Before Celestia~

by CuttingEdge

First published February 5th, 2015 18:40

Before the Alicorn princesses protected Equestria with their magic, it was up to the Pegasi to defend what small parts of Equestria had been settled.
With the Earth ponies doing their best to make Equestria habitable, for the terrain was still harsh.
And the unicorns exhausting their magic by keeping the sky in check.
There left the pegasi, able to keep a good watch on the boarder, moving quickly with a portable command center. A large cloud that had structures placed on it. The army hub of cloudsdale, led by a fearless leader. And a not so fearless sidekick, private Pansy.
Recently promoted Admiral Hurricane was trying his best. But his best but his army was too spread out.
The forces outside Equestria outnumbered the pegasi 100 to 1.
It was in this time of weakness that ALL enemies of Equestria took a chance.
Pouring in from the boarders of Equestria by the thousands.
A war had started. And for peace and harmony to rule, It MUST be won.

Chapters

A new recruit.
Front lines.
Lightning strikes.
Dark skies. Darker sides.
Days in the underground
Harmony is magic
Warmth of the fire.

A new recruit.
View Online

Before Celestia~

A new recruit.

Author's Note

Hopefully the board moderators won't reject this again, I tried to fix it. :(

A new recruit.

A young stallion flew through the sky. His blue mane flapped with the rushing winds.

He had a darkish grey coat, and green eyes that were gazing out into the sunset.And his white teeth were showing through his enormous smile. The weather was beautiful today, Thanks to him.

He was enjoying this peace while he could, the forces outside Equestria were forming.And all the Pegasi were being picked out of their perfect lives to be sent to the boarder. The boarder was Tartarus in a nutshell, chaos ruled there with constant monster raids.
Some of the Pegasi who managed to live long enough to come back even reported that some dragons had taken to the fighting.
But not Blue Blaze. He was staying here.

- Or so he thought.

455 B.C. (Before Celestia.) 14th of harvest season.

Blue blaze finished putting the last of his things in his saddlebag.

If only he could leave without his parents knowing. If only to avoid the drama.
A door opened out of sight.

"Where's Blaze!?" It was Blaze's father.

"In his room. . . Packing." This time his mom.Hoof beats stormed over to Blaze's room.
The door opened and a half terrified half angry Oakwood stood in the doorway.

"You're not going!" His voice was stern.

"Dad I-" Blaze was cut off.

"No Admiral typhoon,what's his face is takin' my son from me!" Oakwood tried to take Blaze by the leg.

"DAD! There's no choice."Blaze tore away from his father's grasp.
Silence followed for a few seconds.

Tears began to well in Oakwood's eyes. "I heard that they were taking you. I-I-"
His sentence just turned into sobbing. Blaze took his dad and let him cry over his shoulder, He knew this was no time to talk back.
Oakwood was an Earth pony. Moonlight was a unicorn. All the rest of Blaze's brothers and sisters were too.

"Dad. . . Admiral Hurricane is a good man. And he, if not Blueskies will make sure i come back." Blaze patted his dad on the back.

"I never liked that girlfriend of yours." Oakwood's sobbing was dying down.

"Just friend, dad. You don't need to worry about me."
Blaze walked to the doorway, as slowly as he could. He knew this could full well be the last time he sets foot here.

"How long will you be gone?"
Oakwood wiped the last tear from his eye.

"Until we win the war. . . Or, well. . . Whatever."

Blaze left the room. He needed to go before his mom had a moment too.
He galloped through the hallway, past the kitchen and into the open field that made up the family's farm.
The flowers swayed in the breeze. As beautiful as the day he said he would never leave. Irony was dumb.
Free, at last he took to the sky. He couldn't look back now. He couldn't bear too.

Front lines.
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Before Celestia~

Front lines.

Blaze had been flying for hours now, but it felt like days, home was far behind and the boarders of Equestria were close ahead.
The only thing he had to look forward too was seeing Blueskies. He called her a friend. But she was really a friend/crush. He was 20 years old now.

"I really should have told her already." he thought to himself.

"Told who what now?" A squeaky voice came from behind Blaze.
Blaze flipped around, startled.

"Who- wha-!"Blaze put up his hooves. "I know Tae kwon do!"

"Ahaha!" The voice came again. It was coming from the much younger pony tailing him.
The pony had a yellow coat with a peach/orange mane. Her eyes were a simple brown.
"Sure ya' do! I'm Peach. And I think you're on your way to Cloudsdale. Am I right?"

Blaze was relieved to see it was not a changeling. Or worse. "You're right. I'm Blue Blaze." He held out his hoof.

"Nah, I'm a hugger more."She beamed widely. Blaze wondered where her Earth pony accent came from.

"No thanks."He paused a second. "Y'know, flying and all." He pointed at his wings. "Can't hug and fl- Never mind."

Peach just stared ahead. She didn't even respond to Blaze's talking.
Blaze wondered what she was doing. "Well ah'll be."

"What?" Blaze flipped back over so he could see ahead.
He had spent his time talking, and not looking ahead.

In the distant sky was a giant cloud. But it wasn't just a cloud.
It was the portable military base known as cloudsdale.
In its time it was one of a kind. Great buildings and barracks mixed together to make a military atmosphere.
Pegasi in full armour flew in and out. Some in gold to show rank, others in newbie grey.

Blaze and peach landed on the closest area near them.
"This place, it's like a city. In the sky!"
Peach was obviously still in awe.

"Maybe when this flea-bitten war is over."
Blaze resonded right as two officers in silver came around a bend to them.

"Blue blaze and Peach?"
The first one said.

"That's us!" Peach said enthusiastically.

"When addressing an officer one should say sir or Ma'am. Is that clear?" The other said.

"Lettit pass, They aren't even in uniform yet and you're shouting at them."
The happy one said.

Blaze just sort of watched.
First minute and his only friend had gotten him in trouble.

"Sorry, ma'am. We're both new." Blaze tried to sound respectful. It payed off.
The rude officer nickered and turned around.

"Follow me."
She walked off in the direction of one of the larger barracks.

"Pardon her, She's lost almost everyone she knows to this war."
He glanced over at her, checking to see if she was listening.
"What she doesn't know is that all of us are missing something."

Blaze wasn't sure, but he thought that he saw a tear drop form the other officers eye. Her back was turned, but he thought. . .
Never mind, drama was the word in this war.

The male officer took off in his own direction and Peach and Blaze followed the girl.

"When you get inside the barrack, I recommend you get your armor. And go to bed. The hour or two of proccessing are the only hours you will get to sleep through for a while."
She stopped at the door and waited there.
"Go in."

Blaze took it from brief experience and just obeyed.
Inside the barracks was an interesting sight.

Hammocks were everywhere, but only so many had a pegasus or luggage next to it. Fatalities of war Blaze assumed.
He took a look around. Maybe Blueskies was here.
No luck. But he did find their armor.

"Uniform's over there, Peach."
He gestured towards a wall. Armor and weapons lined it.

"Okie dokie."
She did her best to sound confident, but her voice trembled a little with each word.

2:00 A.M. 15th of harvest season.

It had been only a few hours since Blaze and Peach had entered the barracks. But Blaze had had no luck sleeping, much unlike Peach. Who had hit the hammock sleeping. Blaze stared at the wall.

"Fleas are probably all over this hammock.
What food did they serve? Probably rotten apple sauce.
When will I go home?
Where the hay is Roseblossom?"

This was what was keeping him awake, above all the others.
But in fifteen seconds, it would be the least of his worries.
A bell boomed, echoing so much that Blaze's eardrums popped.
A voice roared out, almost as loudly as the bell.

"DRAAAAGON! DRAAAAAAAGON!"

Lightning strikes.
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Before Celestia~

Lightning strikes.

The final shout roared echoed through the base. The noise spread chaos around the base. Pegasi were horrified at the thought of a great fire breathing, scale covered, gold obsessed, DRAGON. Ponies were not made for war. Just peace.

Blaze didn't know exactly what to do, but he had an idea.
Jumping off the bed he picked up his armor."Peach?"
He looked down a few spots to see Peach doing the same thing.

"Help me get this on!"
Blaze shouted.

"Ok. . ." The young Mare ran over and began to get help Blaze with his armour. It was on before a second's notice.

"Ok, now yours." Blaze started helping Peach now, but most of the other pegasi had already made it out the door.

"Not so TIGHT!" Peach grumbled loudly.

"Don't want it falling off do you?" Blaze got his sword and handed Peach her's. He hated the whiny types.

"Let's go!" The two flew out the door at high speeds.
What was outside was as bad as they could have imagined it to be.

Pegasi flew around in different directions, most towards the dragon in the sky.
The great beast blew fire in all directions. Blaze looked away just in time, as the spray of fire caught up to one of the ponies.

"That could have been me."
Blaze thought.

Pegasi were using clouds to shoot lightning at the dragon, but it had little effect on the thick red scales.
Others took up the futile tactic of hitting it with their swords. But that had no effect either. Shouting commands were being passed among the higher and lower ranking pegasi. So far the ponies were seeming to have no effect on the dragon.
Until. . .

The flash came first. . . . Then the noise.
*BOOOOOM!* A brilliant flash of lightning shot across the entire sky.
It arced, and with perfect accuracy slammed right into the dragon's chest. The dragon roared, the noise going slower as it went.

"Who did THAT!?" Blaze muttered, but it could have been a shout with the amount of ear damage he had recieved over the last minute.
The dragon's eyes shut and it fell to the ground with a crash.

Whispers went from pony to pony.
Everypony was wondering what had just happened.
Blaze looked in the direction of the lightning bolt.
Nothing.

Wait. . . He had seen something like this before. He looked instead where the lightning bolt had hit.
A large gash was open directly in the middle of the dragon's chest. It wasn't bleeding yet, but it was going to.

He scanned the ground for a few seconds. Surely it was there, he just needed to see it. . .
There! Blaze saw movement and flew in for a closer look.

"Where are ya' going, Blaze?"
Peach mumbled.

Blaze just kept flying until he was right above the dragon's body The beast was huge. Much bigger than any of the story books he had read.
But what he was looking for was lying next to the beast. A mare, about Blaze's age was next to the body.
She was slumped over, obviously from exhaustion. Blaze knew who it was the instant he saw her.

"Sky!" He flew down to her side. She was sweating all over, bruised, looked terrible.
But no open cuts or gashes.

"But- But what about the lightning bolt?"
Peach asked. By now she had followed Blaze down to the dragon.

"She was the lightning bolt." Blaze gently nudged the sword that lay by her side.
The sword that had killed the dragon.
Blueskies gasped.

"Sky! Sky?" Blaze shook her lightly. She was out cold. "Peach, get some med-ponies over here!"

By now a few of the other ponies had found what was happening.
"Can she really fly that fast?"

"Who is that?"

"I want to date that pony. . ."

Blaze looked up at the last one. So random! Who would say that? He didn't see the perpatraitor.
Bah, ponies are wierd.

4:30 A.M. 15 of harvest season.

Blaze waited outside of the infirmary. Trotting back and forth the small distance between the wall and the door.

Finally a doctor opened the door. "She can see you now."

Blaze thanked the doctor and quickly went into the room.
"Rose? You okay?"

Rose sat in the bed at the end of the room. She was beat up, bruises, soot on her face, and a wrapped up wing.
"I'm alive. That's more than can be said for those fourteen ponies who died today."
A frown was the only way to describe her face.

"Fourteen?"
Blaze had no idea. The only fatality he knew of was. . . That one.

"Fourteen ponies. Including that one who was nice to you as you entered here. And he's dead, THEY are dead. . . All because of me."
Her expression remained an emotionless frown.

"And how do you think that!? It was a DRAGON. Big fire breathing monster. Not my best friend that killed them. You are the one who AVENGED them." Blaze hated drama. ALL drama.

"How do you do that?"
She stopped frowning.

"Do what?"
Blaze pushed a chair up and sat by the bed.

"Make me feel good, even when i am as bad as i can get." She was now smiling, a big smile. Blaze thought she looked beautiful when she did that.

Shaking the thought from his head, he responded.
"Because you just saved a lot more than fourteen lives, and killed a full grown dragon. The compliments don't end there either. There is a line of people waiting to thank you. And the only reason why I'm in here is because i know you. Oh, yeah. And there's some dude outside the door who wants to "Date you." Don't ask why, he's creepy."
Blaze wasn't lying. The line was half thankers, half people who want to know how she can go that fast.

"Well. . . I am going to take every second i have in here and spend it sleeping."

"I've heard about the sleep schedules here. Is it really that bad?"

"Worse. The monsters attack two to three times a day. At intervals that keep us from getting a wink of sleep."
From the bags under Rose's eyes, Blaze knew she was telling the truth.

The infirmary door opened. Blaze knew the figure at the end of the hall.
But not what he was doing there.

"Where is Commander Skies?"
The man was tall, muscular, imposing, obviously the type to join the military and not leave until they die.

"Right here, Admiral Hurricane."

Dark skies. Darker sides.
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Before Celestia~

Dark skies. Darker sides.

Hurricane walked from the doorway over to Bluesky's bed.
"I need to ask the recruit to leave." He looked right at Blaze and gestured to the door.

Blaze opened his mouth but was cut off by Blueskies.
"It's okay. He's a friend, anything you say to me you can say to him." She looked calm enough as she said this.
Unlike Blaze who was terrified to be standing in the shadow of the Pegasus battalion's head commander.

"Are you sure? Only if he can WHOLLY be trusted." He gave Blaze the look-over.
A grunted smirk showed a sort of "This guy?" attitude.

"I trust him more than I trust you. Shoot."
Blaze had recovered almost enough to say the question "You're a commander now!?"
But before he could ask the Admiral spoke up.

"Ok. . . The dragon that you killed was, as you know the third in a week. Dragons are rare creatures. This can only push my theory about them being controlled by- by Diacon. This can't be a coincidence! To have that many in such a short period of time, they must be being sent at us."
Hurricane lost his composure after he uttered the word "Diacon".

"But there are too many reasons you must be wrong. We do not even know if Diacon ever existed, much less if he is still alive!"
Blueskies too seemed to stutter when she said Diacon.

"And what of the others? Dark Minotaurs, the turned, great wolves? All rare creatures, and yet no changelings?"
Blaze's question about Bluesky's rank was long gone. This conversation had left him with far more important questions.
"The one who the dragons obey, minotaurs are his soldiers, wolves his kin. He scares the earth, the waves stop splashing when he walks the beach. Ponydom fears him. Changelings fear him tenfold. No-one sees his face. No-one survives his hand."
Hurricane muttered this loudly. The way he said it, like a nursery rhyme with no heart, no rhyme.

"Yes! The signs are there! The signs of a tall-tale. There is nothing pointing to a Diacon of the Wolver actually existing. And in the story he dies anyway." Blueskies explained half of Blaze's questions. But many more still remained.

"Blueskies. . . Pansy's group found something. An army of Wolver passing through the past-boarder hills. They moved with speed, and at the head. . ." Hurricane gulped. "They saw something. They couldn't get a good view, didn't want to risk being seen by that many great wolves. They said they saw a big one. The biggest wolver they had ever seen. But apart from that, when one of the soldiers stared at it. He started to panic. The whole troop reported a sense of dread that lasted long after they left for cloudsdale."

Blaze couldn't hold it any longer.
"Okay, OKAY! Somepony please start telling me what the HAY is going on here."

Blueskies sighed.
"Diacon of the Wolver is a fairy tale. It's about the "King of the great wolves" who walked the earth thousands of years ago. He brought destruction in his wake, he abused his mighty power. This made enemies, lots of them. The pony tribes, the many creatures who had suffered at his paw, and even the enemies of the allies against the enemy rose up. Almost every species but the changelings fought the war. They ultimately won, a number beyond the millions were the total casualties of the war. Diacon was overthrown and the allies parted the way they had joined. Neutral parties. What Hurricane doesn't realize is there's a THE END in that story."
Blaze listened to every word.

"What Blueskies doesn't realize is that Diacon was never killed, the book says this: "Diacon was overpowered, he fell to the enemy forces and his army left in defeat." Never "Diacon died and the people made sure of it."

"Take the time to memorize that did you, Hurricane?" Blueskies looked at him in defeat.
"Besides, if Diacon is alive then heaven knows we're all dead."
Blaze disliked the last part of that.

The room was silent for a while. Hurricane had obviously won that battle and Sky knew it.

"So, Sky. You're saying a really big bad fairy tale wolf has come out of our nightmares to gobble us up?"
Blaze tried to poke the question at her.

"Yes. Why you have to put it like that, i don't know."

"Shhh!" Hurricane shushed the two and started looking at the walls.
He scanned up and down the room like a pony looking for a loose squirrel.

"I don-" Blaze was cut off by more shushing.

"SHHHHH!" Hurricane kept gazing around the room, looking for anything.

Slowly chanting came into the room. a noise so quiet that it was not even worthy of a whisper.
"Cal - Ec - Diacon - Se - don."
In a loop. Hurricane's eyes widened as the noise grew.
From background noise to whisper, whisper to voice, voice to chant, chant to shout, shout to scream.
Until the world around them seemed unintelligible.

"CAL - EC- DIACON - SE - DON!"
Blaze screamed as loudly as he could. It did nothing to penetrate the noise ringing in his ears.
His vision went fuzzy. Spots swam from the corner of his eyes to the center.
The noise was killing off his other senses.
Just then, when it seemed he would die from the sheer noise, it stopped. Not entirely, but to the point it was hardly heard.

"Is it gone?" Blaze whispered.
He looked up, his vision finally clear. Blueskies and Hurricane were both curled into individual balls. Their hooves were clenched against their ears.
"Guys? You still hearing it or something?"
Blaze nudged Blueskies.

"Ssssshhhhh. My ears hurt."
Sky stayed in a ball but shifted slightly.

Just then, when the noise was all gone that another noise came to the pegasi's ears.
Drums, thousands of drums. They came from outside.

"Sky, stay here. I'm gonna check out what's there."
Blaze glided out of the room slowly. Looking back on his way out he saw that Hurricane had just stood up.

Outside the medical bay was quite a sight.
Perched on the boarder between the green Equestrian grass and the dry dead earth of the outside was an army.
Blaze couldn't even place a guess at how many there were.
Great wolves, Dark Minotaurs, The Turned, Ursa Majors and kin, Dragons. But at the front stood a creature that looked more dangerous than the army itself. A wolf like creature that stood seventy feet in height. Spikes lined it's back and it had claws the size of any average pony.
It's face was the worst part. It was turned in a foul angry position, scars covered it's snout and fangs came out in an enormous underbite.
It's eyes were red. Hate filled them, hate that no pony could know.
Finally it spoke.

"I am Diacon of the Wolver. I have returned for this new land to conquer it. Any who stand in my way will not last. Any who get out of it will be left alive. Leave, ponies. Your tribes are nothing to my army. I will not think twice to kill you all." It started walking over the boarder. Looking at Blaze of all ponies on it's way.

Hurricane flew up to Blaze. "Well, he exists. . . And Commander Skies was right. We're dead if we fight today."

"Then we fight another day."

Hurricane looked back at Blaze. "We fight another day. . ."

Days in the underground
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Before Celestia~

Days in the underground

4:00 P.M. 23 of red leaf. -

It had been to long to count since Diacon had taken hold of Equestria. Some ponies left immediately, some stayed to fight but dropped their weapons at the sight of Diacon. Most earth ponies were taken as slaves to harvest the fields, Unicorns served as equally lower class servants.
The pegasi were the majority of those who left. Knowing what harsh intentions Diacon had for them. A small underground was placed the moment Diacon took hold. All who once served the army now carried out actions to weaken Diacon's grip. It was no use ultimately.
Among the soldiers, Blaze, Peach, and Blueskies were sent in search of something that could aid the Equestrian empire somehow.

Three pegasi flew through the sky. Blistering heat. . . That was all they could feel. In the distance one could just see the boarder that led to Equestria. Green contrasting brown, Paradise and Tartarus itself blending in harmony.

"Ever feel like we're not gonna find anything?" Blaze spoke first.

"There has to be something. . . Hurricane said they would be out here." This time Blueskies.

"What do ya' think they look like?" Peach inquired.

"Smart cookie, Clover the clever, and Private Pansy. . . An Earth pony, a pegasus and a unicorn. Not that many ponies out here in the first place, should be easy." Blaze kept scanning the ground for ponies. It seemed like bland dirt would be the height of his day for weeks.

"There! Another travelling group." Blueskies pointed to a small caravan of ponies.
They were in a single file line that went on for at least a quarter mile. But from this distance they still looked tiny.

Blaze glided down to one of the wagons. "Excuse me, do you know a Private Pansy, Smart cookie, or Clover the Clever?"

"Not the others, but Smart cookie rings a bell. . . Two, three wagons back. There's an Earth pony a Unicorn and a Pegasus. Kinda obvious once you get to it." The man pointed down the row. "Also, before you go. . ."

"Yeah?" Blaze filled in the man's silence.

"You're a Pegasus. Were you there when Diacon crossed the boarder?"

"Yes. . . I was there."

"Did anyone try and stop him!? Why couldn't you have tried? Our homes are destroyed, thousands are working as slaves because of Diacon."
The man's anger was justified.

"That's why we're here, sir. We are looking for a way to drive him off."
Blaze took of towards his target before the man could speak again. This was not the first time he had been questioned about his actions at the boarder. People would shout at him, even get violent at times. What they didn't realize is that it was not helping.

Blaze arrived at the wagon. A muscular blonde haired earth pony pulled the cart.

"Smart cookie?"

The pony looked up, but didn't slow down.
"That's me all right."

Blaze let out a sigh of relief. "Are Clover the clever and Pansy here too?"

"Uhhh, yeah. Who's askin'?"

Blaze was relieved to here the others were there as well. No more flying around the desert for him.
"I'm private Blue Blaze, with the Equestrian military. I'm here with some questions. . . A lot, actually."

Smart cookie looked up at the sky.
"Alright, but it'll have to wait until night. The train moves on and such."

Blaze just nodded his head and flew over the wagon, signaling for Sky and Peach to come down. Smart cookie reminded Blaze a lot of Peach. Accent, colour and such.

Sky made it down to Blaze.
"Did you find them?"

Blaze nodded.
"That's Smart Cookie there."
He said, pointing at the earth pony.

"Well? What are you waiting for?"

"Night, apparently."
Blaze shrugged.
"Just stick with me."

8:32 P.M. 23 of red leaf. -

Smart cookie finally stopped. Halted by the wagon in front of her.
"Ok! Camp time y'all."
She shouted to the back of her wagon.
A pegasus and a unicorn popped their heads out the back.

"I'll get the tent."
The unicorn spoke first.

Blaze flew down to the unicorn, Clover the clever.
"Uh, hey."

Clover looked him over.
"Hi? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here on behalf of the Equestria-"
Clover cut him off before he could say everything.

"The military? As in the guys who abandoned the boarder, letting in an army of monsters who now control our former home?"

"Eeeeeh, yeah. But i'm here for a good reason."
Blaze was actually suprised. Apart from the cart pulling man he had first talked to, she was being more polite than any of the other ponies he had talked to.

"I'm sorry. I just have some mixed feelings about you "war pegasi." Quoting from others, not me."
Clover finished pitching the tent.

"I just need to ask you some questions."

"Ok, i'm all ears."
Clover took a seat.

"Alright, Hurricane sent me to ask you about the Windigo incedent. He said you would explain it."
Blaze too took a seat by the tent.

"Well. . . It was a slightly darker time like now. Hurricane, Platinum, and Chancellor pudding head had driven the three tribes to almost the brink of war. The hatred coming from them was what brought the windigos. A blizzard spread over our lands. This drove us to find Equestria. When we all did, we fought for it. And once again the windigos started a great freeze. This is probably the part Hurricane wanted you to hear.
When the arguing started, the three began to freeze over. Pansy, Cookie and I huddled together. We were pushed against the wall. And frost started creeping slowly up our legs. It was then we spoke, at waht we thought was the end we made a kind of. . . Peace treaty. Then, I felt something. Magic flowed from them to me, me to my horn. Next thing i know i had banished the windigos and the tribe leaders were scratching their heads once more. That feeling though. . . Like harmony between me and them. Perfect harmony."
Clover's shortened version of the story had had a full effect.

"Ok, thank you for cooperating. I'll be back soon."
Blaze took off towards Pansy. The only thought in his head was about clover's last words. . . "Perfect harmony"
This could definitely be of use to the cause. . .

Author's Note

Sorry about the delay, this is how long it takes me to ACTUALLY write a chapter. :twilightsheepish:

Harmony is magic
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Before Celestia~

Harmony is magic

After Blue Blaze had finished questioning the other two ponies, he went straight to his tent.
As he finally made his way to a well deserved slumber, Smart cookie met up with him.

"Thank you again for lending me this tent. It gets kind of. . . difficult, sleeping on the dirt all the time."

"Aw, it was no problem. Not like we need THAT empty thing lyin' around, do we?"
Smart cookie smiled an let Blaze pass her by.
"If you or any of your friends needs anythin' I'll be in the wagon."

"Ok, thanks again."
Blaze watched as Smart Cookie walked back over to the wagon.
He could see how a pony could be good friends with her. But how they managed to use that to summon magical powers was a mystery.

"Now. . ."
Blaze held a nice long stare at his tent's zipper.
One thing out of the way, one big one in it.
He first tried his wings. No luck. His feathers were too soft to grip the zipper.
Hooves? He fumbled for a second or two before deciding it was futile.
Mouth! He opened his mouth and held it out to the rusty. . . Dirty. . . . Germ covered. . . . . NO!
He spent another minute staring down the zipper. If stares could do anything, that one would have.

"Need help?"
Clover's voice came from behind him.

"Definitely."
He looked back at her. Bags under her eyes and a crumpled mane suggested she had either come up for a drink, or he had roused her.

Clover unzipped the tent with her horn and turned away, walking off in her own direction.

Blaze didn't even stop to thank Clover. The sight of his pallet laid out on the ground was too much.
It had been two days since he had gotten a good rest. The officers warning seemed so far away. But it was so true it was not easily forgotten.

He hit the ground snoring. Sleep was precious.

6:30ish 24 of red leaf. -

Blaze lifted his head. The sun was up. He wondered how they were still doing that back in Equestria.
Most unicorns were servants to Diacon. Others were in hiding.
It must be a true hero to do this. . . Sacrificing their magic every single day, for the sake of all people.
When the sun came up it said to Equestria: "We're out here. And this war is NOT over."
Light was hope. And pain to the great wolves.

"Sleep well?"
Peach's quiet voice peeped from outside his tent.

"Very."
Blaze stood up and cracked his neck. The universe called!
Well, almost.

"Hey peach, can you get clover over here. . . Stupid zipper."

Later, at the camp. . .

Blaze laughed loudly at one of Smart cookie's jokes. This earth pony was hilarious!

"And wha- What about the sky? Hahahaha!"
Blaze was having the best time he'd had since he got drafted.

"That's the thing. . . Misty was so confused, she thought he said; "Cloud blasting."

Blueskies roared laughing.
"Sounds like Blaze! He tried to do that once."

"But it worked!"
Blaze crossed his hooves defiantly.

Just over the last day he had grown so close to these ponies.
They were a merry bunch in all. But from what Hurricane had said, he would need to be leaving soon.

A bell dinged all the way up at the front of the train. Everypony reacted to the noise. grabbing loose items and stuffing them into their wagons.

"That's the starting noise. Anypony who needs something better get it now."
Smart cookie ran up to her wagon and started to pull the harness around herself.

"Actually. . . We have been told to take y'all back to Equestria."
Peach told her.

Blaze cut in, trying to keep the conversation calm before it went awry.
"What she means is, Hurricane told us to bring you back to Equestria so you can help the uprising."

Clover trotted over to Blaze.
"But. . . Why? We had planned to follow this train until they got back to the original tribes. Equestria is lost. You pegasi need to stop living that fantasy."

"But we NEED you! You can take back our home. And so many other ponies homes as well."

Pansy flew over to Blaze.
"Hurricane was the reason I left the army. He was reckless. He is prepared to sacrifice more to save less as long as the less remains."

"Princess platinum? Anyone remember that name? Chancellor pudding head? Governor Yew tree? Princess Flowing breeze? All these ponies. . . Dead in the time it took for you to flee Equestria." Blaze's voice cracked up towards the end. Some of these ponies he knew personally, others he knew were friends of the three before him.

"They died fighting. At least they tried."
Clover uttered this with such spite.

"Ponies are in chains, our own homes burn. All of us have seen our families collapse from this. He takes our conflict earned lands and lights the sky on fire. Can you not look at his evil without seeing some of your own?"

"And you let him pass the boarder. You brought this on us."
Smart cookie started walking off with the rest of the train. The other ponies fell in with her.

"AND YOU CAN STOP IT!"
Blaze shouted this last word at them.

None of them hesitated. They all faded into the distance.
Peach and Blueskies hovered beside Blaze.
They kept looking. Following was a bad idea. Every other option was just as bad.

"We have each other. They can't take us apart."
Peach said this. But the others were saying it in their hearts.
Equestria's darkest hour. And the only lights were being turned out one by one by one. . . .

Author's Note

Lots of real life stuff going on. . .
Chapters will keep coming though, just stay patient.

Warmth of the fire.
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Before Celestia~

Warmth of the fire.

Blaze, Peach, and Blueskies had hardly moved by the time the sun went down.
They had finally settled to the ground, though.

"Don't s'pose we can get a fire going. Can we?"
Peach inquired.

Blaze jumped in before he got stuck with the other job.
"I'll get the wood. Blueskies can light it."
The last time he had to light the fire it took him over an hour.

"And I. . . Get a break!"
Peach sighed happily and fell on her back. Dirt got all over her orange mane. But she didn't care.

Blaze took off. In this wasteland, wood was almost as hard to find as water.
He zoomed at high speed just a few meters off the ground. Sticks, rocks, and dirt. . . Same old thing.
Even knowing what Diacon might have done to Equestria, he still longed to be there.
The fresh air, soft grass, softer clouds. It really could be heaven.

"But since when did heaven get occupied by the devil?"
This question came with the thought every time.

Diacon's palace: Old Canterlot.

Fires burnt in the braziers aroung Diacon's throne.
It all seemed so small. Nothing was big enough for Diacon.

Yew tree knew this well enough. . . He had been working directly for the tyrant ever since he took over.
Sweeping, mostly. He was one of the underdog servants. Diacon had fierce discipline for anyone who even delayed on an order.
He just did as he was told. He knew it was all the better for his wife.

"Where is Platinum!?"
Diacon opened the doors to the throne room.
Those doorse were so large that only he could open them, really. But that was the only way they could fit him.

Yew tree stopped sweeping and bowed as Diacon passed.
As he walked by chills went across Yew's body. And. . . That whispering. That INFERNAL WHISPERING!
He still heard it. It meant Diacon was close. At least it wasn't the. . . Nightmare that happened when Diacon had first appeared.

"Platinum is being hunted down, m'lord. She will not last."
A small peon advisor kept a steady pace by Diacon's feet.

"And the people know she lives?"
Diacon made it to his throne and sat down.
"We cannot have them knowing one of their old leaders still lives. Rebellion is a fearsome thing, Aerenor."

"I know, my lord. You have told- err, Taught me, as much."
Aerenor sat by the dark king's feet. His tail waving slowly.

"See to it that when she is caught, she tells us who helped her escape. And then kill her. Dump the body in the falls."
Diacon waved his hand, signaling Aerenor to leave.

"As you wish, Lord Diacon."
Aerenor scuttled out of the room, growling at Yew Tree on his way out.

Yew Tree thought about what he had seen- HEARD really.
If Platinum was alive, the rebellion needed to know. He had to get a message to Blaze.

Outside Equestria: Fire sand desert.

Blaze returned to camp, carrying a large bundle of small logs.
"Hey Peach, help me with this will you?"

Peach hopped off the ground.
"Okay."
She flew over to Blaze and grabbed a handful of firewood herself.

As the wood got stacked Blueskies started to light it.
"Took me weeks to get the hang of firemaking. My dad took me out camping, made me light the fire every time."

"Ah, your dad. Buisness pony slash camping addict."
Blaze smiled at his memory of camping with Bluesky's family.

"You two knew each other for how long before the war?"
Peach sat down by the soon-to-be fire.

"LONG before the war. Before the blizzards even. Where were you before the blizzards?"
Blaze sat by Peach.

"My mom's womb? Whoever my mom actually is."

"You never knew your mom?"
Blueskies finally got the fire burning.

"Or dad. I was left by a house. A pegasus. . . Left by an Earth Pony shack."

"I wondered about the accent. . . What was it like?"

"Well, during the blizzard. I would try to keep the sky blue above our field. That way I wouldn't have to till or anythin' like that."
Peach remembered the smell of fertile earth. And peaches.
"The peaches we grew were huge before the blizzard. I have one memory of the orchard before the blizzard. A good one too. I was looking out at the field as the sun went down. . . A breeze made all the trees sway and rustle. It was like a green sea. . . My cutie mark appeared then and there. When I was that young, too."

"That sounds beautiful, Peach. Like Blaze said, I grew up with bankers. Never got to see a harvest field."
Blueskies blew into the flames, prompting them to grow.

"Well, i guess I'm going to have to say something sweet aren't I?"
Blaze sighed sarcastically.

"Yes. . . Talk about something warm and fuzzy."

"Flight lessons. At school. . . Where to start?"
Blaze stared off into space as he started his story.
"I was a slow flier for the longest time. The coach would make me do wing-ups nonstop. But i never felt like I was going to fly well. Then Blueskies zipped across the field. She looked like a lightning bolt to me. I hopped up and I said: I am going to fly like that. Then I tried. . . And tried. . . It took a while, but i soon was going about Bluesky's speed."

Blueskies stared weirdly.
"Okay, your story has flaws. You SAID: "I am not letting a girl beat me." And you were always pretty fast."

"Ah, just had to go and spoil my manliness didn't you."
Blaze sighed.

Peach pulled off her helmet, and placed it down as a pillow.
"When all this is over, I don't suppose we could all get together for a gathering. Do you?"

"That would be a nice party. . . Yeah, Peach. It's a deal."
Blaze looked up at the stars.
He was screaming one wish to the heavens.

Let me live.
If not me; let my family live.
If not my family; let Blueskies live.
If not Blueskies; let Peach. . . An innocent girl. LIVE.