Chapter 1

In The Beginning...

Sweat. I was drenched in so much sweat. Most of it my own, but some of it belonged to my foe. We stood staring at one another, waiting to engage in combat once more. My breath came out heavy and labored, the exertion of this battle pushing me to my limits. I could see that my foe too was breathing hard, his breath visible as clouds of hot steam in the cold subterranean training room.

Normally I wouldn’t have this much trouble beating a unicorn with my freakish earth pony strength. But most unicorns aren't Hawkeye. He is strong in his own way. Hawkeye, like me, was "adopted" by the Order from the Sunny Pastures Orphanage. The name is a bit misleading, considering it is used exclusively by the Order for fresh recruits. If you were adopted, it was because they saw you as a potential weapon.

Hawkeye had a coat of solid black and a mane to match, but his eyes are what gave him his name. They were solid red with a single ring of gold surrounding his pupil. As you can imagine this made him feared amongst the other orphans. But not me. Being the biggest of my age, I never knew what fear was and so I befriended the strange unicorn.

Over the years our bond grew, and after we had grown into our mid childhood we were chosen by the Order. We trained together, bled together. Our bond was unbreakable. But now, we were opponents. We weren't aiming to kill one another, but neither of us wanted to look weak in front of our Masters. Especially not today.

We were young adults now, competing in the final stage of our training. It didn't matter who won today's match as we had both learned we were selected for early graduation to become full members of the mysterious group known only as the Order. This is what we had been training for our whole lives, and neither one of us wanted to disappoint our Master.

So I charged him

Having built up energy in my legs it came as no surprise that my lunge caught him off guard. I slammed into him, causing both of us to tumble to the stone floor and roll a few feet before stopping. Being the martial expert I had managed to position myself on top of him and pulled my right hoof back, readying to strike. Hawkeye's horn glowed with a red aura and with his magic flung me from him.

It's an interesting sensation, flying is. I don't get what Pegasi see in it. My flight was going to be short lived however, as I approached the ceiling in a matter of seconds. Twisting my body mid-air, I managed to 'land' on the ceiling with my hind legs. Using the kinetic energy I had gained stopping myself, I lunged once more at Hawkeye. He should have been better prepared this time.

But can you every truly be prepared for a massive earth pony flying down from above? I had so much speed in my flight that I caught Hawkeye with my right front hoof on his right cheek, send him flying back and to the left. He had been dazed, but he wasn't down yet. Once more I charged at him, putting as much of my strength as I had left into a bull rush, hoping to overcome him with sheer power.

Hawkeye had something else in mind. Having regained his senses, he lowered his horn and prepared to send a non-lethal bolt of magic my way. Non-lethal, but still painful. I may be an enormous earth pony, but I'm not stupid. I've known Hawkeye for years, and I expected this.

Having gained the speed I had needed, I flung myself to my back putting my hind legs in front of me. Hawkeye's bolt flew right over me, and I continued to slide right towards him. Once the moment arrived I arched my back and used my front legs to propel myself up and diagonally, aiming my left rear hoof at his jaw. He never saw it coming.

With a crack, I struck his jaw so hard it sent him flying directly upward. After roughly two, far from graceful backflips he landed with a thud. But he didn't land on the cold stone floor, he landed in my arms. We may have been fighting, but it was only a competition and I wasn't about to let my friend hit the ground unconscious.

A pair of hoofbeats resounded in the training room. Still breathing hard, I looked over and bowed my head to the two Masters assembled. One was Hawkeye's Master, a purple unicorn known only as Shadow. This was a title given to the Master of Unicorns in the Order. Once obtained, the pony renounces their old name and takes on the mantle. Shadow wore a simple robe of black with gold trim around the edges. The only feature that gave away that she was a mare was her feminine muzzle. Other than that, her only other noticeable feature were her eyes of gold.

Next to her stood my Master, a bulk of an earth pony like me. He had a plain gray coat of fur and a black mane. But his name, Dartaeus Blackheart, did not match the dullness of his features. After a few seconds of 'clapping' with their hooves on the stone floor my Master decided to speak.

"Congratulations on your victory, but you'll need to do better than that on the battlefield."

"Yes, Master," I replied. I felt Hawkeye rustle a bit, regaining his consciousness. He sat on the floor, head held high despite the loss. He gave me a sidelong glance, and with it a smile.

"I'll get you one of these days Blue-Mane. But for now, congratulations are in order." He turned to face his Master. "I'm sorry Master, I will do better next time," Hawkeye said, head still held high. His Master gave him a wry smile.

"Do not fret, young one. You have many years of service ahead of you to prove yourself." Her horn glowed black and both Hawkeye and I let out a gasp of pain as our wounds from the bout were healed by Shadow. I hadn't even noticed, but it seemed that Hawkeye must have grazed me with his horn and had made a cut on my lower neck. I definitely had the red stain of blood on my white coat of fur to prove it. You sneaky little... My thought was interrupted by the boom of Dartaeus's mighty hoof slamming the ground.

"I want you both cleaned up and geared for ceremony immediately. We have no time to waste. Your first mission awaits you after graduation," he said in his low baritone voice. "MOVE IT!"

"SIR YES SIR!" Hawkeye and I replied and we immediately made our way through the series of tunnels until we reached our respective rooms. My room wasn't much more than a 10'x10' square with a cot in one corner and a dresser. I made my way to the bucket of water I kept as a makeshift sink and cleaned the blood from my fur. Once that was done I made my way to the dresser and pulled out the necessary garments.

Over this I threw on my green tunic with the symbol of the Order embroidered on the chest and fastened my cloak around my neck. I looked in the mirror real quick to make sure I had everything in order. Perfection. I always pride myself on my uniform and by the Order I looked good. But I had no time to dawdle, so I made my way out of the room.

Unsurprisingly Hawkeye was waiting for me. His cloak was a simple black with green trim to symbolize his status as a new member of the Order. He gave me a wry smile, the same his Master had given him earlier. "Well what took you so long?" He chuckled.

"It must be nice to only have to throw on a robe and be considered dressed for ceremony," I replied. "Now let's get to the armoury and get our gear!"

We once again treked the complex system of tunnels the order uses to house its essential departments. Should the Order be attacked and the fight on the surface fail, the enemy would have a hard time fighting us in the deadly hallways. Hawkeye and I, however, have had the layout of the network drilled into our heads over the years and it took us no time at all to reach the armoury.

After collecting my sword and crossbow and Hawkeye his dagger and pouches we made our way to the surface. Unfortunately, the surface isn't much prettier than a network of underground tunnels. Decades of war left the Order with little more than a wooden wall surrounding a village of mud and straw huts.

The only building remaining that resembled anything of a bygone age was the Grand Hall. Because of this most ponies had a sour look on their face, one of lifelong misery and anguish. And for good reason. The Order cared little for its residents, only that they don't leave or are conquered by another. And this is why the Order wars with the conquering Princesses. But more on that later.

Hawkeye and I made our way into the Grand Hall and entered the room dedicated to graduation ceremonies. The room was pitch black but for the light entering through the door behind us. Neither of us knew what would happen, as the initiation ritual is kept a secret to all outsiders. But we were outsiders no longer, so we entered the room further.

The door slammed behind us throwing Hawkeye and I into complete darkness. A single candle flickered to life, floating effortlessly on the ebb of magic. Shadow and Dartaeus stepped into what little light the candle provided. This time, Dartaeus was robed as well and a hood masked most of his face. But there is no mistaking that voice.

"Kneel," he commanded. Hawkeye and I did as instructed, bowing before our Masters. "Blue-Mane and Hawkeye, you are hereby charged with the defense of the sacred lands given us by the First Founding of the Order. Do you accept this charge?"

"Yes," we replied."

"Do you swear to bring swift death and destruction to those who seek our doom?"

"Yes"

"Do you swear that you would lay down your lives for the Order should you so be commanded?"

"Yes"

"Then rise, brothers, as warriors of the Order." I turned to Hawkeye and gave him a booming grin, but before I could say anything Dartaeus spoke again. "Do not make us regret this decision. Now come, your first mission briefing awaits."

My smile faded as I straightened my posture and followed my Master. Hawkeye fell in behind me and we made our way to the Strategium. I was actually somewhat, disappointed. I expected a more ceremonious initiation, not just a few lines and 'welcome aboard'. Maybe we had barely passed our training by the skin of our teeth, and we didn't deserve a proper ceremony.

The thought made me slightly nauseous. I inwardly shook my head. That couldn't be it, we deserved our place and no matter what they threw at us, we would make the Order proud. No matter what, I would show my Masters my true worth.

Once in the Strategium, Dartaeus removed his hood and pressed a button on the console in the center of the room. A holographic display filled the room and presented a map outlining the territories of the various factions known to us. I could see the blue dot indicating the Order and the blue surrounding it marked the territories owned by us. However, to the west and north bordering our blue territory was a massive blob of red.

That marked the NEI, or the New Equestrian Imperium. I frowned, realizing for the first time how dire our situation really was. Dartaeus's booming voice snapped me out of my wonderment.

"Pay attention now," he said, giving me a scowl. "As you can see by the markers on the map the situation is dire. We are besieged on all fronts, and your brothers and sisters are inside enemy territory taking the fight to the Princesses. Unfortunately most have failed and are retreating back to HQ now."

He pressed another button and the map zoomed in to a sector of enemy territory to our west. New markers appeared in flashing yellow.

"This is where you come in. These markers indicate a convoy with wounded members, supplies and very," he paused as if trying to be careful how much he shared with us newbies. "valuable cargo," he continued. "We lost contact with them a few days ago. Because we are so short staffed we need you both to conduct reconnaissance to determine the status of this convoy. The Rules of Engagement are simple: kill anything that isn't ours."

He turned to look at the clock mounted on the wall. "I want you both outside those walls by no later than 1300 hours or you will be considered deserters and executed do you understand?"

"SIR YES SIR!" we replied.

"Then you are dismissed," he concluded and with that Hawkeye and I made our way to the armoury to get suited for battle. So far, this has been the best day of my life. If only I had known...

Author's Note

Feel free to notify me of any misspellings or typos, your help makes the story better! I for one know how frustrating it is to read a story and have to double take on a typo to make sense of the sentence. So if you see anything, let me know! Also feel free to comment and like the chapters whenever you please, it lets me know if I'm doing a good job!

Thank you all and I look forward to hearing from you!