Prologue - Gateway to Forever
Hammer picked himself up, dusting himself off as he looked around. Pumpjack and Hermes nodded at him as they crawled along the ground, passing by the tombstones of their fellow Airtseuqe ponies. He sighed as he stopped to let an Equestrian patrol pass. He looked back, waving at ponies behind him following closely. Five departed to catch the patrol, muffled struggling and shouts replaced by the quiet.
“We're close. She's in there,” Hammer stated silently. He looked quickly around before standing up and moving forwards. Hermes stayed with Pumpjack, a long scar running down his face from an Equestrian spear. Around his neck hung three dog tags from three dead friends: Scooter, Beanstalk, and Deepwood.
“Hermes, stay close. We have foals and fillies we can't let the Equestrians get a hold on,” Pumpjack whispered. She adjusted her armor as Hermes nodded silently. Ever since the spear had sliced his face, he had never spoken a word of that day, or what happened. Pumpjack sighed and looked behind her, the children barely keeping silent as the tears slid down their muzzles.
Hammer stood a bit off, leaning up against the wall with a dagger in hoof as he frowned. The mare inside the small hut he stood by was once his friend, but she, along with the rest of the Equestrians, had turned on them suddenly as they had returned to cheers.
No pony knew who started the first battle, but they all knew what happened when the Airtseuqe Armed Forces intervened to keep the peace. One pony, presumably an Equestrian noble, had risen up and cast down the diarchy of Equestria, instead prefering to rule it as he saw fit. Calling himself their new ruler, he had made it mandatory for anypony involved in defense to submit to new 'training,' though every free pony knew what that meant. Magic was never meant to be used for it, but the Elements of Harmony had been subjugated without their knowledge, their minds and bodies twisted to serve the tyrant's wishes.
He had been on the frontlines as Airtseuqe's citizens took on the name Outcasts to show they were never going to back down, training new soldiers to replace those dying in the war. The diarchy's disappearance during the first battle ten years afore was the tipping point, as without the princesses, the tyrant could do whatever he wished. Rumours surfaced of him turning the mares of Airtseuqe that were captured into his indentured slaves of pleasure, living a life of high luxury while his citizens suffered in squalor.
Hammer snapped back to the present and stared into the window to see his former friend, Twilight Sparkle, snapping the neck of an Airtseuqe soldier.
“May you find peace in the afterlife.” Her neck jerked towards the window that Hammer found himself hiding below, his little prayer almost blowing his cover. He set his jaw, looking up and over the window sill once more. This had been the seventh Twilight Sparkle he had to kill, the tyrant's own research advancing quickly after he had made peace with the Changeling Hordes.
“Once I get rid of those pesky soldiers, I can finally go back to writing letters to Celestia! Just have to do what Blueblood says-” She turned to a dagger embedding itself in her forehead, just below the horn. Hammer frowned as he readjusted his leather armor, clambering in the window. The form shifted once more to the form of yet another Changeling, the green blood pooling at his hooves. Shuffling through the papers on the desk, he withdrew plans for a massive engagement, one which would end every pony he knew. He sighed, stuffing the plans into a satchel on his side. Something else caught his eye, a mention of some kind of mirror. Taking a closer look, he smiled as the information unfolded in front of him.
“A way off this world! We have a way to escape!” As he turned around, he was met with a spear pointed at his face, an Equestrian soldier snarling at him as he stood still.
“Come with me, Airtseuqe scum, if you know what's good for you.”
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Hammer was shoved down into an uncomfortable bowing position, looking to his side as Pumpjack and Hermes were forced to do the same. Sounds of magic in the background were all he needed to hear to know what fate befell the others that had been with them. Parading in front of them, the tyrant Blueblood smiled with that sun-damned smile of his, the pearly whites a mockery of everything else that happened in the ten years since the first engagement.
“The last three Outcasts. Normally, I would like to send you to work yourselves to death, but you deserve a special death. My chief magical advisor, Twilight Sparkle, tells me that this mirror would be an appropriate end for you three, being torn apart by the sheer force of magic itself,” Blueblood stated. He was smug in his victory as Twilight Sparkle was brought forth. A ring crackling with black lightning covered her horn, a thick iron collar covering her neck as she was forced to bow. Hammer growled as he tried to force himself up, being shoved down as he tried.
“What did you do to her, Blueblood?!” Hammer shouted.
“I merely restricted her magic. Such a travesty, but control must be maintained. This world will burn to ashes before I rescind control, or ever disclose what really happened to the diarchy of Equestria,” he laughed as he trotted in triumph in front of them. Hammer frowned in concern as he looked on at Twilight Sparkle. She managed a weak smile as she looked on.
“The reports of the Elements of Harmony... they're greatly exaggerated, aren't they?” Hammer's statement caused Blueblood to stop and pause, staring back at him.
“Well, they were too much of a threat to simply... 're-educate' in the ways of proper servitude. They simply reside where they are no longer able to resist,” Blueblood laughed. Twilight winked quickly at Hammer, jerking her head towards the portal. Almost as if some ponies were prepared, the spears were removed from their necks, instead being turned on their fellow guards as Hammer and his friends stood. With a leap, Hammer moved quickly towards the portal, Pumpjack and Hermes following suit as Blueblood stared at them. Twilight limped after them, only to get caught by Equestrian soldiers under Blueblood's orders. With a flash, Pumpjack and Hermes were through the gateway, leaving Hammer standing on the precipice. He turned, facing an angry Blueblood.
“You know, right now, this would be a good time to gloat on my part,” he laughed. Just before he jumped in, Blueblood slashed him across the side with a spear, growling as Hammer disappeared.
“I hope you die, you scum!”