Everfree Liberation Army

A Traitor's Plight.

Equestrian Military Base Between Fillydelphia And Dream Valley.

Applejack stood before a map of the surrounding lands. Her armor was weighing her down, the heavy golden plated cuirass and shoulder pads only added to the discomfort of the sudden warm weather. Inside the large military tent where she planned her own raids into the forest stood several mares and stallions, officers of the Equestrian military.

"Ok, ya'll got somethin ta say? Or are ya just goin to stand around here all day?"

Applejack was too tired and uncomfortable to try and be nice.

"General Applejack," A similarly armored blue stallion with no mane stood up. "With all due respect, we cannot be expected to go on the offensive without proper planning and knowledge of the surrounding area."

"Captain Long Mane is correct ma'am," A mare pegasus with a golden coat and red mane replied before Applejack could say anything else. "Our knowledge of the land is very limited and the enemy controls all major crossing points into the forest."

Applejack now stood up, anger and frustration now clearly showing in her face.

"Well ah don't care! Yesterday a town full o' ponies just stopped bein there because of us not doing nothing!"

She glared at her officers. The raids had been brutal in the south, although not being led by a figure so frightening as the Wolf Of the north, the Wolf Clan's captain in the south was cunning.

Captain Merith, better known as the Lone Wolf, had led a guerrilla styled campaign all across the southern border of the Everfree.

Late at night a horn would be heard, followed by the scream of an unfortunate pony, and then the chosen Equestrian scouting party would be ambushed.

It always ended swiftly and in admirable silence.

From the treeline a dying pony would scream for help, then the Equestrian military would send a patrol to investigate, and when they found the dead pony, arrows would be shot from the tree tops.

Poisoned arrows.

The Lone Wolf was well known for using archers more than anything in his attacks. The poisoned arrows brought a swift dead for his foes.

Applejack had been clashing wits with her new nemesis for over four months. At first the element of honesty found it relatively easy to drive back the hordes of soldiers that rushed out of the forest every week, but that was before the Wolf Clan made a sudden change in its personnel.

The Lone Wolf took over southern forces and Applejack was no longer able to hold them back. She was known for her strength, hard work and determination, but not for her smarts.

And intelligence was all her nemesis was renowned for.

Applejack's initial strategy of building check points across the treeline had not been a wise one. During the construction of the small military bases, supply carts needed to travel between the city and the construction sites.

They were raided.

Wolf Clan soldiers followed the paths the carts took after sundown, and hiding along the way they waited for the supply ponies to come back from town, loaded with goods and materials for building.

After several weeks of incessant harassing and ambushing, the Lone Wolf grew bold and directly attacked the largest check point built so far. It was a tremendous victory.

Wolf Clan soldiers waited until nightfall hidden behind trees, and when the sun was down they attacked. A few soldiers stealthily made their way towards the small redoubt and climbed the small walls.

The garrison consisted of a few dozen earth ponies, about fifteen pegasi and twenty unicorns. But during the night only a few guards patrolled the walls.

The soldiers killed the watchponies and opened the gates. The rest of their comrades then made their way into the fortress and slaughtered everypony in their sleep.

Applejack was shocked to learn of the defeat. Her largest military base along the treeline was destroyed and nothing stood between the Wolf Clan and a small town by the name of Blue Mane.

She had spent several nights trying to mobilize troops to the towns defense, but her warnings fell on deaf ears. Her officers thought it would be a waste of time, that the Wolf Clan did not have enough men to attack Blue Mane.

They were wrong.

A week after the checkpoint fell, an human army besieged Blue Mane. The town militia tried to resist the attack but they were not ready for such a brutal fight.

Wolf Clan soldiers poisoned the small river that flowed through the city, and flung dead animals over the walls during each assault. In a small amount of time the whole town was plagued by disease. Pegasi that attempted to fly over to Fillydelphia for supplies were shot down by the Lone Wolf's skilled sharpshooters, a few did manage to escape, but they never made it back in time with the supplies.

In only a few days the Wolf Clan stormed the town gates and forced the militia to surrender.

Applejack had received the news of the siege too late and when she finally moved out of Fillydelphia with a fighting force she did not arrive in time to save the town.

The Lone Wolf had put every resident to the sword and burned the buildings. It seemed almost decorative in the way the corpses laid scattered around. A hundred in each important street, nicely lined up across it, and fifty inside the town hall, the bodies had been placed in obscene positions throughout the place.

Applejack's latest failure was the reason for that day's discussion.

"General Applejack, that was not our fault. We had no way of knowing the enemy would attack Blue Mane." Captain Long Mane was losing his temper.

"Ah aint taking that good fer nothin bullspit Long Mane! An you know it! We could have saved them ponies and their town if yall hadnt been so afraid to send in the army!" Applejack was furious now, she had made a promise to the ponies of the southern province, that she would protect them and she had failed.

"General, there simply is no way for us to respond to the attack without proper intelligence about the forest!" The mare was offended by Applejack's statement but tried to retain a sense of respect.

Applejack rubbed her temples with both hoofs against a building headache.

"Send a messenger ta Ponyville, tell em we need more scouts..."

"Yes ma'am."

Both officers saluted and left the tent, obviously irritated by Applejack.

The orange earth pony looked up to the ceiling of her tent holding back tears.

"Sweet Celestia, help me..."

Brethgurt

The old wizard looked out of his window and into the starry sky.

It had been four months since Grunthar and himself had been assigned as advisers to an Equestrian general in the north. Their campaign to stop the Wolf of the north had not been a successful one. Captain Fraithen was thoroughly feared by all ponies and he took advantage of that.

With every battle, he took the lives of as many ponies as he could. All of his prisoners were horribly mutilated beyond recognition and then returned to their families, and with every crippled pony that came back, fewer were willing to enlist into the ranks of the army.

The Equestrian general was losing his temper and Brethgurt knew that it would not be long before Frethnk's favorite insane captain launched a full frontal assault. They were not ready.

The army garrisoned in Ponyville was large enough to take on any force the Wolf Clan could send at them. But Brethgurt's  general had only a few battalions at his disposal, and their encampment was a good distance away from the Ponyville Head Quarters.

Brethgurt walked away from the window and opened the door of his bedroom, as advisers he and Grunthar had been granted personal sleeping quarters and servants. The walk down the stairs was slow and it gave Brethgurt time to think.

He pondered about the events that led him to his current situation. The months after the battle of the Ponyville plains had been agitated. The Princess herself called a meeting with Gruthvink, Grunthar, Brethgurt and the elements of harmony to discuss their plan of action.

After the elements had been split to their different positions however, Brethgurt noticed that the one called Rainbow Dash seemed saddened by her orders to depart.

He had thought at the time that it was because she would no longer see her friends for a while. But a similar look on one of his best soldiers told him otherwise.

Brethgurt turned around quickly, hearing a noise behind you in the dark usually meant trouble, but he relaxed after he saw who it was.

"Can't sleep lad?" The old wizard asked his young friend.

"No, I keep having the same dream." The soldier walked over to Brethgurt and stood beside him, his face was troubled.

"You know, you have to get her off your thoughts. Otherwise you might end up killed from exhaustion."

"I cannot, the dream comes back every night."

"The dream about the woman?" Brethgurt stressed the word woman, knowing full well what the young warrior had been dreaming about.

"Yes," Edvard turned his head sideways so that Brethgurt would not catch him in his lie.

A long silence followed, only to be broken by Brethgurt.

"If what the dream suggests is true, then the path before you both is full of peril and despair." Brethgurt let out a sigh before continuing. "But in the end you will find happiness."

"What about her? Will she be happy?" Edvard's expression was impossible to read, he did not seem in the least worried about his own happiness if it did not include the mare he had come to love.

Brethgurt let out a hesitant sigh, the gift of prophesy and divination was sometimes more of a curse than a blessing.

"She will find acceptance..." Brethgurt lowered his eyes and walked down the rest of the steps only stopping at the door of the building.

"But remember young warrior, the only thing the dream reveals is the final result of your journey. The path that may lead you to happiness may be as sharp and sure as the blade of a sword or as turbulent and unexpected as the waves of the sea."

Edvard looked at the old wizard with a question in his eyes, but Brethgurt only opened the door and walked away into the night.

"... as sharp as a sword or unexpected as the sea..." The young man thought about the wizards prediction, convinced that among those words there was a hidden message that hinted at his future and that of the rainbow maned mare.

Brethgurt made his way around the corner of the building were they were staying. The army was garrisoned in a small village between Ponyville and the, recently destroyed, village of GreenHoof that lay farther south.

The small village had around twenty houses and fewer residents. Most had fled by the time the army arrived, now the buildings housed the higher ranking officers of the army while the soldiers slept in tents around the village.

Brethgurt walked through the only street in town and made his way to a small stream, he gazed at the water and stroke his beard.

"Shadows in the trees,

Shades in the streams,

A cloud of fire,

Your need is dire."

He muttered the small poem he had been hearing in his troubled sleep. No matter how much he thought it over, he simply couldn't figure it out.

The dream had always been the same.

He would find himself surrounded by trees, knee deep in a pond of murky water and the first line of the morbid poem would echo through the air.

Shadows in the trees...

Brethgurt turned around quickly as a tree branch snapped behind him, taking his thoughts away from his dreams.

"Who's there?!"

He shouted at the trees but nothing stirred. All was quiet, not a single sound was heard. The only thing that moved were the branches in the wind

And their shadows.

Brethgurt backed away slowly, trying to find the source of the sound. He looked from left to right, scanning the surroundings.

Shades in the streams...

A soft splashing sound from the stream startled him next.

"Who the hell is that?!"

Brethgurt was sweating and his respiration came fast and uneven.

"Show yourself! Show your filthy face you coward!"

He drew his sword and continued to look around him, searching for the cause of the noises.

Then his eyes rested on a horrible sight.

Fire came from the encampment! The army was under attack!

"Gods no!" Brethgurt raced towards the burning buildings and the sounds of battle became louder and louder with each step he took.

A cloud of fire...

Edvard went back in his room after the wizard left.

His thoughts were racing inside his head and he didn't think he would be able to sleep for the rest of the night.

He sat on the small bed beside a window and ran a hand through his hair.

"Rainbow Dash..."

His voice was quiet, but the name they carried resounded through the room like thunder in a winter storm.

Edvard's hand went from his hair to the back of his neck.

"Why do my dreams torment me so? Why does your name sadden my heart like there will be no tomorrow?"

His eyes stared off into the darkness, not looking at anything in particular and looking at all things in detail at the same time. His mind desperate to find something which reminded him of her.

His hand left the back of his neck and came to rest on his stomach as he laid down. He felt the multiple scars on his flesh and pondered over just how much longer he would be able to avoid death.

"Why has destiny thrown me into such misery? To see and hear you but not allowing me to be there?"

He stopped his thoughts as he felt a particular wound that had recently healed.

On the side of his stomach and just below his rib cage lay a scar left by a spear.

His mind drifted of into thought as he remembered the events that followed that battle.

"Dont leave..." He had said.

"I wont..."

Those words had tormented him ever since. She had stayed with him and tended to his wounds as best she could.

After his consciousness had returned they had spent endless hours talking.

"Yeah! And then I swooped down and saved the baby from falling off the cliff!" She had boasted as she told of her multiple achievements and deeds.

Edvard had simply listened and smiled through it all, he knew little of acrobatics and aerial maneuvers. All he needed to know was that her voice made him feel alive.

"And then I... Hello? Equestria to Edvard!"

"Ah... Sorry Rainbow I got... Distracted..."

Edvard could not understand how her eyes lit up with such joy as she spoke, but it fascinated him.

"Mhm... Well whatever, Its your turn to tell me a story now!"

He then told her about his days of soldiering in Gruthvink's army. She listened with amazement as he narrated his tales of adventure and bravery and her eyes kept on shining.

The months had passed and their friendship kept on growing, he hoped it would never end.

But the war caught up to them, and in a violent twist of fate they were separated.

"I... I have to go to Cloudsdale..."

Rainbow Dash had said as she looked down at the floor under an oak tree.

The sadness in her voice was heartbreaking.

"We will meet again, Rainbow, that much I swear..."

Their eyes had met as he spoke and they did not move their gaze from each other for what seemed like an eternity.

In a final act of desire and longing she could not control herself anymore and jumped into his arms, as their lips met, a bond was sealed, one that he knew not even war would be able to break.

"Let them come," He had thought as their lips locked, his blood boiled and his heart raced. "Let those bastards throw as much as they can at me, I no longer care. I could die speared tomorrow by a thousand lances, and my face would still hold on to a smile."

The memories brought tears to his eyes and warmth to his heart. He remembered her and the moments they had shared with each other. And as the night went on, he could only wonder if she felt the same.

He rose to his feet and started to walk around the room, still unable to catch any sleep.

The window was open and a strange light glowed on the outside.

He frowned and walked over to the window. As he he moved closer strange sounds added to his confusion.

Then he recognized the feeling of danger that had formed in his mind.

They were being attacked.

Captain Fraithen

"Such a beautiful night..."

The Wolf of the north looked at the scene before him with amusement.

"Captain the ambush has been successful, our soldiers have overrun the encampment and the Equestrian general has been captured."

Fraithen looked at his officer and his smile widened.

"Oh my, we should go greet him! What kind of hosts would we be if our guest is left unattended?"

"Yes, sir."

The soldier was nervous, everyone who had ever met Fraithen knew of his cruelty and random outbursts of madness. Not even his highest ranking officers were safe from being horribly tortured for the entertainment of Fraithen's twisted mind.

The soldier turned to leave but Fraithen's words stopped him in his place and made a shiver run down his spine.

"Your name soldier..."

"M-my n-n-name, sir?" The terror in his voice betrayed him.

"Yes, I would like to know the name of such a competent man..."

The terrified soldier could feel Fraithen's stare pierce through his skull and into his very soul.

"K-keirth... Sir." Keirth was sweating, his forehead was damp and he could feel a pit of terror form in his stomach.

"Very well Keirth! We shall see to your promotion after the battle!" The Captain's cheerful voice did little to improve Keirth's trembling.

Fraithen left the scared soldier behind as he walked towards the battle. Inside the captain's mind the laughter and enjoyment from such a hilarious reaction could barely be contained.

"Very well men!" All soldiers turned around to face their leader as Fraithen called out to them from atop of a rock. "Half the camp is already ours! Now, listen here, you will all head into the town and surround it, after you do that i want you to bring me the men that are inside! Those are traitors! And i have a very special surprise planned for them!"

The soldiers cheered and charged off into the rows of burning tents and towards the buildings in the distance.

The floor was littered with the corpses of ponies and a few men. And the stench of death was already filling the air.

Fraithen enjoyed every moment of the slaughter that had taken place before him. He had watched intently as the surprised stallions and mares that surrendered were tied up and tortured inside their tents.

At first their screams were sufficient. But he grew impatient and ordered his men to continue outside, where he could watch.

Now however, the ponies were long dead and his source of fun was gone. His mood darkened and he started to mutter things to himself. Things not even he could understand, but he cared little for what his mind had to say. He was insane after all wasn't he?

He smiled at the thought of being insane. "If insanity is like this, then why would anyone want to be sane?" he chuckled to himself before walking through the burning camp and heading towards the village.

He had a few guests to entertain.

As the Wolf Clan soldiers reached the town, they were met with a barrage of magical fire bolts.

Men screeched in pain as the projectiles hit their bodies setting them aflame.

"Form a shield wall!" Yelled the officers and the soldiers quickly obeyed.

The unicorns kept on shooting from a few meters ahead, they were formed in a neat double line, taking turns at firing against the soldiers in front of them.

Pegasi flew over the shielded men and began dropping large oil-filled pots.

"Close the gaps! Close the gaps! Soldiers! Watch out for the pegasi!"

The soldiers raised their shields toward the sky as they continued to rush forward. The unicorns were only a few feet away now.

After the pegasi were done throwing oil-pots at the enemy troops they signaled to the unicorns to aim for the oil-drenched soldiers.

Hell was unleashed.

As the fire bolts reached their targets, the oil ignited, setting countless soldiers on fire. Screams of agony were all that could be heard as the smell of burning flesh filled the air.

The ponies did not cheer however, such a sight was sickening for them.

The humans, in contrast, were urged forward by the sudden loss of their comrades. A deafening roar of anger left their throats as they doubled their pace.

The unicorns gasped in horror as they realized too late what would happen. The Wolf Clan reached them.

The shield wall collapsed as the enraged men met the ponies in all out combat, sword arms fell, axes swung, and spears were thrust into the bodies of the unicorns.

Not being trained in melee as extensively as their earth pony counterparts, the more scholarly unicorns were torn to shreds in only moments.

Pegasi switched to letting large rocks fall on the humans, but it was all too late. The few unicorns that managed to survive the onslaught were quickly rounded up and made prisoners.

Then the archers flooded the rooftops of the nearby buildings. The pegasi charged at them and managed to throw several men to their death from the rooftops, but the archers swift response caused the obliteration of over half the pegasi forces.

The dead pegasi fell to the ground, their flesh having been pierced by multiple arrows.

After the pagasi realized the futility of their assaults and the amount of casualties they had sustained, they retreated back to the small town hall were the human advisers had been sleeping.

The battle was lost, the general had been captured while leading the defense from the front, all the earth ponies had been slaughtered in their sleep and now the Wolf Clan was marching towards the town hall. The pegasi were going to die, but they would die fighting.

Grunthar

Grunthar lifted his sword and crushed the soldier's head beneath its blade.

The warrior had been awoken by Edvard when the battle reached them.

"Gods damn this bastards! There will be around a hundred rushing through that street in no time!"

Grunthar's face was strained with anger and worry, neither Edvard, the few men behind them, or himself were wearing armor. No time to change when the battle is at your door.

"Then we better hurry on out of here! The battle is lost!" Edvard spoke the truth but for the proud warriors beside him, retreat was not an option.

"Are you insane boy? None of us will desert! No honorable warrior would even suggest such a thing!" An old soldier spat at him from behind.

"There is no use in dying here!" Edvard was growing desperate, he valued his honor, but there was now something else in his life that he valued more. "I am not dying here..."

Grunthar placed a hand on the young man's shoulder and with understanding in his eyes said softly.

"Go then boy! And send that crazy mare my regards!"

Edvard nodded and rushed out the door, ignoring the shouts of disgust from his comrades.

Grunthar watched the young soldier run into the night, and wondered, "Will destiny treat that young one's heart better than it treated mine?" His thoughts rushed back to his own youth as he remembered his own quest for love. His hand unconsciously brushed against his missing eye.

"May the gods bless your journey young Edvard, and may they take my sacrifice tonight as a way of insurance for your future with her..."

The warrior solemnly sheathed his sword and called out to the men behind him.

"Bring me 'The Sword'..."

Everyone's eyes widened at his request, 'The Sword' was Grunthar's most precious possession. It was given to him by his father the day he left on his quest.

"Sir..." The old soldier who had scolded Edvard looked at Grunthar with sadness.

Grunthar smiled.

"The time has come my friends, today we meet our ancestors in the afterlife," His gaze went from soldier to soldier letting each one in on the truth of the situation. "And although we may not return home, and our loved ones will never see our faces again!"

His voice rose in volume and meaning and all sounds seemed to grow quiet as his words left his mouth. "Let us not forget those beautiful moments we shared with them! Cherish them all so that when the bitter end comes, it will be sweetened by the thoughts of those we leave behind!"

The men unsheathed their weapons as one and Grunthar took 'The Sword' from the soldier that had brought it.

He unsheathed the mighty two handed war sword and held it in his hands.

From the distance the Wolf Clan soldiers rushed through the street and approached the town hall.

The small band of rebels walked solemnly outside the door and into the street. They formed a line and looked at the approaching horde of men that ran towards them.

Grunthar took a final glance at the beautiful night sky as he remembered his life.

"My friends, it has been an honor to stand beside you in battle, and life..."

The soldiers nodded and started walking towards the enemy.

The walk broke into a jog and then into a full speed run.

Both sides roared their defiance before steel clashed against steel. And Grunthar's last thoughts passed through his mind as he raised his war sword high into the air.

Gruthvink! Brethgurt! Edvard! My friends! May your lives end as gloriously as mine!"

A Friends Last Goodbye

Brethgurt heard Grunthar's battle cry as he neared the buildings of the town. He was bleeding from his shoulder.

Several soldiers jumped on him while he tried to return to town, he had been barely able to kill them with a fire enchantment on his sword but one of them managed to reach his shoulder with a pick axe.

Just as Brethgurt entered the dirt road that led to the town hall's back door he saw Edvard running towards him.

"Lad! What in the gods names are you doing here?!" Brethgurt waved at Edvard.

"Brethgurt! The town has been attacked! The ponies are dead and the Wolf Clan has reached the town hall! Grunthar is..." He could not finish, he simply lowered his head.

"Grunthar? What!? And you deserted him!? You bastard!" Brethgurts eyes went from being filled with confusion and sorrow to a look of pure hatred.

"Brethgurt no!"  Edvard dodged the swing of the wizard's enchanted sword.

"Why!? Why did you abandon your post and friends!?" Brethgurt was furious but he was still willing to give the young soldier a chance to explain himself.

"He told me to! He wanted me to do what he was denied!" Edvard shouted at the old wizard, tears in his eyes as the sorrow of the past events filled his head.

Brethgurt fell into realization, the story that had always plagued Grunthar. The tale of how he lost his eye and the woman he loved. That had always been a horrible wound in the warriors mind.

"He wanted you to live the life he was not allowed to..." Brethgurt fell to his knees eyes filled with pain at the loss of his friend. "He... He wanted to die knowing that... Even if his own story ended in tragedy... Someone else's would not have to..."

Edvard walked over to his friend and helped him to his feet.

"Brethgurt... I am pained by Grunthars death, and eternally grateful for his sacrifice... But if we do not leave now, it will all have been in vain..."

Brethgurt nodded and the two friends ran off in the direction of Ponyville, only stopping for a last glance at the place where their friend had so bravely fallen.

Captain Fraithen

The Wolf of the north looked at the burning town with delight.

His men had accomplished their mission perfectly, except for two little details. Two very important details.

Fraithen, however, was in quite a joyful mood and didn't seem to mind anymore that two high ranking officers of the enemy had escaped. Although he had been quite upset about it before, he felt better after due punishment was handed down to the officers who had not captured them.

Now Fraithen walked through the burning buildings, occasionally glancing over to his screaming officers as the nails went through their flesh and bone.

It was one of Fraithen's favorite penalties for failure. First their arms were dislocated and their legs and ribs were broken, then the officer's hands were nailed to a wall.

Fraithen however had felt in such a pleasant mood, that he decided to liven it up. He had the corpses of several ponies tied with ropes to the legs of the officers just to make it a tiny bit more painful on their already strained broken limbs.

Now he smiled widely as he walked over to the town hall to inspect what remained of the enemy.

Several ponies of all three kinds were lined up in front of him, no humans however. Fraithen let out a small disappointed sigh. But decided to not let this small event upset his good mood.

"Very well brave ponies!" He smiled at the prisoners. "Today I find myself in such a joyous mood that I have decided to let each one of you choose his own fate!"

The youngest among the prisoners looked up in hope, but the older ones understood what he meant.

"I will ask every single one of you what he prefers!" As he said this he walked over to a brown earth pony with a black and yellow mane, he seemed young, perfect for Fraithen's demonstration.

"You! What a strong and brave stallion you must have been on the battle!" The stallion could not help but straighten himself as he was praised.

"Now tell me my unfortunate prisoner... What would you have me do to you?" Fraithen leaned closer to the earth pony, a large smile plastered on his face and an evil look on his eyes.

The stallion seemed a little unnerved as Fraithen looked at him as if he were dinner.

"I... um... Let me go?"

Fraithen's smile could not have possibly gotten larger, but he tried anyway, he had just received the exact answer he wanted.

"Oh, you'll go alright..." Fraithen chuckled darkly as he walked away slowly. The stallion felt his heart sink as several men approached him with large ropes and iron hooks.

The earth pony shrieked and wailed in pain as the men pierced his skin with the hooks, two went through his ears, four went under the flesh of his back and another one through his genitals.

The other prisoners tried to look away but Fraithen had the tortured stallion beaten until the rest of the ponies looked at his handiwork.

Horrified gasps left the ponies as they saw their comrade suspended between two buildings by the ropes and hooks. His screams filled the air as the soldiers holding the ropes started to swing them around.

"NO! NO! PLEASE! LET ME GO! YOU SAID YOU'D LET ME GO!"

His ear piercing screeches filled the air. And Fraithen laughed through it all.

"Fly! Fly you little pegasus! I have given you wings!"

The screams intensified but started to lessen as the stallion began to lose consciousness.

Fraithen was not about to let his fun be ended so swiftly.

"You! Unicorn! Come here!" Fraithen commanded a unicorn mare to approach.

She shook in fear as Fraithen's finger beckoned her forward.

"Come here... Or would you rather have me turn you into an alicorn?" Fraithen glanced at the suspended earth pony he had 'given wings to'.

The unicorn trotted over to him shaking and trembling in terror.

"Good girl! Now listen closely" Fraithen crouched beside the mare and smiled as he gave her instructions. "I need you to keep him awake until its time to 'let him go', understand?"

The unicorn mare stared in disbelief at Fraithen, unable to make sense of such cruelty. He lost his temper.

"Do as I say you whore!" Fraithen slapped her across the face with his hand which was covered in chain mail.

The mare stood up with blood flowing freely from her mouth.

She carried out a spell to make the stallion wake up. She wept openly as the screaming resumed and kept on muttering how sorry she was through it all.

Fraithen smiled as the show continued.

After several minutes he grew bored and announced.

"Well! I have had my fun! Let him go boys!"

The soldiers then released the ropes and the still screaming stallion fell to the ground, when he landed the screaming stopped and a sickening crunch was heard from his broken neck.

Fraithen went into a fit of laughter, and then he addressed the other prisoners.

"Anyone else wants to be allowed to go?"

Dream Valley River

Juliana glanced back to the Navis one last time.

"Off we go" Her thoughts and feelings were mixed. She felt thrilled about meeting humans but sad that she had to leave her ship behind.

Sensing her reluctance to leave, Zareck trotted over to her.

"Juliana don't worry about the Navis, I have left a more than capable group of zebras guarding her." Zareck reassured his captain with a confident smile.

"Thank you Zareck, but I still feel sad about leaving her, that ship has been my home for more than seven years..." Juliana resumed her walking towards the Everfree forest.

"It has been home to all of us Juliana, but as much as the Navis has been our home, you have been our family and home is where the family is." Zareck placed a hoof on Juliana's arm reassuringly and smiled.

"Oh, thank you Zareck!" Juliana knelt down in front of Zareck and hugged him, a few tears of happiness running down her cheeks. "You have all been my family as well."

The small group of pirates continued their march towards the forest, their minds set on their goal.

Nothing would stop them now, they had crossed deserts, jungles, oceans and they had battled many vessels to be were they stood at the moment, and nothing was going to get in their way.