Born of Rage

Burning Hate

The day had only just started, and already the newly minted Minister of War, Sable Strategos, was developing an intense headache. Across from him sat a rather imposing individual, and the source of his current migraine, a Cat by the name of Felix Von Verminstrauser. Verminstrauser was a representative envoy sent to represent Kaiser Steuernhetzer , current emperor of Vorosh – a land to the far northwest of Equestria, and one that had only recently come into its own through a brutal string of unification wars.

While the official stance of the Equestrian kingdom had been one of neutrality with regard to Vorosh, it was no secret that the diarchy had sent all manner of aid and supplies to rival powers during the conflict; Both Celestia and Luna had held an extreme dislike towards the militant Cats and their ideals of peace through force of arms. Likewise, the Cats of Vorosh had always viewed the Ponies of Equestria as decadent, weak-willed and hypocritical – crying out against the war whilst surreptitiously supplying their enemies and profiting from the carnage.

When the Vorosh flatlands had been unified under the feline banner some seventy-five years prior, the entire geopolitical spectrum had been radically changed – Equestria was no longer the sole power on the continent, and the fragile web of alliances and counter-alliances had all but collapsed. War had almost been a certainty had it not been for the hard work and dedication of the Equestrian Diplomatic Corp, which managed to cobble together a tenuous peace agreement between the various nations of the continent.

Over the decades, the Empire of Vorosh expanded south and west, annexing vast tracts of land and the natural resources that they held. None thought much of it until the great Diamond Dog incursion of fifty-two years ago, when a vast fleet of marauding ships sailed across the Western Sea and made landfall in the Corbal peninsula. The next five years were witnessed to a series of raids and outright wars between the Dogs and those poor unfortunate peoples they set their sights upon.

However, in the fifth year of the incursion, the Diamond Dogs (who had settled in enough to form their own kingdom) made the mistake of raiding a small, nameless milling village within the southernmost borders of the feline Empire. The reaction had been swift and, for those watching from Equestria, frightening. From the north there came a massive army of furry soldiers – armed with a terrible assortment of new and terrifying weapons; rifles and cannons, coal powered wagons and ironclad ships. Worst of all had been the alchemical bombs and mortars they’d employed against their foes.

Within a few months the Diamond Dog kingdom had been dismantled, the Dogs themselves sent fleeing either back to the sea or deeper into the land (where they still caused all sorts of problems, even to this day). However, to the greater world watching, what really came out of the incursion was the rise of a potential threat. While the Cats did in fact repatriate those peoples displaced by the Diamond Dogs, it had only been under the condition that those peoples would remain under Voroshi protection and influence.

For the next fifty years, interaction between the two empires had been cordial, if not a little strained – while the Cats seemed to have a great deal of mastery over the physical realm, the Ponies of Equestria had something that was of equal counter – magic. So it was that neither side dared to instigate anything other than peaceful relations, a fear of mutually assured destruction ever looming above their collective heads. That was not to say that the two sides got along, heaven forbid – all manner of international incident and political warfare had come into play over the years, and the enmity ran deep.

So why then, would he be talking to a man representing Equestria’s rival? Strangely enough, it was at the request of the Kaiser of Vorosh that this meeting was to take place. It seemed that Kaiser Patzschwelt Steuernhetzer (who had only just come into power some six years prior at the death of his father) had the foresight to understand that, should Equestria fall to this great menace, his kingdom would be next. What’s more, having been educated at the Royal University of Canterlot at a young age, the Kaiser was much more amicable towards Ponies than his predecessors had been.

But even so, Sable Strategos felt no better about the current situation he was in, as Verminstrauser pressed once more, “Understand, the Kaiser has so very graciously offered up the services of over four thousand soldiers to aid you in your time of need; all he asks in return is that you withdraw aid and personnel from the Pindrall valley.” Again, the old Earth Pony could not help but scoff at such an open handed play – it was obvious why the Kaiser wanted Equestria to pull out of that valley. Vorosh had held machinations over the realm of the Porcupines for quite some time, and they no doubt intended to annex it for its rare Tungsten deposits.

With a sigh, Strategos countered, “While I am certain that her highness Princess Celestia would no doubt be humbly delighted to receive such a magnanimous offer from his lordship the Kaiser, I am not in any position to enforce such a withdrawal of people and resources; Equestria had invested a great deal of effort in helping the local people of Pindrall valley after that dreadful rabies epidemic.” If the scowl upon the Cat’s face were any indicator, then these talks were getting dangerously close to falling through.

Putting on his most diplomatic face, the old Pony offered up, “You and I both understand why we are doing this, and had these been more favorable circumstances I would dare say that the Princess herself would have gladly given you such concessions,” A bold faced lie, they both new, but it was all par for the course as he continued, “however, things as they now stand are far from favorable, and time is of extreme import; perhaps there could be some other arrangement that we might agree upon, hm?”

It would seem that his species’ natural inquisitiveness got the best of him as, with a twinkle of curiosity in his eyes, Felix asked, “You have something in mind?” That was all the Minister of War needed as he showed his hand, starting things off with both barrels by saying, “Give me access to seven thousand rifles, a full artillery unit and four Stormwagon squadrons, and I can give you the mineral rights to the black shoals and twelve-thousand square kilometers within the Fields of Plazz.”

Eyes widening in shock, the Cat looked to the floor as he thought it over. While the rifles and guns were not an issue, to give so many battlewagons was out of the question; those war machines were what gave the Feline military its edge over their enemies – to just give so many of them to the Empire’s greatest rival was tantamount to treachery! No, to give them even one Stormwagon was to allow them the opportunity to reverse engineer it. However, he could not overlook the proverbial carrot that the crafty old mule had just offered him.

The Black Shoals were a major point of contention between the two powers – while the ponies held undisputed rights to the land going back centuries; his government had always desired that strip of beach for its potent oil deposits hidden just under the surface of the waves – its seepage lending the region its name. Even greater was the offer of so many acres upon the mineralogical cornucopia that was the Fields of Plazz; a vast and arid wasteland that held within its bosom vast quantities of natural wealth – oil and coal, Iron and Copper, Bismuth, Tin and Aluminum, great veins of silver, gold, salt and Molybdenum!

While it was not the Tungsten he had been sent out to barter for, he would be a fool indeed to let such a monumental offer pass him by like this – truly these ponies were desperate! With his mind made up, Verminstrauser made his counter offer; “I can give you the cannons, and I’m willing to give you five thousand rifles, but of the battlewagons I must decline – we do not feel it is right to give away so many, no matter what the offer.” Sable Strategos’ minute frown did not go unnoticed by the astute feline – in fact it was expected; this game of back and forth was a delicate matter – concede too quickly and you appear weak, haggle too long and you appear desperate.

With a heated glare, the Equestrian Minister of War understood where the Cat was leading him, and to back away now was to admit weakness. However, to follow the current path meant that, should Equestria somehow come out of this ordeal intact, she would ultimately owe some of her survival to the weapons provided by the Kaiser of Vorosh – a powerful dose of political leverage that would undoubtedly be brought to bear in the none too distant future. Realizing that the lesser evil of the moment was the only correct course of action to be had, Strategos offered up the inevitable alternative.

“Perhaps then, it would be more to your interest to provide the Stormwagons along with the necessary personnel to crew and operate them?” The toothy grin that sprawled across Felix von Verminstrauser’s face offered no relief to the old horse - in fact, Sable Strategos would have loved nothing more than to wipe that smug grin off the cat’s face. However, he could see where the cards fell in this game, and he could only hope to tolerate it a little longer.

With velveteen smoothness the representative from Vorosh played along in mock tones, “Yes, I think that would be more than suitable, in fact, I think that this will work out quite well.” With a flourish of his furry paws, representative Verminstrauser proffered a piece of parchment and a quill as he asked, “Shall we finalize the deal then?” Swallowing his pride, Strategos took the offered pen and the two began to draft the agreement into writing…

Rainbow Dash was ecstatic. If she felt any better about her life up to this point she would undoubtedly have to have taken something for it. Last week she was surprised to learn that she was being promoted. Four days ago she was given a slot to try out for the Wonderbolts Academy of Aerobatics. This morning her best friend’s brother finally worked up the nerve to ask her out to dinner. She had but a few hours left to prepare herself for this evening’s date – for her, plenty of time.

Again she wondered if it was right to feel so happy in the wake of such a looming tragedy as the one that had befallen Equestria – Princess Luna’s death was still fresh in the minds of the people, and to put it to the back of her mind almost felt wrong. Almost being the key word there – she had been chasing this particular moment for some time, and there was nothing, come hell or high water, that could possibly bring her down from the euphoria of finally catching her dream. With an uncharacteristic giggle the multi-hued Pegasus headed for the washroom; a shower was just what she needed to start things off with…

With an ominous boom the leviathan’s foot came down – its force was such that the earth beneath it was split with fissures. Why had it stopped? Something wasn’t right. The air here smelled of ozone and rain, yet the land was dry – it could feel the magnetism of sorcerous energies pulling from the sky. Looking up, it was intrigued to find neither open sky nor shining sun – it could see nothing beyond the solid wall of pure white clouds that stretched for kilometers on end. Was this a storm front, perhaps? No; while the smell of rain was rife, this ocean of cumulus was visibly calm, its flat planes hardly moving.

In fact, the entire super-cell appeared as if it were not moving at all – an unnatural sight given the strong prevailing winds of the day. An unusual phenomenon indeed, but it clearly warranted nothing but a passing curiosity from the beast as it prepared to journey onward once more. The behemoth would have never given it a second thought had it not spotted something from the corner of its eye; a small flitting object racing across the underside of the cloudy expanse.

With mechanical precision the creature zeroed in on the moving object, its hawk-like eyes bringing it to focus. What it saw made its blood boil. There were well on a dozen or more of them, flying in a chevron formation; winged parasites. The image of a thousand miniature suns destroying its flesh in a never ending stream of agony was still fresh in the creature’s mind – it had been perpetrated by these very same sky bound vermin not two days prior. With flaring nostrils the monstrous titan gave a rumbling growl which shook the very air before roaring in defiant rage at the interlopers.

As one, the formation of winged quadrupeds broke apart, scattering in every conceivable direction before, in unison, they rocketed upwards and through the clouds themselves. So, they sought to use these clouds as a refuge from him, did they? No doubt, there were more of them just beyond its vision – perhaps the entire formation was crawling with them, a teeming swarm of parasites living upon it like some massive host unaware of the plague it carried upon its back. This would soon no longer be an issue…

With her shower finished, Rainbow Dash had taken the liberty of stepping out on her front balcony where she could dry off under the warm radiance of the sun. By her estimates, she had roughly another hour and a half before she needed to head over to Sweet Apple Acres – enough time to relax and enjoy the afternoon skies. Her moment of peace and quiet was interrupted, however, by the most bone shuddering peel of thunder she had ever heard or felt. Opening her eyes, she frantically looked every which way – looking for the rogue thunderhead that had no doubt wandered into the city limits of Cloudsdale.

With no sign of storm clouds, she felt content to let the issue go – after all, why worry about something that wasn’t going to bother her? Just as she once again closed her eyes, however, she was shocked into alertness by the most ungodly sound she had ever heard in her entire life! “What the hell was that?” she exclaimed to no one in particular. Taking a few cautious steps to the edge of her balcony, she wondered at such a dreadful noise; unlike anything she could possibly describe.

Looking out across Cloudsdale’s unending expanse of fluffy white cumulus, she failed to see anything amiss. Still, she couldn’t suppress the notion of impending danger that seemed to creep up her spine. As it were, she was nearly blinded by the streaming geyser of vermillion light as it broke through the center of town; the orange haze that it cast as it dissolved a half-dozen skyscrapers bringing to her mind visions of hell. A screaming cloud of shimmering steam hissed into existence, casting an ephemeral curtain across the city streets.

Both rigid skyscrapers and solid faced apartment blocks began to sag under their own weight as the magic laced bonds of reinforced cloud matter melted away. Watching them droop and twist every which way reminded her of a surrealist painting before they finally gave way and collapsed into a pile of cottony amalgam. The heap of cumulus then quickly dissipated into thin air, leaving neither hint nor trace of its existence. Where once had been a bustling metropolitan city district was now naught but a languidly widening hole of empty nothingness. The whole thing seemed so far removed from reality.

Her sense of detachment was shattered just as suddenly by the blaring of sirens and the screams of a hundred thousand people. While she had no real idea what was going on, she was quick to realize that she wanted to be as far away from it as she could get. Running back into her abode she was swift to pack everything she couldn’t live without; a picture of her parents, her birth certificate, her flier’s license and, of course, her pet turtle. Packing it all away into a saddlebag took less than a minute – it felt like ten. With a final sweep of her home she was relieved to find nothing else of value being left behind.

Taking her first step out of the door, Dash was confronted with all manner of sights and sounds; people fleeing in terror, crying out for loved ones or for fear in general – all of it overshadowed by the disaster alarms going off across the city. Deciding to fly upwards, her eyes were once more assaulted by another shaft of pulsating light – this one tearing through a nearby suburb. With a sound akin to crunching snow the entire city visibly shook, great rents were already forming throughout the superstructure and it was only a matter of time before the entire thing fell to pieces!

With an urgency so unlike her usual demeanor, Rainbow Dash made for the edge of the city. To her surprise and horror, she saw the distant mountain peaks begin to rise – Cloudsdale was rapidly descending from the sky, the magic which kept it together and aloft was crumbling apart. Another shining spear of radiant energy lanced across the industrial district, setting to flame the many volatile chemicals and gasses that were produced there. The resultant fireball doubtlessly incinerated thousands, and the shockwave was strong enough to knock the prismatic Pegasus off course and into a spin.

Dizzy and disoriented, Dash only just managed to pull herself out of the death spiral; in time to see the entire residential quarter she had live in go up in a wisp of willowing steam as an explosive blast of volatile power tore through it. The scalding wave of expanding water vapor caught her full faced; the pain was so intense that she seized up in excruciation, falling into a lead-weight dive that would surely mean her death. As she careened towards the city pavement, she could only think of how much she regretted not doing in her life.

Closing her eyes to her inevitable doom, she failed to notice the fact that she physically passed through the amorphous cloud-crete as it lost all cohesiveness under the heat. After several seconds and no body-breaking collision, she peaked past her eyelids and was amazed to see open sky over an equally open landscape. She could also clearly see the mountainous reptile that was responsible for the destruction of her home-city – its glistening scales of black emeralds and scarlet spines like sculpted flames were as magnificent as they were terrifying. Already it was turning away from its handiwork and making its way north, towards Canterlot.

But it wasn’t Canterlot that she thought of as she watched this towering theropod’s advance. Rather, it was the small town that lay between here and there, and more importantly the person who lived there. With no other thought, Rainbow Dash armed herself with determination as she made for a plan of action. With the pain finally leaving her body, she was free to pull up her wings and glide upon the rising thermals. And that was exactly what she did. But when she noticed just how difficult it was to actually stay aloft, she was quick to look back over her shoulder. What she saw made her physically ill.

The pinions of her wings were little more than singed quills, their blackened tips still smoking. The down along her upper right shoulder was also charred away, leaving bared flesh that ran with oozing blisters. The secondaries of her left wing were mangled and rent, as was her scapular; how she had not felt such an egregious wound was beyond her reckoning, but she was smart enough to know that she would need to avoid flapping her wings as much as possible to avoid any further damage. She was also alarmed at the amount of blood leaking from her hindquarters; she would need to do something about that later.

Right now though, she needed to outpace this beast and get to Ponyville first – while the citizens needed to be warned, she would shamelessly admit that none of them mattered to her at this moment save one, and it was for him that she truly pushed herself further to save from the coming destruction. With foaming sweat already stinging her cuts and burns, she grit her teeth and exclaimed, “Hang on, Mac, I’m coming!”

Author's Note

Well, here's the next chapter. It took a while, and I have no excuse for it other than Team Fortress 2's new Conga Line Update!!!
Also, I've been playing some Civilization V, Rise of Nations, and Warhammer 40K Dawn of War II: Retribution. Also, Dawn of War's multiplayer just got reinstated, so I've been purging xenos and heretical scum nonstop.

Anyways, I've introduced a new element that I believe is once more entirely original on this site; the Cats of Vorosh. If any of you know anything about world history and the politics involved therein, I imagine you might enjoy the first half of this chapter. Vorosh is the Equestrian equivalent of unified Prussian Germany circa 1871, with a dash of steampunk technology added to the mix.

What follows are pictures of named Cats thus far. (I did not make these images, but I had planned on using them from the beginning. I will however be creating the images for the next chapter)

Felix Von Verminstrauser (a very unoriginal name, I know)