An Ancient Debt (Rewrite)
Author's Note
So this is a story I tried writing once before, wasn’t the best but a lot of people seemed to like the idea. So I figured I’d try and fix a lot of the plot holes and inconsistencies in the warfare and politics with explanations and reasoning. I hope I delivered better than before.
There’s a bit of exposition in this first chapter but it is by no means intended to be a longer story, if it were I would most definitely not write like this.
No matter what though I hope this is an intriguing story with some promise of being entertaining. Thank you to all of you who are reading this.
The Last Resort.
The great sound of an Equestrian war horn exploded, it resounded spectacularly across the bloody and blackened former farmland. The horn’s sound seemed to become more somber as it rose above the clashing of weapons, roaring of fire and groaning of wounded soldiers. Another horn answered in response, then another, before long five of the thirteen horn bearers that had been there at the beginning of the battle sounded back.
Shining Armor swallowed thickly, the nauseous pit that was gnawing at his empty stomach demanded he bend over and puke. Right now though it was his duty to get as many of his soldiers as possible out of this massacre alive. So, he, with great force of will, ignored the anxiety. With a burst of adrenalin he drew in a breath and began to run towards his soldiers on the line.
His army, his Ponies, his friends, had been butchered by the enemy. The Equestrians hadn’t even been able to make the Zebra lines slow down in their advance. Every time the captain had attempted a flank they were cut off, every time he led a charge they were stopped by arrow fire and if any sort of magic attack was attempted it was directed right back at them.
Raising their circular golden sun emblazoned shields above their heads the Equestrian soldiers, in a calm and orderly fashion, fell back. Responding to the horns call for retreat they broke from their tightly packed lines and came back together in loose spaced out formations like they had dozens of times in training.
Shining couldn’t help but silently thank the princesses for their insistence on extreme discipline in basic training.
As he ran the captain could hear his officers on the line giving orders, guiding their soldiers back and keeping the formations organized. Despite all this though there were still a few Ponies who tried breaking off and running.
They were cut down by Zebra arrow fire before they got fifty yards away.
Each one he saw fall only served to make Shining Armor feel an intense guilt, unlike any he had ever felt before. They couldn’t be blamed for being so scared, they were doing what most ponies would do in such a horrifying situation. He was sure that it was his leadership that had gotten them to this point.
The enemy infantry line continued it’s creeping, never ending advance, though now not quick enough to catch the Equestrians that were in full retreat, they still moved fast enough to keep the ponies moving. Shining knew they were trying to keep the pressure and momentum up, trying to make sure the Equestrians broke.
The thought of his soldiers breaking now in this vulnerable state terrified him to no end, this massacre would end with no survivors if that happened now.
He and his personal guard now ran along the sides of the retreating Equestrian formations moving from one to another shouting encouragement and bolstering what morale there still was. If they broke now the slaughter this battle had become would surely end with no survivors, that Shining was absolutely convinced of.
The Equestrians were gaining ground, they moved much faster than the Zebras in these loose formations and before long they were out of range of the dreaded Zebra archers and their never ending volleys. That didn’t stop the retreat though, Shining wanted to make sure they were well and truly safe before regrouping and so he kept them moving quickly.
Eventually they found themselves at the top of a small grassy hill on which ran what the local ponies that used to live here called mud creak, so named for its shallow stream.
Here the army began to finally lose its co-ordination. Now that they were out of range of immediate danger some of the Ponies began to break, like a reflex the bulk of the force began to follow their example en masse.
As they stumbled and ran across the small trickle of water Shining stopped in the middle of the stream. Casting a simple spell he shot a small blue signal into the purple evening sky and waited, before long the surviving members of his personal guard and field officers began gathering about him.
As the last of them reached his position in the creak he began,”Those of you who can still run or fly, I need you to keep up with the Ponies.” Shining couldn’t believe his voice was still so calm and authoritative,”When they finally stop we will need to regroup and reorganize, we can’t risk having the zebras catch up with us, I need you all there to make sure that happens is that understood?”
”Yes Sir!” They shouted in unison.
“Jet Stream? did Jet Stream survive?” Shining turned his head.
“Sir?” A yellow pegasus spoke up.
Shining looked at his communications officer,“I’m going to need you to bring news of what just happened to Celestia, immediately. She needs to know of our current situation and the danger now posed to Los Pegasus as soon as possible.”
The dirt covered young colt nodded, his eyes wide,”Understood sir!”
“Good now lets get moving.”
Without being told twice they turned and began moving, suddenly Shining reached out and grabbed his closest personal guard’s shoulder,”One more thing before you go!”
His voice finally cracked as he verbally stopped them again, he swallowed thickly as they all looked back at him. He couldn’t help but notice how beaten they looked, some were wounded, badly, and others were almost unrecognizable beneath a mask of blood, ash and dirt.
”You have all performed admirably today, I truly mean it when I say that I don’t think anyone else could have done a better job, without all of you this army, these ponies, would be dead. Thank you.”
They saluted him,”And without you we would be dead as well sir!” An officer shouted from the back, returning their salute he dismissed them and watched as they immediately ran back into the fray. Each one instinctively took a different section of the panicked horde and began directing it northward.
Shining allowed himself a small smile. He had good officers and he would have to repay them for their loyalty, faith and courage someday. For now though they had to survive, that was all they had to do.
Turning southward the captain’s eyes caught the scene they had just left behind, from this elevated point he could see the whole war torn countryside. Fires raged in between the marching columns of Zebras, the land that hadn’t been touched by fire was noticeably red with blood and even from this distance Shining could still see the shapes of his soldiers bodies.
Shining suddenly became aware of the climate around him. The flowing rush of freezing water, splashing and shouting of soldiers next to him, the singing Zebras in the distance, chanting some marching song.
Most of all he noticed just how cold it was, the late autumn air around him bit into his dirty fur and the water on his hooves was starting to make his legs go numb. Without warning the captain retched and bent over his armor clinking together loudly, he puked, falling to his knees, he puked again and again. He watched the water carry away his vomit and as he gasped for air he couldn’t help but feel better.
The crippling effects of his anxiety had been swept away by the cold water of this small stream. His mind was clearing and even though he still felt a strong guilt over leading his army to near destruction he knew that by a miracle he had also been the one to lead them out of it.
Now the captain’s only job was to make sure he got his Ponies back to Equestrian held territory alive and that he knew he could do.
~
“Goddess damnit!” Celestia slammed her fist against the mahogany desk before her, a sharp crack rang out and reverbrated off the ornate golden walls of the large study. One of the two huge bronze doors that made up the entrance of the room opened and the head of a guard peeked in.
“Is everything all right your majesty?”
The princess sighed and ran a hand through her ethereal mane, looking up she gave the stallion a reassuring smile,”I’m fine, nothing to worry about, really, you may resume your duty.” Slowly nodding in response the guard quickly closed the door.
Leaning back the alicorn brought both her arms down and tightly grabbed hold of the gorgeous hand carved heads on the arms of her chair,”What am I to do now.”
Before her layed the most recent report from the frontline, it detailed the loss of Los Pegasus and Shining Armor’s defeat.
From the beginning of the war six months ago to now this was the only news she had received, her armies being destroyed and important cities or castles being lost. As of now nearly all of Celestia’s generals had been killed in battle or taken captive, their armies wiped out or routed.
Even Cadance was taken, the sweet little mare, she had simply been traveling among the armies to boost morale. She was captured during a sneak attack while traveling on the road just over a week ago.
Celestia didn’t even want to think about what was happening to her poor niece, if the reports of what the Zebras did to captured cities had any truth in them then Pony mares weren’t worth much more than cheap slave labor and breeding stock to Zebras.
Celestia made sure Shining still didn’t know, she was going to break it to him herself when he got back. She knew from personal experience receiving news like that through a letter just wasn’t good for you.
The horrible question of where she would get more ponies capable of fighting and willing to die for their country suddenly proposed itself to her.
Captain Armor’s shattered army only numbered six thousand if his report was accurate, hardly anything compared to the twenty three thousand he set out with. They would fight hard that was for sure, but she would need more than that.
Her sister Luna was in the North, gathering as many ponies as she could.
Luna had suffered a terrible and humiliating defeat in the badlands nearly four months ago, almost her entire night guard had been destroyed and now she could at most supply eight thousand soldiers. Most of which greener than grass and probably with only very basic training.
But a humiliated Luna was something to be afraid of, Celestia knew from personal experience. Her sister would fight to the bitter end that was certain.
It occurred to Celestia that if she were to summon all garrison forces from the north out of their forts, towns and villages and combine them with what Luna and Shining Armor had, then that would give them about twenty six thousand troops overall.
Celestia was more or less certain that amount of ponies probably wouldn’t be enough to hold out against the estimated three hundred thousand strong military force that the Zebras fielded, but what else could she do? All their allies had abandoned them the second the war began, there was no hope of outside help and to rely on a battlefield miracle was not something any real leader should do.
With an exasperated breath the princess closed her bloodshot eyes, loosened her muscles and allowed herself to drift away.
~
The Zebrican empire, formed after a great war between the seven tribes of Zebrica, was a young nation with ambitions to expand. It’s military strength was great, in its short thirty two year life span it had managed to fend off the might of the imperialist Griffons and it had even managed to destroy multiple Yak raiding fleets that sought to pillage its eastern shores as they had many times before.
Celestia had to admit, it only made sense the Zebras would attack Equestria.
Though militarily strong, the empire was not economically sound. Many of its subjects were poor and much of its land was infertile, it had next to none of the practical resources that most advanced strong nations had. She could understand why the empire decided to invade its resource rich, wealthy northern neighbor.
In fact she should have expected it, she saw all the signs beforehand. But as with all optimistic believers that friendship solves all, she ignored the problem in hopes that the Zebras would be to scared to act and that she could solve it all with diplomacy.
What she did expect out of all of this though was the betrayal that came from the house of light.
The house of light was the most powerful unicorn house in the government, since the unification of Equestria they had been staunch separatists that believed heavily in unicorn supremacy. During the civil war they had attempted to declare independence but were forced to join Celestia when Nightmare Moon invaded the land they claimed as well.
Were it not for the immense unicorn support they enjoyed at that time she might have destroyed them then, but she couldn’t risk another civil war. In the modern era though, ideas of lawful equality and worth ebbed at that support. Over time the house lost nearly a quarter of its members.
But even in such a weakened state the house was still the most powerful of its kind and it still had a plentiful amount of followers. They didn’t hesitate to join the Zebras when the war began, under the promise of land and the chance to rule themselves after the war the house immediately began to use their powerful magic to support the Zebra war effort.
All in all it was a terrible situation the Ponies found themselves in. It felt like a vice was closing on them and saving Equestria was impossible...
~
Suddenly the princess shot up in her chair, eyes wide and bulging she sat upright for only a moment before leaning down and opening a drawer. Quickly pulling out a piece of paper she placed it on her desk, grabbing the nearest quill pen she quickly went to work scribbling out words upon the blank paper.
When she was finished Celestia picked up the letter and placed it in an envelope that bore her crest, grabbing a nearby candle she used magic to quickly soften the end of it. Pouring a dollop of red candle wax on the lip of the envelope she raised her hand and used her ring to stamp her personal seal into the hot wax.
Quickly standing up, letter in hand, she briskly walked forward to the entrance of her study and swung the wide doorway open. Stepping out she nodded at her guards who had already saluted.
The sound of Celestia’s hooves hitting the stone floor of the long wide hallways that run throughout Canterlot Castle echoed hauntingly as she made her way.
Before long she had reached her destination, the captain of the guard’s personal quarters. Giving the guards outside another quick nod she reached out and rapt upon the heavy wooden door with her knuckles.
“Who is it now!” The captain cried sounding a tad frustrated.
Celestia sighed,”Just your princess.”
The Alicorn couldn’t help but give a small chuckle at the the thud she heard come from behind the door, a couple more thuds and the door before her swung open to reveal an exhausted Flash Sentry. His disheveled hair hung low as he bowed,”I’m so sorry princess I didn’t mean to-“
“It’s fine captain, no harm done, may I come in?”
Coming back up Flash nodded and stepped aside,”Of course your majesty, of course.”
Stepping inside the dimly lit room she couldn’t help but notice how unkept it all was. His desk was a mess of papers and coffee cups, the bed was completely undone and the distinct smell of sweat and moldy food permeated about the room,”You know captain, your predecessor always kept this room in tip top shape.”
Flash stepped around her and stopped by his desk,”I apologize your majesty, really I do, it’s just been a very busy and stressful couple of weeks. I haven’t had time to do any cleaning in here, I haven’t even had a real meal in that time either.”
Celestia gave a small reassuring smile,“I understand Captain, truly I do. I want you to know that you’ve been doing an exemplary job managing your troops, their supplies and their morale. I appreciate your dedication and hard work.”
Flash gave a small strained smile at her compliment,”Thank you your majesty.”
She nodded,”If you’d like I could have some servants come to tidy this all up for you?”
He looked down and sighed,”No, no I’ll make sure to take care of it tonight, thank you for the offer Princess,” he looked back up to her,”now uh, what is it you wanted to see me about ma’am?”
Her smile disappeared and she grew serious,“A matter of some urgency, may we sit down to discuss this captain? It will take some time to explain this all to you.”
Nodding he gestured to the seat in front of his desk while he sat himself down, Celestia magically threw a stack of food containers off the chair before seating herself in it,”Now, you know it and I know it, we are losing, decisively. Our armies are destroyed, we can’t possibly hope to raise enough soldiers to launch any kind of counter attack in the near and even far future.”
Flash’s ears slowly lowered and his brow fell.
“Southern Equestria has now been completely taken, Zebras march through our cities enslaving colts and fillies, executing stallions and raping mares with no sign of stopping.” She shifted her legs and swallowed,”All of our allies have refused to help us, the Griffon empire, Yak confederation and Dragon clans all have decided to simply stand back and watch. Our intelligence even says the Yaks and Griffons plan to take advantage of this once it’s all over.”
She watched as Flash’s face grew pale,”As of right now our only real courses of action are to either run and possibly escape to the north bringing as many soldiers as we can with us in the hope that we could raise more later, or choose a strategically strong location and fortify it so that we might make a last stand and possibly stop the tidal wave of Zebra domination.”
She scrunched her mouth up and looked to Flash to see his reaction, he looked as though he’d seen a ghost. His face pale and parted,”Princess are you trying to tell me we’re going to lose?”
“If things continue going the way they are going then yes, that is what I’m telling you.” She narrowed her eyes as he looked away.
“Goddess above...” turning back to her he swallowed thickly,”Can’t you and your sister call upon the sun and moon to incerate them all or something?”
Celestia allowed herself a dry laugh,”Captain, you must understand that while my sister and I have some control over the sun and moon we can’t simply bring them down on our enemies. Our magical powers are great yes, but our influence over the heavenly bodies is just that, influence.”
“I can bring the sun up and down in a manner that benefits our agricultural abilities, Luna can move the moon in a way that helps those that roam the seas for trade and other such matters and that’s it. Yes I know it’s still tremendous power but it’s not full control, in fact if my sister and I were to suddenly disappear the sun and moon would still act much the same as they do now. Just without the strict schedule we impose on them.”
Flash sat in his seat, his face unreadable,”So... we really have no other choice but to either fight a suicidal battle or flee in the false hope we might be able to return with an army?”
Celestia’s mouth twitched and she looked away, Flash looked down,”Captain, do you know what humans are?”
The Pegasus twisted his head and narrowed his eyes,”Humans?”
Celstia sighed,”Well I suppose nearly three thousand years of separation will do that.”
“Princess I apologize, but I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“I know you don’t. However it is the reason I am here.” She shifted her legs,”I have found, or rather remembered, an old debt we are owed by an ancient race of creatures far to the west.”
Flash’s eyes perked up,”And I’m going to guess they’re called humans?”
She nodded,”They could very well be the ally we need.”
She cleared her throat,“About three thousand years ago we had dealings with hummanity, though they weren’t very extensive. Sometimes human trade caravans would pass over from the western mountains to trade, other times there would be human trade ships on our western coastline. They had very limited contact with our known world and we had very little contact with them, it was like an unspoken agreement between us.”
“Around this time the dragons had a massive clan war, it was short lived to say the least. The Volar, the largest dragon clan of the time, had become overconfident in their supposed supremacy and attacked a smaller clan in an attempt to seize a treasure trove from them. This was a mistake, the action caused fear among the rest of the dragon clans and they united. Needless to say all together the small clans easily crushed the Volar. The remnants of the clan were exiled and thus forced to search for a new home.”
“We lost track of the clan for a number of years, then one day, a human arrived at our court. He was a diplomat sent on a mission to request our aid. Apparently the Volar had journeyed West and decided they liked the human lands. Then in typical dragon fashion attacked, mercilessly they tryed to carve a new home for themselves.”
“The humans told us they had just been through a long period of civil strife and even though they were holding on well enough their armies were in no shape to effectively combat this threat for good. They asked for aid and in return they promised their own aid should we ever request it.”
“After some discussion Luna and I agreed to help. We gathered our forces and followed the diplomat back to his homeland. In the ensuing conflict we saw much of human civilization, at a glance they seemed unimpressive and weak, but after fighting alongside them in battle we learned just how ferocious and tenacious they could be.”
“We also saw a fact that to this day boggles my mind. Humans are immune to magic. They can’t be directly effected by it in any way, they can be affected by magically influenced objects in their environment of course but they can in no way be hurt, healed, hindered or even feel direct magic.” She swallowed.
“Side by side we quickly defeated and slew the rest of the Volar, it was an amazing thing to see, together we were a formidable force. And then it ended. They thanked us and asked that we cut off all contact with them in any way.”
“They felt it was the best way to protect themselves from the perils of our world, they of course promised they would come to our aid if we called, just as they said they would. I begrudgingly agreed, despite Luna’s protests. It would have been pointless and difficult to fight a war so far away with so daunting a foe over the unlikely possibility of them not keeping a promise. So I took them at their word and we came home.”
She shrugged and blew a breath out her nose,”I kept my word and cut off all contact, so much so that most Ponies don’t even remember them anymore. Now I expect them to keep their word and come to our aid as they promised all those years ago.” She looked up at Flash with a fire in her eyes.
Flash was sitting back in his chair quietly processing the huge amount of information he had just been given. His lips curved slightly upwards,”That was a lot of exposition.” He sighed,”So then, we’re going to summon these, humans, to fight for us. How are we going to contact them?”
Celestia leaned forward,”I need you to get the best pegasus under your command, make sure he or she is loyal, explain what’s going in and have them fly this,” She held up the letter with her seal on it,”Over the western mountains.”
Flash nodded,”Alright, I can do that. Is there anything else?”
She hummed as she thought,”There’s a particular flight path they’ll need to take to get over the mountains, they are treacherous to traverse, but it’s the most direct route. I can give you the path on a map soon, I’ll just need time to put it down on paper. Hmm, you also need to make sure whoever you choose understands the need for secrecy here, it might not be likely but I don’t want to risk any word of this reaching the Zebras at all.”
“I understand that fully your majesty. I have a couple candidates already picked out in my head, when would you like my decision?”
She grunted as she stood up,”Tonight at the latest, I want to try and secure help as soon as possible.”
Flash stood up with her and nodded,”Alright, I’ll have somepony picked out and briefed by tonight ma’am.”
Clelestia smiled grimly and gave a small clap with her hands,”Good, thank you for your help captain, I knew I could trust you for help with this.”
“I’m just glad there’s a possibility we could turn this around.” She smiled and turned about.
She walked forward and stopped at the door, looking over her shoulder through her ever moving mane she smiled,”Before I go I must again offer to have some maids attend your room, the smell in here is... unbecoming to say the least.”
The young captain sighed,”No your grace, thank you for the offer though.” She shrugged and walked out of the room, the door closing with a soft click. Flash stood there and sniffed,”Fuck, it does smell terrible in here.”
