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The air was cold and damp and the clouds were more than ready to let loose quite the storm. The first rays of Celestia’s sun would soon be peeking out over the land and Equestria’s future would again be fought over. A lone Earth Pony stood vigilant using a large tree as partial cover from possible attack but the only ones interested in crossing her cone of vision were the occasional woodland creature. Guarding the area seemed like a needless waste of officers but she didn’t question the orders.
No pony questioned Sombra’s orders on grounds that doing so was proven to be hazardous to one’s health.
The lone soldier sighed as she surveyed a clear area from her post. She wore her armor with a sense of pride. Her dark black metal accented with a deep red hue along the joints made her feel strong. The solid plates protecting her chest, neck and back were kept in place with more metal and strips of leather. Her helmet was a tad thinner but from a glance one would not easily notice that.
The trees were thick in the Everfree Forest and such empty patches like the one she was watching were far and few in between; making them sought after by travelers hoping to get their bearings or make camp. So far since her unit had been tasked with guarding this section of the mysterious forest they had captured a few wayward ponies.
A smile came across the sentry’s face. Two nights ago there was an event that broke the monotony of watching trees.
A lone hooded figure was seen carefully navigating the old trails and the other soldiers regarded the traveler with caution. Spooky forest teaming with Sombra’s loyal soldiers and one pony traveling alone at night spelled ‘suspicious’ and ‘possibly a threat’ in bold neon letters. After carefully stalking the stranger for an hour they surrounded the unwelcome guest and quickly overpowered their prey. After a brief struggle they had realized that they had none other than the Daughter of Chaos. Month after month of units having to report sighting and failing to capture such a vital ‘bargaining tool’ and suddenly she comes practically gift-wrapped into their assigned area.
The smile turned into a grin. A carrier bat left with a message of their success and just two hours ago one returned with word that Sombra himself was coming to collect the special prisoner. Promotions were inevitable. Possible rewards that were thought of were exaggerated. About two barrels of local cider were consumed in shifts so that at least half of the unit was sober enough for duty while the other celebrated the upcoming events. It was only a matter of time before Discord would break down and abandon the defense of Canterlot. With Discord’s morale shattered the last of the resistance would fall.
She abandoned her musings when a sudden rustling came from behind her. The soldier abruptly moved around the tree to keep partial cover while looking for the source of the noise. She steeled herself for combat and regarded the forest with a determined stare. If somepony was planning to get the drop on her they were dead wrong. The sudden rustling of the branches above her signaled that a Pegasus officer of Sombra’s forces had arrived; making the possible fight a two on one encounter.
Moments passed without incident and then with a loud crack the Pegasus above her suddenly fell from the tree and landed with a subtle thud. Her comrade was unconscious and his nose was freshly broken with a fair amount of blood pooling out from his nostrils and jaw. She growled menacingly and shouted at the darkness of the forest.
“Come out and face me!”
Her answer was the silhouette of an Earth Pony jumping forward from behind one of the trees. Her opponent was about to throw a hoof sized rock at her. The soldier darted inward anticipating the trajectory of the missile and prepared to end the fight with one good solid hit.
The rock abruptly broke off in the opposite direction that the stranger’s stance had suggested.
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With a satisfied smirk an Earth Pony cautiously stepped toward the unconscious soldiers. She stayed in a slightly crouched position and slowly inspected her victims. They would wake up eventually in a lot of pain; which was typical when hit by a perfect screwball.
She glanced away from Sombra’s soldiers to dig into her saddle bag for a map of the forest. Getting captured and securing a detailed map were planned out events; possibly drawing Sombra away from the front lines to Ground Zero was an unexpected bonus. Screwball made a few quick observations of the map before putting it away. She gambled a lot on getting to her destination and wasn’t about to risk losing everything for taking too long to get her bearings. The map she ‘liberated’ detailed patrol routes and stationary guards and a handful of trails, and most importantly her objective.
Staying low to the ground she quickly made her way off the path and resumed navigating the old forest. She tried to keep her mind off of the rapidly crumbling resistance as she moved. Sombra’s invasion had been sudden and very well executed. The first warning that Equestria had was when he abruptly seized Cloudsdale. What was once the widely accepted capital of the Pegasus culture had become a mobile fortress for his army.
It didn’t take long for Princess Celestia to admit that the threat was great enough to send a request for aid from the Changelings; but all she got in response was Cloudsdale dropping a Changeling drone that had been beaten to within an inch of his life directly into Canterlot. The poor creature had a message tube tied to its neck that clearly started that Queen Chrysalis would send help then make what she referred to as ‘a few reasonable requests’ after the fires of war had subsided. That would be the only Changeling that would make it to Canterlot and he succumbed to his injuries a few days later. Sombra had proved very capable of fending off the hive while maintaining a stranglehold on Equestria.
Screwball shook the thoughts from her head as she got near her target. There was a chance that her father’s plan of counterattack would turn the tide, it was possible that the Changelings would break through, there was still hope that they could beat Sombra; but she herself wasn’t a soldier. Sure she could be on the front lines or by her father’s side or alongside her mother tending to the wounded but in her heart Screwball just didn’t see herself fitting into any position that needed another set of hooves.
She wasn’t a fighter or a doctor or anything in-between. She was a trickster like her father. She wasn’t as smart or wise or even as imaginative; but she also didn’t over complicate things like her father tended to. In her opinion they didn’t need an army or a carefully planned counterattack or something to force Cloudsdale into a sudden crash landing.
All they needed was a little bit of Chaos.
All they needed was for her to do what she did best.
She halted when she saw her goal. She saw a great boulder standing in a spot where it had no business being. She also saw a single Unicorn standing vigilant at the stone and he was more than ready for trouble. Screwball quietly took another look at her map and was pleased to see that the Unicorn was the only soldier in the immediate area. She took another glance at the great rock and took a deep breath. The Daughter of Chaos flexed her legs and with a sudden hop she planted herself right into the cone of vision of the Unicorn.
His reaction was not a surprise.
With lightning reflexes she fired a charged bolt of silky blue energy and with barely better reflexes Screwball dodged the attack. The blast had savagely blasted a nearby tree into splinters. She didn’t show fear as she addressed the battle mage.
“Too slow. Sombra’s gonna be mad at you when he hears that you couldn’t get me.”
She grinned as the Unicorn’s face showed a mix of fear and rage. Clearly being mocked wasn’t as reliable a trigger as the threat of failing his master; but it certainly helped. The Unicorn lunged in her direction and fired yet another shot of magic and Screwball made another evasive jump to avoid being turned into a pile of ashes. They continued their dance until a distinctively loud smash was heard behind her. The Unicorn was almost out of breath and she could now hear other officers on their way. Screwball charged back towards the boulder which was now a few large pieces of what used to be a solid boulder. She paused to look back and stick her tongue out at the mage and was greeted by another shot of raw explosive mana. She made time for a silent prayer that this was the correct giant rock in the middle of the forest and closed her eyes before diving for what she hoped was the opening of a cave.
The sound of heavy rocks being shifted and grinding against each other let her know that she lived through what happened. Dim light from a few glowing mushrooms told her that she was indeed in a cave. She glanced behind her and could make out a few sturdy chunks of rock blocking her entrance and could hear several soldiers on the other side of it.
She grinned to herself as she concluded that her plan had continued to go according to plan. The Unicorn had spent too much energy trying to blow her to pieces and was incapable of re-opening the cave. She paused when she realized that if an Earth or Pegasus Pony was stationed there then her plan would have met an unfortunate end.
With a heavy sigh of relief and a mental slap for the oversight she made her way to the center of the small cave and took a deep breath before speaking.
“A Unicorn named Sombra is about to enslave all of Equestria. When that happens there won’t be any more rainbows, sunny days, smiling baby fillies, laughter, hugs”
Screwball was cut off by the sound of thick glass being shattered. She could feel the aftershock of a powerful magical barrier being broken. Through the dim light she could see a good sized group of Earth Ponies slowly walking up to her. She dropped to the cave floor and hid her face in her hooves and summoned up a few tears as she went on.
“No more…friendship or birthday parties or new mothers or weddings or”
A hoof gently found itself under her chin and slowly guided her eyes upward. She was looking at a creature that looked just like her mother’s friend Pinkie Pie except for her straight hanging mane. The doppelganger spoke in a voice that was caring and contradicted the murderous look in her eyes.
“Don’t worry…we’ll save everypony from that bully.”
Screwball smiled and wiped away a few fake tears. She promised her father that she would save Equestria even if it meant burning it down; and it looked like she had just made good on her word.
She watched as the Pinkie Pie clones made their way to the blocked entrance of the cave.
She considered the possibility that she should have given this plan a bit more thought.