Have you ever thoght about, how it must feel like to be a bird in a closed cage? Do you know that feel, when the freedom is very close, almost in thea range of your hand, but something doesn’t let you go? Break your chains, spread out your wings and fly away. Fly as far as you can. Touch the horizon and don’t care about anything. Forget about the past, don’t think about the future. For this one moment feels free.
Rarity was dreaming about it every time when she looked at the chain fastened on her rear hoof. She was closing her eyes and losing her mind every signle time, when she felt the metal’s cold under her back, when she was sitting in the corner of her jail and looking how everything was passing by in front of her eyes. The young, defesnless unicorn was closed in a small cage, which was standing in the middle of the wild forest. She was just like a small bird. And like a small trapped bird, she wanted to be free.
Three weeks had been passed since she has been found in a big hole and imprisoned. Of course Celestia tried to get some information from her, but Rarity didn’t know anything. She only tried to find her friends. Nothing more.
Suddenly, bushes near Rarity rustled.
Oh come on! Another interrogation? I'm beginning to feel tired, she thought when the bushes started to rustle louder.
Rarity closed her eyes, waiting for another push on the gratings, but nothing happened.
“Hey, psst!” she heard somepony's whisper.
“Who are you?” Rarity whispered, opening her eyes. In front of her was a young yellow stallion in golden armor.
“My name is Iron Axe” the newcomer said, raising his hoof.
“Well, nice to meet you. I am…” Rarity said, straightening up.
“Rarity, yeah, I know ya,” Axe interrupt her, and blushed when Rarity gave him curious look.
“Ehm, I know ya, becuase ehm.. nevermind. I’m here to bring you some food and water,” now Rarity spotted a small bag on his back, which he put in front of her and started to look for something inside. A bit later, Axe took out some bread and small closed bucket of fresh water, then put everything inside Rarity’s jail. The smell of the bread reminded the unicorn that she didn’t eat for two days.
“Th-thank you,” she said unsurly, trying to mute her rumble.
“But what with you?” she asked pulling food into Axe’s direction.
“No, I’m not hungry. Our seregant hunted a big deer,” he smiled, stepping back.
“I have to go. I’m not suppose to talk with ya. I will fall in great trouble if someone spotted me here,” Axe said, turning back. Now Rarity could see his green as grass mane, which suddenly disappeared in the bushes.
Rarity took a piece of loaf in her hooves. It was very soft and looked very appetizingly.
Maybe this land isn’t as cold as I thought. The thought flew over her head, before she bit a piece of the bread.
I can't go to sleep,
Celestia swayed on her hooves, looking at the night sky, lighten up by a thound stars, which were shining like small diamonds in her tent, standing behind her.
I can't....
she thought, almost falling in sleep, but a quiet rustle in the bushes nearby immediately woke her up.
No, I won't...
The robe of darkness muted the sound of hitting something the ground as the white body of the fallen alicorn fell unconsciously aside. The night silence filed with the sound of the calm breath, which was mixing with the soft cold wind.
A misterious giggle from nowhere broke this melody of the night.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Celestia spotted a blue ceiling of her room over her, when she opened her eyes.
"Celestia?" somepony's worried voice came to her mind somewhere from the right.
"Celestia!" she heard again, when the stranger didn't notice any reaction from the fallen princess.
"Celestia!" Solar princess noticed that someone was staring to loose his patient. She tried to get up, but she couldn't. Something paralyzed her body.
"Mhpff..." her stiff mounth didn't let her say anything. Her view range was limited to what was directly in front of her.
Suddenly, hoofsteps filled the room, and started becoming louder. Celestia was fighting with her numbness - vainly. She was trying to move her forlegs, rearlegs, head... nothing. Even her ears and tail wasere frozen in one pose. With dread, she noticed that the hoofsteps fell silent. This moment of silence seemed lost forever and it was making Celestia more unsurly, uncomfortable and terrified. Her thoughts were running through her head like the wild wolves, which was chasing a maddening princess, with exorbitant dreams about an endless power. A princess like Celestia.
Luna's face appeared from nowhere, scaring Celestia, but she couldn't show it.
"Ah, she is dead," Lunar Princess said with no worry in her voice and she disappeared from Solar princess's view range. The hoofsteps again filled the room, but each subsequent step make Celestia more depressed and sad.
I'm not dead! she yelled in her mind, but nopony could her it. The tears moved down her face, when Luna closed the doors.
"Guards! Celestia is dead, could you do something with it?" she heard her sister's voice from the hall.
No! I'm not dead! Sister! The Solar Princess was throwing herself, but again only in her mind. Her whole body was adamant her thoughts.
From somewhere, two guards in gold armors, appeared and took up Celestia.
"Finally, she is dead," the first guard, which was standing on the right, said. He was a blue earth stallion with grey eyes. The princess tried to look at his mane, but her paralyzed head, was dangling unconsciously.
"Yeah, she started to piss me off" the second voice moved from the left of Celestia's body
Put me down! Check the pulse you idiots! I'm not dead! the Princess was yelling helplessly in her thoughts.
"Hey, maybe we should check her pulse. You know, just in case," said the guard on the left, like he read Celestia's mind.
"Yeah, good idea. It's good to be sure, that this bitch is dead," the stallion said, putting a schocked Celestia down on the ground. He touched the alicorn's white neck with disgust.
What did he say? I-I can't believe that. Why do they hate me so much? Another storm of thoughts flew through her head.
"Yeah, dead. I can't feel her pulse," the guard said, taking up the body of the princess.
"Good to hear," said the pony on the left, helping his mate.
"Oh my... she is so heavy," the blue stallion groaned, when they were moving near the window.
"Hey! Maybe we can throw her out this window? We would take her, when we will be downstair," the pony on the left said excitedly. Suddenly both stopped talking. Celestia couldn't see their faces, because her head was hanging towards the back.
"You know, it's good idea," few seconds later, Celestia was falling down. The wind was blowing into her back and ears blowing out every thought, which appeared in her mind.
"Mphf," she tried to murmur something, but her mounth was still paralyzed. She put a lot of strength into saying something. Suddenly, she felt a terrible pain. Her lips began to slowly open, but they seems were stabled by a strap of her own skin. The blood from her wounds mixed with the tears in the air. Celestia was a few metres over the ground, when her terryfied scream broke the sound of the blowing wind. Then darkness appeared, again.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Celestia woke up in front of her tent, when the sun came out from beyond the horizon.
She felt a coldness and pain in her body. This fall was so real. Maybe indeed I'm dead? she thought, before disappearing into her tent.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The puppies without a mother, can be easily killed by hunters
someone's voice pulled Luna out of her dreams. The Lunar princess jumped out from her sleeping bag and started looking around, but she didn't spot anyone in her tent.
"It was just a dream. Yeah, just a dream," she calmed herself down and crawled back into her sleeping back.
~3~ Why wolves are not good tactics?
The light of the rising sun was slowly climbing up the orange mare’s fur. When thed cold wind blew softly through al window onto Applejack’s rear hooves, she opened her eyes and suddenly closed them once the light reached her head.
“Where am ah?” She asked herself, looking around. The dusk’s light moved higher and showed the woody walls around Applejack, which noticed that she was lying on a slightl bed. This room was small and without furnitures except for her bed. The mare’s eyes were scanning the walls until they stopped on the small window in front of her.
“Where am ah?” She repeated the question before getting up. The orange hooves clattered on the wooden boards, which creaked as the mare stood.
“Where a’e the doors?” Applejack was asking herself, again looking around.
“There ya a’e!” She wshispered as she spotted wooden doors to her left.
“Niet...Ja….uwituz… en…” someone’s muted voice came from the closed doors as Applejack was getting closer.
“Wolves?” she thought, as she stood near the exit. The voices were clear enough for recognizing who was behind the wooden barrier.
“Daszkin!” someone’s yelled before talking quietly.
“Was that Wolfrim?” the thought flew through the pony’s head. Applejack put a hoof on the handle and pulled it. The loud click killed the conversation.
“Applejack?!” the black wolf, called Daszkin, jumped to the pony and hugged her as Applejack came into the room.
“I was worried about you. You were out for four days,” his hug was getting tighter.
“A’right, a’right. Ah’m fine, now let me go. You gonna strangle me,”Applejack felt herself getting dizzy.
“Oh, Ja sorria, ” the black wolf release the pony.
“Good to see you ,” Wolfrim smiled as Applejack raised her head, cathing her breath, but he didn’t go to his friend. He was standing near the table in the middle of the room. Applejack couldn’t see it earlier, because Daszkin blocked her view.
In front of the grey wolf stood wolf with the yellow tail.
“Sasza?” Applejack asked, smiling. “I hope that you didn’t burn a forest down when I was out?”
“Fortunately no,” Greenish blue eyed wolf smiled back.
“Where are we?” The earth pony asked, looking at Daszkin, who came back to the table.
“It’s our place, where we make plans,” the black wolf said, raising his paw.
“What plans?” Applejack looked unsurely at her friends.
“Combat plans, etc.” Sasza asnwered showing the maps on the table.
Applejack got closer to take a look at them.
“Combat plans? Who are you fighting with?” the mare looked at the papers spread on the tabletop.
“Well, with everything,” Sasa answered, but he wasn’t sure that his answer was clear enough.
“Look, you must know something about our home,” the yellow tailed wolf came closer to the mare.
“What is it?” she look at him with curiousity.
Sasza took a map of North Region and made a big circle around it.
“North Region is one, big battlefield. Our herd fights with other herds, with Sanitens on the East and Mountains Dogs,” he was putting his paw in sequence: on the land on the right of North Region, and the mountains on the North.
“Don’t forget about humans. They still have two big cities and a capital city,” said Daszkin, pointing at three dots on the map.
“But Misiula and Coal said that they took Grave town, and Linberg,” Sasza said with suprise, and pointed at two dots.
“Yes, because they took them, but humans pulled them back, again!” Wolfrim hit the table furiously.
“Hey, calm down,” said Applejack while raising her hooves.
“You don’t understand. Those two cities were moving from hand to hand almost five times. Everytime we take very big casualties. I won’t send more wolves,” Daszkin said firmly.
“We need to capture their capital city. When we take it, we will destroy their HQ there, and humanity will break down,” Wolfrim was looking at the map thoughtfully
“So, why didn’t ya take it?” asked Applejack, looking at the wolves curiously.
“Are you kidding me? It’s the biggest fortress in the North Region. They will kill us before we would reach the walls,” Sasza looked at the pony with a terrified expression.
“T’is fortress can’t be as dangerous as ya say. Maybe it has some weak spots which you could use?” Applejack looked at her friends before moving her gaze to the table.
Oh mah… so many maps. I wish Twilight would be here, The pony thought while looking at the pieces of yellow paper.
Wolfrim looked at the pony with spark of… anger?
“This fortress has no weak points,” he said hitting the table and looking at Daszkin.
“Why is she try to giving me orders? he whispered to him.
“She is our friend. Szto the hell is wrong with you?” the black wolf hissed and looked at Applejack which was focusing on the map of the fortress.
“Whelp, indeed it’s ah pretty big construction,” the pony was looking at the plans of the dome built into a big mountain. From above, everything looked like a big triangle.
“The Misty Mountain” she read quietly the letters on the top of the yellow tattered paper.
Sasza began to shake when he heard those words.
“A’e ya al’right?” Applejack asked, looking at the wolf.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I-I just thought about our scouts who died when they tried to make this map,” he said, putting his paw on his head.
“Any ideas, Appy?” Daszkin asked, looking at the pony with curiousity.
“Maybe you could try to capture those towers in the corners,” Applejack said, putting the map down and pointing at the white dots on the corners of the triangle.
Daszkin shook his head.
“Niet, we have already tried it”.
“Maybe digging a tunnel?” the pony asked, but she already knew the answer.
“Niet, we tried it too. Humans build concrete walls under the fortress” Daszkin’s answer dispelled every doubts.
“Open assault won’t be good idea either, don’t ya think?” Applejack still gazed at the map, looking for something that could be use to break those walls.
“Siege?” she asked desperately.
“We don’t have time and supplies for this. We need to capture the Misty Mountain as soon as possible,” Daszkin took a deep breath.
Suddenly, Appplejack spotted something near the right tower. A small, black line that ran from the right corner.
“What this is?” she asked, pointing at the anomaly.
“Szto?” Sasza leaned toward. “Ja ni wiżu szto to,” he said, gazing at the black small line.
The unexpected sound of a head hitting the table forced Sasza and Applejack to bolt upright.
“Wolfrim?! Szto happened?!” Sasza and Daszkin immediately ran to their friend, who was lying on the table.
“It’s a damn tunnel! I forgot about it!” he began to yell and laugh.
Applejack and wolves was looked at him like he lost his mind.
“Ehm, are you sure, that you are fine?” Daszkin took a few steps back just in case.
“Don’t you understand? Applejack found a weak point of the fortress. This tunnel has been build by our grand grandfathers many centuries ago. It’s secret entry, which can be found only by a wolf!”
And three wolves began to laugh and dance around the confused earth pony.
What have I done? she asked herself while gazing at her friends with disblief.
