Chapters Pumpkin opened his eyes slowly. the teacher's lounge was strangely empty. He rubbed his eyes with his hooves and yawned. Then he looked at the clock on the wall. 1:30 PM. He was late.
He jerked awake and jumped on his hooves. "Damn, damn, damn!" he swore as he hastily grabbed his notebooks and the thick, heavy history book. He then raced towards the door, and turned back, because he had forgotten something. Less than a minute later, he burst through the door and flew through the hallways to reach the class he was supposed to be in fifteen minutes ago.
Pumpkin was a teacher at the Fillydelphia general education school. And he was a pegasus. While it is unusual for a daring, bold creature such as a pegasus to take up a monotone, underappreciated job as a teacher, it wasn't unheard of. Besides, he got along well with his earth and unicorn colleagues, who despite pulling a prank on him every now and then, were respectful and (though they'd never admit it) even slightly inspired by their winged co worker who defied the stereotypes pushed upon him by the Pegasi society.
The foals he was supposed to teach were taking to each other, exchanging the latest gossip and some tried to appeal to the opposite sex in a manner most adolescents are familiar with; bragging.
The flapping was abruptly ended by a loud crash. One of the paintings hanging by the door fell to the floor. after a particularly loud and colourful curse, the door opened and a dark-orange coated stallion entered, covering his nose with his forehoof. he walked up to his desk, and dropped the notebooks and the large, heavy book on it. ten he turned to the slightly shocked pupils and asked: "Does any of you unicorns have a bleed clotting spell? because I have a really bad nosebleed." he said, and as if to confirm his words, a trickle of blood poured on the floor from behind the forehoof that he kept on his nose.
A young unicorn mare searched the classroom, sighed and then raised her hoof. "Well, don't just wave your hoof in the air like an idiot, cast it!" Pumpkin said impatiently. the mare focused, a grayish glow enveloping her horn and subsequently, Pumpkin's nose. Pumpkin felt the bleeding recede and let out a sigh of relief. He then trotted to the sink to wash off the blood from his hoof and his face. "Sorry that I am late, everypony. I fell asleep in the teacher's lounge. So I guess you won't be having a terribly long lesson today, eh?" he asked with a hint of a smile.
the class gave him confused looks. "Mr. Pumpkin, it's 1:17 PM." one of the pupils said. "You are only two minutes late."
Pumpkin raised his eyebrow suspiciously and grazed the clock in the classroom. 1:17 PM. he wasn't late. another pupil spoke up:" besides, we have two hours of History now."
Pumpkin felt a dark feeling of despair overcome him. he had to lecture a bunch of adolescent foals for whole 90 minutes. he sighed.
"Okie dokie." he said. "Now where were we when we last had history?" he asked. a grey mare with glasses lifted her hoof. "Okay, Greybook, begin." he said. the grey mare straightened her pose and began talking. "We have just finished explaining exactly how important the reforms of farming, introduced by prince Goldhoof were important for the development of Canterlot back in..." "Okay, stop, stop, stop." pumpkin interrupted her. "By Luna, haven't I been teaching you kids anything fun?" he asked. the whole class shook their heads. Pumpkin thought for a moment. "Okay, I have an idea. I’ll teach you about history the same way my grandmother taught me: by telling a story. Are you up for it?" he asked. there was an approving murmur heard from the pupils.
Pumpkin closed his eyes and cleared his throat. "Now, how many of you fine ponies have ever heard of Equitol?"
The students shot him surprised looks. A young mare, the same one that cured his nosebleed raised her hoof. "Sir, there is no such place as Equitol. Furthermore, there were never any serious military operations in Equestria. Ever." She said with a smug face. Pumpkin smiled patronizingly. "My dear filly, have I ever said that it happened in Equestria?" He asked and raised his head.
He smiled smugly and started talking. "Now, this has happened even before the unification of ponies by subspecies, when every pony town was its own state that lived by its own rules and government types. It was not unusual for one of the sub-species to claim dominance in a town, but among all of them, one town stood out of the crowd: Equitol.
"Now, this town was something special, because every pony was equal. Pegasi, unicorns and Earth ponies were considered kin, and even though some possessed natural talents that others didn't, they lived in harmony. They were ruled by the so called 'council of six', that consisted of pairs of each subspecies. It was also customary that one of the pair be male, and the other to be female. They were wise and benevolent rulers most of the time, and the rare disagreements were quickly resolved.
"But, due to its strategically valuable position, Equitol was seen as an asset for any empire to have, and that provoked Equitol's defense force to be one of the best, rivaling even the mighty Pegasta. The main reason why it was so effective was that it combined all of the three subspecies' advantages equally, instead of just relying on one. They had magical cannons, infantry and Pegasi air superiority, and those things, coupled with some of the strongest and highest walls and magical barriers the world has ever seen, made Equitol an impenetrable fortress, thought to be unconquerable by any army that roamed the land. This, of course made it an attractive challenge for Pegasta, because we all know that Pegasi can't resist a challenge.
"So, when Pegasta began its rise to power, Equitol was one of its primary targets. Hey sent three cloud fortress' worth of troops-" Pumpkin was interrupted by an earth pony student vigorously holding his hoof in the air. "Speak up." he said.
The earth pony lowered his hoof. "You mentioned Cloud Fortresses and magical cannons. What are those?" he asked.
"An Excellent question." Pumpkin said. "Cloud fortresses are kind of like Pegasi Cloud cities, only smaller, faster and intended for military purposes. They are rumored to have hail cannon that can propel a pony-sized piece of hail at incredible speeds." The student raised hi eyebrow suspiciously. "Rumored to?"
"Well, Cloud fortresses aren't really around a lot anymore, but it is rumored that the Canterlot guard has some left in reserve. The princesses refuse to comment or give ay details about them." Pumpkin explained. "Anyway, a Cloud Fortress can house up to 20 000 troops and 5000 crew. And as for Magical cannons: they are long, thin metallic tubes, about two ponies' length. They use a complex arrangement of gems to magnify offensive spells to incredible sizes. Ponies of Equitol had several.
"Now, where were we? Ahh, yes. Pegasta sent 60 000 troops to lay siege on Equitol. Equitol's scouts spotted them, and alerted the town in time. The military had been mobilized; about 40 000 bucks and mares were stationed at the walls when the defensive barrier went up. Equitol had enough stored food to last over a year, and they hoped that the Pegasi would get bored long before that ever happened.
"When the Cloud Fortresses were near enough to start firing on the protective field, ponies of Equitol were safely inside, with military Unicorns fortifying the field and readying the magical cannons, the earth pony soldiers ready to defend any ground based cracks and Pegasi to defend the air-based ones. The stage was set, and everyone waited for Pegasta to make its move.
"Now, before I go on with the story, I will tell you something about Pegasta. Pegasta was a cloud city that evolved into quite an empire. The families had as many foals as possible, and the colts were drafted, while the mares took over weather control over the territories that Pegasta conquered. Their army was the cream of all armies, trained since their young days to be ruthless and effective both in air based combat and ground based one. They had the best equipment possible, and have actually gained quite a reputation for it. Warriors, who have proven themselves in combat, wore beautiful gold bracelets on their fore hooves, and it is told that they received one for every ten ponies they killed.
"But, as they conquered more and more lands, they had more and more of the 'puny' earth ponies and Pegasi. In order to keep them in check, and prevent revolts, they took entire villages' worth of earth ponies and unicorns. They made a habit of cutting off the unicorns' horns in order to make them less powerful. Now, these 'dirt crawler' armies as they were called were the complete opposite of their airborne brothers in arms. They were given no weapon or training at all, and were kept in the worst sanitary conditions in order to deteriorate them from ponies to a lower, beastly level. They fought like mobs, no organization at all, but they were dangerous in numbers. Their Pegasi overlords supported infighting in order to make an organized revolt much less likely. They were sent after the primary strike force, and usually arrived a couple of days later. When a city was conquered, they were unleashed upon it, and they murdered, raped and pillaged it until nothing but charred remains of a city were left. The Pegasi made the stories even more grotesque, and promised that any town that shall join them peacefully shall not have to suffer the attack of Dirt Crawlers.
"So, back to our story. The hail and lightning cannons opened fire upon the magical field. It took the blows rather well, only getting cracked by the first volley. The minor cracks could be repaired by the military unicorns, but the spell had to be recast for the larger ones. The only unicorns that were powerful enough to recast it were in the Council of Six, and they were a married couple. They used their undying love for each other to help them cast it."
There was a D'awww clearly audible from the female part of the class. Pumpkin took this unexpected break to clear his throat.
"Anyway, the barrage did not decrease in strength, but the field, if renewed every now and then, could take it without suffering holes, big enough for a pony to fly through. This, of course angered the Pegasi, who immediately sent for two more Cloud Fortresses. They arrived in four days, along with the Dirt Crawlers.
"Now, this was a terrifying sight. A sea of depraved wretches that would stop at nothing to get what they wanted, accompanied by two more Cloud fortresses, chock full of troops. The battle became One-sided, to say the least. Over 100 000 Pegasi warriors, and an estimated 300 000 Dirt Crawlers on one side, versus the 40 000 active soldiers on the other. The best thin the ponies of Equitol could do is reinforce the field even more, and pray to whatever gods they prayed to that the enemy would not get through the field.
"As the next day dawned, the five Cloud Fortresses opened fire. They tried to focus on the same point, and they created a gap big enough for ten ponies to fly through. The Equitol unicorns immediately proceeded to cover he hole with a thin layer of shield, just enough to keep the enemy out for enough time for the spell to be recast. The Pegasta Pegasi reached the hole before it could be covered, and engaged in vicious combat with the Equitolian Pegasi. They were forced to retreat, as they suffered heavy losses, and the hole was barely big enough for them to escape. The shield was recast, and the hole disappeared entirely.
"Pegasta ponies decided to go for a different approach. They decided to send the Dirt Crawlers to 'knock on the shield' while they would weaken it by firing hail and lightning at it. This way, if there was a breach, the Dirt Crawlers would flood inside the shield en masse and would proceed to breach the gates of Equitol that were, along with the wall inside the shield. Then, they could severely weaken the defending forces, and then, they could make another hole and try to defeat them.
"It wasn't a very smart plan, but it was certainly much more effective than deploying a rather limited and valuable Pegasus strike force. So they did it. The Dirt Crawlers hit the shield day and night, causing it to crack faster than it could be renewed. It took them almost a week of constant assault with hail and hooves, but eventually a hole large enough was made, and a lot of Dirt Crawlers got in before it was patched up and subsequently renewed. The Dirt Crawlers quickly made their way to the gates. But, in front o the gates stood Commander Tower Shield and her company of 500 bucks and mares. The ponies on the walls started throwing rocks and casting spells at the horde of Dirt Crawlers down below. Commander Tower Shield pulled out her sword and charged. The battle was long and bloody, but thanks to the Equitolian organization and equipment, they emerged victorious, but at a terrifying price. Out of the original 501 soldiers, only 42 survived. None of the estimated 3000 Dirt Crawlers survived.
"The Pegasi were upset cause none of their plans worked out. So they said: 'They wan this to be a war of attrition? fine!', and the rooted themselves to the spot, the Dirt Crawlers still 'knocking' and the Cloud Fortresses still firing.
"The ponies of Equitol decided to pull a risky move, and opened small holes in their shield to fire their magical cannons through. Their primary targets were the Cloud fortresses. But, the small holes made the shield more vulnerable, and often Pegasta Pegasi warriors got through and engaged in vicious combat with the defending Pegasi.
"It was a battle of attrition, with neither side gaining any advantage. The ponies of Equitol grew more and more exhausted. It was in the sixth month of combat that the Equitolians struck a blow against their enemy. They shot at a Cloud Fortress with a heat ray, and hit the main weight-bearing cloud, vaporizing it. Then they shot at it some more, crippling it even further. It started coming down, and it fell right on the Dirt Crawlers that were camped nearby. Now, the clouds themselves wouldn't do any damage, except maybe knocking down some tents. What did cause damage, however, was the hail stored and produced to be fired upon Equitol's shield. The Dirt Crawlers quickly used the chaos and death around them to settle some old scores and to loot something while they were at it. The infighting began, and in the end, Pegasi were forced to stop it. The final death toll was an estimated 50 000 Dirt Crawlers and about 21 Pegasi Warriors."
Pumpkin was interrupted by the bell announcing the end of class and some much needed recess. "See you after the recess." Pumpkin said to the students that were already galloping out of the classroom.
The classroom filled up with students suddenly as the bell rang. They sat in their seats and waited for Pumpkin to notice them. He was napping. One of the braver young bucks poked him.
"Now it's time to introduce another character into this tale. Everypony, meet Harpeia." He said as he chalked an outline onto the blackboard. It was an outline of a young pegasus mare with a harp as her cutie mark.
"Well, they retreated the remaining Cloud Fortresses to a safer distance, but they kept firing the Hail Cannons. Now I don't want any more interruptions, okay?" The mare nodded, seemingly content with the answer.
"Okay, where was I? Oh, yes, Harpeia. She was just another spoiled foal that seemed to blossom in Equitol, for it was a place of plenty. And when she joined in to help bring in food, it wasn't due to a sense of pride, or helpfulness, but rather because her father, a well established and respected stallion had told her to do so.
''So, the ponies who were sent were tasked with bringing in as much food as possible, and they- What now?'' He was interrupted by the blue unicorn once more. ''But, Mr. Pumpkin, how could they leave? I mean, the city was under siege, the gates were locked and there was a force field all around them! It's not possible!'' she said, her voice elevating into a shout towards the end.
Pumpkin facehoofed and sighed. ''Look, I was getting to that. Now, please, please, just let me tell my story, and I might let you out 5 minutes early, okay?'' The mare nodded.
“So, the ponies left Equitol via a secret passage that went out for miles under the city, and came out in some mountains. They took off to scout the surrounding countryside for anything that bore fruit. They found a wild orchard of apples, and they immediately began to gather the red apples that grew there.
“Little did they know that the Pegasta commander loved apples, and had sent a special contingent to get some. And they found the same orchard the Equitolians did.
“It was a stroke of pure luck the two groups didn't meet right away. It was Harpeia who discovered the Pegastans, and she was completely taken over by the beauty of their
“So she approached them. They saw that she is from Equitol (don’t ask me how, I don’t know, it’s just how the story goes) and their immediate first thought was to kill her. Then, their leader, who had a bit more brains than the rest of the group wanted to know how she got here. And she told him: “I’ll show you the way into the city. If you give me your bracelets.”
“Their leader thought about it. Then he reached out with his forehoof and said: “Should you lead us in, we shall give you everything that’s on our forelegs. Deal?” and they shook on that.
“So Harpeia led the pegastans to the rest of the ponies who were gathering food, and the pegastans slaughtered them. Then they took their clothes and saddlebags, and hid their short swords into the saddlebags and covered them with apples, so they wouldn’t show. They left the armor behind and charged one of them to fly back to HQ and tell the commander about what they were going to do.
“So they entered the tunnel and set off to Equitol. When the guards at the tunnel entrance in Equitol asked why only Pegasi returned, they said that they were the fastest, so the group sent them forward.
“Once in city, they laid low until it became dark. Then Harpeia led them to the palace of the Council of Six, more specifically, the chambers of the unicorn couple.
“The unicorns were asleep, and they never saw it coming. After they were killed, the pegastans lay low again and waited for the hail cannons to break the force field open.
“The mighty hail cannons roared at about 5 AM, and it only took about half an hour for them to fall. And then, events unfurled rather quickly.
“First, the pegasta warriors engaged the Equitol air defense, while the mighty hail cannons of the Cloud Fortresses fired upon the gates of Equitol. The gates were blown away as if they were paper. Then they released the Dirt Crawlers upon the now destroyed gates.
“Once again, the ponies of Equitol set up a formidable defense, once again led by captain Tower Shield. It seemed like they would be able to hold back the Dirt Crawlers until the small contingent of Pegastans that infiltrated Equitol attacked them from their back. The battle was short and fierce, and Captain Tower Shield fought even after she lost a limb, and fought until the very end, when one of the Dirt Crawlers bashed her head in. Then, being the depraved wretch that he was, he proceeded to rape her corpse.”
There was a sound of somepony vomiting somewhere in the back of the class. The rest of the class was content with a shudder and possibly a hoof in front of their mouth.
“What did you expect? We’re talking serious sickos here. Anyway, the defense failed, and Dirt Crawlers spread everywhere, murdering and raping everypony they came across. They didn’t assist the Pegasi fighting in the skies, but why would they? They had the city to loot and pillage, and they were more than happy to do so. One of them started a fire that would later consume what was left of Equitol.
“The last of the Equitolian Pegasi had fallen (literally), and the Pegastans immediately proceeded to attack the palace, with its own walls and defenders. The defenders were mostly palace guards and ponies who were lucky enough to get to the palace before the Dirt Crawlers got ‘em.
“They stumbled upon a wine cellar, and as a result, most of them were drunk, smashing doors and beautiful statues that littered the palace.
“As they stumbled upon the chambers of the Earth pony councilors, they were up for a final surprise.
“The remaining four of the Council of Six, two Earth ponies and two Pegasi, clad in their full armor, and armed with some of the finest weapons ever crafted. They charged the surprised Pegasi, killing a number of them (mostly those who were drunk). But the surprise wore off quickly, and the pegastans counter-attacked, killing one of them, and capturing the other three.
“The surviving three were tied up, and Cloudwing examined each and every one of them. When he came to the pegasus mare, she spat in his eye. He wiped the spit and said: “Still have some fighting spirit in you, eh? I like that.” And he hit her with his forehoof, knocking her unconscious. He said to two of his warriors to take her to his chambers back in his cloud fortress. “And keep an eye on her, I don’t want her to do something funny.” When the two Pegasi carried away the unconscious mare, he turned to the two remaining councilors and told his men: “Kill them.”
“After that, he and the rest of the Pegasi looted the palace.
“Meanwhile, Harpeia demanded her payment from the Pegasi she brought into the city. Their commander smiled, and nodded at his troops. They stepped towards Harpeia, and lifted their forelegs.
“Then they bashed her skull in with their bare hooves.”
One of the mares lifted her foreleg. “Just w-why would they do that?” she asked in a trembling voice.
Pumpkin grinned. “You see, the promise was they would give her everything they had on their forelegs. And what do you have on the end of your foreleg? Your hoof.” he said with a grin.
“And that, my dear colts and fillies, is how Equitol fell.” he said.
One of the bucks raised his foreleg. “But, Mr. Pumpkin, what happened to the pegasus mare supreme commander Cloudwing took?” he asked.
“Well, if you must know, she became I-don’t-know-how-great grandmother of commander Hurricane. Yes, the commander in the Hearth’s Warming Eve play.” Pumpkin said. “Any more questions?” he asked.
There was no reply from the class.
“Okay, I figure I’ve given you enough nightmare fuel for today, so you’re free to go-” he looked at the clock on the wall “a full ten minutes before the bell rings.” he said and started packing the books he brought to the class back into his saddlebags.
The bucks and mares shuffled out of the class in silence. Just one young unicorn mare remained. Her coat was purple. “Mr. Pumpkin?” she asked. “Yes?” he turned his gaze towards her.
“Just how do you know this story? I mean, it felt like you were really there.” she asked.
He smiled. “You want to know a secret?” he asked. The mare nodded. “I was there. As a colt. Well, not exactly there, it was more of a.... vivid dream thing.” he strapped his saddlebags onto his back, and reached for his top hat that he left on his desk. He then turned towards where the mare was “Now, why....” he stopped. The mare wasn’t there anymore. He rolled his eyes, put his hat onto his head and trotted out.
*** ** ***
He wasn’t a good flier, it was one of the reasons he barely passed the flight school, and he didn’t like flying much. Sure, it was useful if you wanted to quickly get from one location to another, but he didn’t like it all that much.
Ahh, there, his house. Right next to the woods. He tried landing onto the path, but he missed, and hit the carrot patch in his wife’s garden. He muttered a swear, and wiped the mud of his hooves before entering the house.
Once there, he immediately set for the bathroom. He washed the remaining mud stains off his legs, and looked at himself at the mirror. His once brilliant black mane was becoming grayer with every passing day. He wasn’t young anymore, and his body sure did nothing to counter that statement.
After he was finished in the bathroom, he went into the kitchen where he read the notes on the fridge. Notes on the fridge. The way every happily married couple that wants to stay happily married communicates. It wasn’t anything important, just his wife letting him know that she will be late, due to the bring-your-foal to work day.
Pumpkin opened the fridge and took out a muffin. He was just going to eat it when he heard somepony knock on the door. He sighed, and went to open it, the muffin still in his mouth.
“Yesh?” he asked with his mouth full. The pony knocking was a grey pegasus mare, roughly the same age as he was, with a blond mane and strange eyes. It was like they were repelling each other away, kind of like magnets.
“Mr. Pumpkin?” the mare asked. Pumpkin nodded and took a bite out of the muffin. The mare eyed the muffin “Erm, are you going to eat that?” she asked. Once again, Pumpkin nodded. “Okay.” the mare said. Then she straightened up. “Mr. Pumpkin, The Doctor wishes to see you.”
Interlude
Pumpkin was left alone in the classroom. Well, sort of. There was a young unicorn mare with a blond mane and a sort of purple-grayish coat was there too. She was staring at him as if she was searching for something. Pumpkin groaned. The last thing he needed was a student checking him out, so he frowned at her disapprovingly. She got the message and quickly ran out of the classroom and Pumpkin was left alone. He slumped onto his chair (the teachers' chairs had pillows. comfy pillows) and put his top hat over his eyes. He soon dozed off...
he woke up suddenly after what felt like a long nap. "Oh crap, I slept through the class!" he said as he noticed the empty classroom. Well, mostly empty. The unicorn mare was still there. She smiled. "Don’t b silly, Mr. Pumpkin, you only slept for a minute." she said with a big 'hey, you just had a panic attack. Let me reassure you' smile. "It felt like I’ve slept for an hour." Pumpkin said. The mare's smile vanished, replaced with a stern look. She stood up and trotted towards the door. Only then did Pumpkin realize that he didn't know the mare's name, nor did he remember her from any of his classes. "Hey, wait, what's your name?" he shouted after her, but she had already left the classroom. He ran t the door, slammed it open and furiously examined the hallway. It was empty, with the exception of the couple in the shady end, and here was no sign of the mysterious mare. Pumpkin closed the door and returned to his desk.
When the bell announced the end of recess, he hadn't even remembered that there was a mysterious mare in the class with him during the recess