The King's War

by Priceless911

Ch6 "Check"

King Harpy watched as his teacher made his move then spoke, “Rook to Pawn three, Check!”
With no hesitation, the king made his move, “Nice try, Knight to rook three... and I believe your rook is no longer a problem.”
The cocky little griffin’s smile faded when the teacher made his next move, “Queen to Knight… Checkmate, your majesty!”
The cub looked at his teacher and yelled, “YOU’RE CHEATING! AREN’T YOU!?!”
The nervous teacher replied, “Your majesty, you’re too hasty with your moves, and thereby predictable. It’s easy to make a strategy with a predictable opponent, which is why I won. You need to start thinking about your actions before they are made.”
the king tried to argue, “Actions! You blindly placed your rook in the line of fire just to see him die!”
“Sometimes one must be sacrificed to change the outcome of the game. That’s another rule.”

The cub continued to argue, “Rules, Rules, Rules! Is that all you have to say about this!... I want a do over! Let me change my move!”
The teacher sighed, “Your majesty, it’s not as sim…”
“JUST DO IT!!! THAT’S AN ORDER!!!”
The teacher took his and the kings last moves back then replied, “Yes your majesty, what would you like to do instead of the last move? Need I remind you my rook has you in check.”
the king thought to himself then moved his king to the side, “There, that’s what I meant to do the first time.”
The teacher sighed then moved his queen in front of the king, “Checkmate!”
The teacher then looked up to the unamused expression that the griffin king was showing, “Um… do over, your majesty?”
The annoyed king then lifted his talon and slapped the chessboard from the table sending both the board and all its pieces flying across the room, “No… I want to play something else.”

Just then the chamber doors flew open as Commander Mist came storming in, “YOUR MAJESTY!”
King Harpy looked at Commander Mist and smiled, “Well if it isn’t my little pony commander, you have a lot of nerve barging in here unannounced , but since you showed a lot of courage in doing so I'll overlook it… for now.”
Commander Mist made his way across the throne room, as he did he spotted the king chess piece on the floor in his path, so he deliberately stepped on it, crushing it, as he approached the throne, “Can you explain to me why you have imprisoned two of my finest soldiers?”
The king smiled, “I'm only doing what’s best for my kingdom.”
“What’s best!?! What are you talking about?”
The king was handed a note from his colonel then spoke, “I have reason to believe that you and a number of your soldiers are in cahoots with the enemy army. And since I have no real proof pertaining you to this… I decided to imprison your best and brightest instead.”

Commander Mist didn’t understand, “In cahoots? How do you think we are teamed up with the enemy?
The king looked at the note in his talon and spoke, “Commander is it true that while you were in Trottingham, you were given a note by an unidentified griffin with instruction on delivering it to Javelin Falls?”
Commander Mist replied, “Yea… it was a note from the mayor’s wife. She wanted me to deliver it to him.”
The king smiled, “Were you aware that the mayor of Javelin Falls has no wife?”
Commander Mist replied, “No… I was unaware of that…”
“And did you know that the note contained information about your soldier count. To include your mission details?”

Commander Mist felt nervous now but he continued to hide it as he replied, “No… I didn’t.”
The king continued, “So you thought to just trust the words of a simple peasant griffin, without even reading the note at all?”
Commander Mist looked at the ground in thought as he replied, “Yes… I just assu…”
“I will give you points for honesty and mercy for those less fortunate… however I can only call you a fool for delivering that note. Luckily, since it was your army’s information and not mine, I'll over look your ignorance. But witnesses say that before last night’s incident, you were seen speaking with the suspect prior to the discovery of the my guards corpse. Can you explain that to me?”
Commander Mist replied, “The mare hid her identity from me until moments before the body was discovered.”

The king replied, “So I'm simply to believe that you two talked for a period of time together without an introduction of each other’s names?”
Commander Mist confidently replied, “She didn’t introduce herself until after she asked about me. and to make matters worse… she already knew my name.”
“So, she knew who you were at the start?”
“No… she only heard my name after I told her what it was, but she was familiar with it.”
King Harpy shook his head, “Giving away more information about your army commander? it’s a surprise you’ve yet to lose any soldiers.”
Commander Mist took a step forward and spoke, “Being a king of noble birth, you know very well that in a formal greeting, the male must introduce himself first unless the female is introduced by another male… or have you gotten that far in your teachings yet… Your majesty.”

The king didn’t want to admit he didn’t know that so he nervously replied, “Of course I did… I… um… merely forgot… um… due to my excessive schedule… fine I'll let that go as well. but then maybe you can explain my last bit of information.”
Commander Mist knew that he had nothing to hide so he replied, “Perhaps… can I hear it?”
The cocky cub spoke, “During last night’s confrontation, do you know the casualty count I sustained from this single mare? To include the body found at the ball I had, Two cut throats, two decapitations, and one who lost his wing and will never fly again. yet I find it hard to believe that all your soldiers sustained were one unconscious stallion and a number of bumps and bruises.”
Commander Mist sighed, “Soooo….”
The king replied with an annoyed tone, “It’s my understanding that nature has always followed the rule survival of the fittest. The stronger will always win over the weak, yet not only did your weaker ponies survive against a mare of all creatures. But they survived and didn’t even capture her during this whole ordeal!”

Commander Mist shook his head, “So… let me get this right… you’re imprisoning my soldiers, for… being better than yours?”
“My griffins are stronger than your ponies will ever be. The fact that four are dead when none of yours were killed only tells me that you two made a deal and are my enemies!”
Commander Mist replied, “Your majesty, what I told you the day we arrived was that these ponies are the best Equestria has to offer. I’d expect my best to survive something like this… in fact I'm relieved they only got cuts and bruises out of this. But you realize you have no solid evidence that says we are your enemies, so you can’t hold my solders like this.”
King Harpy stood up from his throne and spoke, “I can and I will. As king of the Griffin Kingdoms, my word is law. So if I want to hold your ponies in my cell then so be it!”
Commander Mist sighed, “Well then your majesty, as commander of the equestrian royal guards I'll have no choice to see this as an act of war on Equestria. to hold the Princesses’ soldiers for no reason is hazardous to not only our mission… but our kingdoms defense. If you chose to declare war on Equestrian then you’re on the right course.”

The king got irritated, “Y-you can’t do that?...”
Commander Mist smiled, “Actually your majesty… I can… and I will.”
the king tried to outsmart Commander Mist, “Look where you are pony! I could imprison you too and prevent this from hap…”
“Hardly… My Princess raises the moon at night and watches over our dreams. Last night I reported our situation to her with great detail, and tonight she will be expecting a follow up. You could kill me now but with last night’s report, she would carry out my choice and mobilize our soldiers. Not to mention make contact with the rebel faction and make a deal for them to support us in your betrayal. All I can say your majesty is that you should never underestimate Equestria.”
The king sneered at Commander Mist as his teacher spoke to him quietly, “Sire, the war against The Cutters and the rebels is bad enough on our soldiers moral. Facing Equestria too, will only make matters worse.”

The King turned to his teacher and yelled, “THEN WHAT SHOULD I DO!?!”
“RELEASE MY SOLDERS!”
The nervous cub looked back at Commander Mist, “What?”
“If you release my solders then I'll prove to you that we aren’t traitors… on the battlefield.”
The king thought to himself then replied, “Fine… since there isn’t any real evidence suggesting treason, I'll allow your soldiers to go free… for now.”
knowing he had won, Commander Mist nodded his head and replied, “Thank you’re your majesty, you won’t regret this.”
“I should hope not… now be gone! I'm tired of looking at your ugly pony face!”
Commander Mist bowed in respect then turned around and left the throne room. After he was gone, the king looked over at his guard and asked, “Orem? Where has the enemy been sighted last?”
The colonel replied, “The rebel forces were last seen in the Hollowed Mountains, moving east towards the Kestrel. It is believed that they will attack that fortress next.”

The griffin King nodded his head, “When you release those ponies, let their commander know that I want them to move to that city in the morning.”
The griffin teacher spoke, “Sire? Why send them there?”
King Harpy replied, “This is Just like Chess. If that pony wants to put me in check then I'll just move him elsewhere. If his army is really as strong as he says then he will greatly benefit our forces that are already there.”
“And… if they aren’t?”
King Harpy smiled, “Sometimes one must be sacrificed to change the outcome. That’s another rule of this game. Right?”

Back in the tower, Major Bolt sat in the cell right next to Sergeant Major Storm. As they sat there Storm was telling stories, “And that’s when she took her first steps… it was adorable.”
Major Bolt sighed, “Ok, First of all Every pony can walk when we are first born, it’s a little known fact… Second, if you tell one more story about your daughter. I'm going to seriously hurt you.”
Storm shrugged his shoulders, “You know looking at these bars makes me think of the crib I made for her using some rare bronze ore I found on Dragon Mountain.”
Major Bolt sighed as Commander Mist trotted up to the cell, “Well I see you two are having a blast.”
Major Bolt looked at him through the bars and replied, “Oh thank Celestia you’re finally here. Please tell me they are going to let us go… or at least tell me they will execute me first. I can’t bear to listen to another story.”

Commander Mist laughed, “Oh come on sparky, it could always be worse.”
“Really… how?”
“He could have two foals.”
“Okay… that’s enough tell me commander, what’s the news?”
Commander Mist replied, “Well they are going to let you go for now, but you need to be more careful with your actions. The king thinks we are working for the rebels.”
Major Bolt shook his head, “Typical… I’d guess as much from a cub.”
Commander Mist replied, “Either way, we need to continue with caution. Not only with the king, but the cutters as well.”

At that moment the griffin colonel entered the room and tossed the keys at Commander Mist, “Here, take it and let your soldiers free yourself. The king has orders for you to march in the morning to the city of Kestrel. A little advice commander, Don’t disappoint him.”
Commander Mist nodded his head, “Don’t worry about that, we will move out on time.”
Commander Mist picked up the keys with his magic and started to unlock the cells, as the colonel stopped on his way out, “Oh, and commander? that was a clever trick you played on his majesty. to be honest… I can’t wait to see what you and the rest of your soldiers have up your sleeves.”
Commander Mist felt a little confused as he opened the cell doors with is magic, “Um… okay.”

As the colonel left the tower Sergeant Major Storm left his cell and spoke, “That was odd, what was all that about commander?
Commander Mist smiled, “I'll tell you about it later.”
Storm shrugged his shoulders, “Anyway I'm going to investigate the place we fought Blade in last night.”
Commander Mist replied, “Really? Why?”
“That weapon… I'm curious about it. I’ve never studied anything like it before and I’d like to learn all I can about it… it actually might lead to finding out about our enemy.”
Commander Mist nodded, “That’s fine, if you find out anything please let me know. Sparky? What will you do?”
Major Bolt sighed, “I'll stick around here for a little while longer, this happens to be my quarters anyway and my bag is already in here, so there isn’t really much point in me leaving, now is there?”
Commander Mist smiled, “True, but I’d suggest looking into this also. We need to know more about the Cutters if we are going to survive this, not to mention we still know nothing about their contractor.”
Major Bolt left his cell and replied, “No I'm fine.”
Storm spoke as he started down the staircase, “Suit yourself.”

As soon as Storm left, the room Major Bolt looked at Commander Mist and spoke “So… what was she like?”
Commander Mist paused as he was about to follow Storm, “What? what do you mean by that?”
Major Bolt smiled, “Come on commander. I watched you two talking for a few minutes and all I could see was the nervous stallion who was talking to a mare that he thought was attractive. so I have to ask, did she seem nice?”
Commander Mist gave him a blank stare, “Are you forgetting the fact that she tried to kill you? or did she hit you really hard in the head?”
Major Bolt smiled, “Dodge the question all you want commander, but I know for a fact that I saw a spark between you two.”
Commander Mist sighed, “Okay I’m stallion enough to admit that I was attracted. But that was before I realized who she was. There was sort of a familiar charm to her, wasn’t there?”
Major Bolt smiled, “Yea, she’s beautiful, skilled, and has an urge to remove my head… she has you, written all over her.”
“But remember who she is… She is our enemy, and no matter what, the next time you or I see her we will kill her if we get the chance.”

Major Bolt shook his head, “That’s one tough chance to get.”
Commander Mist replied, “Really… she was that skilled?”
Major Bolt nodded his head, “She was, the maneuvers she made while flying through the street were nearly impossible.”
“Really? But you kept up with her pretty well.”
“I only mimicked her actions, I wouldn’t have done so well if I wasn’t watching how she was maneuvering. On a normal day, I would never attempt something like the moves she was pulling. Think about it, the carriages were moving toward us at a basic speed while we were flying at almost ten times that speed. The fact that I only bruised my wing when I clipped that rickshaw was lucky. I’m surprised I didn’t break it.”

Commander Mist thought to himself then replied, “So… she is a real pro then.”
“Yea… and her fighting is also skilled, the fact that I survived this whole incident is nothing short of Luna’s blessing.”
Commander Mist nodded head then spoke as he went down the staircase, “I'll keep that in mind, how is you wing by the way?”
Major Bolt innocently replied, “Oh… uh… its fine, a little swollen but fine.”
do you need to see the medic?”
“No its fine sire, I just need to give it a rest for the rest of the day.”
Commander Mist looked at Major Bolts swollen wing then replied, “Well… Okay, get your rest and be ready to move out In the morning then. I don’t want to disappoint the so-called king.

Back in the alley, Sergeant Major Storm stood studying the gash markings on both walls of the narrow alley, then he looked carefully at the way they were placed, “The blades are thin… almost razor like at their edge. But where have I seen this before?”
Commander Mist approached him and asked, “So Storm, what do you make of these markings?”
Storm turned back and replied, “Well she hid the weapons in a crate in the center of the alley which was why we didn’t see them at the ball. Also I’ve confirmed that the weapon was actually attached to her wings instead of controlled by them.”
Commander Mist asked, “Really? How do you know that?”

Storm trotted to the center of the alleyway between the two cut marks on each side then opened his wings placing then against both walls, just above the gashes. “She is a little shorter than me, but you get the idea. She must have been charging at me with both wings out when these gashed were made. And take a look at this.”
Storm led Commander Mist to another gash further in the center of the alley that was shaped like an X with bloodstains on it, “The first griffin who chased her into this alley died with a cut throat while the second was decapitated.”
Commander Mist replied, “So… one mark per.”
“Wrong, The first was killed in the center of the alley, while this mark was made when she killed the second, you can tell because both slashes came from opposite sides, so she used her blades in a scissor motion. But to completely remove the head from a griffin, would take a lot of weight behind those blades, which will also explain how she used it as a shield when she escaped. But if her movements in swinging the blades were as fast as Major Bolt says, then she has a lot of muscle in her wings.”
“Or she has completely mastered her flying.”
“True, to a pegasus, their ability to fly will rely on how strong your wings are, but that’s not all. I’ve seen this weapon before… I wish I could remember where.”
Commander Mist looked at the sun as it began to set over the horizon and replied, “Well let’s just get thing ready to move out in the morning. I'll make my report to Princess Luna and then we can deal with this issue later.”

Miles away on a hill outside the city of Kestrel, Traipse stood looking over the city from a distance as a lone griffin approached him from behind, “MERCENARY!!!”
Traipse continued looking at the city as he sighed, then replied, “Yes general… what do you want?”
“Security in Gryphus has increased! I’ve yet to hear anything from my spies! The news around that is that your partner made her way in and disrupted the royal war ball!”
Traipse turned his head and looked at the general out the corner of his eye and replied, “Yea… and?”
The general replied, “If your partner was that close to the king… then why didn’t she kill him?”
Traipse shook his head as he replied, “For two reasons, one she was there on her own time… not yours. and two, We are not going to end your war. unless you can gather the courage to fight him yourself, we will only provide support.”
“Then what am I paying you for!?!”

Traipse turned around and glared at the griffin, “You have not paid us a single gem! Your costs are getting higher and higher with each passing day, and I'm starting to wonder if we will ever see any payment from you.”
The griffin sighed, “I told you before, when this war ends you will get your money it’s only a matter of ti…”
the griffin froze, as he felt the cold steel of a blade across his throat. With a numbing fear, he slowly shifted his eyes to see where the blade was coming from. Blade stood next to the griffin with anger in her eyes, as she spoke, “You… hired us… you will pay. Am I understood? Because if you don’t then we will take what we are owed, through your flesh.”
“W-what?”
Traipse explained, “You heard the stories, haven’t you? the last contractor who refused to pay, is still alive… but it’s hard to consider yourself alive when both your eyes are removed… and all he owed us was a simple assassination fee. Considering what you owe so far… it will be difficult to keep you alive from bleeding to death from what we will take.”
Blade smiled as she added, “A beak… both wings… maybe even one other limb. Regardless of which, you will remember who you hired… and to be honest, if the boss where hear then we would be a lot worse on you.”

The griffin nervously replied, “Y-you will get your money mercenaries… this I promise.”
Traipse smiled as he looked at Blade and gave her a nod, “That’s what I expect.”
Blade slowly lowered her weapon and closed her wing as she spoke, “So… what’s your next order, general?”
The general started rubbing the place on his neck where the blade sat as he replied, “I'm awaiting the arrival of support from the western portion of the kingdom. In a few days they will arrive here, but by the time they do, I want you to assassinate the commanding griffin in Kestrel. With him dead, the city will fall quickly.”
Blade turned and trotted away as she replied, “Consider him dead.”
As Blade trotted away and out of sight, Traipse replied to the griffin’s order, “Now that that’s settled, what do you want?”

The griffin general felt a little awkward as he replied, “Well, I was considering something, would you lower my costs if I were to assign you some soldiers?”
Traipse turned back towards the city and replied, “Yes… but I'll warn you, I won’t be held responsible if any of them were to fall.”
the general couldn’t help but feel worried with that reply, but he knew that with a soldier like Traipse leading his troops, victory would be guaranteed, so he only replied, “That sounds reasonable enough… just let me know when you finish your current task, and I'll notify you when we begin our assault.”
Traipse replied, “Fine… then go.”
The griffin general knew that he was being disrespected, but knowing that Traipse had a short temper, he didn’t want to say anything to put himself in danger so he turned and left Traipse alone without replying to the comment. After the griffin general was gone, Traipse mumbled to himself, “That griffin… I'm not so confident that he will be paying us at all. However, I can’t miss this chance to see Mist again, now I can settle old ties.”

That night Commander Mist found himself standing in the ballroom, as he looked around he could hear the music, but he could see no band. Commander Mist used his magic to hold his spear at the ready, as he looked around the room. He knew that the song was being sung by Blade, but he couldn’t see her anywhere, and the shadows made it difficult to even tell if anypony was there or not. As Commander Mist continued looking around, he heard a voice come from behind, “Commander?”
Mist immediately turned and set his spear flying towards the voice. As Commander Mist realized who was speaking, he quickly stopped his spear less than an inch from hitting Princess Luna in her face. Commander Mist nervously dropped his spear in front of her and bowed, “Y-your majesty… please forgive me… I… I didn’t know I…”

Princess Luna smiled, “That’s quite alright commander… I understand your anxiety. Remember I was part of the fall of the Crystal Empire too. Traipse wants to settle things with me just like you.”
Commander Mist nodded his head, “Yes… luckily you and Princess Celestia are safely in Equestria and are uninvolved here.”
Princess Luna used her magic to pick up the spear and gave it back to Commander Mist as she replied, “Don’t get us wrong commander, this is why I’ve been checking up on you in your dreams every night. So is there any further news to report? What’s the status on Major Bolt and Sergeant Major Storm?”
Commander Mist grabbed his spear and replied, “Freed, the king thought he could blame us for supporting the rebel army, but he was not only mistaken, but I was able to call him on every bit of evidence he had, plus add a little threat of my own.”

Princess Luna gave Commander Mist a disappointed look, “Now commander… please don’t cause any trouble with the griffin king. We need to maintain our alliance to avoid future conflicts.”
Commander Mist nodded his head, “Understood, I merely pointed out that it’s not wise to jump to conclusions without looking at the facts first. For a king with much to learn… it was a good lesson.”
Princess Luna continued listening as she started trotting around the ball room, “So what about the cutters, anything new to report on them?”
“Well we discovered how the member who calls herself Blade was able to fly so well, it was her weapon. it’s some kind of assortments of blades and plates that attach to her wings and weigh her down a bit. We suspect that continuous training in both flight and fighting with this weapon can lead to advanced flying abilities and well as deadly speed. Also, the king has ordered us to go to Kestrel to guard that city.”

Princess Luna nodded her head, “Can I ask you something… Personal?”
Commander Mist nodded his head, “Yes your majesty, what is it you would like to know?”
This mercenary named Blade… do you have, feelings for her?”
Commander Mist felt a little awkward as he replied, “Well… I admit I did when I first saw and spoke to her… but after finding out who she was, that quickly changed my opinion of her. Why do you ask?”
Princess Luna continued looking through the ball room as she replied, “This dream… your anxiety, dreams like this usually come for only two reasons, fear of death, or fear of love. You’re either afraid that she will kill you, or you’re afraid she will reject you.”

Commander Mist quickly replied before princess Luna could jump to conclusion, “She is a mercenary of the cutters, of course I'm worried she will kill me. that’s it your majesty, nothing more.”
Princess Luna looked back at Commander Mist and smiled as she replied, “Alright then, just please don’t let this fear cloud your judgment. We aren’t facing ponies who are so easy to reason with. Should… should I speak with Traipse?”
“NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! You know what he said last time, if you enter his dreams again, then he will carry out his words and try to assassinate you. I can’t let you put yourself at such risk. And to be safe I would highly suggest you avoid going into Blade’s dreams too.”
Princess Luna smiled at Commander Mist’s concern and nodded her head, “I understand, I will do as you request and leave this matter to you. please just keep yourself safe, commander.”
Commander Mist smiled, “Don’t worry Princess, both Bolt and I will return without any harm.”

Princess Luna turned around to trot away as she replied, “Then I'll see you again on the next night, by the way… how is Major Bolt progressing?”
Commander Mist sighed, “He has gotten better control of his temper… but he has yet to see real battle. And… he froze.”
“Froze?”
“He had Blade right in his sight… he had the element of surprise on his side. But he didn’t use the Lighting Orb.”
Princess Luna turned back to Commander Mist, “Why do you think this is?”
Commander Mist replied, “I'm worried that he may have been too afraid to use it. anypony can hide fear when terrified, but to overcome it is a completely different story. And to make it worse, he won’t be able to hide it when he has to face more than just one pony. But we won’t know for sure until he sees it for himself.”

Princess Luna thought to herself for a second then replied, “When that happens, I want you to guide him commander. but don’t put yourself in further risk than you need to. If something happens that you can’t prevent, I want you to save yourself first.”
Knowing what Princess Luna was saying, Commander Mist nodded his head and replied, “Of course your majesty.”
Princess Luna smiled and replied, “Then I wish you a good morning commander.”
And with that said, Commander Mist opened his eyes to find that it was morning.