Reality and War

Canter Mountain

Year 1013

Nov, 6th

7:58am

        “Quickly, move those supplies, we don’t have much time to waste!” A very large and well built pegasus with a dark blue coat and several medals pinned to a small vest he dawned rang out, clearly flaunting his rank among the marching troops.

        The pegasus is in the middle of a very large pegasi division, preparing to take flight by orders from General Applejack. Meaning everypony’s emotions were at a fever pitch, they were heading straight for the heart of the rebels and failure was not an option. The Pegasi division was 500 strong and their mission was simple, survey the incoming area for any ambushes and eliminate on site. The stakes were high for them, because the entirety of the generals army had to brave past Foal Mountain after they rounded Canter Mountain. So one slip up and the whole army could easily be found flanked by the rebel forces.

        Yet, not too many seemed worried about that. The rebels haven’t posted and counter offensive in months and Applejack had recently injured one of their leaders. The high ranking pegasus knew the only thing that was assured was another swift victory. Superior armor, numbers, and weapons didn’t leave much room for the rebels to work with. Making the pegasus chuckle under his breath that he would be able to return home to his family early this season.

        “Whoa, what the hay are you two doing?!” The pegasus snaps out after witnessing a couple of recruits drop a crate of spears half haphazardly.

        “Sorry sergeant, Magnet and I were just…” The lowly recruit was quickly cut off by his enrage superior.

        “SORRY, do you not know what’s going on here oats for brains, have you forgotten why you're carrying those spears!”

        “n-no sir.” The now cowering recruit responds.

        The sergeants face was beginning to turn a vibrant hue of red due to the fact that he was bottling up his rage. He couldn’t believe ponies like this served in their equestrian military. Most ponies were wise enough to continue their duties and not turn an eye to the scene, still there were a few ponies foolish enough to turn their attention to the impending explosion.

“Where are you from recruit.” The sergeant sternly asks, leaving the recruit strangely baffled.

“Cloudsdale sir.”

“Oh, really, well I COULDN’T TELL!” The sergeant burst out, now stepping into the face of the hopeless stallion and it was quite clear that he wasn’t finished. “ Do you not remember Mayor Spitfire and everything she gave for our cloud city!”

        Those words echoed among the troops, causing the lots of them to stop and hear what was going down. Just speaking of the great Spitfire was enough to burn any pegasus to the core, and that recruit was no exception. What was once a cowering colt in the face of a griffin was now brimming with enough anger to match that of an early Nightmare Moon.

        “That rebel… RAINBOW DASH took her life and fled like a guilty dog, taking all those foolish enough to follow her to Tartarus!” The silence after those words were bone crushing, yet it was swiftly broken. “WE ARE HERE TO END THIS, TO END HER!!!”

        No pony yelled with confirmation nor did any pony rally to his words. Everyponies mission was only re ensured, they all continued along the beaten path. Everything that they were doing only constituted victory in their eyes. Every pegasus their knew what Rainbow Dash did and it was unforgivable, so the recruit quickly recovered the dropped crate and replaced the spears with out fail, in effect doubling his pace. There was no time to waste, it was almost time to take flight.

        And as things continued on schedule, all the pegasi were beginning to stretch out their wings and brace their armor. For their flight was close at hoof, but before the sergeant could give the signal to take flight a light blue stallion with a dark blue mane and tail stepped before him. It was obvious who this character was, especially since he was wear the new Wonderbolts armor.

        “Colonel Soarin sir, weren’t you suppose to be at our front?” The sergeant questioned.

        “Why yes Ironsides, but I have some time and please just call me Soarin as you have before.” Soarin calmly replies.

        “Sorry sir, now you know I can’t do that.”

        “I see and you know I think you can old friend.” Soarn snickers.

        "What are you talking about sir?” Those words causes Ironsides to stir uncomfortably for those words was not expected from the colonel.

        “Do you honestly believe that killing Rainbow Dash will solve all our problems now?” Soarin answers Ironsides question with yet another question.

        “Sir, there is no time for this, we must be preparing for our flight now.” Ironsides responses, doing his best to avoid that question among the troops.

        But that wouldn’t have been good enough to stop Soarins advance, however a gray figure in the distance coming in hot caught Soarins attention immediately. Giving Ironsides the opportunity to break their previous conversation before it became a debate of philosophy. Still that figure Soarin was watching was growing closer and closer, not only that… It seemed as those the pegasus velocity in question was rapidly increasing, causing alarm in the immediate area.

        “Ooook, I’d step to the side if I was you.” Soarin calmly stated, as he did so himself just before that pony hit the ground at blinding speeds.

        “Gah, what the?!” Ironsides yells

        “Sorry, I just don’t know what went wrong…” a mares voice clearly says out from within the cloud of dust that was kicked up from her crash landing.

        “Miss Hooves, are you alright?” Soarin cautiously asks, unsure of what was going to given as a response in returns.

        “hehe, yea I thinks so, But I have a letter for you.” She says after the dust had settled.

        “Letter?” Both of the ranking officers said simultaneously

“Yes, from General Applejack… She told me it was meant for your hooves only Colon- I mean Soarin.” The grey mare says, looking up at Soarin with her crossed eyes all while giving a slight blush for her mishap.

“See, It’s not so hard to call me by my name.” Soarin says, specifically referring to rather irritated stallion next to him, who did nothing more than huff in response.

“So letter, let me have a look at that, to be honest I wasn’t expecting anything from Applejack of recently,” the commanding officer says, taking the letter gently from the exhausted mare.

“Sorry, it was kinda short notice…” she responds, rubbing the back of her head.

“Yes, very short.” Ironsides dead-panned. Becoming rather suspicious of the innocent mare. Examining the letter closely in Soarins hooves, Ironsides notices a fatal mistake with the letter.

        “Where the hay is the seal?!”

        “Yes Miss Hooves, the document is missing her seal.”

        “Seal? Oh, the seal… Applejack wrote it on another ponies back as they were moving and just folded it, telling me to deliver it as quickly as possible.” She says, not entirely sure of what they were talking about.

        Even though their are now questions being raised, Soarin still opened the document, curious of it’s contents. Yet when he opened it, any doubt he had of the documents origins were soon dispelled. As he could easily recognize the generals rather sloppy and grammatically incorrect writing. However the contents of the letter were quite shocking.

        “They discovered that the rebels have started advancing towards us?!” Soarin yelps, quite baffled at the news

        “You can’t be serious, do those idiots have a death wish!” Ironsides laughs.

        “She told me after I delivered the letter to bring you back immediately, she wishes to discuss alternate plans.” Miss Hooves adds in.

        “Is that so?” Ironsides says, still very suspiciously.

“Ugh, we might have to take an alternate flight pattern, she probably wants to get the jump on them.” Soarin moans, not wanting to memorize a whole new flight course. “Tell the troops to hold positions until I return, I don’t want us flying off until we have Applejacks revised orders.”

“Yes sir!” Ironsides salutes Soarin before flying off ahead of the division to halt their progression.

“Ok now Miss hooves, we mustn’t waste time, take me to Applejack.”

“Ok, can do!” she says ecstatically, giving the same salute that Ironsides did causing Soarin to roll his eyes sarcastically.

Getting up, the gray mare swiftly lifts off from the ground with the colonel in tow. Following the grey mare, Soarin looks back once more at his large division of 500 to see them all nearly come to a simultaneous stop as he knew that Ironsides had reached the front. Ironsides is by far one of the most trustworthy ponies he knows and is a excellent flyer as well, possibly even better than him. The sergeant reminds him all to much of a certain pony he once knew, however he can’t allow himself to get wrapped up in those thoughts, he just needs to meet with the general to get his new orders.

It had been nearly 5 minutes, and his entire division had already entirely faded from sight. Following the messenger he felt a little uneasy, as the usually bubbly mare was oddly silent throughout the duration of their flight. And not only that, he hasn’t seen anypony from Applejacks army on the ground below. With a twitch of an ear Soarin quickly realizes that the wind is blowing west and their army was walking with the wind, not against it.

“Miss Hoov#$@!” Before he could finish his sentences a grey blur had crashed into his face, knocking his helmet clean off. His mind was boggling as he begun to free fall hundreds of feet out of the sky.

Trying to regain stability, Soarin can see droplets of his own blood fail from the sky at nearly the same speed he was. Spreading his wings to it’s full extent he quickly caught air once again bringing him to a glide before he looked up to confirm what he wish wasn’t true. But his eyes were not deceiving him, looking up he could clearly see Miss Hooves hurtling down towards him with one hind leg out reached preparing to deliver a devastating blow to his spine.

In his gliding motion, Soarin knows he was unable to avoid the surprise attack. Meaning the confused pegasus only hope was that his armor could absorb enough of the impact so that he can eventually find a moment to recoil. Bracing for impact, Soarin could feel the crushing blow to his spine as the gray mares hind leg connected with his armor. The impact was so great that he was unable to keep his wings out reached, in turn causing the doomed pegasus to barrel to the ground with no hope of recovery. Closing his eyes, Soarin was still unable to grip the reality that he might die from this impact.

“Damn it!” Soarin yells in bloody defeat, as he had just been taken for a fool. He would have never thought somepony like Derpy Hooves would be a rebel sympathizer and a terrorist.

Failing at terrifying speeds, the injured stallion crashes through the dense treeline below. Hitting every branch on his way down, unable to do anything about it. He could hear the snapping of trees and bones alike before he faded from conscious, hitting the ground with a blood curdling thud.

vVvVvVv

She was simply leading me away, how stupid of me. I should have been more weary, I mean we were completely detached from the rest of  the army. But I don’t understand… Secluding us won’t stop the army, it will only delay the inevitable. As soon as Applejack notice that we haven’t reported back or merged with her forces for the battle, the strategy will only change. Still I failed none the less, hmp… I guess this is kinda deserving. I wonder what you're up to right now Spitfire

“I’m sorry, I was hoping you didn’t survive the fall, it would have been less painful for you that way.” A familiar voice sounds out. Somehow bringing the fleeting pegasus back to reality.

Opening a single eye he sees a grey silhouette of a mare standing over top of him. Soarin, almost completely unable to move only hopes that she’ll make his demise quick. But he knew he’d most likely didn’t deserve it, still there was nothing that he could willingly do at this point. He never had an opportunity to counter, he almost feels admiration for the abilities she had kept hidden for so long.

“You know, I never suspected a thing…” Soarin murmurs, coughing up a bit of blood after making that forced statement. completely admitting defeat. Gaining a bit more clarity in his right eye, he gets a better look at his assassin. Derpy was less than a foot away and she was shifting through her saddle bag with her left wing until he saw a slender metal object find its way out of the pouch. He knew it was a knife, it couldn’t have been nothing else. Closing his uninjured eye, he accepts defeat. Untill

“COLONEL!!!”

“I-it can’t be…” Soarin whispers, forcing his eye open once more to see a spear soar past him and get lodged in between him and the assassin. It was heading straight for the mare, however her reaction was quick in dodging the deadly weapon. But that was all he could see before his consciousness faded once again.

vVvVvVv

        “That unicorn warned us of an infiltrator… BUT YOU!” A infuriated Ironsides yells out from a top of the broken tree layer. Looking down on the motionless mare, his rage only mounting to new heights. “YOU WAS PROMOTED TO A ROYAL MESSENGER YEARS AGO, WHY SULLY YOUR POSITION NOW!!!”

        Derpy does nothing but close here right eye, as if oddly preparing for an impending attack. The blade that was once in the grasp of her wing now has found it’s way gripped in between her teeth, silence gripped the air around them. The birds and squirrels even ended their chatter, looking oddly at what was about to transpire. Bringing himself to the mares level, Ironsides cloaks the thrusted spear around his right wing, pausing for a brief second before ripping it out of the ground and securing it tightly to his side.

        However through that process Derpy saw her opportunity, pouncing like a fierce manticore attempting to end the fight with one fatal strike. Yet Ironsides wasn’t amused in the slightest, truly he’d expected no less from an assassin and a rebel at that. Giving into his true talent, he quickly turned to his flank, simply allowing the mare to strike. But when her blade met the stallion, she only barely scratched his hardened armor. The batched attack left the gray mare completely defenseless for just long enough to allow Ironsides to exploit it. Whipping back around, Ironsides use his full momentum to bash Derpy with the pole of his spear, sending her directly into the trunk of a large tree. Leaving the now desperate mare breathless and weaponless from his counter, she had completely lost control of her reflexes and in turn lost her blade process.

        With both eyes open she attempts to scan for her lost weapon, however her search was brief for Ironsides was coming at her full force, yelling at the top of his lungs. Placing a hoof over her chest, the mare once again closes her right eye. And in that moment it seemed as though she was out of moves and was sure to meet the end of Ironsides spear. Analytically comparing the rate of his advance and the condition for her body. It was clear she only had one option, inhaling deeply derpy closed her left eye as well and in that split second leaving Ironsides baffled. In effect derpy had nimbly averted the charge the sergeant had posted by simply out reaching her right wing and blowing unsettled dust into the face of her enemy.

        Ironsides continued, however his spear only bite into the bark of the tree. Causing it to become deeply lodged with in it, rendering his weapon useless. Despite his temporary blindness, the military veteran knows better than to traverse with only one form of defense. With the help of muscle memory, he lifts his right fore hoof to reach for a blade he had hidden for times like these. Ironsides had only wish he was authorized to use a hoof blade like Soarin had, but that can be saved for another time for he only wished to end the life of the traitorous scum who was attempting to sabotage their advance. But as his hoof reached his muzzle, shock enveloped his being, for the blade he had hidden was gone… All he had was an empty brown sheath.

        Forcing his irritated eyes open, he can only see a blurry aspect of Derpy before him, WITH HIS DAGGER IN HER GRASP. Attempting evasive maneuvers, Ironsides shoots upwards, thrusting himself into the air thinking it might buy him a few seconds to recover for her surprisingly effective blinding attack. However his foolishness was quickly met with Derpy’s response.

        Doing the exact same upwards thrust he did, she finds her way to his exposed stomach. The one thing besides his legs that had not been completely covered in purple studded armor. The actualization of his error was realized far too late, for his own dagger had already pierced his exposed underbelly causing the once stern sergeant to reel in pain as she continued to drive it in deeper with an upwards motion as she flew. With all the strength he once had draining out of him, the stallion dropped to the ground like a sack of rocks, rasping for breath.

Derpy gently flew down before him and opened the both of her eyes again to see what she had accomplished. Two stallions laying in the dirt, clinging to life with a thread, she only lowered her head for she known that her job was not complete, not until the one she was after laid dead. Getting a firmer grip on the dagger she had stolen right under Ironsides muzzle, she step heavily to the blue motionless body before her, fully prepared to commit her sin.

“DAMN Y-OU, D… DAMN YOU TO TATARUS!!!” The blooded Ironsides weeped, “forgive me Amethyst, Rose, an-d Lana I won’t be making it home…”

Those words he spoke, no those names he spoke made the mares heart heavy with tremendous guilt. For she knew she was ending a bond, one of family and friends… One that she had lost years ago. Turning slowly to look the dying Ironsides in his dark brown eyes, the same eyes that are currently cutting sharper than any blade that they could ever wield. Derpy’s unfocused eyes begun to water right before the vengeful stallion, causing him to begin mocking her with his final breaths.

“Oh, now you regret, Ha.” The stallion scoffs, all while violently coughing up blood. “Well I don’t… I-I Fought for Equestria, I fought for cloudsda…”

Ironsides final words were cut off with his dagger being lunged through his throat by the teary eyed mare. Leaving the dagger in place, she turned her attention to the dark sight of the crippled colonel. stepping towards him now, she places her hoof on his neck checking for a pulse. Waiting and sensing nothing emanating from the torn body, it only confirmed what she had hoped. Soarin was dead, meaning she had dodged the gruesome detail of ending him herself.

Releasing a deep sigh, she reaches into her saddle bag to retrieve a small white cloth. wiping the remnants of blood that still stained her coat, she knew her charade was still not over. Not until her goal was met. After dropping the blood stained cloth, she reached once more into her saddle bag to bring out her tattered note. Glancing down at the names, Derpy simply plucks one of her feathers that had been stained by the conflict and marks out one more on her short list.

“Being able to fly doesn’t mean we're free, it only means we have the opportunity to search for our freedom.” Soarin