The embers of the fire spit into the airs as I attempt to get as close as I can to the flames to try and attempt to prevent this eternal cold from claiming another victim to its icy crutches.
I keep my senses alert at all times to ensure that I listen out for that eternal howling which seemed to be continually hunting me through the years and then I pick up a log from my limited supplies and put it on to the fire.
I cast my mind into the past to try and attempt to figure out how long it has been since the hounds were unleashed onto this planet from Tartarus itself...
I was just a soldier coming back from one of our many battles against those damned feather brains and screw heads and I hear a guard speaking to his colleague.
"Yeah, we heard reports of of a storm coming down from the north. Apparently this thing destroyed Orange City."
His colleague replied "You're shitting me! I had cousins there, I have to check and see if they managed to get out alive. You think this is the Feather-brains' fault?"
"If they could control a storm like that then we would of had difficulty fighting the bastards. From what the scouts say it seems that it's a wild storm from its erratic movements or some crock like that." the first guard replies.
I walk past the two guards before I can hear any more of their conversation and start heading towards my barracks.
I am brought back to the present by the sounds of my growling stomach and I look towards the pile of hay I had stored in the corner.
I wince as I remember the mare I had met two days earlier who had came to the small shack I am staying in and slamming the door while screaming for me to let her in. I had nearly run out of food by that point and I didn't want taking the meager scraps I had managed to keep so I decided to completely ignore her.
After what felt like an eternity, the mare started screaming a higher pitch and I heard the familiar howl come from the distance and then I heard the clopping of hooves running of into the distance.
After the hunger struck that night, I had decided to finish the food stores I had left but the guilt had started racking through my body and I made the decision to venture and look around to see if I could find and help the poor mare.
I spent a few hours browsing the local area but I couldn't see any evidence of the mare anywhere and then I miraculously saw a bale of hay resting halfway up one of the hill resting on the snow, highlight the clear colours .
I immediately brought the bale back to the house and then started the fire again to try and regain the heat that had been let out.
Stirring out of my recent memories, I trot over to the pile and take out the dagger I had kept from the wars and start cutting out the hay that I was going to eat for dinner.
I bring the hay over the the fire and bring out a dented pot from under my sleeping roll, ensuring to clean clear out all previous contents..
I put a block of ice I had collected from outside into the pot and I watched as the ice slowly melted into a small pool on the inside and then I dropped the hay into the pot, where I watched hit the bottom and rise to the top afterwards.
As I wait for the hay to boil, I start trying to remember what happened after I heard the soldiers.
"Are you sure Lieutenant Cookie? I dislike the Featherbrains as much as the next honest Earthbound but they seem to be the only ones who could be capable to fight this storm." I hear my sergeant say.
"This was not my idea Sergeant, General Puddinghead has been striving for a chance to become a challenger to the mighty army of Commander Hurricane. I just wish she would have listened to my advice to attempt to find a new land to settle in instead of forcing the Pegasi to fix it." Lieutenant Smart Cookie replies.
"But take out Cloudsdale? The victims claimed would be immeasurable, it would start an all out war between our armies." My sergeant replies.
"After Orange City was destroyed, I don't think the general cares anymore. She has lost a big portion of her family and wants to stop whatever killed them."
"You think that they are controlling the storm then?"
"They seem to be the only ones capable of the damn thing with their abilities in weather control but it doesn't matter what I say the generals word is final. May Faust save us."
"You heard what she said men we are to march to Cloudsdale and… pull it to the ground. We kill any of those who surrender." The sergeant says to our brigade.
I am interrupted by the sizzling of the water in the pot and I look down into the tinted water and grab my poorly crafted spoon and start stirring the contents of the pot around until I am satisfied with the result and I start taking out the hay from the pot and I start to remember the final battle.
"PULL MEN!" The sergeant yells with ferocity.
I start pulling my my respective chain with at least 15 other earth ponies behind me and we hear the sound of screaming above us.
It only takes about ten seconds and then we hear the groaning of the city as as it starts falling to the ground.
"Holy Faust, what have we done?" I hear a soldier behind me say..
As the city falls we see pegasi flying towards us seething with rage and all wielding their spears.
"WHAT THE BUCK HAVE YOU DONE!?" The first one screams at us.
I take out the sword from the sheath of my back and clench in between my teeth to attempt to block one of the soldiers.
The fight was one that had been considerably gruesome as the earth ponies had their most powerful armour equipped but the pegasi were fighting with rage and the ability to fight from almost any angle.
I had just just sliced through one of the Pegasi wings and then I heard a piercing howl through the air.
I pierced the Pegasus's skull and then turned around to pure white wolves charging at the battlefield.
I screamed at my sergeant and you seemed to get the message as he began reorganizing some our troop with lightning reflexes to make sure that they didn't breach our barriers.
I watched the wolves approach the barrier and then with near ultra sonic speeds slaughter the troops and then jump onto my sergeant .
I galloped off of the battlefield and flung my sword at the wolf to try and prevent the death and I watch the wolf not only ignore the sword but the sword itself started freezing.
I stepped backwards with uncertainty as I saw the wolf rip out my sergeants throat.
I looked around the battlefield in terror and I see a wolf charging towards me and I start galloping away from it while attempting to find something to try and stop myself from suffering a similar fate to my sergeant.
I keep running and I hear that howls have slightly toned down and I notice that I had somehow found myself in a valley and there was an abandoned shack at the bottom...
As I come back into reality I am in the process take the hay from the plate and lift it into my mouth.
I try not to wince as the coppery liquid hits my taste buds.
Author's Note
Hay doesn't grow in winter does it?
I love the idea of using the three tribes as they can be used for brutal situations.
