Order in Chaos

“Another pawn onto my board,” the white coated alicorn gloated to herself among the festivities of her simple minded subjects. “I have all the pieces now,“ she told herself confidently, her regal gaze going from her student, to her sister, to yet another pony she had elevated to greatness, the current ruler of the Crystal Empire. It was amazing how she made all of them dance to her song; and they would never have the awareness to see it.

“It’s for the good of the world, “she tried to justify the falsehoods and half-truths she had told. “Without my order, without my direction, this country would be little better than a lawless frontier. I am the only pony keeping it from galloping over the edge. All should follow me, and love me. All hail Celestia.”

“I should have stayed with the regular military,” the stallion sighed as another puddle of muck sucked at his hooves and the ever present cloud of insects buzzed around his ears. He had given up trying to keep them away from himself hours ago, his tail and even his magic had somehow proved ineffective at dealing with the pests; the damned things were more resilient than one would think. “This’ll be a simple mission, just deliver a package to one of our outposts on the border. Should have sent a pegasus,” he muttered darkly to himself, trying to dislodge his hoof from a twisted root hidden by the mud.

When his superiors brought the mission to him he was happy to volunteer. He wasn’t really like many of the other unicorns from Canterlot; his family wasn’t rich or well known in magic or military service, they were really just your run of the mill guard ponies as long as anybody he knew could remember. Ponies like him couldn’t expect a change in social strata or even the opportunity for it, so he took this as a sign he was being noticed. Everypony wanted to be the next hero of the realm, the next Shining Armor, and even though they knew it was little more than a dream they would hungrily snatch up any chance to become noticed. He couldn’t know that everything moved along to a meticulous master plan; one the was crafted and cultivated under the radiance of Celestia.

“What’s so exciting about the badlands anyway? Nothing there but dirt, tumbleweeds, and packs of those mangy diamond dogs,” he continued to talk himself, trying to find some distraction from the discomfort of his surroundings. “This package is so heavy too; I wonder what the hell is in it. It must be important though, I’ve never seen warding magic this strong on anything, especially on what they said was a 'simple package'. Who am I to question orders though,” he fell silent again, almost tripping on another of those concealed roots.

Truth be told the young unicorn had been a bit uneasy about this mission since the moment that package had been strapped to his back. He was told that it was more precious than anything he had carried in this life by the new captain of Canterlot’s guards, Belial, and the thing set his hair on edge. He found himself jumping at every noise, looking at every shadow like he expected to see a pair of red glowing eyes hiding in them. It was making him as mentally exhausted as the trek through the swamp made him physically. The last place he had been able to rest was in Baltimare, they shipped him off on the train to there from Canterlot, with instructions to carry on by hoof from there on out. Unlike most missions he had been sent by himself, which didn’t make sense to the unicorn, but he didn’t want to speak up, he had heard that Belial was not a pony to give any back talk to. The last few guards to do that had been shipped off the places like the outpost he was now heading to as their permanent assignments. Things had definitely changed around Canterlot and many ponies, civilian and military, had noticed and were talking about it.

The tragedies of Discord’s release and then the attack of the Changelings had done massive amounts of damage to Canterlot and nearly every bastion of pony society. In an effort to rebuild, to return Equestria to it's proper glory, Celestia had imposed a larger tax than she had before on all the inhabitants of Equestria, even though it was her inaction and inability to defend her own capital that really was the cause of the damages suffered. Canterlot wasn’t the only city affected by the attacks though, the Changlings were expecting to win after all; their queen had instructed her minions to attack any and all cities. Their victory would be sudden and complete. The other cities didn’t have Shining Armor and his shields, or even an excess of guards to protect them from the onslaught and even now were recovering, ruined buildings and scorch marked roads a stark reminder of what had happened during those dark days. Canterlot had done little to help with the rebuilding, even stalling it with the large taxes and there was a growing resent among some of the citizens of the larger cities and farther out townships. They wanted to fix their own homes, not the opulant palace of an uncaring and out of touch ruler.

There had been rumors, whispers at first, but lately they had been growing louder, of a resistance movement that was recruiting and getting ready to make its first moves towards independence for any pony that wished it. It was frightening, strange, and something completely unprecedented in Equestria. Princess Celestia was the center of life, above reproach and even with her sister returned to her proper place, the true undisputed ruler of all the land the sun she raised touched. She had been growing inreasingly distant the past few generations however; sequestered away in her shining towers she seemed to care little about what happened outside the bounds of her city, or the antics of her chosen few. Her student had saved ponykind not once, but twice in very recent memory, while the princess stood idly by, not in true danger and not raising a hoof to truly help. She even helped the Crystal Empire before she aided her own citizens, resurrecting that realm from almost nothing, while her cities still burned from the changeling’s attacks.

“I wonder if that whole rebel thing is real and where they’re holed up. They won’t be able to get any supportfrom ponies that mattered,” the unicorn mused to himself when he felt his hoof hit dry land for the first time in what felt like days. Once he looked up he could see the crags of the badlands looming over him in the distance, the guardians of Equestria’s southern borders. He wasn’t sure what laid beyond them, and like any good law abiding citizen and solider of Canterlot he didn’t care. All he had to do was make sure whatever lived beyond them stayed there and the border remained strong. He assumed his mission had something to do with that. “That outpost is only supposed to be a couple hours away now,” he gave a satisfied nod to himself, checking the package one more time before he broke into a run, intending on making great time and more importantly finding a place to rest, wash, and get a belly full of food.

“The package is safely on its way General,” Celestia’s question was more of a statement as she raised her head from its pillow when the imposing, ashen gray stallion marched into the room. Unlike most of the guards he disdained the use of their gilded armors. Instead he wore a barding of black leather and metal rings, a look that made him impossible to miss in a crowd, and impossible to not hear, the sharp clacking of his hooves accompanied by the rattling of metal. “I trust all your men are in place, exactly as planned. This next step is going to determine how much blood is shed in the coming months and I do hate to see all my little ponies suffer,” her voice and gaze was level and showed none of the warmth she forced upon herself in front of her subjects; right now was a time for a planning and business, not the time for acting. “And have some of your more discreet men keep their eyes on my sister, sometimes she thinks too much for her own good. It’s a terrible habit really,” a slight smile was brought to her lips after the statement. “And have one of them accompany Twilight as well, the poor girl is still so young and needs to be kept away from those that might turn her down the wrong path.”

“Yes Princess,” the old stallion bent at the knees in reverence to his ruler, an almost dark gleam in his eyes as he listened to her orders. “I will put some of my most trustworthy stallions on it; everything will run according to your plans. I have my personal guard in each garrison and though they may be a bit overzealous at times they will only move when the time is right. I have some soldiers among your sister’s honor guard and will make good use of them, but in regards to you your protege, I’m afraid it will be difficult to find some excuse to send somepony back to Ponyville with her. Those small towns that have sprung up are somewhat troublesome, but I will do my best not to disappoint.”

“See that you don’t.”

“Sweet Celestia, civilization, sort of,” the messenger unicorn shouted triumphantly, then fell silent when he saw the plume of a startled soldier’s helmet over the rough hewn walls of Equestria’s southernmost outpost. “Er, I mean Mornrise Requiem with a package for the commander of the outpost, at the orders of General Belial,” the eager young soldier bellowed out, waiting for the large gates to be swung open for him.

“We haven’t heard anything about that,” another pony shouted over the wall, before coming into view, green eyes glaring down at Requiem, “directly from what capital you say? What is it? Do you have any papers?”

“I was told they were in the package itself sir,” the unicorn called back, unsure of whom he was addressing, but he decided it was better to be safe and not offend a superior officer. He had no idea who was in charge here, it was far south and so far off his radar he had taken little care in paying attention to such matters. “I really would like to deliver this and maybe rest my hooves,” he tried to sound urgent, not tired, and wasn’t sure if he managed to pull it off.

“Alright son, come inside and let’s see what kind of present the General has sent us this time,” the pony that seemed to be in charge finally relented and not a moment later the thick wooden doors swung open. “Let’s hope it’s better than the bent horseshoes and holey blankets they sent us last time, eh boys,” he asked with a laugh and headed down the ramp towards their guest. “Not that we could expect anything better, here at the far end of the empire. Well, put it down won’t you,” he told the unicorn, staring at him expectantly.

“Yes, um, sir,” Requiem said quickly and moved into the center of the open area of the outpost, using his magic to try and loosen the straps that held the heavy package onto his tired and sore back. Finally with a loud click the last buckle fell free, and the package slid off his back into the dust, sending a large cloud of the arid dirt into the air. “After I’ve been given a chance to rest I’ll return to Canterlot, unless you have need of me sir.”

“That will be all; thank you for your hard work. We’ll take care of the rest. You’re dismissed,” the elder pony smiled a bit at the younger one, who, even though eager, was letting his exhaustion show. “The sleeping quarters are in the main building and down to the left. Make yourself comfortable and stay as long as you like, though we have little hospitality to offer.”

“Yes sir, thank you sir. I promise you won’t even notice I’m here. If you’ll excuse me,” the unicorn tried to leave with some grace, though it took all his restraint not to run towards a warm bed and maybe a bit of food.

Angry black clouds, uncommon in the pegasus controlled weather of Equestria, began to roll in from the south. They were a product of the badlands, the wild areas outside of the pony’s sphere of influence and order, swirling overhead and throwing shadows around the courtyard of the outpost. Heavy droplets of rain burst from those clouds without warning, hissing through the broiling skies. That would have sent most ponies running for cover, but the hardened and hardy stallions of the badlands outpost paid little attention to the weather, they were either used to it by now, or suffered in relative silence. Most of them had accepted their fates and more importantly their duties, with a dignity that spoke for their characters’ louder than their ranks or remote assignment.

“Can’t imagine this will be anything too useful,” the grizzled leader of the outpost commented, prodding at the package with a forehoof. “I thought they had forgotten all about us, out here on the edge. Would have been better that way I think. Let’s just hope they aren’t orders,” he gave a slight chuckle. “I’d hate for them to have wasted the paper, and that young pony’s time. It is a gift from the general though, so we better open it up. Looks like its warded,” he frowned a bit, they must be mocking him. “For the glory of Celestia,” he dutifully repeated the passcode.

Before the words even left his lips the crackle of magical energy surged through the air, bleeding from the sealed package. The canvas flaps that hid what the unicorn had carried fell away, their invisible chains snapping, revealing a pure white stone that pulsed with an ominous, growing stain that radiated from its heart. The now pouring rain seemed to shy away from the unearthly bright crystal and a shimmering halo of light marked the boundaries of where the water was allowed to fall. A thunderous crash echoed through the fort, drawing the attention of almost everypony inside, though it came from the stone, not the sky as one would expect, rocking the very foundations of the simple outpost. Amidst the chaos the crystal cracked open, the darkness erupting from it in a baleful fire, charring the formerly blue fur of the outpost captain before he could even call out a warning to his subordinates.

Dark flames raged into the sky, the pillar of flame licked the clouds and split them, creating a break in the rain; not that the meager storm could have saved the doomed ponies from the inferno that engulfed them. The force of the blast and the hunger of the fire even robbed them of the chance to scream or cry out as their lives were extinguished; it burned their very words before they even escaped their lips. Then as quickly as it had appeared the black flames vanished as though they had never been there, leaving ash, ember, and a few burned and shattered beams in its wake; the badlands outpost and all that had been garrisoned in it had been scoured from the face of Equestria.