He Who Walks The Graves
By: The Zealot
Chapter 10: … Yourself A Good Time

“... I thank you kindly Celestia, and let me assure you, nothing bad could possibly come of this.” And so ended a lengthy conversation between Celestia and I, going over all of the rules and regulations, the ups and downs, of me having a task force. We came to an agreement eventually, one I am quite happy with.

“Now, I would love to chat longer but I have taken up far too much of your time, I still have questions of your military, however, so would you happen to know where Luna might be at this hour?” Recent history hadn’t been written, I had no information on any of their military or the gryphons, I was in the dark, that needed to change.

“Well, usually Luna would be asleep, you must understand she is usually nocturnal, however, with the war going on, oh I suppose you could look in the barracks, look around for her moon and you’re likely to find her.” She replied, it did come as a surprise to me that Luna was mostly nocturnal, although I suppose her affinity for night would have something to do with that, still, interesting.

With but a nod of my head in confirmation and a wave as I left I made my way out the door and into the halls of the castle, the dark granite stone accented by paintings and tapestries, they even had stained glass windows.

“Oh this is going to be fun.”

[1189 Y.R.S. 4:20pm]

*****

I was walking across the courtyard, heading for the barracks, when I saw a company of soldiers ( I refuse to call the ‘guards’, no matter what the princesses say) finding places inside some heavily armored, well, chariots, for lack of a better word. These chariots were being pulled along be armored pegasi, I made the conclusion that these soldiers were being sent out to fight.

“Excuse me, would I be correct in assuming that you and yours are heading out to combat?” I asked the commander of the company, who had not yet entered any of the transports, he turned to face me with a look of slight shock, perhaps at not having heard me, before calming down and answering.

“Yes, yes we are. We’re being sent out as reinforcements of Qualavia, it’s a small forward position out by the frontlines. Our main objective is to make sure it doesn’t get captured, and to press forward from there.” He finished, a slight look of nervousness in his eyes, I couldn't blame him of course, he was being sent out to the frontlines.

“Well then, if you would allow me to say a prayer for your men?” I asked him, he didn’t seem to know what a prayer was, but nodded to me anyway. I stepped forward a ways, so as to better address the main force in their transports. “In the name of God, impure souls shall be banished into eternal damnation. May God and Her Majesty be with you, amen.” I gave them a salute then before walking off, a large amount of the soldiers looked bewildered at what I said, which was understandable. Hopefully the prayer would help them along their way, though.

[1189 Y.R.S. 4:32pm]

*****

It took a while to actually find Luna’s area, but eventually I found it. Damn thing was hidden away, well, maybe not. It’s not my fault indigo blends into shadows like a motherfucker. Anyway, I did find it, and after asking some of the soldiers around I was directed to the tent where Luna was supposed to be.

I knocked on the hard metal plate that was sown to the tent flap, announcing my entrance as was polite, before pushing through into the room. Upon entering I found myself looking at Luna laid out on a couch intently studying a map of the world, neat.

“Hello dear Luna, I do apologize for my intrusion, but I am in need of your help.” I spoke to her, she had noticed me as I walked in, leading to no sudden surprises on her part. Which was nice, honestly, I had seen what these princesses could do and was in no hurry to have such done to me. Honestly, how she even got that wing to break in that spot is beyond me.

“Oh, what is it that you require, Reaper? I suppose I can answer whatever questions you may have, I am not busy at the moment.” She responded to me, setting the map aside and motioning for me to sit in a chair not far from where she lay.

“Lucky I am, it seems. Well Luna, as you know, I’m helping out your troops with their tactics and whatnot. The only problem is, well, I know not of this war that you are fighting, I find myself in need of an education, at least in what allies and enemies we have. I would ask your sister, but I have already taken much of her time in conversing over other matters, also pertaining to this war. Simply put, Luna, I would request that if you have little else to do, that you teach me for a time.” Her expression had changed throughout my speaking, and at the end she seemed both amused and excited, it seemed to me that she would indeed teach me.

“Well Reaper, it is lucky for you indeed that I have nothing else to do, and that the day is not yet over, I will teach you, at least about what happens to be important to the war efforts. I suppose we should start with some geography? You will need to know the countries fighting, yes?”

[1189 Y.R.S. 4:46pm]

*****

“... thank you kindly, Luna, I find myself to be much better informed than I was previously, you are good teacher you know? Anyway, I must be off, many things to plan and items to work upon, I did promise your sister to make plans for some armor to replace that current in use by your soldiers. See you at a later date, my dear.” I called to Luna, still sitting upon her couch, as I left the room. Many hours had past, and I did indeed have a better understanding of the current situation, which was going to be useful.

It was, effectively, World War Two. Equestria played the part of America, the Gryphons playing that of Germany, a race of sapient bears played Poland, a race known as the changelings were of Britain, Italy was led by sapient and anthropomorphic dogs, France being a country of sheep, literally, Russia was inhabited by minotaur, Japan was a place of anthropomorphic cats, and finally, Canada was inhabited by a race of ponies that were crystalline in nature.

Equestria and it’s allies, the Changelings, Minotaur, Crystal Ponies, and Sheep were fighting against the Gryphons, Dogs, and Cats, due to the Gryphons having invaded and taken over the Bear country, which was, as I had said, Poland.

All of this took place upon a single continent, mind you, no seas to bother with at all. It seemed every country, save for that of the dragons, was upon one large landmass. To be fair, it was pretty cool. The changelings had interested me, as their name was unfamiliar, and upon asking what they were I was educated on them. You see, changeling where a race of insectoid pony like creatures, they fed off of emotion, and could change their bodies to the shape of pretty much any other animal. To me, they were fascinating, the world’s best infiltrators, if all I had heard stood up to reality.

After all of that instruction, I was off to my room. The room I had only just received, mind. A messenger had interrupted my lessons with a letter from Celestia apologizing for my lack of quarters and giving directions to where my chambers would be located. I was not tired, mind, no, I simply had work to do. Many things, in fact, such as armor designs. Perhaps it was unfair, but I was planning a little something for the armor, dependent upon the pony races.

I had a smile upon my face, under my helmet, and as I walked I let loose a laugh that could quite easily be classified as maniacal, it was fitting, if you think about it.

[1189 Y.R.S. 10:12pm]

Author's Note

Yes, I know it's taken a while, and yes, I am sorry. I honestly don't have much to go in here, I've been playing a lot of Dark Souls and been messing about with some other LoHAV authors, trying to help a friend of mien with her story but that means I have to catch up, as well as school, and it all just takes time. I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter, hopefully I can get the next one out quicker but I can't promise anything, as always, stay classy Fimfic ~ You're Friendly Neighborhood Author, Zealot