> Equestria Divided: Two Sides of the Same Coin. > by CrimsonEquine > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Ensuing Battle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The air was waft with death and despair, ponies were losing their lives by the dull edge of a blade, and it was total war between The illustrious House Whitegold and the crazed Cult of Laughter. The House's Arqueteers were parked on a steep cliff overbearing the battlefield. The Arqueteer leader motioned his soldiers to aim at the unsuspecting ponies to finally fire repeatedly at the enemies direction. One such Arqueteer that was among them was planted at the very top of the cliff to scout for aerial combatants that would attack from above. The Arqueteer on the steep cliff continued to scout nervously and aim his Arquebus towards the sky until he noticed numerous somethings deep within the clouds flying fast at their location. "Euphories!" screamed the Arqueteer. The ranged ponies diverted their attention towards the sky to notice the maddened pegasi laughing and cackling in insane pleasure. The Euphories were ready for their sharp wing-blades to bathe in pony blood. They began to dive down towards the Arqueteer party in high speeds. The Arqueteer's took aim at them and waited for the command from the leader to fire repeatedly. "Steady your Arquebuses! Aim to their hearts and wings!" ordered the lead Arqueteer. The Aqueteers under his hoof aimed their Arquebus's straight into the air at the general direction of the Euphories. "Wait for it..." murmured the Lead Arqueteer, almost to himself. The sound of the insane laughter of the Euphories were getting louder and closer as they waited. "Fire! Fire at bucking will!" screamed the lead Arqueteer. They fired their weapons at the Euphories, torrents of magical bullets swept through the air in tremendous bulk. Deftly, the Euphories dodged out of the way from the magical shots only for some to fall after getting their wings pierced or their hearts were punctured straight through, causing them to drip immense amount of blood that showered over the Arqueteers. Some Euphories made it through the magical torrent and dived down hitting the pile of Arqueteers slashing them as much as possible. Arms and heads were cut instantly at their landing causing the Arqueteers to retreat away, firing at the Euphories who stalked them. Right into the forest the Arqueteers ran until their pursuers lost track of them. They were breathing deeply from the immense running and found ground to rest. "Alright. Damage report: how many have we lost?" asked the lead Arqueteer. He waited for a response from his men only to find terror in their eyes. None of them were able to talk from the travesty of losing their friends and colleagues and seeing them get cut limb from limb. Only one Arqueteer was steadfast and calm from the situation. "You! What is your name?" he ordered. His voice quivered at his words. "And why are you so calm?" The lone Arqueteer that walked out from the group had a long straight greenish mane and a burly orange body. He had his Arquebus on sheath moving and creating a "chink" sound from every step. "The name's Storm Eye, commander, and I am actually quite scared..." His eyes were gleaming with the fear of death. "I am just trying to keep it together so that I can stay alive longer." The Lead Arqueteer was impressed by his logic controlling his fear, although he did not show it. He breathed deeply and composed himself. He turned to the others. "All of you! Stop being cowards and stand strong!" yelled the lead Arqueteer. His voice echoed in the ears of his soldiers, who shakily began to stand up again. "We must continue on! Or else die to these infernal cultists! Now ready your Arquebuses! It will soon be time to counter attack!". The Arqueteers looked at each other before one shouted out a cheer. The others followed his example. "Alright, who wants to scout ahead to see what is going on?" asked The Lead Arqueteer. Nopony dared to reply to that question. Some of them excused themselves to help the medics, but the majority of them stood, staring at the ground. "You're all a bunch of cowards! Why do I get such sorry excuses for soldiers as yourselves to fight in this war!" screamed the commander. Glaring at them with a blood boiling rage, he continued, "Useless sacks of nobility! You thought that this would be a joy ride into candy land? You all make me sick!" He turned away from his soldiers only to be stopped by Storm Eye. "I-I will do it...," said Storm Eye. His eyes towards the ground and his demeanor of certain fear. "I will scout ahead to see if they are still around." "You will do this?" Storm Eye nodded. "Alone? All by yourself?" questioned the commander, his confused expression showing well on his face. "Yes... and I will hopefully return," said Storm Eye. Courage accompanied his voice and his demeanor. He trotted along towards the forest path they came from, the smell of blood and magical radiation drew stronger from each step, nodding to the other soldiers. The other Arqueteers could only watch in differing awe and respect, some of them thought he was going to get killed, others thought he was the bravest of them all. This is where our story begins. > How They Met > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Storm Eye trudged through the grassy trees that could reach the very top of the sky until he stopped and noticed Euphorie bodies dead across the ground. The Euphories were clean killed with some having their heads blown off, blood dripping from the decapitated and pierced bodies. Their crazed, smiling expression forever stretched on their faces. Storm Eye soon stepped on a head and instantly felt startled. He bucked the head away and started to run from the creepy cadavers. He soon found the cliff that they were stationed before to find many dead Euphorie all over the place. He looked upon the battlefield, it seemed neither side had won since everypony was dead. There was no sight of ponies fighting, just death as far as the eye can see. Storm Eye cringed from the view and soon decided to return to the other Arqueteers back in the forest. He returned the way he came only to find the cadavers of the Euphories once more. Storm Eye walked past them until he heard a horrifying laugh. He turned around to find a corpse standing on its hooves without a head. The cadavers around him began to move, shambling up from the ground getting ever nearer. Storm Eye only had one retort to this, to fire indiscriminately at them until they were nothing but, fleshy pulp. While he fired and completely destroyed the bodies of many cadavers, there was many more to take their place. Storm Eye did the next logical thing, he ran away as fast as he could while the cadavers trailed behind him. After a large amount of running, Storm Eye finally lost them. He made his way through the forest to find the ground that his fellow Arqueteers were occupied. When he arrived, all he found was death. The Arqueteers were ripped apart, organs streamed all over the place, fresh blood drenched in pools, the facial expression of the dead that of terror. Storm Eye could only see the death of them all and was beyond terrified by his fellow comrades being completely slaughtered. This... This can't be happening... Storm Eye looked away from the dead, his hope slowly draining away only to be replaced by another emotion, incredible rage. He looked towards the sky, his face scowling in anger, and began to shoot up wildly with no purpose. After tiring himself by overusing his magic, he dropped down on his back to the ground defeated. He looked onto the blue sky, it was peaceful and tranquil. He remembered being with his mother back at home who used to love and take care of him. He continued to stare at the nice clouds and kind blue sky until he saw a figure. It had the shape of a winged pegasus no doubt. Storm Eye relished the idea of getting revenge on those monstrous and evil ponies. He stood from the ground and aimed his Arquebus right at the pony sitting idly on the cloud. With all his magical energy spent, Storm Eye shot one last blast right at the sky and it hit. The pegasus flew down from the cloud she was on and steadily twisted and turned in circles as she tried to glide her way down. Seeing that he hit his mark, Storm Eye trotted towards the destination where his prey was. He passed by many tree and fauna while using his tracking skills to find his target. He stumbled upon many laughing dead, he observed them from afar behind a tree. The Laughing Dead were a fearsome sight to behold, there organs were spilled all over the floor and some of them were decapitated from every body part imaginable. It had seemed The Laughing Dead were everywhere since he could hear their laughter from just about every direction. Their laughter soon got the best of him and he retreated away from the terrors to continue on his journey. Steadfast and cool, Storm Eye made sure do evade those revived corpses as best as he could. He walked on until he stepped on a pile of blood next to what seemed to be a broken wingblade. He was close, Storm Eye readied his Arquebus to finish off that pegasus. He searched around himself until he noticed a bush shuffling right in front of him. He aimed his Arquebus at the bush ready to fire and approached with caution. Slowly, the bush began to stop moving only for a sudden mad Euphorie to jump out. The Euphorie screamed a horrific battle-cry causing Storm Eye to fire and miss. The Euphorie pinned him down and used her working wingblade to pierce his face while laughing maniacally to finally be kicked off to only cut a line of blood on his nose. Storm Eye used his Arquebus and smacked The Euphorie with all his might completely smashing it on her head. The Euphorie backed away after getting hit, her face bleeding and her head pulsating with pain. She made one arrogant charge while screaming hectically only to be hit on the legs and fall on her face. Storm Eye pinned her down and stuck the Arquebus right on her head by the barrel. "Any last words? Monster!?" said Storm Eye. His face flashing with murderous intent. "Oh please spare me! I just love living! living is the best thing ever!" said The Euphorie sarcastically. The Euphorie began to laugh at her own sarcasm until Storm Eye strengthened his push on The Arquebus. "Maybe your right? Maybe you'd like I torture until you beg for death? Is that what you would want?" said Storm Eye. The Euphories head was grinded even more by his force causing her more pain. The Euphorie gasped at the strike of increased pressure to her head. "Keqkh!, heh, heh, please you Nobles don't have the balls to do something like... Eak!" said The Euphorie. Storm Eye hit her on the head once more. "Enough of your tongue you filth! Prepare to die!" said Storm Eye. He slowly glowed his horn to relish every second of her head becoming mush. The Arquebus began to glow and energy was charging from the shaft ready for fire. At the last second, before he was about to fire, Storm Eye heard laughter near the both of them. It seemed that the Laughing Dead had continued to trail behind him and they were getting close fast. The Euphorie began to laugh hysterically at Storm Eye's fear. "You fool! You waisted your time with me and now we will both die!" said The Euphorie. Her voice cackling between words. "You should've finished me off while you can! But, now were going to die by them!" "Shut up!" said Storm Eye. His body shaking with fear and his face that of fright, he desperately climbed off of The Euphorie only to magically hold his Arquebus right at her. "Get up! Now!" The Euphorie stood up from the ground weakly until she was on all fours. The Euphorie began to laugh even more at the sight of Storm Eye's desperation. "Shut up! Move!" screamed Storm Eye. His voice raised with frustration and rage.