A Warrior's Peace

by Ricardo Nixon

Chapter 7: Brothers in Hooves

A Warrior’s Peace
Chapter 7:Brothers in Hoofs
By Ricardo Nixon

Jack walked with Luna through the fields of Sweet Apple Acres, observing his new “Soldiers” running their drills. Behind them were Twilight, Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Spike.

“So your plan is to have these ponies fight the White Knights head on?” Luna questioned.

“Not exactly.” Jack said, using his staff as a walking stick. The rewards of his previous beating were taking their toll on him. “While Pony-do will give the Earth Ponies the tools necessary to fight the Knights, it would be foolish to waste the tools the others already have.” Jack turned in place to face the six ponies behind him. “Twilight, I need to ask a favor of you and I’ve heard you are quite proficient with magic.”

Twilight looked at Jack with a bit of flattery in her eyes. “Umm… Sure, what do you need.”

“I need you to take the Unicorns and teach them a few spells, if you would.” Jack shifted his weight onto his staff.

“What kind of spells? Nothing that would hurt anypony right?” Twilight cringed at the thought of teaching anypony any potentially dangerous spells.

“Nonono, on the contrary, I need you to teach them a shield spell, you know, some kind of force field. I also need a simple healing spell and a restraining spell, something that could tie someone up or hold someone down. You think you could do that for me?” Jack took a knee, brining his face to pony-height.

“How will that help us fight?” Twilight asked, visibly confused.

“Trust me, I won’t let anypony get hurt.” Jack gave Twilight a reassuring smile.

“Alright. You can count on me.” Twilight shook her head, straightening her mane.

“Great, now...” Jack turned to the cyan Pegasus in front of him. “Rainbow Dash, I’m going to need your help with the pegasi.”

Rainbow Dash brought her right roof to her forehead. “Right away, what do ya need, what tricks do you want me to teach em’?” The ecstatic pegasus’ wings shot up at the chance to showcase her talents.

“Well, all these pegasi seem to be proficient in flying, now what I need you to do is teach them to preform what humans used to call, ‘airstrikes’.” Jack shot her a little smile. “Show them how to drop nets on targets, keep in mind speed and precision are what we need, keep it simple, nothing flashy.” Jack knew he had little control over the rainbow-maned Pegasus, but it was worth a try.

“Gotcha, I’ll show you the best netting this side of Equestria!” The blue pony shut her wings producing I little gust around her hooves.

“AppleJack…” Jack turned A.J. “ You still want to fight with the other Earth Ponies?” Jack already knew the answer.

“You bet yer hoov… um, hands, um.” The Yellow pony stood in thought for a bit. “Yes, yes I would.”

“Then you can go with the others.” Jack smiled, thoughts dancing behind his eyeballs, like the pieces of a puzzle sliding into place. “I’ve got something planned for you.” He shot her a wink, which she responded to with a look of confusion.

Jack turned to face the remaining three ponies in front of him, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, hardly fighters, but they had talents and Jack knew that sometimes the most important warriors go unseen on the battlefield.

“Rarity.” Jack addressed her inquisitively.

“Yes darling, how can I be of service.” The purple-maned unicorn cringed at the idea of combat.

“Would it be too much of a stretch for you to apply your dress making skills to make armor?” Jack wasn’t sure what kind of response he would get out of Rarity.

“Armor? Hmm, something functional, practical. I would need a bit of help gathering the materials, I doubt what I have around the boutique would be of any use, but I think that I can do it.” Rarity rubber her chin with her hoof, undoubtedly picturing possible designs for armor.

Jack held out his staff and gave Spike a little push.

“Hey, what was…” Spike shot Jack a look of annoyance as Jack winked at him, nudging his head at Rarity, still in though. “Oh, OH.” Spike’s mouth curled into a sly grin and he shuffled over to Rarity, giving Jack a claws-up.

“Fantastic, remember there’s a decent number of ponies and we need light armor, no use trying to fight through a tin can.” Jack slung his staff behind his neck.

“Then it is done. I’ll have this army looking fabulously furious.” Rarity put her hoof down in determination.

“Excellent, now, Pinkie, It’s come to my attention that you actually make your own fireworks.” Jack prepared himself for the tidal wave of Pinkie Pie coming his way.

“FIREWORKS! I lovelovelovelovelove fireworks! They go booshgadoosh woooooo! There are a lot of different kinds of fireworks you know, there are blue ones and red ones and purple ones and indigo ones and teal ones and aquamarine. Wait, are teal and aquamarine the same, I don’t know, do you, what about Azure or Cerulean or Royal Blue…”

“SO! PINKIE!” Jack eardrums were searing from the sudden barrage of Pinkie Pie. “Can you do me a little favor?” Jack motioned to Twilight. “Twilight, you wouldn’t happen to have a parchment and quill on you, would you?”

“Oh, of course!” Twilight’s horn glowed as she produced a spark that erupted into a floating parchment and quill.

“Thank you.” Jack grabbed the writing implements in his hands and hastily scrawled a few lines. “Here you go Pinkie, you think you can whip that up for me?” Jack folded the parchment a few times making sure it was thick and placed it in Pinkie’s mouth.

“Nr prrblrrm!” Pinkie uttered, trying to keep her hold on the parchment.

‘Smooth move.’ Jack thought to himself as he stood up, his eyes falling on a pink Pegasus hiding behind her pink mane. He balanced himself on his staff as he walked over to Fluttershy and took a knee right next to her. He knew she wanted nothing to do with hurting anypony or anybody else.

“Fluttershy, it’s alright if you want to sit this out, I know fighting isn’t exactly your thing.” Jack placed his hand on her neck he could feel her trembling. “Is everything alright, Fluttershy?” Jack felt her tense up as she picked her head up.

“No.” Fluttershy whipped he hair out of the way. “I want to help…but.” Her eyes drifted back to the ground as she thought of what she was getting herself into. “I just don’t want anypony to get hurt.”

Jack smiled as he hoisted himself to his feet. “You know what Fluttershy, you want to help?” Jack bent over to get closer.

“Mhmm.” Fluttershy nodded.

“Then, you stay out of the battle, let me take care of that, and if anypony’s hurt when they come back, you take care of them. Deal?” Jack knew it was Fluttershy’s instinct to help injured critters, so ponies wouldn’t be a stretch. Nurse Redheart was perfectly capable, but Jack was familiar with Fluttershy’s methods. Sometimes kindness is all a soldier wants when he comes home.

Fluttershy looked up at Jack. “Deal!” She smiled, her wings twitching a bit.

Jack straightened himself up and looked the seven before him. “Well then, let’s get to work!”

With that, Jack was left with Luna among the Fifty or so Earth ponies ready for combat.

“So.” Luna looked upon her new army. “You expect them to be able to defeat an army of Humans?” She waved her hoof at the bunch of ponies tackling each other.

“Not yet, just one more thing to take care of.” Jack took off his cloak and placed his staff on top of it. “Don’t get in the way.” Jack took a deep breath and flexed every muscle in his body, making a series of audible cracks sweep through his body. After working his way up to his neck, Jack walked over to his recruits.

“ATTENTION!” All the ponies lined up, many didn’t know him but Celestia damn it did they respect him. Jack marched in front of his soldiers and spoke.

“Humans are unlike anything you have ever faced before…” Jack searched for weakness in the crowd. “They draw their power from their ruthlessness, they crave battle, they thrive in war, they show no regard for anything else, and most importantly, they will show no mercy.” The intimidation speech worked, Jack knew how to seek out weakness and exploit it, so the slightly quivering lips of some ponies might as well have been written invitations for punishment.

“So…” Jack stood in front of Big Mac. “Does anypony think they have what it takes to take me on?” The crowd fell silent. “ No, then I guess I’ll get this started!” Jack dashed forward and seized Big Mac by the throat, forcing him onto his hind legs. “So?! What is it going to be?” Jack’s fingers squeezed the red draft pony’s neck, gripping his trachea

The crowd of ponies fell into gasps and cries. Jack squeezed harder, turning the red pony purple. Big Macintosh swung his powerful hooves in futility; Jack had his life in his hands. Big Mac’s vision started to blur as he saw shimmers of light in his eyes followed by a large brown streak.

BOOM!

Big Mac fell back, gasping for breath as he got up and saw Jack, flat on his back, pinned down by Doctor Whooves.

“Are you insane?! What is the meaning of this?!” The Doctor had his foreleg on Jack’s throat, pinning him to the floor.

Jack raised his hand as the Doctor cringe, expecting the worst.

Pat. Pat.

“Huh?” The Doctor opened his eyes to find Jack smiling while patting him on the shoulder. The Doctor got up and let Jack up.

Jack dusted himself up and walked over to Big Mac. “I’m sorry friend, I had to make a point.” Big Mac was still skeptical but humored the human. Jack addressed the crowd.

“This is where you get your power. Friendship. Your ability to rely on each other gives you the kind of strength that humans can rarely utilize. This is where we use Pony-Do to its full potential. Everypony grab a partner, your partner is the only thing keeping you from death on the battlefield, and you must protect them. This is the spirit of Pony-Do, this is how we will defeat the White Knights!”

Jack’s speech was met with silence. Jack thought, ‘I screwed this up didn’t I’.

Clop.clop.clop.clop.

Jack turned around to see the large red pony behind him sitting on the ground, clapping his hooves together. “Eeeeyup.” Soon everypony joined in, cheering and clapping, each ignited with the will to fight, the will to protect the brothers and sisters, their friends and family.

Jack felt pride in his students as he walked back to Luna. “Nailed it.” He whispered to her as he went for his things. She smiled as she took in the bunch of ponies that would soon be fighting for the future of Equestria.

“Big Mac, Doctor, Applejack, you three take over for a while, I have to discuss some things with Luna, I’ll be back later.” Jack put his cloak back on as he gripped his staff, hearing a crackle from his knee.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later That Night

Jack sat on a box outside his makeshift home in Applejack’s barn. He sat across from Princess Luna, sitting on his bedroll, a small fire between the two providing a red glow against the dark blue backdrop of Luna’s night.

“Everypony else is asleep Jack, what did you want to talk to me about.” Luna watched the sparks dance off of the fire and disappear as they floated off into the sky.

Jack had his staff resting against his shoulder as he stirred the fire with a downed branch. “Luna, I’ve come to understand that many of the inhabitants of Equestria are capable of utilizing magic. How exactly does that work? Jack removed the burning branch from the fire.

“Well…” Luna’s horn glowed as she tossed a few nearby twigs into the flame. “Unicorns are able to use their horns to channel their magic. They can all learn basic spells, but their magic is always inclined toward their special talent, their cutie mark.”

“Cutie Mark?” Jack gave Luna a quizzical look.

“Well, when a pony learns what their special talent is, their cutie mark becomes a symbol of their skill.” Luna turned, showing Jack the black clouds and crescent moon on her flank.

Jack’s face grew red. “Oh…” Jack wiped the sweat for his brow. “What other creatures can use magic?” Jack’s mind began to drift to the image his horned reflection in his dream.

“ There are some other creatures capable of utilizing magic. Cockatrices have the capability to turn ponies to stone and some dragons have some magic potential. “ A White streak danced behind Luna’s head as she stretched her wings.

“Is there any creature that can… get inside your head… make you act, not yourself.” Jack placed the end of the branch in the flame, the heat drying out the wood and causing it to crackle as it burned.

Luna’s muscles tensed. “Jack…” She looked into his eyes. “There is…was… one being, his name was Discord, element disharmony and…”

“Chaos..” Jack gave Luna a nod and turned his head to a nearby bush. “You know it’s not polite to eavesdrop.” Jack tossed the burning branch into the bush, igniting it.

From the bush, a white robed figure, head wrapped in a blue scarf charged out, drew a large silver dagger and made a beeline for Luna.

Jack reached for his staff…

WHAP!

Jack readied his staff and looked over in confusion. The assassin was ten feet away on his back, hoof-prints on his chest. Princess Luna gave Jack a smirk, “I’ll leave this to you.” She said, opening her wings and taking a perch on top of the barn.

Jack put the staff down and approached the assassin as he got back up. “What are you doing here?” Jack asked. The assassin charged, he held the blade in a reverse-grip and lunged to bury it in Jack’s neck.

Jack stepped in, he caught the Assassin’s wrist and slammed his elbow into the assassin’s stomach.

“AGGGH!” The assailant let out a cry as he wrenched forward.

Jack turned around and threw the man over his shoulder, slamming him into the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust. “Let’s try that again shall we?” Jack took a step back. The assassin started to get up.

SHINK!

“AGGH!” Jack grabbed his shoulder as he felt a small knife fly into it. The assassin ran at Jack and swung.

Jack dodged, ducking under the silver blade; the assassin grabbed Jack by the hair and put the blade to his neck. “Now you die, traitor!”

Jack swung his hips and elbowed the assassin in the ribs. He then grabbed the assassin’s hand and ducked under it, locking his wrist and placing his arm behind his back, forcing him to drop his dagger. “I think this belongs to you.” Jack pulled the throwing knife out of his shoulder and stabbed the assassin in the hand, pinning his hand to his back.

“Now will you cooperaaaa!” Jack tried to question the assassin who responded with a straight from his free hand.

Jack dodged to the man’s outside and grabbed his wrist while striking him in the neck. Jack then brought his armpit down on the assassin’s elbow, locking him in place and placing him under Jack’s control. Jack walked him over to his box and took a seat, bringing the assassin to the ground while keeping a hold of his arm.

Luna floated down from the roof and sat back across from Jack. “What are you doing here?” Luna questioned the captive assailant.

The assassin looked up. “Filthy alicorn, you’ll find out soon enou…”

CRAAAACK!

“AAAAAAGH!” Saliva flew from the assassin’s mouth as he let out a cry.

“That wasn’t very nice…friend. Maybe we should show the lady some more respect.” Jack held the man’s index finger in his hand, the finger was broken straight back, pointing toward his shoulder. He looked up a Jack with hatred in his eyes.

“I shall ask you again, why are you here.” Luna stepped up toward their prisoner.

The man looked at Luna and sighed. “I was sent to eliminate…Princess…Luna, and the traitorous human.” He glanced at Jack.

“How do they know about me?” Jack asked as he grabbed another finger.

“If I’m the only spy you caught, who’s to say there aren’t more of us observing you equine filth.” The man struggled, but could do nothing to escape Jack’s hold.

“What are you planning?” Luna walked closer to the man, her form casting a shadow over him wit the flame’s light

“Oh Wouldn’t you like t…”

CRAAAACK!

“That’s two. Don’t make me get creative.” Jack let go of the man’s now broken middle finger.

“Alright, alright… they’re mounting an assault…they know Luna is here… they plan on taking her out first along with this town, then they’ll make their way up to Canterlot…” The man looked up at Luna. “And take care of your sister.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed. “How many?”

“What?” The man coughed.

“I ASKED YOU HOW MANY MEN YOU HAVE, ATTACKING AND IN RESERVE?!” Luna used the Royal Traditional Canterlot Voice, something that surprise both Jack and the assassin.

“I Shall never betray my…”

CRAAACK!

“If only your bones where as thick as your skull. Anyways, Luna…” Jack released the man’s broken ring finger.

“AAAAAGH! One hundred men! One hundred will invade Ponyville in three days. The rest are in White Mountain 500 strong…. with….King.” The Assassin spat out.

“King? Who’s King.” Jack questioned his captive.

Luna put he hoof on Jack’s shoulder. “He was the first…”

“Huh?” Jack looked at Luna’s solemn expression.

“He was a first attempt a recreating the humans. He was everything we expected, ruthless, unfeeling, calculating. A perfect Knight of Order.” Luna’s translucent man fell in front of her face. “ We made him the leader of the whole army, and he led them like a well oiled machine. They nearly took care of Discord on their own.” Luna lowered her head. “But when the Knights turned, he felt he was entitled to lead them against us, entitled to rule all of Equestria, and so he named himself….King.” Luna look at Jack. “If he told us about King… that is all we are going to get from him.”

Jack understood Luna’s order. He pulled the Assassin closer and grabbed his chin, placing his other hand on the back of his head. “Good Night….Friend.”

SNAP!

Jack stood up as the man’s body went limp. “So… King.”

Luna looked perturbed. “ My creation. Me and Celestia made him, and now… he may be the death of us all.” Luna’s hooves began to tremble, her ears hanging as she stared at the fire. “It’s ironic isn’t it.”

Jack took his staff in his hand as he approached the Princess.

“The very thing that once saved Equestria is now threatening to tear it apart…” Tears grew in Luna’s eyes. “And it’s all my fault.”

“Yeah, probably.” Jack stood in front of her, staff in hand.

“What?!” Luna looked at him with a mixture of confusion and annoyance, with a bit of anger in there for good measure.

“Well, technically it’s half your fault, your sister did half the work…I’d say about sixty-forty.” Jack smirked at her.

“Is this some kind of human attempt at cheering somepony up?” Luna said wiping the tears from her face with her hoof.

“Nope, just the truth. You done goofed. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make things right. It doesn’t mean we can’t make things right.” Jack turned and walked towards the barn.

“You’re right. Thank you Jack, I… wasn’t feeling myself.” Luna shook her man back into place and straightened her posture. “Now, theirs is a lot to do, we should get to…”

“Sleep.” Jack opened the barn door.

“What?! But you heard him, we only have three days!” Luna said, her eyes wide.

“Hey, we can’t have you making executive decisions without a good nights sleep. So…” Jack grabbed the large swinging barn doors and stepped in. “Good night to you.”

Luna sighed. “Right again…I guess.” She sighed and muttered under her breath. “I guess I should head back to Twilight’s.”

The barn door creaked open. “Hey…. There’s room in here… if you’d like.”

Luna smiled and she walked past Jack, who was holding the door open.

“Thank you Ja… wait… are you still bleeding?” Luna looked at the large red spot on Jack’s cloak.

“I believe I am…” Jack said as his knees buckled. He fell to his back, chuckling.

“Humans…” Luna said as she dragged him off into a corner, wrapping his shoulder in his cloak with her magic.

“Thanks…” Jack’s head fell back, a goofy smile on his face.

Comments

[Ricardo Nixon]

Sorry for the long wait Everypony, I was being a lazy buttman. Tell me how you like this and I'll try to get the next chapter out soon.

[jmlop0]

290317........I am sensing that a plot twist will come soon......and also please dont kill Celestia!...she is best pony :PAlso Keep up the good work!

[Seeker]

Well there is not much that Seeker can say. But Seeker will keep an eye on this, please do continue.

[Pinkie Fox]

Eating a balanced breakfast is the first step in a healthy, active day.

[Pinkie Fox]

I moustache you a question but i'll shave it for later

[adamdwarf]

you done goofed? I BACK TRACED IT!

[Blade tormentor]

Man is this story dead or what when are you going to update if you ever do it's not please let us know so we can just give up with waiting