Book of Phoenix Ashes

I just turned 16, it was January, 14 and the Equestrian Swards, that’s what they were called at the time, where looking for new young knights, I with the need to adventure, enrolled immediately, and boy was I mistaken. I having my current reputation, as the “Prince of gods, the god of nature,” was accepted immediately, on the spot. I was taken to a fort, I think the name was Fort Kritos Nushlin, its tall wood walls toward overhead, I couldn’t help but look. The gate opened and I saw rows upon rows of barracks, to then have my view blocked by a tall black and white western dragon, his eyes where a deep red, one side of his face had a long scar that run from his forehead to his lower neck, He had an angry look to him I later understood why, but I couldn’t look at him any longer for the fact that training begins now. “What are you worthless maggots looking at!?”

He yelled out with a loud raspy voice, he then looked at me “You, pipsqueak is there something you see that makes you stare!?” I startled at his sudden advance on me, “N-no!”

He Leaned down to me his face close to my own, “No what!?” I stuttered, “N-no sir….” He yelled into my face again, “I can’t hear you maggot!”

I responded with what he expected of me, “No Sir!” I spoke as loud as I could, and he shook his head and with a growl he moved to the Griffon that stand behind me, with the same actions.

They filed us up, and removed us of possessions, and giving us our uniforms, or “Maggot wears” as the dragon said. “I am your senior drill instructor!" The dragon declared "Most of the base knows me as Sir Willis!" there’s a snicker in the line of us, and Willis’s first reaction was yelling, “Who the fuck was that!?”, He walked up the line looking at each recruit, stopping at me and grabbed me by my uniform collar, “Was it you chicken shit!?”

He lifted me off my hooves, “No sir!” but he seemed to not believe me, “I otta rip you a new one for busting out of line like you did!”

The griffon that stood next to me, the same one that stood behind me at arrival, “It was me sir!” Will dropped me, I can’t remember what he said to the griffon next to me, but he got hit twice across his cheek roughly and that was enough to put him on the verge of tears.

We were sent off to our assigned bunks and told to rest well for we had a long 8 weeks ahead, I don’t remember sleeping at night, it was so quiet, no windows, nothing, just dark. Will burst in within a few hours, with a pan and spoon walking down the aisles waking the others up, I hot up and stood at attention immediately, out of fear, we fixed our bunks, so everything was perfect, even if it was perfect we had to redo it cause “It isn’t good enough” He would say as he tore the bunk apart sheet by sheet. And then began the running, we would run 24 miles a day around the walls of the fort, I was instructed to lead cause Will called me a coward, and “The only thing your good at is running!” he would yell, I hated his guts, I worked my ass off for 8 weeks and got nothing but being stronger, at night, we recruits would talk about our lives, most of them where shit, but the question that I was asked most of all was, “You had everything,  why throw it away like that?” I answered the only way I could, “I didn’t deserve to have praise fir blood of others soaking my skin, and I needed to earn it.” With that one single comment, I was voted into being the youngest leader of the platoon, my boot camp mates, that Will ever had, I earned the respect of my boot mates, just because I felt I didn’t deserve what I already had, I don’t know why, but I was literally given it. When boot camp ended, I stayed with the same troop, “Here is where you maggots learn how to kill.”

He spoke in a hush manner, but his voice sounded blown, and over used, I shuttered at the word kill, but I should have known that I was getting into a bloody business, we each got a short sward and he preceded to teach us how to fight, and wed train for hours, sometimes sparring, which I’d always loose, I was just so small, but I graduated, as top of the class, I earned Willis’s respect. I was given a suit of armor, and a long sward, and told to head to war, one that being lucky me, just begun, so me and my new platoon, the one I was assigned to, hiked across the miles of land to meet up with another huge force, the enemy, they had us stand in rows, and on the command charge we ran into battle, yelling, but as soon as the killing began, and I hadn’t even gotten to the front, tripping over dead bodies, I had enough. I got charged by one of the Saddle Arabians, I brought up me sward, and we circled for what seemed like hours, and then he stepped forward with a stab the blade cutting into my left cheek with its edge as I being late to dodge, but out of instinct I swung my sward up his hilt and it caught on the hoof guard, and with a fast twist, I disarmed him, and put my sward to his neck, he fell to the ground and began bleeding, my face bleed badly, and the more I looked at him, the more hate I felt, I picked up his sward, and lowered my own, and with a swift move, I stabbed through his neck, he choked and died. I went on to Kill 567 Saddle Arabians, with my sward, I was stained in their blood, I was the last standing survivor of my troop, I hiked home on my own with the Saddle Arabians retreating, and I sobbed.

Tripping and falling over miles of dead, I smelt of death and soaked in blood of pony, my cheek was healed though, and I survived, on my own, my Baptism in blood. The war lasted 13 months, I spent three days of that killing, on my own, and then walked home for the end of the war, Being the only of 7 to return, out of all 1395 sent out, I was welcomed, back to my Fort Kritos Nushlin, praised, honored, given whole credit for the victory of the war, I was given the honor of being a Royal Knight, I accepted hesitantly, my feathers being still stained by the blood, and memories full of the faces of dead, I bowed to the royal sward, and put on the silvery helmet, as a Knight, at the age of 16, on January, 13, before my birthday, Phoenixblaze Nature, the great hero of war, the prince of the gods, the god of nature, Royal Knight, merciless killer, the spiller of blood, the great bird of prey, nopony, but a scared colt.