The Night Comes Before Dawn

HHHUUUUHHH - woohoo! I haz 5 stars! T-hank all of you. Specifically the three people that rated. Do not own ponies. Or Eddings. Or anything else you may recognize here (If you really want to know why things are as they are in the way of names, you can comment I guess). Don't sue me, pl0x!

~Rainbow Dash~

~Pegarolis~

Seven people were in the room. It was a so very large room, high ceiling, cloud structure. Five of them, two mares, three stallions, sat behind a large, semicircular desk.

General Mithryl Shield, High Commander of the military forces of Dracus, sat at the left. He wore ceremonial dragon armour, fiery red plate, claws sheathed in smoky black steel. Behind him, two spears sat crossed on the the wall. They were long, shafts of Dryad hardwood, reinforced in a shell of metal. The tip and cross guard were made of mithryl, heat treated in the lava pits of Wyrmanth.

To his right, sat Varamyr, a zebra unicorn, Archmage of the Imperial University of Zebronica. A rare race, prized by the Imperial Army, shunned by her peers. She hid her horn for seven years, living on the streets in the slums of Dolicheck, capital of Zebronica. She was found by Imperial Guards at the age of fourteen, and promptly brought to the Palace for examinations. Needless to say, she passed with flying colours. Today, she is one of the most powerful mages of the world. She had the distinct, black-white striped pattern of a zebra, her cutie mark a swirling vortex or energy. She wore the black robe of the Archmage, covering her face, and she wore enchanted boots, allowing her cloud-walk abilities. On the desk in front of her, sat a helmet. It was black steel, a sliding eye cover of clear diamond.

In the middle of the desk, sat Supreme Justice Polarma 'Dyl, Chief of the Pegarolis High Council. She was blue, her mane pulled back behind her withers. Her cutie mark was a gavel, inlaid with five rubies, lined down the handle. The real gavel, based on her mark, laid on the table in front of her. A blue robe, similar to her shade, was draped across her body.

To her right, sat Archon Tiona Axeclaw, cousin of the current Gryphon Emperor. He wore a crystal crown, symbol of the Lord of Hipponicra, the largest fief of the Griffin Empire. His wings were sheathed in mithryl sleeves, each tapering into sharp points at the far end. Covering his talons were deadly claws of steel, designed for gouging and tearing enemy flesh.

On the far end of the bench, sat Rex Winter. He had donned a set of clockwork, steam powered devices. Countless cogs, gears, pistons and springs adorned his costume. After Centuries of underground isolation, the dogs had developed the best technology in the world. The great city of Caniss, capital of the great lands of the Diamond Dogs, was unrivaled in size. Huge buildings filled the underground caverns where it lay, and as the population grew, the dogs expanded their mighty cities, over lakes of fire and seas of iron.

None of this, Rainbow Dash thought about as she expressed her ideas. "All I'm requesting is permission for a short reconnaissance mission. Retrieval isn't even an option at this point, so I just need some time to search." she said.

"Denied." Polarma slammed on the table. "We do not have enough troops to support your mission."

"But - This would just be us. No additional personnel requested. The Elements of Harmony are extremely powerful magical artifacts, so would greatly -"

"Denied, Rainbow Dash."

"Gah! I'll take this elsewhere. Let's go, Fluttershy."

~~~

"You shouldn't have interrupted her, Dashie." Fluttershy whispered.

"She wasn't listening!"

"I know she wasn't the most cooperative pony, but that doesn't mean you should just shout out in the the middle of a Council hearing."

"Forget it. Let's just go find them by ourselves!"

"Wha - What? You're very good Dashie, but I don't think we can just jump in during the middle of a war."

"Relax, I have a plan. Just get your things, we're leaving tomorrow." Rainbow Dash flew off dramatically into the falling sun, while an inexplicable boombox nearby started playing classical music.

Rainbow Dash dashed devilishly through the city of Cloudsdale, heading towards the local Army Recruitment Office.

"Oh hey, where can I sign up?" Rainbow Dash leaned onto a counter.

An irate stallion with a grenade cutie mark looked up from his desk. "Here." He shoved over a large pile of paperwork at her.

"Oh, um, do you have a quill?" Rainbow Dash said, subtly dropping one, and kicking it under the desk.

"Here's one - " he bent down to retrieve the fallen writing implement, "here you go - hey! Where are you?" Behind him, a door slowly swung back and forth, unnoticed.

Rainbow Dash sneaked through the hallways. She systematically entered and searched rooms, looking for a certain item. On the fifth such room, she seemed to find it. "Aha!" Rainbow Dash held up a folder, full of documents.

"And then, I was like cereal, are you crazy?" A pegasus outside guffawed.

"Oh potato nuggets. Hide hide hide hide." Rainbow Dash ran under the desk and started digging onto the floor, trying to make a large enough hole to escape through.

"Hang on a minute. I gotta get something from my office." The door opened and a mare stepped in. Rainbow Dash froze, ceasing her frantic burrowing. She heard the rustling of papers overhead.

"Hey, have you seen my folder?" The pegasus said to her friend.

"No, maybe you left it back in the cafeteria?"

"We'll have to go back and find - do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Like a scratchy noise."

The pegasus outside glanced around. "Oh, they're still building the new place across the street." The mare left the room and went walked away with her friend.

"Whew. That was close." Rainbow Dash stood up and slipped on a concealing cloak. She stealthily entered the hallway, and walked through a door labeled RESTRICTED AREA.

"Halt!" A guard spread his wings across the narrow space between walls. "Who passes?"

"I am." Rainbow Dash hissed.

"Do you have identification?"

"Here." She pulled out a fake card and held it up. The guard visibly paled and stepped aside. Rainbow shoved the card back into its slot and moved on.

Rainbow Dash stalked through the empty halls. An occasional lettering pointed her way to the ARMOURY, or as the signs called it. Additional labels and and increased security signaled her continued correct path. Proceeding to the location with no event, she gave a furtive glance behind her back. Sighting no followers, she opened a heaver door and entered a large, well-stocked room.

"Jackpot." Rainbow Dash murmured under her breath. With a last cautious glance behind, she began to hurriedly tear items off shelves and shove them into her bag. Within minutes, the room previously full of swords, explosives, and armour was empty. She barely managed to refasten her cloak before a stallion entered the room.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

Rainbow Dash suppressed the urge to punch him in the face and run, and slowly turned around. "Talking to you." she hissed between her teeth. The long cowl bathed her face in shadow, and the stallion could not see her distinctive rainbow mane.

"Are you a thief? What happened to all the armaments that were here?"

"Precisely the reason I came. I was walking by when I noticed the vacated counters. I came closer to investigate."

"Did you see anypony come through here?"

"Now that you mention it, I think someone galloped past me back in the hallway. You should probably go check." The stallion ran off with a displeased look on his face. "Whew. Good things that's over. I hate talking in that horrible voice." Rainbow Dash grabbed an axe and hurriedly swung at the wall. Quickly breaking through the flimsy cloud barrier, she jumped out. Skirting the edge of the building to avoid detection, she raced away through the sky. Grinding to a halt, she turned around and ducked under a passing Awesome Sky Carriage of Awesome™. When she judged herself to be far enough away, she spun off and progressed back to her own home.

~Rarity~

~Ponyville~

"Oh dear. Oh dear. Come on, Rarity, you can do this!" The white unicorn stood in what once was the Carousel Boutique, sleek, chic, and magnifique. Rarity had holed down in the half-burned down building for two days. When the mob came and torched the town, Rarity had bunkered into her store, hoping the fire would not infect into its inner vaults. She had prepared for such an emergency. Tucked away in the bowels of Carousel Boutique was a small panic room, stuffed to the ceiling with food and water. However, she didn't expect something to actually happen, and never got around to fully stocking the room. The miniscule supply of nourishment was near depleted.

Attempting to boost her confidence in such level to prepare to for the fear-inducing horrors sure to await her outside, like insane murdering cultists, war-stricken countryside teeming with armies, and ash with a partial liking to sticking to coats and not washing out. "I. Will. Go!" Rarity bucked open the door and and ran out. "Oh. Wow. It's actually fairly nice out here."

As is saying nothing was wrong was some kind of magic phrase, right as she finished her exclamation of positivity a dart whistled past her ear, right where the center of head had been a few seconds before. "Wahahaaa!" She spun circles, desperately searching for her attacker.

"Meh. Bucking mares." a voice came out from the surrounding darkness.

"Ah! You startle me-" Rarity screamed and rolled to the left, evading the next dart drilling through the air.

"Shouldn't have said anything." A third dart flew, and finally hit home. The spinning needle burrowed into Rarity's neck.

"I - what kind of pony would do this?" Rarity hoarsely said, as the tranquilizer kicked in.

"I'm - I'm the type of pony, everypony should know."

High above, a grey pegasus in a van shrieked and veered into the distance.

~Gilda~

~Gryphon~

"I'm ready." Skyswooper Gilda Axeclaw, of the royal family, took off. Four griffins followed close behind, comprising her squad. Being a high ranking imperial, Gilda automatically qualified as a military officer. Her immediate subordinate, Nightbreaker Black Wing, however, was technically her superior. Seventeen years in active service, trained from the age of three, fifth officer of the Stealth Op's Field Command.

Seventh division, third legion, fifth phylite, first squad, commanded by Gilda Axeclaw was on a scouting mission. Along the southern edge, the Lion Islands divided the Intera Sea, forming the border with Zebronica. The zebras had an official neutral stance, but were closely intertwined with Pegarolis. The griffins also allied with the pegasi, had hoped for a potential friendship with Zebronica, but had received no response to their missives. One could never be too careful, especially in wartime.

The Lion islands were named after Lionus Axeclaw, First Emperor of Gryphon. He led a great army across the Intera Sea, forcing back the zebras who had previously controlled the archipelago and southern shores of Gryphon. In just two weeks, he had occupyed and captured land that had been held by zebras for centuries. A sprawling fortress had been built on the largest island, Lionus, as mighty as its namesake. Zebra invasion forces had attempted to destroy it four times, each ending in utter failure.

Sighting nothing, Gilda prepared to wheel around and turn back to the massive military base. "Wait!" one of the three, low ranking meat shields, spoke up. "What's that?"

Pausing, Black Wing hovered and stared down. "It's a boat. Equestrian Design. They fly the old flag, no hint of allegiance given."

"Let's go in then." Gilda hoped they were just traders, left before the war and ignorant of combat. Recon didn't usually require armour, in fact heavy armour would make completing the mission harder.

Four griffins slammed onto the deck of the ship. One griffin slammed through the deck of the ship, and hastily withdrew his leg. Frantic sailor ponies ran amok, trying to flee armed and scary beasts that fell out of the sky. One stallion, however, obviously a captain, first mate, or an important pony of some sort, stepped up in front of the patrol. His front left hoof had been severed, replaced with a shining golden stump. A high quality sabre hung from his hip, and a bronze spyglass wiggled as he sauntered up the promenade.

"How may we be of service?" he hollered from the pop deck, leaning against the railing.

"What are you doing here?" Gilda questioned.

"Why, I am standing here, having a chat with a lovely lass that appeared on my deck." the white and brown pegasus shrugged his wings.

"No, really? Do you have any idea where you are?" she queried.

"Well, I'm on a boat, I'm on a boat, everypony...What were we talking about?" He blinked and shrugged again.

"I'm tired of your games." Gilda hopped off the deck, wings fluttering as she flew up onto the higher level. She shoved the stallion up against a wall, and held her bladed sabatons up to his throat. "Now, do you have a room we can use?"

~Rarity~

Darkness. She saw only darkness. Where am I? The white unicorn writhed, but the knots fastening her body held tight. Her horn lit up, but the anti-magic fibers in the hood quenched the spark. Oh, great. This barbaric imprisonment will just ruin my mane. She heard a door creak open and clamp shut again. Bright lights blinded her as somepony ripped off the hood.

"Who are you?" the upper class pony demanded.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie will be the one asking questions!" The air in front of Rarity shimmered, and the aforementioned third-person person whipped her cape dramatically.

"We are the Knights of the Mortwing. We are the masters of fire and ice. We are the warriors of sorcery and steel. We-" someone said from behind her.

"Enough introduction. Trixie wishes you skip to the part that matters."

It cleared its throat. "We have been hired by the Lunarem to oversee your interrogation. They sent the one called Trixie to make sure it runs smoothly."

"What? What could I possibly know? I'm just seamstress!"

"You are a Solaris. You are the Element of Generosity. You are close friends with Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic and personal student of Princess Celestia."

"I know nothing, I swear to Celestia!"

"That's your problem. We should've taken Applejack first. Bring her out!"

A second gate swung open, and two unicorns levitated out the orange earth pony. "Graar, gerrof me!" They set her down next to Rarity, and removed her blindfold. She also was bound, but with heavy chain.

"Mare." spoke the hidden voice. "Do you or the unicorn beside you possess any knowledge of Celestia's plans?"

~Twilight Sparkle~

The wind howled. The rising moon lighted the path in its radiant darkness. Blackened trees lined the right side, both by the night and flame. Shrubs popped out of the road, forcing their way through the hardened ground. Bodies of ponies, Lunarem and Solaris alike, littered the thoroughfare, painting their ghastly pictures of blood. Remnants of civilization, debris, metal sheeting, an overturned wheel, symbolized the boundary of the route.

"Herp a derp, derp durr derp!" Pinkie Pie hummed. The cheerful tune conflicted the grim landscape.

"What?" Derpy Hooves cocked her head and looked at Ponyville's prominent pink party pony, Pinkie Pie.

"Oh, nothing. I was singing!" She hopped down the road.

Twilight Sparkle and Co. had been traveling for two days, along the northern road to Canterlot. Progress was slow, with Sepia and Vinyl's injuries. Limping was not the best vehicle for travel in warzones. Only partially healed, blood-soaked bandages were repeatedly changed, frequent breaks taken. Any kind of danger, however minute, could be deadly.

Pinkie Pie stopped, turned her head and stared deep into the horizon. "Do you hear that?"

"No." said the DJ, her ears muffled by the destructive powers of the extremely loud bass, "Should I?"

"Yeah, I think there is something there." Twilight lit up the area and cast a sound amplification spell.

"Help! Is anypony there?" A lump in the distance rose and twisted. "You! I - I can see your light! Help!" Twilight and Co. rushed to the pony's aid.

"Oh, oh my Celestia. What's wrong?"

"The fact that you are still here." The earth pony lifted his masquerade and stood up, brandishing a sword. "Out, boys!" Several ponies, a mix of unicorns and earth ponies, sprung out of the ground, each wielding some sort of weapon. "I can't believe you fell for that. Now, you'll be coming with us."

"Oh yeah, think you can take us?" Vinyl shouted, defiant and proud.

"Hmm, a DJ who can barely move, a bookworm that spends all her time reading, a ditz who can't walk straight, a party pony who's diet comprises entirely of sugar, a delusional who plays a lyre, and a clock maker. Yep, really intimidating. So scary." He brought up his blade and charged.

"Agh!" Sepia Tock pulled out a small object, and flung it at the rushing pony. Suspecting a bomb, he veered left, dodging the substance. "Gotcha! It's just a spring! You fell for the old-" An earth pony mare bucked him against a tree, stunning him. The spring accomplished its purpose, though. Pinkie Pie leaped into the air, then crashed down onto the distracted stallion. Blindly, he randomly lashed out against potential enemies. He struck at one of his own allies, dashing out to help him. The unicorn at the time was levitating several rocks, and when the sword bit into his shoulder, his concentration broke, dumping the payload down. One even landed on Pinkie Pie; she did a front flip off the stallion, kicking the rock into the gash.

Twilight Sparkle took advantage of the situation, raising Vinyl Scratch and feeding her stones, which were lobbed into the crowd of attackers. One rock smacked a unicorn's chest, slamming her back. Lyra ran and grabbed the unicorn's dropped bow, its strummed string twanging as arrow after arrow impaled the aggressors.

They had a glorious last stand, but eventually a unicorn just used an illusion to disguise himself has Lyra, then calmly walked up to Twilight and whacked her head with a rock.

~Gilda~

Gilda sat with the sailor in his cabin. "Well, who are you?"

"I'm Captain Sleek Sail of the Swiftwind. I'm Equestrian by birth."

"You are aware of the situation in Equestria, and the nature of the water you travel through?"

"Of course, Miss..."

"Axeclaw."

"I was informed a week ago of the, ah, state of affairs."

"Who do you side with?"

"Well, we've got no pegasi on our crew. We don't really need boats. We're independent traders." He stressed the final word, drawing it out.

"That explains the lack of  signaling. Also the several hidden compartments full of contraband."

"Why, yes. We take a very, open-minded, approach to trading."

"So, pirate smuggles then?"

"I suppose you could call it that."

"You do know you are traveling through disputed territory."

"That's why we fly without flag. Any customs would have to chase us down and identify us, rather than just blasting us out of the sea."

"Now, an unauthorized Equestrian ship, already smuggling illegal goods, admitted customs evasion, there is a reasonable amount of suspicion on you. I could impound your boat, execute you, and maroon your crew."

The stallion paled. "Oh surely, there is nor reason for rash action! I'm sure we can work something out."

"Well that fits well, because I happen to have a job for you. The zebras talk nicely enough, but their action leaves much to be desired. Sail between Carthene and Gryfael, posing as a trader. Snoop around, report any information to the Intelligence Offices. The Navy will provide you with funds."

He brightened. "Oh, jolly good then."

~Rarity~

The stallion yanked her out of the water. Her mane soaked, dripping water everywhere, she gasped for breath. Magic blocked by the suppressor clamped over her horn. She was pulled back into her chair, tied in.

"You ready to talk yet?" the stallion said. He was a unicorn, but strong like an earth pony. As an interrogator, he was to "utilize resources to persuade confession and revelation" from Rarity.

"Yes, I am ready to talk. I just don't have anything to say."

He thrust down the chair, unicorn fastened and all, towards the ground. A pit burned, full of hot coals. Light danced across the glowing stones, like waves on the ocean. Unlike the ocean, however, these waves caused great discomfort when you touched them.

"I don't have all day, you know. Honesty already talked, we know you know something. I have places to be." He pushed Rarity all the way down, flames scorching her cheek, the ends of her mane shriveling, curling up.

Trying to ignore the agony, she sang under her breath.

"When darkness passes, spelling your doom

Howls of wolves, everywhere loom.

Your enemies creep, riding wings of death.

Cling to your life with your final breath.

Fear not, we are there.

Ever watching, evermore."