Equestria and The Land of Patriam

Warning, this chapter may be a little disturbing.

The sun had long set as Shining Armor approached the city of Safehaven, capital of Germania. The Moonlight cascading on the city walls illuminates the soldiers patrolling around the tops. Shining had been running for hours trying to get from Sanctuary to Safehaven. His heart was thumping as he was extremely exhausted.
"Almost there, just a few more yards. Then I can rest, just gotta get to the castle first." Shining thought to himself. He continues to run at full speed down the hill he was on and towards the city. He makes it past the city gates and towards the castle, despite the noises of screaming guards behind him.
"Halt! Halt! Komm zurück! (Stop! Stop! Come back here!)" Yelled one of the guards as they gave chase. Shining didn't respond as he didn't want to waste any of his breath talking. The two castle guards interlock their axes to try and deter Shining from barging his way in.
"Halt! Im Namen des Königs! (Stop! In the name of the King!)" Yelled one of them. Shining Once again ignores them and slides in the small gap between the axes.

The two guards then join in the chase to stop Shining. Johannes was standing in the middle of the throne room talking to Heinz, his steward. As Shining comes barging in.
"Johannes! King Johannes!" Yelles Shining as he slowed his pace causing both Johnnes and Heinz to quickly look at him.
"Shining? What are you doing back so late!?" Said Johannes as multiple of his gaurd to barge in behind Shining, one of them coming up behind Shining and forcefully shoving him to the ground with his foot.
"Ich habe dir gesagt, du sollst aufhören, Arschloch! (I told you to stop Asshole!)" Said the Guard. Shining fell to the ground, actually finding the cold stone floor relaxing. He was breathing heavily and was on the verge of passing out from exhaustion.
"Wie kannst du es wagen! (How dare you!)" Yelled Johannes to the guard who quickly looks at him. "Wenn du ihn noch einmal trittst, hast du keinen Fuß mehr, mit dem du treten kannst! (You kick him again, you won't have a foot to kick with!)"
"Mein König, tut mir leid. Er würde aufhören, wenn ich es ihm sagte! (My king, I'm sorry. He wouldn't stop when i told him too!)" Said the Guard as he quickly knelt to the king.

Johannes shifts his eyes from the guard to Shining who remained on the ground. Johannes quickly got down on his knees and placed a hand on his back.
"Shining, are you alright? What are you doing back here so late? I was just turning in for bed." Said Johannes. Shining struggled to talk as his throat and muscles ached from running non stop.
"Made... it... to... Italia..." Said Shining through his heavy breathing. Johannes waves at one of his guards to bring him some water. One of the guards hand him a tankard full of water, Johannes takes it to where he holds it to Shining's mouth who takes very greedy gulps.
"Easy, not so fast, you will get sick." Said Johannes.
"Thank you..." Shining said as he takes a few more gulps of water. The cold water burned down his throat in a satisfying way.
"Take your time, don't hurt yourself." Said Johannes.
"We made it to Italia... after getting ambushed by some Italian knights..." Said Shining.
"Any casualties?" Asked Johannes.
"No... I bested the leader and he took us to King Santamano... But Gerhard got injured in the fight... he is fine though." Said Shining.

Johannes only nodded, erging him to continue.
"King... Santamano is willing to negotiate... tomorrow... at Scarlet Meadow..." Said Shining.
"Tomorrow!? Bastard! That barely gives me time to prepare! No wonder you came back here in such a hurry." Said Johannes. "Heinz!"
"Ja, mein König?" Replied Heinz.
"Ich möchte, dass Ihr gleich morgen früh meine vertrauenswürdigsten Soldaten herbeiruft und ihnen sagt, dass sie mich zu den Scharlachroten Wiesen eskortieren sollen. (I want you to summon my most trusted soldiers first thing in the morning and tell them to escort me to the Scarlet Meadows.)" Said Johannes.
"Ja, mein König!" Replied Heinz.
"Soldat! (Soldier!)" Said Johannes to the knight who was still kneeling.
"Ja, mein König?" Said the Soldier.
"Bring ihn in mein bestes Gästezimmer und bring ihn ins Bett. Er braucht jetzt Ruhe.(Take him to my best spare room and put him to bed. He needs rest now.)" Said Johannes, motioning towards Shining.
"Ja mein König!" Said the soldier as he stood up and then gently picked up Shining Armor. The Soldier made loud grunts as Shining was a little too heavy for him. Shining could only meekly smirk as the soldier struggled to carry him.
"Serves you right... dickhead." Said Shining as he was taken to a guest room and set on the bed. Shining fell asleep almost instantly, finally taking a moment to rest.

Back at Sanctuary, it was dinner time. Only Feather Quill, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike were allowed to sit at the table as the knights and Equestrian Guards were sent to eat in the barracks. Princess Aurora Sat next to her father as the table was bountiful with many different types of food. Some they actually recognize.
"We are quite honored that you agreed to have us join you for Dinner, King Santamano." Said Feather Quill. Gabriele only waved him off, only showing the bare amount of respect.
"It's an honor to have you here. I don't think a pony has ever sat at our table before." Said Aurora with a smile.
"Man Shining is missing out! look at all of this food!" Said Rainbow Dash.
"I know right, it looks amazing!" Said Spike as his mouth watered.
"I can't help but notice though." Said Applejack picking up a bowl of pasta. "I know some of these foods."
"You do? How curious." Said Aurora.
"Actually, it makes perfect sense." Said Feather Quill as most turn to look at him.

"Remember what Johannes told us yesterday?" Asked Feather Quill.
"He said a lot of things yesterday Professor, you need to be more specific." Said Rainbow Dash.
"Whenever he talked about our two kingdoms being allies, there were two ambassadors who shared their cultures with each other. One was Clover the Clever, the other was..." Said Feather Quill. Almost all of them gasp in realization.
"... Carlo Santamano!" They all said in unison.
"You know of my ancestor?" Asked Aurora. Even the King looked at them with an interested look.
"Yes! Yes we do! Carlo Santamano was friends with a Unicorn! A Unicorn named-" Said Applejack before being cut off.
"Clover the Clever. Yes, I know of that." Said Aurora.
"They had to of shared their cuisine with each other all those years ago, that has to be why we know a lot of these foods! Look, there is Spaghetti, Alfredo, Pizza..." Said Rarity.
"Do they have Pineapple Pizza?" Asked Fluttershy.
"ANANAS!? DIOS MIO!" Said the King being overly dramatic and acting as if he was about to pass out. Aurora couldn't help but chuckle.
"We better get to eating. We half to walk to the Scarlet Meadow tomorrow" Said Feather Quill.

It was early the next morning and Johannes and a small army of around fifty of his most loyal Soldiers had begun the trip to the Scarlet Meadows to meet with Gabriele Santamano to negotiate some kind of truce to take down Gallia. Johannes led the march as Volker, his champion, walked on one side of him, while Shining Armor walked along the other side. Shining was limping pretty hard as he was extremely sore.
"Are you sure you can make this journey Prince Armor?" Asked Johannes. Shining looks up at him, a little taken back by his formality.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm just a little sore from overworking my muscles." Said Shining, causing a slight chuckle from Johannes.
"Not to mention the amount of food you ate at breakfast. You could out eat some of my largest soldiers." Joked Johannes.
"I was so hungry." Said Shining.
"I could imagine. You probably used up a majority of your energy by sprinting non-stop." Said Johannes.

They both grew quiet as they continued to march down the countryside of Patriam. Shining had to admit, it was beautiful to look at. That thought alone reminded him of a question he had.
"King Drachenkopf, can I ask you a question?" Asked Shining.
"Of course, go ahead." Said Johannes.
"Why is it called the Scarlet Meadow?" Asked Shining. Johanes sighed as he turned his head to look at him.
"It is a sad story if you'd like to listen." Said Johannes. Shining nodded as Johannes turned his head back down the path. "It's called the Scarlet Meadow because it is full of Red Poppies. As far as your eye can see, red poppies everywhere. It's beautiful actually, but it houses one of the greatest tragedies. They say 500 years ago, the poppies were white. But then a huge battle between Germania, and Italia took place there. Our armies equaled around 600,000. By the end of the battle, only around 10,000 total soldiers were left. I do not know if the numbers are really true. But they say that so much death happened in that one day, the flowers soaked up the blood from the ground and stained them red."

Shining couldn't help but paint a mental picture in his head. Real or not, that was an incredible story.
"Wow... that's very poetic. In a gruesome kind of way." Said Shining, prompting Johannes to snicker a bit.
"Yes, yes it does." Said Johannes.
"Which kingdom does the Meadows lie in?" Asked Shining,
"Currently, the meadows fall within my borders of Germania. No doubt one of the reasons Santamano wants to meet here is because he wants them a part of his kingdom." Said Johannes. As they spoke they were getting close to their destination, as a few red poppies were already starting to litter the ground.
"We are getting closer. Over the top of that hill, we'll be in the meadows. They march getting closer to the top of the hill till they finally see the meadows, the sight alone was enough to take your breath away.

"Woooow..." Shining said aloud taking in all the scenery. It was more beautiful than he could ever imagine. He could see himself bringing Cadence here along with Flurry Heart. Having a nice day and a picnic overlooking the meadow as the wind softly brushes against their coats. Shining could see Cadence's smile already if he were to bring her here. The thought alone causes Shining to smile. Slowly however he began to tear up, as he knew Twilight would love to see this as well. Wherever she is, it was nothing like this. He feels his heart ache just thinking about Twilight being locked up, and not at a beautiful scenery like this. He hurries further into the meadow, motivation quickly overwhelming him again. He needed to free his baby sister even if it killed him. Johannes quickly follows Shining as well as their army. Eventually, they could see a large group of humans standing in the middle of the path. It has to be the Italians as Shining could also see his guards and the others standing with them.

Shining quickened his pace till he was now sprinting towards them. He gets right up to them as Applejack and the others swarm up to hug him.
"Shining! Thank Celestia you're alright." Said Applejack.
"You made it! I was so scared you wouldn't make it in time!" Said Rarity worryingly.
"I'm fine, though I cannot say it was pleasant." Said Shining as he turned and Glared at Gabriele Santamano who was fanning himself. Johannes and his armies slowly and carefully walked up to them. Shining could see the eyes of all the knights present. All of them glared at the opposing sides with hate and malice in their eyes. Many of them did not look happy to be there. They could hear some of them whispering to themselves.
"Italienisches Schwein"
"Cani Tedeschi"
These were some of the words they could hear amongst the knights. Finally, Johannes stepped forward.
"Out of respect for everyone present, so that all parties can understand each other, I propose we conduct the negotiations in Ponish!" Said Johannes. Gabriele whispers something into Aurora's ear.
"The King of Italia agrees." Said Aurora. Johannes Smiles at her who promptly smiles back at him. "Hello Johannes..."
"... Hello Aurora." Said Johannes.
"I... I'm so sorry about your father... he... he was a good man." Said Aurora almost tearing up.
"Thank you... he was a good man." Responded Johannes.

Shining then stepped forward and acted as a mediator between the two.
"I Prince Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire will aid in these negotiations. I Hope we all can reach some common ground." Said Shining. "We shall do this in the most diplomatic way possible, so that everyone understands each other, and no one will be insulted. King Drachenkopf of Germania, you sought out King Santamano, what do you seek from Italia?"
"I, King Drachenkopf, wish for the Kingdom of Italia to join forces with the Kingdom of Germania to unite as one against the growing strength of Kingdom Gallia!" Said Johannes. Shining looks to Gabriele Santamano who once again whispered something into Aurora's ear.
"The King of Italia, Gabriele Santamano, acknowledged your request, King Drachenkopf. What do you offer Italia?" Said Aurora.
"What is it you seek Santamano? Gold? Land?" Asked Drachenkopf. Aurora listens to her father again, her eyes widening at what he said. Aurora slowly turns back to Johannes and takes a second before responding.
"...The... The King of Italia demands all land conquered by Germania in the last war to be returned to Italia." Said Aurora.
"Fine, you can have it." Said Johannes. But Aurora looked as if she wasn't done.
"...and... and he wants all the land east of Safehaven... all the way to the Equestrian border." Said Aurora.
"WHAT!?" Yelled Johannes. "That's more than 50% of my land!"

The German knights could sense their king getting angry. Johannes looked back and relayed the cost to his men, instantly there was outrage as the knights began yelling at the Italians. Some of them even pulled out their weapons, insulted by the offer.
"There is no way in hell I would accept that offer! That causes us to forfiet 75% of our farm lands! We'll starve!" Said Johannes. Gabriele Santamano only chuckles in response.
"You think that's funny fatass!" Said Johannes. Gabriele's smirk quickly fades.
"Johannes, please calm down... These are negotiations for a reason! My father is only trying to get a rise out of you." Said Aurora.
"Well your father has a fucked up sense of humor!" Said Johannes.
"Easy, I need you to calm down Johannes. Insults will not get us anywhere." Said Shining. Johannes looks at him before taking in a deep breath.
"Ok... Counter offer. You can have the Scarlet Meadows, the lands Germania took from you, and lands in the east all the way to Gallia's borders. That gives you a decent chunk out of my home, and you will receive one third of the total land you initially asked for." Said Johannes.

Gabriele certainly looked interested in the deal, placing his fingers on his chin as too ponder the offer. He then whispers back in Aurora's ear.
"The King also request's around 50 pounds of gold and it's a deal." Said Aurora.
Johannes looks behind him towards his men. He lets out a small sigh as relays the final offer to them. Most of them seem unhappy, but it was a far better deal than before.
"Alright, that is a deal I can agree on. Now for the Equestrians side." Said Johannes.
"I don't want that much, all I want is for a full fledge assault on Blackstone. There, One of our Princesses, the Princess of Friendship... and my little sister, is being held captive. From What I've learned the most strategic point to attack Gallia's capital from is through Italia. King Santamano, I offer you riches and treasures, close to 250 pounds of gold and jewels if you were to allow my forces, as well as the forces of Germania to march through your homeland and even join your forces with ours to assault Blackstone! Your army as well as Germania's army will assault the capital as me and my army go in and retrieve our Princess!" Said Shining. Gabriele's eyes widened at the total amount offered by Shining Armor. He claps joyfully and chuckles.
"The King accepts." Said Aurora.
"Very well..." Said Shining. "We've all come to a deal." Johannes Steps forward and him, Shining, and Aurora exchange hand/hoof shakes.
"Shining Armor, you and your army may come back to Germania with me, we shall prepare to finally take down that bitch Léone Trompeur! We will launch our assault in two days." Shining noded. Just two more days, and then Twilight will be free.

As discussions were beginning to wrap up, all the ponies and the German escorts who stayed in Italia for the night went back over their fellow soldiers Gerhard was making his way back to Johannes when something catches from the corner of his eyes, he sees a human quickly stand and run across the meadows of poppies. by the time he looks back over to where he saw it, they were gone. He shrugs his shoulders and approaches Johannes, finally hoping to go back home.

Within a blink of an eye, Léone uses her magic to teleport from the Scarlet Meadows, back into her war room. Her generals stare at her both in curiosity, and intrigue. Pierre then approached her and bowed before her.
"Ma Matriarche! Ce que disent nos espions est-il vrai? (My Matriarch! Is what our spies say true?)" Said Pierre. Léone reaches up to gently rub her new horn with pleasure before looking down at Pierre. She smirks under her helmet before placing her hand on his head.
"Elles sont. Germania et Italia se sont rencontrées dans les Scarlet Meadows. Ils ont des forces alliées pour attaquer Blackstone. (They are. Germania and Italia met in the Scarlet Meadows. They have allied forces to attack Blackstone.) The generals immediately began discussing among themselves, trying to come up with the perfect counter attack.
"Que ferons-nous Ma Matriarche? (What shall we do My Matriarch?)" Asked Piere.
"Pas une seule chose. (Not a single thing.)" Said Léone. All the generals grew quiet and looked at her in confusion. Even Pierre looks up at her.
"M... Ma Matriarche?" Asked Pierre.
"Permettez-leur d'amener leurs armées ici. Quand ils le font, ils laissent leurs propres capitales grandes ouvertes. Avec ma nouvelle magie, je décimerai leurs armées d'un simple geste de la main! Quand leurs armées seront parties, les nôtres se lèveront et riposteront! Nous attaquons Safehaven et Sanctuary en même temps et les deux royaumes tomberont! (Allow them to bring their armies here. When they do, they leave their own capitals wide open. With my new magic, I will decimate their armies with the wave of my hand! When their armies are gone, ours will rise and fight back! We attack Safehaven and Sanctuary at the same time and both Kingdoms will fall!)" Said Léone.

The generals break out in applause for the fantastic plan. Léone looks at them and tells them to prepare for the invasion as she turns her backs on them and leaves the war room. She uses her magic to teleport herself to the dungeon and in front of a specific cell door. She approaches it and opens it. Inside, Twilight is curled into the fetal position in one of the back corners.
"And how is our little princess doing today?" Asked Léone. Twilight slowly turns her head to look at her. Her fur was matted and dried tears stained her face. She hadn't stopped crying since they had chopped off her horn.
"You know, I am a fast learner. I have mastered teleportation and telekinesis in two days." Bragged Léone. "Perhaps I could rival you now, if you had a horn left."
"...Go away." Said Twilight as she turns her head back. From the sound of her voice, it sounded as if her will had been broken.
"What if I told you you could leave now?" Asked Léone. Twilight never moved a muscle. "Suffering from Stockholms syndrome now are we?"
"No... you're lying... Please leave me alone..." Said Twilight curling into a ball even more.
"Come now Princess don't get like that." Said Léone. Twilight began sobbing again.
"Haven't you mentally tortured me enough!?... please go away!" Said Twilight.

Léone got closer and knelt down to her.
"I actually do bring good news to you Princess. You can chose to believe me or not." Said Léone. Twilight continued to sob to herself. "During my reconnaissance, I believe I discovered something. To be honest I'm rather disappointed in you Princess. We were supposed to tell each other everything. But you never told me you had a brother." Twilight stopped crying for a moment.
"Sh-shining? H-H-How do you know about him?" Asked Twilight.
"He's here Princess, in Patriam" Said Léone. twilight quickly looks back over at Léone as fresh boiling hot tears were still flowing down her cheeks.
"Sh-Shining Armor?" Said Twilight.
"Yes, he is here. He has done the unthinkable. He's rallied my enemies together. They're coming here to attack me Twilight. He's coming to save you." Said Léone. Twilight could feel her heart beating faster as more tears flooded down her cheeks.
"Sh-Shiny!" Twilight cried out. She began to sit up when she was caught in Léone's magic again. She chokes as Léone lifts her up by the throat again.
"Oh, but don't expect to see him! Your brother has organized a deadly assault that is going to kill a lot of my people! He will never reach you Princess, As I'm going to kill him!" Said Léone.
"Ack ...N...N...N-No..." Said Twilight as she feels the magic tighten around her neck.
"Oh Yes! I'm going to kill him, Princess!" Said Léone as she pulled Twilight closer till Twilight's forehead was against her helmet. Twilight peered right into her eyes as they burned with hellfire. "I'm going to kill him! I will use my new magic to rip the head from his body! Pulling out his spine in the process!"

Léone then shoves Twilight back into the wall and releases her magic. Twilight let out a loud gasp for air as she quickly crawled back into her corner, curling her body like a scared wounded animal. Léone lets out a devilish chuckle. She was enjoying every minute of Twilight's torment.
"Maybe I'll let you see his head before I bury him and the rest of your pathetic friends in a mass grave. That's my mercy I'm willing to give you Princess. Now Sleep tight. He'll be here in two days to try and save your sorry ass." Said Léone as she exited the cell and relocking the door. She walked down the hall chuckling to herself again as Twilight was shaking violently in the corner. Her sobbing turned into a full meltdown as she cried into her hooves.
"Sh-Shiny... p-p-please c-come quickly... g-get me out of here!" Cried Twilight as she buried her face into her hooves.