Twilight quietly sighed while she sat with Altair in a section of the compound off limits normally to outsiders, where as all the outside was chaotic and slapdash, within this hidden sanctuary there was order and peace. The sound of running water echoed through the small section of the compound, green grass lined the ground while a lone cherry tree sat at the edge of a solitary pond. The walls were all painted with various images of warriors or the symbols for the Onorussian gods, even birds seemed to chirp harmoniously here… It had been three days since she had agreed to help the Onorussians, though they had yet to make any progress cracking the codes on the doors.

The Shogun was sitting in front of a large statue of a man wearing very similar armor to his, it was flanked on either side by two smaller stones with writing on them that Twilight couldn’t quite make out. Twilight was more towards the pond, she wore a robe, as technology and other more fancy clothes were forbidden in this part of the compound. For what it was worth, she had been trying to meditate, but something was keeping her from it, something about helping the Onorussians felt wrong. As if giving them help winning the war made her just as much a killer as the warriors... She was so focused on these nervous thoughts that she didn’t realize Altair was looking at her from across the pond.

“You appear troubled, Offworlder.” Altair’s rasping voice echoed over the pond, Twilight looked up and saw he was staring at her. He didn’t wear his mask, so she could see all the gnarled scars that disfigured his lower face. “Come here…” Twilight cautiously stood up and walked towards the man, then sat beside him in front of the statue and the two stones. “Do you know what these are?” Twilight shook her head. “My ancestors are drawn here… My father, my mothers, all those that came before…” The Shogun gestured to the statue. “They help me think when I am at a loss… Though now I believe you are the one that should speak with them.”

“Speak with them?” Twilight asked, Altair nodded before he reached to a bowl set in front of the statue and withdrew a solitary black seed. The man handed it to Twilight, the woman looking down in her hand at the simple structure of it all. It looked like a sunflower seed, but it was tinged with small purple particles. Twilight took a deep breath and popped the seed into her mouth, then swallowed. She felt Altair’s hands on her, slowly leaning her back as a wave of drowsiness washed over her, her vision became cloudy… The sound of stone cracking caught her attention, and soon she saw the statue standing over her, looking down at her with intense glowing green eyes. “H-Hello?”

The stone statue knelt down, the rock cracking and popping as it moved, two more figures appeared on either side of it. A tall woman in a flowing dress, also with glowing green eyes, and from the looks of it a horse with both wings and a horn… Though her eyes were blue. Twilight yelped as she watched the statue produce a long sword, it raised it high above its head, but the horse stopped it with a flick of her wing…

“She is not one of them…” A disembodied voice spoke, it almost sounded like.... “She is… One of us.”

“P-Princess Luna?” Twilight called out as her ears were flooded with white noise.

“She is the enemy.” The statue protested in a stern voice. “She cannot be allowed!”

“She does not understand…” The woman said, kneeling down over Twilight, she gave off a motherly sort of feeling. “She is not one of us, but not the enemy… She is… An outsider?”

“Interesting…” All three voices said in unison, the figure with the voice of Princess Luna, the strange horse creature, leaned in with her horn glowing brighter than the rest of her.

“She must be marked… She must be us, or them…” Luna said firmly. “We should ask her…”

“She does not understand. She cannot be allowed!” The statue growled.

“Let her understand.” Added the woman, it was like watching one person talking to themselves, and yet they all had three separate personalities… The womanly mother figure leaned closer and extended a hand, there was a flash of energy… Twilight felt overwhelmed as hundreds if not thousands of images flashed through her mind Things she had never seen, never heard, never even known existed all known in a split second… And then… Gone in an instant. She began to hiss in pain as she felt a burning sensation on the back of her hand. “It is done.”

“She is… Neither.” All three said in unison. “We must observe… We must investigate… We must protect.” Twilight groaned in pain, and in the blink of an eye she was back where she was, laying on the ground in the private grove, only the statue was back where it had always been and Altair was looking down at her with a neutral expression.

“W-What the… W-Who were those people!?” Twilight said as she bolted upright and looked at the statue in front of her. The woman winced in pain and looked at the back of her hand, to her shock she saw an emblem of some kind burned into her skin. “W-What happened to my hand?” She held it up for Altair to see, the man moved a little closer and examined it. It was a triangle with a circle in the center, more specifically, the circle was an eye.

“This is a mark of Putin… It means that the gods are watching your journey.” Altair said as he let go of her hand. Twilight nervously looked at her skin, the pain faded rapidly, leaving only the mark behind. She supposed it could’ve been worse, her logical mind told her there were plenty of cosmetic surgeons back home that could eventually remove it when she got back. If it brought her one more step closer to getting home then she would do it, whatever the consequences… Twilight paused and looked over at Altair, the man had walked towards a corner of the walled enclosure. Twilight saw him pick up two wooden poles from some sort of training rack, he then walked back and tossed one of them to her.

“What are we doing?” Twilight asked, fumbling a bit as she caught the pole.

“The gods say you are on a journey, now it is time you learn to defend yourself, defend your clan.” Altair said dutifully, Twilight saw him grip his pole with only one hand, so she tried to imitate him. “One handed takes a lot of practice to master.” It was then that she realized these poles were training tools, short enough to be used as swords.

“I like a challenge…” Twilight replied, she saw Altair smirk… She felt like she was getting used to being a part of the clan, a lot of times back home she would’ve simply differed and moved to a two handed style, but here… Here she felt like she was in charge of her own fate, probably because she was.

“Alright then… Begin!” Twilight and Altair rushed one another with their training swords at the ready.

[♠]

Birds chirped overhead as Razor Grass lead his company along at the head of the column that was pushing into the territory of the Onorussians. So far, there had been very little sign of any tribals, but that was to be expected in this portion of land, it was where the tribes did their hunting and fishing for the winter, so it was left untouched during the rest of the year. It was beautiful country, Razor Grass could see why they were so protective of it. As they continued to ride along Razor caught sight of something odd in the distance. A line of white wooden posts spanning across the distances between two hills… They were short and stubby, and almost seemed adorned in green fabric…

Razor gagged slightly when they got closer, these weren’t wooden posts… They were Equestrian leg bones, the green fabric was from their uniforms and the flesh had been pulled away by scavengers. There was a single head mounted to a pike in the center of them all, the hat of a general was cruelly stapled to its skull. If there was ever a line in the sand, this would be it, it spoke very clearly about what would happen to anyone that crossed that line. Razor Grass stopped and pulled off to the side, the rest of his company following suit while the rest of the regiment continued to march along.

“Look at the terrain, perfect spot for an ambush…” Razor Grass said aloud, pointing to the hills and bushes ahead. The colonel in charge of the marching regiment simply chuckled.

“They’ll die before they fire a shot with this many troops here!” The colonel shouted back before he led his company over the line of bones, Razor dropped a hand down to his hip and rested it on his revolver, the rest of his cavalry unit watched with uncertainty as the company of infantry finished passing the line of bones. “See? I told you things were-” The man stopped as he tripped over a length of rope that had been hidden by leaves and tall grass. Razor and the others all watched as the bushes lit up with gunfire, gatling gunfire to be specific. Bullets tore through the leaves and into the company of soldiers that had passed by the boney marker.

The guns continued firing as the soldiers dropped for cover or ran away, cutting down at least fifty after catching them by surprise. Eventually the gunfire stopped, leaving an eerie silence that was broken only by the moans of the wounded. Seconds later the bushes exploded, sending pieces of gatling gun sky high… Only then did Razor ride forwards while the other soldiers were all moving to help the wounded. He stopped near one of the bushes and hopped off his horse before looking around, to his surprise he didn’t find any bodies. What he did find was the remnants of a pulley system of some kind, he could see the remains of one of the crank handles attached to it. He followed the remnants of cord to the source of the explosions, there were metal cans that wreaked of Arcane explosives...

It was more proof of an odd trend that Razor had noticed over the time he had spent as a prisoners of the tribals. The Onorussians were very adept at using technology, yet they still remained in a state where they relied on swords and spears… Razor couldn’t understand why, but at the moment he was more concerned with what other little presents the Onorussians could’ve left behind for the advancing army. The man quietly climbed back up onto the back of his horse and rode back to the rest of his company. The wounded and dead were being cleared from the field while the rest of the soldiers continued to march past the bones, albeit with much more caution than before.

Powers rode up to Razor Grass with an odd expression on his face, looking ahead towards the mountain that loomed in the distance, a gargantuan titan that seemed to surpass anything surrounding it. Dark clouds loomed on the horizon, and it was starting to rain once again, rain had become something of a common occurrence for the men, but something told Powers that once they were deep in the Onorussian’s territory they would have much more to worry about than the rain.

“So, guess this is it then, huh?” He asked Razor, the stallion nodded while the others continued marching. “You really think this is going to be hard?” Razor nodded once again. “I’m starting to get the feeling you’re right, let’s just hope nothing else happens today.” Razor looked over at him, as if the very thought of the rest of the day going right was laughable, but he said nothing. The stallion simply snapped the reins on his horse and began riding along, leaving Powers to signal the other cavalrymen to follow as they rode towards the mountain in the distance. The rumble of thunder got louder as they continued along, the heat of the sun gradually began to abate when cool wind from the storm blew in.

Eventually the rain clouds loomed overhead like a tidal wave, prompting the march commander to call everyone to a halt. They couldn’t risk the mud hurting their horses or their soldiers, and so the two regiments began to set up camp. The had no idea of what lurked in the bushes and trees that surrounded them on all sides, the tall grass hid the movements of a group of predators that had been tracking them since they had entered Onorussian territory. Mysterious figures that occasionally soldiers would catch glimpses of, but never enough to identify them.

As time went on and the Regimental camps were established, Razor Grass could hear the sound of rain hitting the roof of his tent. Soft at first, only a few drops, but it quickly spiraled into a rapid downpour that threatened to leak through the fabric. Every soldier took cover where they could to get out of the rain, meaning that for the most part the camp looked abandoned, save for those few lucky stallions that had been ordered to stand guard in the pouring rain. With the intensity of the rain and the thickness of the clouds, it was likely to rain for a good five hours, which was five hours more that the regimental commanders had to worry about being discovered… Little did they know that they had already been discovered, but that was beside the point.

On the outskirts of the camp four figures in shadowed armor skulked through the rain, their armor was mostly grey, with occasional splotches of purple, and they were hoods as well as masks over their face. Their boots squelched in the mud as they moved past tent after tent unnoticed, like ghosts they stayed out of sight and out of mind. Whenever a guard was encountered he was quickly silenced by a knife to the neck or lungs, this was the only trace the four figures left behind as they moved closer and closer to their goal, and arguably the most guarded portion of the quickly pitched camps. The site where the ammunition wagons for close to five companies were parked.

One of the figures was tall, nearly six and a half feet, he had mocha skin, though it was hidden by the hood and mask he wore over his face. Intense brown eyes peered from the shadows of his cowl as he snuck up behind one of the guards near the munitions wagons, he wrapped his arm around the stallion’s mouth with his left hand while stabbing him in the back with a knife in his right. The blade was expertly placed, slipping between the ribs and puncturing the lungs, making it impossible for the stallion to scream for help once the figure let go. The stallion collapsed to the ground without a sound, allowing the figure to move along once more.

The figure, like the others, wore dark grey armor with purple accents, light and maneuverable, and yet strong enough to withstand a bladed attack. Their armor was built from remnants of ancient armor, making it strong but light… And very expensive. Only the best of the best could afford to be given such armor… And these were them. Known as the Violet Cobras, they were a team of crack stealth warriors that answered directly to the Shogun. The tall man moved up towards the wagons, watching through the rain as the other Cobras held their position. He slipped a sealed bag of black powder under the first wagon and lit the fuse with an arcane crystal, then with all the speed of a hawk he sprinted back towards his compatriots. They began running through the camp at full bore, not bothering to mask the sound of their movement now.

The figures managed to cover a good hundred and fifty yards before the charge exploded under the wagon, the explosion was massive, so massive it spread to another wagon, and then another, setting off a chain reaction of blasts and destroying enough ammunition for five hundred soldiers. The troops ran out of their tents and into the rain to see what had happened, it didn’t take long to spot the four cobras making a run for the tall grass. Orders were shouted, confused men gained purpose, and soon the cobras were facing organized resistance. They knew had to deal with such resistance however, each of them drew a razor sharp sword from a sheath on their back while they ran. A couple shots rang out, but the rain had mostly drenched the ammunition the soldiers in this area of the camp still had.

The tall figure saw two Equestrians ahead of him wielding their sabres nervously, he slid to a stop and raised his blade, the rain pouring over him and his own sword. The Cobra’s eyes met with one of the Equestrians, silently he thrust his sword forward. The Equestrian barely managed to deflect it, he had no chance of deflecting the second strike which stabbed him in the gut. The Cobra turned with the body still on his sword and used it as a shield when the second Equestrian made a move. Once he had a chance to pull his sword from the now dead Equestrian he raised it and swung for the fences, his blade sliced through the second Equestrian like butter. The Cobra didn’t stop to inspect his work, all he knew was that two more Equestrians were dead and he had a clear shot to the grass. He decided to take it, rushing past numerous tents and vaulting over crates, until finally he was free to run in the grass.

The Cobra quickly moved to join the other three that had made it out of the camp, it seemed everyone had survived. They watched from the tall grass as the rain continued to fall, the Equestrians still couldn’t manage to get the fire to go out as it burned off more of their munitions, the fire, coupled with the water, made much of what they had brought with them useless. The cobra quietly removed his face mask, letting the rain hit his mocha skin as the falling water cleaned the blood from his sword. He had the chiseled jaw and muscle mass of his father, while gaining his mother’s finesse and speed. His name was Takeo Occisor, eldest son of Shogun Altair at just over nine hundred and fifty years old.

Takeo looked to the others and nodded silently before pulling his mask back up, the group then rushed off into the tall grass, and like ghosts they vanished from the scene.

[♠]

Twilight panted quietly as she and Altair stood across from one another, covered in water and sweat. Altair looked like he could go another fifty rounds, but Twilight looked tired and had her fair share of bruises. Her hair was matted with rain, her eyes narrowed and her heart pounding. Every muscle in her body ached from exertion, she hadn’t ever in a million years thought she would need to put up this much effort for anything… But she wasn’t about to give up, she was determined to stay on her feet as long as possible if it meant she would get a chance at going home. Slowly and with no small amount of effort, Twilight raised her training sword once again, Altair’s expression remained as stoic as ever as he too raised the wooden sword.

The two of them stood five feet apart, by now Twilight had picked up on the proper stance by watching Altair for as many times as she had. She’d gone from gripping the blade like an amateur to imitating the more relaxed grip that the Shogun used, every sparring match taught her something new. Altair twirled his sword quietly, causing a soft whipping noise as it sliced through the air and sprayed rain water outwards. In an instant the two were going at it once again.

Twilight brought her training sword up and blocked the first strike and the second, before she made an attempt at hitting the Shogun in the head. He caught her strike with ease, but the most striking thing about that moment was the look on his face… A mixed look of being impressed and surprised at the same moment. Just as quickly as it came it was gone, and Twilight felt the sting of her sword being knocked from her hands and the eventual thud of the Shogun’s training sword on her shoulder. Twilight rubbed her shoulder gently as she looked at Altair, the man tossed the training sword aside and walked towards her. The rain was continuing to fall at its rapid pace, each of them was drenched from head to foot.

“You fight with the passion of an Onorussian woman… Your drive to return home is strong.” He said as he began walking with her towards the exit of the walled off area. “I wish to know, what is it that awaits you upon your return?”

“My friends, my family, my books!” Twilight said excitedly before she trailed off and frowned, the woman walked alongside the Shogun out the gate to the secluded area and through the rest of the village. “My job… My duties as princess… Politics…” Altair nodded simply as he continued to walk.

“I understand… When I was young my life was filled with many of the same duties and tasks…” Altair said while they walked towards the shack that Cassidy and Altair shared. “We Onorussians have a saying… ‘There is no position too massive you cannot walk away from.’.” Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. “We set our own destinies, we do not allow anyone to determine them for us… Did you ask to become a Princess?” Twilight shook her head. “Then why should you be expected to act like one?”

“Because it’s my responsibility?” Twilight replied in an uncertain tone, the Shogun shook his head and looked at the ground. “I thought you would tell me to suck it up, yet you’re telling me I should just… Shirk my responsibilities?”

“I chose to be Shogun. My warriors chose to be warriors. My hunters chose to be hunters.” Altair said firmly. “I hold them to their duties and responsibilities because they are the ones they chose to take on, because they felt they were ready for those responsibilities.” The man looked at Twilight and shook his head. “You didn’t chose your destiny, you were told that because of some arbitrary set of circumstances you were suddenly royalty. No one informed you, no one asked if you wanted that… It just happened. Like when the bombs fell here.” Altair stopped outside the shack and turned to look at Twilight in the eyes. “We resolved from that day that our destinies would be just that. Ours. Not fate’s, not some arbitrary prophecy’s, but our own. That is what it means to be an Onorussian… To live on your own terms.”

Twilight paused quietly as she looked the Shogun in the eyes, she could see the conviction in them. All her life she had been told that she would have to follow the rules, that she would have to give certain things up as she got older, not because she wanted to but because that’s just how things were… That she would have to accept certain ideas because they were what was socially acceptable, not because they were hers… And Celestia forbid she said anything other than what was okay, lest there be riots in the streets and protests in every city. It was that mindset that had scared her out of going to college, the fear of being outcast for her beliefs…

“You are starting to see now…” Altair said quietly as he saw her expression change, Twilight nodded quietly. “Meditate on what I have said, Offworlder… Why is it really that you fought so hard today… Is it because you are trying to get back to your old home, or because you are trying to find a new one?” Before Twilight could respond, the man had give her a bow of respect and walked up the steps to his home. Twilight watched as the rain continued to pour over her, the door closed and she was left in the rain alone… Alone with just her thoughts. Two choices, to forget what it was she had heard… Or to embrace it, and see just how deep things went. She would have much to think about in her tent that night.

Author's Note

So here's another chapter for you lovely dovelies, I enjoyed writing this chapter quite a lot. I love doing scenes with supernatural stuff in them, and of course rain fights are cool as well. Anyway, I just wanted to thank all you guys for the comments of support and for sticking with me through the years that I've been working on this series. I've been thinking of writing some original stuff too, so keep an eye out for anything like that.

Anywho, here's your clip of the day. I've been listening to this kind of music as I write lately, as it sort of fits with the whole distant future but with ancient stuff vibe I've got going in my head.