Equestrian Souls: Fires of War

EQUESTRIAN SOULS
Written by TheCrimsonDm
Chapter six: for Everfree

The three of us sat next to the river which ran down the valley we were in. The hills next to us raised high up, grass continued to grow on them until near the top where it died out, and a dark earth took over. After hearing about the drakes that roamed the top of the hills around us, I decided that staying at the bottom of the valley was in our best interest.

Thankfully the river here was not connected to the Clippers sewer system, not to mention The Mire’s filth. The water was fresh, clean, and tasted wonderful. After taking one look at how dirty we all were, it was a unanimous decision for us all to clean ourselves.

As I lay in the water soaking myself while the water flowed by me, I thought about the journey ahead. We would need to find some new weapons and armor. Or rather I would need to find a new weapon. The only one out of the three of us who had actually been prepared for everything was Storm Feather. Both me, and Moon Shadow were completely unprepared.

I was mad at myself for dragging them into such a hostile place without being prepared, it would have been tough either way, but this was pure madness. I watched Storm Feather who was further down the river then me carefully washing each piece of his armor scrubbing the plates with a cloth. I nearly lost him down there in the Mire, and it was my fault for being brash. I was going to have to get better starting now if I wanted to keep my friends safe.

All in all though, it was going to be nice to go on a simple journey through the Everfree Woods, although it was still dangerous it was less so then the Mire. Hopefully we can get to somewhere safe quickly; I really felt like I could lie down and sleep for a few days at this point. My muscles still ached from all the running, jumping, and fighting. My horn was still aching a little bit, but at least no nose bleeds.

After dunking my head underwater and pulling it back up, I took a good hard look at my reflection in the water. I looked much cleaner now, in fact my fur now held a light pink tone, and my hair had taken an almost blue purple hue, with the bright red streak running down the middle of it. I suppose that meant I had been so dirty that both my mane and fur were darkened. I guess I had needed a good bath since before I woke up at Asylum.

Seeing my horn reminded me of that Black Dog, and how I had stabbed him. Maybe it was the only way for me to kill the beast, but that didn’t seem to matter. I used my horn as a stabbing weapon in anger, and that made me feel dirty, ashamed. I didn’t ever want Storm Feather to know what I had done, he would be so ashamed of me, I just knew it. I wouldn’t mind so much if Moon Shadow found out, maybe that was because he was a fellow unicorn.

I let out a groan of frustration at my brain for thinking about this horn thing too much. And then I splashed my reflection with a hoof, trying to squash the thought out of my head. My friends were looking at me funny, and I felt myself beginning to blush again. I didn’t like being the center of attention.

Storm Feather then hollered over to me saying. “You need any help over there?”

I suddenly found myself blushing even more. I then dunked my head underwater again trying to hide. I pulled my head out of the water after a moment and said. “I am glad were out of the Mire, Things should be easier now.”

Storm Feather was now putting his armor back on while he yelled back to me. “It won’t be as bad as The Mire was, but that doesn’t mean things will be easy. It’s just going to be survivable now.” I didn’t really like that answer either, but it was definitely better then The Mire. I hope that I never have to go there ever again.

After my bath was concluded I joined up with the others, my hooded cloak had been covered in blood as well. I had also noticed some tearing on it. This cloak was not very protective after all. I decided while we sat on the grass I would wash some of the blood off of it. It may take some time for it too dry but we needed the rest.

We found ourselves resting for about an hour, basking in the sun, and in my case eating some of the grass around us. I didn’t know how hungry I was until I had begun eating. Moon Shadow had offered to cook for us, but I would rather eat the grass, at least the grass had flavor.

After eating we walked alongside the river leading out of the valley and into a forest nearby. This was the Everfree woods, a large woodland area covering the lower half of Equestria. The Everfree woods didn’t used to be so large, in fact at one point in time it was supposed to have been small, and contained. Now though it seemed as though nothing could stop the rampant growth of these woods, and the dangers that lurked inside them. We were going to have to traverse the forest if we planned on getting to Ashwood.

Surprisingly the forest itself was not as dark or hard to navigate as I believed it would be. In fact there were roads we were able to follow, albeit some of them very old and obscure. Some hours later we found ourselves walking along a very old trail, a trail that was very familiar to me.

I couldn’t explain why but for some reason when I got on the road I felt a sudden urge to start galloping, and to the shock of my friends I did. The longer I ran on this road, the more I felt like I knew this place.

I began to remember what this place was once used for, and where I was. No memory flashback this time, instead the memories simply came to me freely. I could remember the other ponies running besides me down these roads during autumn. We used to race here once a year. The road I was on was used for the Running of the leaves marathon, this road lead straight to ponyville. Ponyville was my home town, where I was born, and where I was raised.

If only I followed the road I could get home, I could be back to somewhere I knew, someplace normal, and safe. Suddenly I could remember my mom, the memory was blurry, but I could remember her blue fur coat, and her long silver mane with the blue streaks running through it. She was waiting for me, she had to be. Now I was galloping even faster than before, determined with purpose.

Storm caught up with me first and asking me. “Where are we heading?”

I gave him a momentary glance before looking back ahead of myself. I couldn’t help but smile as I said excitedly. “I’m going home.”

Moon Shadow had caught up now, he looked a little tired from all the running but he still managed to say. “Are you sure this is a wise decision?”

I didn’t bother dignifying him with a response, I was going to go home, and see my mom. Even Reed was going to have to wait for this. We continued moving at this pace for a little while longer before we came to a large hill. At the top of the hill I got my first glimpse at my home town, and stopped dead in my tracks.

Ponyville was my home town, once a bustling place where ponies were always friendly to each other, and the home of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Now lay in ruins. From our vantage point we could see all of Ponyville. Ponyville rest in the middle of a large meadow which was surrounded by dense thick woods.

The buildings now empty, and covered in plant vines. Where dirt roads once lay was only grass. A few of the old buildings themselves had crumbled. The furthest building from us stood in front of a small lake, the large crystallized tree house belonging to Twilight Sparkle. My house had to be one of these smaller buildings around it. As I searched I felt something pulling myself away, and suddenly I was lost in another memory.

***

I was very small, the size of a small filly. And I found myself standing at the foot of my mother’s bed, even on my hind legs I could barely see over the top to see my mom sleeping. She had a soft blue fur coat and a long silver mane. Her room was very homey feeling, with pictures of the two of us on the walls. There was also a poster of my mom when she was a young mare on the wall. It read. “Welcome to the greatest show in Equestria. Staring the great and powerful Trixie.”

I was eight years old and I didn’t even have my cutie mark yet, and I was scared. It was dark, and I was sure that the monster in my room was going to come and get me. I tried to be quiet and stealthy as I crawled into bed next to my mom. She worked hard at the local school as a teacher, I knew how hard life had been for her lately. I didn’t want to worry her. I knew about her her crying at night, she must have been really sad.

Just as I got comfortable underneath the blanket she wrapped me up in her legs embracing me. Her voice came softly as she spoke to me full of love. “Shh Light, Mommy has you, your safe now honey.”

I cuddled into her chest letting her hold me, than she began singing me to sleep. Her singing voice although rarely heard by other ponies was exceedingly beautiful. I could only hope to sing like her one day when I grew up.

She sang to me in a near whisper, her words a little muddled but very soft again love was covering every word.

“Hush little pony, let sleep take you away, into a world of adventure. My little pony, small and sweet, let me take your dark dreams away. Sleep little pony, your hart I keep safe, as I hold you until the dawns break.”

It was a unique twist on a common lullaby that was sung around ponyville. I was pretty sure she continued singing but I lost track as I drifted off happily to sleep.

***

I snapped back to focus without missing a beat this time. That was a relief but the state of the town was not. The whole town looked as though it hadn’t been touched for years, it looked even older then Clippers did.

How could this be possible, why would my home look so old, so empty, so…lonely? I couldn’t think straight, I didn’t want to think straight. I continued running, even if this much time had passed my mom had to be here, she had to be. I just had to find my home.

I could hear my companions shout in protest at my running forward, but even so I noticed Storm Feather had joined me. We had gotten all the way to the base of Ponyville before we were attacked. An earth pony jumped off a rooftop near us landing on top of Storm Feather. This pony wore a black gas mask which covered his head including his muzzle except for his mouth, even covering his mane was covered. He also wore a black leather duster. I could see some leather armor underneath the duster as well. He was holding a double sided dagger in his mouth.

With a mighty kick the earth pony jumped off of Storm Feathers back, forcing my griffon ally belly first into the ground. The earth pony landed in front of me his goggles were tinted red, giving him a sinister appearance. I backed up slowly from this pony as he advanced toward me.

I tried to pull out my crossbow first, but the earth pony tossed a dagger with his hooves at lightning fast speeds into my crossbow. I couldn’t use my crossbow with a dagger sticking through the side of it blocking the trigger. Now with no melee or ranged weapons, I was in trouble, but far from helpless because unlike my opponent I had my magic.

I began to summon a fireball, but my opponent moved to quickly for me, and he slashed at me with his dagger. I barely managed to move my head out of the way before he cut it off, but he still cut a burning line down the side of my neck. I tried to get some distance between us but my opponent refused to back down.

I would have been in big trouble if not for Storm Feather grabbing the earth pony by the tail with both of his talons stopping his advance. Storm Feather then swung the earth pony around, and tossed him behind us and through one of the buildings walls. Hopefully that pony would decide to stay down.

Unfortunately I noticed three more ponies approaching us from deeper inside the town. There were two more of these earth ponies with the gas masks, and in between them stood a cloaked white coated unicorn, his long red mane was falling down in front of his face. He then spoke to his allies. “Slayers, keep the griffon busy I will deal with the unicorn.”

The white unicorns horn began to glow a dark blue, I quickly summoned up a fireball tossing it at my opponent. The unicorn I faced created a wall of ice between him and the fireball. The fireball exploded on the wall with enough force to send chunks of ice flying in every direction. I didn’t waste the opportunity and charged toward him, pulling a dagger out as I ran.

Storm Feather was having a very difficult time with the hunters though, the three of them were far faster than my armored friend could handle. I couldn’t see where Moon Shadow was hiding; I really hoped he was able to help Storm Feather.

I got within melee range of the unicorn and took a swing at him, but he jumped backwards. I tried to close the distance again. And he sent a barrage of icicles flying at me. I rolled to my side attempting to dodge them. Almost all of them missed me, but a few had managed to cut lines down my legs, and one of them had gotten lodged inside my right leg.

I howled in pain as I ripped it out with my magic. The unicorn stood in front of me, I could see his face underneath his hood now. He had red eyes that matched his hair. He looked disappointed.

I closed my eyes focusing all of my energy into another magic attack; I did not like this stallion who was keeping me from going home. I heard him ask. “What are you doing here?”

I screamed as loud as I could manage at him. “I AM GOING TO SEE MY MOM AND YOU’RE NOT GOING TO STOP ME”.
I unleashed all the magic I had built up towards the stallion in a spray of liquid fire that covered a large area in front of me. The stallion brought up a shield of ice around himself. It resembled a crystal ball with him inside of it. The liquid fire began melting through the shield of his before my horn stopped spraying flames at him. I then noticed the ground at my hooves had been covered in ice, along with the bottom parts of my legs. I was unable to move no matter how hard I tried.

I looked at the unicorn that was protected by his icy bubble shield; I wanted so badly to hurt him. Storm Feather was on the ground, pinned down by the Slayer’s from earlier. Another few seconds passed before Moon Shadow was dragged out from behind a building by another Slayer who said. “I found this one hiding on the roof. He was lining up a shot at you Archmage.”

The white unicorn examined my friend who had his hooves tied before looking back at me. He then offered in a calm tone. “I will let all three of you go, if you promise not to come back here. Princess Twilight Sparkle has made this place off limits to anypony. If I catch you down here again then I will have no choice but to deal with the situation. Do you understand?”

I bit my lip as I contemplated my chances of hurting him before he killed me, it didn’t look good. I nodded shamefully. He had us beat, for now we will leave but I vowed to myself then and there that I would return here. And when I did he would be hard pressed to stop me than.

We were well out of the ponyville ruins before a few questions began appearing in my mind. I decided I would voice them out loud for the group to answer. “Okay everypony, I am really confused now. Why was ponyville in ruins, and why does Twilight now want anypony going there? Is she some kind of villain now?”

Moon Shadow let out a depressed sigh before explaining somberly. “Ponyville has been gone for a long time now, and The Princess was forced to change after the demon war. Altar Light, it’s been a long time since you last lived in ponyville.”

Storm Feather looked at us and asked with some confusion in his voice. “Wait the Demon war was over 300 years ago, how could you know what the Princess was like back then?”

I looked at Storm Feather as I felt even more confused now. I looked at Moon Shadow hoping for an answer that would make this all… make sense. He gave me an answer after a few moments of silence. “Me and Light are three hundred years old, near the end of the war, everything went to Tartarus. Reed used his alchemical skills, along with his cocoon things to preserve us. There was supposed to be quite a few ponies preserved in case the war was lost. That way we could rebuild after a long period of time, sadly only seven of us had made it too the evacuation chamber. Worst yet Reeds cocoons only kept us asleep for three hundred years, that’s one third of the time we were supposed to be asleep for. Things only got worse from there, but we tried our best to rebuild what we could.”

I sat down hard and I didn’t move for a good while. I began to realize a few things now. The worst thing though was something that hurt. My mom couldn’t have been one of the ponies in the cocoons, meaning she was…gone. I barely remembered her, and I was never going to see her again.

Tears began flowing down my face, the kind of tears that could not be helped with a hug. Storm tried to comfort me, but I refused to let him. I lead my friends into ponyville where we could have very easily died, and I now realized why everything here felt so wrong. This world was my Equestria but it was corrupted and changed. If I didn’t become stronger then my friends would die, and at this point they were all I had left.

I stood up after a while, the sun was beginning to set between the trees, I spoke softly. “We are going to find a safe place to rest for the night, we will continue towards Ashwood tomorrow.” After that we continued walking together, although it was far quieter than it had been before.

Storm Feather was able to lead us after we got away from ponyville, but we were forced to retrace our steps until we found a bridge leading across the river. After that we had walked down alongside the river bed for a while before the sun was all but gone in the sky above. The woods were dangerous without knowing where to go, and they were far worse at night. Worse yet was the fact that there was not an Altar to found.

We set up a small camp near the beach, and started a campfire. I was exhausted both physically and emotionally. Moon Shadow reported remorsefully that our food supplies had been tainted by the Mire. I decidedly pointed out that we had plenty of natural grass to eat.

Storm Feather spoke up explaining. “Grass is good for you ponies, but I am a griffon. My diet is a little more…sensitive.”

I tilted my head to the side feeling a little confused. I had seen him eating that mushy stuff that Moon Shadow had made this morning before we entered the Mire. “What do you mean?” I asked curiously.

The griffon sighed before explaining with a sense of remorse. “Griffons are carnivores. We have to eat…meat.”

I found that to be disgusting. I didn’t want to imagine my heroic companion eating like some kind of monster. I really hopped that I wouldn’t ever have to witness that.

The griffon began disassembling his armor to expose his muscular body. I watched him for a little bit feeling somewhat naughty as he unfastened the last bits of his armor. I turned my head feeling my face warming up from embarrassment. “What are you doing?” I asked nervously.

Storm Feather replied with pride saying. “It is shameful for a griffon to use weapons and armor in a hunt. I will use only my talons and wits for catching my pray for tonight.” After that he gave me a wink while saying, “I will be back before the hour, please get some rest Light.” After that he jumped into the air, taking off at speeds I did not thing possible for him. He flew over the tree line and disappeared into the night sky.

“How did he move that fast?” I asked myself feeling a little shocked.

Moon Shadow explained it to me. “He wears that armor almost constantly, it keeps him in top shape just wearing it, so it’s only normal to think that without the heavy suit bringing him down he would be able to move at incredible speeds.”

I stared at the night sky for a few moments before I realized what he was doing right now, he was looking for meat, and he was going to eat it. A sudden feeling of nausea began rising inside me at the horrid idea. He may be a good looking griffon but his eating tastes were gross, to say in the least.

I laid my head down on the soft grass feeling tired. I looked at Moon Shadow who didn’t look sleepy at all and I said. “Keep an eye out on me, we will take shifts. Wake me up when you need sleep.”

He looked at me and smiled softly nodding. I could swear that he had a slight yellow glow to his eyes, but it was probably just the reflection from the fire. Closing my eyes I began feeling the sad feelings creep up on me, the loneliness waiting just out of sight. I fought against them for a few minutes before I finally drifted off into sleep.

***

I found myself now walking down a road formed from blue crystal. Trees made of dark purple crystal with leaves of pink gems hanging off their branches were lined aside my path. I continued walking until I found the old marble ruins with a familiar blue unicorn with green hair waiting for me. She was singing to herself, she was singing with a very sad voice.
“Come little sister, I’ll take thee away to a land far away. Come little sister, lets scurry away to a land free of hardships.
Times have been hard, but I carry thee away. Times have been rough, but together we have enough.
To face the coming storm, together we stand strong. To face all there scorn, together we fight on.
Hush now dear sister, listen to my words. Hush now dear sister, forever we stand together.”

I found myself entranced by her song, and found myself beginning to sing along. Together we sang the rest of this song while walking together through the old ruins. It felt as though the song was evolving as we sang, giving us both great strength to face the coming storm.

“Times will be harsh, but you carry my soul. Times will be rough, but you soon will know my love.
Now face the coming storm, let my sun be your guide. Now face the coming storm, let your moon be your strength.
Hush now dear sister, remember my words. Hush now dear sister, even though I leave, one day we will be back together.”

I found myself crying as we repeated the song from the beginning. It felt as though we had both lost something valuable. For some reason I could imagine a loving older sister singing these lyrics as she lay injured, and dying from a horrific wound. She was singing to her younger sister, one who was scared to be left without the older ones guidance. I don’t know why I imagined this to be the case, but I could feel the pain deep inside me telling me that maybe it wasn’t just my imagination. We continued singing for the rest of the night, the little Dream Weaver crying as she sang. We were both damaged, but maybe together we could become whole again. We sang until the morning came, and I woke up again.

***

The next day we continued walking forward towards the town of Ashwood. When we got there I had plans to get some new armor, and weapons for our group. It was an uneventful and quiet journey down the beach, until we came across an old road. The road continued on for a few miles, but eventually I could make out a small town built alongside the water. This town looked so familiar to me. I recognized it as being Ashwood. Now that we were here, I had some business to take care of.

Two griffons wearing Black armor dropped out from the sky above us landing a few feet away. These griffons had black feathers and lean bodies. One of them looked at Storm Feather and said. “Storm Feather, the flock has work for you.”