Legion's Plague

Twilight Sparkle stood up. She looked around and saw that things were going well....for once. Her mind was still numb from the loss of her brother and sister-in-law, but some feeling of joy returned. Perhaps it was the fact that their son Garnet made it out alive with no injury--a last remnant of Shining Armor, as it were. She sighed through her nostrils and thought things over, somehow tuning out Havoc and Kaleb bickering whilst simultaneously answering the foals' questions in the process.

She recounted everything that had happened over twenty-five years ago, but she didn't seem to have any reason why. Perhaps it was to get her mind off of the funeral, which was still bringing her mood down. Memories flashed in her mind, as if they happened only yesterday.

~~~~~~

She stood in one of the many clearings of the Everfree Forest in the middle of the night, waiting for Rainbow Dash, who had taken off into the skies because a crash resonated not too long ago. The full moon and its soft light eliminated the need for an illumination spell--at least, as long as the unicorn stood there.

A timberwolf lunged forward and a blast of arcane energy was all that was needed to deal with it. The wooden wolves and the manticores....hell, even some of the Gryphons began to act rather strange. Reports of atrocities spread throughout the Ponyville Newspaper like a pandemic, and she wrote about all of this to Celestia earlier in the day, who then, in turn, suggested that she take one friend and investigate the Everfree when the moon hung high in the sky. It was a glorious sight to behold, but the mare didn't have time to sit on her haunches daydreaming.

Then, out of the bushes trotted Rainbow Dash. Behind her, however, was a strange being in a brown, leather dress. The being had a slender, tall figure, and it didn't have hooves. In fact, it stood on two legs whose appendages were covered with brown boots. In its....what Twilight assumed to be a talon was a bow made of wood, with some leaves here and there. The creature's face was the strangest: it lacked a rounded muzzle, and most of the face was flat. A triangular nose and a pair of lips were on its face, and a green mane shaded quite nicely over the thing's right eye. Behind it frilled out more green hair like small pegasus wings for the neck. Two gold bangles were on the back of its head, and even more green hair shot straight up like sharply-frilled paintbrush tips. Behind that creature was another thing that stood on two legs, and this one was made almost entirely out of wood. Some parts, such as its drill-hand, were more machine-like. On its flat head sat a bush with eyes.

~~~~~~~

Twilight paused for a bit. This was when she first met Anna the archer. The literal first human in the world of ponies, to be precise...and one who quickly turned out to be a fearsome enemy in combat. Things escalated and returned to 'normal' in such haste it made the unicorn almost on edge.

More memories flashed, and she went over them. Things escalated too quickly once more.

And then....

A hand tapped the alicorn and snapped her out of her thoughts. She spun around in shock and saw a young man with murky brown hair looking at her worriedly.

"You scared me, Nick." Twilight said, sighing in relief.

"You look like you need a nap." Nick retorted, a frown on his face.

"You're right. I need a nap." Sighed the alicorn as she turned around and sauntered upstairs past Lazarus.

Greenwood Glory trotted back into the crowded living room.

"What now?" He asked, raising a brow.

"Why don't you two and I head to my mom's birthplace?" Havoc replied, a cheeky grin on her beak.

Nick ran upstairs and came back down five minutes later, armed with a crossbow and quiver full of wooden and metal bolts.

The trio rant out the door and shut it before anybody else noticed what had just transpired. Nick and Glory were running alongside a flying Havoc. She flew to the outskirts and took a sharp left, and the stallion and human quickly followed suit. They followed a trail and passed through a rather short cavern before setting foot on a vast open plain. It was so vast it would take at least an entire week to scan every square inch. To one side was an edge of what seemed to be either the Everfree or an entirely new forest, possibly Whitetail or some other wood.

"Where are we going?" Nick asked, stopping to catch his breath.

"We're going to mom's birthplace. That's the one place I've yet to visit, actually." Havoc answered as she sat on a cotton candy cloud like a grand Sphinx.

Glory also stopped to catch his breath as he sat on his haunches. "No wonder I'm tired. This place is huge!" He exclaimed as his voice echoed faintly around the entirety of the plain.

"At least we can take a breather here. I don't see any more of those freak guards." Havoc agreed as she began to preen her wings.

"Isn't there a quicker way to get there before nightfall?" Nick complained, noticing that the sun was setting.

Havoc, having finished her brief cleaning session, put a talon on her beak and closed her eyes in deep thought. Her talon rubbed her lower beak a bit, and then she moved it away. With a flick of the wrist and claw she made another cotton candy cloud appear. The human and unicorn clambered onto the fluffy, yet durable, form. It then floated up to Havoc's own cloud and fused with it.

It formed a body around them, and then took on the shape of a rectangle with a smaller rectangle for a tail. The candy became harder and smoother, and more rectangles appeared. The candy fully became steel, and, after a bit, the whole thing became an airborne helicopter. Havoc took the pilot's seat.

"And who says I can't do this?" She asked, grinning as she made the thing go towards the intended destination. "Dad always said that small communities grow great through harmony. And great communities fall through discord. Well, he used to say that before he was reformed, or so I was told."

"Apparently, that's what happened the world over. Canterlot especially." Nick commented, taking the second seat.

"I've seen it all. No need to remind me." Havoc retorted with a sigh. Below the helicopter was a vast city. It stretched twice the length of the plains, and no major damage was done as far as one could tell from above. Havoc landed the machine onto the very entrance of this city. The trio stepped out and began to walk alongside the ruined cobblestone walkway that had been stained with blood years ago. It was a wonder that Mother Nature couldn't clean this place as evidenced by falling houses and the presence of blood everywhere--some fresh and some old. A tumbleweed rolled past, a gust of wind propelling its rolling marathon.

"Holy shit. Mom never told me this happened." Havoc said, morbidly impressed by the sight.

"Mom told me some kind of war happened here." Nick replied with a nod. "Never thought it'd be this bad, though."

The group stopped at a sound. It wasn't a scream, but a sound made by a living creature nonetheless. They tensed up, but not necessarily in fear. They had to tread cautiously. They kept following the walkway in silence, weary that something might strike should a sound be made.

After a while, they saw it.

Multitudes of Gryphon bodies, most likely years old. Somehow, they didn't decay that much. Some had arrows, some were decapitated and some had their wings cut off. One had a stab wound and others had slash marks. One had bullet holes in its cranium and another looked black, charred, and mangled beyond recognition. Some even had bite marks on their horribly twisted necks, and black feathers lay scattered around only those bodies.

And the whole place reeked of death, smoke, and war.