Chapters "Princess... we would like to speak to you."
"Of course, my little pony, what's on your mind?"
"I think it's best if I just got straight to the point. My brothers and I... we are warriors." Celestia's brows quirked up. What had this stallion to say? That much was obvious...
"We are not suited for this time of peace. The war is over, and along with Discord, his abominations are also gone. We have no place here. Our presence is wasted."
"I understand that, but what would you have me do?"
The stallion grimaced for a second, as if he didn't want to say what he was going to. "We want you to turn us to stone."
Princess Celestia's eyes widened in surprise. "What? Absolutely not. I will not do that to my champions. I cannot!"
The stallion's expression caused her to pause for a moment. "Princess, just hear me out. Please."
Celestia stopped for a moment, thinking. "This reason had better be good, I am not just going to start turning ponies to stone if they ask to be..."
"What I want to say, and I am speaking for all of us when I do, is that it's the best option. Discord will eventually break free from his prison. It is guaranteed, as not even the Elements can keep him there forever. We want to be able to fight him, so other ponies need not. And also, war is inevitable. Someday, evil will rise again, and we want to be there to combat it. We understand that what we are asking for may not even be possible, but if it is...
Celestia looked at the stallion weirdly for a moment, contemplating. He was right, there was no denying, but how would they fare in stone, if she even could do that to them?
"Alright. You are correct, I will do this. Your logic is correct, and although there may be war later, what's to say there won't be other champions?"
"We know. We are steadfast in our choice."
"Then, Arhim, it's best to do this while the Elements are under our control."
"Princess... thank you. This means much to myself and my brothers. It is the only thing we know, and you are really doing us a favor. I will go inform my brothers."
The stallion turned around, heading for the entrance to the throne room. He strode with purpose, like he was the figurehead of the Equestrian army passing his troops. However, the stride also showed a veteran of many battles and observer of horrible acts of cruelty. His mind had hardened against it, and it was evident in his gait.
"Wait. One moment." The stallion turned around to look at the Solar Regent.
"I have one condition. Tell your brothers to wear their armor. You may need it...."
"Yes Princess, I understand."
---
Celestia entered the throne room of her recently occupied castle. The capital had been moved to Canterlot, on the side of a mountain, to be easily defended against attack. The ponies had all been moved from cities like Prance or Roam to the cities of Everfree and Canterlot, the fortified or hard to reach cities. Everfree was completely self-sufficient, with enough food stores to last for years. Canterlot was similar, but relied on other cities for food. However, it still had stores of food to last.
She looked around her new throne. It was simple marble, barely polished, and not decorated at all. All gems had been requisitioned for the war. Who was the Princess to not set an example for her ponies? Even her crown was just a gold circlet. Her gaze wandered behind the marble throne, to six stone statues. On the outside, two unicorn stood. One was dressed in robes, the other in leather. The first stood on three legs, with one hoof resting on a quarterstaff embedded into the ground. The other also stood on three legs, with the fourth resting on some sort of crossbow. It had a string at the far back attached to a single limb and a piece of metal, with a sort of rack filled with bolts connected to the main body, where it was secured and seemed to load into a chamber, which appeared to be where the bolts came out.
Next to the two, towards the center but not nearly there, stood two pegasi. One held a sort of spiraling spear behind him, point backwards over his left shoulder, with his left hoof. His armor covered his chest and legs, with boots over his hind hoofs, and bare front hooves. The other had a chain resting over his neck, with one side ending in a spiked metal ball and the other in a sort of handle. His armor covered his left front leg and hoof, and the back half of his body, leaving his chest and right front leg exposed. He wore boots on his back two legs, like the other, but very little actual protective armor.
In the center, two earth ponies stood side-by-side. The one on the left seemed to carry no weapons, but upon further inspection, his hooves were each covered in a heavy, spiked metal boot. He wore a full set of plate armor, leaving just the bottom of all four limbs exposed. The other was similarly armored, but with normal metal boots in place of the heavy ones. his weaponry, however, seemed to be an enormous great-axe. The blade, hanging over his shoulder, was the size of his chest, and the handle extended into his upraised hoof.
Celestia stopped walking and sighed as memories of an age long since passed came rushing back to her. It was just like then. Evil and chaos were about to overrun the ponies of good, and the monstrosities of the Nightmare were nearly unstoppable. Champions had arisen, yes, but none could match the Six Brothers. She looked up again, at her long-past champions, the champions of light. Maybe it WAS time... maybe Arhim was right? What if Discord broke out of his prison later, what then? It wouldn't matter if the ponies were dead here...
Celestia made up her mind. It was literally now or never, there was nothing she could do by herself to stop the horde; she needed help. Apparently, Fate had decided that now was the time for the return of the Six.
A/N: Sorry about the wait, Tgiving break and a wedding or two. The song link is my inspiration, not really anything else... Go check out my other story, an Infamous crossover!
The throne room had been closed off to all but the closest of Celestia's advisers and generals. Of her three generals, only one was actually present, with the unicorn and pegasus generals witnessing the gathering by way of a far-seeing spell. Celestia sat on her throne, the six stone statues behind her un-moving, as the last of the ponies she had called for entered the chamber. Around her, in a circle, sat the rest of her council, save the one who had just entered. As he took a seat, she began.
"My little ponies, welcome to the court. Before anything is said, I must speak. Long ago, ponies from all walks of life had banded together to defeat the evil known as Discord. While my sister, Luna, and I did actually encase him in stone, we were not the real 'heroes' of that war. We did not fight, like some of the ponies did. We simply dealt the finishing blow. Now, you may or may not heard of the 'Tale of the Six'. There were six, highly skilled soldiers of the highest order and class. They were the archetypes of justice, and were the best six generals I have ever had."
The ponies had now begun to listen intently, as there just happened to be six statues, of generals passed, sitting behind the throne.
"They were the ones who fought back the Chaos armies, leading the army of ponies to combat. This is, until now, the greatest war pony-kind has ever been in. They pushed the armies of Chaos back to Discord's very stronghold, in the far south, and eventually stormed his chaotic palace. This is where the story draws away from the actual event. The story says that they perished in the fight, buying my sister and I enough time to deal the finishing blow with the Elements. This is incorrect."
The listeners now sat, stock-still. Most ponies were told the 'Tale of the Six' when they were children, and it was drilled into all guards as the perfect soldiers, paragon fighters, courageous generals, willing to give their lives for pony-kind. To know that they had been lied to all this time...
"Now, before you reply, let me explain. They survived the last fight without serious injury, and recovered well. However, they were not ponies for a time of peace, they were warriors. They knew how to fight, no more, and they told me this. I understood, and I did them a favor. Look behind me and see..."
The ponies looked once again at the amazingly life-like statues of the six generals of old... and it clicked.
The room froze. Not a sound was made, not even a released breath.
A hoof slowly raised into the air, like a child taking blame for something bad.
"Princess Celestia... do you mean to say that the Six are encased in stone and are currently sitting behind your throne?" The pony squeaked out his question.
"Yes."
The hoof lowered as slowly as it had went up. The room stayed silent.
Then voices broke out all at once, some in outrage, some in fear, some in amazement. Questions from all but the three generals were shot out at the Princess like arrows at a target.
Celestia flinched at the noise, and then raised a hoof into the air. The room fell silent once more.
"Once question at time, please."
Hooves shot into the air.
"So the plan is to break them out and then use them in the war?"
"Yes. I will remove them as soon as I can to allow them time to get used to moving again."
The throne had been removed from the center of the room, and the back half of the room was empty, save for six statues and the princess. She stood calmly, six stone orbs orbiting her head. To her right, an enormous red earth pony, one of her generals, stood. He was an apple farmer-turned-soldier who had moved up through the ranks quickly. He had a level-head and clever mind, well-fit for command. To her left stood a medium sized unicorn mare. She was the head of the Healers' guild, a guild devoted to the practice of medicine and healing.
"Everypony, stay back. I am going to undo the enchantments and free the Six. Please give me, and more importantly them, space, so that they can get used to their surroundings."
In the room, there was nearly a grand total of thirty ponies, including Celestia herself. Around the room, some took a few steps back, and others a little more, all wary of the magical discharge that the Elements of Harmony could produce.
The stone spheres began to orbit at a faster pace, now blurring into what appeared to be a single grey blur. As they reached a point where instead of a blur, they seemed to be in a single place at once, each revolution completing in the exact same time as it takes for the eye to send a picture to the brain, they lit up. Each orb turned a different color of the rainbow, creating the effect of a rainbow halo around the Princess's head. The light seemed to be attracted to her horn, and as it gathered near it's base, the lights began to crawl up the natural curve of Princess Celestia's horn. Her brow furrowed in concentration as the light's crept their way up, closing in on each-other at the tip. As they joined together, the rainbow of energy refracted into six others, all full rainbows in their own right, and linked themselves to the six statues.
Celestia's body shuddered as magical backlash coursed through it, and she winced. The beams faltered for a moment, as if about to dissipate, but regained coherence a moment later.
The pressure seemed to build as more and more energy was put into the spell. Curls and wisps of uncontrolled magic arched around the six beams, like solar flares around the fiery sun, but Celestia held firm.
Suddenly, the magic cut off. The Elements stopped orbiting, and their lights went dark. The room was silent as Celestia stood, regally, slightly out of breath.
*crack*
Then, the cracks began to show . A spiderweb of cracks appeared on each of the statues, all at the same time in the same place. Not a single pony moved.
*crack* *crack*
More cracks began to appear, as flakes of stone and powdered rock began puffing around each as they showed. The cracks widened, and chips of stone began to break off the imprisoned stallions. As one, the rock around all the six began to crumble, exposing armor, fur, and soon the entire bodies of the six generals, ready for war, as their prisons were destroyed and bodies brought back to the land of the living.
A dusty haze blocked the Six from scrutiny, however, one, the unicorn with the quarterstaff, seemed to know what had happened. He began to move, his stiff bones creaking and popping, muscles stretching. He stepped down from the pedestal he was on, nearly fell, and caught himself on his staff. His head lifted, and he surveyed the crowd before his eyes latched onto the princess. He stepped forwards on an unsteady hoof, shaking. He took another step, and then another, and then finally seemed to level out. He continued walking, and his steps brought him closer to the princess, his staff hovering over his shoulders. After a hushed silence and a few steps, the dust seemed to clear and his crimson body came into sight. It was covered in a dull green robe, and he seemed to be unarmored. His face was screwed up in concentration, and he seemed to be in pain.
His steps brought him directly in front of the princess, and his cutie mark became apparent. It was a puff of flame (imagine the sort of curls used to depict breath out of a persons mouth, like the number 6 sideways, but all fire-y). His eyes betrayed a sort of intelligence only present in the brightest, and a self-confident smirk which made one believe he had an answer for everything.
He stopped in front of the princess, and looked up into her face, matching her gaze.
"Well hello princess, you haven't aged a day, I see."
Her voice cracked and she responded. "Arhim, it's been far longer. I'd say the same about you, but I haven't been frozen in stone for quite the time." Her voice lowered. "And besides, you and your brothers always were good friends to me. I've missed you all..."
Arhim winced at an unseen pain and spoke again. "Really? I couldn't tell." His face turned into a lopsided grin, one she knew all too well. "I'm just going to... go to sleep for a sec-" His eyes rolled up in his head and his body went limp. As he collapsed, his body was caught in a soft white glow, and ponies suddenly rushed forwards.
In the Royal Canterlot Hospital, six rooms had been closed away from the public. Rumors spread about these like wildfire, as the hospital, a normally public entity, was being reserved from none other than the Princess. Inside these six rooms, six very special ponies were recovering. These were not your average 'special' ponies, these were six of the most well-known names in the history of the land of Equestria. These were the Six generals of the Harmony War.
One pony began to stir, his body finally waking up from his slumber. He groggily arose, and as quickly as he could, stood back up to his hooves. He stumbled away from his bed, and reached the door on unsteady hooves. He shoved it open, nearly tripping over his own hooves, but caught himself as the door swung outwards. He raised his head, and blinked his eyes once to clear them. They finally refocused, and the pony, led by his old, honed instincts, began to walk. He hit a pair of doors, and as he passed through them, he found what he was looking for.
He stepped over to the corner, where a twisted, curling spear lay. The pegasus flicked the staff over his body with his wing, and caught it between them, resting his wings up around the spear. He walked off again, following his sense of direction.
Not very much time passed before he heard the clashing of blades. Hurrying his pace, his trot turned to a canter and canter to a gallop. Relishing the feel of wind against his long-frozen skin, he charged towards the sounds of an army drilling.
He blew through a pair of doors, entering a large courtyard. He hurtled towards a downwards flight of stairs, and kicked off the metal railing. His wings flared, and his spear flipped around him. Catching the spear in mid-jump, he landed on his forward right shoulder and tucked into a roll, coming up ready to move again.
No sound came from the parade grounds, eyes all glued to him. One pony, apparently some sort of officer, approached him.
"Who are you, civilian, and what are you doing here? These are restricted grounds, and you need to leave. Now." The officer spoke, his tone warning the pegasus to leave.
"Civilian? I'm a general. Ever heard of Guthan?" The pegasus seemed to be amused by the officer.
"Hah, you mean the pegasus from the little foals' tale? You still must leave, sir, before I have you escorted out." The officer was nearly about to laugh.
An eyebrow raised at this. "Is that what we are now? A little foals' tale? Tell me, sir, how long has it been since the Harmony War?"
"Sir, every colt knows that. It's been nearly eleven hundred years." He turned to the side, eyeing a quartet of guards. "You four, please escort this pegasus out of here. Sir, we are going to have to make you leave now."
He seemed not to notice the twisted spear on the pegasus's back, nor the tense stance he held himself in. A pair of hooves reached out for him, from the four newcomers.
He moved.
The pegasus ducked and spun to his left, his wing pushing one guard away and the other pushing the spear out from his back. He spun it around his head, and with a solid twack , he slammed it against the helmeted head of one of the rookies. Jumping up from the ground, he kicked off the chest of another, lifting his spear with him. He planted the head in the ground, and spun around it, using the momentum from the kick. He swung around, slamming his bare hoof into the cheek of another guard, and then landed back on the ground. He popped the spear-head out of the ground and flicked the shaft with his wing, and the stave was sent crashing into the last rookie. Catching the back of the spear with his wing, he pulled it back to its place over his shoulders, and he stopped moving, standing once again in rest position. A red haze seemed to hang around him as it was sucked into his body.
The entirety of the crowd stood, stunned, as some pegasus with a spear incapacitated four of the most well trained troops on the face of the planet without even letting one try and get off a hit.
"Now officer, I kindly request that you call off your guards before I'm forced to actually hurt one of them. I could order you to do so, but I have a feeling you will just continue with this insubordination." The spear-wielding pegasus spoke, formally and clearly but tinged with amusement, to the officer standing in front of him. "I love my spear to death, but I hate it when I have to shed blood needlessly."
Author's Note
I'm going to do a single chapter featuring each one by themselves in a fight, and then start the war. Savvy?
http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/The_Fall_of_Six the actual brothers.
Also, sorry for the hiatus, it will stay until I find this story taking the majority of my attention. I felt like writing, so I did. If the fancy comes again, I shall follow it.
