Light from a fireball passing by reflected off of a blade as it came crashing down upon an unsuspecting orange unicorn. A loud CLASH was heard; followed by a cry of pain, however, it was quickly muffled by the clattering of swords, and the screams of others. A yellow pony who was covered head to hoof in full-plated, steel armor sighed. Well, he was covered extensively, aside from two holes that let his wings out of the steel prison. Not wanting to waste time, the pegasus slung any loose blood he could off the blade. A grey pegasus thanked him and charged into the ensuing melee between several ponies. The yellow pegasus readjusts himself and surveys the battlefield:
The ground was charred black from fire and stained crimson from the blood. Numerous bodies lay scattered about. A new moon hid itself behind the twinkling lights of distant stars, trying to cover its eyes from what is occurring below.
The battling of ponies took place on top of a hill overlooking the beautiful town of Ponyville. Most of the town residents had evacuated once they heard about a force of armed mercenaries heading towards their beloved town.
The fight for the hill was stirred on by the need for strategic positions for both the countries “Equestria” and the rebellious “Crimson Moon”. If either side captures this hill, they could build a castle with a deep, spiked moat with a well-designed battlement and hold up against a siege for weeks if given the right amount of supplies. Not to mention it means the victor will have taken control of the famous “Castle of Friendship.”
“Decorations later; foundation now,” he said as he attempted to humor himself under his breath, or what little breath he had left.
“Die vermin!” A booming voice interrupted his thoughts. Whirling himself around, he narrowly avoids a blade destined to arrive right into the back of his skull. He attempts to recollect himself but is quickly caught off guard again by the swift recovery of his assaulter, forcing him to dodge once more.
Impatient, he considers. Distancing himself from the foe, he starts to analyze the opposing warrior’s body: An Olive fur earth pony with padded armor, two axes — one in each hand of course — and a nasty scar left on his right eye. This stallion is quite the brute, his thoughts distract him while the earth pony flourishes two axes and charges toward the pegasus with a craving for blood.
SWOOSH
Two axes collide with nothing. The pegasus now 10 feet away from the pony.
Tired from his third whiffed attack, the olive furred pony attempted to catch his breath. But the pegasus would not dare to waste this opportunity.
A WHISTLE was heard; soon followed by a CLASH. His offense short-lived as an axe locks the cutting edge of the falchion under the beard of it. A secondary axe swings into the chest of the pegasus, causing a severe dent into the steel armor he is wearing.
An aargh slipped out of the pegasus, but he still manages to use his newfound adrenaline from the impact to punch the smirking barbarian in his jaw.
“Ack!” The earth pony yelped as he dashed backward from the pegasus.
”What’s the matter? Did I ruin the pretty-colt’s only source of stallionity?“ the pegasus unfurls his wings.
”Heh” he wiped the blood from his mouth ”I Didn’t think Stalwart Knight had a sense of humor,” the barbarian let out, raspiness filling his words with a harsh tone.
“I never did anything fame worthy, how do you know my name,” Stalwart Knight demands, narrowing his eyes.
”An asshole such as yourself is easy to spot,” The barbarian bares his yellow teeth.
“I fail to understand. Haven’t you betrayed Equestria for bits?” Stalwart Knight’s head tilts ever-so-slightly.
”Bits are bits. And you have a mighty fine price for your head,” the barbarian points his left-hoof axe toward Stalwart Knight.
”Cease your hostility and we could resolve this peacefully! Come back to Equestria, and fight for friendship!” Stalwart raised his hoof and waited for the barbarian to do the same.
”Don’t be a fool, friendship has failed us!” The barbarian spat, his blood pumping on the thought of combat. The two stare at each other in silence as Stalwart thinks of what to say back. The tension between the two enough to melt iron.
“Do not be so hasty to fight barbarian. I want to know why you betrayed Equestria, bits are bits but killing your own kind for them seems, well, barbaric!” Stalwart raises his falchion, just in case push comes to shove and he fails in teaching sense to the barbarian.
”HYAAH!” Their argument was interrupted by a thunderous scream coming from the dark. A lightly armored blue earth pony comes charging into view. With blood on his mind and a target in sight, he barrels toward Stalwart with his sword held high and swings it down with all his might, but is quickly side-stepped by Stalwart. The young earth pony tumbles to the floor and gets silenced by a stab to the throat from Stalwart.
“I don’t want to waste time talking to you, Knight! I have others to kill and you’re keeping me from that!” the barbarian couldn’t keep still as he readies his weapons, prompting Stalwart to do the same. The barbarian was eager to keep fighting. This was a warzone, not a place to chat.
”Yea,” Stalwart sighed. “But first, I want to know your name barbarian. Even though our conversation was short and hostile. I truly do believe we can still resolve this peacefully, and you could come back to Equestria’s aid as a hero,” Stalwart’s voice softer than usual, his last-ditch effort to coerce the barbarian to his side.
“Why would I tell you my name? I’m here to fight; not to talk!” This was the last straw, the barbarian charges toward Stalwart Knight.
“Celestia, why can’t I have peace,” Stalwart loosens his joints and mentally readies himself for the encounter.
SWOOSH!
TING!
SHHHLK
The barbarian gargles; his impatience beats his sense as he falls victim to a decisive stab into his neck from Stalwart Knight.
The barbarian falls onto his back, grasping at his throat as his blood was now drowning him. Stalwart wasn’t sure what finished him off there; suffocation, or him bleeding out?
A voice calls to him, pleading for his assistance. He looks up to see a battered white unicorn in their own magical bubble. Their weapon not in sight as they cower in fear of the four ponies around them. All striking the bubble in an attempt to break it. Without help, that pony will be exhausted in just under a minute and have to give up holding the shield.
Stalwart can’t take them on his own, so he decides to quickly interrupt a duel between two ponies. Stabbing his blade through an unsuspecting pony, a light blue coat earth pony with a white crew-cut manestyle thanks him for his help and charges int– gets stopped by Stalwart.
“No! You’ll be my battle-buddy! C'mon, we have to go save that unicorn over there!” Stalwart points at the now motionless unicorn, who must be too weak to call for help. In a few seconds, their willpower would not be strong enough to hold off the four attackers.
“Y-yes, sir! I- uh, I’m with you!” The pony noticeably shivers through his full-plate armor as he stares toward the four barbarians.
“You’ll do fine! Now let’s go!” Stalwart gives the pony a smile. His kindness soon disappears into a shroud of hatred as he turns and gallops toward the four assaulters. His newly elected “battle-buddy” begins to follow.
“FOR EQUESTRIA!” he screams, spreading confusion around the four ponies like the plague.
Blood flies onto the white bubble, giving it red polka dots. A scream follows the gory display, as a lifeless unicorn drops to the floor. In his peripheral vision, he sees the navy pony fighting a pegasus. From what little he saw the pegasus was holding a spear, and the navy pony couldn’t get past it. That foal won’t last in this war, let alone this battle, his thoughts were interrupted as he sidesteps a green pony’s axe and blocks an unforeseen blow from the other pony. The green pony recovers and takes the initiative. Swinging his axe upward from the floor toward Stalwart’s head, with the mindset of keeping Stalwart on the defensive and tiring him. Stalwart takes his falchion and deflects the incoming blow. Now with the green pony directly in between him and the second fighter, he can finish the barbarian with a deep slash across the back. It may not kill the stallion instantly, but he’ll soon succumb to his wounds. The final pony Stalwart must kill was a pink mare unicorn. She cries out “brother!” as she flares her horn and flings nearby swords at Stalwart.
Blocking most blows, he eventually can’t keep up and trips on a dead pony’s body and tumbles to the ground. His life flashes before his eyes, as a sword drops onto him. What? Stalwart looks up to see the light blue earth pony pull his longsword from the side of the unicorn.
“Thanks, I never would’ve lived if it wasn’t for you two.” a white mare with a curly red velvet mane spoke as she grabbed her two daggers from the ground.
“Y-You’re welcome ma’am, just try to be careful and stick with your squad next time,” Stalwart stands up and looks down at his body, thankful to see no holes. Shaking his head, he looks toward the navy pony. “What’s your name, soldier?”
“Sorry sir, I didn’t hear you” The light blue pony trudges toward the two, his head was still looking back, not letting his eyes off the pony who he had just killed.
Stalwart repeats himself, “what’s your name?”
“Oh. Uh, my name is ‘Blue Sky,’ sir,” the pony finally breaks from his trance and makes eye-contact with Stalwart. “What’s yours?” the pony inquires.
“Stalwart Knight; just call me ‘Knight.’ It’s way faster than ‘Stalwart,’” he chuckles to himself. “What about you, uni? What’s your name?” Knight turns to the white mare.
The mare looks up as a smile forms on her face, “I’m ‘Snow Flake!’ It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Knight!” She raises her hoof.
Caught off guard by the sudden outburst, Knight and Sky look at each other in confusion. Knight blinks a few times and looks back at the joyous mare as he takes her gesture and shakes hooves with the mare. “The pleasure is all mine, Snow.”
“The enemy is routing! Reform at the end of the hill! Do NOT give chase!” Their friendly greetings interrupted by a pegasus flying high in the sky. They were in full plate armor, as was the norm in the Equestrian army, but their armor was dyed with a slight red tint. The thunderous clopping of hooves ensued after.
“Well, after this, I wish to see you two again. Perhaps I’ll see you in a tavern sometime? I’m sure command will give us a day to celebrate this victory,” Knight said, as he began to make his way to his regiment.
“Sure!” The earth pony and unicorn said unanimously as they parted ways.
A smile on his face formed as he was now at the front of the regiment looking down upon the once fearless warriors of the night. He could enjoy every second of this, but it was cut short.
“Enemy pegasi are flanking us! Unicorns link up! Create a dome magic shield around your divisions! Cast combustion spells if you can! Do not falter warriors!” The red-tinted pegasus yelled.
I suppose war will always get in the way of a fun afternoon, thought to himself as horns of all colors lit up to create a white dome around him and his fellow warriors. The calls of unicorns saying “I’m locked in” and pegasi wings flapping filling the air.
Pegasi begin to pound into the shields, however, the sheer amount of unicorns didn’t make it an easy task. Anxiety fills up the dome, as they begin to surround the shield. A few unicorns break off to cast fireballs. The dome opens ever-so-slightly to let them escape and closes once more. The fireworks go on for what felt like forever, but soon even the pegasus had to retreat.
“Huzzah!” Numerous ponies called out in victory as the enemy ran.
Taking his helmet off to wipe his brow, a genuine smile creeps upon his face. The sun rises, signaling the dawn of a new day, as too a new era. An era where Equestria defeated her enemies; without friendship.
Author's Note
A random, thrown together an idea of a universe I had in mind. This may be the only thing I write for a while because I am horrible at brainstorming. Coming up with ideas and generally moving the story along. I have been writing and flushing out the idea of chapter two, but I’m afraid I have to admit all I am doing is writing action scenes I think are cool. I am barely giving a character depth and giving too many characters in my opinion. I’m just throwing this out there to explain why there probably won’t be a part two for a while. I just need time to think, and after that, I can work on rewriting this with the skills I’ve learned. Have a nice day!
Please notify me on ways I could improve! I want to get better at this! :)
(This story will no longer be canon soon. When I start writing Stalwart Knight's journey in the distant future, it will be a lot different. A lot better, too.)
