Author's Note

I think this is the end of the stuff that was written a year ago. New stuff from here on out!

Chapter 4

``` They finally found a place to rest almost an hour later, Clipper collapsed in a heap as Hatter preformed one last task, building a small fire and lighting it using his horn. All unicorns needed to learn a small selection of spells, most of which came in useful a surprising amount of times. Finally, he too collapsed, falling limp against Clipper and snuggling into her warmly with a soft smile.

Sweat coated every inch of him, beginning to be dried out by the heat of the flames, every inch of him was aching or sore. Yet he had done it, he had protected Clipper, he had joined the army in the hopes of protecting ponies, and he had used that training to injure them and save a changeling instead. It had been worth it however.

He hugged Clipper close and stroked her mane softly as she begin to sob, tears dripping into his red jacket, staining it a more muted tone with her sadness. He pet her back softly and shushed her, just like she had done for him back at the hive in those blissful few days which felt like an eternity ago.

Now that his memory was back his head was full of nasty memories, ponies he had cut down and killed in the name of peace, without all of that his mind had been like a still pool, now it was more like a raging torrent. He was not able to rest, but next to Clipper he at least got some semblance of peace.

“Just let it all out Clipper, I will protect you no matter what happens.” He said softly, rubbing her back and shushing in her ear softly. Her sobs were muffled by his thick red jacket. The felt fabric smelt softly of wood smoke, the scent seemed strangely comforting to her, much better then the fire on which they had burned all her dead friends.

Another sob burst out of her throat and into the jacket as she clung to her strong stallion, feeling his thin form below the thick jacket that padded him out. “Come on, dry your eyes Clipper. I will sort this out. You are safe now, I would give anything to protect you,” He whispered.

Her sobs begin to slow down as she let all her tears out, clutching close to him as she calmed. She sniffed his neck, then wiped her eyes with a hoof, letting out a deep sigh. “I am all good now Hatter,” She said as she shambled to her hooves “I am just going to go and collect some food for us.” She muttered, heading deeper into the forest and away from the safety of the fire.

“Just be careful please.” Hatter warned, knowing that she was really just going to get some time on her own. He could respect that, he would need some time alone after seeing what had happened to her hive. Even he was kind of twisted up inside from it.

He had no idea what he was going to do next, he had set up a camp, but they could not live like this forever, they needed proper shelter and warmth, it would get uncomfortable really fast. He might have been a solider, he might have been able to survive in uncomfortable conditions, but that did not mean he enjoyed it. He wanted a warm house he and Clipper could share, where he could have tea and crumpets. He was tired of all this death and destruction that followed him around like a plague.

Plague. He felt some kind of wall collapse in his mind again, the last of the memory spell melting away. He had not joined the army to protect his country, he had always hated the war, all those ponies fighting and dying over a family squabble. They could have worked something out with words, shared the kingdom and the day and night like the old days.

But instead they had to send their citizens off to die, bat ponies and other creatures killed by the thousand in a war that could have been solved using something as simple as words. But at one point he had been a proud farther to a beautiful young pegasus mare. She had been an albino from birth, and had been a sickly youth, after her mother-

Her mother, his wife. The mare he had married. They had been doing well together, then… Then his wife had died. The grief had made his daughter so very ill, and he had been forced to join the army because the pay had been good and he needed to save her. He had fought so very hard and earned two promotions in the first year, and had been well on the way to his third.

Then his daughter had died, he had… he had got a telegram about it in the mail, and he had attempted to abandon his post. He had been caught… And then he had ended up in the Everfree with his mind wiped, left to die.

And now he was in the middle of the same forest waiting for his new lover to return while having a flashback. He looked around and realised that on top of all this, he now had a squad of very angry looking bat ponies pointing spears and other bladed implements at him. They were in more muted colours then ponies, and wore dark black or purple armour. Like pegasus ponies they had wings, but their wings were like a bats, leathery and scaled up to match their size. They also had razor sharp fangs that were bared to him threateningly.

He had faced bat ponies before, but now there was six of them surrounding him, and he knew that even if he did fight, he would almost certainly die without even a chance to see Clipper again. He raised his hooves slowly, looking around “I am not a soldier! I surrender!” He said, tossing his knives out of his jacket to show them that he meant no harm “I-I used to serve in the army, but I left.” He muttered, explaining why he was carrying trench knives.

One of the bat ponies stepped forth, locking a pair of metal hoof cuffs around his front legs, the chains joining the two metal cuffs made sure he would not be able to run off at any speed. One of them also pushed a metal ring over his horn, a magical inhibitor that dampened magic, preventing him from using it.

Then they encircled him, and begin to walk deeper into the forest, one of them bending down and picking his knives up. They were still heavily armed, and he was not, so he followed them. They did not bother putting the fire out, and it got darker as they headed further from it. Soon it was so dark that Hatter could barely see, but of course the bat ponies had absolutely no problem seeing in the near pitch blackness.

There was another group of batponies further ahead that they were fast approaching on, the smaller group of five bat ponies joining with the larger group of six. He realised that one of the five bat ponies was really a very familiar changeling.

“Clipper!” Hatter cheered, before getting the butt of a spear to the side, making him cry out in shock. Clipper did not respond to her name, but she was walking and appeared to be unharmed, so that was OK. At least it had not been the ponies that had caught them, they would have killed Clipper on the spot.

The forest was making a lot more scary noises now they were away from the camp fire, as if the forest was starting to wake up now they were away from the light. Soon it was so dark that only the bat ponies could see more then six feet in front of their faces, the only light being the silvery rays of the half moon above them.

No words were spoken as they moved even deeper into the forest, Hatter barely being able to pick out the stern expressions on their faces. “Come on, cheer up guys, it is a lovely night.” Hatter said with a cheeky smile. He did not get a response, but he could feel their cold glares burrowing into him, so he did not say anything further. They approached a large, open space just behind the heart of the forest. Clipper gave a sudden gasp of shock as she entered the huge clearing. Hatter did not understand what had shocked her so much, then he entered the clearing, and the city appeared.

It was like closing over an invisible barrier, one moment it was a large grass clearing, then suddenly it was filled with large yurts and small wooden huts, in the centre of the camp was a huge purple yurt with moon symbols all over it. This was the place they were heading to. This seemed to be a military camp of some kind, which meant that they were in serious trouble.

Bat ponies in various states glanced towards them out of the yurts or wooden huts. The huts had been quickly thrown together out of the trees of the forest, the log roofs coated in tar to weatherproof them. They even had proper windows made out of proper glass from which even more bat ponies stared. It was really uncomfortable. He knew it was a military camp because some of the bat ponies that were staring were wearing armour. There was even a pretty unicorn mare with a scar on her face working at an anvil.

As they past into the large yurt, Hatter realised just how fucked they were. The tent was far more lush then any of the others, being far warmer for a start, thanks to a wood burner that was busy blazing away. The thing that really told him he was fucked however, was the plush bed set to the side of the tent, and the desk set near the back with an exceptionally comfy cushion set before it.

Both these clues pointed to the fact this tent was for somepony more important then a commander. It was most likely a lord, which was a problem because they were normally assholes.

He was roughly shoved down next to Clipper, forced to kneel as the Lord stared at them, the only thing that was visible of the mare or stallion within being a dark brown muzzle. As far as pony intelligence had gathered, there was six military commanders that Luna commanded, but only two Lords. He looked to Clipper, who was looking very frightened indeed. He gave her a calming look as the Lord spoke.

“My soldiers spotted you setting up camp, we are really sorry about any discomfort that was caused, but you were getting really close to our camp, and if Celestia’s soldiers spotted your fire, they could wandering in. We could not risk it.” She said in a voice as rich as chocolate.

“Oh… Umm. No problem at all. Sorry about getting so close to your camp.” Hatter said. This was certainly not what he had expected from all the stories he had heard.

The Lord looked towards Clipper “Is he holding you against your will dear? Don’t worry, we will make sure he does not hurt you.” Clipper shook her head rapidly “No! He saved me! Don’t hurt him, please!” She said, looking up at the Lord with a worried expression.

Then the mare begin to laugh, throwing her head back so hard that her hood came down, showing the pretty dark brown mare beneath. Her face was matted with scars, one of her eyes permanently closed thanks to a scar that ran right across it. Her lush crimson mane was so pretty, so well- Hatter brushed the sexy thoughts out of his head. He had Clipper now, and she was the only mare he would ever need.

“I won’t hurt you dear!” She said, looking down at Clipper with a soft smile as she pulled her hood back up “You must not listen to all those scary stories, we are harmless, unless you intend to hurt us. So, what are you two then? Ponies and changelings don’t normal mix, and your friend here does not look like he is under any kind of changeling spell.” The Lord asked.

Clipper blushed darkly and looked down to her hooves, deep in thought for a few moments “I-I guess… I guess we are lovers… He saved me when the nasty ponies in gold armour came and destroyed my hive!” Clipper explained slowly.

The Lord paused for a moment, processing this new information. Finally, she spoke “I see… Well if you want, we can give you a room here for the night, then send you off to the refugee camp tomorrow. It is far more comfortable then it sounds, I promise.”

Hatter was caught off guard by this sudden act of kindness. He had not had anything like it in years. It took him a few moments of thinking and exchanging looks with Clipper before he decided. “That would be… really nice.” He said slowly, giving the waters a final test. “Good! Guard, give these two our most comfortable empty hut.” The Lord said, turning to one of the guards tasked with guarding her throne. He looked slightly perplexed for the briefest of moments, then nodded, walking past them and giving a “Follow me.” in a gruff voice.

After they had been shown their room, Hatter realised that all soldiers had been given metal beds with proper mattresses. He was so amazed with this that he was forced to ask the guard about it. The guard had looked really grumpy with being asked questions, clearly just wanting to do his job as quickly as he could. He had given a displeased sigh and then explained that they brought the bed frames as it was a permanent outpost, and they were all made out of metal so that they could be melted down in an emergency to make more weapons or armour.

It really was quite ingenious. He was thinking about all of this, because these ponies had been the enemy all throughout the war, and he had just turned up in the middle of their camp and they had given him food and lodging. A pale yellow stallion had brought them both porridge, then walked out. No mean words or harsh looks. No signs of hate at all.

It was really, really uncomfortable to be honest. He knew these ponies were not bad, but seeing it first hand was different. He just-

The floor creaked, and in an instant he had draw his knives using magic, turning to face… Clipper, who had climbed out of her bed next to his, and was now stood before him “I-It is just me. I want… I mean, can we share a bed?” She asked “Only… I am cold, and I miss you.”

Hatter did not reply right away, he simply put his knives away and nodded, giving a smile “Of course you can climb in with me.” He said, tossing the sheet to the side to allow her access. She jumped up onto the bed next to him, cuddling into him tightly and nuzzling his neck. She purred, then climbed over Hatter’s back and cuddled into him from behind. One of her hooves pushed under his chest, and the other over his back, then copying the movement with her hind legs, spooning with him and nuzzling into his warmth.

Hatter had been finding it quite difficult to sleep with his mind racing away, thinking of all the ways he could be killed in his sleep. Now Clipper was snuggled into him, he found that his mind was slowly beginning to wind down. Hatter gave a sigh, slowly closing his eyes as he drifted off into a deep sleep, his mind finally at peace now he had got the mare he loved next to him. A smile slowly spread across his face, realising that this really was what true love felt like. ```