Bloodlines

Celestia had a few reasons, for destroying the Spellblades, as well as their spell blades. Especially the weapons.

Not because they could be used again. No, that was the only thing that Celestia found calming. While they were dangerous, lethal pieces of art, they only worked for the Spellblade they were made for. No, what Celestia worried over, was that their creator, might still be out there. And so, in the desperate search for the original weapon smith, she had tried to trace down the families of those mercenaries and war criminals.

To no avail. All had one thing in common. A single mare, from noble upbringing, that has either become disgraced, or where the noble house had been destroyed. And a mysterious father, that one day showed up, cared for each mare for a brief time, helped them financially, gave them a foal and disappeared.

The mares, loyal to their perceived savior, refused to talk too much, but through kindness there had been some results. The stallion had a brown coat and was unusually tall. A unicorn, probably from Saddle Arabia, with a nearly dirt brown coloration, and maroon colored mane. The eyes were something noteworthy though. A dark shade of brown, fitting the over all color scheme, but what one mare noted, and the others reacted to, was the description of bright purple lines that sometimes appeared in the iris, like cracks.

Celestia had looked into it. But way too late. As she initially thought, that the dubbed Spire, was a singular entity. Someone, who forged a legendary weapon for himself. It was not until the second appearance. As the diarch reminisced over the past, her eyes wandered over A broken bow, with 5 strings, and a ridiculously thick and large handle.

Year 4, 4 days until the longest day of the year.

Celestia's and Luna's campaign of subduing unruly nobles had brought her armies to the west of the country. While the numbers were slowly diminishing, mostly because the alicorns were skilled diplomats, as well as capable strategists, one could still find resistances aplenty. Such a case, was in the port city, of Far Sail

The city was prospering, thanks to the fact, that it was the last city in the north, at which ships could dock. There, they stocked up on provisions, for explorations to the north, or loaded their cargos with trade goods, for the lands, down south. The city was ruled by a small guild of wealthy traders, who had good connections up north, to the silver mines.

So, losing it, due to a mistake that the alicorns made, caused the guild to riot against the seemingly brutal and unjust rulers. With their considerable wealth, and some other merchants and nobles fearing their hold on the north, they had amassed a considerable defense force.

Mercenaries, private armies, even a few pirates, that feared for the new, maybe unbuyable rulers and their already given agreements, from some of the merchants. And yet, it did not look too good for the city at the sea. For Celestia’s army was big. Loyal subjects, picking up arms, to keep the peace. Former guards, of other towns, turned soldiers.

And with most victories, the army was growing, instead of shrinking, due to it’s cause, and the benevolence of Celestia. Which had marked the fight at the silver horseshoe, her first real defeat, even after she defeated the Spire. With the loss still fresh in her mind, even after the months, she had put more effort into reconnaissance and preparations.

Which is why she was not storming the city. It had been rumors at first, as one of her scout ships had not returned. Only two survivors, who spoke of a horrible sound, as the front of their ship was seemingly shredded apart. The rapidly sinking ship had dragged everyone down.

Then one of her troupes, that were sent to negotiate, had been found, about a kilometer away from the city border, nailed to the trees with wooden stakes. But they apparently had died through lances being shot into them, if one were to inspect the wounds. But there were no lances to be seen anywhere.

Celestia did not like the possibilities, that opened up for her, once she considered those events. Maybe a weapon, designed by some hired smiths, that were able to fire projectiles over long distances. Maybe a new form or application of spells, as they sprung up left and right, over the country. She could not risk to send her ships in there, if they sank in mere minutes. Neither her troupes, if she could not discern the nature of the attacks.

So she had to sacrifice someone. She hated that thought, but as a military leader, she knew it was necessary. And she also knew, that using too many resources, for a suicide mission was.. Not a tactical decision. But she couldn’t help it. As she watched the progression of 10 soldiers, clad in heavy armor and equipped with large shields, set off, with another delegation of 10 soldiers, just in viewing distance from another, she felt a bitter taste in her mouth.

She knew she could not just walk in there. She now knew, there were things out there, that resisted even her magic. And if another such weapon existed, she had to know. And prepare accordingly.

It was early morning, as she saw her soldiers off and by now it was noon. Watching her troupes from high above, in the clouds, she could not shake off an uneasy feeling. With her vision enhanced, she scanned the walls and the small encampments of the guard, while her soldiers approached. Nothing seemed to happen and they were still around one and a half kilometers away. That was, until all of her soldiers seemed to flinch under something and one of them was ripped backwards.

Celestia was too high up to see exactly what happened, but a red spray, that was plastered over the left hand side of the armed troup, as well as the fact that not just one, but three of them collapsed, terrified Celestia. She flinched and was about to jump down, when she reminded herself of her situation and with a heavy heart, she watched, as the armed soldiers, scrambled to set up shields, as they began a hasty retreat.

Another flinch ran through her men, another another seemed to fly off, hit by something, she could not even see, but what she could see, was a small wave, rushing over the ground, the grass and the trees, while the soldiers before the walls, started to scatter to the sides. Not in panic, but apparently still in haste.

Then she saw her. A hideously looking, tall mare. A unicorn, with an absurdly large bow in her grasp, with several arrows lifted up. The bow itself, had six strings, and she started to fire two in tandem now. With the shot, another wave ran over the ground, at a speed, that left Celestia gasping and four more of her soldiers, were no more, leaving a single mare, who ran for her life at this point, tossing the shield away.

Watching the mare on the wall instead, Celestia saw, how she apparently sighed, tilted the bow back a little, took aim and launched a final arrow. It was then, when Celestia reacted. The moment the arrow left the bow, Celestia pulled the mare down below aside. The alicorn was able to move the sun, so moving a single mare was no problem. The ground, where the mare had just been, seemed to dent in slightly and then the dirt scattered.

On the wall, the mare clicked her tongue, and then did something odd. She seemed to brush one of the arrows over the bowstrings, a few times, as seemingly all enemy guards started to clutch their ears, some falling to the ground, before the mare stopped, took the now slightly glowing arrow and whispered something to it.

Another shot, but this time there was no slowly expanding wave, that traveled in a cone. Instead there was a line and before Celestia even had a chance to react, her last, brave soldier found an untimely demise. She was hit and turn into four pieces, as a cross of force, that even cut into the ground a little, pierced through her and dug a trench into the ground, that nearly reached the other group, that had rushed to help their falling brethren.

And then, Celestia could hear it. A weird, horrible wailing. It sounded, like someone was tormenting a cello with a saw. And she understood now, why the guards had clutched their heads. If it was loud enough to reach her, so far away, it had to be unbearable up close.

But it had been just one mare. With another, horrifying weapon. Celestia did not want to think, if she had tried to lead an entire army against the city now. Would she have been torn asunder like the poor group of soldiers she had sent in? Could spells maybe protect them? So far Celestia had tried to avoid fighting directly. Especially before the incident at the Silver Horseshoe, but even now after.

She wanted her ponies to not rely on her powers alone. She hated, that she could not just go out there and subjugate every riot and plot to harm her precious, little ponies. But she was not a goddess. And she did not want to appear as one, to pass divine judgement or such. She feared, it would make her subjects dependant on her. But what could they hope to do against such a weapon?

She thought back to the Spire, who had obliberated her first wave of soldiers in a few minutes. And now this? Could her subjects find a way to fight this threat? Could they maybe launch a sneak attack? Such underhanded ways were against what Celestia stood for. What both princesses stood for. But right now, she saw no other way.

So with a heavy heart, she decided that the best way to deal with this threat, was to send a small team in secret, under the cover of night, to take out the mare with the bow in her sleep. It was not pretty, but this was war and while she still struggled, after nearly three years, to come to terms with it, she had to take such actions.

It was for her country and for her ponies. With that decision made, she turned away and flew back to camp, already feeling pain and regret welling up in her, but she suppressed it. It was not something she could afford. Not right now. She needed to be level headed.

________________________________________________________________________

It had taken Celestia a week. The mare had been captured, and Celestia had led a charge at the same day, before the enemy had time to realize, that their asset was gone. The merchants surrendered, after the first wave of attacks, and the pirates fled, only to be caught by Luna’s fleet, that had waited further out on the ocean.

The fight itself had been short, brutal, but with minimal loss of life. Celestia’s mages lent their support and the pegasi were mostly used for cover fire, resource distribution and information exchange. The earthponies kept the mages save and Celestia and Luna took another victory, this time with both princesses present.

With a sigh, Celestia turned away from the broken bow. The picture of the mare was still in her mind to this day. Black coat, black mane, and without ears. She had refused to speak and once Luna tried to interrogate her, she had bitten off her own tongue. While Luna had been able to heal her, it had rendered the mare incapable of speaking and as she was put into a prison cell, she had ran into a wall, with her horn caving in and killing her instantly.

But Celestia had found out a few things, from guards and the merchant she worked for. A failed musician, born without ears or the ability to hear in general. Still, she had gotten a talent for music, in a way. She understood all instruments, could craft them and repair them. But she could not play them. It had frustrated her. Working with such pieces of art, and yet, never to be able to play them, to hear their results.

She had been surrounded by ponies, that had indulged in music, and yet, never to join them. It apparently, had driven her mad. One day, a stallion had apparently approached her and a month later, she had returned, with the bow. Which had been an instrument. One she tried to play, every day. To no avail. Yet, she seemed somehow happy.

The sheer volume of the weapon, had allowed her to feel the notes vibrating through her very body. Yet, she still learned how to wield the weapon itself too. Again Celestia looked to the metal book and a sigh escaped her. And as she looked at the shattered weapons, one after another, she felt both fear and remorse. Some pony had created these, for his children, or together with his children.

A stallion, whom she much later learned, seemed to stick around, as she looked at a simple blade, without handle, crooked and broken by now. But something, that she had found only two decades ago, nearly a millenia, after the war, making it her most recent finding. Only this time, it had seemingly belonged to the mystery stallion himself. As it had not belonged to any individual apparently, but showed all characteristics. It had just one day been sold at a pawnshop and the one wielding it, had been described as an old stallion, that matched the description.

And as Celestia looked into her research, she found a daughter of a noble house, that had disbanded, due to them deciding to give the lands to the workers. And she apparently had a child, without father, that died shortly after birth. A pegasus filly. Maybe this weapon had been made for her, as it was incredibly light and had seemingly a few fine lines along itself, as well as a fine feather pattern. Celestia could only guess, what it’s exact function was.

But that the stallion was apparently still out there, worried her to this day, even if none of his weapons, had been used in several hundred years. At least not for atrocities.