it works for you I’m not going to say anything.” Tag nodded and joined Tigrean outside.

Armoured Command knew exactly what he was looking for, the same weapon he had used before he had been discharged. A claymore. There was only one, it was on a rack in the far corner. The claymore was a large sword, it was taller than Armoured Command was (and he was a tall pony) and heavy. It was much simpler than the weapon Tigrean had picked up, with a straight hilt with clovers on each side. The blade was the largest part of the weapon, it was thick and double-sided, and Armoured Command noted that it needed sharpening. He looked around for a sheath but found none.

“Harrow, sir, are there any sheathes or anything like that around here?” He asked trotting up to the pony.

“The sheathes are in the supply tent, we’ll stop off there on our way out.” He explained. Armoured Command nodded and stepped out of the tent.

Ardennes was looking around, almost afraid to touch any of the weapons. She poked at one, prodded the other. They felt heavy; she felt they were as heavy as death’s burden. She finally managed to pick up a sword. The blade was about as long as her arm with a very simple cross hilt. The pommel on the end of the leather-bound handle was a simple chunk of metal. It was to the point, she liked it, without a word she trotted over to Harrow. He needed to her and she stepped out of the tent.

Phantom walked through the isles lethargically. He wasn’t too familiar with actual weapons considering he had a few fighting spells on the side. He sighed as he passed another rack, but something there caught his eye. A curved blade, sticking out of the ground; he studied it for a second. It looked almost like it was made of silver. The handle was thick and grooved with a cross hilt. The blade was long, broad, and curved ending in a large point. He picked it up, the thing was heavy, but he didn’t mind exercising his jaw every once in a while. He walked over to Harrow.

“That it?” He asked. Phantom nodded around the thick handle. Harrow cast a last glance back into the room before looking at the group outside. “Has everypony got a weapon? Good. We’ll move on, Crystal Shine has to get her ponies armed.”

“You sound a little unsure about that.” Ardennes observed. He looked at her.

“I’m not.”

--

Crystal Shine motioned for the ponies to sit down; they were on the far side of the camp. Crystal Shine took a moment to breath before sitting down next to them.

“Is there a reason that we didn’t just go and get stuff… and start training?” Saren asked curiously. Crystal Shine sighed; she had been thinking for a long time, all about what she was going to say to these ponies.

“In a way…I’m just…thinking about how to phrase this. Have any of you held a weapon?” Everpony shook their head. “I thought as much…I guess that means we have to start at the very beginning. I think I’ll skip the whole talk about killing for your princesses and skip straight to the point. Is there anypony here that wants to leave?”

“You’re asking us if we want to leave?” Allko asked sounding surprised. Crystal Shine nodded slowly.

“As much as it surprises myself I think it’s an important question to ask.”

“I don’t have anything to go back to.” Matheniel said quietly. “And if this really is for the princesses, well that’s reason enough for me.” Crystal Shine nodded.

“I can respect that.”

“I’m with Matheniel…there isn’t that much for me back home, I’m certainly willing to give the military life a try.” Terrabyte put in.

“Same here.” Free Thought whispered.

“I wasn’t really doing anything too exciting before this.” Allko said shrugging. “I might as well give it a shot.”

“Weren’t you creating new technology?” Saren asked. Allko was silent.

“I’ll still give it a shot.” He reiterated. All attention went to Saren.

“Oh…why not, everpony’s doing it. I might as well do it.”

“As happy as that makes me, it sounds like you don’t know what you’re getting into…this is war…ponies fight and…ponies die.” Crystal Shine explained somberly. Matheniel stood up.

“I’ll admit it, I’m scared. But fear is something I’ve become familiar with; the same goes for death. I’m willing to do this, not because I can, but because I feel like I need to.” Crystal Shine stared at him.

“You sound just like…never mind, I understand, and I assume the rest of you agree with him?” Everypony nodded. “Well then, let’s go get armed shall we?” She got up and trotted toward the armoury tent, she heard the ponies behind her talking quietly.

“Well said.” She heard Allko say, presumably to Matheniel.

“It was nothing.” He sounded almost embarrassed. Crystal Shine found herself smiling, and a tear rolling down her eye.

--

“As I’m sure Harrow has told the others, I can’t tell you how you should fight. If you’re serious about staying here then you’ll find a weapon that suits you just fine. Take a look now, feel the weight, and size, whatever it takes. When you find one that fits come back here, then…we’ll start training.” The ponies dispersed into the rows of racks.

Free Thought, surprisingly, was the first to find something comfortable. He almost immediately felt gravitated towards a heavy-looking object on the first rack. He picked it up in his mouth; it felt very heavy, especially at the end. The end was a tomahawk, a very solid, powerful weapon. Free Thought stepped back, strangely happy with his choice.

“Already?” Crystal Shine asked as he approached. “And I’m surprised that you of all ponies would pick a tomahawk to use…no matter, I trust it feels right?” Free Thought nodded. “Good wait outside then.”

Terrabyte was unsure; she didn’t know which she would prefer, heavy or light, powerful or quick. She wouldn’t be able to lift any of the large swords, and any short bladed weapons felt too weak. She poked at a small hoofaxe. Not for her. She looked at a large sword, definitely not for her. As she took another turn through the same aisle her hoof bumped something, she looked down at it. It was a pair of gauntlets. She stuck her hoof in one curiously; it fit perfectly. Throwing her hoof around, Terrabyte realized that the gauntlet weighed perfectly on her hoof. They were designed simply, overlapping layers of metal in the shape of her hoof. She put the other one on and trotted passed Crystal Shine out of the tent.

Saren didn’t particularly like getting dirty, and all of the weapons she saw seemed rather brutal. She felt afraid just being near them. She sighed.

“Maybe I’m not cut out for this…” She trailed off, thinking out loud.

“It’s really simple if you ask me.” She jumped and spun around; Matheniel was standing behind her. “Everypony can be here, it’s just where they need to be.” She stared at him.

“Pardon?” She asked. He shook his head.

“Well I shouldn’t really tell you more. It’s your decision.” He backed away slowly and entered another rack. Saren looked at where he had been standing.

“Where I should be…” To her side was a shelf of bows. “I should be at a distance.” She giggled. Picking up one bow, she studied it. It was a recurve bow, curving forward decoratively at the end. The entire item was brown with a section of leather in the middle where the arrow would be placed. The plucked the string with a hoof, it was tight. She liked it. She carried it with her outside.

Matheniel smiled slightly as he watched Saren leave, his judgments had always been good, although, admittedly, he couldn’t judge what weapon he could use. He shook his head angrily and groaned. He angrily kicked at a rack, knocking it over. He cursed under his breath.

“Sorry.” He called out sheepishly, and started to pick them up. He started to put weapons back onto the rack. One seemed to catch his eye. He held up the long shaft with a hoof, the blade on the top was curved; it felt grim. It made him feel judgmental. He picked it up and balanced it on his wing, the feeling was uncanny, it felt right. He stroked the blade with his hoof as he left.

Allko was now the only pony that didn’t have a weapon. He had an idea of what he was looking for; he just couldn’t find it.

“Commander…do you happen to have any hornblades?” He asked. Crystal Shine thought for a moment.

“They should be in the far corner.” She answered back. Looking at the area she indicated Allko could see a small stool in the corner. On it was an ornamental blade tucked halfway under some axe. It was made of glass and had several gems embedded on the base. With a hoof he slipped it over the jagged stump of his old horn, it was snug, but it needed to be due to his shortened horn. It felt just like when he had his horn. He walked out of the tent.

“That’s everypony then?” Crystal Shine asked looking at the variation in the weapons that had been picked.

“I believe so.” Allko said.

“I’m afraid I’m not too familiar with all of these weapons unfortunately, but I’ll do my best. This about what makes you comfortable in combat.” Everypony nodded.

“I don’t think anypony would have expected you to.” Saren said.

“Right, well, we must begin training. This way.” She led them to where the sounds of other ponies training were.

--

“Come on! Show me how powerful you really are!” Tag called. Armoured Command grunted as he pulled his claymore out of the dirt. “I know you can swing faster than that!” He charged again. Tag jumped nimbly over him, but Armoured Command saw it coming, he swung his sword upward, trying to catch him off guard. Tag twisted his body in mid-air and parried weakly with his knife. Tag landed behind Armoured Command and jumped onto him quickly, landing with his hooves square on Armoured Command’s shoulder. Armoured Command rolled onto his back and Tag tried to evade but his hoof was caught under Armoured Command’s body. Armoured Command pinned Tag down with a hoof and stood up with his claymore pointed at Tag’s throat.

“How’s that for fast?” He asked with a grin. He got off Tag and helped the pony up.

“Good one, almost got away that time too.” Harrow nodded to them, and then turned to the others.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to get you all up to that standard of fighting. Of course combat styles will differ but there should be some ability. Okay! Pair up, try things out, I will come around and offer assistance to the best of my ability.” Phantom looked over at Ardennes.

“Wanna go?” He asked casually. She nodded slowly; seemingly unsure of herself. They stepped away from the others. Tigrean seemed stuck with Harrow while Tag, Frizel, and Armoured Command took turns against each other. Phantom and Ardennes stood a small distance away from each other.

“Ready?” She asked, Phantom nodded and pulled out his curved scimitar. She pulled out her short sword. He charged and swung horizontally, she swung as well, deflecting the blow. Phantom tackled her and pinned her down.

“That was over quick.” He said helping her back up. She nodded.

“It’s all practice, want go again?” She asked. He nodded. They started at their distances. They both charged, Ardennes got in the first strike hitting Phantom’s sword making his head vibrate. He staggered backwards. They started circling each other.

“Just kinda wondering, where’re you from?” Phantom asked as they prowled.

“I’m from Coronetion, nice place near Trottingham.” Ardennes amswered.

“Oh? Never heard of it.”

“It’s a really small town.” Ardennes jumped at Phantom, he put his sword up in an attempt to block her, she struck fiercely, sending the blade flying out of his mouth.

Tigrean’s weapon felt good, familiar even. Of course fighting was different from fencing but he had no trouble keeping up with Harrow. He stumbled backwards as Harrow struck at his rapier.

“Come on, your weapon should be used more for striking at the side, try to get around my swings.” Tigrean readjusted his grip.

“Well it HAS been a while!” He called back.

“The enemy won’t care HOW long it’s been, they’ll still kill you.” Harrow charged again. He swung widely. Tigrean crouched under and dashed forward stabbing at Harrow as he did so, Harrow jumped back and used the momentum of his previous swing to perform a downward strike. Tigrean jumped to the side and feigned a stab to the right, only to attack left when Harrow jumped; he grazed Harrow’s side.

“Better. Do you want to go again? Or do you want to take a break?”

“I’d like a break, just to practice on my own if it’s all the same to you.” Tigrean sighed. Harrow nodded.

“Fine, I’ll go check on the others.” Harrow stepped over to look at Phantom and Ardennes. “Need any help?”

“I think we’re good, just practicing.” Ardennes assured him picking herself up. Harrow nodded and looked over to the other group. Frizel and Tag were sparring, almost at each other’s throats as they slashed.

“I’ll just go back to Tigrean.” Harrow sighed.

--

Soladversarius jolted awake and was instantly assaulted by burning pain in his head. He rolled off of his bed and crashed onto the floor, he put a hoof on a table and pulled himself up. The pain subsided slowly enough and Soladversarius fell into his chair. He grabbed a cup of water that had been left on the table and drank it without pausing.

“Had a nice little nap, didn’t you?” He recognized the voice from last night. He glared at the mare; she was sitting beside the entrance in another chair.

“I assume my guards fetched you with no trouble?” He asked, returning to a calm expression. The mare shrugged.

“I managed to find my own way in.” She said standing up; he could see that her hooftips were now painted blue. She took her seat across from him, same as the previous night.

“Are they even aware that you’ve…found your own way in?” He asked. She shrugged again.

“I don’t think so. But to move on, I trust you slept well?” He nodded.

“I guess so. Of course I’m sure you know about my nightmares considering what you said last night.”

“Of course I would.” He gave her a questioning look.

“Why?”

“That’s not particularly important right now.”

“I would think it is! I was the only one that survived…their screams…I was the only one who lived to hear them, to spread the word!”

“Evidently not…otherwise I wouldn’t be here right now.”

“But you didn’t live there, I would know you if you did.”

“I did.”

“But how?”

“Doesn’t change the fact that it’s gone.” Soladversarius smashed his hoof on the table.

“Don’t you think I know that?” He asked, his voice was dangerously quiet.

“You seem to forget a lot of things, just making sure you remember what’s important.”

“You’re right…I mustn’t forget.” He sighed heavily. “It just…nevermind.” He shook his head, and winced as pain shot through his horn.

“I believe you’re also forgetting something right now. What about the Ponies of War?”

“Ah! I have already thought of a solution to that. Seeing as Hidden Blade was a spy, it would be safe to assume that our plan has been leaked. To counter that we’ll leave one day early, and leave some soldiers behind to wait in ambush.”

“Good.”

“Yes…yes. Pitch-Black would be the best to leave behind, and leave behind 23 others, a perfect two-to-one ratio. They won’t stand a chance.”

“Is it wise to leave behind your most trusted pony though?”

“Pitch-Black is capable of taking care of himself, I’m sure of that. He’ll catch up and rejoin me at my side.”

“A sound plan.”

“I must go speak with Pitch-Black then. You may show yourself out.” Soladversarius stood up and rushed into the day.

Pitch-Black was standing in front of the gate on watch. Soladversarius stopped next to him

“I must speak with you for a moment.” He said. Pitch-Black turned to him.

“How may I help you sir?” He asked.

“I have a plan and I need your assistance to enact it. The spy has surely leaked our plan and the Ponies of War will most likely strike before we leave. So my plan goes as follows: we will leave one day early, and leave 24 to ambush them.” Soladversarius explained. Pitch-Black nodded.

“And what part am I in this?” He asked.

“You are to remain here, and lead our ambush. After they have been dealt with you will catch head to Canterlot, we’ll have control then. I trust you are capable of this?”

“Yes sir, who will remain behind?” Soladversarius thought for a moment.

“You may pick, you’ll be in charge, and I want you to burn the camp before you leave.”

“Yes sir. I’ll go and pick them now.” Pitch-Black nodded to the griffon with him on watch and trotted into the camp. Soladversarius stood for a moment and trotted into the forest.

--

Allko sat down; the hornblade fell off of his horn and landed in the grass beside him. He breathed in heavily.

“Tired?” He heard a voice ask. A sheathed rapier landed next to him. Tigrean took a seat.

“Yeah…” Allko trailed off. “I’m getting better though.”

“Good, we’re going to need everypony to be at their best.” They sat in awkward silence.

“I suppose you want your answers as to the synthetic alicorn project?” Allko asked finally. Tigrean nodded. “I’ll tell you what I know of the process. I was brought in shortly after it was started; they were getting ready for the first test. From what I know of the process…it requires for us to surgically attach the horn to the skull, or the wings to the body depending upon whether or not the pony was a unicorn or a pegasus. I don’t know where the process came from but I overheard my superiors talking.” Tigrean leaned in closely.

“Immoran, the head of the project, and Totskan, his right hoof, were discussing the first test. Totskan was worried that we wouldn’t be able to pull it off arguing that our tools weren’t as advanced as ‘theirs’ were.”

“Who?” Tigrean interrupted.

“I don’t know, I wasn’t about to ask them what they were talking about. Immoran countered that by saying that magic was just as precise. Totskan was tight-lipped, it was obvious he didn’t enjoy the idea that much but the surgery was that day.”

“And what happened in the surgery?”

“It failed.” Allko said; he stopped talking.

“The patient died?’ Tigrean questioned. Allko shook his head.

“No… he’s still alive…the first patient was Soladversarius.”

--

Soladversarius stopped; there was no one around him, just the trees swaying in the light breeze. He sat, holding back a choking feeling. He felt something at the base of his horn.

--

“Soladversarius?!” Tigrean exclaimed. Allko looked away.

“He was called Escutcheon back then. But we didn’t know what we were doing, and even though we knew about his past it didn’t stop us. When we tried to graft the horn onto his skull…part of it didn’t attach properly, and now on occasion it scrapes against his skull causing massive amounts of pain…and also a screeching noise in his head.”

“What’s this about his past?” Tigrean pressed.

“When he served, he was posted in his hometown near the border of Griffindoria. There was always the risk of bandits or raiders. The small village was inevitably attacked, they didn’t stand a chance, Soladversarius lived through it…but not after he tried unsuccessfully to save his wife and foal from their burning barn. The sound of the horn…it must sound just like they did before they died.” Tigrean sat in silence.

“Why would they let him volunteer then?” He asked.

“He was tested obviously, but he showed no signs…if only...”

--

The grinding had started. Soladversarius lay on his side breathing in heavily. The sound in his mind started to change, it warped and twisted. His mind went black.

--

It was night.

Escutcheon jumped over a fallen crossbeam, looking around he could see them. Summer Song was in the corner with their foal, Storm. He flew over to them.

“C’mon, we have to get out of here!” He shouted. She nodded wide-eyed and stood up, cradling their crying foal with a hoof. He put a hoof around her and steered her toward the door. They were almost out. A cruel talon ripped Escutcheon’s hoof away from Summer Song’s shoulder.

He grimaced and his blood splattered onto the ground. Spinning around he could see a griffon advancing on his wife; he jumped and tackled the griffon, sending them both to the ground. “Get out of here!” He called. The griffon threw Escutcheon off; they both got into fighting stances. Escutcheon cast a glance back to see if they escaped, he froze when he saw that Summer Song’s leg was clawed beyond use. He growled and faced the griffon.

“You’re dead!” The griffon cawed. Escutcheon bared his teeth.

“Try me!” They jumped at each other, the griffon pushed Escutcheon back into a wall covered in farming implements. Several sharp objects landed on the two of them. Escutcheon flinched as a sickle dug into his shoulder. The griffon stumbled back, pulling a scythe from his shoulder. Escutcheon lunged, landing a hard punch on the griffon’s head. The griffon slashed, opening a large gash on Escutcheon’s flank, the griffon picked up Escutcheon and threw him back against the wall and pounced on him.

Escutcheon flailed trying to reach something, his hooves fell upon the handle of the scythe, he brought it forward with full force just as the griffon bent in to bite, the scythe entered his throat. The griffon paused for a moment and tried to say something, whatever noise he made was overpowered by the sound of the barn burning around them and the fighting outside; blood poured out of his beak and onto Escutcheon’s face. The griffon braced himself and took off, carrying Escutcheon with him. They flew out of the barn and into the air; the griffon hugged Escutcheon tightly, constricting his wings. It was then that he realized the griffon was going to fall with him to the ground. Escutcheon wrenched the scythe ripping the griffon’s throat wide open. The griffon pulled away from Escutcheon and went limp. Escutcheon flew downwards past him to the barn. But he was too late.

The barn first creaked, then screamed as the structure leaned back and forth. Finally, it collapsed. Escutcheon landed at the entrance just to see it hit the ground, a terrifying wail was cut short.

Escutcheon sat there for a moment of pure…something the feeling was indescribable. But then, the sound of a dull object hitting the ground brought him back to reality. He turned to see the griffon’s crumpled body on the ground. An intense hate flowed through, a burning, fiery rage. He stood up and trotted over the griffon, the scythe was still lodged in his throat. Escutcheon pulled it out cruelly. The sound felt loud enough to be heard over the sounds of the battle around him. The blade was bent slightly. Escutcheon held it in his hooves and flew into the air. He was the grim reaper. He had work to do.

--

“Well that explains why he’s so…mad…but it doesn’t explain why he wants to overthrow the princesses…” Tigrean thought aloud.

“It might have been what happened afterwards…”

--

It had been so long…but it felt so fresh. Escutcheon looked at it. They were erecting a memorial. The princesses themselves would even be in attendance to give a speech. He looked at the hill, right were the barn had been, that was where the memorial would be.

“They aren’t even going to do anything about the bandits!” He said to himself. He spun around and paced for a moment. “Why…I’d send a platoon to finish them off! Or at least talk to king Unaden about-“ He stomped his hooves angrily. “They don’t even care! They ‘ll just put up a stone, say a little speech and move on!” He stopped. “I’D do it properly! I’D prevent it from happening again! I WOULDN’T LET ANYPONY ELSE GET HURT!” He stopped when he realized he had started shouting. “I’ll do it. I’ll dethrone those heartless monsters. I won’t let anything happen to Equestria ever again.”

--

The two ponies sat in the shade of a tree. Tigrean tried to make sense of it.

“I should have known…no good could come of using their technology.” He muttered. Allko got up and trotted away.

--

Soladversarius shuddered as he awoke; he looked around quickly almost fearing he would see the griffon again. There was no one around, almost the mare was there sitting under a tree lazily. Her hooftips were red again.

“Nightmares again?”

“Leave me alone.”

“Don’t you think it means something?”

“Once again you seem to lose me in your enigmatic words.”

“I think it’s time.”

“Time… it is time indeed. I’ve waited long for this.” He grinned. He stood up and trotted back to the camp.

--

Crystal Shine sighed and looked around. The ponies around her looked incredibly tired from the long day of practice.

“I think that’s enough for today, my ponies!” She called out. Frizel looked up from where she had Tag pinned.

“It’s about time! We’ve been going at it for hours!” She hopped off of Tag and helped him up.

“We might want to clean up before heading into camp, we could use the stream just inside the forest.” Harrow said shouldering his Long Sword. Saren nodded.

“Cleaning would be nice.” Saren agreed.

“Harrow, you take everypony there, I must go meet with our friend.” Harrow nodded and gathered everypony around with a flick of his tail. Crystal Shine flew in the opposite direction.

--

Harrow stopped in front of the stream; the last time he had been here was when the rest of his friends had been alive. The stream wasn’t particularly deep; the deepest point was just above the average pony’s belly. It curved around a large hill creating two fairly private areas. The entire area was covered in lush, green trees.

“Alright, mares are upstream, stallions are downstream.” He instructed. “Privacy and such. Any caught breaking this rule will have to suffer any punishment that the other sex can think of…within reason…and I say ‘within reason’ loosely.”

“Aww…” Phantom sighed good-naturedly. Tag nudged his shoulder.

“You’re just a dirty old stallion, aren’t you?” He asked playfully. Phantom grinned toothily.

“I suppose so.” Every mare present stared at him. Armoured Command shook his head angrily and trotted over to the stallions’ side of the river. The ponies quickly broke up and trotted to their respective sides of the hill.

Free Thought splashed into the water without hesitation. He almost shrieked when the cold water touched his sensitive belly.

“It’s cold!” He shouted. Matheniel dipped his hoof in and shook it.

“Wow…it really is. A little too cold for me.” He agreed. Harrow walked in slowly and sat with the water at his chest.

“Being cold is partly mental, you should be able to ignore it with time.” He smiled slightly. Armoured Command trotted in as well and sat. The other ponies followed slowly. Cries from the other side of the hill told them the mares had found the water to be equally as cold.

--

Soladversarius galloped into the camp, he made straight for his cabin. He threw his hoof under his bed; it fell onto a long wooden box. Soladversarius pulled it out; it was black and heavy. Clicking open the lid he laid his eyes upon something he hadn’t seen in a long time. A scythe, the wooden handle was black with use, the blade was still bent, and it seemed to pulse with hatred. He held it in his hooves, cradled it, and put it across his back. He trotted outside.

“EVERYONE GATHER FOR A MEETING!” He shouted out and waiting patiently as a crowd gathered before him. Pitch-Black flew to his side.

“I have picked whom will stay.” He reported. Soladversarius nodded.

“Good, we’ll be leaving as soon as everyone is ready.” He turned back to the full extent of his army. “Everyone! I have news regarding our mission! As you all know, Hidden Blade was a spy, most likely sending his information to the Ponies of War on our doorstep. I believe he has told them of our plan; the only way to counteract this would be to leave early. And leave early we will! We leave now! We will march on the capital and into the throne room of the tyrants themselves! We will throw them out and install ourselves as the new leaders of Equestria! Prepare now, for tomorrow we dine in Canterlot!” He punctuated the last statement by raising his scythe in the air and waving it around. All members cheered wildly and ran to get their possessions together. Soladversarius turned back to Pitch-Black. “You know what you must do.” He nodded and glided off.

“Sir!” He turned and saw a familiar griffon land next to him.

“Ettakai was it? Is something the matter?” Soladversarius asked placing the scythe upon his back.

“Sir, I was just wondering about…him.” Soladversarius thought for a moment.

“Is he ready yet?”

“No sir, but he’s close to breaking.” Ettakai reported.

“I’ll leave two behind to deal with him, once he’s ready they’ll bring him to Canterlot. I want you by my side until Pitch-Black returns.” Ettakai blinked.

“Me? Pitch-Black’s staying here sir?” He asked.

“Yes, he’s leading an ambush for those Ponies of War. Prepare now, I’ll seek out two who’ll stay behind.” Ettakai saluted hastily and rushed off to find his own items.

--

Ardennes sighed happily; the water had at least stopped feeling so cold. Terrabyte stood closer to the shore unable to go any deeper due to her height. Ardennes lazily steered herself over.

“How’re you adjusting to things?” She asked casually. Terrabyte didn’t say anything at first.

“I’m fine, really. I’m just sore. It’s been a long day you know.” She sighed. Ardennes nodded.

“You’ll get there, it isn’t exactly easy for any of us older ponies.” She joked. Terrabyte giggled. “Well…most of us anyway.” Ardennes’ visions drifted to Frizel, she had left her socks on the shore and lay in the shallow water with her eyes closed; her badly scarred hooves were in plain view. Frizel opened one eye.

“You talking about me over there?” She asked with a hint of aggressiveness.

“No.” Terrabyte called. Saren joined them.

“What are we talking about?” She asked.

“Frizel.” Ardennes said plainly.

“I heard that!” Frizel called out getting up. Ardennes stood up too.

“I was joking!” She called out. Frizel seemed unconvinced but shrugged and returned to her position. The other three mares looked at each other and laughed.

--

Crystal Shine was fairly sure something was wrong; Hidden Blade was never late. She paced, she flew, she did anything to pass the time but she couldn’t shake the sense of foreboding. She decided she would have to take a quick look at their camp. She flew high into the air, she hadn’t been that far and from her altitude she could see that there was all kinds of activity going on. He must have been found, they knew, they knew and they were leaving early, they were leaving now. She had to get back to the others.

--

By the time Crystal Shine got back to the camp the other ponies had finished bathing and lazed about the camp in the small time before camp wide curfew. She found Harrow next to the campfire pit, taking care of a small fire.

“We need to talk.” She said quietly to avoid any suspicion. He nodded and stood up. They trotted to her tent.

“What’s wrong? Bad news from Hidden Blade?” Harrow asked as Crystal Shine settled into her chair.

“There was no news from Hidden Blade, he didn’t show up. I believe they found him.” She said worriedly. Harrow was silent.

“What makes you say that?”

“I flew over their camp to check, there was a lot of activity. It looks like their leaving for Canterlot now.” Harrow stood up instantly.

“We have to do something!” He exclaimed. Crystal Shine shook her head.

“There’s nothing we can do at this point. The time we thought we had was barely enough to get them into fighting shape, and after a day full of training it would cost us all of them.” Crystal Shine murmured.

“Well what can we do?”

“Hope. We have to hope that the Royal Guard will be able to handle it. We’ll go in and sweep up the camp. We might be able to take the army from behind when they siege Canterlot.” Harrow nodded slowly.

“That’ll have to do…it doesn’t feel right.” He said.

“It doesn’t have to feel right, it has to be right.”

--

Soladversarius stood at the head of his army. Ettakai was at his side.

“MOVE OUT!” He called back and the march started. The sound of several hundred hooves and talons hitting the ground could be heard. Ettakai grinned.

“It begins.” He muttered half to himself.

“Not yet, Ettakai.” Soladversarius said. “It won’t be close to starting until I’m sitting on the throne!”

Comments

[TheMossiah]

Very nice.