Everfree Liberation Army

by Iron McGalley

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Romance, Tragedy, Adventure, Human
Length: 40912

A human war rages in the Everfree Forest and Equestria will have to choose a side. In a land overrun with wolves and fire, can the once peaceful nation of Equestria mold itself to the cruelties of war?

A few years after the events of the royal wedding and the expulsion of the changelings from Equestria, a new conflict arises, in which the Princess will have to make a decision that will force her to either abandon her morals or risk everypony's life in all out war against a recently awoken military human kingdom. Her choice may tear Equestria apart, it could separate friends, shatter lives, and when loyalty clashes with ethics, the peaceful land of the ponies will be scarred forever.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-07-01 10:20:09 UTC

Request

It was a cold october morning in the castle town of Frethnkurt and King Frethnk the second loomed over past events as he gazed upon his small fortress. People moved about their lives, carpenters carved furniture and spear shafts at their stands, smiths crafted horseshoes nails and blades in their forges, tailors weaved clothes for the populace and treated wolf and manticore pelts for armor.

It was another day in the deepest reaches of the Everfree forest for the king and his people, his kind was forced into exile long before the current princess reigned over Equestria, before the country even existed, back when pony folk were separated into tribes and quarreled over the land, humans made a small appearance. Small tribes of humans wandered into the plains of Equestria, and settled there forming villages and prospering for a small while. But war parties of earth ponies as well as pegasus raided their villages mercilessly, considering humans as mindless monsters for not speaking their language and feeding upon meat they killed them off and the few humans that survived the genocide, fled into the Everfree forest.

Long years had passed, many kings rose and fell as mankind grew stronger and thier resent towards Equestrians increased. And now after much planning, just as their armies were ready to march upon the weakened lands of the ponies the bloody peasants had to revolt!

"Bastards" thought Frethnk sourly. Much planning and resources had gone into preparing the invasion, with the news about the failed changeling invasion he had hoped for the Equestrian armies to be weakened. But the rebelious peasants had revolted before his army could depart. Led by his brother-in-law Gruthvink the cruel and his wife, Frethnk's sister, Jifvres the half starved peasants revolted and fled towards Equestrian borders seeking military support as well as supplies.

Frethnk was not about to let that traitor Gruthvink ruin the surprise he had in mind for the ponies.

"The messenger has been dispatched my lord" A timid servant said from the door to the kings room.

"Excellent, tell the captains to ready their units... We march soon" And with those words Frethnak had sealed the destiny of more than 70,000 souls.

Canterlot

The calm weather was loaded with unease, Celestia felt the weight of thousands of years as ruler weighing down on her back. This was one of those days when she questioned the value of immortality, she wondered about the many friends that had died and the many that would die, as thoughts of her newest friends passed her mind a single lonely tear ran down her face.

"Are you all right sister?" Luna's voice came from behind her.

"Life is too long sometimes Luna" The sad words filled the emptiness of the room and Luna having lived almost as long as her sister needed no explanations, she knew what Celestia meant, all the long years seeing friends pass and the world change before their eyes, but they never left, they stood like statues in a garden seeing it all go by, happily joining in in the brief pools of happiness life gave away, just to feel the pool drain away with them steel in it.

"We have each other" Luna whispered as she leaned on her sister "The world may never stop, but we will always have each other"

The radiant sun in the horizon shone brightly but its heat failed to reach the two sisters, the castle felt old to them and it all smelled like depression.

"You should take a respite sister, head to Ponyvile and enjoy your student's company for a while" Luna suggested after several minutes of silence.

"Oh Luna, you know i cant do that right now, not while the nobles are awaiting a word with me" Celestia sighed knowing quite well that a visit to her favored student was just what she needed.

"I could keep them occupied while you visited" Luna suggested, fully aware of the tiresome ordeal she'd be putting herself through if her sister agreed.

"Really? But you hate spending time with the nobles!" Celestia blinked in surprise.

"Your happiness is of more importance" Luna smiled reassuringly at her.

Celestia smiled and hugged her sister and then prepared for her journey.

Ponyville

Fluttershy felt the sudden change in the air, it was cold and humid, her body trembled as she felt the wind currents that flowed from the Everfree forest, they were not natural.

"Oh my..." Her frightened voice barely audible above the strong winds emanating from the treeline. She rushed back to her cottage in fear and locked herself in with her beloved critters.

Rainbow Dash was concerned, the weather had nothing to do with the sudden change of the wind, and she disliked not being in control.

"Hey guys, go tell the mayor about this" She said to her fellow weather team members "I dont like the look of this weird currents"

Two more pegasus left for the town hall as fast as their wings could take them. Leaving Rainbow to ponder about the meaning of this changes.

Twilight had been originally thrilled by her mentors visit but now grew preocuppied.

"Princess what's happening?" she asked worried about the now violent winds as they hammerd against her windows.

"I am uncertain Twilight, but it's best if we stay inside" The princess looked around the library making sure their surroundings were safe, while a small, scared baby dragon hid behind twilights tail.

The apple family hid inside their house and watched terrified as the wind tore the apples from their trees and smashed them into the wooden barn.

"Applejack a'hm scared" Applebloom whimpered hiding behind an equally worried Big Maccintosh.

"Ah know sugarcube, me too" Applejack backed away from the window as an apple smashed into it leaving applejuice and apple pieces all over the now slightly cracked window.

All over the small town ponies trembled and cowered inside their homes, windows were shut, doors were locked and a particular cross-eyed mare locked herself in her basement with as many of her precious muffins as she could salvage.

And from the treeline of the Everfree forest a large group of creatures appeared.

Meeting

As the rebels approached the end of the forest their eyes were filled with excitement, after long years of being worked to near death by King Frethnk the merciful they were finally about to be free. Tears of joy left their tired eyes as the sunlight shone before them through the clouds, the promise of a new life just a few steps in front of them. Not even the wild and powerful winds that had been building up around them could silence the happiness of their hearts, children jumped and ran around the caravan of people as the adults sang and praised the gods for delivering them safely. Well, most of them.

"It's finally here!" Smiled the old court wizard. "We've made it! Despite all that we have lost! It's finally here!" Brethgurt was old, his long white hair ran down to his shoulders, his tattered leather robes were torn and stained with blood and sweat, his face reflected years of pain and frustration never revealed and finally cured. His blind eye, ever looking forward, ever vigilant, regained its former coloring as the spell which he had bargained for to keep his people safe finally ended.

"Don't get to excited about it Brethgurt." His war-hardened friend said to him from his left. "Who knows if those beasts will welcome us." Grunthar was by all means the exact opposite of Brethgurt, while the wizard read through mountains of old books and scrolls the younger warrior spent his time training, relying on his steel rather than mind for most problems. His body reflected upon this, as his face had a blind eye of his own, not caused by self sacrifice but rather by an angry husband with a dagger. His limbs and front torso were also fully covered in scars, some deep and disgusting, some small and unnoticeable.

"The inhabitants of Equestria should no longer hold a grudge against us, our past differences having been over for more than a thousand years." Brethgurt said slightly shaken by the truth behind his friends words.

The cheering continued as the group of rebels exited the forest and started camp.

Ponyville

The winds had started to calm down after several minutes of violent storms. The mayor had sounded the alarm, warning everypony to find shelter until further notice. Pegasi had to land and find refuge inside solid buildings, as cloud constructions could be easily destroyed by powerful enough storms, Unicorns employed their magic into strengthening buildings and keeping windows from shattering, Earth ponies used their strength to hold doors locked and avoid them from caving in. All ponies had a role to play in keeping the town safe, they had survived discords madness in a similar way, no storm could stop them from succeeding. Right?

As bad as everypony had it, Fluttershy survived through the worst. Living isolated from the rest of town meant privacy and a good environment for helping her small wooden friends. It also meant there was nopony there to help her.

"Oh my, please don't break, please don't-EEEK!" Fluttershy whimpered from inside her small cottage as the walls and roof were battered by the relentless winds, her windows had shattered and her body was covered in small cuts and bruises. She had tears running down her face, not for herself nor where they for her multiple small injuries. She had cried for the small critters she was not able to save, a varied collection of wooden creatures had been brutally mauled and killed by the violent storm. Their small corpses sometimes being tossed through her broken windows, leaving them sprayed around her floor in a most horrible manner, as if the storm was mocking her and her undying love for all animals. Fluttershy could do nothing for the small animals, she could only mourn their most terrible fate.

When the winds had ended their assault on the small town ponies finally emerged from their homes. Many sported bandages and bruises but none were badly hurt. Pinkie pie had been worried sick the whole time the storm raged. She felt Fluttershy needed help. She sped down the path to Twilights house hoping she was alright.

"Twilight! Twilight! Open up! It's me Pinkie!" She battered on the door, waiting for Twilight to open it.

"Thanks Celestia you're okay Pinkie!" Twilight said, as she opened the door, relieved that her friend was not injured.

"Twilight! come on! Fluttershy needs our help! Because you see, today when i was in my room because of the storm and duh, because i couldnt get out, i started to bake some storm cupcakes for the after storm party and then i felt that Fluttershy was in trouble!" Pinkie said in a rush, and then stopped and stared at her friend awaiting a reply.

"Wha- what do you mean?" Twilight said taken aback by pinkies sudden rush, although by then she should have gotten used to it.

"Ugh... Just follow me!" Pinkie rolled her eyes and then unexpectedly. "Bye princess hope you enjoyed the visit!"

Celestia, who had been hiding as to not be discovered away from her duties in Canterlot, was completely shocked by pinkie's sudden farewell, (nopony besides Luna and Twilight were aware of her visit) but had no time to ask as the pink mare dragged her equally confused friend into the street and closed the door.

Frethnkurt castle

King Frethnk was enjoying his favorite dish of venison, when the news reached him. The rebels had defeated his woodland border patrols and made their escape outside of his reaches of the forest.

"Incompetent fools!" He shouted furiously as he threw his wine across the table and into the couriers face. "Execute this pathetic waste of space! Immediately!" His voice resounded throughout his castle.

Screaming for mercy the courier was taken to the garden by two fully armored guards, swords drawn they exited the castle's dining room. The king was trembling with rage, he had not been so furious since he learned of the mocking title the rebels had given him, "King Frethnk the merciful" he muttered in rage at the memory, his fists ached with need to tear something apart, it had been too long since his sword had ended some pathetic peasants life.

"My lord? Would you like me to gather the lords?" His steward Nurthlik almost whimpered.

"Grow a backbone Nurthlik, and yes! Gather the circus of liars and boot-lickers!" And with his final insult he left for his chamber giving a look of pure hatred to any servants that passed by him. Four more people were executed that day, including the cowardly Nurthlik.

Away from the castle the army was getting ready for another dull day in town, training and patrolling the forest. They feared little of the surrounding area, it was magically protected by the Castle Conjurer, a young witch that was said to be incredibly beautiful.

After their flight into the Everfree forest a sympathetic unicorn that had fallen deeply in love with a man gave her magic to the man's daughter, in exchange for being transformed into a woman so that she could spend her life with the man she loved. Discord God of chaos granted her wish, the girl was blessed with magical abilities even superior to those of her now transformed step-mother, but the God never played by the rules. The unicorn mare was indeed transformed into a woman, but she was far from beautiful, Discord had turned her dream into a nightmare. Not being accepted by her lover because of her hideous aspect and not being allowed back into her Unicorn tribe she ended her own life.

The conjurer now maintained a powerful ring of protection around her peoples home, no magical creature could venture near it, only regular animals were able to cross the ring but they were not much of a threat, after time passed she noticed she could not age, she lived forever inside the castle gates maintaining the ring. In time her power became so great not even the princesses were able to detect the civilization inside the ring, and the ring just kept on expanding as her people prospered, which pushed magical creatures farther into the edges of the Everfree forest making encounters between ponies and beasts commence.

"You summoned us my lord?" The lords asked the king as they entered the castle and looked upon their ruler sitting on his throne.

"Aye, that i did." His somber gaze moving from lord to lord as he considered how to announce what he had planned.

"And, if i may ask, with what reason?" Asked a young man with short blonde hair from the left end of the seven lords.

"Lord Unflack" The king sneered with a wolfish grin. "Always the impatient one. And i have been recently informed... Also a traitor!" His grin disappearing, being quickly replaced by a look of insane hatred as he screamed his last statement.

Unflack surprised said nothing, surprised and insulted by his king's accusation.

"Don't play dumb with me! Your patrols let Gruthvink escape! And now his army has left the Everfree and into Equestrian territory!" Frethnk's voice had lowered but the poison in then had only increased. "Now the whole invasion is in peril because of your stupidity and incompetence!"

"But my lord! It was not our fault!" A beautiful young lady spoke out for her fellow noble. "The rebels were too many! The militias we sent to stop them never stood a chance!"

Now Frethnk was not angry he was irate "Be silent you filthy wench! How you became a lord after your useless drunk of a father passed away is beyond my understanding!" His shout was deafening and absolute, not another soul in the room dared oppose him.

"Gather the armies." His voice was tired and his throat ached. "We march at sunrise."

Ponyville

Rainbow Dash and Rarity had met Pinkie and Twilight on their way to Sweet Apple Acres, after a small chat and worried questions had been exchanged both groups went on their respective ways.

"Gee Rare, i wonder if Flutters is ok..." Rainbows voice broke the silence that followed the encounter with their two friends.

"I know, Applejack is a tough pony and she can take care for herself, but poor poor Fluttershy! I do not even want to think of what she must have gone through!" Rarity was worried about her friends but since Pinkie and Twilight were already on their way to Fluttershy's, she agreed to Rainbow's plan of heading to check on Applejack first.

"Yeah... The wind must have been pretty rough on her side of the town..." Rainbow's mood was gloomy, both of her friends were very important for her, but Applejack was the one pony she identified herself with the most, all the memories of their adventures and challenges swept over and over in her mind, and a single tear forced its way down her face, she really hoped Applejack was ok.

Fluttershy looked around trembling, she was terrified by what she saw, her house was horribly mauled. Glass covered the floor, wooden planks had been torn from their places, furniture and decorations were turned over or shattered, and many of her beloved animal friends were dead or injured.

As more tears emerged her pet bunny angel started pulling at her mane in a desperate manner.

"Oh Angel bunny... This... This is horrible!" She sobbed sadly. "What are we ever going to do? The cottage is gone and... and... My poor friends!" Fluttershy's crying only increased, much to the desperation of Angel. He had heard the footsteps from afar. Angel redoubled his efforts, he had to take his master away from the approaching figures.

Refugees

Brethgurt and Grunthar Approached what seemed to be a small destroyed cottage.

"I hope the owner is all right... For our sake and that of the others" Brethgurt was now very nervous, breaking the conjurers ring spell by crossing it had consequences, he knew that, but he didn't expect them to be so harsh. Now all he could do was apologize to the residents and hope they didn't condemn them. His army was almost starved and many soldiers had been lost, if the Equestrians branded them as enemies, they would have nowhere to go.

As the rest of the army and their families made camp outside of the pony village, Brethgurt, Grunthar and a small retinue of men approached the town to start diplomatic relations.

"This place is badly fortified." Noted Grunthar. "We could storm it in a second."

"Shut it! We need to think about gaining their trust! Not about that!" Brethgurt snapped.

As the small retinue continued forward a small Yellow-colored mare with a pink mane came out of her cottage with a small rabbit on her back.

*EEK* came the small terrified whimper from the newly appeared pony.

The soldiers backed away a few paces out of surprise and started unsheathing their weapons.

"Lower your steel men! At ease!" Brethgurt appeased the soldiers, then turning around to the mare he said...

"You ok little friend? Do you need help?" came the strange creatures voice, Fluttershy had never seen such a thing in her life before. But he was scary, his clothes looked torn and covered in blood, his mane was grey and dirty and his strange hooves were covered in scars.

*EEK* was the only thing she could muster before fainting in fear.

Twilight watched horrified as the beasts carried Fluttershy in their claws, she was covered in blood. Trembling she backed away and tried to think. "A levitation spell? no they could think she's escaping and kill her! An attack spell? no I could miss and in retribution they could harm my friend!" Her thoughts were running at the speed of light only interrupted when she heard an all too familiar voice and her fear was the only thing keeping her from a facehoof.

Pinkie saw her friend being carried by the strange creatures, she knew she had to act delicately.

"Hey there!" The pink party pony said happily as she hopped up and down on her spot in front of the newcomers. "My name is Pinkie! What's yours? Why are holding my friend in your hooves? OHHHH Wait! Those are not hooves! How do you eat? Or walk? Or scratch your mane? You have very weird looking manes by the way!"

Grunthar looked in slight amusement at the strange pony in front of him, she was pink and seemed full of energy, he immediately took a liking for his new friend. "Well hello there little fella! What are you doing here?"

Pinkie's smile grew larger. "I came looking for my friend! You see..." she drew in a very deep breath. "Today when i was in my room because of the storm and duh, because i couldnt get out, i started to bake some storm cupcakes for the after storm party and then i felt that Fluttershy was in trouble! So i told my friend twilight over there. Hey twilight!" Pinkie waved and twilight openly facehooved."That we had to help her, so we left and came here but we found our friends on the way so we stopped and talked a bit but then we left and found-" *Deep Breath* "-you guys here!" Her smile lasted for the whole explanation.

Grunthar was now also smiling. "You really are a live one aren't you kid?"

Brethgurt was slightly confused at his friends reaction, Grunthar almost never smiled, and now this strange pony almost made him laugh like a young one! After regaining his composure he called out to this "Twilight" The pink pony had mentioned. "Excuse me, miss Twilight? Could you please come down here? we need to have a word with your sovereign and one of your friends is wounded."

Twilight crawled out of her hiding place and trotted towards the creature that had called out to her, she was wary however and did not fully trust the stranger.

"Yes?" She stuttered slightly. "What do you want?" Her concerned look drifted from the mans face towards her unconscious friend. "Fluttershy!" She cried out and trotted over to her friend.

"Fwotwershhhhhhheeyyee..." Fluttershys head was in turmoil and the outside noise came to her distorted and slow, her eyes slowly opened revealing her concerned friend's face.

"Twilight? Oh good heavens its you! I had the most terrifying dream of all time! There was a storm and my cottage..." She stopped in mid sentence as another face came into view, this one was not of a pony, he resembled something nothing she had ever seen before, with the exception of a few primates she cared for, her eyes grew wide and her body trembled and shook with fear.

*EEK*

Introduction

Princess Celestia had left for Canterlot the moment Twilight gave her the news, only to return as soon as she got there with a full battalion of Royal Pegasi. She was deeply concerned about the safety of her subjects, the newly arrived strangers were armed and they seemed to be the cause for the storm that had swept through Ponyville. After deploying the royal troops around the town she entered the town hall and waited for the stranger's dignitaries.

"Brethgurt, court wizard and appointed ambassador for Soon-To-Be-King Gruthvink the cruel." The old man said respectfully as he bowed his head.

"Grunthar, general of the Everfree liberation army's forces and King Gruthvink's Lieutenant." Grunthar declared emphasizing his resolve as to who the king was, which earned him a look from Brethgurt telling him not to act up.

"I am Princess Celestia, Goddess of the sun and ruler of Equestria, why have you come into my domains and caused such an inconvenience for my subjects?" The Princess inquired firmly, still not trusting the men in front of her.

"We are sorry for any troubles we may have caused for your subjects" Brethgurt answered in an apologetic tone. "But we are in great need, many of our people are sick and starving, our soldiers are tired of the long journey and we are being chased by a tyrant, we needed to leave the forest as fast as possible and the spell that had us bound to its depths could not be broken without consequences." He was trying as hard as he could to gain the Princess's forgiveness and trust without sounding  too desperate, but his voiced betrayed him as well as his face, upon both the clear sign of desperation was imprinted and it was not easy to miss.

"And what exactly would you have me do about this?" The princess was now wary of the situation, these men were armed and they were fugitives, for all she knew they could be running from justice and giving them protection could start another war but now against an unknown foe.

"Food and shelter." Was the dry and curtly reply Grunthar gave before Brethgurt could do anything about it. "There may still be some among us who are innocent to the sins of civil war."

Northern Everfree forest

Frethnk the merciful and his army marched through the thick forest floor, always moving north. Frethnk's army consisted of five units of irregular infantry and militia, with each unit made up of a hundred soldiers, one unit of regular heavy infantry a unit of woodland archers and one unit of beast masters. His irregulars, which conformed most of his army were lightly armored, fast moving infantrymen, their equipment reflected upon their social status as few of them could afford even the most rusty of chain mail armor with their weapons being of a varied assortment; swords, maces, axes, daggers, broken branches and basically anything they could get their hands on.

His regulars however reflected the actual might of his army, fully coated in chain mail with an iron plated cuirass and an open helmet, their resistance in battle made up for their lack of speed, their weapons were made of the finest iron that could be extracted from the mountains that flanked the Everfree forest, a full assortment of iron shields coated in manticore leather, long swords and battle axes, this were the cream of the crop, ready to charge into the fray and turn the tide of battle in an instant. With his archers similarly equipped as his irregulars, with the exception of a longbow, all that was left were Frethnk's beast masters, terrible men that controlled hideous beasts, there were only thirty of them but half as much would have been enough to destroy an entire army. The beast masters were trained since their infancy to control the varied assort of monsters the Everfree forest launched at them, they however specialized in the training of timberwolves, with very few manticores at their disposal. The repertoire included twenty timberwolves each one assigned to one beast master, and one manticore kept in a cage and controlled by ten beast masters.

Frethnk smiled from his position in the center of his army, he would not be defeated this time.

From the back of the army a young noble woman by the name of Garith talked with one of her fellow lords.

"Unflack, i don't know how much more of this i can take! Frethnk just gets furious when either one of us tries to approach him, i'm not sure if he will ever forgive us for Gruthvinks escape." Lady Garith was saddened by the recent events that led to her monarchs discontent. She had been a loyal servant of her lord and king for her entire life, she had supported his every decision and he had always proved himself worthy of her trust, but now when Frethnk needed her the most she had failed.

"Don't worry love, after that traitor is brought to justice our king will return to his former self and we will once again be in his favor." Lord Unflack reassured his lover with a smile as he wrapped an arm around her, they had been together in secrecy for over three years and their plans of marriage had been spoiled by Gruthvinks revolt.

But they had more to hate him for, after the rebellion started, hundreds of peasants rose up in arms and assaulted their landlords, Gariths mother had perished in her estate, nailed to a tree by an angry mob of commoners. The situation did nothing but worsen, as King Frethnks army tried to quell both the rebellion and the riots in the city, Gruthvinks supporters burned down the house of nobles, in which many of the countries most notorious citizens resided, killing half a dozen men, women and children. When publicly confronted by the king, Gruthvink only sent a letter in which he declared social supremacy abolished and announced that all nobles that were captured by his forces would be executed, along with the letter he sent the heads of several nobles and a note in which their "crimes" were written down along with the signature of several of his newly formed People's Court of Justice. King Frethnk retaliated by burning alive several of Gruthvinks supporters, caught after the burning of the house of nobles, along with their families.

"Will we ever be married? Or will the fires of war never stop pulling us apart?" Garith whispered sadly as a small bird flew over the branches of the trees singing its sad song into the morning mist.

Ponyville

Rainbow Dash and Rarity arrived at Sweet Apple Acres to find most of the trees devoid of apples, which had been splattered against the barn. The apple family stood outside their home and stared at their ruined crops, they had done so ever since the wind died down.

"A.J. hey! Are you guys ok?" Rainbow Dash called out as she flew over to her friend, Rarity followed close behind at first but was soon left behind by her flying friend.

"Ma'h ma'h farm..." Was all the orange earth pony could say.

"Oh Applejack, we are so very sorry for this tragedy! Is there anything we can do to help?" Rarity said as she finally reached the group.

Applebloom was crying her eyes out on her brothers back while Big Mac's hoof cleaned a few tears that started to leave his eyes. Applejack said nothing else, her friends hugged her and tried to help but she was too devastated, all she did was stare at the destruction as several tears of her own ran down her cheeks.

Back in the rebels camp the sun had started to go down but the cheer and celebration was still fresh! After the camp had been raised and the few scraps of food and drink had been assembled, the remaining soldiers and their families celebrated their escape from social slavery, and a familiar figure to all of them was seen for the very first time in months.

"Gruthvink! Gruthvink! Gruthvink!" Came the excited ovation for the leader of the Everfree Liberation Army, Gruthvink the cruel had been recovering from an arrow wound he received in their flight from the woods, and now there he stood with a grin on his face. As he received the cheers of his men, the tall man with a chestnut colored hair and thick beard, raised his flagon of mead into the air and shouted.

"Today, we men and women from the Everfree forest can finally say that we are free!" His shout was received with a growing cheer and happiness. "No more will our families be exploited for the benefit of an old landlord! No more will we have to see our children grow to be nothing more than slaves to some old pig in a throne! I tell you all, no more!"

The crowd exploded with excitement as the beer and food was devoured, no longer concerned about conserving it, all men women and children basked in the freedom and ease of heart they felt, they were no longer subjected to Frethnks oppressive rule.

Princess Celestia thought about the decision she had made, she wondered if what she did was correct and if it would put her kingdom in danger, then she heard the celebration from the refugees camp and a small sensation of satisfaction mixed in with her worries, she heard children laugh, the sound reassured her of her choice, she thought nothing was of more importance than bringing joy to those innocent ones, she believed at that moment that her decision was one she would never come to regret.

Brethgurt had spent the past ten minutes shouting and snapping at his friend for his response to the princess, but Grunthar could not care less. The princess had agreed, they were safe for now, all he needed to worry about was to bolster the army with a few Equestrian militants and set a large wooden wall around their camp.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, nice story Brethgurt but i need you to shut it, and to start getting the word around town of our noble cause and how much we need their help to fight tyranny. Can you do that?" Brethgurts eyes grew wide as pure anger overcame him.

"How in hell can you think of such a thing? We have just arrived! The princess barely gave us shelter and we wrecked half the town with that goddamn storm! And you want to spread war propaganda around?! Gods damn your stinking hide!" Brethgurt furiously snapped at him and then walked away in a hurry.

"I dont see what the problem is..." Grunthar said to himself and walked off in a different direction trying to find something to eat.

Brethgurt was angry to say the least, the episode with the Princess would not go without consequences, he was certain! But on the other hand, his people were safe and content, he could hear the celebration from a distance by now. "Gods preserve us, but Grunthar is right, we do need more swords for the cause..." Brethgurt let out a sigh, and continued his aimless walk.

"What. Are. You?" Came a voice from behind him.

"What?" He turned around to see the small purple unicorn that had lead them to the town hall earlier that day.

Answer me! What are you and what do you want?" Twilight's horn glowed with a purple aura as she interrogated Brethgurt.

"We mean you no harm, we are humans from the Everfree forest, we have come seeking aid against our war against a tyrant and oppressor." Brethgurt noticed he had use his propaganda speech without noticing. "We only seek shelter."

Twilights horn stopped glowing as she approached the man, curiosity gaining on her cautious side.

"What's a human?" She asked.

"It's a very long story that of us humans, only the most intelligent of ponies can hope to grasp such knowledge." Brethgurt was sure he had seen such curiosity before, but only in the eyes of those who sought to know more than anything. If he played his cards right, he could gain the little unicorns friendship and support in little time.

"Humph. And what makes you think that i am unable to understand your history! I bet i can get to know better than yourself!" Twilight said taking the bait. Her love towards knowledge always her weakness.

"Really? Well then, is there some place were we can discuss this matter more appropriately?" Brethgurt smiled knowing quite well he still was a master of the mind.

"Follow me to the library and then we'll see who is the underachiever." Twilight replied with a slightly arrogant tone as she led Brethgurt back to the library.

Grunthar had not walked for more than a few meters before a blur of pink passed him and a familiar Pinkie Pie stood before him with the same smile she always wore.

"Hey there!" Pinkie said happily as she greeted the warrior.

"Blessed be my eye! If it isn't you Pinkie Pie!" He said with a smile of his own as he kneeled to be on eye level with the pony.

Pinkie giggled as something came to mind. "You sound like my zebra friend Zecora! Do you know her? She lives in the forest! Maybe you saw her house! Its not very pretty and it's kind of spooky, but shes very fun! and she talks in rhymes!"

Grunthar burst out laughing in his particularly rough voice, this pony was just too much for his serious face to handle. Several of the ponies that had recently begun to emerge from their homes watched the scene with confusion and the fear they had felt for the strange man was now slightly replaced by curiosity as they saw the pink mare make a new friend.

Pinkie had no idea as to why the man was laughing, but she joined in just for the fun of it. After the outburst of laughter had died down Pinkie decided to give her newest friend a tour around town.

"Hey! How about a tour around town! It will be fun! I'll show you the park, the candy store, and all the other fun things! Please please, please?" Pinkie put on her best puppy face and Grunthar, who would much rather be showed around town than go back to meet with Brethgurt agreed and after Pinkie had jumped around in happiness for a few minutes they set off to meet everypony.

Twilights eyes were wide with amazement as Brethgurt narrated about the war between ponies and men and then continued on to explain the flight into the forest and how civilization began, although he did hide or modify some of the most gruesome stories so as not to startle his new friend, he soon felt carried away in his own stories, it had been too long since he had been able to do what he loved the most, to teach about mankind heritage, he loved to tell these stories but few would listen to them in times of war and those that did were more interested in finding ways of slaughtering each other rather than listening for the pleasure of it. For once in a long time he felt relaxed.

"... and that, my dear Twilight, is how King Breregur the fourth expelled the Hydra and its worshipers from his kingdom!" He was now openly smiling, delighted to be teaching one of his personal favorite stories.

"Wow, I never thought Hydras could be intelligent enough to lead a cult, even less lead an army!" Her bewilderment was as obvious as her fascination.

"Oh, most of them are not. This one however possessed a rather strange peculiarity that made it quite intelligent! You see the secret to the Hydras intelligence was..." He was cut off short by a very angry rainbow maned pegasus as she violently opened the door and launched herself towards Brethgurt tackling him.

"Stay away from us you monster!" She shouted in anger as the old man was sent tumbling back loosing his balance.

"Rainbow! Wait!" Twilight tried to stop her friend before she injured Brethgurt.

"He destroyed Applejacks farm!" Rainbow relentlessly tried to attack Brethgurt, angry tears in her eyes.

"He did not! That was the storm!" Twilight had not heard of Applejacks tragedy but she was certain that the man being attacked could not be the offender. Twilight kept Rainbow suspended in the air with her magic, the rainbow maned mare kicking and punching wildly trying to conect with Brethgurt.

Gruthvinks wife, Jifvres, was happily part taking in the celebration happy her husband was finally back on his feet after that arrow had injured him. Jifvres loved Gruthvink deeply, maybe more than she should, he was the only one who had cared for her after her brother became so absorbed in his wars and schemes. Gruthvink had always been there for her, and after he had proposed and married her, that love only grew. When dark times came and Gruthvink could no longer stand to see the horrid conditions the people lived in while the nobility enjoyed luxury beyond belief, she stood by him when he confronted her brother, and even after he commenced his rebellion she did not desert him, she lost her luxuries and her way of life, but being by his side was all she cared for, and now after many troubles they were finally free and out of her brother's clutches.

She let out a deep sigh, and took a breath. Feeling relaxed she walked over to her husband, her blonde hair moving under the winds influence, rendering her a stunning appearance.

"Will my lord and king honor me with a dance?" She asked, her sweet voice carrying through the wind as her bright blue eyes looked up to her husband,

"My pleasure."

The music turned softer and more romantic as the melody switched from telling tales of defeated foes and fallen beasts into a ballad of love and compassion. Soldiers and peasants alike began to dance with their spouses around the King and his wife. The night air was soft and pleasant, the bright moon shone above in the sky. For the first time in many years, the present men and women did not dread the arrival of a new year.

Explanation

Fluttershy

Her mind swirling around in her head, Fluttershy started to wake up. The day before had been an eventful day, and none to pleasant either!

"Where... Where am i?"

Her eyes slightly adjusting to the glow of the morning sun, she looks around trying to make sense of what has happened so far. Memories come back slowly and she fights back tears at some of them, but she regains her composure eventually. Climbing out of her hospital bed she moves towards the door, the place being awfully quiet.

"Where is everypony?"

The hallway outside her room being totally empty she decides to walk to the end of it and opens the doors to the main street that leads towards the town hall, looking both ways before exiting the building. The street was as devoid of life as the hospital was, but upon closer inspection she hears what seems to be some sort of argument going on in the direction of the town hall.

"What's going here?"

Her soft frightened voice seemed louder than a tree falling in the quietness of the street. A little startled about how loud her voice sounded, Fluttershy decides to see what in the hay was happening over at the town hall.

Rainbow Dash

The town hall was completely crowded, and Rainbow was still upset about what had happened in the library the previous night.

Twilight had defended that human, even as Rainbow explained what had happened to Applejack, Twilight refused to believe her! Using all her smarty-pants words and stuff, she had told Rainbow that the human had not intentionally destroyed A.J.'s farm. "Who's side is she on!" Rainbow thought gloomily, the look on Applejacks face was not something she was going to forget soon.

"... we are to behave civil and try to help these, um, people, as best as we can." The mayor continued her speech, snapping Rainbow Dash awake from her thoughts. "By order of Princess Celestia."

The crowd of gathered ponies murmured confused at this strange turn of events. First a storm sweeps through town and now they had to feed and help creatures they had never seen before? And with an explicit order from the Princess herself? It was too much for some of Ponyvilles residents. The Princess had left as fast as she had arrived, only stopping to talk to some of the strange men that came into town. Why hadn't she told them this herself?

"Rainbow Dash, i need you and the weather team to fly around town and make sure everypony is all right, ok?"

"No problem."

"Something bothering you?" The mayor raised an eyebrow curiously, noticing Rainbows disheartened response.

"Huh?... Oh, nope nothing. Its just that, you know, with the storm and the... um... Well yeah, you know..."

Not wanting to reveal Twilight had one of the humans with her, she tried to shake free of the mayors questions.

"Right, the storm..." The mayor was not convinced but didn't press the issue any further.

As the mayor left, Rainbow Dash gathered her team members and gave each one of them their orders and flying pattern, then they all set off into the sky.

With the exception of Rainbow. She wanted to pay a visit to Applejack and the others, to try and talk sense into Twilight. But just as she was about to leave for Sweet Apple Acres, a yellow coated pegasus with a pink mane and a lot of bandages called out to her.

"Um... Excuse me Rainbow but, if it isn't much trouble, could you please be so kind as to tell me what's going on?"

Even in the complete state of confusion, the yellow pony could not stop being excessively polite.

"Head over to Twilights place Flutters, I'll meet you there."

"Oh... Ok." Fluttershy said after Rainbow went speeding into the air towards Sweet Apple Acres.

Pinkie Pie

The town seemed quiet, too quiet.

Pinkie squinted, looking for the source of all the quietness.

"Something wrong Pinkie?" The strange human said behind her as he placed one of his strange hooves on the hilt of an abnormally large and pointy kitchen knife he carried on his hip.

"Hmm, this place is too quiet... Agh! Watch out!" Pinkies pinky sense had been activated in a way she knew quite well. "Angry blue pegasus incoming!" She yelled as she took cover behind a small bush.

"What in the gods names are you-" A rainbow trail, an angry face, a pain in his stomach and a loud thud were all Grunthar could make out of the situation before finding himself staring at the sky stunned.

"Pinkie run!"

"Silly Dashie, you crashed into my friend Gunbarr!" The pink pony giggled as she emerged from her hiding spot.

"Not you too!" Rainbow groaned as she backed away from the human.

"Its... Not... Gunbarr, Pinkie, I've told you several times already, Its Grun-thar!" He winced as he slowly regained his breath.

"Nah, Gunbarr fits you nicely!" Pinkie smiled as she walked over to her friends. "This is Rainbow Dash! Rainbow, this is Gunbarr!"

"Grunthar." He corrected.

"Whatever! Pinkie, i was going to ask you to help me with Twilight, but now i see you have the same problem!" Rainbow exclaimed exasperated as she flew away to find Applejack.

"Don't worry Gunbarr, she'll like you eventually." The pony said happily as she continued walking through town. Grunthar, tired of correcting her just tagged along.

Eventually they came across Fluttershy, whom, after recovering from the initial shock of seeing a human (For the third time) asked them what had happened.

"After or before you passed out?" Grunthar said, a little smile crossing his face at the memory.

Fluttershy blushed a little and hid behind her mane, after several seconds had passed she replied in almost a whisper.

"After..."

The trio stood in the middle of the street for a few minutes while Grunthar narrated the events. Once he had finished, Fluttershy explained Rainbow asked her to meet in Twilights place and Pinkie said she'd like to see Twilight, Grunthar held no objections and followed them on their way to the library.

The walk passed by uneventfully, the few ponies that passed by them only stole quick glances at the human before moving on. However Grunthar noticed the shy pony stare at his scars constantly and eventually Fluttershy could not contain her question much longer.

"How... How did you get them?"

Grunthar, fully aware of what she meant, just asked for the fun of it.

"Get what?"

"T-the scars."

Grunthar thought carefully of his reply, he did not want to scare the little pony.

"They've all got their own story, this one for example, was a timberwolf that crept into my fathers farm one night."

"You fought a timberwolf?" Fluttershys eyes were wide with amazement and fright.

"Indeed! And this one in my hand was the result of a wood carving incident." He said with a small chuckle, amused at the pony's reaction.

"And... um... What about your eye? What happened to it?"

Grunthar's mood darkened, he was not so sensible about the loss of his eye as he was of the reason he lost it.

"A fight." He said curtly. But Fluttershy's curiosity got the better of her.

"With whom?"

Resigning himself to the insistence of the shy pony Grunthar told his sad tale.

"There once was a man, a warrior, the best his village had, but he was young and foolish. He fell in love with the wrong woman and her father would not stand by and let scum marry his beloved daughter. She was sent away and married some rich boy back in Frethnkurt castle. It should have ended with that, right there and then, but the foolish warrior followed his stubborn heart. He made a journey similar to those in tales and stories, he faced many dangers and he eventually came to the end of his quest.

But life is not a tale and brave deeds are not awarded with victory! The goddamn bastard in his castle sent out his thugs to beat me senseless! Even as i laid before them covered in blood one of them whispered into my ear that he would send my regards to his lord's children! But no, it could not end like that! In the brave stories the chivalrous knight always rescues the lady! Well I tried Gods damn me! I tried and she only laughed in my face as her guards kicked and spat on me, then the husband came out from his castle dagger in hand, he enjoyed every scream, every ounce of pain that left my body as he tore off my eye." Grunthar was sweating and trembling, rage and frustration overcoming him. "I came back to my family dishonored and cripled."

Pinkie Pie was obviously disturbed by the story, she could do nothing but look to the ground with nothing to say. It was Fluttershy, however, who surprisingly placed a hoof on Grunthar's arm.

"It's okay." Her kind voice was overflowing with compassion and love. "We are your friends and we are here to help you, there's nothing to worry about."

Grunthar was feeling confused, his story always made people sneer at him for his stupidity or feel sorry for the dumb idiot who thought he had a chance.

"Yeah! No worries!" Pinkie said cheering up in an instant.

Grunthar, feeling for the first time in many years the unconditional affection of a friend could do nothing but kneel down and tightly hug the two ponies in front of him. The sentiment from his story and the shock of the acceptance of the two mares had driven him into an emotional overflow, he no longer controlled his actions, his sentiments did.

After a while he let go of the two ponies, who at first were startled but soon enough returned the embrace.

"Thanks, I...I guess i needed that..." He trailed of into silence feeling awkward now that the moment had passed.

"Its alright, now lets hurry over to Twilights place! If... Thats ok with you..."

The three of them then continued on their way to the library.

Applejack

After the celebration at their encampment, Gruthvink had ordered several men to head into town and help repair any damages the storm had caused. As it turned out, aside from a few broken windows and ruined gardens, the only thing there was to repair was the Apple family's farm. In a few hours Applejack could do nothing but stare and wonder at the selflessness of the new strangers that were quickly fixing up her barn, clearing the ground of fallen tree branches and in general cleaning up the entire mess. All in all there were about a hundred men and women helping her out on the farm that day.

"Woohoo! Clear em all up fellas! We get this done now an we might be in time for some field plowing!"

Applejacks smile was radiant, and her mood was contagious, despite having to work under the sun, all of the men helping out seemed happy to do so, of course it helped that the Apple family was actively helping as well instead of just watching.

"Miss Applejack! Miss Applejack!" A small child came running out of the trees with a note on his hand.

"Howdy there pardner! Watcha got there?"

"A note from lord Gruthvink! He said it was important." The boy unfolded the letter and held it up so that Applejack could see. Her reaction was rather surprising for those who could not see the context of the letter. In it, Gruthvink was addressing the 'Owner of Sweet Apple Acres' and offering his most sincere apologies for all troubles his people had caused, and a compensation for the damages that summed up to a total of...

"Five thousand bits!" Applejacks excited shout broke through the crowds of workers on the farm.

"This here is more than enough for the farm! Heck, i could even buy a new farm!"

Her widening smile could barely come to show how happy she was, in a sudden burst of energy she lifted the startled boy from the ground and swung him around in a bear hug, until the joy of the moment had lessened. She quickly gave the small messenger a bucket of apples and rushed to town to tell her friends of the good news!

A mud covered Rarity emerged from the back of the barn. When she had offered her help she didn't think it would involve clearing out mud from the fields. But the display of happiness from her friend made it worth the effort.

"At least she's happy."

Rarity said to herself as she saw her friend sprint off to town with a huge smile. "I better head home as well, my coat could be permanently stained if i don't clear this mud swiftly." Shuddering at the thought she made her way back home, leaving Big Macintosh to help the men repair the farm.

Rainbow's Friend

Rainbow Dash soared through the air above the clouds of Ponyville. Her brain ached from so much weirdness! How could her friends talk to those things! They had destroyed A.J,'s farm and hurt Fluttershy! Heck when Rainbow saw her, she was covered in bandages!

"Bunch of weirdos. Whatever, who needs them... I will prove them that those things they hang out with are dangerous monsters. Just wait and see Rainbow, you'll prove them wrong!"

She suddenly saw the human encampment and readjusted her direction. She wanted proof and she would get it.

As she came closer to it she tried to move stealthily about. Making as little noise as possible. There were several rows of tents with men and women coming in and out of them. Rainbow decided that looking in the tents would be to dangerous so she took a left and then a right and then several more rights until...

"Aw shoot! I'm lost! How the hay am i going to get out!"

At the time Rainbow thought this a rather large man with a beer-drenched shirt stumbled out of the back of his tent and landed next to her. Completely surprised and slightly scared by the proportions of the man in front of her, Rainbow took a step back a bit too quickly and tripped on a small rock, loosing her balance she fell down to a small defensive trench that had been excavated around the camp.

"Whoa! Shoot!"

She landed on her back, no injuries aside from a slight headache.

"Goshdarnit! This day needs to be about seventy percent cooler!"

She said with a slight pint of Rainbow humor only a select group of mares would have understood.

But then she heard faint noises coming from the outside of the trench, they sounded like a metal object hitting wood, but there was panting and heavy breathing as well.

"What in the hay is that?"

She slowly crawled out of the trench and was met with a sight she would not soon forget. In front of her was a young man, possibly seventeen, slashing at a training dummy with an iron sword. His muscles were well marked and he sported an athletically built body, his short dark hair was braided and hung back behind his ears, he panted and grunted as he swiftly changed his stance while slashing at the wood and hay target in front of him. Rainbows jaw dropped, her gaze was fixed on the humans muscles as he landed a final blow to his stationary foe, severing its head.

"He's twenty percent cooler alright..." Rainbows absentminded comment left her lips a tad too loud, and the object of her trance turned around and saw her, Rainbows heart skipped a beat as the human smiled and introduced himself.

"Hey! Name's Edvard, how's it going?"

Savagely Acquainted Part 1.

King Frethnk

"The enemy encampment has been spotted sire, just outside Equestrian controlled territory."

"Form the first and second units of irregulars on our left flank, third and fourth on the right one, archers in the center with the fifth irregular, keep it behind our lines along with the regulars and the beast masters."

"Yes my lord."

King Frethnk had marched without stopping for two days. After the news of Gruthvinks escape had reached him he had immediately left Frethnkurt castle in pursuit. With Gruthvink having been ahead of him only for a day, he had finally caught up to his army outside of this strange pony settlement.

"Today i shall taste victory."

Frethnks mind was set on his goal, his army was ready, his resolve was absolute and no man or pony would stand in his way.

He had waited for too long and that waiting would finally pay off when he had the traitors bodies impaled.

Frethnk walked around the quiet camp his army had made just a mile from the treeline of the forest. No fires had been lit and no songs had been sang. The rebels would be completely surprised. Frethnks army was over five thousand strong and the wild beasts would certainly prove decisive in destroying the rebels.

He smiled to himself, the ponies may have been warned by the rebels but still they knew nothing about his army, the rebel forces only bordered around a thousand men and their armor and weapons were even worse than those of his irregulars! It mattered little how many warriors the Equestrians sent forth on the battle, if they even showed at all, Frethnk was certain victory was his.

There were, however, a few issues that concerned him. For one, the rebels were camped on a small, artificially made, plateau surrounded by trenches and muddy ditches, his soldiers would have a hard time crossing them and the rebels had higher ground advantage. Secondly, if the Equestrians did show up in the battle, they would control the skies with their pegasi, any ambush attempts would be thwarted and in the event of a siege they could drop supplies inside the rebel base. And the one he worried about the most was the usage of magic, his soldiers were superstitious and seeing large bolts of magical energy flying around or their comrades being levitated into the air might break their morale. To the unicorns he had no immediate counter strategy, but he would figure something out. He always did in the end.

He moved about the camp, inspecting his men as they moved into formation outside the encampment. Frethnk was a notorious warrior, and his men respected him, seeing their leader before a battle strengthened their morale and resolve.

Frethnk moved to the front of the now assembled battle line and addressed his men.

"Soldiers! We have come here to fulfill our destiny! Outside of this forest lays a vast extent of land! Plains! Rivers! We will finally be able to walk outside of the walls of a city without fear of wild beasts! Not that we fear them anyway! I know each and one of you my soldiers! You have fought with me on numerous battles! And i recognize brave men when i see them!"

Many of the soldiers in the army stood upright at his words, filling their chests with pride as his leader spoke so highly of them.

"And i also know cowards when they show themselves!" The soldiers expressions darkened, they knew who Frethnk referred to. "The men camped outside are nothing more than that! Cowards! They betrayed us! They turned on their own kin when they were most needed! Many of them served under me just as you do now! Many of them we considered comrades! Allies in the face of danger! But now we know their true faces!

Those horse lovers would rather bed their farm animals than march into battle with us!" Laughter rose from the ranks of the army at the commentary. "And with the god of war as my witness! They best had enjoyed their night with their stallions! For it will be their last!"

The following uproar from the soldiers rose high into the air, men waved their fists and shouted while others hit their shields with the hilt of their swords. Frethnk stood there slightly sweating with his arms raised, a satisfied grin on his face.

"March onward!"

The formation of warriors obeyed, they advanced at a steady pace towards the treeline, never loosing formation.

Edvard

"You okay little friend?"

"I... I... um... im just..."

The strange pony had been babbling nonsense since he had seen her.

"Did something happen?"

This was strange, first he had landed a magnificent blow to the training dummy with his favorite sword and then this strange pegasus had said something to him just to blush and hide after he had seen her. He was certain the brutality of his training was stunning, but not to that level!

"I... Um... H-h-have to go!"

The blue pegasus fled at full speed towards the sky, leaving Edvard confused.

"Um... see ya?"

He was about to return to his training when loud shouting reached his ears. Followed by a war horn.

A worried look on his face he sped up the dirt slope and into camp holding his sword with an iron grip.

Grunthar

Grunthar had been enjoying the company of the now three ponies and Brethgurt when he heard the war horn in the distance.

"That's the alarm of battle!"

A quick glance to his older friend told him that Brethgurt recognized the all too familiar noise. They had been hearing it a lot, for the past few months after the war started, after all.

"We should head back to the camp."

Brethgurt set down his cup of jasmine tea. Twilight had prepared tea for all of them. Grunthar had asked for ale, as it was typical of him, but the small purple pony had just asked what that 'ale' thing was.

"We have to warn the others back at the apple farm."

Grunthar was anxious to leave, but as general he knew that they would need all the men they could get.

"Don't worry none! Just saw that there little boy rush towards the farm at full gallop!" Applejack had arrived shortly after Pinkie and the others had. She had shared the news and thanked the two humans heartily before they all got lost into chatter of less importance.

"Good, Ulfir's a good lad, he'll get the word out." Brethgurt was standing up now, ready to leave. "I thank your most gracious hospitality miss Twilight, but I'm afraid our presence is required somewhere else."

"It's all right, after this small distraction we can continue our tea and my lessons on human history!" She beamed with a slight smile

Both men glanced at each other before Grunthar spoke.

"If we make it back alive."

A confused look appeared on Twilights face.

"What do you mean? Don't you humans wear armor to battle?"

Now, Brethgurt knew exactly why Twilight was confused. Ponies did not wage war as humans did. Their physical impediments meant that they could not operate armament capable of causing death, and even if they could, they felt inclined towards injuring rather than killing their opponents in battle.

All Equestrians valued life, even that of an enemy, and rarely had war caused more than a few hundred deaths for pony kind. Since hooves were not meant for killing and the plated armor they wore to combat cushioned the blows. Even spells for war were more inclined to making their foes fall in a coma or paralyze them. Pegasi dropped large rocks from high altitudes which accounted for most deaths in a battle but it was still not enough to rival the massive amount of murder in even the smallest human quarrel.

With their most brutal war against the changelings having amounted up to eight hundred fatalities for Equestria and their conflict with the Gryphons mounting up to only six hundred, the concept of death in a battle was still met with skepticism. And the fact that Equestria was well known for their advances in the magical medicine field only meant that fewer certain death situations actually ended in death.

And now, it was up to Brethgurt to break the news to Twilight that the two men she had just shared tea with, may not return at all.

"Um... Miss Twilight... Err, humans have, a different way of making war than that of Equestria..."

"What do you mean?" Twilights face showed innocent curiosity.

Noticing Brethgurts lack of words for explaining Twilights question, Grunthar, in his usual blunt and direct way of saying things, unsheathed his sword and with a growl buried it deep on one of the wooden walls of the library. When his hand left the sword buried in the wood he turned to the astonished ponies and said in a calm voice.

"And every single one of us has one."

Brethgurt smiled apologetically as Grunthar pulled his sword out of the wall and sheathed it again.

The ponies gawked at the hole in the wall, if what they had just seen could be done by all humans, then they had a rough idea of just how brutal the battle would be.

Grunthar and Brethgurt left the ponies in the library and rushed towards their camp, the faint sounds of clashing steel reached their ears as they closed in on it.

Battle of the Ponyville Plains

King Frethnk stood at the treeline, watching as his officers rushed to give each unit their orders.

The first irregular unit was to make its way through the center and up the slope of the plateau, while the second unit rushed through the field and started its own climb on the left side. The archers were to line up behind the first unit of irregulars and commence shooting at the camp.

The third and fourth units of irregulars were to move to the right side and assault the only dirt path that led directly to the camp, although the entrance had been barricaded Frethnk was certain two hundred men would have no trouble breaching it. The remaining unit of irregulars was to stay behind the archers along with the first unit of regular heavy infantry, only to enter combat if things got rough.

His beast masters stayed behind the trees, Frethnk did not want to reveal his master weapon before the time was right.

When each unit knew what they were meant to do, the king gave the order to advance.

The units moved out, slowly at first but their pace increased as the rage of battle entered their minds. Soon enough, fifty thousand men were rushing towards the rebels encampment.

Gruthvink

The rebel leader had been taken by surprise. He left his tent fully armored and started shouting orders at his terrified officers, who immediately rounded up as many men as they could before setting of to man the defenses.

The enemy was halfway through the field.

Soldiers rushed through the camp and boys hurried on to give their fathers and older brothers their chain mail armor, their swords, their axes, spears, maces and anything they would need, and need it they would.

Enemy soldier's shouts were heard as loud as a falling tree.

Men swiftly took their places at the edges of the small, waist leveled, mud-brick walls that surrounded the encampment. If the rest of the army did not hurry there would not be enough of them to hold back the enemy.

The defenders now could see the faces of those who wanted to slaughter them.

Gruthvink moved up the ranks of his men, he had divided his troops into four parts, each one consisting of, roughly, two hundred and twenty four men. Since a hundred men were still at the apple farm and Brethgurt and Grunthar were in town the army was not complete. Despite these issues, Gruthvink placed three of his four newly formed units at the front of his camp, facing towards the enemy and one unit at the entrance of the encampment, in case the enemy tried to go through there.

So, with all preparations improvised as best as he could, he waited, shield raised and sword ready, he waited for fate to be decided.

The enemy was now at the trenches.

"Free men and soldiers! I address you here today! So that you may know that going to war with you has been the honor of my life!"

Gruthvinks short but honest speech was greeted with an equally short but sincere ovation as the men steeled themselves for the approaching impact.

Then the enemy was upon them.

The first thing the warriors noticed, was the sky darkening by a cloud of approaching arrows. The second, were the painful  cries of their comrades as the arrows hit home.

Several men around Edvard raised their shields to greet the oncoming volley, but he knew better. As the men around him prepared their shields to avoid the arrows that were meant for the back lines of the defense, a second volley was shot straight forward to the front lines.

Edvard covered his face with his round wooden shield as the arrows hammered it. His face turned to his right, he was able to see the fate that his fellow warriors received for their foolishness, The arrows were a blur until their iron tips pierced armor and flesh sending their targets to the floor covered in blood and howling with pain.

Several men had been killed instantly, but most of those unlucky enough to have received an arrow, were on the floor screaming in pain as blood flowed freely from their wounds. The men behind them moved forward to replace the fallen ones.

Edvard then lowered his shield and was met with the sight of a white skinned man in his twenties raising a spiked mace in the air. Edvard was well trained and moved quickly, raising his shield once more he deflected the blow of his opponent and in quick succession made a swift thrust with his sword to the mans face. His enemy fell backwards screaming in agony as Edvard pulled his sword out his now empty eye socket.

He had no time to end the mans life however, as the dead soldier was soon replaced by two more brutes.

The front line of the battle was utter chaos, the royal irregular units had climbed in utter disorganization, and the archers had  been too slow when reloading and had only been able to fire two volleys, but it had done the trick. The rebel forces on the plateau had lost formation for a few seconds and the royal soldiers breached through the gaps quickly. Now the rebels were separated into two different groups, each one on its own side of the battle with a growing group of enemies in the middle.

Edvard was in trouble, the two thugs had proven tougher than his last opponent. He was dodging and evading blows more than giving them, and he had been forced to give ground.

After swiftly avoiding being split in half by a slash of the left thug's greatsword, he saw a small hole in his opponents armor, his chain mail was broken in between the arm and the shoulder, leaving the mans armpit exposed. In a bold move Edvard slashed at the opening with his sword, while half blocking a blow from the war axe of the other thug. The sword connected and ripped through flesh and muscle, nearly separating the mans arm from his body.

He had no time to celebrate though, the second enemy soldier was already preparing another blow, Edvard's fellow soldiers were too busy to help him, the line had been shattered, every soldier had been reduced to small skirmishes.

The enemy soldier raised his war axe and brought it down with tremendous strength, Edvard was barely able to raise his shield in defense, but the impact was too powerful. Edvard felt the shield break in two as the war axe smashed it. He felt a horrible pain in his arm as the axe was bent to the side and slammed into his arm with the blunt end. His arm was broken and he no longer had a shield.

Gruthvink was slashing at the enemy with his sword like a mad man. He had lost his shield a while ago and was now completely focused in killing as many foes as he could before being struck down. His roars of rage filled the air around him, making his enemies think twice about attacking him.

Along with Gruthvink was what remained of one of the three units he had formed, his forces had been pushed backwards inside the encampment and he now stood before his own tent in the very middle. This would be the rebel's final stand.

"Fight with me my brothers! Fight!"

His rallying shouts made the men around him redouble their efforts.

"Teach these dogs what real men are made of!" He spat blood as he spoke, his face was a bloody mess and a long, deep gash ran from the top of his abdomen down to his waist.

The rebel soldiers launched themselves forward fire in their eyes and hatred in their hearts. Men fell before them by the dozens.

Frethnks royal army had been greatly reduced, an entire unit of irregulars had been destroyed and the other two that had charged up the slope were down to half their numbers.

"The god of war awaits us! Lets make sure we send as many of these bastards before us!"

Gruthvinks threats and war cries echoed throughout the battle, it was hard for the royalists not to feel fear, as the rebel leaders voice carried great authority and strength with it.

But the battle was almost over, the royalists had broken through the defenses at the front line and quickly surrounded Gruthvink. The main entrance to the encampment had held so far but the rebels over there were losing men fast, and the other group of survivors at the front line was being quickly surrounded as well.

King Frethnk smiled as he saw his soldiers advance up the slope and into the camp.

"Took them long enough."

"Should we secure the village as well sire?" Lord Unflack spoke from his lords left.

"Yes, move our regulars into the Equestrian settlement and claim it for our kingdom."

"As you wish my lord, I will inform the officers."

"No you wont," Frethnk almost murmured without moving his eyes from the battle. "Because you will lead them."

"As you command sire."

Unflack was slightly surprised about this turn of events, being asked to lead the advancing force into an enemy village was an honor reserved for only the best captains. But it was also the most dangerous task.

Ponyville

Twilight and her friends were in the library, trying to decide what they should do. Rainbow Dash had joined them about half an hour after Grunthar and Brethgurt had departed, but had been silent for most of the discussion, Rarity arrived a few minutes after Rainbow.

"We have to do something! Our friends need our help!"

"Twilight, dear, a battle is no place for a lady! Besides those humans seem quite able to handle this on their own."

The panorama of the argument was as follows, Twilight and Applejack wanted to join the fight to help the humans, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy wanted to help without getting involved in any of the fighting, Rarity and Spike were against risking their lives to help people they barely knew, although Spike may have just joined in because of Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, whom everyone thought would side with Rarity, had kept silent throughout the discussion.

"It doesn't matter Rarity! Our friends need our help! We cant just sit here and do nothing!"

"Twilight's right, them humans helped me with ma'h farm an i think we should return the favor."

Applejack was still thankful for the help the people had given her.

"It's not the same thing to fix a barn and to go to war!" Was Rarity's response.

"Yeah Twilight, think this through! A few ponies can't change the course of a battle!" Spike tried reasoning.

"Um... Sorry but... I think we need to warn the princess..."

"Yeah! You're totally right Fluttershy! Oooh I'll go I'll go!" Pinkie Pie volunteered.

After much deliberation it was decided, Pinkie Pie would warn the princess about the battle, Twilight and Applejack would try to help Gruthvink and his men in any way they could, Fluttershy and Rarity would stay at the library and wait for the princess to arrive.

"Wait, what about Rainbow?"

"Spike's right." Twilight looked over to the blue pegasus. "Rainbow, would you be willing to help us?"

Rainbow Dash had been asking herself the same question over and over.

Would she? Despite of what she thought about the humans?

Her thoughts flashed back to the young man she had seen training, and her heart was filled by a warm feeling, one she had not felt for a while, and even if she would not admit her feelings right then and there, not even to herself, she did feel something towards that man and as the sounds of battle resounded through the midday air, carried by the wind, she felt worry fill her mind. She had decided.

"I... I... Consider it done!"

Grunthar

Grunthar and Brethgurt had gathered the hundred men from the farm and were waiting in the outskirts of town for a chance to strike. But the enemy was very numerous and most of the men with them were not armed.

"We will charge at the attackers on the barricaded entrance."

"Are you sure Grunthar?"

"Its our only chance Brethgurt, If we can rout them, we may be able to rally the men at the entrance and push back inside the camp to help Gruthvink."

"Very well, ready when you are."

"On the count of three..."

"One..."

"Two..."

"Thr..."

"Wait!"

The countdown was cut short by a rainbow maned pegasus.

"We are here to help you!" Rainbow Dash was ahead of Twilight and Applejack, but the other two mares could be seen approaching from a distance.

"Listen kid, we appreciate what you are trying to do but seriously, don't get in the way unless you want to get hurt." Grunthar was firm simple and direct as always, but Rainbow would not give in so easily.

"You don't understand! We have a plan!"

"Miss Dash, am i correct? Well, Listen miss Dash, we really appreciate what you are trying to do, but my friend is right, this is no place for a pony."

"Ugh... You guys just beat those dudes over there by the entrance, Ok? My friends and I will handle the rest."

Rainbow flew over the clouds disappearing in an instance.

By then Twilight and Applejack had reached the group and quickly explained their plan to the men. Needles to say, they were shocked.

"Can your rainbow friend really do that?" Grunthar asked skeptical.

"Not by herself, but the weather team's pegasi agreed to help so she should be able to pull it off."

"This is marvelous! Just brilliant!" Brethgurts face lit up in excitement. "If you three can really do what you said, and your other friend is able to get reinforcements from the Princess, we may actually stand a chance!"

"No time to lose then! Lets get moving!" Grunthar shouted and his men roared in agreement. They charged through the open field that led to the entrance of the camp.

Twilights horn glowing with magic.

Edvard

The end was close. He had lost too much blood, the pain in his arm had died down a bit but it was still useless, he had barely been able to kill the axe wielding maniac that had nearly ended him. A stray arrow hit the soldier in his leg and Edvard was fast enough to kill him before he had recovered.

But now he stood along with his brothers, facing their enemy. The remaining survivors had retreated to the corner of the camp, and the royalists had followed.

Now the tension was horrible, Both sides had regrouped and were now staring into each others eyes, only separated by a few meters of blood soaked soil. Neither side knew what would light the spark that started the impending massacre.

"For Gruthvink!"

A single soldier's battle cry set the whole thing on fire.

The rebels roared in approval and launched themselves forward, swords held high in the sky. They knew they were going to die right there and then, but after years of slavery and oppression they saw death in the eye and laughed, no longer afraid of it, having conquered worse things death would be a blessing, Edvard and his fellow soldiers and brothers in arms threw themselves in the ever loving embrace of eternal slumber. No longer caring.

The royalists gave war cries of their own and met the rebels in the middle. Swords flashed in the sunlight, dust went up in clouds, blood ran in rivers and the brave warriors in the center of it all fought as the fearless fighters they were.

Edvard fell to his knees, which no longer could hold him up, a spear through the left side of his rib cage had ended the young warriors role in the events that were yet to unfold, because, as the screams of men surrounded him and he felt his own blood flowing from his wounds, he saw a rainbow above in the sky, and several storm clouds were forming above the royalists.

Edvar then collapsed, in the middle of the blood and corpses, he closed his eyes, and thoughts of a rainbow maned pegasus filled his head.

Savagely Acquainted Part 2

Blood Brothers

Frethnk and Gruthvink ran through the woods, making haste to get back to the castle before their mothers realized they had left.

They had been exploring the old, abandoned barracks outside the castle, and it was getting late.

"Hurry it up crab face!"

Gruthvink being the oldest often called Frethnk names, but the friendship between both of them was stronger than oak.

"No fair! You tripped me!"

"Did not! You're just slower than old Hruthgert when he's drunk!"

The two friends continued running through the thick forest foliage as the walls of the city came into view. As they approached the gates two guards stood up in attention and saluted Frethnk while eyeing Gruthvink suspiciously.

"Your father's guards don't seem to like me very much..."

"It's not that, they just... um... They must be tired from standing here all day!" Frethnk smiled reassuringly at his friend.

Being younger than Gruthvink by three years, Frethnk was far more innocent than his friend and failed to see the real reason his guards and father frowned upon his friend. Gruthvink however, was almost of age, nearing his fourteenth birthday he would become a man, and the humble origins of the son of a soldier, even if that soldier was a commanding officer in the army, were proving to become an increasing barrier between the two friends.

As the two friends left the wooden wall gates behind, they came into view of the main street of Frethnkurt castle, named after Frethnk's grandfather, King Frethnk the first. The street was alive with movement. Bakers hurried to fill their stands with freshly baked bread, farmers loudly boasted about the quality of their produce, peasants and nobles alike moved about the street, looking at what was for sale.

"Lets, go Gruthvink! Maybe Kerath will give us some fresh bread if we hurry!"

"Right behind you!"

Gruthvinks mood improved at the thought, his family made a decent living and food was not a problem but the Bread from Kerath's bakery was delicious!

They hurried down the street, moving in between the crowd and trying not to get lost in the multitude. When they finally got to the bakery Kerath was already closing.

"Aw, please Kerath? Just one loaf! Please?" Frethnks pleading eyes made Kerath loosen on her stern face.

"Oh fine, but next time come in before i set all the locks on this blasted door!"

"Haha! See Gruthvink? I told you Kerath was the nicest baker in all of town!"

Kerath smiled at the compliment and unlocking the final lock on the door stepped inside.

"Mmhm, I just hope mother doesn't get angry at me for being late..."

"Don't worry. We are not that late!"

"Frethnk, its already sundown..."

"Oh, my bad..." Frethnk smiled and shrugged.

"Numskull..."

"Hey! I'm just trying to help!"

"I know, i know, sorry..."

After a long silence, Frethnk noticed his friend's frown and distant look.

"Are you ok?

Gruthvink was not ok, he had begun to see the world in a different light. As the innocence of  his early years had begun to fade the world he lived in was thrown into the light, revealing a dreadful truth. Everywhere Gruthvink looked, he saw the markings of poverty and misery, small children ran around the streets begging for money and food, the old war veterans leaning against the buildings some without limbs others without eyes, they begged for coin.

These things had been around for as long as he remembered, but it was only recently that he had begun to see the other side of the coin.

His side of the coin.

Kerath emerged from her bakery with two loaves of bread, handing one to each boy, she bid farewell and set to the task of re-locking her door while the two friends continued down the street towards the castle.

"So are you?"

"Huh?"

"Are you ok? You didnt answer my question..."

"Oh yeah, sorry. And yes i am ok..."

"Pfft, and I am the numskull!"

Gruthvink had noticed how the nobility could enjoy such luxuries and pleasantries. He didn't think it was fair for so few to have so much, and so many to have so little.

Battle of the Ponyville plains

King Frethnk looked at the battlefield with a cold gaze, he had seen plenty during the rebellion and the wars before it. There was always some new kingdom or warlord trying to gain influence behind his back. And he had always been brutal in the way he had humbled them.

But now he felt an ounce of sadness in his heart. Somewhere in that blood drenched hell hole was his dearest childhood friend. And the man who had landed the hardest blow to his powerful empire.

Gruthvinks rebellion had made Frethnk's kingdom shake to its very core, no war he had ever fought was so close to his keep. But the main reason he so wished for the war to be over was so that he could look into the eyes of the man who had betrayed him before publicly severing his head from his shoulders.

The warm midday air was getting uncomfortable, Frethnks body started to sweat under the heavy armor. He removed his helmet slowly never moving his eyes from the battle.

"My lord, a rebel unit has been spotted moving towards the entrance of the camp, within the minute they'll reach our already combating soldiers and surround them."

The officer seemed calm but the worry in his tone was apparent.

"Dispatch the remaining irregulars, finish them off and then push into the camp."

Frethnk slowly turned around, and started walking towards the nearest tree. he sat down leaning against it and started humming to himself a tune that had not left his lips for a very long time.

Rainbow Dash

Rainbow tried hard to keep her gaze from looking down, the sight of the battle made her sick. She had never been in a battle but what she had heard from the few war stallions that she had met on her trips to Canterlot sounded rather exciting to participate in.

This was not.

The air stank of sweat and blood, dust flew everywhere and the air was filled with the agonizing screams of the dying. But the sight was the worst by far. She had seen a few young men, not much older than the human she had seen training, running desperately from another group. When they cornered them between a row of tents, the men had beaten the young soldiers senseless before stabbing them to death.

Several of her weather team members had fled back to Ponyville, unable to take in the horrible display before them. But still enough remained that the plan should work.

Her team had rounded up as many storm clouds, that remained from the previous storm, and lined them up above the royalist army, then with all the strength they could muster they started stomping on the clouds causing a small lightning storm above the battlefield.

The plan had worked, the invading soldiers looked around them in fear as the ear splitting thunder followed the lightning bolts that fell on the ground around them.

Panicked screams filled the air as a lightning reached a man and knocked him unconscious. The storm was the loudest any human had experienced and the pegasi had placed it closer to the ground than any normal storm could be.

As the terrified soldiers stopped fighting their officers tried to restore order and reform the line, Rainbow instructed her team to target the men shouting orders.

One by one the officers fell, leaving the royalist troops in utter confusion, but they still held together out of raw pride, none wanted to be the first to flee.

Rainbow dash and her team had done their part, the enemy was shaken badly but it was still not enough to make them flee. Twilight had better hurry up.

Twilight

The race to the cliff had been rough, Twilight was better suited for reading rather than running. and her slow pace reflected upon this fact. However by human standards she was still pretty fast, her four legs managed to keep the pace with the men beside her.

Applejack on the other hand, had to slow down to let the soldiers catch up to her. They were close to the end of the dirt path and the barricades were overflown with enemy soldiers. As they saw the rebels get closer, half the royalist unit that still remained shouted their battle cries and lunged forward to met the new comers.

Twilight was terrified, the image of Grunthar's sword thrust inside the wooden wall was still fresh in her mind and as she looked at applejack she noticed the same concern.

Brethgurt and Grunthar unsheathed their swords in unison, as did the men behind them that did have a weapon. With a battle cry of their own the men picked up speed and raised their swords into the air.

Twilight readied the spell she had memorized before, it was a defense spell, it was meant to throw its target into the air, but not high enough that it was lethal.

Applejack prepared herself for what was to come, her hind legs were powerful, powerful enough that not even the armor the enemy wore could save them from a few broken ribs, she knew this and was not hesitant to use them to their full power.

Grunthar roared his lungs out before his sword arm came crashing down on the unarmored head of an enemy soldier. Blood splattered his chain mail and face and brought a fearsome smile to the warrior as he pushed forward hacking and slashing at anyone foolish enough to cross his path.

Brethgurt muttered a quick incantation and his sword came alive with a green glow, as he swung the enchanted weapon the royalists backed away in fright. An old warrior with a thick beard and no hair had been reached by Brethgurts blow.

It was a small cut, completely superficial, just above his eyebrow. But after the steel had departed his flesh, the small wound was filled with small wriggling creatures. The soldier clawed at his face in horror and pain as maggots started protruding from the cut. His howls filled the air and his comrades stared in disbelief.

After several seconds of agony, the man fell to the ground, the cuts his fingernails had made filled with the small wriggling beasts as well, he trembled and convulsed, then went still as the monsters crawled into his skull and gnawed at his brain.

Brethgurt gave a cynical smile and advanced on his next target.

Twilight's magic sent several soldiers flying over their comrades, she wasn't aware of it, but a few necks snapped upon collision with the ground. Human bones were not as strong as she had calculated, but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her right?

Applejack on the other hand, was aware of every crack and split in her opponents rib cage as she sent them sprawling to the ground. Her eyes filled with disgusted tears at the feeling of her hooves snapping a mans leg bone in two. But it was either them or her, and she was not planning to die there.

Screams filled the air as more men died, the battle was reaching its climax, and the appearance of the new rebel reinforcements had made it turn its tide.

As the fifth unit of irregulars reached position behind the reinforcing rebel unit by the dirt path they charged, and clashed with the back rows of the rebels.

Brethgurt turned around and saw the newly arrived enemies. He chuckled to himself, and walked to the back lines slowly.

Garith

Just as Unflack had been sent to secure the town, Garith was to lead the charge of the fifth unit of irregulars. She was eager to prove her worth to her king or die trying.

"Charge!"

Her order was met with loud shouting from her men as they race up the path and clashed with the rebels.

After a minute of fighting, Garith was standing in the middle of her unit, five dead men before her feet, her bloodied sword glistening in the midday sun. Just as she was feeling her luck returning she spotted Brethgurt.

The strange old man moved steadily towards her, having identified Garith as the leader of the unit, he was going to try and kill her. Garith's smile disappeared as she saw the glow on the mans sword. Brethgurt had switched from his maggot spell into a personal favorite of his.

They met in the middle. Royalist troops who tried to intervene were quickly sent flying away by a strange purple glow.

No man would intervene in their duel.

Brethgurt's sword changed its green glow into a sickly yellow tone. He knew this spell very well, and it always made him chuckle at the results. But it would not be fair to face the lady on uneven terms.

With another quick incantation, Garith's sword started glowing red and a few flames flickered across it.

"So sure are you about your victory wizard?"

"The lady deserves an even fight, does she not?"

"And a fight you shall have!"

She screamed her last words before savagely attacking Brethgurt, she was stronger than she seemed.

Brethgurt barely blocked a swing directed to his head, and then blocked another one aimed at his waist. This would prove a challenge.

The battle continued for a few minutes and after successfully dodging a thrust, Brethgurt slashed at Gariths leg, making a small cut above her knee.

Graith screeched in pain as the wound became rapidly infected, pus oozed out of it in torrents, she gasped in horrible pain as she felt the bone itself rotting away. Her heart started pumping blood at a crazed speed, her blood stream rushed towards the wound and blood splattered on the ground before her, she was certain she would bleed to death.

What happened next surprised her. The wound started closing, the yellow pus that had formed inside the cut was carried away by the blood into her veins and the cut was closed in the blink of an eye. Her confused gaze turned to the old wizard.

"What...?"

The old man gave her a knowing look and said in a calm voice.

"You have five hours before the infection kills you." He turned around and started walking back to the fray of the battle. "And yes, It will be painful..."

Garith was terrified and confused, she could not move her leg anymore, and her flesh, were the cut had been, turned yellow.

Brethgurt

As Brethgurt walked away from his latest kill, he switched back to the maggot spell. Looking over the few remaining royalists that continued fighting.

The dust had settled down as his men killed of the remaining enemies, both on the front and back of the barricade. Grunthar was panting heavily by the entrance to the camp, leaning against the wooden barricade.

"Haha! Now that was fun!" Grunthar stood up to meet his approaching friend.

"Now we need to get to Gruthvink and aid in the defence."

"Not so fast Brethgurt." Grunthar nodded at the two shaken ponies that stood terrified by a tent.

Brethgurt nodded, and walked over to the two ponies.

"Miss Sparkle, Miss Applejack, I am sorry for what you have had to experience, and would really like to just be able to let you rest. But Gruthvink needs us, we cannot delay."

His words sank their meaning into the two mare's minds. They stood on shaking legs and nodded weakly.

They made quick progress through the camp, moving through the rows of tents swiftly, the rebel reinforcements along with the men that had been originally placed at the entrance of the encampment had suffered heavy losses but were still fighting fit.

As they neared the center of the camp the sight before them was shocking.

In the middle and in front of Gruthvink's tent lay hundreds of corpses, most of them severely mutilated and standing around the dead was the rebel leader and what remained of his men.

"Lord Gruthvink! Thank the gods you still live!" Grunthar rushed forward to meet his king.

Gruthvink was horribly wounded, his face was covered in blood and his chain mail had been completely torn off his body, his torso was full of cuts gashes and bruises, one of his hands was missing, his shield hand. Two soldiers had to help him stand.

"Grunthar! Took you long enough!" Gruthvink forced a smile. "But that mare over there is the one we should thank." He pointed a trembling finger towards a proud looking blue pegasus and her weather team. "If they hadn't caused that storm those bastards would have overwhelmed us." A smile crossed his face for a small while before being replaced by a somber frown.

"There still are too many, we can't hope to defeat them." Gruthvinks shoulders slumped as his bloodlust lessened.

"Actually sir, we may still have a chance." Twilights voice came from behind Brethgurt.

"And may i ask your name, miss...?"

"Twilight Sparkle."

"Very well, out with it!"

"Oh, right!" Twlight realized she had been staring at the mans wounds wondering wether he was in pain, he sure didn't show it.

Pulling out a list from nowhere she immediately started to explain in her characteristically organized way.

"Taking the entrance? Check! Making a storm? Check!..."

As she continued on with her list the men around her glanced at each other with confused expressions.

"Um, Brethgurt? Where did she get that list?" Grunthar had never seen the pony carry the list with her when they left.

"Beats me..." Brethgurt was equally confused but decided not to ask.

"...clearing the center of the camp? Check! Yup, we are all set!" Twilight smiled and then blushed as she noticed the confused stares the soldiers were giving her. "Sorry..."

"What Twilight here is tryin ta say," Applejack rolled her eyes with a smile. "Is that Rainbows storm must have scared the horse apples out of them soldiers! So now all we have ta do is go on ahead and chase em back into tha forest!"

Gruthvink smiled as he remembered how terrified the enemy had been when the storm started, and how it seemed that the lightning was targetting the officers in particular. If what these ponies were saying was accurate and the storm held on for a little longer, they could indeed rout the enemy from the camp.

"All right men! One final push! All with me! Follow me to battle and a glorious end!" Gruthvinks eyes shone with the bright fire of rage as he led his men, swords raised high, back into battle. Grunthar went ahead with his lord, leaving Brethgurt behind to catch his breath.

"Oh gods, Im too old for this!"

"So what do we do now?"

"Miss Twilight, you and your friends have done more than enough to help our cause, asking more of you would be sinful!" Brethgurt smiled heartily at the group of ponies before him. At his words several of Rainbow Dash's weather team members let out a sigh of relief and went back to town. Rainbow however had something on her mind.

"Hey, um, do you know some guy called Edvard?" Rainbow remembered his name, it had burned itself in her mind and would not stop repeating itself every time she looked down at the battlefield. She was worried.

Brethgurt blinked in surprise, out of all ponies he least expected to worry about a human, Rainbow was the very last one he thought would ask about a possible casualty of war.

"He was a good lad." Brethgurt grew somber. "And a good fighter. But his unit was in the front of the encampment and i very much doubt there were any survivors." His words were honest and filled with sadness, Brethgurt had personally recruited Edvard into their ranks.

Rainbows felt her heart sink down to her knees, and a single tear forced its way out of her eyes.

"I'm sorry for your loss miss Dash."

Brethgurt turned around and started running towards the battle, unsure of what the connection between the pegasus and one of the best recruits they had trained could be.

Applejack and Twilight walked over to Rainbow and asked what was wrong. They had heard what rainbow said but didn't know what to make out of it.

"N-nothing, I'm ok..." Rainbow shook her head and stared up at the clouds. 'You just met the guy Rainbow! You can't fall for him! He doesn't even know your name!'

Reassuring herself that it was all just a silly thought, Rainbow darted off into the sky only stopping to call out to her friends.

"Come on! I think they could use a hoof!"

The rest of the ponies followed suit, flying or running they all headed to the front of the encampment.

Brother's Blood

Gruthvink stared dead ahead at the wall of his room.

Jifvres moved closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Please Gruthvink, i know he can be difficult some times, but my brother is not that bad."

"Bad? He's a monster!" Gruthvink stood up in anger. "He calls himself king! But a real king does not let his people starve! A real king protects his subjects!" His fists smashed a small wooden carving of a horse as he let his anger out.

Jifvres looked down at her feet, a sad tear running down her face.

"You know it too Jifvres! You've seen the suffering of the people! He did not even raise a finger when i asked him to increase food rations in the poor quarter! He laughed, Gods damn him! He stood there and laughed in my face!"

"What would you have him do?"

"What he is supposed to!" Gruthvink turned around and looked deep into the eyes of his wife. "What a king should do!"

They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds before Jifvres broke eye contact.

"Perhaps you should be king..."

Gruthvink's eyes grew wide, the simple thought of replacing the former king was enough reason to be executed. But something in his wife's voice made him hold on to the idea. He toyed around with the thought of being king for a while before the sense of treason made him shake his head and lie down on his bed beside his wife.

He closed his eyes and dreams of a burning town and a city rising from its ashes with a new sovereign in place filled his mind.

Frethnk

The King and lord of the Everfree forest was filled with fury as the sight before him unfolded.

"The cowards are running!" He pointed towards the battle shouting insults at his men. "Get back there you fools! Fight!"

"My lord! The soldiers report that the storm is being caused by pegasi!" His field commander said in a trembling voice. "And a unicorn has been spotted among the rebels..."

Frethnks eyes widened, the Equestrians had showed themselves. No matter, his troops still overwhelmed the enemy by at least five to one. He would suffer heavy losses but his beast masters would win him the battle in the end.

"Pull the men back from the trenches. Reform in the middle of the plains, and move the archers at the back. We need to get out of that storm."

"As you command my lord."

The officer left to give the soldiers their orders.

Frethnk stood by the treeline looking at his soldiers regroup. He decided the time had come to show his mortal weapon.

Twilight

The purple unicorn dodged a swing of a sword, giving a high pitched scream she used her horn to fling her attacker away several feet. The man screamed before hitting the floor, and then went silent.

Twilight had no time to wonder what had happened to him because several more were closing in. She sent two more of them flying away before the rest caught up to her.

"Die you god damned beast!"

The man was tall, dark haired and muscular. He raised his arm, sword in hand, and prepared to bring it down upon the frightened unicorn's head.

Before he even had time to react two shapes got between him and Twilight. An orange earth pony and a grey haired old wizard.

Brethgurt blocked the mans attack with his own glowing sword. Before Applejack kicked him square in the ribs, sending him backwards several feet.

The men in front of them addressed the situation. There were three of them against a wizard, a magical unicorn, and an orange pony that had just cracked their comrades rib cage in two. Their decision was swift and expected.

Brethgurt watched as the enemy soldiers ran. The front of the camp had been cleared easily, the royalists were leaderless and frightened. It only took for Gruthvink to appear covered in blood and wounds screaming like a mad man to send most of them back to the treeline. Those who had remained, well, they were no longer a problem.

"So we won?" Applejack sat back on her hind legs and watched the enemy flee. As if answering her question, one of the rebel officers shouted to the men.

"Chase them down! Kill them all!"

A roar of approval ran through the remaining soldiers as they started running after the enemy. They stoped dead in their tracks as they saw what had begun to emerge from the forest.

From the treeline several men appeared with large cages behind them. In the middle of the men an enormous cage was being dragged by an ox.

Howls could heard from inside the cages as the shape of timberwolves became visible, but a terrifying roar silenced everything as the manticore inside the largest cage awoke from its sleep.

It was hungry.

"Sweet celestia..." Twilights eyes were wide with horror as the horrible sight in front of her sank in. The men carrying the cages stopped moving and slowly but surely, they opened them, releasing the ferocious timberwolves and the angry manticore upon the terrified soldiers.

The timberwolves ignored the royalist soldiers as they passed them on their way to the rebels, but the manticore was way less picky. As the enormous beast rushed through the field, it picked up any men it encountered. Screams filled the air as the monsters made their way to the rebel lines.

"Stand strong! We have faced worse before!"

Gruthvink tried to raise the morale, but the slight tremble in his voice was obvious. The men started to slowly back away.

The beasts were almost upon them.

"Gods help us..." Brethgurt said sadly as he saw the end fast approaching.

"I regret nothing!" Grunthar roared at the monsters in defiance.

"I want my mommy..." Twilight contributed to the inspiring death speeches.

The horrid beasts increased their pace as they got closer to the stench of terrified men.

The soldiers braced themselves for the impact, they formed a close line of shields and gave the man beside them a meaningful glance in which they entrusted them with their lives.

And then the most surprising thing happened.

"STOP!"

The soldiers shrieked, the beasts halted their assault, every single soul felt fear at the terrifying voice.

"...If... If you don't mind..."

Flying just below the clouds was a yellow coated pegasus with a pink mane and a shy look to her face. But her eyes reflected authority which the greatest kings would crave.

"You bad, bad manticore! What have i told you about leaving the forest?"

The enormous beast shrank in fear as Fluttershy approached him. Its eyes darted from side to side trying to find a way out of the mess it was in.

"I asked you a question!"

The beast cringed as the voice got louder, then it gave a series of roars and guttural noises in response.

Fluttershy listened intently, nodding from time to time and her frown just deepened. By now several of the timber wolves had gotten anxious and tried to lunge forward and return to the attack, but just as they began to move they felt a cold, dead stare at the back of their necks, they whimpered and returned to position.

Fluttershy returned her attention to the manticore.

"And you think it's alright for you to hurt these people just because some mean person poked you with a pointy stick?"

The manticore cowered behind its paws.

"There there, now you just head back to the forest and be good."

Fluttershy patted the manticore's head and smiled, the beast immediately perked up and started walking back to the forest followed by the timberwolves.

No sound was uttered as the beasts walked back to the trees. The place stood in complete silence as Fluttershy landed on the ground and looked at the dropped jaws before her.

"Um... Yay?"

An enormous roar of happiness sent Fluttershy to the ground as the rebels cheered and rushed to meet their savior.

Grunthar and Brethgurt looked in awe at the yellow mare and then to Twilight and Applejack, both of them with a smug smile on their faces.

"That there's Fluttershy for ya!" Applejack pointed a hoof to a startled Fluttershy being carried by the soldiers in their arms as they cheered for her. Her face was bright red and a shy smile forced itself out.

"Can this day get any stranger?"

"I doubt it my friend, i doubt it." Brethgurt and Grunthar were perplexed, none of them had seen anything like it before. But they were wrong, the day had one more surprise for them.

Frethnk

The scene that had unfolded before him was humiliating. Frethnks face glowed red with anger, as his blood boiled in his veins. Not only had he lost his most powerful weapon, he had also been publicly humiliated by a pony!

"My lord?" His officer asked fearfully.

"Charge, send everything we have against them, NOW!"

The officer jumped back in fright as his king lost his temper, then he race through the field to carry the orders to the men.

Frethnk groaned in his mind as he thought of the shame this battle would bring to him. But decided to make the captured rebels deaths even worse than he had planned, to make an example to any other future 'problems'.

Unflack

Lord Unflack had led his unit of soldiers through the plains and inside the pony settlement. The streets were deserted, but he expected that. No one was foolish enough to be out on the street in the middle of a battle. What did strike him as odd was the lack of an Equestrian garrison.

"Where are they?" Unflack said absentmindedly, not expecting an answer, which made the actual answer all the more astonishing.

A surprised scream escaped from a man in the back rows, then another and another.

"Ambush!" An officer yelled as he also was reached by a magical projectile.

In a matter of seconds the royalist regulars found themselves being swarmed by angry pegasi and unicorns clad in golden armor.

"Form a shield wall!" Unflack was desperate, he had lost a fifth of his unit in a minute and more were falling.

The magical bolts of energy bounced off of the metal shields and back at their casters, with startled gasps the royal unicorns that had fired them became paralyzed by their own shots. The shields did not stop the pegasi however.

Several men were being picked up by the shield just to be thrown into buildings or dropped from a distance to slam into the ground. Unflack was powerless to do anything, attacking the unicorns would mean losing the protection of their shield wall and they could not attack the pegasi.

"Gods damn you! Fight us! Fight us you cowards!"

As Unflack spoke his words, the shooting stopped and the pegasi hovered in place as if waiting for something. Then the ground trembled.

Lowering his shield Unflack saw in its full majestic power, the famous charge of Equestrian shock troops. Composed by earth ponies, the shock troops were famous for knocking out combatants in a single charge, and Unflack was the target of that charge.

Making a swift decision he ordered his men to break formation and stand in a line facing the enemy charge. It would not stop them, but at least they would go down fighting.

As soon as the shield wall formation was down, the unicorns reopened fire against Unflacks men. But there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Stand strong! They will not break us!"

Then the earth ponies collided against the human line. Men were sent flying backwards, some in silence as their corpses hit the ground killed by the impact, others fully screaming in agony because of their shattered bones. But ponies were not safe from casualties.

Several humans had been able to bring down their battle axes and swords before the ponies collided with them. The screams of dying ponies filled the air.

Unflack had survived the charge despite being in the first row, and now he fought like a mad man. Few of his men remained standing but those who did were not going to surrender. Their swords flashed in the sunlight as they brought them down upon their enemies.

The Equestrians were now in trouble, not being able to use their legs to kick effectively because of being so close to their enemies, they were no longer able to stand as equals to the humans. The earth ponies retreated with heavy casualties.

Roars of war and challenges were given by Unflacks men, but stopped when the Unicorns focused their magic bolts on the few survivors.

"Cowards! Cowards! Figh-!"

Unflack was cut short as a magic bolt hit his back. He fell to the ground, breathing heavily in anger. Unable to move.

Diplomacy

Frethnks charge stopped halfway through the field. A full battalion of royal pegasi landed in front of his men. And Unicorns clad in golden armor spilled from the encampment and into the battlefield surrounding his army. The earth ponies were the last to barge into the party, they came from the town and behind them were the immobile bodies of Unflack and the entire unit of regulars.

Frethnk was speechless, he had never thought the Equestrian military to be so numerous or organized.

Then, carried by several pegasi, a golden chariot descended from the sky. Inside it was Princess Celestia, Pinkie Pie and a black coated earth pony with a scar on his left cheek.

King Frethnk slowly walked over to the now landing chariot, followed by his highest ranking officers and counselors.

The Princess was furious. But so was Frethnk.

A large tent was placed in the middle of the battlefield, and both rulers went in each with their respective advisers and guards.

Night descended upon the land as both of them discussed what in the hay was the meaning of what and why there had been a battle outside a peaceful settlement, or why had the royal soldiers found Frethnks regulars inside Ponyville, and why had the Equestrians attacked them in the first place, there was also a deep debate as to why had there been ponies involved in the battle.

In the end both leaders agreed to disagree. The Princess demanded that Frethnk leave her lands never to return, and Frethnk demanded the heads of the rebels in a silver platter. The Princess refused.

"I will not allow you to take these men with you. They are here as guests and they may remain here for as long as they want." The Princess's voice was calm but firm. Frethnk however was a brutal negotiator.

"Those men are criminals, and they are armed, very dangerous people. And it would be most unfortunate if something were to happen to the residents of this town because of them..."

The Princess was going to reassure him that such a thing would not happen, but then she noticed Frethnks wolfish grin spread across his face, and realized that his words were not a warning, they were a threat.

"Have a good night Princess..." Frethnk stood up and left, followed by his men.

The Princess was speechless for a while, the threat was nothing short of a declaration of war. But Frethnks army was defeated! How could he declare war when his only army was destroyed? Unless... It wasn't his only army, perhaps he had an enormous force gathered back at his capital and ready to march it into Equestria.

The Princess worried, she had seen the brutality of men, and she knew her armies, although strong, were not used to such violence. If the humans could match Equestria in combat, then the war would be the worse anypony had ever seen or heard of.

She had to think her actions carefully.

Sweet Apple Acres

The apple farm came alive with festivities and celebration that night. As the warriors that survived the onslaught cheered and sang songs of victory, Applejack, Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, sat by a fire place talking to each other about the events of the day. The only one that wasn't there was Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow stood by a makeshift hospital bed inside one of the many tents that served to house the wounded.

After the battle, all the wounded rebels were moved to the apple farm and placed inside huge tents were unicorns tended to their wounds, many of the injured recovered from mortal wounds thanks to the care and magic of Ponyville's unicorns, nurses and doctors.

But out of all the wounded and injured Rainbow stood by a particular bed, beside a particular human.

'Oh, come on Rainbow! Snap out of it! He's good looking for a human, but still! He's a human! You're a pegasi! It's just not right!'

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a groan of pain, and she quickly replaced the small ice pack on his ribs for a new one.

As she removed her gaze from the wound she noticed him looking at her.

"Who... Are you?"

"I... I'm Rainbow Dash... I'm taking care of you." She blushed slightly and gave him a smile.

"You're the pony from... The other day." He frowned slightly.

"I.. um... Yeah, i am." Her blushed increased as a heat wave rose to her cheeks, her heart beating rapidly. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! He recognized you!'

Edvar's frown deepened.

"When... I talked... Why did you leave?"

"I... ah... Was busy! Yeah! With the storm and stuff..." She looked from side to side nervously hoping he would not press the question anymore.

Edvard smiled as he recalled the last thing he saw before passing out.

"That was incredible..."

"Yeah! Of course it was! It was me after a-ah!" Rainbow was startled to feel Edvards hand caress her mane.

Her face was ablaze, her forehead was sweating slightly and she could feel a slight shiver go up her back.

"Don't leave..."

And with those last words Edvard fell into a deep sleep, his chest rising and falling slowly.

Rainbow Dash looked at him and started to relax, her blush disappeared and her face returned to normal. a small smile was drawn into her face.

"I won't..."

The darkness of the night was illuminated by a full moon, the soft wind caressed the leaves of the apple trees as they swayed back and forth in the wind. A slightly cold breeze moved through the night, and the false sense of peace that covered the atmosphere was a welcome rest after the events that had unfolded.

It was the peace before the storm

A Pirate's Dream

Dreaming of the sea.

Juliana stood on the deck of her war galley looking at the sunset. The soft sea breeze that blew in her face made her dark hair move like the waves of the sea. Her green eyes gazed into the horizon with determination and ambition.

Just north of the Bridle shores where her war galley sailed, lay the land of Equestria. Stories had been going around, of a recent war between humans and the Equestrians, and Juliana, being a human, was desperate to make contact with her own species.

The Navis rocked from side to side above the waves. Her precious war galley, made of the strongest trees her crew could find in the lands of Zebrica and Camelu, was her pride and strength. The triangular sails attached to the two masts of the galley propelled the vessel through the water, but, being a vessel of war, it needed more than just sails.

At the bow of the Navis was a long sharpened, wooden stake. Its purpose was to ram into enemy ships, splitting the hull and rendering the vessel useless. Juliana and her crew mates, mostly zebras from Zebrica, would then board the sinking ship and put the crew to the sword, or hoof. Juliana enjoyed the life of a pirate. Not a notorious one, but a pirate nevertheless.

The Navis had been raiding the trade routes of Zebrica and Camelu for years. Equestrian vessels were their primary source of income.

The large and slow merchant ships were no match for the swift and deadly Navis, the ponies never gave much of a fight and the crew of the Navis always ran off before Equestrian military galleons could threaten them.

It was an easy life. Full of plunder, drink and adventure.

But Juliana was lonely.

Her crew mates respected her and bonds of friendship and camaraderie had been formed, but it was not the same. She had never seen another human besides her mother. She remembered her words and held them dear to her heart.

"One day Juliana, one day you'll see our kind again."

She wanted desperately to meet other people, and now that this rumors of war had spread. She finally had an opportunity.

With the excuse of serving as a mercenary galley, she convinced her crew to set sail for Equestrian shores.

"Captain, we approach the shore." Zareck, Juliana's first mate informed her from the bow of the Navis.

"Thank you Zareck. Tell the rest of the crew to split up into groups, i want them to find water and supplies and bring them back."

"Yes captain."

After Zareck left the bow and went under the deck, were the rowers were and also were they slept, Juliana stared some more at the horizon and the barely visible shoreline.

"Soon enough I'll see humans again, mother would be proud..."

Her thoughts filled her with joy, a single tear of happiness rolled down her cheek and a smile appeared on her face.

She then left the deck of the ship as well, a storm was approaching and she didn't want to be outside when it hit.

Near the shore of New Saddle, Equestrian controlled waters.

The Navis broke through the waves, the rain pounding it mercilessly, the strong currents trying to force her out of course.

"Put your backs into it mates!"

Zareck shouted as lightning illuminated the skies and the sound of thunder deafened all sounds around the war galley.

Walls of water rose from the agitated seas and smashed the starboard of the Navis, Zebras ran frantically from bow to stern and port to starboard, trying to hoist the sails in the right direction, Juliana tried to steer the rudder but the currents were strong.

The Navis crashed through a large wave, and started to steer out of control.

"Juliana! Face the bow to starboard! A wave's incoming!"

Juliana looked to her right and realized that a behemoth of water was headed towards the Navis, If she didn't get the rudder to turn, it would smash into them and turn the ship upside down.

"Aaaargh!"

With a loud roar Juliana tightened her grip on the wheel, and pulled with all her might.

It wouldn't budge.

"Juliana! hurry!" Zareck's worried expression looked at her with pleading eyes.

"I... Cant... Steer this... Goddamn thing!"

In a final pull the rudder finally gave in, the Navis turned to face east and the wave was broken in two by the bow of the ship.

Panting and exhausted Juliana looked at Zareck, the zebra was smiling happily as the rest of the crew cheered.

"Lets get to shore foals!"

And with that, Juliana turned the rudder once again, and the bow of the Navis faced west, towards New Saddle's port.

As the Navis approached the port, an Equestrian royal galleon rushed to their encounter.

"Damned ponies will want to inspect us..."

"Don't worry Zareck, we are not carrying any cargo and they can't identify us as pirates."

"I trust your judgement Juliana."

Zareck went below deck to check on the crew.

The Navis was in good shape in spite of the storm and the crew had not lost any members, although the sails were a bit ragged the ship was in perfect condition. And Juliana's crew was used to being inspected by royal authorities.

"Zakob, Koibaz, come here..." Juliana beckoned to a pair of her crew mates to approach.

"Yes captain?" They said at the same time.

"Make sure the ammunition is well hidden."

"Aye Captain!"

And with that they disappeared below deck along with Zareck, to hide the incendiary oil-pots they threw at enemy ships.

Juliana stared at the approaching galleon with confidence.

"Search all you want, it won't stop me."

Equestrian Northern Border With The Everfree Forest.

Six Months After The Battle Of The Ponyville Plains.

Screams filled the air as ponies ran from the rampaging humans. The small village of GreenHoof was in flames, hundreds of men clad in chain mail had rushed from the treeline earlier that morning and attacked the residents.

"Burn it down! Take all the loot you want and take no prisoners!"

The officer's order was greeted with cheers from his men. The terrified ponies that tried to flee were quickly surrounded and put to the sword. The attack had been perfectly coordinated, the town was surrounded and all of its garrison had been lured away with a false message from a certain agent.

"You said you'd spare me! You said you'd let my family go!"

Captain Fraithen smiled at his associate. The terrified stallion with the light blue coat and brown mane screamed with tears in his eyes. His family lay dead before him, a filly and her brother with the mother laying beside them. Their throats had been slit.

"I don't see why I should honor my agreement with a traitor."

Fraithen spat at him with a look of amusement.

"Besides, I said I wouldn't raise my sword against them," His smile widened. "Those are dagger wounds."

He broke down in laughter as the stallion was thrown inside a burning building by two soldiers. They barred the door with rubble and left the stallion in his fiery grave.

"Captain! The garrison has been spotted in the north, they have returned!"

"Excellent! Just in time to see our little surprise! Tell the beast masters to release their pets, and finish off the locals."

The soldier saluted and was about to leave.

"Soldier, don't forget to load our guests into their carriages..."

"Yes sir."

Fraithen let out a wolfish grin and walked slowly, admiring the scenery of the burning town, making his way back to the forest.

From afar, multiple howls filled the air as the beast masters released the timberwolves.

And there was not going to be a Fluttershy this time to stop them.

The elements of harmony had been split when the raids began.

Rainbow Dash was sent to Cloudsdale, to coordinate and lead air scouting parties above the forest to try and evacuate settlements before they were raided.

Applejack was sent south, to protect the coastal cities and their trade routes from Frethnk's vicious assaults. If Equestria wanted to win the war, they would need money, and their sea trade was one of their greatest sources of income.

Twilight Sparkle was relocated in Canterlot, to help train the new unicorn recruits and plan counter strikes to Frethnk's raids.

Needless to say she had not been successful.

Pinkie Pie remained in Ponyville to try and maintain a sense of normalcy in Equestria's new head quarters of military operations. The village had been flooded with soldiers and high walls had been constructed around it.

Fluttershy had been darting from one place to another in hopes of capturing every pack of timberwolves that had been released into Equestria's plains. She had been all over the country in a matter of days but casualties were mounting up and she couldn't hope to reach every village in time.

Rarity had been sent as an ambassador to other kingdoms in hope of convincing them to support Equestria in the conflict and to not recognize Frethnk's Wolf Clan as a country.

The Wolf Clan.

That was what their banners carried as a symbol in battle. That was what the soldiers shouted as they charged into the fray. That was the name everypony had come to fear. And fear it they should.

Every single settlement along the edge of the forest had been attacked. And although not every attack had been successful, every single one made it clear of who was winning.

The dead toll rose higher and higher for the Equestrian military.

And Captain Fraithen was about to carry out the act that had gained them the upper hand in what Frethnk had come to call Emotional Attrition.

Captain Fraithen stood before the large group of terrified ponies before him. There must have been around a hundred inside the small cage.

"My dear guests!" He greeted them loudly with a large smile while raising his arms.

"Do not despair! I, in my never ending mercy, have decided to free you from captivity!"

His statement was met with loud whispering of hopeful ponies as their spirits were lifted by this sudden announcement.

Fraithen's face lost his smile as it contorted into a scowl.

"Silence you filthy maggots!"

His voice resounded with anger, disgust and madness. The expression of the ponies went from that of hope to one of terror.

After several seconds Fraithen spoke again instantly recovering his smile and his, apparently, joyful mood.

"Yes my friends!" His eye flinched a little as he addressed them as his "Friends".

"In little time you may leave this camp never to return!"

His audience was now confused, not sure whether to be excited or utterly terrified.

"However," Fraithen once again lost his smile and his brow transformed into a frown, as if he was in thoughtful consideration of important matters. "Many of you are loyal to our enemies still, and considering how ungrateful your species are, you would no doubt join the war effort against us!"

As those last words left his mouth Fraithen brought one of his hands towards his heart and faked to be in despair at the thought.

His following words horrified the ponies.

"Yes, yes, pegasi use their wings to stalk our every step," He began pacing back and forth. "Earth ponies use their legs to kick and hurt, and unicorns use those, oh so dreadful horns of theirs to harm our people!"

He stopped the pacing and looked at the ponies with a sadistic smile.

"So we shall cut off those wings! Smash those legs! And separate the horns from your heads! You filthy bastards!"

His face had contorted to one of pure insanity and rage, as his cheerful voice turned into screams. His hair dangled in front of his face and he was sweating, which only gave his bloodshot eyes an even deeper shade of insanity.

Almost instantly a swarm of soldiers ran towards the terrified ponies and one by one they pulled them from the cages and pinning them down to the floor carried out Fraithen's threat.

Screams of pain filled the air as the smell of blood and terror emanated from the tortured bodies of the prisoners.

Fraithen had a servant bring him his lunch and a chair. He then sat down and enjoyed his meal.

His eyes never leaving the screaming bodies of his captives.

Canterlot, Royal Palace.

Princess Luna stared off into the distance. The silence of the now passing day rendered the castle silent and peaceful.

She could not remove her eyes from the beauty of the sky. But there was something that troubled her.

Ever since the war began, Celestia had grown quiet. Awfully quiet. She would attend to her duties as she was required and would plan battle strategies with the generals of the army as she was supposed to.

But still.

She no longer gazed out her window to admire the sun she rose every morning. She would keep quiet during their meals and would only smile politely when either Luna or Twilight herself said anything or tried to cheer her up.

Luna broke the hypnotic trance she had with the sky and walked away from the balcony and into her room. Pictures of herself and a smiling Princess Celestia were neatly lined up in her night table. She looked at them and sighed sadly.

"What has happened to you sister?"

Luna felt a small tear fall from her eye as she muttered her silent question.

In truth Celestia was not even near being ok, she was in a conflict between her love of the ponies she had sworn to protect or her belief of kindness and compassion.

The goddess of the sun walked down the steps to the royal castle's dungeon and prison.

Each step weighed her down, every time she walked closer and closer to the large iron door that connected her royal household to the underground jail made her think of her future actions.

Was she really going to do this? Did she love her subjects so much as to transform herself into something she was not?

Her thoughts flashed back to the first time she exchanged prisoners with the Wolf Clan.

It had been a sunny morning, devoid of clouds or wind. Only a soft breeze blew from west to east and the flowers in the prairie bloomed with colors and scents loved by everypony.

But then, why was everypony so sad?

Why did all those present on such a nice day, when the captives were being released, look so depressed?

Mothers had gathered to receive their sons, sisters and brothers had stood in excitement to see their siblings once again, aunts, cousins, friends, and the list goes on, they all had come to see their loved ones once more.

So then why all the crying and mourning? What could they have seen to bring their spirits so low?

Their loved ones, that's what they saw.

Row after row of disoriented ponies tried to make their way to the ones who had come to receive them.

Pegasi wept, for their wings were gone.

Earth ponies mourned, for their legs were useless.

Unicorns cried, for they wore their horns no longer.

But all had one thing in common.

They all wandered aimlessly through the field, they did not see where they were going. They could not see. Their eyes had been torn out from their skulls.

Celestia and all of Equestria wept that day. They had delivered the human prisoners unscathed and untouched. But their own had been mutilated horribly.

Cries of war had risen all over the country and revenge was in everypony's heart.

That day, something stirred inside of Celestia's chest. She wanted vengeance, she wanted to look at the men who had horrified her ponies and see in their eyes the same despair they had caused her.

But she was unsure of how to accomplish that.

As she opened the iron door and walked into the dungeon several guards stood to attention and saluted.

"At ease." She then ordered for them to follow her.

They walked down several corridors and into the depths of the prison. Celestia and her guards finally came to a stop by a large cell.

"Oh, look what we have here! It's the whore of the sun and her playthings!"

A wave of laughter left the prison cell as the joke of an old soldier broke the silence.

Celestia's guards glared at the men inside the cell, a few horns lit up menacingly but Celestia did not even flinch at the insult.

"You! The old man in the corner!" Celestia pointed a hoof to the old soldier that had insulted her. "What was your rank in your army?" Her voice was firm and commanding.

"Why princess? Tired of your stallions? Need a real man to-"

He got no further, Celestia took a hold of him with her magic and threw him against a wall. Blood ran from his broken nose.

"Answer me!"

Even her guards flinched when she raised her voice with such anger.

After several seconds the old man spoke.

"I was a sergeant, I proudly served under Captain Fraithen, Wolf of the north. Victory for the Wolf Cla-!"

Once again he got no further. Celestia sent him flying through the room and he crashed against the cell door.

"Take him."

Her guards obeyed her command and opening the cell door, carried him away.

New Saddle Port.

Juliana stood at the deck of the Navis while the Equestrian soldiers searched her ship for anything unusual.

"You say you come from where?" A white unicorn with a golden mane asked her.

"Zebrica, we have traveled long and hope to find merchandise to sell back at home."

As Juliana called Zebrica her home the Unicorn raised an eyebrow, he was aware of human existence by now and he knew the only humans there were came from the Everfree forest.

"Are you a native of Zebrica?"

"Yes, I was born on an island under Zebrican rule."

"Very well then," The unicorn said preparing to leave. "Your vessel is clear to dock. Welcome to New Saddle ma'am."

"Much obliged." Juliana said with a smile as she turned her back on the unicorn and prepared to call her crew to get the Navis to port.

As the Navis sailed towards the docks of New Saddle Zareck emerged from under the deck and trotted over to Juliana.

"Juliana, now that we have reached your goal please explain to me, how is this journey going to increase our riches?"

"Simple, there is a war going on in Equestria, and they are going to need soldiers."

Zareck's expression darkened.

"So, you have brought us across the seas to fight for the ponies?"

"Hahaha! Stupid zebra! Of course not!" Juliana laughed before shooting Zareck a smile. "I meant the humans are going to need corsairs!"

Zareck fell into realization, the journey from their usual raiding grounds all the way to these waters had not been so much as a journey for gold and riches as it had been a quest for personal discovery. Aiding the Wolf Clan was Juliana's way of proving to herself that she was a human.

"You do realize, Juliana, that on the seas we will be outmatched greatly by the Equestrian war galleons?"

"Zareck, have I ever let the crew down?"

Her eyes were serious, she had never broken a promise to her crew.

"No, Juliana."

"Have I ever led the Navis into waters or battles it could not win?"

"You have always led us into glory and wealth..."

"Have I ever betrayed your trust?" As she said this she placed her hand on Zareck's muzzle making him look into her eyes.

"Juliana, I am sorry to have doubted you... You have always been true to us, and I shall die before you see that truth unpaid."

"Good, now ready the crew, we will resupply here in New Saddle and then continue southwest to Stableside and from there we will go northwest to the river between Dream Valley and the Mild West. Once there we follow the river and then hoof it to the Everfree forest were we will offer our services as the Wolf Clan's fleet."

Zareck looked at her with admiration, she was a clever female. The smartest he had ever met. If only she were a zebra...

"Aye Captain." Zareck said before trotting off to prepare the crew.

Soon enough the Navis was being tied down to the docks and her crew began to disembark and head into town.

"Very well foals! Listen here!" Juliana said standing before her crew. "We will be staying in town until morning, so go ahead! Drink, gamble, celebrate and find a mare drunk enough for your ugly faces!"

The zebras cheered at her short speech and then rushed into New Saddle. Several ponies glanced curiously at them before returning to their businesses.

Juliana watched her crew disappear into the crowd and after a while decided to follow.

She walked through the streets and alleys of the Equestrian city, it was completely different from the cities of Zebrica or Camelu. The architecture was rigid, while buildings in Zebrica and Camelu had domed shaped roofs and their buildings sported curves and twists. She walked through the crowds of ponies and immediately noticed the glares some of them were giving her, but whenever she returned the stare they broke eye contact and trotted away.

She eventually came to the entrance of a large tavern. The Funny Mare read the sign outside the building.

Juliana opened the door and walked inside, several of her crew mates were already enjoying their drinks and a few had actually found a few mares.

The bartender then looked up and saw Juliana.

"Hey! Human! Get out of my shop! We do not serve monsters here!" Several ponies grumbled and nodded their agreement.

"Buck off! No one talks to the captain like that!" Noreck, one of Julianas crew, stood up from his seat. He was followed by at least five more angry looking zebras.

The silence that followed was absolute, and Juliana smiled through it all.

The zebras had begun to walk over to the bartender, and several ponies had left the tavern in fright.

"I...I...I meant to say... That um..." The bartender was sweating, obviously scared. His grey mane and brown coat were covered in cold sweat.

"I think you meant to say the drinks were on the house..." Maibez, one of the few female zebras of the crew looked menacingly at the frightened pony.

"Yes! Yes! Of course they're on the house!" His smile was terribly forced and he looked ready to faint at any second.

"Thanks." Juliana smiled as she took a seat and regular conversation resumed inside the tavern.

And the night had just started!

A Traitor's Plight

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.

The Advance

The Advance

Dream Valley

The element of honesty stood on top of a hill, gazing down at the soon-to-be battlefield. Applejack's gaze switched from the fields to the forest as movement caught her attention along the treeline.

There, below a large tree, standing among his officers was the Lone Wolf. Applejack clenched her jaws in anger as she spotted the man she had come to loathe.

"What in tarnation is that fella up to now?" She muttered to herself as she saw her nemesis point towards the field while giving orders to his men.

Applejack glared at the enemy captain for a little while longer before she sighed turned around and trotted off to give her own officers their respective orders.

Captain Merith was staring intently at the field before him, he had planned each one of his movements carefully, imagining each movement of his troops on the battle inside his head, studying the terrain.

He stopped as he saw Applejack. The orange mare that he had easily bested in strategy so many times before.

He felt disgusted by the mare's lack of strategic ability, Merith was a man devoted to perfect planning and meticulous consideration.

Unlike most of Frethnk's generals and captains, Merith never charged mindlessly into battle. Even the smallest military move on his part was carefully thought over.

"Captain Merith, sir. The soldiers are ready, we await your command." The officer informed Merith as he saluted.

"Good, form the grunts in a line at the front. Position the ranged rabble behind them and tell my hunters to get ready."

Merith spoke through the heavy iron mask he always wore. His disrespect towards the infantry and the less prestigious archers was apparent and it made the officer clench his fists a little.

His hunters, however, were a different story.

They were the elite archers in all of the Everfree forest, they were trained since their childhood to use a bow and arrows with deadly precision and accuracy.

Merith disregarded infantry as much as he could, preferring to use his elite archers more than anything, but sometimes the mindless brutes were needed.

His plan was to rush the infantry to the front of the Equestrian battle line, then rain down multiple arrows from the least experienced archers and finally, his hunters would position themselves by the flanks of the enemy army and obliterate the ponies with volley after volley of poisoned arrows.

Merith's breath was somewhat heavy under the mask, but he didn't care. The mask what hid the scars of his dreaded past and it shielded him from the shame of his only defeat.

Walking to his hunters he spoke in his usual low voice, almost a whisper but with the authority and strength of a hydra's roar.

"Should we win that field," He pointed his hand towards the battlefield in front of them. "Nothing would stand in our way between here and the settlement of Fillydelphia..." He trailed off into silence, The Lone Wolf was better at planning ambushes and sneak attacks than he was at speeches, recovering his words quickly he resumed the short explanation. "It is the king's will!"

The soldiers in front of him cheered with little enthusiasm, before marching forward to their respective positions.

The Lone Wolf shrugged and walked towards his commanding spot on a hill.

Applejack now stood before her army of ponies, unsure of what to say to rally their spirits.

"Well... Here it goes..." She muttered before straightening herself and commencing her own speech.

"Alright everypony! Hear me out!"

All noises faded into nothing as the soldiers heads turned to face Applejack.

"What we have here is one mighty important battle! The lives o' many ponies depend on us winning this fight! And by Celestia I swear ta you all that we will win!" She stood on her hind legs rising her front hooves in the air which caused a tremendous cheer to emerge from the ranks of ponies in front of her.

Applejack then took a banner with Equestria and Celestia's symbol and rushed out of the encampment with over sixty thousand ponies following close by.

She heard her officers shout orders at the units and battalions but she just didn't care, the sun shone brightly in the sky, the grass caressed her hooves as she sped through the field and the roar of thousands of ponies only made her heart fill with pride.

She had sworn to defend her homeland and the ponies that inhabited it, and she would do just that. It was her promise. It was her oath.

Merith looked at the enormous army that raced through the fields.

"Charge them, meet them head on!" He ordered his officers as the earth ponies approached them. There must have been around fifty five thousand ponies, maybe more, rushing down the fields at full gallop.

Merith's own army rushed through the field to meet the Equestrian forces, forty five thousand men roared their war cries and charged.

Merith then ordered his archers to get into position.

Applejack felt the air run through her mane, the adrenaline, the fear, the excitement of battle. It all came down on her with such strength she found herself pushing herself to go faster.

The banner she still carried in her mouth waved proudly above in the sky. Her eyes were focused on the enemy as the wall of enraged humans approached.

The Equestrian battle line sped up, the sun reflected upon their golden armor giving them a powerful appearance.

"For Equestria! For the Princesses! For glory!"

The roar of battle rose like a wave, threatening to shatter existence itself if it was held for too long.

Steel met flesh, hooves crushed bones, men were sent flying backwards with the sheer strength of the ponies charge.

Both lines crashed in a horrible torrent of curses, blood, cries of war and pain, as well as the sounds of death. Applejack had smashed in the helmet of a man and sent another one flying backwards with a powerful kick that shattered bones. She was no longer the sweet earth pony that had cared for apple trees back in Ponyville.

That Applejack was gone, consumed by the fires of war. And General Applejack had replaced her.

The Equestrian army broke through the enemy line with brutal force. In a matter of minutes the human soldiers were running scattered and terrified of the oncoming army of earth ponies.

Applejack wasted no time, despite the multiple cuts and bruises she now had, she shouted orders out to her soldiers and commanded them to follow. To follow her to death or glory!

She rushed forward and broke through the now wavering lines of soldiers as they frantically tried to save their lives.

The Lone Wolf stared with disgust as the earth ponies crushed through the lines of infantry. "What use do those brutes have if they can not hold the goddamn line?"

"Fire! Fire at them! Cover them in arrows!" His hollers startled his officers, he almost never shouted.

Merith's hunters rushed to position. Their bows lifted into the air as they placed their poison drenched arrows, Merith calculated the best place for his archers to bombard.

Realization hit him as he saw the equines being rallied by Applejack. If he killed the head the body was useless.

"The general! Kill their general!" He ordered his archers while he pointed towards Applejack's position.

A cloud of arrows darkened the skies as the poisoned projectiles rose up in the air.

Applejack felt the urge to celebrate as her soldiers destroyed the enemy's battle line and obliterated any resistance they may have posed. Screams filled the air as the banner carriers of the Wolf Clan fell to their knees, faces covered in blood and mauled beyond recognition. The proud carriers had refused to surrender and opted to fight till the end.

Applejack felt victory within her grasp, and decided to push forward into the forest so she could capture the bastard responsible for the destruction of Blue Mane.

She barked more orders to her officers and ordered the line to reform. As the ponies assembled into a battle line once again, the Wolf Clan reformed their remaining troops at the base of the treeline.

As the Equestrian battle line was completed she felt the heat of the sun no longer for several seconds and as she looked up at the sky a cloud of arrows started its descend towards her soldiers.

Cries of pain and agony rose from behind her, as she turned around to see what was happening an arrow slammed itself to the back of her shoulder.

Her scream of pain was merely one among hundreds, it was drowned by the force of many dying ponies and men around her.

But she still had a fight left to win.

With a roar of pain she turned her head backwards and grasped the arrow in her teeth, she gasped as the poisoned tip of the projectile was twisted inside the bleeding wound.

In a mighty tug she jerked her head to the side while still holding on to the arrow shaft. The pain was immense, blood sprayed on her cheek as the wound was exposed. With a grunt of pain she opened her jaw and stomped the arrow that fell to the floor, breaking it in two.

"It will take a lot more than tha' ta kill me," Applejack stood there, stare fixed on the broken arrow before raising her eyes to Merith, who looked in awe at the wounded Applejack. "Or make me break mah promise!"

The last sentence left her mouth as a holler of rage and defiance, Applejack was not going to succumb before the south was rid of the Lone Wolf.

The Lone Wolf stared in horror as he realized the futility of his plans. He had underestimated the resolve and wrath of his foe.

So many months of war had hardened them into fearless war machines. His careful, strategic planning had been useless in the end. They tore through his schemes and men with such fury, the god of war himself would have been terrified of the anger driven equines.

The terrified soldiers of the Wolf Clan fled the battlefield in fright as Applejack rushed to the treeline with thousands of ponies behind her. Merith's archers tried to hold their ground but they met their ends under the hoofs and spiked helmets of the Equestrian warriors.

The ground trembled as the thousands of furious equines charged through the field with the speed of lightning and the sound of thunder.

Merith just stood there, his mind a blank. He could not believe that sheer strength and resolve had crushed his cunning plans.

His officers shook him and tried to wake him from his daze but they could not.

In the end they fled as well, leaving the Lone Wolf behind. He fell to his knees as he finally understood the end of his life was at hand.

He had been named Lone Wolf because he did not need anyone else to defeat his foes, his intelligence had always seen him through. But in reality, his name had condemned him, it had created for him a cell that he gladly jumped into, not caring what the world had for him anymore. He had consumed himself inside the thoughts of his own superiority, and in the end he came to believe there was no living being better than himself.

Now as he saw the approaching enemy he felt empty, his life had never had a purpose. He had fought and killed in the name of a man he never truly respected, and now that he was about to die, he understood that the foe he had always looked down upon was the one he should have respected and envied more than anything else.

She had a reason to fight and die, and he only had his ego and nothing more.

As the ponies surrounded him, he pulled off his mask and looked at the orange pony in front of him.

"General Applejack... I congratulate you on your victory..." Merith said as Applejack looked him dead in the eye. "But you cannot have your prisoner."

Everypony's smile disappeared as Merith's words sunk their meaning into their brain.

Merith pulled out his sword in a swift movement and before anypony could stop him, he thrust the blade into his own chest.

The ponies looked at each other in confusion and they turned their heads to their general.

Applejack stared at the eyes of the man before her, as his life departed the world Applejack started to feel the poison from her wound take effect, she stumled and struggled to keep her balance, her knees shook, her vision blurred, she no longer saw the color of the sky.

"Aw shoot..."

Merith and Applejack's bodies stumbled down to the floor. The only difference between the two of them being the pool of blood around the Lone Wolf.

Applejack's soldiers rushed to her aid and tried to bring her back to consciousness but to no avail, she entered a coma.

Equestria's largest victory so far had been accomplished, but a large cost.

Canterlot

The Goddess of the sun looked down at the prisoner she had been questioning for over an hour.

Her guards were outside, she did not want them to see what she was about to do.

"I am not talking!" The old man hollered at her.

Celestia stood still, looking at him with a cold calculative gaze.

Then the man let out a shriek as he was sent flying towards the wall of the small grey operations room.

Celestia pinned him down against the wall and used a quick spell to mute his screams as she dug a small knife into the soft flesh of his left leg.

His eyes widened in pain as he felt the blade in his leg twist and turn, but he had experienced worse and he let out a mocking smile to show the princess what he thought about her torturing skills.

Now Celestia was furious, she had never tortured someone but she knew quite a few things about the subject.

The soldiers smile disappeared as the blade started to heat up.

The princess of the sun tried to maintain a cold stare throughout the torture session, but she was on the verge of tears.

Never in her life had she been forced into such a hideous act. She loved all creatures, she enjoyed bringing happiness to all living beings. Not even her greatest foe, discord, received a worse punishment than imprisonment.

What she was doing right now disgusted her, she felt the need to throw the blade aside and cry, run up to her room and pretend it was all a horrible nightmare.

But it was not.

A sickening hissing sound reached her ears as the blood from the man's wound began to boil on contact with the small knife. The scent of burning flesh filled the room as the old soldier writhed in pain.

Celestia removed the blade from the man's flesh, and a look of obvious disgust appeared on her face. The metal was hot red.

The man calmed down after several minutes, and Celestia removed the mute spell.

"Talk now human! What is the location of your current military ba-"

The old warrior spat on her face.

"You filthy whore! I have endured years of military service! I am a battle hardened warrior! I will not succumb to your pathetic and childish tortures!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth, that he was once again flung across the room at a frightening speed slamming his body against a wall.

Tears of anger were flowing down the Princesses face, she had done something horrible, something she may never forgive herself for. But it wasn't enough. The tears that left her eyes were those of frustration but also of doubt. Was she truly willing to become a monster in order to stop another one?

She cast a paralyzing spell on the soldier and approached him.

Her knowledge of proper torturing techniques was poor, she recognized that. But the man in front of her was old and experienced in war, he must have known several ways of inflicting unbearable pain on others.

Standing by his side she pointed her horn at his head and a glow emanated from it towards the man.

Celestia was reaching into his thoughts and memories, trying to find a proper way of extracting the truth from him.

What she saw changed her forever.

Celestia opened her eyes to find herself gazing at a small peaceful village.

"This man's home perhaps?" She realizes she cannot speak, her words resound inside her head.

Only, its not her head. Its the old warrior's head.

Looking down she finds herself inside the soldiers body. She cannot move since its only a projection of a memory, but everything the man saw she is able to see.

His hands are covered in chain mail as well as the rest of his body, he isn't wearing a helmet.

Looking down at his hands she sees he's carrying a large spiked mace in one hand and a wooden shield covered in leather on the other one.

As she starts to look around her she finds herself in the middle of a battle line, surrounded by other soldiers.

"So the village is not his home then? So why is he... Oh no, please no!"

Realization sinks in, she knows the village. It's a small village by the edge of the Everfree by the name of...

"GreenHoof my soldiers! That's the name of this adorable place!"

Celestia recognizes the voice. It's the Wolf of the north. Captain Fraithen.

"Too adorable in my opinion though!" Fraithen continues his speech. "What do you all say we head into town and give the residents a nice little surprise?" Fraithen raises his arms as he stands at the front of his army.

Celestia feels the hands of the body she is currently in rise up as a roar leaves his mouth.

Then her host's legs start moving. In a matter of seconds the soldiers rush out of the foliage of the forest and rush violently towards the village.

Celestia tries to scream, kick, shout do anything to warn the still sleeping ponies of what is happening, but she can only look at the massacre unfolding in front of her eyes.

She is forced to feel every strike, every thrust of the blade, every splatter of blood against the chain mail as if it were her own.

The screams of pain and death surrounding her are all too real, she tries to close her eyes to avoid looking into the faces of the villagers her host so brutally murders but she cannot control the body, she can only gaze in horror.

After what seems like an eternity, her host walks away from the battle, laughing and trying to catch his breath.

Celestia feels relieved, she won't have to see anymore death.

The human she is currently in suddenly jerks his head to the side, a door lies slightly ajar in the local school.

"No! No! Please! Don't go inside! Stay away! Stay away!" Celestia silently screams inside her head, but to no avail.

The human walks into the school.

There, inside the former center of education, lay several foals and fillies cowering behind their desks in an attempt to make themselves invisible to the scary figure that just entered.

Celestia feels the face of her host contort into a smile.

"Come here little ones, don't be scared." He beckons towards the nearest foal.

The small infant backs away in fright.

"No matter, you cannot run away anyway." The human walks out of the building and closes the door, then he starts placing large pieces of rubble in front of it to block the only exit way.

Celestia whimpers inside her own head, unable to change what is happening.

The human then walks over to a burning torch and starts to make his way towards the school.

"Sir, Captain Fraithen commands us to retreat."

A soldier walks over to Celestia's host and stares at the school.

"Very well, help me out over here and then we can move on."

Celestia has lost all hope for the infants at this point, but what happens next surprises her.

"What are you doing sir?" The soldier asks confused as the officer hands him the torch.

Celestia feels her host's eyes roll to the top oh his head in frustration.

"We are burning the place down along with the little monsters inside it you idiot!" The officer pushes the soldier with his fist and hands him the torch. "Now get to it!"

The soldier just stands there, confused and conflicted. He drops the torch.

"N-n-no..."

The officer's eyes widen in fury, and his respiration quickens.

"What did you say?!"

"I won't harm innocent children..."

"You stupid, foolish bastard! I am the commanding officer here! And I demand you send those worthless monsters to hell!"

The officer hollers with anger but the soldier doesn't flinch.

"Take your rank and shove it up your ass!" As the scream of anger leaves the soldiers mouth he unsheathes his sword and charges at the officer.

Celestia feels her host's hand rush for his own weapon, but he is not fast enough. The soldier was too close to him.

In a swift movement the sword cuts through the chain mail and a scream of pain is heard. Just above the waist there's a small gash from which blood pours freely. Not a deadly wound, but a very painful one.

After the officer is immobilized the soldier starts to clear the rubble from the door.

Celestia feels the officer's consciousnesses start to fade.

The last memory of the battle the officer has is of the soldier opening the door and helping the small ponies escape through a dirt path behind the school.

Celestia opens her eyes to find herself back inside the makeshift torture room.

The old warrior, still paralyzed was glaring at her furiously.

Celestia moved closer to him, she was furious for what he had almost done.

The guards outside of the room exchanged astonished glances as the screams of pain and agony filled the hallway. They knew what was going on inside, but they never thought their beloved princess to be capable of such atrocities.

Celestia had forgotten to cast the mute spell again and now the entire prison was filled with the agonizing shrieks and screams of the old warrior.

The torture continued throughout the night.

The Life Of A Mercenary

From Freedom To Servitude

Juliana stood in the grand hall of the king, her eyes feasting upon the exotic sights before her, the large walls towered over the pirate captain and her crew mates. All around her she saw busy servants and guards going from place to place, fulfilling their duties to the king and their race, and now, after so many years of exile, Juliana was about to do just that. Rejoin her people.

The journey had been long and perilous, no losses were sustained but many monsters had to be defeated to finally arrive at the great capital of humanity. Frethnkurt castle stood tall and proud among the trees of the forest, and Juliana basked in the joy of it all as her steps led her down the main street and towards the keep of the city. And now she had an appointment with the king himself.

Two large doors opened at the other end of the large room, and a retinue of several guards marched in, followed by King Frethnk the merciful. His attire was shining in the sunlight that entered the room through the large windows to the sides. It seemed as if the king's body was a sun in itself, servants stole awestruck glances as they continued on their duties. He wore a golden cuirass and shoulder guards, steel plate greaves and a silver cape, his gem encrusted sword in its scabbard hanged by his waist.

Juliana's jaw hung open at the sight.

"How much would they pay in Zebrica for a set like that?!" Her thoughts were interrupted by a tug on her sleeve.

Looking around revealed that Zareck was the one who snapped her away from her thoughts. With a nod, Zareck diverted her gaze towards an impatient king.

"So, what is it that you wish to discuss, woman?" Frethnk stood before his guest, not amused by the fact she was wasting his time by making him wait. "In case you are not aware, we are at war."

Juliana thought carefully about her words, if she implied that the humans were losing and needed help her head would roll, but if she didn't convince him to accept her offer she would loose her chance to join the war on her species side.

After long consideration she opted for her course of action.

"And in war trade routes are raided." She said as she stared at the king before her and awaited for his response.

Frethnk deemed himself a patient man, but this was getting on his nerves, first a commoner requests an audience with him and now she states a basic principle of war to the king as if he were an idiot!

"Listen closely you scum, you have ten seconds to explain your mockery or I'll have your head on a spike!" Frethnk glared darkly at Juliana, time began to run.

"Land trade routes are easily raided by soldiers, but few things of value run through those paths," Juliana took a step forward and raised her voice a fraction. "The real treasure flows in the seas..." She finished with a smile, the king lost his anger as curiosity overtook him, the zebras behind her were on the brink of fainting, the king's threat seemed all too grizzly for them.

"And you can give me those treasures? How? Do you own a fleet?" Frethnk raised an eyebrow and released his grip on the hilt of his sword, he had been looking forward to cutting out Juliana's tongue a few seconds earlier.

Juliana smiled. "I can build you a fleet, as well as train your men to be sailors." She raised a finger and stopped the king from speaking. "But... If you want control over the seas, you will give me control over your men."

Zareck and the entire crew turned around in amazement, none of them thought their captain could be so ambitious, or direct for that matter.

Frethnk glared at her, he did not like the idea of a commoner, much less a woman, as his admiral, that would grant her the social status of a noble and a member of the government.

But he needed a fleet, since the horrible defeat in the south he had lost one of his best captains and his entire southern army as well as control in the southern province of Equestria, he desperately needed an advantage over the equines, and Juliana was his best hope so far, Fraithen hadn't succeeded in capturing the high ranking members of the rebellion and no major victories had occurred in a while.

Besides, some new blood in his chain of command could be useful, up until now he had been stuck with the same idiots, Unflack was still mourning the death of that useless whore Garith, Fraithen was completely insane and annoying, but at least he could get things done, as for the rest of his captains and generals? Useless mongrels the lot of them!

In the end he complied.

"Build me my fleet," Frethnk approached Juliana with an iron gaze. "Make it the strongest one in the world, and do not disappoint me, or else I'll have your corpse thrown over the walls of the city." Frethnk then stormed off the room, his guards following close behind.

Juliana was sweating slightly, the whole ordeal was terrifyingly nerve wrecking, her life had been in terrible danger and she barely escaped. The zebras said little as Juliana walked out of the castle in complete silence, they were all shocked by the experience.

They barely got out of the castle walls when a courier ran at them with a letter.

To the new Admiral of the Wolf Clan

By order of his majesty King Frethnk the second, the new Admiral and commander of the, soon-to-be-formed, Wolf Fleet is to report to the barracks, where the officers in command shall assign as many soldiers as the Admiral sees fit to conform the crew of no less than thirty war vessels, which are to report for duty by the end of the month.

Long live the king! Long live the Wolf Clan!

The courier left and Juliana and her crew stood there reading silently, seconds passed before the silence was finally broken.

"Juliana, this seems like the beginning of a new life." Zareck commented as he read the note.

"And I intend to make the best out of this opportunity." Juliana turned around to face her crew. "Alright foals! Lets teach these new bloods what a sailor is!"

The zebras cheered and then followed their captain towards the city's barracks, guided by a small map they had bought earlier that day.

Skirmishers at White Tail Woods

The young soldier crawled through the bushes and plants that dotted the forest floor, the large oak trees of the woods around him provided plenty of fallen foliage to conceal him.

His eyes darted from side to side, scanning the countryside, he was expecting a patrol of earth ponies sometime around midday. The fallen leaves beneath and on top of him made low crunching noises as his head moved, he was in the shade of a large tree, perfectly hidden, a wooden bow beside him and his quiver full of arrows at his back.

Several hours passed and the sun started to fall, he had remained unmoved and silent. But the overall dullness of his task was overwhelming him, if nothing happened soon he was bound to fall asleep.

He shifted uncomfortably and his gaze turned from the field over to his left leg, a couple of ants were trying to crawl up his leg armor.

"Blasted bugs!" He wouldn't dare speak his mind aloud, the enemy was supposed to be close by.

He shook his leg around, trying to scare off the ants, but a sudden rustling of the leaves above him made his blood freeze and his hairs stand.

He jumped to his feet and drew out his sword, sweating lightly, head turning around wildly trying to find the enemy. Several seconds passed and silence became absolute around him, not even the birds sang anymore. It was eerie.

The former excitement and fear that rushed through his veins slowly dissipated and he settled down, leaning on a tree he decided enough had been enough, he was going back to camp and report that the scouts had been wrong, there were no ponies out here, no patrols.

He slowly started back to camp, no longer caring about making noise as he went along the mental path he had created.

Slowly, stealthily, and unnoticed, a slim and agile earth-pony crept up behind him, the stallion wore a hooded cloak, camouflaged to fit the pattern of the forest.

The soldier still had his sword ready, which made him quite dangerous to attack, but the stallion had the advantage of surprise.

In complete silence the equine moved behind the soldier, who was still walking, and in a swift movement brought his hoof down on his unprotected head with tremendous force.

The soldier let out a shriek of pain before the whole world turned dark for him.

The stallion quickly searched him, he found some gold, a dagger, food, and a few personal letters, good reading material!

Smiling and satisfied from a good haul, the Equestrian royal skirmisher trotted back towards the rest of his unit.

About a mile from where the soldier fell, lay the encampment of the Equestrian royal skirmishers, ponies who would rather knock you out, tie you up, and steal your goods rather than face you in honorable combat.

These were the ponies that kept the surrounding woods safe from incursions, Ponyville's, usually safe, White Tail Woods had become overrun with skirmishing Wolf Clan soldiers, large portions of the forest were controlled by the human guerrilla troops.

The fighting had been largely unorganized, Princess Celestia wasn't even sure that the humans in the White Tail Forest were Wolf Clan soldiers or not! For all they knew they could be simple bandits from the Everfree Forest that decided to prey upon Ponyville instead of the human settlements inside the darker and more evil neighboring forest.

Swift Hooves trotted inside the camp, proudly showing off his haul from earlier.

"Hey'all! Look what I got!" The proud stallion lowered his hood and dumped his treasure in front of a fireplace.

"Did you kill him?" A unicorn by the name of Light Hoof asked as he eyed the objects one by one.

"What? Oh, you mean the human? No I didn't, I don't think he saw me though, so he'll probably just wake up confused and robbed." Swift Hooves beamed proudly at his cleverness.

"Meh, whatever, but if we end up ambushed because he saw you heading this way, you'll owe me forty bits ok?"

"What? Not fair! The last time you got us caught only costed you like, twenty bits!"

"But I also got us out of the fight without problems! That's why!"

"Oh yeah..." Swift Hooves scratched the back of his head with his hoof as the thought came back to him.

"Anyway, what's there for lunch?" A third stallion, a pegasus, by the name of Quick Grab asked as the conversation started to die out.

"The same as always, there's not much room for variety in the middle of this forest!" Light Hoof shrugged, he was the cook of the small group, he did some foraging in the mornings and usually managed to come up with some food by the end of the day.

The group then sat down to eat, they needed their strength for later, a large operation of some sort was going to happen later that day and they had to report back to the main camp for battle duty.

***

The skirmisher leader stood facing the darkening forest, his scout was due back over an hour ago.

"Gods damn that lad! If he fell asleep on duty I'll have his balls chopped off!" The leader of the skirmishers in that region of the woods was a rather short and overweight fellow, his chubby cheeks and forehead gleamed with sweat as he paced around the encampment, his short beard and mustache filled with grey hairs did little to reduce the heat of the midday air.

"Sir, I believe he could have been attacked." A soldier stood outside a tent, holding a lance in his hand and a shield on the other.

"Of course you would think that! All of you pathetic brutes would think the same!" The chubby little fella stopped pacing and glared at his soldier. "You would need an intelligent officer like myself to know that all of you brutes are lazy and incompetent! Which is what that bastard is! An incompetent soldier that fell asleep on duty!"

"Sir, I must insist." The soldier stood firm, knowing that those words could very well be his last.

The officer glared at him some more before groaning and waving an irritated hand in the air. "Agh! Fine! Have it your way! But if I find out that he's been sleeping on duty, it will be both your heads that roll!"

The fat high ranking man then walked away, leaving the soldier to wonder on how such a strange individual could ever make it into officership.

The hours passed by, the sun began to lower, ever closer to the horizon, signaling the approaching night.

And the worried soldier still had found no trace of his missing comrade.

Herith was his name and if he failed to find out who attacked the missing skirmisher it would also be the name written on his tombstone. The fat officer by the name of Geirthus was not one to forgive easily, nor accept apologies.

Herith moved through the woods, searching, trying to find any trace of the lost soldier, eventually he arrived at a large oak tree surrounded by bushes and other plants.

There, laying on the floor, was the disappeared man, unconscious. However, Herith didn't know that.

"Looks like Geirthus was right... The bastard is asleep..." Herith had rarely seen that man before, he knew he was one of the youngest in his unit and that he was also one of the weakest fighters.

He wouldn't be missed.

Crouching before the 'sleeping' soldier, Herith pulled out a dagger and, grimacing, he stabbed the man on his back, piercing the heart.

"I'm sorry lad, but your nap is not worth my life..." He thought grimly as the soldier choked on his own blood, momentarily waking up before falling into eternal sleep.

Herith stood up, and decided to investigate the place further, he walked over to the oak tree and looked it over, carefully scanning the bark searching for anything, he wasn't trying to find anything in particular, but something told him that leaving without first investigating was wrong.

Looking around the tree he found little, it was your average tree.

He simply shrugged and turned to walk away, but something caught his eye.

Under a small bush, covered by a single yellow leaf, was a small hoof print.

Herith frowned and walked over to the print, lifting the foliage to get a better look and kicking the leaf away.

It was a hoof print.

"So the lad wasn't asleep then? Oh well, no point in crying over spilled milk aye?"

Herith then took a last look around before returning to camp, dragging the body of his murdered comrade.

"Stabbed by a unicorn, makes sense to me." He smiled smugly as he prepared his explanation.

***

Light Hoof trotted along the Equestrian skirmishers camp, it was quiet like usual, but the many ponies rushing in and out of the cover of the trees and bushes gave away the fact that something was going on.

"Hey Swift! Get over here!" A red earth pony called out from under a tree.

"What's going on Big Mac?" Swift ran towards the large red stallion, Swift was still surprised how Big Macintosh made it into a stealth specialized unit, but there he was.

"An operation o' sorts, don't really know much, but word has it it's going to be big." Big Mac chewed on a small piece of hay, switching it from one side of his mouth to the other, Swift had gotten used to Big Mac's strange hay chewing habits after a while, but it still seemed a bit odd for him.

"Ok then... So, where do we fit in into this whole operation thing?" Swift asked curiously while scanning his surroundings in search for Light Hooves and Quick Grab.

"Dunno, mah' guess would be the third squad, or maybe we'll be formin entire companies, who knows? I just wanna fight." Big Mac's eyes narrowed as a frown changed his usually serene expression, it had been over a month since he got the news of his sister's comma, and ever since he changed, the calm farmer went from a life of apples and hard work to a life of ambushes and war.

He was not about to abandon his hometown though, so instead of joining the royal army he signed up for the local town militia and ended up with the skirmishers.

The Equestrian skirmishers camp soon became alive with activity, ponies ran from place to place, trying to form into their respective squads, each of six ponies, the royal skirmishers led a guerrilla war against the multiple Wolf Clan encampments around White Tail Woods, and they were experts in it.

Soon enough, twenty squads were formed, a hundred and twenty ponies were ready for battle, and, as Big Mac had guessed, Swift Hoof, Light Hooves, Quick Grab and Big Mac himself were assigned to the third squad, along with other two earth ponies.

In complete silence, the officers ordered the squads to advance forward.

The third squad was positioned beside the second squad, all the way to the left of the battle line. They moved swiftly but in complete silence, not making the slightest noise to warn their enemy.

***

Herith had just finished explaining what he found to his officer, Geirthus didn't take it well, he was furious for several minutes, shouting and cursing in equal amounts, but he eventually settled down, and decided to prepare the troops for a little scouting.

The soldiers were assembled, a column of three men wide and thirty soldiers of length stood among the trees, ready to march.

Herith was in the front line, positioned in between the two other soldiers at the front he had a clear view of what was about to happen.

***

Light Hooves aimed his horn at the nearest soldier, the third squad had sneaked behind the Wolf Clan soldiers easily enough, their hooves making little noise against the soft dirt that covered the ground, their cloaked bodies merging perfectly with the foliage.

Slowly, quietly, they began to draw closer to the enemy, only waiting for the signal to attack.

Swift Hoof, Big Mac and the two other earth ponies of the squad got ready to charge as soon as Light Hooves had shot his blinding spell on the enemy, Quick Grab on his part had to dart in and out of the fight, picking off the officers among the enemy.

The other squads had fallen into position perfectly, the enemy was surrounded and outnumbered.

***

Herith shifted around uncomfortably in his place, he had the feeling they were being watched.

Geirthus stood beside the column of soldiers, wiping his sweaty forehead he ordered the advance.

"Column! Advance!"

Almost mechanically the soldiers began marching, slowly increasing their pace as they made their way across the foliage.

They didn't get far though.

In a white flash of light several beams of magic were shot from the nearby trees, several soldiers from the back lines screamed out in shock, Geirthus stopped walking and looked back, only to receive a strong blow to the face.

Aside from the continuous beams of magic being shot from the trees, several pegasi darted in and out of the column of confused soldiers, striking at the officers, rendering them unconscious.

Utter confusion fell upon the soldiers of the Wolf Clan, their officers down, they could do little more than raise their shields in self defense against the ferocious assaults of magic, screams filled the air as the unicorns switched to less merciful spells.

Herith pushed the soldier to his left as the man was hit with a firebolt, iceshards were being shot from the nearby trees and the warrior was not too eager about the idea of being pierced by one.

Rushing out of the column he made his way to the nearest tree he could find and started to climb, all around him the sounds of death and the wounded filled the air.

Herith stared down at the swiftly ending battle with awe.

The unicorns had reduced the amount of fighting men to less than half, the pegasi had taken down down to the last officer and the remaining soldiers ran around in complete chaos and disorganization, and finally came the earth pony charge.

The ground trembled as a swarm of earth ponies rushed out of cover and ran over the remaining men with a fury and strength known only to the mighty war stallions of Equestria.

Out of the regular riff-raff, a group of stallions distinguished themselves from the rest.

Big Mac sent two soldiers flying backwards and into a tree with a single kick from his hind legs, a loud crunch was heard from the two soldier's skulls as they collided head first into the trees, Swift Hoof went about the battlefield swinging a boleadora with his mouth, breaking jaws and ribs as the stone at the end of his weapon collided with the enemy, and finally was Light Hooves, shooting magical bolts of lightning from his horn to anyone foolish enough to cross his path, many soldiers targeted the scrawny looking stallion, thinking he was easy prey.

They could not have been more wrong.

Light Hooves sent a lightning bolt hurling towards three soldiers, they raised their shields in response, but one of them was not fast enough, the magical projectile hit him square in the chest and then branched out to the sides, charring the two other soldiers.

The scent of burned flesh filled the air as the three men convulsed on the ground, twitching and twisting as the energy rushed through their dead bodies.

Equestria had learned a lot about war in the past months. Maybe more than what it was good for it's ponies.

The rage of battle quickly subsided into separate skirmishes as the humans found themselves outnumbered and defeated, only the most stubborn of them decided to fight until the end.

Cloudsdale

Rainbow Dash leaned on her window pane, staring at the ground below.

"How long has it been? It seems like forever since I last saw any of the others! And now Applejack is in a comma?! What the hay is wrong with this world!" Rainbow Dash brought both her hooves down in anger, and shattered the glass of her window.

In truth it had been only a few months since she last had any contact with her friends, Fluttershy had been the one she most frequently saw, and that was mainly for her travelling schedules. She had to pass through Cloudsdale every so often.

But Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, or Applejack? In her dreams!

Twilight was busy as ever, training battalion after battalion of unicorns in Canterlot, and now rumors were beginning to spread, rumors of the Princess turning evil.

Rumors of secret torture rooms beneath the castle, rumors of her, breaking her oath to never harm a living being.

Rainbow Dash scowled at the thought, she had had her hooves full of work trying to silence the stupid rumors of their leader becoming a monster. Nonsense! They needed the Princess now more than ever! Talk like that was treason and Rainbow, being the element of loyalty, did not tolerate treason.

All ponies who were caught talking against the Princess were fined a hundred bits and no less for their insolence!

These harsh tactics, for pony standards at least, had earned Rainbow quite a bad reputation among the pegasi of Cloudsdale.

She could hardly fly out of the military head quarters without getting death stares from the ponies around her.

It was really getting on her nerves, didn't they understand that she was there to help them? She wasn't the bad guy! She was fighting against the bad guys! She had sacrificed so much for fighting the bad guys it hurt terribly to see that nopony appreciated her efforts.

Rarity was still away in the griffon kingdom, trying to gain support and persuade the king not to open a trade agreement with the humans, all in all, it was going poorly.

The griffons were the main supporters of the rebellion and they had been trying to come to a trade agreement with what they called, The Wolf Kingdom.

Rainbow turned her gaze around her room, pictures of the wonderbolts had been replaced with military maps and letters, her soft cloud bed was littered in drafts and army orders.

"What has this come to?" She whispered softly, tears in her eyes, her dreams and hopes now meaningless in the face of such hatred, the man she had come to love was possibly lost forever after the destruction of his army.

If there was ever anything worth fighting for, did it still exist?

Or had the fires of war ravaged and destroyed the few things that remained in her life?

Soul For Sale

Canterlot

The goddess of the sun walked slowly through the castle that had been her home for more than a thousand years. The walls were brightly colored, the multiple decorations around the rooms were cheerful, the furniture was elegant and finely crafted, all of these things should have added up to a lovely atmosphere and a sense of happiness inside the large castle.

But they didn't.

If the walls were so bright, why did the Princess not smile? Why was her face a mockery of her former joyful self? Why did her thoughts torment her so horribly?

Nightmares plagued her dreams, horrors loomed around every corner, the weight of many a sleepless night showed on her eyes, weary and tired, her mind was lost in the confusion and horrors of her own actions.

And she deserved it, down to the last ounce of pain and suffering.

Or did she?

Did she truly deserve to suffer for what had become a necessity? Her sacrifice had saved so many, did it not justify what she had to do? Had the humans not forced her hoof into such horrible acts?

The Princess reached her throne room after walking slowly through the many empty hallways, two guards stood by the large doors, they opened the gates for their ruler, their kind and merciful ruler.

Rumors had begun to spread, dark rumors, spoken in whispers behind closed doors, nopony would dare speak them out loud in the broad daylight, those foolish enough would end up in the dungeon for treason against the kingdom.

Celestia trotted over to a large table beside her throne, several maps and other papers lay scattered across it.

Her sad gaze fell upon the many maps that had once been used to plan ceremonies, celebrations and royal parties across Equestria, but no more, these maps were now instruments of war, elements of strategy and cunning mental duels between generals, no more would they depict the location for a cheerful party.

Perhaps it was time for the world to burn, perhaps it had come to this because of fate or destiny. Either way, she would no longer stay idle, not while armies ravaged her land and most definitely not while the utopia she had worked so hard to build was destroyed before her very eyes.

Celestia clenched her jaw and looked down at the maps, at the instruments of war. With a swift movement of magical energy, several figurines in the form of equine infantry, pegasi, and unicorns, began to align themselves across the map.

Celestia looked at the map with a look that held no remorse, no pain and no mercy.

If it was war they wanted, it would be war she would deliver.

Fillydelphia

Sugar Cane looked out of her window, towards her childhood street. So many memories having taken place in those calm, safe streets. To see them now was terrifying.

The cream colored unicorn mare gasped as she saw the marching troops approach.

Row after row, formed in rank and file as they marched towards the western gate of the city. On their way to war.

Sugar Cane had many friends who had lost loved ones as the war raged throughout their nation, many who wanted no more than a chance at revenge. And they would have it, now that their goddess had ordered for a draft of a hundred thousand soldiers.

Manehatten had supplied the largest quantity of unicorns in recorded Equestrian history, thirty thousand mares and stallions marched out of their hometown and into the fire, into war.

From Cloudsdale a host of twenty thousand pegasi flew towards Ponyville, covering the sun and plunging the land below them into darkness. So vast were their numbers, that the ponies below them stared agape as they passed over the fields and orchards, over the tall grass and towns.

The world stood still for each and all, young or old, it did not matter. For after seeing the great cloud and hearing the thunder of fifty thousand hooves marching out of Fillydelphia, everypony knew that life as they had known it was over. It was time for brave hearts and courageous deeds. Time for blood to be shed, both friendly and hostile, in order to protect those who needed it.

Sugar Cane felt fear, but not for her. She feared for whomever had been targeted to be destroyed by such mighty army. Fear for the lands and souls of those who would provoke such wrath.

The largest army ever assembled in the history of Equestria- nay, of the world, was on the march. Their hearts of steel, their blood as cold as winter ice. Minds set in one goal, one mission. To see the end of humanity and those vile creatures that crawled from the depths of the forest, to bring their nation to their knees and see their warriors weep for honor lost.

A hundred thousand strong, an army to be reckoned with.

The marching earth ponies continued on their way to the western gate, their officers wearing the royal guard armor and the regulars a simple steel cuirass with a helm of iron. Standards bearing the symbol of the sun waving in the evening winds.

Sugar Cane closed her window and trotted inside her home. It was modest, but it was fine. Her father's last gift before he passed away had been the small apartment where she resided, and Sugar Cane held it dear to her heart.

The unicorn mare entered her kitchen and prepared herself a daisy sandwich, more to ease her nerves than to appease her hunger. The constant political wars among the nobility were preoccupying her constantly. How was a nation going to wage war when it's leaders could not agree on a single issue?

'Princess Luna isn't taking a part of this new army. Her night guards aren't officers in it and the soldiers don't have her symbol on their flags... This is weird...' Sugar Cane took a bite out of her sandwich and thought deeply of the state of events, of the war.

It was well known that Celestia had begun to fall in popularity among her subjects, being unable to protect her frontiers and keep everypony safe. Many nobles had begun to openly oppose her plans and strategies, emboldened by the fact that a certain someone had also voiced her objections.

Princess Luna had once disagreed with her sister during a public speech. The wave of commotion that followed was unlike anything the peaceful nation had ever seen.

It had been a calm sunday morning...

Princess Celestia stood in front of a multitude of her subjects, all were angry, all were afraid. It had been but a month after the massacre of the Fillydelphia fields, where a leaderless Equestrian force of four thousand earth ponies had been ambushed and destroyed, all survivors executed and displayed along the dirt roads.

Fear was thick in the air, but so was helplessness. The ponies of Equestria were terrified, numb with fright as the war turned grislier with every battle that was fought. Even their sovereign seemed shaken.

But she would not show it. She had to remain strong for her subjects, she had to be the pillar on which they leaned as the walls came crumbling down.

With an air of authority, Celestia approached the crowds.

"My little ponies, I am here to say that the situation is dire. Many have been lost in this war and many more are yet to fall should we falter. But we will not give up, and we will not surrender. I address you all here today, to announce the appliance of a mandatory draft for all large cities near enemy territory, of a number no less than ten thousand soldiers before the week's end."

Murmured whispers of approval and indignation alike rushed throughout the crowd, arguments and quarrels commenced to form as different points of view were forced into coexistence.

None wanted more to die, and there were some who thought of this draft as nothing more than forcing sheep into a slaughterhouse. But there were those who still held faith in their princess, and were willing to sacrifice more for crown and country.

Oddly enough, there was one in particular whom didn't agree, but did not voice her protests either. She sat in silence beside her sister, remaining quiet and idle, just as she had ever since her return. As she was meant to be.

"All forces will be positioned on strategic positions along the border with the Everfree forest, and help patrol it to keep marauding bands of enemies from infiltrating our territory. Captured prisoners will be held for interrogation and-"

"You mean torture! Torturer!"

Celestia's eyes widened in anger, but she managed to restrain it. Never in all her years had she been publicly accused of anything. Much less torture.

The goddess gave a quick nod to one of her guards and the offender was quickly dragged out of the assembly, kicking and screaming accusations.

"...questioning. Raids will be organized into enemy territory to stop their armies before they reach our land."

The crowd had fallen silent, none dared interrupt their leader. But the air was still stinking of insecurity and uncertainty, and it would take but two words to set the mighty oak tree that was Celestia's authority, aflame.

"I disagree."

The words were softly spoken, almost a whisper. And yet they turned heads, shattered alliances, shifted loyalties and screamed 'Anarchy'. It was the strength they held, the authority, the might and certainty. All were shared by both rulers, but it was obvious who spoke with the most conviction under the pressure of war.

Two words to change a nation, two words to shatter a world.

"I'm sorry, sister. What did you say?" Celestia stared at her sister, slightly stunned by what she had heard. Not believing it to be true. Not wanting it to be true.

"Thou hast heard us. We do not agree to continue enforcing a defensive strategy, as we believe it to be time for an Equestrian offensive to be taken into planning." Luna stood and walked closer to the podium's edge, eyeing the public she had now captivated through her words.

"Equines of Equestria, our beloved nation. Today thou find thine selves amidst the fires of a war that, through bloodshed and horror, has scarred thou deeply, and permanently. And it does seem as if the horror may never fade, as if the fears thou hath experienced as of late may never truly heal."

The crowd nodded somberly and gave their princess a look that pleaded for a solution, as if they feared all she had to say were the harsh truths they had been forced to experience.

Luna scanned her public and weighed her next words carefully, knowing full well the magnitude they would have on the political world of Equestria.

"Our sister has led this nation through peaceful times, and we are forever grateful for the many bountiful and prosperous years under her guidance..."

"Luna, stop it." Celestia stared at her sister, hoping against hope she wasn't about to say what she thought she would say. Luna looked at her once, and only once.

In her heart, Celestia would always be her big sister, and she loved her deeply...

But love did not win wars.

"... but she has proven herself incapable of leading us through wartime as she did during peacetime. Her failed defensive strategies hath time and again proved useless against such cruel foes, and still she insists on them being implemented in even greater magnitude. The incapacitation of the element of honesty and her sending the element of generosity away on useless negotiations with our enemy's allies proves her inability to lead our military..."

"Those are lies! Applejack's injuries were a cause of mindlessly throwing herself at an enemy far more cunning than her! It was not my fault! I-"

"Do explain to us, what hath been the thought behind sending a farmer to face an experienced warrior captain?"

The crowd was silent. Celestia was furious, the war had taken its toll on her. Far more than she would accept even to herself, and the spreading rumors, the growing opposition... And now her sister...

"We hereby demand our standard to be taken from the banners of this newly drafted army, as we will not condone any more of this faulted stratagem. We also encourage the nobles to endorse an act of 'Revocation of Military Duties' so the control of our armies may befall on better abled hooves."

No more was said that day. Luna departed to the city fortress of Stalliongrad to meet with the nobleponies that supported her claims, and Celestia retreated to Canterlot, shrouded in confusion and doubt.

As Sugar Cane wondered on the situation of the political schemes that must have been forming even as she chewed on her daisy sandwich, the marching thousands continued on their way to war.

It was dark, very dark. The midnight sea breeze blowing softly on a western route, giving the hidden galleys an edge on the battle about to take place.

Three wooden vessels rocked sideways with the current as the moon shone brightly atop their decks. Two of them had human crews. Murderers, rabble and poor peasants in search of a better life.

The third had zebras.

"Are you sure about this Juliana? That is an Equestrian galleon, not an average merchant ship from Camelu." Zareck whispered to his captain as the large warship from Equestria sailed the seas in front of them.

"Our galleys are hidden, we have incendiary ammunition, many more soldiers, and we have the wind on our sails. Yes Zareck, I am sure." Juliana looked at her second in command with her green eyes and an arched eyebrow. "We've done this time and again in the past, and now we have two more ships. Don't you zebras have faith?"

"No, Juliana. We've never attacked a war galleon before, and those men the king gave you are completely inexperienced."

"Meh, they have to earn that experience somehow."

The galleon continued on its patrol, completely unaware of the ambush that was about to be unleashed.

Juliana smiled and nodded for Zareck to get the crew ready. He complied and the Navis soon came alive with movement.

Juliana walked to the bow of her war galley, shouting orders and commands to the zebras around her. The crew answered swiftly and without trouble, knowing full well what it was that they had to do. Having spent a lifetime at sea, plundering and attacking merchant ships had made them masters in war.

The same could not be said for the humans, however. The men of the other galleys stumbled and clumsily attempted to imitate their admiral in skill. The peasants and makeshift sailors did as best as they could, but in the end they lost the element of surprise.

Juliana had already darted forward at full speed, her galley piercing the waves of the sea and shattering the walls of water beneath her bow with mighty strength. She grasped the wheel of the vessel and roared at the zebras around her to prepare for ramming.

The Navis was at war.

The equestrian galleon sprung to life as the Navis emerged from the darkness, eliciting frightened shouts and hollers from the equines aboard it. The stories of destruction and pillaging by which the Navis was known had not gone untold on the galleon's deck.

Ballistas and unicorns aimed to kill at the Navis, but their volleys were too late.

The Navis rammed the galleon fiercely, and its hull was destroyed.

The human galleys joined in the carnage but a few minutes later, as the zebras boarded the galleon and brought the sailors aboard to an end. Humans and zebras ran around the bloodied deck, killing off the equines that had survived the initial attack, and then they delved deep into the vessel.

No equine left alive.

Juliana and Zareck watched as the galleon burned slowly. The Navis retreating into the ocean, waiting to strike again.