Eyes on The Horizon: Book Two, Rise Of An Empire.

9/16/97…
???…
0545 hours… (5:45am)

As I stare at the picture directly in front of us, I slowly realize that the picture is of a mineshaft with Griffin's working left and right hauling pics back-and-forth with carts of stone and other minerals running up and down a track in the center of the shaft. What was really interesting was that everything seemed fairly organized.

I looked closely at the painting seeing how the griffins were dressed, they wore Blue overalls, underneath the overalls were white T-shirts. Their claws sported a set of leather gloves that gripped to the pics very firmly. Their back paws wore very worn out and dirty boots. They donned yellow helmets on the heads with lights on the front illuminating the walls for them to see. They looked liked the stereotype of a stereotype, which to me was strange. They looked almost like the miners I used to see back on Earth. This coincidence would not go un voiced.

“Uh Princess, this painting, how modern is this?” I ask turning to her. She looks away from the photo and gives me a confused look.

“What do you mean?” Shes asks in return. I move my hoof in the general direction of one of the workers.

“Well the reason I ask is that, these miners look just like the ones we have, back on our world. The clothing is nearly the same, these methods are a little old but other than that, they look the same.” Celestia looks at the painting, then begins to squint her eyes trying to think up a explanation. Turning back to me, she asks a question,

“What year is your time period currently in?”

“1940’s, why?” I ask.

“I was judging how far apart these time frames are, they are about 1300 years apart.” She says looking back at the photo. “I don’t have an answer, this is a picture of their time, no alteration.”

I shake my head in disbelief, “Maybe it’s just a coincidence.” I say to her. After dismissing the thought I shook my head. “But, no time to dwell on it, lets move on.” The picture quickly disappears as Celestia agrees and we move on.

As we continue forward Celestia begins to break down what came next. The Griffon Kingdom began to reform and the government regained control of the civilians as they created more jobs in the mines. But, as time went on, and word got out that Equestria was beginning to slack with their supply shipments, the civilians became, violent, saying that they needed more food for their families at home because everyone was either working in the mines or fishing out at sea.The government tried to explain to them that they didn’t need the Equestrians support, but they weren’t having any of it.

Thus the riots came back.

The Equestrians and the Griffins were in outrage, nothing could please the civilians. The police tried to suppress the riots like before. But this time the civilians came in stronger for police were quickly killed or wounded by protesters wielding swords and spears. So the government did what the Griffins said they should have done long ago in a secret letter to Celestius himself.

Wage war, for now the rioters had called it a revolution.

Thus the conflict broke out with officers opening fire on protesters with crossbows and cut them down with swords as the protesters tried to take multiple police headquarters to access weapons. A pattern was formed out of the chaos, every day the government would launch an attack against the protesters as the protesters fought back with stolen weapons from the police. As every day passed more Griffons fell on both sides rebel or government. This continued for a month, four full weeks of constant fighting as the death count rose higher. On the final week of that month. The Equestrian Navy arrived and began to bombard the coast with a spectacular show of cannon fire as the sandstone buildings on the shore collapsed, and with the navy came the whole Royal Equestrian Marine Force. They pushed onto the beaches of rebel held territory and began to capture land. The rebels had no choice but to fall back and get to hiding from the attacking Equestrians.

But even though they hid, the Marines still found them,and killed them.

The remaining rebels fled to the seas as a victory was announced. After about another two weeks, the Equestrian forces began to rebuild the shattered coast and educated the police and army alike to fight alongside them creating an even bigger bond. Everything was going well for Equestria.

Then the year 650 appeared when everything went downhill. The rebels came back armed with different technology. A new form of weapon. One that shook the Equestrian forces down to their last man on the battlefield.

Flint Lockwood rifles. They came from the sea and began a forward assault on the eastern shores as the Equestrian forces were quickly defeated. Celestia said that, since they had mining experience, it was easy for them to find the items required to build such weapons.After the rebels got midway. The whole of the Equestrian Army and the Marines were standing by, along with the Griffon police force, and army. Armed with crossbows, bows and arrows, swords and spears. Along with cannons and trebuchets for artillery. But as Celestia mentioned the battles name, the battle that happened that day, the battle that defined the griffons kingdom and Equestrians bond, shot me down in my pride and reminded me of something from my world.

It was called, The Battle of Midway, the crushing defeat of the Equestrian forces… The rebels flanked the main assault force and caught them by surprise, mowing them down quickly. The artillery that was stationed in the back,tried to keep up, but unfortunately for them, they were surprised by a small task force of rebels, and they quickly fell too.

After Midway, Equestria folded its playing card and pulled a tactical retreat after losing 2500 soldiers and marines alike The biggest loss in their entire history.

Soon after, the Griffon Empire, went offline. The people of Equestria were in shock to see there military get cut down that quickly. Mass graves were erected around the equestrian coast as the soldier that were recovered, were laid to rest. It was truly the darkest point in their history. Or at least they thought.

For in the year 1000, a little over 400 year later. Celestius, began to think of a way to strike back the rebels.

As I listened to Celestia tell the final chapter of the history lesson, her voice dipped even more. Tears began welling up in her eyes as she spoke.

“In the year 1000, my father experimented with the same technology the griffons used, but when he did. Something, went wrong.” Celestia, I could tell was on the verge of a emotional collapse. I had never seen her like this, everything about her was falling apart, her royal stature,her professionalism. What was left was akin to a child missing her parents.

As the landscape changed again I found myself in a field full of grass. The sun hung in the center of the sky as I could hear the wind and birds chirping. I saw Celestius and a few ponies wearing white lab coats, they surrounded him. In front of him was a gigantic machine. The machine had a long chute that extended for about five feet. In the back was a large box. On the side read, “Gunpowder.” I couldn’t hear what they were saying but I could tell what was going to happen next fro the way celestia was watching, bug eyed.

A few seconds passed and Celestius walked away from the ponies as they prepared the device. It took merely seconds for everything to go wrong, the Scientist ignited the powder from a fuse, and the fuse lead to the box. When it reached the box, the whole thing exploded. Smoke and fire engulfed the air as the device was destroyed. Faintly I could hear screaming as the ponies burned in the inferno. But as the smoke cleared, there wasn’t anypony there anymore.
Then everything faded to black. I looked around for Celestia, she was looking away from me, her head was close to the ground. Tears glistened of the darkness, and fell into the void.

“Celestia, why did you show me this? Why put yourself through this just to show me what happened?” I asked trotting over to her. Her head looked up at me with tears flowing down flared red checks.

“So I could see him again.” She said without regret, nearly yelling it out at me.

Her horn began to glow bright white as everything faded away to nothing, then darkness again. But the darkness surrounded me again, I felt different. Not only in physical form, but emotional form. The princess was torn to shreds by her fathers death, only now could I see this for real. She needs my help. She wants me to help her, I could feel it. Opening my eyes again, I was staring up at a metal ceiling from which lights hung from. I was in the warehouse again. Great.

Leaning up I saw the Princess curled up in a little ball, sleeping. Looking around, the body was gone from the table with a little note where it was saying,

“He’s at rest now.” Signed Charlie. The science ponies were gone as well.

As I rose from the ground Celestia woke up. I walked over to her and extended a hand down to help her. She looked up and smiled weakly as she placed a hoof on my hand and pulled herself up. When she got on four hoofs I stood back and placed my hands behind my back in a proper manner. She looked at me with the same eyes I saw in the void. Those eyes of a lost child.

“John,” She began. “I know I have asked a lot of you ever since you’ve gotten here, and quite frankly, I’m sorry.But I will ask of you one more thing, one more act of kindness. Whatever your answer maybe, it doesn’t matter, I just need to know,” She stopped and looked over to the left with wandering eyes, then darted back quickly and said, “Will you help me crush the Griffon empire?” Knowing my answer already, I began to pace around her and give her my little speech of my own plans.

“Princess, back on my home world, my country has a little saying that I love to go by, day by day. ‘No man left behind, and if left, no man left un-avenged.’ I will help you, but not for the same reasons you want. Your fathers death to you is the sailors death to me. Your father was a great leader, and commander, and you wish to live up to him, correct?” She nodded yes and I continued to pace, but I added a little bit more kick to my step.

“You want to destroy the empire that engulfed your father and sent him to his grave, you want to hear the sound of your enemy begging more mercy. They took what belonged to you, now you want to return the favor by wiping them out!” I yelled.
A wicked smile appeared on her face. Something I’ve never seen before, and I liked it. It was time to wake the giant.

“Well so do I, those sailors may not have been blood to me, I may not have known them, hell I didn’t know they existed till now. But, there is one thing. They’re part of my navy, they are part of my country, something I hold closer than and relative I know. I would kill myself if it meant saving their lives, cause to be honest, they died, for nothing.” I stopped pacing and looked at her directly, her face hasn't changed.

“Those men didn’t even go out the way they should have, they should have at least gone out for their country, but no, they get killed by some unknown enemy they have never heard of on a planet billions of years away from their own. And to me that's unacceptable. So princess yes, I will help you, to avenge those whose lives were taken for no reason and their lives cut short.” She stepped forward and came about four inches away from me before sticking out her hoof towards me, the smile still plastered on her face. Smiling back I connected the hoof shake.

“To the death of our common enemy.” She said finally. We gave one big shake then we headed for the door. Now instead of a child wanting her parents, I saw something else. Behind all of that princesses talk of friendship and love was something else that was tucked away from the public. Something that would go against everything she stood for.

And I just woke it up. Now instead of the child, I saw only a soldier wanting justice. And I was proud of it.