Eclipse Of The Sun

Night's hooves quivered as he grasped at his armor, feebly attempting to cover himself. He had awakened feeling - and looking - starved, and the last thing he needed was more attention. He pulled his chestpiece over his trembling body, noting how loose it felt. Regardless, it would keep other ponies from seeing his disheveled state.

He followed up his hoofguards - unlike the steel on his chest, all four of them fit more snugly than he remembered. Finally came his helmet, which was also loose in several places. The Unicorn looked over himself; the ribs that had stuck out from his sides were now safe from the eyes of his army, and his emaciated facial features were mostly hidden behind parts of his helmet. However, his legs had no coverings, and they looked about as bad as any other part of his body. There wasn't anything he could so about it, though - he'd have to fix that later.

The Unicorn picked up his inert sword, pushing it through a loop that once held his now destroyed scabbard; he wondered if the loop would be cut the next time he drew the blade. The blue-clad stallion shook his head to throw off the fog laying over him, and then staggered out of his tent.

A few of his soldiers were already awake, breaking down their camp and packing up whatever they weren't wearing on the march. Night would to the same once he had finished his walk. He looked around every now and then, noticing just how many of his ponies had injuries from Derbyshire, most of which were far worse than the Unicorn's. Lines of stitches, splints supporting broken bones, patches covering arrow wounds... Night began to wonder about his call to march to Canterbury, and if it was the right decision for his army's health. However, they also couldn't afford to sit still and give the Celestials time to recover, and the Lunar Armada - at least, whatever was left of it at this point - still needed to be saved from the death trap that was the fjords.

Night sat for a moment, looking out into the dawn sky. Celestia's sun burned away the half-hearted darkness that had been made in Luna's absence, lighting up the clouds with a brilliant orange-yellow light. The black pony looked away after a few seconds, unused to the brightness as he was. The Unicorn shook his head - he had never understood why ponies enjoyed watching the sunrise. It hurt his eyes.

He turned his back on the sun and continued his limping stroll on the outskirts of the camp. As he circled, the pony took a detour up to the top of the hill. Proof of the night's battle would be lasting, with the amount of corpses in the fields and at the wall. Derbyshire had suffered equally, judging by the plumes of smoke still rising from various points in the city. Whether they were caused by Griffons or by Celestials would likely never be known to the black Unicorn.

It appeared that the last of the Lunar's own dead were being pulled into their graves. It wasn't normal tradition, but the Lunars simply couldn't spare the resources to bringing their bodies all the way back to their respective home cities. Likewise, they would have to leave the Celestials to rot - if they couldn't give their own dead the proper rites, then the enemy would definitely not receive theirs. Night figured he would at least order that the dead Celestials not be looted as the army passed through.

He watched the fields for another minute or two before making his way back down the hill. The pony still needed coverings for his legs, something that the armorer would hopefully be able to provide. If not, he could send a letter to the next reinforcement group traveling out of the mountains, though that would take longer.

The latter option proved unnecessary. Upon making his request, the armorer stopped what he was doing and gave Night the armor in what was recorded as his size. Plates for his forelegs, mail for his rear. It would be a challenge to march in, but the rest of the army didn't need to see their current leader and think he might be on his last legs. Certainly not so soon after Stonewall's death. At least Luna wouldn't see him like this - she didn't even know about his burn, seeing as he was always in pristine condition when she borught him in to visit.

The walk had seemed to help. Night's body didn't feel like it hurt so much, or perhaps he had gotten used to it by now. He still felt hungry-- no, he realized now that he felt empty, just like the night he had awoken from his coma. He hadn't liked that, either. Vesall, what did you do to me? he demanded, trying to reach out to the ancient being.

...No response. Figured. He had never reacted to any prompts in the past, why would he now? The Unicorn felt a chill run down his spine as he remembered their meeting - even if calling out to that thing by name was undeserving of his time, it still seemed to pull strings within the pony.

"We can't just let them get away with this!" an off-white Pegasus said angrily, stamping his hoof on the cobblestone street. "We have to do something!"

"And just what do you suggest? Nopony in Derbyshire knows where the Griffons ran off to - they could be in the mountains, just waiting for us to come out. Our job here is done, anyways. We're waiting for further orders from Canterlot," came Sunbeam's stern reply. The Celestials surrounding him seemed to disagree, however.

Another pony, a Unicorn, stepped up as well. "If they're in the mountains, then it won't matter if we stay or leave. It sure didn't matter before," he growled, pointing back towards the town center.

The scene was beginning to attract the attention of Dappleshore's remaining citizens. They stared at the arguing soldiers, anxious. Sunbeam remembered how terrified they had been when his company had first arrived, followed shortly by their relief when the survivors realized they were Celestials. He wasn't about to take that relief away from them, certainly not in the name of revenge.

This is getting out of hoof, the Earth Pony thought. More and more calls for action were being made by the Celestials, fueled by the desecrated and half-burned remains of the deceased, and stoked by the terrible abuse the remaining mares had endured. The pony attempted to regain control over his infuriated troops. "Enough! Listen-"

"We'll avenge the dead twice-over! The Griffon settlements must burn!" the off-white Pegasus shouted again, turning towards his comrades.

"They'll do the same to Canterlot and Manehattan if we don't stop them now!"

"We must push back while the Lunars have been stalled!"

Sunbeam had had enough of this insubordination. The Earth Pony shoved his way through the crowd, which loosely followed him through Dappleshore. The townsponies that had been watching the ordeal moved to avoid the angry Celestials, with most returning to their dilapidated homes.

The Earth Pony passed a corner that led to the town square. Some of the Unicorns were attempting to finish what the Griffons had barely started, with limited results. It sounded like they were concerned that their magic could cause an explosion if they didn't spread the flames evenly.

The soldiers trailing him finally quieted down in the presence of the dead soldiers, and a few even broke away. Sunbeam used the chance to hurry through the town square and reach the section of Dappleshore that the Griffons had claimed a their own. The military district had changed hooves twice now - first, taken by the Griffons, and then reclaimed by the company that had come in from Stalliongrad.

Sunbeam entered the officer's building that stood as the center structure of the district and promptly went up the stairs to the top story. The room had yet to be cleaned - the torn remains of Celestial tapestries still hung lopsided, and what appeared to be shattered wooden furniture littered the ground. The stallion shook his head and started looking for some paper, ink, and a quill so he could start his report.

It was a curt letter that told Rune what he needed to know about the city. There was no reason to say anything about the massacre and subsequent raping and pillaging, just that they had occurred. He hadn't allowed his anger to cloud what he said, and likewise didn't want to make anypony with real control over Equestria infuriated into stupidity.

That was, until he received a letter from Shooting Star, who had led his half of the company to Trottingham. Unlike in the Earth Pony's letter, Star went into greater detail. Trottingham had put up more of a fight - it was untouched prior to the attack - and the ponies there had suffered further. In Dappleshore, the executions had at least some semblence of cold efficiency. There, it had been cruel and personal, as if the Griffons were offended by the very existence of ponies.

Like in Sunbeam's city, every last stallion and colt had been found and killed, but there, they were described as being 'played with' first. The white stallion had shuddered as he imagined the possibilities. Mares had not been abused just once - more often than not, it happened three or four times across the occupation. Any resistance still led to them being raped, but unless they were especially liked by the invaders, they were then eviscerated. If the Griffons didn't like how thier victim looked, they were also killed. Anypony who tried to escape was slain as well - there seemed to be a theme to how the Griffons treated those they defeated.

The Griffons had been successful in disposing of the bodies as well. They had forced the few Unicorns allowed to live to immolate the mass of corpses, and then promptly shattered most of their horns with a hammer. Only the ones who had proven to be very adept at hiding for days at a time had survived intact.

Sunbeam had tried to distance himself from the emotion that clouded the thoughts of so many of the ponies under his command. He didn't want anger to cause some poorly-made decision. But now? Now, his blood was boiling. The citizens here had done nothing to deserve what the Griffons had wrought upon them, and nor could they ever. Nopony should have had to endure what the they had, not even a ponies like Luna or Blackest Night, traitors as they were.

Why had they done this? During the Chaos Era, the Griffons had been one of the most noble factions within the known world, defending ponies and settlements that had no chance on their own. They had roamed the world, putting down Discord's vermin wherever they may show their ugly heads, requesting only to trade with whoever they fought for. They had been a beacon of the honor every civilization should have, doing all of this while being one of the poorest nations known to ponykind. Now, they had proven themselves to be as horrible as the monsters they once sought to destroy. Maybe even worse.

The Griffons were lucky to have been absent by the time his soldiers arrived, or the execution order would have already gone out, with Sunbeam personally taking part in flattening their wretched skulls. The Earth Pony sincerely hoped Rune would command his forces to strike back and deliever justice in some form, to avenge those who had suffered and died at the talons of this antithesis to the Celestial Code.

Shooting Star had mentioned that his ponies were equally outraged at the attack, and that there had also been a map of the mountains that the Griffons occupied left behind in Trottingham. The Griffon's written language may have been little more than chickenscratch, but anypony could find a big star on a map.

Shooting Star watched the green fields below him turn into the brownish-gray of the deadlands that separated the Griffon Kingdom from Equestria. It was an ugly scar upon the world, a reminder of the horrors of a past era that would remain for centuries, as neither country wanted to bear the burden of cleansing the lingering curses from the earth.

The Trottingham River had long since been left behind. It was the only source of life in this wasteland, but the Pegasi would not be following it - the river had it's source in the far northeastern ranges, whereas the Celestial's targets were to the north-northwest. Following the river into the mountains would take too long, and the distance through the mountains that the Pegasi would have to cover was far too great.

They would be flying for several days, and would have to hope that the Griffon mining towns they planned to strike first would have some form of food available as the ponies had brought very little of their own. It would be impossible to scavenge in the deadlands, and if there was anything down there, it was probably too dangerous to eat.

Star looked over his shoulder. Nearly seventy other Pegasi had volunteered to come on their raid. After learning of the fates of Trottingham and Dappleshore, General Rune had determined that some action was necessary to prevent the same from happening to any other city, small or large. While their strike would do little to truly hamper the Griffons, it could at least force them to pull forces from the front to defend their home mountains, possibly even stopping their rapid claims to the lands north of Manehattan. At least, that was what they hoped for.

These were brave ponies, all of them. The Celestials had grown tired of being stomped below Lunar hooves and Griffon talons, helpless as they watched their cities being overpowered or destroyed; helpless as their brothers in arms and the ponies they defended were imprisoned and killed. Now, with the Lunar Armada being pushed to he seafloor in Canterbury and Night's army presumably stalled at Derbyshire - they had heard no news from the city, but Star and several others doubted it was a repeat of Trottingham and Dappleshore as it was far larger and well-defended - it had become Equestria's turn to strike. With Celestia's blessing, this would spark a turning point in their war.

They flew over the deadlands, hearing the wind whistle past and their wings beating against it. The Pegasi would sleep amongst the clouds, as they could offer far more comfort than the land below. They continued like this for hours, until the sun finally began to set. Shooting Star straightened his wings and signaled his orders with a few flicks of his wingtips, and then banked off to the right with part of his squadron close behind.

There were clouds in the deadlands, but they were small and thin; a cloud that was going to hold seventy ponies plus their gear would need to be bigger than most houses. Star had ordered his Pegasi to break up and gather clouds. They had split into groups of roughly five apiece, going high and low on their hunt. If necessary, they would make some.

Shooting Star's group flew up next to a relatively small cloud. Two of his soldiers landed on what would become the back, and he and two other ponies took up positions about a third of the way around the cloud. At first, they all flapped their wings to press their charge into a more compact shape, and then the two at the rear began pushing forward. Star and the other two Pegasi sharing his position rolled so that their wings pushed air at the cloud - as fast as the ponies were going, it would deform and fall apart if they didn't.

The Pegasi keeping the cloud in-shape orbited it slowly, as to prevent one or two ponies from flying upside-down for too long. They spotted another group of ponies towing a cloud in the distance, and Star directed them towards the other Celestials. They appeared to spot Star as well, and turned around so they could be met halfway. The fliers doing rolls around the clouds peeled off and allowed the clouds to collide.

The result wasn't much bigger, but it was progress. More and more groups of ponies arrived carrying more material for their temporary resting place, and gradually, they went from a cloud a few feet across to something worthy of a storm. The moon had rose a short distance above the horizon by the time the Pegasi finished their work, as they'd had to make some of their own clouds to add on. The now tired Celestials began to land, keeping their gear on. They were careful to keep a safe distance from the edge of their cloud, and the last few ponies to land ensured they were all packed in rather snugly.

The first Griffon settlement was in sight, standing out in the darkness with dimly lit homes and dirt paths. Star directed his Pegasi to circle around and look for any guards, especially ones at the edge of the town - they would be in a position to easily escape into the night and alert other towns with more guards about the attack. None could be spotted from the Celestial's vantage point, but Shooting Star still ordered a few of his ponies to hover on the perimeter, just in case.

The rest of the Celestials landed within the settlement. Even if there had been guards on the unpaved streets, they would have still been mostly concealed by the dark as the town was virtually unlit. The ponies went around and collected what few sources of light were available - crude torches seemed to be common here - and began to go from building to building, pressing the ends against the thatch that made up most of the roofs. Each house had a few ponies stacked up at the doorstep, weapons ready to strike down any Griffon trying to get out.

It didn't take long. The homes were small and rarely had enough inhabitants to outnumber the stallions laying in wait. They would run out, squawking and screeching, only to be ran through by a Celestial blade. Those that were too fast suddenly had pre-aimed arrows sticking out of their backs. The ponies didn't bother waiting for all of the Griffons to exit their houses, and usually didn't have to - they understood little enough about what was going on that they blindly ran out into the dark, even as the ones they shared the house with were hacked down before their eyes. A few of the more perceptive ones tried escaping through windows, but shattering glass was typically quite loud.

The only place to give trouble was what must have been the guardhouse, as the Griffons coming out had some degree of armor and weaponry of their own, and some ponies ended up injured. The Celestials still outnumbered any resistance, and the whole ordeal was over in half an hour.

Not every Griffon was killed, and so those who were left - several of which were wounded - were pushed at swordpoint towards a mine entrance. Nopony here really knew much about how to reproduce the screeches and chirps of the Griffon tongue, and likewise none of the Griffons seemed to speak any Equestrian. It was unlikely that the Griffons would have complied even if the Pegasi could speak to them, but they could have at least been interrogated about the mountains to make finding other towns easier.

Some tried to escape - a few always did, it seemed - but they were quickly striken down by other Celestials hovering over the area. Those who survived being shot and hitting the ground were tossed back with the others. Star had hoped they would open the mine doors once their backs had been pressd against them, but the buzzards refused; at least, until two of them were pulled from the crowd, Celestial swords pressed against their necks. When the Griffons offered only protesting shrieks instead of opening the doors, the pair were killed.

It took pulling another Griffon from the crowd before the captive inhabitants got the point and began working the door. Once it was open, the ponies wasted no time forcing them inside, jabbing the Griffons as necessary. Again, some attempted to escape, only to receive the biting edge of a sword or an arrow to the back. The same fate befell any buzzard that lashed out at the Celestials.

Another minute passed before the Griffons had been locked within the mines. While they seemed calm - albeit a very angry sort of calm - Star knew the second his soldiers left they would attempt to escape. With that in mind, he ordered a few Pegasi to barricade the doors with whatever they could find. In the meantime, the Pegasus began trying to get a bearing on the next town.

He was helped by a sign on the outskirts of the settlement, and the set of pointed wooden planks aimed in the direction of other towns, the same illegible Griffon scratches on their surface. Star was able to simply match the labelled dots on the map with their indicated direction on the sign to figure out where they needed to go.

With the moon still high, they had plenty of time to keep raiding. Star took off with his forces close behind, and using what he remembered from the map, guided them through the mountains. One could almost forget that they were in the heart of their enemy's homelands as they glode over the rocks below. The landscape was serene and beautiful, even when coated in the blackness of the night. Part of him wanted to do this forever, soaring over stone and dirt, frigid wind buffeting his mane and grazing the skin under his blue fur; but the rest of him knew that he couldn't.

The moon had begun to descend when Shooting Star brought his flight to a halt. He looked around, unable to find his destination. They had been flying for a while - surely they should have seen it by now? Getting lost in these mountains was exactly what he feared. He made his squadron dissapate to search for any evidence of a Griffon village.

They needed to find it soon. Everypony needed to be hidden before the sun rose, as being discovered this far behind enemy lines meant a sure death. Thankfully, one of the Pegasi who had gone off to help search for their target returned from his trip, bearing information about the locale. Star would still have to wait for the rest of the squadron to return however, and by the time they did, the moon had just passed it's peak and begun the slow descent to give way to the sun. They still had time.

The second settlement was much larger than the first, enough so to give Star a very good reason to avoid the place entirely. He wanted to reach Gryphus in full force and cause as much damage as possible, and losing ponies trying to tear down an unimportant Griffon village would be counter-intuitive. However, the stallion felt there was a way to turn it to his favor. The buildings here were of the same thatch as the first village, with the same type of torches and lanterns responsible for keeping the place lit. He had yet to see a Griffon patrol, which meant his ponies could swoop in and start fires as they pleased, and be out of sight long before the buzzards started to wake up. The populace wouldn't be imprisoned, but with a proper perimeter, any who attempted to escape and seek help would be isolated and killed far out of sight. Star wasn't expecting many to try to flee, so he shared his plan and sent it into action.

Half his ponies rose up, giving themselves good vision over the area and the ability to dive down on escaping Griffons. The other half silently descended, grabbing the various torches and a few lanterns, and fires were set on roofs and in front of doors - if they could trap and kill Griffons in their own burning homes, it would mean less work for the interceptors overhead. Star was among the latter, bow drawn, eyes scanning the homes for movement. The ponies burning the houses retreated and hid along the edge of the village, forming a two-part defense around the town.

The settlement, although still enveloped in the night, glowed as if it was the middle of summer. Dark shapes on the ground milled about, and their shrill voices could be heard even by the ponies watching from above. Smaller homes neared collapse as the fire raged, and soon fell into a writhing mass of embers and flame. It appeared that attempts were being made to stem the inferno with water from the central well, but it was a pointless endeavor, considering how many and how big most of the fires were. The Griffons folded, finally sending out to call for aid those who would be the first victims of the waiting ponies.

As soon as each Griffon was out of sight, a couple ponies would swoop in for an attack with their bow, or their shortsword if they missed. Against unexperienced, unarmored, half-asleep Griffons with their backs exposed, these attacks were impossible to fail at unless the Celestial performing it inentionally did so. Maybe five or so tried to seek help, while the rest kept trying - and failing - to put out the flames engulfing the town. Shooting Star gathered his forces and ordered them to move on.

They rested in a cave at the bottom of a valley for the day, with a few of the more stone-furred Pegasi keeping watch near the entrance. As the sun fell, Star's forces moved out again, keeping low in the valley until they could see the twinking light of the stars above them. The Pegasus had already figured out where they were going next - there were no small settlements near them, and the risk of taking casualties kept him from attacking the bigger ones. They would finish their intrusion at full strength.

Once they left the valley, Shooting Star banked towards Gryphus.

Stargazer jerked his head back, testing the strength of the post he had been tied to. It was sturdy, and barely budged even when he put his entire body against it - it probably didn't help that he had barely eaten during the trip from Europa.

The stallion frowned, and laid down. He wished he could go back to the prison camp; the burned out husk of Europa and constant manual labor was preferable to the constant abuse he had suffered on the walk here. At least there was something resembling a roof over his head, and the prisoners were only beated if they disobeyed. Here, though, with these Lunars who had been told his identity and given free reign over his life - as long as they did not end it - things had been much worse.

Being beaten for fun, carrying a pack that weighed at least as much as he did, being forced to humiliate himself with circus tricks for food - they didn't even take off his muzzle! - and now, tied to a post outside a tavern with a "No Pets Allowed" sign. He knew roughly where he was going and the fate that awaited him, and if he couldn't escape then he only wished that nopony else would see him like this.

The disheveled Unicorn looked up as he heard hoofsteps coming from the tavern. A stallion was staggering out, half dressed in the armor of the Lunar guards he had seen patrolling the city. He looked like he was bout to stagger right back inside, but hooves of a second pony encourged him outwards, sending the guard out for good. He fell head over hooves down the three or so steps, landing flat on his face, tail in the air. The tavern door slammed shut behind him - probably unnecessary, considering the thrown-out pony was too inebriated to even stand up.

The Lunar remained there for a moment before trying to pick himself up. He looked like he was on ice, hooves unable to find purchase on the stones beneath him. Stargazer couldn't help but laugh a little through his muzzle. The stallion must have heard him, and looked over his shoulder.

"Whad're you laughin' ad," he mumbled, trying - and failing - again to stand. "Nefer seen a, a Lunah before, huh?"

Stargazer rolled his eyes. He'd seen sailors fresh off year on the sea practice more control with their drinking. Life as a 'Lunah' must have been a hard one.

The Lunar had finally found purchase on the ground, and finally rose to his hooves. "I, I oughdda 'each you to show a bid of some respect," the pony growled, staggering towards Stargazer's prone form. He immediately tripped and fell in front of the Unicorn, giving him more than enough time to stand up and back away. "Why you, you piece uh..." he slurred, barely moving from newfound spot on the ground. "You tripped me!"

The Celestial shook his head, waiting for the Lunar to rise again. After a few seconds he managed to stand, as it was much harder to slip up on solid dirt - it didn't keep him from trying, though. He mumbled some insult, and swung a hard right hook. Stargazer simply moved his head back, and the punch slammed into the stick the Unicorn was tied to with a dull thunk.

The drunkard howled in pain, pulling his foreleg close to his chest. He shouted something - likely a war cry rendered unintelligible by all the alcohol he had consumed - and lunged at Stargazer, who at this time had moved behind the post. The Lunar bounced off the wood - which still hadn't moved - and fell to the ground, knocked out cold. Stargazer stared at his crumpled form for a few seconds before laying back down, somewhat concerned that he might be blamed for causing it and get another beating.

Eventually a couple guards wandered by and looked at the scene. At first the looked ready to kill Stargazer, but upon seeing his ragged state along with the chains and other restraints on his body, decided there was no way he could have beaten another guard. They hauled off the drunkard, who started to come to as he was picked up. An hour or so later, the Celestial's escorts came out of the tavern. One of them briefly pulled off his muzzle - it felt nice to smell something other than his own breath - and tossed a bucket of water by his hooves, along with some bread that was likely taken from a trash heap.

"Eat up. It might be the last you get until we reach the front," the Lunar said uncaringly. The bread was hard to bite into and and tasted like charcoal, but it was something. The water was clean as well, which was a first. Once he had his fill, the muzzle was placed back over Stargazer's face, and he was untied from the post. A rough jerk yanked his head toward the Lunars, and their jounrey resumed.

The Lunars filled their trip with conversation. The silver-furred Pegasus was nearly always talking with his Earth Pony friend, sometimes glancing back at Stargazer. He glared at them when they did. Three of the other stallions in the group sounded like they were talking about how they'd kill their first Celestial, reflecting their incredibly youthful appearance. The mares - it was still a strange sight to see mares wearing armor, he knew the Lunars needed troops and that the populace was dedicated, but even this seemed absurd - sounded like they hoped they wouldn't have to do too much fighting, but a couple seemed eager to be on the front. The remaining stallion kept trying to get in on the mares' exchange, but they butted him away every time he got too close until he finally gave up and fell back to Stargazer's side.

It was midnight when the group reached the edge of the mountains, a rocky maw carved into the side. To the Celestial's surprise, some of the weight he had been carrying was removed and split among the other ponies. What that meant exactly, the Unicorn was unsure, but he didn't question it.

A few minutes later, he found out. The pass they were moving through had some of the most difficult terrain he had ever seen. Narrow curves that a pony could barely fit through, follwoed by clearings the size of a capital ship. The ground was filled with crevices that could break the legs of ponies who stepped into them the wrong way, and loose stones could easily cause sprained ankles if not stepped on with the utmost care. A landslide had blocked their paths at one point, and the Pegasi in the group spent nearly an hour carrying up gear - and eventually, ponies - over to the other side. By the time they emerged into the hoofhills, four hours had passed and everypony was exhausted.

After a short break they resumed walking, and a Pegasus in the group took off to look for a good spot to set up camp. For another couple of hours they kept walking, with most of the group sometimes looking back at the mountains when they weren't staring at the open fields of grass and a forest in the distance. It was likely they had never been outside the ranges before.

They stopped once they reached the forest, taking cover under the wide branches of a tree as the sun began to rise. SOme of the stallions started pulling things off of Stargazer's back - bedrolls and canvas, along with some stakes to hold the latter down. The sun had completely risen above the horizon when the camp was completed.

One of the Lunars trotted over the Stargazer, grabbing his leash and yanking him towards the camp. The Unicorn knew what happened next; like with the post in the Lunar city, he'd spend the day tied to it, and there was even a rod he had been forced to carry that was purpose-built for the task. However, the Lunar was unable to find it.

"Hey, anypony have Stargazer's stick?" he asked, turning towards the others. They started to go through the packs at their hooves, as there was a chance one of them ended up carrying it after they redistributed their gear before entering the pass. However, none found the rod.

"Well, what are we supposed to do, then?" Dusk - he had learned the pony's name during the trip through the pass - questioned, looking around in case somepony had simply not noticed the stick in the grass. "We need to secure him somehow, rod or not."

"Let's break a couple of his legs, that oughtta keep him from running. 'sides, he probably deserves it," said one of the Pegasus mares, smiling. "Works on prisoners at the camp, why not here?"

Stargazer made a note to avoid her, and put a few more feet between her and himself. "We'd have to carry him, or carry the Unicorn that exhausted themselves healing those injuries on the spot," said another stallion, looking towards the prisoner as he moved.

"Just make him heal himself, we're practically carrying him already. Better yet, just kill him and get this over with. That's what will happen to him when we reach General Night anyways, isn't it?" another pony said, hoof on his sword. "We'd be saving him time and effort, I'm sure he'd understand."

"Gee, why don't we just kill you now and save the Celestials the effort?" Dusk said, turning around to face the stallion. "Orders are orders. We bring Stargazer to Night and join up with whatever part of the army he wants us in."

The silver Pegasus faced Dusk. "If you want, I can go back into the pass and look for the rod. It probably fell off somepony's pack while we were pulling each other over the landslide."

"That could take hours, by the time you return we might have already packed up to leave."

"What if we just tied his legs together?" asked one of the stallions. "We may not even need anypony to keep watch over him if the knot is good enough."

"I think that's the best idea we've had so far," Dusk replied. "Somepony, get to it. Test the rope too, make sure he can't move an inch with it on."

Almost as soon as Dusk finished speaking, the mare who had suggested breaking Stargazer's legs was next to him, going through his pack until she pulled out a long piece of rope about half an inch thick. She forced him to the ground by grabbing his horn and pulling down, sending twinges of pain through the stallion's head and down his neck. He grimaced and let out a low grunt when she kicked him in the side to make him roll over.

"Aww, did I hurt the poor little Unicorn?" she sneered, grabbing one of his forelegs and planting a hind leg on his exposed belly. Once she had his other forleg, the mare tied the two of them together uncomfortably tight, smiling when she saw his pained expressions. The same fate befell his hind legs, and then both pairs were tied together at the gaps between his hooves where the rope secured them together. The mare's work was completed, and she shoved him back on his side before stepping on him to return to Dusk.

The prisoner tested the stregnth of the knots. His legs hardly moved, and attempting to do so resulted in a kick from the Pegasus, who had returned from her brief exchange with Dusk - clearly the mare had some experience with tying ponies down and inflicting pain upon them. "Boss said I get to watch you first, Celestial," the mare snarled, inches from his face. He swore he saw fangs in her mouth. "So don't try anything funny, 'cause he also said I get to do whatever I want to you."

Stargazer whimpered.

Cloudburst put the last pieces of her gear by her cot. She would be deployed at sunset, along with almost a dozen other ponies that she had yet to meet. At this rate, Europa will be empty in a couple weeks, she thought, sighing. It was a bustling city before the war, with ships always coming on or out of the port, and the dockyards and streets full of ponies going about their daily lives. Now, only the decrepit hulls of ships picked clean to fix up the armada sat tied in the docks, and most of the inhabitants had left the city, either to avenge it or to start again elsewhere.

The gray mare peeked out of her window. The cloudless sky was painted with the reds and violets of twilight, and if she looked closely enough, they seemed to change hues before her eyes. The mare yawned halfheartedly, reminded of the time. Stepping over her armor and pack, Cloudburst climbed into her cot and pulled over her a pitiful excuse of a blanket, even if she did not yet feel tired enough to sleep. So, instead, she set her thoughts adrift until they finally carried her off into rest.