Over the Hills and Far Away

Over The Hills and Far Away

By

Teal

Prologue

The rain poured as if there were a waterfall above them. The last of the rain clouds have been placed by the pegasi earlier, as it started conducting its job of bringing down rain on the surrounding areas. Dark skies hovered above them as the rain became heavier and heavier as the minutes pass. The Weather Corps did a good job at changing the weather and they were happy to leave the area to its gloomy and wet faith. The ground all over them turned muddy from the excess water, as the landscape changed from the usual hot and dry to cold and soggy. It looked like a miserable sight, with gloomy weather all over the place.

As the rain continued to pour, ponies assigned to a large wooden fort hunkered in their tents, as they tried to avoid the rain above them. They hid under their canvass tents so that they won’t get soaked by the downpour. They tried to keep themselves dry by covering the ground with blankets, but the rain soaked ground made the task harder than they wanted. As more and more rain fell on them, the ground around the tents became moist, till the dirt under the pony’s hooves became moist and wet.

With no other way to stop the water from moistening the ground under them, the ponies pilled more and more cloth on the ground, in hopes of covering it all up. Camp life was tough even without the bad weather, but whether one liked it or not, they had to live through it.

Ponies inside tents tried their best to ignore the wet ground and cloth under them, as they closed their eyes and tried to get some rest. Days of marching and fighting have brought them to near exhaustion, as they were happy to finally be able to sleep, wet surroundings or not.

They closed their eyes and slept through the bad weather, hoping that it would be gone when they woke up.

But for Corporal Midnight Sky, who sat inside a tower overlooking the Eastern wall of the fort, sleep would not come till he was relieved from sentry duty.

Midnight Sky sat inside the wooden tower, with the tower’s roof protecting him from the rain and its height protecting him from the muddy ground. He looked down to see the field, wet and muddy from the continuous downpour. The plants, which were once deprived of nourishment, were now enjoying the water that was given to them. If rain fall like this happened more often, then the fields would be blooming with plant life instead of the barren and dry state they usually have.

Towards the North-East, he could see the dirt road that ran from the East to the West. Its once dry path was now soaked and brown with mud. It would be almost impossible to march through the road, with its mud soaked path that would stick on hooves and carts. The thick mud would cling to anything that steps on top of it, making it impossible to pass through.

Midnight Sky sighed as he shook his head. It would take an entire day before the mud would dry. An entire day of sunlight would dry the mud to a state that would make it possible to trot on. But that would only happen if the order was given to clear the skies and let Celestia’s sun dry the road and fields. From the rumors he has heard, the plan to clear the skies was not going to happen anytime soon. So till the clouds are cleared and the rain stops, they were stuck here with the gloomy weather above them.

Looking up, he could see the cloud covered skies above him. Watched as the droplets of water fell from the sky and landed on the ground.

How he wished to be able to fly up, pass the clouds and see the clear skies above. With wings spread wide, taking him to heights as high as mountains. To be able to go high and fast, zooming through the air like and arrow, while chasing off the birds that tried to compete against him. To have cool air blowing against his face as he dived from unimaginable heights, only to pull up in the last minute.

Giving another sigh, this time a little longer, he shook his head sadly as he let go of that dream. Whatever went through his imagination would stay there, as he knew that they would never be fulfilled. His wings would never be able to take him up, for he was a grounded pegasus. No matter how hard he would try, he just doesn’t have the wing power to carry himself above the ground. A complication in birth was to blame, as it damaged the vital wing muscles and nerves that enabled a pagasus to fly. With that, he was deprived of something a regular pegasus should be able to do.

The sound of hooves stepping on the wooden stairs snapped him out of his depressing thoughts, as he turned around to see a soaked unicorn behind him. Her blue eyes stared at him with an annoyed look, but he knew that the annoyance wasn’t directed at him. Her black rain soaked fur matted with her golden armor, as the water dripped on the wooden floor below them.

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to get your armor wet, Raven?” Midnight Sky said, acting as if he was reprimanding her. Of course he was not serious, but it was still a good thing to remind her of the horrible things water those to metal. “You don’t want those things to rust, do you?”

“Your blaming me for this?” She said, gesturing to her armor with her hoof. “You should be blaming those Pegasi in the Weather Corps. If they didn’t have to make it rain, then me and my armor wouldn’t have to be soaked and freezing. Why do they have to make it rain anyways? Sure I hated the hot climate of this country, but I would prefer to stay hot and dry, that wet and freezing.”

“You know how it goes, General’s orders.” He explained before looking back out to the field. He made a quick glance towards the road and saw the muddy path once more. He knew what the General was planning and knew that it would work.

“Move over here and I’ll show you what I think he’s trying to do.” He said, motioning with his hoof for her to come closer. Without saying a word, Raven nodded and moved up next to him.

“You see that road over there?” He asked, pointing towards the road that he was staring at.

“Yeah…” She said nodding. “…that’s the road that would take us to the Griffons.”

“Yeah, it is…” Midnight Sky said, agreeing with her. “…but it is also the road that would take the Griffons to us.” He then looked away from the scenery to face her, as he continued with his explanation. “With the past month’s fighting, our army has taken a beating. Sure, we won a couple of battles, but the casualty report is too high. We also have the problem of stretching our supplies too thin, since the Supply Corps is having trouble in catching up on us. So with those problems at hoof, the General decided to halt the army and dig in. We built these wooden forts here…” He said, tapping the floor. “…so that we could fight of any attack the enemy would try. But I doubt if the enemy would be able to reach us. With this rain, the Griffons would have trouble moving through the muddy roads. So the Weather Corps is basically creating a moat of mud between our battered army and the Griffons.”

“But wouldn’t the rains slow down the Supply Corps? Surely the roads their taking would be muddy too?” She suggested.

“Well from what I have heard…” He said, remembering the rumors that circulated around the fort. “…the rain clouds were only placed over us. The roads leading towards our area is clear and dry, giving them a nice clear path to trot on.”

Raven plotted herself down as she gave a sad sigh. “Great…” She said, looking down. “…it makes me wish I was assigned to the Supply Corps instead. They do nothing but laze around once they stop pulling carts.”

“Oh, don’t say that.” He said, putting his hoof against her chin, forcing her to look up. His eyes met hers, as she saw the smile on his face. “…if you were assigned there, then it would have been a complete waste of fighting material. I don’t know anypony else who could take on three Griffons.”

A small grin went up on her face as she let out a short laugh. “Oh, stop it. If anypony here is a fighting machine, it’s you.” She said, pointing her hoof at him. “I was only able to fight them off because I had the use of my magic.” She said, lighting her horn to give emphasis. “You, on the other hoof, can fight off Griffons with only a sword held in your mouth. If I remember correctly, you jumped over a Griffon that was charging you stabbed his comrade, who was behind him, before turning around to finish him off. If you don’t call that fighting skill, then I don’t know what that was! I can’t imagine myself doing that. I would be helpless without my magic. You, my good pony, were born to fight.”

Midnight Sky gave an amused chuckle as he shook his head. “Go tell the young me that. If I knew that I would grow up to be a fighting machine, then I would have signed up earlier.” He said, before turning his gaze back outside. As he watched the rain once more, his mind began to drift to memories of a life long forgotten. A life that he didn’t like, but would stay with him as long as he lived and trot the earth. He remembered the young colt lived in the streets and stole food to live. The colt who signed up to escape his old life and find adventure. The colt who grew up to be him, a fighting machine.