The life and times of an Earth Pony.

by SouthpawFighter614

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Adventure
Length: 10260

A fic based off of an idea that popped into my head. based on my view of Eq. Hist.

Terra Firma was a simple earth pony. He never expected to be chosen as the first cartographer of early Equestria, before the monarchy came to be. Comments and Ratings are greatly appreciated. I want to know your honest opinion on my first finished fic. If you like it, say so, if you hate it say so. Tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly. It all helps me improve.

I've decided to make this a standalone story, instead of tagging it as my OC's fic. The story will not change, just Shadow's name and appearance, and some of his backstory.

Published 2012-03-16 06:04:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-06-09 22:26:20 UTC

Part 1: Origins and Entourages

Terra Firma was born and raised by Earth Pony parents who owned an apple farm and lived in a town with a library. He grew up both with strength and slightly above-average intelligence. From a young age he was In-tune with his innate earth pony magic. Born in the tropical regions of old Equestria, if he was not helping on his parents’ farm, he was off fishing and exploring the lands around his home, sometimes staying out over the night only to return bright and early in the morning to aid on the farm. More often than not he was found with another young colt, not much older than himself, named Northern Skies . North was gifted with an inventive mind, always tinkering with this or that.

Though earth ponies were common in his tropical home, North and Terra were near inseparable as they got older. When he was settling down for the evening, Terra was nearly always buried in books about Martial Arts, History and Science. he took to Martial Arts mostly, and so learned about something called “Samurai” from the time of humans. They were incredible warriors, living by a strict code of honor and pride in one’s emperor and self. They were said to have extraordinary powers. They wielded a pair of blades known as “Daisho”, which consisted of one short blade, called a Wakizashi, and a longer blade, named a Katana.

After he had grown a few years, Terra had the town blacksmith forge a single blade for him. He realized that the samurai had to have been much larger and stronger than most ponies, and so were able to wield two separate blades, but he was a pony, so he found these weapons extremely difficult to wield. He never thought conflict would exist in his happy little world, but Terra was quite diligent in his practicing. It gave him something to do when he got bored of exploring and reading, and who knows, the skill may have come in handy at some point.

As the years passed, Terra grew to be quite a strong and powerful Stallion. Soon, the local Security Force took notice of him, and he was recruited to protect and serve his home. He gladly accepted the invitation, and began training with the force, and excelled at matters that required bold, brash decision making, and tumultuous negotiations. Also, Northern Skies had offered to join into the security force to be beside him. After all, Terra was his best friend, and he wanted to protect him as much as Terra wanted to protect others.  And they never let rank or merits get in the way of being on equal footing with each other. Although Shadow outranked North by several measures, North had his merits as well, especially his gifts of navigation and tactics. Navigation was North’s main talent, as signified by the golden and blue Compass Rose on his flank.

By this time, several years had passed, North and Shadow had  earned their Spirit Marks. Shadow’s was a golden pair of scales, which stood out quite well against his Earth brown mane, and forest green coat. He felt that this meant he was supposed to be a type of negotiator or arbiter, and it showed in his mannerisms and actions. Oftentimes he was always trying to find peaceful solutions to several types of conflicts, from minor spats between young fillies and colts, to land and territory arguments between families. By this token, he became known for this while in the Security Force. He also proved to be a competent leader when the situation called for it.

Within five years, he was given his own mission and his own partner to carry it out. To this end, he immediately requested North's assistance. He was to be an exploratory liaison for his home, charged with mapping out the routes between the civilizations of Equestria. He is sometimes credited in the history books of New Equestria, as the first cartographer of the land.

This fact was often credited to another expeditionary team formed several years later. But where there was exploration and gaining of knowledge, there was also conflict and arguing, sometimes ending peacefully, other times not. These conflicts were where Terra really proved his mettle. His constant practice with his blade proved useful sometimes. He never had to kill any pony, thankfully, but it still upset him to pull his weapons on a fellow Equestrian. Usually a few good hits would chase away agitators, other times a simple exchange of coins or gifts satisfied the other Tribe leaders or ruling party. In this method, Terra and North made their way North and Northwest.

The pair would often find themselves bickering over routes, but would usually always resolve it peacefully

North and Shadow often traded with other ponies with their same intentions, establishing routes that would develop into modern trade and postal routes. Also on their wanderings, Shadow and North were eventually joined by a pair of pegasi twin brother, aptly named Speed Razor and Sky Razor. Speed Razor was quite fast, though not horribly nimble or maneuverable, and Sky Razor was his exact opposite, Agile both in air and on foot. They grew into roles mainly as scouts, and helped quite immensely on the off chance that North got lost. Their incessant bickering often grated on Terra's nerves, but sometimes, they were right to be bothered about a given situation. This turned the team even closer, as there were times that the party was saved by Speed or Sky's judgment.

The Razor Brothers proved to be apt combatants, coming from a Pegasus family of warriors and hunters. Sky Razor was jet black with a shocking red mane, and Speed Razor was a crimson red with a black mane. Speed Razor’s mark was a black arrow, and Sky Razor’s mark was a red arrow. Speed Razor was more quiet and introverted, always thinking or looking ahead into the distance. Sky Razor enjoyed doing flips and loops and such while flying, and was reflected in his playfully competitive, though well meaning demeanor. Soon a cook also joined their entourage, often providing entertainment, food, and occasional insight. A bard by trade, Silver Platter enjoyed nothing more than feasting, and was not a very strong combatant, which was offset by his nature lore of healthful, healing herbs and plants. Even after a rough day of exploring, oftentimes every pony went to bed well fed and sleepy, and woke up refreshed, usually with mint tea.

If Shadow Foot’s negotiations went sour, often Silver Platter’s meal’s would smooth over differences. The others of the expedition swore he was hiding some type of other magical skill, which wouldn’t surprise them considering he was a snow-white stallion unicorn with a mane of fiery orange.

Part 2: Emerging Conflict

Part 2: Emerging Conflict

“Where there is land, there will be war”, quoted Terra to North as they were poring over their most recently completed regional map. According to locals, several tribes were forming loose alliances with each other because of the sheer amount of land up for grabs in young Equestria. Some ponies allied with others of the same breed, others yet met up and came together with those who shared ideals and beliefs. Through this, small dozen-or-so tribes merged into powerful forces of conquest, conglomerates of several tribes and factions.

Over time, Terra and North came to calling those factions the “New Equestrians” and the “Old Equestrians”. New Equestrians valued the beliefs of exploration, trade, and fairness to all creatures of the land. “Old Equestrians” felt that there was no need to merge into larger communities, and felt it was their virtue to keep the old beliefs sacred and untouched. Ironically enough, O.E. was marginally larger than N.E. Old Equestrians often sought blood and battle to save their beliefs; New Equestrians were trying to establish trade routes and technological advancements that would drastically increase the life expectancy of all creatures of the land.

North and Terra sided with N.E, as this was their personal belief. The pegasus brothers sided with O.E. They never wanted part of this war, but they could not leave their tribesmen behind. They were raised as such. Both sides of the once-tight-knit explorers prayed every night that they would never come face to face in open conflict.  As the months of marching and negotiations came to years, neither side was willing to step down. Therefore, battle was almost a weekly affair, both sides suffering casualties. Even North, who shied away from open conflict, was adorned with a scar along his chest, where he got caught by a mean Old Equestrian’s horn. Currently, North’s side was heavily bandaged with nearly-fresh blood stains in the wrappings, where he caught a particularly nasty kick from a huge earth pony, even bigger than Terra.

As he was taking a rare rest, Silver Platter tended to North. Terra was even more scarred, eventually almost losing an eye. His blade was no longer a brilliant polished shine, and it was adorned with blood stains from countless victims he never wanted to kill. He examined himself in a silver mirror he had found upon a young colt that had gotten involved in conflict. The young colt was not much older than 15 years, and Terra had tried talking him out of fighting, but the young colt was headstrong and Idealistic, and fought hard. Terra had no choice but to strike him down, sliding his short blade in between his ribs and into his heart, while the colt was distracted with North’s presence.

Terra by now was tall and strong, standing a full head higher than most other full grown ponies. As Terra introverted into himself under a waterfall a few hundred yards away from base camp, he almost stuck North when he approached a little too quickly for Terra’s liking.

“Terra, Terra! Where the hell are you?!” North called out and nearly ran face first into a mean looking blade.

Terra awoke from his trance, eyeing North. “I thought you knew not to run up to me like that, North?”

he said in his gravelly voice, putting away the blade into its sheath upon his side.In the increased conflicts, Terra had swapped out his longer, traditional blade for a shorter one.

North looked rather excited, which was rare. North plopped next to Shadow, assuming an air of aloofness, in this rare respite between conflicts. Shadow wondered why North was excited.

North piped up, “The Oldies have surrendered the western line to us, this means we can move in and begin cleanup and restoration, and some well needed R and R” he said to Terra, with a wink. “I hear this place has some of the best drink and food in this region, said to have magical properties even!” This meant he and Terra would be setting out soon, to the west line. This meant at least a few hours’ march, with he and North leading their squadron.

North and Shadow now commanded an eight-pony squad of scouts and negotiators, and were always first to the line, first in the fray. Nine ponies it actually contained, for Silver Platter refused to leave his comrades’ sides. Silver carried his own Rapier, adorned with his family crest and name. His normally vibrant orange mane was now candy red, and he had admitted to his friends that he loved playing with his hairstyle by magic. Currently it was cut short, resembling the famous zebra haircut from the Zebra tribes of the south. With a disgruntled huff, Terra stood up, stretching his long, powerful legs and back. He was still hurting from the battle two days ago. He eyed the silver mirror, thinking about the young colt. He hoped his son would not have to live in a world of conflict, and had the same wonderful upbringing Terra himself had. He had kept the plate, as a chilling reminder of what he fought against. No young colt or filly deserved the young one’s fate.

As Terra marched towards base camp, North trailing him, he shook some leaves out of his mane, and began conversing with North. North had a power over Shadow that always calmed him down, with his aloof demeanor and sheer ability to examine any grim situation and find hope or light in it. Shadow rarely ever got excited over R and R, but weeks of endless fighting and negotiating had drained him, and he would happily welcome the drink, food, and lovely young mares who admired war heroes.

After some initial work was done, that is. The line was held relatively well by the local guards and militia, and minor damage had accosted the town or its people. As they approached the small town, noises of hammers, lumber, and shouts of construction orders rang throughout the town. The squad was charged with rebuilding the local barracks and mess hall, and they knocked the jobs out within the day. As they finished, Terra and North heaved contented sighs. Daylight was just dwindling to twilight, and so, Terra and North had time to kill. They went to the barracks with a couple bottles of some good cider, fermented for months, and some large plates of roughage and hay. They settled into their office and began conversing, reminiscing over the good times. As they sipped and chomped, they instantly felt all stress and hurt and worry melt away, allowing them to go back to how they used to be.

They began telling stories about the time before war, when they were young, intrepid explorers, looking to have a little adventure. As hours wore on, so did the night, Terra and his cohort getting sleepy. They got up, each consuming a little more than they should have, and staggered out into the barracks, seeking refuge in the shape of large, meticulously made beds, that could easily hold three ponies each. These were C.O. beds, not the cots that grunts and underlings slept on. While the cots were comfy, there was nothing like an overstuffed hay and grass mattress. Soon, they were both out cold, snoring contentedly, goofy grins on their faces.

Part 3: Heat of Battle

Part 3:

Shadow and North awoke with a start. There was a heavy pounding at the Commander’s Office door. Shadow unlocked and flung open the door with a quick sweep of his horn and two militia ponies barged in, falling over each other. They were form the farthest outpost, and were sent directly here to fetch these two in particular. The O.E. Faction had only regrouped, not surrendered, and were launching a full assault within the hour, with swelled ranks no less. Shadow knew this was going to be a hell of a fight and there was no way out. He immediately barged out of the room, North hot on his hooves. They had an hour to organize the militia ponies and their own army. Shadow immediately began barking orders, startling all soldiers within the barracks. Earth ponies donned armor and weapons, Pegasus ponies were flowing out of the upstairs in waves, and Unicorn Units readied their magical talents. As more and more equines awoke and readied for the fight of their lives, Shadow cocked his head to North. This time they were definitely unsure if they would make it out of this alive. They then vowed if only one of them should make it, they would leave immediately for their homeland and inform the others. North cracked Shadow with a hoof and told him if he ever spoke like that again he would kill Shadow himself. With wry smiles they parted ways, each being needed in a different part of town.

Meanwhile, Silver Platter was busy rousing the rest of his patrol. With grunts and protesting, they each roused and got prepared for the coming battle. They donned their respective accoutrements and made a beeline for town. Shadow ran to Commander Goldmane’s personal office to receive his orders. The Commander was already up to his ears in messages from the various patrols. Apparently, The Oldies numbers had swollen to double what they were a few days ago, and carried even Griffins, Pegasi, and Unicorns. The situation was dire at best, and they knew if they expected to try at victory, they would need reinforcements from the south and east. Hunters and Shamans from the Zebra lands in the south, definitely. Pegasi and Unicorns, also. The Earth ponies were no doubt strong and reliable fighters, but they simply did not have the edge that magic and flight gave other species. Only Pegasus could compete with Griffins for air superiority, and unicorns were the only big weakness of other unicorns. Shadow knew this all too well. He would really have to watch his back in this one.

North, being a Pegasus himself, was fully aware of the situation of dogfights with other Pegasi. It was one of his first real conflicts that North had learned the true talents of Pegasi. At the opposite of town was North, collaborating with another Pegasus unit comprised of 2 other Pegasi. They would serve as Air Recon, notifying ground units of troop movements, numbers, and positioning. This position they would alternate with two other three-pony teams. And there were few other Pegasus as talented as North with strategy. He knew he would not see Shadow again for days, maybe weeks, and he only could hope that his friend would make it through this. Shadow wished the same thing; he felt it in his heart. And he knew he would be reunited with North eventually. But their task at hand was all that mattered right now. After getting a grasp of routes and flight plans, North and his team elected to take the first patrol and give an edge to the ground troops anxiously awaiting the impending flood of enemy troops. North said one last blessing before he took off lightly, and soon was trailed by two other Pegasus. He hadn’t gotten their names down quite yet, but it didn’t matter. They had a job to do. Formalities would come later.

Speaking above the din of the flowing wind around them, North shouted to the others to split up and keep a 10-foot distance between each other. That way, if spotted by another air unit or ground unit, they could easily split off and flank for combat or keep combat to a minimum. North was not ready for what he saw next. Off in the distance, another air unit, only two Pegasus. But these were not normal Pegasus. The all-too familiar colors of Speed Razor and Sky Razor dominated against the brilliant blue. But they were outfitted in war regalia, spikes protruding from certain pieces of the light, flexible plant-weave armor. A strafe or dive from either of the twins was going to be deadly. North had seen this first hand. He swallowed hard, and braced himself for what had to be done, if he was given the chance.

Shadow was met by another team of 3 Earth Ponies and 2 Unicorns. He led his own squad of war unicorns, wielding blade and magic, same as he. Names were lost to the din of ponies running here and there, shouting orders, taking orders, and the general chaos before a fight. Shadow’s mission was much more…involved than North’s. He was to lead this brigade into the front line, blasting and slashing whatever was in his way that was not a friendly pony. There were to be no prisoners and no quarter given. The Old Equestrians were mostly warriors, born and raised for bloodshed and leaving bodies in their wake. Shadow was not a weakling by any measure, but he was certain the battle-hardened warriors of the opposing army would not show any mercy. As Shadow and his platoon followed the rough path ahead of them, all senses were tuned to their highest parameters. Years of meditation and concentration sharpened Shadow’s senses to what he called “The Above”. Every sound, every color, every pool of shadow and stream of light stood out. Nothing, not even some of the most experienced warriors could get close to Shadow when he was in the above. He was not about to see one of his platoon die. Keeping a crimson ball of concentrated magic at his horn’s tip, they proceeded. Each footstep faded into the background. At least the footfalls of his comrades did. Every other sound stood out. Birds quietly breathing, scared in their trees, snakes slithering under rocks, rodents and small mammals disappearing into the brush. All these sounds were unique. Then a twig snapped, twenty yards ahead. Shadow paused, listening again. Footstep, snapped twig.

Shadow barked a warning. “Show yourself, creature of shadow, before I light you up with my friend, Mr. spell-ball!” Just then, a flurry of claw swipes and a screech of rage pierced the air. Rust-colored feathers flew and blew, and Shadow knew this was no ordinary creature. They had crept up on a Griffin detachment’s camp and were clearly unwelcomed. Shadow immediately fired his crimson death cannon, scorching the rust colored creature that had nearly taken his face off. The rest of his squad flew into action, blades cutting the air like razors. Several different colored orbs of magic also made their way into the fray, exploding against trees or unwary victims. The trees were too thick to fly in, but Griffins were no slouches when it came down to tooth-and-nail fighting. Gifted with claws of lion and eagle, and a beak upon their face as deadly as their claws, Griffins were supreme fighters, in the sky our out of it. As the fight wore on, both parties were fighting for their very survival.

North blew past the Pegasus brothers, and they returned the sentiment, until Speed Razor recognized a certain Spirit Mark. The golden Compass Rose that belonged to North.  One of the most brilliant strategists he’d ever met, and not someone to be toyed with. Speed Razor banked off and flipped, giving chase to True North. He knew what needed to be done, but would try his damnedest to not let that happen. His years with North and Shadow were some of his best, and he often looked upon them with fondness. He would not have left their party if it were not for an urgent call back home shortly before this whole war. The Razor Brothers were not aware that the dawn of war was upon them, and quickly returned back home upon hearing of some tragedy that had befallen their Chieftain. They found out that the Chieftain was deathly ill with no known cure for what ailed him. The chieftain, also being their father, demanded their presence at his deathbed. The Brothers were sent to war shortly after the Chieftain’s passing. Shaking his head clear of the thoughts from the past, Speed Razor reverted onto the task at hand. He would have to do his best to stop North and his squadron from ratting out their troop movements.

Part 4: The Calm after The Storm

The first hour soon melded into more hours, then eventually into a full day of fighting. Both sides suffered heavy casualties as the day progressed. Shadow and his team had barely emerged victorious that evening. The Griffins were tougher than they’d imagined, and went hoof to claw with Shadow and his team for hours. Only after Shadow had caught the commander of the squad in the chest with a superheated ball of magic, did they retreat. The unlucky Griffin now sported a scorch mark where feathers used to be. It looked like somebody had shattered a piece of glass on the commander’s chest. Shadow wasn’t entirely unscathed either, emerging from the fight with bite and claw marks all along his sides and even missing the lower 6 inches of tail hair. He still had the entire length of his tail. But not sported a ridiculous bald patch at the base which he laughed about later. It grew back after months, though. From using so much magic and energy, Shadow was wiped out and had to sleep, so he and his battle-scarred team had headed back to the barracks to catch who knows how much sleep before they were roused for patrol or battle.

North’s fight had similar results. As a familiar voice bellowed his name from a distance, North looked back and realized he was being pursued by Speed Razor, which never was a good thing. Even at full flight speed, North could not outrun Speed Razor’s expertly trained wings. Speed Razor put just enough space between himself and North to do a 180 turn and land a pair of hooves right below North’s right wing joint. It was just enough force to bruise the muscles. North's wings immediately seized up. That was not a good thing. North began a spiral towards the ground, his vision alternating between blue sky and green and brown turf. Moments before he hit the ground full force, one of North’s squad members caught him and eased his momentum just enough to send him into a sort of flip-roll, careening through the underbrush at nearly 30 miles per hour. Suffering bruised ribs and muscles, and his right wing broken, North was grounded for two months at minimum. He’d be orchestrating the ground forces for the next two months, if the war lasted that much longer.

It had been roughly 10 years since North and Shadow set out from home, and almost two years since this silly idealistic war started. They were both nearly 30 years old now, and stronger and wiser than they could ever be had they stayed home. It was high time for a visit to the homeland, so after leaving intel and strategies with their commanding officers, The two friends were given a month’s leave to recover and recuperate after such fierce fighting. They had really beaten back the Old Equestrians this time, when the Zebra clans had arrived two days after the fighting had started. The new arrivals, with their lifestyle of combat and magic, were instrumental in the resulting victory. For now, the Zebras and the local military could hold the line until the Pegasus and Unicorns arrived, and then they would make a full march to the Old Equestrians’ capital, squashing anything in their paths. This war had to be ended now, before countless hundreds more died. There had already been nearly 2000 casualties on both sides in the two years, and everyone was feeling the strain on resources.

As North and Shadow guided their weary bodies home, they passed the time by recounting stories of all they had seen and done and learned, or sang songs taught to them by  various friendly tribes. They passed the nights by firelight and food, Silver Platter joining them after a couple days. Silver had lost an ear and almost lost an eye in the fighting, and was deemed next to useless for scouting missions, as he could only hear halfway. It took the trio nearly a week to get home, and when they did they found quite a surprise.  Non-Combatant refugees had started moving into their hometown and the surrounding area, swelling the population and economy by nearly double. Along with the influx of trade goods and textiles, many young mares had also chosen to settle down here.

They shied away from the horrors of battle and conflict, preferring to live out their days relatively peacefully, away from the front lines. The new young beauties had become quite captivated by the three returning war heroes. Three in particular had captivated our heroes as well. They were but young mares who had just received their Spirit Marks when they had left their homelands to live here, and had even met these three at one point before. Though time was not so friendly to our young gents, it was quite the opposite for the three beautiful mares. Dusk Glitter was a beautiful black-coated mare with a shocking red mane. Her sister, Dawn Glitter, was a lavender colored mare with a golden mane. And some say the most beautiful of the three was the one who caught Shadow’s attention.

Standing as tall as him, but graceful and sleek, was Lunar Destiny, a white mare with a deep blue mane, the very color of the sky itself. Her Spirit Mark was a sun and moon as one. Her coat seemed to be flecked with silver, but Shadow was uncertain of this. At any rate, Shadow was immediately stricken by her beauty, which in all his days of wandering and fighting, had never happened. Sure, he’d had his share of young flesh, but Destiny’s attitude was not that of a common Unicorn mare. She always carried herself proud and tall, and spoke with a voice and gentle as a summer breeze. Some say that she had traces of royalty in her. But this mattered not to our hero, Shadow. He loved this mare because of what she had done for her home. She led her entire village here, after Shadow had described his homeland to her as he was passing through her village. Some of the first conflicts of the war had started only miles from her home, and she could not bear to see anyone hurt. So with much urging and pleading, all her fellow ponies from her homeland began the month long trek here. Destiny was in her own right, a war hero. The month’s leave flew by all too quickly for our heroes, but there was one last push for total victory and Shadow and North had no choice but to return to the front lines, only a day’s travel away from the O.E. Capital.

UPDATE!

Long story short, this fic is being put on hiatus until I polish and overhaul it quite a bit. Due to some very helpful advice

from Stalin The Stallion and MazzyRazzy, I realized the sheer amount of flaws and general crappiness that could easily

have been caught if I did not rush this fic's 4 chapters. So I regret to inform you watchers and favoriters, that there will be

no more chapters added to this anytime soon. I'm branching off into other territories, too. I've been meaning to write a

shipfic since I started writing for fimfiction, And also I'm gonna work on some one-offs. SOrry everyone.

Part 5: Final Resolution

This was the moment the New Equestrians had waited for. In less than 24 hours, the rest of the forces would be scattered around the Old Equestrians' Capital City. As far as Intel went, all of the Oldies had been chased back to their capital from their outlying territories. With half of the Pegasi and Zebra forces guarding the way home, there was a very, very slim chance that any messengers or spies would make it past the varying roadblocks and patrols. As the hours dragged on, soldiers, officers, grunts, and all manner of fighters were fidgety and eager. Anticipation never sat well with experienced warriors, so they spent their time sparring, playing gambling games, or making sure all their body parts and weapons were in working order.

In a tent deeper in the camp, North and Shadowfoot were sitting with bated breath. For the first time in months, they were actually asked to work together to act as a right flank, entering from the hillsides and forest, pegasi dropping flash kegs and incendiary rounds built from hay and tar, enchanted to flame up on impact. The Earth ponies, being the bulkier of the three races, would act as forwards. whatever was in their path earned a snapped neck, and the unicorns, some being healers, others being pure combatants, would mop up whatever was left with silent kills and last rites. Shadowfoot had jettisoned his secondary blade so he could keep up with the Earth ponies on their rampage.

Shadow would retrieve it later, if there was a later for him. flipping his blade back and forth, to and fro, he was practicing his timing for his strikes. He noticed the blade moved incredibly fast when wielded singulary instead of in tandem with another blade. This also made it possible to drop the blade from above the trees or push through cover. In turn, each strike was a flash of metal and a satisfying "snick" noise, when tested against trees. In short, every stroke was a clean, silent kill. Being outfitted with some Royal Guard armor was a bonus. It was surprisinlgy light and sturdy, and barely limited his movement at all. He was quite pleased.

True North was almost as occupied. His wing had healed fairly quickly, and with the help of two unicorn medics, he was back in flying order in no time. Outfitted with light, woven armor worn only by the most revered of Pegasi warriors, North was getting used to moving around. His old plant weave armor was surpisinlgy restrictive to his wings, but the pegasi armor was built for constant flight. Light and breathable, it was almost like flying naked.  With a satisfied, toothy grin, North munched on some apples and carrots that had been left for him by a runner. He had to eat before the conflict started, otherwise he would have no energy for flight.

Normally, North and Shadow would have jettisoned such comforts as armor, but they had something to live for again. They had found out their parents were taken as prisoners in a raid on a nearby settlement, only a few miles from their homeland. There was no news given of prisoners, so they assumed the worst. But now they had young mares waiting for them, ready to settle down and start a family, if the boys lived long enough.

As first light approached, Shadow and North embraced as brothers often do. They would be apart for the next few hours, though on the same formation. And they would only see each other after the initial assault. They had always come back unscathed, but this was going to be a literal hell of a fight. The Oldies were still almost even on numbers, on home turf, albeit desperate. There was no middle ground this time and one side would end up nearly wiped out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the right flank moved through the woods and into the open countryside, all eyes were in all directions. Any sightings by a scout, sentry, or wandering Oldie could buck up the whole plan. First the flanking squads would move in, and when the Oldies tried to retreat to the north or south, there would be battalions upon battalions of fighters waiting for them. It was kind of like squeezing an orange from all sides until all the juice spurted from the fruit. As Shadow scowled at another wasted life taken by his hooves, he risked a glance above and saw his brother, North, flapping along silently, a small orange and black blob in his hooves. One of the incendiary bombs. He himself had formulated this brilliant little device. Magically enchanted to burst on impact and light anything within 20 feet ablaze, this was truly an instrument of death if dropped on a pony. Imagine collateral damage to houses and such, which were moslty buitd of hay, wood, and tar. Snapping back into search and destroy mode, Shadow took aim at an Oldie a few meters in front of him and shot his blade forth like a spear.

North was not at all happy about his job. He never liked fire to start with, much less weaponizing it. But this simply had to be done in order to produce the desired shock and awe effect. He was not supposed to drop this precious cargo on ponies, only on clusters of homes. He carried two more under each wing, giving him a total of 5 flaming death balls before he had to retreat and reload, or fight. It was his choice what he wanted to do. Looking at his two wingponies who served as guardians, they were outfitted much the same as he was. but they also carried flash kegs, designed to make a briliant flash  when dropped. they would most likely stun and disorent anyone within a few feet, friend or foe. This allowed the ground patrols to move in slowly, taking advantage of the confusion to snap necks or slice enemies.

These tactics were more brutal than anything they had used before, but the Oldies were just as brutal, kidnapping and killing innocent mares and fillies, and requisitioning the stallions and young colts to fight for their causes, or die where they stood.

Part 6: Day's End

Shadow was truly exhausted this time. He had fought restlessly, tooth and nail, hoof and tail, for hours upon hours so far. Hunkered down behind a now decimated building, he heard hoof steps not a few inches from him. He whipped around with a fierce snarl, and narrowly missed a wicked looking dagger wielded by an all-black pony with fierce red eyes, much the color of freshly spilt blood. Shadow took a couple steps back, dodging other swipes. If he could get off of this wall, he would have more room to move. Shadow took a menacing step forward, lowering his horn and readying a charge. Barreling down upon the black stallion like a red monster, Shadow slammed full force into his adversary’s chest, narrowly missing the bulging vein in the side of its neck.

The black fighter back flipped twice and landed hard on his side with a sickening crunch, the dagger immediately leaving his mouth and skittering a few feet away. Shadow proceeded to pull his blade from the sheath on his back, and sunk it deep into his enemy. The result: another dead stallion, another piece of Shadow’s soul gone. He had never wanted any part of this stupid idealistic war. But fate had other plans for him. He had to find somewhere to rest or he was not going to be any use.

North was heading back for one last wave of explosives, when a blur suddenly smashed into him in what seemed like an instant. This was not a friendly, judging by its’ armor. Recovering in a flash and righting himself almost instantly, North faced the punk. And sure enough it was Speed Razor, in full war regalia, and on the edge of insanity. Razor’s pupils were naught but pea sized circles, and he had a sadistic grin on his face. North knew he would have to put him down for good. North took off, hoping to purchase a few seconds’ time, to ready an aerial dive and try to knock Razor’s balance off.

Razor was much quicker than he’d anticipated, and was keeping pace with North. There was only one other alternative North could try. A full speed dive, and a sudden upward pull a few meters from the ground. He had very little energy left, and it would be expended quickly. At least with gravity on his side, he could buy a few moments to rest, and brace for the enormous force needed to come out of his dive. And hopefully Razor was too possessed by hatred and insanity that his self preservation switch was turned off.

North suddenly pulled upward, climbing higher and higher until his wings finally gave out. Then he let himself drop after pulling his wings inward, creating a powerful spiral vortex behind him. The vortex was turning blue and gold, which had never happened before. It pulled Razor in close behind North. Little did Razor know this was not going to end well for him. Razor felt invincible, possessed by seething hatred and insanity, after watching his twin brother taken out by a large wooden spear twice his length. It was launched from the ground, right at the edge of the forest, and that’s all it took.

North felt something like electrical energy crackling along his body, which was melding into the vortex he was producing. He no longer felt weak or exhausted, and his wings felt as light as air itself. North didn’t know where this sudden rush of energy was coming from, but he really hoped it didn’t leave him. Especially since beforehand, the time he hoped that would be enough to recharge his body, wasn’t enough. He knew it wasn’t going to be enough after he started the dive.

North counted in his head, readying his pull upward. He hit 12 meters, then, moments before he was a bloody pile on the green turf, North snapped his wings outwards, and pumped them fiercely, just barely getting out of the way of Razor. Fearing his wings would break; North looked down at the ground and did not like what he saw. But he knew from the small crater and bloody mess that the deed was done. A sudden pain leapt across his mind and body, and North dropped like a stone. He plummeted to the ground at nearly 40 miles per hour, and landed with a sickening thud. He instantly blacked out. He woke up who knows how many hours later, with two broken wings and several broken or fractured ribs, along with several cuts and bruises. He thanked the gods he was still alive, and laid back in the field cot. He earned his rest he thought, and fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.

Shadow finally found somewhere relatively safe to rest. He was down in the basement of a burned out building, a small fire lit so he could see around the area. He wasn’t alone. A colt, not much older than eight or ten years, was sleeping in a pile of rice and flour sacks. From what Shadow could see, he wasn’t in war regalia, but he looked like he was malnourished and dirty, his fur matted here and there with dust and soot. Careful not to wake the sleeping young colt, Shadow covered him with his cloak. It was very cold down here. Then he saw the most frightening sight in his life. Two dead ponies, male and female so It appeared. Shadow nearly lost what was left of his breakfast, and covered the bodies, coming to a stark, horrifying truth.

Those two dead bodies must have been the young colt’s family, murdered in cold blood by soldiers. He didn’t know any pony would be physically capable of that, but he was wrong. He could tell by the sword marks on the bodies that they were tortured and killed, probably in front of the little colt. Shadow was filled with the very hatred he had tried so long to keep controlled, but he was too exhausted to do anything. He was absolutely drained, and could barely walk, much less hunt Oldies down.

Instead, he resigned to keep the fire going until the colt woke up, and after trying to convince the colt to go with him, would take the colt to base camp, and then back home with him. Shadow had to rest now, though. Using a last spark of energy, Shadow lit a piece of tar-covered timber, and threw it into the pile. The tar would burn for a while, and the smoke would be masked by every other burning building in the vicinity. Then Shadow slept, dark, cold, and dreamless.

The Final Chapter.

Shadowfoot had awoken late the next morning. And what surprised him was what he wasn’t hearing. Screams of death and agony had faded. The sounds of cracking timbers weren’t present, either. He heard a rustling directly to his left. Lying next to him was the little colt that he had wrapped up last night. He was indeed a cute little thing. He had a dark brown coat and black mane, and hadn’t even earned his Spirit mark yet.  The fire Shadow had set last night must have died down sometime while he was asleep. And Shadow surmised that the colts had gotten horribly cold and lain next to the warmest thing he could find after the fire. Shadow didn’t horribly mind. He knew better than to drop his guard so soon, so he nudged the colt awake gently, and tried to explain to the colt what was going on.

Northern Skies was beside himself with grief. Shadow had not made it back to base camp yet, and Northern hadn’t seen him at all during that morning. But there was packing up and cleaning up that needed to be done in the wake of the last battle, and they needed all the hooves they could get. As North helped tear down various tents and temporary structures, he kept a wayward eye out for his brother in arms, hoping that he would return safely to base camp sometime soon. Moving from project to project, Northern couldn’t help but worry. His wings and ribs still pained him, but the Medics had done a decent job of patching him up.

Shadowfoot had scared the colt at first, but the little one really had nowhere else to go.  He listened to Shadow’s story, and reluctantly agreed to go with him. The colt was still visibly shaken from his experience. The colt’s name was Azure Dream. Shadow cut off a bit of his own cloak to wrap Azure in, and they proceeded slowly out of the wrecked basement, Shadow’s senses on high alert. Shadow popped his head out firstly, and then instructed the colt to follow him and stay close. He wasn’t about to let another innocent fall if he could help it. As they made their way out of the once grand city, Shadow’s eyes were everywhere, until they safely made it behind friendly lines.

Cries could be heard throughout camp. Northern Skies had thought another attack had started, so he galloped straight toward the source, forgetting his ribs were broken. North collided face first with a familiar crimson unicorn. After Northern shook his head a few times to clear his head, he was staring straight into the steel blue eyes of his best friend. The moment was awkward at best, and Northern hugged his friend, tears in his eyes. Laughing, Shadow pushed North off of him and went to search for something. When Shadow found what he was looking for, North was introduced to him. A little brown colt with blue eyes much like Shadow’s.  Azure Dream he was called. Bowing low to be eye level with the little colt, he almost got bucked in the face by the fierce little guy. North smiled at this. After what he had been through, he still had fight in him.

Azure dream was filled with inexplicable anger when his big red friend was tackled by another big white pony with wings. All Azure wanted to do was buck him in his silly face, and acted upon instinct. Shadowfoot had calmed Azure and explained that the big white pony was his best friend. Shadow hiked Azure up onto his back and walked toward the commander’s tent, to check in and make sure there weren’t any other missions that needed to be carried out. Shadow had been given the next couple hours to himself, because most of the breakdown had been taken care of already.

Azure was getting hungry. He lightly tapped Shadow on his shoulder. After rousing Shadow’s attention, they went to the meal tent and found something to fill their bellies. Azure ate ravenously, as if he hadn’t eaten for days, and in fact, he hadn’t. After his parents’ ruthless murder by a pair of Old Equestrians, all he did was cry his self to sleep every night, and sleep the days away. He couldn’t face the corpses that were once his parents, but he had no idea where to go. That was until the red unicorn found him and took him in. Azure was sitting across from his new friend, eating in silence, wondering where he was going after this.

Shadow decided it might be a good idea to tell the little colt what was going to happen, since Shadow could read on his face that he was confused and still scared. Shadow explained that if the little colt wanted to, he could stay with Shadow in his hometown, or he could take the colt somewhere else if he wanted. Azure spoke for the first time since Shadow met him.

“Mr. Shadowfoot, I don’t have any family left or anywhere to go. I really need a home.”

At this, Shadow was surprised he had been so willing to go with him.

“Very well, then. I’d be happy to have such a brave young colt living with me.” Shadow said in his deep, gruff voice, ruffling the little colt’s mane. Azure couldn’t help but smile to himself. He finally had a friend, even if he didn’t feel like family yet. It was the first time Azure smiled in what seemed like months. Sure, it would take him a long time to get over his parents’ murder, if at all, but at least he had somewhere safe to go. While they ate, Shadow explained as much as he could about his home. He told Azure about the farms, and the other ponies, and all the new ponies that were arriving.

After their meal was over, Shadow relinquished his young charge to North’s caring hooves, while Shadow took up some of the work that was left over. Since camp was mostly broken down, Shadow decided to aid with body disposal. It was an arduous and unsettling task. While Shadow levitated corpses into a mass grave, his thoughts trailed off to what he was left with after this war was all cleaned up. He was raised as a farm pony, but he wasn’t sure if he would be able to grow food still. He forgot most of the subtle nuances of nature that his father had taught him, which seemed to also be the key to growing a large enough orchard to accommodate 40% of the townsponies’ needs.

Shadow had learned much about war, and the geography of Equestria in his time roaming the continent. Maybe he could become a Geography teacher. There was already a school back home, recently built with the influx of families with young colts and fillies. Perhaps he could take up a position as a teacher for half the day. He had a hefty amount of bits to live off of. Being one of the best swordsponies in his squad had its perks. He even had money from his cartography days. Even if he didn’t find his place right away, he could still live comfortably for a few years. Satisfied with this, Shadow focused once again on the grim task at hand.

After a few weeks, cleanup and most of the restoration of the town had been completed. Shadowfoot and Northern Skies were eager to set their hooves on the path back home, now with two more ponies than what they had left with. Silver Platter decided to make their hometown his home. He’d been a drifter for so long; he didn’t even remember where he lived before. Azure Dream was eager to have a new home, far away from the brutal murders he had witnessed. Far away from the evils that war had caused in perfectly decent ponies he had once knew and loved. Azure had nothing left. No family, no friends, save for the few he had met over the past weeks.

With a closing banquet before the once-proud New Equestrian soldiers had left for their respective homes, Shadow knew he would never forget the horrible deeds he had witnessed over the past years, but he had seen so much good happening also. Tribes formed small towns, technology had advanced, and the threat that once loomed over their heads was destroyed. Also, he had seen so many new families form, and he knew that the future of Equestria was bright. Shadowfoot set off eagerly, North at his heels, Azure beside him, and Silver platter babbling on about the café he was palnning to open up, and how he would serve all manner of food, from fancy banquets down to real, down home cooking.

Shadow had been invited a number of weeks later to some special event in the mountains just Northeast of his hometown. Apparently history was about to be made, and the first formal government was going to be formed in Equestria. As Shadow stood in the front row of the crowd assembled before the massive stone building, he was thoroughly bored. Azure was also fidgeting beside him. He had nobody to keep an eye on Azure back home, at least not today, so much to his Azure’s dismay; he had to go with Shadow.

Fanfares started sounding on the platform ahead of them. First two, then four, and finally six horns were blaring. Approaching the platform was a pony unlike any Shadow had ever seen in his travels. It, or rather, he had both a set of massive wings and a horn atop his head. Shadow had only seen pictures of these god-like beings in books. It was also twice the size of even the biggest ponies. It was called an Alicorn. Gifted with extremely powerful magic, and wings, these beings were quite rare and nearly immortal. Centuries ago they were wiped out, or so it seemed. But evidently, some must have survived.

The Regal Alicorn had ascended his platform, his future subjects awaiting him. His wife trailed him. He spoke with a voice only royalty possessed.

“My future subjects, it has come to my attention that our fair continent is in need of order and stability in the wake of the 10 years’ war against the Old Equestrian Tribes. I, Arcanus Solarshimmer, ask of you kind ponies to let me lead you into the bright new future our sons, husbands, and fathers, have built for us. Together with my wife, we promise to bring kindness, generosity, loyalty, honesty, laughter, and magic to your lives. To prove this, I will show you the true power bestowed upon me by the gods above.”

Twin beams of magic melded together on a stone pedestal set before the crowd. One beam was silver, like that of fresh clean water or moonlight. The other beam was a brilliant gold, similar only to the sun in all its might. Together, the regal Alicorns produced gems of utmost beauty, each a different color but shaped identically. A Ruby appeared, followed by an amethyst, sapphire, topaz, emerald, and a pink quartz. These were then embedded in stone orbs, forever to be preserved.

Arcanus spoke once again. “These very gems symbolize the power of unity in all things, and henceforth will be be known as the Elements of Harmony. They contain the very power that we also possess in ourselves. I implore you once again, kind ponies, to accept my leadership.”

Shadow stood there, dumbstruck. He was well aware that magic was quite powerful, especially Alicorn magic, but had no idea that such precious treasures could be assembled from nothingness. He then only did what he felt was right. He bowed, low. Azure followed suit. Eventually, every other pony in the square did, too. It was, at that moment, the Equestrian Monarchy was established. What followed that day were several hundred years of relative peace in the land. The New royalty eventually gave birth to two daughters. One they named Celestia, the other, Luna. The sisters assumed control of the throne after their parents had finally passed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~10 years later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shadow and Azure were in the orchards of the family farm, tending to some trees that had been treated roughly by the previous week’s thunderstorm. Azure had grown into a fine young colt. He was big and strong; much like his Shadow had been when he was his age. He accepted Shadow as his father for a number of years now, but this didn’t stop Azure from having nightmares about the horrors he had witnessed when he was younger.

Shadow had gotten on in years, but this didn’t stop him from buckling the living hooves out of the wrecked trees that dotted the orchard. The sooner they got these trees down, the sooner they could replace them with some of the younger saplings that had begun growing. As it turned out, Azure had a knack for growing things, and with Shadow’s knowledge behind him, they had turned the once downtrodden family farm into the biggest trader of fruits and vegetable this side of Canterlot, the royal city.  Just then, a bell was ringing outside of the main house. Shadow and Azure knew what that meant, and raced to the farmhouse, eager for a hearty supper provided by none other than their beloved wife and mother, Lunar Destiny.

Shadow was greeted warmly by his wife, with an affectionate kiss and nuzzle. Azure was greeted similarly, with a peck on the cheek. Destiny had taken a liking to the family life, and enjoyed every minute. She had also birthed two young foals, both who reflected the very opposite of their parents’ colors. Moon Shadow was a jet black earth colt with a deep red mane, and Swift Destiny was a midnight blue unicorn filly with a shocking white mane. They were as of yet too young to help with the family farm. Azure loved his brother and sister dearly, and spent every spare moment he could playing with them and educating them on the ways of farm life.

The town had become known as Ponyville by the locals, and eventually it was given its own place on the updated maps that Shadow still drew up to this day. He had kept contact with many of his brothers from the war, and they were constantly feeding him new information on towns and trade routes that had begun to form. Even though farm life was taxing, Shadow always found time to add to his maps, submitting them to the King and Queen for review and publishing. The one thing he truly enjoyed was sharing his wealth of knowledge.

Northern Skies had also settled down at this point, marrying Dusk Glitter and fathering his own colt, named Dusky Skies. Dusky was truly a site to behold, his coat taking on the color of his father’s mane, while keeping his mother’s mane color, though slightly darker. Northern Skies loved his family, and wouldn’t have his life turn out any other way, had he been given the opportunity. Northern kept constant contact with Shadow and his family, even becoming known as Uncle North to Azure and Shadow’s young foals. Their children went to school together, and were often found playing together.

North had established the first Ponyville library, which housed many of the books he had come across upon his travels throughout Equestria. North had enjoyed traveling so much; he had to share his findings with other ponies. In this respect, North had written some of these books himself. Other books Shadow had helped write, also. Even Silver Platter had a cookbook in the library. North didn’t need his money for much more than living and maintaining the library, so any spare bits he’d earned went towards buying more books.

Northern Skies soon had amassed a collection of hundreds of books, ranging from the chronicles of the war, to geography books, to history books about the monarchy they lived under. North displayed maps and notes from Shadow’s personal collection. Shadow didn’t have time to write on top of running the family farm and drawing his maps, so he gave copies of his notes to North for his library collection. The originals were locked away safely in a trunk, sealed magically to prevent damage to these precious things.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Prologue~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shadowfoot and Northern skies lived long, happy lives, and even had books written about them after they had passed. Not much is known about their families, or their descendants. Some historians say that their bloodlines still run deep into Ponyville’s history, and some historians believe that the last of their bloodline passed decades ago.

Some original copies of their works reside in the Canterlot Royal Archives, never to be read again except by the most elite of scholars, and the Royal Family themselves. Shadowfoot’s ancient trunk has never been found, and probably never will be. The old library still stands, as does the family farm.

The farm was bought out by the Apple family, and has been since renamed to Sweet Apple Acres. The Library was also renovated by one Twilight Sparkle, personal protégé of Princess Celestia herself. Rumors say that Miss Sparkle has the last remaining original copy of Shadowfoot’s final map, though its age cannot be verified due to the age of the parchment it’s on. Nor is the map displayed openly, for fear of it being stolen or harmed.

Sadly, very few ponies may ever know the true scope of the pair’s contribution to Equestrian History as a whole, for it simply cannot be captured in a book, or a thousand books. This is just a short documentation, pieced together after several decades of research. While some of this may not be wholly accurate, it’s about as close as any pony will ever get to fully knowing the history of Equestria, before the ruling monarchy came to be. There are several other individuals and groups who have compiled similar findings in other books, and while these two may not be wholly responsible for the documentation that is known, they are one of the biggest contributors.