Mountain Risingby HavelockChaptersChapter 1 - "We call him a mountain for good reason,"Chapter 2 - Old SoldiersChapter 3 - Back with the SaddleChapter 1 - "We call him a mountain for good reason,"Tosh hid in the shadows, safe from the changelings all around him. He was searching for any signs of Chrysalis, as he was ordered to by his leader, Havelock. "Where are you?" he said poking his head out of the shadows. Nothing in sight. Tosh unfurled his leathery wings, the wings of a bat pony, and shot himself into the sky, soaring towards the setting sun. There, he found a large, very sophisticated campsite, littered with magical constructs digging for resources, while the edges had trenches built, housing several armed ponies. Tosh searched around the camp, eventually finding a grey stallion in a seemingly dull set of grey armor. "Tosh, what news do you bring?" asked the stallion, a unicorn. "We've got a lot of changelings for sure, maybe a five to one ratio," said Tosh as he landed next to the stallion, "as for Chrysalis, we haven't found her, yet," "Well, we've got limited resources now, Tosh, ground is goin' dry. Find me Chrysalis, an attack this large needs her presence somewhere. You've never let me down, Tosh, now make it happen." He hesitated, then said, "Yes, Havelock, I'll make it happen," as he flew off. "DuskWing!" called Havelock. Flying to his side was a young pegasus. "Yes, command?" she said. "Take your flyers and wait high above the soldiers, give air support when needed at any time, I don't care how badly they need it, just give them support." "Yes sir, anything else?" DuskWing asked. "Where's Jaller?" demanded Havel. "He's by the east trench, oh, and, Havel," "What do you need, Dusk?" "Do you think you and I could take some time alone after this?" "I can't make that a promise, but I'll try, what'd you have in mind? Lunch?" "Not quite... you see-" "Hold that thought," said Havel as he used his magic to teleport to Jaller, who resided on an immense, and heavily armed air ship called Gypsy. "Commander on deck!" shouted Jaller, a very old earth pony. "Jaller, get your crew and find Tosh, if he gets in trouble, you're to help him." Havelock's command was done with a hearty "yessir!" ______________ Tosh flew high within the clouds, concealing himself from the now advancing mass of changeling minions. He scanned the ground relentlessly for the queen. He made a sharp dive for the ground, pulling up only moments before impact. Tosh looked around, almost impatiently, for Chrysalis. He listened hard to quicken things, trying to block out the buzzing changelings. Tosh's frustration only began to grow. "Celestia damn this, where are you, Chrysalis!" shouted Tosh, oblivious to the changelings now aware of him. Tosh listened harder, ignoring the sudden silence of the changelings. Finally, Tosh heard the sound of hooves behind him. "Looking for me?" asked Chrysalis. Tosh laughed slightly, "For somepony like you to simply vanish for so long is unheard of, an army like yours, why the need to hide?" "Hmm, yes, once your little group of friends fall to me, I will devour all their love, then I will kill them. But you, I've come to like you, which is why I'm going to kill you last, right after I kill your leader." laughed Chrysalis. "Ha! I'll grow too old to walk by the time you even figure out how to break him. We call our leader Havelock the Mountain, and make no mistake Chrysalis," began Tosh, "We call him a mountain for good reason," "And how is a mountain supposed to fight my whole army, that's gathered around to see you." Tosh then only just became aware of all the changelings around him. He did a quick head count, finding more than he originally thought, not including those in the air, which writhed with their numbers. Tosh put a calm facade on, eying the few closing the distance between him and them. Then he remembered something. "Do you like magic tricks, Chrysalis? I've got one for ya," said Tosh pointing at a gem in his chest-plate. "Well, now ya see me-" Tosh lightly struck the gem in his armor, "Now ya don't..." Seizing the chance, Tosh rocketed himself into the air, retreating back to the safety of his campsite. Behind him, chaos erupted, as the army flew about in search of him. Tosh flapped hard to fly fast and avoid all the confused changelings in his path, his only interest now, was getting to safety. Amid the swarms of changelings, Gypsy was soaring directly towards Tosh. When Tosh could finally see Gypsy, he nearly injured himself as he pulled up and landed doggedly on deck. "Tosh is safe! Now! Full attack, all weapons!" shouted Jaller "Jaller, you've got to turn back, there are..." Tosh panted heavily, "there are far more than I thought could exist, we've got to go back, now!" "Relax, Tosh," said the aged earth pony, "Gypsy has handled worse than a handful of changelings," Jaller poured himself a cup of tea, "care to join me?" "Jaller, you don't understand, you-" "Captain!" called one of the crew members, "you'll want to see this sir," Jaller slowly rose and approached the crew member, a young pegasus. The pegasus pointed forward, off the front tip of the air ship. Jaller adjusted his monocle, scanning the horizon. There, he saw a very large, and thick cloud of changeling minions. Jaller's eyes widened when they darted for Gypsy like hornets. "Turn this ship around!" Jaller demanded, "we're hightailin' it outta here!" _________________ Many of the soldiers in the trenches had become very bored. The ground soldiers, often called war pigs by the public, were a rude and boisterous set of ruthless, efficient fighters. These soldiers were clad in a dark, heavy set of armor modeled after that of a Canterlot guard. Their weapons consisted of long spears, pikes, and halberds used to mow down opposing infantry; this has won them victory several times in their career. "Any news on those changelings?" asked a war pig, "Those fuglies? No, but news better damn well get here, if I don't kill one soon, I'm going home for a drink." said the soldier next to him. "Hopefully there'll be some nice flanks when we get home," laughed the other pig. "You swine, thinking those thoughts," "It's why they call us war pigs," An older pony, also a war pig, shouted at the two youths "Get down! Shut up! Gypsy in sight, an' she 'auls a lotta fuglies be'ind 'er!" "He's right!" shouted one of the pigs as he squinted at Gypsy, "ere' they coooome!" "Didn't I just say to shut up?!" The pigs laid low within the trenches, as DuskWing's flyers lured them down close enough for the pigs to impale them on their spears and pikes. "Ow many did ya get?" asked one of the young pigs. "Three bugs, one jab," said the other. "Ha! Four bugs!" Gloated the young pig. Gypsy had reached the campsite, where it could now unleash its might. "Charge crystals! Shoot them out of the air!" commanded Jaller. Gypsy relied on enchanted crystals to fire magical beams equal to that of a powerful unicorn. The air ship held hundreds of these crystals, all tended to by enchanters themselves. The weapons Gypsy held decimated the flying changelings, thinning them out greatly and giving the other flyers room for acrobatics. ________________ Havelock had been watching the battle with great interest from the center of the camp. He looked at the trenches, which were holding up against the attack well. He examined the flyers, who seemed to be enjoying themselves greatly. He gazed up at Gypsy, which proved a living nightmare to his army's opponents. Havelock could quite literally sit and wait through the fight, his soldiers were far too well armed, skilled, and numbered themselves. ________________ "Anypony see that light way up ahead?" "That's where we got in, and now, our way out. How many minerals did we dig up?" Some ponies that looked just like Havelock's soldiers looked back behind them and announced, "Looks like the drones are hauling maybe four-hundred pounds, we'll have some extra to give Celestia," "Which means a bonus, damn, I must say, Havel was really thinking when he sent us to dig up these rare mineral deposits," "But why doesn't he just sell the excess to the highest bidder? We'll get a lot more cash that way." asked one of the soldiers. "Are you saying that you would double-cross the princess? Just to get a few extra bits, are you serious?" All eyes turned to the one foolish soldier. "Okay, I see your point, Tarkus, but I thought we were mercenaries," "We all wanna get rich," said Tarkus, "but we also wanna live long enough to enjoy it, never forget that," "Yes sir," "Good, now let's hightail it before the natives get restless, or worse, the fuglies up above," Tarkus lead the group of soldier-miners to the exit at the end of the cave, checking every so often on the drones, magical constructs Havel uses for gathering resources. Tarkus was an old, and proud soldier, boasting about his early achievements as an infantry unit to young mares when off duty. His armor was bulky, dark, heavy and very defensive, to the point where it was on par of his leader's fabled stone armor. His skill in the front lines has earned him the rank of leading the war pigs while Havelock was not around, and a strike of his sword remakes the killing blows heard in legends. "Gain way, comin' through!" shouted Tarkus as he arose to the surface. Following closely behind him was the caravan of soldier-miners and the drones with the minerals. Havelock came rushing towards them, as their camp was built on top of their point of entrance. "Havel, we have the minerals you asked for, now what, pray tell, are we going to do with them?" asked Tarkus. "Well, as you know, these minerals are very-" Havel ducked from a blast of changeling magic, "-these minerals are very rare, and for good-" both he and Tarkus dodged a changeling swooping down, "-for good reason, too, they-" the soldier-miners dived down to avoid an AWOL blast of magic "-dammit, everyone just get down and listen!" all the soldiers laid low to avoid the organized chaos about them, "these minerals will be used to strengthen our weapons and armor, then as we sell the excess to Celestia, she will strengthen her army and we earn a permanent contract to stay and guard Equestria," Havel finally spat out. "Good plan," said Tarkus, both hooves over his head. "I know, now get in the front lines, Tarkus!" shouted Havel, his belly on the ground. _________________ Only several minutes after Tarkus was sent off, DuskWing flew down to Havel's side. "Sir-" she saluted, "I've found hostages, off to the west, the queen is there and she has entrenched many, many changelings there. My take on this is that it's a trap, the hostages are just to bait us in," "How many?" demanded Havelock. "Sir, you're not actually considering-" "Dusk, how many hostages?" "Four sir," "Hmm, I'm not working through others on this, I'm going there alone, to deal with Chrysalis, and save the hostages, if they're real." Havelock said, almost in a passive manner. "But-" "These are my orders, Dusk, I expect you to follow them through, keep watch on your flyers, I'll be back." Havelock strolled over to his tent, and went inside to grab his helm and hammer. His helm was made of solid rock, just like the rest of his armor, and was deeply enchanted like every plate was. His hammer was also a deeply enchanted tool, carved from both stone and a dragon's bone, and made so long one could use it as a staff. These are what earned Havelock the title mountain, for he hardly flinched in battle and shrugged off even killing blows. "Heading out, could I get a lift, Dusk?" asked Havelock. "Sure," she said softly. Two other pegasi were called to help carry Havelock to the queen. Gypsy cleared a path for Havel's helpers to cross, lessening the hassle for the struggling pegasi. "Drop me in the center of them," commanded Havel. "From up here?" asked one of the pegasi. "Yes, drop me, now!" The pegasi hesitated, then dropped Havel down almost on top of Chrysalis. Whirling his hammer with magic, Havel struck the charging changelings solely on the skull, a sickening crack heard on every blow. He turned towards Chrysalis, hammer raised. "End of the line, army's shattered and here we are, face to face," Chrysalis smiled slightly, then began to laugh. "I've made some friends while I was banished, Havelock, maybe you know them." Havel raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What're you-" a colossal beast burst out of the ground behind him, sending dust and debris everywhere. "Can't be..." gasped Havel "Daayan!" He searched about for Chrysalis. She vanished. "I thought we killed her, she should be dead!" Havel shouted, mostly to himself. The huge beast towered over Havel, resembling a sort of twisted dragon. On its back was a young, seemingly helpless mare. "Daayan!" Havel shouted again, "you should be dead, I killed you!" "And that was very rude of you, Havel," said Daayan in a deceptively sweet voice, "but, let's let bygones be bygones, after all, here I am. In fact, I have an offer for you," said Daayan as she laid down comfortably on the dragon's back. "Not interested," Havel said firmly. "Oh, but it could work out so well for you and I, you have fighting skills, advanced magic, and, best of all, the mind of a master war strategist, and I have magic that can preserve your little mercenary family,-" Havel's eyes widened, "For as long as they'd like. So, if I give you this magic, and my army, then you must give me Equestria, deal?" Havel stepped back a few paces, "What a cliche," he said. "Oh, don't be mistaken, it's not the land I want, it's the souls, the essence, the great feast laid before me," "You're a disgusting monster, Daayan," "You've until sunrise to give me your answer. I'll be waiting," Havelock took a few more paces back, then made his decision. Holding his horn high, it glowed with bright, golden light. With a great flash he vanished. "Hmm, so be it, Havelock. but you've only dug your own grave." Daayan muttered. ________________ After flashing back into the camp, Havel's head hurt. "Well, there you are," said Tarkus, "changelings are scattered, can we go home now?" "Daayan has returned" Havel said, "make preparations for-" the same dragon-like beast erupted from the ground. "Take it down! Take it down now!" shouted some war pigs. Suddenly, all manner of twisted, unseen creatures arose from the ground. Many were towering over the pigs, many more as big as them. Before Havel knew it, his soldiers, his family, were dying all around him, many torn to pieces. Blood soaked the earth on which Havel stood. Havel was lost, confused, and frightened at such a sudden downfall. A single tear escaped his eye, rolling down off his face to mix with the blood of those fallen. DuskWing was at his side, trying to get his attention amid the slaughter. "Commander!" Her voice sounded muffled. "Commander! Havel!" Her voice was still unheard. "Havel!" Havel was jerked out of his state. "Havel! We're in full retreat! Fall back to Gypsy" Havel obeyed DuskWing. He ran for the air ship, blocking out the carnage before him. When he was right beneath it did he remember his magic, and used it to teleport onto the ship. "Charge the Disruptor!" ordered Jaller. "It won't charge, sir!" said a unicorn. "Then charge it! It's do or die! You hear me?!" "I can charge it..." whispered Havel. Havel ran for the Disruptor, an elegant pillar with a magical crystal on top. "Havel is going to kill himself charging that!" shouted DuskWing "We've no other choice, Dusk, we must get that charged or we'll all die," said Jaller. The air ship jerked. "We must get that working before we're knocked out of the sky!" Havel had already begun channeling his magic to the crystal atop the pillar. He struggled hard to charge the powerful weapon, he felt weaker every moment spent focusing his power. "That's it! It's nearly done!" shouted Tarkus. Havel's nose began bleeding, his bones felt weak and his focus was failing. "It's done! Use it! Now!" shouted Jaller. A wave of energy was sent forth from the crystal, creating a mass genocide of the monsters. Everypony allowed themselves to finally breath. Jaller inhaled and let out a sigh, "Status," he demanded. "Medic!" cried DuskWing. Dusk cradled Havel's head in her hooves. His body was limp and open wounds leaking blood littered his body. Many looked away from the horror, the select few went to help him. Gypsy jerked again. "The hell did that?" asked Tarkus. "What's wrong with the ship?" asked Jaller. "Sir, we suffered a lot of damage to the ship, the hull is now compromised," the young crew member looked at his captain, "We're going down," The ship jerked again, then plummeted downwards, presumed forever lost... _______________ The doors to Celestia's throne room were thrashed open by a guard. "News from eastern Equestria, princess," announced the guard "Yes?" said Celestia, worry evident on her face. "I am burdened to tell you, that the Raiders have fallen in battle." "Oh..." replied Celestia. There was dead silence in the room, "Were they successful?" "Yes, your majesty, they wiped out these... things, just before their air ship fell out of the sky," "Were search parties sent?" "No, many concluded that they couldn't have survived," "Yet, they are in fact the Raiders, why didn't you send a search party?" "Well... your highness, the nobles have refused to pay, and no soldier works for free," Celestia went silent for a long, long time, then said, "U-understood, thank you for bringing this to my attention," She was left to do her work alone. What have I done? she thought. ~Canterlot, six years later.~ Out in the distance, a guard could see what looked like an air ship. Plenty of air ships were made in Canterlot, yet this one was very different from a general air ship. It looked out of place, with Canterlot craftsmanship mixed with the architecture of an unknown source. As it sailed closer to Canterlot, the guard could see words on the side of the ship. "Gypsy..." he read. The guard had heard that name before, and sprinted for Canterlot castle as fast as he could. "Your majesty!" the guard panted, "the Raiders... they've... returned." Celestia looked up with interest, "Have they?" "We have!" shouted a voice, "and we, step aside rookie, we have come to conclude our contract, Celestia," Havelock the Mountain stormed into the room, with many of his "Raiders" behind him. "Reports said you were dead," said Celestia, a grin growing on her muzzle. "Delayed, not dead," said Havel, "but... not the same can be said for those who aren't here," "How did you survive?" asked Celestia. Tosh stepped forward, his milky white eyes staring aimlessly into nothing. "We took a little pain," he said, gesturing to his own blindness, "but we got through just fine, after all, like I said six years ago," Tosh turned to Havelock, "We call him a mountain for good reason," Havel smiled broadly at Tosh's blinded eyes, feeling that he could see through them a different way than most. Chapter 2 - Old SoldiersTurning back to Celestia, Havel continued in a business like manner. "Eastern Equestria is safe, the threat is no more, Chrysalis was kicked so hard in her flank, she won't be back for a while, now all that's left is our fee," stated Havelock. "Of course, how much for this contract?" asked Celestia. "We want fifty-thousand," said Tarkus. "Fifty-thousand bits?! That's a fortune!" exclaimed one of the guards. "We normally charge eighty-thousand, boy, but because we're late, and only a third of us remain, we're lowering our own reward." Jaller snapped. "Easy, Jaller, Gypsy is alright, and we're alive," "But you still can't possibly ask that amount," the guard continued, "it's-" "-Please excuse him, Raiders," said Celestia, taking annoyance to the guard, "you will receive the agreed payment as soon as I can amass the amount-" "-We want it by next week," Havel quickly said, "otherwise we will refuse any further contracts," Celestia was shocked by Havel's demand, "I ask that you please be patient, Hav-" "-By next week, fifty-thousand, or we're gone," Havel said firmly. Celestia was silent for a long time, unused to such demands and blackmail. "Is there a problem, Tia?" asked Havel. His gumption to address her as "Tia" caused the few guards to exchange looks among themselves. The Raiders remained stone-faced, while some remaining pigs smirked. "Perhaps, if I were to make several smaller payments, then, over time-" "If you can't pay our fee by next week, then we can pack and leave to-" Off to the side, was a dark figure leaning against a pillar. "Who is that?" Havel asked, taking a defensive stance. Luna came out from the shadows, staring passively at Havelock. "Why is she looking at me like that?" whispered Havel. "Maybe your looks piss off the girl," Tarkus whispered back. She stepped forward, two bat pony guards behind her, one with a heavy bag. She made a gesture towards Havelock to the guard with the bag. The bat pony stepped forward and threw the large bag in front of Havel, bits overflowed onto the floor. "There you are," Luna said, "fifty-thousand bits, as your contract demands, now be gone," "Who the hell is that?" asked a pig. "BE GONE!" shouted Luna with the royal Canterlot voice. The pigs squealed, and the Raiders backed away, while only Havelock stood steadfast. "Thank you for your payment, miss..." Luna simply and elegantly strolled away from the mercenaries. They all looked around, unsure of the sudden events of this mysterious princess they did not know. Havel went to collect the money on the floor, then turned to Celestia. "When you have more work for us, we'll be ready," he said. Havel ambled out of the throne room, with shaken Raiders close behind him. ___________________ "Ahh, I'm surprised they still have this bar in Canterlot," said Tosh. "Didn't you notice that it was much harder to find than usual?" asked Havel as he took a gulp of liquor. "Hmm? Yes, but at least it's still here, brother, at least we can still relax," said Tosh. "Well, even the wealthy need a place to go wild, and the wild ones usually stay here," said Havel. Tosh heard a sad tone in Havel's words. "Somethin' botherin' ya, brother?" "I came here to drown my sorrows, not talk about them," "C'mon, what can't ya share with your old bat pony friend?" "Tosh, you don't think like a bat pony, you don't act like a bat pony, you don't even talk like one! It's why we're here," Tosh shrugged and said, "When have I ever let ya down, brother? What about that?" Havel remained silent for some time, thinking about all the times Tosh has helped him, both in and out of battle. Finally, Havel said, "We should have died out there..." "Can't complain that we didn't, brother," Tosh replied. "We bled and suffered, while Celestia did nothing," "If she sent a search party, do you really think they'd make it?" "Instead of a search party, why couldn't she do what she was supposed to? Protect us," "Why don't you tell 'er that?" "Cause I know better than to accuse an alicorn, especially, if they're the sun goddess of this world." "Most say that Celestia responds with benevolence, before she strikes ya down int'a the dirt, heh heh ha ha!" "Why didn't that benevolence come then? Why are we here, six years later, still playing the same damned game, of being hunted by Daayan, while we hunt whoever threatens Tia. Hell, I can't even trust her anymore, she sends us on a suicide mission, then leaves us to rot!" "That maybe so, brother, but is that truly you doin' the talkin'?" Havel glanced at Tosh with a questioning look, "Tosh, what're you on about?" Tosh leaned in close to Havel, poking him in the chest with his hoof, "This is what I'm on about, brother. Ever since you and Daayan clashed blades again, you've been acting differently, givin' different orders, usin' different tactics. You've become aggressive and vengeful, brother, but I know better, I know that's not you, that's the evil and bitterness within you, brother." "Tosh, I would know if I had evil within me, and I have no evil in me," "But what do we know about the void magic, brother? I know more than most, but I'm still an idiot compared to the void magic's father," Havel stared at Tosh with an expression of extreme concern, "How do you know about void magic?" "The Black Dragon shares his secrets with me, brother, just as he has with you," explained Tosh, "He taught me that the void magic cannot be destroyed, but it can be controlled, just not by anypony, but only the father of the void magic. The Black Dragon is very selective in which ponies he shares specific secrets with, given that, I might be his prophet, and you, his messiah," Havel gave Tosh a skeptical look and avoided what he had said about the mysterious Black Dragon, "Tosh, you know that void magic is dark magic, this is a great secret, so keep it from Tia," Tosh frowned and said, "I don't understand why we call the princess by her nickname," "Really?" said Havel, "Celestia isn't a mouthful to ya?" Tosh only shrugged again, "I'm very different from most, ya know," "Yeah, yeah," said Havelock in a brusque tone, "what else do you know about void magic?" Tosh sighed, "I'm only gonna tell ya what you need to know to stay on our side," "What? You actually think some petty darkness can overtake me?" laughed Havel. Tosh nodded, his face dead serious, "This ain't no petty darkness, brother, it's your own hatred, and anger, all fueled by your sorrow and lust for revenge. The void magic ain't some simple magic that you unicorns do every day, given time, the void magic will change, grow, and evolve, and so will you, just as Daayan has," "Then what's with her always hunting specifically us?" "Remember your three year love life, brother?" "With her, yeah," Tosh remained silent. "Whoa, w-wait, you mean that thing had feelings, for me? Even though those three years were forfeit?" "Afraid so, brother, and she wants you to be like her, so every meeting with her, she'd sneak some dark magic into ya, so you'd become like her," Anxiety surged through Havel, "How can I get this out of me?" "There's always the Elements of Harmony, brother, if you're willing to put your faith in Celestia again," "Any method that's safer?" "Well, if you were truly in love with Daayan-" "Kill me right now then, no, when the time comes, I want you to run me through, got it?" "If not with Daayan, then who?" "I have a choice?" "Of course, brother, I was also taught than we will always have a choice, you can fall in love, put faith in Celestia, or die, I won't judge you on your decision," Havel leaned back and closed his eyes, debating on what the right choice would be. He thought about falling in love like Tosh said. But then, he thought, would I just be doing that for my own good? My own personal gain? He then thought about trusting Celestia again, trust can't just be given out like a gift, he thought. He thought about death, the cold, yet sweet slumber dying soldiers always described, not yet, not while there's a job at hoof. He then thought about Daayan, and dreamt pleasurable thoughts with her, but quickly drew himself away from the thoughts. "Tosh," he said sitting upright, "is it possible that this evil within me, can make me lie to myself?" "Perhaps, brother," said Tosh, "I know there is too much about the void magic we don't know, so you might not be cured in time," "You're messing with me," said Havel, panic streaked across his face, Tosh thought for a moment then said, "Yeah, I am," Havel allowed himself a slight breath of relief from the lie. Tosh felt guilt for doing this, and racked his brain for something that could help. "Brother," said Tosh, "what is something you would enjoy, something that you could never lie to yourself about?" "Tosh, I like how you're trying to help me, but, unless you've got a full orchestra hidden under your wing, you can't help me," Tosh smiled and said, "Ah, I do have a full orchestra, brother, it's just hidden in a building is all," "Tosh," began Havel, "I know what you're thinking, and I can't get in there without getting in trouble, though I'd love to play the organ they have in there again, every note was so strong, and true, so deep with emotion," Tosh remembered the last time Havel played an organ. He shivered slightly at the thought of Havel striking each and every note, sending his emotions to all through every key, having them echo throughout the empty corridors. Tosh savored the memory, for the first thought of good that came in a long time. Tarkus came bustling up behind Havel, "Ey! What're you two doing? Didn't ya hear?" "About what, Tarkus?" asked Havel miserably. "Dat alicorn who made you little foals squeal is on her way here!" exclaimed Tarkus. "Does it look like I care right now, Tarkus?" asked Havel. "Ah, come now, Havel," said Tarkus putting a hoof on his shoulder, "this tain't the commander I know," Havel sent a magical flash from his horn, sending Tarkus staggering back. "Go home, Tarkus, you're drunk," Tarkus tried doggedly to get on his hooves after the flash, "Now that was rude," he said, now on his hooves, but rubbing his eyes furiously. "Oh, you thought that was rude?" said Havel rising from his chair, "I can do a lot more than just rude," Tosh's hoof clamped onto Havel's shoulder, "This is what feeds it inside you, brother, though you must struggle for control, always keep control," "What? That creepy evil darkness that's inside Havel?" asked Tarkus, still blinking from the flash. "Tarkus..." began Havel. "I deserve to know, don't I?" Tarkus said. "So," said Havel, "what's this news on the alicorn coming for a visit? You know who she is?" "I was hopin' you did," said Tarkus. "Are you two serious?" asked Tosh. Havel and Tarkus exchanged looks, "What?" they both said in unison. "That alicorn was the princess of the night, she was the princess Luna," Tosh explained, "in the very oldest tales, going back a thousand years now, there were two sisters who loved each other very much. The older sister, Celestia, brought about the sun, while Luna, the younger sister, brought about the moon," "Then why's her plot so small?" asked Tarkus. Havel struck Tarkus square in the nose, sending him to the floor. Havel looked a Tosh with a look a young foal would give asking "Is it okay that I did that?" "Yeah, he deserved it that time," said Tosh. "That he did, so can we rap this story up please?" asked Havel. "Fine," said Tosh. He continued with the pony's tale, "Ponies would play and work in the day, but shun the night, thus, with jealousy, the younger sister refused to end the night, and became who we call, Nightmare Moon, then she was cured by the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony," "Who're the new bearers?" asked Havel. "I'm a specialist on the battlefield, that's true, but even I don't know every buckin' thing, Havel," "Right, right, sorry, so when does this Princess Luna make her grand entrance?" "She already has," said Tosh pointing at the entrance, where everypony had their heads bowed as low as they could be. "How did you?-" "I listen, brother," said Tosh pointing to his ears. Luna glanced about, surprisingly calm amid the low class patrons. She set eyes on Havel once again, the same piercing stare as before. "Uh, she's comin' this way, Tosh," said Havel. Luna almost lazily ambled up to Havel, her eyes revealing not hatred, but pity. "We've more work for your Raiders, Havel, you start in the morning," Luna turned around, making her way for the door, but stopped midway. "Are you coming, Havelock?" "What kind of job?" asked Havel, remaining cemented where he was. "We'll explain at Canterlot Castle, now follow." Havel whispered to Tosh, "On your guard," _________________ Havel and Tosh were led by Luna back into Celestia's throne room. Waiting for them were Jaller and DuskWing. The room was brightly lit, however, the windows were closed, blinds and all, while the doors slammed shut behind them. "Where's the fifth one?" asked Luna, "Tarkus? Oh, he's probably still drooling on the bar floor, but we can go on without him just fine," Luna and Celestia exchanged worried glances. "Don't be surprised," said DuskWing to the two, "the pigs always do this. Shall we continue?" Celestia removed a small crystal from a display case, placing it on the floor in front of the mercenaries. With a blast of magic, Celestia had the crystal radiate the image of a large kingdom. "This is the Crystal Empire," she said, "it-" "-Houses a great evil you once banished, and... the beast is back, you're sending us there to either defeat it, or lend a hoof in doing so," Havel concluded. Jaller smirked at Havel, then said "Stories get around, princess, and we've studied this our whole lives, well, some of us have," All eyes went to Tosh and Havel, "You know about the Crystal Empire?" asked Celestia. "Well, anything that has to do with void magic, and Sombra holds a record for corruption by dark magic." said Havel. "In fact," began Tosh, "It's what's made us so successful all these years, how we stand out from other mercenaries," "I'm sorry," said Luna, "but did you say void magic?" Tosh, though he'd gone blind, gave Havel a casual glance, causing the two princesses' focus to be on him. Havel sighed deeply, then said, "Yes, void magic, it's what we call dark magic, and we have sources that tell us about these things, reliable sources," Great interest appeared on Celestia's face, "Could you perhaps share your knowledge of this, void magic, with us?" Havel glanced around the room, as if he were searching for something, "Tosh is our expert at it's behavior, talk to him," Celestia approached the cornered bat pony, hoping her answer would come. However, Tosh sat in silence, the only noise made was from his breathing. The room held it's breath, Dusk fidgeted with her wing, and Havel cleared his throat in the silence. "Convince me," Tosh finally said. All but Havel were shocked at Tosh's response. Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow with a look of great disappointment at the middle-aged bat pony. "What would you ask of us?" Celestia asked, her voice dripping with venom. "For every... sample, we come by," said Tosh, "we'll gladly sell them for a fair price-" "-Sell them?!" said Celestia, her voice even more venomous. "We need to make a living, Tia," said Havel, stepping in, "and extra work means extra cash, you understand, don't you?" Celestia bit her lip hard, realizing her lowly manner with the Raiders. She sighed very deeply, then said, "Yes, I understand your... logic, please find as many things as you can," "Oh, but of course, your highness," said Havel, "was there anything else you needed to specify?" "Yes," began Luna, "we don't want you helping out within the Crystal Empire itself, but camped outside of it," "What're the targets?" asked Havel. "In the tundra there are three shadows, each arrived when Sombra returned," Luna explained. "So you want us to take out those shadows just in case they help Sombra, right?" "Yes," she said, "but what else is there to them?" Havel looked at Tosh and said, "Go ahead, Tosh, revealing this won't hurt," Tosh stepped forward, "These shadows are most likely pieces of Sombra that were broken off when you banished him, the fact that there are three shadows means Sombra has become very weak. By destroying these shadows before they reach Sombra, will leave him weak enough to be destroyed, with enough magical power, of course. I believe we can also assist in that-" "That won't be necessary, I've already sent my student, Twilight Sparkle, to aid in the banishment King Sombra," said Celestia. "That's fine, Celestia, now our fee," said Havel. "What will it be? Another fifty-thousand?" Havel looked at Tosh, then DuskWing and Jaller, "No," he said, "ten-thousand, citizenship in Canterlot, and access to the Canterlot organ," Havel's Demands surprised all but Tosh, "Very well," said Celestia, "that can certainly be done very soon," "Anything else?" asked Havel. "Hmm? Oh, yes, there have been suites in the castle prepared for you and your soldiers, you leave in the morning, Havel," "Noted," he said, "Raiders, get some shut eye tonight, cause we may not sleep for a while in the field, am I clear?" "Urah!" they responded. _________________ Havel leaned over the edge of his suite's balcony late into the night, a tobacco pipe hanging from his mouth. Havel simply watched all of Canterlot from his high hanging suite, pondering the evil within him. Maybe I can control it, I've lasted this long, haven't I he'd think to himself. Havel felt a slight breeze against the side of his face. "I thought you'd be asleep, Havelock," said a voice, the clop of hooves on stone heard by Havel. Havel levitated the pipe out of his mouth and slowly released the warm smoke in his mouth, "Never thought you'd visit me, princess," Luna moved a few paces closer to Havel and said, "You've your assignment in the morning, why aren't you asleep like most your soldiers?" "Just restless," said Havel, "and what of the soldiers still awake? Surely they can't be in the same state," "They weren't," said Luna, "they were just..." Havel gave Luna a questioning look, then laughed at the realization of what she meant. "They're war pigs, princess, they do that, a lot, we just ignore it best as we can," he said, putting the pipe back in his mouth. Luna glared at Havelock, "Why such a crude name for your soldiers?" Havel removed the pipe, "We didn't make that name, they did," he said pointing at Canterlot with his pipe, "the locals never did take nicely to us, always giving looks, calling names, some even attacked us. But, as you can see, we laughed at some of those names, war pigs included, and we use some of them now," Luna only continued to glare, "Do you ever feel ashamed, Havelock?" "I only feel ashamed if I did the wrong thing, and right now, we need money, and no one else is paying as much as you," "If it were truly about money, then why lower your reward for the Canterlot organ?" "There are some things, even you wouldn't understand, princess," "Does something bother you?" "That isn't your concern, princess," "She could help, brother, I'd put my faith in her if I was you," Havel looked around inside his suite, "Tosh, get your eavesdroppin' ass out of my room," "I only try to help, brother," "You act officious, that's your problem, Tosh, now get out," "Hmm, fine," A shadowy figure launched out of his room, off the balcony and into the starry night. "After this is done, Havelock," began Luna again, "you'll be my subject, I might as well try to help now," "Like I said, princess, you wouldn't understand unless you saw it yourself, felt it like I did," "Very well," Havel gave Luna a skeptical look as he walked into his suite. "Bad idea, princess, you get hurt and the guards'll have my head," "They will overlook that," "You're certain on that?" "They will overlook that," Havel seated himself on a cushioned chair, "Fine, do you know memory drift spells?" "Of course," Dammit, Havel, this is a bad idea, he thought. "Shall we?" said Luna. Havel rose hesitantly, approaching the night princess. He brought the tip of his horn to Luna's, the auras of gold and blue clashing. Suddenly, his own memories and that of Luna's surge through his mind, the pain of loss, denial, loneliness, the heavy bleeding of a deep slash, all crossed both his and Luna's mind. As the memories finished flowing through their minds, both Luna and Havel gave the look of fear, as they crashed to the ground. "You... you know such pain?" Havel coughed out. Panting heavily, Luna straightened up and regained her posture. "You've felt denial, loss, and loneliness, just as I have," panted Havel. Still taking deep breaths, Luna said, "I... I must rest now, these spells can make one weary," Leaving Havel alone on the floor, Luna left from his balcony, shakily flying away. Havel then rose from the ground, as shakily as Luna was flying away. He stumbled over to his bathroom, vomiting into the trash. "Ugh... and you were worried about Luna... you dumb bastard..." he said as he collapsed on his bed, "and now you're talkin' to yerself... what?... normal ponies aren't good enough... aaaarrggghhhh... shut up," ________________ Havel awoke with a dry mouth and sore body, "Memory drift spells, they're a big pain afterwards," he said mostly to himself. Havel buckled on his armor and headed out to where Gypsy was docked. All around Gypsy were busy pigs loading supplies onto the ship, while Jaller approached Havel, dodging protruding points of large structures with very strange architecture. "Commander!" shouted Jaller, "where did all these... things come from? And why are they right next to Gypsy?" Havel was then aware of all the strange structures littered around the air ship. "What do we do about them? Are they tools? Are they traps? Are they-" "-Jaller, if you could calm down a bit, I might be able to tell you about them," said Havel. "Oh... o-okay," said Jaller. Havel approached one of the structures, shaped like a saucer. A large sapphire blue crystal resided in the center of the saucer shaped structure, glowing faintly. Havel tapped the edge with his hoof, suddenly sparking the structure to life. The crystal rose from it, as did two crescent shaped, golden beams, aligning with each other with the crystal between the two beams. The crystal then began to glow brightly, radiating vast magical power. "Finally..." moaned an other-worldly voice, "the gate has been opened, aid them my wolves..." The crystal seemed to melt into a circle held by the two golden beams. Rushing out of the circle of energy, were ghostly looking, armored wolves with large swords in their jaws. "Huh... been awhile since we've seen void wolves," said Havel. Some Canterlot guards had rushed to arms at the sight of the beastly company. Havel rushed and waived his hooves in the air. "Stop! They're harmless!" he shouted, "For now, at least," Havel continued to watch the wolves as they piled onto the deck of Gypsy. "Damn! Where'd all these void wolves come from!" shouted a pig, delighted to see such a ghastly creature. Havel turned to Jaller, his mouth gaping wide open. Havel went and closed Jaller's mouth with his hoof. "Don't worry," said Havel, "they're not house-broken," Havel turned to the pigs loading supplies, "Alright, I want these structures strapped on to Gypsy! They're a gift from our special contact!" he shouted. Havel teleported himself and Jaller onto the air ship, nearly prepared for the trip. Laughter lived among the pigs as they hooked chains to the "gifts" they had received. In a matter of hours, Gypsy was ready to finally cast off. Pigs were waving at the gathering crowd, mostly the ladies, while Havel had his eyes on Celestia who had come to witness the cast-off. His eyes then darted to her side, where the night princess was standing, her expression softer than usual. Tosh ambled up behind him, "Do you think we'll ever get too old for this?" Havel looked back at him, "No, just look at Jaller, he grew up with what we call fossils," "I ain't that old yet, jackass!" Jaller shouted from behind. "Besides," Havel laughed, "old soldiers, are normally the best soldiers," Tosh smiled, "Old soldiers..." he said. Chapter 3 - Back with the SaddleHavel sat alone for most of the trip to the Crystal Empire. His thoughts were flooded with Luna's memories, pondering them, comparing them to his own pain. "Damn, brother," said Tosh as he sat down next to Havel, "you've been quiet for this whole trip, and everypony be sayin' that you look like you seen a ghost, you were chatting just fine as we were leaving," Havel turned his face away from the bat pony, his thoughts heavily clouded by Luna's memories. "Was it somethin' between you and that princess, brother? Maybe you saw somethin' you weren't supposed to," Havel glared questioningly at the blind soldier, "How did you know?" "The Black Dragon's secrets, brother, he comes in dream and in life, you can never escape that being's eye, not even the princess of the night," Havel looked away again, "I'm not in a mood to talk, Tosh, I've got a lot of thinking to do," "And what you be thinkin' about? Would it be the princess?" Havel finally gave in, "Yeah, we did a memory drift together, and now..." Tosh leaned in, saying "You've got nothin' to hide, brother, just let this one flow, like the rivers do," Havel sighed, "Now, I feel as though I want to hold her dear..." Tosh remained passive, "You be fallin' in love with Equestria's moon goddess, brother, " he said, "if you're gonna do what your heart's tellin' ya, you'd better do it real damn well," Havel looked over at Tosh, his expression miserable. "She's gone through what you have, brother, just in a different way. Your pain is fresh and burning, while her's is aged and seasoned, either way, you wanna be pleasin' her, you've got a lot of pain to disperse, yours included," said Tosh. "I know, I just don't know how," said Havel. "When I was young, the elders always said to me that when there is too much sorrow in one's life, you must uproot the sorrow, and replace it with joy," "Great," he said sarcastically, "how do I do this... voodoo," "Now, you don't want to see the voodoo, that I do, brother, as for the girl, anythin' is fine," Havel raised an eyebrow, silently questioning Tosh's logic on anything being fine. "Now the last thing you want is sleepin' with the princess, brother," "That's more like it, Tosh," "Instead, make memories, brother, to drown the bad in what is good, play a game, go dancing, have fun with the pigs," Havel finally smiled, "Yeah, the pigs just love pranks," he chuckled. A bitter wind blew across the deck of the Gypsy. "Damn, it's freezing, are we there yet?" asked Havel. "Yes sir, we are," said a pig. Both Havel and Tosh made their way to the edge of the air ship, overlooking vast plains of ice and snow, with a large dome-shaped barrier of magic in the center of it. Outside was a rampaging blizzard, every gust of wind hailing down razor snow. "Best get this done fast, don't wanna freeze out here, that means I'll need to focus most of our forces to th-" "Excuse me, excuse me, there you are!" shouted a unicorn at Havel. "Um... excuse me?" said Havel turning to face the unicorn, "but did you just address your commanding officer... Blueblood?!" The snobbish unicorn was dressed in a thick red coat, the edges bearing white fluff, "Yes, it's me, pig, I've come to oversee the mission as instructed to by princess Celestia herself," "Uh-huh, you sneaked in, didn't ya?" said Havel, "a prince always has to be the damned hero, anyway, the buck are you doin' on my ship? Tryin' to impress ole' auntie Tia?" Blueblood gave Havel a nasty glare as pigs grabbed his front two legs. "Would you like us to jettison the dead weight, command?" "Wait...w-what?!" shrieked Blueblood. Havel brought his hoof to his chin, "No, in fact, I want you two to welcome him, strictly war pig style," Havel said. Devious grins grew on the faces of both pigs, "We've got so much to show you, prince, most of it will amaze you til' yer speechless," ____________ After several hours, many tents, campfires, and magical constructs littered a campsite of elite mercenaries and a frightened prince. Surrounding the entire camp was a huge circular trench. "Alright, boys, we don't have nearly as many soldiers as we did before, and now is not the time to mope about it," announced Havel, "I want a quick and clean job, nopony's dying on the job today, understand?" "Urah!" they responded. "Good, now I want pigs equally split among the trenches, except for what's facing the barrier, I also want void wolves layin' low with those pigs, and coverin' their asses. Flyers are going to hang back on the ground until further notice, that is if you see somethin' that wants t'kill you, kill it first, there are a lot of wild beasts in these parts, plus Celestia knows what with those shadows about. Infiltrators, yes I mean the bat ponies, you're to aid the flyers if things get rough, and watch over the prince, make sure he doesn't do something that'll kill him. Jaller, take Gypsy and hang here in the center, go where you're needed most after that. I want all lead figures with me, we're goin' hunting, as soon as the winds die down, that means Tarkus, Tosh, and DuskWing, you're with me to take down those shadows, let's get this show on the road, I wanna be home for dinner," "Urah!" they responded again. DuskWing approached Havel, "When do you think the winds will calm, command?" she asked. "Dunno, don't care, all I want is everypony kept warm and fed,-" Havel's stomach growled audibly, he hadn't eaten before he left, "-myself included, maybe some decent sleep with that too," Havel walked towards his tent, a large one made of fur. He settled himself on a small bedroll, "I could use some z's before going after those things," "Commander," began Dusk, "are you sure that's a good idea?" "Of course it is, Dusk," said Havel, rolling over, "I was always told that a warrior needs their rest," "O-of course, command," she said, "Do me a favor, Dusk, wake me when the weather's agreeable," "Yeah, sure," she said, walking out of the tent. She made her way to Tosh's side. "Something's gotten into Havel," she said to Tosh. "You just noticed, Dusk? For the last six years there's been somethin' up with him," said Tosh. "So you're unsure too, huh?" "Me? No, cause I know what it is inside of 'im, I know what it is that's been changin' him," "What is it, then?" "You can find that yerself, Dusk," "Y'know, fine, since you seem to be some great oracle, why don't you explain to him why sleeping isn't the best idea!" shouted Dusk in frustration. "Dusk, if he ever went on the wrong path, I'd be dead already," "Oh, this is all about you now, huh?" "Good bye, Dusk," said Tosh, simply abandoning the pegasus in the cold. "Wait!" she said. Tosh only continued to walk away. But I didn't mean it... Dusk thought to herself. _________________ Havel dreamt peacefully when he first closed his eyes. Before him was a great organ, much like the one he loved to play in Canterlot. Havel gratefully approached the organ and seated himself at it, playing a lively tune. Havel felt joy with every ring of the organ's individual keys, each with its own expression, its own story. Amid his joyous playing, Havel heard the sound of hooves behind him. He ignored it. The sound came again, and Havel turned to find nothing but what seemed like the edge of a forest. Gloom hung upon the tree's low branches like a old coats drying in the sun, while crude stones protruded from a thick cloud of fog just beneath Havel's hooves. Havel examined his surroundings, seeing an old, rusted iron fence embracing the crudely organized rows of stones. Havel finally trotted towards a stone, reading small print on its front. HailStorm, it read. "A graveyard..." Havel whispered. Hooves began to move behind him again, this time, towards him. Havel turned, finding a large black mare standing across from him, its slitted eyes piercing his soul with fear. The mare slowly stalked towards Havel, bearing rows of razor sharp teeth. "Nightmare Moon?" Havel wondered aloud. The mare lunged, growing in size until it could swallow Havel whole. With open jaws it did so, ending his dream. __________________ Havel was jerked awake by his nightmare. Hastily scanning his tent for its appearance, he found a dark figure sitting next to him, startling Havel to the point of attack. He threw his hoof wide for the being's head, only to be stopped by its own hoof. "You had a sweet dream?" asked Tosh, casting Havel's hoof aside. Havel sighed deeply, wiping sweat from his brow, "D-don't... do that, Tosh, I thought you were my nightmare," "I'm the nightmare of a thousand beings, brother," "Well this being is on the verge of madness, Tosh, and I need to stay sane, first I have Daayan screwin' with my brain, now I have this random nightmare of Nightmare Moon," Tosh thought for a moment, "You did a mind drift with the night princess, right?" "Yeah, what're you speculating?" "I bet that the nightmare you saw was the memory of princess Luna, during her time as Nightmare Moon," "Memory drifts don't last this long though," "But, on a rare occasion, brother, there are exceptions to that rule, you understand her feelings so well that they stay with you. Call it a curse, if you'd like," Havel groaned, "Is it almost time to go? Has the weather calmed down?" Tosh poked a hoof out his tent, "Yes, but aren't you gonna eat somethin', brother?" "Not hungry," Havel said trotting out his tent. Outside, the winds had finally died down to the slightest breeze, and Tarkus, Dusk, Tosh and Havel were to leave momentarily. Many pigs looked bored, but were warm and full. Dusk's flyers, called wraiths, shared the same state, as did Tosh's infiltrators. "Move, pig! Uh! Don't touch me!" shouted Blueblood as he stormed up to Havel, "Well, pig, when are we leaving?" "Wait, wait, wait, you can't be buckin' serious," asked Havel. "I am, and you can't do anything about that, after all, I am the nephew of both princesses," Havel grabbed Blueblood with his magic and pulled his face close to his, "Listen, filth, you're in my town now, I rule this little kingdom here, so you are going to listen to me, understood?" Havel dropped the prince and turned to leave, "You're going to come, just to see what it's like in the field, just to see how important everypony else truly is, and if you die, it's not my fault, because I never agreed to watch over you, if you die, know I'm going to leave your rotting carcass for the animals, if they'll even eat such a putrid thing. So, watch your back, cause the beasts will be chewin' on it," Blueblood sat in horrified awe of Havel's cruel words as Havel allowed himself a smile of satisfaction, "When you die, Havelock," said Blueblood in silence, "I will have saved everypony of true importance from you," ___________________ Havel seemed to be taking his time, scanning the horizon of the barren snow wasteland. The clouds had parted, allowing the sun's rays to push through and cast dancing lights on the serene snow. Many would have thought that this was great beauty, but the mercenaries found it hard to enjoy with Blueblood's consistent complaints on the cold, despite having the largest, warmest coat of them all. "For the ump-teenth time, kid, we don't care," said Tarkus "Maybe if you shut up, Prince Blueblood, we'd get the job done faster, your moaning has compromised us several times now," added Dusk. "You ruffians! As soon as I get back you will face the consequences of not tending to the higher class, especially, if he is your prince," scolded Blueblood. "Tosh, shut him up, will ya?" said Havel. "Can't do much if I can't bleed him real slow, brother," said Tosh. The small crew continued on, never bothering to slow down for Blueblood despite his threats and pleas. Havel kept his nose close to the snow, as if trying to find the most nuance details. His focus eventually became unbreakable by even the prince. Suddenly, Havel halted, raising a hoof to stop the others behind him. "Hold, you smell that?" Havel asked nopony in particular. Tosh sniffed the frozen air around him, "Barely, but it's getting stronger by the moment," "It's putrid," said Dusk sniffing the air herself. "Aye, that be the smell of death before ya," said Tosh. Havel looked down at the snow, black as char, a clear sign of a nearby shadow. Havel followed the tainted snow, keeping low as he moved quickly across the freezing wastes. Four other figures followed along, one of which had to be dragged to avoid being caught. Havel was now on his belly, crawling through the numbing snow up a hill. Over the hill he saw a large, black, and formless gaseous creature, much like the unformed Sombra. "Ah, ye fugly, gotcha now," Havel whispered to himself, inching closer to the beast. The crew followed blindly, all but one ready to pounce until a thought came to them. "Er... Havelock, how are we supposed to fight something that's formless, or in other words, out of reach?" asked Tarkus. "Only way, magic," he responded. Havel lunged out in front of the shadow, his horn shining with a bright golden aura. "Is he mad?!" shouted Blueblood. "No," said Tosh following Havel, "He just likes to improvise," "Tosh, keep him busy, you too, Dusk!" Havel shouted, "Tarkus, get over here!" The huge earth pony thrusted his body towards Havel, diving for his hooves. Havel then cast his aura on his sword, making it glow brilliantly. "Sword's enchanted, get swingin'!" shouted Havel. Tarkus did just that, with his mighty sword in his teeth, Tarkus began to run by the shade's side, his blade piercing its dark veil. During this, both Tosh and Dusk were long into performing many air-borne acrobatics. Havel laid back, looking for the perfect shot at the beast's center. He inched in slightly, his horn glowing like the sun itself, until he was knocked back into the far hill. "Argh!... Damn..." he muttered, using his hoof to wipe blood from his brow. The shadow had noticed Havel and was closing in on him, ignoring the display around it. "Tarkus!" Havel gasped, "firebomb that thing!" Tarkus pulled out a small bisque with a string attached to it. The string was looped to allow anypony to throw the bisque with their hooves. "Fire in your hole!" shouted Tarkus, hurling the small object into the moving abyss. A small spark was seen within it, grabbing its attention. "That was supposed to be an inferno," Tarkus moped as he backed up slightly, the enchantment on his sword fading. Havel struggled onto his hooves, his horn glowing brightly again, "Lights out," he said, firing a powerful blast of magic at the shade's back. The monster let out an ear-piercing screech as it dissipated. "Hehe, one down," Havel laughed wiping his brow again, dying his hoof crimson, "wha-..." Everypony there looked at him with great concern, Dusk landing next to him to examine his condition. "Your head... Havel, you need to get some help. This is a lot of blood," Havel looked down at the snow, no longer black, but a deep red. "Oh, that's my blood, that's a lot of my blood," he said, lying back. "A little healing magic should fix him right up," said Tosh. "What about the finer details? Havel only knows basic healing," claimed Dusk. "Knew basic healing... I learned a couple... a couple... better healing tricks," "You're in no condition to use those, Havel," "Let the stallion try, cause then we can all go home and get rid of this... waste of the princess' time," said Tosh. "Tosh, have you even been listening? He needs help," "Then let him help himself," Dusk rose, approaching Tosh with a look of anger, and a hint of hatred, "You don't know what's best for him, Tosh," "Neither do you, Dusk," "Well at least I can feel, anypony inside you died long ago, you're just a husk of a soldier, with no sense of pity or mercy," Blinding light shone behind Dusk, with Havel arising mended moments later, "That's enough, Dusk," he said regaining balance, "Tosh has helped me more than anypony here, and after hearing your words, I'm sending you back to camp, cool off while you're there," Dusk looked at Havel with utter shock, "But-" "Dismissed, Dusk," Dusk's eyes began to water as she bit her lip, "I try to look out for you, Havel," she said, "but it's hard when you won't accept it," She flew off, allowing the now smaller team to continue on. "She was never like this six years ago," said Havel. "That one day changed us all, brother," said Tosh. Havel brushed the thought aside, looking for tracks of the next shade. "Any ideas, on speeding this up? Where's Blueblood anyway?" asked Havel. "He followed Dusk, the bloody coward," Tarkus said. The trio continued with their mission, traversing the now wind blasted wasteland. They wandered seemingly aimlessly for tens of minutes. "Shit! It's freezing!" shouted Havel. "We should go back, I'd rather not be a frozen corpse for the beasts," said Tarkus. "I'm with Tarkus, brother, something here isn't right," said Tosh. Havel looked around, but couldn't see anything in the whiteout. If only I could see Havel thought. The blizzard stopped, and standing before them was another shade, lying still and flat on the snowy ground. With prying red orbs, it stared at Havel, almost pleadingly, then dispersed. "Anypony else see that? Or was that just the cold?" asked Tarkus. "We're done here, brother, whatever did that to that shade, has already gotten the third one," said Tosh. "Yeah, now let's get the buck outta here, Tosh," said Havel. Tarkus and Tosh both turned to leave the cold, but Havel stood there, waiting for the one other thing that could defeat those shades. Daayan. The two sub-leaders didn't know that their own leader had stayed behind, and thus continued walking. _________________ "So, you've devoured the remaining pieces of King Sombra, thus, bolstering your own power, smart move, Daayan," said Havel, facing the horizon. "I thought I'd help you out, after all, what do two lovers do?" asked a voice behind him. Daayan. Havel turned, his eyes bearing dark magic in a harsh scowl, "I... do not... love you..." he hissed, his eyes returning to their soft brown state, "what lover butchers over half of her lover's family?" Daayan walked over to Havel's side, circling him once, then stopping in front of him, "That was before I knew it, I've been trying to apologize for all these years," "Oh? And what, pray tell, told you that you were in love?" asked Havel, expecting Daayan to pounce now. Daayan looked into Havel's eyes, softening the hardened strategist, "Our little filly did," she said. Havel was taken by surprise, That was years ago, he thought. "I thought you'd use magic to keep that foal unborn, what the hell happened?!" shouted Havel. "I... I couldn't do such a thing, Havel," "Ah, well, great, you've now screwed me, my career, and my troops, again, is that all you're good at, demon?" The black mare stepped back a few paces. Daayan, made an alicorn by void magic, spread her wings slightly, as she looked down into the snow. Havel rolled his eyes at this, having seen her perform such antics during his early years with her. He looked back at her, ready to see waterfalls well from her eyes. He removed his helm, exposing his head and mane to the cold. Oh for the love of- "Daayan-" At that moment, Daayan leaned in, planting a deep passionate kiss on Havel's lips. Her tongue forced its way through Havel's lips, exploring the inside of his mouth. Havel roughly pushed Daayan away with his hoof, his face not bearing horror, but surprise and a slight blush. "What're you doing?!" Havel spat. Daayan leaned in again, "Making us whole..." Havel stopped Daayan from coming closer, "I know what you're playing, trying to sneak more void magic inside me, it won't work," "Oh, but it will," said Daayan, putting her front hooves around Havel's neck, "and then we will be together, for as long as the void lives," she leaned in again, only to be shaken off by Havel. "I'm out," said Havel teleporting back to his camp. Daayan turned away, "Only a bit more time," she said. __________________ Havel was back in his tent with a sore head, "Argh, gotta stop doin' that," He galloped outside shouting to all, "Pack it up! We're done here!" He looked around, seeing warm weather and joyous crystal ponies in the now exposed Crystal Empire. "Got that, command, where we heading afterwards?" asked a wraith. "Er... Crystal Empire looks fine," said Havel, "pack everything! Let's go!" The soldiers worked hard, strapping the odd structures and loading their leftover supplies onto Gypsy. Tosh landed next to Havel, "What's next after this, brother?" "We get ready for Daayan," said Havel, "she's back," "Hmm, can we really fight all those raakshi, brother?" Havel paused for a moment, "All I know is that either we finish what we started," said Havel, "or she will,"
Chapter 1 - "We call him a mountain for good reason,"Tosh hid in the shadows, safe from the changelings all around him. He was searching for any signs of Chrysalis, as he was ordered to by his leader, Havelock. "Where are you?" he said poking his head out of the shadows. Nothing in sight. Tosh unfurled his leathery wings, the wings of a bat pony, and shot himself into the sky, soaring towards the setting sun. There, he found a large, very sophisticated campsite, littered with magical constructs digging for resources, while the edges had trenches built, housing several armed ponies. Tosh searched around the camp, eventually finding a grey stallion in a seemingly dull set of grey armor. "Tosh, what news do you bring?" asked the stallion, a unicorn. "We've got a lot of changelings for sure, maybe a five to one ratio," said Tosh as he landed next to the stallion, "as for Chrysalis, we haven't found her, yet," "Well, we've got limited resources now, Tosh, ground is goin' dry. Find me Chrysalis, an attack this large needs her presence somewhere. You've never let me down, Tosh, now make it happen." He hesitated, then said, "Yes, Havelock, I'll make it happen," as he flew off. "DuskWing!" called Havelock. Flying to his side was a young pegasus. "Yes, command?" she said. "Take your flyers and wait high above the soldiers, give air support when needed at any time, I don't care how badly they need it, just give them support." "Yes sir, anything else?" DuskWing asked. "Where's Jaller?" demanded Havel. "He's by the east trench, oh, and, Havel," "What do you need, Dusk?" "Do you think you and I could take some time alone after this?" "I can't make that a promise, but I'll try, what'd you have in mind? Lunch?" "Not quite... you see-" "Hold that thought," said Havel as he used his magic to teleport to Jaller, who resided on an immense, and heavily armed air ship called Gypsy. "Commander on deck!" shouted Jaller, a very old earth pony. "Jaller, get your crew and find Tosh, if he gets in trouble, you're to help him." Havelock's command was done with a hearty "yessir!" ______________ Tosh flew high within the clouds, concealing himself from the now advancing mass of changeling minions. He scanned the ground relentlessly for the queen. He made a sharp dive for the ground, pulling up only moments before impact. Tosh looked around, almost impatiently, for Chrysalis. He listened hard to quicken things, trying to block out the buzzing changelings. Tosh's frustration only began to grow. "Celestia damn this, where are you, Chrysalis!" shouted Tosh, oblivious to the changelings now aware of him. Tosh listened harder, ignoring the sudden silence of the changelings. Finally, Tosh heard the sound of hooves behind him. "Looking for me?" asked Chrysalis. Tosh laughed slightly, "For somepony like you to simply vanish for so long is unheard of, an army like yours, why the need to hide?" "Hmm, yes, once your little group of friends fall to me, I will devour all their love, then I will kill them. But you, I've come to like you, which is why I'm going to kill you last, right after I kill your leader." laughed Chrysalis. "Ha! I'll grow too old to walk by the time you even figure out how to break him. We call our leader Havelock the Mountain, and make no mistake Chrysalis," began Tosh, "We call him a mountain for good reason," "And how is a mountain supposed to fight my whole army, that's gathered around to see you." Tosh then only just became aware of all the changelings around him. He did a quick head count, finding more than he originally thought, not including those in the air, which writhed with their numbers. Tosh put a calm facade on, eying the few closing the distance between him and them. Then he remembered something. "Do you like magic tricks, Chrysalis? I've got one for ya," said Tosh pointing at a gem in his chest-plate. "Well, now ya see me-" Tosh lightly struck the gem in his armor, "Now ya don't..." Seizing the chance, Tosh rocketed himself into the air, retreating back to the safety of his campsite. Behind him, chaos erupted, as the army flew about in search of him. Tosh flapped hard to fly fast and avoid all the confused changelings in his path, his only interest now, was getting to safety. Amid the swarms of changelings, Gypsy was soaring directly towards Tosh. When Tosh could finally see Gypsy, he nearly injured himself as he pulled up and landed doggedly on deck. "Tosh is safe! Now! Full attack, all weapons!" shouted Jaller "Jaller, you've got to turn back, there are..." Tosh panted heavily, "there are far more than I thought could exist, we've got to go back, now!" "Relax, Tosh," said the aged earth pony, "Gypsy has handled worse than a handful of changelings," Jaller poured himself a cup of tea, "care to join me?" "Jaller, you don't understand, you-" "Captain!" called one of the crew members, "you'll want to see this sir," Jaller slowly rose and approached the crew member, a young pegasus. The pegasus pointed forward, off the front tip of the air ship. Jaller adjusted his monocle, scanning the horizon. There, he saw a very large, and thick cloud of changeling minions. Jaller's eyes widened when they darted for Gypsy like hornets. "Turn this ship around!" Jaller demanded, "we're hightailin' it outta here!" _________________ Many of the soldiers in the trenches had become very bored. The ground soldiers, often called war pigs by the public, were a rude and boisterous set of ruthless, efficient fighters. These soldiers were clad in a dark, heavy set of armor modeled after that of a Canterlot guard. Their weapons consisted of long spears, pikes, and halberds used to mow down opposing infantry; this has won them victory several times in their career. "Any news on those changelings?" asked a war pig, "Those fuglies? No, but news better damn well get here, if I don't kill one soon, I'm going home for a drink." said the soldier next to him. "Hopefully there'll be some nice flanks when we get home," laughed the other pig. "You swine, thinking those thoughts," "It's why they call us war pigs," An older pony, also a war pig, shouted at the two youths "Get down! Shut up! Gypsy in sight, an' she 'auls a lotta fuglies be'ind 'er!" "He's right!" shouted one of the pigs as he squinted at Gypsy, "ere' they coooome!" "Didn't I just say to shut up?!" The pigs laid low within the trenches, as DuskWing's flyers lured them down close enough for the pigs to impale them on their spears and pikes. "Ow many did ya get?" asked one of the young pigs. "Three bugs, one jab," said the other. "Ha! Four bugs!" Gloated the young pig. Gypsy had reached the campsite, where it could now unleash its might. "Charge crystals! Shoot them out of the air!" commanded Jaller. Gypsy relied on enchanted crystals to fire magical beams equal to that of a powerful unicorn. The air ship held hundreds of these crystals, all tended to by enchanters themselves. The weapons Gypsy held decimated the flying changelings, thinning them out greatly and giving the other flyers room for acrobatics. ________________ Havelock had been watching the battle with great interest from the center of the camp. He looked at the trenches, which were holding up against the attack well. He examined the flyers, who seemed to be enjoying themselves greatly. He gazed up at Gypsy, which proved a living nightmare to his army's opponents. Havelock could quite literally sit and wait through the fight, his soldiers were far too well armed, skilled, and numbered themselves. ________________ "Anypony see that light way up ahead?" "That's where we got in, and now, our way out. How many minerals did we dig up?" Some ponies that looked just like Havelock's soldiers looked back behind them and announced, "Looks like the drones are hauling maybe four-hundred pounds, we'll have some extra to give Celestia," "Which means a bonus, damn, I must say, Havel was really thinking when he sent us to dig up these rare mineral deposits," "But why doesn't he just sell the excess to the highest bidder? We'll get a lot more cash that way." asked one of the soldiers. "Are you saying that you would double-cross the princess? Just to get a few extra bits, are you serious?" All eyes turned to the one foolish soldier. "Okay, I see your point, Tarkus, but I thought we were mercenaries," "We all wanna get rich," said Tarkus, "but we also wanna live long enough to enjoy it, never forget that," "Yes sir," "Good, now let's hightail it before the natives get restless, or worse, the fuglies up above," Tarkus lead the group of soldier-miners to the exit at the end of the cave, checking every so often on the drones, magical constructs Havel uses for gathering resources. Tarkus was an old, and proud soldier, boasting about his early achievements as an infantry unit to young mares when off duty. His armor was bulky, dark, heavy and very defensive, to the point where it was on par of his leader's fabled stone armor. His skill in the front lines has earned him the rank of leading the war pigs while Havelock was not around, and a strike of his sword remakes the killing blows heard in legends. "Gain way, comin' through!" shouted Tarkus as he arose to the surface. Following closely behind him was the caravan of soldier-miners and the drones with the minerals. Havelock came rushing towards them, as their camp was built on top of their point of entrance. "Havel, we have the minerals you asked for, now what, pray tell, are we going to do with them?" asked Tarkus. "Well, as you know, these minerals are very-" Havel ducked from a blast of changeling magic, "-these minerals are very rare, and for good-" both he and Tarkus dodged a changeling swooping down, "-for good reason, too, they-" the soldier-miners dived down to avoid an AWOL blast of magic "-dammit, everyone just get down and listen!" all the soldiers laid low to avoid the organized chaos about them, "these minerals will be used to strengthen our weapons and armor, then as we sell the excess to Celestia, she will strengthen her army and we earn a permanent contract to stay and guard Equestria," Havel finally spat out. "Good plan," said Tarkus, both hooves over his head. "I know, now get in the front lines, Tarkus!" shouted Havel, his belly on the ground. _________________ Only several minutes after Tarkus was sent off, DuskWing flew down to Havel's side. "Sir-" she saluted, "I've found hostages, off to the west, the queen is there and she has entrenched many, many changelings there. My take on this is that it's a trap, the hostages are just to bait us in," "How many?" demanded Havelock. "Sir, you're not actually considering-" "Dusk, how many hostages?" "Four sir," "Hmm, I'm not working through others on this, I'm going there alone, to deal with Chrysalis, and save the hostages, if they're real." Havelock said, almost in a passive manner. "But-" "These are my orders, Dusk, I expect you to follow them through, keep watch on your flyers, I'll be back." Havelock strolled over to his tent, and went inside to grab his helm and hammer. His helm was made of solid rock, just like the rest of his armor, and was deeply enchanted like every plate was. His hammer was also a deeply enchanted tool, carved from both stone and a dragon's bone, and made so long one could use it as a staff. These are what earned Havelock the title mountain, for he hardly flinched in battle and shrugged off even killing blows. "Heading out, could I get a lift, Dusk?" asked Havelock. "Sure," she said softly. Two other pegasi were called to help carry Havelock to the queen. Gypsy cleared a path for Havel's helpers to cross, lessening the hassle for the struggling pegasi. "Drop me in the center of them," commanded Havel. "From up here?" asked one of the pegasi. "Yes, drop me, now!" The pegasi hesitated, then dropped Havel down almost on top of Chrysalis. Whirling his hammer with magic, Havel struck the charging changelings solely on the skull, a sickening crack heard on every blow. He turned towards Chrysalis, hammer raised. "End of the line, army's shattered and here we are, face to face," Chrysalis smiled slightly, then began to laugh. "I've made some friends while I was banished, Havelock, maybe you know them." Havel raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What're you-" a colossal beast burst out of the ground behind him, sending dust and debris everywhere. "Can't be..." gasped Havel "Daayan!" He searched about for Chrysalis. She vanished. "I thought we killed her, she should be dead!" Havel shouted, mostly to himself. The huge beast towered over Havel, resembling a sort of twisted dragon. On its back was a young, seemingly helpless mare. "Daayan!" Havel shouted again, "you should be dead, I killed you!" "And that was very rude of you, Havel," said Daayan in a deceptively sweet voice, "but, let's let bygones be bygones, after all, here I am. In fact, I have an offer for you," said Daayan as she laid down comfortably on the dragon's back. "Not interested," Havel said firmly. "Oh, but it could work out so well for you and I, you have fighting skills, advanced magic, and, best of all, the mind of a master war strategist, and I have magic that can preserve your little mercenary family,-" Havel's eyes widened, "For as long as they'd like. So, if I give you this magic, and my army, then you must give me Equestria, deal?" Havel stepped back a few paces, "What a cliche," he said. "Oh, don't be mistaken, it's not the land I want, it's the souls, the essence, the great feast laid before me," "You're a disgusting monster, Daayan," "You've until sunrise to give me your answer. I'll be waiting," Havelock took a few more paces back, then made his decision. Holding his horn high, it glowed with bright, golden light. With a great flash he vanished. "Hmm, so be it, Havelock. but you've only dug your own grave." Daayan muttered. ________________ After flashing back into the camp, Havel's head hurt. "Well, there you are," said Tarkus, "changelings are scattered, can we go home now?" "Daayan has returned" Havel said, "make preparations for-" the same dragon-like beast erupted from the ground. "Take it down! Take it down now!" shouted some war pigs. Suddenly, all manner of twisted, unseen creatures arose from the ground. Many were towering over the pigs, many more as big as them. Before Havel knew it, his soldiers, his family, were dying all around him, many torn to pieces. Blood soaked the earth on which Havel stood. Havel was lost, confused, and frightened at such a sudden downfall. A single tear escaped his eye, rolling down off his face to mix with the blood of those fallen. DuskWing was at his side, trying to get his attention amid the slaughter. "Commander!" Her voice sounded muffled. "Commander! Havel!" Her voice was still unheard. "Havel!" Havel was jerked out of his state. "Havel! We're in full retreat! Fall back to Gypsy" Havel obeyed DuskWing. He ran for the air ship, blocking out the carnage before him. When he was right beneath it did he remember his magic, and used it to teleport onto the ship. "Charge the Disruptor!" ordered Jaller. "It won't charge, sir!" said a unicorn. "Then charge it! It's do or die! You hear me?!" "I can charge it..." whispered Havel. Havel ran for the Disruptor, an elegant pillar with a magical crystal on top. "Havel is going to kill himself charging that!" shouted DuskWing "We've no other choice, Dusk, we must get that charged or we'll all die," said Jaller. The air ship jerked. "We must get that working before we're knocked out of the sky!" Havel had already begun channeling his magic to the crystal atop the pillar. He struggled hard to charge the powerful weapon, he felt weaker every moment spent focusing his power. "That's it! It's nearly done!" shouted Tarkus. Havel's nose began bleeding, his bones felt weak and his focus was failing. "It's done! Use it! Now!" shouted Jaller. A wave of energy was sent forth from the crystal, creating a mass genocide of the monsters. Everypony allowed themselves to finally breath. Jaller inhaled and let out a sigh, "Status," he demanded. "Medic!" cried DuskWing. Dusk cradled Havel's head in her hooves. His body was limp and open wounds leaking blood littered his body. Many looked away from the horror, the select few went to help him. Gypsy jerked again. "The hell did that?" asked Tarkus. "What's wrong with the ship?" asked Jaller. "Sir, we suffered a lot of damage to the ship, the hull is now compromised," the young crew member looked at his captain, "We're going down," The ship jerked again, then plummeted downwards, presumed forever lost... _______________ The doors to Celestia's throne room were thrashed open by a guard. "News from eastern Equestria, princess," announced the guard "Yes?" said Celestia, worry evident on her face. "I am burdened to tell you, that the Raiders have fallen in battle." "Oh..." replied Celestia. There was dead silence in the room, "Were they successful?" "Yes, your majesty, they wiped out these... things, just before their air ship fell out of the sky," "Were search parties sent?" "No, many concluded that they couldn't have survived," "Yet, they are in fact the Raiders, why didn't you send a search party?" "Well... your highness, the nobles have refused to pay, and no soldier works for free," Celestia went silent for a long, long time, then said, "U-understood, thank you for bringing this to my attention," She was left to do her work alone. What have I done? she thought. ~Canterlot, six years later.~ Out in the distance, a guard could see what looked like an air ship. Plenty of air ships were made in Canterlot, yet this one was very different from a general air ship. It looked out of place, with Canterlot craftsmanship mixed with the architecture of an unknown source. As it sailed closer to Canterlot, the guard could see words on the side of the ship. "Gypsy..." he read. The guard had heard that name before, and sprinted for Canterlot castle as fast as he could. "Your majesty!" the guard panted, "the Raiders... they've... returned." Celestia looked up with interest, "Have they?" "We have!" shouted a voice, "and we, step aside rookie, we have come to conclude our contract, Celestia," Havelock the Mountain stormed into the room, with many of his "Raiders" behind him. "Reports said you were dead," said Celestia, a grin growing on her muzzle. "Delayed, not dead," said Havel, "but... not the same can be said for those who aren't here," "How did you survive?" asked Celestia. Tosh stepped forward, his milky white eyes staring aimlessly into nothing. "We took a little pain," he said, gesturing to his own blindness, "but we got through just fine, after all, like I said six years ago," Tosh turned to Havelock, "We call him a mountain for good reason," Havel smiled broadly at Tosh's blinded eyes, feeling that he could see through them a different way than most.
Chapter 2 - Old SoldiersTurning back to Celestia, Havel continued in a business like manner. "Eastern Equestria is safe, the threat is no more, Chrysalis was kicked so hard in her flank, she won't be back for a while, now all that's left is our fee," stated Havelock. "Of course, how much for this contract?" asked Celestia. "We want fifty-thousand," said Tarkus. "Fifty-thousand bits?! That's a fortune!" exclaimed one of the guards. "We normally charge eighty-thousand, boy, but because we're late, and only a third of us remain, we're lowering our own reward." Jaller snapped. "Easy, Jaller, Gypsy is alright, and we're alive," "But you still can't possibly ask that amount," the guard continued, "it's-" "-Please excuse him, Raiders," said Celestia, taking annoyance to the guard, "you will receive the agreed payment as soon as I can amass the amount-" "-We want it by next week," Havel quickly said, "otherwise we will refuse any further contracts," Celestia was shocked by Havel's demand, "I ask that you please be patient, Hav-" "-By next week, fifty-thousand, or we're gone," Havel said firmly. Celestia was silent for a long time, unused to such demands and blackmail. "Is there a problem, Tia?" asked Havel. His gumption to address her as "Tia" caused the few guards to exchange looks among themselves. The Raiders remained stone-faced, while some remaining pigs smirked. "Perhaps, if I were to make several smaller payments, then, over time-" "If you can't pay our fee by next week, then we can pack and leave to-" Off to the side, was a dark figure leaning against a pillar. "Who is that?" Havel asked, taking a defensive stance. Luna came out from the shadows, staring passively at Havelock. "Why is she looking at me like that?" whispered Havel. "Maybe your looks piss off the girl," Tarkus whispered back. She stepped forward, two bat pony guards behind her, one with a heavy bag. She made a gesture towards Havelock to the guard with the bag. The bat pony stepped forward and threw the large bag in front of Havel, bits overflowed onto the floor. "There you are," Luna said, "fifty-thousand bits, as your contract demands, now be gone," "Who the hell is that?" asked a pig. "BE GONE!" shouted Luna with the royal Canterlot voice. The pigs squealed, and the Raiders backed away, while only Havelock stood steadfast. "Thank you for your payment, miss..." Luna simply and elegantly strolled away from the mercenaries. They all looked around, unsure of the sudden events of this mysterious princess they did not know. Havel went to collect the money on the floor, then turned to Celestia. "When you have more work for us, we'll be ready," he said. Havel ambled out of the throne room, with shaken Raiders close behind him. ___________________ "Ahh, I'm surprised they still have this bar in Canterlot," said Tosh. "Didn't you notice that it was much harder to find than usual?" asked Havel as he took a gulp of liquor. "Hmm? Yes, but at least it's still here, brother, at least we can still relax," said Tosh. "Well, even the wealthy need a place to go wild, and the wild ones usually stay here," said Havel. Tosh heard a sad tone in Havel's words. "Somethin' botherin' ya, brother?" "I came here to drown my sorrows, not talk about them," "C'mon, what can't ya share with your old bat pony friend?" "Tosh, you don't think like a bat pony, you don't act like a bat pony, you don't even talk like one! It's why we're here," Tosh shrugged and said, "When have I ever let ya down, brother? What about that?" Havel remained silent for some time, thinking about all the times Tosh has helped him, both in and out of battle. Finally, Havel said, "We should have died out there..." "Can't complain that we didn't, brother," Tosh replied. "We bled and suffered, while Celestia did nothing," "If she sent a search party, do you really think they'd make it?" "Instead of a search party, why couldn't she do what she was supposed to? Protect us," "Why don't you tell 'er that?" "Cause I know better than to accuse an alicorn, especially, if they're the sun goddess of this world." "Most say that Celestia responds with benevolence, before she strikes ya down int'a the dirt, heh heh ha ha!" "Why didn't that benevolence come then? Why are we here, six years later, still playing the same damned game, of being hunted by Daayan, while we hunt whoever threatens Tia. Hell, I can't even trust her anymore, she sends us on a suicide mission, then leaves us to rot!" "That maybe so, brother, but is that truly you doin' the talkin'?" Havel glanced at Tosh with a questioning look, "Tosh, what're you on about?" Tosh leaned in close to Havel, poking him in the chest with his hoof, "This is what I'm on about, brother. Ever since you and Daayan clashed blades again, you've been acting differently, givin' different orders, usin' different tactics. You've become aggressive and vengeful, brother, but I know better, I know that's not you, that's the evil and bitterness within you, brother." "Tosh, I would know if I had evil within me, and I have no evil in me," "But what do we know about the void magic, brother? I know more than most, but I'm still an idiot compared to the void magic's father," Havel stared at Tosh with an expression of extreme concern, "How do you know about void magic?" "The Black Dragon shares his secrets with me, brother, just as he has with you," explained Tosh, "He taught me that the void magic cannot be destroyed, but it can be controlled, just not by anypony, but only the father of the void magic. The Black Dragon is very selective in which ponies he shares specific secrets with, given that, I might be his prophet, and you, his messiah," Havel gave Tosh a skeptical look and avoided what he had said about the mysterious Black Dragon, "Tosh, you know that void magic is dark magic, this is a great secret, so keep it from Tia," Tosh frowned and said, "I don't understand why we call the princess by her nickname," "Really?" said Havel, "Celestia isn't a mouthful to ya?" Tosh only shrugged again, "I'm very different from most, ya know," "Yeah, yeah," said Havelock in a brusque tone, "what else do you know about void magic?" Tosh sighed, "I'm only gonna tell ya what you need to know to stay on our side," "What? You actually think some petty darkness can overtake me?" laughed Havel. Tosh nodded, his face dead serious, "This ain't no petty darkness, brother, it's your own hatred, and anger, all fueled by your sorrow and lust for revenge. The void magic ain't some simple magic that you unicorns do every day, given time, the void magic will change, grow, and evolve, and so will you, just as Daayan has," "Then what's with her always hunting specifically us?" "Remember your three year love life, brother?" "With her, yeah," Tosh remained silent. "Whoa, w-wait, you mean that thing had feelings, for me? Even though those three years were forfeit?" "Afraid so, brother, and she wants you to be like her, so every meeting with her, she'd sneak some dark magic into ya, so you'd become like her," Anxiety surged through Havel, "How can I get this out of me?" "There's always the Elements of Harmony, brother, if you're willing to put your faith in Celestia again," "Any method that's safer?" "Well, if you were truly in love with Daayan-" "Kill me right now then, no, when the time comes, I want you to run me through, got it?" "If not with Daayan, then who?" "I have a choice?" "Of course, brother, I was also taught than we will always have a choice, you can fall in love, put faith in Celestia, or die, I won't judge you on your decision," Havel leaned back and closed his eyes, debating on what the right choice would be. He thought about falling in love like Tosh said. But then, he thought, would I just be doing that for my own good? My own personal gain? He then thought about trusting Celestia again, trust can't just be given out like a gift, he thought. He thought about death, the cold, yet sweet slumber dying soldiers always described, not yet, not while there's a job at hoof. He then thought about Daayan, and dreamt pleasurable thoughts with her, but quickly drew himself away from the thoughts. "Tosh," he said sitting upright, "is it possible that this evil within me, can make me lie to myself?" "Perhaps, brother," said Tosh, "I know there is too much about the void magic we don't know, so you might not be cured in time," "You're messing with me," said Havel, panic streaked across his face, Tosh thought for a moment then said, "Yeah, I am," Havel allowed himself a slight breath of relief from the lie. Tosh felt guilt for doing this, and racked his brain for something that could help. "Brother," said Tosh, "what is something you would enjoy, something that you could never lie to yourself about?" "Tosh, I like how you're trying to help me, but, unless you've got a full orchestra hidden under your wing, you can't help me," Tosh smiled and said, "Ah, I do have a full orchestra, brother, it's just hidden in a building is all," "Tosh," began Havel, "I know what you're thinking, and I can't get in there without getting in trouble, though I'd love to play the organ they have in there again, every note was so strong, and true, so deep with emotion," Tosh remembered the last time Havel played an organ. He shivered slightly at the thought of Havel striking each and every note, sending his emotions to all through every key, having them echo throughout the empty corridors. Tosh savored the memory, for the first thought of good that came in a long time. Tarkus came bustling up behind Havel, "Ey! What're you two doing? Didn't ya hear?" "About what, Tarkus?" asked Havel miserably. "Dat alicorn who made you little foals squeal is on her way here!" exclaimed Tarkus. "Does it look like I care right now, Tarkus?" asked Havel. "Ah, come now, Havel," said Tarkus putting a hoof on his shoulder, "this tain't the commander I know," Havel sent a magical flash from his horn, sending Tarkus staggering back. "Go home, Tarkus, you're drunk," Tarkus tried doggedly to get on his hooves after the flash, "Now that was rude," he said, now on his hooves, but rubbing his eyes furiously. "Oh, you thought that was rude?" said Havel rising from his chair, "I can do a lot more than just rude," Tosh's hoof clamped onto Havel's shoulder, "This is what feeds it inside you, brother, though you must struggle for control, always keep control," "What? That creepy evil darkness that's inside Havel?" asked Tarkus, still blinking from the flash. "Tarkus..." began Havel. "I deserve to know, don't I?" Tarkus said. "So," said Havel, "what's this news on the alicorn coming for a visit? You know who she is?" "I was hopin' you did," said Tarkus. "Are you two serious?" asked Tosh. Havel and Tarkus exchanged looks, "What?" they both said in unison. "That alicorn was the princess of the night, she was the princess Luna," Tosh explained, "in the very oldest tales, going back a thousand years now, there were two sisters who loved each other very much. The older sister, Celestia, brought about the sun, while Luna, the younger sister, brought about the moon," "Then why's her plot so small?" asked Tarkus. Havel struck Tarkus square in the nose, sending him to the floor. Havel looked a Tosh with a look a young foal would give asking "Is it okay that I did that?" "Yeah, he deserved it that time," said Tosh. "That he did, so can we rap this story up please?" asked Havel. "Fine," said Tosh. He continued with the pony's tale, "Ponies would play and work in the day, but shun the night, thus, with jealousy, the younger sister refused to end the night, and became who we call, Nightmare Moon, then she was cured by the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony," "Who're the new bearers?" asked Havel. "I'm a specialist on the battlefield, that's true, but even I don't know every buckin' thing, Havel," "Right, right, sorry, so when does this Princess Luna make her grand entrance?" "She already has," said Tosh pointing at the entrance, where everypony had their heads bowed as low as they could be. "How did you?-" "I listen, brother," said Tosh pointing to his ears. Luna glanced about, surprisingly calm amid the low class patrons. She set eyes on Havel once again, the same piercing stare as before. "Uh, she's comin' this way, Tosh," said Havel. Luna almost lazily ambled up to Havel, her eyes revealing not hatred, but pity. "We've more work for your Raiders, Havel, you start in the morning," Luna turned around, making her way for the door, but stopped midway. "Are you coming, Havelock?" "What kind of job?" asked Havel, remaining cemented where he was. "We'll explain at Canterlot Castle, now follow." Havel whispered to Tosh, "On your guard," _________________ Havel and Tosh were led by Luna back into Celestia's throne room. Waiting for them were Jaller and DuskWing. The room was brightly lit, however, the windows were closed, blinds and all, while the doors slammed shut behind them. "Where's the fifth one?" asked Luna, "Tarkus? Oh, he's probably still drooling on the bar floor, but we can go on without him just fine," Luna and Celestia exchanged worried glances. "Don't be surprised," said DuskWing to the two, "the pigs always do this. Shall we continue?" Celestia removed a small crystal from a display case, placing it on the floor in front of the mercenaries. With a blast of magic, Celestia had the crystal radiate the image of a large kingdom. "This is the Crystal Empire," she said, "it-" "-Houses a great evil you once banished, and... the beast is back, you're sending us there to either defeat it, or lend a hoof in doing so," Havel concluded. Jaller smirked at Havel, then said "Stories get around, princess, and we've studied this our whole lives, well, some of us have," All eyes went to Tosh and Havel, "You know about the Crystal Empire?" asked Celestia. "Well, anything that has to do with void magic, and Sombra holds a record for corruption by dark magic." said Havel. "In fact," began Tosh, "It's what's made us so successful all these years, how we stand out from other mercenaries," "I'm sorry," said Luna, "but did you say void magic?" Tosh, though he'd gone blind, gave Havel a casual glance, causing the two princesses' focus to be on him. Havel sighed deeply, then said, "Yes, void magic, it's what we call dark magic, and we have sources that tell us about these things, reliable sources," Great interest appeared on Celestia's face, "Could you perhaps share your knowledge of this, void magic, with us?" Havel glanced around the room, as if he were searching for something, "Tosh is our expert at it's behavior, talk to him," Celestia approached the cornered bat pony, hoping her answer would come. However, Tosh sat in silence, the only noise made was from his breathing. The room held it's breath, Dusk fidgeted with her wing, and Havel cleared his throat in the silence. "Convince me," Tosh finally said. All but Havel were shocked at Tosh's response. Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow with a look of great disappointment at the middle-aged bat pony. "What would you ask of us?" Celestia asked, her voice dripping with venom. "For every... sample, we come by," said Tosh, "we'll gladly sell them for a fair price-" "-Sell them?!" said Celestia, her voice even more venomous. "We need to make a living, Tia," said Havel, stepping in, "and extra work means extra cash, you understand, don't you?" Celestia bit her lip hard, realizing her lowly manner with the Raiders. She sighed very deeply, then said, "Yes, I understand your... logic, please find as many things as you can," "Oh, but of course, your highness," said Havel, "was there anything else you needed to specify?" "Yes," began Luna, "we don't want you helping out within the Crystal Empire itself, but camped outside of it," "What're the targets?" asked Havel. "In the tundra there are three shadows, each arrived when Sombra returned," Luna explained. "So you want us to take out those shadows just in case they help Sombra, right?" "Yes," she said, "but what else is there to them?" Havel looked at Tosh and said, "Go ahead, Tosh, revealing this won't hurt," Tosh stepped forward, "These shadows are most likely pieces of Sombra that were broken off when you banished him, the fact that there are three shadows means Sombra has become very weak. By destroying these shadows before they reach Sombra, will leave him weak enough to be destroyed, with enough magical power, of course. I believe we can also assist in that-" "That won't be necessary, I've already sent my student, Twilight Sparkle, to aid in the banishment King Sombra," said Celestia. "That's fine, Celestia, now our fee," said Havel. "What will it be? Another fifty-thousand?" Havel looked at Tosh, then DuskWing and Jaller, "No," he said, "ten-thousand, citizenship in Canterlot, and access to the Canterlot organ," Havel's Demands surprised all but Tosh, "Very well," said Celestia, "that can certainly be done very soon," "Anything else?" asked Havel. "Hmm? Oh, yes, there have been suites in the castle prepared for you and your soldiers, you leave in the morning, Havel," "Noted," he said, "Raiders, get some shut eye tonight, cause we may not sleep for a while in the field, am I clear?" "Urah!" they responded. _________________ Havel leaned over the edge of his suite's balcony late into the night, a tobacco pipe hanging from his mouth. Havel simply watched all of Canterlot from his high hanging suite, pondering the evil within him. Maybe I can control it, I've lasted this long, haven't I he'd think to himself. Havel felt a slight breeze against the side of his face. "I thought you'd be asleep, Havelock," said a voice, the clop of hooves on stone heard by Havel. Havel levitated the pipe out of his mouth and slowly released the warm smoke in his mouth, "Never thought you'd visit me, princess," Luna moved a few paces closer to Havel and said, "You've your assignment in the morning, why aren't you asleep like most your soldiers?" "Just restless," said Havel, "and what of the soldiers still awake? Surely they can't be in the same state," "They weren't," said Luna, "they were just..." Havel gave Luna a questioning look, then laughed at the realization of what she meant. "They're war pigs, princess, they do that, a lot, we just ignore it best as we can," he said, putting the pipe back in his mouth. Luna glared at Havelock, "Why such a crude name for your soldiers?" Havel removed the pipe, "We didn't make that name, they did," he said pointing at Canterlot with his pipe, "the locals never did take nicely to us, always giving looks, calling names, some even attacked us. But, as you can see, we laughed at some of those names, war pigs included, and we use some of them now," Luna only continued to glare, "Do you ever feel ashamed, Havelock?" "I only feel ashamed if I did the wrong thing, and right now, we need money, and no one else is paying as much as you," "If it were truly about money, then why lower your reward for the Canterlot organ?" "There are some things, even you wouldn't understand, princess," "Does something bother you?" "That isn't your concern, princess," "She could help, brother, I'd put my faith in her if I was you," Havel looked around inside his suite, "Tosh, get your eavesdroppin' ass out of my room," "I only try to help, brother," "You act officious, that's your problem, Tosh, now get out," "Hmm, fine," A shadowy figure launched out of his room, off the balcony and into the starry night. "After this is done, Havelock," began Luna again, "you'll be my subject, I might as well try to help now," "Like I said, princess, you wouldn't understand unless you saw it yourself, felt it like I did," "Very well," Havel gave Luna a skeptical look as he walked into his suite. "Bad idea, princess, you get hurt and the guards'll have my head," "They will overlook that," "You're certain on that?" "They will overlook that," Havel seated himself on a cushioned chair, "Fine, do you know memory drift spells?" "Of course," Dammit, Havel, this is a bad idea, he thought. "Shall we?" said Luna. Havel rose hesitantly, approaching the night princess. He brought the tip of his horn to Luna's, the auras of gold and blue clashing. Suddenly, his own memories and that of Luna's surge through his mind, the pain of loss, denial, loneliness, the heavy bleeding of a deep slash, all crossed both his and Luna's mind. As the memories finished flowing through their minds, both Luna and Havel gave the look of fear, as they crashed to the ground. "You... you know such pain?" Havel coughed out. Panting heavily, Luna straightened up and regained her posture. "You've felt denial, loss, and loneliness, just as I have," panted Havel. Still taking deep breaths, Luna said, "I... I must rest now, these spells can make one weary," Leaving Havel alone on the floor, Luna left from his balcony, shakily flying away. Havel then rose from the ground, as shakily as Luna was flying away. He stumbled over to his bathroom, vomiting into the trash. "Ugh... and you were worried about Luna... you dumb bastard..." he said as he collapsed on his bed, "and now you're talkin' to yerself... what?... normal ponies aren't good enough... aaaarrggghhhh... shut up," ________________ Havel awoke with a dry mouth and sore body, "Memory drift spells, they're a big pain afterwards," he said mostly to himself. Havel buckled on his armor and headed out to where Gypsy was docked. All around Gypsy were busy pigs loading supplies onto the ship, while Jaller approached Havel, dodging protruding points of large structures with very strange architecture. "Commander!" shouted Jaller, "where did all these... things come from? And why are they right next to Gypsy?" Havel was then aware of all the strange structures littered around the air ship. "What do we do about them? Are they tools? Are they traps? Are they-" "-Jaller, if you could calm down a bit, I might be able to tell you about them," said Havel. "Oh... o-okay," said Jaller. Havel approached one of the structures, shaped like a saucer. A large sapphire blue crystal resided in the center of the saucer shaped structure, glowing faintly. Havel tapped the edge with his hoof, suddenly sparking the structure to life. The crystal rose from it, as did two crescent shaped, golden beams, aligning with each other with the crystal between the two beams. The crystal then began to glow brightly, radiating vast magical power. "Finally..." moaned an other-worldly voice, "the gate has been opened, aid them my wolves..." The crystal seemed to melt into a circle held by the two golden beams. Rushing out of the circle of energy, were ghostly looking, armored wolves with large swords in their jaws. "Huh... been awhile since we've seen void wolves," said Havel. Some Canterlot guards had rushed to arms at the sight of the beastly company. Havel rushed and waived his hooves in the air. "Stop! They're harmless!" he shouted, "For now, at least," Havel continued to watch the wolves as they piled onto the deck of Gypsy. "Damn! Where'd all these void wolves come from!" shouted a pig, delighted to see such a ghastly creature. Havel turned to Jaller, his mouth gaping wide open. Havel went and closed Jaller's mouth with his hoof. "Don't worry," said Havel, "they're not house-broken," Havel turned to the pigs loading supplies, "Alright, I want these structures strapped on to Gypsy! They're a gift from our special contact!" he shouted. Havel teleported himself and Jaller onto the air ship, nearly prepared for the trip. Laughter lived among the pigs as they hooked chains to the "gifts" they had received. In a matter of hours, Gypsy was ready to finally cast off. Pigs were waving at the gathering crowd, mostly the ladies, while Havel had his eyes on Celestia who had come to witness the cast-off. His eyes then darted to her side, where the night princess was standing, her expression softer than usual. Tosh ambled up behind him, "Do you think we'll ever get too old for this?" Havel looked back at him, "No, just look at Jaller, he grew up with what we call fossils," "I ain't that old yet, jackass!" Jaller shouted from behind. "Besides," Havel laughed, "old soldiers, are normally the best soldiers," Tosh smiled, "Old soldiers..." he said.
Chapter 3 - Back with the SaddleHavel sat alone for most of the trip to the Crystal Empire. His thoughts were flooded with Luna's memories, pondering them, comparing them to his own pain. "Damn, brother," said Tosh as he sat down next to Havel, "you've been quiet for this whole trip, and everypony be sayin' that you look like you seen a ghost, you were chatting just fine as we were leaving," Havel turned his face away from the bat pony, his thoughts heavily clouded by Luna's memories. "Was it somethin' between you and that princess, brother? Maybe you saw somethin' you weren't supposed to," Havel glared questioningly at the blind soldier, "How did you know?" "The Black Dragon's secrets, brother, he comes in dream and in life, you can never escape that being's eye, not even the princess of the night," Havel looked away again, "I'm not in a mood to talk, Tosh, I've got a lot of thinking to do," "And what you be thinkin' about? Would it be the princess?" Havel finally gave in, "Yeah, we did a memory drift together, and now..." Tosh leaned in, saying "You've got nothin' to hide, brother, just let this one flow, like the rivers do," Havel sighed, "Now, I feel as though I want to hold her dear..." Tosh remained passive, "You be fallin' in love with Equestria's moon goddess, brother, " he said, "if you're gonna do what your heart's tellin' ya, you'd better do it real damn well," Havel looked over at Tosh, his expression miserable. "She's gone through what you have, brother, just in a different way. Your pain is fresh and burning, while her's is aged and seasoned, either way, you wanna be pleasin' her, you've got a lot of pain to disperse, yours included," said Tosh. "I know, I just don't know how," said Havel. "When I was young, the elders always said to me that when there is too much sorrow in one's life, you must uproot the sorrow, and replace it with joy," "Great," he said sarcastically, "how do I do this... voodoo," "Now, you don't want to see the voodoo, that I do, brother, as for the girl, anythin' is fine," Havel raised an eyebrow, silently questioning Tosh's logic on anything being fine. "Now the last thing you want is sleepin' with the princess, brother," "That's more like it, Tosh," "Instead, make memories, brother, to drown the bad in what is good, play a game, go dancing, have fun with the pigs," Havel finally smiled, "Yeah, the pigs just love pranks," he chuckled. A bitter wind blew across the deck of the Gypsy. "Damn, it's freezing, are we there yet?" asked Havel. "Yes sir, we are," said a pig. Both Havel and Tosh made their way to the edge of the air ship, overlooking vast plains of ice and snow, with a large dome-shaped barrier of magic in the center of it. Outside was a rampaging blizzard, every gust of wind hailing down razor snow. "Best get this done fast, don't wanna freeze out here, that means I'll need to focus most of our forces to th-" "Excuse me, excuse me, there you are!" shouted a unicorn at Havel. "Um... excuse me?" said Havel turning to face the unicorn, "but did you just address your commanding officer... Blueblood?!" The snobbish unicorn was dressed in a thick red coat, the edges bearing white fluff, "Yes, it's me, pig, I've come to oversee the mission as instructed to by princess Celestia herself," "Uh-huh, you sneaked in, didn't ya?" said Havel, "a prince always has to be the damned hero, anyway, the buck are you doin' on my ship? Tryin' to impress ole' auntie Tia?" Blueblood gave Havel a nasty glare as pigs grabbed his front two legs. "Would you like us to jettison the dead weight, command?" "Wait...w-what?!" shrieked Blueblood. Havel brought his hoof to his chin, "No, in fact, I want you two to welcome him, strictly war pig style," Havel said. Devious grins grew on the faces of both pigs, "We've got so much to show you, prince, most of it will amaze you til' yer speechless," ____________ After several hours, many tents, campfires, and magical constructs littered a campsite of elite mercenaries and a frightened prince. Surrounding the entire camp was a huge circular trench. "Alright, boys, we don't have nearly as many soldiers as we did before, and now is not the time to mope about it," announced Havel, "I want a quick and clean job, nopony's dying on the job today, understand?" "Urah!" they responded. "Good, now I want pigs equally split among the trenches, except for what's facing the barrier, I also want void wolves layin' low with those pigs, and coverin' their asses. Flyers are going to hang back on the ground until further notice, that is if you see somethin' that wants t'kill you, kill it first, there are a lot of wild beasts in these parts, plus Celestia knows what with those shadows about. Infiltrators, yes I mean the bat ponies, you're to aid the flyers if things get rough, and watch over the prince, make sure he doesn't do something that'll kill him. Jaller, take Gypsy and hang here in the center, go where you're needed most after that. I want all lead figures with me, we're goin' hunting, as soon as the winds die down, that means Tarkus, Tosh, and DuskWing, you're with me to take down those shadows, let's get this show on the road, I wanna be home for dinner," "Urah!" they responded again. DuskWing approached Havel, "When do you think the winds will calm, command?" she asked. "Dunno, don't care, all I want is everypony kept warm and fed,-" Havel's stomach growled audibly, he hadn't eaten before he left, "-myself included, maybe some decent sleep with that too," Havel walked towards his tent, a large one made of fur. He settled himself on a small bedroll, "I could use some z's before going after those things," "Commander," began Dusk, "are you sure that's a good idea?" "Of course it is, Dusk," said Havel, rolling over, "I was always told that a warrior needs their rest," "O-of course, command," she said, "Do me a favor, Dusk, wake me when the weather's agreeable," "Yeah, sure," she said, walking out of the tent. She made her way to Tosh's side. "Something's gotten into Havel," she said to Tosh. "You just noticed, Dusk? For the last six years there's been somethin' up with him," said Tosh. "So you're unsure too, huh?" "Me? No, cause I know what it is inside of 'im, I know what it is that's been changin' him," "What is it, then?" "You can find that yerself, Dusk," "Y'know, fine, since you seem to be some great oracle, why don't you explain to him why sleeping isn't the best idea!" shouted Dusk in frustration. "Dusk, if he ever went on the wrong path, I'd be dead already," "Oh, this is all about you now, huh?" "Good bye, Dusk," said Tosh, simply abandoning the pegasus in the cold. "Wait!" she said. Tosh only continued to walk away. But I didn't mean it... Dusk thought to herself. _________________ Havel dreamt peacefully when he first closed his eyes. Before him was a great organ, much like the one he loved to play in Canterlot. Havel gratefully approached the organ and seated himself at it, playing a lively tune. Havel felt joy with every ring of the organ's individual keys, each with its own expression, its own story. Amid his joyous playing, Havel heard the sound of hooves behind him. He ignored it. The sound came again, and Havel turned to find nothing but what seemed like the edge of a forest. Gloom hung upon the tree's low branches like a old coats drying in the sun, while crude stones protruded from a thick cloud of fog just beneath Havel's hooves. Havel examined his surroundings, seeing an old, rusted iron fence embracing the crudely organized rows of stones. Havel finally trotted towards a stone, reading small print on its front. HailStorm, it read. "A graveyard..." Havel whispered. Hooves began to move behind him again, this time, towards him. Havel turned, finding a large black mare standing across from him, its slitted eyes piercing his soul with fear. The mare slowly stalked towards Havel, bearing rows of razor sharp teeth. "Nightmare Moon?" Havel wondered aloud. The mare lunged, growing in size until it could swallow Havel whole. With open jaws it did so, ending his dream. __________________ Havel was jerked awake by his nightmare. Hastily scanning his tent for its appearance, he found a dark figure sitting next to him, startling Havel to the point of attack. He threw his hoof wide for the being's head, only to be stopped by its own hoof. "You had a sweet dream?" asked Tosh, casting Havel's hoof aside. Havel sighed deeply, wiping sweat from his brow, "D-don't... do that, Tosh, I thought you were my nightmare," "I'm the nightmare of a thousand beings, brother," "Well this being is on the verge of madness, Tosh, and I need to stay sane, first I have Daayan screwin' with my brain, now I have this random nightmare of Nightmare Moon," Tosh thought for a moment, "You did a mind drift with the night princess, right?" "Yeah, what're you speculating?" "I bet that the nightmare you saw was the memory of princess Luna, during her time as Nightmare Moon," "Memory drifts don't last this long though," "But, on a rare occasion, brother, there are exceptions to that rule, you understand her feelings so well that they stay with you. Call it a curse, if you'd like," Havel groaned, "Is it almost time to go? Has the weather calmed down?" Tosh poked a hoof out his tent, "Yes, but aren't you gonna eat somethin', brother?" "Not hungry," Havel said trotting out his tent. Outside, the winds had finally died down to the slightest breeze, and Tarkus, Dusk, Tosh and Havel were to leave momentarily. Many pigs looked bored, but were warm and full. Dusk's flyers, called wraiths, shared the same state, as did Tosh's infiltrators. "Move, pig! Uh! Don't touch me!" shouted Blueblood as he stormed up to Havel, "Well, pig, when are we leaving?" "Wait, wait, wait, you can't be buckin' serious," asked Havel. "I am, and you can't do anything about that, after all, I am the nephew of both princesses," Havel grabbed Blueblood with his magic and pulled his face close to his, "Listen, filth, you're in my town now, I rule this little kingdom here, so you are going to listen to me, understood?" Havel dropped the prince and turned to leave, "You're going to come, just to see what it's like in the field, just to see how important everypony else truly is, and if you die, it's not my fault, because I never agreed to watch over you, if you die, know I'm going to leave your rotting carcass for the animals, if they'll even eat such a putrid thing. So, watch your back, cause the beasts will be chewin' on it," Blueblood sat in horrified awe of Havel's cruel words as Havel allowed himself a smile of satisfaction, "When you die, Havelock," said Blueblood in silence, "I will have saved everypony of true importance from you," ___________________ Havel seemed to be taking his time, scanning the horizon of the barren snow wasteland. The clouds had parted, allowing the sun's rays to push through and cast dancing lights on the serene snow. Many would have thought that this was great beauty, but the mercenaries found it hard to enjoy with Blueblood's consistent complaints on the cold, despite having the largest, warmest coat of them all. "For the ump-teenth time, kid, we don't care," said Tarkus "Maybe if you shut up, Prince Blueblood, we'd get the job done faster, your moaning has compromised us several times now," added Dusk. "You ruffians! As soon as I get back you will face the consequences of not tending to the higher class, especially, if he is your prince," scolded Blueblood. "Tosh, shut him up, will ya?" said Havel. "Can't do much if I can't bleed him real slow, brother," said Tosh. The small crew continued on, never bothering to slow down for Blueblood despite his threats and pleas. Havel kept his nose close to the snow, as if trying to find the most nuance details. His focus eventually became unbreakable by even the prince. Suddenly, Havel halted, raising a hoof to stop the others behind him. "Hold, you smell that?" Havel asked nopony in particular. Tosh sniffed the frozen air around him, "Barely, but it's getting stronger by the moment," "It's putrid," said Dusk sniffing the air herself. "Aye, that be the smell of death before ya," said Tosh. Havel looked down at the snow, black as char, a clear sign of a nearby shadow. Havel followed the tainted snow, keeping low as he moved quickly across the freezing wastes. Four other figures followed along, one of which had to be dragged to avoid being caught. Havel was now on his belly, crawling through the numbing snow up a hill. Over the hill he saw a large, black, and formless gaseous creature, much like the unformed Sombra. "Ah, ye fugly, gotcha now," Havel whispered to himself, inching closer to the beast. The crew followed blindly, all but one ready to pounce until a thought came to them. "Er... Havelock, how are we supposed to fight something that's formless, or in other words, out of reach?" asked Tarkus. "Only way, magic," he responded. Havel lunged out in front of the shadow, his horn shining with a bright golden aura. "Is he mad?!" shouted Blueblood. "No," said Tosh following Havel, "He just likes to improvise," "Tosh, keep him busy, you too, Dusk!" Havel shouted, "Tarkus, get over here!" The huge earth pony thrusted his body towards Havel, diving for his hooves. Havel then cast his aura on his sword, making it glow brilliantly. "Sword's enchanted, get swingin'!" shouted Havel. Tarkus did just that, with his mighty sword in his teeth, Tarkus began to run by the shade's side, his blade piercing its dark veil. During this, both Tosh and Dusk were long into performing many air-borne acrobatics. Havel laid back, looking for the perfect shot at the beast's center. He inched in slightly, his horn glowing like the sun itself, until he was knocked back into the far hill. "Argh!... Damn..." he muttered, using his hoof to wipe blood from his brow. The shadow had noticed Havel and was closing in on him, ignoring the display around it. "Tarkus!" Havel gasped, "firebomb that thing!" Tarkus pulled out a small bisque with a string attached to it. The string was looped to allow anypony to throw the bisque with their hooves. "Fire in your hole!" shouted Tarkus, hurling the small object into the moving abyss. A small spark was seen within it, grabbing its attention. "That was supposed to be an inferno," Tarkus moped as he backed up slightly, the enchantment on his sword fading. Havel struggled onto his hooves, his horn glowing brightly again, "Lights out," he said, firing a powerful blast of magic at the shade's back. The monster let out an ear-piercing screech as it dissipated. "Hehe, one down," Havel laughed wiping his brow again, dying his hoof crimson, "wha-..." Everypony there looked at him with great concern, Dusk landing next to him to examine his condition. "Your head... Havel, you need to get some help. This is a lot of blood," Havel looked down at the snow, no longer black, but a deep red. "Oh, that's my blood, that's a lot of my blood," he said, lying back. "A little healing magic should fix him right up," said Tosh. "What about the finer details? Havel only knows basic healing," claimed Dusk. "Knew basic healing... I learned a couple... a couple... better healing tricks," "You're in no condition to use those, Havel," "Let the stallion try, cause then we can all go home and get rid of this... waste of the princess' time," said Tosh. "Tosh, have you even been listening? He needs help," "Then let him help himself," Dusk rose, approaching Tosh with a look of anger, and a hint of hatred, "You don't know what's best for him, Tosh," "Neither do you, Dusk," "Well at least I can feel, anypony inside you died long ago, you're just a husk of a soldier, with no sense of pity or mercy," Blinding light shone behind Dusk, with Havel arising mended moments later, "That's enough, Dusk," he said regaining balance, "Tosh has helped me more than anypony here, and after hearing your words, I'm sending you back to camp, cool off while you're there," Dusk looked at Havel with utter shock, "But-" "Dismissed, Dusk," Dusk's eyes began to water as she bit her lip, "I try to look out for you, Havel," she said, "but it's hard when you won't accept it," She flew off, allowing the now smaller team to continue on. "She was never like this six years ago," said Havel. "That one day changed us all, brother," said Tosh. Havel brushed the thought aside, looking for tracks of the next shade. "Any ideas, on speeding this up? Where's Blueblood anyway?" asked Havel. "He followed Dusk, the bloody coward," Tarkus said. The trio continued with their mission, traversing the now wind blasted wasteland. They wandered seemingly aimlessly for tens of minutes. "Shit! It's freezing!" shouted Havel. "We should go back, I'd rather not be a frozen corpse for the beasts," said Tarkus. "I'm with Tarkus, brother, something here isn't right," said Tosh. Havel looked around, but couldn't see anything in the whiteout. If only I could see Havel thought. The blizzard stopped, and standing before them was another shade, lying still and flat on the snowy ground. With prying red orbs, it stared at Havel, almost pleadingly, then dispersed. "Anypony else see that? Or was that just the cold?" asked Tarkus. "We're done here, brother, whatever did that to that shade, has already gotten the third one," said Tosh. "Yeah, now let's get the buck outta here, Tosh," said Havel. Tarkus and Tosh both turned to leave the cold, but Havel stood there, waiting for the one other thing that could defeat those shades. Daayan. The two sub-leaders didn't know that their own leader had stayed behind, and thus continued walking. _________________ "So, you've devoured the remaining pieces of King Sombra, thus, bolstering your own power, smart move, Daayan," said Havel, facing the horizon. "I thought I'd help you out, after all, what do two lovers do?" asked a voice behind him. Daayan. Havel turned, his eyes bearing dark magic in a harsh scowl, "I... do not... love you..." he hissed, his eyes returning to their soft brown state, "what lover butchers over half of her lover's family?" Daayan walked over to Havel's side, circling him once, then stopping in front of him, "That was before I knew it, I've been trying to apologize for all these years," "Oh? And what, pray tell, told you that you were in love?" asked Havel, expecting Daayan to pounce now. Daayan looked into Havel's eyes, softening the hardened strategist, "Our little filly did," she said. Havel was taken by surprise, That was years ago, he thought. "I thought you'd use magic to keep that foal unborn, what the hell happened?!" shouted Havel. "I... I couldn't do such a thing, Havel," "Ah, well, great, you've now screwed me, my career, and my troops, again, is that all you're good at, demon?" The black mare stepped back a few paces. Daayan, made an alicorn by void magic, spread her wings slightly, as she looked down into the snow. Havel rolled his eyes at this, having seen her perform such antics during his early years with her. He looked back at her, ready to see waterfalls well from her eyes. He removed his helm, exposing his head and mane to the cold. Oh for the love of- "Daayan-" At that moment, Daayan leaned in, planting a deep passionate kiss on Havel's lips. Her tongue forced its way through Havel's lips, exploring the inside of his mouth. Havel roughly pushed Daayan away with his hoof, his face not bearing horror, but surprise and a slight blush. "What're you doing?!" Havel spat. Daayan leaned in again, "Making us whole..." Havel stopped Daayan from coming closer, "I know what you're playing, trying to sneak more void magic inside me, it won't work," "Oh, but it will," said Daayan, putting her front hooves around Havel's neck, "and then we will be together, for as long as the void lives," she leaned in again, only to be shaken off by Havel. "I'm out," said Havel teleporting back to his camp. Daayan turned away, "Only a bit more time," she said. __________________ Havel was back in his tent with a sore head, "Argh, gotta stop doin' that," He galloped outside shouting to all, "Pack it up! We're done here!" He looked around, seeing warm weather and joyous crystal ponies in the now exposed Crystal Empire. "Got that, command, where we heading afterwards?" asked a wraith. "Er... Crystal Empire looks fine," said Havel, "pack everything! Let's go!" The soldiers worked hard, strapping the odd structures and loading their leftover supplies onto Gypsy. Tosh landed next to Havel, "What's next after this, brother?" "We get ready for Daayan," said Havel, "she's back," "Hmm, can we really fight all those raakshi, brother?" Havel paused for a moment, "All I know is that either we finish what we started," said Havel, "or she will,"
