Skyquestria: The Pony Scrolls V

Ulfric Stormhoof

The self proclaimed king stood outside his palace. He gazed down and saw his citizens, anticipating what he had to say about their cause. He knew he had to win over their hearts to put his plans into motion, to rebuild Skyquestria in his image. He took a deep breath, and began his speech.

"My fellow earth ponies, I stand before you asking for your support in this endeavor. The Empire has failed to protect our lands from the unicorns. As we speak, they sit with them, handing our sacred beliefs and traditions over to the Aldpony Dominion, like bargaining chips. Like Ysgrabuck and the five hundred earth ponies who followed him to this great continent, we are not meant to be cowards. They drove back the unicorns who denied us the land, and dominated what we now call Skyquestria. Why should we let the empire give it back? We have shed blood, sweat, and tears into our fields, our homes, and our cider halls, and I'll be damned if I let a unicorn tell me what to do with it."

Ulfric paused, and looked into his people's eyes. He saw in those eyes a growing anger akin to his. He was appealing to their pride, but pride alone won't send stallions onto the battlefield. He continued with a stronger theme.

"You have already seen what the Aldpony Dominion thinks of us. They have no regard for our gods, banning the great Talon from our temples, accusing his worshipers of heresy and condemning them to imprisonment."

His tone grew louder, rising with excitement and fueling the emotions of the crowd.

"I will not sit still on my throne and let those vile magic users to tell me and my children who to worship. I will not allow the unicorns to tell my grandchildren what they can and cannot do. And if I have to march to the walls of Solihoof alone, and kick down their gates, then so be it! Should the Empire decide what you will fight for, or should it be your choice? This is our land, this is Skyquestria and it belongs to the earth ponies!"

A roar of stomping and cheering erupted as Ulfric gave his last shout. His heart was pumping at the sight of so much support. He had sold the idea, and now decided to close it off with a serious message.

"Thank you, all of you. But I am not here to tell you that you must fight for my cause. You deserve your freedom, and it would be just as wrong for me to take it away. But to those out there with doubts, I ask you this. If you stood here in my place, and knew tomorrow the empire was going take away everything you stand for, what you do?"

And without even waiting for an answer, Ulfric turned and strode back into his palace, anticipating the hundreds that would sign up to join his cause.

The storm hit the battlefield like the lightning that follows it. It always was the case for the Stormhooves, and they embraced the luck it brought them. But, today was not like any other, and Yugvar was sure that today the storm will serve to save Skyquestria from the rebel menace. The dim light from the storm and the torrential rain created a perfect cover in the forest for the ambush. Yugvar's captain gave his squad the signal, and together they flanked the Stormhoof procession. This was no ordinary line of men. Today Ulfric Stormhoof himself marched alongside his men, moving to another hold to gain support. The other half of Yugvar's squad trailed behind the Stormhooves, blocking off their retreat. Thirty unicorn archers were sent by the Aldpony Dominion to ensure the proper capture of Ulfric. They were cloaked among the trees, about thirty meters ahead.

Yugvar turned to his bunk mate and whispered, "Hey, you see that? They're all wearing amulets of Talon. Do you think the unicorns will take them?"

"Maybe, I don't know. Just hush up, we could start the attack any minute." They cut their conversation before anyone from either side heard them. The last hand signal was sent all the way to the archers, and the Empire began their ambush to turn the tide of the war.

The forest was shrieking over the heavy rain, the ringing of metal and clashing of shields thrashed the rain drops before they hit the ground. Yugvar was to be at the back of the squad, keeping in any stray Stormhooves. However, at this point he turned and saw earths ponies all around him. He tightened his horseshoe grip on his sword and cut through the field of Stormhooves.

The first rebel fell in seconds, already weakened by a splinted shield in his legs. Then he ducked under somepony's great sword and stabbed at the wielder's feet. Hack, slash, block, duck, hack, slash, block, duck. The battle picked up its own rhythm, interrupted only by waves of shots from the archers. Yugvar cut his way to the edge of the blood bath, and turned back to face all the warriors. A rebel ran out of the skirmish and charged at Yugvar. Without thinking, he bucked his shield out the young rebel's hoof, spun around and removed both front limbs. He looked at the face of the stallion he had just killed. But it wasn't an aged stallion with proper experience, but it was a young colt, probably just leaving his parent's care.

What felt like hours in that battle was a mere twenty minutes. The skirmish had grown into a full fledged carnage. over half of both sides had died, but the melee continued. Some ponies no longer had their weapons, and were wrestling their enemy into the mud and suffocating them there. Even the unicorns had run out of arrows and were lending a hoof in the onslaught, ramming their horns into Stormhooves, taking old arrows to use on other rebels.

Yugvar stood above a pile of bodies, scanning the narrow forest path for the most important target, Ulfric himself. It dawned on him the false king had escaped and ran into the black trees. He spotted one of the Stormhoof lieutenants run off into the woods, backed by two other rebels. Yugvar was sure that meant Ulfric was hiding too, and if not, then at least he could take down some of Ulfric's best men. He galloped after the three Stormhooves, piercing the dense forests with his sword.

It didn't take long for Yugvar to find the clearing where the elites of the Stormhooves had ran off to. Among them, was Ulfric, who was wrestling with Yugvar's captain. Other soldiers were fighting the rebels, most of them in a one to one confrontation. The lieutenant Yugavr had followed was no where to be seen, but without warning he found himself clobbered by a mace. One of the soldiers who was with the lieutenant attacked him from a tree. Yugvar rolled to the right, evading another mace strike and getting back up on his hooves. He stabbed the pony's left foreleg as he reeled back for another hit, making him drop his weapon. He finished him off with a thrust to the gut.

From behind Yugvar the second rebel leaped from the bushes. His dual daggers sliced off Yugvar's helmet, leaving a long cut along his face. Before he could even turn, the rebel was on top of him, tearing holes in his armor. Yugvar managed to ram his back into a tree, knocking off the rebel. With a strong buck to his face, Yugvar killed his assailant and rushed to help his fellow soldiers.

"Hey, prisoner, wake up. We're nearly there."

The voice was rough and solemn. It did nicely to wake up the prisoner.

"You awake? Good. Sorry you had to get caught up in this, you were just trying to cross the border, right? Don't know why anyone would come to Skyquestria at this time, but I guess it doesn't matter now."

A shout came from the front of the prisoner transports, and the gate opened.

"My name's Kilaf, prisoner. Figured we should at least get to know each other before we get our head taken. I know you're wondering how we got you caught. A blasted ambush took out most of our men, including my brother." His face went dark for a moment, then her gestured to the muffled stallion. "Ulfric decided to save what was left and be captured. But so much for the Empire's dungeons, it's off to the block for our 'unforgivable crimes against the peace of Skyquestria' and all that."

The wagons rolled into the town of Colton, everypony in town gathered to see the execution. The wagons stopped at the town square, and the captains were checking off each of the prisoners.

"Ulfric Stormhoof, Lord of Shearwind." The soldier checked off a name, then gestured to the line of ponies waiting to die. "Kilaf of Rivermane." Kilaf followed the same path as Ulfric, and stood in the line.

"Sadier of Haystead." He was the quite one on the ride.

"No, please! I'm a thief, not a rebel." When the soldier grabbed Sadier to put him in line, he was tackled by Sadier, who galloped over him and continued to run out of the town. He barely made it to the gate before an archer shot him down.

The captain shouted, "Anypony else, feel like running? Good."

The last prisoner remained, and the soldier called him forth with a puzzled look."You... are not on the list. Please state your name for our records."

"Zekai of West Freewood." Zekai looked around, hoping he wouldn't go with the other prisoners. He guessed they were the infamous rebel's he had heard about, and looking at them now, he wasn't impressed. He turned back to the soldier, who was eyeing him up from horn to hoof, trying to place him. The soldier whispered to his captain, who, in his opinion, was a rather attractive mare for an earth pony.

"What do we do? He's not on the list."

"Screw the list, he goes to the block."

Zekai got pushed into the shorter chopping line. He looked to his left and saw Ulfric and Kilaf in the line of rebels. His line was the one for criminals. Murderers, thieves, and apparently a border crosser now too.

The executioners chopped through the ponies like vegetables. Before long, it was Zekai's turn, even before Ulfric met his fate. By now the chopping block was soaked in blood, and he had to lie in all its bloody mess. He looked up at the the executioner with defiance in his eyes. He wasn't going to be slaughtered like a lamb, with his dignity stripped away from him. But as the ax was raised, a monstrous roar shook the ground.

"What in Tartarus is that!" somepony cried out.

The captain shouted an order, but was muffled by the dragon crushing an archer tower and burning anything in it. The executioner turned to face the dragon, and was met with a face full of rock and dirt. In the chaos, Zekai managed to get off the block and run for safety.

"Holy shit, hoping actually worked. Thank the gods." He ran for another tower, and was followed by Kilaf. The surviving prisoners lay in the tower, including Ulfric, who was now unbound and unmuffled.

The prisoners all looked to Ulfric for guidance, but Zekai wasn't going to wait for advice from a leader who failed to keep his people alive. He bolted up the stairs to get a better view at the top. But a hole had been made halfway up, blocking the way up. Scorch marks covered the edge of the hole, meaning the dragon was just here. He jumped out the hole, landing on the roof of the neighboring house and sliding off into the middle of the street.

"Prisoner, get out of there!" The shout belonged to the soldier at the checklist. Zekai looked up to see the dragon land on the road and decimated the inn. It turned to look at Zekai, but luckily the soldier pulled him across the street and into an alleyway. "Get on your hooves and keep up. You got to stay with me if you want to live."

They sprinted through the torn houses and over dead bodies. Anyone who wasn't dead was either injured or running. The dragon swooped down, picking up a limping unicorn and throwing him over the tow walls. Zekai heard the scream, but was too afraid to look back. He followed the soldier to a building at the end of the street. It was marked "Weapons Stable". It looked built deep into the ground, and was much safer than outside. Everypony was trying to get there, and everypony was failing.

The dragon circled it like a vulture, burning the stone path toward it. The soldier's wit impressed Zekai, however. He heaved a dead pony onto his back, and when the dragon came down, he flew away the dead decoy. Zekai followed suit, lifting up a unicorn magician onto his back, and rushing for the stable. The air shook as the dragon came down for Zekai, but the large unicorn served as the perfect decoy to cover up his smaller stature.

Behind them, Kilaf followed suit and galloped to the back door of the stable. "This way! We're brothers in bonds now, we have to go!"

The imperial soldier turned back and yelled, "Damn you all to Tatarus, Kilaf. He can't save you prisoner. Run while you can!"

Zekai picked the clear choice. What pony in the right mind would go with an earth pony who got captured in battle. Doesn't quite live up to the "fight or die" reputation. He followed the soldier into the stable, leaving behind his best prison escape of his life.

The weapons stable was dimly lit by three candles. Nothing much was left in here. Everything now was in the hands of dead earth ponies. Zekai looked around the room for at least a dagger, but nothing was lying around, and Zekai's telekinesis wasn't ready to lift heavy chest lids.

"Hey, prisoner. Come over here and I'll help get those bindings off." The soldier had a dagger in his hoof. Zekai always wondered how earth ponies could hold weapons in their hooves. He walked over to the soldier and let him cut off the bindings. "My name's Yugvar by the way. Sorry about the bloody mess out there. Before the dragon came, I mean. I know you're not like those damned rebels."

The bindings took little more than a moment to cut loose, and Zekai moved his hooves around, getting used to feeling them again. "Glad I'm not walking like a three legged pony anymore." He opened the chests with his hooves, and looked inside. Nothing but a few gold bits.

"Look over here prisoner, another soldier must have left their saddle bag here. There's some provisions and boots you could use." Yugvar pulled the bag from under a bed. Zekai hesitated, then decided to put it on. The green didn't really match his blue coat, but it would have to do. The boots were a little loose, so they didn't really help accept keep the wood floor from sticking splinters in his hooves.

"It will have to do, I guess."

Yugvar opened the door and headed for the main hall of the stable. "Come on then, we need to get out of here before this place comes down on us."

Zekai followed Yugvar down the hall. The lack of candles made it harder to see, but the walls were unmistakably lined with weapon racks. Zekai kept looking for any kind of weapon on these racks, but they all had been taken, probably by the imperials soldiers who were dead outside.

At the end of the corridor was a metal gate. The main hall was brightly lit, and two Stormhooves were in there. Both Zekai and Yugvar waited by the gate and listened to their conversation.

"No, I need a moment to rest. Some poor stallion was dropped on me by the dragon. I'm not sure how my legs will hold up." The stallion didn't try to hide his pain. He grunted with almost every word he said.

The mare replied, "You always were a like a little filly, but Ulfric and the rest of our platoon are could be waiting. Rilaf already said he knew where Ulfric would be. We have to catch up with him."

"Just go on ahead Olive. I'll catch up in a moment. This stable should be safe for a while."

The mare, who was apparently Olive, crouched next to the stallion on the floor. "C'mon you big wuss. I invested my whole fillyhood in you, and I won't let you go until I get my full return."

At this point, Yugvar chose to strike. "Prisoner, their distracted now. Pull that lever behind you, and I'll take down the rebels."

Zekai turned and thought to himself, why the hell does he refuse to say my name?

He found the lever high up on the wall, and pulled it with what telekinesis he had. Immediately, Yugvar was up and fighting. He plunged his dagger into the neck of the mare, pushing her off to the far side of the room. The attack wasn't surprising enough, however, and the stallion swung his war hammer and knocked Yugvar down. Zekai rushed in to help his imperial friend, ramming his horn into the Stormhoof's injured hind leg. The strike hurt the stallion severely, cracking some kind of bone in the leg.

Yugvar drew his sword while the rebel fell on the ground and finished him with a strong cut to his neck.

"Thanks, you should see what these rebels have, and get one of their weapons too," Yugvar said as he looked through a chest in the corner of the room.

Zekai walked over to the mare and took a look at her ax. Its blade was crudely made from iron and so was the handle. The handle was molded into the shape of a horse shoe so a pony could lock it to their hoof. Zekai tried on the horse shoes of the mare, who happened to be a similar enough size for him. He managed to lock it to his hoof and practiced a few swings.

The stallion didn't have anything Zekai could use, since the war hammer was too heavy for him. However, he did have sixty gold bits on him. Zekai added them to the seven he found earlier.

He left their armor on them. It didn't feel right stripping down the dead for their clothing. "Yugvar, let's go."

"Done then? Alright." He pulled out a key and unlocked the metal door with a sign saying "interrogation" and walked down into the shadows of the dungeon.