Author's Note

Description

Following the Everfree attack on Ponyville, the countryside town is once again healing from another chaotic event. Unfortunately, Our primeval mare finds it hard to rest and lick her wounds after such a daunting battle, and its included rush, actively going against everypony to find some semblance of entertainment, to no avail. Fortunately, three troublesome fillies come along to unknowingly alleviate her troubles- too bad she's never heard 'be careful what you wish for' before.

Chp 16: Crusaders and The Knight- part 1

“Storm Breaker, for the last time, you shouldn’t be doing this!” A vexed Twilight said, “You’re still recovering.”

To be frank, Twilight Sparkle was not having a peaceful time since the end of the Everfree conflict two and a half weeks ago.

A crouched, bandaged Storm Breaker, bearing the weight of a house face framework constructed of 6x6 lumber on her back, stifled a strained grunt. “Shut up, unicorn! I’m…fine.” She panted, pushing herself up. “Go back *huff* to whatever mushy friendship shit *huff* you have, and leave the- agh! -real work for the-.”

Suddenly, the warrior mare’s legs collapsed under her, causing her to yelp in pain.

It hadn’t been three days following the harrowing battle, and Storm Breaker has tried and escaped her hospital lodging during morning hours, stating, ‘It’s just as boring as the last time.’. Since Celestia entrusted Twilight and her friends to oversee the rowdy mare’s recovery, the real challenge was keeping a constant eye on and scolding a pony who didn’t want to sit down to rest and saw most of them as lesser than dirt. Even Olive Branch had a tough time extinguishing her restlessness once his injured side healed.

Worst yet, Storm Breaker’s newfound injuries would perpetually open up when she ventured into Ponyville. Her refusal of every form of medical magic made the healing process much harder for the stubborn knight, usually resulting in a bystander reporting her bleeding-out, unconscious body, then right back to her room.

Horn glowing, the frame piece gently levitated upward in Twilight’s magic, allowing the concerned and off-put construction ponies observing Storm Breaker’s antics to tentatively move on to repairs as they drove nails into its wooden surface.

“I don’t get you.” She sighed.

“You don’t need to.” Storm Breaker groaned, sweat dotting the recently melted snow-covered ground. “I had enough of the beeping machines and laying around! And crap like that stupid ‘winter wrap-up’ song wasn’t getting things done, so I helped out of boredom. You should be thanking m-” A short coughing fit, a small amount of blood, and a second of silence later, she silently stood up.

The studious unicorn could get behind why somepony would hate the town-wide musical number- she felt the same way at first. But holiday tradition in Ponyville is heavily acted upon due to Earth Pony roots, which helped get the warrior mare to rest for at least one day. Twilight may have underestimated how much she cared for ancient Earth pony culture practices- which reminds her; she should ask Storm Breaker about that subject.

Imagine all the knowledge ponies lost during the dark era of Equestria!

No, the time for informative interrogation comes second; Twilight needed to get her back to the hospital.

With a bit of luck and a whole cart-load of fighting, Twilight managed to secure a pouty Storm Breaker in her levitation spell, moving onto the path to the hospital. As she trudged through the mending roads of destroyed streets, the studious unicorn couldn’t help but think back on those two and a half weeks, especially her expedition prior to the conflict's end.

Due to the destroyed bridge linking the forest and the castle’s entrance, and her team's new means of entry, Twilight’s group was mainly undisturbed in their search for the hot spot. Speaking of which, the source of the corruption and its image still lingers within her mind, the pulsating mass of magic radiating with overwhelming power, like a giant, veiny purple tumor given form and alicorn magic. It took considerable effort and mana to destroy the hot spot upon dispelling it; the sight was akin to paper burning above a roaring flame as it disintegrated into nothing, along with a shriek of pain. Nonetheless, something didn’t sit right with Twilight- a lurching feeling in her stomach festered even when Rainbow Dash carried the group over the ravine one at a time with the remaining pegasus guards.

But arriving back to a mangled Ponyville, she solved her internal memory when observing the aftermath of a fight between Storm Breaker and a Hydra.

The feeling she had, the magic she felt back in the ruins where the hotspot rested, retained trace amounts of almost similar magic that were the same as the area around the Hydra’s corpse.

Magic, like all matter, can never be destroyed. It’s made, used, thrown out, recycled, and the process starts again- it lingers in the air and ground surrounding every living creature. Being a unicorn, feeling similar magic coming from the warrior mare linking back to the hotspot couldn’t be easily excused, especially when the location of the hotspot was where Twilight first found Storm Breaker in her crystal.

Her theory is that the crystal must’ve soaked up some lost chaos magic as it did with hers, only it didn’t stop after being shattered. Bits of magic crystal might have culminated, building up more and more chaotic magic from the forest that they merged into a singular mass, infecting everything else from there. All the magic trapped previously in the crystal she destroyed acted as a beacon and attracted Discord's magic.

It would explain the near-identical magic patterns, but it didn’t make any difference in Twilight's guilt.

She inadvertently cost the lives of many because of a simple mistake.

“Come on, Twilight, none of it was your fault. How were you supposed to know the crystal attracted magic after its destruction?” The studious unicorn chastised herself mentally, “Everything is fine. Ponyville is rebuilding -- again. Nopony died in the attack. Storm Breaker helped in the end defending. Even Fluttershy’s left the apple family’s barn and back into her cottage. Thank Celestia, her animal friends hid there during the whole mess. Although, the clean-up wasn’t too fun.” She chuckled weakly.

“Hey, Alicorn pe- Sparkle.” Storm Breaker corrected herself, snapping Twilight back to reality. “Have you seen the old coot around? He and I were going to visit some crummy place called Sugarcube Corner to celebrate our victory, but he never showed himself.” She said, twisting around in Twilight's magic hold to face her, one eyebrow raised.

Twilight hummed in thought, then shook her head. “Sorry, I haven’t. Last time I heard, he went back to Canterlot temporarily for business; and something about checking in on…a bird, I think?” She replied confusingly.

To the studious unicorn’s surprise, a small smile adorned the commonly scowling visage of Storm Breaker, followed closely by a chuckle. “Silly fool, Sky Slicer’s doing fine, and I left him enough feed before I left.” She muttered. “Besides, those idiotic guards in the palace pray to their god that they did a good job watching over him.” She added with a hint of scorn.

“Sky Slicer?” Twilight echoed inquisitively.

Sadly, her attempts to strike a friendly conversation fell flat as Storm Breaker’s smile disappeared into a frown. “Nopony.” She growled, facing away from her.

Sighing, Twilight noticed how close they were to the hospital, quickly arriving at its front doors, where she dropped off the warrior mare. And while the nurses escorted the ancient pony away, the studious unicorn charged her horn, performing a teleportation spell that relocated her into an unsightly, messy Golden Oaks library, its books scattered across the floor. Spike had stayed with Fluttershy during the battle, being one of a few ponies able to consistently talk with the upset pegasus post isolation, leaving about the same time. She gave enough time for him to clean the mess created by the battle’s chaos, so where was he?

“Spike!” She shouted, “Where are you? You didn’t hurt yourself cleaning, did you?” Twilight worriedly asked.

After a short series of bangs and crashes, the baby dragon in question resurfaced from the basement’s depths, leaning tiredly against the door frame. “H-Hey, Twilight, how’s it going?” He said cooly, using a claw to wipe a smug of grease off his cheek.

Twilight’s face scrunched in confusion, “What…were you doing in the basement?” She inquired.

The small drake chuckled, “Oh, you know, working up from the bottom in cleaning, thought it’d be a good time to clear out the basement.” He pointed a talon behind him, “You have A LOT of junk down there.”

“That junk is my research equipment.” Twilight retorted, “And I think you need to relax for a good minute.” She said, stealing a long look at her messy home. Spike shrugged in agreement, shuffling his way over to the kitchen as Twilight activated her horn again. Flicking her head to the side, multiple books left the floor and shot towards their designated spot in the bookshelves, leaving the hardwood floor cleaner with each sharp swipe. In no time at all, besides the dust and minor scuffs, the library looked significantly unsullied than a moment ago, a prideful grin planting itself on Twilight’s muzzle.

“Actually, Twilight, I got something to tell you.” Dropping her grin, she spun around to see Spike exiting the kitchen, ice cream tub, and spoon in claw.

“What is it?” The studious unicorn said.

Moving past her and to the couch, Spike jumped and sat on the comfy cushions, “The Cutie Mark Crusaders came by a little bit ago; they asked to see Storm Breaker since you are watching over her.” Spike ended his explanation by pulling the tub’s lid off, eyeing it hungrily as he drove the spoon into its contents.

Her hoof came to her chin, Twilight moving her gaze from Spike to the opposite wall. “What would those three want with her?” She asked nopony in particular.

Spike eagerly devoured a sizable chunk of ice cream in a single bite, “What’d you think? It was something about cutie marks. I didn’t hear all of it, though; I was in the basement when they charged in.” He said, mouth still full.

Oh no

It was going to be one of those days, wasn’t it?

Ah ha, Victory is achieved by the mighty Storm Breaker once again!

Yet, crawling out of a cramped second-story window wasn’t very warrior-like, it wasn’t like she had many options relating to hospital escapes. Nevertheless, these witless doctors naively believed the warrior was out for the count because her back almost blew out by mere wood. How idiotic of an idea.

“Only two things in this world can stop my desire for action: death and my bird!” The warrior mentally cackled, landing in the bushes outside of her room.

Luckily, her earlier attempts of escape carried themselves out in the early morning or dead of night and out the front door- usually the former- nothing exciting happens when ponies are about to get up. She was just lucky the doctor's advice of not moving out of bed due to her 'injured' back wasn't reinforced by security outside her room. Anyway, on this particular day, without the old coot’s promise of a victory meal happening any time soon, the warrior’s irritating discontentment multiplied to unbearable degrees. Her brutal fight with the Hydra left her starved for excitement, and this was the last straw. So, taking the ‘stealthy’ route was her only option besides stampeding her way out the front.

Making sure nopony was walking by, the warrior checked the area before leaping out from the bushes, now officially outside the hospital’s rear. If her avian friend and whatever brown-nosed pony officials were distracting the old coot for who knows how long: she’ll need to distract herself with a different activity, and obviously, something like construction brought too much attention – and pain.

The warrior grumbled, “That begs the question: what now?” Tapping her temple with a hoof, she sighed. It’ll have to wait ‘till later. Right now, she needed to hide out somewhere temporarily to think and not have some random pony coming along and-

“Hey, are you that scary monster lady?” A high-pitched voice asked innocently.

Eye widening, the warrior twisted to her right with blinding speed, prepared to- unintentionally -knock some poor bystander out cold. Instead, her eye lowered to a trio of young fillies at her hooves, barely tall enough to reach her knees. Other than the earth pony, there was a stubby-horned unicorn and small-winged pegasus, a sight that took her back a bit.

The warrior wrangled in her lost senses after the pegasus gasped, “It is true! You do wear an eye patch. Are you a pirate? Can I see under it?” She questioned, stars in her eyes.

“What? N-No, you can’t! And I’m not some rat-bearded scavenger, either!” The warrior snapped offendedly. What part of her looked like a pirate?! “I am a proud warrior of the Vanguard Knights, brat!” Smacking a hoof to her chest, the warrior regretted it as a sharp pain forced her to the grassy floor, hacking, and wheezing.

Stupid broken ribs!

“Don’t look like one to meh. Aah reckon pipsqueak isn’t gonna be too happy.” The earth pony said skeptically, leaning her muzzle close to the unicorn despite her failed attempt to whisper.

“I…can hear you!” The warrior groaned painfully, “I’d like to see you try fighting a Hydra bare-hoofed and walking away without a few shattered bones!" She moaned, hardly able to stand without her legs quaking violently. "Γλυκιά Θεά, αυτό πονάει!”

Suddenly, the pegasus’s already gleeful expression magnified tenfold, her hooves holding the cheeks of her smiling face. “I know, right?! It looked super hard but so freaking cool!” She squealed, earning a quizzical look from the warrior. “The Hydra was all stomping around and going ‘RAWR!!!’ scaring everypony. But you two duked it out like it was straight out of a power ponies comic-” She threw her front hooves at an unseen enemy, making impact sounds, “-and it didn’t know what was goin’ on! Then there was the end, after you led it through those houses and beat it, you were all ‘ARGH!!!” Stealing a shared look between each other, the other two fillies and warrior watched as the pegasus imitated a sloppy shoulder throw and fell on her back. “That’s not mentioning the stuff you did before hoof: It was as cool as Rainbow Dash's stunts!” She giggled.

…The warrior stared blankly, trying to figure out what that was all about. What were fillies watching nowadays for what she did to be considered…cool?

“Don’t worry about Scoot’s. She’s bin' lak this since she snuck out of the town hall.” The earth filly said. “Bin' fan-fillyin' ovah ya, tellin' meh, sweetie belle, 'n everypony at school about what she saw. I’m Applebloom, by the way- nice to meet ya.”

“ηλίθιος,” the warrior mumbled under her breath, staring sternly at the pegasus. “You could’ve gotten hurt. What do you think your parents would feel if you did, or worse.” She darkly said.

Strangely enough, an equally gloomy air suddenly replaced ‘Scoot’s’ joy. “That’ll be the day.” She whispered, unknowing of the warrior's ears hearing it. Lifting her head, Scoot’s regained her smile again, “It’s nothing to worry about; I made sure to hide extra well. But I was hoping you could help us get our cutie marks.” She said.

“Cutie Mark's?” The warrior repeated, “What’s that?”

Apparently, she shouldn’t have said anything, the fillies all obtaining a look of disbelief and shock directed at her. “What do you mean? Everypony has a cutie mark on their flank! They appear when a pony finds their destiny.” The unicorn exclaimed, angling her blank side at the warrior.

Now that she thought about it, the pictures on these modern ponies' flanks were unknown to her; the warrior believed them to be a tribal marking or something of the sort. Olive Branch had the image of a, well, Olive Branch. She never brought the topic into a conversation, seeing them as unworthy of attention. Now, she wasn’t so sure her evaluation was correct, going by these fillies' reactions, and was somewhat intrigued.

Sadly, restraining a grunt, the warrior shook her head. “Sorry, kids, I can’t help you if I don’t know what a ‘cutie mark’ is.” She said, taking a glance at her blank flank.

“Awww, come on, it’ll be fun!” Scoot’s reassured, “Sure, we three haven’t had the best of luck finding ours, but it couldn’t hurt learning from you. Please, You look like you know a lot of things!” She said, giving the warrior wide, innocent eyes. Crusaders, hm? That takes her back; the warrior had trouble imagining these children raiding land for an imaginary god and their gospel.

Even so, an image on a ponies ass dictates what you do for the rest of your life? This place is as stupid as she reckoned. The warrior groaned internally, ready to reject the pegasus’s useless puppy-dog eyes and invitation to do a flank mark search, regardless of her flattery…until she gave food for thought. There weren’t a good deal of things to do, and she was currently talking to three filles behind a building in the dark shade, so for the sake of her boredom and public image, it was probably best to follow them on whatever adventure they planned.

Teaching, she hadn’t done that since Sky Slicer first joined; he was a Vanguard Knight, and her lessons weren’t for unsullied children.

…

Eh, to Hades, what’s the worst that could happen?

Sighing, the warrior shallowly shrugs, “Whatever, kid, I’m game.” She answered, the small pegasus pumping her hoof while jumping in excitement. “IF you listen to me and follow my every instruction, you got that?” Nodding enthusiastically, the pegasus flipped back and started to walk off.

And as the warrior trailed close behind, the remaining two fillies shared a glance. “Aah bet ten bits this goes pear-shaped in an hour.” Applebloom said.

“Your majesties, I have an urgent report that requires your attention.” A frantic guard pony started, holding a salute. Sitting within Celestia’s private chambers and opposite sides of the large table, both celestial sisters stared at the guard, Celestia reflecting surprise while a drowsy Luna deadpanned.

For Luna, the past few weeks absolutely wrecked any beauty sleep she could’ve had, leaving her mane and fur messy and un-princess-like. The attack on Ponyville left more than a couple of ponies tossing and turning in their sleep, requiring her expertise in dispelling their nightmares. Gladly, the countryside town's situation hasn’t visibly affected Celestia’s, surprising, considering the ludicrous mounds of paperwork her older sister slaved away at.

The solar princess reeled in her outward stupor and set down a small cup of tea on a saucer, “You may speak.” She said, folding one hoof over another.

“The five stallion squad sent with ex-commander Olive Branch and private Storm Breaker was successfully captured.” The guard started with a grimace. “After a brief confrontation with the retrieval unit sent to apprehend them, resulting in minor injury, the offenders were charged with attempted murder, desertion, resisting arrest, and assaulting royal guards, among additional charges, and placed into holding. Provided the celestial council, court system, and eye-witness testimonies given by Ponyville residents and sir Olive Branch himself, it’s safe to say the upcoming trial will go smoothly.” There was a hesitant pause in his voice.

It made sense: the guard's disposition relating to fellow stallions-in-arms. She knew it better than anypony: to have the ponies you’ve called friends destroy any respect by doing deplorable actions. There was plenty of that during her time as Nightmare Moon.

Furthermore, something caught the lunar mare’s attention.

“Thank you for telling us. That said, I’ve read a portion of the testimonies Olive Branch has written today, and one about Thunder Charge’s statement regarding an unknown reward irks me. My sister would never put a bounty on Storm Breaker’s head without cause.” She said.

Celestia nodded in agreement, “I wonder about it as well.”

The guard returned the gesture, clearing his throat, “Yes, we are still trying to form a lead on it. Unfortunately, one doesn’t become next in line for captain without nerves of steel, and as like-minded as his stallions are, he refuses to spill any information.” He answered.

Celestia turned to her younger sister, nodding, “Luna, this is more of your territory. I’ve dealt first hoof with rowdy and uncouth guards before but never to this magnitude.” She paused, taking a deep breath, “As much as I hate to use such extreme measures on my little ponies, no matter how terrible, this incident is most likely a byproduct of assassination and corruption. Who knows how many are like them among my ranks as a whole.”

“How do you figure?” Luna asked.

“Well, I certainly didn’t offer a large sum of bits for Storm Breaker’s head, and to have another four ponies go along with the plan and not speak a single word or an outside factor discovering it further incriminates the guards I highly respect. But I can’t point hooves, even if some may be an accomplice to Thunder Charge and, by extension, his contractor.” Celestia said with a pained expression, furrowing her brow.

Seeing that tension was running high in the room, Luna sighed, “You may go, sir.” She ordered the guard, who swiftly left the sisters to their own devices. “So, you want me to perform a more intimate interrogation? To find out who his contractor is and if anypony else is in a similar vein, I presume?” Her older sister nodded, “I could do that-” Luna grinned, “-If you allow Storm Breaker to join as well.” She snickered.

Taken aback by her sister's request, Celestia shook her head, “No, I can’t allow that for the sake of her recovery and health.” She opposed.

Giggling, Luna sipped from the coffee mug held in her magic before leaning back in her seat, “I jest, sister. But It’s funny you mention that. My little knight seems woefully starved of action if Olive Branch’s claims of her activities are true. On the upside, she could prove to be a great intimidation piece.” She jokingly added. It wasn’t uncommon for Storm Breakers type to act similarly, battle-starved- at least, the more gung-ho recruits compared to more hardened veterans.

Lowering her head, Celestia huffed sharply, “In Thunder Charge’s case, having the one pony who planted your head in the ground in the same room would be off-putting.” She chuckled. “But putting aside this distressing string of events, I’m glad Storm Breaker’s made progress in her integration of Equestria.” A small smile formed on Celestia’s muzzle.

The lunar princess nodded in agreement, remembering the night her sister returned bearing a tale of their interaction.

By how Celestia described the warrior mare, taking into consideration of her knowledge of King Platinum, her control over her temper is leagues better compared to the first days of her reawakening. Still, the wayward knight retained her brash and rebellious nature: yet, in hindsight, recruiting Olive Branch to be her caretaker was wise. Crime rates in the muckier parts of Canterlot dropped noticeably, and the remaining thestral guards Luna secured would only further her work-related accomplishments.

Even so, over this short period, Luna couldn’t help but notice the publics' increasing aggression toward Storm Breaker, their complaints increasing with every night and day court. It became apparent why when she caught a glimpse of a newspaper a guard read this morning, only to become shocked by what she saw in bold lettering.

“Savage earth pony night guard rampages through Ponyville during Everfree attack!”

Looking closer into the matter, Luna discovered several articles posted by, once-believed, trustworthy Canterlot Times over the past few weeks. Slandering the ancient warrior, they used aftermath images of the Hydra battle and the wrecked houses out-of-context to support their fabrication. Even ‘eye witnesses’ gave claims contradicting ones from the actual interviewed Ponyville residents; Now it made sense why so many ponies were wary of her recently. Things weren’t any better, seeing as the papers also included Storm Breaker’s…less than careful first shifts on the job and quotes from the ‘victims’ as they made them out to be.

While other, smaller, newspaper companies spoke the truth and got ignored, the most popular was practically screaming fallacies.

“As it stands, sister, Storm Breaker will have to return to Canterlot soon. No matter how things might be with the public.” Celestia said, remembering what Luna told her about the newspaper, “In the meantime, try your best to extract any information from Thunder Charge. I’ll meet with Olive Branch to arrange the de-occupation of her and my guard – once he’s finished writing reports and tending to Storm Breakers bird.”

Luna cocked an eyebrow, “Bird?” She repeated.

Standing out of her seat, Celestia rested a hoof on the table, “Olive Branch wasn’t the only friend Storm Breaker made.” She answered cryptically, taking her leave in the direction of her bedroom’s door, “I do hope you find success in your interrogation.” Using her magic, the solar princess disappeared in a flash of light.

Now in solitary, Luna sighed heavily and charged her horn as well- right before taking a last big gulp of her coffee -then also disappearing.

She was going to need it.