Shadows of Equestria

Burning was walking down the street outside of the Angry Alicorn after his brawl in the pub while the street lamps flickered and swayed with the wind shifting the lighting and causing a feeling of motion sickness as he continued his course, or was that the cider kicking in? The street was ominously silent apart from his own hoofsteps he could hear nothing as he approached the end of the street after spending his bits on cider and trying to get attention from the mares he decided it would be best to call it an evening before that annoyed pony in the Angry Alicorn came chasing after him and escalating the brawl further which Burning really couldn’t do with he was supposed to be a respectable citizen. Well as respectable as a pony living in lower Canterlot can be. As he turned the corner the sound of another pony’s hoofsteps became audible to which Burning sped up slightly, didn’t want to be caught by any of the many enemies he had made throughout the pubs in lower Canterlot and the Angry Alicorn was probably one of the last pubs he was allowed in after all the brawls he had oh how he missed the days of exciting fast paced missions where he got to openly beat other ponies to an inch of their lives. But as good as those days were ponies tend to learn lessons after so much pain and as a result there was now a lack of conflict, and a lack of jobs for the entire Shadow Division.

The hoofsteps drew closer as a roof tile slid and smashed onto the path behind Burning he squinted as the smashing sound echoed through the empty street

“Is that you Dark?” Inquired Burning as the Pegasus swooped down behind him

“The one and only and what are you doing out at a time like this, I thought you’d be getting blind drunk like always” Countered Dark putting emphasis on the last part of his comeback

“There were... difficulties with drinking this evening” Stated Burning simply deciding it would sound more elegant that way

“You brawled with another pony didn’t you?” Sighed Dark “Typical... just typical”

“It’s not my fault other ponies have a hard time acknowledging that when I drink I get angry quickly” Protested Burning to which Dark sighed and rolled his eyes

“Well anyway Double wants us back at the basement, apparently there’s been an interesting turn of events” Stated Dark at first burning thought nothing of it and cast it out as an emergency drill like Double had taken to doing the last few weeks

“It regards difficulties in diplomacy between Celestia and another monarch” Resumed Dark

Burning stopped in his tracks, turned and grinned wildly

“Well then we better get back quickly!” Burning began to sprint towards the house as Dark flew above him.

The small puddles in the cracks of the cobblestone road splashed behind Burning as he sped up his pace trying to match the speed of Dark’s flying which was near enough impossible as Dark became nothing more than a spec in the distance. Turning another corner Burning discovered that he had got himself lost which was widely inconvenient at the moment and in the centre of the street were 3 strange looking beings they had similar attributes to that of Discord with different body parts and each of them looked very, very angry as they stared into Burning’s soul

“Burning Brawl I presume?” Inquired one of them in a voice as smooth as velvet, closing his eyes and cringing slightly at the fact the three beings before him knew his name and probably everything else he decided upon an escape plan

“I’ll be leaving now chaps” He stated simply as he charged full pelt towards them he adjusted course rapidly to a small pile of boxes and kicked them down as he leaped for the rooftops. The lower half of his body smashed into the wall and he held onto the ledge of the roof with all of his strength raising himself up onto the top. Strangely enough the three beings took no notice of Burning’s escape

“We’ll be seeing you soon” Stated another being in a grating voice and the three disappeared into thin air just like that

“That was... the strangest experience of my life...” Muttered Burning rubbing his head “That sudden impulse of escape was completely irrational and out of my control... and I dread to think they are almost god like creatures similar to that of discord...”

The scene remained silent.

“Who the buck am I talking to?!” Exclaimed Burning shaking his head and returning to his long journey of finding the basement to hear this development first hoof

Burning opened the hatch to the basement and slid down the ladder into the candle lit chamber that lay beneath the house

“Glad you could finally join us” Complained Dark “You’re slow as ever”

“Well maybe if you didn’t leave me back there in the middle of lower Canterlot...” Moaned Burning they were both hit around the head with a newspaper which Double Vision had in his hoof

“Both of you shut up. My IQ drops by about 10 points every time you utter a single word” Interrupted Double in a frustrated tone “We’ve received a letter from Princess Celestia asking for our assistance in something that’s far more complex than simple espionage and assassinations”

“So there’ll be no mindless brawling?” Hurriedly asked Burning in a state of panic

“I’m sure there’ll be plenty of that. We’ve been asked to investigate something to do with political disagreements with Stalliongrad who, as you all know, have decided it best to separate from Equestria and claim the area around Stalliongrad for their own naming it Greater Stalliongrad. However the Princesses believe that there have been multiple Draconequus meddling in political and public affairs to influence a separation” Stated Double, Dark and Burning looked at each other in confusion

“Simply please, not all of us are geniuses” Sighed Dark finally

“Well we all know that...” Grinned Double “Basically, Draconequus making Stalliongrad break way from Equestria and trying to start war, if you want an even more simple version then here. War will begin if we don’t act” Burning decided that the events of earlier were probably linked into this current event but decided not to speak out in case he was just seeing things. After all ponies tended to see a few things after drinking as much cider as he did

“That’s all I needed to know, so what do we need to do?” Said Burning

“We need to get to Stalliongrad quickly in order to investigate the political workings and then report back to Celestia for further instructions dependant on the outcome” Replied Double picking up a map of Stalliongrad a box of pins and a ball of string “Get everything ready, we leave at sunrise”

And with that the small basement was bustling with activity Burning placed wooden clubs and blunt objects into his saddlebags while Dark simply placed a crossbow with 5 bolts into his. As they did so another letter appeared on the table which Double immediately read. He scanned the letter and grimaced

“Unpack” He sighed “We’re not going to Stalliongrad”

“What?! Why?!” Exclaimed Dark “I was ready to meet some Stalliongrad mares to...” to which he pouted

“Stalliongrad just announced war and as you can probably tell it’ll be considerably harder to get to Stalliongrad in the middle of a war” Replied Double grimly “We’ve been stationed in what is apparently the first target for an air invasion”

“We’re on the frontlines?” Moaned Dark “We’re supposed to be Stealthy not some suicide squad!” Double ignored this and continued to scan the letter

“We’ve actually been positioned at the furthest post away from Stalliongrad but it’s vulnerable to a quick air attack, the locals have no training in violence and they’re in a pretty dire situation at the moment with only 6 elite warriors apparently” Replied Double doing hoof gestures as he read “The station in question will be on the border of the Everfree Forest where Stalliongrad air troops will likely land to make a surprise approach. That is if they haven’t already. And the town... it says here the town’s name is Ponyville”

“So... no brawling?” Frowned Burning

“The opposite. A lot of brawling” Stated Double “But we still need to leave immediately for the attack could launch any minute or not at all...”