The Great Equestrian Warby Lightning CloudChaptersa bad morningMeeting of ManyTraining to FightingNice nightPrelude to warJason the griffon Intermission 1Intentionsa bad morningAs I ran and played through the field, I looked toward my parents and they replied back with a smile. It had been a nice day; warm, sunny and a little breeze would come in every now and then. But the out of nowhere as if princess Celestia had commanded it, a storm had started. I looked back and forth from the storm to my parents, and seeing worry and concern in their eyes made me wonder, what's going on? Then out of nowhere a rock flew through the sky and hit me in the side of my head, the last thing I saw before I hit the ground was my parents running to my aid and dark figures in the sky. "Lightning Cloud!"... "Lightning Cloud!" I awoke to my mother's voice and seen that she had been cradling my head, she then set me down and told me in a stern but very concerned voice "run and don't turn back" then she ran towards my father who I saw fighting griffons. I was frozen to my spot, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, all I could think is why, why are they all of a sudden attacking us weren't they supposed to be friends? The next thing I knew my parents skidded across the ground to my feet, my mom unconscious, my dad still kicking. Then my dad stood up and turned around and put his satchel and his sword on my back and said "you need to survive you will serve a great purpose one day". I couldn't help it, my eyes started tearing up and tears started to roll down my face, I started to fade away wondering what was happening to me. My Father spoke as if it was the last time I’d ever see him, “I’m sending you to Princess Celestia, she will give you a good home and a good life in a little town called Ponyville". The last image I saw was a griffon about to slash my face. I woke up and discovered I was drenched in sweat; my mane was a mess from tossing and turning. I remembered what had happened to my parents when I was a colt. I thought to myself "I haven't thought of that in a long time". I looked at my dad’s sword and satchel and I remembered all the training I had went through with my dad with swords. I remembered the first time I had hurt myself. My dad had dummies that could attack and everything; there were at least 4 of them. The first three had been moderately easy, but I and the fourth one had attacked at the same time, I defeated it but got cut in my left front leg and fell to the ground. My dad got up from where he was sitting and started walking to me at a fast paste because I was hurt, but I got up on my own before he was half way to me. He walked up to me and said " I'm proud of you son", "why" I replied "I fell". A smile appeared from him and said "yeah but a true pony never gives up”. It was good to at least have good memories about my parents but there wasn't enough time to have to spend with them, I looked outside and guessed it was about noon so I guess I over slept. I got out of bed and decided the first best thing to do was look in the mirror. My black and yellow mane was a mess I couldn't even recognize myself. So I did what any other pony would do and brushed my mane. After that I decided that it was time I took a walk because I wanted to enjoy some scenery, it would probably help me get over my dream but I knew it wouldn't. So I grabbed my father's satchel and walked outside, but when I got out side there was a crowd outside my house so I decided to see what was up. I walked through the crowd about half way and saw a chariot waiting, and I knew the two sitting in this chariot. "Ah, Lightning Cloud I thought you would be out by this time" said the black colored pony. "Maybe a little earlier would have been better" replied the white colored pony. With a smile on my face I replied “Shadow Moon, Mourning Star, It's good to see you both again, so are you visiting or bringing news"? "Actually we are here to get you, and take you to Canterlot", answered Star. "We can talk about it on the way there but not right now" said Shadow. My facial expression went from a smile to discomfort in a heartbeat because I knew when Shadow Moon said something serious, it was serious, so I hurried onto the chariot and we were off. No one talked for a few minutes so I guessed I would have to be the one to pop the question, "so are you going to tell me what's going on"? "Yeah of course" replied Moon, "apparently there was a fight between a few pony citizens and a few Griffons and both parties got hurt badly, when Princess Celestia sent a peace maker to their leader they said something about rather going to war then ever making peace". "So basically the griffons are declaring war on us"? "Not exactly" replied Star, "they haven't sent attacks so we can't be sure and that's why Celestia is holding a meeting ". I looked at the floor and thought for a while, "So this is what you guys are picking me up for"? Shadow looked at was now closer Canterlot, and said "yes, now prepare yourself for getting off we have to hurry, were a little late". I picked up my father's satchel and got ready to get of the chariot, I hope that if they started without us, they won't mind if we were running just a little late Author's Note The first chapter was honestly the worse of writing all of the chapters i'm working on I knew a few chapters away what was gonna be good but i just couldn't think of a good way to start this off so meh. Meeting of ManyThe three of us rushed out of the chariot and into the castle, down a hallway, and arrived into Princess Celestia throne room. I walked a few feet and then bowed to Princess Celestia, Shadow Moon and Morning Star did the same but moved at a faster passé and sat in their spots, I took a spot next to them because I really didn't know anyone else. Celestia then pronounced "good now we may begin", she talked about what Shadow Moon had told me earlier, so I decided to look around the room. There were a few others here to; there was Princess Celestia and Luna, the six elements. There were also some guards and some other pony that had a shield for a cutie mark; I guessed she was here to train an army. I zoned out on her she was just beautiful, she had a burgundy colored mane, a tarnished colored body, white wings, and green eyes that could melt your soul. In my right ear I hear someone whisper to me."You should hit that", I nearly jumped out of my seat. Red Cross had never been this quiet he usually was loud and outgoing in a good way. I looked at him “really I was-, never mind when you got here"? He thought for a good second, "at least five minutes ago which is also how long you have been staring at her". My face went from my grey color to bright red; it was a surprise most of the other ponies didn't notice. I heard chuckles and giggles across the room I didn't understand what was happening, "Lightning Cloud do you agree to the terms"? I felt like a total idiot I didn't even hear what she said, "can you please repeat the terms", and she smiled and laughed. "Yes, do you agree to help train the earth ponies and unicorns with Tasha Knight"? My face expression at that point went from stupid to puzzled, but apparently she must of knew I was going to ask who she was. "I'm Tasha Knight" as she looked me dead in the eye, it was the pony I had been staring at. I hoped for a second that she didn't see my red cheeks because as soon as she looked at me I blushed. Forgetting what was happening I snapped back to reality and replied to Celestia’s question with a yes. The rest of the meeting continued on, talk about evacuation, supplies and other things. The only thing i really heard was when they called out that Shadow Moon and Rainbow Dash would be working together to train the pegisi, it put a smile on face to hear that because both of them had been really good friends during their time in the flight academy, but after that they never really talked after that so it was good to see them talk again. As for not being able to hear some pony kept whispering in my ear which turned out to be one of Red Cross's good friends. Everyone started to leave after the meeting but Celestia had other plans for me. "Lightning Cloud I need to talk to you for a moment", I turned away from the partially open door and walked her way. It was quiet now that no pony was here, "Lightning Cloud, do you plan on using magic". Knew that was coming i thought to myself, looking at her i replied. "No, my family never used magic to fight even if they were unicorns, plus it is the only thing i have close to my family line any more". She looked at me with a grim face "hey cheer up", cheering me up wasn't going to help but i faintly smiled anyways. When walking back to the door I swear that some pony had hurried back out, but I was a little dazed from everything that was happening so I just carried on. Author's Note this one isn't the best either but there are 2 parts that might be funny, it didn't give me much to work with but the 3rd and 4th chapter i'm working on are longer and should make up for not a good length here Training to Fighting"Lightning Cloud", "Lightning Cloud", I started to faintly open my eyes and then reshut them to go back to sleep. "Lightning Cloud"! I fell off my bed and looked around to see Tasha at the foot of my bed. "H-h-how did you get in my house"? She looked nervous to say how but she finally said, "you left a window open and wern't exactly answering the door...". "Great now I know who to call when i need to break into some other ponies house". She looked at me with an angered face, "that's not what I was-". She changed the subject, "never mind if we don't hurry those recruits aren't going to have much training". I looked at my clock and seen what time it was, "we better get going" i said. "Any time now would be nice", Tasha was messing with me. "Ok Ms. Knight" I replied back to here, she started to mutter. "What was that"? I asked, She looked back at me "oh nothing". I'd heard what she said and it sounded like he's lucky he's cute. We had just arrived in time because every pony was about to start taking armor off and to surprise find that Red Cross was going to help us out with the training mostly in the earth ponies. So we got right to the chase described a few things and went to work. To practice we all used wooden swords for protective reasons because I'm sure no pony wanted to be missing and limbs. The unicorns learned their fight drills in a matter of 4 hours, mostly because they didn't have to do much. The earth ponies were going to take longer then the unicorns so the unicorns were told to practice on each other for now. It had been a couple of days and the earth ponies learned alot, I taught the earth ponies how to dodge the wound a griffons wing so they could fight them on the ground. Red Cross taught some things like better ways to defend themselves and if needed to save another pony. Then words started being thrown around, and it almost started a little war between the unicorns and the earth ponies, because the unicorns said that they don't have limitations. Red Cross had had enough of this, " you cut the bull hocky, just because you have magic doesn't make you any better so how about one of you fight-". I cut in "let's have a practice fight, me and Red Cross vs you four", i was now pointing at the unicorns picking the fight," and I promise you I won't use magic". Red showed a little smirk, "those would be unfair odds" he said, "they would have their flanks handed to them in seconds". The four now looking angered to the extreme accepted the challenge in a heart beat. I seen Tasha zoom towards the pegasi training grounds no one was going to want to miss this fight. Whe ended up going to this arena were some events and other events happened but nothing had happened here for months so no pony would have minded if we used it. I looked around and sure enough the word spread about this fight pretty fast, and the arena was almost filled of ponies in armor and there were some pegisi just watching from clouds. I scanned the clouds and sure enough found Shadow Moon, Rainbow Dash, and Tasha Knight were all sitting on a cloud watching from above. I was glad Shadow and Rainbow Dash were talking again, but that's not what I cared about the most, I cared about Tasha. She looked so beautiful and sweet on that cloud. We were each given a wooden sword, me and Red Cross gripped ours in our mouths while the unicorns were surrounded by magic veils. An earth pony walked into the middle and kept glancing at both sides and prononced "gentlemen the fight will be until one of both parties is knocked out, are you all ready"? Red Cross nodded for both of us and the unicorns followed. The Earth pony slowly backed through a door and a cage gate followed him, then he used a megaphone and yelled "Fight"! I droped my sword and Red nodded, we both wanted to find out how many he could take on. In a matter of seconds he managed to knock two of them off their feet, he glanced at me and smiled. Then one of the unicorns kicked him in the side and it sent him sliding across the floor. I expected Red to get up but he staggered and cried in pain, I ran up to him and seen 3 marks in his side that were pretty deep, I seen the blood and got angered. Before I could move one of them tried to attack, I side stepped and hit him with my right hind leg, sending him back the way he came. I turned to look at the unicorns, but they were no longer any pony. Every pony was shocked, then one of the griffons that was disguised as a pony before, laughed and spoke "we finally me for real this time Lightning Cloud, but now you have to die". I didn't know what he meant, had we seen each other before? It didn't matter he was about to kill me so I have a choice but to fight. Shadow, Rainbow Dash and Tasha landed next to me, Shadow then threw me my sword and I caught it with my mouth mid air. "Tasha" I said, "go help Red with his wound until medics arrive". She nodded and rushed to Red Cross. "Alright let's take one prisoner", Rainbow Dash said "that big one with the scar on his eye". I looked at the one she said, I knew it was there leader, but I looked closer and remembered his face. I staggered as my ears started ringing loudly and whinced in pain. My memories flooded through my head untill I remembered the attack as a child, it was the griffon who almost killed me but he grew and had a scar over his right eye. I got back up as one raced towards Rainbow Dash, she immediately dodges and rear kicked it. She didn't see the one coming right for her and I thought she was finished. But at the last second Shadow Moon tackled her to the ground away from the griffon. Shadow looked up "Tasha"! I looked where he was looking and seen what he was worried about, and I zoomed to Tasha. The griffon with the scar was about to hit her, I jumped at him and decked him in the face. But he started his swing to, he was knocked out sure of it but his arm was still coming. His attack went full force into my side, and it sent me flying through the arena wall. I hit the ground and I rolled loosely over aand over until I stoped. My body screamed in agony, my head felt like it had a 10 weight trown on it. The last thing I seen was Tasha and some medics sprinting my way, then I blacked out. Nice nightI started to open my eyes, it felt like I had been sleeping forever. I looked around, I was in a tent added with medical equiptment. I sat up and felt a small pain in my cheek I decided to touch it, "ow". I heard someone chuckle, "Well good morning sleeping beauty", I turned to see Red Cross. He had wrap around his middle section but he was doing fine. "Exactly how are you recorvering so fast" I asked, he looked at me then looked away. "Red"? "Well" he said, "not sure how to tell you this but you've been out cold for two weeks". "How-" he cut me off, "by the way that Tasha has been coming here since that day". I thought for a moment to think about what happened, but I stoped I didn't want to think about others getting hurt. A white pony walked in that I knew, "hey Vaccine". She was pushing in a cart and heading toward Red, "hey your finally up I'll go get Docter Hooves." A pony with a stethascope walked in followed by a pony with a tray of muffins. The Docter started to talk as the other pony reluctantly began eating the muffins. "Hello my name is Docter Hooves", he offered out his hoof and I shook it. "Just to inform you, you've been in a coma for two weeks, your a very lucky pony Mr. Cloud. I studied him blankly, he knew I was going to need more than your lucky, so he continued. When we found you, you were only bruised and scratched, we don't know how but you should have had many broken bones, possibly any worse dead. He pulled out a paper and studied it, while the last pony was about to finish the last muffin. She looked at me and hesitated, but then offered me the muffin. Not hungry at the moment, I politely decline. Not really caring, she scarffed down the muffin and trotted off. "Ok" the docter said, "here are some discharge forms, I don't think you should be fighting any time soon, now Vaccine will help you with the IV". He hand me a paper and left, I ripped that paper to shreds and threw it away. Vaccine walked in shortly after and handed me a towel to bite down on. "You know the drill" she said, as I bit down she pulled out the IV. She went close to my ear and whispered " you know this isn't the last time you and him have been attacked by Griffons". I quickly turned towards her "were not like that any more us three have better live now, away from that". She pointed at the flaps of the tent "any time you can leave". As I aproached the tent flaps something came through and hit me in the face and landed on the ground. It was an envelope that said to Lightning Cloud, I picked it up and put it in my satchel for later. I walked out of the tent and then seen them. Shadow Moon, Rainbow Dash, and Tasha were sitting there, Tasha looked depressed, her head hanging down. "Well...", I didn't know how to start this conversation or what ever it was going to be. Tasha looked at me with tears forming in her eyes, Shadow Moon and Rainbow Dash smiled at me, then I can't explain what happened. Tasha ran up to me and hugged me, my face turned beat red. I could see over Tasha's shoulder, I seen Dash making a mocking kissing face and Shadow was obviously trying to hold back a laugh. I just smiled and I hugged back. Tasha let me go and looked me in the eyes, smiled and turned away, she was blushing. The others started walking and talking and I followed, but I zoned out. I couldn't tell why but the envelope felt like it was burning inside my satchle, a temptaion was demanding me to open it. Shadow started to walk beside me, "are you okay" he whispered. I looked for the words to say, but all that came out was " yeah, just got this wierd feeling that's all". Shadow nodded then smiled "hey I think you have a chance with Tasha". I grinned under my grief, "you really think so"? He gave me a puzzled look "did you just not get super hugged back there"? I laughed a little "yeah, you and Rainbow Dash weren't making fun of me either". We both laughed, Rainbow Dash and Tasha looked back and smiled at us. "But seriously ask her out or something, Me and Dash are going to this place tonight that opened a while back, it could be like a double date". It sounded like fun but I didn't know. "So"? I could tell Shadow wanted me to badly. "I would but-, how would I start this question off, besides she's way to good for me and-" "Hey, Lightning Cloud". Tasha didn't know why she was nervous, "so Lightning Cloud". "Rainbow Dash, Shadow, and I are going to this place tonight wanna go with us"? Lightning Cloud's eyes opened widley, he looked very shocked. She thought to herself, *he's not going to say yes, I shouldn't have asked*. "Sure", he said with a grin, she returned him with a smile. Rainbow Dash cut in "yeah so meet at Tasha's at 8pm got it". I wanted to contest about the time, but they had already zoomed off. “Do you know her address by any chance”? Shadow Moon looked at me and laughed “not a clue”. Tasha came back and gave me a slip of paper an address number, blushed, then zoomed back the way she came. We got back to my house and sat around waiting for time to go by. “So how long have you and Dash been together?” I asked. “Remember that year you guys needed those two sets of armor for a stallion and mare for whatever reason” as Shadow tried to recall. “Dude, it’s been three years?” I responded, “Good for you guys, it sounded like you really hit it off”. “Hey what did you guys do with those two sets of armor”? I quickly responded to Shadow’s question “I don’t remember”, I cleverly lied; I knew exactly what we did. A chariot pulled up outside, “well let’s go Lightning, don’t want to be late”. We got in the chariot and headed for Tasha’s house. Tasha had finished getting ready and observed herself in the mirror. She was ready for this night. “You never told me how you and Shadow Moon met” she yelled to Rainbow Dash. Dash looked at the clock, “well we have awhile so I guess I’ll tell you the story”. 3 years ago Rainbow Dash decided today she would take a walk. As she made her way, she started to come towards a decent sized arena where royal guards were trained. She seen 3 ponies in front of the door way, she knew all three of them in certain ways, one in particular from flight academy. The grey one was Lightning Cloud, he’d been here since he was a colt and had almost no friends, no pony knew why. But eventually Red Cross became good friends as colts and showed him around and met new ponies. Red Cross was born a doctor, if you ever needed some medical help; he was the pony to go to. They had a crate with something inside of it, but she lost interest as they walked away and Shadow Moon turned around. She hadn’t seen him since flight academy, she wondered why. “Hey Dash, what brings you around?” Shadow asked. “Just walking around” she answered. They both smiled, “well” Shadow said, “Guess I’ll… see you later”. “Oh, ok then see you later”, Dash finished talking and started to walk away. “Wait”, Shadow called, Dash stopped and turned around, “yes”? “Uhh, do you want to go and… get something to eat sometime”? Rainbow Dash was stunned, “did you just ask me out on a date”? “Yeah…” he said nervously, Rainbow Dash smiled “tomorrow, come get me at 7:00pm, ok”? “Sure” Shadow excitedly responded, Dash started to walk down the road and a smile came to her face. I was in the front with Shadow, “yeah but me and her just hit it off” Shadow said. We sat there for a while then Tasha’s house came into view. We landed as Tasha and Rainbow Dash walked out the door. I got out of the chariot and opened the back for Tasha and watched her climb in, I followed in after her, and Rainbow Dash took my seat up front next to Shadow Moon. Everyone started talking and such, and then a bird decided to play chicken with our chariot. To dodge it, the drivers swerved left causing everyone in the back to hit the side of the chariot. Tasha had landed against me and blushed, but she stayed next to me. As we landed next to the building in Canterlot, I read the sign. It said Lunar Playground and I could hear loud music playing through the walls. “So it’s like a night club?” I asked Shadow. “Yeah it’s awesome, and it has the best music around”. We walked in and all you could hear is dubstep mixed with the sound of partygoers. We sat at a booth and ordered some apple ciders. We downed the drinks and started talking. Tasha poked me, “come on let’s go dance”, she pulled me out of the booth. She started walking towards the then turned her head smiled and nodded her head to come to her. I followed her; something just urged me to want more. As we started dancing a serious song (which I’m guessing was new for a night club) came on and we got closer to each other. “I know more about you then I should, Cloud” she said. “How” I asked, she looked away to think if she should tell me or not. “Well when you were out cold, I went to check out files of the battalion I’m in and I seen yours”. “It’s fine let’s just dance”, I said as we carried on. The music changed followed by a voice, “hey guys DJ Pon-3 here, gonna leave the music on loop and be back in five”. Tasha and I made our way back to the booth to see the DJ sitting with Shadow Moon and Rainbow Dash, talking and laughing. Tasha sat down which left me standing, and we joined in on the conversation. “Lightning, Tasha, this is Vinyl Scratch more known as DJ Pon-3”. We shook hooves and Vinyl ordered some apple ciders which sounded great. A guy who clearly didn’t work here put a platter with the drinks on them onto the table. They were fizzing which was weird, “what’s in these” I asked. Vinyl said something about soda making them 10 times better. I spun the platter to observe the drinks, “No-” the person who brought the drinks was mad that I had done that. I took the one that was fizzier than the others and drank it, the others took there’s and did the same. Immediately I knew something was wrong because I got a slight headache started to see colorful dots. “Whoa……” I woke up and was shocked to see I was in a bed, and to notice this wasn’t my house. I looked around and found a clock; it was three in the morning. “Ok now I need to find out where I’m at”, I quietly whispered. I could see a mailbox out of a window in the distance but I couldn’t make out the address. I looked at my hooves and concentrated, a small spark shot into the air from my hoof. The window would have been a burden, so I opened it and aimed my left hoof at the mailbox. A bolt of lightning extended from the hoof and held near the mailbox so that I could see the numbers. As I read the numbers, I gritted my teeth in pain and let out small cries. The bolt left my hoof and dispersed into the night. My body felt weak, I nearly fell over when I walked away from the window. My talent never really helped me, and sometimes was a burden; my family has had all generations to do something with storms. My dad would tell me stories about it, but he told me mine was special; like I had been chosen or something, In my mind I knew he was babying me. The address had read a familiar address and I thought I had seen it earlier. I reached into my satchel over by the wall and pulled three papers out. The first one was a training schedule, it was very old (reminding me that I should really clean my satchel), the second was the note from earlier I set it next to me and pulled out the other paper. The paper was the address that Tasha had given me before we left for our date, and sure enough it was the same address. I couldn't believe I was here, but at the same time I didn't want to be here. I really liked Tasha and I didn't want a one night stand. Especially like that one time in Las Pegasus, but like they always say 'what happens in Las Pegasus, stays in Las Pegasus'. I grabbed my satchel and the note from it and headed towards the door. But then I got the worst feeling in my stomach that made me rush to the bathroom. I puked a good to times before getting my self off the toilet bowl. The envelope was like a magnet to my hoof, I couldn't let go. So I opened it to see what was in store. Dear Lightning Cloud, It pains me to say this but you are probably all grown up and have forgotten what happened the day of the attack. I knew the attack was coming out for us before anything, your mother had set us up for a deal with griffons as a sale. I just want you to know that you really are special, you have a power like none of our ancestors have ever had. I wish I could have seen you grow up, but if I didn't sacrifice myself you would have been killed. - I love you, Dad I looked at the date it was wrote, it had been a day before the attack. My eyes turned red as I started to faintly cry and wonder why. I got straight up and looked at myself in the mirror, I had my mothers ears and eye color. I hit the mirror as hard as I could and watched as it shattered, I hope that my mom died along with that *accident*. A sudden march came down the hall followed by a yelling voice. It was Tasha's, she started walking in, "what the hell are you-", she stopped and looked at my bloodshot eyes. "I'm sorry for what I said, I didn't-", "it's not what you said", as I cut her off. She sighed then slightly smiled, " I'll clean this up you go back to bed". I started walking to the bedroom as I heard her open the envelope. I laid down and closed my eyes, and before I fell asleep I heard a faint sobbing. Author's Note Ok I know for the people who were reading this before that this was way to late but, so much stuff has been coming up lately and I had to retake a segment of a class for summer school. So to people who were waiting I'm sorry for being a douche, and to the new fans reading thanks for reading. Prelude to warHe awoke from his sleep and looked around, walls of stone where around him with iron bars in front of his cell. All that could be seen was a few ponies with weapons standing guard by the door. He knew no whereabouts of his squad members or if they were alive. His wings were tied and he was in shackles, he muttered an insult and the guards yelled for him to stay quiet. He was now a prisoner of war. It was a great mourning for a walk in town, besides the half hangover I had gotten last night. I had woken up at 7am and Tasha was still asleep, so I decided to leave because of what happened. I left a note on the table saying ‘Tasha I’m sorry about last night I wasn’t myself talk later?’ The crisp air was delightful and you could smell the pastries from sugar cube corner for miles. As I walked by the Apple family farm, I was greeted by a few familiar faces from the major meeting held by Princess Celestia. “Hello” said Rareity with a smile, I decided to stop and chat. Apple Jack, Rareity, and Twilight continued into conversation with me chatting along, but Twilight turned to me and a look like she just remembered something came to her face. “What are you doing walking around, didn’t you get that message this morning I sent you?” I had a feeling it was important so I decided it would be best to agree with her and then be on my way. As I turned and was a few feet away Twilight called my name. I stopped but didn’t turn to face her, “You do know why that had to happen, Right?” she said. My head hung low as I sighed, “yes Twilight I know, now that you’re a princess you have responsibilities and need to do what you need to do.” I walked off with a sigh of relief but grief was still upon me. I reached my house and opened the door to find one of my old pals on the table holding my letter from Twilight. It was my pet Phoenix from when I had to go to the castle to see Princess Celestia as a colt. He was two different shades of purple but he could change any color he wanted too. When I named him all I could think was Shiek, and he seemed to like it too. I stuck out my hoof and did a high pitch whistle through my teeth, it was my way of telling him to come to me. Using its small talons, he threw the message my way, and then a blur went from the table to my hoof. He then caught the message in his talon, gave it to me then bowed. He had always been faster than the target. I saw the royal symbol on it and immediately opened it. ‘Dear Captain Cloud’, I smiled and laughed, she finally had put some decency in this one, I went back to reading. ‘Dear Captain Cloud, It’s been a terrible week trying to get your attackers to give us any information. In a new attempt I’m sending you an order to go and interrogate every one of them; you will also have another in the room with you during this process. So you are hereby announced to be there at 12:00 pm, no later. I hope it will be easier than the time we have been having. Good luck. -Princess Twilight Sparkle Eleven rings came from the clock symbolizing that it was 11:00 am. It took twenty minutes to get there by train, so I opened a window and put some crackers on the table for Shiek and left for the train station. “Jason?” a voice called, “Jason?” I got up and looked around. “Zeke is that you?” I replied, “Where are you”? His face appeared near the bars on the upper right side of my cell. It was a relief to see one of us here especially Zeke, he and I had been friends for a long time. “Do you know what has happened to Zachary”? I sighed, “No what happened to Dirk”? His face turned full of sorrow and I immediately knew what had happened to him, “did he at least die fighting”? The look in his eyes were unknown, “yes but he didn’t deserve to die the way he did”. Anger and hate started to fill my head, “they will pay Zeke”. There were a few minutes of silence, not even a noise in the room, just full silence. “Jason what was it like fighting the rebel group up in the mountain a couple years ago”? I pondered the question for a moment to figure out an answer. “Well there was really no chance for them to win, they were never organized and never trained, so we almost no loses”. He sighed, “Did they ever talk about what we believed was wrong”? It never hit me whenever we captured a rebel and he always shouted that we were in a shroud of lies, or that it was wrong. “Yes all the time, why do you ask”? “Well” he said, “Right now what we’re doing, it doesn’t make any sense, why do we have to fight”? “I’ll tell you why” a voice came from the next cell to my left. “These ponies are a savage race, they attack without reason then think it’s alright and everything will be fine, they need to be brought to justice, and-”. “Hey, shut the hell up down there!” a guard yelled. We all scowled and gave a look at the guard but stayed quiet. A door opened and a few ponies were talking with the guards, I caught glimpse of somepony who looked like the target we came to kill, was that Lightning Cloud? They left the room and then two guards came and unlocked Zeke’s cell, and took him out the door. I hoped that this wasn’t an execution; please don’t let it be one. I looked around the interrogation room; I quickly noticed the one way tinted window, that was really it. There was one of the Lunar Republics soldiers here to help me out, so while we waited I tried some small talk. “So how was your train ride here?” I asked. He gave me an irritated look, “I didn’t have to ride one I have wings, if you have any insults say them now”. “What in Equestria are you talking about?” I asked, “Why would I insult you”? He gave me a puzzled look, “you mean you’re not going to insult me or do anything demeaning to me”? Shaking my head I said “no”, and a smile quickly came to his face. “My name is Grant, and sorry I thought you were like some of the other ponies out there”. Not understanding I asked “what do you mean like some of the others out there”? He then began to tell me a story about some of the ponies were not too fond of the Luna Republic, and how usually they were treated like jerks, and that is why there were two separate armies. “Wow I didn’t even know about this, this should be took up with the princesses”. A group of guards then walked in with one of the griffons from the attack and set him across the table. He was chained up so he couldn’t move, the guards saluted then went and guarded outside the door. We looked at the chained up griffon, his head hung down with a grim look on his face. “Ok” Grant said as he pressed the button on a recorder. “Prisoner 935115 attempt #4”. “So” I asked, “I hear from high places that they can’t get any of you to talk, not even get your name”. The griffon remained silent, but he started to bring us into his sight. “What’s the matter, cat got your tongue”? “My name” he said, “Is Zeke, and I already know yours”. “Skip the names” snapped Grant, “why were you here, what’s your next move? We need answers”! “We were here to kill him”, as Zeke pointed at me. I looked at the griffon as he turned and mumbled something. “I will talk but only if I have my chains removed and only Lightning Cloud can be in the room”. Grant was about to protest, but I said deal before he could. Grant left the room, and I hit a switch on the wall that made the chains unlock and fall to the floor. Zeke began to stretch, while I sat down across from him. “I am a Corporal of the Griffon Empire, along on a mission to kill you Cloud. We got detail that you lived in Ponyville and what we read was that you were currently in training, so we infiltrated and realized our intel was off.” I thought for a moment as he paused, “But wait how did look like ponies” I asked. “The Empire has sources, magic was used to cloak us, but that was our mission”. “Why tell me this?” I said puzzled. “You will realize soon, you may put the cuffs back on, but I ask only on my feet”. The room got quiet again with Grant and me sitting in the table. Zeke remained in the corner with his head down. The guards walked in with the other two prisoners, the guards went behind us and leaned against the wall. A guard then lost his balance tripping one of the switches, releasing the griffon closest to me. He pounced on me as another griffon yelled “finish him Jason”! I seen him raise his claw and knew I was finished. But then he was tackled over, Zeke had just saved me. “Do you want to die now!?” he yelled. They were both chained up and Zeke was instantly thrown into a corner, leaving the other two at the table. “Jason is it?” I spoke to my attacker, “I’m guessing you’re the one calling the shots”. No response from him, I looked at Grant and he began to talk who I knew was Zachery. “We want answers and we know you’re an officer, why did King Listo not accept peace”? The Griffon laughed, “you don’t even know who you’re talking too, and that king is no longer in rule. He was overthrown the week of the incident”. There king had been overthrown? By whom I thought, I decided to learn more. “Who is the new leader?” I yelled. “Do you remember his son you idiots, I am now King Zachery”! It now just hit me King Listo had had a son; I was blinded this whole time. “You Ponies will all fall, I will make sure of it which is why the Crystal Empire has fallen to our control”! I sped to the speaker by the one way window and pressed the button. “We have a Code: Black, The Crystal Empire has been possibly attacked”. A Siren started blaring in the distance, I looked out of one of the other windows into the sky, there were griffons everywhere. I went into panic mode, “Secure the room I want no-” The wall next to me engulfed in an explosion broke it. I was flung toward the other wall and was knocked out. Tasha continued to take cover behind a tree; she peaked around it and observed her enemy. They stood in a circle formation and waited. What looked like a commanding officer then came out and started giving orders, and then they started to look for any civilians in the area. Tasha started to hear movement in front of the tree she was behind; she drew her knife and waited. The Griffon leaned against the tree not knowing of her position. She quickly covered he beak and slit his thought, brought the body back to the ground behind the tree, then got back in her position. She observed the bottle and lighter the Griffon had sticking out of his knap sack, she seen the cloth sticking halfway in and out of the bottle and immediately knew what it was. The Griffons were being called back to the formation they had been in before, this was perfect. She flicked the lighter and a flame emitted from it, she lit the cloth, then through the bottle. The whole formation engulfed in flames, along with pain and screams of agony. Three of the Griffons had all of a sudden appeared and were confused and trying to help. Tasha sprang towards the closest one to her, tackled it and drove her knife into its chest. The other two seen Tasha and rushed to attack. She readied her knife but was tackled to the ground. A blur of blue struck the griffon that had her pinned her to the ground, she quickly got up and killed the other attacker. Rainbow Dash grinned, “Sorry I was late for the party”. Sounds of shuffling armor came from all around them, they had been surrounded. Tasha sighed and reached back into her knapsack and pulled out a syringe. “Tasha what is that for” she questioned as the griffons came closer. Tasha looked at the syringe of blue liquid, then injected herself with it. “Rainbow Dash” Tasha said, “no matter what you see, I want you to know I’m still the same person this is only temporary”. Rainbow Dash turned to see Tasha her eye color was red, then Tasha was a blur while many griffons were torn to a major bloodshed and fell to the ground. I coughed as a piece of rubble was taken off me, “What happened Grant”? “Sir they got away, were under attack we need to get to General Shadow Moon’s counter attack”. I nodded and we ran for the frontlines. We entered a house with more cannon ball holes than a pirate ship at the bottom of Davy Jones’ locker, I was surprised it still held. “Sergeant I need you and your men at this position” Shadow’s voice rang. “Still using run-down joints as HQ’s I see” I said, Shadow laughed “well looks like I found my runner”. Grant saluted Shadow “Sir reporting for duty!”, Shadow looked at me then back to Grant, “at ease runner number two”. Grant looked as confused as I was, “excuse me sir”? Shadow Moon looked back and forth, “I need you two to blow up the enemy artillery with these”. He pulled out two bricks of timed explosives, I grinned in excitement, I always enjoyed explosives. A scared look came to Grant’s face “Sir this is normally work for higher military personnel”. Shadow Moon grinned “what are you talking about Sergeant”? Grant smiled “thanks for the promotion sir, but are we gonna have any back up”? “Are you ever!” a voice came from behind us, it was Red Cross. “Shadow permission for Zeta Squad to back up Lighting Cloud”? “Permission granted Red”. We ran out of the building and toward the battle line, “Are you ready for this Grant”? He looked at me confused, “what do you mean sir”? A smirk came to my face, “you’re about to serve with 2 of 3 of the most badass soldiers, and the most badass squad in this army”. We fought our way through a good 50 griffons before actually finding the first cannon we had to destroy. We made Grant plant the bomb since it was going to be his first time. He set the time for ten then we ran. We came up on the second without a problem. “Stop” I said, “something’s not right, check the area”. A loud scream came from a man from Zeta squad, we all ran to see what had happened. A griffon in heavy armor had drove a sword threw the member of the squad and thrown him to the ground. Somepony turned and yelled “Juggernaut”! The giant figure ran our way, another member of Zeta squad charge at but was instantly knocked to the ground. The Juggernaut was about to finish him, I shoulder charged him and the Juggernaut staggered. I started to help up the downed Zeta squad member, “look out!” he screamed, I turned as the Juggernaut raised its heavy sword. A sword pierced through its chest then went back through it’s back. The Juggernaut fell over as it gave away its last breathe standing behind it was Grant. “Thanks I thought I was a goner”, the Zeta member said. I went to plant the last bomb and set the counter for 10 seconds then we ran. Red Cross turned to me, “hey Lightning I got an idea if you are up for it”. “You’re kidding right? Lay it on me”. He explained what we should do, the plan was simple, attack the enemy from behind (which we already behind them), and win. We charged the enemy from behind and instantly shit had hit the griffons fan, they were confused and wondered how we got in and where their artillery had gone. And if it wasn’t bad enough one of their line were then broken by our frontline assaulters. What looked like a commanding officer then flew in and ordered a retreat because all griffons took to the skies and flew off. We had won. The Next Day I looked around the battle field most of the dead bodies away to be buried, all the families who had lost a member of their family would get immediate notification, we had won but at what cost. I came into the camp of ponies wounded; some were really bad, like missing limb bad. There was experimental auto mail that had been created before this all started, it was supposed to be for ponies born with limb disabilities, but now if the soldiers wanted they could get back in the fight. I walked to Shadow Moon who was standing on a makeshift stage; he had invited me to make a speech. I was joined by Zeta squad, Red Cross, and Grant. As Shadow called to all ponies to report to the stage, more started to gather and I had seen many give Grant dirty looks. I leaned to Shadow Moon, “We need to fix this” I whispered, “All the Luna’s Republic keep getting treated like crap it’s not right”. Shadow Moon went up to the microphone and announced about one hell of a job we had done, beating the griffons. He continued and told that Grant and I had something to say, I let Grant speak first. “I’m glad we were able to win this fight and defend Equestria. I’m glad I was able to fight alongside Zeta, Red Cross, and Captain Cloud”. “You should be honored, darkie” rang a side comment. Angered, I grabbed hold of the microphone, “which one of you two bits said that”, no answer. “This ‘darkie’ saved a member of zeta and me today so you need to shut your trap and stand in line”. I gave the microphone back to Shadow Moon, “And with that I would like to make an announcement” he said. “Due to the events shown today Luna Republic soldiers will be joining forces with several of the ranks in the Royal Equestrian Army”. “Dismissed”! “Mom what exactly is the Genesis project”, said Morning Star. Princess Celestia looked at both Rainbow Dash and Morning Star. Rainbow Dash feared what Tasha had done to herself and had asked Morning Star if he had knew what it was, but he himself couldn’t give her a reasonable answer. “Morning Star, Rainbow Dash, how do you know about Genesis”? Rainbow Dash came forward “Tasha injected herself with a syringe labeled Genesis in yesterday’s fight”. Princess Celestia’s face became worried “Tasha will be fine, but you can tell no pony else about what Tasha did yesterday”. Jason the griffon Intermission 1A Day after the attack of Canterlot We’d been flying for eight hours straight we need to take a break or one of us could literally die of exhaustion. The Special Griffon unit designated for our extraction was beginning to rest and recon the area. “Jason” Zeke called, “I’m sorry about what happened inside, I-”. “Zeke! You are lucky I do not kill you know, Jason had Lightning Cloud, he could of ended him there”! I noticed the anger in Zeke’s eyes, “He could have ended up like Dirk, is that what you want to see another one of your friends die”! Zachery turned and started to walk away, “he knew what he signed up for”. I looked at Zeke, “come one man, let’s go for a walk”. We walked a little ways away from the camp the others had set up for a rest; I turned to Zeke and tried to say something but nothing would have helped. “Jason?” he said, “why is he so heartless, can’t he even see what’s happening? His friends dying and he doesn’t even care”. I couldn’t answer; I couldn’t even hide the fact he was turning into a monster. “When Zachary became king, how did it really happen”? I was supposed to keep it a secret but if I did I would be no better than Zachary. “Sit down Zeke this is going to take us awhile”. Two weeks before letter from Princess Celestia was sent to Griffon Empire As we ran into the throne room the doors hit the wall with a loud crack, everyone now knew Zachary and I were now here. “Father, Reports of hostility against our soldiers has happened last night, one of them appears to have a hoof mark on them, we need to strike at the ponies now”! King Listo looked at Zachary and grinned “Son you are too eager for fight, you must calm yourself, you are not sure if it was even an equestrian army”. King Listo then looked to me, “and Jason, my how you have grown, I miss your company”. He treated me like a son, then again he always treated Zeke the same way too. “It’s nice to see you again too, Sir”. I got a smile back from the king, and as Zeke came through the door he was also greeted. “Father” Zachary argued, “You’re not getting the point, this is an attack against our people”! “Enough”! He exclaimed, “There is no need for war when things can be solved diplomatically, you are dismissed”! Zachary gave a look of disgust, “Yes sir”, and then we followed him out of the room. Zachary muttered to himself out of anger, while Zeke and I stood behind. I tried for a diplomatic approach, “Zachary your fathers right, it can be solved that way”. “You don’t understand, but Jason your coming with me with a guard force tonight”. I gave him a discouraged look, “your father isn’t gonna like this”. We met up with the squad in the forest and we continued their normal route. The soldiers talked amongst themselves while Zachary and I followed the captain at the lead of the formation. “Hold” the captain said, “Something’s not right, every one circle formation”. He pointed to a tree for Zachary and I to hide behind, I was scarred so I hid. The guards faced some bushes that shook, then observed the tree tops as leaves moved then fell to the ground. “Okay that is enough of this I-”, a splatter of blood painted a nearby tree next to us, the captain fell to the ground and twitched then gave his last breath. The other guards began shouting, I couldn’t comprehend what I had just seen, I couldn’t see an enemy or projectile, what the hell killed him. Two more guards fell within seconds leaving five more guards, they turned to see their enemy and I saw what it was. A brown pegasus with red eyes, and a burgundy mane, she had syringe holsters on her vest, they had symbols of Equestria on them. She quickly slaughtered two more guards but then toppled over herself, her eyes turned from red to green and her speed went down twice then what she was just going. She quickly injected herself with another syringe and her eyes reverted from green back to red. The three guards stood no chance, one was thrown against the tree we were behind, the other killed instantly. “What are you” the soldier said as coughed up some blood, “Y-you’re a monst-”. A knife found his chest, then the pony dashed off. Zachary emerged from his spot, I stood still, shocked in fear. “What do we do Zachary!? Whatever that was killed all of them, What do we do”!? “Shut up and grab their tags Jason, We have to report this”! Present day “Jason what happened to Listo”? I looked to the starry sky then back to Zeke, “you know the first part about the uprising, when Zachary wanted to attack but his father turned away. All hell broke loose and Zachary deemed him a traitor, he reported him executed, but he’s actually been put in the worst of the worst prison”. Zeke gave me a puzzled look, “I’m going to guess he was put in the one room that’s got all those guards we seen last time we went through there”. I looked at him “yeah all those guys there must hate their job, having to stand in one place all day”. A smile came to Zeke’s face “yeah I know what you mean”. A soldier came and told us the others had started heading to the castle, Zeke wasn’t ready to go yet so I told the soldier to stay with him for the time being. The soldier gave to argue and stood guard while I flew off. I woke up in my room inside the castle and was immediately called to Zachary. I poured myself a cup of coffee from the kettle on we were using. “Jason they broke him out last night, Listo”. I coughed as I swallowed wrong. “They took him out the back way which triggered the explosive trap, he’s most likely dead”. I sighed in relief which was a mask for my grief, I never wanted this war to happen but at the same time there was really no choice. “I thought I should bring this to your attention, Jason” Zachary said, “The rebels are getting smarter and this war isn’t helping, so were going to move to the Crystal Empire, now that it’s ours, we have the castle and base prepared. We can’t have our castle demolished”. I looked into my coffee, wondering if any of this was going to change. Author's Note I know it's not much, but this is what I could make up to start it. I thought it was good but tell me what you guys think, Thanks. ^-^ IntentionsIt’s been six months since this dawm war started. I’m tired and I don’t want to continue this fight, but if I don’t who will. There were so many bodies out here I couldn’t help to think, why them and not me? I knelt next to a body that lay before me. My hoof went towards his neck and held for a few seconds. No pulse. I let out a sigh and took his tags. He wasn’t someone I knew, but I could’ve known him. A shadow came from behind me as I rose to my hooves. “Hey Sparky” it was Red Cross, I could tell by the nickname. “You’ve been out here long enough, go back and get some chow”. I slipped the tags into my uniform and headed towards base camp. I walked into a tent met by a tray and tons of other soldiers. The food wasn’t that good but it was better than nothing. I didn’t see my unit, so I thought they had eaten already. But “Lightning” followed by “Capitan” came from behind me. I turned to see Tasha and Dante with grins waving me over. I sat down next to Tasha, “hey Sparky”. I put down my fork and grinned. “How did that become my nickname all of a sudden”? Dante smiled, “Remember when you killed those griffons last week”? That was a terrible battle for me that day. I had been wounded and two griffons were charging towards me. In panic I used my electricity powers to kill them, I had nearly passed out due to the pain. A soldier approached us in an odd matter, “Capitan Cloud, Capitan Knight”. Tasha had that solemn, tough look on her face. “Yes”? She waited for a response. “You are being summoned to the command tent”, he saluted then walked away. “Well we should get going then”, she insisted. We got up and before I left I shook Dante’s hoof, “good luck”. Tasha and I made our way towards the tent and we eventually caught up to Rainbow Dash. “Hey Dash what’s up”? She turned and looked our way then turned away again. “Hey” I said as she kept walking. I put my hoof on her shoulder, “Dash what-”. Dash knocked Lightning to the ground, “I don’t want to talk to you T-“. She cut herself off, she was about to say my name. I knew what this was about. “Lightning I have something to tell you”, Dash started. She was going to tell him, I didn’t want him to know, especially right now. Dash seen me and hesitated, “Lightning if you hurt Tasha, I’ll personally kill you”. A great relief swept through my body, and I wiped away my tears. “Lightning I need to talk to Tasha alone, can you go ahead”? Still shocked he started walking to the command tent again. “Tasha you need to tell him about Genesis. If you care about him, you have too. Because if he finds out himself, he’ll-”. “I know Dash, I’ll tell him, I have to find the right time”. Capitans and higher began to flood the tent. I took up front at one of the three tables because Shadow Moon wanted me there at all times. Red Cross took a spot next to Shadow, followed by Vaccine. “Well, long time no see”. I turned to see one an old friend of mine. “Soto, is that you”? She smiled and took a seat next to mine. “So Hawkeye, who’s your friend?” a stranger following her. Soto turned towards him, “he’s one of my old friends, Sir, and his name is Lightning Cloud”. He gave me a hard look then he laughed and his expression changed in a heartbeat. “I’ve heard of you! You were the one of the four to fight in the training! I’ve been doing mostly lead fight coordination, but you probably know me”. I had, his name was Blitz and his specialty was fire. “In fact I have Colonel, how long will you be here”? “Well” he started, “It actually depends on the next battle. If we advance, my unit gets called back to Equestria”. I gave him a friendly grin, “then let’s make sure we win”. Tasha walked in along with Rainbow Dash; Tasha took her seat near me, and Dash next to Shadow. “Ok now we may begin” It began with an introductory and immediately dropped a huge bomb after words stating that there was a spy in the camp. After words we moved directly into battle strategies. A few started to nod off, including Tasha. Everyone was well aware of what to do on the lines. “Sir” a whisper came from behind me; I turned to see a low ranked private. “Sir, someone is here to see you, they say it’s important”. “Did they say who they were?” I asked. No response. As I got up, Soto handed me a file, “its briefing. See me if you have any questions”. I turned to see Tasha, her eyes were closed and her head against the table. “Take care of her for me”, Soto nodded and I left the tent. I thought more about the battle, we were losing too many soldiers, and we had to rely on more reinforcements. The enemy must have the spy pinpointing our troops with artillery. I stopped and looked around; I was in the middle of the low ranks tent area, during meal time. No one was going to be here. I started to be approached from all directions, as one came closer the rest stopped. “Lightning Cloud, we need to talk”. Tasha was somewhat pissed off. The mare that was next to Lightning had woken her up in the middle of a great dream, Lightning was nowhere to be found, and since he was gone, she got stuck with the responsibility of the new squad paperwork. “Tasha” Shadow Moon said, “here is the list of new soldiers for your squad”. A stack of folders was placed in front of her and sighed at this sight, she hated paperwork. The other captains and higher ups got their orders and began to leave. She was going to have to fill Lightning in later. As she went through all the files, one caught her attention. They called him Mick; his file read that he had survived a sword through the chest. It also described him as a good warrior and faster than the average soldier. Tasha began to get hungry so she decided to make her way to the mess hall and exited the tent. As she made her way there, she notices a pony sitting on a wall taking pictures with a camera. She noticed his orange coat and black mane, as she observed more she noticed the scar on his chest. “Hello, Mick”? She was never good at introductions; it was usually Lightning’s area. “Hello I’m Capitan Knight, your new-”. He turned toward her and smirked. Her face went pale and memories flooded her head. Blood, screams, and faces flashed in and out. Then she saw Mick, but at the same time it wasn’t him, she thought of Denver. Two weeks before letter to Griffon Empire I had been tracking Denver for three weeks now. Every attempt to eliminate him had been a failure and it was because of the griffons. He would use them as hostages, but would end up killing them anyways. I was ordered to use any means necessary, even if it involved killing, but I wouldn’t result to harming innocence. This would be his last escape from me, he had run out of Genesis and I still have two left. As I put away my field orders, a picture fell out. It was a picture of me and everyone else in the Genesis program. Out of everyone there, I had trusted Denver the most, He had reminded me of my brother Shaun who had died serving in the Royal guard. But Denver had killed all of the other Genesis agents, and now I had to do the same to him. As I moved forward, I slowly came up on his camp. Another sound came off in the distance, it was more griffons. I hurried and injected my Genesis and drew my dagger. He heard my draw then bolted into the woods. I immediately did the same. As I gave chase, we were beginning to get closer to the griffons. I couldn’t let any more deaths happen because of him. I used my wings to boost my speed, and then tackled him. As I tied him up I began to hear voices, it was the griffons, and they were right on top of my position. They were armed and ready to kill, and they knew exactly where I was. “Something’s not right, everyone, circle position!” the captain barked as they looked in my direction. I was going to have to kill them. I readied my dagger and leaped from the bushes, slicing the captain’s throat at top speed. No one had seen my action and everyone began to panic. I immediately did the same to two more guards. My genesis stopped, so I quickly injected my last one and continued to fight. Only one remained, and he was wounded. “W-what are you?” he shouted. A tear rolled down my cheek, I had to kill him, but I couldn’t look him in the face. “You’re a monster”! I pushed my knife into his chest and he let out his last breath. I ran back to where I left Denver with hatred for myself. I moved Denver to a cliff next to the edge of a waterfall. I needed my own answers now, “so” I asked, “why did you do it”? He smiled and laughed, “I don’t have to tell you shit”. I nailed him in the face with my right hoof, “tell me why”! He looked up with blood on the side of his mouth, “personal reasons”. I then hit him with my left hoof and began crying, “tell me right now, you son of a bitch! You killed my only family”! He looked at me with a smirk, “I know”. My dagger instantly found its way into his chest and he began to cough up blood. “Burn in hell” I said. I pulled out my knife and kicked him off the cliff. As more gathered to see what was going on, I pulled her closer. “Tasha, are you okay”? She could barely opened her eyes, “Lightning…” she said faintly. She cringed and went back to being unconscious. I felt her head; it felt like it could burst into flames. Among the crowd was Vaccine who I called over immediately. She helped me carry Tasha to her tent and gave her some medication to stop the fever. “Lightning” Vaccine said, “She’ll be fine in a couple of hours, go take a rest”. I looked over to Tasha and back to Vaccine. “I’ll stay for a while just to be safe”, I said. As Vaccine walked out she patted me on the back “don’t worry, she’ll be fine”. I waited a good hour before leaving. By then it was 9:30pm so I decided to go to my tent and try to get some shut eye. But I couldn’t sleep; I just thought and thought about things. When I checked my pocket watch it was around 10:15 and I was still wide awake. As I closed my pocket watch the flap to my tent opened up, “Lightning we need to talk”. It was Tasha, “Why are you out of bed?” I asked. “I’ll be fine” she answered, “mind if I join you”? Tasha made her way over to my cot and climbed in with me, “I’ve had something I’ve needed to tell you for a while”. She began with telling me about what the Genesis project was, and how she ended up there. I spent most of my time in silence because I couldn’t believe it. Then she told me about Denver, what he had done, and what she had done to stop him. “But I don’t think I stopped him” she said, “Today I seen him and I know it was him because of the scar. But I don’t remember the name he was using.” My facial expression changed in a heartbeat, “he’s the spy” I said in shock. Just then three soldiers threw open my tent flap nearly knocking it down, began screaming and threw me to the ground. “What the hell is going on?” Tasha screamed. The soldier began putting cuffs on me, “this asshole has been giving the enemies intel and killing us all”! Tasha lunged towards the soldier but another pinned her to the ground. They began escorting me out of my tent, I was being charged with treason. Tasha tried to comprehend what had just happened but all she could do was sit and stare where Lightning and her had just been. She came too when somepony came into the tent to call her to the command tent. She made her way into the command tent and immediately said, “He didn’t do anything, he’s being framed Shadow”. Shadow, Red, Pestilence, Morning, and Rainbow Dash all became silent. Shadow Moon sighed, “I know he isn’t Tasha but until we find evidence, it’s impossible to say it’s not”. Tasha pulled some files out of her satchel and handed them to Morning Star, “here’s your spy, Denver, from the Genesis program. Compare his file to Mick’s, I’m pretty sure they are the exact same”. Morning observed both files for a few minutes, “Shadow she’s right”. Shadow quickly snatched the files and read them, “Red, go apprehend Mick before he can-”! The ground shook and a loud explosion could be heard around the whole camp. “What the hell was that” Shadow said as they all ran towards out of the tent. Tasha accidently ran into someone coming out of the tent, “Sorry about that”. The pony handed a paper to Tasha, “give these to Soto”. Tasha looked to see that they were marked for artillery to fire, “hold on, who-”, the pony was already gone. Tasha decided the smoke was more important at the moment, and ran towards a burning tent that many crowded by. Dante began to come out with somepony on his back, it was Vaccine. Red ran to Vaccine who had a glass shard, and now a pitch black mane, “you’ll be okay Vac, I’m her with ya”. Pestilence seeing his potion tent up in flames was infuriated, “WHAT HAPPENED HERE”!? Dante took a minute to catch his breath, “somepony rigged it to blow”. All of a sudden a soldier from Red’s squad came yelling Mick was nowhere to be found and that Lightning was missing and nowhere to be found. Author's Note Sorry for the long wait. I've been putting this off a lot to try to do better in school. But after I did I completely forgot about this and I regret doing so. So for those who have been waiting I thank you for it.
a bad morningAs I ran and played through the field, I looked toward my parents and they replied back with a smile. It had been a nice day; warm, sunny and a little breeze would come in every now and then. But the out of nowhere as if princess Celestia had commanded it, a storm had started. I looked back and forth from the storm to my parents, and seeing worry and concern in their eyes made me wonder, what's going on? Then out of nowhere a rock flew through the sky and hit me in the side of my head, the last thing I saw before I hit the ground was my parents running to my aid and dark figures in the sky. "Lightning Cloud!"... "Lightning Cloud!" I awoke to my mother's voice and seen that she had been cradling my head, she then set me down and told me in a stern but very concerned voice "run and don't turn back" then she ran towards my father who I saw fighting griffons. I was frozen to my spot, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, all I could think is why, why are they all of a sudden attacking us weren't they supposed to be friends? The next thing I knew my parents skidded across the ground to my feet, my mom unconscious, my dad still kicking. Then my dad stood up and turned around and put his satchel and his sword on my back and said "you need to survive you will serve a great purpose one day". I couldn't help it, my eyes started tearing up and tears started to roll down my face, I started to fade away wondering what was happening to me. My Father spoke as if it was the last time I’d ever see him, “I’m sending you to Princess Celestia, she will give you a good home and a good life in a little town called Ponyville". The last image I saw was a griffon about to slash my face. I woke up and discovered I was drenched in sweat; my mane was a mess from tossing and turning. I remembered what had happened to my parents when I was a colt. I thought to myself "I haven't thought of that in a long time". I looked at my dad’s sword and satchel and I remembered all the training I had went through with my dad with swords. I remembered the first time I had hurt myself. My dad had dummies that could attack and everything; there were at least 4 of them. The first three had been moderately easy, but I and the fourth one had attacked at the same time, I defeated it but got cut in my left front leg and fell to the ground. My dad got up from where he was sitting and started walking to me at a fast paste because I was hurt, but I got up on my own before he was half way to me. He walked up to me and said " I'm proud of you son", "why" I replied "I fell". A smile appeared from him and said "yeah but a true pony never gives up”. It was good to at least have good memories about my parents but there wasn't enough time to have to spend with them, I looked outside and guessed it was about noon so I guess I over slept. I got out of bed and decided the first best thing to do was look in the mirror. My black and yellow mane was a mess I couldn't even recognize myself. So I did what any other pony would do and brushed my mane. After that I decided that it was time I took a walk because I wanted to enjoy some scenery, it would probably help me get over my dream but I knew it wouldn't. So I grabbed my father's satchel and walked outside, but when I got out side there was a crowd outside my house so I decided to see what was up. I walked through the crowd about half way and saw a chariot waiting, and I knew the two sitting in this chariot. "Ah, Lightning Cloud I thought you would be out by this time" said the black colored pony. "Maybe a little earlier would have been better" replied the white colored pony. With a smile on my face I replied “Shadow Moon, Mourning Star, It's good to see you both again, so are you visiting or bringing news"? "Actually we are here to get you, and take you to Canterlot", answered Star. "We can talk about it on the way there but not right now" said Shadow. My facial expression went from a smile to discomfort in a heartbeat because I knew when Shadow Moon said something serious, it was serious, so I hurried onto the chariot and we were off. No one talked for a few minutes so I guessed I would have to be the one to pop the question, "so are you going to tell me what's going on"? "Yeah of course" replied Moon, "apparently there was a fight between a few pony citizens and a few Griffons and both parties got hurt badly, when Princess Celestia sent a peace maker to their leader they said something about rather going to war then ever making peace". "So basically the griffons are declaring war on us"? "Not exactly" replied Star, "they haven't sent attacks so we can't be sure and that's why Celestia is holding a meeting ". I looked at the floor and thought for a while, "So this is what you guys are picking me up for"? Shadow looked at was now closer Canterlot, and said "yes, now prepare yourself for getting off we have to hurry, were a little late". I picked up my father's satchel and got ready to get of the chariot, I hope that if they started without us, they won't mind if we were running just a little late Author's Note The first chapter was honestly the worse of writing all of the chapters i'm working on I knew a few chapters away what was gonna be good but i just couldn't think of a good way to start this off so meh.
Meeting of ManyThe three of us rushed out of the chariot and into the castle, down a hallway, and arrived into Princess Celestia throne room. I walked a few feet and then bowed to Princess Celestia, Shadow Moon and Morning Star did the same but moved at a faster passé and sat in their spots, I took a spot next to them because I really didn't know anyone else. Celestia then pronounced "good now we may begin", she talked about what Shadow Moon had told me earlier, so I decided to look around the room. There were a few others here to; there was Princess Celestia and Luna, the six elements. There were also some guards and some other pony that had a shield for a cutie mark; I guessed she was here to train an army. I zoned out on her she was just beautiful, she had a burgundy colored mane, a tarnished colored body, white wings, and green eyes that could melt your soul. In my right ear I hear someone whisper to me."You should hit that", I nearly jumped out of my seat. Red Cross had never been this quiet he usually was loud and outgoing in a good way. I looked at him “really I was-, never mind when you got here"? He thought for a good second, "at least five minutes ago which is also how long you have been staring at her". My face went from my grey color to bright red; it was a surprise most of the other ponies didn't notice. I heard chuckles and giggles across the room I didn't understand what was happening, "Lightning Cloud do you agree to the terms"? I felt like a total idiot I didn't even hear what she said, "can you please repeat the terms", and she smiled and laughed. "Yes, do you agree to help train the earth ponies and unicorns with Tasha Knight"? My face expression at that point went from stupid to puzzled, but apparently she must of knew I was going to ask who she was. "I'm Tasha Knight" as she looked me dead in the eye, it was the pony I had been staring at. I hoped for a second that she didn't see my red cheeks because as soon as she looked at me I blushed. Forgetting what was happening I snapped back to reality and replied to Celestia’s question with a yes. The rest of the meeting continued on, talk about evacuation, supplies and other things. The only thing i really heard was when they called out that Shadow Moon and Rainbow Dash would be working together to train the pegisi, it put a smile on face to hear that because both of them had been really good friends during their time in the flight academy, but after that they never really talked after that so it was good to see them talk again. As for not being able to hear some pony kept whispering in my ear which turned out to be one of Red Cross's good friends. Everyone started to leave after the meeting but Celestia had other plans for me. "Lightning Cloud I need to talk to you for a moment", I turned away from the partially open door and walked her way. It was quiet now that no pony was here, "Lightning Cloud, do you plan on using magic". Knew that was coming i thought to myself, looking at her i replied. "No, my family never used magic to fight even if they were unicorns, plus it is the only thing i have close to my family line any more". She looked at me with a grim face "hey cheer up", cheering me up wasn't going to help but i faintly smiled anyways. When walking back to the door I swear that some pony had hurried back out, but I was a little dazed from everything that was happening so I just carried on. Author's Note this one isn't the best either but there are 2 parts that might be funny, it didn't give me much to work with but the 3rd and 4th chapter i'm working on are longer and should make up for not a good length here
Training to Fighting"Lightning Cloud", "Lightning Cloud", I started to faintly open my eyes and then reshut them to go back to sleep. "Lightning Cloud"! I fell off my bed and looked around to see Tasha at the foot of my bed. "H-h-how did you get in my house"? She looked nervous to say how but she finally said, "you left a window open and wern't exactly answering the door...". "Great now I know who to call when i need to break into some other ponies house". She looked at me with an angered face, "that's not what I was-". She changed the subject, "never mind if we don't hurry those recruits aren't going to have much training". I looked at my clock and seen what time it was, "we better get going" i said. "Any time now would be nice", Tasha was messing with me. "Ok Ms. Knight" I replied back to here, she started to mutter. "What was that"? I asked, She looked back at me "oh nothing". I'd heard what she said and it sounded like he's lucky he's cute. We had just arrived in time because every pony was about to start taking armor off and to surprise find that Red Cross was going to help us out with the training mostly in the earth ponies. So we got right to the chase described a few things and went to work. To practice we all used wooden swords for protective reasons because I'm sure no pony wanted to be missing and limbs. The unicorns learned their fight drills in a matter of 4 hours, mostly because they didn't have to do much. The earth ponies were going to take longer then the unicorns so the unicorns were told to practice on each other for now. It had been a couple of days and the earth ponies learned alot, I taught the earth ponies how to dodge the wound a griffons wing so they could fight them on the ground. Red Cross taught some things like better ways to defend themselves and if needed to save another pony. Then words started being thrown around, and it almost started a little war between the unicorns and the earth ponies, because the unicorns said that they don't have limitations. Red Cross had had enough of this, " you cut the bull hocky, just because you have magic doesn't make you any better so how about one of you fight-". I cut in "let's have a practice fight, me and Red Cross vs you four", i was now pointing at the unicorns picking the fight," and I promise you I won't use magic". Red showed a little smirk, "those would be unfair odds" he said, "they would have their flanks handed to them in seconds". The four now looking angered to the extreme accepted the challenge in a heart beat. I seen Tasha zoom towards the pegasi training grounds no one was going to want to miss this fight. Whe ended up going to this arena were some events and other events happened but nothing had happened here for months so no pony would have minded if we used it. I looked around and sure enough the word spread about this fight pretty fast, and the arena was almost filled of ponies in armor and there were some pegisi just watching from clouds. I scanned the clouds and sure enough found Shadow Moon, Rainbow Dash, and Tasha Knight were all sitting on a cloud watching from above. I was glad Shadow and Rainbow Dash were talking again, but that's not what I cared about the most, I cared about Tasha. She looked so beautiful and sweet on that cloud. We were each given a wooden sword, me and Red Cross gripped ours in our mouths while the unicorns were surrounded by magic veils. An earth pony walked into the middle and kept glancing at both sides and prononced "gentlemen the fight will be until one of both parties is knocked out, are you all ready"? Red Cross nodded for both of us and the unicorns followed. The Earth pony slowly backed through a door and a cage gate followed him, then he used a megaphone and yelled "Fight"! I droped my sword and Red nodded, we both wanted to find out how many he could take on. In a matter of seconds he managed to knock two of them off their feet, he glanced at me and smiled. Then one of the unicorns kicked him in the side and it sent him sliding across the floor. I expected Red to get up but he staggered and cried in pain, I ran up to him and seen 3 marks in his side that were pretty deep, I seen the blood and got angered. Before I could move one of them tried to attack, I side stepped and hit him with my right hind leg, sending him back the way he came. I turned to look at the unicorns, but they were no longer any pony. Every pony was shocked, then one of the griffons that was disguised as a pony before, laughed and spoke "we finally me for real this time Lightning Cloud, but now you have to die". I didn't know what he meant, had we seen each other before? It didn't matter he was about to kill me so I have a choice but to fight. Shadow, Rainbow Dash and Tasha landed next to me, Shadow then threw me my sword and I caught it with my mouth mid air. "Tasha" I said, "go help Red with his wound until medics arrive". She nodded and rushed to Red Cross. "Alright let's take one prisoner", Rainbow Dash said "that big one with the scar on his eye". I looked at the one she said, I knew it was there leader, but I looked closer and remembered his face. I staggered as my ears started ringing loudly and whinced in pain. My memories flooded through my head untill I remembered the attack as a child, it was the griffon who almost killed me but he grew and had a scar over his right eye. I got back up as one raced towards Rainbow Dash, she immediately dodges and rear kicked it. She didn't see the one coming right for her and I thought she was finished. But at the last second Shadow Moon tackled her to the ground away from the griffon. Shadow looked up "Tasha"! I looked where he was looking and seen what he was worried about, and I zoomed to Tasha. The griffon with the scar was about to hit her, I jumped at him and decked him in the face. But he started his swing to, he was knocked out sure of it but his arm was still coming. His attack went full force into my side, and it sent me flying through the arena wall. I hit the ground and I rolled loosely over aand over until I stoped. My body screamed in agony, my head felt like it had a 10 weight trown on it. The last thing I seen was Tasha and some medics sprinting my way, then I blacked out.
Nice nightI started to open my eyes, it felt like I had been sleeping forever. I looked around, I was in a tent added with medical equiptment. I sat up and felt a small pain in my cheek I decided to touch it, "ow". I heard someone chuckle, "Well good morning sleeping beauty", I turned to see Red Cross. He had wrap around his middle section but he was doing fine. "Exactly how are you recorvering so fast" I asked, he looked at me then looked away. "Red"? "Well" he said, "not sure how to tell you this but you've been out cold for two weeks". "How-" he cut me off, "by the way that Tasha has been coming here since that day". I thought for a moment to think about what happened, but I stoped I didn't want to think about others getting hurt. A white pony walked in that I knew, "hey Vaccine". She was pushing in a cart and heading toward Red, "hey your finally up I'll go get Docter Hooves." A pony with a stethascope walked in followed by a pony with a tray of muffins. The Docter started to talk as the other pony reluctantly began eating the muffins. "Hello my name is Docter Hooves", he offered out his hoof and I shook it. "Just to inform you, you've been in a coma for two weeks, your a very lucky pony Mr. Cloud. I studied him blankly, he knew I was going to need more than your lucky, so he continued. When we found you, you were only bruised and scratched, we don't know how but you should have had many broken bones, possibly any worse dead. He pulled out a paper and studied it, while the last pony was about to finish the last muffin. She looked at me and hesitated, but then offered me the muffin. Not hungry at the moment, I politely decline. Not really caring, she scarffed down the muffin and trotted off. "Ok" the docter said, "here are some discharge forms, I don't think you should be fighting any time soon, now Vaccine will help you with the IV". He hand me a paper and left, I ripped that paper to shreds and threw it away. Vaccine walked in shortly after and handed me a towel to bite down on. "You know the drill" she said, as I bit down she pulled out the IV. She went close to my ear and whispered " you know this isn't the last time you and him have been attacked by Griffons". I quickly turned towards her "were not like that any more us three have better live now, away from that". She pointed at the flaps of the tent "any time you can leave". As I aproached the tent flaps something came through and hit me in the face and landed on the ground. It was an envelope that said to Lightning Cloud, I picked it up and put it in my satchel for later. I walked out of the tent and then seen them. Shadow Moon, Rainbow Dash, and Tasha were sitting there, Tasha looked depressed, her head hanging down. "Well...", I didn't know how to start this conversation or what ever it was going to be. Tasha looked at me with tears forming in her eyes, Shadow Moon and Rainbow Dash smiled at me, then I can't explain what happened. Tasha ran up to me and hugged me, my face turned beat red. I could see over Tasha's shoulder, I seen Dash making a mocking kissing face and Shadow was obviously trying to hold back a laugh. I just smiled and I hugged back. Tasha let me go and looked me in the eyes, smiled and turned away, she was blushing. The others started walking and talking and I followed, but I zoned out. I couldn't tell why but the envelope felt like it was burning inside my satchle, a temptaion was demanding me to open it. Shadow started to walk beside me, "are you okay" he whispered. I looked for the words to say, but all that came out was " yeah, just got this wierd feeling that's all". Shadow nodded then smiled "hey I think you have a chance with Tasha". I grinned under my grief, "you really think so"? He gave me a puzzled look "did you just not get super hugged back there"? I laughed a little "yeah, you and Rainbow Dash weren't making fun of me either". We both laughed, Rainbow Dash and Tasha looked back and smiled at us. "But seriously ask her out or something, Me and Dash are going to this place tonight that opened a while back, it could be like a double date". It sounded like fun but I didn't know. "So"? I could tell Shadow wanted me to badly. "I would but-, how would I start this question off, besides she's way to good for me and-" "Hey, Lightning Cloud". Tasha didn't know why she was nervous, "so Lightning Cloud". "Rainbow Dash, Shadow, and I are going to this place tonight wanna go with us"? Lightning Cloud's eyes opened widley, he looked very shocked. She thought to herself, *he's not going to say yes, I shouldn't have asked*. "Sure", he said with a grin, she returned him with a smile. Rainbow Dash cut in "yeah so meet at Tasha's at 8pm got it". I wanted to contest about the time, but they had already zoomed off. “Do you know her address by any chance”? Shadow Moon looked at me and laughed “not a clue”. Tasha came back and gave me a slip of paper an address number, blushed, then zoomed back the way she came. We got back to my house and sat around waiting for time to go by. “So how long have you and Dash been together?” I asked. “Remember that year you guys needed those two sets of armor for a stallion and mare for whatever reason” as Shadow tried to recall. “Dude, it’s been three years?” I responded, “Good for you guys, it sounded like you really hit it off”. “Hey what did you guys do with those two sets of armor”? I quickly responded to Shadow’s question “I don’t remember”, I cleverly lied; I knew exactly what we did. A chariot pulled up outside, “well let’s go Lightning, don’t want to be late”. We got in the chariot and headed for Tasha’s house. Tasha had finished getting ready and observed herself in the mirror. She was ready for this night. “You never told me how you and Shadow Moon met” she yelled to Rainbow Dash. Dash looked at the clock, “well we have awhile so I guess I’ll tell you the story”. 3 years ago Rainbow Dash decided today she would take a walk. As she made her way, she started to come towards a decent sized arena where royal guards were trained. She seen 3 ponies in front of the door way, she knew all three of them in certain ways, one in particular from flight academy. The grey one was Lightning Cloud, he’d been here since he was a colt and had almost no friends, no pony knew why. But eventually Red Cross became good friends as colts and showed him around and met new ponies. Red Cross was born a doctor, if you ever needed some medical help; he was the pony to go to. They had a crate with something inside of it, but she lost interest as they walked away and Shadow Moon turned around. She hadn’t seen him since flight academy, she wondered why. “Hey Dash, what brings you around?” Shadow asked. “Just walking around” she answered. They both smiled, “well” Shadow said, “Guess I’ll… see you later”. “Oh, ok then see you later”, Dash finished talking and started to walk away. “Wait”, Shadow called, Dash stopped and turned around, “yes”? “Uhh, do you want to go and… get something to eat sometime”? Rainbow Dash was stunned, “did you just ask me out on a date”? “Yeah…” he said nervously, Rainbow Dash smiled “tomorrow, come get me at 7:00pm, ok”? “Sure” Shadow excitedly responded, Dash started to walk down the road and a smile came to her face. I was in the front with Shadow, “yeah but me and her just hit it off” Shadow said. We sat there for a while then Tasha’s house came into view. We landed as Tasha and Rainbow Dash walked out the door. I got out of the chariot and opened the back for Tasha and watched her climb in, I followed in after her, and Rainbow Dash took my seat up front next to Shadow Moon. Everyone started talking and such, and then a bird decided to play chicken with our chariot. To dodge it, the drivers swerved left causing everyone in the back to hit the side of the chariot. Tasha had landed against me and blushed, but she stayed next to me. As we landed next to the building in Canterlot, I read the sign. It said Lunar Playground and I could hear loud music playing through the walls. “So it’s like a night club?” I asked Shadow. “Yeah it’s awesome, and it has the best music around”. We walked in and all you could hear is dubstep mixed with the sound of partygoers. We sat at a booth and ordered some apple ciders. We downed the drinks and started talking. Tasha poked me, “come on let’s go dance”, she pulled me out of the booth. She started walking towards the then turned her head smiled and nodded her head to come to her. I followed her; something just urged me to want more. As we started dancing a serious song (which I’m guessing was new for a night club) came on and we got closer to each other. “I know more about you then I should, Cloud” she said. “How” I asked, she looked away to think if she should tell me or not. “Well when you were out cold, I went to check out files of the battalion I’m in and I seen yours”. “It’s fine let’s just dance”, I said as we carried on. The music changed followed by a voice, “hey guys DJ Pon-3 here, gonna leave the music on loop and be back in five”. Tasha and I made our way back to the booth to see the DJ sitting with Shadow Moon and Rainbow Dash, talking and laughing. Tasha sat down which left me standing, and we joined in on the conversation. “Lightning, Tasha, this is Vinyl Scratch more known as DJ Pon-3”. We shook hooves and Vinyl ordered some apple ciders which sounded great. A guy who clearly didn’t work here put a platter with the drinks on them onto the table. They were fizzing which was weird, “what’s in these” I asked. Vinyl said something about soda making them 10 times better. I spun the platter to observe the drinks, “No-” the person who brought the drinks was mad that I had done that. I took the one that was fizzier than the others and drank it, the others took there’s and did the same. Immediately I knew something was wrong because I got a slight headache started to see colorful dots. “Whoa……” I woke up and was shocked to see I was in a bed, and to notice this wasn’t my house. I looked around and found a clock; it was three in the morning. “Ok now I need to find out where I’m at”, I quietly whispered. I could see a mailbox out of a window in the distance but I couldn’t make out the address. I looked at my hooves and concentrated, a small spark shot into the air from my hoof. The window would have been a burden, so I opened it and aimed my left hoof at the mailbox. A bolt of lightning extended from the hoof and held near the mailbox so that I could see the numbers. As I read the numbers, I gritted my teeth in pain and let out small cries. The bolt left my hoof and dispersed into the night. My body felt weak, I nearly fell over when I walked away from the window. My talent never really helped me, and sometimes was a burden; my family has had all generations to do something with storms. My dad would tell me stories about it, but he told me mine was special; like I had been chosen or something, In my mind I knew he was babying me. The address had read a familiar address and I thought I had seen it earlier. I reached into my satchel over by the wall and pulled three papers out. The first one was a training schedule, it was very old (reminding me that I should really clean my satchel), the second was the note from earlier I set it next to me and pulled out the other paper. The paper was the address that Tasha had given me before we left for our date, and sure enough it was the same address. I couldn't believe I was here, but at the same time I didn't want to be here. I really liked Tasha and I didn't want a one night stand. Especially like that one time in Las Pegasus, but like they always say 'what happens in Las Pegasus, stays in Las Pegasus'. I grabbed my satchel and the note from it and headed towards the door. But then I got the worst feeling in my stomach that made me rush to the bathroom. I puked a good to times before getting my self off the toilet bowl. The envelope was like a magnet to my hoof, I couldn't let go. So I opened it to see what was in store. Dear Lightning Cloud, It pains me to say this but you are probably all grown up and have forgotten what happened the day of the attack. I knew the attack was coming out for us before anything, your mother had set us up for a deal with griffons as a sale. I just want you to know that you really are special, you have a power like none of our ancestors have ever had. I wish I could have seen you grow up, but if I didn't sacrifice myself you would have been killed. - I love you, Dad I looked at the date it was wrote, it had been a day before the attack. My eyes turned red as I started to faintly cry and wonder why. I got straight up and looked at myself in the mirror, I had my mothers ears and eye color. I hit the mirror as hard as I could and watched as it shattered, I hope that my mom died along with that *accident*. A sudden march came down the hall followed by a yelling voice. It was Tasha's, she started walking in, "what the hell are you-", she stopped and looked at my bloodshot eyes. "I'm sorry for what I said, I didn't-", "it's not what you said", as I cut her off. She sighed then slightly smiled, " I'll clean this up you go back to bed". I started walking to the bedroom as I heard her open the envelope. I laid down and closed my eyes, and before I fell asleep I heard a faint sobbing. Author's Note Ok I know for the people who were reading this before that this was way to late but, so much stuff has been coming up lately and I had to retake a segment of a class for summer school. So to people who were waiting I'm sorry for being a douche, and to the new fans reading thanks for reading.
Prelude to warHe awoke from his sleep and looked around, walls of stone where around him with iron bars in front of his cell. All that could be seen was a few ponies with weapons standing guard by the door. He knew no whereabouts of his squad members or if they were alive. His wings were tied and he was in shackles, he muttered an insult and the guards yelled for him to stay quiet. He was now a prisoner of war. It was a great mourning for a walk in town, besides the half hangover I had gotten last night. I had woken up at 7am and Tasha was still asleep, so I decided to leave because of what happened. I left a note on the table saying ‘Tasha I’m sorry about last night I wasn’t myself talk later?’ The crisp air was delightful and you could smell the pastries from sugar cube corner for miles. As I walked by the Apple family farm, I was greeted by a few familiar faces from the major meeting held by Princess Celestia. “Hello” said Rareity with a smile, I decided to stop and chat. Apple Jack, Rareity, and Twilight continued into conversation with me chatting along, but Twilight turned to me and a look like she just remembered something came to her face. “What are you doing walking around, didn’t you get that message this morning I sent you?” I had a feeling it was important so I decided it would be best to agree with her and then be on my way. As I turned and was a few feet away Twilight called my name. I stopped but didn’t turn to face her, “You do know why that had to happen, Right?” she said. My head hung low as I sighed, “yes Twilight I know, now that you’re a princess you have responsibilities and need to do what you need to do.” I walked off with a sigh of relief but grief was still upon me. I reached my house and opened the door to find one of my old pals on the table holding my letter from Twilight. It was my pet Phoenix from when I had to go to the castle to see Princess Celestia as a colt. He was two different shades of purple but he could change any color he wanted too. When I named him all I could think was Shiek, and he seemed to like it too. I stuck out my hoof and did a high pitch whistle through my teeth, it was my way of telling him to come to me. Using its small talons, he threw the message my way, and then a blur went from the table to my hoof. He then caught the message in his talon, gave it to me then bowed. He had always been faster than the target. I saw the royal symbol on it and immediately opened it. ‘Dear Captain Cloud’, I smiled and laughed, she finally had put some decency in this one, I went back to reading. ‘Dear Captain Cloud, It’s been a terrible week trying to get your attackers to give us any information. In a new attempt I’m sending you an order to go and interrogate every one of them; you will also have another in the room with you during this process. So you are hereby announced to be there at 12:00 pm, no later. I hope it will be easier than the time we have been having. Good luck. -Princess Twilight Sparkle Eleven rings came from the clock symbolizing that it was 11:00 am. It took twenty minutes to get there by train, so I opened a window and put some crackers on the table for Shiek and left for the train station. “Jason?” a voice called, “Jason?” I got up and looked around. “Zeke is that you?” I replied, “Where are you”? His face appeared near the bars on the upper right side of my cell. It was a relief to see one of us here especially Zeke, he and I had been friends for a long time. “Do you know what has happened to Zachary”? I sighed, “No what happened to Dirk”? His face turned full of sorrow and I immediately knew what had happened to him, “did he at least die fighting”? The look in his eyes were unknown, “yes but he didn’t deserve to die the way he did”. Anger and hate started to fill my head, “they will pay Zeke”. There were a few minutes of silence, not even a noise in the room, just full silence. “Jason what was it like fighting the rebel group up in the mountain a couple years ago”? I pondered the question for a moment to figure out an answer. “Well there was really no chance for them to win, they were never organized and never trained, so we almost no loses”. He sighed, “Did they ever talk about what we believed was wrong”? It never hit me whenever we captured a rebel and he always shouted that we were in a shroud of lies, or that it was wrong. “Yes all the time, why do you ask”? “Well” he said, “Right now what we’re doing, it doesn’t make any sense, why do we have to fight”? “I’ll tell you why” a voice came from the next cell to my left. “These ponies are a savage race, they attack without reason then think it’s alright and everything will be fine, they need to be brought to justice, and-”. “Hey, shut the hell up down there!” a guard yelled. We all scowled and gave a look at the guard but stayed quiet. A door opened and a few ponies were talking with the guards, I caught glimpse of somepony who looked like the target we came to kill, was that Lightning Cloud? They left the room and then two guards came and unlocked Zeke’s cell, and took him out the door. I hoped that this wasn’t an execution; please don’t let it be one. I looked around the interrogation room; I quickly noticed the one way tinted window, that was really it. There was one of the Lunar Republics soldiers here to help me out, so while we waited I tried some small talk. “So how was your train ride here?” I asked. He gave me an irritated look, “I didn’t have to ride one I have wings, if you have any insults say them now”. “What in Equestria are you talking about?” I asked, “Why would I insult you”? He gave me a puzzled look, “you mean you’re not going to insult me or do anything demeaning to me”? Shaking my head I said “no”, and a smile quickly came to his face. “My name is Grant, and sorry I thought you were like some of the other ponies out there”. Not understanding I asked “what do you mean like some of the others out there”? He then began to tell me a story about some of the ponies were not too fond of the Luna Republic, and how usually they were treated like jerks, and that is why there were two separate armies. “Wow I didn’t even know about this, this should be took up with the princesses”. A group of guards then walked in with one of the griffons from the attack and set him across the table. He was chained up so he couldn’t move, the guards saluted then went and guarded outside the door. We looked at the chained up griffon, his head hung down with a grim look on his face. “Ok” Grant said as he pressed the button on a recorder. “Prisoner 935115 attempt #4”. “So” I asked, “I hear from high places that they can’t get any of you to talk, not even get your name”. The griffon remained silent, but he started to bring us into his sight. “What’s the matter, cat got your tongue”? “My name” he said, “Is Zeke, and I already know yours”. “Skip the names” snapped Grant, “why were you here, what’s your next move? We need answers”! “We were here to kill him”, as Zeke pointed at me. I looked at the griffon as he turned and mumbled something. “I will talk but only if I have my chains removed and only Lightning Cloud can be in the room”. Grant was about to protest, but I said deal before he could. Grant left the room, and I hit a switch on the wall that made the chains unlock and fall to the floor. Zeke began to stretch, while I sat down across from him. “I am a Corporal of the Griffon Empire, along on a mission to kill you Cloud. We got detail that you lived in Ponyville and what we read was that you were currently in training, so we infiltrated and realized our intel was off.” I thought for a moment as he paused, “But wait how did look like ponies” I asked. “The Empire has sources, magic was used to cloak us, but that was our mission”. “Why tell me this?” I said puzzled. “You will realize soon, you may put the cuffs back on, but I ask only on my feet”. The room got quiet again with Grant and me sitting in the table. Zeke remained in the corner with his head down. The guards walked in with the other two prisoners, the guards went behind us and leaned against the wall. A guard then lost his balance tripping one of the switches, releasing the griffon closest to me. He pounced on me as another griffon yelled “finish him Jason”! I seen him raise his claw and knew I was finished. But then he was tackled over, Zeke had just saved me. “Do you want to die now!?” he yelled. They were both chained up and Zeke was instantly thrown into a corner, leaving the other two at the table. “Jason is it?” I spoke to my attacker, “I’m guessing you’re the one calling the shots”. No response from him, I looked at Grant and he began to talk who I knew was Zachery. “We want answers and we know you’re an officer, why did King Listo not accept peace”? The Griffon laughed, “you don’t even know who you’re talking too, and that king is no longer in rule. He was overthrown the week of the incident”. There king had been overthrown? By whom I thought, I decided to learn more. “Who is the new leader?” I yelled. “Do you remember his son you idiots, I am now King Zachery”! It now just hit me King Listo had had a son; I was blinded this whole time. “You Ponies will all fall, I will make sure of it which is why the Crystal Empire has fallen to our control”! I sped to the speaker by the one way window and pressed the button. “We have a Code: Black, The Crystal Empire has been possibly attacked”. A Siren started blaring in the distance, I looked out of one of the other windows into the sky, there were griffons everywhere. I went into panic mode, “Secure the room I want no-” The wall next to me engulfed in an explosion broke it. I was flung toward the other wall and was knocked out. Tasha continued to take cover behind a tree; she peaked around it and observed her enemy. They stood in a circle formation and waited. What looked like a commanding officer then came out and started giving orders, and then they started to look for any civilians in the area. Tasha started to hear movement in front of the tree she was behind; she drew her knife and waited. The Griffon leaned against the tree not knowing of her position. She quickly covered he beak and slit his thought, brought the body back to the ground behind the tree, then got back in her position. She observed the bottle and lighter the Griffon had sticking out of his knap sack, she seen the cloth sticking halfway in and out of the bottle and immediately knew what it was. The Griffons were being called back to the formation they had been in before, this was perfect. She flicked the lighter and a flame emitted from it, she lit the cloth, then through the bottle. The whole formation engulfed in flames, along with pain and screams of agony. Three of the Griffons had all of a sudden appeared and were confused and trying to help. Tasha sprang towards the closest one to her, tackled it and drove her knife into its chest. The other two seen Tasha and rushed to attack. She readied her knife but was tackled to the ground. A blur of blue struck the griffon that had her pinned her to the ground, she quickly got up and killed the other attacker. Rainbow Dash grinned, “Sorry I was late for the party”. Sounds of shuffling armor came from all around them, they had been surrounded. Tasha sighed and reached back into her knapsack and pulled out a syringe. “Tasha what is that for” she questioned as the griffons came closer. Tasha looked at the syringe of blue liquid, then injected herself with it. “Rainbow Dash” Tasha said, “no matter what you see, I want you to know I’m still the same person this is only temporary”. Rainbow Dash turned to see Tasha her eye color was red, then Tasha was a blur while many griffons were torn to a major bloodshed and fell to the ground. I coughed as a piece of rubble was taken off me, “What happened Grant”? “Sir they got away, were under attack we need to get to General Shadow Moon’s counter attack”. I nodded and we ran for the frontlines. We entered a house with more cannon ball holes than a pirate ship at the bottom of Davy Jones’ locker, I was surprised it still held. “Sergeant I need you and your men at this position” Shadow’s voice rang. “Still using run-down joints as HQ’s I see” I said, Shadow laughed “well looks like I found my runner”. Grant saluted Shadow “Sir reporting for duty!”, Shadow looked at me then back to Grant, “at ease runner number two”. Grant looked as confused as I was, “excuse me sir”? Shadow Moon looked back and forth, “I need you two to blow up the enemy artillery with these”. He pulled out two bricks of timed explosives, I grinned in excitement, I always enjoyed explosives. A scared look came to Grant’s face “Sir this is normally work for higher military personnel”. Shadow Moon grinned “what are you talking about Sergeant”? Grant smiled “thanks for the promotion sir, but are we gonna have any back up”? “Are you ever!” a voice came from behind us, it was Red Cross. “Shadow permission for Zeta Squad to back up Lighting Cloud”? “Permission granted Red”. We ran out of the building and toward the battle line, “Are you ready for this Grant”? He looked at me confused, “what do you mean sir”? A smirk came to my face, “you’re about to serve with 2 of 3 of the most badass soldiers, and the most badass squad in this army”. We fought our way through a good 50 griffons before actually finding the first cannon we had to destroy. We made Grant plant the bomb since it was going to be his first time. He set the time for ten then we ran. We came up on the second without a problem. “Stop” I said, “something’s not right, check the area”. A loud scream came from a man from Zeta squad, we all ran to see what had happened. A griffon in heavy armor had drove a sword threw the member of the squad and thrown him to the ground. Somepony turned and yelled “Juggernaut”! The giant figure ran our way, another member of Zeta squad charge at but was instantly knocked to the ground. The Juggernaut was about to finish him, I shoulder charged him and the Juggernaut staggered. I started to help up the downed Zeta squad member, “look out!” he screamed, I turned as the Juggernaut raised its heavy sword. A sword pierced through its chest then went back through it’s back. The Juggernaut fell over as it gave away its last breathe standing behind it was Grant. “Thanks I thought I was a goner”, the Zeta member said. I went to plant the last bomb and set the counter for 10 seconds then we ran. Red Cross turned to me, “hey Lightning I got an idea if you are up for it”. “You’re kidding right? Lay it on me”. He explained what we should do, the plan was simple, attack the enemy from behind (which we already behind them), and win. We charged the enemy from behind and instantly shit had hit the griffons fan, they were confused and wondered how we got in and where their artillery had gone. And if it wasn’t bad enough one of their line were then broken by our frontline assaulters. What looked like a commanding officer then flew in and ordered a retreat because all griffons took to the skies and flew off. We had won. The Next Day I looked around the battle field most of the dead bodies away to be buried, all the families who had lost a member of their family would get immediate notification, we had won but at what cost. I came into the camp of ponies wounded; some were really bad, like missing limb bad. There was experimental auto mail that had been created before this all started, it was supposed to be for ponies born with limb disabilities, but now if the soldiers wanted they could get back in the fight. I walked to Shadow Moon who was standing on a makeshift stage; he had invited me to make a speech. I was joined by Zeta squad, Red Cross, and Grant. As Shadow called to all ponies to report to the stage, more started to gather and I had seen many give Grant dirty looks. I leaned to Shadow Moon, “We need to fix this” I whispered, “All the Luna’s Republic keep getting treated like crap it’s not right”. Shadow Moon went up to the microphone and announced about one hell of a job we had done, beating the griffons. He continued and told that Grant and I had something to say, I let Grant speak first. “I’m glad we were able to win this fight and defend Equestria. I’m glad I was able to fight alongside Zeta, Red Cross, and Captain Cloud”. “You should be honored, darkie” rang a side comment. Angered, I grabbed hold of the microphone, “which one of you two bits said that”, no answer. “This ‘darkie’ saved a member of zeta and me today so you need to shut your trap and stand in line”. I gave the microphone back to Shadow Moon, “And with that I would like to make an announcement” he said. “Due to the events shown today Luna Republic soldiers will be joining forces with several of the ranks in the Royal Equestrian Army”. “Dismissed”! “Mom what exactly is the Genesis project”, said Morning Star. Princess Celestia looked at both Rainbow Dash and Morning Star. Rainbow Dash feared what Tasha had done to herself and had asked Morning Star if he had knew what it was, but he himself couldn’t give her a reasonable answer. “Morning Star, Rainbow Dash, how do you know about Genesis”? Rainbow Dash came forward “Tasha injected herself with a syringe labeled Genesis in yesterday’s fight”. Princess Celestia’s face became worried “Tasha will be fine, but you can tell no pony else about what Tasha did yesterday”.
Jason the griffon Intermission 1A Day after the attack of Canterlot We’d been flying for eight hours straight we need to take a break or one of us could literally die of exhaustion. The Special Griffon unit designated for our extraction was beginning to rest and recon the area. “Jason” Zeke called, “I’m sorry about what happened inside, I-”. “Zeke! You are lucky I do not kill you know, Jason had Lightning Cloud, he could of ended him there”! I noticed the anger in Zeke’s eyes, “He could have ended up like Dirk, is that what you want to see another one of your friends die”! Zachery turned and started to walk away, “he knew what he signed up for”. I looked at Zeke, “come one man, let’s go for a walk”. We walked a little ways away from the camp the others had set up for a rest; I turned to Zeke and tried to say something but nothing would have helped. “Jason?” he said, “why is he so heartless, can’t he even see what’s happening? His friends dying and he doesn’t even care”. I couldn’t answer; I couldn’t even hide the fact he was turning into a monster. “When Zachary became king, how did it really happen”? I was supposed to keep it a secret but if I did I would be no better than Zachary. “Sit down Zeke this is going to take us awhile”. Two weeks before letter from Princess Celestia was sent to Griffon Empire As we ran into the throne room the doors hit the wall with a loud crack, everyone now knew Zachary and I were now here. “Father, Reports of hostility against our soldiers has happened last night, one of them appears to have a hoof mark on them, we need to strike at the ponies now”! King Listo looked at Zachary and grinned “Son you are too eager for fight, you must calm yourself, you are not sure if it was even an equestrian army”. King Listo then looked to me, “and Jason, my how you have grown, I miss your company”. He treated me like a son, then again he always treated Zeke the same way too. “It’s nice to see you again too, Sir”. I got a smile back from the king, and as Zeke came through the door he was also greeted. “Father” Zachary argued, “You’re not getting the point, this is an attack against our people”! “Enough”! He exclaimed, “There is no need for war when things can be solved diplomatically, you are dismissed”! Zachary gave a look of disgust, “Yes sir”, and then we followed him out of the room. Zachary muttered to himself out of anger, while Zeke and I stood behind. I tried for a diplomatic approach, “Zachary your fathers right, it can be solved that way”. “You don’t understand, but Jason your coming with me with a guard force tonight”. I gave him a discouraged look, “your father isn’t gonna like this”. We met up with the squad in the forest and we continued their normal route. The soldiers talked amongst themselves while Zachary and I followed the captain at the lead of the formation. “Hold” the captain said, “Something’s not right, every one circle formation”. He pointed to a tree for Zachary and I to hide behind, I was scarred so I hid. The guards faced some bushes that shook, then observed the tree tops as leaves moved then fell to the ground. “Okay that is enough of this I-”, a splatter of blood painted a nearby tree next to us, the captain fell to the ground and twitched then gave his last breath. The other guards began shouting, I couldn’t comprehend what I had just seen, I couldn’t see an enemy or projectile, what the hell killed him. Two more guards fell within seconds leaving five more guards, they turned to see their enemy and I saw what it was. A brown pegasus with red eyes, and a burgundy mane, she had syringe holsters on her vest, they had symbols of Equestria on them. She quickly slaughtered two more guards but then toppled over herself, her eyes turned from red to green and her speed went down twice then what she was just going. She quickly injected herself with another syringe and her eyes reverted from green back to red. The three guards stood no chance, one was thrown against the tree we were behind, the other killed instantly. “What are you” the soldier said as coughed up some blood, “Y-you’re a monst-”. A knife found his chest, then the pony dashed off. Zachary emerged from his spot, I stood still, shocked in fear. “What do we do Zachary!? Whatever that was killed all of them, What do we do”!? “Shut up and grab their tags Jason, We have to report this”! Present day “Jason what happened to Listo”? I looked to the starry sky then back to Zeke, “you know the first part about the uprising, when Zachary wanted to attack but his father turned away. All hell broke loose and Zachary deemed him a traitor, he reported him executed, but he’s actually been put in the worst of the worst prison”. Zeke gave me a puzzled look, “I’m going to guess he was put in the one room that’s got all those guards we seen last time we went through there”. I looked at him “yeah all those guys there must hate their job, having to stand in one place all day”. A smile came to Zeke’s face “yeah I know what you mean”. A soldier came and told us the others had started heading to the castle, Zeke wasn’t ready to go yet so I told the soldier to stay with him for the time being. The soldier gave to argue and stood guard while I flew off. I woke up in my room inside the castle and was immediately called to Zachary. I poured myself a cup of coffee from the kettle on we were using. “Jason they broke him out last night, Listo”. I coughed as I swallowed wrong. “They took him out the back way which triggered the explosive trap, he’s most likely dead”. I sighed in relief which was a mask for my grief, I never wanted this war to happen but at the same time there was really no choice. “I thought I should bring this to your attention, Jason” Zachary said, “The rebels are getting smarter and this war isn’t helping, so were going to move to the Crystal Empire, now that it’s ours, we have the castle and base prepared. We can’t have our castle demolished”. I looked into my coffee, wondering if any of this was going to change. Author's Note I know it's not much, but this is what I could make up to start it. I thought it was good but tell me what you guys think, Thanks. ^-^
IntentionsIt’s been six months since this dawm war started. I’m tired and I don’t want to continue this fight, but if I don’t who will. There were so many bodies out here I couldn’t help to think, why them and not me? I knelt next to a body that lay before me. My hoof went towards his neck and held for a few seconds. No pulse. I let out a sigh and took his tags. He wasn’t someone I knew, but I could’ve known him. A shadow came from behind me as I rose to my hooves. “Hey Sparky” it was Red Cross, I could tell by the nickname. “You’ve been out here long enough, go back and get some chow”. I slipped the tags into my uniform and headed towards base camp. I walked into a tent met by a tray and tons of other soldiers. The food wasn’t that good but it was better than nothing. I didn’t see my unit, so I thought they had eaten already. But “Lightning” followed by “Capitan” came from behind me. I turned to see Tasha and Dante with grins waving me over. I sat down next to Tasha, “hey Sparky”. I put down my fork and grinned. “How did that become my nickname all of a sudden”? Dante smiled, “Remember when you killed those griffons last week”? That was a terrible battle for me that day. I had been wounded and two griffons were charging towards me. In panic I used my electricity powers to kill them, I had nearly passed out due to the pain. A soldier approached us in an odd matter, “Capitan Cloud, Capitan Knight”. Tasha had that solemn, tough look on her face. “Yes”? She waited for a response. “You are being summoned to the command tent”, he saluted then walked away. “Well we should get going then”, she insisted. We got up and before I left I shook Dante’s hoof, “good luck”. Tasha and I made our way towards the tent and we eventually caught up to Rainbow Dash. “Hey Dash what’s up”? She turned and looked our way then turned away again. “Hey” I said as she kept walking. I put my hoof on her shoulder, “Dash what-”. Dash knocked Lightning to the ground, “I don’t want to talk to you T-“. She cut herself off, she was about to say my name. I knew what this was about. “Lightning I have something to tell you”, Dash started. She was going to tell him, I didn’t want him to know, especially right now. Dash seen me and hesitated, “Lightning if you hurt Tasha, I’ll personally kill you”. A great relief swept through my body, and I wiped away my tears. “Lightning I need to talk to Tasha alone, can you go ahead”? Still shocked he started walking to the command tent again. “Tasha you need to tell him about Genesis. If you care about him, you have too. Because if he finds out himself, he’ll-”. “I know Dash, I’ll tell him, I have to find the right time”. Capitans and higher began to flood the tent. I took up front at one of the three tables because Shadow Moon wanted me there at all times. Red Cross took a spot next to Shadow, followed by Vaccine. “Well, long time no see”. I turned to see one an old friend of mine. “Soto, is that you”? She smiled and took a seat next to mine. “So Hawkeye, who’s your friend?” a stranger following her. Soto turned towards him, “he’s one of my old friends, Sir, and his name is Lightning Cloud”. He gave me a hard look then he laughed and his expression changed in a heartbeat. “I’ve heard of you! You were the one of the four to fight in the training! I’ve been doing mostly lead fight coordination, but you probably know me”. I had, his name was Blitz and his specialty was fire. “In fact I have Colonel, how long will you be here”? “Well” he started, “It actually depends on the next battle. If we advance, my unit gets called back to Equestria”. I gave him a friendly grin, “then let’s make sure we win”. Tasha walked in along with Rainbow Dash; Tasha took her seat near me, and Dash next to Shadow. “Ok now we may begin” It began with an introductory and immediately dropped a huge bomb after words stating that there was a spy in the camp. After words we moved directly into battle strategies. A few started to nod off, including Tasha. Everyone was well aware of what to do on the lines. “Sir” a whisper came from behind me; I turned to see a low ranked private. “Sir, someone is here to see you, they say it’s important”. “Did they say who they were?” I asked. No response. As I got up, Soto handed me a file, “its briefing. See me if you have any questions”. I turned to see Tasha, her eyes were closed and her head against the table. “Take care of her for me”, Soto nodded and I left the tent. I thought more about the battle, we were losing too many soldiers, and we had to rely on more reinforcements. The enemy must have the spy pinpointing our troops with artillery. I stopped and looked around; I was in the middle of the low ranks tent area, during meal time. No one was going to be here. I started to be approached from all directions, as one came closer the rest stopped. “Lightning Cloud, we need to talk”. Tasha was somewhat pissed off. The mare that was next to Lightning had woken her up in the middle of a great dream, Lightning was nowhere to be found, and since he was gone, she got stuck with the responsibility of the new squad paperwork. “Tasha” Shadow Moon said, “here is the list of new soldiers for your squad”. A stack of folders was placed in front of her and sighed at this sight, she hated paperwork. The other captains and higher ups got their orders and began to leave. She was going to have to fill Lightning in later. As she went through all the files, one caught her attention. They called him Mick; his file read that he had survived a sword through the chest. It also described him as a good warrior and faster than the average soldier. Tasha began to get hungry so she decided to make her way to the mess hall and exited the tent. As she made her way there, she notices a pony sitting on a wall taking pictures with a camera. She noticed his orange coat and black mane, as she observed more she noticed the scar on his chest. “Hello, Mick”? She was never good at introductions; it was usually Lightning’s area. “Hello I’m Capitan Knight, your new-”. He turned toward her and smirked. Her face went pale and memories flooded her head. Blood, screams, and faces flashed in and out. Then she saw Mick, but at the same time it wasn’t him, she thought of Denver. Two weeks before letter to Griffon Empire I had been tracking Denver for three weeks now. Every attempt to eliminate him had been a failure and it was because of the griffons. He would use them as hostages, but would end up killing them anyways. I was ordered to use any means necessary, even if it involved killing, but I wouldn’t result to harming innocence. This would be his last escape from me, he had run out of Genesis and I still have two left. As I put away my field orders, a picture fell out. It was a picture of me and everyone else in the Genesis program. Out of everyone there, I had trusted Denver the most, He had reminded me of my brother Shaun who had died serving in the Royal guard. But Denver had killed all of the other Genesis agents, and now I had to do the same to him. As I moved forward, I slowly came up on his camp. Another sound came off in the distance, it was more griffons. I hurried and injected my Genesis and drew my dagger. He heard my draw then bolted into the woods. I immediately did the same. As I gave chase, we were beginning to get closer to the griffons. I couldn’t let any more deaths happen because of him. I used my wings to boost my speed, and then tackled him. As I tied him up I began to hear voices, it was the griffons, and they were right on top of my position. They were armed and ready to kill, and they knew exactly where I was. “Something’s not right, everyone, circle position!” the captain barked as they looked in my direction. I was going to have to kill them. I readied my dagger and leaped from the bushes, slicing the captain’s throat at top speed. No one had seen my action and everyone began to panic. I immediately did the same to two more guards. My genesis stopped, so I quickly injected my last one and continued to fight. Only one remained, and he was wounded. “W-what are you?” he shouted. A tear rolled down my cheek, I had to kill him, but I couldn’t look him in the face. “You’re a monster”! I pushed my knife into his chest and he let out his last breath. I ran back to where I left Denver with hatred for myself. I moved Denver to a cliff next to the edge of a waterfall. I needed my own answers now, “so” I asked, “why did you do it”? He smiled and laughed, “I don’t have to tell you shit”. I nailed him in the face with my right hoof, “tell me why”! He looked up with blood on the side of his mouth, “personal reasons”. I then hit him with my left hoof and began crying, “tell me right now, you son of a bitch! You killed my only family”! He looked at me with a smirk, “I know”. My dagger instantly found its way into his chest and he began to cough up blood. “Burn in hell” I said. I pulled out my knife and kicked him off the cliff. As more gathered to see what was going on, I pulled her closer. “Tasha, are you okay”? She could barely opened her eyes, “Lightning…” she said faintly. She cringed and went back to being unconscious. I felt her head; it felt like it could burst into flames. Among the crowd was Vaccine who I called over immediately. She helped me carry Tasha to her tent and gave her some medication to stop the fever. “Lightning” Vaccine said, “She’ll be fine in a couple of hours, go take a rest”. I looked over to Tasha and back to Vaccine. “I’ll stay for a while just to be safe”, I said. As Vaccine walked out she patted me on the back “don’t worry, she’ll be fine”. I waited a good hour before leaving. By then it was 9:30pm so I decided to go to my tent and try to get some shut eye. But I couldn’t sleep; I just thought and thought about things. When I checked my pocket watch it was around 10:15 and I was still wide awake. As I closed my pocket watch the flap to my tent opened up, “Lightning we need to talk”. It was Tasha, “Why are you out of bed?” I asked. “I’ll be fine” she answered, “mind if I join you”? Tasha made her way over to my cot and climbed in with me, “I’ve had something I’ve needed to tell you for a while”. She began with telling me about what the Genesis project was, and how she ended up there. I spent most of my time in silence because I couldn’t believe it. Then she told me about Denver, what he had done, and what she had done to stop him. “But I don’t think I stopped him” she said, “Today I seen him and I know it was him because of the scar. But I don’t remember the name he was using.” My facial expression changed in a heartbeat, “he’s the spy” I said in shock. Just then three soldiers threw open my tent flap nearly knocking it down, began screaming and threw me to the ground. “What the hell is going on?” Tasha screamed. The soldier began putting cuffs on me, “this asshole has been giving the enemies intel and killing us all”! Tasha lunged towards the soldier but another pinned her to the ground. They began escorting me out of my tent, I was being charged with treason. Tasha tried to comprehend what had just happened but all she could do was sit and stare where Lightning and her had just been. She came too when somepony came into the tent to call her to the command tent. She made her way into the command tent and immediately said, “He didn’t do anything, he’s being framed Shadow”. Shadow, Red, Pestilence, Morning, and Rainbow Dash all became silent. Shadow Moon sighed, “I know he isn’t Tasha but until we find evidence, it’s impossible to say it’s not”. Tasha pulled some files out of her satchel and handed them to Morning Star, “here’s your spy, Denver, from the Genesis program. Compare his file to Mick’s, I’m pretty sure they are the exact same”. Morning observed both files for a few minutes, “Shadow she’s right”. Shadow quickly snatched the files and read them, “Red, go apprehend Mick before he can-”! The ground shook and a loud explosion could be heard around the whole camp. “What the hell was that” Shadow said as they all ran towards out of the tent. Tasha accidently ran into someone coming out of the tent, “Sorry about that”. The pony handed a paper to Tasha, “give these to Soto”. Tasha looked to see that they were marked for artillery to fire, “hold on, who-”, the pony was already gone. Tasha decided the smoke was more important at the moment, and ran towards a burning tent that many crowded by. Dante began to come out with somepony on his back, it was Vaccine. Red ran to Vaccine who had a glass shard, and now a pitch black mane, “you’ll be okay Vac, I’m her with ya”. Pestilence seeing his potion tent up in flames was infuriated, “WHAT HAPPENED HERE”!? Dante took a minute to catch his breath, “somepony rigged it to blow”. All of a sudden a soldier from Red’s squad came yelling Mick was nowhere to be found and that Lightning was missing and nowhere to be found. Author's Note Sorry for the long wait. I've been putting this off a lot to try to do better in school. But after I did I completely forgot about this and I regret doing so. So for those who have been waiting I thank you for it.