Heresy

by Drunken_Heretic

Rating: mature
Tags: Dark, Alternate Universe, Romance, Tragedy
Length: 47321

Power must always be questioned.

There are no artifacts known as the Elements of Harmony.

Those in power, stay in power.

On the cusp of industrial revolution, the Monarchy of Equestria, takes a much tighter grasp upon the country. Many are displeased, whereas many others take this as a good change.
Patriots join the Equestrian Guard to fight the enemies of their country, while at home, new rules and laws are instated. Not all take to this as well as the Regent might hope.

Some though, feel as though the only way out, is revolution.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2015-01-03 20:33:52 UTC

Absolute Authority

Heresy-Absolute Authority

They always told us to live our lives, doing what we loved. Every day, the sun rose and fell, as did the moon each night. Work hard, make money, spend it, see friends, do hobbies, eat out, acquire more material things, and follow the normal order. The unspoken words were all there in front of us but nopony ever thought of them. "Don't question the natural order o' things. The Princesses know what they're doing. We just need to do what we're told."

In what world could she do such a thing? She hungered for knowledge and every day, she discovered more of what she desired from the history books, of in this case, the lack thereof. Answers to why and how the sun and moon rose each day. Her teacher had always told her that she herself made such a thing happen, but how could that be? The Everfree forest had its own weather patterns, and even now, those sorts of effects were taking place in more places. Ponyville was feeling it harder now.

Clouds moved of their own accord. Rain and snow came down at unprecedented times. The Pegasi couldn't keep up with the workloads. The regents in their high fortress in Canterlot seemed to have nothing to say on the subject. All of their questions were dodged and responded to with "We'll look in to the alleged problems," and after that was said, nopony argued.

Except for her. Twilight Sparkle. What in the name of Starswirl were they doing up there in their castle? Twilight had no other hypotheses besides those that aimed towards the idea that the natural world was taking over again and that no form of magic could stop it. So what if these "wards" placed around certain areas were coming down, and the overlords had no way to renew them? Was it really that bad? Did they really need protection from something that nature intended?

This all brought up more points. None could explain as to how or why the moon and sun rose, outside of what they were told by Celestia. Normally these thoughts would never have crossed the student's mind, but the books she was reading had much speculation as to how the Alicorn race weren't really deities in any way, shape, or form. They were powerful, but by no means were they as powerful as they let on. Oh Ponyfeathers this was taxing.

She couldn't let this continue. She knew that she was tired and that she'd be fine after a good night's sleep. Maybe she herself would write a letter to Celestia, asking her questions about all of this. As her personal student she'd be sure to get a better answer. She'd alleviate all of these bad thoughts and feelings. Yes. That would do it.

The unexpected had occurred, though she supposed that's why it was literally called the, "Unexpected." Celestia had sent a royal guardpony to tell her to cease her questions until the Princess herself arrived in Ponyville to address the town, and that she as the Princess' student, was not to spread any information, speculation, or dissent throughout the community. That threw her off her game.

What kind of upside-down thing could be happening here? None of her friends had any thoughts that were unusual on the matter and none had more to say than to tell her that it was okay, and would all work out eventually.

Twilight knew it was a load of bunk. What kind of thinking was that? The book she was reading was written by Starswirl the Bearded himself and she always trusted his writs as those of absolute knowledge, without fault. They had never failed her before, so why was it now that they seemed to be so...extreme in their condemnations? Revolution was unheard of, and yes, Equestria was a monarchy, but that didn't seem to cause any problems for anypony. They all knew their place and their talents reflected their personalities. It was quite the utopia.

As the day worked itself along, and the young mare became lost in the histories as written by the wise old colt, the sky went dark.

A clarion call of horns announced Celestia's unexpected arrival to the town, but all quickly made their way to City Hall. Clouds blotted out the sky, seemingly enchanted to cover the sun.

Everypony quickly arrived, the few stragglers making it as the Princess regally exited her chariot and took up her place on the podium. She needed no introduction. Her speech, though, demanded the attention of all. Even if the sun itself was blotted out, Celestia seemed to glow with an inner light that none had ever seen before. Not even during the Summer Sun Celebration had this happened.

"Some ponies may not understand the current events taking place. I regret to inform you all, that you are under a citywide martial law, and that none shall disregard the decree that I am about to pass." the great voice of the Princess boomed.

"The weather that has stricken Equestria is unknown to me, and I fear it is another attack from the Griffons and their ilk. I am truly sorry that all of this must take place, but it is for your protection." the benevolent Princess called.

"First, none shall leave their homes after nightfall, and before sunrise. This is for your protection." she called. Twilight's jaw dropped but she stayed silent near the edge of the stands, quietly wishing she could speak to her mentor.

"Second, I will be stationing a full regiment of guards here, to enforce these curfews and insure that they aren't broken. They will be here until further notice as your protection."

"Thirdly, I decree that there shall be no further speak or practice of all forms of religion, save those that acknowledge myself and my sister as your leaders. There shall be no more talk of "Titans" that created our world." Many in the crowd became visibly upset at this but none did more than mutter, except for one brace young colt, who called out that the Princess was a tyrant for such decrees. He was quickly knocked senseless and a bag was forced over his head by a small group of guards that seemed to appear from nowhere in particular.

"Finally, I decree that any slander on mine or my sister's names, shall be punished to the fullest extent of the newly passed laws. If any wish to know more, thou shalt be pleased to be informed that during non-curfew hours, the post office will be sending and receiving more orders from Canterlot. Now, I bid you all a good day."

The world in literally seconds, had just turned itself upside-down.

With that, their once beloved Princess left. It hadn't been more than a few days. A week before, nothing was different, and all of a sudden, it had become a nightmare. Where had these ideas come from? What in the hay had happened? Nothing made sense. This was all too quick. Wouldn't changes like this take time?

She'd had to find out. This thought was first and foremost throughout her mind. She quickly dashed through the dispersing crowd, forgetting about even the young colt who was taken away. This would prove to be a message to all, later.

As she arrived at the library, she locked the doors and quickly took up her book. No sooner had she called for Spike to hide it away, then she heard a knock and a gruff voice call out, "Twilight Sparkle, open up, this is the Canterlot Royal Guard. We must speak with you about a book that you may be in possession of."

Ponyfeathers, Twilight thought.

Disorganization

Heresy-Disorganization

Celestia had become a tyrant overnight and had decreed to all ponies that they were under martial law. No less than a month after the wedding of her older brother and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. It was supposed to be a time of prosperity! The weather itself was turning against them, but Twilight had a hard time believing that it was truly the Griffons that caused it. Her thoughts trailed off as there was another huge bang coming from the front door.

It seemed as though the royal guardsponies were starting to literally knock the door of her library off of its hinges. "Madam Sparkle, you're receiving special courtesies of the Princess, but you WILL open up and let us search the premesis!" the gruff voice yelled. She stalled as best she could. Please oh please, let luck be on her side. From the bottom of her heart, she hoped Spike had been able to hide the book.

As the dust shook from the frame of the battered old door, she finally unlocked it and gingerly opened it before the over-zealous guards could destroy the old relic. What saw her didn't really surprise her. Two large white stallions in golden armour, one a pegasus, and the other, an earth pony. They seemed to have more brawn than brain, but that didn't really mean much as they barged in and started knocking books off of their perches.

"Hey, be careful with those, some have been rebound more than once!" the angry mare called at them. If they noticed, it didn't show. Book after book was searched, and when one was deemed as "Unfit" it was packed into a set of saddlebags on the backs of the guards. After her first outburst, and the lack of a reaction by the gruff invaders, the young mare decided it was best that she just stay silent. Tossing her hooves up in annoyance, she waited it out. They didn't take any books of value and never found the panels that moved on the wall, leading to a lever she had made to unlock her private collection.

About an hour passed before the guards left, glaring at Twilight as she smiled at them and showed them their way out. Once they were gone, it all came apart. Her bottled up emotions came out in a storm as Spike came down from the attic. He knew something was terribly amiss and was able to figure a little bit out himself after watching the two guards break their way in and sift through the enormous collection of books.

"How....why....I don't...." Twilight managed to stutter semi-coherently at nopony in particular. The tears started to flow and energy started to glow visibly in an iridescent cone around her horn as her emotions took over her mind. The turmoil that was her emotions tore through her and flowed out in the visible spectrum of light as the library became a roiling torrent of books and paper. Spike grabbed on to the writing desk that was near the edge of the stairwell, and tried to call out to his friend and for all intents and purposes, his mother, but his voice was drowned out.

"Spike. I need that book. Now." Twilight demanded, as the room started to settle down. By the tone of her voice, Spike knew he had to comply. Something was very, very wrong.

Within seconds, he had the book in his claws, and had brought it directly to Twilight. She flipped open the book, her eyes glowing back and forth between purple...and green. He hadn't seen that kind of magic since the return of the Crystal Empire...

Twilight drove her mind into the pages of the book, absorbing all of the information in it as if it flowed through her, gaining its knowledge and understanding its purpose, by living through it. The words of Starswirl the Bearded changed her. This spell...was letting her read them as he wrote them, and what his intent behind it was. It was heresy. He claimed that the sun rose not because of Celestia's good faith. It rose because she had forcibly bound the spirit of it to herself, and the same for the moon.

A spirit that was great and loving filled the sun. It rose on its own, as did its sister, the moon. They revolved around the planet in such a way that cycles of light and dark were regular and absolute, so as to nurture the life that grew there, in hopes that it would go from turmoil, to a land of love and goodwill. Their ultimate hope, it seemed, was to have other being ascend to their level of existence, so that they might have others of their kind to interact with, love, and create more life with. It was such a simple principle, and so many creatures shared the same will. This was just on...such an unimaginable scale.

Then, she learned of how Celestia had enslaved it. Her mind touched its mind in her adolescence, and they communed at a level that most couldn't even begin to comprehend. As she grew up with her younger sister, the Sun continued to speak to her, as the Moon did for Luna. Over time, Celestia noticed that the world around her was changing. Soft green blades of grass grew from the dirt, and trees sprang up in a matter of day and night cycles. The world would move slowly, and then quickly, as it grew more verdant. Celestia marveled at the power of the Sun, as it created such beautiful light.

Luna's experience with the Moon was much more quiet but respectful. Whereas her sister always asked the Sun questions, Luna just listened to the Moon whenever it decided to speak. Its control of water and weather was astounding to her and she loved to listen to it quietly singing as it effected the waters across the Earth. She loved all that it had to offer. The water it provided through the rain to the plants, the cool beauty of it's dark night, casting rays of reflected light from its sibling the Sun, and the glow of the stars.

When she finally asked a question, Moon was only too happy to answer. She inquired as to how the stars existed, what they were, and why they didn't speak to Moon or Sun. The reply came to her in a series of images and emotions that she had no idea existed within the great entity. The stars were children of Sun and Moon, but none of them were able to speak to their parents directly. They had the spark of life that Sun had, but not the ability to convey emotion as Moon. This saddened  them, and they tried unfathomable amounts of times, but to no avail.

Then, they discovered the Earth. it was a nearly lifeless rock, save for the Titans that walked across it. The Titans had shaped it from many other rocks throughout the ether, and wished for it to have life akin to their own. They formed canals, mountains, valleys, and all sorts of natural rock formations. Alas, they could not create life like their own. They made constructs of rock and clay, but none of them could live and move like the Titans.

When Sun and Moon discovered them, they spoke to the great Titans that crossed the surface of the barren rock.

The Titans originally feared the light that Sun provided, but over the years, Sun and Moon were able to speak to the Titans, not dissimilar from the way they eventually came to speak to Luna and Celestia. The Titans came to understand that the Sun and Moon were both alive, just in a different way. They asked how and why they existed, and many other questions as to how they themselves could create life. Sun and Moon had no real answers as to why, but they eventually learned on thing.

Sun couldn't create life that was successful. Life could only be transferred. As soon as the Titans discovered this, they convened and begged to have Sun and Moon take their sparks of life and cover the planet in it. They wanted life to prosper and grow, covering the world, and moving across the realms, making more life and love and prosperity. For many cycles, they wept and pleaded for their new friends, Sun and Moon, to do so.

Finally, Sun and Moon agreed to move the sparks of life from the Titans to the Earth. This though, they did not do lightly, and they told their friends that they would honor their sacrifice and some day teach the life that grew from theirs, of the love that the Titans had left for them. Celestia and Luna, they explained, were the first true beings that came from this. They were brought forth from the life essence of the very oldest Titan, one named as Faust. This Titan had her essence split, and they became her children's spirits. Luna and Celestia formed in the ether and became a part of the planet as much as the original Titans who formed it were.

From there, they grew into what they were now, and when Sun and Moon finally noticed them, they took it upon themselves to teach them what they needed to know, as the life throughout the planet was nurtured and cared for.

Over the millenniums, many forms of life and ethereal beings formed. Discord, who had formed even before the sisters, revealed himself. He was still adolescent, as the sisters, but was different in many ways. He loved to create chaos and other such things. He wasn't evil by any means, but he mostly just cared about what he thought was, "Fun." He became a constant companion to the sisters as they went about, discovering other forms of life, including many that weren't alive in a more physical manner.

Time went on and life took many turns. Creatures like Celestia and Luna started to grow, as did many others, though the "Ponies" were the only ones intelligent enough to communicate with the sisters. They grew, as did Discord. Discord though, eventually went his own way, parting from the sisters. Celestia and Discord both from there, discovered what heartache was, and over the next thousand years, learned to communicate in many ways, as they fell in love.

What happened from there, Starswirl had been unable to obtain from the mind of Celestia. Those thoughts, she had locked away even from him.

After that time though, the Discordian-Era began, and reigned for ages, until Celestia and Luna managed to fight back against his tyranny, with the aide of another naturally occurring phenomenon. They received help from a group of multiple forms of intelligent ponies, and pony-like beings. These five, were the original Elements of Harmony.

Fenix the Dragonslayer and his comrade Philomena, the Element of Generosity.

Pallanen Lifekeeper, the entdeer, and the Element of Kindness.

The Doctor, or Doctor Whooves, a Time Lord and the Element of Loyalty.

Ban Dragonheart, a buffalo, and the Element of Honesty.

Surprise, a shapeshifter, and the Element of Laughter.

With their help, the sisters learned that they were both one half of a final Element. The Element, of Magic. With their combined might they found a hard battle against Discord, and managed to dethrone him, but this was not their last battle with him.

In the wake of their Victory, the Elements formed parts of their essence into gems that they then gave to the sisters for safekeeping. They never again saw the other elements, save for the Doctor.

Alas, Starswirl had gained no other information...except for that in which Luna had become envious and sent to the Moon, and how she spoke with Moon for her thousand year exile. Over time, Moon became more under the control of Luna, and how Sun became under direct control of Celestia.

After all of this, Starswirl kept it in his memories, stored away magically so he could recall it whenever he chronicled it. The day before he died, he wrote this book.

Twilight finally moved out of the pages of the tome, and lay on the floor, before finding the strength to stand again. From there, she began to shake.

Twilight's rage at the lies she had been taught pulsed through her in a wave of magic. The room once again became a torrent of flying books and papers.A quill and inkpot moved close to each other in the epicenter of the hurricane that had started, and as the papers flowed together, a huge amount of words just started to appear on dozens of papers at the same time. Books returned to the floor in piles as all of the raging mare's emotions poured out on to the pages. Her confessions at reading an absolutely forbidden text. What she had planned on asking her mentor just hours before this madness. Her anger, her confusion, her outright fear of all that was to come, scrawled across these pages. Her accusations at the Princess for her enslavement of the entities that had taught and loved her, as well as her sister, being the final note.

Time seemed to catch up again, as Twilight's power dispersed, her emotions finally having burnt out.

"Spike. I want you to send it. All of it. I am no longer a subordinate of hers." her voice barely loud enough to hear.

The halls of Canterlot Castle were silent. The guards were taciturn and ramrod straight at their posts. The light given off by Celestia's tiara was enhanced by the morning light, as most assumed, was a courtesy of the good-will of their goddess.

The clack of gold shod hooves against marble rang out as she walked slowly through the maze of winding halls. Nopony, not even her most personal attendants understood the situation or what had happened to their beloved Princess. Though, not a single pony would raise their hoof in defiance of her.

She was on her way to speak with the newly appointed Colonel of the Equestrian Specialized Defence Force, Shining Armour. He was newly married to the demi-alicorn Mi Amore Cadenza, a Princess of the neighboring powers, but this was of little concern. She had plans for the both of them, but first she had to insure the loyalty of Twilight, her student, and if she could win one of the siblings over, the second would quickly follow suit, as well as many other subordinates.

That was the trouble with this kind of leadership, she thought to herself. Too much time was wasted on convincing subjects to follow you willingly through their loyalty to other figures. Though, it was necessary. Revolution wouldn't do her any good and if the situation wasn't handled delicately from here on out, then she would have to fight those within her own courts even more, as well as those that they represented. This war with the griffons would be won though, regardless of the cost, and these steps were necessary.

Yes, it was a necessary evil, she reassured herself. What she was doing was for the good of all of her subjects and if they had to worship her more vehemently to reach the point of loyalty in which they would probably need to fight with the zeal they needed, then so be it. Her enemies would perish and she would be loved even more than before, with her sister and other chosen elevated to the status of "God-hood," in the eyes of the reverent masses.

Time passed quickly as she found herself in front of the newly constructed War Chamber. Two guards that were armoured from head to hoof in golden plate mail saluted her with their augmented weapons. She nodded and noticed that as she drew nearer, that they were excited. Her new personal guards, as it were, had been taught to love her above all, and to do anything she ordered without hesitation. None but Celestia knew their identities, or their faces.

She remembered when she'd first thought of the training regiment for her personal guards, so many years ago...many would see it as cruel and unusual to kidnap young colts, replacing them with magical clones that died within days of their replacement, of what appeared to be natural causes. This method was nearly fool-proof and led to the perfect warriors, even if some were lost due to the training exercises and varying forms of abuse they endured, but it weeded out the weak.

These thoughts crept through her vast consciousness as she strode through the grand golden doors, encrusted with gems and backed by the most stable wards that she herself had wrought. A few terse nods greeted her in the dark room as her chosen leaders acknowledged her arrival. Their eyes and minds quickly returned to the table in which they argued over, planning military movements as they received information from the front lines of the Gryphus Mountain Range.

"Gentlecolts, I believe we have much to discuss." she said in her regal yet strong and demanding voice.

The day started early for McIntosh Apple, as it always did. A farmer like himself was always bound to waking up early and turning in late. He ran a great apple orchard with his sisters and grandmother. It was a bit of a marvel that they had gotten on so well, but it had always been a near thing. Mac had spent most of his life working, no free time to play or do much else besides manager the farm that had been left to him.

His parents had died while he was still young, the youngest of his family just having been born as his mother's heart gave out in her final throes of giving birth.

His father followed suit soon after, becoming violently sick and not having a great enough will to carry on living without his beloved beside him. Not even for the sake of his children.

That left Granny Smith, the matriarch of the family in this area as the head of the household. She got along well enough until her back left hip gave out and she was forced to do more of the bookwork and less around the house and farm itself. This led to young Mac having to drop from school, while he took care of AJ and the newborn Applebloom as best as he could, while doing most of the farm work himself. As he grew, his life quickly became entirely based around his land and family. Applejack was going to school, Granny took care of Applebloom, cooked, and cleaned. He became the farm's sole worker, though he did sometimes get assistance from his friends, the seldom few that he really had.

As time went on, he grew bigger than any other pony, his constantly physical lifestyle leading to his great stature, as well as his own diet of many hardy plants that they grew themselves. Tubers, carrots, turnips, celery, and most importantly their apples. Ironically enough, Mac hardly ate any apples himself, doing his best to minimize his own effect on lost bits. He made sure his sisters and grandmother always had plenty of everything to eat, and kept the house in good repair as well.

All in all, his lost childhood and teenage years had turned him into a rather hardened workhorse, as well as bringing out his skill in mathematics and business as he controlled all of the resources that the farm had, once Granny became a bit too senile to handle the numbers...

Today though, was a different day. A different avenue had just opened in his life and he wasn't too excited. He had prepared for an eventuality akin to this, if not this exact one. Applejack could run the farm, and his friends would help her. It didn't make it any easier though, as he made his way to the kitchen. He was the first up as always, but he could hear AJ scrambling around, getting herself ready.

He allowed himself some time to rest inside, as he wouldn't be doing any more work on the farm for a while.

His sister joined him quickly, but kept her eyes somewhat downcast. She wasn't in a good mood, and was anxious. He could tell by the way she moved and was breathing. Her eyes red from crying. Granny was old enough to understand and took it rather stoically, and Applebloom was still too young to really understand what was going on. She was a sweet little filly and he was glad to be her big brother. She had started school just a short time ago and always brought home news of her great days, as well as tales of friends and their daily lessons.

He smiled as he made his way over to the oldest of his sisters and gave her a hug, nuzzling his snout through her mane. She was crying again and clutched at him. She never reacted like this to anything, always staying strong.

At her core though, she was afraid of many things. This one being among the greatest. She was a loving and selfless sister and he couldn't imagine life without her. Which is why he had to make it back in one piece, because she wouldn't be able to fully recover if he was lost. They both knew it and she almost hated herself for it.

It all started when he had received a letter from the Equestrian Guard, reading off that he had been selected for service in Her Majesty's military.

He took it as he took everything. With a grain of salt. Applejack on the other hand had thrown a fit when she read the letter, cursing up a storm until Granny had reprimanded her. That night, he had stayed with her in the barn while she cried, letting herself down as the tears overflowed their normally dry creekbeds.

She kept telling him that he couldn't go. That he couldn't leave them. Leave her. He couldn't end up like Ma or Pa.

He kept consoling her, but she had never once believed him when he said he wouldn't die.

This morning was no different. She knew that he would have to leave within the next hour and go to the train station for his final goodbyes. Either she would see him again, or she wouldn't. It was as simple as that, and it tore her heart apart, while driving a stake through his own. He just wanted his family to be well off. His affairs were in order and as he had thought of before, his friends were set up to take over the farm work that he couldn't do. Applejack would handle the finances, with help from Noteworthy, a journalist that Mac had grown up being friends with.

As her tears had dried, Mac kissed her on the top of her head and set about making breakfast. It would be the last good meal he had in a while, he hazarded, and decided that just this once, he'd eat some apples with his porridge and wheat middlings.

The time passed quickly and before long, he and AJ walked side by side, their youngest sister finally in tow on top of the red stallion's back. He had given Granny one last nuzzle before leaving, knowing full well that he might never see her again, whether he or she passed on. Applebloom seemed sad but at the same time kept asking questions as to how long he would be gone. He couldn't really give her an answer, so he just gave her riddles to keep her young mind racing. She was so innocent and sweet. He could hardly handle it. He was shaking by the time they had made it to the station, a few other families with their selected sons and fathers about to depart as well.

He gave both of his sisters each a final kiss and hug goodbye, as his named was called off of a roster and he climbed his way up the steps of the final car.

Now he just had to make it back to his family. He had promised himself that nothing would get in his way.

As it turned out, quite a lot DID get in his way.

Fires of the Forge

Heresy-Fires of the Forge

Truly the world was in disarray. In some places, the martial law had caused the outright rebellion of some ponies in the larger cities, mostly those living in lower class areas. Manehattan was in chaos as many ponies that worked more manual jobs protested at their inability to do much and eventually fought back against some of the guards. In retaliation, a non-violent protest was broken up and the leaders of the protest arrested. In one case, a colt was publicly executed for speaking out against the laws set by the Princess.

Baltimare was in a terrible state and in a similar set of disarray, but to an ever greater extent. Reports of freak weather tearing through the city, but even worse, at the same time, a revolution was beginning. City Guards were being killed, as well as members of the Equestrian Guard, but it quickly escalated when meeting places and homes were invaded, ponies being murdered in their sleep.

The hardest hit areas though, were down south, near the beaches and Eternity's Crossing ocean. Storms of an unbelievable magnitude ravaged the lower reaches. Entire communities were swept off the map. The pegasi had no idea what to do against such weather and many were killed trying to slow the monstrous weather patterns.

All of this, born out of madness on the part of their newly, self-appointed Queen. In contrast, Princess Luna seemed rather stable and went to the relief of many damaged cities, speaking openly to the citizens of how times would become better soon and that they only needed to cooperate, as the life of everypony was to be cherished and not wasted.

"What is this, Colonel?" the Queen asked of her subordinate. "As I read it, it seems to be outright opposition from your sister. She says she doesn't see herself as my student anymore. Her loyalty seems to be broken. I shall have to speak to her and show her directly why this has occurred and that what she has read is nothing more than a lie. Now, need I question your own loyalty?" Celestia said moderately. Shining Armour had always been closer to his sister than anypony else. Even his own wife, and that bond was only strengthened by the destruction of King Sombra.

In truth, the Queen didn't wish to question her student. The young pony was incredibly capable and intelligent, if a little hot headed sometimes. Her lack of companions only did more to increase her hunger for knowledge. Spike, the young dragon being her only friend, and almost like a son in some cases, it seemed.

Her brother on the other hand, was an example to everypony and was the poster-pony for her subordinates. At least, those that were willing to cooperate with her new kingdom. Didn't they all understand how vital it was for there to be absolute unity? Without it they might be overrun by their enemies.

In fact, why wouldn't they do as she wished now? She had always been a fair ruler and this wasn't very different. So they couldn't stay out as late as they wanted. It was for their own protection. She couldn't just tell the public what they were averting right now. The Griffons were pushing further into pony territory every single hour and it was hard to keep up. They always tried to break into small places and create footholds, though In some places, her military had outright broken through the mountain ranges and had put many Griffonian settlements and lairs to the flames of their righteous fury.

All of this she pondered as she listened to the banter back and forth between her commanders and appointed leaders. Tactics, supply lines, casualties, the rambling went on and on. Her personal guards seemed to be staring straight ahead, but nopony could ever tell. Their reflective glass visors and multi-lenses didn't allow for any to see their eyes. In fact, the only natural thing you could see, was their short tails. Beyond that, nothing was visible through the armour. Ramrod straight and alert. She smiled inwardly. Only she could have created such perfection. Such raw loyalty.

She felt no guilt at taking them from their parents when they were no more than just mere foals. Most of them would have had terrible lives as the working class. With her help and guidance they were made more than any other pony could hope to be. Her original plans were ambitious and difficult to even comprehend, but progress was slowly made.

Day in and day out, her young recruits were forced to gallop great distances, learn battle tactics, fight, compete in games, learn to work with each other, as well as alone, and above all, to survive. In fact, she remembered that when their training regimen was written up by her old guard captain before his retirement, he had been reluctant to put such young ones under such duress. Five kilometers galloping in the morning, followed by obstacles and then a learning sessions, in which they received a little hay and water. From there, competition and games of strength and speed, as well as intelligence and teamwork. Celestia was dis-satisfied with this, and demanded the physical aspects be doubled as well as the rule of whichever team lost at the end of the day, received nothing more than a small ration of water.

That was only the start. The creation of a magic and science based program led to her own discovery and creation of augmentation. Using her own magic, she was able to duplicate and enhance innate abilities, increasing the effectiveness of specified magic in other races and their own powers. In the case of unicorns, their power was greatly enhanced, but their training was made more personalized after they received their individual modifications. Power, was one thing. Control, was where it truly became difficult to master, but with great power and greater control, the soldiers she needed, the soldiers Equestria needed, would be born.

From the earth ponies, she pressed even harder. They stayed in their groups but were made to do impossible tasks. Earth pony magic, as she discovered was reserved in great wells stored within their very hearts. Under extraneous circumstances, this magic was released, and increased their stamina and physical strength beyond what was even fathomed. In one case, she herself had witnessed this magic tapped in to, though it was onset by another enchantment. That lone stallion of that apple orchard. His younger sister had made a poison with her friends but had no idea what it would do. In the end, he ended up pulling a house from its foundations and carried it with ease. This, was the strength, and more, that they could achieve once the magic had taken hold.

Finally, the pegasi, had the most outwardly physical modifications. Stabilizers were attached to their wings and their very bones were strengthened with magic, becoming lighter, yet harder than those of grown dragons. Their hollow bones would no longer break so easily and their wing-strength and stamina were honed every day. The Wonderbolts themselves were flight trainers for them, but their air-shows had quickly changed to combat routines and from there, Commanders' Soarin and Spitfire quickly showed their abilities for new plans of attack and ruthless cunning, as well as their own charisma and how they applied it when pushing these young recruits beyond what they themselves could achieve.

Finally, she had even designed armour and weaponry for these war-ponies to use.

The pegasi were first, as they were the most lightly armoured, but their weaponry was the most advanced. A fullbody suit with light plates of enchanted metal covered vital spots while the rest was held together by leather, tanned from the hides of dragons. They were given multiple weapons that were built into this armour, the least of which were magical projectile throwers, using counter-forces to send small metal balls hurling at targets with such speed and accuracy, unaugmented eyes couldn't even begin to follow them. Explosives derived from natural compounds were also used in these small projectiles, and were especially effective against lightly armoured targets.

Every pegasi was allowed time to familiarize themselves with these weapons, while similar, yet less expensive and easier to produce models were made for the masses within her more traditional military. The pegasi of this special brigade, were allowed to request modifications and even suggest what they would prefer to use in combat. In many cases, it increased the individuals ponies' combat prowess that much more.

Next came the unicorns, who received robes that were woven of a magical velvet, called "Danbuvenin." This simple yet incredibly rare fabric greatly increased the abilities of those who wore it, and was very soothing to the touch. They were taught to use the feeling of the fabric against their own fur to block out all other sensations, so they could concentrate on only the spells they were casting, if the scale of it was large enough. Their own latent abilities themselves became more focused, and their combat effectiveness was greatly increased. Siege walls could be broken in minutes by a mere three or four of them, if coordinated properly and protected.

Over these robes, a second set of plates was donned, made from the same material as the pegasi's armour. Magical brass, that was harder than any unenchanted steel, and a third the weight. It was necessary in war-zones where these individuals were officers of entire units.

Their weaponry was as varied as they wished, each having many choices and the ability to suggest and request specific weapons or modifications. Being magic users, most preferred weapons made with at least some form of wood. Wood being a conductor for magic and in some cases, the wood itself had magical properties. It could be imbued with power by its wielder, containing any number and any kind of pre-cast spells. Along with these staves, many chose to take wooden hafted glaives or halberds, mastering their usage in melee combat, as well as wards and shielding spells.

Finally, her proudest achievement came forth to accept their war-gear. The Earth ponies had to wait longer for their gifts, but it was necessary. Creating their tools took time, as well as the recovery from their varying surgeries. They received many occular enhancements, along with the pegasi. Their muscles became more dense and was easier to pack on, as well as becoming more susceptible to better toning and greater bursts of strength and prolonged stamina. Finally, their hooves were coated in monomolecular steel, making them slightly heavier, and many times more deadly.

Their armour covered every inch of them, created from steel and covered in wards and decoration. The steel itself was heavy, but the armour was stronger than anything ever manufactured before. The dispersal of energy throughout it allowed them to take great blows and shrug them off as though the wind had blown a little harder at them. These heavy suits of armour being magically enchanted, helped the great stallions that wore it in their movement, making them as dexterous within their steel coating, as they would be without.

The lines and curves of the steel melded into great mosaics of beautiful craftsponyship. Gold filigree covered the shining silver suits, forming dragons and trees, and on their great helms, the crest of their Queen. These ponies knew no match in their abilities and combat prowess. Their weaponry was varied, but one thing remained constant. All of them had mastered their own wells of magic. For every day cycle that passed, they could tap this energy and gain great stamina, boosts of speed, the strength of titans, and the resolute will that came with their very nature. Yes, these few were great princes among the rank and file troops.

Great mauls and axes, warhammers and spiked armour, impenetrable and undaunted. These were Her greatest achievements.

All of this, she considered and pushed through her mind, letting her thoughts move freely in the great War-Chamber.

She was already training more.

Her Sun Guard.

One hundred and twelve Pegasi, eighty-seven Unicorns, and fifty-eight Earth, were ready and waiting to fight. For now though, she would keep them here, at home. She loved them all, and they loved her. She was their savior, their teacher, their very mother. All of them would die for her. Some of them would.

With them though, she would topple empires and raise her own, expanding across the Eternity's Crossing ocean, and over the Draconic Mountains.

Twilight would be brought to her and shown, she decided. Her student would learn to trust and love her again.

Yes, that's how it would start. Yes.

The mad queen's eyes smouldered with a dark black and green light as she gave the orders half-consciously to retrieve the young lavender unicorn. Yes, it would all work out in her favor.

Shining Armour was skeptical as to what to do next. His sister had evaded the guards sent to retrieve her, and he knew in his heart that he was happy she had run. If anypony could escape it would be her.

New Blood

Heresy-New Blood

"Front and center new blood!"

The drill sergeants voice rang out in the cold morning air as the new recruits for the Equestrian Armed Forces were lined up and introduced to the Trottingham Academy. Tired colts and mares shuffled off of the train and quickly lined up, trying to stay alert as to not be berated.

The sergeants weren't having any of that.

"You think you're good enough to be here? I asked for recruits and THIS is what they send me? You're nothing but a pile of steaming gelding shit with an added layer of fur!" the burly gray colt yelled. Insults of all shapes and sizes rang out from his throat as he walked up and down the poorly formed line of recruits.

The yelling didn't end as they were then marched away from the receiving station. Any luggage they had brought was taken away and anypony that was wearing any clothes was quickly told to strip down. They would be showering as a group and then moved on to the barracks where they would receive their clothes, bunks, and morning orders. Among all of these tired new recruits was one stand out. A red stallion of enormous proportions.

"Apple, McIntosh!" a voice called out. In response to hearing his name, the stalwart stallion turned his head and faced the middle-aged colt.

"You're with first squad. Now get to your bunk. You get first pick, boy." the gruff colt said, with a half smile.

The large red stallion quietly did as he was told while the drill sergeant continued on his way, berating all of the other recruits for existing. Fine by him. He just wanted to get through this and see his sisters again. Frakkin' draft.

He made his way down the center of the barracks, and chose the seventh bed on the left side. No real reason as to why, but he was just drawn to it. As he stood next to it, placing the pack of clothing given to him on it, he noticed others shuffling past him. It seemed that the colts and mares were separated by sleeping quarters. This was no real surprise. They didn't want any horseplay going on. Heh. Horseplay.

"Alright boys, let's get one thing straight. I, am NOT, your friend. I, am HERE, to teach YOU, how to SURVIVE. You will NOT, fail this course. You will NOT, like me. You WILL, want to kill me. And you WILL respect me. Now, move your fat-assed flanks and get the hell out of my barracks! We're goin' for a little morning run!" the gray colt called to the now assembled mass of a few dozen colts.

They quickly moved out and formed two rows and started off. A brisk pace was set and all of the tired colts quickly started to awaken. Those that were falling asleep standing up quickly found themselves bustled along as they picked up their pace, running along a flat dirt path. Most by now had started to take in their surroundings. It was an incredible place. There were huge buildings crafted from stone, all of them touched by some great artisan for sure. All of them were nestled within a great valley, with rolling green plains and dark thickets of forestry, leading up the side of the hills. Dirt was rather common on this lower ground, and soon the trotting group started to pick up a slightly faster pace, and then slowed down again as they began to ascend the side of what appeared to be the largest hill around the area.

"Ah kilo one, ah kilo one, ah just for fun, ah just for fun!" the sergeants called out as they moved. Marching songs and the like were picked up quickly and repeated by the group. Even McIntosh started to call them out in his low rumbling voice. He was surprised at himself for catching on so quickly to this training regimen so far. Then again, he almost always did the work required of him without a single hitch, and always went above and beyond.

As the trek uphill came to a slow end, the gray sergeant who had identified himself as Sergeant Burnhide, called to the group to slow down. "Now that we've got our blood pumping, I think it's high time we have ourselves our first little contest. Recruits, the first one back to the barracks, gets to sleep for the rest of the day after hitting the mess hall. The rest of you get the rest of the stamina regimen, and trust me, you'll be out until Luna's moon is high in the sky." he called.

With a stomp of his hoof, the group tussled, and took off. A downhill trek was dangerous but some were in a full blown gallop already. Tearing down the side of the hill at a rate that was rather astounding. Then again, sleep was a rather nice reward after what had befallen most of the recruits the last two days.

McIntosh slipped back into his thoughts as he made his way down the hillside at a quick but even pace. He had stamina where the others didn't. As he started to kick up a cloud of dust, he started passing others. Faster, and faster, the great draft horse took off.

He quickly overtook the leader and kept going. They were all slowing down and he had so much more left to him. He made it to the door of the barracks before realizing he was going too fast to stop.

The splinters of the door lay around the floor of the large room. McIntosh had plowed right through the door on accident on his very first day of his selective service training. What a great way to make a mess of all of this...

"Alright you big lunk, looks like you're not going to be with us much longer. This little incident seems to have gotten more attention than you deserve. Somepony high up has got the Colonel's balls in a vice and they're not letting go until you're in Canterlot. Seems as though they've got a plan for a stallion of your size." Burnhide called to him as he walked up to the splintered door.

"If it was any choice of mine, I'd have had your dumb flanks cleaning up this mess. Dust yourself off." the burly Sergeant demanded.

McIntosh's mind was racing. What would they want from him up in Canterlot? Would he get to see his sisters? Canterlot was visible from Ponyville and their farm was just outside of the town...

He was startled when the rest of the recruits that were eyeing him were told to hit the mess hall on the double. He made to follow but Burnhide demanded that he follow him. He was quickly led past the marching columns of recruits and other, more experienced soldiers, into a larger complex that wasn't very visible from the outside view. As they moved through a large set of doors, they made their way to a large set of steps, leading down multiple levels. So the true entirety of this base was underground, Mac though as they made a brisk pace downwards.

Many things interested the great stallion as he made his way downwards. He caught only glimpses of things that he barely had time to register, but at the same time, he had a nearly photographic memory, and was able to remember many of the things he saw. Giant rooms of weaponry, ponies training, sleeping, eating, and many more doing a number of tasks that he could barely begin to imagine the purpose of. Many colts and mares seemed to be dressed in large white coats, almost like the attire of a doctor, and seemed to all be doing something that appeared to be important.

As they neared the bottom, or so it seemed to the great draft horse, they stopped and took a turn off of the stairwell. There, a single armed guard stood at attention, his odd looking weapon at the ready.

"Here's where I leave you son. Not sure if I'll ever see you again to be honest." Burnhide said matter-of-factly.

McIntosh's head was swimming at all he had absorbed so far, but he could feel his heart-rate rising as he considered his own death down here at the hooves of his own brethren. Before he could so much as speak to the guard that the sergeant had left him in company with, the great iron-wrought door behind the guard opened, and he stepped aside and gestured for Mac to enter.

He had nothing else to really do but comply. He stepped across the threshold and noticed a change in the air almost instantly. The door grated shut behind him, and the long, empty hallway loomed before him. He did what anypony would do in his place. He slowly walked forward, feeling a great sense of dread building up in his gut. The lights along the walls were unwavering and the hall seemed to have no end, even if he could clearly see another door not far away. Each step he took, led to the next becoming heavier, and heavier. The strength in him failing, he started to panic. He tried harder and harder to pick up the pace and move forward, but the more he tried, the more difficult each passing second became.

The door came closer and closer, but his goal seemed ever more impossible, until he fell to his knees in front of the iron-wrought portal. His eyes began to darken...

"He is a fantastic specimen. Exactly what I wanted." a great voice near his ear said softly, yet with an air of authority. "Yes, he may not have been trained like them, but I think he has the potential to become even more great...yes." the voice said again.

"We have yet to see anything of him." another voice said. A male it sounded like. Or maybe not. It was deeper in contrast to the first, but Mac had yet to open his eyes.

"He made it to the end of the hallway. Not one of my untested recruits has made it that far on their own. If I recall correctly, you didn't make it more than six steps before succumbing to the enchantments." the first voice retorted in a mildly amused sounding pitch.

"I...he won't make it. He isn't like the others. He has family that depends on him and we can't just brainwash him. He's had enough of a life that it would damage him beyond repair." the second voice said, rather indignantly and quickly.

Great. They were talking about him, the giant red stallion thought. He started to try to move, but found his limbs unresponsive. He tried opening his eyes, but nothing he tried would make them work. What kind of magic was this? His mind floundered about for a while, before he felt a light touch on his cheek.

"You're going to be my proudest achievement." the voice of authority said. This time, is was barely a whisper, and he could feel the breath of the creature against his ear, could smell the aroma of lavender, and knew without a doubt, whoever, and whatever it was, it was a female. "You're going to love me as I love you." the voice cooed.

As soon as the voice faded, his eyes snapped open, and he quickly closed them again. A bright light was shining in his face. He slowly opened his lids again, and let his eyes wander a little more, doing his best to not look at the burning orb in the center of his vision. He then felt his eyes close on their own accord and felt something soft nuzzle his cheek, and a light touch of what felt like lips against his cheek. His sleepiness took over again, and unwillingly, he slipped back in the dark unconsciousness that his enchanted slumber had become.

His first surgeries were starting, and Celestia herself was rather pleased with what she had come up with. She may have lost the advantage of what it was like performing such arduous bits of medical practice on young foals and fillies, but there were advantages to working on a full grown stallion. There was plenty of room for the implanted organs to grow, and many of them would need time to start fully working. Some day she would tell him all of what would be done, but for now, nothing would be said.

His second heart was easy enough, once the arteries had been sufficiently treated with magic to grow more quickly and were all layered to his main flowing points, as well as the implementation of secondary ducts that allowed for this heart to take over as the primary, should the main heart be damaged. It was a marvel. Should his first be damaged, this would just as powerful, and as long as he was fit, this heart would help in regulation of his oxygen and keep his blood flowing. An even greater amount, even.

He would grow tired much less quickly, and have greater reserves in the way of stamina and built up energy.

Next, was his tertiary lung. The tissue in his lungs was being chemically treated to resist much more than any normal lungs could, effectively filtering out poisonous substances, and allowing much more oxygen to be taken in on a normal breath, as well as helping with even distribution. His third lung itself, already being very resistant to bad elements and monoxides. Within a month, his others would be just as hardy.

His bones were a true marvel though. Bound with a substance of her own design, they became thicker and stronger, albeit, almost no more weight was added. The hardened bones could flex more easily, leading to less in the way of fractures and breaks, while at the same time being harder than the strongest steel.

Yes, all of her Sun Guard were like this, but this beautiful stallion would be unique.

"I want you to go ahead with the Res-cell," the Queen said with an absolute authority. The surgeon to her left nodded his head once in fealty as he took a small liver shaped organ, no bigger than a tooth, and attached it to a series of connective tissue stands along the front of his ribcage. In time the ribs would grow larger and form inwards, creating a much more solid plate of bone in their wake. This little organ would make this happen, as well as lend to him an effect of incredibly quick regeneration, beyond that of a normal Sun Guard member.

This was tested not an hour later, as they cut off the supply of blood to the great stallion's body, which was to be fatal during a surgery of this caliber.

He died on that table.

Two hours later, his heart started itself, and his brain had been fully preserved from the adverse effects of death. His cold flesh started warming up, blood flowing through his veins and his other organs waking up from their dormant state, any dead cells regenerating within another two hours.

From there, the second Res-cell was implanted within him. As he was closed up, the blood around his wounds began to clot and the skin and fur began to seal and regrow in place. The scar would be gone within another two or so days, leaving nothing in the way a trace that he had been operated on.

A small incision was made on his left leg not five minutes later. The blood clotted on contact with his flesh, and crusted over while the flesh began to knit again.

"The first session seems to be fully successful, my Queen. He is an exceptional specimen," a small white unicorn mare said in the direction of the regent.

"Yes he is, my dearest Lazarus. Yes, he is."

Mac knew he was awake again. He could feel a pain in his back. Pain meant he was awake. Pain meant he was still alive. Dark, black, red, writhing, burning, PAIN.

His eyes opened this time, and he was no longer in a dark room with a light shoved in his face. He was in a bed. A rather large, round bed, in the middle of an enormous room, covered in all sorts of decorations. Paintings seemed to be the most prominent. Great portraits of regal nobility that he didn't give even the slightest hint of a damn for.

Except...for the largest one hanging above the door in front of him. Celestia didn't seem so regal in this as she seemed...seductive. He found himself somewhat...entranced by it. The regal Princess, laid out on a great sheet, sleek and beautiful, her eyes demanding...it was...he needed to get away from it.

He quickly stepped through the wooden door, happily finding it was unlocked.

What was on the other side was even more breathtaking.

He found himself in a hallway. An enormous pane of glass was a few feet in front of him, and a great view on the other side of it. It appeared as though he was still underground, but that he was stories above the floor. He could see the edges of the staircase he had traversed down and realized he was still outside of Trottingham at the Academy.

"Grand, is it not?" a voice said behind him. Of all of the sights he had beheld so far in his life, this one took the grand prize.

Princess...no, QUEEN Celestia, stood before him. He dropped to his knees in submission to her grandeur and wisdom, but found her laughing at him.

"Rise. I may demand fealty of others, but you are a special case to me." she said.

That was when it hit him. The voice that he heard when he slipped in and out of consciousness...that was Her. Celestia. Speaking of him.

"Your....your Majesty...what is it that I, an apple farmer, could do to deserve your attentions?" he managed to stammer at her.

She smiled at this and then licked her lips. "There are a great many things I would have you do, but there will be time for that later my dearest. For now, I just want you to follow me. Interesting things lie ahead for you, myself being among them." she stated.

His thoughts raced at this, but he was unable to really respond to such forwardness. Especially from someone so exalted as the Queen.

Unforeseen Developments

Heresy-Unforeseen Developments

Mac's training schedule was incredible.

He awoke early thanks to a smaller buzzer that seemed to know exactly when to turn on in the mornings.

The stallion who trained him was on the older side, but was obviously a veteran of quite a number of wars, from what the farm pony could tell. He had him start off his morning with a small bag of oats, and a six kilo run, followed up by a mixture of obstacle courses that changed daily. It was amazing that the place was large enough to be different, or that it even had the equipment to have constantly changing circumstances.

This thought occurred to him as he was climbing a rope ladder, blood falling on him from an unseen spot above him. They did their best to keep him physically focused on the task, regardless of what things got in his way. The tax of real combat would come soon enough, the old war horse constantly assured him.

The veteran that trained him never really berated or even yelled at him. He called loudly enough for Mac to hear, and always made sure to be stern. He didn't NEED to yell. His tone betrayed a deep sense of duty and absolute trust in the strength of his own doctrine. When he wasn't working Mac's flank off physically, he had the young stallion studying military tactics and the current Equestrian Guard doctrine. In places, he would tell Mac to find flaws, and to correct them. It was incredible how many things the old Captain had him cross out or write in. His own experiences were latching onto Mac's brain, and were giving him a much clearer picture of what a battle would be like.

Everything from a small skirmish to a full scale battlefield was covered by his teacher. He said no one doctrine would be right in all situations and that all situations changed. He said to survive, that adaptations must be made. It was why he was training Mac. Special divisions and forces needed to have a different mindset going into a hot-zone, or combat area. Front line tactics were going to get him a glorious death, and rob them of his abilities. Better a smart veteran that pulled the weight of the military, than a headstrong FNG that went on his final charge during his first mission.

Cold sweat soaked McIntosh's overworked body as he finished the physical portion of his exercise. At least for this morning. He was still getting used to the cool underground air, and the lack of being able to view the great fiery ball in the day lit sky, at least from the outside. He felt it inappropriate to call it the sun though, as he did see Celestia every day. Saying he didn't get to see the "Sun" would have been contradictory in his own mind.

All in all though, he liked the place. He was alive and the Queen (though she always told him to call her Celestia or even other...pet names) had assured him that his sisters were doing fine and would be looked after. She even promised that he could visit them once his training was done.

What she never said, was how long it would take, or how difficult it would be. She said he was the perfect candidate for some kind of experiment she had going. He didn't like the sound of that until she explained that he wouldn't be poked and prodded with needles and other such instruments, very much, at any rate. He was a natural born warrior, and she herself was sure that his size alone was an indicator. His cutie mark seemed to disagree, but she told him that in time, even that part of him would change.

That thought alone shook him to the core, but the Queen always managed to keep him calm and explain things in a manner that kept his worry under control. She had a way with words that he'd never imagined was possible, considering that he himself didn't speak much. Growing up with hardly any free time had done that to him. In fact, he couldn't remember a time in his years as a younger colt in which he wasn't working every single day...

He didn't really feel manipulated at any rate. He HAD fallen under the selective service program and that was something that all males had to sign up for. It was a random draw and it wasn't as though he was alone. Sure, now he was in a different program to some different end, but he knew he wouldn't be in service forever. At least, he hoped he wouldn't be. The Queen always told him that he would be free to do what he wished. He also had the promise he'd made to himself, and AJ.

All of these thoughts passed through his head as he made his way through the large hallways, passing many ponies. Some were in lab attire, others were wearing armour, and some were like him, wearing nothing but a few bits of clothing to absorb sweat. This was very common really, though normally he was done with his daily training later. It left him some extra time at any rate, before the Queen arrived. Maybe he could actually eat and wash himself before he had to be in Her presence. Regardless, he was happy at the thought and actually started to walk at a bit more a brisk pace to reach the cafeteria. In this case, it wasn't treated like a mess hall, as only full military personnel and science lab workers had access to this level of the installation.

As he walked along, he started to consider the true scale of the place. It was enormous. A labyrinth of hallways, staircases, offices, laboratories, training rooms, recreational rooms, and two cafeterias, on the four levels he was able to access. The bottom three were his to move around at his leisure, at least when he wasn't on the bottom floor for his training exercises. He still had yet to be assigned to any group training, and as of late, he mostly worked with scientists and a single Major that had a very low tolerance for even the smallest mistakes. Traversing large rooms full of obstacles quickly, lifting and pulling obscene amounts of weight, learning to fire projectile weapons stationary as well as on the move, and even learning close range martial combat with large mauls, axes, glaives, halberds, and even his hooves, armoured, and unarmoured.

He quickly dismissed the thoughts as he entered a set of double doors at the end of a short side hallway and came to the showers. He sighed to himself as he felt the soreness of his body overtake him. He pushed the door open and let it shut behind him. From there, he proceeded to remove the sweat soaked clothing and push it into a slot in the wall, where it fell down a long chute. No sooner had the slot closed, than he had opened up the side door to the washroom, and relieved himself before starting up the multi-faucet, letting hot water spray out from the head of it and on to the floor of the wash area. He slid underneath the torrent of water and gasped at the feel of it on his tired muscles. This was his greatest pleasure of the day, as it reminded him of home the most. The feel of hot water pouring over his body as he let the tension flow away from his massive frame.

A few minutes of water pouring over him left him sleepy, but he still managed to soap himself up and shake the dirt and blood loose from every little crevice. He even took the time to dry himself off. As he finished drying, he looked into the mirror by the sink, and was a little startled at what he saw. This was the first time he'd seen himself since he had gotten here. His manecut didn't bother him. He had most of it chopped off before he got on the train leaving Ponyville the week before. What startled him, was the nearly instant change in his own frame. He as a little less circular, and a little bit more toned and sleek, while at the same time, bulky. His chest swelled with pride, and his half lidded eyes opened a little bit more widely.

He departed the washroom and made a line straight for the adjacent mess hall.

Hundreds on ponies were sitting at tables, talking and eating and being generally casual and happy while they tucked into their meals. On his immediate right was a small area covered in railings that served as separators for the lines that inevitably built up. He slid his way through most of the pathway and was only about the sixth pony in line at the time. He knew the place could seat thousands and would probably start to get hit within the next fifteen minutes, he guessed as he looked at the clockwork time-teller above the door leading in and out of the cafeteria. It was 16:43. Close enough, he thought. He'd have time to eat and make it back to his class with the old veteran soon enough.

He was greeted quickly by the colts and mares that were behind the serving counter, making small talk and asking about his opinion on their food as well as what he wanted from the daily choices. He smiled and responded to their questions honestly, which got him extra portions of food and winks or more smiles in return. He loved the food they served and loved speaking with the cheerful kitchen staff. Most were young mares or older colts that always had a minute to talk about something interesting. As he made his way through the line, acquiring his hot food, one of the mares batted her eyes at him in a playful manner.

At the end of the line, he lifted up his tray and meandered to a table close to the door, making sure he had his back to the wall near it and an open view of all that was in the room. It was something he was taught on his first day in close combat fighting. Keep your back to a wall and watch everything, while appearing complacent. It was good advice, or so they told him. He had never once had a problem with being inattentive, but if he was to be a soldier, he'd have to focus even harder on heightening his senses.

Nopony had really become acquainted with him since he had gotten here at any rate. He didn't really trust or distrust any of them, which was somewhat surprising, considering the situation he found himself in. Eh. He could just enjoy his meal in peace and think about what his lessons would be on today. His last had been about the last ditch efforts of a pony named "Stonehoof Hadric." Stonehoof had apparently been one of the strongest warriors of his time, but beyond that, was a brilliant tactician. His campaigns against the Saddle-Arabians had led to a treaty being formed, shortly after his death.

This odd campaign story was worth telling at any rate. The war with the Saddle-Arabs had been going on for quite some time about two centuries before, and Stonehoof had constantly stopped the enemies advances, while not assaulting them himself. His own forces always seemed to take very minimal casualties, and even with the greatest war heroes that the sand beasts could get together, seemed to break against Stonehoof like the waves against a cliffside.

Out of nowhere though, some eight months into the war, Stonehoof led all of his forces, and penetrated to the very heart of the Muudi Desert, taking the capital of Dromedor, and annihilating the defenders in his way. This happened over the course of four days.

From there, a counter strike was mustered, and the entire nations of Zebrica and Camelu deigned it necessary to intervene, assaulting the occupied capital with all the forces they could muster, backing the plight of the Saddle-Arabs. A week later, Stonehoof and his forces were gone, along with half of the army that set out after them. The casualty rates between the Equestrian's and their three aggressors had been over twenty to one in the way of their soldiers. This may not have alleviated the broken hearts at home, but statistically it was one of the greatest recorded campaigns in history.

Two weeks later, a treaty was written up that had been upheld until about thirty years prior, when the sand dwellers had felt it fit to strike back at their ancient and still hated enemies. It was all very interesting to the stallion, if a little morbid. Death was his job now though.

As he continued eating his meal of mashed tubers, wheat biscuits, cinnamon crusted apples, and asparagus, he noticed the time moving by. His indicator being the small flood of ponies that arrived at the cafeteria for their supper, along with the arrival of more than just the science staff. A couple of...different, looking ponies showed up. There were about a dozen of them. Four mares and eight stallions. The mares looked sleek and fast, as well as strong, and he noted all of them were pegasi. One he had seen a while back in a training room, and he remembered the speed and precision with which she moved. The stallions that arrived as well, were all rather different in outward appearance, save for their size. Five of them were bigger than Mac himself, and the other three were at least as large, if only slightly smaller, but even then, all of them looked incredibly sleek, yet at the same time, bulging with muscle and great tone.

Other ponies seemed to melt away in their wake and they quickly were at the front of the line, getting huge portions of food from the silent and blank faced kitchen staff. The cheerful mood around them quieted and it seemed as though the volume had dropped by half. Nopony around the room seemed to be directly looking at the group. All except for Mac, who couldn't seem to tear his eyes from them. Two of them, he saw as they moved away from the line with their trays loaded up, had some odd metal...things, protruding from their flesh.

He looked down and continued eating his meal, but he noticed a scraping of chairs near him, and saw that the group had chosen the table next to his. The two adjacent tables quickly cleared themselves of everypony at them, and they quickly relocated themselves. Mac didn't understand why, but he assumed that they must have been intimidating for some reason to all of these others. Hmph.

Ignoring the group, he finished his tray's worth of food, and moved to place it on the end of the rack near the door. As he stood, two of the group halfway looked at him, and in return, he nodded at them, giving them his own mild acknowledgment.

The entire room seemed to freeze at this. Somepony seemed to have turned off the sound, because the chatter stopped abruptly, and everypony in the room had eyes on him. The mares who had looked at him both smirked as he awkwardly shuffled his way to the door, doing his best to ignore everypony and get out of the odd situation he found himself in.

As soon as he passed the threshold out the door, he felt a tap on his right flank, and turned to face the two mares that had met his gaze. The dark blue one with the blond mane started looking him up and down, while the other, a white pony with a magenta mane stared at him with an intensity he hadn't ever felt before.

He started to say something, but the dark blue one started to stare at him too. As his own gaze flickered back and forth between the pair, he noticed something out of place. Maybe that was what had disturbed him the most. Their eyes. They were the exact same shade of gold.

Not a single word passed between the groups, but by some unspoken communication, the two mares abruptly turned around and left him alone. He shuddered slightly for some reason, and made his way back down the hallway towards an elevator. How odd it was that he could explore the bottom floors, but had to go to the top floor by elevator to stay in his own room. Anything to get away from those two mares...

The elevator itself, he considered as he arrived at it's doors, was a marvel unto itself. Maybe he would ask Celestia how it worked. The time-teller above the elevator marked the time at 17:12, and he knew she wouldn't arrive until around 18:30 or so. She was normally there before he was, but on the first day, he had been there early enough to know about when she would arrive. He pressed the button outside of the door, and it the portal quickly slid open. The elevator was normally for "Emergency" use, but he had absolute privileges to it. All he had to do was put in a code that he had memorized, and it would take him to the top floor without stopping.

This, he did, and quickly exited the contraption. His door was just a little ways around the circular hallway. He then took the time to marvel at the way it was built. His room was at the top of the structure, overseeing everything from its height and overall position. The circular ring that ran around the center of the complex at this level, had maybe a dozen rooms, but he had only ever entered the elevator, his classroom, the library, and his own room. As curious as he might have been about inspecting what lay behind the other doors, he never tried to stray beyond his boundaries.

He stopped by his own room and quickly put on a service shirt. The old veteran always told him to look sharp when learning. Now that he thought of it though, he'd still never once heard the war horse's name. Just his old rank. For now he supposed he'd just think of him as the Captain.

Once he had straightened out his sleeves, he made his way out of his room and around the great ring, coming across the classroom. The time-teller read 17:56. A little early as always, but the Captain never once said anything bad about being early for things like this.

This time was different though, he noticed. As he entered the room, he came across a pair of students in the room already. He'd always been given lessons alone and now...wait.

Two pairs of playful amber eyes stared at him as he entered the room, the two pegasi mares that he had seen earlier greeting him without a single word between them. What were they doing, he wondered? He'd never seen them up until today, and now it seemed as thought they were going to share in his classes with the Captain.

The Captain entered the room. If he was surprised by the newcomers, it didn't show on his face. The small room held a large table in the center, each with a set of seats, a main desk, and a blackboard. The walls were just lined with history and tactic books, ranging quite some ways back. They took of the majority of the space in the room. Mac did his best to ignore the two mares as they were tasked by the old veteran to look into a specific battle.

The time drug on as the Captain hardly spoke throughout the lesson, preferring to grind his chalk on the slateboard and draw diagrams as well as formations that pertained to the battle they were studying. Mac couldn't focus as the two mares continued to bother him as though they were in a high school.

At about 19:30, the class ended early and while Mac made to leave, he only made it so far as the hallway before the mares stopped him. The dark blue one cleared her throat and was the first one to speak to him. Her voice was rather clear and sounded very...nice. Singsong almost.

"I'm Flash. This is my sister, Starlight," she said as she gestured to her cream colored companion. "Sorry we acted to weird, but we're just fascinated by you. You aren't like any of the other Shock Guard that we've met."

"You're quite the piece of flank, is what my sister is trying to say," the one who identified as Starlight said, rather frankly. Her voice as well was rather light, but had a bit more of a rasp to it.

Regardless, Mac was thankful for his dark red fur, as he started to blush. He stammered, trying to find an excuse to leave but they both laughed simultaneously. It seemed that they really did enjoy watching him squirm.

"Seeya round, big boy." Flash said, as she lived up to her name in passing him by. Flicking her tail up just a bit while she turned and winked, the slightest hint of pink catching his eye while...while the pair slunk off, laughing the whole way. He was blushing furiously and retreated to his room, quickly ditching his shirt. He took this all as an initiative to lie down and rest...

He felt a slight heat on his cheek, and as he opened his eyes, he saw a colourful, flowing mane. He glanced sideways and saw the Queen's closed eyes and her muzzle pressed against his cheek. As soon as he made to look away, she pulled away and her eyes opened, meeting his, with a twinkle. She laughed and smiled.

"Well it seems you're coming along rather nicely." she said with a rather smug tone. He didn't say anything, but he did smile a little. He'd never really had many feelings for anypony back home, except for his sisters and grandmother, and even then, the few relationships he'd had were based around mares that wanted him for his...well, rather impressive physical build. Being one of the few males in Ponyville, as well as the only real stallion, made him a prime target for many young mares. Some of which had managed to seduce the stallion, though it really wasn't very difficult. He just didn't have the time once he started having to strike up business deals with others and his free periods had dwindled. While in some cases, he had...other means to releasing his urges.

Though, overall, Mac was still rather shy to anypony new, and this showed. His encounter with the sisters earlier was rather a large indicator of this, at least to himself.

As his mind touched up on the thought of old memories again though, he felt a little heartache, but it was quickly dismissed as the Queen's horn began to glow. The light of the lamps started to dim, and he didn't understand why, until he saw the look in her eyes. He knew that look from his lovers. He felt his heart starting to pound, adrenaline pumping through his body. The Queen was making advances on him and he wasn't sure of what to do. His thoughts slowed to a standstill as she pressed her lips against his.

Removing Impurities

Heresy-Removing Impurities

Celestia shook the cold sweat from her body, the crease of her brow driving home her look of discomfort under the duress of controlling the sun in such a manner. It was midday, but the rays of light were beating down hard around her, a rainbow forming itself through the many panes of light flowing down from the heavens. The giant glass dome was of her own creation, built to her exact specifications. It took up a great portion of the mountaintop above Canterlot. Magnificent to see from the outside, and even more so from the inside, though only she and her sister, as well as the guards she posted, could enter. None though, could see its inner reaches, but herself. Here, where she drew power from the Sun.

The dome shook as the great body of power in the sky drew to its highest point. A blinding light pierced through the great shining dome, and filled up the center, like a gem, brimming with inner light. Celestia's sweat instantly evaporated and the heat of the sun filled her body, flowing from every portion of her crystalline figure as the power was drawn and stored within her nearly endless wells of energy.

In seconds though, it was over. The light had passed over, and now the mare in residing in the center of the chamber was lying on her knees, struggling to stand again. Nopony was around to assist her while she regained her composure, but that was how it had to be. Her eyes glowed with power, the visible light flowing out like a smoke...

Mac was awoken to the sound of mumbling voices and odd sounds. His eyes flickered open, and a blinding light tore across his retinas. As he shut them, keeping the light out as best he could, he attempted to move...and couldn't. He pulled at his legs, willing them to move, but he found his body unresponsive.

Slowly, the voices started to be less garbled, though his mind was still rather addled. He had no idea what was going on and was starting to hyperventilate. He couldn't really open his mouth, and it was terrifying him.

"...es my..." he heard. "The im....ight feedb...ill be sol...ody is rejec...minim..."

None of it was making sense. The words weren't clear. Where was he? He didn't want to open his eyes...but he couldn't move or do anything else.

Light ripped across his retinas again, and he found he couldn't keep his eyes open for long. The light seemed to have helped clear his head a little though. He was starting to focus, even in these conditions.

Why was he here? Where was here? The last thing he could remember was...well...

Rutting with a Queen. It had been...different from every encounter he'd ever had with mares before. She had come to him and ridden him with a fire he didn't know existed. In all honesty, it wasn't even like being with another living creature. It was like a force of nature had taken a hold of his body and proceeded to do whatever it wished with him. As some parts came back to him, he started to realize that most of it was a blur. It wasn't something he could really put together.

This all shot back out of his mind as he started to feel a great, deep, aching soreness. He became aware of his body, lying prone and absolutely in pain.

It flooded him. It quickly started to grow unbearable. He started to grunt and move, but found his body unresponsive. The pain was quickly reaching levels that were beyond uncomfortable. He was downright hurting and it felt like bones were broken across his great bulk.

"He's starti...es anoth...uble the dosa..."

No sooner had the mis-heard words been spoken, did he feel himself slipping into a black slumber again. He stopped trying to move. He couldn't have opened his eyes again if he had wanted to. Not that he wanted the light to blind him. Now...all that mattered was the deep sleep he so craved. The pain was now nothing more than a dull ache that was fading quickly. Before the world slipped away again though, he heard a voice, that wasn't his own.

Inside of his own head.

"You will be the strongest of them all, my Phoenix."

Specialist Argus galloped as fast as he could towards the main camp. He was absolutely terrified. Being a scout was a difficult job and many ponies, both colts and mares, failed the training multiple times before being accepted. Argus though, was a natural with camouflage, what with his body being a two toned shade of dark brown leading to a near black, and his mane similar in appearance. He'd even gone so far as to wear suits made of foliage from local surroundings, as well as anything from sand to mud.

Too bad it wasn't worth a damn when your partner wasn't half as effective as you. The thundering hooves behind him told that Corporal Shield was still there. He hoped. The dark blue mare wasn't exactly number one on his list of priorities. Though in the end it didn't matter to him really, because it also told of the nine Saddle-Arabian warriors that were still searching for him. He had been chased for a number of hours, but had been able to find a treeline to hide in.

He couldn't feel anything but an ache. That didn't matter though. He had to move. It was that, or die.

The war that spanned across the deserts didn't matter to most anymore. The war itself had gone on for quite some time, though most ponies just didn't think much of it anymore. No more soldiers had been lost for years and not many resources had been put into it for some time, as far as the public knew. The war with the Griffon Kingdoms had become the new story for public knowledge. It was a difficult situation and was rather difficult to work out. Ambassadors had stopped passing between the kingdoms once the griffons had gone out of their way to send back the severed heads of the last two that had been sent to a middle ground for neutral territory based meetings.

At any rate, a normal level of scouting and perimeter defense was regular against these desert beasts. Sometimes nomads would cross borders and try to integrate into nearby communities, though sometimes, warriors would hide themselves within these bands with the intent of wreaking havoc as they poisoned or fed false information to minor strategic bases and forward operation lines.

In this case though, Argus had been sent out on a scouting mission with Shield to check up on a local watering hole that had been reported as potentially being poisoned. If it was, Shield was to use her power to straighten it out. She was a medical expert and quite the prodigy, but wasn't used to field operations. He'd been chosen as her escort, because he was rather small, being only just old enough to join the military, but a scout with a perfect track record. Originally there would have been another pair of guards with them, but he declined and insisted that they needed to be quick and quiet if the rumors were true.

'Too damn bad we didn't bring those bulky bastards with us,' he thought to himself as he reminisced on the meeting just two days before. They would have been a nice distraction.

The damned desert beasts had caught them trying to purify the oasis. He remembered the moment they arrived and started shouting. An entire squad of ten of their warrior caste, demanding that Shield surrender, as Argus himself hadn't been seen yet. Lying under a sand blanket nearby, he had watched as they started to advance on the unicorn when she attempted to hold her ground. They didn't have her surrounded, but as she started to focus her magic into a defensive spell, they started to spread out.

One nearly stepped on the then terrified Argus, who flicked his own poisoned needle into the flank of the invader, and broke cover, stunning them with his sudden appearance and movement. He sliced another warrior's side with the dagger in his mouth as he flitted past, giving Shield the break she needed to perform a short ranged teleportation spell.

From there, they'd been running across dunes back towards the promising edges of hospitable lands for hours. Shield had kept up with him for the most part, but she wasn't quite used to the physical exertions of a full gallop for hours on end. As a medicae, she spent much more time in field hospitals, as well as more civilian structures and houses of healing.

The Saddle-Arabians didn't have such issues though. They were taller and more sleek than their mainland Equestrian counterparts. Built for long treks across such sparse terrain, they hadn't kept pace with the pair for long, but they were never out of sight. A steady rate of travel was something they were born for, as warrior-caste.

He snapped back into focus as they made their way deeper into the trees. They had only been on the fringes of the desert, and the forests of Cervidas that bordered the endless Muudi Desert were thick and deep, as well as home to multiple Equestrian bases, all centered around the capital of Concordia. He flicked his head around and saw that Shield was still hard on his hooves, though was a little ways back. He slowed his pace and quickly started grabbing branches and running through different bits of foliage, pulling off leaves and letting them become caught in his netting and webbings.

Soon, he became a moving bush. Shield was close enough to see him as he did this, and started doing the same. He had made sure she was provided with some webbing and nets, and he quickly started to cover her in the soft soil that covered the now darkening woods.

"Open my pack and get the two yellow packages near the top of it. We need to get rid of this frakking sweaty smell," he whispered. They had no idea how far ahead of the sand beasts they were. Minutes at the most. Shield just looked at him and nodded. She was exhausted and in a bit of a shock from what he could tell. She must've seen terrible things as a medicae, but she'd never been exposed to combat, let alone something that wanted to gut her, or worse. Even so, she complied and took the two small packages. He took one from her and ripped it open, dusting her with the powder within, and then did the same for himself. It eliminated most smells and brought out the scents of many things around them, especially dirt. he wasn't sure why, but it was what he was trained to do.

He had her hide in some thick foliage as soon as he dusted himself with the odd powder, and cleared their tracks as quickly as he could, breaking sticks and other such things in another direction and then proceeding to leave subtle hints as towards where they were going. At least, where the sand beasts might think they were going. They may not have been complete idiots, but they were desert dwellers and had no experience with forest tracking.

So he hoped.

AAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

The absolute silence was broken as a cry of mixed pain, confusion, and fury ripped the illusion of peace apart.

His chest heaved and he sat up as quickly as he could. He was in a large, empty room that was evenly, yet dimly lit. Where was he? He started to hyperventilate and moved to get off of...whatever the frak it was he was on.

His legs didn't want to hold his weight as soon as he touched the floor, and he fell bodily against a cold tiled floor. He started to panic as he felt his legs hurting more and more, as well as his great barrel of a chest. He didn't know what to do as he attempted to stand. Despite his immense power, he was as weak as a kitten right now. He slowly gave in and laid on his side.

Slowly the lights grew brighter and he heard a click off somewhere near...but he couldn't muster the strength to even look around anymore. Yet again, the world grew dark around him.

McIntosh's last thoughts before the world went black again, was one of Applejack. He needed her. He needed his family. What were they doing to him here?

The flowing robes of the Saddle-Arabians were bright white and were rather conspicuous in the dark forest. The mild breeze and warm air permeated everything, as the great desert dwellers drifted through the trees, in search of their prey. Argus had been lucky to have stumbled right onto a clearing. His false pathway was rather obvious and curved off right from where they entered from the east.

The sand beasts may have been quiet, but they took to Argus's trail. At least, five of them did. Their apparent leader led four of his followers off to the north, while the two hiding ponies watched. The remaining four stayed and acted as sentries at this convergence point. Their exhaustion hardly showed, and for the most part they stayed vigilant.

An hour passed, with the sentries doing nothing much more than keeping up their watches, and sometimes taking turns, overseeing each other while they rested. Argus was just waiting for his chance. If he could get rid of at least one, they could slip away. It may have been a cowardly way to fight, but he only cared for survival. Let the Sun Guard take all of the glory.

A breeze flowed through the forest and ruffled the branches of the great trees around them, causing the night to be filled with rustling leaves. Argus took this time to slowly move forward. Move with the breeze. Let other sounds drown out your own. The Equestrian Guard doctrine took hold and seconds later he was burying his blade in the throat of the dark brown creature in front of him that had decided to relieve itself right next to his hiding place.

It bucked and tried to move, but he quickly wrestled it to the ground, dragging the blade that had been buried hilt deep into it's throat, across the span of his neck, severing vocal cords and major arteries. It was over in seconds. The smell of blood masked by the freshly crushed pine needles. Nary a sound had been made, and Argus quickly moved away from his fresh kill. Now there were three. One of them still on watch.

He took advantage of this single guard as well, the other two asleep and waiting to be awoken for a change in watch shifts. This one he caught unaware, as the first, but didn't do anything so dramatic as halfway decapitate him. He came close to the lithe colt, and barely jabbed him with the tip of his favored needle. The colt made an annoyed sound, but didn't even bother to turn, flicking his tail against his flank, hoping to discourage whatever bug had been pestering him.

Within about thirty seconds, the sand beast was on the ground, unable to struggle as blood poured from his eyes and mouth, his muscles freezing up and his blood unable to clot. It was plain that he would die within the next few minutes.

Argus considered his situation as he slipped back into the brush. He should neutralize the other two. There would be less to run from and he'd be striking a blow against his enemies. Yet at the same time, would that really increase his chances of survival? Orders be damned he only cared about getting his own flank back. If he became a hero in the meantime, then they'd just sign him up for more dangerous jobs in the future. So was the life of the skilled and cowardly.

As one of the sleeping sand beasts began to stir, his mind was made up. He slid his needle into its casing, re-coating it with poison, and slowly slipped towards the half asleep beast and his oblivious companion.

The terrifying darkness that greeted McIntosh as he began to regain consciousness, was starting to slowly recede. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since he was last awoken, but he knew one thing for sure. He wasn't in the same body he remembered. He woke up periodically, and was unable to move at times, yet at other intervals he was able to at least move his forelegs.

What he saw, made him nervous. At least, when he could see clearly. His eyes always hurt when he was awake, and everything looked...different. Not just his own body, the way he saw. He could make out all of the smallest details in anything that he focused on, yet was still fully aware of what was around him. His range of vision was greater as well as the depth with which he could perceive.

Not long after this discovery was made though, was that he could make out millions of little sounds that he never heard before. His ears had become hyper-sensitive, or so it seemed that way. He wasn't sure what was going on anymore.

'Big surprise' he thought to himself. 'I can't move.' It was starting to become tedious. He was drafted. What right did they have to put him through this? His private training was weird enough, but now? This? What was going on that they had him strapped down to great slabs of steel? Why was he always so tired, aching, and slow to recover when he even awoke from these broken bits of his dreams?

He raged within his own head as his body started to awaken. He slowly started to become aware of the feeling in his legs, and could tell he was strapped down. Again. He felt a great fury build up within himself as he started to struggle against the chains holding him in place. What did they want from him?!

He started to growl, low and menacingly as he started to glean strength from his inner reserves of energy. His giant legs started to press against the chains and straps that kept him secured to whatever kind of slab he was being held upon. He opened his eyes, and saw that he was in a dimly lit, and rather small room. The slab he was on, took up most of it. None of this mattered though, as he started to push harder and harder, moving and shaking his body and his pent of rage started to flow out.

Where WAS he?! WHY did they have him CHAINED up like some kind of SICK ANIMAL?!

A cracking and tearing sound started to register in his mind as he thrashed about, his heart pounding in his chest. The room was bathed in a red light and an alarm sounded. He didn't care. The chains that were holding him down started to creak and shatter as he emptied his last wells of buried energy. He sat up from his prostrate position and bellowed, his fury finally becoming spent as he freed himself from the accursed chains.

He quickly got off of the slab and made his way to the door that wasn't far from where he was originally, and as he had observed, the only exit. As he came to the door, he noticed something at the back of his mind that was just out of reach. He just couldn't quite figure out what was bothering him internally, though that didn't really surprise him and he quickly forgot about it again. Considering that there was a siren blaring and a bloody red light bathing him, he had more pressing concerns. He found the door unlocked and as he made his way out of the room, he looked to his left and saw a long hallway. As he turned to his right, he heard a voice yell for him to halt.

He saw that in front of him, as he exited the room, that a soldier stood a few doors down, a weapon of some sort pointed at him. He noted that the young colt was shaking and obviously terrified of him.

McIntosh put his hooves up in surrender. "I ain't gonna hurtcha kid," he said to the colt. He meant it. His fury was gone and replaced by the ache of his body and the weary feeling of having just woken up from an extended sleep. "Now can ya' just tell me what in the name of the Queen is goin' on, 'afore ya' arrest me?"

The young soldier's eyes hardened, but he didn't say a word to the stallion. He started to lower his weapon and advance, when a great figure came from around a the corner just behind him, shoving him out of the way. It was a great, hulking figure covered in extremely decorated armor. McIntosh was stricken with fear as he looked towards the armored beast, unable to even see its eyes past the visored helmet that crested its brow.

The figure slowly lurched towards him, not wasting movements, nor moving very quickly. Suddenly, Mac felt incredibly tired and unafraid of the steel encased bulk of the figure coming towards him. He felt a hoof touch his side, and turned to see who it could be. He met eyes with a small white unicorn mare that wore a surgeons attire. She smiled gently at him and the cloven hooves of the armoured giant stopped. Mac made to speak, but found himself unable as she shook her head at him. She then prepared to speak to him, as though he were a foal.

"Do not be afraid my dear McIntosh. We only care for your protection and recovery. You have undergone many arduous tasks and we are here to make sure that you recover, and are unharmed in any way. Will you please come with me and stay quiet and close?" the small mare asked. Her voice sounded much older than she appeared. Her eyes as well, appeared to have endured centuries, yet her small frame led him to believe she was in the prime of her life. "Your Queen would be very pleased if you came to her soon," she finished.

At the mention of Celestia, Mac's ears perked up. He quickly made to follow her. His weariness was being washed away by thoughts of seeing the Queen. At first he thought he'd feel anger, considering she was the one who had to have done this to him, but instead his thoughts were of a burning loyalty to his Queen. As he awkwardly followed the small mare, he noticed how small she looked. As he looked down at his own legs, he noticed that he seemed to be higher off the ground. What...no. He'd find out from the Queen. She was all that he cared about right now.

The small white mare was easy enough to keep up with. She kept a rather quick pace, but he kept up without any real effort. He noticed now that he had inadvertently been taking in all of the small details about the hallways they moved through. The floors were white and tiled, all even and exact, with the hallways all very uniform and in a cubical layout. They took varying turns, but eventually ended up at another moving room, not dissimilar to the one that had led to his quarters at the Trottingham Academy.

As he moved to enter the boxy thing, his mind wandered back to his the Academy, and when he had been selected for service. This in turn, led to thoughts of his family. His heart dropped slightly. For the first time in...well, he didn't know how long it had been. He thought of his family. Applebloom was still too young to think he might not come back. Applejack and Granny both knew better. Granny herself probably didn't have too much left in her old bones, and Applejack needed him.

He silently renewed his vows to survive for his family. Maybe...the Queen would help provide for them. She was a loving Queen and all of her subjects received it. He was no exception to her love, in fact, he received a much more personal level of her attentions. His heart started to swell at the thought of expanding the family's farm and helping his family, as well as his beloved monarch.

He hardly noticed when the room stopped moving, and the small mare, who's name he still didn't know, beckoned for him to continue following. He made his way out of the mobile space and proceeded to tag along behind the slight figure. He had no idea where he was now, but he could see it was heavily decorated. He was inside of a great and regal building as far as he could tell. Stained glass and marble seemed to be the major elements, as well as plenty of gold filigree.

It seemed to be nearly mid-day, he observed, as he was led along a small hallway into a major room (or so he assumed, considering the height of the ceiling and the fact that it appeared to be a great entryway). The sun was flowing through a great glass dome in the ceiling, as well as a great many stained glass windows, as well as clear ones. The temperature was slowly rising and Mac started to feel much more alive, yet at the same time, he could feel realization starting to set in. It may not have been very long, but he had left for Trottingham at the end of the Winter months. He had even missed the Winter Wrap-Up. It was a Summer-like weather feel now. Had it been...months?

He wanted to reserve his questions for the Queen, but now he felt his curiosity rising, as well as a little bile. While at the private section of the Academy, he had only trained for maybe a month before...he wasn't quite sure. He fell asleep and was only awake a few times up until now, and none of those times were for more than minutes.

As he started to ponder these now erupting thoughts, he and the mare stopped before a great gate that was guarded by two armoured stallions. At least, he assumed they were stallions. He recognized their armour at any rate, as they looked identical to the one that had come to...arrest him? He wasn't sure what they were, but he wasn't exactly going to ask either.

The small mare smiled at the imposing figures, and they both nodded their heads, allowing for the gold wrought gate to be opened. As it slowly opened silently on its oiled hinges, the gate itself gave way to an even greater set of doors, set into a marble threshold. It was a grand sight, but the giant mahogany doors themselves were what stole his breath. It was a burnt carving of Celestia and Luna, circling around the planet, with the sun and moon crossing between them. It was a beautiful sight.

The enchantment was broken as the behemoth doors slid open of their own accord. The small mare smiled up at him and beckoned for him to proceed forward. He made his way through the portal and found himself standing in yet another grand hall, but this one was different. A great pair of thrones sat at the end of the room, though the room itself wasn't nearly as large as the greater hall before it.

As he took in the grandeur of the great hall, he heard the doors closing behind him. It must have been magic, he thought, and dismissed it. He was alert, but he wasn't in any danger. At least, he assumed as much. With the portal into the throne room closed...the very air before him began to sparkle.

He stepped back, unsure of what to expect as his eyes flitted about the room, searching for Celestia, or any other living being for that matter. The sparkling gave way to the smell of ozone and he felt his fur starting to stand on end. A crackle and a flash of blinding light later, Celestia stood before him.

McIntosh found himself dumbfounded as he feel to kneel before his Queen, though as always, she motioned for him to quickly rise, a smile pursing her lips.

"I still haven't quite gotten that down to a perfect art yet," she commented. "The teleportation, I mean."

He wasn't sure how to respond, though as she moved towards him, he smiled and nodded his head.

"Now, I know you have a great many questions. I hope you aren't too cross with me for all of the deception, but it had to be done," she continued. "Before you start to ask me questions though, I'd like to at least have us get a bit more comfortable."

She advanced on him, slowly wrapped a foreleg around his neck. He wasn't sure what she was going to do, but then he felt it. The sparks returned, and he quickly found himself enveloped in a force of power that he didn't know. He opened his mouth to ask her what was happening, but by then it was too late.

Teleportation wasn't what he expected it to be. Then again, he wasn't sure what he DID expect it to be. He felt his entire being start to heat up, and heard a strong whistling sound start to press his eardrums inwards. His teeth rattled and he felt like a ragdoll, but suddenly it was over. He opened his eyes, after realizing that he had tightly shut them right as the trip had started.

Celestia was still embracing him, and he could smell her sweet scent as she held him closer. Lavender permeated her, and the very smell of...life. Light. It was overpowering, and he found all other senses subdued by her presence. Slowly though, she parted from him. She then, giggled lightly, and met his eyes.

"Now...have you noticed anything different about yourself?"

The question hung in the air for some time as he pondered. She beckoned for him, and he followed, yet again, keeping stride just behind her. He saw now that they were in a rather large and ornate bedroom. It was mostly red and white, save for the dark brown shelves and dressers. Paintings of landscapes adorned the walls, and a great many golden sculptures were affixed to the wall. Most noticeable though, was the large poster bed. It was fit for well...a Queen.

She led him to a small niche that was covered in pillows near the bed. She sprawled herself across the soft little mound, and he sat down near her.

"Mah body feels different. It aches and I sometimes have a hard time thinkin'. Why is that?" His inquiry was a rather basic start, but it felt appropriate. At least, for now it made sense. He had noticed some things that were different as well, now that she asked him. He was as tall as she was. Before...he wasn't quite her size, even if she didn't have his sheer bulk or levels of raw muscle.

"Ahh, straight to the point then? I suppose I should tell you then, that...modifications have been made to your body. Now, before you go asking, I will tell you that many of them will not effect you right now. In fact, you'll be thankful for most of them. I'll inform you of the most apparent, at any rate," she continued in response. "Your bones, your musculature, your nervous system, all of it has been changed. Your body is now in a state of recovery and growth. It will be some time before you start to notice, but you will continue to become larger and stronger. You will also be more aware of the world around you, as all of your sense are now, and will continue to become more acute."

Her explanation left him nearly speechless. What kind of other modifications had they made to him, he wondered?

"You will be much more powerful, and you will need to learn many new things, most of all, control. Though, this will come with time, my dearest," she ended.

It was odd, hearing that she could so calmly explain this to him. That his body had been changed in such a great way, in so few words.

"As for your inability to think straight...that just pertains towards your surgeries and the need to keep you sedated for long periods of time. You'll think easier in a few days. Though, you weren't supposed to wake up for at least another week. You have an incredible level of resistance to just about anything foreign inside of your body. It took some time to properly implant you with your augmentations," she said somewhat proudly.

He was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable, but as his thoughts began to race, she moved a little closer to him and her scent became much more apparent, yet again.

"I have no doubt that you'll be content staying here, and training with your peers," she stated as she looked deep into his eyes. He found himself unable to look away from those light and playfully pink eyes, so deep with age and knowledge, yet young and understanding. "I hope you don't mind being here in Canterlot."

The realization of where his was, didn't really strike him very much, though it was surprising nonetheless.

"So...why did ya' need to bring me ta Canterlot?" He let the question hang in the air for a moment before she responded, with a somewhat devilish grin on her face.

"Why, so you could start your real training, and so that I might attend you whenever I felt so inclined, my young Prince. Now, is that not a title fitting for thee? Prince McIntosh of the Apple, Sun Guard of Queen Celestia?" The way in which she stated it...he liked it. Before all of this...he may not have wanted such a title, but when his beloved regent said it...

"What of mah' family?" He had felt that he needed to bring them up. "When will ah' be able t' see them again?"

Celestia's eyes narrowed at this a little. She didn't want to really tell him that he wouldn't see them for quite some time. Maybe...she'd allow them to write letters back and forth. She had to let him interact with them at least a little. Lest she lose at least some of the progress she had made.

"You will not see them for quite some time I'm afraid," she said with a trace of remorse. "Though you may write to them, and them, to you. Your training will be rigorous, and you will need to focus much of your attention on that. Your body is going to need time to grow and develop more, as well as your mind. You may also need some time to adjust to your new...size."

She ended that last part with a light tone, teasing him. It was odd, how blatant she was with him, though he supposed that even his Queen had needs, and he wasn't going to complain. It was odd, but she was beautiful...

She smirked at him. "You know...you aren't going to start your training for a few days. Would you care to entertain your Queen until then, my protector?" Her invitation was clear enough. Protector 'eh? He'd guard her with his life.

"Ah' think I just might be so inclined as to accompany you then, milady," he replied in the most regal voice he could muster. Whatever had been done to him had been done, and so far, he was happy with it. Personal time with Celestia, the promise of conversing with his family...even if he did miss AJ. Suddenly though, he smelled the light lavender in the air around him, and the Queen's flowing mane started to tickle his fur as she drew in close to embrace him, wrapping her forehooves around his broad neck and shoulders. He closed his eyes and did the same, now that he was her size it was easy to hug her as well. He was careful not to press her wings as he slid his hooves around her though.

His heart was warmed by such contact. He'd never been much of a talker, and had his few but fair share of mares and all, but simple hugs were only ever given by his sisters and grandmother. His Queen gave him special attention and he loved it. He'd do anything for his Queen.

He started to think of the bodily modifications that had been made. Maybe they wouldn't all be apparent, and they would be altering, but he was still himself. Just...more of himself, he supposed. He'd always been gentle, but many times he had been told that he would make a great warrior.

Now, he could be strong. Strong for his beloved monarch. He'd protect her when she needed him, and fight for her wherever she sent him.

Everything was going rather well with her newest addition to the Sun Guard. He was a beautiful stallion and she had already taken him, though, in a way that allowed for him to be changed. She was rather pleased with herself, considering that a stallion of his stature had never been operated on before. The same could be said for the surgeries that had been done, as he had some more modifications that had never been performed before.

He was young and strong. He would be perfect as her vassal and bodyguard, when she felt he needed to be around. She knew that his biggest strength though, would be leading charges from the front against her enemies. As invincible as Phoenix had been. Yes, that's what he would do. He would start in a few days. She might as well put him through his tests early, so while he developed, he could learn to lead. He would be...a junior officer. Command of a single squad at first. From there, it would be up to him. For now...she'd have some fun with her ambitious young soldier. He looked into her eyes deeply as she nuzzled up against him...

Argus was alone when he got back to the edges of the Eastern FOB. Shield had gone ahead, and he assumed she was safe. Once the sand beasts had been dealt with, (at least those in the glade that he and the medicae hid themselves in) he had made sure moved fast towards the most major encampment they could reach. He covered their tracks as she went on ahead. His thoughts also followed the process that if one of them was to be found, it would've been her. He was much more precise and slow with his movements. Many would view him as a hero, but all in all, he was still a coward.

As he came within view of the outer walls, he breathed a sigh of relief. His time spent in the field was more than long enough, and as he came out into the open, he kept his forelegs up as he called out a countersign. A pair of rather obvious sentries did their usual routine of yelling at him, demanding he lay on the ground until somepony could come out and proceed to drag him back into the compound.

It all went rather smoothly and he was only searched twice before his identification was verified by Shield.

It was around dawn when he had arrived, or so he was told. He was cleared to speak with the regimental commander, a certain Colonel Kasturn. He had apparently been running the operations across the more western regions and had just recently moved to a new post here. Respected by those underneath him, he apparently was in cohorts with the Queen herself. His personal guard were storm troopers of a different sort. They'd seen more combat together than any eight of the other soldiers around this camp combined.

The encampment itself wasn't anything really...remarkable. It was a rather permanent position. A fort made of rockcrete and great amounts of thick wood, presumably gathered form the flattened area of forest that surrounded them. It sat on a hill overlooking a large portion of the surrounding lands, and could see the edges of the great desert that was the Muudi. It had yet to fall under any major siege, but they had soaked up a fair brunt of attacks from the nomads of Camelu, as well as the Saddle-Arabians.

This information flowed through his brain as his tired eyes soaked up some of the words on the papers he had been given, but he assumed he'd forget it before long. Kasturn was in a meeting in his main command tent when he was introduced, so he hadn't yet been given an opportunity to give his report. Shield had presumably given them quite a lot of information, but he knew she was traumatized and that his testimony was going to be much more accurate. He'd also have to give an accurate layout of the oasis he had purified, along with the descriptions of the sand beasts he had killed in the field.

Just another mission, in the life of Forward-Recon Specialist Argus. He may not have been a hero, nor was he heartless, but his own hide was worth more to him than anypony else's.

"Now Specialist, do you mind filling in the gaps that the medicae more than likely left out?"

The question interrupted his train of thought and he looked up at the colonel, as well as the six other pairs of eyes that stared at him from around the meeting table. It was a bit disconcernting, but he gave his report as accurately as he remembered it. He didn't omit a single part, save for maybe his own reasons for waiting so long as the sand beasts that had been chosen to stay at the glade moved about in their patrols. He also made sure to compliment the Corporal for being so cool headed and doing exactly as he said, while also appearing to diminish his own feats.

The Colonel seemed impressed enough with him, as did the other eyes around him, albeit a bit more so in their cases. He had gotten better at playing himself off as nothing more than a humble soldier with an incredible track record and set of successful missions behind him. He himself was the only one that knew most of his ventures were completed through sheer luck and paranoia. No need to spread that around though.

"Well Specialist, you might be pleased to hear then, that I actually was stationed here to wait for your return," the Colonel continued, "Your actions throughout this region, as well as at the siege of Eternity's Crossing Bridge have earned you the attention of someone rather high up. You're going back to Canterlot for a skills evaluation in the next sixteen-hundred hours. That is, if you would like the chance to join the EGSF." Kasturn finished his sentence rather curtly, with a small grin.

"Well sir...how could I refuse such an offer?" He wasn't sure why he didn't refuse it. EGSF? They'd be sending him on missions even more dangerous than the others he'd managed to land his checkered plot into. Canterlot...Canterlot Academy was the single most brutal and effective school for those in their starting years of military service. If you survived the Canterlot "Meatgrinder" you were golden for major promotions...if you survived your posting. He hadn't heard of a single  graduate that hadn't gone on to be either a front line officer, or part of the ESOG groups that operated in hostile regions as saboteurs and assassins.

"Good then. I expect you to get some rest and food into you. We've got some transportation en route to retrieve you now that you're here. You'll be at the Golden Gates in no more than two days. I hope you go on to make a truly worthwhile career for yourself son. Dismissed."

Argus could only hope he'd survive. Though he assumed his chances were better out in the center of Gryphus, the Griffon's capitol city.

Storm Front

Heresy-Storm Front

Twilight suppressed her inner feelings of guilt as she continued to dig through the books she had stolen. Before her self-appointed exile, she had made her way into the Canterlot Royal Library again, stealing a great many forbidden books. Celestia may not have known that her oldest and most trusted student was against her at the time, but she did now. Passing from town to town, Twilight had discovered wanted posters of herself.

It took hold of her heart after reading the contents of the poster and the reward for her capture, dead or alive. "Theft, Wanton Destruction of the Queen's Properties, Murder, and High Treason." She had never meant to hurt anypony, but when a guard saw her and tried stopping her, she became terrified. She had used a spell from her first forbidden book, not quite understanding what it did. Starswirl's words were still very convoluted and full of riddles. Seeing something so terrible as what she had done though...it had driven her even further away. She'd never forget the sight of his blood. The scent of iron and death as the floor shifted and spikes made of marble drove up through the poor colt...

No. She couldn't falter now. She needed to know more.

This book was incredible. It spake of the power behind wearing forces, such as the oceans and the very wind that blew through the countryside. She had been practicing every day as she trekked along, trying to make her way from Canterlot to Fillydelphia. Once she made it through Fillydelphia though, she'd have to cross the southern edges of the Everfree Forest to reach Glascow and its capital of Cowpenhagen. She wasn't quite sure what she would do after that, but continue north. That was all she knew from the writs of Starswirl. She would have to pass near the Griffon Kingdoms and through the Forsaken Forest. Something about a Clockwork Tower...

The warm air of early Summer kept her thoughts rather lazy, as she slowly trotted along the large roads. She learned quickly that she couldn't wear her cloak in this weather, at least during the day, lest she seem suspicious...

She had taken to wearing a simple dress at all times. She'd had two close encounters already, and she wasn't about to take any more chances with being found out.

The dirt road stretched out in front of her endlessly. It was times like this that she liked to stop her reading and practice a new spell, at least, once she had deciphered most of what she believed it did and how to cast it. None of the spells themselves were very difficult to cast, hardly drawing on her energy. No, what they really took, was concentration. Many of them required some incantation, as well as incredible focus. Most though, were rather interesting. She learned she could change the color of her hair, which she promptly did after she found a shade of blue she rather liked. She just had to imagine the color while casting, and it changed. Though, quickly afterwards she discovered that she could change the colors of most anything she came across.

Some of the other spells were rather practical, allowing her to conjure water from the very air around her, as well as draw it up from deep under the dirt. Another, allowed her to render the light around her body and glance it off in other directions. It was odd, in that it rendered her mostly invisible. It was a little rough to work out, but she was getting better, though she didn't practice that one too much.

Many spells though, she dared not attempt, as she couldn't comprehend their meanings. She tried one, only once, and that had rendered her mortified beyond what she'd ever felt before. She didn't want to try any more unorthodox spells unless her life was at stake. Maybe not even then, considering she could teleport, and conjure up black smoke from nothing.

As the warmth of the sun gradually began to fade, Twilight started to look at her surroundings. The sun was setting and she had lost track of the time. Nopony had passed her, and she wasn't near any towns yet. She used her magic to levitate a few books out of her bag, as well as her map. She studied it in the fading light as she searched for landmarks, attempting to find anything out of the ordinary that she could use to mark her place before finding a place to sleep. She had packed many things into her bags, once she learned the "Time Lord" magic, at least, according to Starswirl's writs. It allowed for great amounts of space to be made within something small. Her bags for instance, carried weeks worth of food and camping supplies, as well as many essential things.

She found no such landmarks at any rate, but regardless, found a tree off to the side of the road, which she promptly chose as her camping ground. With her great talent, she quickly set up all she needed, as well as starting a small magical fire. She couldn't imagine the state she'd be in without it.

As the fire crackled, she quickly set up a pot with water that she conjured from the air, and set about boiling it. Opening her bag, she quickly located a cube of mixed herbs and dropped it into the pot, along with a dry square of wheat-noodles. It wasn't fancy, but it tasted fine and kept her full. Her meal cooked quickly and she made it a rule to eat it quickly as well. The night had come quickly and she just wanted to rest.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, she magically doused her fire, leaving no trace of a flame or a fire as she cooled the pot and placed it back within her bags. She crawled into her tent, making sure she was secure, and closed the flaps. She had already at least had the good sense to cast a small shield bubble around her tent, as to not let anything intrude on her. Ponies were desperate these days, and they weren't the only ones on the roads anymore. All sorts were traveling. She'd seen, if not met, many various races throughout her journey through smaller towns. Zebras, camels, sand ponies, griffons, even a few buffalo. In one case, she even saw a tapir, though she had no idea they ever ventured to the mainlands from their small island near the edge of the Boarean Tundra and Sibearia. Seeing so many different creatures really made her nervous at any rate. Most seemed nice enough but a few...were desperate. She'd even seen a smaller pony getting mugged by a sand-pony. The great beast had to have hailed from Saddle-Arabia, and looked out of place in the area. Regardless, Twilight had stopped him. Even though it led to her having to flee from the settlement.

This didn't really put her off, at any rate. She learned and adapted as quickly as she could to a life on the move. She was no nomad, but she was going to leave and find what Starswirl's writings told her of. This led to her having to be careful, and shielding her tent in a small bubble of power was one of those things that she'd learned to do. Expending the energy she needed though, tired her even more. Creating a shield that would last eight hours was difficult as she had to expel all of the energy in one go, and she was still becoming accustomed to it, but she did well for herself. She closed her eyes as she felt the shield go up, invisible and humming. A smile touched her lips as she drifted off. Unknowing of the hardships the next day would hold.

The pre-dawn was always the darkest hour. McIntosh loved this time of the morning, right before the world started to wake up. Right now though, he couldn't even really notice that. He was reading his new assignment. He had only been trained in Canterlot for two weeks before Celestia changed her mind again. She decided that training wouldn't help until after he'd gotten a taste of real combat.

He was still growing into his new body, getting used to the quirks of longer legs and feeling...lighter.

Regardless, he was sent off to the captured city of Pisa, at the base of the Gryphus mountains. It had become an FOB, or Forward Operation Base for the Equestrian Guard in their war with the Griffons.

He had been studying battle tactics for quite some time but he was nervous. He was going to be a commander of a squad and it was going to be difficult. He'd never seen real combat, nor had he led troops into battle. Even as he considered what he was going to do, he was unsure how he would get through this ordeal in one piece. He was physically ready, but the mentality was what got most ponies killed.

As the cart traveled along, he watched the sky as the sun begin to rise. The snow capped peaks before him weren't all that tall as he viewed them, as he'd always lived within site of the Canterlot Peaks, but the range behind them...

The Gryphus range was awe inspiring. Their peaks weren't visible, as they breached the clouds. Mac wasn't easily intimidated, but it was still a terrifying prospect, imagining that the clouds themselves were lower than the jagged rocks that ripped through the ground, piercing the veil of the eternal roof.

The cart jolted and he snapped back to the world that was directly around him. The road was nothing but dirt and rock, but it suited its purpose. He blinked a few times to attempt to awaken himself but he wasn't really...up to it. He'd been awake for days as part of his training in Canterlot and had yet to steal more than a few minutes of sleep at a time. He started to drift off...and abruptly woke up, alert again. He was still working on becoming resilient on going without sleep, but sometimes...his body just chose to wake him up. He was tired one moment, and awake the next. Though, when he was jolted by his body, he would be awake for hours and fully alert.

It must have been one of the..."Modifications," that had been made to his body.

He still had no idea of what all had been done to him. He was still getting used to his new body, and it was taking more time than he'd hoped. He still had the hang of most of it by now, but sometimes would still over-reach for something and it wouldn't always end well. At least he'd never done more than give himself a few cuts here and there. He also found another odd thing though, once he'd truly woken up and had specific things pointed out to him. He had...weird little metal things that erupted from his skin in some places. They weren't very big, nor did they protrude much, but they were still noticeable, at least, when he touched them. They were hard to reach and there weren't many, but he didn't understand their purpose until he asked one of the officers that was assigned to train him and keep an eye on him during his Canterlot stay.

"They're joint-links for yer' armour. They not tell you that?" He had told the large red stallion. "Yer' Sun Guard now. Your armour is gonna be linked up to your body once you start to wear it."

It made him feel different. What else was there, lying beneath his flesh?

The smell of freshly churned dirt, sweat, and steamed oats filled his nostrils as he snapped back to reality yet again. They were near the edges of the base and he could clearly see a platoon of colts going through morning PT routines. The area in which the base was set up was on the edges of a much larger city, though he knew this to be a bit deceptive. The city itself was occupied, but there were a few other operation centers within the walls, as well as more like this one, that resided outside. Pisa itself was breathtaking, a true monstrous city.

The city itself was surrounded by siege walls and built around a central hill, where the main governance building reposed. It had been created by ponies nearly a century ago, as a central point between the Griffon Kingdoms and Equestria. Commerce had waxed and waned over the years, but it was always occupied by many ponies and griffons, as well as other races that were found across the land. Many cultural districts had been established over time, if not completely government funded or approved, but it showed in the varying districts, save for the Trade district. Many though, held the styles of building that had been traditional or popular to the cultures they represented. The Saddle-Arabians for example, having many sandstone buildings with low roofs and many windows, whereas the Griffons made eyries in the upper parts of the city or even in the clouds overhead.

Mac took this in as the cart stopped, after passing through the main gates of the FOB. He quickly demounted and was greeted by a grizzled gray colt wearing a set of combat fatigues. The sight of him was rather unkempt, and he smelled rather...ripe. The colt saluted him in a rather slouched manner and referred to him as "Sir." Mac was somewhat taken aback as he saluted in return.

"At ease soldier," he told the veteran evenly.

"Sir," the colt replied as he loosened up even more. "Welcome to Fort Eclipse. I'm Corporal Haze, and I've been ordered to bring you to Major Dusk once you arrived. Mind following me, Sir?" He stated as a follow-up. He didn't wait for a reply, before turning and trotting off towards the central structure of the base. Mac quickly followed and kept in stride with the young colt, attempting to stay upwind of him. As he passed through the encampment, he noticed a number of structures that he already recognized and standard EG style. A line of barracks, a large mess hall, an entertainment hall, a couple of classrooms, a rather large hospital, the latrines, an armoury, and an exercise and PT building. It was furnished rather well, and he even noticed a few small gardens surrounding the barracks, being tended by a few older looking mares.

It didn't take long for him to reach the main command building, and a pair of more experienced looking colts saluted smartly as they brought their weapons up, allowing access to the main entrance. Their armour was a camoflage pattern of vest and pants, with small steel plates and chainmail riveted across in various spots, covering most of their vitals. Each of them wore a ceramic helmet, fitted with the Equestrian Guard crest and their platoon number. The "116th Tartarus Rejects" apparently.

He nodded as he ducked through the doorway. He wasn't quite used to his new height still. It was starting to get tedious.

As he walked inside, a sterile smell of wood and fresh coffee filled his nostrils and he wondered if he'd be able to eat and drink something sometime soon. He followed the Corporal past the receptionists desk as the young colt and mare that sat by it gawked at Mac. He was easily twice their size and thrice their weight. He smirked a little and winked at them as he passed by.

Within about a minute, they had made their way along a series of hallways and up a large staircase while passing multiple offices and guards. A large oaken door stood at the far end of an unimposing hallway, and had a large golden leaf emblazoned in the center. He took this as the obvious sign that it was the Major's office. The Corporal did as he was ordered, leading him to the door, saluting him, and departing. He expected no less after being around a military organization this long. At least he had remembered to salute when presented before an officer and to return them when given.

Mac knocked on the office door before entering, letting his presence be known as he crossed the threshold into the boxy room. His first impression was that of a rather decorated warrior's personal room. Books and maps lined the walls, as well as medals and honorifics. A large desk was set near the back of the room, a stallion sitting in a large chair with a few more chairs across from him, empty and waiting. He nodded without looking up from the papers he held as he grunted something along the lines of "Take a seat."

The Major's face was pockmarked with small scars and what looked like burns. His calloused hooves and forearms were visible as the sleeves of his uniform were pulled back to his elbows. His white coat was offset by his dark black mane and piercing red eyes. Mac instantly branded him as a lifer. He had the look of a war weary veteran, that knew his fight was still ongoing. He didn't seem the type that would die quietly in his bed of old age.

Mac walked up to the desk, but chose not to sit. The chairs may have been sturdy, but he was unsure if they could support his weight.

"So you're my newest field Lieutenant. Says here that you're Sun Guard, yet you're still a bit of an FNG. Anything you need to fill me in on, new blood?" the Major abruptly said. "Can't frakkin' believe the replacement they sent me is a Sun Guard who's never seen combat."

"Sir, Ah' may not have seen much combat, but if yer' doubtin' ability to git a job done, yer' mistaken," Mac replied. He may not have seen combat, but the training he was put through was painful and difficult. He could handle himself once the adrenaline started pumping. He hoped.

The Major looked less than impressed as he finally looked up from his papers. His eyes were hard and his expression set in stone. "Then I suppose we'll get you ready," he said impassively. He reached for a small metal box that was covered in little dials and buttons. He pressed two of them and then looked back up at Mac, before looking back down and studying some of the reports he had on his desk.

The door opened behind Mac, and he quickly turned to see the same Corporal standing there. "If you'll follow me again, Sir," the young colt said, turning and leaving the large stallion in his wake for the second time in a half hour. Mac promptly made his way back along the hallway before him, turning a corner and catching up to Haze. From there, he quickly departed from the command building, narrowly passing a few mares as he moved through the somewhat small hallways. It didn't help when they stopped to look at him, their jaws metaphorically hitting the floor.

Haze led him to what he assumed was the mess hall, which he discovered was rather sparsely populated. Haze had him quickly sit down and brought him a tray of food, which he was then forced to down over the course of two minutes so that they could proceed with their tour. At least, what he assumed was a tour. After downing another quick mug of coffee, they departed and made for what was obviously the armoury.

The large yet rather unassuming building itself was solid and secure from the outside as he saw, and even moreso on the inside. As they reached the main doors, another pair of "Tartarus Rejects" saluted them and let them pass through. Once they were inside however, they entered a large metal hallway, with two checkpoints and multiple cages that they had to pass through. It took them well over a half an hour to pass through the security checks, to make sure they weren't armed, spies, imposters, changelings, or any other number of villainous things.

Again, Haze brought him to the office door of the pony in charge, though in this case, he stayed right behind Mac the whole time as they entered the Quartermaster's section of the armoury.

Upon entering they were greeted by a rather small powder blue mare who looked to be in her middle years of life. In her hoof a mug was held and he could smell the coffee that was contained within. She had a tired look to her, and her entire office looked somewhat worn out to boot. Stacks of filing cabinets filled the room, each rather uniform, along with a couple of photos that dated back to when Mac was just a young colt in his early school days.

"Name?" the small mare asked with a quiet yet clear voice. He saw that as she shifted, the nametag that was stuck to her plain uniform read "Tyra"

"Apple, McIntosh," he replied in a steady voice. He wasn't sure why, but this small mare made him feel...odd. Intimidated even.

"Well my boy it seems you're granted full access to the armoury. Didn't think we'd ever see one of you around here, though I suppose I can still be surprised. Let's see here...looks like your armour won't be here for another week. They've got your measurements right and you're not growing anymore..."

"Errr..." He wasn't sure what she meant. His own armour? He'd never been given armour, save for the metal bits he'd been given during training, but he'd always returned them at the end of the day to the Quartermaster back at the Academy, as well as the one in Canterlot.

"Something the matter, Lieutenant?" Haze asked from behind him. He seemed to ask with a perfect level of stoicism, conveying the feeling that he didn't care in the slightest, yet still seemed to want to know.

"Ah was never told about any armour," he replied to the emotionless Corporal. He wasn't sure what they meant. He knew that all soldiers wore armour of some type, regardless if it was metal plates sewn to leather clothes, to full blown steel plate and dragonhide.

"I've been filled in. You're a Sun Guard that doesn't have his armour yet. Don't worry, it's on its way. By tomorrow, you'll have your own. Now, go to the armoury. I expect you to try some weapons out and see what suits you," Tyra said, with a hint of dismissal in her voice.

He took that as his cue at any rate, and quickly departed behind Haze, who it seemed was destined to lead him to the outfitting cages. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the day anymore, but he accepted it.

"Here we go Sir," Haze stated as they passed through the entrance into the outfitting cage. It was rather large and had racks of weaponry, all designed for melee combat. Halberds, pikes, mauls, swords...all sorts of simple, martial, and exotic blades and bludgeoning weapons were scattered about the room. To his left, a unicorn mare sat in a literal cage, a wall of firearms and projectile throwers all around her. She sat looking rather bored as she read from a book, flipping the pages with her magic.

"'Scuse me Miss, but Ah was hopin' that Ah might be able to take a look at some of the weaponry you've got behind ya'," he said rather evenly to the mare. She looked up from her magazine, and was about the sixth mare that day, whose jaw metaphorically hit the floor. A blush spread across her face as she fumbled for words that just wouldn't form.

"I uhhh..w-whaddya umm...I m-mean uhh..." she trailed off, stammering a little.

"Easy Darlin', Ah just want to try some things out. Something that might suit my size, if ya' know of anythin'," he replied coolly. She seemed rather nervous, but he was starting to get used to it. He was...big. The past two or so weeks had left him even larger than he was before and it was...intimidating to most.

She quickly fumbled with some papers and her book as she scrambled out of her chair and proceeded to exit the cage into a door behind her. Within about a minute, she appeared again, magically lifting a bow. An enormous bow. As she slid it through the slot in the cage, Mac sized it up. When it was all the way through, it was as if it had been made for him. A stand snapped on to the bottom as he held it in his hooves. The bow was some kind of white material that was backed by steel. The string that came after it was thick and heavy. He discovered that the bow itself hardly bent, as he made to string it.

He was able to wrestle it into submission by the time the mare returned. He hadn't noticed she left, until she slid a large case to him, magically of course. He doubted a pony of her stature could even lift half of the weapons he could see inside of the metal room.

"Thank ya' darlin'," he said simply. Watching the little mare squirm made him smirk a little. No point in being so formal all the time, right?

A crack resounding to his right startled him and he quickly turned his head to see the commotion. He hadn't heard a sound like that since his first bits of training at the Academy. As he moved to locate the sound, his bow and case (that's purpose had yet to be ordained) in tow, he saw Corporal Haze standing at a firing slot, a long rifle in his arms. He was reloading it rather quickly and by the time Mac got closer to him, Haze had reloaded.

Another five or so heartbeats passed before Haze fired another shot at the target downrange. It was quite a ways out, but Mac's enhanced vision...was incredible at this point. He focused his vision, and could see everything much more clearly as he saw where the ball of load had passed right through the throat of the target, matching the center chest shot that the Corporal had made previously.

"Good shot Haze," he said rather amazed. Haze wasn't using any sort of reflectors or magnifiers, yet was hitting a target over five hundred meters away.

"Thank you sir," he said blandly. It was odd that the trooper seemed to have no personality whatsoever, but Mac just ignored it as he made his way to a firing slot nearby, the enormous bow in tow. As he took the time to set it up in a more fixed position, he opened the case he had been given. A total of four arrows were inside of it, as well as a small multilateral scope that he quickly hooked in place. His target was about three hundred meters out and he worked out the distance.

The arrows...were the size of javelins, with heavy triple barbed heads. He drew back on the string and found it to give a good level of resistance. He smiled as he considered the weapon. A stallion of his size and stature, working a bow like this? He'd have to practice with it, but it would be interesting to see what he could do. He wasn't bloodthirsty by any means, but now he knew that he was going to have to kill others, and it didn't bother him as much as now.

As he notched an arrow, he heard another shot to his immediate right and he noticed another pony had joined them along the firing line, with a shorter rifle than utilized by Haze. Before he drew back on the string, he looked back to his left and saw that a group of colts was meandering into the firing range, acquiring standard issue weaponry of their own.

He turned his attention back to his bow, pulling back the javelin arrow back along the massive bow's length. He smiled right as he released the tension, sending the massive bolt flying. It wasn't his best shot, but it cut through the air with a whistling sound, tearing the dummy at the far end of the range clean in half as it impacted the upper chest of the sack-cloth and embedding itself into the ground a ways behind it. The arrow itself then, seemed to just...return to him. It must have been a teleportation hex, he gathered. Celestia had mentioned something about them when she had teleported with him a second time. He didn't envy the thought of doing as such again, but he did marvel at the idea that he would never really lose an arrow like that. He re-notched the same arrow, and aimed for another target nearby that was still within his line of fire, and let fly the giant bolt. This one caught the dummy on the exposed left flank at about two hundred meters, ripping it in half as though it was no more than paper.

"Very good Sir." The stoicism in Haze's voice made Mac wonder if he really thought it was good, but as the arrow materialized back in its case, he smiled. Well, technically it was a smile. It was really nothing but a smirk, but it was more emotion than the stallion had seen from him thus far.

Time passed as Haze took up post next to him, firing shots at increasingly difficult ranges and taking called shots when Mac asked him to. It was amazing, seeing a marksman like Haze working. Every colt on the range stopped firing when Haze took aim. The same could be said for Mac even, as the new Lieutenant was gaining a reputation as the most terrifyingly large stallion anypony had ever laid eyes on.

Eventually, they had to clear the range as Mac made to leave, Haze following him without a word. He was free to do what he wished today, and Haze seemed to be sticking with him.

It was nearly noon when Mac and Haze reached the CQC area. A drill sergeant sized him up and quickly had him facing off with a couple of other NCO's that looked as though they'd done their fair share of service. They were already veterans moreso than the giant red stallion. They didn't need to know that though. Before the fight started though, Mac was tossed a pugle stick.

"Let's see yer hoof work, gold bar!" the  Drill Sergeant called as the first of the colts feinted towards him undaunted by his stature...

Twilight awoke to a strange sound. The crackling of...thunder.

Her eyes flickered open and she quickly got up, and proceeded to poke her head outside of her tent. Rain was falling all around her, but was sliding off of the magical barrier she had conjured up. A great thunderstorm was blotting out the sun, from what she could tell. The warm air indicated it was morning, but the sky was black with thunderheads.

Oh dear, this wasn't going to bode well. Traveling in the rain was difficult, and though she was prepared for any eventuality, she was still going to be off of her schedule.

Regardless, she collected her things in her saddlebags, thanking Starswirl's spell for Time Lord magic. She wondered who the Time Lords were, but quickly dispelled the thought from her mind as she started to lower the barrier she had formed around herself.

The rain instantly started to pelt her, and she quickly put up another barrier around herself, covering the top half of her body as she trudged back through the mud. She quickly became bored of slogging along, and retrieved a book from her bag, surrounding it with another barrier and proceeded to meander along the path, hardly noticing the rain, save for its smell and ambient effects. Every once in a while, lightning flashed and thunder shook her, but she started to get used to it. She was very adaptable after all.

Until the rain abruptly stopped. She noticed it as soon as it happened, the pattering sound ending instantly. She looked up from her book and saw the clouds in the sky...swirling. Their forms were changing and the rain started up again, coming down in droves and pounding the dirt with a torrent of water. The wind started to blow as Twilight looked down at her book, the whistling of it growing louder as the seconds went by. Leaves started to fly around her, and she found herself speechless as she continued to glance back at the book and the unpierced veil of the sky. She looked like a fool, standing in the middle of a muddy soup, staring at the freak weather and then at a book being held aloft by magic.

The cover of the book then became apparent to her...Natura: Tempestatem Erinys

Nature: Storm Fury.

She quickly galloped along the road, looking for a small shelter. She found none after a few minutes, still charging through the torrential downpour with her barrier up and her book floating alongside her. She slowed down to a crawl as she saw a flat patch of land and quickly chose to set up her tent. Within a few more minutes, she found herself inside the confines of her tent, a lantern lighting up the darkening shelter as the rain pattered off of her magical bubble. She started a magical fire to warm herself up, as the rain had become absolutely freezing and the mud was starting to drive her crazy, clinging to her coat and making her feel like she was covered in snow.

Hours passed as she restarted the book, trying to understand what it was saying. The riddles themselves were becoming more and more solvable as she re-read them, the underlying meanings making more sense. Hours passed, and the rain itself would change in intensity and lightning would flare up, causing great racket as she soldiered her way through the ancient tome. What was this book?

The words themselves made sense. They told of the power of nature and it's varying aspects, but this tome seemed to focus nearly entirely on the power of rain and thunderstorms. Lightning was something that most of the world was aware of as being incredibly dangerous and impossible to control. Some thought it was a form of fire, as whatever it touched was burned. Twilight, being a rather learned student, knew that it was actually a form of naturally occurring phenomenon known as "Electricity." It was akin to certain forms of concentrated magic, but was elusive. It held great amounts of stored energy and the lightning itself was formed from huge amounts of electrostatic as the clouds mingled, the warm and cold air causing atmospheric disturbances.

To be fully honest though, nopony quite knew what lightning itself was. It may have been electricity, but electricity itself was unknown. It was a gas or a liquid, and it most definitely wasn't a solid. It was akin to fire, at any rate, and most treated it for what it really seemed to be. Nothing but a force of nature that was to be cautious and aware of.

All of this correlated to what she was doing though, as it was mentioned somewhat in this tome. The science behind wasn't really brought up, but the strength of this particular force of nature was. It was defined by Starswirl's writs as "The true driving force that shaped the surface of our very world. It's destructive nature is as powerful as that of great earthly tremors that are based around the epicenter of our rocky planet."

It seemed somewhat clear in its meaning, but it didn't give her much information. Save for the words she read at the bottom of the page, that seemed to be what were really causing the ruckus. It was all ancient Equestrian dialect, one that she had taken the time to learn, but still needed to work on recalling certain characters or markings and defining what they meant.

As she read the bottom line of every page though, the storm outside...shifted. She didn't even read the words out loud. Just her magical presence surrounding the book seemed to empower her thoughts as she processed the script.

Hours passed as she attempted to decipher what she could. It was absolutely fascinating. She was...controlling a storm. A storm that naturally occurred, had waxed and waned on her whim, regardless if it was intentional at first. As she finally reached the end of the tome...she spoke aloud the last page. To her immediate displeasure.

Lightning struck the ground outside of her tent, deafening her and causing a flash blindness. A minute passed before she recovered, and she shuddered as she closed the book. She could control the weather with this tome. Vocalizing it made it even stronger.

It was the most terrifying magic she had come across. It was no wonder that it had been forbidden. The sheer destructive nature of it...how had...how had Starswirl deciphered and...bound it? Why was it that these phrases and snippets of the language were able to control the weather?

She tired herself out, thinking of the varying possibilities. The rain finally stopped of its own accord though, and she proceeded to look outside. The clouds were starting to part, and there were still a few daylight hours left. She collected her things in a matter of minutes, yet again, and made her way along the drying road. She was going to put off reading for a little while. At least until tomorrow.

She laughed at herself. She, Twilight Sparkle, was afraid to read a book at the moment. The very thought might have seemed ludicrous some time ago, but now...it was the least of her confusion. After what she had witnessed through reading Starswirl's writs, seeing him and his information as she relived it...this kind of magic that she learned was nothing in comparison. Albeit...it was interesting. She had plenty of tomes akin to it that she might read into. She could learn to tap and control great powers...

The thought was dismissed from her mind as it came about. No. She might be able to somewhat control it, but she was no master. She couldn't contain or control something of that scale or sheer level of power. It was difficult to think about, but there was no way she could use this to...well, what would she do with this kind of knowledge?

She...knew that something had to change. Celestia...the name soured her mood. She had been a loving Princess, as had Luna. The world was alright. Love and happiness reigned...but then she changed. Old wars broke out, as well as new ones. Celestia had ruined the world, and Twilight had been her most trusted and faithful student. Loved by all who knew her.

Yet the...Queen, had gone and ruined such a thing. Destroyed it. Now Twilight had to...stop her. However she could. She just needed...to get away. Starswirl was the only pony she could rely on. His knowledge imparted into her could save them all. As long as she could reach wherever the path led.

She made this decision silently as she trudged along towards her destination. It was pathetic in her own mind. Making life and world changing decisions while...walking to another city. It was...anti climactic to say the least. This isn't what she thought it would be like. She thought that if bad things happened, that heroes would come about and fill the world with light.

It looked as thought she would have to make the light herself.

A flash of lightning tore across the night sky as she thought of the words that bound it to her will.

The sun had already set by the time the small wagon had been cleared to pass through the gate at Fort Eclipse.

"Tartarus Rejects 'huh?" Seemed he'd be getting his wish at any rate.

Argus snorted as he looked over the paperwork of the unit he had been assigned to, alongside Shield. He was surprised enough that they paired them up again, but it seemed that they needed a new field medicae. His job was undecided, but he was to be grouped together in a mixed unit. As a new member of the EGSF, he was skeptical as to who he would be serving with.

The Tartarus Rejects were apparently front-line shock troops. Mostly comprised of veterans, with a constant flow of raw recruits to reinforce their FNG losses. Those who survived became the veterans, replacing those that were also lost due to heavy combat. They hadn't had any of the new boys make it more than two skirmishes in a month, at any rate. The vets pulled the weight of the regiment it seemed.

The problem was that they were stationed in Pisa, the trade city that was on the line to the Gryphus mountains. His smartarsed comment seemed to be back to bite him in the flanks, at any rate.

As he sized up the place, it seemed rather large, at least in the lanternlight.  He made his way to the central structure, Shield in tow. She hadn't stopped yapping since they arrived, and he only barely had been able to keep up with whatever it was she was trying to convey to him. He was more interested in looking around the grounds a little bit so he could figure out the exact formation of the fort, as well as a good place to hide if they came under attack. Being a forward scout with his abilities, he was always looking out for these things. As well as his aforementioned levels of cowardice, but that was only another factor.

"Who is our commanding officer again?" Argus abruptly asked Shield while she was in mid-sentence.

"Colonel Yak is the head of the fort, but we'll only report to Major Dusk as far as I know," she responded somewhat bitterly. She didn't appreciate being cut off, and even less so when trying to explain to him why they were there. In fact, he hardly seemed to be paying attention at all, she noticed as his eyes began to wander around the grounds again. She gave him a sharp jab in the side as she pushed past him, picking up her pace and taking the lead. He grunted and followed her.

"Alright, shit, calm down," he mumbled back at her. He wasn't about to put up with her shit anymore today. After saving her stupid flank from those Saddle-Arabians? No way did he deserve THIS.

The rest of their time going to the command building was spent in silence. They were both irritable, and just wanted to get this out of the way. Being assigned to their barracks and when they would be debriefed would make it easy, they just had to make it that far.

Once the guards at the front of the command building had held them up for a good twenty minutes, they finally made their way into the lobby to find a rather bored and tired looking receptionist behind a large desk. They asked for directions and were told that the Major was sleeping. After a mild bout of cursing, the pair were told to just go to the barracks, as they'd have bunks already assigned to them. A guard at the barracks themselves would be able to point them to their beds once they arrived.

It was too bad that the guard there also didn't want to let them in without seeing all of their credentials. The guard himself also didn't seem to impressed by Argus's "EGSF" patch that had been recently sewn to his uniform. Regardless, he let them in eventually and pointed them to their bunk. As it appeared, Shield would be sleeping in the same bunk, as they only had a few to spare, considering that the last batch of raw recruits had just arrived, along with the new Lieutenant. They'd be getting whipped into a platoon tomorrow.

As he passed through the barracks main entrance and found his assigned hallway, he passed by a door that made him stop. A great golden sun was engraved into the door, and a plaque on the door read "Lieutenant Apple." Seemed a little flashy. Then again it didn't really matter. He was too tired to care right now.

Argus decided he'd find out tomorrow. Or was it today? He was used to little sleep, but normally his adrenaline was pumping when he was on a mission. It didn't really matter to him now at any rate, as he found his assigned bunk and claimed the bottom privileges. Naturally, that meant that the mare got the bottom after a short argument that ended in a swift buck to the stomach, and a huffing sound coming from the sleep deprived woman. After a minute of wheezing, he climbed to his newly forced top bunk after removing his uniform and placing it in the hooflocker at the base of the bed. It was a miracle that he'd managed to do that, he thought as he slipped out of consciousness.

Bright and early the following morning. That's how it always was.

Argus managed to fall off of the top bunk as the role call sounded, but was able to land on another colt that had just climbed out of his own bunk. After a quick scuffle that left both of them being reprimanded, Argus found himself on his way to speak to Major Dusk. Something along the lines of leaving the "Worst SF impression I've ever seen in my life! You worthless excuse of flesh, I don't know what kind of shit they're accepting up top nowadays, but you'd better get yer frakkin' flank in gear and double time it to the Major's office before I have your skull mounted on my wall!"

It seemed to be going rather smoothly, he thought. He'd never been treated so well before. Normally they didn't tell him that until AFTER forcing him to be the PT example for the platoon. SF already had it benefits, he thought cheerfully.

As he entered the main command structure again, he found himself unharassed by the guards, and was able to quickly get directions from the receptionist as to how he might reach the Major's office. Dusk seemed to be the kind of early rising military pony that the Guard thought ALL it's veterans should be. Then again, glory and death didn't seem so nearly as nice as non-heroism and life to the naturally camouflaged Specialist.

As he arrived at the Major's oaken door, branded with the great golden leaf of his rank. Knocking before entering was imperative, and before doing as such, he made sure to straighten out his uniform and his back. He always managed to butter up the officers above him. So far, it had kept him alive, and would always land him more benefits in the long run. At least, that's how it had worked so far.

Once he breached the threshold of the great portal, his eyes began to scan the room for any important details. His eyes flickered over a couple of commendations, medals, and old picts. Saluting the Major, he waited for the order to ease himself and make his way to a chair. It surprised him when the older colt ignored this and just asked him to sit.

It was then that Argus noticed the veteran's pockmarked face and the look that he could recognize anywhere.

He'd never expected his CO to have been a shock trooper.

"Alright. Argus is it? I've read your file, and while I will say you've got a good track record, I'm not exactly sure what you're doing here," the colt started off. Argus waited patiently for the officer to continue. "A mixed unit is being formed out here, and frak if I know why, but I don't like it. Also, ease your back kid, I ain't gonna have ya' shot for a bit of a slouch."

"Now I see you've been reassigned to SF now. You'll be directly subordinate to me, and our newest Lieutenant Apple," he said, a bit of a scornful tone creeping into his voice at the mention of the Lieutenant's name. "Got anything you want to tell me? I'm not one for long meetings, and if you don't have anything to say, then I want you to take this file, sit at the reception desk, read the first two pages, and go from there." Argus saluted the old veteran, a feeling of near respect in his mind for the soldier. He could hardly blame the colt for his demeanor.

He nodded his eyes and grunted "Sir," at the CO, before taking the folder and departing quickly and quietly, as he'd always done. He ducked through the hallways, not making contact with a single pony as he reached the main lobby again, seating himself in a corner near the reception area, and opened the folder. He skimmed the first pages, taking in that he was to report to the staging area to meet up with the Lieutenant. It was going to be a long day indeed, he thought to himself, as he realized he had at least three hours to kill. Might as well get some chow and hit the range, he thought as his stomach began to rumble.

An hour, and a tray of actually decent food later, Argus found himself waiting in line for the armoury cage, listening to the colts and mares around him joke with their friends and just generally shoot the shit with those around them. Their current topic though, seemed to be their new CO.

"He's a monster from what I heard"

"Took out a Cole and Swerve with one swing at the practice ring yesterday"

"Have you SEEN how big he is? Didn't know ANYPONY could get to that size"

"That bow he uses, can it really punch through rock-crete?"

All of these questions had already piqued the curiosity of the colt and now he was nervous. Why did he have to be assigned to a frakkin' hero's platoon? He was NOT meant for front line combat. This was just getting better by the minute, he thought grimly, yet still was somewhat determined to come off and calm and collective. His silence had already made the others around him give him a slight berth, as some eyes fell to the patch on his basic combat uniform.

As time went on, the line moved up and he eventually made it to the cage, giving his requisition to the young unicorn mare behind the bars. She nodded as she looked over the list. She looked about ready to question his authority when he opened flashed her his patch. She nodded again and made off towards the back room, coming back a few minutes later with a few items magically in tow. He nodded at her and grunted an approval as he collected the items and moved towards the range, shouldering his way through the crowd that had appeared near one of the firing lanes.

It was then that he noticed who they were watching. About the time he saw the colt, he started to smell a horribly rank stench and fought back the urge to gag. It seemed to be emanating from the gray colt lying forward on the edge of the range. He was aiming down the sights of an unscoped long rifle. As Argus turned his head to see the distance of the target, the resounding *CRACK* that filled the air left him with no doubts as to who it was that had just blown the head off of the target dummy at what appeared to be around eight hundred meters.

Argus felt a shiver run down his spine at the terrifying accuracy, but then heard a great creaking sound. That of a drawstring being pulled back on a ballistae. At least, he thought it was a ballistae. A spear hurtled off towards a closer target that was a lane over. The dummy was shorn in half and the missile disappeared as it collided with the dirt wall lining the back of the range.

A ragged set of cheers and stomping took place from the crowd that surrounded the sniper and the other unseen marksman. As he continued to push his way through, staying as far from the smelly sniper as possible, he rounded the filing slot and saw...something that he would never quite forget.

A massive stallion stood before him, a white bow the size of a barn support beam propped up at his side with a quad of spear-like arrows in a quick access quiver hanging from his back. His armour though...was what made him that much more awe inspiring.

Golden and royal blue, the wrought armour of a Sun Guard lay before him in the flesh. Master-crafted and covered in countless designs, all seemingly based off of images of the Sun, the Queen, and dragons being conquered by a single figure in armour as well. A great apple crest was burnished across the front of the main frontal plate, a tree spanning behind it towards the back of the armour drew his attention from the smaller details, as the stallion turned. His helmet was removed and he could see the piercing green eyes of the stallion, as well as his short strawberry-blonde mane and red coat.

He was the perfect image of a Sun Guard, terrifying and beautiful. Something was amiss though. He was grinning, and seemed genuinely humble about the show he had just put on.

He looked away quickly and made his way to the closest empty firing lane he could find, not wanting to deal with the great stallion until he absolutely had to.

His new CO was going to get him killed. He just knew it.

He did his best to ignore the crowds of soldiers around him while he began his own target practice with a rifle. He wasn't exactly a stellar shot, but he could hit a still target rather well. He preferred the stealthy approach of get in, get out, without having to resort to combat. When it came to combat, fast and silent with a blade or poison was his preferred method anyways.

A cheer went up the second time he went to fire, and his shot went about five meters high from the target. Ugh. This wasn't going to work. At all.

He collected his things, turned them in to the young unicorn mare behind the counter, and left the armoury. He had another hour to kill, and his stomach was in mutual agreement with him. His memory or the map he saw in the command office led him to the mess hall, where he found himself to be about the third in line for lunch. Nopony was really around but he WAS early. He could also start to take advantage of his SF patch. This thing really was kind of cool.

As he collected his tray of food, he found himself a table near the exit and quickly ate his fill. It was surprisingly good, considering how military food could be sometimes. Then again, living on E-rations and water wasn't everything that they had to offer. He considered this as he made his way to the staging area, and discovered a roster with his name on the doors of the arming area. Filing his way into the building, he found a hooflocker on the ground with his name across it. A few other various soldiers were in the rather large meeting room as well, checking their own gear as they started to get their things in place and uniforms together.

As he opened the locker, he found everything he'd used, as well as fresh refits of what he'd requested be sent when he'd learned about the terrain out here. A mesh suit that he wore over his various pouches and vests, with a lot of drakeskin leather. It wasn't as tough as dragonhide, but it was close enough. He almost made note that all of his pouches had been filled with various packages of powders, ranging from poisons, to scent reducers, and a couple of smoke bombs. They sprayed out massive amounts of black powder and smoke when triggered in quite a large radius, allowing for a quick departure from bad situations.

A few minutes later, the staging door opened and quite a number of ponies made their way inside through the large entrance. Most quickly found their lockers and started to gear themselves up. They had quite the ragtag band together within a few minutes as he noticed. Most seemed to be average soldiers, but quite a few seemed to be different. He recognized Shield as being a field medicae, as well as a combat engineer, and a few pegasi that looked like low flying scouts.

What impressed him the most though, was a unicorn pair that had ley-tattoos across their bodies. They were dressing themselves up in some custom worked drakeskin and fabric, as well as giving their staves a good twirl before strapping them across their backs. A quarter of an hour passed and all of the soldiers had started to socialize a little, each keeping to their groups. Argus counted forty-two standard assault troops, a unicorn pair, Shield and another medicae, the combat engineer, a trio of pegasi scouts, and himself. He made fifty-one. Now they just all seemed to be waiting for their CO, and for the most part had formed into ranks, save for those non conventional troops.

A whistle was heard and all eyes turned to the main door. Everypony in the room went rigid and at attention, as the giant Lieutenant entered the room, the sniper that Argus had seen earlier trailing right behind him.

Some jaws dropped at the sight of the giant armoured stallion, and a few ponies shifted uncomfortably in the presence of their new officer. Argus was among them, as the bulwark that was the war horse that looked across them.

Then, the first thing he did, was removed his dark and visored helmet, showing them all his young visage. At this, he stopped and stood straight, calling out, "Platoon! Aten....SHUN!" The soldiers before him all snapped into place. "Present....ARMS!" Salutes were pulled up crisply as the Lieutenant saluted as well. He dropped his salute, and gave an "at ease," leaving the soldiers to relax their stances.

"I'm Lieutenant Apple," he started. "I expect most of you to just call me that, Apple, or LT. Now, you all are here, because you are MY platoon. We are here, to do the work of the Queen, exalted as she is. I expect you all know your jobs. I hope you can all trust each other quickly, because here in a half hour, we are leaving and moving up to the far side of the city, and joining our brothers and sisters of the 118th "Stalwart" division at the Spearhead encampment. I may not know you all, but I expect nothing but the best from the 116th." It was a rather basic run-down, but it was well and fine.

"Now, before you get ready and collect the last of your gear, I'd like to remind you that we are a frontal combat unit, and I expect you to keep each other alive," he ended. With a clatter of hooves being raised in salute, he returned it, and spun quickly, leaving them all in a somewhat grim mood.

Yup. This guy was gonna get him killed.

Blood and Iron-Part I

Heresy-Blood and Iron-Part I

Spearhead encampment was worse for wear, as Mac soon discovered. His platoon kept a steady pace while they made their way to the forward operation center that was the front of their lines against the Gryphus Kingdoms. They weren't exactly a small force, being fifty-three strong altogether, but their number paled in comparison to the actual forces held at the camp.

He was surprised to find that they were fifty-three, in twenty thousand.

The camp was enormous, and had a huge supply train constantly passing through, guards everywhere, and siege level fortifications built up around the base of the mountain that it resided at. Pegasi explored the skies, constantly alert of the griffons that could swoop down from the sunlight and assault them. There had been at least one attempt to assault the frontal fortifications every day, and troops were always in and out of the trenches leading to the forefront of the combat lines. Mac's platoon quickly fell in to their designated area and set up their tents and other gear. Once all had been set up, the newly appointed officer dismissed his men (and women) to eat and rest for a while. He was to retrieve orders from the Colonel, who had taken up his permanent headquarters in the trenches.

As Mac made his way through the giant camp in the direction, he noticed many raw recruits as well as veterans looking upon his great bulk with a huge mixture of emotions. Awe, fear, resentment...and above and beyond, looks of inspiration. As he passed through the ranks, many colts and mares, even a few of the older and more battle hardened stallions...fell to their knees.

"My Lord..." one said. "H-h-have you c-c-c...come t-t-to save...."

The colt's voice cut off and Mac studied the traumatized pony. What he noticed filled him with a great sense of sadness. The colt's uniform was that of a recovering soldier, and he saw that varying runes stitched across the patch on his shoulder reading off as Head Trauma, Permanent.

As he looked around, he saw a great many soldiers in uniforms, combat gear, and even those like the one who was still recovering from combat. Some even had some more fresh wounds. A sense of growing fear and apprehension permeated the air as the great stallion realized that at least a few thousand sets of eyes were looking at him. He was literally the center of attention in the camp and to many seemed to be the unspoken power among them.

"'Ahm here to fight," he said simply. His booming voice reached many of them, and absolute silence followed his statement as he moved forwards. The crowd in front of him parted as he made his way along, many bowing their heads as he passed. Even the senior officers seemed to have found themselves at a stop, not yelling for their underlings to return to their duties or posts. The arrival of a Sun Guard, unannounced, had left them all speechless, but...a Shock Guard troop no less. They had yet to witness one before them, and he seemed to be an absolute monster. An automaton even, as not a single bit of fur or flesh was visible underneath his enormous plate armour, and that even his eye slits were darkened by some form of veil.

He proceeded forwards, unhindered by anything or anypony as he made his way to the edge of the fort and down through a tunnel complex, deep into the side of the mountain. He had to duck down a bit, but for the most part, the tunnels were enormous and supported by siege-grade pillars and arches. Many guards were posted and he had to make sure to press himself to the side from time to time, as more than once a pony on a stretcher was being carried back to the main hospital. Some had grievous wounds that made the stallion feel a great rage start to overtake him. How dare they hurt such proud soldiers? His very brothers in combat and country?

For a quarter of an hour, he passed through the dimly lit passages, eventually reaching the Colonel's bunker. At this point, he had cooled off back into his normal quiet and uncaring demeanor, but the fury was buried not far beneath. He had yet to experience real combat, and he knew it would be altering, but he had prepared himself for it.

As he entered the domain of the Colonel, he was greeted by the officer himself. The Colonel was a Yak, a hairy northern bull from the Hooviet Union. He had fought many wars in the past century, and had been blessed by Celestia back when she was still just known as "Princess." He was one of her greatest tacticians, always fighting against guerillas and their wars of attrition. He knew just how to press them, making use and taking absolute advantage of the military might of an organized army, even in situations that the cowards chose to strike under the cover of.

"Ah yes, Apple. I have been vaiting som' time you see?" a voice rang out as Mac stepped forward into the main entrance of the underground bastion. It was really a marvel. It was carved by magic and had been made in hours. Yet it was impregnable, and rather professionally laid out. Mac took this all in as he searched for the voice, and quickly found the old Colonel sitting to his left on a rather large bench, his bodyguards not far away.

He was covered in long, dark brown hair that was rather shaggy, and had two rather large horns that curled out from around his ears. His body itself had the evidence of many battles fought, as scars varying in length and shape ran across small bald patches of his coat. He only had one eye, the other covered partially by his cap, as well as an eyepatch. He spoke with a thick accent, his Equestrian dialect obviously a second language, but still practiced and easy enough to understand.

"I have com' to assume zat you are ready to crush our enemies benese your cloven hooves, yes? Nosing more and nosing less?" he announced, as more of a rhetorical question than anything. Mac simply nodded.

"For my Queen, and for Equestria," his deep voice reverberating from the stone walls.

"Good, because I have a task for you..."

The sound of a musket shot rang out apart from the others, as a bullet took an unlucky colt in the throat. He went down hard, his arterial blood spraying across the front of Mac's armour.

His first time on the battlefield wasn't something he was prepared for. It scared him.

He never let it show of course, but the sheer amount of blood and shit and bodies made him uneasy. The smell was the worst of it. It permeated the air. Along with the smell of sheer fear and terror. It was something that he'd have to get used to, if he managed to survive.

Haze was right behind him as he charged through the firing lines that led along the walls of the trenches. The griffons had the advantage of height, but couldn't risk flying in this situation. Those that tried were immediately torn to pieces by bolts and bullets. It was a peek and shoot game, with the trenches moving further up the mountainside with every step. In some cases, the forces were so close, they could spit on each other.

This proved to be advantageous in Mac's case, as he tore forward throughout bloody slurry at his hooves. He rounded a corner, finding himself immediately face to face with a trio of griffons that seemed to be moving up, attempting to flank the rifleponies with their close range weaponry, namely maces and their claws. They barely had time to screech before Mac's bellow tore from his throat, and he crashed right into them. His weight and momentum pushing him through.

The first was knocked over and trampled by his armoured hooves, while the other two were caught by either of his shoulders, their bodies crushed up against the side of the trench. Their bones broke easily and their blood spurted from ruptures in their feathers and flesh.

He reveled in their deaths, morbid and contradictory as it was. They were killers of his brothers and sisters. His cold fury knew no mercy.

Haze quickly rounded the corner, popping his head up and firing quickly at a griffon that Mac didn't see until it's corpse slid from a small hole it had been hiding in, somewhat above him. Albeit now, it was missing its right eye and most of the back of its skull.

"Very good sir," Haze said absentmindedly as he went about reloading his rifle. Mac crouched over as he assessed the situation, keeping near the Corporal. Haze was already the most loyal of the soldiers under his command, and was the only one with him for this part.

Mac was going to go alone, but Haze wouldn't take no for an answer. It was probably for the best, as he had an incredible eye for detail, even if his cleanliness standards left a bit to be desired. He also seemed to have a certain air about him that was mysterious, but Mac had yet to inquire. The colt had given him no reason to fear that he would let him die, and he knew that Haze would probably expect him to do the same, even if his demeanor left him seeming to be a lifeless husk in some ways.

"We need to move up and push them out of the east trenchline if we're gonna get anything done," Mac told his comrade.

"Right behind you then, sir," Haze replied stoically, affixing the bayonet to his rifle.

They surged forward, tearing around another corner and ambushed an unwary group of griffons that were focused on reloading their rifles and taking shots at the colts not fifty meters from them. Mac charged at them, the sound of his clanking armour and enormous hooves hardly making any recognizable noise in the din of the combat that raged across the battlefield.

His glittering armour was shining like a star in the twilight sun, and by the time he was seen, one of the eagle-lions was already screeching as he crushed the life from it in a single sweeping motion. A shot rang out and a bloody spray spurted forth from another griffon that had gained its bearings and was about to assault the great stallion. Haze was an impeccable shot, and the flattened ball passed through the beast and hit another with enough force to stun it for a moment. In this time, Mac rammed his horned helmet into its chest and caved its ribcage in, rupturing many vitals and grinding it to the wall. It came apart like a broken toy.

They surged forward, a line of colts scrambling over the trench walls attempting to join the unprecedented warrior. A ragged battle cry was heard as the soldiers charged forwards, their bayonets and armour flashing in the light as the griffons fired into their ranks, attempting to inflict casualties before they arrived. Mac charged along the trench, trying to bring more of a focus onto himself as he ripped his way through the trench before him. Griffons began to fire at him or braced themselves for imminent contact.

It was a pathetic attempt. Shots hit his armour and bounced off, or just broke apart. Blades, beaks, and claws didn't even scratch the plates of enchanted steel and brass. Weapons were sundered and broken, as were bones. Flesh was pulverized under the hooves and extreme power of the stallion, who in turn received no damage whatsoever.

Within seconds of his brutal assault, more ponies were leaping across the barren landscape and into the trench, bayonets and other bladed weapons slashing and stabbing at the winged beasts, pistols firing and hooves crushing while the broken line of griffons began to completely shatter.

Some attempted to fly away, hoping their wings would allow for them to retreat quickly enough to avoid retribution. No sooner had they left the ground, than the magic wrought by unicorns further back along the lines struck out. The burnt feathers and smoking flesh told the tale, as the mangled and burnt corpses of the unlucky creatures fell from the sky.

The battle wasn't over though. A line had been taken, but it was an uphill battle and had been for a month. Mac continued upwards, Haze right behind him. The other ponies continued to move forwards with him, under the command of a Sergeant that kept them in line.

"No mercy," Mac grunted loud enough for all of those behind him to hear. Another battle cry rang out as more colts and even a few mares came forward from further back, some tending to the wounded, whereas a great many more galloped forwards to reach the newly established frontline.

For what seemed to be hours, but was no more than minutes, they advanced slowly, firing at the retreating griffons. The beasts were dug in incredibly deep and were difficult to root out. More than once a trapdoor had exploded up out of the brush, a griffon bursting out to assault an unwary soldier and engage in melee combat. Griffons were larger and had more natural weapons than most ponies and this was their preferred method of war. Talon and beak suited them more than anything.

The Guardsponies had to try to be faster than their opponents, utilizing their combat blades and varying melee weaponry. Their natural weapons were better for bludgeoning and were difficult to fully utilize in such situations, save for those of unusual size.

Mac's head snapped to his left as he heard another screech. A griffon burst up from a trapdoor and grabbed a mare. Her scream drew immediate attention, but as the closest soldier to her surged up, the winged beast drove its beak into the unlucky mare's throat, tearing out her windpipe and cutting short her pained neighs. As it began to attempt tearing her apart, two soldiers drove their musket bayonets into the beast's chest while a third skewered it on a pike, lifting it up and dragging it out of the hole where they could use the leverage to rip the beast in half. Blood spurted up from the jagged wounds and the (Mac assumed it was a female, as he'd never heard so high pitched a screech before) griffon was torn asunder.

Another hole burst up right in front of the great Shock Guard, but as the griffon came forth, Mac simply brought forward his jagged helmet and crushed the eagle thing's skull, pulping the front of its head. He strode forward, a new smear of blood covering his golden plated body. His fury was starting to rise again, but he also felt bile rising in his throat. The smell of blood and death was starting to get to him. It was his first time on a real battlefield and now the time lapse was starting to catch up to him.

It didn't matter though. He had a task.

A shot separate from the rest of the great din that was combat, rang out. A muffled roar was heard, and a griffon started to tumble down the mountainside.

"Very good Haze," Mac acknowledged. Haze's own response was no more than a grunt and a slight smirk as he accepted the praise.

The resistance from there became less frequent, but all the more desperate. More griffons came forward, in suicidal charges. They were just trying to slow them down at this rate. The problem was, that it was working. The first charge that came, was announced by the tumbling of boulders. Those that didn't make it to trenches in some cases, were crushed flat or were maimed. The screams of the mangled were worse than the silent gushing of the bloodied and dead.

The second barrage never came, as the Unicorns finished weaving a great spell.

The back line from whence Mac had first entered the battlezone, glowed, and within seconds, the world had gone red. All stopped to look up, save for those performing medical tasks or the wounded themselves. The sun had just passed under the horizon, but the light that remained seemed to cast the entire world into a bloody red.

Then, the wailing started.

A griffon burst from its hold, tearing its own eyes from its head before bashing its skull against a rock, throwing itself with reckless abandon as it murdered itself. All over, griffons spilled from holes in the mountainside, strangling each other and pressing claws into their own vitals.

The cooling mud was refreshed with new blood and vital fluids.

Mac nearly vomited, like half of those around him were already doing. Still, he staggered forward, the sound of the great spell hardly effecting the ponies. It was driving the griffons insane, and yet it was only annoying to the ponies. Their bowels loosened a bit, but no adverse effects remained. He shuddered as a shiver ran up his spine. Suddenly though, the feeling was gone. The smell of unwashed kit and month old unwashed socks filled his nostrils, and he knew that Haze was right beside him. The stench clearing his head.

"Messy work sir," he said. "I think we'd best carry on."

Mac only nodded as he broke into a gallop. He needed to reach the designated cave. He was going to have a hard time getting into some of the places he needed to reach, but this mattered not. Not after what the griffons had done. Soiling the treaty had condemned those that might have been taken prisoner. They all must perish for the deeds they committed.

The ragged line of colts and mares held their ground, collecting the wounded and dead. It was a sad sight, but it was war. They'd be avenged. Their families taken care of. The blood of their enemies would soak the blades and hooves of their brothers and sisters in arms.

Mac and Haze trekked up the mountainside and into the first major entrance to the inner cave system. Their wasn't much resistance, as the unicorn magic had seen to many of the griffons that were relatively near the outskirts of the rocky eyrie. Those that were still struggling were given the mercy of death, even if the mercy itself wasn't shared by those that delivered it. All of Celestia's enemies were given merciful death and forgiveness. The soldiers themselves though didn't care a whit for that. At least not Mac and his stoic companion.

"Intuh the cave then," Mac said dryly to Haze. "Very good sir," the colt responded, without the slightest hint of unrest. Mac looked at his unassigned aide curiously, hoping to view even the slightest bit of emotion in him. What he got, was a bland nod from a somewhat bored looking soldier, following orders and doing what he saw fit in the combat zone. Mac dismissed it and focused on surging forwards, not even caring if the griffons were lying in wait to ambush him. He could take anything they threw at him.

They had a LOT to throw at him anyways.

He jumped over a tripwire just before entering a larger cavern, his enhanced eyes easily seeing it, as well as his ears hearing the very breaths of the beasts. Their stench even more so. They smelt of blood and shit. Another smell lurked deeper...fear.

His hulking figure crashed against the floor, a mighty bellow tearing from his throat as a dozen griffons came upon him, claws and axes swinging. With a mere thought, blades slid out of various joints in his armour, and as he swung about, dodging some blows as well as absorbing others, he became a flurry of steel and brass. The blades caught on the griffons as they came close, ripping apart flesh and spraying blood, disorienting or wounding, while his great cloven hooves came down on those he deemed worthy of his attentions at the time.

One axeblade was brought down heavily on his armour. As if slammed against his legs, light flashed along his length and shards of the shattered weapon were thrown around the room, stunning the beast that had assaulted him. The wardlight faded and within another few moments, the rest of the griffons were dead or mortally wounded. Blood leaked from many wounds on the eagle-lion things, yet the great stallion remained unharmed. His armour, not a single scratch or dent in it. Though, it was soaked in blood, the red liquid sliding down along the curves and intricate designs of the armour, vitae and bone powder clinging to his steel-shod hooves. He looked like a morbid and monstrous god of war.

Haze quickly rejoined him, disarming the trap as he entered the room. Discerning what it was, he disassembled the bomb that was attached to it, and stowed it away in one of the pouches on his armoured vest. He had his second weapon of choice out at this point. A revolving chambered flechette thrower. He loaded tubes into the little chambers, rather than lead or iron balls. The tubes broke apart as he ignited the black powders within, and when they exited to wide-barreled weapon, hundreds of spikes and shards of metal spurted forth from it. It was horribly ineffective at a range, but it cleared tight quarters incredibly well. Mac just always made sure he was out of the way when it was used. It was loud and he didn't want to be a product of friendly-fire, even if his aegis was impenetrable.

Mac shuddered at the thought of his armour falling into disrepair, but quickly put the thoughts at the back of his head. His armour was forged in magic and sunfire. It was as invincible as he was, and he had a mission to do. Haze was the most reliable soldier he'd met so far and he trusted him greatly. They'd get the job done. He smirked as they continued on, ignoring the blood pooling around the wide room.

The sounds outside of the cave network faded as Mac and Haze drove themselves deeper into the complex labyrinth. They had memorized maps of this place before, as once, it had been a great road that let other land bound creatures reach the Gryphus range cities. Or at least, this tunnel should lead to that road. Mac's main target wasn't along the road itself, which he knew resided in an enormous cavern that spanned for kilometers. No, they would have made that road into a nearly impregnable fortress by now. They'd take it at a later date.

As the pair of ponies made their way along through the smaller side caverns, they quickly ran into a problem.

Mac was too big to fit through some of the shortcuts.

"Haze...'ahm gonna need ya' tuh get to the crosspoint as quietly as ya' can ahead o' me," Mac said, "I'd like it if ya' scoped it out a bit, if'n ya' reckon ya' can." His smile wasn't seen by the stoic colt, but he could tell that Haze would do it, exactly how he asked. In fact, Haze always did what he was ordered to do, exactly how ordered, if not a little bit above and beyond in some cases.

Haze did his slouching salute, and nodded his head, grunting in acknowledgement before diving off into the passageway before him.

Mac himself made his way back the way he had come. He'd have to leave and make his way back outside, and get closer to his objective by a secondary route. It was a pain, but he'd come to accept it stoically, as he always had. It was work and he was a master.

As he made his way quickly along through the tunnels, he kept alert, listening for the sound of any sort of enemy. It was then, he noticed the tunnels themselves were too quiet. Sound wasn't echoing how it should have, as his great steel clad hooves clattered against the stone of the cavern.

Sorcery.

He felt his wards grow hot, as a bolt of light flashed and his veil grew darker to counter the spell.

He was thrown bodily, his huge bulk crashing against the wall of the cavern, shattering stone and crushing the rock under hit legs as he came back down. He recovered quickly, and found himself in a circle of...

Unicorns.

He grunted in annoyance, as he took in the situation. A group of five unicorns had him surrounded, staves and rods at the ready. He began to speak, but was quickly cut off as another great flash of light threw him from his feet, sending him cavorting across the cavern and into a stone archway near where he had first entered the room. More stone lay broken around him as he rose, his wards flaring as their inner powers began to fully generate.

He turned towards the unicorns.

Renegades. He saw the tattoos on their faces, the scars on their ears where ceremonial earrings had been removed forcibly by magic. These were ponies of the icy Hoofswell, on the border of the Gryphus ranges. These ponies had gone north after the founding of Ponyville, not wishing to live under any sort of monarch. They still traded and were generally in good standing with the rest of the fiefdoms of the world, but some...like these before him, were disgraces, even to their own kind.

Hoofswell ponies always had pieces of jewelry placed on their ears at birth, as a sign of status. The more expensive a ring, the greater the family. The higher number of expensive rings led to social markings. These though, had all lost their earrings, by committing some disgraceful act that none could forgive. The scarred tissue of their ears said as much.

Mac snorted and slammed his hooves down onto the rocky floor, bringing up chips of rock and letting the force of it resonate around the passageway.

Heretics would die before him.

Words were not exchanged as the monstrous stallion surged forward to destroy the mages before him.

Ley Lines flared up across the bare patches of fur that layered along their flesh like tattoos. None of these unicorns were inexperienced, nor were they weak. Their power visibly pooled before them, and struck out at Mac. He met it head on and focused all of his inner energy into the runes that flowed across the aegis that encased him. A smell of burnt hair and blood permeated the room, as the sound of breaking bones and cries of pain began to once again, reverberate along the cavern's high ceiling.

Death was heavy here. Flesh pulped under metal, the feel of magic surging through Mac's limbs as the runes visibly bled magic energies from the blast that they had just absorbed. Blood soaked his hooves and the heretics all lay dead, their corpses strewn about and ripped apart. Excess magic continued to flow off of Mac's huge figure, changing red as it related to his inner feelings. He was furious.

He may not have really hated griffons, but traitor ponies?

He'd crush any who opposed his beloved Equestria.

It was then, he noticed that the corpses of the magicians were beginning to fade from existence. He could smell the magic. Thick and strong as it permeated the air.

Necromancy.

Blood and Iron-Part II

Heresy-Blood and Iron-Part II

The frontline had been pushed back. The spearhead assault that had led to Lieutenant McIntosh's breakthrough was quickly swept back by the griffons, once a regiment had been sent forth to replace those lost in the magical assault. Normally this wouldn't have done much, but they were backed by unicorns and other such mages. It didn't become apparent to the defending forces, until the first line of troops caught fire and began to scream in their throes of pain and death.

The first response team of unicorns pooled their power and began to create a shield against the magic that was starting to move down the ranks and kill more of the colts and mares fighting against the bestial griffons. It became truly apparent though, when half of the Equestrian Guard unicorns that were supplementing the push, were ripped apart from within, destroying the circle of power and enveloping the rest of the mages in magical fire.

They were outclassed in magic, by a group of griffon mages. Or so they thought.

What had been an uphill battle quickly turned into a complete disaster ending with the Equestrian forces being routed. A blast of magical fire ripped through the quick responders and put the line in disarray, with no unicorns to stop and counter the magic that was being thrown at them, there was just no way for them to hold.

It was then that the true problem arose. The cavern that the Equestrians had been using to advance to the open mountainside, started to glow with a dark purple glow. Wards wafted along through the air, and rock started to reform, weaken, and crumble. The entrance began to collapse, burying dozens of ponies in hundreds of tons of rubble, leaving the few hundred that were out on the battlefield completely cut off.

It became a slaughter, as griffons came down in the hundreds, utilizing the advantage of air superiority to drop explosives made of black powder and magic, sending metal shards into flesh and rending apart their aggressors. Teams swooped down and lifted ponies up, dropping their struggling bodies on to rocks, or even their own comrades. The full retreat never came, and those that grouped together to make a final stand were burnt from below by a firestorm that began to be woven. The griffons retreated to their eyrie and the ground opened up to brimstone.

Shit.

Argus knew it would end up about like this.

"Move it Mud. We don't wait around for new blood," the annoyed voice of Argus's new commander directed at him.

Ever since he had been assigned to the EGSF or "Black Guard," he'd been miserable. He was constantly training under their strict regimen, as well as the regimen that had been insisted on by Lieutenant Apple. It was getting to be too much. All of the physical activity, weapon focus, fortitude training, and many mental exercises were just really starting to become a drag. It had been bad enough when he was a forward scout but now it was just plain cruel.

He was going to be departing soon for a mission that unto itself had a simple premise, but he knew that they didn't send the EGSF without good reason. He was a scout, but was also much more than that in this case. He would be providing front line information for the rest of his squad, who in turn would be getting a lot of dirty work done.

They were a rather mixed squad, all with particular and peculiar skills, in his opinion. He himself, small, naturally camouflaged, and an expert at making himself even more so. The code names didn't exactly make them any less odd as well. There was Doc, who was actually all about botany and poison. Next came Spritz, who had an unnatural obsession with fire and various gels and liquids he could make that could in turn, be lit on fire to burn for quite a long time. Khan, was their leader, and he didn't seem to have any specific talents, besides being a gruff talker. Finally, came Argus, whom they'd taken to calling "Mud." He wasn't quite sure why.

Argus found himself quickly scrambling after Khan, as he was brought back to reality by the sound of a weapon's discharge. He was at the armoury with the rest of his squad getting his kit together, but the others were already done. In fact, Khan was the only one left, and he didn't seem to pleased at the moment.

Whatever. He may have been the squad leader, but Argus would be watching out for number one first and foremost.

He collected his kit and stumbled his way over to the doorway as Khan snorted again, making his way out of the cages. It was going to be a long couple of days, he just knew it. Celestia damn it all, he had a crazy CO and now a crazy squad leader to deal with. He made a bet in his own head as to which one was going to end up getting him killed, and it ended up landing back on the Lieutenant. That giant bastard was really a shock trooper and would probably be dragging him along on their next "outing," if he survived this mission with Khan.

Nope. Gotta think positive. You'll outlast the both of 'em and eventually get reassigned or retire. You're a stealthy guy. You know you can do it. This positive thinking stuff only ever worked for a few minutes at any rate.

As he departed the armoury into the now darkening sky, he noticed the sun at his back casting a reddish-orange light across the mountainside in front of him. He quickly caught up with his squad and they began to make their way towards the cave system that was the front line, staying clear of the bustling regulars that were running back and forth carrying messages or supplies, and in some cases, wounded ponies.

Forward they marched, to the cavern entrance, and to what would be a much more terrifying mission than Argus was expecting.

Haze was soaked in gore. Hardly any of the blood spread across his coat was his. He'd hardly even suffered more than a few minor cuts.

The griffons he'd come across were all sleeping, save for the few on lookout. He killed them off rather quickly and quietly, though the smell of their blood quickly awoke the resting group. He was among them like a flash, solemn and brutal, quickly slashing throats and sliding his bayonet into vital points. Half a dozen were dead before the last three were up and attempting to assault him. They all charged him quickly and were uncoordinated, but what they lacked in tactics, they more than made up for in zeal. They all roared as they charged forward.

Haze discharged his rifle into the closest griffon's face, spraying its brains across the room to join the other mingling bodily fluids that lay about the floor and walls. The other two quickly tried to sandwich him between them, and he jumped out of their path, clipping one on the end of its beak with his hoof, albeit not very hard. It became a test of agility, as Haze threw his rifle at the smaller of the two, the wood colliding with the unsuspecting creature's skull, knocking it senseless.

The larger of the two roared again, and he attempted to dodge it, but was lightly skimmed by its claws as he ducked and leaped aside. This seemed to infuriate it even more, as it jumped into the air, nearly skimming the ceiling of the cavern and doze at him. He sidestepped it, and bucked it hard in the face as it twisted to slash at him again. It landed on him and they became a tangled heap of flailing limbs, but it quickly gained the upper hand. Its claws scraped across his sides, attempting to dig deeper in to create a hold.

The pony quickly bucked his back hooves into the beast's lower abdomen and then rocketed his helmeted head forward into the thing's beak, shattering the hard cartilage. The wounded griffon fell backwards, overcome by pain. Haze regained his footing and quickly moved away from the thrashing creature. He jumped over to his rifle, and bucked the griffon that had been regaining its senses in the side of the head. He felt its skull cave in, as he quickly hefted his rifle. He was armed again. The fight wouldn't last longer than the next thrust.

The berserk griffon had somewhat regained its balance, but it was at the point in which it didn't feel pain anymore. Its brain had overloaded on fury. It surged forward.

His form was perfect. A slight side-step, and a single thrust with his bayonet, and he had planted the blade in the eye of the the monster.

The beast stopped in its tracks. It slowly slid backwards, off of the bayonet embedded in its socket.

With a shove, Haze pushed the creature to the floor and snorted with contempt. He quickly reloaded his rifle and made his way onwards. His wounds had stopped bleeding and were starting to heal. He wasn't augmented, but that didn't seem to stop him from running on sheer will and his sense of duty. He proceeded onwards down the most obvious path, the miasma of his stench mingled with blood and gore.

He took this with a grain of salt, as he did anything and everything else. He'd have much more to do to reach his objective, while the Lieutenant made his own way around.

An hour passed, and he made his way from tunnel to tunnel, passageways slowly becoming more modernized with actual flooring, and eventually, he came to a very lightly guarded section of hallways. It converged into what he assumed was a giant cavern, considering the size of the doors nearby. He put down one of the guards without being noticed, and by the time the other smelled blood, it was too late, as the powder in his rifle ignited and the small lead ball blasted forth, spraying brain and bits of beak across the wall.

He snorted. Griffons were bigger than ponies, but they weren't have as smart. They made it up with sheer brutality. Pathetic. He placed a small powder charge near the door, and lit a fuse leading to its center. He was nearing his objective, and he knew that the Lieutenant would join him soon.

Three...two...BOOM

So maybe he was a little off on the length of that wick...regardless, it made quite the noise. A large hole had been blown in the wooden and stone door, and as the dust settled, he saw his objective lying right there. Hmph. Their intelligence was off.

The War Room was empty of griffons, as they hadn't conducted a meeting here for some time, but maps were still strewn about, covering the main table in the center of the large room. Cabinets and desks surrounded the walls, as well as telegraphs. It was all rather advanced.

It was then, that Haze heard a rumble from behind him, and he instinctively dove out of the way as a tomahawk flew past him, clipping some of the hairs off of his tail. As soon as he hit the ground, he turned and fired his rifle blindly, and by some luck managed to hit the beast in the flank. It grunted and took the blow as the lead ball burst out near its rump, a trail of blood following it.

Haze didn't have time to think as the hairy beast charged him. He dove again, slipping the bayonet off of his rifle. He quickly gained his balance and dodged out of the way as the buffalo swiped at him with a stone knife. It was a close fight, and the stoic pony knew that he'd lose if this fight was drug out much longer. The beast was fast and strong, and much bigger than he was.

Haze stood his ground while next to a rather large filing cabinet this time, and as the native of the plains charged, he pushed the cabinet towards him and got close to the wounded flank, suffering a shallow cut from the primitive knife in the process. The buffalo kicked out at him, missing and opening his side where Haze drove his bayonet home, pulling it towards the wounded leg and cutting through major blood vessels. They both grunted and the buffalo struggled to turn for another swipe, relying on his bulk to get the pony at a disadvantage.

By sheer luck, the beast managed to bring its hoof to bear and it collided solidly with the colt's jaw. The pony was knocked senseless as he skittered and hit a row of cabinets and a desk, his rifle already having been discarded and the bayonet falling to the floor. The bloodied buffalo reacquired his knife and moved forward, intending to slowly cut his victims throat and claim Haze's teeth as his trophy.

It was then, that the true extent of the wound dealt by the bayonet became apparent, and the world began to swim before the eyes of the buffalo brave. He looked to his left side, stopping his slow hobbling movements, and he felt as the blood flow intensified. He fell over, every beat of his heart driving more blood from his body. He was big, but so was his heart, and it pumped a lot of blood every beat, and the strain caused by fighting had caused a clipped artery to split.

He struggled forward, hellbent on killing his foe, but it was futile, as the colt came to his senses and grabbed the nearest heavy object, diving forward and using a chair made of iron and mahogany to beat the buffalo to death. The world went dark, and moments later, his skull was stove in by the Equestrian Guard soldier.

'Too many close calls," Haze though to himself, as he began to collect maps and other such vital information. It was nearly how intel had said. Much information was stored there, but most of the generals and colonels of the Gryphus Kingdom as well as their mutual allies in the city-states, as well as other sovereign nations were evacuated. A sense of pride filled the colt as he cracked his jaw around a bit, and reloaded his rifle. His nation was a threat to the world, their military the cream of the crop. Between discipline, technology, and sheer willpower, they were now on top of the world.

A  clunking sound, followed by movement near the broken doorway alerted him to another's presence, but he identified it as his Lieutenant.

Indeed, in was the great Sun Guard, Macintosh. His hulking armoured form stood outside of the doorway, the hole not quite big enough for his bulk.

"Status report, Haze," the stallion rumbled.

"Intel secured, mission is a partial success. We need to find their bunker," was Haze's bland reply. The Lieutenant just nodded and motioned for the colt to follow. The next half of this would be simple enough. Search and destroy.

"What do you mean he was too strong?! You informed me that not even those thrice damned monstrosities that Celestia made would be able to hold up against you and your kin!"

King Thunderwing was in an absolute fit of rage. One of those super soldiers had broken through their front line and was wreaking havoc across their forward position. He seemed to be unstoppable, and was bringing back the damned fighting spirit of those ponies.

The audience in his throne room was rather sparse, consisting of himself, his personal guards, and a group of five unicorns, all tattooed and scarred. It was rather apparent that he was in a state of distress, even without the ranting and screaming. Regardless, he continued on just as before, growing loud and then ending up out of breath, just in time for his adviser to stammer a little, before the torrent of rage broke forth again as he regained his crumbling composure.

The leader of the scarred beasts before the king listed to it all without batting an eye. He had bigger things on his mind. Eventually the griffon king calmed down enough that he would allow his adviser to speak properly and put some sense into his head.

"I hired you as extra insurance. There are many like yourselves, you filthy outcasts. Now earn your keep before I have you truly destroyed," the beastly Regent declared to the rag-tag group. He haughtily gestured for the ponies to leave, but was surprised when the head of them spoke up.

"Piss off, featherbrain," the leader said. "You couldn't find another necromancer within a thousand miles of this mountain range if you tried. There are none as great as us, and certainly none as great as I. You'd do well to remember the name of G'tan Bloodwriter."

His monologue took the great griffon off guard, but his aide, as well as his entourage, all drew weapons and prepared themselves to leap at the insolent creature. Before another word was spoken, the pony turned his back on the king, as did his group. They began to stride out, none molesting them, yet all eyes stayed on them.

As they neared the great stone doors leading to the great hall, the guards created a pike-line, allowing for no passage.

A growling sound became more audible as Thunderwing let the words sink in. A roar erupted from his throat and the room filled with the sound and feel of fury.

Bloodwriter wasn't phased. He simply turned, and looked at the king. His tattoos took on an unnatural glow, a grey smoke rising from his body. A javelin suddenly sprouted from his scarred chest, sinking more than a foot into his flesh, splashing blood all over the floor and haft of the weapon. The King had taken his personal guard's weapon and hurled it at the insolent pony. Nothing spoke such ilk of the mighty Griffon King and lived!

It was here, that the shock set in. Bloodwriter simply looked at the protruding missile, and snorted. The grey smoke became more tangible, and runes began to form in front of him, creating a wispy wall. Blood that leaked out of his wound slowed. The ichor on the stone floor, began to rise, flowing and forming along the runes of smoke. A smell of ozone began to permeate the air in the enclosed eyrie.

All of the ponies began to glow, grey smog rising from their coats. It was then, that a dozen arrows were loosed into their midst, a group of griffons surging towards the creatures with weapons drawn, claws clutching maces and hammers, ready to pulp these adversaries.

None of the necromancers took notice of the wounds as the smoke mingled with blood, became a wall, surrounding them. They were cut off from the view of those in the room, the smell of ozone and blood growing stronger.

None anticipated the flash of light that followed.

A miniature sun seemed to ignite for an instant in the room, instantly blinding those that had their eyes closed. They were the lucky ones.

Those with their eyes open, lost their sight, as their eyes shriveled, liquid pouring down every beast's faces while their eyes literally melted at the very intensity of the light in the flash.

At any rate, none were even conscious after the flash occurred.

The group of ponies that had been the cause of so much destruction, opened the great stone doors and sauntered out. They were not opposed by any other those standing outside.

It was true. Bloodwriter and his crew had more important things to consider at the moment.

Careful Consideration

Heresy-Careful Consideration

Time on the run had hardened Twilight's body in a way that she wasn't exactly displeased with. It was a little odd really. She was running from the law, that were after her for a reason she herself didn't fully understand. Regardless, she was becoming stronger and smarter, in a way she didn't really consider before. Book smarts had always been her forte, if anything was truly considered to be mastered by her.

Then again, what reason would she have needed for this? The guards were always there to protect them from normal day to day incidents and from any odd animals that may come out of the Everfree Forest. Equestria was a safe place in which nopony really had to worry about bad things happening, save that they were careful before venturing beyond the borders of their land.

Twilight had always heard about other countries that were more barbaric than Equestria, which is why they maintained a military, but overall, peace reigned over all that she knew. Celestia was powerful and kind, if strong willed. She didn't need to do much, as the world around them seemed to govern itself.

Until she had gone off as a tyrant. It wasn't like they were at war. War hadn't been heard of for centuries, even if there was the odd conflict here and there, but it was always terrorists. Those who thought Equestria was too perfect and needed to be brought down a notch, but the evil always seemed to disappear as quick as it came. Soldiers died sometimes due to this, but they were also the reason that ponies like herself were safe.

Life was good and knowledge was there for the taking. The world was at peace in her eyes so she felt no need to do more than study and learn, to satisfy her hunger. It was a beautiful thing, learning.

At least, she thought so before...Celestia's change in character. She started to read the writ of Starswirl and was horrified as she learned more about the truth. Celestia was powerful, but brooding. She was always experimenting with her body in odd ways, attempting to contain great amounts of sunlight and other such things. Starswirl had become concerned with his friend's changing ways, but when it all became apparent...

Twilight's eyes were no longer her own as the memories of the scroll that Starswirl had sealed, became her own reality. She was seeing Celestia crying, her long pink mane had yet to become more of an allotted rainbow of colours and it was darker than normal. She was so old, yet so young.

His own mind had touched hers.

He saw it all. Her inner darkness. Her biting hatred for those that would take away the sparks of life she cherished and that power she held.

It was vast and unfathomable to one even as Starswirl, who understood all things in a way that even the goddess herself didn't.

It wasn't mutually exclusive though. She had knowledge of spirituality that he didn't understand. Greater beings existed that he couldn't being to realize the significance of.

Their consciousness' met, and all changed. Starswirl quickly drew away, as he felt her reach out towards him. She was beautiful and horrifying...her hoof reaching out to touch him...

Twilight snapped back into consciousness and looked at her hooves. She was inside her of her tent again, the magical bubble shield around it. That's right...she'd been thinking after admiring her newly toned muscles. When she was a librarian, she never really thought about getting fit, though she was never really lazy. She was inside a lot and didn't eat the healthiest things while studying at times. Okay yes, maybe she did have a little pudge and a bit of fat on her rump too. Not anymore though. She was much more sleek and could feel herself move with a new found energy.

It was about time she got up and started moving. She'd be on the border of Equestria soon and would from there pass to the next land over. It would be different, but it should be close enough to Equestria, right?

Twilight wasn't racist by any means, but right now, this was really putting her nerves to the test. She had exited the Equestrian border some time ago, but now she was stuck in a tavern looking for somepony to rent her a room. The problem seemed to be that...well, she was small compared to the rest of the patrons, and by Starswirl's beard, were they diverse. Camels, griffons, elk, even a boar. They were loud, rowdy, and at least half of them drunk. It was really a disconcerting situation.

At least, so she thought. It all went downhill when the fight started. A holler and a broken bottle later, a griffon had laid out a camel, leaving a stinking mess of alcohol and blood on the floor, as well as a bit of a tussle going on. An elk pulling the griffon back, and another camel tending to his bleeding friend. It didn't take long for a guard to rush in, led by another patron who quickly exited the tavern, attempting to find help.

Choice words were said and a punch thrown at the armored colt, leading to the arrest of a certain rowdy feather-brain.

Twilight sighed internally as the guard left. She hadn't been noticed, nor did she really have to worry about it anymore. She was relatively safe, considering how large this town was. With the amount of guards here, she wouldn't be found out as long as she didn't do anything too unruly. There were just too many passing through, on top of those that already resided within the border.

She retired to her room after finishing a quick meal of hay and boiled water. She didn't want to stay in the public confines of a barroom any longer than she had to. Her books needed tending to, and taverns were generally nicer than sleeping on the trail.

A quick spell to lock and protect her door and window, and she was set. The room was small, a bed, some open space for gear, a trunk, and a nightstand with a few candles. It wasn't much, but it was still more than enough.

She began by moving the candles about, breaking out a few of here own to have a grand total of seven. She allayed them in what seemed to be a rather sporadic manner, but there was purpose to it. Once the candles were set, she took a small pouch from her pack. She was still new at this, but with help from her friend Zecora, she'd been able to become somewhat more accustomed to tribal magics. They did work, albeit in less direct ways than she herself was used to.

Within the pouch, was a bunch of silvery dust. She took a tiny amount and spread it across the room evenly with her innate unicorn magic, and a little lung power. Many motes of the dust stopped in midair, only a few dared touching the wooden floor. Slowly, an energy began to build up in the room. It was barely tangible, but it was still felt. She could feel her own gorge slightly rising, but was able to keep it down. She had thrown up the first time she attempted this particular piece of magic. She was so glad she'd taken the advice listed in the notes of Starswirl's book. Scrying was difficult.

As the light began to take form, the candles started to snuff out, one by one. A smell of ozone began to strike the unicorn's nostrils, intensifying as seconds passed. She closed her eyes in a blink that felt like an eternity. A bright light met her retinas, images flashing before her...black.

Nothing but black. Plain. Simple. Nothing to it. Just darkness. Somewhere in Twilight's mind, she started to become aware of something else near her. She wasn't sure if it was physical or mental, perhaps both. A vast entity was there, but she couldn't pinpoint it. Seconds later, she felt alone again. Was it there? Did it even exist?

Fear gripped her. She couldn't see. Couldn't feel. This wasn't how this spell normally worked. She was looking through time. Scrying backwards, if you will. This was different. This was wrong.

What seemed to be no more than thirty seconds passed before she could feel herself again. She was in some sort of suspended stasis. Nothing moved. Absolute silence reigned, making the pitch black void seem trivial in its effects. A scratching sound filled her thoughts, skittering and writhing. It filled her ears, surrounding her. She couldn't tell if it was real. There was nothing but the sound now. No smell, no sight, no taste, nor touch. She could feel her heart beating hard within its cage of bone.

Something lightly touched her opened eye, and she tried to recoil, to blink, to scream.

She was unable to react at all.

A soundless scream echoed within her. Her blood began to boil. A mind brushed hers and all came to be still again. Something was sifting through her memories. The moment her eyes opened after her birth. Her first time attempting magic. Meeting Celestia. The first page of a forbidden book. All of it in seconds, brought forth before her, and whatever it was looking at them. They flowed forth, and then back from whence they came, at the behest of the giant entity.

Her eyes opened again, but she was back in the physical world it seemed. The motes of dust glowed with their own inner light, suspended as before. The candles slowly relit themselves, of their own volition. This was normal for the spell, but Twilight shuddered as she slowly stood. She had encountered...something.

It was vast. That's all she was certain of. Mountains were dwarfed by...it. Whatever 'it' was. She wasn't scrying that time. Looking for mirrors of other places. No. This was wrong. Her legs became shaky all of a sudden, and she felt the urge to lay down. She extinguished the candles and collected her dust in one quick shock of magic. She needed rest. A lot of it. Her goal was still far off, and probably unattainable in her state.

In the moments before she slipped off, a clap of thunder resounded.

In the great open space of her throne room in Canterlot, the Queen curled up on a large cushion residing on her throne. Her days were long and boring. She may be a regent, but she had to be fair to all. Overseeing all sorts of problems and managing her newly forming Empire. She had many advisers and staff members, but she allowed herself to be swayed by none. The only one who truly had council with her, was her darling little sister. Some days, when Cadenza was present, she always held some slight sway, but it had been some time since the Crystal Empire's regent had come to visit.

They had their own troubles to deal with. Shining Armour was heading a mixed regiment that was making its way to the Gryphus Range to assist her own sizable forces. She knew that as soon as the range was taken, she'd need a fresh force to push through the passes, while the remainder licked their wounds and recovered before moving on. In this case, it was a mixture of professional crystal soldiers, mixed with some newer units of her Equestrian Guard, and a pair of Sun Guards to oversee the major operations.

She sighed and stretched out, flaring out her wings. She was tired and sore. It'd been quite some time since she'd gone and worked so much in such a short amount of time. At any rate, she was tired of the day and was glad the throne room was finally empty. The day was waning and only her guards kept her company now.

After a few more minutes of reposing on her grand throne, she stretched again, and stepped down. Her guards instantly snapped to attention, and she made her way towards the door towards the back of the room, just around the side of her seat. She would take an early supper in her quarters tonight.

Passing through the threshold, she came to a small hallway, and found herself flanked on either side by the guards on the inside of it. Two older guards they were. They wore less armour than some, showing parts of their faces, as well as smaller plates allowing for more mobility. One of them was covered with numerous scars on his face from when he'd been tortured many campaigns ago. Celestia remembered him well, as one of her most trustworthy.

They instantly fell into step behind her as she made her way towards her elevator. Once she'd reached it, she tapped a series of numbers in on a small wooden panel and watched as the runes lit up, allowing her to enter. She left the guards at their posts outside as she entered.

She was going to have a lonely night, sadly. It hurt, honestly. Waiting for her beloved soldier to finish his mission. She had great goals for him. He was the most central part of her plans in expanding her empire and placing all of those within its bounds under her care and protection, for prosperity. He had to be tested on the anvils of war though, yes. It didn't make her time away from him any less agonizing. He was her creation, her perfection, and she loved him for so many reasons.

"He'll be back with me soon..." she cooed to herself as the small box rose swiftly to her chambers. It was going to be even more tiring here soon. After supper she had to...do...that.

Bleeding off excess magic was difficult. She had created a vessel for it, but harnessing the Sun's power daily took a lot out of her. Physically draining didn't even begin to cover it. Even immortals had limits. At least, she'd been able to find a container for the raw energy. Relics were hard to come across, but her reach seemed limitless...to imagine back on it...

The cold air bit deep into her fur. Celestia had never been to Vaporia before, but it was a beautiful sight to behold. A collection of clouds and cities the size of a country...it was amazing. The vaulted towers and perfectly shaped wisps were breathtaking. None of it mattered right now though. She could admire this another day. Her eyes were farther west. They were nearing the edge of the known world, and it was the closest lead she had on an old relic that she would require. In fact, she was very confident in this lead, otherwise she wouldn't gone halfway across the mapped world.

She quickly pulled her large scarf closer to her face and slid the visor down over her eyes. A guard to her left moved forward and pointed to their incoming transportation. Soon they could move down below, to warmer air currents. They were still well over one hundred kilometers from the beaches leading to the Echo, and it would take some time still to make their way to the small settlements near the shores.

It was incredible, the scale of the world known to her. So much had been lost, so many maps and so much knowledge. It nearly brought a tear to her eye. She, among a few others, was truly able to understand just how much had been destroyed, how much taken. The world was a much less known place now, and it would take thousands of years yet to finish exploring it again and finding the old ruins of the previous inhabitants. "Damn Discord..." she muttered, as the large coach arrived.

Her guards gave her sidelong glances, but they quickly boarded the carriage, and began their swift descent. It was going to be a long trip, but she was prepared for every step. So she hoped. It was to be a perilous journey and not one to be taken lightly.

Time seemed to flow quickly at any rate as the coach made its journey through the sky. The Princess slept much of the way, her guards at a constant alert in the foreign airspace. The enchanted coach was elegant and quick, but it lacked much armour. Normally, the Princess wouldn't have to worry about such things, but here in such a faraway land, any manner of pirate or rogue could attempt to assault the carriage.

Over the Antlertic ocean they flew, nothing but cloud checkpoints and small communities above them, with the endless expanse of water below. It continued like this for days, always staying above major storms or flying through the quiet sunlit sky.

Land was spotted on the fourth day, and within hours they had made a landing on the beach. They were a ways off course, it was determined, as they couldn't see the nearest settlement, but allowances were made. The Princess was tired, and the entourage and guards quickly put together a small defensive position so that they might rest a few days. Scouts were sent out to determine their exact location and to find the settlement of Echo's Edge. They would need as much information from the locals before moving further inland.

From their positions on the vast beach though, they could see it wasn't far to a tropical inland rain-forest...beyond that though, was the greatest mountain range in the known world. The Echo. A wall of towering titans, the teeth of the world it seemed, jutting up from the ground. It was a sight to behold from afar, their tops reaching past the deep, dark thunderheads that capped them. The range spanned as far as the eye could see. It was here that Celestia was to start her trek inland, through this monstrous range...

Celestia snapped back from her memory. She could think more back on that later. It was a rather defining moment of the last few decades for her, but it'd been some time since she'd gone back and seen the memories first hand. An interesting thing about her magic she supposed. The ability to view memories with perfect clarity, any time she wished. Well, save for the fact it was just like scrying in many ways.

She quickly dismissed the thought for the time being, and exited the small box as it made its stop. The elevator itself connected directly into her rather large living chambers, and the moment she entered, she promptly jumped onto her large bed, sprawling out. It was rather...unladylike, but she was tired. It'd been quite a long time since she'd been able to act like a bit of her...older self. Running her kingdom was never easy, but now, it was that much harder. Ponies committing crimes and in some cases attempting open revolt, the war in the north against the Griffons, the conflicts and difficulties in reasoning with the camels of the eastern deserts. It'd been a long time since Celestia had dealt with so much conflict at one time...nearly a millenia, in fact.

A heavy sign and a few stretches later, Celestia's stomach reminded her that she may be immortal, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to stop eating any time soon. She stood up and admired some of the trophies around her room. Banners made in her likeness, sculptures of old friends, paintings of all sorts of things...a suit of her own elegant ceremonial armour. It was all beautiful. Her closet nearby hadn't been used in some time...but she decided that she'd soon open it again, donning a proper dress. Yes, that would be nice. Flowing back into a more steady routine would help.

She quickly moved from one end of the room to the other, coming to a small wooden panel next to a dumbwaiter. She typed in a few numbers, and left a small message in the miniature elevator before sending it down. She'd eat simple tonight before bleeding off her excess magic. She wouldn't be able to sleep until she did, as she'd learned the effects of keeping it pent up for too long...it'd take quite some time for her to clean up the ashes. Not making THAT mistake again...

"Huh," she stated. Alone here in her quarters...she missed him. He was so...perfect. She'd made him that way...but even before. He was just like Phoenix. She ached for him. He had so much to do still, but soon...very soon. He'd finish his mission in the Gryphus mountains...and he'd be able to come back to her.

The very thought that followed gave her great pain...she'd have to send him away again.

While pondering the fate of Macintosh, her dumbwaiter returned, a plate of food in its maw, along with a decanter of spring water. She quickly ate her meal of apples, carrots, and mashed tubers. It was simple and filling, a refreshing change of pace. After placing the plate back on the dumbwaiter and sending it down, she made her way over towards a relic sitting on the desk near the elevator. It was a huge piece of blueish wood, cut from an elder crystalline tree over three centuries prior. On it rested a small ivory colored carving of the sun. It didn't seem like much, but it had a warmth and glow to it that betrayed its power.

She touched her horn to the object, no bigger than a teacup...and closed her eyes.

The little carving began to glow brightly, the contact with her horn creating a bridge to the power stored within. Celestia began to let energy flow forth into the relic. It was a quick process, but it still drew heavily upon her. She would recover within minutes of it, but during this time...she was weak. Vulnerable. She was glad for her castle. Her impenetrable home.

Her eyes opened, and she could feel the light bleeding from them. The world appeared as it was before her, with a yellowish tinge. It faded within a few seconds, and she felt the last of the energy drain from her. At least, that which she had harvested earlier in her collection room. It was truly amazing what the application of science and magic could do for her.

As she slumped her way back towards the huge bed, she noticed something...out of place. A note, tied up and wrapped like those she used to send and receive from...

"Twilight."

She breathed the unicorn's name as she quickly lifted the scroll and opened it with magic. Scanning the note, she began to understand what this was. It was from one of her spies...

They'd seen her. Celestia quickly closed the note and sat down. She had a lead. Good. She needed to find her former student. Tomorrow...no. She had a better idea. She quickly acquired a feather, an inkwell, and some parchment. Her own note was quickly jotted down and teleported to her spymaster. He'd follow up on the lead. She had a beautiful idea.

Her newly born Phoenix could find the deserter.

Blood and Iron-Part III

Heresy-Blood and Iron-Part III

It was raining. Hard.

Macintosh and his companion had exited the cave system hours ago and found themselves hiding amongst the boulders that studded the mountainside. Rain was pouring down hard, thunder booming and the lightning flashing across the sky, lighting up what remained of the path before them. They were behind schedule and both knew it. They needed to be here some hours before, so that they might make their way through the pass towards their objective.

It was painfully close. They needed to move and get this done before the end of the night. Mac was stronger in the daytime, and would need to conserve his energy for what was to come after. It was going to be the most dangerous thing he'd done thus far, and he'd already tested some of the limits of what his current abilities would allow for.

He couldn't exactly take a stealthy approach. He was still caked in dried blood, and still shone rather brightly when the moonlight hit him. It was a cloudy night, but he still stuck out like a bald patch of fur. Besides, he was loud, heavy, strong. He was taught to be tactical, but his size made that hard in situations such as this. The one real downside of his augmentation it seemed.

"Haze. I need you to make an assessment of the area ahead. You know what to do." Mac ordered. Haze was an expert scout. This wasn't ever a doubt within the stallion's mind. He had yet to really meet another pony who was as effective a warfighter as Haze.

Haze smartly saluted his CO and began to creep up the side of the mountain, pressing forward and using the dark, rocky terrain to his advantage. They didn't have too much information about the area they were in, as it was more central to the range than other places. Mapping it was difficult, even during the peacetime that was shared for so long. The Griffons being as aggressive as they were, didn't appreciate the idea of anything having any sort of potential tactical advantage over them.

That didn't make it any less frustrating for the colt, as he ascended the steep incline, making sure to not expose himself. Even in hard rain and such dark conditions, the Griffons had amazing low-light vision. It was inconvenient really, Haze thought to himself while he made his slow progress.

Blood flowed freely from the still living griffon that Argus had just laid onto the ground. His black bladed knife had slipped in-between the third and fourth vertebrae in its spine. It was somewhat messy, but an instant paralysis took over those who took such damage to the nerve clusters that were central to that specific part of their anatomy.

"Mud. Move." The voice came out as a whisper, Doc not taking the time to stop moving as he pushed past Argus. He was dragging a corpse with him, a younger griffon by the looks of it. There were no visible marks on it that Argus could see, but then again it was raining rather hard. Argus obliged and quickly made way for his ally, not wanting to incite any sort of wrath from the poisoner of the group.

Slipping from place to place with a practiced precision, Argus and Doc silently padded along after hiding any evidence that might betray their presence. This was treacherous ground, but nothing compared to what could be in store if they raised an alarm.

Argus silently thanked the Goddess as he progressed through the terrain. Rain was good. Rain helped hide things. His natural camouflage was even more effective in weather such as this. The temperature was the only downside, but even then it wasn't enough to cause much discomfort. Better cold than dead.

Time passed and no more guards were found. Honestly, they never expected to even run across the two they DID find. It killed to not be alert though. Progress was made, though not as quickly as they hoped. It was faster than planned though, and the mountainside was traversed at a rate greater than initially expected. Even in the torrential downpour that seemed to pick up from the time it started.

The clouds hid the moon as it reached its apex, but the world was starting to become lit as the storm brought its true self forth. Thunder broke the incessant patter of rain for a moment, crashing as a great wall of sound over the world. The light that was drawn from the maw of the storm broke across the mountainside, showing a freeze-frame of all that it reached.

It was a barren place, almost painful to view in its brutal simplicity. It was a different world here. More hostile than any environment that Argus had ever been to. Truly, it was hellish. Some might say the great deserts or deep jungles were more dangerous or ominous, but they all had their own functioning ecosystems and natural beauty. This though...had nothing. Barren, forged of hate and death. The blood that had been spilled here over the centuries could fill an entire sea-bed.

Here though. Here is where they could exact at least a small token of vengeance against these foul griffons. These terrible creatures.

Deep down, Argus felt wrong. He hadn't felt this way for a long time. Normally, he cared much more about his own survival. Now though, in this moment? He felt an intense hatred for the Griffon Kingdom. Maybe it was what he saw when passing through some of the older battlegrounds. Maybe it was seeing the wounded before setting off. War wasn't ever pretty. Here though, it was beyond disgusting.

Today he'd feel satisfaction in killing the enemy. Just once.

Shadowing Doc, they stopped near a small hole that was covered by overgrown weeds. It was nearly at the peak of this mountain. The middle-most mountain in the whole range. It was really what they expected to be a central hub of activity, but it was in actuality not even close to being the largest of the towering pillars that pierced the sky in this range. The northeastern section of these mountains was the real area of operations.

Doc looked over at Argus and nodded. This was it. Reaching into a small saddlebag, Argus took a small golden device and placed it into the hole. He snorted at this. Such a simple task.

A nod and they were off again, back down the mountainside and to the rendezvous point.

Thunder deafened the world for moment, while lightning blinded it at the same time.

A griffon fell from his post, a piece of lead lodged in his brain. At the very instant that the world let its call be known, a pony played out his role as a god of death.

"Good shot." Mac stated. Haze just grunted in approval, making very slight movements while reloading his rifle.

The rain had almost stopped, but the rolling thunder and lightning had persisted. The sky was even darker than before, the moon well past its apex. They were cutting it close, but they'd made good progress in the last two hours or so. The few guards that had been posted along the steeper slopes were in no condition to combat the efforts of Haze. The pony was an absolute machine compared to the barbaric warriors. Hitting them from places they couldn't even dream a pony could reach, in such a manner that no others noticed when a fellow griffon fell. By the time a single guard had learned of another's death, a bullet was already reaching out towards him.

The rolling ground before them was becoming more of an obstacle again, but they were nearly at their designated point. A cavern maw was just across the way, leading to their objective. This was it. The center of their mission here.

A minute passed, and not a sound was heard save for the quiet rolling clap of thunder from miles away. The storm was constantly shifting. Breaking cover, Mac surged forward and up towards the great stone portal hewn into the mountainside. The ground to the sides of it were barren and offered no cover, but it was obviously empty. The real concentration would be inside of the cavern.

Stopping short of the entrance, Mac looked down into the black abyss before him. This was going to be a wild ride to say the least. Turning, Mac made a quick signal to Haze. Stay put. He'd be coming right back out if all went well.

Facing back to the cave, Mac entered. This was it. His big first mission.

Trudging forward, he continued to push into the darkness. It wasn't natural. He could tell that much. Energies thrummed around him, deep and ominous. A veil was before him, but it couldn't stop him from moving. This didn't concern the stalwart stallion. What did, was the lack of sound. He only heard his own hoof-fall. His own breath. His own heartbeat.

His descent quickly became more steep, but the path was free of any major obstructions. It would to the left and right here and there, becoming slowly tighter as Mac felt his sides brush against the walls of the cavern as he plunged deeper.

He walked for what he'd imagined was maybe fifteen minutes, when he suddenly stopped.

He heard something. A scratching sound. His eyes were already closed. He had no use for them in this darkness.

Something scuttled by him, but he couldn't identify it. It should have been impossible considering his current space-situation, but something else was there. Gingerly taking another step forward, he tested the ground before him. It still felt solid. Taking another, he stepped in something viscous. Stopping right where he stood, he leaned down, bring his muzzle close to the ground. Taking in a deep breath, he smelled whatever it was he had stepped in.

It smelled like bloody and tar. A scent of ozone clinging to it. Something else as well. He wasn't sure. Magic had its own scents, but many subtle differences crossed the spectrum just as magic itself had many facets. Taking in another deep breath, Mac focused harder on his surroundings over everything else. He was in a magically darkened cave. Following a downward path into an evil mountain. With something else in the cavern, potentially hostile.

Stumbling back, Mac was being choked. Sputtering, he started to flail his limbs around and clutch at his throat. The feeling of losing oxygen was terrible, but he couldn't stop it. There was no physical form before him that was damaging him.

'Flesh-thing, why do you resist?' a voice in his head questioned. 'You came to me.'

Mac started trying to choke out a word, but found it useless. He was losing consciousness. His mind becoming muddier by the second, the voice spoke again.

'Come flesh-thing, we will show you the error of your existence.'

His head snapped backwards and he felt his bones break as the unknown force overpowered the wards on his armour. A flash of light burst from the armor itself, but it rattled harmlessly off of the walls, not piercing the darkness that laid over Macintosh's world. His eyes fluttered open and he felt his life being extinguished.

A set of glowing red dots flashed over his vision. He wasn't sure if he was seeing visions created by his own mind as it failed, or the entity that was killing him. He started to gurgle, trying to say at least one last word before he died. It was amazing how calm he stayed at the prospect of death.

Life fading, the grip slowly loosened as Macintosh uttered one word before his heart stopped. Pushing his last breath forth, he knew he'd done what was required of him.

"Celestia."

Haze was covering his position and lying still when it happened. A great thunderclap resounded, and a light as bright as the sun exploded into existence off towards the mountain-peak to his left. The force of what felt like an earthquake blasted him, displacing everything. Boulders were hurled far and wide, trees uprooted and tossed about like mere twigs before the primal fury that had just been unleashed from nowhere.

The light didn't fade as the blast-wave passed by. Haze quickly shifted and moved, dodging out of the paths of falling objects. Squinting and looking up, the moon was still in the sky, albeit somewhat hidden by clouds. The light that was off to the side was blinding though. Closing his eyes, he frantically dug himself in as best as he could to avoid being spotted in the damned illumination.

An aeon-old roar filled his being from seemingly nowhere. Opening his right eye, he saw...he wasn't sure what he saw. Something like ink was flowing from the cavern mouth. His heart began racing. The Lieutenant was in there.

His calm started to break, ever so slightly. He could face down an unexplained explosion of light and primal fury. The sight of an unknown entity of dark power didn't phase him. The idea of his commander that he personally guarded being lost? That shook him. Shifting his weight, he surged forward towards the dark mist.

He didn't make it two steps before the light blinded him again. A thunderclap resounded in his senses, the taste of burnt hair coating his tongue and the smell of ozone filling his nostrils. A great mourning wail overtook the sound of thunder, and the heat of a great fire sucked the air from the colt's lungs. This was a war beyond him.

Another roar was heard, and the light faded. Haze opened his eyes again and saw a sight that would forever be burned into his mind.

The Queen herself had taken to the field. Clad in armour of gold, her body radiated a soft light while flame engulfed her mane and tail. A vast darkness was before her, but it dispersed as she moved towards it. Her great wing-beats buffeted the misty-blackness and pushed it aside. A face of deep black with dark red eyes formed in the great cloud. The Queen lowered her head and pointed her great horn at the boiling figure, a great golden form taking shape in front of her.

To Haze, the dark cloud of ever-shifting ink was getting dwarfed ever more so by the second. His eyes were glued to the battle before him.

The dark being started to form itself in what appeared to be a more physical manifestation equal in size to the Queen. Ivory teeth like that of a carnivore jutted from its jaw, a dark black horn protruding from its brow. It was a pony...but not. Glowing green energy bled off of its form, the black cloud behind it shining and absorbing light at the same time. Bloody-red eyes burning with a dark intellect and hatred. A crystalline spur of horn began to grow out of the end of the already existing protrusion.

It roared, and Celestia's cry in response was bone-chilling. The cry of a phoenix and a dragon clashed, a gargantuan sound that was felt more than heard.

The titans clashed, and turmoil ruled the skies as their battle raged. An explosion of light pierced the veil of ink, and the darkness dispersed in almost an instant. Black crystals rained from the sky, covered in a strange ichor. The Queen glowed even brighter, the inky substance sliding off of her armour and burning wherever it touched her bare fur.

Haze smacked himself. He was awake.

He had just witnessed the death of a god. At the hoof of his beloved regent.

Bowing deeply, he began to pray. A feeling of warmth flowing from an unknown source encased him. Looking up again, the Queen stood before him. He pushed his head to the ground again, unable to speak. A hoof lifted his face and his eyes met with those of the Queen. A light burned in his vision, and then her hoof pulled away. She turned, and he slowly stood. Following her, they moved into the mouth of the cavern. Haze had regained his composure as they moved inside.

McIntosh was laid out on the ground of the cave. The maw of the cavern was the largest part. A single room made up the cave itself, and there was hardly enough room for all three of the ponies.

Haze could clearly see breaks in his commander's body, bones protruding from his tattered form. A dark knot formed in his stomach, as the Queen approached the mutilated form of the enormous stallion. The armour of this great leader was shattered and strewn about. Standing still though, he watched as Celestia slowly shifted the body of his fallen comrade.

She gingerly pushed his body with her forehooves, checking to see if what state his body was in he assumed. He felt the mood suddenly change, as the light cast by her body slowly dimmed. She removed her crowned helm, and Haze could see the expression on her face. It was anger. That much he could read.

Looking back down at the great stallion before him, he noted that at least his face had stayed intact. His broken body may have been a terrible sight to behold, but the visage of the beast of war that he'd fought alongside was unmarked.

The sight of which surprised him, as the Queen pushed her muzzle to that of the fallen warrior. Her lips brushed his and her eyes glowed. The light became too intense for Haze to continue watching, but it ended after what felt like a few seconds.

Opening his eyes once more, he saw that the twisted body of McIntosh was whole once more. At this, he coughed out a strangled cry of surprise. The Queen didn't seem to hear it though, as a golden glow permeated the room and covered the bits of armour that were scattered about the cave. They disappeared without any warning.

Shortly following that, Haze blinked and found himself elsewhere.

Taking in a deep breath, he noticed that the world had changed around him and he felt nauseous. They were in a great room of marble and granite, a vaulted ceiling giving way to great designs and tapestries. A group of Royal guardsponies surrounded him and reached out towards him. Haze took the hoof of one, and the young colt hefted his foreleg over his back, supporting the war-fatigued Corporal.

Leading him towards a far end of the great hall, the guards took Haze through a side-doorway and helped lay him down on a bunk. He looked around and felt some of his tension relieved. He was in a somewhat more decorative than normal barracks, but it was still rather spartan. It made him feel at peace. Laying back, another guard stood over him functioning as the night watch. Haze let the darkness take him as he slipped into a deep sleep.

It was a catastrophe in which there was no comparison. The world was scarred by this, but that wasn't the biggest concern. The entire griffon empire of the Gryphus range was annihilated in one fell swoop.

Celestia's Year 1082, Seventh Month, Sixth Day, Morndas. The day that the Queen herself came to the field of battle, unleashing a fraction of her power and destroying several mountains in a titanic show of force against the war-thirsty griffons.

What was even more concerning was the real story.

Princess Mi-Amore Cadenza looked at the huge slab of marble before her.

"He's...gone, my dear Queen," she stated. Why Celestia had brought her here, baffled her. This was...her first time seeing the corpse of another pony. Though, this one in particular was enormous. She'd seen him once before, she thought. He hadn't been this big, but he had a rare red-coat that was hard to miss.

"Humor me my sweet little Cadence," Celestia breathed. She needed the young Princess to view this. She needed to learn.

The clatter of hooves resounded in the near silent chamber. Cadence turned her head, seeing Luna make her way into the room.

The Princess of the Night moved up to the slab alongside her older sister. They both stared rather intently at the huge stallion before them. Cadence began to feel rather uncomfortable.

"Aunt Cel-" she started, but was quickly cut off.

*COUGH*

The sound of it shattered Cadence's composure. The great stallion's chest heaved and he rolled over on the slab of stone, going into a great heaving fit.

"WHAT IN THE NAME O-" she stopped again as the stallion's eyes opened and looked directly at her.

"My dear Phoenix, you've accomplished your mission." Celestia's voice was no more than a whisper, but Cadence felt it flit around across the front of her mind.

Her eyes grew wide as she found herself unable to speak. A look of horror was a permanent mar on her face as the stallion looked up sleepily at Celestia. A gentle smile covered the Queen's face as she leaned in to kiss the warrior on his brow.

"Now Cadence...we'll be starting the next step of your teachings soon," Celestia said in a matter-of-fact manner, not looking at the young Princess.