Chapters War’s favorite thing was fire. No question about it.My name is War , she told herself. I’m not Spark. Not anymore. Damn. War. Not Spark.
War stood with Death, Famine, and Pestilence. Famine stepped forward, her beady eyes darting back and forth. War almost had to back away. Famine was as stringy as ever. In a way, she looked more dead than Death. Her belly was almost hollow, and her gray hide clung to her bones. Where War’s mane was a bright red, Famine’s was a pale yellow, and seemed to be falling out.
The trouble started months ago. That was when Twilight remembered the first paper. The headline stared back like a ghost.SMALL TOWN DESTROYED IN LARGE SCALE MASSACRE!
That night, Twilight didn’t sleep. She lay in bed, but she stayed awake, thinking. She trembled a little. The town had been small, but it wasn’t too far from Ponyville.What if whoever did this came here? Twilight couldn’t sleep with questions like those in her head.Even now, Shining Armor is trying to protect me. Twilight thought. Of course, there were other reasons for protecting Ponyville, but Twilight knew the two ponies he would want to protect most: Cadance, who was in Canterlot, and Twilight, in Ponyville.
Twilight walked briskly through Ponyville, her bag full of new supplies for her continued studies. The town was different, though. No one smiled. Several held the week’s newest paper. The headline still chilled Twilight.THIRD TOWN DESTROYED IN KILLING SPREE
The soldiers arrived on the same day as the next story did. Twilight looked out her window on that day. Everypony’s shoulders sagged. Their eyes were shifty, and they hardly looked anypony in the eye. On every street corner was a soldier, ready to jump into action at any moment. The breezed carried a newspaper. Twilight didn’t need to get a clear view to know what it said. It’s headline stuck out in her mind.APPLEOOSA DESTROYED! IS PONYVILLE NEXT? Why would anypony do this? Who would be so cruel?
War’s heart sank when Death had told them that they were going to Ponyville.Of all places, why Ponyville? she thought to herself.
Twilight was more than surprised when Applejack appeared at Sugarcube Corner. Twilight was with everyone else, trying to enjoy a fresh batch of cupcakes. With everything that had been happening, there was very little time to relax, yet no pony seemed to take advantage of it when the moment came. Rainbow Dash seemed tenser than ever before, Rarity was busy thinking how to persuade Applejack to come out of hiding, while Pinkie Pie tried desperately to get a smile out of somepony. Her target at the moment was Fluttershy, who she was trying to cheer up with a cupcake to no avail. That was when Applejack entered. Everypony was stunned, and even Pinkie stopped talking to see what Applejack would do.few questions if that will put your minds at ease...”everyone noticed was that, on each of their flanks, hung a sword.
War was never one for theatrics.Why can’t Death just hurry along? she thought. We know she’s here already... Damn, it’s getting worse. The longer they were here, it seemed, the more often she was using that name.
Twilight was scrambling to the ground as soon as Fluttershy fell. Fluttershy was screaming in pain. Twilight rolled her over to see the wound. It was deep, and blood poured freely out of it. Twilight tried talking to Fluttershy, but she wasn’t the only one. Pinkie Pie, whose hair was starting to fall flat in clumps, and Applejack, who’s hooves were trying to stop the flow of blood, were at her side trying to talk to her too. Rarity was in denial, babbling and quickly placing the blame on several ponies, mainly herself for allowing everyone to come here in the first place. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile was screaming at Death and the other heralds.
War had never felt colder. She had seen ponies die on a daily basis, and sometimes in more painful ways than this pegasus just did, but this...Because before, they were just faces. Spark quickly answered the question for herself.Damn. Why was remembering a name so hard?
Twilight felt numb. It barely registered to her that she was riding of Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom. She looked at Dash, who was fighting back tears. The others were mostly hanging on. Pinkie wasn’t hanging so much as she was being pushed forwards by Rainbow Dash. Rarity was holding on to Dash’s right hoof, and holding on to Twilight at the same time. Seeing the strain on Rarity’s face, Twilight began grabbing on to Dash, giving Rarity at least some comfort. Meanwhile, Applejack was holding on to Dash’s other hoof, and held Fluttershy’s body at the same time.
War wandered through the charred remains of a building. This had been one of the first places to come down. In the distance, the sounds of screaming and fire pervaded the background. The fire had made the air heavy with soot and ash. Death had told the heralds to disperse, making it more likely to find their target. She had also told them to destroy anything and anypony who gets in their way.
It felt as if Twilight needed to make an effort to even take a simple step. She walked down the steps lightly, almost as if her touch would destroy the stairs themselves. When she reached the end of the stairs, she was met with a scene that stung her still hurting heart. Fluttershy’s body still hung limply at Applejack’s side, while Pinkie Pie slowly caressed Fluttershy’s mane in her hooves. Rainbow Dash looked out through the window, likely watching the same terror that Twilight had just seen steadily approaching the library. Rarity had finished the letter, and Twilight had arrived just in time to see Spike send it.They don’t want me. Hell, why would they..? It’s not like I’ve brought them any good... may let you live. If not...”We made it. We’re alive. She’s alive, Spark thought.try to gain some trust. She reached to her side, and grabbed the strap for her sword. The strap came loose easily. She held it in her mouth, looking at somepony to take it.
War walked with her head down, deep in thought. She thought of a lot of things. Se wondered if the pony she saved had escaped, she wondered if Canterlot was ready for what was coming, she wondered if there would be a soft bed for her to sleep in.But mainly, she thought about what the princesses of Canterlot would do to her.Would they simply condemn her to death immediately? Would they keep her as a prisoner of war? Would they simply banish her?
War had never seen Canterlot before. The gates were enormous. They felt daunting. Against it, War felt small. She felt tiny. Insignificant. To think, her goal was once to conquer it.“Is she good or evil?” “She saved Twilight, but she’s also killed dozens...” “How do we know we can trust her..?”
The castle gates were not nearly as large as the city gates, but they seemed even more daunting. They were golden, and made of bars, as opposed to the solid concrete walls of the city gates. They bore decorations of the sun and the moon. Behind these gates, lay the one who would decide War’s fate, and she feared...
War felt like she was going to explode.It’s not like it’s a hard decision. Just banish me or sentence me to death already! she thought.As if... she thought.Here it comes. Whatever happens, I deserve it, after all.
The chains weighed War down. They were so tight that, at some point, her ankles started bleeding. She looked around, but all she saw was darkness.
Famine was growing impatient. She looked up at Death, who had not moved in hours. She had been seated, eyes closed, and breathing slowly.
War lay in her bed, looking at the floor, lost in thought. The only noise pervading in her room was from the record player she found in a cupboard when she came up after breakfast. Hooftoven’s Moonlight Sonata played. It had been a while since she had listened to any music, let alone anything so...calming.
“War?”
War followed Celestia as she led her and Shining Armor through the castle.
War, Celestia, and Shining Armor exited out into what was the barracks and armory for the castle. Much of the barracks was obscured by the mass of soldiers in front of them.
The soldiers, group by group, stepped out of the castle. War walked with Shining Armor in the middle of their group of a couple hundred.
By now, they were a safe enough distance from Canterlot to begin prepping for the battle ahead. Everyone knew that, if Celestia was correct, Death’s horde would be arriving any minute now.
War gazed at the mass of black shades that had begun descending on the distant hills.It almost looked as if the shades were one massive beast engulfing the landscape, turning a sea of green grass into a mass of black death.
Wading through the battlefield was as if War was making her way through a jungle, with War needing to hack off limbs to get anywhere. Luckily for her, she wasn’t alone. Soldiers would help to keep her moving as she wove her way through the battlefield. War would occasionally look up to try to see if she could spot that yellow sun blazoned on the banner of the scout, but was always distracted by an attacking shade.
War stared Pestilence down. Her sword, still slick with black blood, was gripped tight in her mouth. She didn’t dare look away, but she could feel the shade’s eyes on her like daggers. Pestilence had promised that it would only be the two of them, but War wondered if that would hold true should the battle go her way, consider the half a dozen shades around them. Pestilence already had her sword drawn. War hadn’t budged from her hunched down pose, ready for any move that Pestilence may make.
The group ran through the desolated wastes. How long they ran, War couldn’t say. Since they'd left Pestilence's body, her mind had been wandering. Her legs moved as if on autopilot, while her mind lingered on Pestilence. Her mind always seemed to return to those eyes, much to her dismay. Since she'd known Pestilence, those eyes had never left her. Even in death, they seemed to haunt her. As they ran on, they sighted a dead body every now and then, mainly either the black shades, or the hunks of steel that held dead earth ponies or the occasional leather-bound unicorn or pegasus. The bodies then became more and more frequent, until they had to slow down or risk tripping over the sea of the dead.
War looked at herself in the mirror. Her red hair fell to the side. She was wondering whether or not to tie it back again.Not this time... Of course, now of all times is when I’d forget my name... how hard is it to remember a simple name? ) turned when she heard others approaching.So then I wasn’t seeing things... Of course. As if I didn’t feel bad enough... I could. So then why do I still feel like crap? What am I even doing here? I saw the body, what else am I waiting for?
Everypony stood in front of the open casket, placed right next to the freshly dug hole.She can’t go without SOMEPONY saying something! I can.
War sat on her bed in her room, thinking about what she had seen today.Where to begin?
War was looking at the moon, listening to the sounds of the night.
