Shattered love

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It was winter, white snow covered both the earth and the horizon. A winter that has lasted maybe nine or ten years, maybe even more, everyone had stopped counting. On top of a hill, a small city was built virtually in the middle of nowhere. Tall stone walls covered the perimeter of the city, with watch posts where the guards patrolled the surroundings. The houses were also built with stone with roofs made of hay decorated with chimneys that never expelled smoke. In the far north of the city, there was a humble stone castle with a fairly simple design, a squared castle keep in the center and four towers in each corner and another in the center. The center tower is known as the 'Lord’s Tower', where the lord of the castle, his wife and his daughter had their bedchambers.

Inside the daughter's bedchamber, a white unicorn mare combed the hair of her daughter, both unicorns with a pure white coat and silver mane and tail with a violet stripe. The mother's two crimson eyes watched at the young unicorn's smile through the reflection of a large mirror, and the young one with deep purple eyes contemplating the beautiful wavy long mane of her mother, so different from hers, which was straight and short.

"Mommy, mommy! Tell me more about the Spring again," said the young unicorn, "tell me about the flowers, and the birds!"

"Ahhh... it was beautiful, honey. The skies were bright blue and the fields were green, with flowers of all kinds of colors, yellow, blue, white, any color you can think of. And all the birds performed a wonderful symphony every morning. The sun was bright and warm, and it illuminated the critters that roamed through the prairies."

"I would love to see Spring one day, at least for a minute. I'm tired of this cold and all the white! Even my coat had to be white!"

"Lady Starlight," a pale blue earth pony knocked on the door, the mare gently came in and bowed to both unicorns, "excuse me, the hot water is now ready."

"Hot water?!" the filly jumped in surprise, "mom! How could you betray me like this?! I thought we were friends! I am your only daughter?!"

"Now, now, honey, don't be dramatic. I will tell you about Summer if you promise to quietly take this shower."

The young unicorn gasped upon being blackmailed with terms that she could not possibly refuse, she sighed and surrendered to her mother's demands, leaving the room excited about the tale, but not about the shower. Both mares giggled and the earth pony proceed to leave the room, when the door was abruptly opened. A tall and strong brown unicorn stood in front of her, he was wearing a silver crown decorated with amethysts and sapphires. His narrowed eyes were purple like his daughter's and his mane was fiery red, thick black eyebrows and a bulky beard covered his mouth.

"MOVE," his strong voice commanded with a menacing tone, the mare bowed to him and stepped away without even bothering to raise her head again.

"Now leave! Go dig some holes or whatever your kind does," commanded the unicorn stallion again, and the mare instantly left the room, fearing for her life.

"Lancer!" yelled the female unicorn, "that is not the way! How dare you treat her like that!?"

"I treat them how I see them!" responded Lancer, not a sign of regret in his face.

"She did nothing wrong! She has done an excellent job so far!"

"Being born without a horn is all the wrong she could possibly do!"

"There is nothing wrong in not having a horn! What kind of example are you giving to our daughter?"

"That's exactly why I'm here! Where is Platinum? Tomorrow she will learn how to rule the land, and we'll find him a strong unicorn to be her couple!"

"It's not your place to teach her that! It's mine! And the only thing that's going to couple is my hind right hoof with your tail!"

After the shower, the young filly could hear her parents still arguing, the mare was yelling blue, and the stallion insisted on green, “they never agree on anything, but they still love each other,” she giggled.

Quiet as a mouse, the princess sneaked down the dark brown wooden staircase that snaked its way through the tower. When she got close to the ground floor, she carefully peeked around the cold stone curve of the tower's inner wall. There she saw the lone guard. He yawned and looked around. Platinum aimed her horn at a window further down the hall, then she cast a simple spell. The seldom used window to creaked open.

Platinum stifled a giggle as the guard's ears swiveled at the sound. Then he trotted down the hall with a tired sigh.

All the guards fell for the same trick, she advanced quickly and nimbly, like a cat. She hid from the last guard around the corner of the corridor, she covered her ear with her hoof, made a serious look and feigned a grave, raspy voice, "Otacolt, I've located the target, but there's a guard blocking my way," she chuckled, and with her magic, she turned off a candle that was lighting the corridor. The confused guard was too busy lighting the candle again to notice the filly that silently sneaked in the door he was supposed to patrol.

It was dark inside the room, yet again she used her telekinetic spell to open a cabinet, and grab a small bottle with a label that had the word sugar written on it. Suddenly, someone touched her back, she was spotted by the blue mare, "my young lady! Don't tell me you are the sugar thief!" she gasped in surprise. The young unicorn grinned nervously and returned the sugar back to its place.

"Please, young lady, return to bed, I'll be in trouble if your parents find out about this," the mare tried to command, but it sounded more like begging.

"It's fine, Cerulean," said Starlight as she came inside the kitchen and lighted the room with a spell, surprising the earth pony and her daughter.

"My lady!" the earth pony bowed down, very scared, "I'm... I'm very sorry, I was careless for just one second, and... and," she tried to explain, but she was stopped by Platinum's mother by just raising her hoof.

"It's not your fault," the unicorn was very calm, "Platinum, you have caused much trouble to Cerulean. She was the one who paid the price for your little mischief. As punishment, your father commanded that her bed must be taken from her, and now she sleeps on the floor every night. You should apologize to her."

"I'm sorry, Cerulean," the young filly frowned in regret.

"Don't worry about it, young lady," said the earth pony who was touched by the young unicorn's sincere apology, she bowed to Starlight in gratitude, and left the kitchen with a satisfied smile while Starlight took her daughter back to her bedroom.

"Honey, this is not how a princess must behave," Starlight talked to her daughter and put her on the bed, "never, ever, let anyone suffer because of your selfishness."

"Am I a bad princess?" Platinum looked down, feeling awful for the poor earth pony, but she suddenly began to laugh because of her mother was using her horn to playfully tickle the belly of the young filly. Platinum began to kick the air trying to escape, and breathing in between giggles.

"At that very moment you were," responded Starlight once she was done with playing with Platinum, "but you suddenly turned into a good one when you apologized. Let me tell you something about Summer. Summer was the warmest season of the year, it was so warm and so sunny, that it would make you miss the cold nights of the winter."

"I don't think so, I'd be happy if all this boring snow goes away and never comes back!"

"But during summer, there were also rainy days, where tiny drops of water fell from the clouds."

"Like the snow?" Platinum lifted a brow and tilted her head to the side.

"Yes, that's right, but it's a bit different. Rainy days were often boring and sad, because we couldn't go out to play, and the ground turned into mud being hit with a mud ball is not as fun as being hit with a snowball, you know? Anyway, right after the rainy days, the sun came out, and it illuminated the traces of water left by the rain, forming a beautiful arch made of different colors, it was called a ‘Rainbow’. When your father found out about the sugar thief, he believed Cerulean was the thief. She tried to defend herself, but no one believed her because she was an earth pony, that was a rainy moment for Cerulean. But thanks to your apology, you made the Rainbow in her life appear. Honey, sometimes your actions can make others sad, but they can also make others happy."

"Like the sunny days and rainy days of summer!"

"Exactly, honey! And just like in summer, even if it can make others sad, rainy days are also necessary. You can't always make everyone happy, sometimes you have to take the hard decision of making others sad, as long as it is for the greater good."

"How will I know when to give rainbows or when to give rain, mommy?"

"That is something you must learn on your own. Sometimes you'll make mistakes, and when that happens, make sure you apologize. Just like I must do now. I'm sorry, honey, but you have to dream, it's sleeping spell time for you."

"No! Don't use that spell on me! I hate it! It makes me… sleepy," said Platinum, as she hid under the sheets while Lady Starlight aimed her horn on her. The mother giggled and cast the spell, and her daughter fell asleep under the sheets while her snores made the sound of an erupting volcano.

‘That snore... at least it doesn't sound as bad as her singing,’ mumbled the unicorn, and quietly left her daughter's bedroom.

Princess Platinum calmly woke up, she stretched her hooves while a long yawn escaped from her mouth. Then raised from her bed and looked herself through the mirror, her mane was wavy and tousled, ‘my mane is everywhere just like my mother's, not as pretty though,’ she giggled and cast a telekinesis spell on a pink comb and began to fix her mane. The door to her room opened with a slam, and his father came inside, his serious face quickly changed into a happy smile upon crossing stares with his beautiful daughter.

"Platinum," his strong voice called, "today you will accompany your father to attend the kingdom."

"You? But what about mommy?" asked the filly, tilting her head.

"She is busy, right now," explained Lancer, the trace of a smile found in his face.

On the northeast tower of the castle, Lady Starlight was seated on a desk receiving pillars of documents containing the reports from the guards of the watch posts and the intel gathered from the explorer unit. All documents informed always the same: the weather was snowy and no signs of invaders. ‘No big news, you'll pay for this, Lancer,’ thought the unicorn as she signed the documents as if she was trying to tear the paper with the feather she was using.

Meanwhile, Platinum walked among the businesses of a very active market alongside her father. They walked on a long street that went from the castle’s main door to the city’s entrance, interrupted only by the main square where the statue of her father stood strong.

The townsfolk consisted almost of only unicorns, they all bowed in respect, "your majesty," they called as the king unicorn walked proudly among them. The other inhabitants were earth ponies, who also bowed, but they tried to stay as far as possible from them.

Anywhere she looked, some earth ponies used shovels to clean the snow away from the rooftops and streets. Some others used their own bodies to pull wagons and carriages filled with heavy looking boxes, as unicorns kept yelling at them and abusing them. And the unluckiest ones had no job at all, they sit still in alleyways trying to endure the cold.

"Why are the earth ponies servants to everypony, daddy?" asked Platinum.

"Ahh, young one, it is their place," explained her father, "why do you ask that? There are plenty of earth pony servants back in the castle."

"Yes, but we are royalty, it's normal that we have servants. But I've always wondered, why the baker needs a servant? or the barber? And now that I think about it, all the servants in our castle are earth ponies too. Not a single unicorn."

"Earth ponies lack the gift of magic, Platinum. Therefore we are clearly a superior race, they are born only to serve us. Just look at them, hornless beasts. Their inability to cast magic makes them a waste of air and space. The least they could do is serve us to compensate for their lack of usefulness. Hmph! And to think that there are lands out there where only their inferior race lives."

"I just don't understand. They don't look so happy about this lifestyle. Our servant is nice to me, so I am nice to her and mommy is also nice to her. But still, she barely smiles, it feels like she wants to go away."

"Of course she is nice to you, Platinum, you are a unicorn, and she understands her role in this world. Being nice to you is her duty. You don't have to understand it, that's just the way it is."

Platinum followed her father without a word and hear him talk and talk all day, about food, and supplies, and equipment, and all that stuff she didn’t really cared. She and her father visited almost every single store in the market. It was a day that felt way longer than the others, and even colder.

Once back in the castle, her father took her to Cerulean. Platinum was tired and sleepy, and was glad to finally get some rest at home and maybe, get something sweet to eat. But her father exposed different plans when he gave an order to Cerulean. “You! Make sure my daughter is presentable for the banquet, now!”

“Yes, milord.” Cerulean bowed her head gulped, “this way, my young lady.” Cerulean turned around and led the princess to the Throne Room where the door to the Lord's Tower was. Platinum, sighed in frustration, and quietly followed.

“Say, Cerulean,” said Platinum, so timidly as if the words escaped her mouth without her consent. “I’ve been meaning to ask you… do you… like me? Are you… are you happy living here?”

Cerulean stopped walking and Princess Platinum stopped behind her. Her trembling voice barely managed its way through Platinum’s ears. “Of… of course like you, my young lady.” She gave Platinum the strongest smile she could manage, then she turned around again to keep walking.

"I swear, when I see him, I'm gonna rip off his damned beard hair by hair, until he cries for mercy!" Once in the Throne Room, Queen Starlight was impatiently walking in circles. Her body and hear hopped during a mere instant when she turned and met her somewhat confused daughter. “Ohh, honey." She hid a nervous giggle with her hoof, "I didn’t hear you come in. I was just waiting for your daddy to show his grumpy face and definitely not ranting at all, ha ha ha. Ahem, Cerulean, where’s Lancer?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know,” said Cerulean, quickly bowing her face and raising it, “he just said that Princess Platinum must be prepared for the banquet. I’m taking her to her room, right now.”

“I see… that slippery old goat. Well, let’s take care of it, Cerulean.”

Once in the Platinum’s bed chambers, Lady Starlight and Cerulean dressed her up with a beautiful violet colored dress adorned with golden flowers sewn on the skirt. Lady Starlight tested several tiaras on her daughter’s head.

“Why’s daddy doing this banquet thing, mommy?” asked Platinum, “I thought daddy wasn’t fond to parties.”

“This is no party, honey.” Starlight stopped comparing the accessories, and stared to Platinum directly in her eyes. “Your father invited some of the most influential families to discuss the future of the kingdom. At least, that’s what I hope so. Somehow he believes you’re old enough to learn such matters.”

“Booooooriiiiiing....”

“I know and agree, you’re still too young for this stuff. But the families you’ll meet in this banquet are not like the other parties we’ve had here at the castle. Some of them are fun, and some are kind. But some selfishly think themselves high and mighty.”

“Like daddy?” Platinum tilted her head.

“No, not like him,” Starlight put a golden tiara on her daughter’s head, her cheeks flushed and her eyes glew with a passionate love. “Even if your father thinks himself high and mighty, he’s not selfish about it, he cares for his family and his race. He’s sincere and noble, and everything he does is for the wellbeing of the unicorns. However, he doesn’t care for the wellbeing of earth ponies, and his way of dealing with them may improve. And just between you and I, his beard makes him look ridiculous.”

Once she was finished dressing her daughter, Lady Starlight dismissed Cerulean and took Platinum to the banquet room herself, “I’ll go and look for your father, there’s something I want to ask him,” said Lady Starlight, “you go and mingle, maybe eat something, you look hungry.”

“Good plan, good plan!” responded Platinum, with a relieved grin, her mother left her alone, and she wasted no time to approach the feast in the middle of the hall.

A huge rectangular table covered by a red tablecloth and dishes served with plenty of orange and cabbage salads, and big plates with grapes, apples and strawberries on it. Tons of juicy and sweet looking fruits she has never met before, like a big yellow disk-like treat, it was obviously a piece cut from a larger fruit. With no concern of her manners, she grabbed the thing and put it in her mouth, the juices of the fruit bathed her tongue, and a silly face was forced on her.

“You like it?” said a young orange unicorn colt, his mane and tail were dark yellow, and sapphire colored eyes, he wore an elegant blue jacket and a red bowtie around his neck. “It was harvested from the far south lands, where winter doesn’t exist. It’s called ‘Piña’. And take a look at this,” he offered an even larger piece of a red fruit which had black seeds all over it, and its peel was green with some stripe pattern on it. “This one is ‘Sandía’, try it it’s really sweet.”

Platinum’s interest got caught when she heard one of her favorite words, and snatched the fruit from the colt’s hooves with her mouth.

“I must say, you look dazzling in that magnificent piece, my lady,” claimed the colt, as he flushed a little, however Princess Platinum was too busy devouring the sweet fruit and spitting away the black seeds. “I’ve only seen the beauty of our princess from a distance, but up close, you look even more radiant. It will be my honor to be your escort.”

Platinum turned to see the colt’s face, and for reasons unknown to her, she couldn't stop staring at him, she felt her heart beating as if trying to escape from her chest. When suddenly, a brown, unlucky earth pony filly stumbled against him, the colt lost his balance for a mere second, and he started barking out insults at the earth pony.

"Watch where you're going, hornless! You want to embarrass me in front of the princess? If I was your master you would be already eating the snow outside!"

The poor filly turned around, her angry face wanted to respond, but she was wise, and knew better than to insult a unicorn in a room filled with other powerful unicorns, ”I’m so very sorry, sir. I was clumsy,” she said, and bowed her head before turning away and leaving.

“I’ll have her reported to her master for this insult, did you see her face? The nerve to try and defy a unicorn,” mumbled the colt, “now? Where was I?”

“You were trying to impress me by looking gentle and saying nice words to me,” responded Platinum spitting a few black seeds at his face, “but you just repulsed me with your awful manners. Now if you excuse me, I would be happy if you never speak to me again, or I’ll make YOU eat the snow outside.”

The colt stood shocked as he watched Princess Platinum lash him in the face with her tail.

Almost instinctively, Platinum went to follow that filly, ‘something is different about this earth pony,’ she mumbled to herself.

The filly went out to a garden, she digged a hole in the snow, put her face inside it and screamed as loud as she could. She lifted her head from the snow and sniffed, not noticing the presence of the unicorn standing behind her.

"Uhh, you don’t have to eat the snow just because he said so," said Platinum, she walked two steps closer, the brown earth filly turned around, gasping in shock, her golden manes and tail were all messy.

"E-Excuse me, I didn't mean to cause any trouble," the brown filly bowed, the words sounded sincere but also forced out, almost as if they were spat from her mouth.

"Don't matter," responded Platinum with a big smile, "that colt was very rude!"

The brown filly raised her face, she gasped in shock yet again, "uhhh... yes... yes, he was... thank you, my lady."

"Please, stop it, stop it!" Platinum stomped the snow, "I am not your lady! My name is Platinum, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine... Lady Platinum," the earth pony bowed once again. Then, she felt a cold impact against her head, and traces of snow fell from her head. She raised her face, and a snowball hit her face. She cleaned herself by shaking her head and glared at the unicorn. Platinum was laughing and hopping in celebration.

"Right in your face!" Platinum raised a front hoof and then, a snowball hit her face, too. After cleaning herself, she spotted a giggling filly in front of her, she couldn't help but giggle as well. She prepared another snowball and threw it, but the filly was prepared this time, she dodged easily and responded with her own snowballs. The snow battle extended for a few minutes, until they both fell exhausted on the snow.

"I never thought I'd meet a unicorn who is actually nice. This is the best time I've had since I remember," said the brown filly.

"Me too, I've never had a real friend before," said Platinum with great struggle, she was panting and huffing, "at least, not besides my mother."

"Really? But I’ve seen you with lots of friends in the castle."

"They're not my friends, I barely even know them!"

"You barely even know me, too," said the filly, she chuckled.

"Well, yes. But I've had more fun with you this day than with any other unicorn during my entire life! The colt I met today was the worst! Shame, though... he was actually very good looking."

"What are you doing!?" said a mysterious mare from afar, her voice was hysterical, she trotted to the brown filly and made her get up. She bowed to the unicorn and pressed the filly's head to make her bow too, "please forgive my disrespectful sister, my young lady!"

"But she said we were friends!" claimed the brown filly.

"Don't be ridiculous, earth ponies and unicorns could never be friends, you know that very well!"

"Why not?" asked Platinum, very curiously. The mare turned to the young unicorn, but did not answer, she could not find the words to explain the reason, or maybe she could not find a reason at all.

"That's just the way it is, my young lady," finally said the mare, she took her younger sister back to the castle, the young filly hopelessly looked back at Platinum with a sad look as they got inside the castle.

“I didn't even get her name,” mumbled Platinum, watching her last chance for a friend go.

Platinum resigned to return to her father, he was seated on a chair in front of the head of a large table, while the other unicorns discussed stuff about some unicorns that somehow learned the spell of flight, though she was distracted counting the grapes in the bowl in the middle of the table, the conversation suddenly caught her attention when her mother blasted to the king, and she looked very angry.

"Lancer! What is the meaning of this!?" she yelled, and all the unicorns stood silent and trembling upon the rage of the king's wife. There was a piece of paper floating over her head covered with a light blue aura, which apparently, was the reason of her rage. "I forbid it! It's out of the question! NO! NO! NO! You put me in that desk the whole day, and this is what you're teaching to our daughter?" Starlight crushed the piece of paper and threw it at Lancer's head, the piece of paper bounced back and the strong unicorn stood still like a rock.

The discussion went on and on, but Platinum paid no attention to it. Instead, she lifted the piece of paper with her telekinesis spell, and read it, with a confused look.

Day unknown. Month unknown. Year whatever. Explorer unit 142 reporting. Sergeant Raystorm.

The storm has calmed, and after a failed expedition we decided to return home, but we spotted a tribe of hornless to the south, it's awfully near to the city. Our best spellcasters are ready to engage, we are short on supplies and outnumbered, but we have the surprise factor and also we don't expect much of a battle from the hornless, the invasion should go smoothly. We expect your orders Lord Lancer, sire.

“Battle? Invasion?” A chill went down her shoulders as she read these words. She never understood very well the boring documents that her father receives, but these two words she understood perfectly. She turned to her parents, and realised that it was not an ordinary argument, Starlight was yelling at her husband and insulting all the unicorns desperately. But she was silenced by the adamant expression of her husband.

"Starlight!" he raised his voice and walked to his wife, Starlight shut, her lips trembling, "the decision has been made! We have to impose respect to the lesser races. Platinum must understand this while she's still young, and I won't tolerate that you keep confusing her with your compassion towards them! From now on, I'll educate Platinum and you'll be in charge of the economy!"

"Respect!? This is what you call respect!?" Starlight pointed at one of the earth ponies, her voice was cracking and her eyes were teary, "look at that! That's no respect! It is fear! It is hate! Please, Lancer, stop this, I know you want to earn the respect of other races, but this is not the way!"

"I have spoken!" claimed Lancer glaring at his wife with his fiery eyes. Starlight sniffed, she glared back at her husband and ran off the room, "Starlight!" called the unicorn king, but the mare continued and only looked back to see her daughter, a sigh escaped from her before she ran off.

Platinum confused and scared ran after her mother, she heard her father calling for her but she ignored him, she feared for the worst, “what if she doesn't love daddy, anymore?”

She ran as fast as she could, following the echo of the steps of her mother across the corridors of the castle until the main entrance and continued to the streets while the snow slowly started to fall from the sky and the mist blinded her sight, leaving only the silhouette of her mother, "mommy!" she screamed as she ran until the shadow of her mother had disappeared in the mist. Before she realised, she found herself in the main entrance of the city, and strangely enough, the gate was open and the guard was sleeping, obviously a trail of her mother, so she went on.

She was scared, but still determined to go with her mother. She was too tired to keep running, and the snowfall quickly turned into a raging blizzard, but she kept moving forward. Shortly, sparks of light shone before her, left and right, even behind her. The sound of hooves stomping on the snow running around and shrieks of terror and pain alarmed her.

"Where am I? Mommy!" she closed her eyes and screamed as hard as she could, crying and sniffing, "where are you!? I'm scared!"

Then, a group of ponies were running directly at her from ahead, they got so close that she could see the eyes of the ponies attacking with wrath, she was paralyzed by fear, the group of ponies didn't even see the filly before them, they were about to run her over, but she was saved by something that pulled her by the tail.

"Platinum! What in the world?" called a familiar voice, Platinum was so happy to hear it, she didn't have to see her to know that it was her mother's voice, "Platinum! Listen, go inside one of the houses and hide, don't come out until I tell you, okay? I know you are afraid, but please, do this for me."

"Mommy... hide with me... you are afraid too," the young filly barely managed to say, trembling and sniffing.

"I'll come back to you, honey," Starlight kissed her daughter in the cheek and hugged her as tight as she could before taking her to a home for her to hide, "somepony has to put an end to this, Platinum. It's okay to be afraid as long you don't let it stop you."

Platinum ran inside the house, she went to the kitchen and opened a cabinet to lock herself in. She closed her eyes and covered her ears, but she could still listen to the the screams of ponies and explosions, and the steps of running ponies rumbled the house, and time went on, seconds became minutes, and minutes became hours and the chaos outside didn't stop, until the hours started to feel like an eternity.

All the hellish sounds still echoed in her ears, but the rumbling of the earth stopped. The young filly opened her eyes and when she uncovered her ears, there was only silence, the storm had also stopped. She cleaned her eyes and nose and went outside, she peeked outside the window. On the snowy ground there were ponies lying around and stains of red all over a small street, she didn't even realise when she entered in the small village.

She proceeded to the door and slowly opened to walk out, she spotted a unicorn crawling to the house, "honey..." she managed to whisper, Platinum gasped covering her mouth with one of her hooves, there was a trail of blood behind the crawling unicorn.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Platinum ran to her mother crying heavily.

"Starlight!" another scream sounded from afar. It was the king, who came running and hugged his wife, there was a small hole on the mare's chest which was still pouring blood, "no... why?! This is not happening!"

Platinum watched her father shed some tears for the first time, her mother coughed abruptly as she began to talk, "Lancer... I tried to make them listen... I tried to reason... but there was so much hate... please end this hate... and Platinum... my lovely daughter... now it's your turn to be the lady of the unicorns... "

"No! I don't want to!" Platinum wept leaning her face against her mother's chest next to the wound, she could feel how her mother struggled to breath, "I want you to come home with me! I want you to use your sleeping spell on me! I want to hear more tales! You haven't told me about Autumn!"

"Ahh... yes... Autumn..." the mare caressed her daughter's head, "honey, Autumn is when the withered leaves of the trees fall... to leave place for the new leaves that... will bloom in spring. Now it's time for my leave to fall from our family tree... and you, honey... you are the leave who will bloom... and take my place... you must learn how to love... and how to tolerate..."

Platinum felt how her mother's chest stopped pulling air, and the faint warmth of her body turned cold little by little, she raised her face to look at her mother's, and Starlight smiled and slowly closed her eyes, with her hoof still on Platinum's head. Platinum hugged the corpse of her mother and cried on her chest.

The king also cried silently next to his daughter and caressed his wife's face. However, he opened his eyes and frowned, "earth ponies!" he gritted his teeth, his tears were not made of sorrow nor sadness, they were made of something different.

From that night on, the princess of the unicorns shed the tears against her pillow every single night for several weeks, until one night, the tears didn't come out anymore.

Humble beginnings

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Dear diary, last week, the king held a huge funeral in honor of the deceased queen. He was emotionally destroyed, and the speech was spoken by the tall, strong, intelligent, and handsome Sarge Raystorm, who took full responsibility of the tragedy. The only thing the king said was that all the hornless shall be banished from the city, and if they dare to approach the city again... they would be executed. Yikes, he was more angry than sad!

As for Princess Platinum, she had the nerve to not even attend the ceremony. She hasn't even shown her face to the public. I can't believe how that little brat found a way to disrespect her own mother! I don't think she ever understands how lucky she was! And the idea that, someday, she will be our leader just sickens me!

After writing some pages, she proudly closed her yellow diary and put it on the ground. She was a young white unicorn sitting under a withered pine in a small square in the center of the city. An old worn cape of a dark brown color covered her light grey coat, it was patched on several spots. And a hood of the same condition and color covered her head from the cold.

She took off the hood, revealing a long messy emerald colored mane, she aimed her horn at the small yellow book and with great effort, as if she was squeezing her head, and a weak green aura surrounded the book, which began to float inside a black saddle bag that the young unicorn was carrying on her side. ‘There’, she huffed.

"Wow, that was quite impressive, Clover!" said another pink unicorn filly who was sarcastically laughing behind her, "And I had sworn you were just an earth pony with a fake horn glued on your forehead. I guess I lost that bet."

"Oh, shut up, Jewel!" Clover frowned and walked away.

"Where are you going? Your house is over there," Jewel laughed again and pointed to the opposite direction of where Clover was heading, "Could it be...? Do you really plan on taking the exam? Hahaha! You know that's only for unicorns who can actually cast some magic, right?"

Clover ignored and kept walking toward a big stone building. She was not the only one going there, plenty of other colts and fillies were also heading there, even Jewel who was still behind her and still making jokes about Clover’s ‘lack of magic’.

All of this happened once every five years, when the current student of Starswirl’s Study graduates as a complete spellcaster, and a new one must be selected. The teacher, Starswirl, was said to be the greatest spellcaster in the city, and he was admired by everyone, but it's infamous for being lonely and he only leaves his study to practice his spells on the field with his pupil.

"Hello!" a light green mare approached Clover, she was wearing long pink scarf, and her pale yellow mane and tail were held by a ribbon of the same color, "sorry, I overslept…”

“Mom… again?” Clover giggled.

“Yes! Again! Shut up about it!” the mare giggled too and took out an apple and gave her to Clover, “Here, I brought you lunch!"

"Thanks, mom," Clover received a juicy apple from the mare, "You have presented the exam before, right?” she asked before munching the apple, “Is it really that hard? Is it theoretical or practical?"

"Ohh, it's not an exam, little one," answered her mother, she made an effort to comb the rebel mane of her daughter, "That would take way too much time, he just asks a few questions, like your name and experience, and then he decides if you're worthy or not."

"His pupils must be very good if he didn't accept you," Clover gulped, "you are excellent with magic, mom."

"Oh, stop it..." her mother blushed as red as the apple she gave to her daughter, "didn't you know? Starswirl hasn't had a pupil in ten years! Apparently, no unicorn has been worthy of his teachings, that could only mean that either a newcomer will be selected, or that there will be another five years with no pupil at all. I can't be there with you when he calls you, so remember, it's not about giving the right answers, it's about being honest."

The mare smiled and made a last meaningless effort to fix the filly's mane with her hoof, then she left to stand among a crowd that surrounded the building.

Hours passed and Clover got more and more nervous as she approached to the door, while other proud and confident unicorns showed off their magic skills while waiting for their turns. Some young unicorns could summoned books and feathers from their houses, and others could even teleport, spells that Clover could only dream to learn.

“There’s still time to withdraw,” said Jewel between yawns. Clover almost forgot that she was behind her in line.

As their turns arrived, several colts and fillies went inside before her, only to come out with disappointed faces. It was already getting dark when her turn had finally come. The door opened and another sad filly left the study. Then, a pale green mare wearing glasses and a star shaped brooch on her dark blue mane, she stared at Clover and smiled playfully, "come in, please, missy."

Clover went inside and walked among corridors decorated only with bookshelves as if the entire place was a huge library. The mare guiding her was mysteriously staring at the young filly from time to time, smiling with her eyes mid closed. ‘Even she is laughing at me’, thought Clover, she avoided eye contact and kept walking awkwardly. They walked upstairs three floors, and reached a wooden door that slowly opened.

"It's time, missy," the mare pushed Clover inside and closed the door, leaving her alone.

There he was, seated in front of a large wooden desk, there was a balcony behind him covered by red curtains. On the desk, a feather was dancing on a piece of paper, he didn't bother to look at Clover’s face. Clover stepped forward and opened her mouth, but before any word came out from her mouth, she was interrupted, "Don't you speak unless I require an answer from you, young one," warned Starswirl, and kept writing for at least an entire minute.

"Name," suddenly said Starswirl, still focused on the documents he was redacting.

"I am... I mean, my name is Clover," responded the filly, very nervously.

"How much experience do you have with magic? Have you shown exceptional magic skills since you were born and come from a long lineage of powerful spellcasters as well?"

"Well, I have done magic since I remember, and my mom is pretty good, but I..." Clover stopped for a second, she could hear the words of her mother echoing in the back of her mind, "the truth is, sir, that half of the unicorns out there are twice as better as me."

"I see... and what about the other half?" he asked, he left the feather resting on a bottle of ink next to the paper, and he finally turned his face to look at Clover.

"The other half are ten times as better as me..."

"If you think that? Why do you stand now before me? Why do you think you deserve to be my pupil?"

"Because I want to improve! Everyone laughs at me because I can barely cast some magic. They all talk down to me and it hurts, because all the things they say are true. For once, I'd like to be the one talking down to someone, but I don't want to be a bigmouth, I want to have the arguments to back my words. I want to show them how much it hurts when you are told the truth, and to show them that that truth can be used to improve!"

"Did you hear this, Laura? Laura, come here quickly!" Starswirl perked up his ears and bursted into laugh, Clover looked down in embarrassment and the green mare walked inside from the door behind her, somewhat annoyed.

"Master Starswirl, it's Laurel, not Laura," she said, she took another glance upon Clover and smiled again.

"Yes, of course!" he said, he opened the red curtains behind him and opened the door to the balcony, "here, bring the young filly, come on, waste no time."

The green mare took Clover over to the balcony and set her next to Starswirl, who cleared his throat, and raised his voice in front of the crowd before the balcony.

"Hear ye, hear ye! I, Starswirl, have finally found my new student!" Clover felt a tickling in her body as a golden aura surrounded her body, she was pulled off from the balcony and was exposed to the crowd, "Behold! The young unicorn, Flower!"

"It's Clover, not Flower, master Starswirl," Laurel whispered to his ear.

"What!? But my son hasn't even had his chance!" a stallion yelled from the crowd.

"I know, and we're really sorry!" claimed Starswirl, "Many young unicorns didn't even have their chance! And well, that's exactly what it means, they didn't even stand a chance! Don't feel discouraged, colts and fillies, keep practicing and wake up earlier next time! And now, without further ado, I declare that the test of this lustrum has concluded. Thank you for coming everyone!"

The unicorns began to leave, Clover stared from the balcony, among the angry and disappointed faces there was a single happy face that was waving at her. It was her mother, Clover waved back at her, very excited.

"Clover, please come inside," Laurel called for the young unicorn.

"Congratulations, young filly!" began Starswirl, he was holding a small golden brooch in the shape of a star, and placed it on Clover's chest, "This here is your 'I am Starswirl's student and therefore I am a more awesome unicorn than you are' token. With this, you and your family have free access to all the books in the all the libraries, including the ones in the castle, free meals in the cafeteria, and of course, free access to my study. However, the laboratory in the basement is off limits, unless I authorize it personally. Now leave, you'll start tomorrow morning!"

The golden aura surrounded Clover and Laurel, both were pushed outside the office and the door was slammed shut in front of their faces.

"You know? The token had an official name, but Master Starswirl forgot it," giggled Laurel, as she accompanied Clover to the entrance.

"This... this is just like yours," Clover compared to the one Laurel was wearing on her mane, "Then this means..."

"Yes, I am also Starswirl's student," Laurel rolled her eyes, "We haven't been properly introduced, my name is Laurel, I've been Starswirl's student for ten years, pleased to meet you. From the moment I laid my eyes on you, I felt so happy! I knew you were something special!"

"My name is Clover, and I'm sorry, I thought you were making fun of me when I met you."

"Don't worry about it."

"So... did you know he was going to choose me from the start?"

"Of course, I learned to feel a unicorn's magic by just looking at them, and you were... well, let's just say you were not like the others, but Starlight doesn't choose his student by the strength of their magic, but by their potential."

"Potential? How does he know how much potential I have? I can barely cast the telekinesis spell, and I feel exhausted when I do it. I saw plenty of unicorns with far more potential than me."

"There are different types of potentials, Clover. He'll explain tomorrow," Laurel opened the study's main door, they had arrived and Clover didn't even realise, "For now, you should go and have some rest, you'll need every bit of your energy for your first day. Besides, there's someone who wants to congratulate you." Laurel pointed at Clover's mother, and the young unicorn ran off to meet her, she turned around to wave goodbye to Laurel, who waved back before closing the door.

Clover woke up and jumped from her bed, she combed her mane, or at least she tried to, and proudly picked up her brown hood and put it on. Then, she set her sight on her pillow with adamant determination, she aimed her horn at it and made it float with great difficulty, her token was under the pillow, she took a deep breath and squeezed all the magic she could. The brooch also began to float from the bed and approached the young filly, until she couldn’t hold it anymore and her head began to weigh on her neck, the spell broke, and both the pillow and the brooch fell on the floor.

Exhausted, Clover decided to put her cape the old fashioned way, she placed her new token on her chest to fasten her cape, and she was ready to face the day. Opening the door of her bedroom, she found that there was a wooden box with a card.

Congratulations, little one! By now, you must be on your way to your first day, and I'm probably still snoring right now… yes, again! Now, I just wanted to tell you once again how proud you make me, and give you this little present.

I hope you like it… you better like it! It was really hard to get!

With love, your mom.

After hearing a loud roar coming from her mother's room, Clover chuckled and opened the box. She gasped when she found a brand new emerald green saddlebag with some white scrolls and a pack of red feathers. She wasted no time to put the feathers and the scrolls inside the saddlebag, and proudly put it on before trotting her way to the streets.

“Thanks, mom!”

She trotted across the street straight to Starswirl's Study, and stopped when she met face to face with Jewel. However, this time it was the pink unicorn who avoided eye contact, Clover couldn’t contain her smile and felt her chest filled with satisfaction, the urge to mock her was too big, but she didn't, she just walked past the pink unicorn and went on her way.

Once she arrived, Laurel received her with a warm hug and pure joy, she guided her to the classroom where Starswirl was writing the definition of magic in a blackboard in front of a small desk. Laurel pushed Clover inside and left her alone just like she did the day of the test. Clover took her seat and immediately after, Starswirl commenced the class.

"Welcome to your first day, Rubber!" said Starswirl.

"Uhh... it’s Clover… sir," corrected the young unicorn.

"Ah, yes, of course," continued Starswirl, "Anyway, tell me, do you know why did I choose you from among hundreds of other unicorns that are obviously more skilled than you? Most certainly, Louder already told you about your potential. How familiar are you with mathematical terms?"

"Uhh... I think I'm ok, I guess..."

"Good. You see, the potential of each unicorn is unique, and it can be represented in a mathematical graphic. This represents the current level of skill for each unicorn and how such skill will grow as time passes. And even if this potential is unique for each one, it behaves in a similar way in all the unicorns. There are three types of potential."

Starswirl turned around the blackboard and made a small piece of chalk float, he began to draw a curved line starting from a lower point, making a long, wide arc that slowly raised across the length of the board.

"This represents unicorns that learn fast. However, as you can see, when they reach to a certain point, their progress becomes more and more slow and their top level is not as impressive. Those who were 'twice as better as you' fit in this graphic."

Next he began to draw another curved line, this time starting from a higher point, it made a tall arc that raised fast to its peak and quickly began to decrease.

"This one represents those who are 'ten times as better as you'. Unicorns who are born with natural talent. Their level starts up high, and it quickly increases to reach their top potential. Because of their exceptional talent at young ages, these are the favorites for military or sportive purposes. However, as quickly as they grow, they also lose the ability to grow even further, and they lose their talent. You may say that they get old earlier."

Yet again, Starswirl began to draw another curved line on the blackboard. It also started from a low point, but the arc was inverted, and the line started to slowly move upwards across the blackboard.

"Unicorns who fit in this graph are rare. They start from the lowest point, and their progress is slow. Thus, they are inferior to the others at early ages. But their skill keeps growing as they age, and won't stop until they die. You, young one, belong in this type of potential. There is a catch, however, in order to increase your magic skill you need to train and study. That's why you are here. If you don’t do anything, your magic skill will stay where it is."

Starswirl turned the blackboard around again and continued. "Let's begin the real class, now. Magic is the science that studies the physical manifestation of the mind's power. Make no mistake, young one, you may have heard the term 'Magical Arts', but that just means that you can create art with magical properties. Magic is a science, it can be calculated and studied, and it doesn't matter who or where it is cast, it's the same formula for the same spell in any creature's mind."

"Any creature, master?" asked Clover with a confused look, "Does that mean that earth ponies could also cast magic?"

Starswirl laughed and palmed the filly's head before answering, "Hahaha! Even dragons and cockatrices can cast magic, Roller. I wouldn't be surprised if someday an earth pony can cast a spell or two. The only reason of why we unicorns can cast magic so easily, it's because our horns are a straight connection from our minds to the outside. But anyway, now that we got theory out of the way, it's time to put your magic to work, show me the best spell you can."

Clover focused really hard on the feather resting on her desk, her eyes closed as she cast the spell she's been practicing forever, the feather slowly began to levitate higher and higher. Clover opened her eyes to witness her feat, and saw the feather floating a few inches higher than Starswirl's height, but she lost concentration and the spell was broken. The feather drifted on the wind while falling to the floor before Starswirl's hooves.

Starswirl just stared at the feather lying on the floor, he raised his sight to meet an exhausted and sweaty Clover.

"Well, that was fast. I see you weren't exaggerating when you said your magic was nothing special.” said Starswirl, he returned the feather to Clover’s desk, “Except that it IS something special, your magic is still weak, but you know the spell perfectly, and your technique was glorious. We just have to work on the strength of your magic. As I said, the only one way to do that is by training. Let me warn you, though, it will not be easy, and it certainly will be painful, but if you don't lose hope on yourself, I won't either. This is your last chance to go back to your comfort life. But if you really want to improve, if you wish to become the best spellcaster you can be, then, turn your back to heaven and follow me to hell."

"I can't give up now, when I haven't even started! I will learn everything I can and become a wonderful spellcaster! No matter how much time it takes me!"

And so began Clover's training. Every single day, she woke before dawn, and as soon as she arrived to Starswirl's Study, her training consisted in only lifting various objects with her magic until sunset.

Day by day, she started by lifting feathers, scrolls and books. She returned home only to eat and sleep, barely feeling her head on her shoulders, and repeat the same routine with a slight increase in difficulty the next morning. Soon, a whole month passed, and she was able to lift Laurel, with no effort at all.

One day, Clover arrived at the desk as always, but her teacher wasn't there as he usually did. She gave no importance, and casting her telekinesis spell, she placed a tall pillar of books on her desk, ‘I guess this equals Laurel's weight, she could lose some pounds, though’, she chuckled and began to lift the whole desk with the books on it as if it was a piece of paper.

Clover was interrupted when the door to the classroom opened, Starswirl arrived accompanied by Laurel and a white young unicorn with shiny silver mane, Clover quickly placed the desk on the floor again when her eyes met with the young unicorn, who she immediately recognized.

"What is this?! I'm not that heavy, am I?" said Laurel with a worried look on her face, "I can't be! I'm a vegetarian!"

"Show some respect, Lever," claimed Starswirl, "You stand before Princess Plutonium herself. She wanted to meet you personally."

"And alone, if you don't mind, please," smirked Platinum. Starswirl and Laurel bowed to the young princess and left the room. Starswirl smiled, very suspiciously, while Laurel closed the door, inspecting her own belly.

"Let’s get one thing straight, princess, I bow for duty, not for respect," Clover bowed in an instant, she turned around and continued her training, "My father used to say that respect is something you got to earn."

Platinum gasped nervously, "Oh, well, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Honestly... I wasn't exactly expecting this kind of welcome."

"How would you know what to expect? You've spent all this time hiding in your room while the kingdom suffered the loss of a queen, and the 'Little princess' didn't even bother to honor the memory of her mother! You have no excuse! To my eyes, you have done nothing to earn my respect! If I was in your place, I would have spent all this time trying to fill the huge throne that the queen left behind!”

“That’s… well, you don’t understand...”

“Oh I don’t!? I also lost my father that day. You’re not the only one who has suffered! To hear the news that your father is not coming back tears your heart! I know how it feels!"

"Do you really?" replied Platinum shouted, her voice cracked and confronted Clover face to face, "Did you see him die before you? I saw my mother lying on the snow with a huge hole in her body! I heard her words when she spoke to me for the last time! The way she looked at me when she closed her eyes! I felt how the life escaped from my mother's chest as she gave her last breath! Do you really know how any of that feels!?"

Clover stood in shock and dropped the desk she was lifting, while Platinum sighed, calming herself, and continued, "My father believes that respect is something you can take from anyone, that it is something that you have to impose by force. The reason why I'm here is because I want your help, please help me."

"My help? What can I do to help you? I'm just a spellcaster in training."

"Not just any spellcaster, you are Starswirl's student! This may sound crazy but… I need someone powerful on my side… if I want to stop my father one day."

Clover gasped yet again, processing the words she just heard. She frowned indignant and turned her back at the princess, and cast her magic on the desk again to resume her training, "Go away!"

Not alone anymore

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Twelve years have passed since Clover was chosen as the new student, and no other unicorn has been chosen again by Starswirl, he kept Clover and Laurel as his only students. Clover had grown to be a talented, prominent and beautiful spellcaster, now she was sharing classes with Laurel, and her improved skills fed her confidence, yet she heard her master's same words every single day, ‘you still have much to learn, Flower’.

After the sunset, when her classes were over, Clover visited the old pine tree where she used to write on her diary to practice and master the new spells she learned. She placed an apple on the snow, and with a gentle move from her horn, the apple began to slowly change its form into an orange.

Very proudly, Clover lifted the fruit and removed the peel as if turning the page in a book, and bit it. As she munched, the juice of the orange still left the flavor of an apple in her mouth, ‘Dang! I almost had it this time’, she snorted. She was about to try again when a crowd reunited in the square caught her attention, they were all listening to a mare.

"It is time to put a stop! The war has lasted longer than it should and it doesn't seem that is going to end anytime soon! How many more deaths must we endure before opening our eyes? If we put the weapons aside and lend an ear, we can make a difference, we can join together again, not as slaves and masters, but as neighbors! Maybe even friends!"

"Shut up! My brother is out there fighting to rid us from this plague," shouted a mare from the crowd.

"The hornless don't want to be friends! They try to steal our land!" yelled another stallion.

"They killed your mother, the queen. What would she say if she could hear you defend them! You're a disgrace!" one of the unicorns threw a tomato at her, and shortly after, the princess was bombarded with more tomatoes and apples, until the crowd left her alone, standing up and picking up the little dignity she had left.

"That's not the way to treat the princess," Clover couldn't help but to approach the princess, she didn't know if it was pity, she just felt the need of talking to her, "I've heard that you were in favor of the hornless, but I thought it was just a groundless rumor."

"It's fine, it's fine, it happens all the time," Platinum fixed her mane which was still stained with tomato juice, and smiled gracefully, "It's not that I'm in favor of them, it's just that I don't have anything against them. And the correct term is 'Earth ponies' not 'Hornless', thank you very much."

"Nothing against them?! Didn't you hear what they said? THEY KILLED THE QUEEN! YOUR MOTHER!" Clover waved her hoof in front of Platinum's faces, trying to make her react, "How can you think like that? Everyone else can see that, what part you don’t understand!?"

"The part where my mother was still alive, and the earth ponies were tormented, imprisoned and enslaved by us unicorns. Don't you see, Clover? WE are the bad guys, not them! They were just trying to defend themselves! I just don't see the point of all this fighting."

"Look ‘Princess’... I don't really know how the war started, or why it did. The fight has already started and it is still going on, and they will stop at nothing until they destroy us all. I know it's not pretty, but at this point, it's either them or us, that's just..."

"Just the way it is, right? So it is ok to kill hundreds of mares and stallions, and destroy families because they're a bit different from us, because they don't have a stupid horn, because that's just the way it is! Well what if I think it is the wrong way!?"

Clover sighed and turned her back before saying one last thing, "All unicorns think the same way. You are the only one who doesn't. That makes you the one who's wrong. You are alone."

With no words left, Princess Platinum returned to the castle, a blue unicorn with a yellow mane was waiting for her. "No luck again, your highness?" asked the unicorn as he escorted the princess, his eyes showing concern. The princess ignored him and went straight to the center tower, but to get there, she had to pass through the throne room, where her greatest demon was waiting impatiently, her own father.

"Platinum, are you still going with this? Why do you insist on defying me?" asked the king, very disappointed, but the princess did not respond, she didn't even look at him. "Look at you! You have lost the respect of the unicorns, how much more you have to humiliate yourself before you understand?"

Still no response from the princess.

"Well you give me no choice, Platinum. You won't leave the castle without permission. Sarge Raystorm, escort my daughter to her room. And make sure she stays in there."

Raystorm saluted the king, and raised his voice, "If I may say something, sire. I don't think that..."

"Sarge Raystorm, my job is to make sure my daughter becomes a respectable leader," interrupted the king, "And yours is to do what I say. Unless you think you can educate my daughter better than me."

The blue unicorn bit his lip, and nodded to the king, "let's go, your highness."

After taking the princess to the central tower, he locked the princess in her room, he inserted his horn in the keyhole and cast a mysterious spell in it. Princess Platinum just dove between the sheets on her bed, pressing her face against the pillow.

Sarge Raystorm turned around to leave, "Is it worth it, your highness? His majesty was right when he said you had lost the respect you once had. You used to be loved and admired."

"I don't want all that love and admiration if it costs the lives of others," the princess' voice sounded from the other side of the door, "They feel more hate and rage toward the earth ponies than love and admiration to their princess. And what about you? You didn't have to take the blame for it. You don't have to punish yourself."

"It's the price I have to pay," responded the soldier, "I deserve it for underestimating the enemy, I was a fool. I should have pulled back and regroup, I should have asked for reinforcements. That day, I learned that the earth ponies are not as primitive as we thought, I learned it the hard way. Because of my arrogance, we lost brave unicorns and our queen. And you, my lady, are the real victim of all this mess."

"I don't blame you for what happened, Raystorm, nor I blame the earth ponies, nor my father. My mother died defending what she believed in. I know it sounds cold from me, but that was her own choice. I'm not saying that it doesn't hurt, but I have made a choice of my own. I want to use my title and power to find a better way to end this war. A way that doesn't involve violence or strength. If I can convince at least one unicorn, I will know that I can make a difference, even if everyone else says I'm wrong. But still, I don't know if I'll have the courage to face death, like my mother did."

"I'd be lying, princess, if I say that I don't think you're wrong. Sometimes, strength and violence are needed to make others listen. You can't speak english to someone who speaks french. You have to speak their language if you want them to understand your ideas. I'll tell you what, if you manage to convince another unicorn, then I'll also join your cause. It's a promise, your highness."

With that said, Sarge Raystorm left and commanded two guard unicorns passing by to guard the princess' bedroom. The guards stood still like two statues each one on each side of the door.

Princess Platinum, lying on her bed, she tried to keep her eyes open with all the energy she had left, her eyelids weighed as two huge concrete stones until she couldn't hold the slumber anymore, and her eyes shut against her own will.

She quickly opened her eyes again, and found herself lying on a snowfield. After a big boom echoed from afar, she rose from a boost on her hooves, and ran off as fast as she could, until she found herself among groups of unicorns and earth ponies savagely fighting and killing each other, like hunters and preys. Their shadowy figures, those raging crimson eyes, they were everywhere, Platinum tried to escape as far as possible.

Not far ahead, there was a small house, so she quickened her pace. Once in front of it, she rushed to get inside, but the house exploded in a burst of fire before she could get any closer. She turned around, and those shadowy ponies were just behind her, and without second thought, they attacked her, like a pack of starving wolves.

Suddenly, Platinum found her face against the floor, half her body still on the bed, and woke up panting and huffing. Once she realised she was in the safety of her own bedroom, she stood up and sighed in relief. ‘That same nightmare every night’, she snorted. She stared from the window, it was just dawn, and the wall's gates were opening for the troops of the unicorns returning from the war, and behind them, a group of eighteen chained earth ponies. Seven stallions, four mares and four colts and three fillies.

Platinum desperately tried to open the door of her room in vain. "Open the door, now! Raystorm! Let me out!" she screamed from inside, but the guards patrolling the door ignored every word.

The princess kicked the door as hard as she could with her hind legs until she got tired, and the door didn’t budge. Frustrated and angry, the princess thought on the only exit she had left, the window. It was too high to jump, and the ground was too far down to try and teleport. She tied together a few sheets to create some kind of rope and tied one end to one leg of the bed for support, and the other to her body. She opened the window, stood on the edge and looked down to the ground, ‘I must be the craziest unicorn that's ever lived’, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and jumped down.

After a few seconds of falling, her shriek of terror was cut short when she was left hanging from the tower. She turned her sight up to her room's window, and one of the guards peeked down from the window in her bedroom, his eyes widened in disbelief, "Your highness! What are you doing!?" he yelled. Platinum stuck her tongue at him, and climbed up to the last window she passed from the fall and looked through the glass and teleported inside, she wasted no time to run downstairs.

She blasted through the throne room, and ran all the way to the castle's main gate and to the streets with a small squadron of unicorn guards chasing her, the gate keeper saw the whole scene and hurried to close the gates before the princess could escape, but easily, the princess just used her teleport spell and passed the closing gate, the only ones trapped behind the gates were the guards behind her.

"When did she learn that spell?" asked one of the guards.

"Sarge Raystorm taught her," said a second guard and sighed, "Oh, this is bad… this is terrible! The king's gonna eat us all!"

Meanwhile, Clover was on her way to the study, when she passed through the center square where the earth ponies were exposed as criminals.

"Hornless plague! Non magic beasts!" screamed the crowd. The king, escorted by Sarge Raystorm and a squadron of guards approached them. The other unicorns made silence waiting for the king to speak.

Clover took a glance on the earth ponies, and gasped when she spotted the colts and fillies among them. ‘It's fine... they'll grow to be one of them soon’, she tried to calm herself and kept on her way, but the uneasy feeling wouldn't go away. The words of the princess still echoed deep inside her, ‘WE are the bad guys, not them! They were just trying to defend themselves!’

"I said we would take no prisoners anymore," the king raised his voice, "Exec..."

"WAIT!" the princess yelled from the distance, she dashed directly to her father, "Stop it, now! Don't you remember what mommy said?"

"I will never forget it! She said I must end this hate! That's exactly what I'm doing! If we exterminate the hornless, we will have nothing else to hate! I'm honoring the wishes of your mother!"

"Oh! By all heavens and hells!" Platinum slapped her father straight up to the face, the golden crown on his head fell on the snowy ground, and the king's right cheek was left with a red mark of a hoofprint, all unicorns were shocked and speechless.

"I wouldn't believe it if it wouldn't have come from your mouth! How stupid can you possibly be!?" claimed the princess. "You, guard!" she turned her sight to one of the guards, "I have attacked the king, I'm an enemy, too! Chain me with them!"

"But your highness..."

"I said chain me!"

The guard said as he was told, and Princess Platinum was chained alongside the earth ponies, she warmly smiled at them, and the stallion next to her changed his scared face into a warm smile too.

"Platinum, stop this nonsense!" commanded the king, "Let her go!"

"No one is over the law, dad!" said Platinum, "Not even royalty. If you release me, I'll attack you again and again!"

"What on earth are you doing, princess," Clover said, she just reached to the spectacle she witnessed from afar, "This time, you have gone too far."

"Clover, look at them," Platinum frowned at the spellcaster, "Look at the young ones, look at their scared faces! If this is what you really want, then go and tell them that you want them to die! Tell them that they will never see their parents again! Tell them that it is all because they were born without a horn on their heads! And more important, don't forget to tell them that it's just the way it is!"

Clover was trapped among all the stares of all unicorns around, all of them anxiously awaiting her response. She sighed in resignation, approached the king and stood in front of him, and without a warning, she slapped him too. The next minute, she was chained next to the princess who was smiling. "I warn you that if we die today, I’ll find a way kill you again! You must be the craziest unicorn that's ever lived!"

"You're not the first one to think that. To be honest, I'm afraid and I don't really want to die. But it's ok to be afraid, as long as I don't let it stop me."

The king bit his lip as he rubbed the cheek where he received two slaps, "My daughter, you leave me no choice... you win. No one will die today. Release the prisoners! All of them!"

The guards unchained the earth ponies, Princess Platinum and Clover just like the king commanded. The earth ponies ran straight to Platinum and hugged her, crying of happiness, "Thank you, thank you so much, princess! We owe you our lives!"

"It's fine, it's fine, you owe me nothing. My father is stubborn, so I suggest you run as far from this kingdom as you can. I wouldn't risk my neck if I were you," responded Princess Platinum.

"You just risked your neck, princess, for a small group of hornl... I mean, earth ponies," added Clover.

"And I would do it again," responded Platinum, she smirked and winked at Clover.

The earth ponies were escorted by the princess and the spellcaster, they trotted away as fast as they could while waving back at the princess until they disappeared in the misty horizon. While Clover contemplated the happy face of the princess, a warm feeling invaded her chest, and to her eyes, Princess Platinum was shining more radiantly than ever, she looked taller, as if she was far off her limits, but close enough to try and touch her with her bare hooves. Close enough to be bathed by her shine.

"Turns out you were right," Clover turned serious, "They look different from us, but they also have families, some of them also lost their parents in this war and feel the same pain we feel. We are not that different. Even Starswirl thinks it's possible that earth ponies can learn magic. At first, I thought you were just a spoiled brat. Then I thought you were just an oddball with crazy ideas. Well... I still think that, but at least you are an oddball with GOOD crazy ideas. The king only seeks revenge and more ponies will die if we don't stop him. Princess Platinum, today you taught me something that I cannot learn from books. I learned that a death will never improve a life. I will follow you to any other crazy adventures. You have earned not only my respect, but also my eternal loyalty."

"What about your friendship?"

"Yeah... that too," smirked Clover.

Necessary sacrifice

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"I don't do that! Never, never, never!" objected Princess Platinum, while she used her magic to build a snowpony that resulted with six hooves and had only one ear over its head.

"You just did it," responded Clover, sitting nearby and writing on the yellow book she always carried, "it's not that often, but you totally do it occasionally, don't you notice?"

"No, because I never do it!" Platinum raised her voice, and lost control of her magic, decapitating the innocent snow pony she was trying to build. Both mares stared at what was left from the snowpony, then they stared at each other in silence.

"Well, at least you put him out of his misery," Clover pointed out at what was left of the snow pony, and both friends bursted into laughter.

"Your highness, the building spell requires absolute concentration," explained Sarge Raystorm, he was next to the princess, evaluating her progress, "you got it all wrong from the start, even the most meaningless distraction can disorient your spell. If you don't pay enough attention to your target, you lose control of your spell. And for the record, you DO repeat what you say, sometimes."

“No, I don't,” mumbled the princess between her teeth, she stood in position to try the spell once again.

"Miss Clover, can you do me a very important favor?" asked Sarge Raystorm.

"I would do anything for you, Sarge," replied Clover, she immediately closed her diary, and turned her attention to the soldier, her blushing face was melting as she got closer and closer to Raystorm's personal space, the stallion awkwardly stepped back.

"I must complete my duties and report to his majesty," the unicorn pushed the mare away as gently as he could. For some mysterious reason, Clover was so close to him that he could feel her breath, and her mellow eyes were piercing through his soul. "Can you look after Princess Platinum while I'm gone?"

"Oh… I see… alright," responded Clover, somewhat disappointed.

"Thanks, I appreciate it, so... I'll leave the princess to your trusty hooves, I'll go and pick the princess from your place." The soldier left in a hurry pretending that nothing happened.

Clover let go of a sigh as the stallion left, contemplating his golden mane dancing back and forth at the pace of his trot, her eyes were lost in her own little world now, "Did you hear that? He said he appreciates me."

"Don't even think about it, ‘Lover’," Platinum commented on Clover's reaction, "Raystorm is old enough to be your father, you are just a young little filly to his eyes, and a creepy one for that matter: If you want to get his attention you just need to be more direct."

"Or maybe I just need a different approach! Mom always says that a full stomach is the path to true happiness, what kind of food does he like?" Clover tapped a hoof on her chin, "And now that I think about it, I've never seen him eat anything, or doing anything he enjoys, or even... smile. The only thing I know is that... I don't know anything about him."

"But he has dreamy eyes, doesn't he?" Platinum mocked her by making the sound of kisses with her lips, "Sometimes I wonder if you're really my friend, or if you're just using me to approach him."

"I don't have to answer to that!" Clover pushed Platinum away, and both burst into laugh again.

Then, Princess Platinum turned a bit more serious. "Actually, he used to be all smiles and he ate pretty much everything. But one day, he left on a mission. I was young so I don't remember the details or purpose of such mission. But what I remember is that that mission was the one that started the battle where my mother died. Maybe you know that he took responsibility for my mother's death, he didn't have to, but he felt guilty, and that costed him everything. He lost the respect and trust of the higher officers, and in the end, he was reduced to complete the most terrible mission of them all. The most cruel and the most ruthless, the only mission that makes the bravest ones cower in fear. Many have tried but none has returned with their sanity untouched."

"What is it? Tell me! What mission could be so horrible?" said Clover, anxiously waiting for an answer.

"Well, taking care of yours truly, of course" Princess Platinum puffed her chest in pride.

"I… understand their frustration…" Clover narrowed her eyes, "He was reduced to be your foalsitter?"

"More like someone to prevent me from embarrassing my father, but anyway, that's how Raystorm ended taking care of me. I feel kinda bad for him, he used to be someone important. Now all the respect he has left is his rank as sergeant."

“But you don’t feel bad enough to make his life easier, huh?” Clover smirked.

“Hahaha! Shut up!”

"It seems like the day the queen died was a sad day for every unicorn.” Clover added, she turned to glare at nowhere in particular, “His story is kind of like yours, the whole city sees you as a weird bug because of your behavior. You don't have to stand for the earth ponies, you could just leave things as they are, and your life would be a lot easier."

"That's why we need YOU!" Platinum beamed at Clover and hugged her with one of her front legs, "You have all the respect we need, my words will be listened if they see that Starswirl's student also listens. They're willing to give me a chance because YOU give me a chance, I am the voice and you are the respect!"

"Okay... and what is Raystorm's role in all this?"

"He is the handsome one! And together we are the ‘War Ender Team’! Now, are you ready to train me?" The Princess cheered and raised her opposite front leg as she hugged Clover.

"Only on one condition!" Clover also cheered, raising a leg of her own.

"Do tell!" asked the princess, keeping her huge smile.

"That team's name is dumb and we shall never use it again!"

"Deal!"

Raystorm walked all the way to the city's main gate where he received the reports of entries and exits. A unicorn with a golden helmet saluted him, and handed over a list of unicorns’ names, and a list of supplies. His next duty was his least favorite, visit each and every single watch post around the city, it would take him all day if it weren't for the teleport spell.

Every watch post reported no sightings, except for the southeastern one, the sergeant lost his cool when he received a document that described large amounts of earth ponies reuniting dangerously close to the city. He turned around and teleported to the castle gates, he was astonished when he saw an army assembling at the castle gardens, he wasted no time to teleport again to the throne room.

"Your majesty! What is going on here?!" Raystorm yelled as soon as he appeared.

"Sarge Raystorm, you are well aware that teleporting inside the castle is against the rules," the king calmly responded, he waved his right front hoof to two guards standing next to him and they ran off to the garden, "You never know when an intruder may attack using that spell."

"Why wasn't I informed of this sooner?" Raystorm stomped the floor with great strength.

“It’s in the regulation, Sarge,” the king smirked, summoning a scroll and reading it carefully, “even the the soldier of the lowest rank knows this rule.”

“I meant this!” Raystorm showed the document he received, “As Sergeant of the 142 Unit, I should be aware of enemy activities!”

"I have a more important mission for you, Sergeant," said the king as he stood up and stepped closer to Raystorm, the soldier got an uneasy feeling upon staring at the king's cocky smile, "And a chance to recover your honor as a soldier."

After receiving orders from the king, Raystorm walked as slowly as he could with a shaky feeling on his shoulders, the little light that came from the sun through the snowy clouds on the sky was getting darker. He approached a small house's door and knocked three times. "Coming!" warned a voice from inside, and shortly, the door was opened by a light green mare with pale yellow mane and tail and golden eyes.

"Well, hello there!" she gave the stallion a welcoming smile just before she was aggressively pushed aside by Clover.

"Sarge Raystorm! Please come in!" she eagerly beamed at him and quickly opened the door and stepped aside to let Raystorm pass. She noticed that he was even more serious than his usual self, her brow furrowed, "Is anything wrong?"

"What?! No! Everything is perfectly fine!" the stallion snapped out of it, "How... how is her highness doing?"

"Well, she did very well, I made a good job training her if I say so myself, she's having dinner right now," Clover pointed at Princess Platinum, who was unconscious and her face was submerged in a bowl of apple pie, Clover turned her sight back to Raystorm and grinned nervously, "I might have overdone her training just a teeny tiny bit."

"It’s ok, she falls asleep anywhere. I'll take her home, then. Thank you, Clover," said the soldier as he prepared to wake the princess up.

"Must you leave already?" protested Clover, "I mean she's fast asleep and you look really tired, why don't you stay just this night?"

"I couldn't, what would your mother think of a grown stallion staying with two young fillies?" said Raystorm not realising that a yawn escaped his mouth.

"He's right! I will not allow it," Clover's mother was quick to respond, then she turned a soft voice at Raystorm and fluttered her eyelashes, "But you can stay in my room if you want."

"I... I appreciate the offer, ma'am, but I'd better be on my way, thanks again."

"Oh, don't be silly!" smiled the mare, "Your job is to protect the princess, right? Wouldn't be safer if both of you stay here rather than taking her to the dark streets all the way to the castle?"

"Well... the princess IS my top priority... but... alright, then, but I'll stay the night in the dining room," said Raystorm, after thinking for a second.

A few hours later, Clover and Princess Platinum shared Clover's room. Clover was trying to sleep as she tightly covered her ears from the loud snoring of the princess. While Raystorm and Clover's mother were both sharing a cup of milk in the dining room.

"Sorry, I would offer you some coffee if I had some," said the mare as she took a sip from her cup.

"It's fine, I'm sorry to intrude, ma'am," said Raystorm, he looked around and contemplated at the humble house that has seen better days. There were only two bedrooms, one restroom, and the dining room which also served as the living room.

"Oh, please! Just call me Arcana," the mare hid her giggles by covering her mouth with a hoof, "So... what is it that is bothering you?"

"It's nothing, really... I just never been inside a mare's house before," he laughed nervously, while playing with his cup, but the mare glared at him with a skeptic smile, arching a brow.

"You know? My husband died the same day as the queen, he was also a soldier," she took another sip, and her smile weakened a bit, "Because of that, he was rarely at home, he worked so hard for us, and this family was the happiest when we were all together.”

Raystorm frowned upon Arcana’s confession, he looked down to gaze upon his cup of milk with a trace of regret in his eyes as she kept talking.

“One day he left to some kind of intel mission, he was part of the Explorer Unit 142, if I remember correctly. I thought it was normal, but something felt off. He was usually very active and sometimes childish, even. But at that time he was very calm… he even looked sad. When I asked him what was bothering him, the only thing he said was: ‘It's nothing, really’, and he had that same disoriented face that you have right now. That was the last time I saw him…”

After drinking the last drops of milk, she made another smile, as if her face could only make different kinds of smiles. This smile, however, looked like it was hiding something, “I am no fool, Sergeant, experience has taught me more than I've wanted, I know more things than anyone suspects, and I know that whatever it is that is bothering you, it has something to do with the princess and my daughter."

"I have a mission that I'm not sure I can accomplish," said Raystorm, admitting that he was busted, "I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"You may begin by talking to me," Arcana lightened up her mood as always, "Sometimes the first step to solving a problem is to share it with someone else. Is it a dangerous mission?"

"No... it's something that I just don't want to do."

"Well, there comes a time in the life of a unicorn when he has to make a decision: Do the right thing, or the selfish thing. The right thing is not always the one we want, but a lifetime reward will come in due time. The selfish thing, however, may bring a faster reward, but it won't last as long, and it won't be as sweet. When I find myself in this situations, I just keep on mind what’s really important, and do what’s best for everyone."

The next morning, Clover felt something moving on her bed, she turned around and spotted Princess Platinum turning and wallowing on the bed. Clover rose from bed quickly, very worried, the princess was sweaty and mumbling words of fear and agony as Clover looked around not knowing what she could do to ease the princess' sleep. Suddenly, the princess woke up in a jump.

"Please, stop!" screamed the princess, she turned her sight and gasped upon noticing her friend's presence, "Clover! What are you doing in my room?!"

"It's MY room, you fell asleep immediately after you arrived here, remember?" explained Clover, "But don’t mind me, what happened to you!? It looks like you were having a bad dream. I was worried sick."

After consulting her memory, Platinum nodded and giggled humbly. "It haunts me every night, ever since that horrible day. It's a torment that I don't know how to end. Maybe you can help me find a way to get rid of this nightmare!"

"Sorry, I have no clue, but I'm sure Master Starswirl does, come with me to his study, he'll know what to do."

Platinum nodded and hopped off the bed, very excited. Clover put on her hood, her cape and token as always and both unicorns walked out from Clover's bedroom to the dining room, where Raystorm was already awake, waiting for the princess. Princess Platinum was somehow nervous to see him, but Clover was more than happy to see him.

"I'm sorry, Raystorm," spoke the princess "This could be troublesome for you, I'll speak to my father about this, but I really, really need to go to Starswirl's."

"You can't, your highness, there is business to attend," the soldier stood and bowed to Platinum, "You may go after you're done, for now, we must resume your training. We should thank to Mrs. Arcana for her hospitality."

"Oh, don't bother," Clover stopped him, "Knowing her, she'll wake up in about two hours. But I'll let her know of your gratitude. It was a pleasure to have you home, Sarge Raystorm... Oh! And you too, princess, I'll be waiting in the study once you're done."

"Ok... See ya, see ya!" Princess Platinum rolled her eyes, and walked alongside Sarge Raystorm out of the house and heading to the castle, while Clover cast a lock spell on the door of her house and walked toward Starswirl's study.

As Clover walked through the streets, she noticed there were more patrols than usual. Unicorns in armor marching around in small groups across the city, ‘I don't even remember if there was a street patrol before’, she thought. However, she was more concerned about the princess' nightmares than the soldier's activities.

As soon as she arrived, she wasn't welcomed by Laurel's smile as always. The green unicorn always left everything aside to celebrate Clover's arrival, she was never too busy to help her, but this time there were no signs of her presence. Her concern became more and more active when Starswirl wasn't present in his office either. She quickly turned around and ran outside the streets, and after looking around, she noticed that the guards were moving in large groups heading to the city's gate, the civilians rushed to their homes and shut all the doors and windows.

"Clover!" called Laurel's voice, "I'm glad I found you! We must take refuge, now!"

"What is going on?" asked Clover.

"The hornless are here, they're invading us! No one said anything, it happened so suddenly! Master Starswirl is taking a defense post in the castle! It's going to get ugly!"

"Oh no… the princess… we must find her!"

Princess Platinum and Sarge Raystorm walked on a snowy hill where the princess' training was supposed to be, ‘why is he so quiet?’, she thought, usually he always gave her a briefing of her training as if he was assigning her a mission of some sort. She slowed the pace with an uneasy feeling and let Raystorm walk slightly ahead of her. Upon reaching the top of the hill, a group of unicorn soldiers along with King Lancer appeared from a teleport spell, surrounding them, Princess Platinum looked around her, very confused.

"Father?! What are you up to this time?" she asked.

"I just want what's best for you, Platinum," he responded while casting a spell on her. The princess was suddenly caught in a red bubble, she tried to teleport, but the bubble teleported with her, "This will keep you away from any danger. Well done, Raystorm, you may now join with your brothers in arms, now."

"Shall we take the princess to the palace, sire?" asked one of the soldiers standing next to the king.

"And leave my daughter escape under your nose again!?" the king raised his voice, "This time, I will guard her personally! You will accompany Raystorm, he might need some unicorns to cheer him up while he does the fighting, you incompetent foals."

The king turned around and took Princess Platinum with her.

"Raystorm! Did you do this!? Why!? You were supposed to be on my side! You had promised to me!" Platinum screamed as hard as she could and tears dripped from her eyes, Raystorm avoided eye contact, he just turned his tail to her and marched away.

The king took her daughter to the southern tower in the castle, the battle was visible, and the princess was horrified at the sight of earth ponies and unicorns killing each other. "You may have saved a few of them some days ago, but this is reality, Platinum. This conflict will only end when one race kills the other. Thousands of unicorns and thousands of hornless won't stop just because you ask them."

"You can't know that if you don't let me try," said Platinum.

"Your mother tried... and what happened to her!?" the king yelled at her, his voice cracked and his eyes were watery, "I don't want that to happen to you. The day your mother died... I realised that our kinds can't live together, if one must live, the other must die."

"Daddy... the day my mother died, I realised how sad and painful is the path we're going. I want it to stop, I don't want to live in a kingdom stained in blood. And now, I realise that we both want what's best for the kingdom, our goal is the same, but our ideals are completely different. Please, let me go! Let me share my ideals!"

"How will I know that you'll be safe?"

"I don't know, you’ll just have to trust me."

The king turned to the princess, he was in shock and breathless. Then the door was blown away by Clover's magic, she watched the princess' actual state, then glared at the king and snorted. The king was not intimidated, though, "How did you find us?" he said, his imposing stance grew stronger towards Clover.

"The guards are weak and they sing like my mom in the shower when they are interrogated," she smirked.

"You dare to defy your king, a young spellcaster trainee like you?" barked the king.

"Actually, I'm here to nicely ask you, if you could please release the princess," said Clover, her smile growing more confident.

"And if I say no?" the king stood between her and the princess. Clover quickly cast a flash spell, the king shielded his eyes, and next thing he saw was Clover taking Platinum with her. Clover turned her sight to the king again and mocked him with a cocky smile.

"Even as a trainee I'm smarter than you, your Majesty. Keep in mind that this would have been less embarrassing for you, if you had said yes," Clover smiled at the king and then teleported out of the tower along with Princess Platinum.

"How did the king caught you?" asked Clover as they ran across the street.

"Raystorm... he... he lied to me," the princess frowned, but shook away her sadness, "but nevermind that, we must find a way to stop this savagery!"

The earth ponies tried to break through the gate, they were wearing wooden armors and helmets and wielded spears and javelins and shields, they attacked in groups to overcome the unicorns' spells. Sarge Raystorm was fighting fiercely one earth pony after the other, but his attacks were not lethal, and he was getting exhausted as more and more earth ponies attacked him..

As some earth ponies attacked the gate, another group stayed behind for reasons unknown to the unicorns, they were joining together some pieces of wood and steel. Until they built a giant wheeled needle made of wood with a steel point. Several earth ponies positioned to push the needle and aimed toward the gate and charged.

The unicorns were shooting magic beams at it, but the contraption was immune to it, nothing could stop it until it slammed against the gate, the earth ponies pulled back their invention and prepared to charge once again. The unicorns did everything they could to stop it, but the giant needle was unstoppable by their weak spells, and the earth ponies that fell were quickly replaced. The needle slammed the gate twice more until the gate was pierced, and the earth ponies pressed forward into the city. Princess Platinum and Clover were running on the main street, when they saw the whole lot of earth ponies coming their way.

"To the castle!" commanded a light blue earth pony. The princess deduced he was their leader, she cautiously approached him.

"Hey, you!" she called, "you are their boss, aren't you?"

The earth pony stopped, he grabbed his spear and quickly turned around, and charged at her. "No, wait! I don't want to fight!" Platinum warned, and the earth pony was easily repelled by Clover's barrier spell. The earth pony prepared to attack once again, waiting for an opening, but Clover shot him with a weak magic beam.

"Didn't you hear, you big bully? She doesn't want to fight!" said Clover, "Lucky you, she would totally kick your tail."

"Please, I ask you to stop the fighting in the name of all unicorns!" the princess bowed down to the earth pony.

"Hah! And who are you to ask such a thing?" laughed the earth pony.

"My name is Platinum, Princess of the Unicorns, please, stop the fighting." The princess bowed even lower. Clover didn't like it, but she imitated the move of the princess. The earth pony laughed louder.

"It doesn't work that way, ‘your highness’. Look around you, the unicorns are fighting back, and even if I accept such request, I don't think your father is willing to let us go freely. This will end badly for one side and it's not going to be ours."

"I understand… you're right" the princess raised her hand, she paused and tapped her chin with one of her hooves for a few seconds before continuing, “Then, make me your prisoner, I surrender."

"WHAT?!" both the earth pony and Clover gasped at the same time.

The princess stood on her knees before the earth pony and explained, "If I do that, would you promise to stop the fighting? My father won't attack you as long as I'm at your mercy."

"What are you doing? They're gonna kill you!" whispered Clover.

"Let me get this straight" the earth pony glared at her with a suspicious look, "If we retreat, you'll be our prisoner, but why would I rather do that, instead of simply defeating the unicorns here and now? The battle is going our way."

As soon as he said that, the earth ponies began to be routed by the unicorns of the castle. King Lancer and Starswirl have descended to the battle, the king fought with a raging expression on his face, his bursting spells blew the earth ponies away, and Starswirl cast a spell on the needle and burned it to ashes.

The leader earth pony gasped in terror upon witnessing the king's terrible power. "What the hell!? Those monsters!" he said, the King approached him quickly from ahead, and from behind, the remaining forces of the unicorns leaded by Sarge Raystorm cornered the earth ponies on the main street.

"Freeze!" shouted the leader earth pony, he pointed his lance at Platinum, "we have the princess!"

The unicorns stopped their attack, while the earth ponies regrouped. "Tie her up!" commanded their leader, and the princess was immediately tied by two ropes and held captive by to big orange earth ponies, and a spear was pointed at her neck. "We'll retreat for now, but we'll take your princess with us! If you try anything funny, she will pay the price!"

"Curse you, cowards!" barked Sarge Raystorm.

"What are you saying?" laughed the earth pony, "This was all thought by your princess. You! Stay away!" he aimed his spear at Clover.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Clover said, she slowly moved backwards away from the princess.

"Don't try to rescue me, I'll handle this peacefully," the princess whispered, "And if I don't make it... then, you'll be free from my crazy ideals."

"I swore my loyalty to you," responded Clover, "I'll spread your crazy ideals from here."

All the unicorns were baffled, their princess once again was risking her life for the sake of the earth ponies. The earth ponies began to march to the gate, the captured princess marched with them placing no resistance at all, the spear still close to her neck, she passed beside Sarge Raystorm.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but just... promise me you'll be fine, okay?" he said.

But the princess narrowed her eyes, and gave him a disappointed glare, "what's the point?" she said, "Apparently promises mean nothing to you."

The earth ponies left the city, the princess among them, and the unicorns could only watch. The king, speechless and breathless, he had lost the only family he had left and he was unable to prevent it, just like that other day.

On the other side

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After traveling through a desert of snow, and her life constantly threatened by her captors, Princess Platinum found herself arriving at a small village. Simple wooden houses built around a square where the remains of a bonfire rested in the center, and a tall stone pillar with some kind of giant torch on the top. The inhabitants were, of course, all earth ponies. They were all just as she remembered them, doing hard labors like building and moving wagons filled with heavy-looking boxes, but there was a small, yet very significant difference, their smiles.

The earth ponies waved their hooves and gave warmth smiles at each other, however, when they turned their sights to the Princess Platinum, their smiles were changed for trembling lips and hooves, they hid their foals and fillies and stepped as far away as possible while she was marched inside of one of the small houses in the far south of the village.

She was thrown to a fairly common room, with chairs and books lined up in the walls, there was a single window and a few candles lit the place, it was warmer than outside but not enough to ease the coldness. Two earth ponies put hoofcuffs on her legs, and her horn was covered with a piece of leather cloth.

"This will prevent you from using your monstrous ‘magic’, " claimed the earth pony leader.

"No, no, no, you don't understand," said Clover, "you see, that doesn't… "

"Silence!"

After being locked inside, she could hear the earth ponies sharing a few words. Apparently, some of the earth ponies lived in neighbor villages and parted ways from the group. Shortly after, she could clearly hear that the leader was holding a loud and quite unpleasant conversation with a very angry mare.

"By the looks of your face," said the mare, "I can see that you guys were swept again. That's what happens when you rush things like you always do, Seed! But I'm used to it, I can deal with that. What I CAN'T deal with, is that you had to bring one here! It was bad enough when I had to clean their dirty hooves and horns, and now there's one of them in my house! What about my daughters? Did you ever stop to think about them?"

"Her horn is disabled, and if she's smart, she won't touch your daughters," said the leader, "She was our ticket out from certain death, and not just any horned monster, she's their princess! The king doesn't know where we are, and he wouldn't dare to risk his daughter's life, that should buy us some time, I'll think of something by then."

"The princess!" the mare gasped, "that will not keep the king away from us, that will lead him to us! You want to think of something? Here’s my suggestion: Get rid of her, throw her from the tallest cliff you find or something! I don't want her living here with me!"

"Just for today, Estrella, please. She might be the key to defeat the horned monsters. Just this once, ok? For me?"

"Ugh... just for you, just this once, and you owe me, got it?" the mare accepted with frustration and displease, not that he would change his mind, anyway.

A few hours passed, the princess yawned due to boredom, she looked at the bookshelves and scanned the titles of the books, she wasn't much of a reader, unlike her friend Clover, but there was nothing else to do. One of the titles caught her interest, ‘The Romance of the Three Kingdoms’. She began to read with little enthusiasm, first word by word, until she was drawn in by the plot, then she was reading paragraph by paragraph.

Suddenly, the door opened, and her host came in. Just like Seed, she was a blue colored earth pony, but her coat was darker than Seed’s, and her mane and tail were of the shiniest yellow color, as if made of gold, just like her eyes. Her cutie mark was a golden six pointed star. She was carrying a bowl of some kind of grey-colored soup with her mouth, she frowned at the unicorn and placed the bowl on the floor. Princess Platinum contemplated the contents of the bowl, a sticky and weird smelling soup, or at least, that’s what it looked like. She ignored the bowl and raised her head to see the earth pony’s face, "umm... hello, my name is..."

"You should eat," interrupted the mare, expressionless, staring back at the unicorn’s face. She seemed like she was holding the urge to hit her, then she noticed the book the princess was reading.

"Oh, I didn't mean to touch your books," said the unicorn with an awkward smile, "It's just that the title sounds as if it’s a peaceful story of love, most certainly it has nothing to do with war or conflict."

"Heh... good choice, then," the mare rolled her eyes, and left the princess alone with her food, slamming the door on her way out.

Once in awhile the mare peeked from the door to check on her guest, probably making sure that no one has escaped. If stares could kill, probably the princess would have lost fourteen lives already.

After a few pages from the book, reading proved most difficult once the darkness of the night invaded the room, the mare came in to lit the candles, she was holding a small torch and she was accompanied by the leader and two guards.

"How are you doing, princess?" asked the leader with a very arrogant tone.

"Well, these hurt a bit," the princess stated, as she cast her telekinesis spell to release the hoofcuffs she was wearing, the earth ponies jumped back defensively, until the princess put the hoofcuffs on again, "I tried to tell you, if you want to disable my magic, you should cover my eyes, it's hard to cast a spell when I don't see my target, our magic comes from the mind, the horn is more like a magic wand, we just use it to aim. No magician loses his power just because he loses his magic wand, that’s ridiculous!"

The earth ponies looked at each other with fearful eyes, they took the piece of cloth from her horn and used it to cover the unicorn's eyes. "Now that that's taken care of, we want you to tell us if there's a weakness we can exploit to defeat the unicorns."

"And if I don't," said the princess, "what are you gonna do?"

"You know that very well!"

"But if you kill me, you'll be back to where you started, have you even thought of what you'll do after that? And besides, you'll be just giving an excuse for my father to release all his wrath upon you."

The leader gritted his teeth and stomped on the floor, pointing the lance at the princess’ neck, "Don't you provoke me! I know you're trying to manipulate me and it's not going to work! Now, speak!"

"Heavens, please, calm down!" the princess jumped back feeling the tip of the lance touching her neck, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there is no tangible weakness to a unicorn's magic. The most common downside is if we are blinded, it becomes harder to cast a spell, but it's not impossible, it may be even more dangerous for both sides."

"What else can we do? You must be hiding something!"

"Well... you could stop fighting," the princess shrugged.

"Hah! You mean we should surrender? That's not happening!" said the leader, and he and his companions laughed at the idea.

"No, not surrender! Just stop fighting. Making peace," said the princess, "Why don't you try a more friendly approach? Have you ever tried speaking to a unicorn?"

The earth ponies laughed even louder, "unicorns don't ‘listen’," said the mare, "They just kill, that's the only thing they know, and it's been that way since the beginning."

"Well, maybe we can make the difference, we can’t keep fighting forever, right? I surrendered myself because I don’t want to fight, aren’t you as sick of this war as I am?" the princess stepped closer to the earth ponies with a friendly smile, waiting for an answer, but the only response she got was an awkward silence, and even if she couldn't see their faces, she could feel their cold stares.

"Sleep, princess, our chief will meet you tomorrow, he will decide your fate," said the leader, and with the same coldness, all the earth ponies left the princess by herself for the night.

Two small mysterious figures were crawling quietly on the house's corridors like two shadows lurking in the darkness. One of them moved daringly and swiftly, while the other was more cautious and quiet. They sneaked to the prisoner's room, the door creaked as it was slowly opened, and one of them peeked inside and spotted the princess lying on the floor. The mysterious intruder almost regrets its decision when a loud roar came out of the princess's mouth. With extra care, both shadows came inside the room walking on their toes, they both contemplated the horn on the unicorn's head and approached their hooves trying to touch it.

"No! Stop it!" the princess woke up as scared as always, both creatures gasped in terror, and the unicorn could hear them very well with her two ears perked like two antennas, "Who's there?!"

"I told you we shouldn't be here!" one of the creatures whispered, "Now we're in real trouble!"

"Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," said the princess, her ears drooped when she realised it was a young filly's voice, "Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you."

"All the grown-ups say you're a monster," said the other creature's voice, she was apparently a bit more mature, but still a filly, "But you don't look like a monster to me, I even think you look pretty."

"Are you really a princess?!" added the youngest with a very excited tone.

"Yes, I am," the princess giggled and blushed a little, "But being a princess is a lot more than just looking pretty. It's a full time job filled with responsibility. I gotta look after the unicorns and be an example to them, everything I do affects their lives and their behavior, I must do what is best for them to improve the kingdom."

"It must be really hard to do!" gasped the eldest filly.

"Not really," the princess giggled again, a little embarrassed.

"You must be respected and loved by all the unicorns!" the youngest filly also gasped.

"Not really..." sighed the princess, even more embarrassed.

"So... if you are a princess", added the youngest filly, "what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be living in a palace?"

"Do you mean you don't know?" the princess raised her brow, "Surely, someone told you about how I got here, right?"

Both fillies shared a confused look, until the eldest talked again, "Our mother told us that you were our ‘special guest’, she said that you were very, very angry and dangerous, and that we should not come close to you, but she didn't mention why you came here.”

“Nor that you were blind." Added the youngest one.

"Oh... I understand," the princess gulped, she turned very serious, "You shouldn't be here... you shouldn't be talking about this with me. I'm sorry but this is something you must speak with your mother. I don't want to get you in trouble, you must leave now. We'll talk some other time, if your mother authorizes it."

Both fillies frowned, the unicorn could only imagine their disappointed faces as she heard their steps quietly leaving the room until the only sound left was the creaking door closing behind her. After a long sigh, she laid on the floor again alone with her thoughts, ‘I should really start asking others' names before ending the conversation’.

After another night with the very same nightmare, the princess was visited by several guards. They tied a rope around her neck and marched her out of the house and pushed her to the streets, using the rope to pull her in the direction they wanted her to go. The snow on her hooves felt more soft and thick, so different from the snowy ground in the village, she did her best to keep the walk while blindfolded but her hooves sank beneath the thick layer of snow covering the field and tripped several times, and having her neck pulled by a rope was not making the walk any easier.

It was not a long walk, when the snowy ground became easier to walk on, the princess deduced that they had arrived to another village, the sound of gasps of the ponies around resounded in her ears, even if she couldn't see their faces, the echoes of their voices were still filled with fear and anger.

They arrived to a wooden house, Seed of the earth ponies knocked on the door five times as if he was trying destroy it. A few seconds later he knocked the door again and louder until a female’s cheerful voice responded, "Password?" she asked.

"I have business with your father!" demanded Seed.

"Wrong!" laughed the voice.

"Open the damn door!" insisted Seed, he stomped on the ground, but the snow softened the impact.

"You know the rule, Seed Sower," the voice laughed louder, "No password, no admission. Come on! I know you can do it!"

Seed Sower growled as his whole face turned red, until he finally puked the words, "Pretty please… with a cherry on top."

The guards around and even Princess Platinum released a few laughs as low as they could while the door opened with a quick slam, "Ding, ding, ding! See? It wasn't so hard, was it?" the female voice stated very proudly. Seed Sower ignored her and all the laughs making fun of him, he went straight to the room in the back of the main hall.

The princess perked up her ears trying to hear the conversation behind the back door, when suddenly, she felt a poke on her horn. Startled, the princess hopped aside. "Oops, sorry, does it hurt if I touch it?" asked the mare.

"Har har har! Puddinghead, leave her alone!" said the raspy voice of a stallion. The cloth covering the princess' eyes was removed, she shielded her eyes from the daylight for a few seconds, then looked straight to the eyes of the earth pony in front of her. He had the same eyes as Raystorm, the cold eyes of a soldier. He was a strong, bulky stallion with an orange colored coat and a blue, messy mane and a short tail, he was wearing a worn out cape which looked like it was his companion in many travels and battles.

"Who are you?" asked the chief, he stared at her with curiosity, "I've seen and fought many unicorns and I barely remember any of their faces, har har! They all the same to me! But yours... I think I've seen your face before... who are you?"

"My name is Princess Platinum," she responded, "I'm the daughter of King Lancer and Queen Starlight, and I'm…"

"Our prisoner! Har har har har!" the chief laughed so loud it echoed in the entire village, "Unicorns enslaved us for so many years, and only gave us freedom so they could hunt us down like animals. Even mares and fillies, they kill everything different from them just because of their superiority complex. Har har har! Do you take me for a foal! This is obviously a cheap tactic to locate our hideout! I'm sorry, princess, but there’s no way you’ll come out alive of this one, you are pretty dead. Any last words?"

"I'm terribly, terribly sorry for what us, unicorns, have done to your ponies," the princess bowed down, the chief’s smile disappeared leaving no trace behind as Platinum continued, "I know this apology is meaningless to you, and I know that there's nothing I can do to mend the past. But I want to create a better future, one where earth ponies and unicorns no longer need to fight. But even as a princess, I am powerless by myself, I can't do it alone, I need voices to join my cause. So please, you can help me! Pretty please... with a cherry on top?"

The chief looked around to see the reactions of the others, they were just as baffled as he was, and the awkward silence invaded the room. With her face down, her nose inches from the floor, a giant knot in her throat stopped her from speaking more words, her knees shaking like jelly. Until the chief finally spoke.

"Young princess… even if we stop fighting unicorns will keep trying to kill us all. That's why we must keep fighting for our lives, there will be no peace until the unicorns are defeated. I'm sorry, princess, but that's just the way it is. I will not kill you... she's your prisoner, Seed, do as you wish with her."

The princess couldn't believe her ears, indignant, she raised her face to look at the chief’s face, seeking his eyes, "I came to you because the hearts of the unicorns are filled with rage and hate!" she yelled, "But I guess it's the same here! It's even the same lame excuse! Why can't you even look at me in the face!? You're just as vengeful and stubborn as my father! The only difference is that he has a horn!"

The guards covered her eyes again and they marched her out of the house. The chief just turned his back and silently went inside the back room. "Father," called Puddinghead, shocked and confused, the chief stopped to listen to his daughter’s words, "Everything she said… it was true…"

Once the princess was chained and locked in the same cold room, Seed Sower reunited in with the other earth ponies at the center of the village. The winds were blowing a bit harder, the sky was getting darker, and the bonfire was already lit, illuminating and warming their bodies from the cold winter. Estrella was seated next to the fire alongside her daughters, who were happily clapping each other’s hooves at a rhythmical pace.

“Why is she still here?” asked Estrella, she could hear Seed’s hooves stepping on the snow, approaching her.

“The chief didn’t have the stomach to finish the job,” Seed sat next to her, “said it was my decision, we’ll take care of her at dawn.”

Both fillies quietly approached their mother without them realising, the eldest sister jumped in front of the mare, “take care of what, mom?” she said.

“Uhh… Oh, nothing important, honey,” Estrella smiled at her and waved her hoof trying to shoo her like a fly, “You go and play your games, ok?”

“It’s about our guest, right?” added the youngest filly, “Why isn’t she allowed to come outside and eat with us, mom?”

“We told you she’s very dangerous, who knows what kind of hexes she might throw at us,” explained Seed Sower.

“But that doesn’t answer my question!” insisted the little filly, “Why? What makes her so dangerous? We may be just fillies, but we’re not dumb! Why are you hiding the truth from us?”

Estrella and Seed gasped upon hearing the fillies’ words. “Now, young lady, don’t you talk to me like that!” said the mare, trying to regain control of the conversation.

“Mom! You’re evading the question again!” protested the eldest filly, “We talked to her last night, and she was super nice to us! I don’t think she’s a dangerous monster at all, and I think you’re being unfair!”

“You did what?!” the mare almost fainted, “I specifically told you to not get close to her!”

“We wouldn’t have, if you had told us the truth from the start!” yelled the eldest sister, and ran away to her home, her young sister followed. The mare sighed in frustration and chased after her daughters

The night had arrived and the winds blew stronger by each second. Estrella was unable to get to sleep, yawning and wallowing between the sheets of her bed, haunted by the midnight thoughts after an awkward and silent diner with her daughters. A window was constantly slamming against the house due to the strong winds blowing outside.

Some minutes later, the sleep was finally gaining some weight on her eyelids, however, a horrible din woke her up even before she could shut her eyes. She jumped from bed and peeked outside from a window, the pillar torch had fallen over a pony’s house and the fire was spreading quickly. She rushed outside and sprinted straight to the burning house, and with no hesitation, she blasted through a window to get inside.

“Help!” screamed a colt, Estrella followed his voice to the bedroom and kicked the door open with her hind hooves. The young colt was trapped in a ring of fire, Estrella leaped over the fire, grabbed the colt by the tale and escaped before being crushed by a piece of burning ceiling.

“My mom, she’s trapped!” the colt pointed with a hoof at the stone pillar. Estrella threw the colt outside from the closest non burning window she could find, and returned to help his mother.

“My son... save my son...” the mare was barely conscious, with one of her hind legs stuck beneath the fallen stone pillar.

“He’s fine!” responded Estrella, trying to pull the mare by the tail. Suddenly, Seed Sower appeared leaping from the smoke, he hit the pillar with his strong hooves and made a crack on it, after a second a second hit, the stone pillar was reduced to rubble. The stallion carried the mare on his back and sprinted out of the house with Estrella behind him, but they were separated when a burning pillar of wood crumbled down between them.

“Go, now! I’ll find another way!” said Estrella.

“There is no other way!” yelled Seed, with tears in his eyes.

“Just go!” yelled Estrella.

The stallion snorted, he turned around and escaped the house. Estrella looked around, but everything was covered in fire.

Meanwhile, Estrella’s daughters visited the unicorn once again, the princess was also awake. “Princess, you got to help us! There is a fire!” screamed the eldest sister. She took the cloth from Platinum’s face. The unicorn ran off to the street, and quickly spotted the fire.

Seed Sower was just leaving the mare on the ground, he returned to the house to try to find a way in but the doors and the walls were all wrapped in flames. “Is everyone safe?” asked Platinum, approaching from behind along with Estrella’s daughters.

“Estrella… she...” responded the stallion, impotent and rageous.

The princess didn’t need to hear more, she approached the house and tried to look inside the house through the fire, after a deep breath, her horn began to glow and with a poof, she disappeared. Seconds later, the whole house was crumbling down like a big fire ball, when another poof appeared, revealing Platinum and Estrella, both covered by ashes.

Estrella looked upon the princess, “Why did you save me?” she asked.

“Why? It’s only natural to help someone who is in danger, isn’t it?” said the princess, tired and breathless, “I know what it's like to lose a mother… I couldn’t let that happen to your daughters… not if I have the power to prevent it.”

“You… thank you. Girls, come here,” said Estrella, the fillies obeyed timidly, the princess could finally meet them with no interruptions, the eldest one was a white filly with beautiful wavy, long pink mane and tail the same color of her eyes. The youngest was a dark blue filly with a wavy, light blue mane and tail, her eyes were sky blue and her cheeks were a bit red.

“I guess you’ve already met my daughters, this one is Celestia,” Estrella pointed at the the elder sister, then she pointed at the youngest one, “and this one is Luna.”

A pony chooses, a slave obeys

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After the fire was extinguished, a crowd of earth ponies reunited at the center of town. Princess Platinum was exposed blindfolded and chained in front of them. There were three spear wielding ponies on her left side and three more on her right side.

Seed Sower gazed upon the crowd, they all looked uncertain or regretful, not a single one happy face, even Seed Sower wasn’t sure himself. Estrella was among them, doing her best to ignore the feeling of a black hole opening in her heart and avoiding the look of Platinum’s face, even though Princess Platinum couldn’t look back.

“Very well... let’s get this over with,” Seed Sower snorted, he tied a rope around Platinum’s neck who stood firmly and took a deep breath. “Princess Platinum, the community has decided that the crimes that the unicorns have made against earth ponies can only be paid with death. Therefore, you are to be executed by being hung from your neck until you die. Do you have any last words?” asked Seed.

Platinum smiled and shook her head, “I’ll make no excuses. If this is the price I have to pay, so be it.”

“Don’t be stupid!” Estrella yelled from the crowd, “You could have easily escaped anytime you wanted! Are you really going to throw your life away just for this dumb ‘friendly approach’? We all saw what you did, just ask for mercy and we’ll all forgive you!”

“Yes I am. And no, I will not,” she replied, the whole crowd gasped.

“Ugh, I can’t believe you! Stop this nonsense, Seed! I object!” Estrella exploded in anger, the whole crowd screamed and protested against the execution. Seed Sower let go of the longest sigh in his life, feeling an unbearable weight drop from his back, he proceeded to untie the unicorn’s neck.

“By popular demand, Princess Platinum,” said Seed, “Your life has been spared, do you have anything to say?”

Princess Platinum took off the cloth covering her eyes, and jumped onto Estrella with teary eyes and hugged her tightly. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I was so very, very scared! I thought my life was over! Thank you so much!”

“Fine… just knock it off... would you stay away? Darn it!” Estrella flushed a little, and pushed Platinum away, “Whatever happened to that cool attitude you had a second ago? You saved my life, I saved yours. We’re even. No big deal.”

“And you are still our prisoner,” Seed took the cloth that Platinum dropped, and blinded her eyes again, “Back to your cell, we’ll find something to do with you later.”

“Fair enough,” Princess Platinum sniffed and cleaned her nose before being escorted back to Estrella’s house to be locked again. Princess Platinum fell unconscious as soon as she arrived her cell, Estrella freaked out for a moment, until she heard the loudest snore coming out of Platinum’s mouth. Slightly annoyed, Estrella just left locked the door.

On midday, a brown earth pony arrived to the village, her golden mane and tail danced along her hasty pace as she sprinted through the street and ignoring all the earth ponies that approached her to smile and greet her. She ran straight to Estrella’s house, and opened the door with one strong push from her two front hooves like trying to break down the door.

“Knock, knock!” she claimed as she walked in, scanning every inch in the house, trying locate something.

“For goodness sake, boss! This is not what I had in mind when I asked you if you ever knocked,” replied Estrella, very angry and surprised.

“Is it true? Where is she? I want to see her, right now!” yelled the brown earth pony, while she shook Estrella by her shoulders.

Estrella opened a poorly improvised cell door, and inside was the princess unicorn, laid on her flank, immobile. Estrella rolled her eyes, while her visitor grabbed her and shook her, trying to wake the unicorn up, with no reaction at all.

“What did you do to her!? She’s not… is she dead!?”

“Well, we said we’d execute her at dawn,” Estrella left for a few seconds, “But circumstances changed last night, and well, I couldn’t let her die after what she did.” She returned with a bucket filled with water, and with a giant smile on her face, she spilled the water on the sleeping unicorn who immediately woke up with a long gasp.

“Don’t leave me!” screamed the unicorn, trembling, cold and confused, she looked around and realised she had visitors, she gave an unconvincing smile.

The earth pony smiled, and hugged her, very overjoyed, “Thanks to the imaginary numbers! They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“Umm, I’m fine, I’m fine,” said the unicorn, responding as naturally as she could, “I slept like a log.”

“More like a bear,” mumbled Estrella.

“You shut up!” the mare turned hostile toward Estrella, and her hostility disappeared when she talked to Princess Platinum again, “It’s been so many years, you probably don’t remember me.”

Princess Platinum looked at the mare, inspecting her from tail to mane, her brownish color and her mustard yellow mane and tail seemed familiar. Platinum stood in front of her and with a worried looked she spoke, “I got nothing… sorry.”

“Do the words snowball fight and banquet ring a bell?” the mare smiled at Platinum, who stood in silence during ten seconds flat, and then she suddenly gasped.

“I remember! Yeah! It’s you! I’m so glad to see you’re ok!”

“My name is Smart Cookie,” smiled the earth pony, “I’m a scholar from the northern village, and one of the Chief’s assistants. They say that all unicorns were terrible monsters who only bring death upon us earth ponies. But since I met you, I knew it wasn’t true, I knew there was an unicorn who was different. I never forgot about you. And when I heard the news of the Unicorn Princess being held prisoner in the western village, I couldn’t even integrate a constant number, I had to see it for myself!”

“Ahem, hello? Did I miss anything?” asked Estrella, with a sign of annoyance.

“Oh, sorry Estrella,” responded Smart Cookie, ”Please tell everyone that Princess Platinum is no longer your prisoner, she’s my honor guest now.”

“If that means she’ll no longer live under my roof, that’s fine. But she’s not my prisoner, she’s Seed’s,” explained Estrella, “you’ll have to answer to him. And I don’t think he’ll be happy to hear that… or to see you.”

“Bring. It. On.” Responded Smart Cookie with a confident look on her face.

The earth ponies and Princess Platinum reunited in the dining room, Estrella was on one side of the table, calmly drinking a cup of daisy tea. Princess Platinum was in front of Estrella, gulping and trying very hard to look calm, but the other two earth ponies sitting next to them were having their own personal war on the table.

“When I say no, it means ‘no way in hay I’m gonna let you have it your way’, and that’s my last word!” claimed Seed Sower.

“I’m afraid you don’t understand your position here. Let’s put it this way, I am a multiplication, and you are just a sum, so obviously, I have the highest hierarchy.”

“I spoke against your ‘method’ to wipe out the unicorns,” she drank all the tea in her cup with in one gulp and slammed the cup against the table. “The Chief Puddinghooves was on your side because he’s your friend. But everyone else knew it was a terrible idea. Do you have any idea how many ponies were subtracted from our numbers because of that reckless assault? How many wounded? How many supplies were spent? If it wasn’t for your foolishness, none of that would have happened!”

“First, I don’t understand what you say when you use all those confusing math terms. And second, you are but a coward that would rather stay hidden and wait for imminent death, than fighting for your right to live! The Chief understands that we must fight!!”

“But we must know what fights we should fight! Sometimes it’s wiser to factor the equation before trying to solve it! It’s not being coward, it’s being prudent, patient. I can have you stripped off of your title as leader of this village right now for this insult and not even Chief Puddinghooves will save you from that! But you know what? I won’t, because you brought a very important unicorn with you. She will come with me now, I’ll introduce her to town as a guest, and we’ll have a nice little chat about what she said to the Chief.”

“Really!? You know about that!?” Princess Platinum expressed a tremendous joy and hope upon hearing this, her eyes shining bright as stars, “And you’re willing to listen to me!?”

“Hold it! I haven’t said I’m ok with this!” objected Seed Sower, he stomped on the table, “Keeping her as a prisoner may guarantee our survival and will compromise the unicorn’s offensive tactics!”

“You plan on hiding behind a hostage, and you accuse me of being a coward?” Smart Cookie laughed as she stood up, and turned her sight to Platinum and smiled, “You are not a prisoner anymore, come with me.”

“Hold on a second!” Seed tried to intervene.

“This conversation is over!” Smart Cookie glared at Seed, and he calmed down immediately, gritting his teeth as Smart kept talking, “We already tried your formula, now we’ll try mine, I’ll get the solution of this problem. Your next assignment is to go to the eastern village and help tend the wounded, and make sure to bring them supplies. It’s your fault they ended up like that, so it’s the least you can do for them. Estrella, you’ll be in charge of the rebuilding project for the burned house. I’ll be leader of this village for the time being until Seed is done with his task. Did we all get the equation, or do we discuss this with the Chief?”

“Fine by me,” said Estrella, she drank the last drops of her daisy tea. Seed Sower, however, frowned and silently left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Princess Platinum and Smart Cookie visited a place where a group of twelve to sixteen ponies gathered around three big wagons. They were equipped with spears and shields. “We have arrived, boss,” one of the ponies claimed, Smart Cookie nodded and with a waving of her hoof, the ponies opened the wagons, and tons of fruits and vegetables dropped onto the snowy ground.

“Where did they get all this stuff!?” asked Platinum, the saliva was dripping out from her mouth.

“It’s harvest season. We planted some seeds to the far north, winter ended there four months ago, that’s how we get our food. We tried to live there, but it was worse than dividing a number by zero. It’s a dangerous place, there are huge scaly beasts with sharp fangs and claws, and enormous wings that they use to exponentially elevate themselves to the sky! But the worst part is that they have the ability to throw spontaneous combustion out of their mouths!”

“D-d-dragons!?” Platinum stepped back in fear, “Do you fight dragons over food?”

“Oh… is that how you call them?” Smart Cookie tilted her head and lifted an eyebrow, “The idea is to get the food without them noticing, but you know, sometimes the equation has multiple variables. We don’t kill them, we just defend ourselves as we retreat with the wagons. They stop chasing us once we leave their lands. We get a lot of food, but even so, it’s hard living when you have to risk your life every time we want to get something to eat.”

“We, unicorns, get our food from the south lands, where winter doesn’t exist, or so they say. I don’t think they have to fight any dragon to get it. But still, food is very scarce, and we barely get enough to feed all the unicorns.”

“Let’s talk of more important matters, I wasn’t there when they took you to the Chief, but they said you asked him to join your ‘cause’, right? What do you have in mind?” Smart Cookie stared Platinum to her eyes with a happy face.

“To be honest, I don’t really know...” Platinum scratched the back of her head, “But I believe that we can stop the fighting if enough ponies join up to protest against it. If we all join up, maybe we can get to understanding each other. Maybe even unite our kingdoms. But I don’t know how to do it. And my father… well, he is mad. I doubt he would give in even if all the ponies and unicorns join forces.”

“Getting allies to make your voice louder, huh? It’s not a very solid formula, but we can work the kinks later,” Smart Cookie nodded with a confidence that surprised Platinum, “Sum me up, I can convince earth ponies to join us, our numbers will increase directly proportional to time!”

“Really? You’re gonna help me?” Princess Platinum hugged Smart Cookie, “Thank you! I will never forget your kindness and understanding!”

Their next destination was the rebuilding project under Estrella’s supervision and she was not pleased to see them. Estrella turned her back to them, pretending to be busy, but Smart Cookie approached her and started to yell something that Platinum didn’t bother to listen.

What got Platinum’s attention, were three earth ponies trying to lift up a wall using a rope as a pulley. The wall was slowly standing to a vertical stance, she stood on the opposite side of the wall and cast a telekinesis spell on the wall to help them. The earth ponies, scared, dropped the rope and watched how Princess Platinum set the wall in its place all by herself.

“What the hay are you doing!?” Estrella asked, very angry.

“I’m just helping,” replied Platinum.

“Well, stop it! We don’t want your dangerous sorcery around here! Put that down before someone gets hurt!”

“I don’t intend to hurt someone...” said Platinum, she looked around and noticed that her magic was being frowned upon, she placed the wall on the snow back to where it was.

“I don’t care what your intention is!” Estrella stomped on the snow, “Maybe you’re not aware, but magic has only brought pain and suffering to the earth ponies!”

“Still, she managed to do by herself a job that normally would be divided by three ponies,” said Smart Cookie, her smile grew sharper, “If we use her ‘sorcery’ efficiently, the project is more likely to be finished a lot earlier than expected. And if the info I got is correct, it’s thank to this ‘sorcery’ that you are still alive, isn’t that true?”

Estrella growled to herself while the rest of the ponies looked satisfied with the explanation, maybe because it meant less work for them, “Fine, boss... just don’t bring that up again. She will be your responsibility, make sure she doesn’t destroy anything, or kill anyone.”

Following the instructions the earth ponies gave to her, Princess Platinum cast her telekinesis spell on a long wooden board and placed it on the superior part of the house. Then, with the same spell, she lifted a hammer and a group of nails, and nailed a wooden board in its place. A very easy task for her. She quickly deduced she was helping in the building of the house’s roof.

But after four hours of labor, the easy task proved to be not as easy as she had anticipated, she lost count of how many wooden boards she nailed to the roof until she finally finished. Platinum climbed down a ladder and laid on the snow face down, exhausted. Smart Cookie approached her very proudly, while Estrella had a mocking smile on her face.

“What? You tired? You barely moved a muscle there, you did everything with your dumb magic,” Estrella laughed.

“Magic is also a tiring thing to do,” said Platinum, with no energy to lift her face from the snow, “I’d love to see you try to nail all those things using the hammer with your head?”

“Interesting… I also thought that magic was an effortless ability. Can you explain the definition of magic for us, Platinum?” asked Smart Cookie, anxiously to get a response.

“Uhh… Sure… magic is...” Platinum stopped for a moment, thinking of the answer, but with no response from her memory, “Magic is… the power of the… manifestation... in your physical mind… I guess…?”

Both earth ponies looked as confused as she was, “You are clueless, right?” Estrella with a mocking tone.

“It’s… it’s just a thing we do with our heads, alright? It’s hard to explain, we just focus our heads on something and then just do it! I never really thought on how it works. I suppose that Clover may know, she’s so cool! You’d get along with her, she’s intelligent like you, Smart Cookie, and she also has a sharp tongue like you, Estrella.”

“What!? My tongue is not sharp!” Estrella yelled at Platinum, “And stop talking to me as if we’re friends, we’re not, and we’ll never be!” she snorted and walked away, leaving Smart Cookie and Platinum behind.

Back on Estrella’s house, Luna was staring at a pile of snow, very focused, her eyes looked tired because, apparently, she hadn’t blinked in a few minutes. Estrella examined her daughter’s behavior for half a second. With no idea of what Luna was up to, Estrella gave up and finally asked, “What on earth are you doing, Luna? Where is…?”

“Shhh, mom, please! I’m concentrating here...” responded Luna without losing sight of the snow pile, “I’m trying to do magic.”

Estrella gasped, her eyes wide open and her jaw almost hit the snow on the ground with the terrible sight of watching her daughter trying to use the horrible weapon of the ‘horned monsters’. Suddenly, Celestia jumped out of the pile, covered in snow, “ooohhhhh, I’m a magical snow ponyyyyy!”

“Stop it, you two!” Estrella scolded immediately, very hysterical.

“Yeah, you’ll only hurt yourself if you keep doing that,” Princess Platinum giggled covering her mouth with a hoof, “Magic doesn’t come from the sight, it comes from your mind. And you don’t DO magic, you USE magic, it’s a huge difference. I learned it from a unicorn named Rays… from another unicorn.”

“Princess, princess! Use some magic!” both Luna and Celestia both bowed to Princess Platinum’s hooves, staring at her soul with big begging eyes. “Can she? PLEASE?!” they repeated the trick on their mother.

Platinum turned her sight at Estrella and gave her a weak and apologetic smile, Estrella looked at Luna’s and Celestia’s faces filled with hope, “... Fine...” she mumbled.

“YAY!!!”

Estrella felt a warm and small beating in her chest as she watched her daughters hopping and dancing around Platinum with their faces filled with joy. She couldn’t contain her own smile, turning her sight at Platinum, she spotted her smiling back. Estrella gulped and returned a frown to Platinum and walked in the house.

Platinum cast the building spell she practiced, to make a snow pony out of the pile of snow. Luna and Celestia watched in awe while the snow slowly took the shape of a pony, starting from the hooves, to the body, the tail, until it got a head with three ears on it.

Two weeks passed quickly with Princess Platinum staying among earth ponies. Everyday she woke up early, even though scared from the nightmare that chased her every night, her hopeless fears disappeared when she realised she could walk freely and no one hid or ran away from her anymore, some of them even smiled at her, and just like Smart Cookie promised, more and more ponies joined her cause everyday.

One day, Smart Cookie had this idea of building a wagon and use it to negotiate with the unicorns, she reunited all the earth ponies she could in the dining room in Estrella’s house, Platinum seated next to Smart Cookie and Estrella seated next to Platinum, there was a big print of the plans for the wagon sticked on a wall.

“Princess Platinum said that the most of the unicorns’ problems are derivatives from the lack of food,” Smart Cookie said in front of the earth ponies, “so the obvious formula to the solution of this equation, is to give the unicorns a peace offering in the shape of a wagon filled with food.”

“Can’t we just use a wagon we already have?” an earth pony asked.

“No, we can’t,” responded Smart Cookie, somewhat annoyed, “it has to be a brand new wagon. It’s a present from earth ponies to unicorns, what would they think if we give them an old worn out present? Besides, the wagons we used are built and developed for our village’s needs, we can’t use those. My calculations show that with this project the unicorns will be zetta grateful and peace will be born between unicorns and earth ponies! The end of the war!”

And so, one day later, the earth ponies began the construction of the wagon according to Smart Cookie’s plan. They all reunited on the outskirts of town, there were a lot of pieces of wood and iron plates of different sizes, and a section where the ponies could obtain tools like hammers and nails, saws and screws.

The stronger colts moved the heavy pieces of the wagon while the ‘not strong ones’, as Estrella called them, cut the pieces of wood that they needed and nailed them together to create the wagon’s parts. Next to the work, there were a group of mares preparing meals and snacks and the smell of fried apples invaded Platinum’s nose as she witnessed the work.

“Har har har! How is it going, fellas?” asked a familiar, friendly voice, Platinum turned her sight and spotted Chief Puddinghooves walking into town, “is this a new house we’re building?”

Along with the Chief, also came Seed Sower and the Chief’s daughter, Puddinghead, a light yellow earth pony with an orange mane and tail, she hopped around like a little filly impressed by the wagon under construction, and waved her hoof upon Platinum when she saw her.

“Ahh, Chief, good to see you,” greeted Smart Cookie, “it looks like Seed finally completed his task. This is our peace offering project, we’ll give it to the unicorns and we’ll return Princess Platinum to them. That’s how this war is going to end.”

“What!? That’s ridiculous!” Seed yelled at her, “you think the unicorns will accept it just like that? They’re going to destroy you all, rescue Princess Platinum, and then take your peace offering junk!”

“We won’t know until we try,” Princess Platinum said, “look how many wonderful earth ponies are willing to make peace! The war will surely end if no one is willing to fight it.”

“Hah! You think they’re willing to make peace?” Seed mocked, “I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but they’re not. They were commanded by Smart Cookie to help you, she always does that, and it seems that she sent me to the eastern village to get me out of the way. You are just another slaver and you don’t even realise it.”

“Seed! I have not...” Smart tried to justify herself, but was stopped when Princess Platinum stared at her with a disappointed face.

“Is it true?” asked Platinum, her eyes wide open in shock, “Who was commanded to join my cause?” she asked to the earth ponies working, all of them raised their hooves, very embarrassed. “Smart Cookie… why would you do this?”

“I don’t understand, Princess Platinum,” said Smart Cookie, “You said that you needed help. Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“Yes, but not like this! This is exactly what I’m trying to fight against,” Platinum explained, “I want them to join my cause by their own accord, because they are also tired of this war and want peace as much as I do. Not because their leader told them to.”

She looked at all the ponies building the wagon, and kept talking, “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. All those who don’t agree with this plan may go home. I’m sorry for wasting your time.” Her heart was shattered when the earth ponies stopped their work to return to their homes, but somehow she also felt a great relief.

“Did you really think that you were making a difference?” asked Seed, “Fighting for our own survival is all we have left.”

“Must you really add salt to the wound?” Estrella gave Seed a weak elbow hit. “Look at her, she’s destroyed, just let her be!”

“She has to open her eyes and see reality,” claimed Seed, “In order to make peace, both sides must agree, not just one. But the unicorns don’t want that. They only want to fight and kill us all, so we must fight back, there is no other way!”

“There is another way,” said Platinum, “The way of forgiveness.”

Suddenly the chief approached Princess Platinum, he stared right into her eyes, “A long time ago, the earth ponies returned victorious because the queen of the unicorns was killed. We celebrated that night with a huge party. I have no doubt that our joy was your pain and sadness. But instead of revenge, did you really choose the way of forgiveness? Did you disposed of all your rage?”

“My rage, my pain, my sadness,” Platinum placed a hoof on her chest, “I drowned them a long time ago. And you’re right, Chief. I’m not sure if it’s forgiveness the way I’ve chosen, but I’m pretty sure that it’s not revenge. And whatever it is, I’m willing to keep going and find out.”

They all stood in silence, as if the conversation had died, but then someone else spoke out of the blue. It was Puddinghead, the Chief’s daughter, a grin on her face, she palmed Princess Platinum’s back, and Platinum heard her words and knew she wouldn’t forget them for the rest of her life.

“Let’s find out together! I’ll join you!”

The incoming storm

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Focus…

She was breathing deeply, seated under her favorite pine tree, her eyes closed. The glowing of the magic aura around her horn increased when she inhaled, and decreased when she exhaled. Her magic perfectly synced with her meditation, and her mind in blank. It was just her, the pine tree and…

“Clover.”

Just her, the pine tree and a mysterious voice that somehow found it’s way through her ears. Was that the voice of a very handsome unicorn calling her name? Her breathing increased speed and the aura around her horn became more volatile.

Focus!

The silence returned and brought the calm with it. Remember the words of Master Starswirl, ‘if you drank too much apple cider, and you have to speak in public, remember to…’ No! Not those words!

FOCUS!

“Clover, wake up! I need to talk to you!” Called the voice again. She felt a poke from a hoof on her left cheek. She tried to stay calm and breath deeper, but the poke insisted more and more.

“Argh! What do you want!?” Clover screamed furiously, she opened her eyes and glared at the pony calling her name, only to realise that she startled the unicorn that interrupted her meditation. It was Raystorm, he looked scared… and quite handsome.

“Oh… Raystorm, please, I wasn’t sleeping, I was training.”

‘What kind of training requires you to sit and do nothing?’ Raystorm thought, he cleared his throat and regained his cool. “Sorry, I didn’t know. I just wanted to tell you that we’re planning another quest to rescue Princess Platinum, I know I’ve asked this before, but you would make an invaluable recruit. Would you please reconsider?”

“My answer is the same,” said Clover, “sorry, but I have my own business to attend.”

“Clover… you shouldn’t leave her alone just because of my previous actions. She needs us, maybe needs you more than anyone else, she’s your friend!”

“She’s more than just my friend!” Clover stood up from a boost, “much more than just my princess! She is like my family! My sister! Her vision, her ideals! I truly believe in her! And she thought that you believed too. She needed your support and you sold her out!”

The silence took over Raystorm, he looked down for a second realising that he pressed a fresh wound on Clover. He spoke to her about the princess a few days ago, and she exploded in anger as well. After a short gulp, he finally spoke again, ”Clover… please understand. I was trying to do what’s best for everyone. It wasn’t supposed to...”

“Well, you got your honor and prestige back,” Clover turned her back at Raystorm and grabbed her saddle bag laying next to her, “at least you did what’s best for yourself. Look, I have to go, like I said, I have some business to attend to, so if you excuse me, Captain Raystorm, I must be on my way.”

“We’ll depart in one hour if you change your mind,” said Raystorm, raising his voice to make sure that Clover listens. ‘Yeah, right. She hates you, idiot.’

Raystorm waited for two hours just to make sure if Clover would arrive. Of course, she didn’t. He didn’t know why, but now that Clover wasn’t being awkwardly friendly towards him, it was a painful feeling.

After admitting that Clover wasn’t going to show up, he and the twelve more unicorns he recruited began their mission heading to the hills to the north, where the earth ponies that captured the princess headed a few days ago. They walked for hours and hours as their city shrunk in the distance behind them until it was out of sight. They found nothing but a white field as far as they could see.

The wind was blowing as if threatening with an oncoming storm, and the sky was getting darker. “Yo, sir, I think it’s time to camp!” said an orange unicorn, he had a black vest and a black beret, he was thinner than the others and his equipment consisted of only a map and a compass. However, Raystorm did not stop, he kept walking forward.

“Stay on track, scout! If it is a storm, our limited equipment would be no match for it, anyway. We’ll move forward until we find the princess or we’ll die trying!”

Suddenly, he felt a force on his tail that pulled him backwards, and a golden magic barrier appeared, protecting him and the other unicorns from the blizzard. He turned around to see the responsible, for he knew it was Arcana, Clover’s mother.

“Look, I understand your eagerness to save the princess,” she said, “and if you want to die doing so, that’s fine. But don’t drag all of us into your suicide misadventures. Some of us have families and would like to come back home safely.”

Raystorm calmly nodded, and commanded to set up the camp. He took out some wooden sticks out of his saddlebag, and cast a fire spell on them to make a bonfire. He turned around and saw how Arcana took out some cabbages from her own saddlebag and shared them with the rest of the unicorns. He approached to take his ration, but also to talk to her.

“You said I would be rewarded,” he said with a low tone, almost whispering, “I followed your advice and now your daughter and the princess hate me! Even if we find her, she would prefer to stay captured than being rescued by me.”

“Pardon me? Are you placing the blame on me?” she replied with a calm smile, and put a cabbage in Raystorm’s mouth to shut him up. “I advised you to do what you thought was best for everyone. The key word here is ‘Advice’. Advice is free, my dear, listening to others costs much more. The one who did everything was you, and you alone. My daughter and the princess think of you as a traitor? So what? Be a stallion, stand behind your own decisions, admit your mistakes, swallow your pain, and deal with it. Don’t come crying to me just because it didn’t turn out how you wanted. You’re already grown up, I shouldn’t be telling you this.”

Captain Raystorm stood silent, what could he say? Everything Arcana said was truth, and her warm smile was still on her face. ‘Who is this mare?’ he lost himself in his thoughts, his skin was freezing under his fur, and the slumber was gaining weight on his eyelids. He turned his sight to his recruits, who were laughing at their inappropriate jokes.

He ate the cabbage in one big swig, and headed toward his tent, sad or angry or tired, whatever. He just wanted to shut his eyes and, hopefully, clear his mind until the next morning. After he placed his head over the uncomfortable pillow, his eyes closed immediately.

“Captain, you may want to see this!” the scout unicorn called to him. Raystorm woke up with a jump. ‘How much did I sleep? It felt like just an instant.’ He wasted no time to walk outside of his tent, the light of morning overwhelmed his view for a few seconds. He noticed that all other unicorns were all facing skywards with their mouths wide open. When he gazed upon the sky, he understood why, and did the same.

No unicorn could believe it. A cinnamon colored pony passed right over their heads followed by a group of over twenty of these strange ponies. After a swift and well organized U-turn maneuver, like a flock of birds soaring through the sky, the strange ponies gracefully landed in front of the unicorns.

They were all mares, wearing armors made of hard steel. The cinnamon colored pony wore a helmet that had a red colored mane that looked like a brush. She took the helmet off her head and fixed a long ebony colored mane, but that was not the most shocking part of it. The most shocking part of it was that she spread two limbs coming out of her body, they were not legs, though, they were a pair of large feathered wings.

Due to the noise of awe and shock, Arcana came out of her tent, yawning and barely awake, “must we really wake up so early every single day?” she said, but when she spotted their unexpected guests, her jaw almost hit the ground, and the winged mare stared directly at her with her two golden eyes.

“Who are you?” asked Raystorm, with a defensive tone.

“Shut up, stallion, before I kick your tail back to the kitchen where it belongs,” replied the winged mare, very offended. She approached Arcana and gently bowed down to her for a split second before talking again. “Well met, lady. My name is Commander Cotton Cloud, don’t laugh. I’m here to inform you that you… what? You’ve never seen a pegasus before?”

Arcana, without saying a word, shook her head, contemplating the beautiful wings of the ponies before her.

“Oh, well… this is kind of awkward,” the pegasus mare grinned, “well, you are trespassing our territory. What is your business in our lands? Who is your highest authority?”

“I am,” responded Raystorm, “and I’m sorry, we didn’t know this lands belonged to another creature. We are on a quest to look for someone, have you seen any creature that looks just like us? But without horns on their heads... or wings on their bodies.”

“Really? You?” Cotton Cloud shifted her sight between Arcana and Raystorm, with disgust in her eyes, “a stallion has a higher authority than a mare? That is unthinkable in our culture. You unicorns are certainly a strange lot. But yes, we know about the earth ponies. When you spend your whole life on the sky, your horizon has no limit, you can see everything. Anyway, last I heard, earth ponies and unicorns were at war. What is your purpose on going there? With these numbers you’re gonna get destroyed, earth ponies are the masters of guerrilla operations, you know?”

“Trust me, I know that very well. But with all respect, our business is NOT your business,” said Raystorm, “we’re just looking for the earth ponies, and that’s all you need to know. If you would be kind enough to point us in the right direction, we’ll be on our way, and out of your territory as soon as possible. We don’t want any conflict with the pegasus folk.”

“Good. We don’t want any conflict with the unicorns either,” Cotton Cloud said, sensing some hostility from Raystorm, “specially, considering the ‘condition’ of your kingdom. I will tell you where you need to go. There are three neighbor villages completely populated by earth ponies. Just turn around and head west, you can’t miss them, they are on top on a hill. Now, ‘with all respect’, I’ve had enough talking with a stallion as an equal. I will have to ask you to leave, please.”

Raystorm bowed down to the pegasus commander, and ordered his recruits to quickly lift the camp and leave, as the group pegasus lifted off to the skies and stood on a cloud high above the unicorns. Commander Cotton Cloud, vigilantly, saw the unicorns march to the west as she told them, looking down on them as if they were little ants compared to her.

“See, Hurricane?” she talked to a grey colored pegasus with silver mane and tail who was standing behind her, “strength is everything. Those unicorns noticed our strength. They stood defensive, intimidated by it. I’m glad no combat was necessary. You know how much I hate unnecessary fights. Weak and unarmed, there is nothing more unnecessary than an easy fight against a weak opponent. The only way to get stronger is by fighting strong opponents.”

“Yes, you are right, commander,” said Hurricane, her calm black eyes and the slow pace of her speaking showed boredom, as if she had heard the same speech many times in the past, she scratched the back of her neck as if doing so would rid her of her boredom.

“Still, it’s strange that a group of unicorns that small is looking for earth ponies, but not for a fight, it’s.... intriguing. Maybe a plot that we are unprepared for. Take just one mare of your trust and follow them, Hurricane. Find out what’s going on, and make sure you stay hidden.”

After a long yawn, Hurricane saluted and marched away while her commander headed back into a tall squared building made out of the same cloud they were standing on. Seconds later, Hurricane lifted off to follow the unicorns, she was accompanied by another sea green colored pegasus with violet mane and tail.

After two entire days of exhausting marching, the unicorns found a hill to the far west, and on top of it, there it was. A group of small wooden houses. The first signal of civilization after two long days. Raystorm stood still as his recruits celebrated the discovery. But the important question was still unanswered, ‘is Princess Platinum in this town? And is she still alive?’ As he carefully rehearsed on his mind all the possible courses of action and outcomes of this situation. Arcana carefreely moved ahead.

“Hellooooooo! Earth ponies! We’re looking for the princess! Is she heeeere?” she shouted while waving her hoof, with a big smile.

First, only one earth pony poked his head from a window. Then, he went back inside, and seconds later, he came out of the house and rushed toward Raystorm and company, armed with a spear. Shortly after, another earth pony followed the previous one. And then another, and then many, many more. The unicorns were surrounded by over fifty earth ponies and they were all armed with spears and clubs.

Arcana realised her mistake, and cowered back hiding behind Raystorm. The unicorns prepared for battle, aiming their horns at the earth ponies, and the earth ponies aimed their spears at them.The tension grew up, Raystorm planned the next move. Right in front of him, he spotted a trembling earth pony among them who could easily drop his spear and run away. It was an obvious opening in the enemy’s formation. With a deft maneuver he easily shot a magic beam to the earth pony as a diversion. The earth pony moved aside and stumbled with his partners, breaking the formation. Raystorm and his recruits charged forward, breaking through the earth ponies’ formation, and heading into the village.

The unicorns were outnumbered for about ten to one, and the streets were guarded by mares and young stallions, prepared for the worst. With no time to think, Arcana cast a spell that created a golden light ball that burst into a cloud of smoke, Raystorm took advantage of the confusion, he pulled Arcana by her tail and ran inside an empty house.

The unicorns quickly grabbed tables, chairs and beds and barricaded the front door and the windows. Arcana cast another spell that covered the whole house with a golden barrier, the same she used on the snowstorm days ago.

“Stargazer… Stargazer…” Arcana ran to the nearest corner inside the house, while trying to regain her breath. Nor her lungs nor her muscles were tired, but there was an unusual chill in her spine and her knees wouldn’t stop shaking. She noticed that none of the unicorns felt the same way as she did, they all had calm and serious faces, vigilantly looking out the window and ready to fight back. The already fast beating of her heart sped up even more when she could hear the earth ponies attacking the barrier. “Save me, Stargazer!”

“Well done, Mrs. Arcana,” said Raystorm, he palmed her back, “I didn’t know you had the instincts for survival. You’d make a great soldier.”

“Instincts for…? No!” Arcana widened her eyes, “ you got it all wrong! It’s not instinct! I’m scared! I just wanted to run for my life! Unlike you, you are so calm and collected, you don’t look scared at all.“

“It’s normal to be scared, you did pretty well on your first taste of action,” Raystorm said, he seated next to her, “in my first real combat, I dug a hole on the snow and hid my face like a little colt, my sergeant grabbed me by the tail and took me to a safe bunker.”

“That’s nothin’, yo!” said the scout unicorn, “in my first mission, I panicked so hard that I shot our sarge in his right hind leg, and he still managed to carry my tail back to camp while I was crying like a baby.”

“R-Really...?” Arcana calmed down a bit.

Raystorm touched Arcana’s shoulders and stared directly at her teary eyes, “It happens to everyone. I learned that: ‘Being scared doesn’t make you a coward, and ignoring fear doesn’t make you brave.’ It was Sergeant Stargazer who taught us that.”

Suddenly, a loud crash sound invaded the house, like a shattering crystal. Then the door was blasted open by the headbutt of an earth pony. It was Seed Sower, they cornered the unicorns inside the house, he growled and the other earth ponies pointed their spears at Raystorm and his recruits.

“Well, well, well,” Seed Sower smiled, “what do we have here? If it isn’t...”

“Please, allow me,” the familiar voice of a young mare spoke from behind, interrupting Seed Sower’s talk. The earth ponies’ formation opened to make room for the the mare to show her face. It was Princess Platinum, she glared at Seed Sower, and cleared her throat.

“Well, well, well,” Princess Platinum smiled, “What do we have here? If it isn’t ‘Sergeant Backstabber’ and his ‘Backstabbing Crew’!”

“Actually, he was promoted to captain,” said the scout unicorn, a nervous grin drawn on his face. Princess Platinum’s face got red of anger. And the scout unicorn wisely understood that his mouth should stay shut.

“Princess! I can explain!” said Raystorm, “We were not sent here with violent purposes. The king, he...”

“I don’t care what my father said, ‘Captain’!” Platinum covered her eyes with her hoof, trying to shake off her anger. Then, she took a glance at the other unicorns, she stared at the scout’s silly face, and next to Raystorm was Arcana, trembling with fear, “Mrs. Clover’s Mom! What are you doing here!?”

“Heh, hello, Princess,” said Arcana, trying to calm herself. A feat that proved to be most difficult with the sharp point of a lance aiming at her chest, “We are v-volunteers in a quest to find the c-captured princess. P-please, don’t kill me.”

“What? No! Of course not!” Platinum gasped, “I promise you that no one is going to die. Seed, please, let them go.” But after turning her sight back to Raystorm, she corrected herself, “Everyone, except him, he’s not to be trusted.”

Seed Sower sighed and said, “Platinum, no unicorn is to be trusted, if we let them go, they will give our location to the king, and that would be our end.”

“Please, don’t hurt them! They’re just following my stubborn father’s orders. Can you, at least, release Mrs. Clover’s Mother? I know her, she is one of the nicest unicorns I’ve ever met.”

“I doubt that’s her actual name,” said Seed Sower, “But fine, I’ll concede you this one. Not because you know her, that means nothing to me. But because she’s scared to death, I don’t think she’s any danger. You take care of her, Platinum. I won’t hurt the others, but I promise nothing. If they try even a small ruse, it will be their last.”

The pony threatening Arcana lowered his spear, and Arcana ran to Platinum and hugged her tightly, like hugging her own daughter. The rest of the unicorns were taken away, tied and blindfolded, to the outskirts of town. “Give thank to your princess, unicorns, for I won’t kill you,” said the earth pony leader, “But I don’t think the cold night is as merciful as I am.”

Princess Platinum introduced Arcana to Smart Cookie and Puddinghead, and she was received with open arms and big smiles. Estrella, however, was horrified to have yet another unicorn in her house, but Celestia and Luna were fascinated by her, both fillies immediately asked her to do some magic. “Absolutely not!” Estrella protested.

Meanwhile, from a cloud above the village, Hurricane and her partner were spying on the events in the earth pony village. The sea-green colored pegasus watched cautiously, taking her mission very seriously. Unlike Hurricane, who was laying on the cloud, not paying much attention to the earth ponies, like she didn’t care at all.

“I don’t believe it! They got the princess captured,” said the green pegasus, “those unicorns were a rescue team, and it looks like they failed miserably. And you thought the war had ended, looks like I won! Stop being a lazy bum and pay up!”

“I can do one of those things,” Hurricane took off her helmet, and from it, she grabbed a small pouch filled with golden coins and gave it to the green pegasus.

“Seriously, Hurricane,” said the green pegasus, with a disapproval face, “if you weren’t the laziest pegasus ever, you would be commander of your own unit. You could even surpass Commander Cotton Cloud.”

“I don’t think the pegasi need yet another meathead commander, yelling at everyone and being moody all the time,” said Hurricane, stretching her legs, “besides, that would be a lot more work to do, it’s just not what I’m looking for.”

Then, she poked her head from the cloud and took a look of Princess Platinum, who was talking to Arcana and walking to a nearby house, “don’t you think the Unicorn Princess looks more like a villager than a prisoner? Why is she roaming free like that? Shouldn’t she be locked in a cell or something?”

“Beats me. What matters is that we found out some juicy stuff for the commander. I say mission accomplished, let’s go report.“ The green pegasus smiled with great excitement and lifted off. As for Hurricane, she yawned yet again, stretched her legs, and followed her partner.

The end doesn't justify the means

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After speaking with Captain Raystorm, Clover walked down the main street towards the marketplace, the most populated part of the city. She covered her face with her brown hood and took off the token from her chest and put it inside her saddle bag, no one knew it was Starswirl’s newest student walking among them. Upon dodging a group of unicorns, she turned to an alleyway and walked deep into it to an old wooden door. Making sure that no one was near her, she cast a spell on the door which glowed with a green light and it magically opened revealing a portal. Clover went inside in a hop, and the door immediately closed, going back to its original state.

She walked through a luminous red tunel, there was another glowing portal on the other side. Clover went through with another hop, and appeared in a hall inside a building in the city. Upon her arrival, she was welcomed by a group of seventeen unicorns, Laurel among them, greeted her with a big smile as usual. Then, a pink unicorn stood in front of Clover with a concerned look in her face.

“Jewel? What are you doing here? How did you find us?” asked Clover.

“Oh, it’s my fault…” Laurel intervened, “I didn’t notice she was following me, she asked me if she could come. She knows what we do… for several days apparently.”

“Clover I… I wanted to ask you about the princess,” said Jewel, “rumors have been circulating in town. They all say she is dead. And the king does nothing… nothing at all. He doesn’t speak, he doesn’t eat, it’s like he doesn’t care anymore! Captain Raystorm and the other generals try their best, but they’re all embark to fruitless expeditions. But you, you speak against the king. You try to convince the masses to stop the war just like she always did. You believe in her, don’t you? You haven’t given up hope! So I thought… maybe you know where she is, right? Please, for the sake of the kingdom, you have to tell me!”

“I don’t know where she is, ok!?” Clover yelled at Jewel, “Princess Platinum might be dead! Pretty dead! Maybe they’ll never find her because her corpse is probably buried somewhere under the snow!”

All unicorns changed their moods to a depressed state. After a short pause to calm her frustration, Clover talked again.

“But you’re right. The reason of why I’m doing this is because I haven’t given up hope. I am honoring her ideals. Look at us, we’re just seventeen unicorns. Seventeen unicorns that understand the sacrifice of our princess. That’s why we carry on with what she started, we learned from her that we can’t stop violence with more violence. Thus, I created the ‘War Ender Team’, even if she never comes back, we’ll stay adamant and see her wishes come true.”

“Ender…?”

“Yeah! Clover came up with the name! We are a team that’s going to ‘end’ the war, pretty clever, right?” Laurel explained and gave a soft palm on Clover’s back.

“Have you come to join us, Jewel? ” Clover stepped forward and offered a hoof to Jewel, “as one of the castle’s mages, your help might come handy. I was thinking on having someone from inside the castle to support us, and you would be perfect, you could do unsuspected. And if you do join us, I might share with you how awesome it is to be Starswirl’s student.”

Jewel seemed slightly annoyed by the last comment, a reaction that drew a smile of satisfaction on Clover’s face. After snorting away her annoyance, she clapped her hoof with Clover’s, “very well, I’m in. What do you need?”

“Spy work,” Clover smiled, “just stay in the castle and inform me of any suspicious activity you find out. You know, any intel about the earth ponies, and keep an eye that the king doesn’t do anything dumb. Anything that can worsen the current situation with the earth ponies.”

“Why don’t you do it? You’re Starswirl’s student, you can get in the castle anytime you want. You would also go unsuspected.”

“Yeah, the king and I… we’re not really in good terms. Let’s just say that last time we met… I gave him a ‘flashy’ impression, and he wasn’t very pleased.”

The next day, first thing in the morning, Jewel visited the castle, and just as Clover predicted no one suspected her. She walked straight to the throne room and the guards greeted her and opened the door for her. There was the king, sitting down on his fancy golden throne. The same way he’s been since the princess was taken away, with the same sleepy eyes, the same messy beard and the same heavy crown on his head. Her heart ached to see her king in this state.

“How are you feeling your highness?” she asked, but the king didn’t move. He turned his eyes to her with indifference and sighed. A small gulp passed through Jewel’s throat, then she insisted, “what is your strategy to counter the earth ponies?”

“It doesn’t matter,” said the king, the voice barely made its way to Jewel’s ears, “She’s gone… they’re both gone forever. Nothing I do will bring them back.”

“But your Majesty...” Jewel stopped to find the right words, “think of all the families that live in this kingdom, their lives depend on you. They believe in their great king. Please, don’t give up hope just yet.”

One day later, Jewel kept her eyes on the king and her ears on the gossips in the castle. Early in the morning, the maids brought the king a cabbage salad, but no matter how much they begged, not a single meal they served was consumed.

“I think he’s sick,” Jewel heard the maids speak from the corridor. “I don’t blame him, if my daughter gets kidnapped by those monsters I’d get sick too.”

Later, a group of unicorns arrived to report the sights of the vicinity around the city. But it looked like they were talking to a wall, the king gave no comments and just dismissed them back to their posts. Jewel could hear them whisper something while they left.

“I swear it, I saw a giant cloud moving really fast,” claimed one of the unicorns as he walked away. The others were skeptical.

“Clouds move at different speeds depending on how far they are, moron,” the other unicorn said, “you’re just being paranoid.”

Later that night, Jewel approached the king again, the bowl of cabbage salad still served on a small wooden table to his right, “your Majesty, you haven’t eaten yet...” she said, the king turned his eyes at her, but said nothing.

“A unicorn put her heart and love into this salad!” she yelled, “cooking for the king must be her greatest achievement in life, and this is how you repay her!? Did you ever stopped to think how she would feel about it!? You’re gonna get that bowl, you’re gonna eat every single piece of cabbage and you’re gonna love it!”

The king widened his eyes, and very slowly, he grabbed the bowl and ate the first cabbage leaf which made a crunch noise inside his mouth. “this cabbage is hard and dry,” complained the king.

“It wouldn’t be, if you had eaten it when it was served!” After realising that she was scolding the unicorn that pays her bills, she bowed her head to floor level and her voice changed to a humble tone, “I’m so terribly sorry, your Majesty, it was not my place, I’ll leave right away.”

Jewel’s face turned red, she left very ashamed of herself, and the king just watched her leave the throne room, still eating the cabbage salad. He felt as if a void inside his chest was filled, cabbage had never tasted more sweet.

Next morning, Jewel nervously returned to the throne room, her face was still red, before opening the door, she gulped to untie a knot in her throat. But upon laying her eyes on the throne, she spotted her king munching the salad the maid brought him this morning.

Still not the once proud unicorn he used to be, but a lot better than the decrepit old unicorn he was the night before. He turned to glare at Jewel and spoke regally, “you are the mage from last night, come closer,” he said, and her knees began to shake.

The king waved his hoof at his maid, she bowed and continued to leave Jewel and the king alone. The king ate another leaf of cabbage and began to talk, “you have some nerve talking to me as you did last night. Only two mares before you dared to yell at me. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Jewel’s red face turned into to a pale color in an instant, her pupils shrinked and she felt like her heart stopped beating, she tried to speak but her tongue felt like clay inside her mouth couldn’t say a single word. The king raised his brow and his voice, “Speak! what is your name?”

“My… my name is J-J-Jewel, sire” she said, and bowed down and raised her trembling face back at him, “m-m-mage number twenty s-s-six!”

“Thank you, Jewel. I needed that, I would still be weeping on this throne and being miserable if it weren’t for you,” the king slowly nodded his head with with a subtle smile drawn in his face.

“Oh… you’re welcome, your Majesty,” responded Jewel, letting go a sigh of relief, “I was just doing what any unicorn would have… I didn’t mean to disrespect you.”

“Now, regarding the question you did yesterday,” the king sat back on his throne, “the safety of my daughter shall be our top priority. If I’m not mistaken, Captain Raystorm is leading a quest for her. I trust he will find my daughter.”

Yet another day passed, and Jewel visited the throne room again to gather more info, and now the king was yelling all sorts of commands to his soldiers, she feared that the king might do something ‘dumb’, as Clover suspected. Few hours passed before the throne room’s front door was opened, and two royal guards came inside escorting the cinnamon pegasus. Jewel found herself breathless upon gazing at her wings, and the king’s reaction was no different.

“First of all, I know what you’re gonna say. And yes, I have wings, and yes, I can fly.” stated the the pegasus, spreading her wings for all to see, “I am a pegasus, my name is Commander Cotton Cloud. Don’t you dare laughing. You must be King Lancer, am I correct?”

“A pegasus!? Flying ponies!?” the king stood from his throne to take a closer look, Jewel was excited to see her king on action again. King lancer walked around the pegasus to inspect her from all angles. Once his surprise was over, he stood in front of her, “what do we owe your visit?”

“News travel fast, ‘your Majesty’, specially when they travel by air,” said Cotton Cloud, exposing her wings again, “we’ve heard of your current war, and we’ve been watching for the last few years. However, due to certain circumstances, we can no longer simply ‘watch’.”

“And what circumstances are those?” Asked the king, frowning to the pegasus.

“Two of our scouts have found a secret village of earth ponies where the unicorn princess is held prisoner, along with other unicorns.”

The king’s face lit up, he couldn’t contain the joy and relief, and his frown turned upside down in an instant while Commander Cotton Cloud continued. But such good news from a stranger only filled Jewel with suspicion.

“My boss, the magnificent, beautiful and intelligent General Spades Ace can’t tolerate such injustice. And so, she has sent me to offer you an alliance to defeat the earth ponies and rescue the princess. In exchange, we ask that you let us pegasi to take the land of the earth ponies, once is conquered.”

“Serving justice in exchange of conquest, huh? Not very chivalrous,” laughed the king. “Those hornless come in great numbers and are scattered in hidden villages, just like the rats they are. What exactly is the strategy you have in mind.”

“First we need you to authorize us free entrance to your city. Our army will arrive here to prepare for the attack. Then, our best pegasi will be sent to rescue the princess. As soon as she is safe, our forces together will be free to strike the earth ponies before they can prepare a counter attack. Our armies together will be unstoppable for them, as long as you don’t forget your part of the deal, that is.”

“An all-out assault with combined armies, you say?” the king stopped to think, while using his hoof to play with his beard.

“Wait, sire, I’m not sure it’s a good idea,” Jewel interrupted, knowing that it was not her place to get involved, the king lifted a brow and his ears perked up. She spoke, turning to Commander Cotton Cloud, “I mean no offense, lady. But what proof do we have that you do know the location of our princess?”

“That’s a very smart question you’ve done,” frowned Cotton Cloud, “I’m afraid I don’t have any proof, but I completely believe in what my scouts have informed. They may be lazy and impulsive, but they are not liars.”

Having detected a soft spot on the Commander’s argument, Jewel pressed onward with her interrogation, “you believe them? Meaning you haven’t even seen her? So there’s no guarantee that the unicorn that your scouts found was actually the princess? As far as I’m concerned it could be a trap set by the earth ponies.”

“Well… I haven’t seen her, but...” the pegasus flinched.

“Enough!” The king raised his voice, and when he does that, everyone listens despite their race, “my mage has made a very valid point. I will not agree with your terms until I have total certainty of what you say it’s true. This is what we are going to do: Your two scouts will take some of my unicorns to confirm that this ‘prisoner’ is, in fact, my daughter, Princess Platinum. If what you say it’s true, I will trust your scouts with her rescue, I’ll agree with your terms, and your army will be welcome in our kingdom. But if something happens to my daughter, the price to pay will be so high, that you won’t be able to fly above it, is that clear?”

The pegasus found herself gulping when King Lancer pierced through her soul with his sight, somewhat of an unfamiliar feeling to her, she replied with a trembling voice, “clear enough. But which unicorn will be sent?”

Jewel hopped forward, “your Majesty, Starswirl’s student is a very good friend of the princess, she would recognize her from miles away.”

“You are right, Jewel. But even though I trust Starswirl with my life, I don’t trust his student. She’s just as rebel as my daughter, arrogant and with enough nerve to defy me.”

“But, she’s Princess Platinum’s most trusted friend,” responded Jewel, a bit nervous, “Princess Platinum would be more cooperative if Clover is the one sent to her rescue.”

King Lancer, glared at Jewel directly at her eyes, Jewel gulped yet again while staring back, until the king finally spoke again, “another good point, Jewel. Starswirl’s student is the better option, but I trust you more than her, Jewel, I want you to go with them. Is there any objection, Commander Cotton Cloud?”

“Not at all, your Majesty,” said the pegasus with a short bow, “I will inform my scouts, they will be more than happy to take part in this mission. I’ll make them be.”

Finally, the pegasus bowed to the king and was escorted outside the throne room, she was accompanied by Jewel. As the king watched them leave, he asked one of the guards to stay, “go and tell Starswirl that I want to see him,” he commanded. The unicorn guard saluted the king and also left.

Commander Cotton Cloud seemed pleased with the company, she smiled at her with respect, “I must say I’m very impressed, lady. It seems that the mares in the unicorn culture are not to be underestimated.”

“Umm, thanks? I guess?” responded Jewel, flushing a little.

“Honestly, if you had a ‘pair’ I would totally recruit you for our intel unit! And by ‘pair’ I mean wings, of course, it’s a pegasus thing. I’m telling you, just a bit of training in your muscles and a bit more courage and you would be climbing up the ranks like nobody’s business!”

Immediately after leaving the castle, Commander Cotton Cloud lifted off to who knows where, and Jewel rushed to the old alley in the marketplace to inform everything to Clover. But the reaction she got was not exactly what she expected.

“I’m not going,” said Clover, she turned the page of a small brown book, she was holding and took a sip from a cup which was resting on a small table in front of her, leaving a fragrance of hot cocoa across the room.

“What do you mean you’re not going?” Jewel stomped, “didn’t you hear what I said? The princess is...”

“I heard!” Clover slammed her cup against the table, then she raised the book to keep reading, hiding her face in the process, “She told me to not go to her rescue, no matter what happens to her. And I’m planning to keep my word. Look, the king doesn’t trust me, anyway. You heard it from himself, he would be glad if I don’t show up. Take Laurel or someone else.”

Jewel cast her magic to snatch the book away from her and threw it away. Clover just raised her face to see her, she smiled, then picked the book again and said, “Well, that explains why your magic never improved since fillyhood.”

“Why you...” Jewel clenched her teeth and growled, “Clover, this is bigger than just the princess! I’m not talking about a few pegasi! That pegasus mare talked about a huge army and a full scale attack! Millions of earth ponies are gonna die!”

“What!? Are you absolutely sure about this!?” Clover grabbed Jewel by her shoulders, “You should have started from there!”

“Oh… I just thought that the princess’ safety was more important to you,” Jewel perked her ears down.

“It’s never been about the princess! It’s been about stopping the war! It’s the ‘War Ender Team’, for goodness sake! Ok… I’ll tell Laurel to stay here and keep an eye on the pegasi. If we find Platinum, we find the earth ponies, right? We have to warn them, Platinum will know what to do!”

“She will?” Jewel tilted her head.

“Of course not!” Clover shook her head, picking up her saddle bag, “most likely she will come up with something crazy and risk her life to save as many as she can. I’ll talk to the other unicorns, see if they can make friends with some pegasi once they arrive, Laurel is good for that too. Maybe some of them will join us. See you tomorrow, Jewel, I have stuff to do!”

Clover left and slammed the door behind her. Jewel was left alone with an unfinished cup of hot cocoa and a feeling that she might have triggered something awful.

First hour in the morning, Commander Cotton Cloud and the green pegasus scout were waiting on the outskirts of town. King Lancer was also there with a nervous looking Jewel, and an awkwardly silent Clover.

After another forty seven minutes of awkward waiting, Hurricane, the pegasus, appeared up in the distance taking her sweet time to arrive at the meeting place. She landed softly a few meters away, yawned and stretched her rear legs, then the front legs, she smiled and waved at her friends, and took the slowest step to reach to the group.

“Hey there, commander,” she saluted, and scratched the back of her head as she yawned again, “are we all ready to go?” she asked.

Commander Cotton Cloud’s patience at the verge of its limit, snorted, and as calmly as she could she asked, “are you trying to make me look bad!? You sad excuse of a pegasus!”

The king glanced upon the pegasi with an unimpressed look, disappointed even. “These are your scouts, commander?”

Cotton Cloud commanded her soldiers to line up as she spoke, “They don’t look that strong, but they are completely reliable. Private Hurricane is the rising star in our unit, great flyer, great fighter, great soldier overall. And Private Pansy… well, she’s not the best out there, but she is always giving her all, what she lacks in talent she’s got in spirit. These two always, and I do mean always, get the job done.”

Both pegasus stood firm in front of Commander Cotton Cloud, Hurricane’s seemed relaxed and her sight looked lost in the clouds, while Pansy puffed out her chest, looking adamant to her commander with a serious expression, almost angry.

A few indications from Commander Cotton Cloud, and the team was ready to go, but not before King Lancer gave to Jewel a golden necklace with a small ruby attached to it. “I want to see my daughter with my own eyes. Use this necklace to cast a hologram spell so I can see her. From this day on, Jewel, you will be working as my personal emissary, and this necklace is a proof of that.”

Jewel proudly put the necklace on, and the gem decorating the necklace glowed like a small bright candle. Both unicorns bowed to their king before joining the pegasi to depart on their quest. Hurricane leaded the team, Pansy waited for the unicorns to follow her, she snorted annoyingly and walked behind them.

The trip was long, they walked through a valley that snaked its way among the mountains, a frozen river in the middle of the valley showed them the path. Hurricane was taking her sweet time, and often stopping to rest and eat, and to tell jokes and break the ice. Pansy, however, seemed anxious, she ate by herself, away from the group, just listening to Hurricane’s ramblings.

“... and I said: ‘That’s not a griffin, that’s my husband!’ Hahaha!” Hurricane laughed out loud, until she realised she was the only one laughing and the unicorns just looked at her with a raised brow, “ahem... you’ve never seen a griffin before?” she asked, “well, when you see one you’ll get the joke. I swear, it’s hilarious.”

“Arrgh! This is stupid! We’ll never complete this mission at this pace!” Pansy yelled from the riverside where she was eating.

“She’s right, we need to keep going,” Clover stood up, and put her saddle bag on.

“Not only that!” said Pansy, “on this route we’ll take forever to get there! Hurricane, we should go over the mountain! It will take us less than half the time than if we follow the valley.”

Hurricane finished eating a piece of bread, and she calmly stood up, “I appreciate your suggestion, but as the leader of the party, I say we better take the valley, it’s safer.”

“I can’t believe I’m stuck with you! I’ll never get out of the Private rank!” Pansy ran in front of Hurricane took a stance spreading her wings, “Why Commander Cotton Cloud always puts you so high in her list!? You’re a terrible leader! Look at you! You’re just a lazy bum, I’m sure you chose this path because it means more naptime for you! I bet I can do a better job than you!”

“Watch that stance you’re doing. It’s no joke, let’s not do anything we both might regret,” said Hurricane as calm as always. Pansy looked at both her wings and hesitated for a second before she brought her wings back to her body.

“Good, now you said something about a bet, huh?” Hurricane’s ears perked up and the corners of her mouth raised a bit, “how much money you wanna put down?”

“One hundred,” said Pansy.

“So, you’re not really that confident, huh?” Hurricane taunted.

“Fine! One thousand! Is it on?” Pansy stomped on the snow.

“It is on!” Hurricane took off a badge stuck on her chest plate and gave it to Pansy, and Pansy gave hers to Hurricane. “Now then, O mighty leader… lead.”

Pansy, as the new leader, guided the group away from the valley into a forest. What ages ago seemed to be a sanctuary of all kinds of living beings was now reduced to withered trees, stumps and snow, all fauna had either abandoned the woods or died during the eternal winter. The path was more and more steep as the woods slowly climbed its way over the mountain, and the higher they were the hardest it was to breath for Clover and Jewel.

“I’m feeling a bit tired,” Jewel felt as if her head and her hooves weighed a ton, and no matter how much she breathed, the air she drew was not enough. Clover looked a little stronger, but compared to the pegasi, she was also exhausted and weak.

“No rest until we reach the top,” informed Pansy, she was walking considerably faster than the unicorns. As for Hurricane, she said nothing, just huffed and walked behind the unicorns.

On the mountaintop, Jewel and Clover both laid on the snow face down, Hurricane took off her helmet and cleaned some sweat gathered in her forehead. Pansy turned around and buffed her chest in pride, “hah! How do you like that, Hurricane? I made more progress in one hour than you in the whole day! We’re almost there!” Pansy pointed at the three earth pony villages that could be seen from the summit.

“It seems that way. Congrats,” yawned Hurricane, she turned her attention to the unicorns and gave one of her rations to each, “here, it’s a canned carrot soup, it’s still a little hot, my saddle bag can keep the warmth for a while.”

“One minute break,” said Pansy, she pulled off her map and turned inspected the way down the mountain, “this would be a lot easier if you could fly, you know? Can you just use your magic to sprout wings?”

“That would be useful,” said Jewel with a mouthful, “But creating a new spell takes time, it requires study, experimentation and practice. Once you master a new spell, you can cast it anytime you want.”

“Sheesh, what is her problem?” Jewel whispered to Hurricane.

“Heh, most of the time, I AM her problem. But she’s just the result of a very tough life,” Hurricane whispered back, her smile weakened, “Her flight talent has always been below average, so she has to practice each move extra hard to keep up with the unit. She is what among the pegasi is known as: a ‘failed pegasus’. She wants to prove that she’s not a failure, that she’s capable of doing what any other pegasus can, and earn some respect. But sadly, she doesn’t know the proper way to get it.”

“Alright! Time’s up! Let’s go!” Pansy interrupted, she guided the party to a rocky slope that descended like a group of stairs. Hurricane jumped on a rock and softened her landing by fluttering, but even still, it broke a small part of the rock’s edge that rolled all the way to the mountain’s foot. At this point, Hurricane’s smile disappeared completely.

Hesitatingly, unicorns descended following the same rocks that Pansy was using. It was a long fall, so they moved slowly and carefully. Pansy stepped several times on several rocks to determine which was the safest, once she moved to the next rock, signaled Clover and Jewel to follow her every move.

All of a sudden, the sound of rolling pebbles started to echo from the summit, Pansy’s ears twitched and she feared the worst, she turned around and hoped that her fear was misplaced, but the rocks that were slowly sliding from the mountain confirmed her fear.

The rocks under the ponies hooves began to crumble down the mountain, Pansy and Hurricane both lifted off, but Clover and Jewel didn’t share the gift of flight, they rolled down the mountain alongside the rocks.

Hurricane swiftly glided to save the unicorns, she used her body to push Jewel closer to Clover, and with a quick turn she stood in front of them and held them both with her front hooves, wings, chest, and maybe even her soul to stop them from falling. She nailed her hind hooves to the ground to work as brakes, Jewel and Clover also used their four hooves to help her, until they reached to a flat side of the mountain. Their fall stopped completely, but the rocks falling behind them were about to crush them. Jewel and Clover both joined their horns and together they cast a barrier spell to protect themselves.

Pansy’s lowered and her eyes dropped a few tears after watching the three ponies being buried under the rocks. She quickly approached and desperately started digging rocks out, The three ponies were all scratched and beaten inside a light blue sphere. Pansy took out a small white box with a red cross from her saddlebag. “Are you alright!?”

“Nothing’s broken,” said Jewel, trying to stand up, but a small pain in her left hind leg stopped her and made her sit again, “Ouch... I hope so.”

“Thanks, Hurricane,” Clover cleaned some dust from her body, mane and tale, “Judging from your lazy nature, I never thought you could actually move that fast.”

“Meh, not my smoothest landing,” Hurricane flushed and scratched her nape, then she frowned at Pansy and sighed, “well, at least we got past the mountain and are a few steps away from our goal, right? And it almost costs us two unicorns, you know? The ones we were meant to keep safe! A good leader would have been aware of the condition of the party, the potential dangers and the best course of action! But you did none of this, your only interest was the goal and probably just wanted to rank up!”

The raise in Hurricane’s voice caught off guard everyone else, Clover and Jewel shared a nervous smile, “I’ll… I’ll tend Jewel’s leg over there… so you can uhh… settle your bet in peace, alright...? ok...” Clover said even though neither of the pegasi seemed to care, she carried Jewel away and pretended to tend her wound.

“I understand, I messed up, I just thought I could impress the commander. Sometimes we lost comrades during battle, but...” Pansy stepped back and avoided eye contact.

“It’s not the same! They died in combat! By their own mistakes and under their own responsibility! In this plight YOU chose where to go and what to do! They would have died because of YOUR negligence!”

A short silence calmed the tension, Pansy looked down while Hurricane sighed and regained her breath and her cool, the wind felt even colder as both unicorns pretended to not being listening, “she’s kind of scary,” whispered Jewel.

“I’m sorry… miss Clover, miss Jewel, ” Pansy approached them, her right front hoof rubbing her opposite leg, she grabbed a bandage and started fixing the mess that Clover was doing, “I was blinded by my own glory that I put everyone at risk, and when everything got ugly, I did nothing but watch. I’m sorry I got you involved.”

“Yeah, well… I guess that’s why Hurricane is the leader and you’re not,” Clover stepped back to not hinder Pansy’s aid, “you know what? I think Princess Platinum would get along with you two, she’s a bit air headed and clumsy like Hurricane, and she also has a lot to learn on how to be a leader. Think of King Lancer, but the complete opposite, that’s our princess.”

“Heh, she sounds like a lot of fun, I want to meet her already,” said Hurricane, she yawned and smiled again, her calm relaxed to the rest of the group and the tension disappeared, “we’re just a few steps away from the Earth Pony Villages. They’re somewhere beyond that hill over there.”

Twisted loyalties

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Princess Platinum gracefully jumped from the window doing two… no! Three backflips on the air! The rope she took from one of the storerooms in the castle by outwitting the clever guard was perfect, stopping her fall right in front of the tower’s window. A simple teleport spell did the trick to get inside the tower again, she sneaked upon the castle’s hallways with a catlike stealth, no one in the castle noticed her presence.

“Oh, please! No way! You’re making it up!” Estrella said while she served some bowls of her ‘Slimy and Gluey Soup Special’ thing to the unicorn prisoners. “You did NOT jump from the tower! You have to be the craziest unicorn that’s ever lived to do that!”

Princess Platinum and Puddinghead were happily helping her. Arcana was also helping, though not happily, she tried so hard to stay put while serving the food to the prisoners but her body was trembling unceasingly and it was not because of the cold. Surrounded by earth ponies she feared for her life each time one walked next to her.

“That’s not exactly how it happened, but she totally did, yo!” The scout unicorn grabbed the bowl with his mouth and swigged it’s content as if he was drinking only water. “I saw her from the bailey, I was like: ‘Holy Cow! The princess is nuts!’ It was totally nuts! This stuff is delicious!”

“She jumped from where!?” Anyone could imagine Raystorm’s shocked eyes behind the cloth when he shouted.

“See? See? I got a witness! It was the only way out I could think of to save those earth ponies,” said Princess Platinum, “Not one of my smartest moves, I know. But I did make a difference that day! I did what I thought was impossible! I made the mighty King Lancer change his mind! I held a victory over my father! And more importantly I made a wonderful friend, that was the craziest day of my life. I think it beats jumping into the fire to save a mare that literally wants me dead.”

“Jumping into where!?” Raystorm almost choked himself with his ration.

“Ok, Estrella, it’s your turn. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?” Puddinghead said, she served the bowl to the last unicorn and turned her sight to her with a curious smile.

“Ugh, fine… It’s not gonna top Platinum’s, though,” said Estrella, “And for the record, I don’t want you dead! I mean, I did before, but now I just really, really, REALLY don’t like you. Anyway, my craziest day was… ”

“Estrella, a fog is coming,” Seed Sower interrupted her, he was pulling a wagon filled with wooden boxes, “We need as many legs as we can to get the supplies in store. Miss Puddinghead, you stay here and make sure the prisoners stay where they are.”

Estrella hesitated for a second, glaring at Platinum’s eyes, she shifted her sight to Puddinghead, and after a short sigh she followed Seed Sower. Puddinghead just ignored her, served one last bowl of… soup, and grabbed another one for herself.

“Princess Platinum, we need to talk,” Arcana approached her, vigilantly watching over Puddinghead to make sure she couldn’t hear. She spoke lowly almost with a mere whisper, “This ponies, they might kill us any second, we need to get out of here!”

“What? No! We’re totally safe,” Platinum frowned and whispered back, her ears drooping to the sides, “I mean, Estrella still hates me but she knows my intentions are good… I think. Or at least, she won’t kill me unless Seed Sower wants her to.”

“B-But, Your Highness! Look at how they treat the others! They… ”

“Oh, please! Don’t ‘Highness’ me! I was treated like that, too, but I earned their trust. And besides, Raystorm deserves it! Look, once our ‘POP’ is finished, I’ll… ”

“The pop? What is that?” Arcana raised a brow, and suddenly, she heard another voice whispering to her ear from behind.

“The Peace Offering Present, is a gift from earth ponies to unicorns,” whispered Puddinghead, the grin in her face almost gave Arcana a heart attack, “It’s a wagon filled with a ton of food! Your princess is a genius when it comes to naming stuff! The unicorns are gonna be so happy that they won’t want to fight anymore and the war will finally end, we’ll become friends forever! We’re gonna have a great party with a great feast and live happily ever after!”

Even if Arcana’s ears drooped, she perfectly heard what Puddinghead said, but she just couldn’t believe it. Then Puddinghead changed her lively mood to a sinister one, her eyes grew colder, she calmly added, “How little do they know that the food is actually poisoned. They will suffer the slowest, most agonizing death of their nightmares.”

Arcana stood speechless and breathless, and the chill down her spine froze her whole body, she almost faints feeling like her mind was spinning inside her head trying to process that last piece of information.

The earth pony dropped on her back, laughing and kicking, “Oh, come on! Take it easy! It was a joke! Just a harmless joke! One of my best ones, if I do say so myself!”

Platinum lightly bumped her side to Arcana with a warm smile, and whispered to her ear while Puddinghead wallowed with her own laughter, “I know, I know, her jokes are terrible, but at least someone is having fun.”

The fog invaded town, and the earth pony villagers took refuge in their houses, locked the doors and the windows, and lit their fireplaces. Not a single soul was left outside, except Captain Raystorm and his followers, Seed had decided to let them just ‘chilling’.

Meanwhile, using the fog in their favor, four ponies sneaked in town, Private Hurricane and company traversed the empty streets, wearing white shawls, coats and scarves while Jewel used a spell to keep the four ponies warm, her leg still made her walk a bit awkwardly.

The glow on Clover’s horn was glowing with a dim light as she aimed it to the houses, one after another, until she stopped on one particular house, detecting a presence. ‘That weak and naive magic aura… it’s definitely her.’ Clover locked herself in her thoughts. Doubts invaded her mind, if she revealed the princess’ location, they will inform the king, and both pegasi and unicorns will attack.

“Do we have a winner?” Hurricane slowly said after a yawn, waking Clover from her thoughts.

“It’s… it’s nothing… ” Clover responded as calmly as she could, “She’s nowhere to be found, it seems that they moved her to another town… in the best case scenario.”

Hurricane yawned again and put her lazy smiled as she commanded to keep moving forward. That last comment brought hopelessness to Jewel’s heart, and rage to Pansy’s, she dashed to Hurricane’s side and talked to her in secret from the unicorns.

“She’s dead, right?” she said, “I think Clover also suspects it, I don’t see much hope from her or Jewel. What are we going to tell to Commander Cotton Cloud?”

However, Hurricane’s smile didn’t disappear, she just said “Act more natural, If you can’t be more optimistic, you’re depressing the mood. Besides, it’s not the commander what worries me. Our missions always have a danger far greater than being reprimanded by your commanding officer.”

Deep in town, they reached a wooden fence. It looked rather old and worn, but Clover gasped when she spotted what was beyond the fence. It was the prisoners, Raystorm among them. They felt the warm emanating from Jewel’s spell, and he spoke up.

“Who’s there? You’re a unicorn, right?”

“Raystorm!? You actually got here!?” Clover asked.

“Ha ha! Yo, captain! She didn’t think you could make it! And who can blame her? After trying over and over and over again, and failing over and over and over again, not even I would… ”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it, Scope! I’m terrible at tracking ponies! Just shut up!” Raystorm said, his patience was apparently running low, “Clover, it IS you, right?” He recognized her voice, he could almost see her through the cloth covering his eyes, “I knew you wouldn’t let the princess alone! She’s determined to stay here with the earth ponies, you have to talk some sense to her.”

“So she IS here, huh?” Hurricane asked while she and Pansy released the prisoners, “And she wants to stay? Why would she do that?”

Clover and Jewel knew the answer to that, and when Raystorm saw the two pegasi standing in front of him, “You are pegasi! You were with Commander Cotton Cloud! What is going on here?”

Hurricane was kind enough to tell everything to Raystorm, from the objective of their mission, the route they took to find the village, and she made a special emphasis mentioning several times the deal between the unicorn king and the pegasus commander and their plan of attack.

“I see… the king is that desperate. Then, allow us to join you in your mission, the safety of the princess is the sole reason why I came here,” Raystorm saluted Hurricane, and she gave a short nod to him.

“That’s not going to happen!” Clover jumped in front of the group, her eyes closed and her hooves nailed on the snow, her horn’s magic unleashed a gentle wave that pushed the mist away, exposing them to the earth ponies, “I’m sorry, but the safety of the earth ponies is the sole reason why I came here!”

Without the cover of the mist, the unicorns and pegasi were spotted, a squad of armed earth ponies surrounded them, decided to attack, but Princess Platinum was there to stop him.

“Clover?” Platinum was shocked.

“Platinum!” She shouted, jumped at her and hugged her tightly.

“Little one!” Arcana gasped, she almost dropped a pot of hot cocoa she was holding.

“Mom!?” Clover also gasped, and let go of the princess.

“Estrella!” Seed prepared his spear and his legs to charge at his enemies

“Seed!” Estrella also shouted, armed with a frying pan ready to attack at Seed’s command.

“Hurricane!” Private Hurricane shouted, waving her hoof in a friendly manner toward Seed with her usually relaxed smile, “What? Aren’t we introducing ourselves? Heh heh, well… it looks like our surprise attack went to hell, huh?”

“Clover, I told you NOT to come to my rescue! As you can see, I’m perfectly fine!” Princess Platinum glared at Clover with an uncommon anger.

“I know! And I’m sorry, ok?” said Clover, “But nothing is ‘perfectly fine’ back home, the king went insane, he plans to make an alliance with the pegasi and destroy the earth ponies with their help!”

“Whoa! And they weren’t supposed to know that!” Pansy intervened, she gave a small push to Clover, “Seriously! What is your deal? You’re compromising the mission!”

“Alliance with the what?” gasped Platinum, speechless upon gazing at the winged ponies.

“Oh no… it’s happening,” Estrella dropped the frying pan, her lips trembling, “They found us, Seed. They’re gonna kill us all, it’s over! We’re not safe anymore!”

“The alliance is not complete yet,” Clover explained, completely ignoring Pansy standing in her way, “King Lancer needs proof that you’re still alive, Platinum. No proof, no alliance.”

“First the unicorns, and now the pegasi too?” Seed turned the point of his spear to Private Hurricane, “You said this war didn’t concern the pegasi! Now you’re taking the unicorn’s side!?”

Hurricane yawned and took off her helmet, dropped it, and commanded Pansy to do the same, “And you didn’t say you were resorting to kidnapping. Put that thing away, please. Let’s all calm down before someone gets hurt, ok? Obviously, we all have some explaining to do. Let’s sort this out and I’m sure we’ll all be laughing about this one day.”

“I’m sorry if I don’t find it funny,” Jewel touched her necklace which began to shine with a radiant crimson glow, illuminating Princess Platinum, “Clover… please forgive me. The king named me his emissary, and my loyalty is with him. He placed his trust upon me with this mission, and after what he’s been through, I wouldn’t dare to betray that trust.”

“You… you… do you know the implications of this?” Clover glared at Jewel, hopelessness filled her eyes, “You just triggered the war! Thousands of ponies will die! Earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi, no one will be safe! Families will be torn apart, cities destroyed… but that’s fine because the king will be happy with you, right?”

King Lancer was sitted in his throne while a red glow was formed before him, Commander Cotton Cloud gave a few steps backwards on alert as the glow slowly took the shape of an hologram looking exactly like Princess Platinum. The king stood from his throne and got closer, the image of his daughter right before him, and still he could not touch her.

“My dear daughter… she’s alive!” The hologram slowly faded in thin air, and King Lancer turned his sight to Commander Cotton Cloud, “It is done, the unicorns and pegasi will work together.”

Commander Cotton Cloud nodded with a satisfactory smile on her face and quickly left the castle.

An hour later, a group of odd looking clouds floated above King Lancer’s Castle, their shadows covered the streets of the city and the unicorns took a moment to look up to the sky and contemplate the parade of clouds passing above their heads.

The clouds were shaped with like hills and gardens decorated with tree shaped clouds and several ‘statues’ of winged ponies wearing armors. Bridges connected each cloud as if the sky was a river. On the cloud hills, there were house shaped clouds, with several tall pillars that surrounded a house and held a wide triangular roof. The pillars were beautifully decorated with vertical canals in their structure.

Just directly above the city, the cloud stopped its movement and floated perfectly still. After a short while a swarm of pegasi jumped glided from the clouds, descending to the castle in a well organized formation. On the top of the castle’s keep, King Lancer and Commander Cotton Cloud watched the pegasi land on the bailey, without breaking formation.

In the center of the cloud archipelago, there was a colossal cloud sharing the same designs of their houses. A pegasus appeared from it, she spread her wings and glided gracefully until she landed right in front of King Lancer, and Commander Cotton Cloud stood firm, took her helmet off and saluted “My General, SIR!”

Her closed helmet covered her face but the king spotted her bright blue eyes through the visor of her helmet. Her black armor was adorned with a golden gorget and golden faulds contrasted with the mustard yellow of her coat. Once she removed her helmet, the king stared right into her sky blue gentle eyes, almost as gentle as her smile, and her tail danced along with each step she gave, and her crimson mane cascaded to the left side of her head.

“Why, hello there, ‘Your Majesty’ ” she spoke with a soft and kind voice, “My name is General Spades Ace… Allow me to give you my condolences for your deceased wife.” She bowed to him for a short time and then raised her face to give him a concerned look, “The fact that now your daughter has fallen victim to those wicked Earth Ponies… I just can’t stand it anymore! We pegasi are a race of warriors. We honor strength above anything else! Only the weak who can’t trust in their strength would rely on such barbarian tactics! King Lancer, It will be my pleasure to lend you my strength, and it will be an honor if you lend us yours.”

“The Earth Ponies have become a fatal threat to us unicorns” the king offered his hoof to her, “I accept your help with great pride, General Spades Ace. The pegasi are welcome in my city. Come, let us trace the details of our strategy with a great feast.”

General Spades Ace accepted his hoof with a grin, and together they walked into the castle, and Commander Cotton Cloud followed silently.

The earth ponies formed up, spears sharpened, and torches lit. Seed Sower reunited his stallions as Chief Puddinghooves brought his own soldiers ready to do battle until their last breath. Proud and adamant, the Chief stood before his troops, sharing his courage with the old, the young, and the scared.

“My earth ponies! The moment that we all feared has come, as we all knew it would. The winged ones have aligned themselves with the enemy, seeking nothing but our demise. Our odds are slim, and maybe a new chieftain will have to be chosen after this day, or the next one. But know this, we will march onward, to face whatever the fate bring us, from air or from land, we will… ”

“NO!”

The chief stopped when he felt Platinum’s hoof touching his shoulder, “You don’t have to. You say that you fight for your lives, but if you just go and fight you’ll find only death. It doesn’t have to end like this. You must retreat and live!”

He was about to object, but she didn’t gave him a chance to talk, “Chief, please… This is what I was trying to avoid, I didn’t want it to end in a fight… but I guess it’s too late for that. Please don’t do anything reckless, don’t let the hate guide your actions, be smart about this.”

Her pleading eyes, it was always her pleading eyes that made falter the will of Chief Puddinghooves. What was it in her eyes that he just couldn’t deny her?

“Dad! Let’s listen to her… I trust her! Princess Platinum is our friend!” Puddinghead hooked her trembling hoof to her father’s. Puddinghooves stood silent looking at his soldiers, brave ponies ready to fight until the end, but the mares and kids, even her own daughter only showed fear.

Chief Puddinghead inhaled and let go of a long and regretful sigh. “We march north! Send the messengers! We will retreat and regroup in the northern hills, wait for our chance to attack!”

“Oh, thank you, thank you!” Platinum hugged Chief Puddinghead, and he stood as if paralyzed until she let go of him, “I promise I will find a way to stop this, just give me some time.”

Platinum turned her back to them, sniffed, cleaned some tears, and snorted her sorrow away, she walked directly at Hurricane, ashamed and slightly annoyed, and without looking at her, she said with a hidden anger, “I’m ready to be rescued.”

Luna and Celestia both hugged Platinum, “No!” they both wept as Estrella tried to pull them with all her might, but their arms were firmly hooked around Platinum’s neck. “Come with us! You are an earth pony now! You’re part of the family!”

These words traveled all the way to Platinum’s chest, she put her arms around the fillies too. Estrella let go of her daughters, not knowing how to react.

“They’re right! Why don’t you come with us?” Puddinghead said, “We-we can find a new land to live, you can be one of us! Is that possible, Cookie? It might work, right?”

Smart Cookie looked at Platinum’s eyes, finding in them fear but also determination. Princess Platinum let go of Luna and Celestia, a long sigh escaping her chest, and pulling away the fillies with her magic.

“I could go with you, I could go with you,” she said, “But doing that will not solve anything. I want to end this war, and to do so I have to face my father sooner or later. When I came here, I thought I’d find kind hearts, but I mistook kindness with weakness. What I really found were strong and proud hearts. I tried to represent the unicorns in front of earth ponies, but this time I will represent earth ponies in front of my father! I will stop this war!”

Suddenly the earth ponies started stomping the ground, cheering and neighing anywhere. Princess Platinum looked around her, the fear and anger of earth ponies turned into courage and pride, all caused by her speech, a faint red formed in her cheeks, as she turned around and walked to Private Hurricane.

“So you’re the famous Princess Platinum, huh?” Hurricane took off her helmet smiling at her, “Now I understand why all this fuss about you.”

Have the courage to disobey

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Unicorns marched away to battle with an army of numerous pegasi that swarmed the sky. The army was divided into various squads and headed to different directions, but they all shared the same objective.

Not all pegasi embarked to battle, the pegasus stallions stayed to prepare the meals and do some housekeeping, and some of the mares stayed in the unicorn city as if they were some kind of tourists in a resort.

Just as Clover asked, Laurel had already befriended some of the pegasi acting as their guide, and gaining their trust. Clover knew that if there is an unicorn that can earn someone’s trust and learn their interests, that was Laurel, not only is she smart, she’s also very, very prying.

“Finally we get to leave that cloud!” a pink pegasus said as she pranced and hopped on the snow, she had a long yellow mane and tail, and she was wearing a grey tunic, “I had forgotten how the ground felt under my hooves!”

“Snow is not exactly what I’d call ground,” responded another pegasus, she was a blue pegasus, with a dark green mane and tail, also wearing the grey tunic, “But at least we get to see a new and exotic city, and meet even more exotic stallions! The pegasus stallions are… kind of disappointing.”

“I know, right? Earth stallions are huge and strong, if only pegasus stallions were half the earth stallions are, I would be a married mare already.”

‘Well, that was easy’, Laurel was walking alongside them, and with no effort whatsoever, she just watched and heard these two pegasi who talked and talked about everything they liked, they never ran out of topics to talk about. However, Laurel was somehow confused of their easygoing attitude in this times of war. “Isn’t it weird that you feel that way about earth ponies? I mean, they are the enemy, right? Shouldn’t you be something like… ‘Earth ponies shall die! Arrrgh!’”

Both pegasi stopped and shared a confused look, finally the blue one spoke, “Well, that’s just plain rude. I don’t know how tense is the conflict between unicorns and earth ponies, but to us pegasi, it’s nothing personal.”

“Yeah! We even respect them as warriors!” added the pink pegasus, “It’s like a sport, you know? Yes, the fight gets ugly but we are just doing our jobs, they are just doing theirs, and someone dies, just the daily stuff.”

“Fighting a war is not a daily stuff!” Laurel was weirded out.

“More than ten years of war and not a daily stuff? You unicorns sure are a strange lot,” the blue pegasus shrugged and kept walking on her way alongside her friend, Laurel didn’t know how to react, the pegasus was right.

Suddenly, a commotion was generated thanks to squads of pegasi and unicorns marching through the main street of the city and among a crowd of impressed unicorns. So many soldiers, one after the other, for almost thirty minutes, it seemed like an endless parade.

“So… how come you’re not marching to fight?” asked Laurel, and as soon as she made the question, the pink pegasus gasped and dropped to cry and sob like a little filly.

“Sheesh! You could at least have tried to be a bit sensitive about it,” the blue pegasus rolled her eyes and palmed her friend’s back to try to console her, “There, there, Azalea. She didn’t mean it, she doesn’t know.” The pink pegasus calmed herself, sobbing and cleaned the trace of tears in her face.

The blue pegasus, then, turned to see at Laurel’s regretful face, “Look, for a pegasus to not be deployed in battle is like saying that she’s not necessary at all. It’s usually true, but if a soldier is not needed in battle, what else she got? We’re on Stand By duty, it’s like having a day off but still ready for any surprises. It’s a bummer, but someone’s gotta do this job.”

“Oh! I’m… I’m so very terribly sorry, I didn’t know!” Laurel’s apology was well accepted by Azalea with a short nod and a sincere smile. “I just thought that just maybe you didn’t want to fight the war.”

“Why wouldn’t we want to fight? It’s the only way to show that we are stronger!” Azalea raised her voice, very inspired, as if she had forgotten she was crying seconds ago.

Laurel frowned, she rubbed her leg with the opposite, “Well, we are a minority but some unicorns are completely against this war and want to make peace with the earth ponies.”

“What!?” gasped the blue pegasus, “But the briefing said that Earth Ponies took your princess and killed your queen, and you want peace!? And besides, isn’t that going against your king’s will!? Who in their right mind would go against their leader!?”

Again, both pegasi stared at her with unbelieving eyes as Laurel continued, “Well, yes, terrible things happened, but we unicorns are no innocent either. We enslaved them and raid their villages. The king went as far as to execute those earth Ponies who defied him. And do you want to know the main reason of why the unicorns hate the earth Ponies so much?” Laurel tapped her own horn and raised her brows at the pegasi, “Because they don’t have one of these.”

Azalea gasped in horror hiding her mouth behind her hoof, her eyes wide and her pupils shrunk. Laurel kept her smile and cool, “Doesn’t look like a war for justice anymore, huh? It stinks knowing that you’re on the evil side, that’s why we try to speak up and stop the war, but we need as many ponies as we need.”

The blue pegasus stepped up and frowned at Laurel, somewhat offended, “Except that we are not on the evil side! We pegasi fight for conquest, but we do it with honor! Fair and square! No prisoners, no slaves, our enemies are either surrendered or dead! And we would NEVER turn against our General!”

“Calm down, Iris, she’s not accusing us of anything,” Azalea touched her shoulder and talked with a soft voice, “We didn’t know any of this, Miss Laurel. And this may sound a bit harsh, but we don’t really care the circumstances of the war. We just want to fight strong enemies, and get stronger ourselves. We are not interested in switching sides.”

“That’s ok… it’s an open invitation.” Laurel shrugged again, “If you ever change your mind, just find me. And sorry if I offended you, Iris, I didn’t know I was pressing a wound.”

“Don’t… don’t worry about it.” The blue pegasus got caught off guard, and Laurel just turned around and pranced away.

On the castle’s bailey, a group of chariots arrived, each pulled by two pegasi, the rescued unicorns including Princess Platinum. King Lancer and General Spades Ace were there expecting their arrival. The king breathed nervously, his lips trembled when he saw her daughter walk down the chariot beside Clover and Jewel, he eagerly ran to her, even pushing some of his own guards to reach her.

Princess Platinum received a tight and warm hug from his father’s endearing strength. His heart beating right next to hers, no words were needed, she embraced her father’s love, she could even feel the sorrow and fear melting away from his chest. “You are the only family I have left. I thought… I thought you were... ” he whispered, unable to contain the tears as he stared right into her purple eyes.

“Dad, I’m not sorry,” Platinum pushed him, and raised the volume of her voice, “I don’t feel any shame, and I won’t apologize. I am back, but I know that you won’t abort the attack to the Earth Ponies. All I wanted was to make peace. I earned their trust, I was so close. And you blew it! Sending your… your… miserable rat to ruin everything! Now hundreds will die!”

Jewel’s ears fell down, and her face felt like melting down from her head. King Lancer stepped back and his ears folded too by his daughter’s response, “Platinum, listen to me, I...”

“See? That’s your problem!” Platinum pointed at his father’s face with a front hoof and stomped the ground with the other, “You want everyone to listen to you, but you are not willing to listen! Now you listen to me very well, and I feel terrible for saying this but… Mom is dead! And she will not come back! Ever! And killing earth ponies will not make you feel better and will not bring her back!”

An awkward silence invaded the ambience. Unicorns and pegasi shocked until General Spades Ace broke the silence, she bowed to the king and the princess and softly said, “It seems that you two have a lot to talk about, so we’ll be on our way.” She smiled, gathered her troops, and commanded them back to their post.

“I tried my best to avoid this. I really did, I really did.” Platinum said, “All I wanted was to stop the war to prevent unnecessary deaths, but I was labeled as a weirdo, I was seen as a fool. And why? Because I wanted peace? Because I didn’t want revenge?”

“There was once peace, even before the endless winter.” King Lancer said, looking down, as if he would find an answer on the snow, “You don’t know the story, it was them the ones who started this war.”

“But now it’s different, dad!” Platinum talked with a demanding tone, ”They just want freedom! They just want to live! Some of them were even willing to share their food with us in exchange of peace! But you are blinded by your hate towards them. They are going fight back and defend themselves! Nor unicorns nor earth ponies will come out unscathed from this battle! And now you even dragged the pegasi to your stupid hatred!”

King Lancer swallowed and sighed, before turning his back to his daughter, “We’ve had this discussion before, Platinum. We both know how it’s going to end. Though I admit my respect for earth ponies has increased, I have to look for the good of the unicorns only. This time, I will treat them not like beasts or barbarians, but as real soldiers. As King of Unicorns I have to keep my promise to the pegasi, you do what you see fit as the Princess of Unicorns.”

Princess Platinum was left alone, she growled with impotence. The desperation she felt thanks to the stubbornness of her father grew on her, boiling the blood.

“Well, I’d say that could have gone a lot better.” Clover just shrugged off, “But in all honestly, we both knew there was no way it could. I hope you have another plan of action besides this one.”

“Private Hurricane, Private Pansy! Excellent job, your mission was a success!” Commander Cotton Cloud congratulated her soldiers, very satisfied. Pansy puffed her chest with pride, but Hurricane still had the princess’ reaction in the back of her mind as her commander praised them and talked words that she gave little importance, until… “Hurricane, the General wants to see you, personally. That’s a third this month. But this time, I don’t want her barking at me because you let her waiting three hours! You heard me?”

“Yessir,” said Hurricane, she sighed and left.

Two hours and fifty nine minutes later, Hurricane walked up the stairs as slowly as she could of the northeastern tower as slowly as she could, where the General’s office was. There was a satisfied smirk on her face. The door made creaking sound as she opened it to enter the office.

General Spades Ace stopped what she was doing, there was a map on her desk, with small pieces of wood carved in the form of pegasi on it, like chess pieces. With her, there were two stallion maids, one of them was serving a cup of tea to her, and the other was standing still, waiting for his next assignment.

“Leave us, please,” the General said to her maids, her voice as kind and soft as always. She sipped from her cup of tea, and the stallions immediately left the room and closed the doors behind Hurricane.

“I wonder if you really are this oblivious or you amuse yourself by annoying me.” Said General Spades Ace with kindness in her voice.

“I’m sorry!” responded Hurricane, saluting her, “It won’t happen again, sir!”

The general sipped from her tea again, “Hurricane, please, in here, you can call me…”

“I know, can we just get on with this?” Hurricane rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration, she took her helmet off and took a seat, resting her hind legs on the desk and her nape on her front hooves. A long yawn escaping from the imprisonment of her throat.

“I was informed that that most of the earth pony villages were evacuated before our units attacked. Since your last mission was to infiltrate in one of those villages to rescue the princess, do you know anything about these, shall we say, ‘clever maneuvers’?”

“Sure, Princess Platinum exposed the plan to them, she is protecting them,” said Hurricane, very relaxed.

General Spades Ace giggled, her ears perked up and she glared at Hurricane with an undivided attention to her words, “That’s a bold accusation. Are you absolutely sure of this? And you just let them go? You did nothing about it?”

“The safety of the princess was top priority. Besides, it was just Private Pansy, a group of tired and non fighter unicorns and me, against a whole village of angry earth ponies. I was not really in the mood of getting my tail ripped off my body.”

The general frowned, she stood up and looked through the window behind the desk, she gazed upon the barracks on her cloud fortress, “It’s true the princess didn’t look happy about the king allying with us, but we just saved her life. What the hay is she thinking?”

Hurricane shrugged, giving little importance to the matter, “She wasn’t too happy to see her rescuers, either. I felt like I was the one doing the kidnapping.”

“And if the earth ponies knew we were coming, I’m afraid that this can get very ugly and very fast. Hurricane, prepare to battle, and tell Commander Cotton Cloud that I wish to speak with King Lancer. He will not like the news, but we need to plan our next move.”

Hurricane stretched her four legs and yawned, stood up, and she said “Yes.”

“Yes, what?” Spades Ace turned to see her with eager curiosity, expecting the right words to come from Hurricane.

“Yes, mom… ”

North from the earth pony villages, there was a rocky valley behind a mountain with tunnels and caves connected to each other like a maze. The mountain gave them good coverage from the pegasi. Down there, the earth ponies used the caves as houses and stores, it was like a village inside the valley where they could stay safe from their enemies.

More commonly used to hide from the unicorns, they improvised an outpost on top of the mountain camouflaged with snow and white cloths to see the approaching pegasi, so they can warn the refugees in the valley.

Chief Puddinghooves led his army of earth ponies to march on the snow fields heading south. They snaked their way between mountains and hills, using the low ground to their advantage, moving as quickly as their tired hooves allowed them to.

Not more than an hour passed when they found a unit of pegasi flying by at great speed. Ten, twenty, thirty… the chief counted about sixty pegasi flying above their heads.

“Move on, quickly!” He shouted and sprinted forward, all earth ponies were alerted and obeyed immediately, following the chief.

Not far from them was their destination, a cave going across a mountain, it was a tunnel that snaked is way through it and reached to the other side. They took a short time to eat and rest under the cover of the mountain, away from the eyes of the pegasi. After one hour they embarked again.

The tunnel led to a pine forest south to the valley where Hurricane and Pansy traveled to the Earth Pony villages. Chief Puddinghooves knew what he was doing, using the cover of the pines to avoid being spotted, they prepared a camp to rest, eat and wait.

Hours later, another group of earth ponies arrived the forest, led by Seed Sower. And a few hours more, yet another group where Puddinghead, Smart Cookie and Estrella were part of. And more and more arrived before sunset, all of the earth pony villages joined together to form a decent army ready to fight under Chief Puddinghooves command.

“We could have taken those pegasi,” Seed talked to Chief Puddinghooves, “We outnumbered them about three to one.”

The chief responded laughed out loud and palmed Seed’s back with his heavy arm, “Har har har! Of course, but if they had managed to capture at least one of us, they could’ve found out where the refuge is, and that minor victory wasn’t worth the risk. Seed, you’re a stallion of action, I like that about you! You get things done! But also Smart Cookie is right about you. You’re not the brightest torch in the cabin! Sometimes you need to cool your head and think before you act. I thought you would have learned that lesson after your crushing defeat against the unicorns. Guess not, har! That’s why I’m chief and you’re not!”

After a short rest, all earth ponies reunited and armed themselves, and Chief Puddinghooves shared his strategy. “The enemy is too busy looking for us in our towns, leaving the unicorn city fairly exposed! But they will return quickly once we attack. We gotta blitz the castle before that happens. But don’t you go and expect a warm welcome there! The pegasi will have some forces ready to defend, and we’re no match for their flying tricks, so we focus on taking the castle! Once in there, they won’t be able to fly freely and we can give them hell!”

“Hooooh!” The earth ponies raised their lances, and organized in a formation of ten columns with Seed Sower and Chief Puddinghooves in the front line, they marched south, to the unicorn city.

Once the king left Platinum alone, she and Clover reunited on the outskirts of the castle, Princess Platinum widened her eyes on alert when Laurel jumped to her face to welcome her with another hug that could match the strength of her father’s. This was the first time she ever met with Laurel, yet Laurel behaved as if they have been friends since long ago.

“Your Highness! Am I glad to see you safe!” said Laurel greeting the princess with the brightest smile, “The rumors and gossips about you were awful. Everyone thought you were dead! Some said that you got hung until you died of asphyxia, and others said that you were burned alive!”

“BAHAHA! That was not even close to happen, BAHAHAHA!” Platinum’s laugh was overly loud and overly exaggerated, “Clover already passed the memo about it. At first, they wanted me dead, but I suppose I played my cards quite well… though not well enough, it seems. I wasn’t able to prevent the battle, and I was so close to getting some earth ponies to join me.”

”Oh! By the way, I’m sorry Clover,” Laurel shrugged, “I tried to convince some pegasi, but seems their loyalty is set on stone. Some even enjoy the fighting. But the other unicorns are ready to receive the princess, they all want to see her.”

“It’s ok, Laurel. I met an interesting pair of pegasi myself, and let’s just say that their diplomacy skills are not on par with their flight skills. But don’t matter, Princess Platinum already has a plan..”

“Really? That’s wonderful!” Laurel hopped with another ear to ear smile drawn on her face.

Platinum calmed her with a soft touch on her shoulder, “Ummm… well, it’s not exactly a ‘wonderful’ plan. It’s more like a… a desperate attempt to make things better.”

Clover led Princess Platinum to the ‘War Ender Team Headquarters’, also known as the abandoned building behind the market. The princess was received by a group of unicorns reunited to praise and celebrate her return, Platinum’s heart’s pounding grew stronger and faster for being seen as an example, and unicorns claiming that she was their heroine. They all crowded around her with excitement and yelled, “Welcome to the War Ender Team!”

Platinum turned a smile on Clover, rubbing her satisfaction on her face. Clover just frowned and snorted, “Not a single word! Look, I thought you were dead! I was depressed, ok? And I thought the best way to honor your memory is to carry on your goals and using that stupid team name!”

All sights were set on Princess Platinum, a gasp escaped her when she realised, she cleared her throat and fixed her mane, “Ahem… Thank you, thank you, thank you. But this is no time for celebration. The war already got worse, the earth ponies are being attacked and thousands will die. But we can still put an end to it.”

“But how?” Laurel asked, “If the battle is already underway, doesn’t that mean we failed? Isn’t better to seek refuge, and hope for the best?”

Platinum took a deep breath and turned to Clover, and Clover nodded to her friend with an encouraging smile. “I am going to usurp the throne from my father.” said Platinum. The unicorns watched her with blank, unbelieving expressions. “I know it sounds inconceivable, and I wouldn’t blame you if you quit now.”

She paused, closing her eyes for a few seconds. What would she see when she open her eyes again? An empty room? Her ears were alert, but she heard only silence. She took another deep breath and opened her eyes. All unicorns in front of her stood right there, no one moved. A few tears dropped from her eyes and she jumped to hug a few of them, “Thank you so much!”

The king sitting on his throne, gritting his teeth and his eyebrows strongly pressed against the top lids of his eyes, glaring at General Spades Ace’s as he heard the news about the earth ponies cleverly avoiding what should have been complete obliteration. There was a brief silence after General Spades Ace explained what happened, but she wasn’t scared at all, she had her kind smile and her calm eyes waiting for the king’s response.

“You said our armies together would be unstoppable!” The king stood up, almost jumping from the throne room. Jewel on his right, and the pegasi and unicorns all trembled as if the volume of his voice had caused an earthquake in the entire room, “Now you tell me that the hornless disappeared! I hought you pegasi were combat experts!”

“Oh, listen to you, talking all high and mighty,” the general responded with her soft voice, “When it was your own daughter the one who exposed our plan to them.” The echo of multiple gasps resounded in the throne room.

“Platinum… ” The king’s rage disappeared, picturing the image of his daughter’s rebellious behavior, “Jewel, did she warned the earth ponies of our tactics? My daughter, she has turned against me times over. But maybe it wasn’t her, maybe it was Clover.”

Jewel once again found herself being at the center of the spotlight, she’d like to disappear but teleporting is forbidden inside the castle walls. Once again she has to be the ‘miserable rat’, didn’t she? “She did… they both did. And the earth ponies fled before the pegasi arrived. They went to some kind of hideout, somewhere north, I’m not sure.”

“We will find them eventually!” said Commander Cotton Cloud, “I’ll order an exhaustive scouting, we will leave no stone unturned!”

“Your enthusiasm is inspiring, commander.” said Spades Ace, “But that would be a terrible mistake. Most certainly the earth ponies will attack us. How and when? Who knows, but it will be soon. Our best bet is to call back our units and hope they come back as soon as possible.”

The doors were blasted open and Raystorm came in running from the hallway, he could barely speak in between panting and huffing, “Your majesty! They’re here! The earth ponies are attacking! And they are a lot!”

“No way! Already!?” The King widened his eyes, and turned to General Spades Ace. He spotted a gasp escaping from her, “It’s time to battle!” The king commanded, “All unicorns in stand by intercept them! General, I expect air support from your units!”

“Roger that! Commander, if you’d be so kind,.” Spades Ace spread her wings and walked away, Commander Cotton Cloud saluted, and left the throne room following her.

The earh ponies blasted through the city’s main gate armed with spears and wooden shields. The crack on the city’s wooden gate caused by Seed’s previous attack was still weak, a few strikes in unison and the gates went down. Once in the city, a wall of unicorns prepared the defense, a wall that Chief Puddinghooves was determined to break through. A storm of magic beams attacked them, some earth ponies blocked with their shields as some other fell before the clash of both factions.

The earth pony army fought with unmatched organization, the front lines attacked first while the back lines supported them. Chief Puddinghooves headbutted the poor unicorn that tried to stop him, knocking him away a few yards. Seed stabbed another unicorn while protecting Estrella from frontal combat, she helped him with those who tried to sneak on him. The unicorn defense was outnumbered, a unicorn with golden helmet commanded the retreat, back to the main square.

There was another barricade of unicorns on the main square, they cast a spell in unison creating a cobalt blue magic wall. Chief Puddinghooves and Seed Sower attacked the barrier with their heads and spears, but the unicorns stood resilient. The earth ponies were stopped and the magic wall was the least of their problems when the pegasi arrived.

A swarm of pegasi flew by them, pulling black clouds above the earth ponies, and with a simple kick on it, a lighting struck the back lines of the earth ponies. “What the hell!?” Seed Sower covered his ears from the thunder’s roar, his comrades fell defenseless, and the magic wall still standing strong. He and Chief Puddinghooves attacked the barrier over and over without any notion of coordination while a black cloud formed above them.

The lightning was about to strike, Estrella and Seed hugged as if doing so would protect them from the lightning. But out of thin air, a light green barrier formed above the earth pony army, and the lightning was absorbed by the barrier.

Platinum, Clover and a group of unicorns came running from the alley to the earth ponies. “Chief Puddinghooves. I really tried, but my father didn’t listen. It pains me it had to end like this,” she closed her eyes and touched her own chest, before staring at him with her shiny purple eyes, “But know that I am on your side, please help me take over. My father brought war, so I will bring peace, even if I have to betray him to do so!”

Platinum gave a short nod to Clover, and Clover responded by giving her a palm on the shoulder, then she teleported to the other side of the magic wall. She aimed her horn at the unicorn army, and one by one she shot magic beams at their heads, they were too busy holding the magic wall to defend themselves, they helplessly fell on the snow, and the magic wall dissipated into nothing.

“They… they’re not dead, right?” Princess Platinum asked.

Clover smirked and shook their head. “Of course not, but they’re gonna feel a terrible headache tomorrow morning.”

“Harrr! Princess Platinum comes to us seeking our help!” The chief raised his spear skywards facing his army, “She claims that she’ll bring peace! How many of us believe her!”

“For Princess Platinum! Hooooh!”

“You risk your life for us,” the chief talked to her directly, “They’ll return the favor!”

The earth pony army was back on track with the ‘War Ender Team’ on their side and a barrier above their heads, the pegasi were forced to go around and attack from the ground. They showed to be formidable opponents, they blocked with their wings any incoming attacks, and were swift to counter with kicks, punch, and wing attacks. But when it came to compare the strength of their muscles, the pegasi mares couldn’t match the big earth pony stallions.

General Spades Ace was examining her map and her pieces. She turned to see the battle from the window, and sighed while scratching the back of her head. Commander Cotton Cloud and a blue pegasus were also looking at the map.

“If we can stop them enough time for the main units to return, we might still have a chance,” said Commander Cotton Cloud, she looked from all angles, but their remaining pieces were not enough, her hoof quickly tapping on the floor as she calculated their alternatives.

“The king’s lovely daughter, brought up this mess, and now she’s even helping them,” stated General Spades Ace, “The earth ponies are stronger than us, and they can actually fight. But we can show them that brute force and numbers are not the only way to attain victory. Commander, be a dear and execute order sixty six.”

“Uhh… are you sure, general?” Cotton Cloud gave her a blank expression, “The twister could cause catastrophic damage to the city.”

“I know… but sacrifices must be made.”

Cotton Cloud swallowed, she stared at the map one last time, but there were no options left, “Yes sir, I’ll inform the unicorns to take refuge.”

“Don’t. If you do that, then you’ll be also informing the enemy. I know it’s hard, but as I said, sacrifices must be made.”

The commander gasped, she stepped back, “But… the unicorns are on our side, general. They’re counting on us to help them fight! We can’t kill them along with the enemy, there’s no honor in that!”

General walked to Cotton Cloud, she gave her a smile while she lifted her chin with a tender touch of her hoof, “Commander, what is the most important aspect of life?”

Cotton Cloud trembled as her eyes met Spades Ace’s, “Strength, of course, to grow stronger. This world is governed by only one rule: Survival of the strongest.”

And the general slowly giggled and shook her head, “My dear commander. There is no such a thing as growing strong. Either you are strong, or you are weak. The one rule that governs this world is not survival of the strongest, it’s annihilation of the weakest. So execute order sixty six, immediately, yes?”

Cotton Cloud was paralyzed, she could barely breath, her hooves trembling. She stared at General Spades Ace eyes, kind yet cold, and her voice was soothing yet cruel. She regained as much strength as she could, and gave the most sincere answer she could think of, the only answer she considered to be the right one.

“No.”

The general giggled again, “I beg your pardon. Heh, I didn’t think I’d have to put you in your place. Oh, well… .” She slowly raised her wings, and slashing like a blade, her wing hit Cotton Cloud in the side of her helmet, and knocked her on the floor. Then she stomped on her rib.

The air was expelled from Cotton Cloud’s lungs, her sight became blurry and a burning invaded the insides of her chest, she tried to draw air, but only managed to cough and dry her throat. “Oh, you poor thing. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a second chance,” a voice whispered to her ear, a second blow on her side made the burn inside her grow hotter, her mind was blank, until her vision became pitch black.

The general turned her attention to the blue pegasus, “That was embarrassing. Sorry you had to see that, my dear. What is your name?”

“M-my name is… is Sergeant Iris, s-sir.” She claimed, trembling on the spot as General Spades Ace approached her.

“Tell them to take her to the dungeon, and prepare to execute order sixty six. Would you, please, Commander Iris?”

The borderline between friendship and emmity

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‘Where are the reinforcements?’ Azalea was on the battlefield, she used her wings as razors to fight the endless parade of earth ponies, her stamina already halfway drained. Fighting and fighting and the main force still didn’t return. All she could do was fight for her life, and stand position as her unit was commanded.

Three earth ponies appeared in front of her, each wielding a spear. Azalea spread her wings in battle position. She took a deep breath and kept enough distance to keep them in her peripheral vision. The one on the center charged first, just as Azalea expected him to, she pushed herself forward with her hind legs, shortening the distance between them, the earth pony waved his arm holding the spear from right to left, aiming at the pegasus head. Again, just as she expected, she ducked just in time and dashed past his right side striking his body with her left wing.

She was still moving forward on to the second earth pony, who was already waiting for her, he leaped and raising his spear, attacking downwards from the air with a vertical blow, at the same time, the last earth pony on her left side tried an horizontal swept with his spear to try and catch her.

Using numbers to their advantage, they were obviously more experienced than the poor soul who rushed to attack her first. But not experienced enough.

She flapped her wings pushing the air to the right, boosting herself to her left side, avoiding the vertical attack, elevating just enough to pass above the horizontal attack, and straight to the exposed earth pony on the left. Her already spread right wing did the rest, and the earth pony fell.

Azalea turned around with a quick jump, the remaining earth pony was still raising his spear, which was still shaking from hitting just the ground, he watched at his fallen partners, and aimed the spear at her, but his eyes were wide and his lips trembling. The pink pegasus stood still and stared at his eyes, she blinked, and then he blinked.

‘NOW!’

She dashed to him, pushing herself with her wings and immediately spreading them, the poor stallion opened his eyes only to meet her right wing, and it was over. This little fight took more time and effort than she expected, and the battle was still far from over. Her wings were getting heavier by each strike.

Another group of lancer earth ponies spotted her and approached her on a rush, ‘six, seven… Too many’, Azalea spread her wings again and prepared to fight. The first earth pony tried to stab from the front, she dodged by moving her body to the right, and a second earth pony launched his attack, she tried to move again but the spear hit her chest.

‘Oww… This might be it for me’, even though her chest plate protected her, it was a light piece of armor, she still felt the pain burning on her chest and the earth ponies were surrounding her.

Then, Hurricane and Pansy arrived from behind Azalea. Hurricane tackled one of them and Pansy used her wings to strike down another, and before the earth ponies prepared to assist their allies, the pegasi disarmed their victims and grabbed their spears and joined to Azalea’s sides, ready to fight back.

That was when a horn echoed his song from the castle across the battlefield. The pegasi and earth ponies stopped the fighting, and they all exchanged confused looks. Doubt and silence invaded the environment.

‘It can’t be… that horn is only used for special tactics,’ mumbled Azalea.

Then, the horn howled again more intensely. Azalea watched her fellow pegasi swiftly taking off to the sky, leaving their posts and abandoning the unicorns. Were these really her new orders? Was she supposed to leave the unicorns to their luck?

“Azalea, the horn was played twice! That’s order sixty-six! Let’s go!” Pansy shouted. Azalea was ‘awoken’ from her thoughts, and took off too, heading to the Cloud Headquarters, but she looked below to the unicorns. They all watched the pegasi leaving them alone on the battlefield and taking any hope of victory with them.

“Onward!” Chief Puddinghead raised his spear, and the earth ponies followed, he sprinted right through the lines of unicorns, waving his weapon left and right. Seed Sower supported him on his right side and Estrella still behind him. Clover and Laurel both held the magic barrier over their heads, even though the pegasi had already left.

And Platinum, she also followed behind the chief, she wasn’t fighting, she passed next to the fallen unicorns, she rubbed her left eye trying to stop a tear “I’m so sorry… ”

“Don’t you apologize to them,” Clover put her hoof on her shoulder. Platinum opened her mouth, but Clover moved her hoof to shut her, “Nuh-uh, don’t justify them! They wanted this. You tried to prevent it, and they paid you by throwing tomatoes at your face. It’s not your fault, it’s theirs! I know it’s awful… but we have to end this war somehow.”

“I just wish there was a better way. Maybe I could have tried something else.”

“There was a better way… but they didn’t want to listen.”

General Spades Ace walked down the spiral stairs of the tower leading to the throne room, she wore her golden and black armor, and a black helmet with a golden plume on her head. The design of the helmet’s mask covered her face and hid her gentle blue eyes, and made her look like a raging pony monster with hateful eyes.

Six pegasi soldiers followed her, each wearing a plain grey steel armor, their helmets didn’t protect their faces and lacked a plume. The marginal coverts of their wings was equipped with a razor-like steel piece and their hooves with steeled horseshoes.

The moment General Spades Ace opened the door, they were received by magic beams, red and blue. Her pegasi flew by fast in zigzag motion to dodge the unicorns attacks. Commander Iris attacked a pair of unicorns in the east side of the room, she strike one guard on the side of the head with her right wing, and quickly dashed to her left side and kicked the second guard with her hind hooves. She spotted Jewel trembling against the wall, she aimed her horn even though her aim was clearly compromised by the chills of terror down her spine, Iris dashed on to her and hooked her hoof around Jewel’s neck.

Meanwhile, General Spades Ace took off with her yellow wings wide open, gliding side to side, left and right, to dodge their attacks, her target was just in front of her, the big brown unicorn with the beard and the crown.

She closed in to attack with her right wing, but the King’s swift barrier spell protected his body. The impact of her wing against the barrier interrupted her flight and she was forced to flip on the air to land on her four hooves. The King already aiming his horn at her shot a bigger magic beam at her, she had to sidestep to her left to avoid it. Her armor hasn’t been tested against magic and she was not daring to test it now.

“How dare you betray me!” King Lancer’s charged at her aiming his horn at her chest. A glow from his horn covered his body, taking the shape of a giant lance.

Still recovering from her last sidestep, Spades Ace jumped above the King, she flapped her wings to get higher. The King crashed against the wall behind the throne, making a huge hole, he turned around and spotted Spades Ace attacking from above, this time using her hooves. King Lancer waited until Spades Ace was close enough, aimed with his horn at her and shot a swift magic beam. The pegasus flapped her wings to slow her approach, but it was too late.

Her armor was crushed into pieces, she felt the blow on her chest, endured the pain, and attacked King Lancer from the air, connecting a punch on his face and pushing him to the floor.

“Ugh… even if you are a stallion… you are strong…” She kept her left hoof on her chest, her chest plate crumbling into pieces from her body. And stepped on King Lancer’s face with her right hoof, “It was not part of the original plan. But your lovely daughter is playing dirty on us. I really, really need this victory, and I’ve come too far to let the beautiful princess ruin it for me.”

“What do you think, dear Commander Iris?” She talked to one of her soldiers. “He might be quite problematic. Shall I kill him now?”

“What I think… I think, maybe… maybe he’s more helpful alive…” responded Iris, she still had her hoof hooked around Jewel’s neck who was struggling and kicking. Iris dropped her on the floor and hit her on the back of the head.

“Your… majesty… forgive me… ” Jewel’s vision turned blurry as she tried to crawl toward her King, until she lost consciousness.

“Oh my! You’re right! The King and his daughter may not be on good terms, but I know family love when I see it.” She turned to the downed King, “I know it better than you may think, your majesty. Looks like you are going to help us put the princess back in her place. Isn’t that what you wanted? How wonderful, isn’t it? Commander Iris, would you be a dear and take him to the dungeons? Oh! And give some orders to Private Hurricane on my behalf. I want her to bring the princess to me.”

“Sir, what do we do with the other unicorns?” Iris looked at all the fallen unicorns who weren’t dead already, she poked on Jewel’s cheek, but with no response.

A little delay in her response, the general put her helmet on again and sighed, “Just be nice to them and kill them quickly.”

The pegasi flew like a flock on the sky counterclockwise, gaining speed by each lap. The wind was blown with the accumulated force of their synchronized wings, gradually growing stronger like a storming on the city in the shape of a twister.

The cold raging of the winds iced unicorns and earth ponies alike, the battle passed to be irrelevant and the unicorns abandoned the fight to seek refuge in the buildings. Chief Puddinghead raised his hoof and commanded to be followed again, his soldiers endured the winds, or at least those who weren’t blown away.

Seed ran to Estrella and hugged her, guarding her from the winds, and slowly following behind the chief while some of his unlucky comrades were blown by the twister. “What on earth are those pegasi thinking?!”

“That’s the thing, Seed, they’re not from earth!” responded Estrella.

Each step was a struggle to nail it on the ground and hugging their bodies to the wall, and their magic barrier was barely holding against the storm. In face of desperation Clover and Laurel nodded their heads, joined their horns and cast a spell. A big emerald green hole opened before the earth ponies, Clover pushed Platinum inside and turned to the rest of the ponies. “Get in the green if you want to live!”

Platinum found herself in a wide green tunnel she turned around, and saw the earth ponies and unicorns coming in too, Clover with them, “You can do a portal this big?” she asked her.

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly do it. Laurel did,” responded Clover, she was carrying Laurel on her shoulder, “She cast the spell and I channelled magic to her, she did most of the job so she’s pretty down now. ”

“I’m fine, I just need a bit rest.” Laurel smirked and waved her hoof. “It was about time I showed Clover I’m still Starswirl’s number one student. We should move, though, it’s not gonna last forever.”

“Where are we? What have you done to us? How is this possible?” Estrella gasped as all earth ponies looked around at the green glowing hallway, then turned around to see a door leading to the reality they’ve always known.

Laurel yawned at Clover’s face, who rolled her eyes and began explaining as they walked, “Space is the entity where all matter exists, which is formed by three dimensions: length, width and height. Believe it or not it is linked to time, we call it the fourth dimension, or time-space. By creating high frequency waves at high speeds that occupy a specific spot in space, we can make them clash among them trying to make them occupy the same space at the same time, thus separating space from time which results in a hole that leads to another spot on space-time to compensate the one we just separated. Right now, we are inside that void being transported along with the time-space we broke. Works similar to the teleport spell, but at a bigger magnitude.”

Everyone stared at her with blank expressions, Estrella processed the words, her lips trembled until she managed the first response that came to her mind, “What the hell are you talking about?!” She raised her eyebrow and then turned to Princess Platinum, “What the hell is she talking about!?”

“Well, she uhh… I mean, it’s just a… ok… I have zero idea of what she just said.” Platinum shrugged and smiled at her.

“It’s just a tunnel between one place and another! Clover, it’s so good that you’re a student, because you stink at teaching!” Laurel laughed while Clover sighed her frustration.

Inside the castle’s main hall, Raystorm and his troops were at the ready, waiting for their enemies to appear from the portal, ‘Platinum could never cast a portal spell… Clover, please don’t do this.’ He gulped, trying to untie the knot stuck in his throat as he aimed his horn at the center on the portal, “Listen everyone! Do not attack until I say so, for all we know they could be friendly.”

Seed glared and snorted at the unicorns from inside the portal, steadily holding his spear. Before he could charge in he felt Platinum’s gentle hoof on his shoulder, “I want to say something.”

He moved aside and let the princess go first, and followed her. As they both walked through the portal, the rest of them followed cautiously, weapons sharp and ready from both sides, tension pressed on their bodies, cold sweat dripped through their skins and their hooves trembled without control.

Platinum accompanied by Seed Sower walked out the portal in front of Raystorm, followed by Clover, the chief and their companies. “Don’t shoot!” commanded Raystorm, he slowly stepped closer to Platinum and talked softly to her.

“Princess, I hope you are here to end this.” He tried to grab her shoulder, but she stepped away from his touch.

“I am.” She said. She walked past him and directed her words to the rest of the unicorns, “Listen everyone! We outnumber you, the pegasi has forsaken you, and they are about to blow away the whole city with their huge storm out there if we don’t do something. I can’t promise that we’ll survive, but… ”

“Why did you go as far as to rise up against your father?” Raystorm raised his voice, the princess frowned and pressed her hooves against the floor upon hearing it. “You know I can’t let you do that.“

Princess Platinum snorted, she growled and walked straight to Raystorm. Hooking her hoof on the back of his neck, he pulled it down and aimed his horn against her own chest, “Stop me, then! Go ahead and shoot!”

Raystorm instantly jumped back as far away from her as he could, his eyes wide open gazing at the princess, standing proud and strong before him. The other creatures stopped, trembling in awe upon the princess’ daring response. As if there was an invisible aura around her of a higher authority. There was silence in the room, and everyone lowered their weapons and their guards.

Then the big double doors to the throne room opened with the creaking sound of steel. Hurricane was there, with her drowsy eyes and with King Lancer’s crown on her head, bigger than her head, the crown hanged to cover her right eye. To her right there was Pansy, her wings and hooves spread at the ready, and her eyes carefully scanning her enemies. And to the left side was Azalea, she was just standing there, her right hoof rubbing against the left one, her ears drooped, and avoiding her gaze from the unicorns.

Platinum slowly turned her defying sight to the pegasi, Hurricane’s confidence faltered when she saw her at a completely different mood. “Oh… looks like we are interrupting some personal matters.”

“You… what are you doing with my dad’s crown?” Platinum gasped.

“Our General just saved you the trouble of taking the big guy out.” Hurricane shrugged as she fixed the crown’s hanging position on her head only for it to fall again and cover her eye. “And she wants to negotiate with you, personally.”

“Don’t you lay a hoof on him!” Platinum trembled, she slowly walked two steps to Hurricane, “I’m not a soldier, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid. This is obviously a trap to capture me, too! You expect me to believe that your General wants to negotiate? After she turned her back to her allies and even tried to kill them?”

“Says the girl who formed her own army to usurp the throne against her own father.” Hurricane relaxed when Platinum showed signs of weakness for her father, just like General Spades Ace predicted.

“Now, you are the ones taking hostages, huh? Whatever happened to the chivalrous pegasi?” Seed Sower prepared his spear and his legs to charge, but Platinum turned to him and shook her head.

“Well, we’re the bad guys, remember? It’s what we do.” Hurricane calmly responded, Azalea gasped at what she just heard, she gazed down at the floor unable to confront the unicorns.

Platinum took a deep breath as she gave another step to Hurricane, and Clover rushed to her side, frantically hooking her hoof on Platinum’s leg, “I know what you’re thinking, and no way you’re gonna come out alive of this one! Please think of something else! I know you don’t want anymore tragedy, and that it’s the right thing to do, but did you ever stop to think how I’d feel? Last time, I thought you were dead! And it was the worst feeling in the world! Why do you insist on doing this? Why is always your life in exchange of others?”

Platinum smiled and released herself from Clover’s hooves, “Because in order to make change a reality, someone has to give in. I am the princess, and I have to set the example. If you follow your beliefs and ideals but you’re not willing to die doing so, then it means nothing.”

“You… ever since I met you! I hate it when you get regal and stuff!” Clover sniffed, she let go of her friend, and turned her back to not see her leave again.

Platinum followed Hurricane and she was escorted by Pansy and Azalea. Raystorm and the rest could only stare how the doors slowly closed with the same creaking sound as before and the thud of steel and stone of the shutting of the doors.

It was dark and her sight was blurry, there was a thumping inside her head, as if her brain was trying to break out of her skull. Upon regaining her consciousness, she found herself lying on a rusty metal bed inside a dark stone room locked-up by bars. She pushed herself with her right wing to try and get on her hooves, but her side was burning from the inside, as if her bones were piercing through her lung. ‘Darn… my rib… ‘

“Psst! You awake?” the voice of an old pony called from the other side of the wall, “I can hear you, are you awake, young girl? They brought you here unconscious. Hah! Looks like you and I have something in common!”

“Don’t you compare yourself to me, old stallion!” She hit the wall as hard as she could, “You’re probably locked here because of some nasty stuff you did and you deserved punishment! I am no criminal!”

“Oh yeah? Insubordination is one of the worst crimes you can commit in the militia, or at least it is for us, unicorns folks.” The old stallion talked with a very relaxed tone.

“That’s not… Ugh! Who am I kidding?” She dropped her weight, sitting on the floor as she sighed.

“Listen, what if I told you I can get you out of here?” asked the stallion, he tapped his hoof on the stone walls, calling for her attention, “I’m just waiting for the right time, if you want payback or freedom or whatever, you can join me if you want.”

“I’m not helping a criminal break out of jail!” she yelled hitting the stone wall again, harder than before, “my profile is ruined enough as it is, right now! The last I need is resist, fugitivity and madness to the list of stupid things I did today! I’m better off just waiting for court-martial and hope for the quickest, least painful execution they can grant me.”

After a few hours of enduring the ramblings of an annoying old unicorn, the sound of horseshoes tapping on the floor sounded from across the hallway. A group of pegasi dragged King Lancer and his subjects to the cells in the bottom of the dungeon.

She recognized Iris, and also recognized the pink unicorn she was dragging. Iris dropped the pink unicorn's body, and raised her right wing, ready to deal the final blow.

“Please… don’t… ” Jewel whimpered, she raised her front hoof as if that would protect her from the wing.

“I have to!” Iris tried to move her wing but she was hesitating. “I’m sorry! I don’t want to, but I have to! I have to kill you! Please, just close your eyes, it won’t hurt! I promise!”

She approached the bars and called for her, “Iris, you’re doing it wrong. Don’t talk to them when you’re about to kill them, and certainly don’t apologize. You show weakness. You must stay cold.”

“Commander Cotton Cloud!” Iris and all the unicorns gasped and turned their attention to Cotton Cloud’s cell. Iris quickly approached her and spoke to her in rushed desperation, she was sniffing and about to break into tears, “The General, she… she turned her back against the unicorns… she’s gonna fight both earth ponies and unicorns, she is going to speak to the princess! She named me Commander after you and… and I don’t know what to do!”

“Well, look at me, I disobeyed a direct order and now I’m a traitor,” Cotton Cloud leaned her chest and hooked her hooves against the bars, “I’m gonna serve my sentence, and I suggest you do what you are told too.”

“Your name is Cotton Cloud!? Ba hah hah hah hah!” the old unicorn tapped his hoof against the floor as he laughed out loud, “some name for one of the pegasi fiercest soldiers!”

“Don’t laugh at me, you old geezer! Let me out, Iris! Let me out this instant! I’m gonna kill you, old goat! I’m gonna kill you so hard, even though it doesn’t matter because your time in this world is almost up anyway!” Cotton Cloud stretched her front hooves out of the bars trying to reach the old unicorn who was still laughing and kicking from the safety of his own cell.

“Ba hah hah! Whatever happened to ‘stay cold when you’re about to kill them’! Bah hah hah hah!”

“Commander Cotton Cloud… ” Jewel called for her, she stood up leaning her body on the cell’s wall, “you are just like her… just like my princess. You tried to do the right thing… even if it meant defying your own leader.”

“Shut… shut up!” Iris turned to her and raised her wing again.

“I understand… you have to kill me,” Jewel looked up to the pegasi, and focused her sight on to Cotton Cloud, “But you… you still believe that, don’t you? You believe it’s wrong… the ways of your General...”

“What’s the point?” Cotton Cloud sighed, her ears drooped, “The general will just beat me again. You don’t know her, she’s a demon when she fights, and the main units are probably almost here, when they come, it will all be over for earth ponies and unicorns.”

“Well, I know her… ” The King talked from his cell, he raised up again, his body still scarred but still strong. He felt as if there were nails inside of his body, but the pain just came to his mind like an old friend from a long time ago. “She is a skilled fighter, but she’s no demon. Just a pony. Maybe you won’t fight back, but I will, and I know my daughter will try to reason with her, she might buy us some time but I still fear for her safety. Starswirl, it is time!”

“As you wish, Your Majesty.” The old unicorn inserted his horn in the keyhole of his cell, the door opened, and he walked out casually. The pegasi raised their wings in the defense and stepped back to a safe distance, but Starswirl only walked among them with a grin on his face and no one dared to strike, his whole self made Iris feel that if she dared to attack this old unicorn, would be the last mistake she ever did. Starswirl opened the King’s cell door, and he came out growling like a monster coming out of his lair.

“You could escape this whole time?” Cotton Cloud asked, she leaned at the bars, “And you were prepared for this?”

“I told you I was waiting for the right time,” said Starswirl with a grin, “You can stay and wait for the less painful execution they can grant you. But if you change your mind, if you decide to reject the easy escape, and to stand up and face death for what you believe is right, then turn your back to heaven and follow me to hell.”

As Cotton Cloud stared through the bars at the two unicorns leaving, her body was trembling, her body still ached, and the other pegasi watched her. “Wait!” She screamed. “I always thought I’d die under General Spades Ace command, not under her hoof. I’ll come with you, I know their tactics and how to counter them. But we will need our own army, and take the castle as soon as possible.”

She turned to the other pegasi, “I am not your commander anymore, I may even become your enemy if I do this, so I’ll ask you this just once. Will you help me?”

“Yes, Commander!” They saluted, Iris with a great smile and tears in her eyes.

While the Princess was being marched by Hurricane and her companions, unicorns and earth ponies were left in an awkward situation, Clover so caught in her own thoughts to come up with a plan, not realising that unbeknownst to her, she was breathing in a rush and sniffing.

Smart Cookie was next to Chief Puddinghooves, carefully counting how many ponies they had in their ranks and how many unicorns they were left with. As for Puddinghead, she was giggling at Seed and Raystorm who seemed to be having a staring competition… to death.

Maybe minutes that felt like hours in a tense silence, Seed was holding his spear with a trembling hoof, and Raystorm knew it. It wasn’t until Estrella broke the silence with loud scream that was imprisoned inside her throat during this whole time.

“Aaaaaaaaaargh! Will you two start kissing already!?” she panted, turning her face to her chief, “We’re more than them, let’s just crash through the gate and beat the hay out of those deformed birds!”

“It’s not that simple, Estrella.” Responded Smart Cookie, “Now they have the princess, and even if they didn’t, she wouldn’t want us to just get in fighting and killing more ponies.”

“Also we can put her in danger as well,” Clover added.

“But in the end, what does it matter what we do?” asked Puddinghead, getting the attention and stares of all the ponies around her, “I mean, isn’t this what she always does? I’ve heard the stories, she’s always risking her own life to save others even if they are total strangers. She even apologized to my father in the name of unicorns just to stop the violence. That’s just the kind of unicorn she is, isn’t she? Even if she’s not making any sense, even if she’s being foolish. In the end, we all know that what she’s doing is the right thing to do… Right? Well, at least, that’s why I decided to follow her.”

Blank stares all around Puddinghead as she kept talking, then they looked at each other as they accepted the true words they heard. Clover let go of a single laugh, “Yeah, that’s Princess Platinum! She’s gonna face death anyway, we can at least make it worthy! Let’s go!”

They blasted the door open with their numbers, the pegasi were caught off guard and outnumbered. Hurricane woke up with a startled jump, she saw earth ponies and unicorns routing her partners, “Retreat! Pull back to the throne room!”

The pegasi flew back as commanded, there was only one gate to the throne room from the main hall, and the pegasi were now prepared for the attack. Chief Puddinghead and Seed led the attack and blasted the gate. The chief used his big body to shield his soldiers and pushed five pegasi using his head, Seed next to him did the same.

Clover leaped from behind Seed, she aimed her horn and shot her magic beams at any pegasus that crossed her sight, and from among them, came gliding Hurricane, her right wing throwing an horizontal slash to Clover’s neck. Too surprised by Hurricane’s speed to cast a teleport spell, Clover ducked and dashed backwards to gain distance.

A song of a horn echoed from outside the castle while Hurricane slowly approached Clover with her wings wide open, “Look at that! Nice reflexes!” she smiled at Clover.

“Why did you save my life if you were planning to kill us anyway?” asked Clover.

Hurricane’s cold eyes turned unexpectedly friendly, “Last time my job was to keep you safe. We weren’t planning to kill you, you were the one who turned against us, remember? This war would already be over if it wasn’t for you and Princess Platinum. Today, my job is to stop you. Look at it this way: you owe me your life, so now I’m just claiming it.”

Then a commotion sounded from the main hall, a wounded unicorn appeared “They have arrived, it’s all over!” He screamed. As the main hall was taken over by pegasi.

“It’s not over!” The king arrived from the southeastern door of the throne room, slamming the door open with his horn sparkling like like a spear and his eyes raging like a fire, the calm Starswirl on his side and Commander Cotton Cloud on the other, she flapped her wings to hover above everyone to be visible and to be heard.

“Pegasi! General Spades Ace betrayed the alliance with the unicorns. I know you are tied to General Spades Ace orders,” said Cotton Cloud, “but so did I, and still I followed my own principles and decided not to obey. I will keep my alliance with the unicorns, I will fight General Spades Ace if I have to! Those who believe in the same as I do are welcome to join me.”

A group of pegasi dropped their helmets and joined Cotton Cloud’s side Hurricane among them, Pansy looked at her partners from the main unit abandoning their post to join the commander too. She looked deep inside her memory, looking where her loyalty might be. ‘No one? All I cared about was my rank.’ A touch on her shoulder woke her up, Hurricane yawned at her face. Pansy giggled, ‘That’s it!’

Not every pegasi joined Cotton Cloud, though. “What if we’re still loyal to the general?” A pegasus from the main unit asked, raising both her wings.

“Then I suppose we are enemies, now!” Cotton Cloud also spread her wings, and so the battle raged on.

Cotton Cloud glided against the enemy pegasi, confronting three of them, they leaped at the same, striking time with horizontal strikes from their wings. Cotton Cloud deflected their attacks with her wings with a spin of her, and slashed her right wing to hit the joint of the armor of the enemy in front of her.

The remaining two were patiently waiting for Cotton Cloud’s next move, but Hurricane wing attacked on in the neck, and Pansy tackled the last one finished her out with her wing against her head.

Clover and Laurel joined their horns again and set another barrier around their allies. Chief Puddinghooves blocked the pegasi attacks with his huge, bulky body while protecting Estrella and Smart Cookie. He headbutted through the enemy lines,

“Stand aside!” Shouted the king, his glowing horn aimed at Starswirl, and Starswirl’s aimed at the throne room’s main gate. All allies moved aside, and a giant crimson beam of light was shot from Starswirl’s horn, sweeping the unaware enemies that were not quick enough to dodge.

“Commander Cotton Cloud,” King Lancer spoke to her, “we can handle this, you have unfinished business with your general. Take Clover with you, my daughter will trust you if you’re with her.”

Commander Cotton Cloud nodded, “Hurricane, Pansy! Come with me! Let’s go, Clover!”

Clover followed, but she was stopped by the king’s hoof on her shoulder, “Please take care of my daughter.” He said.

Azalea walked Princess Platinum to the northeastern tower, the horn of the pegasi sounded from afar, Azalea’s ears twitched, she turned her head to see Platinum and saw her looking back with angry eyes. Azalea gulped, she pulled air and tried to speak to Platinum, but stopped, ‘what can I say to her? Nothing… ’

Platinum raised a brow and tilted her head as Azalea just turned around and kept on walking up the stares, she didn’t realise but the pink of her face was brighter due to the embarrassment.

They arrived the single wooden door, a maid pegasus stallion stood still next to it, he saw Azalea and stepped away with a single step. Azalea paid no mind to the stallion and pushed the door which creaked made Platinum’s spine shiver for a split second. She took long sigh, stepped in and turned around to see Azalea gazing upon her and slowly closing the door. Platinum wasn’t sure, but she might have spotted teary eyes on Azalea’s face.

Once inside General Spades Ace office, she was drinking her cup of tea, filling the room with a faint scent of jasmine. The general was calm and collected.

“Ah! Lovely princess! You finally arrived” General Spades Ace smiled and said, taking a dip from her cup, “I have to admit, the clever trick you pulled out took me by surprise. I was afraid I had to kill your father to get your attention.”

Princess Platinum responded with a serious frown and an eerie silence. General Spades Ace sighed and rubbed the back of her head, she gently spread her wings and came closer to her, “I know you hate me… I don’t blame you, I’ve done awful things. But I can assure you it’s all for the greater good.”

Platinum pressed her frown even more, she couldn’t contain a growl as she saw General Spades Ace approaching, “How dare you say that!? Ponies are dying out there! You pledged an alliance, and then broke it! You threaten me with my father’s life! And now you’re telling me it’s all for the greater good!?”

“Oh, my dear.” Spades Ace touched her chest as if she had just received a blow right to her heart. She approached and caressed Platinum’s chin. Platinum saw a sincere sadness in her eyes as she continued her speech. “I don’t like war as much as you may think. It’s ugly and painful, and yet it’s also necessary. You haven’t seen the world like I have. In order to survive you need strong creatures. On the heat of war, the strongest survive, the smartest bring progress to technologies, magic and tactics. As for the weak… they just die. War makes a nation strong by eliminating the weak.”

“You are no one to decide who lives and who dies!” Platinum pushed her away.

“Oh, but I don’t decide anything, dear princess.” Spades Ace shrugged coming back to her usual kindness, she walked back to her desk and took another sip from her cup, “I just let things happen. Just nature making its selection. If you join me, we can take over, unite all three races and build a stronger nation.”

“It sounds nice when you put it that way,” Platinum sighed, gazing at the floor, “but your methods are wrong! It would be a nation built at the cost of lives and broken families. I want a nation of harmony and peace, where we can all be friends and weapons of war are not required.”

Spades Ace put the cup on the desk, she raised her voice, grabbed the map and showed it to Platinum, “You don’t get it. There are creatures out there that will not hesitate to take advantage of even the smallest weakness. If you look to the outside world, you will see unfathomable dangers that you’re not prepared for.”

“It’s true I’m not as strong as you, but it’s what I believe in,” Platinum ignored the map and focused on Spades Ace. “If we all help each other, we can be stronger and cover up all our weaknesses. Right now, most unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi are still alive and I’d like to keep it that way. We have seen enough deaths already. I can’t accept the way you are thinking. And I can’t accept this war going on any longer. I won't allow it!”

“I beg your pardon? Heh heh… I’m not used to this kind of response, so let me get this straight,” she giggled covering her mouth with her hoof. Then, she suddenly raised her voice, “Are defying me? Don't make me laugh, my dear.”

She approached Platinum spreading her wings menacingly, "And how do you plan to achieve that? I want this war, I need it. That's what I believe in, and I will do it, no matter the price I have to pay, even if that means killing you. Now, lovely princess, the only way to achieve your goal is by killing me! As a pacifist, are you up to pay that price?"

Swift as the wind, Platinum didn’t even see the wing coming directly at her head and was knocked down to the floor. Then she received a second hit on the same spot, Platinum saw the shattered pieces of the tea cup dropping from her head, she touched her head, feeling the liquid pouring out of it and stared at her hoof, It was blood. She felt herself being pulled by the tail, Spades Ace had grabbed her and threw her against the desk, destroying it to pieces and sticks of wood. Spades Ace approached while Platinum wallowed in pain as she saw Spades Ace come to her with cold, murderous eyes.

“It's not personal, lovely princess,” Spades Ace stepped on Platinum’s neck and raised her wing, “I'm just moving forward according to my ideals. Because of that, now I have to kill you, then I’ll have to kill your father, and then all those who follow you. All because you don't have the strength to take my life. It always ends the same way, the strong survive, and the weak die. And that’s just the way it is.”

And so, a bit of blood splattered on Spades Ace body, Platinum whimpered, cold and trembling, she couldn’t breath nor see. Spades Ace calmly folded her wing back to her body, and as she looked down at Princess Platinum laying on the floor, she felt her muscles rigid as if they were made of stone. Platinum’s horn was glowing with a violet aura, as General Spades Ace turned to see her own chest, there was a piece of wood also glowing with the same glow as Platinum’s horn was piercing deep through her unprotected chest. Her arm felt as if she was being bound with chains, she stuggled to move her hoof and pulled off a wooden stake from her chest and dropped it on the floor. She felt her knees shaking and a cold more intense than the winter air running through her body, Spades Ace coughed and fell on her side, smiling at Platinum like a proud teacher smiles at her student.

Platinum saw her fall, she crawled to her and shook her body, “No! Please, don’t! I’m sorry! I’m… I’m so sorry!” Platinum was panting and crying.

Spades Ace giggled and spoke between coughs as the princess gazed upon the general’s tired eyes. “You lost, my dear. Because you just proved me right. To pay the price for your ideals, even if it hurts... That's what strength is... If by my death you will unite a strong nation, I will gladly pay that price.”

"No! We can... we can heal you! Some unicorns know... they can cast healing spells!" Platinum held onto her like trying to hold her life in this world.

"I just regret... not being able to see her again. Promise me that you will build a strong nation, lovely princess, build it with your own strength. I will… be watching…" General Spades Ace closed her eyes, and Platinum felt the last breath coming out of her chest.

That familiar sensation invaded her trembling body, leaving the corpse of the pegasus on the floor, she looked at her own hooves as if they were the claws of a wicked monster. Looking back at the smiling face of Spades Ace, Platinum wept over her body, clinging her face to the hole in Spades Ace chest, the same way she did twelve years ago.

After a few minutes, the door was slammed open, Commander Cotton Cloud came in spreading her wings alongside Hurricane and Pansy. Platinum gasped, she cowered away from Spades Ace’s body, shaking in terror. Clover saw the scene, she covered her mouth in shock and rushed to Platinum’s side.

“Platinum! What happened? Are you ok? Are you hurt?” Clover grabbed her, stared at her eyes and cleaned the blood streaming down her face.

“I couldn’t… I wasn’t… ” Platinum trembled she had Clover in front of her, but she just saw a white and green shapeless stain.

Cotton Cloud was speechless, she touched the general’s neck, and sighed away. “I hoped it didn’t end up like this. Clover, take the princess out of here, we need to take care of the body.”

“I’ll do it.” Hurricane said, “you… you go and help the princess or whatever.”

“You sure?” Pansy tried to touch her, but Hurricane rejected it.

“Just go.” Hurricane smiled.

Hesitant, Cotton Cloud and company left Hurricane alone with Spades Ace. She slowly closed the wooden door and leaned her head against it. After a cold silence, a couple of low sobs escaped her chest, she dropped on her knees against the door, and tears escaped her eyes.

The Birth of a New Kingdom

by Dranz_89

Shattered love

Humble beginnings

Not alone anymore

Necessary sacrifice

On the other side

A pony chooses, a slave obeys

The incoming storm

The end doesn't justify the means

Twisted loyalties

Have the courage to disobey

The borderline between friendship and emmity