Longsword - PrologueView OnlineLongswordLongsword - PrologueBlack Cloak State of Longsword, Central Griffonia. “Be welcome, comrades” Starry Night spoke to her fellow revolutionaries in a secluded forest grove. “I’m glad you could all safely make it. I’ve gathered us today to discuss our plan of action against the increasing Black Cloak threat. Not a day passes that we don’t hear about villages being burned, families slaughtered or corpses floating in the river! This has gone on long enough, what will we do about it?” “We will resist, we will fight, we will bite!” The small crowd raged. “Glory comrades!” Starry Night continued. “As I speak, our friends in Hellquill and Lake City are moving in to bring us aid! Dusktalon and his cronies will not harm innocent ponies anymore! A new dawn rises, and we will be free” The partisans cheered and stomped their hooves in response. A glint of hope was seen in each of their eyes, for the first time in years. Their will to be prepared for what was to come had grown in the past few years. … Longsword, a small and impoverished nation in Central Griffonia. It forms part of the borderlands between the fractured Griffon Empire, and the loosely united Pony River Federation of the Far East. For a full millenium the Griffon Empire and the Ponies of the Riverlands had waged a war for conquest, and survival. The Griffon emperor made no secrets of his plans to colonize and exterminate the Ponies of the Riverlands. Only by uniting were they able to resist the onslaught of the Griffon armies. However. Two hundred years ago, the Griffon Empire shattered. Their colony on the continent of Equestria had broken free, and the states of Prywhen, Aquilea, and Wingbardy had all declared themselves independent nation. Worse still, the Empire turned from a unified state into small regions run by local lords fighting for local dominance. The Empire now directly only controlled one tenth of its old lands. The Emperor had become a figurehead. True power is held by the three Archons, the leaders of the ancient Griffon churches. They established Longsword as a buffer between the weakened Empire and the Riverlands. The Knights of the Order of the Black Cloak were given dominion over the lands of Longsword. Longsword had, thanks to its central location on the continent, a mixed population. Nearly half were Griffons, while the other half were Ponies. Seeing the Ponies as responsible for the Empires fall from grace, the Order of the Black Cloaks Master, Dusktallon, had issued an order to his knights. The ponies of Longsword were to be systematically and secretly removed from the lands. Starry Night had come to Longsword from the state of Hellquill. A nation also controlled by a Griffon Knights order. However in Hellquill, the order had begun to distance itself from the control of the Archons. They had proclaimed themselves the defenders of Ponies living under the Griffon talon. But with the state of their own lands, they were in no position to do anything to stop Dusktalon. Starry Night had left Hellquill with a promise. If she was successful in starting an uprising against the Knights of the Order of the Black Cloak, they would send any and all help that they would be able to. Meanwhile in the Northern wastes of the Griffonian Continent, in the fortress of Magires, a small group of ponies strive to resurrect the ancient Empire of Death. The numbers of the Army of the Dead grow by thousands each day. Vampires and necromancers are being called from around the world by a mysterious source of power. The Griffon Arcturian Order, which was entrusted to protect the continent from the armies of the dead, has been left neglected, and are now unable to protect their lands from even the smallest of bandit raids. The Ponies of Longsword are preparing for revolution. Necromancers and Vampire gather and rebuild their once unstoppable force. The Archons of the Griffon Empire plot and scheme against the lords of the houses of the Empire. The states of the River Federation are in turmoil, and border conflicts spill over from Prywhen. Equestria is surrounded by enemies. The Changelings prepare for an invasion. And Stalliongrad builds itself up to one day invade all of the nations of the Continent of Equestria. Every Pony and Griffon alike see the coming storm. From where the fire will start, is a question many ask themselves.
1View OnlineLongsword1Laying in his bed in the middle of the night, a Pony by the name of Comet Buster tries to fall asleep. He can’t quite seem to be able to. The moon light turns his room into a spectacle of light and shadows. The quiet village makes no noise. All seems peaceful and wonderful. “I have a good life, don’t I?” He asks himself out loud. Thinking of the field work that has to be done tomorrow is enough to make him tired. He is nearly asleep, slowly being taken into the nocturnal world. A loud and sudden noise jerks him out of his sleep. He hears rustling and smashing in the kitchen. He gets out of bed and approaches the door, about to open it. His mother rushes inside, slamming the door behind her. She quickly pulls his bed to the door. He hears fighting outside of his door. “Dad?” He asks nervously. “Mom, what’s going on?” “I don’t know, quick come to the window.” The two go to the window. “Comet, I love you, we love you with all of our hearts.” His mother embraces him tightly. He can hear her crying. “We have to run.” “What? What about Dad? What’s going on, I don’t understand.” “Listen! Run. Run to the woods, run somewhere, anywhere. Just promise me! Promise me you’ll live!” She screams at him, tears now freely flowing from here eyes. “Here, take this, it's a necklace passed down to me from your grandmother.” His mother gives him a necklace of a Pony holding a spear. “Take it. Don’t cry my son, as long as you live, I don’t care what happens. Now go, we have to run!” She pushes him out of the window, and he starts to run for the nearby woods. She jumps out after him. As he runs he hears a gunshot, and then his mothers screams. A second gunshot silences them. He stops and turns around, crying. “Mother! Father!” He screams, then he notices that the entire village is ablaze. He is reminded to run by a third shot, this time aimed at him, which flies past his ear. He starts to run again, but doesn’t make it far before the next shot hits him in his hind left leg. He falls to the ground in screams of pain and agony, attempting to crawl away from his death. Time starts to slow down for him. “What’s going on. Am I gonna die?” A squad of Griffon soldiers, dressed in all black, emerge from his home. They take their time approaching him. He hears laughter. As they walk up to him, one of them says to him. “Filthy, disgusting life forms. We’ll give you a quick death, don’t worry. Or maybe we won’t. What do you think we should do, Gretz?” Another Griffon, this one wearing what appeared to be a ceremonial outfit, replied. “Well, while it would save us time by getting it over with, he is a young Pony. I don’t know about you, but I prefer taking my time with th…” A bullet hits the officer in the head. He drops dead. “What the hell?! Where did that come from? Quick, run back to the village, tell them were under atta…” Another bullet silences the second Griffon. The remaining two Griffons run back to the village to inform the others. Comet relaxes. “So I’ll survive today?” He asks himself. “Yes, and you’ll live for much more than just today if I have anything to say about it.”
2View OnlineLongsword2Comet looks up, seeing three Ponies standing around him. He hears Ponies screaming as they charge the village, gunshots erupting everywhere. A Pony with dark blue fur and a dark blue mane stands out to him. “Who are you?” “I’m Starry Night.” She replies to him. “We’re the Pony Liberation Army. Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of you.” After hearing this, Comet collapses and passes out. “Pick him up, take him back to the forest line and stop his bleeding.” Starry Night commands the other two Ponies. They salute her and do as she says. Walking forward, hearing gunshots, seeing smoke, and smelling powder, Starry Night grins. “You’re not untouchable. We can bite too. But we will not stop until every last drop of either your blood, or ours is spilled.” The sun begins to rise, and the gunshots die down. The last few remaining Griffon soldiers have barricaded themselves in a house on the outskirts of the village. Ponies surrounded the house, yelling pleas of surrender, and insults to the Griffons. General Steel Stallion walks up to the partisans. “Why haven’t you killed them yet?” “Sir, they’re in that building, if we attack it we’ll take heavy loses.” A partisan replies to him. “Yes, we can’t accept unwarranted casualties. Bring the grenades.” When the Griffons see the Ponies bringing sacs of grenades, they walk out of the house and throw down their guns. The Ponies gather them up and march them out of the village. Starry Night approaches. “Are these all that remain?” “Yes.” Steel Stallion replies. “What should be done with them?” “If they want to spill our blood, let us spill their blood.” She replies. She pulls out a pistol and aims it at the head of the first soldier. “No, wait, I didn’t want to do this, I was forced to. Please, spare me.” Starry night shoots. She walks over to the next soldier, who also pleads for his life. She shoots him as well. Four soldiers say nothing. The last remaining one looks her in the eyes. “We’ll kill every single last one of you, you disgusting creatures. Long live Longswor..” He is silenced. “Friends. This is but the first step. And this was just a small battle. But we have proven, not just to ourselves, but to all the Ponies of Longsword, that we will not sit idly by while they kill us off. If they want to kill us, let them try!” The Ponies erupt into cheers. “Its just a shame we were too late to save this village. There are no surviving Ponies.” Steel Stallion said. “No, we have one survivor.” Author's Note Im going to make longer chapters.
