Rise of the Republic

Chapters

Rise of the Republic; Prologue
Chapter 1 'Halved'
Chapter 2 'Bittersweet'
Chapter 3 'Resentment'
Chapter 4 'Perspective'

Rise of the Republic; Prologue

Prologue

Stars- glorious in their element. Beautiful, energetic, yet calm. Perceived as small, however very large in actuality. This is the story of Luna, and her rising of a war for peace in a land called Equestria. Like her stars, she was perceived as little as well. This perception was not the first either; once before has this title been elected to her due to her sisters selfish ruling. However, rather than her sisters out-shining, this time it was another. Twilight Sparkle. She was not mad at Twilight however, instead she was furious at her sister for raising yet another alicorn princess in her own stead, when Princess Luna obviously deserved the right to the throne; or any throne for that matter. Although Luna was the ruler of the moon and stars, she still had no throne, and no one to call her kingdom. Yet again her sister had forgotten her like she had so easily before.

Now, Luna is pursuing her own conquest. She first confronted Celestia early on about this regard. Luna had flown from her empty castle, made from moon stone and granite, to her sisters glorious castle in the middle of the capital of Equestria.

She found Celestia in her throne room, signing scrolls and peeking at others. Floating each individual scroll in a different position, so she could examine them more easily.

“Ah, Luna. How is my little sister doing on this fine evening?” Celestia greeted Luna. Luna hunched over some, in an unrelaxed position.

“Celestia…” Luna said in a greeting of sorts.

“ To what do I owe this trip today? Just a social call?” Celestia asked, smirking at her younger sister.

Luna stood there, still unrelaxed. Celestia stopped, and turned her attention from her papers to her unrestful sister.

“Luna, is something the matter?” Celestia asked.

“This is not a social visit Celestia. I have a problem to discuss with you.” Luna said, releasing her hunched position.

Celestia’s attitude changed suddenly, and her attention shifted to her sister fully. She dropped the scrolls in a neat pile next her, and walked over to her sister.

“Is something threatening Equestria? Tell me Luna.”

Luna looked up at her sister, staring into her eyes, and seeing her complete blindness, she turned away in sorrow.

“No… Nothing like that Celestia…” She replied in a softer tone.

She had let these feelings boil into her very soul, and now that she was faced with exploding with all of these feelings, letting Celestia know of her malice and pain; she began to feel selfish almost, about the way that she felt inside. However at the same time, she was heartbroken that her sister was so blind.

Celestia placed a hoof on her sisters shoulder.

“Luna… Please tell me. I am your sister, I will not judge you.”

Luna began to sob at that, and she turned to Celestia, still looking down in sorrow, and let her sister embrace her.

“Tia, I just feel so alone! I am scared of it; of myself. I feel these feelings of jealousy and hatred, and I feel as if I have no control of my own mind and being! I don’t want to be a Nightmare once again Tia!” Luna spilled out her mind to Celestia, who also began to tear from hearing this.

“Luna… What is the matter? Why do you feel this way?” Celestia spoke to Luna a soft voice. She was terrified, because now, she once again saw the little foal that she had seen crying against her arms as she had before she became a Nightmare.

Luna looked up at Celestia, her face still filled with tears and she sniffled. She looked like she was expressing guilt, but for what, Celestia was unsure.

“Twilight Sparkle… An alicorn you yourself had raised… You-“ Luna hesitated, as if she was careful of her own words.

“You paid her more attention than you ever did me sister. She has a kingdom… You have a kingdom… Cadence has a kingdom. You all have a place to call your own, with prosperity and peace and ponies that you can call your loyal subjects… I have only a castle of Moon and guards who will follow me until my last days…” Luna’s tears had dried; she remained looking as if it was physically hard to say what she wanted.

“I just… Want a kingdom of my own… Ponies who respect the night and cherish it…”

Celestia had frozen. She looked sad.

“Luna…” She said, “You’re jealous of Twilight Sparkle? She has earned her right to the throne… You…” Now Celestia had a hard time saying what she must. She pulled away from Luna, facing the Nightmare Moon stained glass window.

“You had been gone for a thousand years sister, at your own fault… I cannot give a kingdom to you, because of the simple fact that you lack the necessary skills to lead. You never learned how… I cannot force upon others a kingdom of instability…”

Celestia looked down, letting a single tear fall from her fuchsia eye.

Seconds had passed by, and the room fell dead silent. Both alicorns froze; as the words sunk into Luna’s mind, they played on repeat.

Suddenly a burst of wind erupted from behind Celestia, as the room shook and a horribly loud crash could be heard echoing from every part of the castle.

Celestia jumped around, looking in complete horror at her sister’s wrath. She had broken the roof of the throne room and flown up into the open air. Luna was absolutely enraged by this. She had her magic flowing through all of her body. Her hooves, her horn, her eyes, all around alight with power.

“I have gone long enough Celestia! I deserve loyal followers as much as you or any other pony! I WILL achieve my own kingdom Celestia, where everypony is treated equally! Not where those are shut off because of past mistakes!”

Celestia’s eyes widened at her sisters resolve as she too began to summon her power. She floated into the air to equal her sister.

“Luna! Do not make me send you back to your imprisonment! I will do it! You will not speak treason against my peaceful land! I and the other alicorns have worked hard to achieve this peace; you of all ponies should know this! Selfish thoughts such as these are what cause wars Luna!” Celestia spoke with power in her voice.

“No Celestia! Thoughts such as these are what makes changes to unfit environments! You have already kept me on the moon by constructing a palace for me there! You are too weak to send me back! Your first encounter with the Nightmare had forever left you with limited power! The Elements will not agree to imprison me without my transformation into a Nightmare! You are too blind of a leader Celestia, this is why Equestria will be better off with someone like me in charge!” Luna shouted at Celestia, she did not taunt Celestia with magic shots, but remained in her state of power.

Celestia was taken back by these remarks. Her magic slowly started to fade from her eyes and horn, and she solemnly placed herself upon the throne room floor. After a moment she regained her passion in speech and stature and looked upon her sister.

“Luna, if you create your Kingdom… Equestria will be forever doomed to chaos! I will not aid you, and you shall not have power over me! I advise you to stop this nonsense before it is too late!”

Luna let out a maniacal laugh. She looked down upon her sister and smirked wildly. “You would be wise to stay out of my way sister! From this moment on, I declare myself and my followers the kingdom of the New Lunar Republic! The freedom of ponykind begins with this new rising Nation!”

Luna summoned an even greater glow to her horn and eyes, overpowering her sisters spell for keeping the sun in it’s place. With great force, she pulled the moon up over the horizon, over past the Everfree forest and the southern lands of Equestria.

“This is my land now! Everything the shadows touch! It is time for the rising of a new era! It is time for the Rise of the Republic!”

Author's Note

The prologue of just how this mess started in the first place! Please enjoy!
ALSO I accept OC submissions into the story, so visit my Deviantart profile for more information on that! I'm currently in a Hiatus and probably won't get back to you for a while.

Chapter 1 'Halved'

Chapter 1

Halved

As the echos of pony trots could be heard from within the dense forest around them, the Whiteout Tomb moved hastily along the road of mixed mud, dirt and melting snow slush. Their breath was thick, moist and warm against the thin, cold air. Small, hazy specks in the air lightly kissed the soft, fine fur of the three ponies, walking along side the forest path. The pony leading in front of the other two was a light tan, bleach blonde and light green haired mare. Her horn was decorated with a silver tangle of swirls, and among the swirls dotted small finely cut purified emeralds. She bares a small overhanging cloak that covers her shoulders, attached to that is a hood, which covered the rest of her angelic face. Her clothe, spun of an evergreen color, the rims laced with gold. A silver piece clasped a green leaf ornament, of which bore the same swirls and emeralds as her horn, held her low hanging cap in its’ place. The same colors of that clothe ran along her back, splitting into a swallow tail pattern that erupted from a delicately placed diamond shaped purified emerald, just like the ones from the leaf and horn ornament. The swallow tails hung down from her flank to her ankles, and outlined her ruffled and curled tail. As her trotting continued, her breath heavy; the sound of her armor clanked out and ricochet against the surrounding trees, her half sleeves bounced along with the rhythm of her trotting and dirtied the tips of the clothe with the dirt and mud on the road. The plate attached to the half sleeves would shine a silvery glow if the sun were to peek out of the dense grey clouds above them.

As they continued along at a faster pace, one of the two ponies behind the lead mare stopped abruptly to catch her breath in one big gasp, then would hurry to catch up with the other two, whom slowed to oblige her absence.

“Terra.” The tan mare said to the out-of-breath brown and green mare a small ways behind her.

“We must keep going…” She said trotting over to the brown pony. She lit her horn, which caused the purified emeralds to shine in bright green against the unicorns light gold shimmer. Her saddle bag flap glowed and lifted, revealing the contents of the bag to the tan mare.

“Here.” She said levitating a small vial of liquid to the brown unicorn. “Drink this. It’s a buff to help you with your running…” She said looking at her friend take the vial and drink the contents. She looked inquisitively at Terra, the brown unicorn.

“Aren’t Scouts supposed to be some of the quickest ponies in the Republic?” She asked as Terra finishing the vial off.

Terra sniffled; her nose was dripping due to the extensive running and the cold air chilling her to the bone.

“Herbal, I am a Scout sure, but I majored at the academy in Biology Analysis. I barely passed my physical activity classes…” Terra hesitated looking over at the other pony, whom was a white and golden haired Unicorn. Terra looked down in shame. “Sorry I slowed you all down Cap.”

The tan pony known as Herbal, placed her hoof on Terras’ shoulder. “Don’t be sorry Terra Nova. We just need to keep going. The rendezvous is 3 miles from here. The other Tomb needs to be there as well to complete the objective. ” Herbals’ expression remained calm to give confidence to the others around her, however on the inside she was extremely nervous that the other half of her tomb might not be there in time.

Terras’ body began to feel better. Her muscles that ached instead felt renewed, her lungs that felt tight, felt flowing and alive, her head that hurt felt relieved. She felt energized once again. She stood to her hooves and stretched, feeling revived. She looked at Herbal and smiled.

“Alright Captain, I am ready. Let us continue.”

Herbal nodded at Terra. She went back to her former spot of formation, where the white Unicorn stood guard. She turned to the Unicorn whom was armed with an immaculate, angelic bow.

“Ready Angelica?” Herbal asked.

Angelica nodded, still searching the woods around her with her eyes. She looked more focused or suspicious than normal.

“Angelica… is there something wrong?”

Angelica looked to her Captain with a more worried look. She nodded and said quietly, “Dragon Fire”.

Herbals’ face changed suddenly and she looked back to Terra Nova. “Terra Nova. We have a Dragon Fire situation.” She said calmly to the brown unicorn of which was making her way over to her colleagues.

Terra Novas’ attitude changed to a serious one as she nodded to her Captain. She slunk down into a crouching position, disappearing suddenly into the shadows. Herbal switched her attention from the previously visible Terra Nova, the defensive Angelica, whom posted herself in front of her captain.

“Herbal Remedy, Captain, take cover in that bush patch over there.” Angelica said. “I’ll cover you.” She stated, turning her vision to Herbal Remedy, yet unmoving in her stance.

Herbal Remedy nodded, as she slunk over to a patch of bushes, being guarded by an attentive Angelica.

Angelica stopped her Captain all of a sudden, ceasing any kind of movement, she became as still as a chilled statue.

“Wait… Something isn’t righ-“ she was cut off by a sudden whistle through the air behind her. Angelica turned to see an arrow hit Captain in the chest. A loud pang sound could be heard as the arrow bounced of Herbals chestplate, a loud moan followed. The inertia of the arrow spired into Herbals body, causing her to trip on the wet terrain and forcing her to move on her own weight. She slipped, landing on her side in a large puddle of mud.

Angelica reacted quickly in this situation, tracing the arrows’ trajectory back from further inland of the woods in front of her; where they were heading for shelter. She quickly armed her bow and shot right back from where the arrow had originated. A half a second went by, and Herbal stood back on her feet, stained with mud and scratches from rocks, hidden below the layer of wet dirt. No sooner than she had risen, Angelica had shot a grappling arrow up into a snow covered tree and pulling on it, causing a cascade of snow to come down to the ground and stack into a mound, giving them light cover.

“Stay here Captain!” Angelica shouted. She took the roped grappling arrow, and jumped, retracting the rope and pulling herself atop the now bare branch.

She flattened herself against the trunk of the tree, alighting her horn, she peeked her head from the round of the trunk. Her eyes glowed softly as she spot three different ponies in the dense snow and evergreen forest below. She extended her bow string, clasped firmly by a glove held by her right hoof, she enchanted an arrow under a levitation spell, placing it on the string and basen of the Angelic light bow. She fully extended the bow, as the arrow slid back, a complex light sigil appeared before her bow at the command of her horn. As she released the arrow, letting it fly with a soft whistle through the air, it smoothly moved through the sigil, and lighting as it did. The glow of the now enchanted arrow became more and more spacious, as the arrow seems to split apart, and in almost the blink of an eye, one light arrow became three. As it shot out, all three of the arrows all shot in different directions, and met three different targets, whom fell to the ground as the arrow pierced their fur and skin.

The ponies fell to their death, meeting the ground with a solemn welcoming as blood spilled from their wounds. Angelica hid back behind the trunk once again, and searched for anyone else, however didn’t find anyone. She sighed in relief and and let her guard down.

Zoom!

Angelica jumped. It was too late of a reaction. She pushed herself into the sky, trying to avoid the incoming arrow, and only dodging it by one tenth of an inch, as it brushed her fur, nicking her and causing a deeper cut than expected. She flipped in the air, and fell to the ground next to Cap. Upon landing on the muddy snow, she stood like a statue next to the pile of snow of which gave her half cover. She lit her eyes once again, but finding no one in the shadows. Suddenly, she heard a scuff in the bushes, and readied her bow in front of her in the direction of the noise.

A pony erupted from the bushes, and before Angelica could hit him, she noticed he was being shoved out of the bush, rather than attacking them head on. Some other hoof was around that ponies neck. Suddenly, the pony went to his knees, omitting a sharp cracking sound. Terra Nova had stepped on his back legs, forcing him to bend unnaturally and break his legs. Terra held him in a choke hold, and released abruptly only to slit his throat with her small dagger. Blood spewed from his neck onto the white snow as his newly cold corpse fell into the whiteness.

Terra took her normal stance and lowered her eyes to the ground and away from her victim. A single tear came from her golden eyes.

“S-sorry I was so late…” Terra said.

Herbal Remedy stood from her hideout, she brushed herself off. She went over to Terra, putting her hoof under Terras chin and lifted it. She saw a small cut on her face and squinted at it.

“You’re hurt.” She said lighting her horn.

“I wasn’t fast enough. He swung and grazed my cheek.” She said not making eye contact with the Captain.

“It’s quite alright. You’re a Scout, you weren’t meant to kill.” She said, applying a healing spell to her small wound.

“I’m just glad you reacted when you did or else Angelica would have been-” She stopped at the sight of Angelica on the ground behind her. She was seizing and foaming at the mouth. Her pupils were tiny, and she lay choking.

Herbal reacted quickly, running over to the white unicorn, she slid in the mud to a stop next to Angelica. She inspected the small wound on Angelicas shoulder, and saw it outlined in a purple fizz.

“She’s been poisoned. Dragons Breath poison mixed with what looks like Cragadile blood… That would explain the seizing... “

She summoned a powerful healing spell to her horn, it glowed brighter and began to inch away from her horn. It snaked through the air and towards the small wound and entered it. Angelica wiggled and groaned a little bit from this. The glow followed in a stream under her skin and could be seen following a vaine of blood up towards her head. The spell stopped on her upper neck and began to retract again. The spell retracted fully from her wound, bringing a purple liquid stream out of her bloodstream. Herbal levitated a bottle into the air, pouring the purple poison into bottle. Her attention went back to the wound. She shot another spell into the wound, which spiraled throughout Angelicas body. She then shot an extra spell at the wound that began to close it up with magic. It would leave a scar.

The seizing stopped after a bit, and her pupils turned to a normal size as she fell into a sleep. The choking and constricting of her throat and mouth subsided and she was once again healthy. Perhaps tired, but nonetheless, healed and healthy.

After a few minutes of rest, Angelica woke again. Herbal talked to her in a calm manner.

“Can you move every part of your body? Is there any kind of block? Do you still feel injured?”

Angelica shook her head. She stood to her hooves, and insisted they keep moving. Resentfully, the half-tomb kept on moving, leaving the cold corpses to the forces of nature to dispose of.

Author's Note

The first chapter! I'm a little new to this site, but I hope I can accomplish bringing entertainment to you all! Enjoy, and go see the characters on my Deviantart!

Chapter 2 'Bittersweet'

Chapter 2

Bittersweet

Herbal yawned. She shook her head slightly, rustling her hair from a neat position to one that implied that she hadn’t brushed it when she woke up. The papers beneath her hooves crinkled upon her portion of the wooden desks. With bagged and slightly blurry eyes, she tried to pay her drowsy attention to those papers that lay half crinkled. She scrolled over a few lines of notes, and then felt her flank feel a bit numb, so she repositioned it on the wooden bench that followed the circular pattern of the giant lecture room. She hadn’t noticed it for a while, but as soon as she began to wake up further, the sound of her professor spoke out loudly and bounced off the walls, irritating her sensitive ears.

She started listening to the lecture again, knowing her class was almost over, and she needed to at least look like she had been paying any attention. I knew taking advanced introduction to tactical and illusionary magic was going to be too much to handle… I just wanted to do well in Tomb placement at the end of the year.

She sighed and looked down from her spot in the room to the clock above the door. There was still about ten minutes left from what she could see from her still waking eyes. She placed her chin upon her upstanding hoof on the desk and lazily listened to the rest of the lecture.

"-And so we can assume that when one transports one’s self into the past, it can only be for a limited time. Otherwise you run the risk of collapsing your individual realmspace, and getting caught in a loop hole of time, tearing each atom in your being apart little by little… A… Black Hole, if you will. Therefore, you may only time travel once, as implemented into the spell rules of the only existent time travel spell, made by Starswirl the Bearded.”

The professor held his demeanor proudly, and placed his hoof over his mouth while briefly coughing to clear his throat, as if to change the subject. The stallion checked the clock above his door, and then stood back in his regular position.

“Now, I hope everyone sees that more clearly. We’re almost out of time for today, so instead of continuing on to chapter 93, I will instead give an announcement.”

Herbal perked up a little, more awake than before.

“The Exams are coming up very soon. I know not all of you are graduating out of the academy this year, but for those of you whom are, I have words to convey to you.” He said looking proudly out to the auditorium full of ponies.

Herbal payed close attention to him. Taking in every word, and every breath that gently came from his snout.

“These exams… They are not like any others. This is Magi Mana Academy of Moongleam city. The most prestigious Magic academy in the New Lunar Republic. These exams aren’t the type where you sit down and write a thesis, no. You will be tested on your physical ability to understand, learn, and cast those spells. However it isn’t a closed session either. Does anyone know what the exams here are actually called?” He asked pointing his head up and around looking at everypony.

On mare a few rows over from Herbal raised her hoof.

“Yes Ms. Bell Blossom?”

“The Mana Exam… Also known as the Battle of the Spells…” the pink and brown mare said timidly, pushing her glasses up with her hoof.

“Excellent Ms. Blossom. Now, do you know why it is called that?” He asked back to the pink mare.

Bell Blossom noded. “It is called such because, in order to graduate from Magi Mana, you must prove to the council, and Luna herself, that you have studied under her will, and are ready to serve as a Transitional Mage for her highness… Basically, to become proficient in your two categories of magical arts, you have to face off against other graduates and place in the first 50 mages in order to graduate.”

The professor clapped his hooves a few times. “Excellent. I know who is ready indeed. But, “are you sure you can pass?” is the actual question.” He stopped clapping and turned his mood back into a serious one. “You see, knowledge is only half of it. You might know everything about everything, but here is the catch. You must be able to prove yourself worthy enough to pass the exams. You must know how to cast. If you can’t cast proficiently, and you are gifted with exceptional knowledge, I would recommend you go to the Scout academy… They sure could use some more knowledgeable individuals like the lot of you.” He said in a very stern tone.

The bell rung out through the classroom, however the ponies did not move. They waited for dismissal. The professor stood still looking upon all the ponies.

“Let me say this. Magic, is most powerful in positivity. It comes from within someone's psyche, and therefore can be manipulated to fit a mind frame. If you want it to be filled with rage, fill it with rage, or if you want to help someone, it will heal. The point is, to cast well, and possibly to graduate, you must believe that you are capable enough to do so…” He broke, and sighed, looking down for a second. “Dismissed.” he said, and the ponies all shot up from their seats, and rushed out the doorway.

“Come on! We are almost there!” Herbal screamed out to the rest of her tomb.

They ran as fast as they could, bushes and tree branches slapped their bodies cutting them, making them feel stiff. As quickly as the cuts were created, they disappeared thanks to Herbals magic. They continued to hurry, and finally burst through one last layer of brush before falling into an opening. As soon as the trees ceased their noises of rustling, the tomb ceased their movements as well.

They had ran into some more patrols and thought they had been followed, caution was extreme.

The breathing of the ponies was very heavy and fast. To calm herself, Terra Nova took a deep breath, shutting her eyes and saying. “Huff I think we lost them… Huff.”

The other two, tired and weary, nodded while Angelica said “Indeed… Huff.” She had just dismissed her sight spell, and was certain she hadn’t seen anypony.

Once they were all certain, they all collapsed to the ground, their breathing still heavy. They had finally made it to the meeting point of which they were supposed to be at around 5 hours ago.

Herbal perked her head up. “Their late... “ She said hesitantly.

“So are we… Severely... “ Terra said.

Herbal shook her head and looked at Terra Nova with sarcasm. “We didn’t know these patrols were going to be here... “

“Listen I’m trying not to worry Cap’!” Terra said putting her hoof up, as if so stop her from saying any more.

Herbal nodded. “That’s reasonable I suppose. Especially since you have a loved one in the field… I promise you he will be okay. He’s the best heavy there is!”

Terra smiled sweetly in thought of him. “Brax…”

Herbal snapped up. “It’s dark… We need to build a fire. By my clock it looks like it should be post sunset. We need to rest. I’ll take first watch, you all sleep.”

“No. You should rest Herbal Remedy. You’re our Healer and leader. You’ll need more energy than I. I’ll take first watch.” Said Angelica.

Herbal nodded. “Fine.” She said.

Herbal stood. Her muscles strained and her head felt cold and dizzy almost. She summoned a glow to her horn. “Do you still want a Campset?”

Angelica nodded, while shooting an arrow into a tree. “Yeah, sure. Thanks.”

Herbal shot her magic a the ground three times in a circle pattern. Each magic spot began to form into a more solid opacity, and form shapes. Then, three tents, fully equipped with blankets and pads popped out of the magical light. Herbal nodded at them, almost proud of her work.

Terra Nova went to her tent, and sat inside of it. She looked around at the boxes that were scattered about, and sighed, begging to unbox things here and there. She lifted a folding table on one side of the tent, and placed it firmly and unfolded on the material in front of her. She began to get her equipment from the boxes, that included various books, a microscope and a few other technical looking tools. She even summoned vials of chemicals and various liquids, placing them neatly along the table. She searched through her saddle bags, digging out preservation baggies with differing plant specimens in them, placing them as well on the table. She began to examine these plants little by little, putting them each through various tests and examinations.

Then suddenly she stopped. Her heart rate racing, her pupils tiny, her mind almost panicking. Her eyes began to well up in tears as she could be heard wheezing and whimpering from outside her tent. Herbal and Angelica came rushing in. Herbal signaled for Angelica to not leave her post, and regretfully, Angelica returned, unknowing of what exactly was happening to her friend. Herbal rushed to the side of her panicked team mate. She cradled her as Terra began to become stricken with complete terror.

“Terra. What is happening? What is wrong?” She put a hoof to Terras face, hoping to snap her out of her frantic state.

“B-brax! He.. He is dead isn’t he? He must be! He is late! He can’t die! He can’t!” She said squirming about, her condition staying constant.

Herbal held her tighter, cradling her and softly shushing her.

“Shh, Terra. We don’t know that. Brax is a heavy. He can hold his own. I know you’re worried about him, but you must be stronger than this if you wish to live on. We are on a mission Terra, we need to not be afraid of our loved ones being in harms way, when there is simply nothing we can do but be strong, and try our best so that they don’t get hurt.” Herbal continued to rock Terra Nova back and forth, calming her.

Terra sighed, her eyes flooded with tears. “I-I don’t wanna d-die here Herbal.” She says weeping. She seemed terrified. Herbals heart broke. She knew someone like Terra especially is liable to die on a mission such as this; as much as she didn’t want to lie to Terra, she wanted her to level herself again. Herbal gave a peck on her forehead. “You won’t.” She said without hesitation. “Nor will Brax…” She hesitated, holding back tears. “-I promise.” She said.

Terra was left to her lonesome to get out a good sob, but was told to return to her duties as soon as she could. Understanding that, she returned to her table, and began to examine those plants again. Herbal marched out of her tent, staying proud and strong until the tent curtain behind her folded over and she was out of sight. Herbals head plummeted. She felt absolutely terrible. She cannot guarantee their safety, all she can do as the Healer is try her best to protect her Tomb. She felt pained because she has seen so many other ponies suffer with these panic attacks. Nopony was supposed to see this level of terror. This isn’t even the most terror one can face, and still look at how badly some ponies are effected by the shock. She mourns the war, and all the violence that is created in turn. However she knows it is the necessary step towards creating peace for Equestria.

Terra wakes slowly. She She values the next few moments of her lazy waking, and cherishes the small beams of moonlight coming through her bed-top window, as it welcomes her back into the world. She sighs and sits up, slumping over, she can feel her curly hair fizzier and messier than usual. She yawns and looks over to a piece of paper laying on her bedside mini-table. She checks the time, and writes it down on the paper, tracking how many hours of sleep she had gotten this time.

Three hours and forty-two minutes… Best this week. She thinks to herself and yawns, stretching out. She hops up and out of bed, slow to make her way to the kitchen. She hears a slight crackle of fluid running through a machine, pushing the last little bits of liquid through. She yawned again, this time, inhaling the scent of freshly brewed coffee, and an entire pot of it this time. She led herself to the kitchen sleepily, taking out an aluminium cup from her cupboard; setting it on the counter with a clink.

She poured as much coffee into the cup as it would allow, and then sipped it, walking away as she did. She sat at a small wooden table, the majority of which taken up by books. She picked up one from a higher pile to the right of her, and began browsing through it, probably for at least the fifth time. She had read all of these books at least twice, in an attempt to memorize them. It was going to be Tomb placement soon, and she didn’t want to have a doubt in her mind that she would get the best Tomb there is. She continued sipping her coffee until she had started sipping on a dry cup. Unknowing of this until at least the third time she had sipped, she looked into her cup with a blanked face, and then rose to get more.

As she did, she heard a heavy sigh come from the bedroom. Soon the covers were rustling around, and a creak of the floor as somepony else rose from their resting place. Hoof-steps could be heard, carrying heavily somepony from the bedroom, a figure appeared in the hallway above the small flight of wooden steps that led down to the dining room where Terra was currently sitting.

“Well then, good morning sleepy head.” Terra said, paying her attention back to her book halfy. She smirked.

“Uhhg, good morning to you too, early bird.” The stallion said, smirking sleepily at the mare sitting in her chair reading her book and drinking her morning coffee.

“Yeah, can’t afford to oversleep now, can I?” She said as the stallion made his way down the small steps and past the table, kissing her as she bent backwards in the chair to reach his lips.

The stallion grabbed an aluminium cup as well, and poured a fair amount of Coffee. He had come in from his duties earlier, so he had gotten much more sleep than Terra Nova. He sat next to her, carefully pushing a pile of books over to set his cup down on. He shook his head, resettling his bedhead. Then a stern silence held the room, chilling almost.

“Terra… I know you’ve been working really hard lately… I know what I promised to you…” The stallion said, but he was cut off by silent weeping.

“Brax... Please… We get one life… I don’t want have to give it up for war! Let us live life like the war isn’t happening! Let’s get married!” She said to him.

Brax lowered his head in sorrow. “Terra.. How many times do I have to say it? We can’t live like there is no war when we’re actively involved in it! We will never be able to lead normal lives… No one will, not until this war is over. Which is why we’re here. We’re the best of the best, we can better our cause. Then I promise you we can get married.” He said. She looked up at him, sniffling. “Cross your heart?”

Brax smiles. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Brax wiped Terras few remaining tears away.

“I-I’m sorry…” She confessed. Brax smiled and embraced her. “Don’t worry about it love. I love you too… Believe me I wish we could go on with the wedding as much as the next stallion, but it’s just so difficult to raise a family in this day and age.”

Terra Nova nodded sorrowfully. “Thanks.. Brax.” She said. He hugged her again, not saying anything. He kisses her on the forehead, and then stands from his chair.

“Well I better be off. Don’t want to be late for training…” He said nervously.

Terra nodded. She stood as well. “Indeed, I need to be off as well... “

Brax started out the door when Terra stopped him. “Hey Brax? Good luck in Tomb placement today.”

Brax smiled and nodded. “You too love. Be safe.”

Terra nodded. Her eyes glassy and sore. She poured the rest of her coffee pot into a thermos. She went and equipped her armor, taking one last glimpse of a picture of her and Brax before heading out the door, and into the cold night.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoy so far!

Chapter 3 'Resentment'

Chapter 3

Resentment

Angelica harrumphed. She shot an arrow back up into the tree where her initial outpost was. She sighed.

If only there was something else I could do… If only I was still… Me… She thought to herself.

The cathedral bells rang out, loud and elegantly. Angelica followed along a long hall of pillars, that reached out, open to the floral courtyard that surrounded the half-walled halls that lead from one section of the Chapel to the other sections. The bells rang from the center of that courtyard, of which stood a royal Campanile, made up of gold and masonry.

Angelica and two other ponies made their way through the pathway, and enter the Cathedral. They keep walking until they reach the far side of the nave, in front of them stands the most elegant of ambulatories. Carved were the two pony sisters, standing tall next to the altar on each side, as if to be guarding it.

Angelica, and her two arch-priests began to make their way down the isles, as the choir sang out in an angelic tone, that bounced off every inch of the inner sanctuary of the Cathedral. Angelica took her place on the apse, before the altar. The worshippers stood from their seats, saying a short prayer that grants the High-priestess to take her position upon the altar, and teach as a religious deity almost.

Angelica takes her place upon the altar, speaking out to everyone, a prayer, of which everyone in perfect harmony recite as well.

Above her holiness, lies a great mural. Painting the story of the responsibilities of the two sisters. Luna, holding a display that resembles stars, a moon, and a shadow leading away from the glowing moon. Celestia, a sun, with various magical spots here and there, with pegasi, flying around, baring crowns of green leaves around their manes.

After the prayers of the day were over, Angelica retired to her quarters. Smaller, but still decorated with the grand decor that was found throughout the Cathedral. She undressed herself from her Priestess attire, setting her staff and cloak in the drawer for stow away. She sat on her bed, covering her head and face with her hooves. She sighed. She looked over at a picture frame with a picture of a small filly. She talked to it.

“Oh sister… I don’t know what to do now. Things are falling apart little by little. The two royal sisters are separated, and now, it is changing all of our religion… We are no longer allowed to preach the ways of the moon and stars, like we had so freely before. They’re taking the statue of Luna down, and re-painting the grand mural above the altar… Everything that has a moon on it, is being destroyed and replaced… I don’t know what to do Silver Wind... “

She paused a moment. A tear falls from her eyes. Then, she notices a small glimmer on the picture frame. She looks up to a small window that sat shining in the light of the moon. A glimmer came over Angelica’s eyes.

The next morning, a day of which she did not have to preach, she marched into the Cathedral. The painters and constructors were there chipping away at the Lunar side of the Cathedral, changing it into another statue of Celestia, adding more pegasi and clouds to the paintings above.

“Stop this at once!” She demanded, her voice loud as it rang through the wide room.

The workers stopped at once, surprised about her sudden appearance.

“Just what do you think you are doing?” She asked as she approached the altar.

“Sorry Priestess, you can’t do anything about it. Orders directly from the Princess herself.” One of the workers stated nonchalantly.

Angelica felt herself fill with frustration. “This is a complete outrage! We are fighting for a free Equestria! How could this benefit our lives in any way? We are merely oppressing our citizens in fear of losing them!” She stomped her hooves hard against the ground.

The racket she was making was attracting the attention of the guards standing just outside the main entrance.They rushed in, looking at the almost crazed white mare.

“Hey, you! What’s with all the noise?” One of the guards yelled.

Angelica turned to the guards. “I am standing up for a free Equestria!” She points to the statue. “This is vile!”

“Priestess... There is nothing you can do about this, I’m sorry. Celestia herself has pushed this project forward.” The guard said to Angelica. “How about you come with us?” One of the guards asked gently.

“No! This isn’t right!” Angelica yelled. She stepped up to the altar and began to say a prayer of Moon. This being illegal now, the guards reacted quickly. Running and taking her into custody. She did not stop chanting the prayer.

Being dragged along the smooth stone floors and hallways, She felt furious. She did not squirm however. The big elegant doors opened to a wondrous throne room, where Celestia sat proudly on her throne. A smaller throne of sorts was positioned to her left from the throne room doors, and sat a tad lower than hers. A bruting unicorn sat, posted with a stern face, waiting for the trial. The guards dragged her into the throne room, throwing her upon the floor just below Celestia, as her and her advisor stared disrespectfully down upon Angelica.

There was a brief and chilling pause before Celestia began to talk. “High Priestess Angelica. You have been brought before the council of the Solar Empire today on charges of treason, and attempted assault. Your ferocity will not be rewarded, or easily disregarded. You are the High Priestess, and therefore, act as a guide to those who worship under your whim. You could have very easily tricked people into rebelling.” Celestia calmed herself, pausing.

“I may forgive you of this-” Celestia paused again. She looked to her left, as her advisor was staring intently at her.

“Commander…” She looked almost confused. Then her expression regained to a normal one, back to her stern posture, she continued to speak. “Commander Bloodhoof, what do you think?”

The Commander smirked. “Treason is a high charge with a death penalty. But, given the fact that you did fight in our war, and that you were loyal in teaching the prayer of our church, I believe we should give her a more… Forgiving... Punishment.” He said, looking down upon Angelica.

“ I believe that she shall be dubbed a traitor to the Empire and cast out. Go and join your traitors cause, and watch from a cell within their walls as your mistake boils into your very soul. Soon, you will understand why Luna shall never be stood in that cathedral again!” The commander shouted out.

Angelica began to rouse at hearing such maleficent words. “You talk of a peaceful Equestria, one that is free to do as ponies would please! Worship whomever they want! But now, I see the truth! You are both insolent! ‘Tis not freedom, it is complete and totally dictation! I will never be loyal to you ag-” Angelica was cut off by two guards. Putting a tight grasp upon her, they gagged her mouth, and stuffed a sack around her head, dragging her out of the throne room.

“Get this traitor out of my sight. She is not worthy of being in the eyes of our Empress! Throw her to the Crystal Caves. Let us never see her, and let her never see the light of the burning sun again!” The commander ordered the guards.

Celestia sat upon her throne, blanked, almost in a daze. She sat quiet, saying nothing against her punishment.

Chanting her prayer of moon still, Angelica was bound a magic block and tossed down a dark hole, of which lead into the abyss that held nothing but Crystals.

Angelica woke suddenly. Her eyes darting the forest trees and ground around her. She was frightened for a bit, but as the dreams visuals faded, so did her panic. She put a hoof to her head. “Dammit.” She said. “Fell asleep…” She looked down on the small campsite. She sighed. Swooping down from her tree, she peeked into Terras tent, who was passed out at her desk with a cup of cold coffee at her side and a plant at hand. She warmed herself at the fire for a minute. The temperature had dropped about ten degrees, so she quickly went to her tent, finding a bag with a fluffy overcoat in it, and threw it on. She checked in on herbal as well, who was also asleep. Angelica didn’t feel very tired, so she climbed back up onto her branch and kept watch, hopefully this time without falling asleep.

Her eyes scanning the treeline, then scanning the ground. She sighed, finally sitting down on her branch and resting her head on her upright hooves. She listened to the wind that blew through the snowy trees, and finally concentrated, eyes closed, calm. Her ear twitched in an instance, and she opened her eyes, looking deeply within the forest. She heard something… Leaves rustling. Her gut had a bad feeling, and she shouted out to her team mates. “Heads up! We have company!” She said, sinking into the shadows the trees provided.

Herbal Remedy and Terra Nova came rushing out of their tents, half of their armor equipped, and still trying to put the last few pieces on, they began to hear the trees around them erupt in the whispers branches against the wind made. Then, they heard the trots of what sounded like a stampede, hooves crushing against the snow, coming closer and closer. Herbal lit her horn, creating faint shields around the other two, and summoned a full shield to herself, and a circle of smaller ones, levitating around her. She commanded they both take up tactical positions, and Herbal summoned another spell saying “Shadow Phase” as her eyes lit with power, pushing it over Terra Nova. The noises had stopped, and they feared their presence had been noted. Terra looked back to Herbal, and Herbal nodded. Terra began to fade, courtesy of the spell, and she silently went to the direction of the noises origin. She slipped into the bushes without a peep.

Herbal looked to Angelica, who was still focussed on the forest in front of her. “Can you track her? See who all is out there?” Herbal asked.

Angelica shook her head. “That spell took too much of my mana, all I have enough for is Moondip arrows, Duplica, and Rainfall. Herbal looked uneasy at her arson abilities and nodded, regretful. “Alright, we’ll just have to have hope in Terra.”

Herbal was concerned for Terra, wondering if she was fully focused on what she was doing, and not worrying about Brax. She had always been worried for him, and it seemed like she kept forgetting that Brax was one of the best Heavies in the Republic.

“You got any Mana potions or spells you could give me?” Angelica whispered loudly back to Herbal.

Herbal nodded. “I have a spell. It doesn’t give you very much, but it might be enough to help you use that spell. I know it isn’t easy to see through living matter.” She said. She summoned a blue glowing spell to her horn, and in turn, the gem on her cape glowed with power, giving Herbal the mana to cast her spell. “Manatrans.” Herbal said as a circle of symbols appeared, hovering in front of her face. Mana began to drain from Herbal, and transfer into Angelica. The circle disappeared, and Angelica summoned the spell to her eyes. It took all of her might to summon the spell, and her eyes lit up with a golden glow, however, only for an instance. She was able to get a peek at the positions of the bodies. “I can’t make out who the suspects were, but Terra seems to be doing alright. She’s about 3 meters out from their location. Should I shoot one of them?”

Herbal shook her head again. “No. We need to wait for the report from Terra before we engage. We don’t know if they have heavy armor or not.”

Angelica nodded. It seemed like a life time went by. They had waited, and waited, and wait in silence. Then the leaves started to dance again from the bushes, and Herbal and Angelica steadied their positions ready to attack. However, a laugh erupted from the bushes that caught them off guard, and as a figure started to appear from the bushes, Angelica shot at it with an arrow out of her instincts. A spell circle appeared in front of the arrows path, and redirected it back towards Angelica, who jumped to miss it.

The figures appeared with wide eyes, and Terra Nova yelled. “Hey, whoa whoa there! Why did you shoot?” Brax and Infinity Shift looked up to the tree that Angelica landed back on. Infinity Shift repealed her spell circle and raised an eyebrow. Angelica harumphed and pulled her arrow out from the tree base behind her. “Sorry…” She said. Herbal deactivated her spells and they recycled back into the Gem on her cloak. She smiled at them. “Hello everypony.” She said, and they turned their attention to her. They both smiled. “Welcome back.”

Infinity Shift and Brax approached Herbal, giving her a friendly hug and saying “Good to be back”. Infinity looked around at the campsite and stated, “Seems you all are doing well.” Brax nodded in agreement. Herbal nodded and said “Well, we thought you guys might be later than you were, so we tried to get comfortable, start gathering intel and planning so when you came back, we would be ready. Guess now that you’re here…” Herbal paused a moment, taking a head count. “Wait, where is Shuriken?” She asked.

Brax and Infinity turned to one-and-other. They both looked back at the trees behind them. “Somewhere in there.” Brax said a tad confused. Herbal yelled out to the trees. “Hey, Shuriken! Why don’t you come down and greet us, we were worried about you!”

“I’m not really one for greetings, Herbal Remedy.” Shuriken replied. “I just like to watch from afar.” She said sternly. Herbal nodded sighing, a little bit dumbfounded at the lack of reaction towards how much they had worried about their well-being. She turned back to Brax and infinity. “So then, shall we settle in and start our planning?” She asked. They both nodded. “Alright, I’ll summon up your Cozies, and you all can settle in a little better before we meet in the war tent.” Herbal said, summoning a glow to her horn, putting two orbs to the ground just as she had before, taking up the rest of the empty space around the fire. One tent began to grow considerably larger than the other, and as it shaped, it looked spiked almost, and two flags lined the top two corners, as well as a sewn emblem in the middle top of the tent’s entrance. The other orb formed a small Cozie, for Shuriken and Infinity Shift to settle in to. Really the only person Shuriken hung out with was Infinity, and refused to firstly, leave her side, and secondly, sleep alone. Brax wasn’t in need of one, since he always slept by Terra’s side.

“Alright everypony, if you want some resting time, then now is that time. I will be casting a twenty-four hour camouflage spell over this whole campsite, that’s as long as we can spare.” Herbal said, casting a dome overhead. It consumed the campsite with a great glisten, then turned iridescent, only pulsing in magic every so often. The ponies all excused themselves into their Cozies, and the camp rang quiet.

Herbal went back to her tent, knowing now that her team was assembled, her ponies would be more focused and relaxed. She couldn’t rest however, especially on such an important job. Instead she began planning for every single possibility. She even started to create potions for several different boosts. She researched the different kinds of landscapes that would be around the battlefield, possible escape routes and even different plants and natural surroundings that may aid them in any way. She was the only pony here who knew all the specifics of the job. It helps to eliminate the possibility of the enemy gaining intellect if somepony were to be caught.

Herbal hadn’t known when, but eventually she passed out; awakened by her timespell. A small green butterfly had landed on her nose, tickling her awake softly. It was about an hour before the shield spell was to wear off, and she must be prepared to brief the others on their job. She gathered all the plans she had made, picking out only two to present, and making her way over to the war tent. She looked to her butterfly on the way there, and said “Go my little spell, awaken the others peacefully.” She smiled, sending it off. She entered the tent, and laid in the middle was a giant wooden table, that looked like it was made from a hollowed tree trunk. Nothing was really in the tent other than a few small fire lit lamps. Herbal laid the plans out on the table, summoning a battlefield illusion to the wooden surface, marking a red circle on one part of the map, and a few other blue dots on another side.

She yawned, and waited for the others to arrive. She had almost dozed off when the first of her tomb finally entered the tent; which was of course Terra Nova. She was levitating a big kettle of coffee in, sipping at a small tin cup she had prepared before her entrance. She looked well rested, for the first time in a while the dark bags that resided under her eyes had faded. Thankfully because Brax was back, she could focus almost wholly on the mission. She greeted Herbal and set the Kettle down on an exposed part of the table, setting a few more cups down as well.

“I didn’t have my Mothium set, what time is it?” Terra said, rubbing her eyes. Herbal looked up from the battle chart. “ It’s half-rise right now… Or would be anyway. Make sure to set it for tomorrow. We’re mainly working out the plan today, and I’ll need you up scouting early for the mission start. Nothing much, just two or three miles .” Herbal stated, taking a tin cup and levitating the kettle, pouring a full cup for herself. She began to sip at it.

Shuriken’s eyes eased open, as she felt a soft touch on her nose. She sat up, seeing a small green glow on the tip of her snout. She was able to see it better as she woke, and figured out it was a iridescent green butterfly. She smiled at it as it flew from her snout on to her now extended hoof. “Why thank you, my delicate little friend. I’m sure you have somewhere else to be. Go on and tell Herbal I’ll be there in a little while.” She said calmly to the spell. It lifted from her hoof and slowly fluttered off out of her tent.

Shuriken sat all the way up, taking a minute to gain her bearings. She went to the entrance of the tent and shivered, as she took a hoof of snow and closed the tent. She put the snow on a small porcelain plate, and payed her attention to a small stick of incense that lay next to the plate on the wooden table. She lit the incense, and scooped the snow little by little onto her hoof, placing it on her face. After all the snow had been placed on her face, she put her hooves together, and took deep breaths of incense. After a few minutes, she finished her meditation and took a towel out from under the table, wiping her face clean. She stood, taking one last deep breath and straightening out her mind into being focused. She armored up and headed out of the tent.

“Yushi… Look at me! Everything is going to be fine. We’re going to make it out of this, alright?” Shuriken shouted, the bruises and scratches on her face more defined than before, as a fire arrow swooped past her face. She hugged the pale mare closer, as the ground started to catch fire next to them. Shuriken pushed the smaller mare along, making her gallop along side her. The two ponies ran as fast as they possibly could, through a forest of bamboo and tall grass. a flash of black zoomed on their sides, within the bamboo, and Shuriken reacted with a dagger heading that way. She decided she couldn’t spend any time on the one soldier, and continued running.

“Quick Yushi! We’re almost there! If we get back to the village, we’ll be safe!” Shuriken said breathlessly. They galloped as hard as they could, then finally the end of the forest was spotted, as a bridge over a large pass covered in fog could be seen ahead. The two burst from the forest, running across the bridge without hesitation. A turret shape could be made out in the short distance ahead, and suddenly an archway was apparent.

“Samurai! The Daggertail are here! drop the bridge!” Shuriken shouted out, taking a breath for a moment. The guards in the large red turrets heard, and acknowledged Shuriken’s demands, for one banged on a bell, letting the whole village know that they were under attack, and the other pulled a lever that quickly collapsed the bridge that led into town.

The two ponies were able to rest a moment, but Shuriken paid her attention to the edge of the forest across the pass. She narrowed her eyes at it. Suddenly, bursting from the cover of the bamboo, a pegasus came flying over the pass and up to one of the sentry towers. He let his blade fly, meeting the neck of the guard responsible for the bridge. He threw a few knives over to the other tower, clipping the guard. Flipping back out of the tower, he fell into the pass, and a moment later came soaring back up, with the bridge at hoof. He smirked, laying it back down and putting knives in it, sticking it firmly to the ground.

Shuriken looked horrified at the pegasus, and put a hoof to Yushi, motioning her to keep running. They sprinted off within the town, not looking back. “Get Master Wei, he’ll know what to do!” Shuriken said, breathlessly.

The two ran down the dirt street, kicking up dust from the ground in their wake. The pegasus flew high in the sky, and blew a sea-shell horn he had strapped around him. Moments afterward, the bamboo forest began to rustle, and the ground began to shake. A roar of voices could be heard, screaming out violently, and a parade of troops in armor rained across the bridge, never fearing that it may fall. The girls had run up a hill, and was able to see such a sight; it caused more panic within Shuriken, who then wailed and sprinted off again. “Master Wei!” She said, approaching the red pagoda at the top of the hill.

An older looking Earth-pony turned himself to face Shuriken and Yushi. The stallion looked to them, sweaty and beat, and frowned.

“I know what is coming… The legends foretold this day… But I never knew that you two would have to see it in this life. This changes much.” He said, his white beard hung, beaded as he strolled over to the hillside, examining the village below and stroking his beard.

“I will help. It seems as if they have brought a small enough force.” He said, “I don’t think these barbarians can handle an old master and a couple of his finest students.” He looked back at them and smiled.

He sprung from the cliff’s edge, sliding down the side, and holding his staff out. “Suit up mares, we have work to do.” He yelled back to them. Shuriken nodded, and put a hoof on Yushi’s shoulder, telling her to hurry. “Come on.” She said gently. Yushi nodded.

They both hurried down the mountain, making it to a small shack to the South of the fight. Others had suited up as well, and were hurrying to the scene, and many of the concerned citizens were out on the streets merely watching. “Get back everypony, stay in your houses! Protect the children!” Shuriken yelled at they ran down the streets.

They stopped at a smaller shack, rushing in they went straight to the back room, revealing a rack of weapons, and two mannequins holding armor. One held a red kimono with sakura’s on it, and the other, a leotard looking red suit, with a small out-popping skirt. The two suited up. Shuriken grabbed most of the weapons on the rack, consisting of shurikens, kunais, and smoke bombs, and placing them in her sleeves securely. She took her two main weapons, and did the same. Yushi attached her naginata to the magnet on her back, and fastened magnets on her hooves.

A small displacement of her armor was apparent to Shuriken, and she started to fix it. She was interrupted by Yushi, whom pushed her hoof away, and fixed it herself. “I can dress myself… I’m blind, not paralyzed.”

Shuriken nodded. “Right… Sorry…” She said. “Let’s go.” She stated firmly. The two trotted out the door. They climbed to the tops of the houses and buildings of the village, and was able to spot the fight. It had gotten elevated to the point where houses were lit in flames. The two charged, running from house to house, getting closer to the danger. The first attacker approached them, and Yushi took him down with a swift kick of magnetic hooves. Shuriken is meanwhile jumping to the street, and unsheathing her weapons. She kicks up dust around her and begins to twirl herself. The soldiers rush her, and in result, end up on the ground with cuts all over them. She springs out of that, and jumps quickly around, attacking a string of soldiers. One of them however dodges her attack, and rebounds with his kittana. He is a heavily armored Samurai, who is covered from almost head to hoof in armor. She is able to block the hit, however unready for the immense force, she is immobilized by his strike. He takes the higher attack angle, forcing all of his weight down on her fans, and she struggles to maintain her push back. Suddenly, the soldier is knocked from his position, and falls a few feet from Shuriken. He slides and lands on his hoof. Yushi also lands on her feet as well, helping Shuriken back up.

Yushi sprints forward, swinging her weapon forward, and meaningly catching his swing, while Shuriken throws a few kunais at him, piercing the small openings between the armor. He wails in pain, and pulls back from his attack, as Yushi twirls around, and smacks his helm with the back of her naginata; the helm came flying off. Shuriken came in for the final strike, and ended him with her fan-blades.

They both rose from their position, to look at the houses and streets in front of them, set aflame. They heard a wail, and shoot their glance quickly behind them, to see Master Wei be thrown to the ground, beaten and bruised. They both rushed over to him, and help him back up. “He is not natural… He is demonic.” Master Wei said weakly. Shuriken looked up to examine the Pegasus who had beaten Wei nearly to death. He carried an extremely long kittana, with a gem implanted in the grip. He didn’t show his eyes from the shadow of his straw hat, and was dressed in merely rags and fair iron plate. He did not look as if he possessed the power to do such a thing. He was white, with silky black hair, and lined with scars on his body.

“You are all no match for me… For generations, your population has polluted this land! Taking the Samurias resources, and land and claiming it as your own… Well no more shall we bow and pardon you, for now we have the power to destroy you!” He said, laughing maniacally. He raised his blade, and it lit aflame, with a violent blue fire. He let his blade fly, bringing down a wave of blue heat, and Yushi and Shuriken barely had enough time to grab the Master, and jump out of the way.

“His blade… It is the fire of the Kitsune! He has killed the Kitsune of the Bamboo forest!” Master Wei exclaimed. Shurikens eyes bolted up at the pegasus, she began to tear and was about to charge into the sky to strike, when a hoof caught her. “Shuriken, Yushi. I know that she was very close to you two… But now, with the power that he has, there is almost no stopping him. Only I, the bearer of the rain spirit, may be able to weaken his power. Even if he were to kill the lad, the sword would forever hold Kitsune’s power. She is trapped. The legends… Are true… This village… This clan… Is lost. There is no saving it.” He expressed, with a heavy heart. He looked to the two mares, and put a hoof to both of their cheeks. “You both retain the legacy of the great Shadowhoof clan. You must escape, so when the time comes, you may tell it’s tale, and restart the clan.” He said sternly. The mares expressed uncertainty and stubbornness. “Master! No! We cannot leave this village to ruin!” Shuriken yells. “Think of your legacy. What remains of your family. Protect them, so that it can be restored to it’s glory someday.” He says, looking kindly at the two

The pegasus charged the through the air, shooting striaght towards the ponies. Master Wei puts his hooves on each of the mares shoulders and smiles. “No time to argue girls. Begone, I can handle this. I may never see you again, but know that you shall always be in my heart.” He says with happiness in his voice. Smoke erupts around the group, and when it settles, Yushi and Shuriken are on a hill, looking down upon the village. They see a fire, erupt from the town, and they look down in sorrow, and let a few tears fall from their eyes. Yushi looks up to Shuriken, and is this time the one who puts a hoof on her. “Come on… we need to go… They won’t stop until we’re dead.” She says, trying to sound strong. The two start off into the forest, towards the next big city.

They both board a ship, packs on their back filled with everything they could possibly need. They find a spot on the outside deck to unload, and lean against the side of the ship. They gaze upon the city for one last time. The ship’s horn blows, and the last few ponies board. The anchor is brought up, the ship is untied from the dock, and ceases to be stationary; and so begins their new adventure, leaving their life as they know it.

Author's Note

Whoo, long chapter! I like this one to be completely honest with myself! Don't forget to check out my Deviantart and make yourself a character!

Chapter 4 'Perspective'

Chapter 4
Perspective

Finally, everyone had gathered in the tent, more or less awake. Terra had brewed coffee for that exact reason, and everypony knows nopony makes stronger coffee than her. She had passed out cups to everypony, and as they sipped, started to shift towards the table that lay in the center of the tent; where Herbal had been focusing her attention to almost the entire time.

She was gazing at the map intently, as if to examine even every speck of dust that resided upon it. The Tomb, after sipping at the coffee for a little while, turned their attention to her; growing silent they waited. Herbal noticed this silence, and snapped herself out of her world. She looked up at everypony and smiled. “Alright, ready to hear the plan?” She asked, sounding dignified and almost proud of what she was about to present. The ponies all nodded.

Herbal nodded, paying her attention back down to the map on the table, and motioned for the others to gather around. “We’re here.” She said, hoofing at a spot on the map. “Our objective is here.” She said, hoofing at another spot on the map, much further away. “This means a lot of trekking through the small paths, and snowy woods around the area. The closer we get to here, the more troops we will encounter.” She explained, again moving her hoof to another point on the map. “That means Scout, Assassin, and Archer are to take point, creating a perimeter around the team. Terra, you’re going to lead by a few meters. Angelica and Shuriken, you two are going to be on either sides of the Tomb, looking to the forest around you. I will be boosting you all with mana potions and spells every now and again, but the extra rest should be enough until we clear these woods.” She continued. “Once we cross the border out of the void and into the Empire territory, the climate will have changed. Meaning it will be quite a bit hotter as we get closer to the objective, and which means we won’t have as dense forest to cover us. Understood?”

The tomb nodded. “Infinity, I want you leading the rest of the Tomb. That means me and Brax are in the back. Infinity, I want you to help me boost the teams mana if you have enough of your own. Secondly, you’re in front, so that if a long range attack comes for us, there won’t be a problem. You’re magic should be able to reach far enough to create the offense and defense that you can.” She said, looking up to Infinity, who nodded. “Lastly, Brax, if an attack triggers from the front or side guards, than you will be charging in that direction depending on what kind of threat we are dealing with. The others will get to work with the least threatening, and I will be behind Infinity the entire time, casting shields, buffs, and healing spells to all of you.” She finished her plans. She looked back up to the Tomb, making sure they got all of their parts down.

“You all got that?” She asked. The Tomb nodded, and standing at attention, saluted. “Yes ma’am!” They shouted in respect.

“Good. No matter the attack, we maintain this formation at all times.” She smiled. “All in.” She said enthusiastically. At once all of the ponies threw their hooves into a circle. At an instance, Herbal shouted “Whiteout!” and they all threw their hooves in the air, and cheered.

Once they had all exited the war tent, the Tomb members began to gather their small personal items to take with them. Herbal stood in the middle of the campsite, and waited for the others to emerge from their tents. Once they did, she summoned a glow to her horn that made the entire camp glow, and in an instance, the tents began to shrink, and dissolve into glowing specks in the air. The camp was gone; sent back to their places in the capitol, Moongleam city. “Alright Whiteout, let’s get to work!” Herbal Remedy shouted, and they began to head out.

They fell into the position that had been decided earlier. Terra charged forward, and sunk into the shadows, somehow and miraculously almost disappearing. Shuriken and Angelica both climbed into trees on opposing sides of each other. Infinity took a steady lead in front of Brax and Herbal. No words were said for the first few kilometers that were traveled. Terra was separate, Angelica and Shuriken snuck through the trees, creeping and keeping watch for those that were hiding, and the others stayed as silent as they could. It was hard to maintain complete silence when you had a literal heavy on the Tomb. Stepped hard, armor would always creek, and the breath would be a dead giveaway to the trained ear. But they still tried nonetheless.

No one expected trouble, until Terra Nova suddenly came rushing back, out of the shadows. She was still silent about herself, and Herbal whistled out, stopping the movement of the Tomb. “A platoon is coming. Doesn’t look like a Tomb. There are four, maybe five members. A few random Warriors, one Chainer, and I suspect there is a Scout somewhere in the midst.” She said calmly. “They’re about a half a kilometer out.”

“The Chainer, what creature is he bearing?” Herbal asked. Terra paused a minute, thinking. “I think it was a Hell Hound… Sorry, I couldn’t see it all that well. Chainer’s creatures often are able to sniff out stealthed ponies. But yes, I think it was a Hell Hound, I’m sure of it.” She said, nodding in reassurance. “Alright. We can take them. No use in trying to avoid them… They’re far enough out that there isn’t suspicion if they don’t report back in for a while; Long enough for us to get to the objective. Besides, we couldn’t hope to get past that Hell Hound with heavy hooves.” Herbal said, indirectly pointing to Brax. “Agreed on this?” Herbal asked. Everypony nodded.

“Alright then. Infinity, I need Earthen Shield around us. The rest, go back to where you were. Stay stealthed and take them from behind. Brax will get the Chainer. Keep tabs on your six; there is a possible sneaker in the shadows.” Herbal commanded.

The ponies went back to their originating positions, staying stationary. Infinity Shift summoned a spell to her horn that in turn caused the small blue orbs on her wooden staff to pulse. She slammed the staff to the ground, taking a strong stance and shouting “Earthia Sentry!”

The ground shook, and only a mere few seconds went by before boulders in rocky oval shapes erupted from the ground, creating a large shield that halfway surrounded the three. A loud howl could be heard from the distance. Herbal and Brax ducked under the shield, as infinity stood before the small dirt path from which the howl came from. She summoned a small arcane circle in front of her, whispering “Rebeutal,” and looked back to Herbal. Herbal pointed her hoof to the ground below her, and Infinity smiled.

Infinity cast a second spell, and looked back on the path. There were a few moments of silence before a vicious growl, followed by the charge of a figure came hurling towards Infinity. She smirked at the Hell Hound. It got a few feet from the small circle, before the ground in front of the shield cracked, and out the rubble burst Brax. Slamming his hoof upon the Hell Hounds underbelly, it was flung out of the direction of the shield, and landed about a meter away from Brax. The Hound whimpered, gaining its footing, then growled again. It charged again, flaring the flames that covered it’s feet, eyes, spine and tale. It opened it’s mouth, and gave way to a giant wave of fire in Brax’s direction. Brax was caught in the flame, engulfed. But as the flames settled, the Hound paused looking upon it, and a yell suddenly came from within the flame. Out came Brax, his weapon above him, he slammed his hammer down onto the Hell Hound.

Herbal Remedy peaked up from the shield, and over at Brax, where she smiled. Her flame resist and healing spell had worked. Suddenly, a bolt flew towards Herbals head. She flinched waiting for the pain to hit. But within a second, the bolt had rebounded to the path before the shield, and Infinity put her hoof back to the ground. She had moved the rebound spell to Herbal in the instance the arrow came hurdling towards her.

The other three Warriors had appeared on the path. The Chainer appeared as well, and became enraged, since his hound wasn’t in good shape. He shot another bolt, towards Brax this time. The bolt made contact with Brax’s armor, merely denting it. Brax looked over to the Chainer, and gave a smirk within his helmet. Meanwhile the Hound charged him, but he blocked it with the shaft of his hammer.

The three Warriors charged, and Herbal seeing this, whistled. All at once, Terra, Angelica, and Shuriken appeared, and charged the three targets. Terra took the middle target, stabbing his lower neck region with her blade. Angelica had socked her target with her bow, and cast a boosting spell below her, rebounding to the air, and letting an arrow fly down upon him. Shuriken had come down spinning with her fan-blades and shredding her target and their armor. The targets had recovered rather quickly. The middle target, although bleeding, lifted his blade, and let it fly, barely making it to Terra and cutting her lightly. The second target had broken the arrow off, having the head imbedded in his front shoulder, and threw a few knives at Angelica, one clipped her neck. The third had gotten a few deep cuts on the exposed coat from the armor, and charged Shuriken with a dagger, which she dodged.

Seeing that her tomb was injured, Herbal cast streams of healing to her Tomb mates, and started healing their cuts. Meanwhile, Infinity was busy with the Chainer. She casted small bursts of spells at the pony, whom was incredibly agile, and was able to dodge them better. She cast a few more small rebound spells on the exposed areas of Brax’s body, assuring he would not get hit past his armor. The Chainer continued to fire, dodging most of the spells and rebounding bolts, and started to shoot not only at Brax, but at Infinity Shift as well. She was able to keep herself shielded through the Earth, but she flung around to cast a lightning spell on the Chainer, when one of his bolts clipped her ear good. It started to bleed, and she broke her spells focus, and missed her shot at the pony. She shrunk back under the shield, and summoned a powerful glow to her horn, that shook some of the back part of the shield and gathered them up, creating a golem. Herbal got on to her wound, healing it, and buffing Infinity with a mana spell. The golem started to attack the Chainer, which again, he was able to dodge.

The Hound was still giving Brax a problem. He missed his slower hammer attacks, and was outmatched by the Hound’s speed. The Hound circled around Brax, and jumped on his back, attacking him. Brax thought of a plan; he held his hammer as far back as he could, and flung it forward, letting it fly as hard it could into the ground. The inertia was enough to flip Brax over, flinging the Hound off of his back and into a tree. Brax meanwhile had landed on his feet, and taking a new hold on the hammer, used all of his might to swing the hammer from his hind legs with an under grip, and smashed the Hound against the tree. The Hound went limp, and when the hammer released, it slumped down to the snowy ground, dead.

The three Warriors were still battling with the others, and were just narrowly missing them. Angelica popped her target in the snout with her bow, incapacitating him, and taking a flip back, she smirked. The Warrior looked confused, and Angelica summoned a circle in front of her hoof. “My arrows are branded.” She simply stated, before the Warrior screamed in pain, and his shoulder ripped open in a burst of golden light. Terra kept her agile dodges up, putting small, precise cuts on her target. Suddenly, the Warrior leg swept her, and she tripped. She flinched, waiting for the strike, but looking up on her target, noticed he was frozen. She took a deep breath, and got up. “Hmm… Interesting. I suppose that plant nectar I put on my blade was poisonous. Paralysis is a good use.” She said. She frowned a moment. Looking away, she put the blade the throat of the Warrior, and ended him. Shuriken dropped a smoke bomb, charging her target, and sticking him with the tips of her blade. She tripped him, and nailed two kunais into his shoulders. “Guess you weren’t fast enough…” She mumbled, killing him.

Lastly the Chainer was left. The golem deactivated, and rained rocks down upon the Chainer. Finally something he could not dodge. His leg became stuck under one of the rocks, most likely broken. He struggled, trying to release the grip of the boulder, but couldn’t manage before Infinity had cast another spell. “Lumious Glacia!” She shouted, summoning a strong blue glow. The ground below the Chainer turned to ice, and in an instant, shot up with spikes, stabbing through him several times at once, and ending his life.

The Tomb stopped a minute, taking a breather. The Earthen Shield collapsed, back into the ground, as did most of the team. Herbal started dealing out healing spells and tossing potions to the tomb, as they tried to recover.

“-Nice… Fight…” Infinity said breathlessly, sweat running down her brow. “Formation worked. Not too bad there on the planning, Herbal.” Shuriken stated simply to Herbal, who gave a quick smirk. “Yeah…” She said.

“Die Lunar scum!” A voice yelled out, as a figure appeared behind Herbal, and a blade moved quickly, but was met at a stop. Infinity had her hoof out, casting a shield spell behind Herbal, who turned quickly to face the attacker. On instinct she pulled her blade, slicing the throat of the pony, who dropped to the ground, now lifeless. “That the sneaker you were talking about?” Herbal asked, turning somewhat shocked back to Terra Nova and the rest. She looked morbidly tranced by the attack, and had a few splatters of blood on her cheek. She was able to snap herself out of it however.

She turned back into the hard captain they all knew. “Let’s get going ponies, you all get five minutes for the potions and spells to kick in. Then we trot out.” She said, sitting again, and popping out a small bag, containing what looked like leaves of some sort; she took a few of them, and started to eat them. Taking deep calming breaths, she was able to recover from the attack as quickly as it happened. The leaves helped calm her down and get rid of the extra unnecessary adrenaline.

The rest of the Tomb had regained their energy and their strength. They stood; a tad slow to fall back into formation. “Alright everypony, let’s keep on.” Herbal said calmly. They took back their positions, and continued. Not an ounce of emotion was expressed through their stern faces now. They had rearranged their minds, and tried to expel their feelings about the fight.

The Tomb continued on, making their way down the path, until it came to a split. The Tomb stopped, and the three outfielders came back to the base unit. “What now?” Terra asked. “Terra… I’m going to ask you to scout ahead a ways, just enough to know which direction each on leads in. Meanwhile I’ll reassert my map, and we’ll set up a small camp.” Herbal Remedy answered. Terra nodded.

She took a minute to go over to Brax, who had removed his helmet, and gave him a peck on the cheek. “I’ll be back.” She said, reassuring him. He frowned. “Nova…” He said solemnly. “Are you sure? I mean, you don’t like killing, but that Warrior. You…” He was interrupted by Terra. “I’m fine Brax. Really… I know it’s necessary. I can get over it… It’s time I did.” She said. He nodded, still saddened. She gave him another peck and ran off, through the forest that split the two paths.

A while later, Terra had returned; breathing heavily and had cuts everywhere on her coat; she keeled over. The tomb ran over to her, and helped her on her hooves. Herbal examined her wounds, and took things from her saddlebag, prepping first aid.
“What happened?” Brax asked, panicked as he ran to her side. She was breathless, but was able to speak somewhat. She smiled, weirdly. “Oh nothing… Just don’t go down the right pathway.” She said, laughing a bit. “The left leads to where we want to go, most definitely… Herbal if you would label the right pathway on your map as the ‘Volatile Wilds’, than that would be great, thank you.” She said, laughing a bit. Brax was a bit taken back at her cheeriness. “Wh-what happened to you?” Brax asked, terrified of her answer. “Oh, nothing. I was just having fun with the plants in the wilds… Everything was trying to kill me. It was a truly fascinating area…” She smiled and laughed again. “I’ll have to go back and get a few samples!”
Brax hugged Terra tightly. “I’m just glad you’re safe.” He expresses. She hugs him back, calming herself. Herbal approached her as well, giving her a friendly hug, and tending to her remaining wounds. “Mind if I ask if you saw any troops along the left path?” She asked gently, wrapping a few bandages around some of her lighter cuts; no use wasting mana. Herbal was less concerned. She always knew that whenever Terra saw a new sort of plant, or basically any rare one at that, it acts as a sort of a golden acorn would to an easily distracted squirrel. She simply must examine them, even if it cost a few cuts and bruises. If somepony were to tell her to retrieve a certain plant or flora of sorts, she would walk through the bowels of Tartarus with a glad and brave attitude, just because she seeked the knowledge of such things.
Recovering now, it seemed as if they could continue. Terra seemed to still somewhat be day dreaming over the ‘Volatile Wilds’. Every so often she would take out her journal and write just a little something down, so as not to attract the attention of her captain; ultimately failing. She only stopped when Herbal had threatened to take the thing away from her. She disapproved, but solemnly obliged, returning the focus she could to her mission, and sinking into the shadows to disappear again.
The pathway was clear, and no alarms were tripped in regards to the Tombs trespassing, otherwise an army would be here. Terra was not to be seen; which was good, and meant that there was no one to be on guard about. But the climate began to change a bit. The biting cold no longer chilled you to the very bone, and instead nipped at your coat, unable to make you shiver. As they continued on, the snow stopped falling, and on the grass and trees and dirt around them, the white powder was merely spotting. The voided sky seemed to glow a small colorful tint, as if the aurora lights had awakened, and began to greet the land. The evergreen trees began to change, into those that were deciduous. In fact, the trees looked different… They seemed to be a strange color than usual. Trees of orange, yellow and brown hints surrounded the area around them. Leaves drifted across the slight breeze running through them. Whispering out, and echoing about. The smell of something inexplicable and amazing, like sweetness and smoke at the same time. Almost as if the nip in the air had a scent. Beautiful to their senses.
Terra approached one of the trees, coming out of the shadows, and marveling at it’s colors. “Oh my! It’s a shrub! And quite a specimen too! What a lovely looking Quercus!” She said, examining a leaf. She looked to the others, whom gave her a silly smile, and a somewhat confused look. “A Quercus is a genus that defines over 6oo different specimens of- You know what… This is an Oak.” She explained, glancing from the top of her glasses, trying not to ramble on. “Over here are some other deciduous trees! An Acer! That’s a Maple! How lovely!” She said, wide eyed, and excited. “Oh goodness and an Ulmus! What a lovely shade of yellow this Elm has!”

The rest of the tomb marveled at the colors as well. But the question finally came over one of them. “I’ve never seen such colors on trees before… I mean I remember them from when I was a foal, but I only remember them at a certain time. Where are we?” Even Terra hadn’t known the answer, and was in fact enthralled to know the answer to such an inquiry. They all turned to the one person that might know. The former Priestess; Angelica. “You’ve known this division better than any of us. What creates such a wondrous phenomena?” Terra asked excited, joining the semi-circle that had now formed around the archer. She smiled and sat, sighing at having to think back about her days in the Empire; thankful that her friends only spoke of the good she had done, and that they forgave her.

“This land is called the Everfall. A cousin to the Everfree Forest… This phenomenon is created because of the lack of the reach from the sun. Ponies often misconstrued the Empire for keeping the sun in one place at all times, but Celestia doesn’t. She knows the land needs rest. So, in order to create that rest, she positions the sun farther our, bringing it’s reach here. Giving the trees life again. When she situates it back towards Canterlot, the trees go back to the state of Autumn it is usually in.” Angelica explains. She looks around, enjoying the feeling of the Everfall again. “This was one of my favorite places to be in the Empire.” She smiled and breathed in the calming air around her. The rest of the tomb did the same, and they fell silent to the echos of the whispering trees. “You know, although there is no moon, Celestia still pushes the sun away from us every length of a day. We sleep under beautiful sunrises.” Angelica states softly. “It truly was something… But then… The war happened, and Celestia just… Changed.” She frowned and looked back to her tomb mates. They all looked a bit saddened. They all took a minute to consider the war. The position they were in, how grim it all was; how contorted the world had become.

Herbal looked back up, giving a peaceful looking smile. “Just know, whatever happens, we’re friends. Someday, the war will be over, and we’ll be able to see the world in it’s beauty again. When you are facing danger and fear, remember the beautiful things; like this. The Everfall, the Snowy Mountains, Glimmering Hollow. Just remember, that what we do, whether better or worse, we still pushed this world to move on, and keep towards something that we know will be better someday. Know that you have loved, hated, and that you have seen war and peace. But that no matter what happens, we are friends. That alone, is beautiful. That in a world so violent, beauty and friendship can exist and flourish.” A tear slipped from one of her eyes, and she gave a giant smile. “And that I love you guys.” She pulled the group together for a hug.

After the sentiments were over, it seemed like all the stress and pain had gone, and they were back on the stroll, not anxious, not truly happy, and not angry; just at peace. The trees started to take on a more green tint, and finally, they were in a fully green forest, no longer even cold.

Finally, after days, nearly weeks; they had made it. Their final destination. A depression in the forest had been reached, and in the center of such, there lay a beautifully constructed hellenic well, made of limestone. A bar of ivory wood was across the top of it, as it gave off a slight blue glow. Small orbs of blue and white light floated around the well, and some of them let of a very light ethereal essence of a pony. It was here that was their goal to reach. It was the Well of Lingering Souls.

Author's Note

Quite a nice chapter if i do say so myself! Hope you enjoy, and don't forget to join me on Deviantart to make your own character!