Origins of the Ponies of War

Chapters

Book 1 Hello, First Introductions
Book 1 Hello, Explanations
Book 1 Hello, Exercise (Instead) of War
Book 1 Hello, It Begins

Book 1 Hello, First Introductions

Origins of the Ponies of War
Written by Tagshadow
Voiced by the Ponies of War

The Ponies of War were a small military unit that served in Equestria’s National Army, once upon a time. They were the smallest unit in the history of Equestria; it consisted of 11 members after their great tribulation. Despite its miniscule size the Ponies of War changed the history of Equestria. Through the haze of battle and maze of emotion they stood together as they do now, true brothers and sisters at arms. This is their tale; this was their plight, now a legend among today’s ponies. The unimaginable odds against them leave it to be unbelievable, but it is true. Sit now, and listen as I tell you the origins of the Ponies of War.
-Tag

Book 1
Hello

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Chapter 1
First Impressions

Celestia’s sun shone high in the sky, it was a wonderfully warm day outside. It was a startling contrast to the previous day’s violence. There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. Their camp was on a hill, they had to make sure they could watch all sides lest their enemy try to attack again.

Crystal Shine was the leader of the Ponies of War military unit; she was one of the first synthetic alicorns ever created. The project had been started a year ago in order to create more effective soldiers for the army; Crystal Shine had volunteered herself to be a test subject. The result was a total success, she was one of barely 100 synthetic alicorns serving, and all of the other test subjects had been killed in the transformation. Although she was young, she still led her ponies with confidence and skill far beyond her years. Her cutie mark was a picture of a unicorn’s horn over a pegasi’s pair of wings. She looked over to the only other surviving member of the Ponies of War, Harrow.

Harrow was a very bellicose pony, he was always looking for a fight, and he was good at it too. He was only slightly younger than she, but much more experienced in the ways of fighting; he carried a large sword, a Long Sword at his side always. He had grown up in his father’s leather shop often receiving beatings for shirking work and working late into the night to catch up. He was a hardened, cruel being; perfect for the military life. His coat was a light brown accented with his short, dark brown mane and tail contrasting with his cutie mark, a skinning knife. Harrow grimaced as the first chariot touched down.

“I hope these ones last longer than the last ones did.” He muttered distastefully, his deep voice broke the silence. Crystal Shine looked on worriedly.

“I hope so too, I don’t need another large loss of life on my conscious. Not again.” She agreed.

“I don’t know, I’ve heard the new ponies are all conscripts, that’s never a good sign for long life.” He turned around and trotted back to their makeshift camp. Crystal Shine stayed, and watched as the first of their new members made his way off of the chariot.

The unicorn stallion trotted off of the chariot, he had a sage green coat with a dark blue mane; his tail was a mixture of the two colours. His mane was combed and split down the middle but his tail was a little messy. Crystal Shine noticed his cutie mark; and strange looking knife, then she noticed the same knife was strapped to his hoof. He strode forward confidently, taking in his surroundings until his eyes came upon Crystal Shine. He walked straight to her keeping a careful eye. He stopped barely a few inches from her face.

“Hi.” He said; Crystal Shine smiled at him.

“Hello.” She said in return.

“Uh... I’m Tag Shadow, I believe you’re Crystal Shine, right?” He asked. Crystal Shine nodded.

“Yes, I’m the leader of the Ponies of War unit, it would appear that you’re the first one to have arrived. I would like to welcome you firsthoof to our little... family.” Her eyes grew distant for a second, she brought her focus back to Tag, his own eyes seemed off, as if he was talking to another pony.

“Sorry, I heard what happened to the previous members, I’m... I’m really sorry.” He murmured. Crystal Shine shook her head.

“It’s fine. I’ve dealt with this before.” She reassured him. “Why don’t you head on into the camp; our other member, Harrow is there.” Tag nodded.

“I’ll see you there I guess.” He said.

“Yes, we’ll have a meeting to really get to know each other once everypony arrives.” Crystal Shine explained. Tag walked passed her and trotted to the camp, Crystal sighed. The next chariot arrived.

Another unicorn stallion, entirely white, stepped off of this chariot; the pegasi guards took off as soon as his hooves left the platform. This stallion’s most defining feature was his face. He was… odd, his mouth was more pointed than a normal pony’s would be, had long whiskers that extended from each side of his snout. His mane was long and slightly unkept, it flowed behind his back much like his tail. He looked around lazily, and then yawned. He had disturbingly long fangs that made Crystal shiver. The pony, if even that, noticed Crystal and walked over to her; as he got closer she could see that instead of hooves he had paws, each with long claws on the end. He seemed to regard her nonchalantly; she wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about it.

“Hello.” She said. He nodded to her.

“Hello.”

“I’m Crystal Shine, the leader of the Ponies of War military unit.” She said and held out her hoof again; the pony shook it.

“I’m Phantasmane, but ponies call me Phantom.” He introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you Phantom, if you need anything please ask. Otherwise you can head into the camp over there,” she pointed it out with a hoof, ”and meet the other members of the unit.” Phantom nodded and trotted off in the direction Tag had earlier. Crystal watched after him, she could feel curiosity eating her up from the inside.

The next pony was another stallion, a pegasus; his coat was a desert tan colour, his mane and tail were short like Harrow’s but black and red. His cutie mark was of a strange vehicle like thing with a long tube on top, she couldn’t make sense of it. He seemed to be unaware of the area around him as the chariot took off. He noticed Crystal and strode over to her confidently.

“Armoured Command reporting for duty ma’am.” He said curtly, he even put a hoof to his head in salute. Crystal was taken aback by his military like manner.

“At ease, Armoured Command. I am Crystal Shine, your commanding officer.” Armoured Command nodded his head and put his hoof down. Crystal held hers out for him to shake, which he did so respectfully.

“Am I to assume that that’s the camp over there?” He inquired pointing towards the camp with a hoof. Crystal nodded.

“Yes, feel free to go put your things in one of the tents… there’s… enough for everypony…” She felt saddened at the realization, before the incident they had been sharing one tent between two ponies, now… they had a few extras. Armoured Command seemed to notice her sadness.

“Forgive for speaking freely, ma’am, but… I read the report… they fought and died with honour, like any military pony should.” He whispered. Crystal was taken surprised at the sudden tenderness in his voice.

“Thank you… but it still doesn’t make me feel better about what happened…” She trailed off. Armoured Command nodded again, his face becoming hardened.

“Right, well I must go. I shall see you in the camp, ja?”

“Yes, I must welcome the other newcomers.” Crystal explained. Armoured Command saluted again and stepped off toward the camp. Crystal took a shaky breath.

The next pony to get off of the chariot was a mare; she was a little short comparatively. Her mane and tail were black and her coat was grey. She seemed to be unsure of what to do next and flinched as the chariot behind her took off. She glanced around nervously and moved toward Crystal.

“H-hello…” She said timidly.

“Hello there.” Crystal said warmly, the pony seemed to relax slightly.

“I’m Terrabyte.” She said seemingly more confidently. Crystal couldn’t help but tilt her head.

“Terrabyte? That’s an odd name…” She wondered aloud. Terrabyte looked away.

“My parents are… a little odd.” She mumbled. Crystal shook her head.

“I didn’t mean anything by it, forgive me. I’m the leader of the Ponies of War.” She explained and held a hoof out. Terrabyte shook it slowly. Crystal glanced at Terrabyte’s flank to see her cutie mark; she had not idea what it was. It appeared to be a hexagon beside a line with another line through it. “Do you mind if I ask what your cutie mark is?” She asked. Terrabyte glanced back at it herself before answering.

“My parents told me that it’s old Neighlic, it’s supposed to mean ‘survivor’.” She explained. Crystal looked at it again, she regretted not studying the old pony languages back in school.

“Right, well, the camp is over there if you want to get settled.” She said pointing it out to Terrabyte who nodded.

“Thank you, I’ll see you over there I guess.” She mumbled and trotted away. Crystal watched after her, she began to feel worried again.

The next pony to step off was a unicorn mare with a well cared for mane and tail, the were both a mix of black and red, full-bodied and groomed out so that her mane hung around her shoulder, and her tail bounced behind her with every step. Crystal Shine had to admit she was beautiful. The mare looked around through red-shaded glasses that sat on her snout. She trotted over to Crystal slowly and looked at studied her for a moment

“I’m Saren.” She said. Crystal nodded.

“I’m Crystal Shine, leader of the Ponies of War unit.” Saren pushed her glasses back up her snout.

“It’s nice to meet you.” She stuck out a hoof; Crystal shook it. Saren stood there awkwardly for a moment. “What… what are the other ponies like?” She asked anxiously.

“There’s a mix, I will say, but I’m sure that you’ll find one or two to be friends with.” Crystal reassured her. Saren nodded and smiled slightly. “The camp is over there behind me, feel free to put your things in one of the tents.” Crystal said. “We’ll have a meeting once everypony arrives.” Saren nodded again and trotted to the camp.

The next pony to get off of the chariot appeared to be a synthetic alicorn, his wings were tightly held against his red coat and his short brown mane and tail were brushed to the side. His horn was an odd case; it had been broken at the base. He walked over to her, he seemed slightly unsure of each step he took.

“Good, uh, afternoon ma’am. I’m… Allko.” He muttered.

“Afternoon, Allko, I’m Crystal Shine.” She said extending a hoof. He shook it slowly. Crystal realized that he was a lot like Saren and Terrabyte; she hoped that most of the others weren’t so unsure of themselves.

“You’re a synthetic alicorns?” She asked looking at his broken horn curiously, beside it the tip of his right ear had been torn away. Allko nodded slowly.

“Yeah, I was one of the few that survived… but I’m sure you know about that.” He said looking at her horn and wings. “I was a unicorn, but now I can’t do anymore magic so I’m left with my poor flying skills.” That was where synthetic alicorns fell short of real alicorns; aside from being mortals, synthetic alicorns were only good at their natural ability. Alicorns that were previously unicorns were good at magic with a slightly below average flight ability, and vice versa for pegasi, earth ponies had been experimented on, but none of them survived. Crystal Shine had been a Pegasus previously.

“Do you mind if I ask how you broke your horn?” Crystal asked. Allko looked away, his ears flattened slightly.

“I’d rather not get into it if it’s the same to you.” He said cringing slightly. Crystal Shine nodded.

“It’s quite alright, I was just curious, but feel free to head on into the camp ever there.” Allko nodded and trotted passed her and toward the camp. Crystal sighed, there were still a few more to come.

In the camp things were starting to get a little crowded, and tense.

Most of the ponies that had arrived were sitting around the large fire pit in the middle of the camp; among them were Tag, Armoured Command, Harrow, Phantasmane and Saren.

“Sooooo…” Saren said trying to start up a conversation. She looked at Tag nervously. “Should we introduce ourselves?” There was silence for a time. Tag stood up slowly.

“I’ll start I guess. I’m Tag Shadow.” Harrow snorted. Tag stopped and looked at him. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing, please, go on.” He said stifling a smile. Tag continued to look at him before talking again.

“I’m from Canterlot… I was… a writer before I got sent here.” He finished lamely. Phantasmane looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“A writer? What kind of cutie mark is that for a writer?” He asked pointing at Tag’s cutie mark with his paw. The whole group was silent.

“I wasn’t always a writer, but I won’t go into that.” He said and sat down. ”Somepony else can go now.” Saren opened her mouth but Harrow spoke up.

“I used to work in my father’s leather shop, he wasn’t very happy with me because I never did my work, he used to hit me a lot. Finally got tired of that and ran away to join the army… so here I am.” He summed up. After he sat down nopony else said anything.

“Anypony? Anypony at all?” Tag asked looking around; nopony would meet his eyes. He fiddled with his knife.

Crystal Shine had taken a seat having grown tired of standing around waiting for the next chariot. She sat in the shade of a large boulder. She could hear the distant sound of another chariot approaching. She stood up and trotted into the open as it came into view.

She was an earth pony mare with a gray coat. Her mane was slightly spiked out and deep green with what looked like light green highlights. Her tail was the same deep green as her mane and hung out behind her. She made for Crystal Shine immediately.

“Afternoon.” She said.

“I suppose it is afternoon now, isn’t it?” Crystal Shine sighed; she had hoped they would be done arriving by noon.

“Yes, I’m Ardennes by the way.” She said smiling slightly.

“It’s nice to meet you Ardennes, I’m Crystal Shine, commanding officer of the Ponies of War.” Ardennes looked thoughtful for a moment.

“How many times have you had to say that today?” She asked good-humouredly. Crystal Shine smiled.

“More times than I should have to, the new ponies appear to be arriving single file for some odd reason.” Ardennes nodded.

“Yeah, there was a problem at the office back in Canterlot; apparently there’s a threat to the princesses so they can’t send out too many guards at once. It’s a real pain in the plot if you ask me.” She explained. Crystal Shine watched after Ardennes’s chariot worriedly as it disappeared into the sky.

“Not really… It’s more worrying than anything…” She hoped the threat wasn’t what she thought it was. Ardennes put a hoof on Crystal’s shoulder.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine, they guard managed to fight off the changeling invasion, I’m sure they can get through all of this.” She pointed out. Crystal shook her head.

“That was over one hundred years ago, there hasn’t been much of anything that big since then. And it was the Elements of Harmony that ejected their leader from Canterlot Castle.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Ardennes repeated.

“Yes, you should head on over to the camp. Feel free to throw your things into one of the tents and meet some of the other new recruits.” Ardennes raised an eyebrow.

“Am I the only conscript here?” She asked.

“No, I just prefer to say recruits over… conscripts.” Crystal explained. Ardennes nodded understandingly.

“Okay then, I’ll make my way into the camp.” She said and trotted away. Leaving Crystal alone to her thoughts. “Celestia forgive me for my failure…” She breathed.

Phantom was laying on his sleeping bag inside his tent when he heard hooves on the ground outside; they stopped outside the flap that was his front door.

“Do you mind if I come in?” he recognized the voice from the campfire, Tag?

“Sure, what’s going on?” He asked. Tag pushed his way in and stood watching Phantom intently.

“I came here to ask you not to inquire about my past in front of other ponies.” He said slowly. Phantom looked at him.

“Why?”

“Because my past is rather… dark. I’d rather not give others a false impression.” He said. Phantom sat up and regarded Tag with a curious stare.

“I think you’re making this worse than it needs to be.” Phantom mumbled. “But whatever, I won’t pursue it.” Tag nodded slowly.

“Thank you, I’m sure I’ll be able to tell you eventually.” He backed out of the tent, leaving Phantom to watch after him with a bewildered look.

Harrow and Armoured Command were still sitting around the campfire. Everypony else had left shortly after Saren’s attempt at making conversation. Harrow glanced at Armoured Command who just looked at the remnants of last night’s fire.

“So, what’s your story?” He asked trying to at least be friendly. Armoured Command didn’t say anything at first, and Harrow thought he had not heard him and was about to say something else before he spoke.

“I was in the military previously, few years ago. They threw me out for being ‘brutal’.” He started, Harrow’s eyebrow shot up.

“Cruel?” He asked. Armoured Command nodded.

“They told me to take prisoners, I don’t take prisoners.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“I killed several ponies that had already surrendered after an encounter.” He said simply.

“What, just like that?” Harrow said, he sounded vaguely impressed.

“No, there was a long battle of the question of my sanity but I proved that I was indeed sane and they let me go. Then I get a letter saying that they’re sending me back in. Not like I was complaining because I hadn’t even done anything since then.”

“I’m guessing the military was made for you or something?” Harrow asked noting Armoured Command’s muscular shoulders. Armoured Command nodded.

“The entire family is in the military, at least the stallions are. Doing anything else just didn’t feel right. So here I am, stuck in a company of newbies and cowards.” Harrow didn’t say anything.

Another chariot had touched down, this pony seemed a little spacey, and Crystal Shine could see his eyes darting around behind clear glasses. He was a deep but imposing blue with a spiky mane and tail, both were combined black and sky blue. He was an earth pony, and he plodded over to Crystal Shine with an odd look on his face.

“Hi…” He mumbled. Crystal Shine immediately reverted back to her kind, welcoming posture.

“Hello!” She said happily. “I’m Crystal Shine, what’s your name?”

“I’m Free Thought.” He said still mumbling. Despite bot being able to meet her gaze, he seemed almost entranced with the rest of her body, with an almost expert looking eye he ran from the end of her tail to the tip of her horn. It was so fast that Crystal Shine had almost missed it.

“Is there a particular reason that you seem to be observing me?” She asked curiously. Free Thought jumped having been so occupied.

“Sorry… it’s just a habit I have…” He trailed off looking away. Crystal Shine looked at him.

“What kind of habit would this be?”

“A… A painting habit… more of a hobby though, I like to… paint.” He answered. Crystal Shine smiled again.

“That’s nice, but I need you to get settled into the camp. Maybe later you could… paint me.” Free Thought managed a small smile as he padded passed her to the camp.

“A painting of me. Never thought that would happen.” Crystal Shine thought aloud. She had never been one for showing her stuff, of course if this was a hobby it probably wouldn’t even be that good. What was the harm in letting him try?

Allko sighed as he took a look around the entirety of the camp; it wasn’t as large as he thought a military camp would be. There were about twenty tents set up in four rows of five. Between the middle rows was the campfire. Two ponies were sitting there; one was brown and the other was tan, they whispered to each other quietly. Allko felt a twinge of uneasiness as he turned the corner. He saw a red-coated mare looking at the tents uncertainly, she was right in front of his.

“Can I help you?” He asked; the mare jumped.

“Sorry! I just forgot which tent I had put my stuff in…” She said. Allko sighed.

“Do you want some help?” He asked trying to be friendly. The mare nodded.

“Yes, that would be nice.” Allko trotted next to her.

“Well this is my tent, I suppose we should go down the row then.” They walked down the row poking their heads into the tents.

“…I’m Saren… what’s your name?” She asked after a while.

“I’m Allko.” He said. Looking over at her he could see that she was looking at his horn.

“Yes, I’m synthetic alicorn with a broken horn.” Saren shook her head.

“I was just curious as to how you broke it.” Allko looked away.

“I prefer not to talk about it.” He mumbled as he poked his head in another empty tent. “What about you? Any stories to share?” Saren was silent for a moment.

“I have degrees in Science and Magic so I do stuff with that.” She said. Allko gave her a look.

“…Like what?”

“The conversion of magical energy to machine power through the use of magical inlets and outlets while at the same time trying to find a way to make the conversion while keeping the life of the magical source safe.” Allko was silent.

“I didn’t understand any of that.” He mumbled. Saren giggled.

“I didn’t really think you would. To put it simply I’m working on using magic to power machines.” She clarified. Allko nodded.

“Okay now that sounds familiar, I think I heard about that back when I worked in Hoofington.”

“What did you do there?”

“I was developing this machine called a computer, it’s a fairly new project that had apparently shown promise. Of course after I had volunteered for the alicorn project I couldn’t really work on it anymore…” He trailed off as memories flooded his mind. Saren looked at her new friend curiously.

“Are you okay?” She asked. Allko shook his head.

“I’m fine.” He mumbled and poked his head into the last tent on the row. “There’s nopony in here, is this your tent?” He asked. Saren put her head in beside him.

“Yes! Thank you!” She said happily and hugged Allko who managed to blush before Saren remembered herself and backed away from him. “Uh… sorry about that.”

“No… no it’s fine, caught me by surprise is all. Anyway, I’m gonna head back to my tent, remember we have to meet around the fire pit.“ Saren nodded.

“I guess I’ll see you there.” She said and entered her tent; Allko stumbled off to his.

There shouldn’t be that many more chariots, soon Crystal Shine would have to give her speech about fighting the good fight. At least they were hopeful.

The sound of a pegasi guard’s powerful wings told Crystal Shine that another chariot had arrived.

Crystal couldn’t help but stare at the next pony that got off. She was a pegasus with a gray coat. Her light green mane stood almost straight up and her ripped up tail was short behind her. Her face seemed rough and her expression was angry. The oddest part of it all was that she was wearing socks. She flew over to Crystal Shine.

“Evening.” She said gruffly.

“Evening.” Crystal Shine said. “You are?”

“I’m Frizel. Do you mind telling me why they sent me here?”

“Well I’ll be able to tell you once everypony arrives.” Crystal explained. Frizel seemed unhappy with that response.

“What are you hiding?” She demanded as she struck an offensive looking pose. Crystal Shine remained unfazed.

“I’ll tell you tonight.” She repeated. Frizel seemed about to raise a hoof against her. “Don’t try it.” Her voice was dangerously calm now. Frizel said nothing but left for the camp. Crystal Shine let out a breath. “Why would she be here… surely she can’t be…” Crystal Shine shook her head slowly.

Terrabyte sat up; she was tired of sulking around in her tent, she was going to go talk to somepony. She got up and trotted out of the tent.
Almost immediately after exiting she walked right into another pony.
“Oww…” She groaned as she fumbled as she tried to get up. She looked up to see a blue hoof.

“I’m really sorry!” She heard a voice say. Looking up she could see a small blue colt standing in front of her. His eyes seemed to have a mixture of fear and concern. Taking his hoof she stood up. Neither said anything for a moment.

“Um… I’m Terrabyte.” He didn’t say anything. He looked around.

“I… uh… I’m Free Thought?” Terrabyte tilted her head.

“Are you asking me a question?” She asked. Free Thought shook his head slowly.

“Sorry… I’m Free Thought. I just got here.” He muttered.
(whythefuckcan’tIgetthisbartogoaway)
“It’s nice to meet you Free Thought.” Terrabyte said trying her hoof at a reassuring smile. It seemed to work as Free Thought smiled weakly.

“It’s… nice to meet you.” He said talking a little louder. “I’m just sort of…. Overwhelmed by it all.” Terrabyte stood next to him.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure that a lot of other ponies are feeling that way too.”

“You think so?”

“Well they seem to be fighting about a lot of things, I think we’re all a little scared of each other right now.” Free Thought was thoughtful for a moment.

“But aren’t we supposed to be working together?”

“We should be… but will we?”

The next pony carried himself with high regards. He was brown, with a long black mane. His cutie mark appeared to be a hammer and chisel, partially covering it was a beige coloured vest. Crystal Shine noticed the glasses on his snout as he observed his surroundings contentedly. As he walked towards her, she decided to meet him halfway.

“Hello, I am professor Tigrean from the university of Hoovington. I assume that you’re Crystal Shine?” He asked.

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you Tigrean.” She said and extended her hoof. Tigrean shook it.

“I’ve heard many things about you and the synthetic alicorn project. Just to satisfy my curiosity, do you mind if I asked how the transformation occurred? How was it that they attached a horn to your head?” A long, distant scream came from the back of Crystal’s mind; the kind of scream that came from a pony that couldn’t die. She shook her head.

“I’d really rather not go into detail, but if you’d like to satisfy your curiosity there is another alicorn in the camp; his name is Allko.” She told him. “You should see him easily, he has a broken horn.” Tigrean’s curiosity seemed to deepen.

Right then, I look forward to meeting this Allko pony then.” He said. “I also assume that there is some sort of camp that we’ll be staying in?” Crystal Shine nodded.

“Yes, the camp is over there.” She said pointing it out to him.

“Good, I shall head there presently.” He trotted away.

“A professor huh?” Crystal Shine asked herself. “It just makes less sense with each pony.”

Frizel had no idea what she was doing. She paced around the inside of her tent angrily.

“Why did they have to send me here? Things were perfectly fine back in Chestermare!” Her mind grew slightly distant as she remembered the friends she had been forced to leave behind. She groaned out loud and threw herself onto the bed.

“Hey, stop it over there! I’m trying to sleep!” Came a voice, probably from one of the tents adjacent to her. Bad temperedly she stood up.

“What if I don’t want to?” She called over to him defiantly. There was a pause. She jumped when a pony shaped thing stepped in.

“If you don’t want to I’m gonna have to gag you.” He said. Frizel just stared at him.

“What are you?” She demanded. He shrugged.

“Not much of anything. Not a pony. But not much of anything.”

“Don’t play with me.”

“I’m not.” He said still regarding her with lazy eyes. “There really isn’t a name for what I am.” Frizel growled.

“Whatever.” The pony thing raised an eyebrow.

“What’s got your… socks in a twist?” He asked regarding her hoofwear.

“Don’t you even care that you were forced here?” She asked. He shrugged again.

“Not really, there wasn’t *that* much for me back where I came from.” She looked at him unsure of what she thought of him. “So am I gonna have to gag you or what?”

“I’d like to see you try.”

The next chariot landed right in front of Crystal Shine. The pony standing on it was incredibly imposing, and seemed incredibly afraid.

“Are you coming?” She asked light heartedly. He looked at her. “Come on, I’m Crystal Shine.” He reluctantly stepped of the chariot and jumped as it took off behind him. He looked at her with wide eyes, saying nothing until she spoke again. “What’s your name?”

“I’m… Matheniel.” He said quietly. Crystal nodded.

“It’s nice to meet you Matheniel.” She said happily. “I’m the leader…” She had casually looked over at his flank to see what his cutie mark was; it was of a hammer pointing downward with two wings, one was black and the other was white. He noticed her unease.

“I know what you’re thinking.” He said taking a step toward her. Crystal Shine’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re an arbitrator?” She asked. He nodded slowly. “Why would they send an arbitrator?” He looked at her unhappily.

“They said it was because I was becoming too aware.” He explained.

“Well that doesn’t happen very often.” Crystal sighed. “Right, we’ll have to get you settled in. Why don’t you head over to the camp and put your things in an unoccupied tent, it’s almost time for the fire meeting anyway.” He nodded.

“Is that it over there?” He asked pointing at it.

“Yes, not too much but it gets the job done.” Matheniel trotted off slowly in the direction of the camp. Crystal watched as the chariot flew away. That was all of them, all the new recruits. 11 in all. It was her job to train them into one of the best military units there was. Crystal Shine finally trotted back to the camp.

Book 1 Hello, Explanations

Chapter 2
Explanations

Celestia’s sun had long since passed before the meeting took place. Crystal Shine prepared herself for the coming explanation she would have to give… again.

Most of them came on their own having been told about that evening meeting around the fire pit. Others had to be fetched. Crystal Shine had her place on a tree stump beside the fire; the others had to share logs.

“Would you mind shifting over a little bit?” Free Thought asked Armoured Command.

“Why don’t you shift it?” He growled back. Free Thought said nothing but sat down closer to Tag on his other side. Crystal Shine knew there would many problems like this. There were always problems when a new pony came in, and of course the new pony always adjusted. But now there were so many new ponies, and only one old one. Harrow sat on the log closest to Crystal Shine; he looked around, as the other new ponies bickered and fought about were to sit.

“Hey I was going to sit there…”

“Does it even really matter?”

“But…”

“Forget about it, you can sit over here.” The occasional hint of kindness shone through. It was nowhere near the companionship needed to be effective. There was a lot of work to be done.

Eventually the ponies had settled down, several of the younger ones looked squished between the older, larger ones. Crystal Shine stood up off of her stump and began to speak.

“Hello everypony, as you may remember I’m Crystal Shine. I’m the leader of the Ponies of War, and I’m also your commanding officer. There are a lot of things that I have to explain to you tonight, so I’ll just put it in a list and get started. I will tell you about the Ponies of War, I will tell you about our mission out here, and I will tell you about myself.

I’m fairly certain none of you have heard about the Ponies of War. That’s because we aren’t supposed to exist in a manner of speaking. We’re a specialized unit with special training. But the biggest part of this is trust, trust in each other; if we don’t trust each other there’s no way we’ll ever be as effective. So starting tomorrow we’ll be doing training.

The reason we’re here. We are here to remove a group of… rebels for lack of a better term. This group is made of a large variety of species; largely ponies and griffins but they’ve also managed to train a variety of animals including a few manticores. They are led by a synthetic alicorn who has taken the name Soladversarius. It has recently been discovered that he has plans to attack Canterlot and go straight for the Princesses in a coup d’état, so we have been dispatched to deal with him. Our spy within their compound believes that we have at least two days before they leave. Admittedly that isn’t a lot of time to train new recruits, but it will have to do. We will start tomorrow bright and early. We march on the third day.

Finally, seeing as this unit is built on trust, I should tell you a little bit more about myself. I am Crystal Shine, I am a synthetic alicorn, and I lead the Ponies of War. I grew up beside Rainbow Lake until I ran away from home. At that point I was old enough to join the military and did so. When I heard that they were starting up the synthetic alicorn project I volunteered myself for it. Not too long afterwards they put me in this unit, the only reason that I’m here now is because I survived long enough. Harrow, why don’t you tell them about yourself.” She looked at Harrow as she sat down slowly. Harrow stood up and cleared his throat.

“I’m Harrow, I’ve been here for a few months, and I grew up in Manehattan in my dad’s leather shop. He used to beat me a lot, but after one day I had had enough, and beat him. I ran away after that, and so I signed up for the military. After a while they transferred me here. And so here I am.” He sat back down. Crystal Shine looked around.

“I think it would be a good idea for us to go around the circle. Tag, why don’t you go next?” She looked at Tag who was sitting beside Harrow. He stood up, taking a look around before speaking.

“I’m Tag Shadow… I was a writer among other thing before I came here. I lived in Canterlot but I’ve lived in a lot of other places. I was even in the military for a short time so hopefully it’ll all come back to me as we start this. That’s about it really… I’m not that special.” He sat down slowly looking around; Tigrean seemed to be taking an interest in him from across the campfire. Crystal Shine looked at Tag for a moment seemingly dissecting him with her eyes.

“Let us move on, Allko, right?” Allko nodded as he stood up. He stood for a moment as if unsure of where to start.

“I’m Allko, I used to work in a lab just outside Canterlot. I was actually transferred over to work on the synthetic alicorn project for a time before… I volunteered myself. It worked of course, and I spent some more time working on the project in the background until now. Of course I’m particularly new to this so I hope I can find some way to make myself useful. I should probably mention that my broken horn means that I can’t do magic so… just keep that in mind.” Crystal Shine once again studied him before he sat down.

“Well alright then, next pony. Saren.” She stood up and started speaking almost immediately.

“Hello all, I’m Saren, and much like Allko I worked in a lab before this. I really am not sure why they would send a pony like me off to join the military but I was willing to give it a shot, not like I had a choice anyway. I managed to get a masters degree in both magic and technology so, uh, yeah… if anypony needs any help with anything I’d be happy to help” There was still silence. As Saren sat down sighing quietly the next pony got up without bidding.

“Hey all, I’m Ardennes. To be honest there isn’t anything that special about me; I’m just a normal mare… or was until I got the letter but I’m sure you know what I mean. Anyway, just like Saren if anypony around here needs a helping hoof with anything just let me know and I’d be happy to try and help.” She sat back down. Harrow regarded her with a raised eyebrow of curiosity; Crystal Shine had a similar look, although it was more guarded.

“Next?” She asked. The pony beside Ardennes stood up unsure of himself.

“H-hi there everypony, I’m Free Thought… uhm… I’m not really that good at anything but I’m willing to learn… so if…” He seemed to grow tight-lipped. “I’ve been sort of wondering what I should do with my life… so I guess you could say I’m open minded about stuff… that’s it.” He sat back down with an incredibly embarrassed look on his face. In the flickering light of the campfire Crystal Shine noticed Frizel holding back a cruel laugh. The next pony stood up before Crystal Shine could say anything. He regarded the crowd with his seemingly callous eyes before speaking.

“I’m Phantasmane, but most ponies call me Phantom… no I’m not a pony, although I used to be, once upon a time. And no, there isn’t a name or a word for what I am now; I’m just a thing. I was raised in a small town outside of Canterlot until I was accepted into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and I was in between jobs before I came here. Aside from that I suppose I had a normal upbringing.” He sat back down wordlessly. The mare beside him stood up.

“I’m Terrabyte, I guess I’m sorta like Phantom cause I was born and grew up in a small village… uh I realize that my name sounds a little odd but that’s because my parents were a little odd… my life was rather uneventful like some of the other ponies here. And I don’t really know how the army found me where I was but I had to come here so, here I am. I hope I can be useful… or learn how to do something useful… or something like that.” She sat down sheepishly, mentally kicking herself for sounding like a fool in front of everypony. With a groan the next pony stood up.

“I might as well introduce myself seeing as everpony else is. I’m Frizel. I was in Chestermare before I got that stupid letter. Before anypony even asks yes I am wearing socks and if you want to make something of it feel free to, I wear them because they’re confortable. And if any of you think about trying any funny business I can take care of myself.” She seemed to be looking at Phantom in particular who snickered.

“Is that how you managed to get out of those ropes?” He asked through a laugh. Frizel growled and struck a fighting pose, her mouth an inch away from the knife strapped to her forearm. Phantom looked at her with a calm smile on his lips. Before ether pony could do anything a turquoise aura surrounded Frizel and picked her up. She landed back on the log with a dull thud and a sharp exhalation. Crystal Shine was glaring at Frizel with suddenly cold eyes.

“This is a military unit, more so this is a military unit under MY command, I will have none of this while I’m in charge. Is that understood Frizel?” She punctuated the question by striking her hoof down harshly on the stump. Frizel seemed surprisingly intimidated and backed down.

“Sorry.” She said looking away.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you Phantom, you are not to tie up your squad mates.” He nodded at her slowly.

“Yes ma’am.” He said.

“Now, who’s next?”

“I’m Professor Tigrean. But you might as well just call me Tigrean. I came from Ponyville where I went to school and the like. After expressing a large interest in archeology I was sent to the University of Canterlot, and after that I became a professor at the University of Hoovington. I even found the time to host some of my own expeditions to uncover other ruins. Not to mention being called in for some… other tasks by the headmaster. It would appear that I’m not the only one wondering what I’m doing being forced into the military but my fencing skills were getting a little rusty, and I had been meaning to take up the art again, maybe those skills will find use here. But I do believe that I’ve gone on for long enough.” He sat down seeming pleased with his introduction. The next pony stood.

“I’m Armoured Command.” He said gruffly. “I’ve served before and was discharged for cruelty. I’ve been waiting around since then because I knew this letter would come, military runs in the family, it was only a matter of time before I would be needed again, and I will serve without question. And as a word of precaution,” he growled. “I detest cowardice. Acting cowardly is as bad as betraying your country outright.” His statement was met with deathly silence. He looked around one last time, menacing each pony in turn and sat down. There was a pause before the next pony stood up.

“I’m Matheniel… I don’t really have that much of a past because… well… I am- or was an arbitrator.” There was a mix of confused and curious silence.

“What’s an arbitrator?” Terrabyte asked. Tigrean shook his head distastefully.

“Arbitrators are a… an experiment for lack of a better term. They’re bred, their parents being previous arbitrators, and then they’re raised in a facility. They live in isolation, with as little contact as possible so that they grow up with little to no bias at all. After they reach an adolescent age they are put to… work. An arbitrator’s job is to arbitrate, to judge; but what they judge is what leads to a divided public opinion. They judge life and death cases. Every time they make a decision, it is either life… or death for a pony. The idea was that they would judge on a moral compass, with only basic survival in mind, to prevent real world bias from creating an incorrect verdict. I suspect that Matheniel here has never even set hoof outside his facility before now.” He glanced at Matheniel who just looked at his hooves. The camp sat in shocked silence for a moment.

“So what you mean to say,” Tag started. “ Is that they are the hoof that either stays the axe, or nudges it forward?”

“From a poetical standpoint I suppose so.” Tigrean shrugged.

“It’s a fairly new project, only one generation has passed if I remember correctly. There is a major fight between the two sides on all levels from the street to the castle.” Crystal Shine said. Allko nodded.

“I think I remember hearing about that, but I don’t understand why they would send one here.”

“After a few cases I… began to ask questions. They said that I was becoming too aware, and that they would have to let me go. I guess this was the best option.” Matheniel said unhappily. Ardennes shook her head.

“I really doubt that, if you were raised in a facility then really, and I’m sorry if this is harsh, you’re more of a weight on the battlefield.” He winced slightly.

“I wasn’t in a position to say anything about it…” He trailed off.

“Come on everypony, asking Matheniel about isn’t going to solve anything, he knows about as much as we do so let’s just lay off.” Saren said loudly. “Besides, we should be focused on out upcoming task… the Soladversarius pony.” Crystal Shine nodded to Saren.

“Right you are. We are not here to discuss what enough ponies back in the cities are discussing. We are here to take out Soladversarius. We only have a few days to train, and the hardest part is getting started. I suggest that you all get a long sleep because we start bright and early tomorrow. I’ll send Harrow around to wake you all up but in the future I expect you’ll be able to get yourselves up. Go now, you are all dismissed, and no messing around.” Everpony around the fire got up quickly and hurried off to their own tents, Harrow was still beside her.

“It would seem we have a lot of work ahead of us. I don’t see much of a point to it though, they won’t survive the attack on the camp.” He murmured. Crystal Shine looked at him sternly.

“Don’t say that Harrow. Most said that about you, and you about the others. They… lasted.” She finished looking away. Harrow’s eyes grew suddenly soft.

“Crystal, we have to focus on the now, they’re gone. We have to face that fact.”

“It’s not them… it’s him.” She said thickly. Harrow gave her a surprised look.

“Him? Who?” He asked. Crystal Shine shook her head.

“Nothing, nothing anymore. We must discuss the new ones. Let’s retire to my tent.” She got up slowly and trotted to her tent, Harrow kicked dirt onto the fire and followed her quickly.

Crystal’s tent was not too different from the other tents, only slightly bigger and with a desk inside where she kept important papers and other miscellaneous items. Harrow took a seat on the stool in front of the desk, Crystal Shine in the plastic chair on the other side.

“This new group is very interesting.” Crystal Shine started.

“Very different. All of them are rather equally spaced out in their own way.”

“Unfortunately… and I must say that I’m questioning their judgment this time. It’ll be hard to get them to trust each other, especially the way we need them to. But once again we were both the same way. But what we have to discuss is how we’re going to approach training.”

“And what makes you think training will be hard?”

“Look at them, well, some of them anyway. I doubt that some of them have even seen a weapon. But I’m especially concerned about Free Thought, Terrabyte, and Matheniel. They seem so… fragile. Saren and Allko are much the same way but at least they’re old enough for it!”

“Calm down! Celestia condemn it you’re acting like a foal… commander.” Crystal Shine inhaled deeply and closed her eyes.

“Right… suppose complaining about it now won’t do anything to help me in the future, or the past. In any case, we should approach training lightly. Make it seem more like exercise than war. But… the first battle will be hard, for most of them. Hmm… yes… We shall divide them into groups based upon their need for training. Free Thought, Terrabyte, and Matheniel most definitely… we should put Saren and Allko there too. Those will be the ones that need the most training. Next group should have those who haven’t seen combat, Ardennes Phantom and Tigrean. The last group will consist of all the others, the ones that are no strangers to war.” Harrow sat there nodding as she listed names.

“Okay then, now we’re getting somewhere. But that’s three groups to train, and there’s only two of us.” He pointed.

“Those last two groups are fairly similar, but the first group will need special attention, I shall work with them… they’ll need a friendly face.” Crystal Shine sighed. “But I’m sure that you’re more than capable of handling the other two groups; the second one might need more attention but the third one really only need to refine their moves. I doubt Armoured Command will need any work at all, from the way he look he hasn’t been out of the military for THAT long, Tag and Frizel also seem quite confident in their own abilities as well.”

“That works.” Harrow said. “But I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“Start simple; the easy maneuvers and work your way up. Hopefully they’ll be able to take care of themselves by the time we attack.”

“Well that seems to take care of that… I suppose there’s nothing we can do at this point except wait.”

“Yes.”

“I hate waiting. Waiting is the worst part of war.” Crystal’s eye grew distant at the statement.

“No… the worst part of war is when it ends…”

Allko was just settling down on his sleeping bag when he heard a hoof pounding on the ground outside his tent.

“Is that for me?” He called out into the dim light.

“Eh- yes, I was wondering if you’d mind me coming in for a moment.” He recognized Tigrean’s voice from the campfire.

“Sure, come right in.” He called out again. Tigrean pushed open the flap to his head and stepped in almost nervously. He had taken off his vest but there was a beret-like cap on his head.

“I’m very sorry to intrude when we I know we should be sleeping but I couldn’t hold back my curiosity any more.” Allko gave him a look.

“Curiosity about what?” He asked.

“The alicorn project!” He exclaimed, the immediately lowered his voice. “I just HAVE to know how they do it… did they copy any ancient artifacts? Use any ancient techniques? The archeologist in me just has to know!”

“What makes you think there is even some sort of ancient… thing involved?” Allko demanded suddenly becoming tense.

“I also have a minor in history, that makes me privy to the knowledge of the super advanced race of creatures that came before us. And to the knowledge that they created alicorns before ponies; so I must know whether or not as is my duty to prevent the past mistakes from repeating themselves.”

“What are you… some sort of vigilante?”

“I suppose one might look at it that way, but I’m serious, this ancient race died out for a reason, and trying to replicate their technology may very well be replicating their own demise!” Allko sighed.

“Fine… but not now… I’m very tired and we do have to do stuff tomorrow.” Tigrean put on a pained expression.

“Very well.” He said, the disappointment in his voice was fairly pronounced. Allko winced.

“I’m sorry but… it was a long ride over and I need sleep.”

“No, no it’s quite alright. I suppose I shall see you in the morning.” He backed out of the tent slowly.

As the Ponies of War settled down in their new camp, as one by one the lights went out, things came to life not very far away. Almost a mirror to the Ponies of War one by one the lights came on within the forest on one side of the clearing. A camp came to life at the same moment the other died. Soladversarius grinned. There was much work to be done.

“Sir! Sir! The recon team has returned with word!” He recognized Pitch-Black’s call coming from behind him. He turned around from his small house at the far end of the camp and watched his work unfold before him as even more lights began to live.

Their camp was something to be marveled, the entire compound was surrounded by a wall of wooden log camouflaged by miscellaneous foliage from the surrounding trees. On the inside there were several buildings also made of wood. There were some barracks for the various species that made up his army; the largest presence made by ponies and griffons. The other species included minotaurs and some strange black bug creatures with chitin armour. They had a large mess hall to one side and an armory beside it. Soladversarius focused his attention back on Pitch-Black who was quickly approaching him.

“Sir, the recon team has a report ready for you.” He said. Soladversarius said nothing. “I’ll just… leave it here then.” He pulled a rough piece of paper out from under his wing and placed it on a table nearby. The metal on his wings clinked together as he hurried away.

Soladversarius grinned. Turning around he picked up the report and skimmed over it with his eyes, His grin disappeared.

“Do they really think that they can still defeat me?” He muttered. “And here I thought what they had before was their best.” Turning the page he was surprised to find there was even a description for each of his new enemies. He moved over to his small writing desk and read each description with increasing interest. He threw the papers away. “Well if they think they stand a chance against me I’ll have to show them that nopony can beat me!” He jumped out of his chair and nearly galloped through the camp. Pitch-Black looked after him and shrugged.

“Hope nothing’s wrong.” He went back to target practice.

Soladversarius stopped outside the cave without having broken a sweat. Glancing around he could see the little outpost.

“Sir! Is something the matter?” He heard one of the guards ask from the little shack that served as the main building. Soladversarius shook his head slowly.

“No… everything is fine. But I was wondering about the status on our little friend.” He peered into the darkness, smart enough to not tangle with the creature inside.

“You mean how close he is to being… tame?” The guard asked. Soladversarius turned back to him. The guard was a griffon. The feathers on his head were white and at his neck they turned beige, the feathers on his wings were tipped with red. On his back was a saddle-like item with a holster for throwing spears.

“Yes, there is something that needs removing… for the cause.” He said. The griffon cast an uneasy glance at the mouth of the cave.

“I don’t think he’s quite ready yet. But he’s getting there. Shouldn’t be any more than a few days at this point.” Soladversarius’ smile returned.

“Good, hopefully he’ll be ready by the time we make out attack.” He turned around to make back to the camp. “Keep it up soldier.” He stopped. “What’s your name?”

“Ettakai, sir.” He said standing up a little taller.

“Well then, Ettakai, I think I’ll send someone along to relieve you when I get back to camp.” Ettakai grinned.

“Yes sir, thank you sir!” With a last nod, Soladversarius set off back to camp at a brisk pace.

The night was young and Soladversarius felt good. Things were looking up for him. Entering the camp he waved away the guards. Pitch-Black was waiting for him near his cabin. As he drew near Pitch-Black put a hoof on his shoulder.

“Sir… I’m afraid that there’s something we need to talk about.” Soladversarius motioned for Pitch-Black to follow him inside.

“What’s wrong?” He asked in a low voice.

“It’s… ah… I believe we’ve found a spy in the camp.”

“Oh?”

“Yes… he was found sneaking out of camp not too long ago. We managed to catch him and we’ve got him locked up. I assume you’d like to deal with this quickly?” Soladversarius nodded.

“Take me to him.” He said grimly.

They had dug out a small cell when they had set the camp down and used it as a cell to hold prisoners. The space wasn’t the largest, but it was roomy for one, it was only the slightest bit higher than a pony’s head. The door was made of thick wood; a small window was at about head height. Pitch-Black punched the door hard and Soladversarius could hear the noise echo into the small cave.

“We’re coming in, don’t try anything funny.” He called and pushed the door open. Soladversarius followed, peering into the dim light to see the pony before him. He noticed that dark purple coat.

“Hidden Blade.” He said. Hidden Blade’s head spun around; his eyes shrunk when he saw Soladversarius in front of him.

“Soladversarius! Sir! I’m not a spy! I swear upon the Forbidden Whisperer with Teeth of Pewter That Seeks the Hidden Pavilion!” Pitch-Black drove his hoof into the side of Hidden Blade’s face with a blow that left him sprawled on the floor. Soladversarius said nothing but watched Hidden Blade closely.

Hidden Blade didn’t move, he just lay on the floor making whimpering noises. Soladversarius stepped over to him and knelt down. He put his mouth the Hidden Blade’s ear.

“I want to believe you, I really do. What were you doing sneaking out of camp?” his whispered. Hidden Blade gulped but still didn’t move.

“I was… was going for a walk… maybe even see if I could catch something f-for the manticore!” He blubbered. Soladversarius cast a glance over at Pitch-Black before standing up; he helped Hidden Blade to his feet.

“Come now, it was just a misunderstanding. We’ll get this cleared up.”

“Thank you sir, I ju-“ A loud snapping noise reverberated around the dim cave and Hidden Blade fell to the ground screaming. His hind leg was bent at a sickening angle. Soladversarius said nothing as Hidden Blade flailed around screaming. There was another crack. And another. And there was a fourth crunch. Hidden Blade was reduced to a sniveling, convulsing mess. “B-ut sur… you said i-“ He slurred out only to be interrupted as he vomited onto the floor.

“I SAID it was a MSUNDERSTANDING” Soladversarius said raising his voice. “And I THINK that you MISUNDERSTOOD that we DO NOT TOLERATE that kind of CONDUCT!” He repeatedly kicked Hidden Blade cruelly. He stopped when Pitch-Black returned with a torch balanced on one metal wing, and a small container of pine resin on the other. Soladversarius smiled cruelly at the broken, bloody mess that was once a pony. Pitch-Black dropped both the torch and the container onto Hidden Blade. Both ponies retreated out of the cave as Hidden Blade found the energy to start screaming again as Pitch-Black shut the door.

A small group had gathered around the entrance and watched curiously. Soladversarius raised his head and returned every stare.

“This, this is what we do to traitors!” He called out. He could see the odd hint of fear in the eyes of his followers. The group eventually went back to their stations. Soladversarius looked over to Pitch-Black. “Bury him. I’ll be in my cabin.”

Soladversarius entered his cabin; he could see there was a steaming meal on the table. He sat down and prepared to eat.

“I think you ended it a little too quickly, don’t you?” He looked upward. A lithe earthpony mare with a very dark green coat and a voluptuous dark yellow mane sat in the chair across from him, she watched him contentedly through her bright red eyes. She sat with laidback posture with a manicured hind leg propped up on the table; her hooftips were painted red. Soladversarius ate.

“Hidden Blade?” He asked flippantly.

“Yes… of course he had to be punished. There is no room for traitors here. The legs were understandable, symbolic even. But fire seems a little… odd.” He stopped eating and looked at her.

“What makes you say that?” He asked, resuming his eating.

“Was he not broken?”

“I had to make an example of him.”

“Was he not made an example of?”

“I rule with an iron hoof!”

“The way you killed him quickly, one would think it was a hoof made of cotton.” Soladversarius slammed his hoof on the table.

“Who are you to tell me otherwise!?” He shouted.

“I’m not telling, I’m suggesting.”

“Well I suggest you stop suggesting things before I tell my guards to remove you.” She shrugged.

“Fine. But I still say the fire was odd.”

“Why must you bring that up?” He asked rubbing the side of his head. She stood up and walked to the door, she stopped next to him.

“You tell me, Mr. Alicorn Leader.” She said poking his horn. Soladversarius gasped as sudden pain seized his head. The noise of bone grating against bone echoed inside his skull; it continued, and as it did so the sound morphed. It sounded so familiar, close yet distant; it was the sound of death.

Soladversarius fought through the pain and stood up holding his head with a hoof. He looked around the room; she was gone.

“Guards!” He called. A griffin entered carrying a spear in one of his talons.

“Sir!” He said saluting. Soladversarius pointed to the door.

“Get the mare that just left. I need to speak with her.” The griffin hesitated. “ GO!” He quickly saluted again and ran into the night. Soladversarius grimaced again as another wave of pain flowed through him. He stumbled over to his bed and collapsed.

Book 1 Hello, Exercise (Instead) of War

Chapter 3

Exercise (Instead) of War

Crystal Shine woke up on her own sleeping bag. Standing up she shook off the cobwebs of the previous night’s rest. She stepped out of her tent; she could see that Celestia’s sun was resting peacefully above the trees to the east. She let out a breath and felt yesterday’s doubts burn up as she bathed in the light. Harrow had already taken it upon himself to raise the others. She heard him whisper a few words before moving onto the next tent. She stretched and casually sat down on her stump.

The first pony to appear was Armoured Command. She assumed that he didn’t need anypony to get him up.

“Good morning Armoured Command.” She said. He nodded.

“Morning commander.” He said.

“I was wondering if… if I might have a word with you?” She asked slowly; he raised an eyebrow.

“Is something wrong?” He asked taking a seat.

“I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t terrify the more sensitive ponies like you did last night.” He was silent.

“Do I have permission to speak freely?”

“…I suppose so.”

“Do you really expect to train these ponies into anything? I mean, look at them. That Free Thought pony, not to mention Matheniel, I find it VERY hard to believe that they’ll be able to swing a weapon let alone fight against this… this enemy of ours!”

“What rank were you Armoured Command?” Crystal Shine asked. He stared at her.

“I don’t see-“

“What rank were you?”

“… Second lieutenant.”

“So you were in charge of ponies then.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Did they not follow your every order, did they ever question your judgment?” Armoured Command’s eyes grew very dark.

“Yes.” There was a silence.

“Good morning ponies.” Tag said coming into the small clearing. Neither pony said anything. He stopped and looked at each of them. “Uh… I can see that something’s going on, I think I shall come back later.” He spun around.

“It’s alright Tag.” Crystal Shine said without taking her eyes off of Armoured Command. “There’s nothing happening. And there’s the morning meeting that must be attended.” Tag sat down reluctantly. It wasn’t long before Saren came out of her tent; her shades were crooked on her nose and her mane was disheveled. She didn’t say anything as she sat down.

“Isn’t Harrow around here somewhere trying to get ponies up?” Tag asked looking at the almost deserted area.

“He got me up. He seemed to be collecting ponies to make sure they didn’t wander off.” Saren explained. Almost as if on cue Harrow came into view followed by everypony else. Crystal Shine stood up as they sat down.

“Good morning everypony, I trust you all slept well?” There was a resounding utterance of agreement. “I suppose that’ll have to do for today. And speaking of today, we have to discuss what’s going to happen. We’ve divided you into three groups for training’s sake. Group one will consist of Free Thought, Terrabyte, Matheniel, Allko, and Saren. I will be training this group. Harrow will be training the rest.”

“So, would everypony please split up now, you know where you need to go.” Harrow called out. Everypony jumped up at once in an attempt to get going. Crystal Shine watched as her ponies formed a line in front of her.

“I guess we’ll be wielding weapons… when do we get those?” Matheniel asked worriedly. Crystal Shine shook her head slowly.

“I think we’ll wait until Harrow is finished getting his ponies outfitted before we get ours. Besides, I don’t think we’re quite ready for that yet.” He seemed slightly relieved, if at all. “Come now, let’s see if we can find a place to start training.

Tigrean watched Crystal Shine’s group leave frustratedly, he was desperate for the answer Allko promised him, but there was nothing he could do.

“Come on, professor, we have some training to do.” He heard Harrow call out to him. Tigrean turned away from the retreating group and faced his own. Phantom and Tag were whispering to each other, Ardennes sat patiently, and Armoured Command sat with an angry expression on his face.

“Are we meant to train all together?” He asked nervously looking at Frizel who appeared to be very angry at being woken up early. Harrow did a quick headcount and shook his head.

“No, this group will be broken into two other groups, those that have seen combat, and those that need to start fresh. At any rate, we should move onto our little armoury to get some weapons to start. This way.” Harrow started off at a brisk pace towards one of the far tents. Inside were several rows of racks with a small variety of weapons that glinted in the dim light. Phantom coughed.

“Uh… do we just pick one up?” He asked.

“I can’t tell you what weapon you feel comfortable with. Take a look around and see what fits… if you can’t find anything that works I guess we’ll have to figure something out.” Everypony just looked at him. “Are you going? Or do I have to assign things?”

Tigrean sighed and trotted over to a rack. On it were several axes ranging from large ones to small ones, he shook his head and immediately moved away. The next rack he saw caught his interest; on it were several rapiers. He picked one up with his magic; it was light, beautiful even. The golden handle was shaped like a unicorn, shooting a beam of light that turned into a cup hilt, and continued to form the think blade. The blade was about as tall as Tigrean was, the jeweled pommel touching the tip of his horn.

“Yes… I think I could work with this.” He muttered to himself. He turned to Harrow. “I do believe I have found what I’m looking for.”

“Well then get over here and let the other ponies have a look.” Tigrean trotted outside to wait.

Tag stood, he didn’t really need a weapon, he already had one.

“Harrow? I don’t need a weapon… I already have one.” He showed his knife. Harrow seemed unimpressed.

“That little thing? What could you possibly do with that?” He asked.

“I’ll show you when we get to training… but I had him for a very long time.”

“Him?”

“It.” Tag avoided Harrow’s eyes.

“Right, fine, whatever. If it works for you I’m not going to say anything.” Tag nodded and joined Tigrean outside.

Armoured Command knew exactly what he was looking for, the same weapon he had used before he had been discharged. A claymore. There was only one, it was on a rack in the far corner. The claymore was a large sword, it was taller than Armoured Command was (and he was a tall pony) and heavy. It was much simpler than the weapon Tigrean had picked up, with a straight hilt with clovers on each side. The blade was the largest part of the weapon, it was thick and double-sided, and Armoured Command noted that it needed sharpening. He looked around for a sheath but found none.

“Harrow, sir, are there any sheathes or anything like that around here?” He asked trotting up to the pony.

“The sheathes are in the supply tent, we’ll stop off there on our way out.” He explained. Armoured Command nodded and stepped out of the tent.

Ardennes was looking around, almost afraid to touch any of the weapons. She poked at one, prodded the other. They felt heavy; she felt they were as heavy as death’s burden. She finally managed to pick up a sword. The blade was about as long as her arm with a very simple cross hilt. The pommel on the end of the leather-bound handle was a simple chunk of metal. It was to the point, she liked it, without a word she trotted over to Harrow. He needed to her and she stepped out of the tent.

Phantom walked through the isles lethargically. He wasn’t too familiar with actual weapons considering he had a few fighting spells on the side. He sighed as he passed another rack, but something there caught his eye. A curved blade, sticking out of the ground; he studied it for a second. It looked almost like it was made of silver. The handle was thick and grooved with a cross hilt. The blade was long, broad, and curved ending in a large point. He picked it up, the thing was heavy, but he didn’t mind exercising his jaw every once in a while. He walked over to Harrow.

“That it?” He asked. Phantom nodded around the thick handle. Harrow cast a last glance back into the room before looking at the group outside. “Has everypony got a weapon? Good. We’ll move on, Crystal Shine has to get her ponies armed.”

“You sound a little unsure about that.” Ardennes observed. He looked at her.

“I’m not.”

Crystal Shine motioned for the ponies to sit down; they were on the far side of the camp. Crystal Shine took a moment to breath before sitting down next to them.

“Is there a reason that we didn’t just go and get stuff… and start training?” Saren asked curiously. Crystal Shine sighed; she had been thinking for a long time, all about what she was going to say to these ponies.

“In a way…I’m just…thinking about how to phrase this. Have any of you held a weapon?” Everpony shook their head. “I thought as much…I guess that means we have to start at the very beginning. I think I’ll skip the whole talk about killing for your princesses and skip straight to the point. Is there anypony here that wants to leave?”

“You’re asking us if we want to leave?” Allko asked sounding surprised. Crystal Shine nodded slowly.

“As much as it surprises myself I think it’s an important question to ask.”

“I don’t have anything to go back to.” Matheniel said quietly. “And if this really is for the princesses, well that’s reason enough for me.” Crystal Shine nodded.

“I can respect that.”

“I’m with Matheniel…there isn’t that much for me back home, I’m certainly willing to give the military life a try.” Terrabyte put in.

“Same here.” Free Thought whispered.

“I wasn’t really doing anything too exciting before this.” Allko said shrugging. “I might as well give it a shot.”

“Weren’t you creating new technology?” Saren asked. Allko was silent.

“I’ll still give it a shot.” He reiterated. All attention went to Saren.

“Oh…why not, everpony’s doing it. I might as well do it.”

“As happy as that makes me, it sounds like you don’t know what you’re getting into…this is war…ponies fight and…ponies die.” Crystal Shine explained somberly. Matheniel stood up.

“I’ll admit it, I’m scared. But fear is something I’ve become familiar with; the same goes for death. I’m willing to do this, not because I can, but because I feel like I need to.” Crystal Shine stared at him.

“You sound just like…never mind, I understand, and I assume the rest of you agree with him?” Everypony nodded. “Well then, let’s go get armed shall we?” She got up and trotted toward the armoury tent, she heard the ponies behind her talking quietly.

“Well said.” She heard Allko say, presumably to Matheniel.

“It was nothing.” He sounded almost embarrassed. Crystal Shine found herself smiling, and a tear rolling down her eye.

“As I’m sure Harrow has told the others, I can’t tell you how you should fight. If you’re serious about staying here then you’ll find a weapon that suits you just fine. Take a look now, feel the weight, and size, whatever it takes. When you find one that fits come back here, then…we’ll start training.” The ponies dispersed into the rows of racks.

Free Thought, surprisingly, was the first to find something comfortable. He almost immediately felt gravitated towards a heavy-looking object on the first rack. He picked it up in his mouth; it felt very heavy, especially at the end. The end was a tomahawk, a very solid, powerful weapon. Free Thought stepped back, strangely happy with his choice.

“Already?” Crystal Shine asked as he approached. “And I’m surprised that you of all ponies would pick a tomahawk to use…no matter, I trust it feels right?” Free Thought nodded. “Good wait outside then.”

Terrabyte was unsure; she didn’t know which she would prefer, heavy or light, powerful or quick. She wouldn’t be able to lift any of the large swords, and any short bladed weapons felt too weak. She poked at a small hoofaxe. Not for her. She looked at a large sword, definitely not for her. As she took another turn through the same aisle her hoof bumped something, she looked down at it. It was a pair of gauntlets. She stuck her hoof in one curiously; it fit perfectly. Throwing her hoof around, Terrabyte realized that the gauntlet weighed perfectly on her hoof. They were designed simply, overlapping layers of metal in the shape of her hoof. She put the other one on and trotted passed Crystal Shine out of the tent.

Saren didn’t particularly like getting dirty, and all of the weapons she saw seemed rather brutal. She felt afraid just being near them. She sighed.

“Maybe I’m not cut out for this…” She trailed off, thinking out loud.

“It’s really simple if you ask me.” She jumped and spun around; Matheniel was standing behind her. “Everypony can be here, it’s just where they need to be.” She stared at him.

“Pardon?” She asked. He shook his head.

“Well I shouldn’t really tell you more. It’s your decision.” He backed away slowly and entered another rack. Saren looked at where he had been standing.

“Where I should be…” To her side was a shelf of bows. “I should be at a distance.” She giggled. Picking up one bow, she studied it. It was a recurve bow, curving forward decoratively at the end. The entire item was brown with a section of leather in the middle where the arrow would be placed. The plucked the string with a hoof, it was tight. She liked it. She carried it with her outside.

Matheniel smiled slightly as he watched Saren leave, his judgments had always been good, although, admittedly, he couldn’t judge what weapon he could use. He shook his head angrily and groaned. He angrily kicked at a rack, knocking it over. He cursed under his breath.

“Sorry.” He called out sheepishly, and started to pick them up. He started to put weapons back onto the rack. One seemed to catch his eye. He held up the long shaft with a hoof, the blade on the top was curved; it felt grim. It made him feel judgmental. He picked it up and balanced it on his wing, the feeling was uncanny, it felt right. He stroked the blade with his hoof as he left.

Allko was now the only pony that didn’t have a weapon. He had an idea of what he was looking for; he just couldn’t find it.

“Commander…do you happen to have any hornblades?” He asked. Crystal Shine thought for a moment.

“They should be in the far corner.” She answered back. Looking at the area she indicated Allko could see a small stool in the corner. On it was an ornamental blade tucked halfway under some axe. It was made of glass and had several gems embedded on the base. With a hoof he slipped it over the jagged stump of his old horn, it was snug, but it needed to be due to his shortened horn. It felt just like when he had his horn. He walked out of the tent.

“That’s everypony then?” Crystal Shine asked looking at the variation in the weapons that had been picked.

“I believe so.” Allko said.

“I’m afraid I’m not too familiar with all of these weapons unfortunately, but I’ll do my best. This about what makes you comfortable in combat.” Everypony nodded.

“I don’t think anypony would have expected you to.” Saren said.

“Right, well, we must begin training. This way.” She led them to where the sounds of other ponies training were.

“Come on! Show me how powerful you really are!” Tag called. Armoured Command grunted as he pulled his claymore out of the dirt. “I know you can swing faster than that!” He charged again. Tag jumped nimbly over him, but Armoured Command saw it coming, he swung his sword upward, trying to catch him off guard. Tag twisted his body in mid-air and parried weakly with his knife. Tag landed behind Armoured Command and jumped onto him quickly, landing with his hooves square on Armoured Command’s shoulder. Armoured Command rolled onto his back and Tag tried to evade but his hoof was caught under Armoured Command’s body. Armoured Command pinned Tag down with a hoof and stood up with his claymore pointed at Tag’s throat.

“How’s that for fast?” He asked with a grin. He got off Tag and helped the pony up.

“Good one, almost got away that time too.” Harrow nodded to them, and then turned to the others.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to get you all up to that standard of fighting. Of course combat styles will differ but there should be some ability. Okay! Pair up, try things out, I will come around and offer assistance to the best of my ability.” Phantom looked over at Ardennes.

“Wanna go?” He asked casually. She nodded slowly; seemingly unsure of herself. They stepped away from the others. Tigrean seemed stuck with Harrow while Tag, Frizel, and Armoured Command took turns against each other. Phantom and Ardennes stood a small distance away from each other.

“Ready?” She asked, Phantom nodded and pulled out his curved scimitar. She pulled out her short sword. He charged and swung horizontally, she swung as well, deflecting the blow. Phantom tackled her and pinned her down.

“That was over quick.” He said helping her back up. She nodded.

“It’s all practice, want go again?” She asked. He nodded. They started at their distances. They both charged, Ardennes got in the first strike hitting Phantom’s sword making his head vibrate. He staggered backwards. They started circling each other.

“Just kinda wondering, where’re you from?” Phantom asked as they prowled.

“I’m from Coronetion, nice place near Trottingham.” Ardennes amswered.

“Oh? Never heard of it.”

“It’s a really small town.” Ardennes jumped at Phantom, he put his sword up in an attempt to block her, she struck fiercely, sending the blade flying out of his mouth.

Tigrean’s weapon felt good, familiar even. Of course fighting was different from fencing but he had no trouble keeping up with Harrow. He stumbled backwards as Harrow struck at his rapier.

“Come on, your weapon should be used more for striking at the side, try to get around my swings.” Tigrean readjusted his grip.

“Well it HAS been a while!” He called back.

“The enemy won’t care HOW long it’s been, they’ll still kill you.” Harrow charged again. He swung widely. Tigrean crouched under and dashed forward stabbing at Harrow as he did so, Harrow jumped back and used the momentum of his previous swing to perform a downward strike. Tigrean jumped to the side and feigned a stab to the right, only to attack left when Harrow jumped; he grazed Harrow’s side.

“Better. Do you want to go again? Or do you want to take a break?”

“I’d like a break, just to practice on my own if it’s all the same to you.” Tigrean sighed. Harrow nodded.

“Fine, I’ll go check on the others.” Harrow stepped over to look at Phantom and Ardennes. “Need any help?”

“I think we’re good, just practicing.” Ardennes assured him picking herself up. Harrow nodded and looked over to the other group. Frizel and Tag were sparring, almost at each other’s throats as they slashed.

“I’ll just go back to Tigrean.” Harrow sighed.

Soladversarius jolted awake and was instantly assaulted by burning pain in his head. He rolled off of his bed and crashed onto the floor, he put a hoof on a table and pulled himself up. The pain subsided slowly enough and Soladversarius fell into his chair. He grabbed a cup of water that had been left on the table and drank it without pausing.

“Had a nice little nap, didn’t you?” He recognized the voice from last night. He glared at the mare; she was sitting beside the entrance in another chair.

“I assume my guards fetched you with no trouble?” He asked, returning to a calm expression. The mare shrugged.

“I managed to find my own way in.” She said standing up; he could see that her hooftips were now painted blue. She took her seat across from him, same as the previous night.

“Are they even aware that you’ve…found your own way in?” He asked. She shrugged again.

“I don’t think so. But to move on, I trust you slept well?” He nodded.

“I guess so. Of course I’m sure you know about my nightmares considering what you said last night.”

“Of course I would.” He gave her a questioning look.

“Why?”

“That’s not particularly important right now.”

“I would think it is! I was the only one that survived…their screams…I was the only one who lived to hear them, to spread the word!”

“Evidently not…otherwise I wouldn’t be here right now.”

“But you didn’t live there, I would know you if you did.”

“I did.”

“But how?”

“Doesn’t change the fact that it’s gone.” Soladversarius smashed his hoof on the table.

“Don’t you think I know that?” He asked, his voice was dangerously quiet.

“You seem to forget a lot of things, just making sure you remember what’s important.”

“You’re right…I mustn’t forget.” He sighed heavily. “It just…nevermind.” He shook his head, and winced as pain shot through his horn.

“I believe you’re also forgetting something right now. What about the Ponies of War?”

“Ah! I have already thought of a solution to that. Seeing as Hidden Blade was a spy, it would be safe to assume that our plan has been leaked. To counter that we’ll leave one day early, and leave some soldiers behind to wait in ambush.”

“Good.”

“Yes…yes. Pitch-Black would be the best to leave behind, and leave behind 23 others, a perfect two-to-one ratio. They won’t stand a chance.”

“Is it wise to leave behind your most trusted pony though?”

“Pitch-Black is capable of taking care of himself, I’m sure of that. He’ll catch up and rejoin me at my side.”

“A sound plan.”

“I must go speak with Pitch-Black then. You may show yourself out.” Soladversarius stood up and rushed into the day.

Pitch-Black was standing in front of the gate on watch. Soladversarius stopped next to him

“I must speak with you for a moment.” He said. Pitch-Black turned to him.

“How may I help you sir?” He asked.

“I have a plan and I need your assistance to enact it. The spy has surely leaked our plan and the Ponies of War will most likely strike before we leave. So my plan goes as follows: we will leave one day early, and leave 24 to ambush them.” Soladversarius explained. Pitch-Black nodded.

“And what part am I in this?” He asked.

“You are to remain here, and lead our ambush. After they have been dealt with you will catch head to Canterlot, we’ll have control then. I trust you are capable of this?”

“Yes sir, who will remain behind?” Soladversarius thought for a moment.

“You may pick, you’ll be in charge, and I want you to burn the camp before you leave.”

“Yes sir. I’ll go and pick them now.” Pitch-Black nodded to the griffon with him on watch and trotted into the camp. Soladversarius stood for a moment and trotted into the forest.

Allko sat down; the hornblade fell off of his horn and landed in the grass beside him. He breathed in heavily.

“Tired?” He heard a voice ask. A sheathed rapier landed next to him. Tigrean took a seat.

“Yeah…” Allko trailed off. “I’m getting better though.”

“Good, we’re going to need everypony to be at their best.” They sat in awkward silence.

“I suppose you want your answers as to the synthetic alicorn project?” Allko asked finally. Tigrean nodded. “I’ll tell you what I know of the process. I was brought in shortly after it was started; they were getting ready for the first test. From what I know of the process…it requires for us to surgically attach the horn to the skull, or the wings to the body depending upon whether or not the pony was a unicorn or a pegasus. I don’t know where the process came from but I overheard my superiors talking.” Tigrean leaned in closely.

“Immoran, the head of the project, and Totskan, his right hoof, were discussing the first test. Totskan was worried that we wouldn’t be able to pull it off arguing that our tools weren’t as advanced as ‘theirs’ were.”

“Who?” Tigrean interrupted.

“I don’t know, I wasn’t about to ask them what they were talking about. Immoran countered that by saying that magic was just as precise. Totskan was tight-lipped, it was obvious he didn’t enjoy the idea that much but the surgery was that day.”

“And what happened in the surgery?”

“It failed.” Allko said; he stopped talking.

“The patient died?’ Tigrean questioned. Allko shook his head.

“No… he’s still alive…the first patient was Soladversarius.”

Soladversarius stopped; there was no one around him, just the trees swaying in the light breeze. He sat, holding back a choking feeling. He felt something at the base of his horn.

“Soladversarius?!” Tigrean exclaimed. Allko looked away.

“He was called Escutcheon back then. But we didn’t know what we were doing, and even though we knew about his past it didn’t stop us. When we tried to graft the horn onto his skull…part of it didn’t attach properly, and now on occasion it scrapes against his skull causing massive amounts of pain…and also a screeching noise in his head.”

“What’s this about his past?” Tigrean pressed.

“When he served, he was posted in his hometown near the border of Griffindoria. There was always the risk of bandits or raiders. The small village was inevitably attacked, they didn’t stand a chance, Soladversarius lived through it…but not after he tried unsuccessfully to save his wife and foal from their burning barn. The sound of the horn…it must sound just like they did before they died.” Tigrean sat in silence.

“Why would they let him volunteer then?” He asked.

“He was tested obviously, but he showed no signs…if only...”

The grinding had started. Soladversarius lay on his side breathing in heavily. The sound in his mind started to change, it warped and twisted. His mind went black.

It was night.

Escutcheon jumped over a fallen crossbeam, looking around he could see them. Summer Song was in the corner with their foal, Storm. He flew over to them.

“C’mon, we have to get out of here!” He shouted. She nodded wide-eyed and stood up, cradling their crying foal with a hoof. He put a hoof around her and steered her toward the door. They were almost out. A cruel talon ripped Escutcheon’s hoof away from Summer Song’s shoulder.

He grimaced and his blood splattered onto the ground. Spinning around he could see a griffon advancing on his wife; he jumped and tackled the griffon, sending them both to the ground. “Get out of here!” He called. The griffon threw Escutcheon off; they both got into fighting stances. Escutcheon cast a glance back to see if they escaped, he froze when he saw that Summer Song’s leg was clawed beyond use. He growled and faced the griffon.

“You’re dead!” The griffon cawed. Escutcheon bared his teeth.

“Try me!” They jumped at each other, the griffon pushed Escutcheon back into a wall covered in farming implements. Several sharp objects landed on the two of them. Escutcheon flinched as a sickle dug into his shoulder. The griffon stumbled back, pulling a scythe from his shoulder. Escutcheon lunged, landing a hard punch on the griffon’s head. The griffon slashed, opening a large gash on Escutcheon’s flank, the griffon picked up Escutcheon and threw him back against the wall and pounced on him.

Escutcheon flailed trying to reach something, his hooves fell upon the handle of the scythe, he brought it forward with full force just as the griffon bent in to bite, the scythe entered his throat. The griffon paused for a moment and tried to say something, whatever noise he made was overpowered by the sound of the barn burning around them and the fighting outside; blood poured out of his beak and onto Escutcheon’s face. The griffon braced himself and took off, carrying Escutcheon with him. They flew out of the barn and into the air; the griffon hugged Escutcheon tightly, constricting his wings. It was then that he realized the griffon was going to fall with him to the ground. Escutcheon wrenched the scythe ripping the griffon’s throat wide open. The griffon pulled away from Escutcheon and went limp. Escutcheon flew downwards past him to the barn. But he was too late.

The barn first creaked, then screamed as the structure leaned back and forth. Finally, it collapsed. Escutcheon landed at the entrance just to see it hit the ground, a terrifying wail was cut short.

Escutcheon sat there for a moment of pure…something the feeling was indescribable. But then, the sound of a dull object hitting the ground brought him back to reality. He turned to see the griffon’s crumpled body on the ground. An intense hate flowed through, a burning, fiery rage. He stood up and trotted over the griffon, the scythe was still lodged in his throat. Escutcheon pulled it out cruelly. The sound felt loud enough to be heard over the sounds of the battle around him. The blade was bent slightly. Escutcheon held it in his hooves and flew into the air. He was the grim reaper. He had work to do.

“Well that explains why he’s so…mad…but it doesn’t explain why he wants to overthrow the princesses…” Tigrean thought aloud.

“It might have been what happened afterwards…”

It had been so long…but it felt so fresh. Escutcheon looked at it. They were erecting a memorial. The princesses themselves would even be in attendance to give a speech. He looked at the hill, right were the barn had been, that was where the memorial would be.

“They aren’t even going to do anything about the bandits!” He said to himself. He spun around and paced for a moment. “Why…I’d send a platoon to finish them off! Or at least talk to king Unaden about-“ He stomped his hooves angrily. “They don’t even care! They ‘ll just put up a stone, say a little speech and move on!” He stopped. “I’D do it properly! I’D prevent it from happening again! I WOULDN’T LET ANYPONY ELSE GET HURT!” He stopped when he realized he had started shouting. “I’ll do it. I’ll dethrone those heartless monsters. I won’t let anything happen to Equestria ever again.”

The two ponies sat in the shade of a tree. Tigrean tried to make sense of it.

“I should have known…no good could come of using their technology.” He muttered. Allko got up and trotted away.

Soladversarius shuddered as he awoke; he looked around quickly almost fearing he would see the griffon again. There was no one around, almost the mare was there sitting under a tree lazily. Her hooftips were red again.

“Nightmares again?”

“Leave me alone.”

“Don’t you think it means something?”

“Once again you seem to lose me in your enigmatic words.”

“I think it’s time.”

“Time… it is time indeed. I’ve waited long for this.” He grinned. He stood up and trotted back to the camp.

Crystal Shine sighed and looked around. The ponies around her looked incredibly tired from the long day of practice.

“I think that’s enough for today, my ponies!” She called out. Frizel looked up from where she had Tag pinned.

“It’s about time! We’ve been going at it for hours!” She hopped off of Tag and helped him up.

“We might want to clean up before heading into camp, we could use the stream just inside the forest.” Harrow said shouldering his Long Sword. Saren nodded.

“Cleaning would be nice.” Saren agreed.

“Harrow, you take everypony there, I must go meet with our friend.” Harrow nodded and gathered everypony around with a flick of his tail. Crystal Shine flew in the opposite direction.

Harrow stopped in front of the stream; the last time he had been here was when the rest of his friends had been alive. The stream wasn’t particularly deep; the deepest point was just above the average pony’s belly. It curved around a large hill creating two fairly private areas. The entire area was covered in lush, green trees.

“Alright, mares are upstream, stallions are downstream.” He instructed. “Privacy and such. Any caught breaking this rule will have to suffer any punishment that the other sex can think of…within reason…and I say ‘within reason’ loosely.”

“Aww…” Phantom sighed good-naturedly. Tag nudged his shoulder.

“You’re just a dirty old stallion, aren’t you?” He asked playfully. Phantom grinned toothily.

“I suppose so.” Every mare present stared at him. Armoured Command shook his head angrily and trotted over to the stallions’ side of the river. The ponies quickly broke up and trotted to their respective sides of the hill.

Free Thought splashed into the water without hesitation. He almost shrieked when the cold water touched his sensitive belly.

“It’s cold!” He shouted. Matheniel dipped his hoof in and shook it.

“Wow…it really is. A little too cold for me.” He agreed. Harrow walked in slowly and sat with the water at his chest.

“Being cold is partly mental, you should be able to ignore it with time.” He smiled slightly. Armoured Command trotted in as well and sat. The other ponies followed slowly. Cries from the other side of the hill told them the mares had found the water to be equally as cold.

Soladversarius galloped into the camp, he made straight for his cabin. He threw his hoof under his bed; it fell onto a long wooden box. Soladversarius pulled it out; it was black and heavy. Clicking open the lid he laid his eyes upon something he hadn’t seen in a long time. A scythe, the wooden handle was black with use, the blade was still bent, and it seemed to pulse with hatred. He held it in his hooves, cradled it, and put it across his back. He trotted outside.

“EVERYONE GATHER FOR A MEETING!” He shouted out and waiting patiently as a crowd gathered before him. Pitch-Black flew to his side.

“I have picked whom will stay.” He reported. Soladversarius nodded.

“Good, we’ll be leaving as soon as everyone is ready.” He turned back to the full extent of his army. “Everyone! I have news regarding our mission! As you all know, Hidden Blade was a spy, most likely sending his information to the Ponies of War on our doorstep. I believe he has told them of our plan; the only way to counteract this would be to leave early. And leave early we will! We leave now! We will march on the capital and into the throne room of the tyrants themselves! We will throw them out and install ourselves as the new leaders of Equestria! Prepare now, for tomorrow we dine in Canterlot!” He punctuated the last statement by raising his scythe in the air and waving it around. All members cheered wildly and ran to get their possessions together. Soladversarius turned back to Pitch-Black. “You know what you must do.” He nodded and glided off.

“Sir!” He turned and saw a familiar griffon land next to him.

“Ettakai was it? Is something the matter?” Soladversarius asked placing the scythe upon his back.

“Sir, I was just wondering about…him.” Soladversarius thought for a moment.

“Is he ready yet?”

“No sir, but he’s close to breaking.” Ettakai reported.

“I’ll leave two behind to deal with him, once he’s ready they’ll bring him to Canterlot. I want you by my side until Pitch-Black returns.” Ettakai blinked.

“Me? Pitch-Black’s staying here sir?” He asked.

“Yes, he’s leading an ambush for those Ponies of War. Prepare now, I’ll seek out two who’ll stay behind.” Ettakai saluted hastily and rushed off to find his own items.

Ardennes sighed happily; the water had at least stopped feeling so cold. Terrabyte stood closer to the shore unable to go any deeper due to her height. Ardennes lazily steered herself over.

“How’re you adjusting to things?” She asked casually. Terrabyte didn’t say anything at first.

“I’m fine, really. I’m just sore. It’s been a long day you know.” She sighed. Ardennes nodded.

“You’ll get there, it isn’t exactly easy for any of us older ponies.” She joked. Terrabyte giggled. “Well…most of us anyway.” Ardennes’ visions drifted to Frizel, she had left her socks on the shore and lay in the shallow water with her eyes closed; her badly scarred hooves were in plain view. Frizel opened one eye.

“You talking about me over there?” She asked with a hint of aggressiveness.

“No.” Terrabyte called. Saren joined them.

“What are we talking about?” She asked.

“Frizel.” Ardennes said plainly.

“I heard that!” Frizel called out getting up. Ardennes stood up too.

“I was joking!” She called out. Frizel seemed unconvinced but shrugged and returned to her position. The other three mares looked at each other and laughed.

Crystal Shine was fairly sure something was wrong; Hidden Blade was never late. She paced, she flew, she did anything to pass the time but she couldn’t shake the sense of foreboding. She decided she would have to take a quick look at their camp. She flew high into the air, she hadn’t been that far and from her altitude she could see that there was all kinds of activity going on. He must have been found, they knew, they knew and they were leaving early, they were leaving now. She had to get back to the others.

By the time Crystal Shine got back to the camp the other ponies had finished bathing and lazed about the camp in the small time before camp wide curfew. She found Harrow next to the campfire pit, taking care of a small fire.

“We need to talk.” She said quietly to avoid any suspicion. He nodded and stood up. They trotted to her tent.

“What’s wrong? Bad news from Hidden Blade?” Harrow asked as Crystal Shine settled into her chair.

“There was no news from Hidden Blade, he didn’t show up. I believe they found him.” She said worriedly. Harrow was silent.

“What makes you say that?”

“I flew over their camp to check, there was a lot of activity. It looks like their leaving for Canterlot now.” Harrow stood up instantly.

“We have to do something!” He exclaimed. Crystal Shine shook her head.

“There’s nothing we can do at this point. The time we thought we had was barely enough to get them into fighting shape, and after a day full of training it would cost us all of them.” Crystal Shine murmured.

“Well what can we do?”

“Hope. We have to hope that the Royal Guard will be able to handle it. We’ll go in and sweep up the camp. We might be able to take the army from behind when they siege Canterlot.” Harrow nodded slowly.

“That’ll have to do…it doesn’t feel right.” He said.

“It doesn’t have to feel right, it has to be right.”

Soladversarius stood at the head of his army. Ettakai was at his side.

“MOVE OUT!” He called back and the march started. The sound of several hundred hooves and talons hitting the ground could be heard. Ettakai grinned.

“It begins.” He muttered half to himself.

“Not yet, Ettakai.” Soladversarius said. “It won’t be close to starting until I’m sitting on the throne!”

Book 1 Hello, It Begins

Chapter 4

It Begins

Frizel yawned and rolled over. She kept her eyes closed but felt unable to sleep; there was a strange tension in the air. She stood up decidedly unable to go back to sleep. She adjusted her socks and left her tent. Several ponies already seemed up and about. She noticed Free Thought studying her from beside the fire pit.

“What are you looking at?” She demanded. He shook himself.

“Sorry…I’m tired, zoned out.” He muttered. She shook her head and moved to the pit. Tigrean sighed.

“Do you have to scare him like that?” He asked with a hint of annoyance. “It’s safe to assume that we’re all stressed and getting mad at each other for things like this isn’t going to help.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Frizel snapped. Tigrean bristled.

“I’m not telling you what to do. I’m just saying that it won’t help!” Harrow stepped in between the two.

“Calm down. Both of you.” He glared a Frizel, and the Tigrean. Neither pony could hold his gaze.

“Fine.” She muttered to herself.

“Now apologize.”

“What?” Tigrean exclaimed. “I won’t be treated like a foal making a mistake!” Harrow looked at him again. “…Sorry.”

“Sorry.” Frizel said. Harrow nodded.

“Good. We can’t have ponies fighting, especially now.”

“Why?” Free Thought asked.

“We’ll have to wait for the others to get up. Speaking of which…I should probably get the group together; Frizel I need you to get Crystal Shine from her tent.” Frizel nodded.

“I know the way.” She said, and cantered to Crystal Shine’s tent.

“Hey, uh, Commander? Are you in here?” She asked poking her head inside, Crystal Shine was in the corner.

“I’ll be out in a minute.” She said her voice wavering slightly. Frizel stepped inside slowly.

“Is something wrong?” She asked curiously, she stepped closer. Crystal Shine turned slowly, her eyes were red and her face was wet.

“I’m fine.” It was a lame attempt at putting it off.

“Tell me what’s wrong.” Frizel demanded. Crystal Shine laughed slightly.

“I never would have thought you’d be asking me what’s wrong.” She joked but let out a choked sob. “I’m just remembering the ponies that used to be here.” Frizel tried to think of something to say, but Crystal Shine went on. “And especially my Dirk…he…he was special.”

“Wait…was he…?” Crystal Shine nodded and swallowed.

“I loved him. We were going to… we were going to have a family afterwards.” She closed her eyes. “I miss him. I really do. I’d give anything to have him back.” Frizel reluctantly hugged her.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered. She felt Crystal Shine shake her head.

“Don’t be.” Crystal Shine stood up. “I…I must avenge him, all of them. Forgive me, I shouldn’t be allowing my personal life to get in the way. We have to go, there isn’t much time.”

“Time? Time for what?” Crystal Shine quickly rubbed her eyes and rushed out of the tent.

Soladversarius laughed maliciously, they were right on the doorstep of the Princesses themselves. Canterlot. He brought his army to a halt.

“Alright everyone, we’re here!” There was a cheer from the crowd. “But be careful when we enter. I don’t want anypony hurt; only fight those that fight back. Griffons will fly ahead and clear the citizens out; I’ll lead the rest through the streets. We’ll meet up at the front of the castle. Ettakai, you will lead the griffons, go now.” Ettakai nodded and let out a harsh caw, the griffons cawed in return and flew up into the air. A beam of blue magical light shot up from the castle, it split in the sky causing a wall of magic to form a bubble around the city, locking them out. Ettakai looked to Soladversarius.

“Wait for it.” He said confidently, almost as soon as it had started the beam disappeared, and the bubble of magic soon followed. ‘That would be Brauchitsch; good to see he managed to keep his cover. Go, Ettakai, we’ll meet at the castle.” Ettakai let out another call and several hundred griffons flew into the city. Soladversarius set off at a brisk pace, his army following behind him.

“Good morning ponies, I hope you all slept well?” Crystal Shine asked; her eyes showed no signs of sadness. Frizel took a seat next to Allko. There was a murmur of ‘yes’ from the gathering. “Good, because I have some bad news. Our spy within the enemy’s camp has been found, and most likely dealt with. And so we can assume that the enemy has assumed that we know about their plans, they have acted upon this and have moved towards Canterlot.”

“Shouldn’t we go after them then?” Saren interjected. Crystal Shine held up a hoof for silence. “Sorry.”

“We will go after them, but we have to deal with their camp first, it has been left alone and most likely has some valuable information. We will head there first and follow up.” There was a blue flash of light, everypony looked in its direction, a large blue bubble had formed around Canterlot. “It would appear that they’ve arrived, we must hurry then, we’ll leave right after this meeting. We’ll attack the camp, and from there we will go straight for Canterlot and assist in breaking the siege. Are there any questions?” Nopony said anything. “Good, get your weapons in order, we leave as soon as you’re all ready.” Crystal Shine turned around quickly and trotted into her tent to ready herself. At the foot of her sleeping bag was a pack-like harness. It was a golden coloured metal; Crystal Shine slipped it on. The ties went around her front hooves strapping the central circle to her back. From the circle a hinged bar of metal attached to the front of each of her wings, from each bar of razor sharp metal a feather-like blade extended. It turned both of her wings into many-bladed weapons. She stretched, the bars bent with her joints perfectly. She folded her wings onto her back and cantered out of the tent and in front of the Ponies of War. Before she could launch into a speech another flash of light lit up the area. The blue bubble had disappeared. Harrow glanced over at Crystal Shine.

“I do believe we’re running out of time.” He called over to her.

“We should head out immediately then.” She decided. “Ponies! Despite the fact that Canterlot is in trouble we will still attack their camp, from there we will head to Canterlot. I realize this is a rather large…jump considering we only started yesterday but I believe we’ll be able to do this. Stick together if we get into a fight, never let yourself become surrounded. We shall head out, make sure you’re ready; this is only the beginning. Ponies of War, march!” The entire company set out towards the forest at the far edge of the plains. Harrow fell in step beside Crystal Shine.

Tag watched the two of them curiously; they seemed to be discussing something. He shook his head; Free Thought was walking beside him.

“You think you’re ready for this?” Tag asked curiously. Free Thought put a hoof on his tomahawk, which was holstered on his neck.

“No.” He admitted.

“Don’t worry, there’s enough of us that if anything does happen, we’ll be fine.” Tag reassured him. Free Thought didn’t look all that convinced.

“…How are you so optimistic?” He asked.

“Experience I guess…” Tag said suddenly sounding a little depressed.

“Is something wrong?”

“Sorry, just remembered something. But do what Crystal Shine said we should, stick together; I’ll take care of you. Just… just like old times….” Free Thought waved o hoof in front of Tag’s face, but he was deeply lost in thought, or memory. Free Thought followed his gaze.

Saren adjusted the quiver of arrows on her side uneasily.

“Not the easiest thing to be an archer when there’s so few of us.” She was surprised to hear Armoured Command’s voice behind her.

“I suppose so…I just hope that I can be of use…” She sighed unhappily.

“You’re presence on the battlefield is enough to change its tides.” She cast a glance back at him; his face was as serious as it ever was.

“That sounds rather surprising coming from you.” She said giving him a look.

“Is that because I’ve scared you?” He asked. Saren nodded slowly. “Well I won’t apologize, but understand that until you prove yourself either a coward or a warrior I’ll be on your side.” Saren gulped.

“Thank you?” She said uncertainly.

“Just make sure you shoot the enemy with that thing.” He added with a slight growl.

Saren gulped and looked at her hooves and they continued on.

Ardennes watched Saren’s head drop and felt a hoof on her shoulder, looking to her right she could see Tigrean giving her a comforting look.

“Am I safe in assuming that you’re worried?” He asked. She nodded reluctantly

“Yeah…yeah I am, I mean; we’ve only been here one day! I can’t be the only one that thinks that we’re unprepared for this.” Tigrean nodded.

“You’re not alone, I can’t help but worry myself but…I believe that Crystal Shine knows what she’s doing…”

“But we’re all so young, and if Soladversarius has an army we won’t stand a chance!”

“Calm down. I doubt getting your tail in a twist will help anything. All we can do is try to help them if they need it.” Ardennes let out an exasperated sigh.

“I’m too young to be acting like a mother.” Tigrean snorted.

“What was that?” Terrabyte asked throwing her head around. Matheniel shifted his was scythe nervously.

“I think it was just one of the ponies talking.” He reassured her, although it was more for himself. Terrabyte laughed nervously.

“Sure it was.” They trotted silently for a moment. “Are you afraid?”

“Are you?”

“Yes.” Terrabyte confessed as she readjusted her gauntlets.

“I am too, and I’m sure the others must be as well.” He reassured her.

“But look at them…they look so confident.” Terrabyte sighed unhappily.

“Well maybe we should ask somepony then. Hey! Tag!” Tag looked up from his conversation with Free Thought.

“Yes?”

“Tell me something, are you afraid?” Tag tilted his head.

“Pardon?”

“You heard me, are you afraid?”

“Of course I am! But there’s something my…brother told me a long time ago; fear is important, it lets us know when we’re getting ahead of ourselves. But we should never let it prevent us from doing what we know is right. Trust me when I say that fighting is scary, but it needs to be done, and we need to be the ones to do it.” Matheniel looked back at Terrabyte.

“Nothing to worry about.” She didn’t look entirely convinced.

Allko looked back at Tag as he talked. He nervously adjusted his horn blade with a hoof.

“How does that thing even stay on?” He heard the question from his left. Phantom watched his with one eye.

“My horn blade?” He asked. Phantom nodded.

“Well the gems are attracted to the flow of magic that comes from a unicorn’s horn.”

“But you don’t have a horn.” Phantom pointed out.

“I was getting to that. But to avoid explaining the entirety of how magic works, there is still magic flowing from my horn, and so the gems are still attracted to my forehead…of course it isn’t the greatest fit but…I can’t really be too picky.”

“If it doesn’t fit then why would you even use it?”

“I…guess I just needed to feel it on my head.” Phantom gave him a look.

“Right, well I just hope it stays on for the battle.”

“Well there is a much larger output of energy from my horn because the tip outlet is broken, so the gems are much more attracted to the horn causing it to actually be tighter. But of course because the outlet is large it is also taking more magic out of my-“

“I get it.” Phantom interrupted.

“Sorry.” Allko looked away.

“It’s fine, it’s just that magical studies were never my strong suit.”

“At the risk of sounding vain I suppose we can’t all be geniuses.”

“That was incredibly vain to say.” Phantom chuckled.

“Yes, well I couldn’t think of a better way to put it.” Allko sighed.

“Well let’s just focus on the battle.”

“We can’t seriously be doing this.” Harrow said.

“We are.” Crystal Shine said simply.

“But-“

“Don’t question my judgment, however strange it may seem.” She gave him a harsh look; he surprisingly backed down.

“Sorry commander.” He mumbled.

“It’s fine, and if things get out of hoof, look after them. The first battle of a war is always the most important.”

“Yes commander.”

“Now come on, we should be going faster than this.” He doubled her pace.

Soladversarius was growing ever closer to his goal, he flew up and perched himself upon the head of the fountain statue. Looking around he could see Ettakai in front of the large castle doors. Ettakai flew to the base of the fountain and saluted.

“Sir, we as scared as many citizens out of the streets as we could; only just arrived. What are your orders, sir?”

“Stay here, make sure nopony follows us inside, we’ll go in and split up from there.” He turned to his army. “Listen up! The griffons will stay out here and guard our rear. When we get in there, I want us to split up into two groups; one will clear out the halls, cut down any that put up any resistance. Remember that the safe phrase is ‘flowing river’. I shall take a small amount of soldiers directly to the throne room where I’ll deal with the princesses.” He spat out the last word. “Breaker, take all but five, I won’t need any more than that.” A large, bright red pony with a short-cut mane nodded. He trotted forward and called out five names in a deep voice.

“The rest of you are with me. Sir, I assume you’ll lead?” He asked looking back at Soladversarius. He shook his head.

“You lead, we’ll follow and go straight for the room.” Breaker nodded and stepped in front of the door. He knocked on the tall, thick wooden doors; there was no answer. He pushed, the door didn’t move. He threw his weight against it and it still did not move.

“I believe it’s safe to assume they’ve blocked the front door.” He called back. Soladversarius thought for a moment.

“Okay then, change of plan! Griffons and pegasi will follow me up to the windows, we’ll enter there and split into two groups, one will head down and open the doors for the rest, the other group which I’ll lead will go for the throne room.” Every pegasus flew up and the griffons formed up beside them, all were behind Soladversarius as he flew into the air. He drew his scythe and waved it dramatically at the windows. “CHARGE!” Soladversarius flew like an arrow; he heard the powerful beat of wings behind him. His shoulder connected with a stained glass window, he felt hardly any resistance as he sailed through and into the hallway. He took a quick look at his surroundings as more windows shattered; the hallway was empty. Soladversarius nodded to the griffons.

“Ettakai, you and two others, pick quickly. The others will open the doors.” Ettakai quickly pointed at two other griffons.

“Ghormen, Kunat, with us.” They nodded and flew over.

“The rest of you get to the door quickly, go.” Soladversarius spun and flew in the direction of the throne room.

The castle was a maze of passages, each long red-carpeted hallway forked into two more; all the hallways were decorated with what seemed to be priceless artifacts. Soladversarius paid them no mind as he flew through the halls.

Crystal Shine brought the ponies to a halt.

“We’re here.” Frizel looked over Matheniel’s shoulder at the wall of wooden trunks.

“How are we going to get into that?” She asked casting a glance at Crystal Shine.

“I suppose we’ll have to figure that out…why don’t the pegasi fly over the wall and open the door for the rest of us, then we’ll quickly rush in and clear any resistance.” Harrow nodded.

“Simple and effective.” He said.

“All right then, all the pegasi…and Allko line up, we’ll go as soon as possible. The rest of you prepare your weapons, we don’t know what’s on the other side.”

“We’re here.” Soladversarius said grimly. Ettakai looked at the nondescript door.

“I thought it would be more…fancy.” He said. The doors were the same as the others, bright red and stood out from the white walls around it.

“Well that’s part of the castle, it acts as a maze, one of their little defenses, but I’ve been here before. I know the way.” Soladversarius explained. “But we should focus, Ettakai, with me on this side, you two on the other.” They stood weapons ready beside the door. “Go.”

Crystal Shine looked at her little group of pegasi. It consisted of Matheniel, Armoured Command, Frizel, Allko, and herself.

“Are you all ready?” She asked.

“Yes ma’am.” Armoured Command said, apparently speaking for everypony there.

“Remember to look out for each other once we’re on the other side. Follow my lead.” She launched herself into the air, the others followed almost instantly.

Soladversarius shot through the door in a second, the flap of wings told him that the griffons were close behind. Within a second he had taken in the entire room. He could see Celestia sitting on her throne, Luna on hers beside. Both of them looked like they had expected it, and were watching the door with what might have even been anticipation. There weren’t as many guards as Soladversarius was expecting, only four, two on each side. He brought himself to a halt in the middle of the red carpet, talons scraped behind him as his allies took up defensive positions behind him. Soladversarius twirled his scythe around him, the bent blade singing in the air until it was pointed right at Celestia’s throat. She looked at him gently, he mane flowed from her head like the rays of sunlight from the sun; she seemed unfazed by Soladversarius’s show.

“I assume you’re Soladversarius?” She asked. The guards stood at attention of either side of her.

“I am, and I’m here to dethrone you.” He explained simply. Celestia shook her head slowly and looked at him, her eyes showed an odd sadness.

“Why, I’ve been asking myself for so long now. What have I done to you that you would remove me from my place?”

“Surely you remember who I am, who I was?” He demanded taking a threatening step towards the throne. The guards instinctively raised their spears, but Celestia waved them away with a hoof.

“You were Escutcheon, you were a soldier in our glorious army, you fought and bled for Equestria. And when you settled down you kept a watchful eye over your home, friends and family. And they were harshly taken from you by griffons, the very same with whom you ally yourself now. Shouldn’t your hate be directed to them as equally as it is at me?” Soladversarius cast a glance back at his soldiers who were studying him with curious expressions.

“These are not the same griffons that murdered my loved ones, these are loyal followers, friends, some of my most trusted allies. They don’t deserve my rage, it is you, you did nothing to help. All you did to help was put up a stone with writing on it, serving as a reminder. Ponies don’t need to remember, they need action! You did nothing about those monsters that got away from me. You let them roam free to do to others what had been inflicted on me. I have long asked myself why you did nothing to chase them down, to punish them. And I have come to an answer.”

“So you’re going to judge me?” Celestia asked. “Judge us?” She moved her head towards Lune who sat in seemingly uncomfortable silence.

“Yes, I’m here to judge you. Judge, jury, and executioner.” He said simply.

“You wouldn’t be the first, but go ahead.” Celestia said, casting her own judgmental eye over Soladversarius.

“You don’t care.”

“Oh?”

“You don’t care about us. You’re content to just leave us to fend for ourselves, and put in a speech or stone where necessary. I would have sent an army after them!” Celestia rose then, she stood at full height, almost twice as tall as Soladversarius, she stepped forward looking down on him. Her eyes glowed brightly with the sun’s fiery rage.

“You dare accuse me of not caring?” She demanded. Soladversarius was taken aback by her sudden outburst but didn’t show it.

“Yes, do I have any reason not to?” He asked. Celestia took another menacing step towards him.

“Do not pretend to know the things I have done for my ponies. Do not PRETEND that I do not care for them. DO NOT PRETEND, THAT YOU COULD DO BETTER!” Her voice continued to rise and rise as she spoke, when she finished her voice was deafening. Luna stood up and beside her sister.

“Sister please calm down…” She said quietly. Celestia blinked, her eyes returned to normal.

“Forgive me Luna, I forget myself. Soladversarius, I have done much to ensure the happiness of my ponies, even at the complete cost of my own happiness. When I…banished Nightmare Moon to the moon, I did that for my ponies, and for a thousand years I suffered loneliness. All these years I’ve suffered the curse of immortality; I’ve seen my best of friends turn to dust before my eyes. You’ve lived through only a portion of what I have. You know nothing, yet you pretend, pretend that you can do better, pretend that you can create utopia when there very definition of the word is nowhere!” She took a breath.

“Just because you’ve suffered for Equestria. Given up everything and suffered eternity doesn’t mean that you’re entitled to rule. You’re judgment is clouding over, there are some things that need to be done, and you don’t see that anymore.”

“I didn’t think you’d be so blind that you couldn’t see yourself that you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. What happened to you and your family was horrible…it was one of the most tragic events that has occurred since the Elements of Harmony passed away. But what was I to d-“

“DO NOT TALK ABOUT THEM.” Soladversarius shouted with surprising volume. Celestia stopped. “Don’t violate their memory!” He raised his scythe again. “Attack!” Ghormen was the first to jump into the air and was immediately struck in the shoulder by a spear thrown by one of the guards. Soladversarius lunged forward and slashed with his scythe, catching one guard and slicing open his shoulder. Ettakai and Kunat jumped into the air and started flinging spears at the remaining guards. Soladversarius took this as his chance to jump over the distracted guards and get at Celestia; she was not so easily defeated.

Celestia closed her eyes briefly and a bright burst of sunlight flew out of her horn, hitting the scythe and removing it from his grasp. He landed and winced as pain shot up his right foreleg but jumped at Celestia again, coming at her with his hooves. He struck at thin air as she had jumped to the side a second earlier.

“Still don’t want to get your hooves dirty!” Soladversarius baited her. Celestia shook her head.

“I don’t want to fight.” She explained. Soladversarius bared his teeth.

“A ruler must be ready to fight and if necessary die for their ponies!” He said. Celestia’s eyes narrowed.

“If you want me to fight, I’ll fight, but you’ll have to fight both of us!” Soladversarius felt a blast a cool magic behind him that sent him sprawling forward. Quickly getting to his hooves he saw Luna standing beside her sister, her horn enveloped in blue magic.

“Fine, I’ll prove that two can be better than one.” He pounced at Luna and bowled her over; he raised his hoof to strike but before he could Celestia blasted him off with a blast of sun magic. Soladversarius shook his head to clear it, and concentrated.

The battle seemed to slow down as every one in the room looked at Soladversarius. His back was arched; his eyes closed and head hung low in concentration. A black aura started to seep from his closed eyelids. His breathing seemed to stop. His eyes opened, black veins slowly crawled towards his now blood red pupils. More of the aura started to seep from the base of his horn, staining it like smoke until it was as black as death. Then it happened.

Like a flood, more aura surged from the tip of his horn. It flew up into the air taking the horrifying shape of a giant, black hoof. Soladversarius’s body glowed with a dark energy, sweat dripped of off him but his increasingly black eyes were still trained on the Princesses, full of hate. He flinched, the hoof tensed a long, bony appendages sprouted from the top and curled around it, cloth-like rags appeared out of nowhere and draped from the arm as more appendages sprouted until there were five in all.

It moved like lightning, first striking at Luna, too horrified to move Luna went flying as it scratched her with its talons. Celestia shook her head and instantly shot another burst of sun magic at Soladversarius in attempt to stop him. But the disfigured hoof blocked it. Without hesitating the grotesque limb struck Celestia cruelly. She hit the wall with a crack that made Ettakai shudder. She collapsed to the ground like a ragdoll. The decrepit monster slowly dissipated and Soladversarius collapsed to his knees. No one said anything for a moment, then Ettakai spoke.

“Pierce my heart, sir, what was that?” He asked. Soladversarius looked over at him, and then back to the unconscious form of Princess Celestia.

“Advanced magic.” He puffed. “It was one of the first things they taught me in my training. That doesn’t matter now, go find Breaker and move the princesses to the dungeon. Once we’ve finished here we’ll send out the others.”

--
Crystal Shine was the first to hit the ground; she looked around quickly, taking in the entire area. The camp seemed to be empty. The large wooden door that was the entrance of the camp was held in place by several large wooden bars. She felt the others touch down immediately behind her.

“Armoured Command, get the door.” She ordered, he nodded and grabbed the first bar. It moved with almost no resistance. Crystal Shine stepped forward slowly to take a closer look at the camp.

“Did they really abandon it?” Allko wondered as he trotted up beside Crystal Shine.

“No, they’re here!” Frizel called. “I can feel them watching!”

“There.” Matheniel pointed with his war scythe. A black pony calmly trotted into the clearing. He stretched yellow wings made of metal, fairly similar to the ones on Crystal Shine’s harness.

“Am I safe in assuming that you’re in charge?” He asked. Crystal Shine nodded.

“I am.”

“Then I assume you know that I can’t let you leave.”

“Well of course you can try to stop us, but I doubt it will do any good with only you against all of us.” Crystal Shine stretched her own wings out.

“It’s stuck!” Armoured Command called out, Crystal Shine looked back for a second to seem him pushing against a wooden pole that had caught in the dirt. When she looked back at the other pony she could see that suddenly a group of ponies and griffons had appeared around him. The black pony grinned.

“Kill them.”

Free Thought tensed at the sound of sudden violence on the other side of the wall. Harrow looked at the door angrily.

“Celestia condemn it!” He shouted and kicked the door angrily. Tag put a hoof on his shoulder.

“Calm down, anger isn’t going to get us on the other side.” He said. Harrow shook his head.

“Are they going to be okay?” Saren asked worriedly.

“I would think so, Crystal Shine is a very capable leader I’m sure.” Tigrean said. Before anypony could say anything else the door shifted.

“Ready your weapons!” Harrow hissed and kicked the door open again. Right in the doorway they could all see Armoured Command standing there, there was a javelin protruding from his flank.

“Get it out.” He growled. Tag rushed forward and yanked it out with his mouth; Armoured Command grimaced but said nothing before spinning around and charging back to the writhing mass of fur and feathers. Harrow charged forward followed by Tag, Phantom and Tigrean. Ardennes stopped for a moment, the others hadn’t moved.

“We should get a move on.” She called back to them. Free Thought looked at her with wide eyes.

“But…”

“Didn’t you volunteer to stay?” She asked. “Didn’t you volunteer to fight?”

“But…”

“Didn’t you think this would happen?” Free Thought shook his head and smiled nervously before charging into the fray, Saren soon followed after a quick nod at Ardennes. Terrabyte remained paralyzed with fear.

“Come on…”

“I can’t!” She squeaked. “I can’t fight them alone!” Ardennes grabbed her shoulder with a hoof.

“You’re not alone, we’ll make sure you make it through.” Without waiting for her to say anything Ardennes drew her own sword and charged in.

Saren quickly surveyed the battlefield from her position outside the throng of bodies, the first thing that drew her attention was Allko; he was pinned by a griffon. Saren quickly notched an arrow, just as Crystal Shine had showed her, aimed, and fired. She watched the arrow fly, she watched it get closer and closer, then she watched it sail over the griffon. Allko felt the griffon’s assault give up momentarily and took his chance; he drove his hornblade deep into the griffon’s throat and felt him go limp.

Ardennes ran and jumped onto the back of an enemy stallion. Her opponent immediately started bucking in an attempt to get her off but she held on desperately. He threw one hoof back and managed to grab one of hers, in a rather surprising feat of strength pulled her onto the ground, dazed her eyes focused on the tip of his spear in her face. Right before the stallion could thrust he stopped, then fell onto Ardennes. Free Thought helped her up and shivered as he removed his tomahawk from the stallion’s head. Ardennes nodded to him.

“Thanks.” He was still looking at the stallion.

Armoured Command froze as more pain bolted from his flank; he dropped his claymore.

“Celestia condemn it!” He said through gritted teeth. He looked at a pair of unfamiliar hooves in front of him, another pony was charging at him, spear raised. Armoured Command raised his claymore to deflect it, but the blow never came. Harrow had come from behind Armoured Command and sliced the spear in half with his own large sword, and then the pony’s flank.

“Retreat soldier, you’re in no condition to fight.” He called over.

“I will not retreat! I refuse to be a coward!” Armoured Command shot back.

“That’s an order! Go cover Saren then!” Armoured Command shook his head.

“Fine.” He started over to the mare, with Harrow covering his back.

Crystal Shine and the black pony slowly circled each other; the calmness of their staring contest was out of place in the crowd of roaring combat.

“Glorious weather, isn’t is?” The pony asked. Crystal Shine didn’t change her look.

“That’s a rather odd topic of discussion given the current circumstances.” She observed. The black pony shrugged, still looking at her. His wings glinted maliciously in the light.

“Well I’ve never been one for insults, I’m just a soldier, following orders.”

“Ah, of course, since we’re on odd topics…I might as well ask your name.”

“My name is Pitch-Black, might I have yours?”

“Crystal Shine.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine.” Crystal Shine said tensely. Pitch-Black crouched.

“Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way…” He pounced, wings stretched as far as they’d go. Crystal Shine acted in mirror. Their wings clashed like swords, metal on metal, sparks flying. Crystal Shine inhaled as pain shot through her right wing, taking a quick look she could see that the metal bar on her harness had snapped and dug into the flesh, landing she spun around to face Pitch-Black again. He grinned.

“Shall we go again?” He stretched his wings. Crystal Shine grimaced as she stretched hers out. He jumped at her before she could make a move, her lightning quick reaction time allowed her to throw her good wing in the way. A loud clang rang out, and several sparks flew. Crystal Shine took the opportunity to push Pitch-Black back with her hooves and get up.

“I suppose it wouldn’t do anything to ask you to surrender?” She asked. Pitch-Black shook his head; his expression was serious.

“My loyalty to Soladversarius is one of my most prized possessions. I won’t give it up so easily.”

“I thought so. A commendable trait.” She had to admit that she really did admire their opponents. Without thinking any further, Crystal Shine jumped forward, galloping at him; he waited for her. When she was in jumping distance, she launched herself into the air. The first strike was easily blocked, Pitch-Black brought his wing to his head and deflected Crystal Shine’s left wing, but he hadn’t expected her right wing. The jagged metal dug into his side, and he cried out; his skin ripped even more as she pulled her wing back out. Pitch-Black stopped for a brief second to regain his breath, and threw a hoof at her; she dodged backwards and spun around, sticking her wings out again, the tips sliced open Pitch-Black’s arms. He collapsed to the ground, still breathing heavily. Crystal Shine watched him as he struggled to get up; blood poured out of his wound and onto the ground, he was dying.

“I still…refuse to surrender.” His eyes seemed to burn with determination as he continued to try and get up. Crystal Shine put one of her hooves on his comfortingly. He seemed to realize what she was trying to tell him. He stopped struggling but the blood continued to flow from his wounds, his eyes looked into hers and hers into his. “You cannot win. Try as you might Soladversarius shall raise the sun and the moon upon your corpse.” There wasn’t any hatred in it; it was a promise. His eyes dulled and grew distant. Crystal Shine closed them with a hoof.

“Peace for those who need it, the fight goes to those that don’t.” She stood up a turned to face the rest of the battle, the other Ponies of War seemed to be chasing off the rest of Soladversarius’ forces, they had actually won.

“Commander!” She heard Harrow’s voice calling her name. “We’ve got wounded!” He reported from the other side of the clearing, Allko was leaning heavily on his shoulder. Crystal Shine galloped over to where her ponies were gathering.

“Do we have any deaths?” She asked anxiously. Harrow shook his head.

“No, but Armoured Command’s leg is pretty bad, Matheniel’s torso is injured too. Aside from Allko the rest just have scratches.” He reported. Crystal Shine nodded only half paying attention.

“What now?” She started as Phantom asked the question. “I mean, Soladversarius has the capitol now, and we won’t be able to do anything about his giant army. We’re just a bunch of strangers just barely getting through our first fight.”

“Just because Soladversarius has taken Canterlot doesn’t mean that the rest of Equestria has fallen, we should take a look through the camp and see if there’s anything that might help.”

“Look where?” Harrow cut in.

“I think we can assume that Soladversarius has some sort of intelligence office, or some collection of important papers, at the very least those would be helpful.”

“Well I saw a hut that looked like it might’ve belonged to Soladversarius…or at least would have something useful in it.” Allko piped up from Harrow’s shoulder.

“Lead the way then.” Crystal Shine said and made space for Allko to limp along.

Allko was gasping for air by the time he had made his way to the shack he mentioned, Harrow gave him a hoof.

“I think there might be a little more damage than we thought, here, I’ll help you find a place to rest.” He guided Allko away, leaving Phantom and Crystal Shine.

“Shall we?” She asked and motioned to the door. Phantom shrugged and pushed open the door.

The inside of the cabin was fairly similar to the outside; made of rough wood and small. A bed was to the side and a small table beside it. On the other side of the room was a larger table made for eating with several chairs around it. On the far side from the door was a nicer looking desk, finished to shine powerfully. Phantom immediately padded over to it.

“If there’s anything in here it would be in the desk.” He stated plainly. Crystal Shine nodded.

“Well let’s get looking then.” The first drawer was empty; Phantom closed it and opened the one below it. He froze, with a small amount of magic he lifted it out of the desk and looked at it.

It was a picture, half burned and completely void of all colours. Crystal Shine watched beside him.

“That’s Soladversarius.” She said pointing at the stallion in the picture; he looked like a happy, powerful pegasus stallion. Beside him was a mare with a long mane in her arm was a foal, couldn’t be more than a month old.

“He has a family?” Phantom asked casting a glance at Crystal Shine, he stopped when he saw the pained expression on her face.

“He had a family. They died in a fire.” She murmured. Phantom looked back at the picture, then put it back in the drawer and closed it slowly. The third drawer yielded a rolled up piece of parchment.

“This might be what we’re looking for.” Phantom said to himself as he spread it on top of the desk, it was a map. Several locations were circled and marked throughout Equestria.

“Those are strongholds.” Crystal Shine explained running a hoof over them, it landed on one with a note. ‘Strike first’.

“They must be places that haven’t fallen to his army.” Phantom thought loudly.

“Then there are soldiers there that are ready to fight!”

“But it says to strike this one first…”

“Then we must send some ponies to assist them, if we can prevent enough of these places from falling…we might be able to build our own army.” Crystal Shine’s eyes sparkled. “There is a chance.”

“Shouldn’t we leave soon then?” Phantom asked. Crystal Shine nodded.

“I would think that Soladversarius is sending troops that way right now, I’m afraid I might have to send some ponies right now. Phantom…I hate to ask you right now but you’re in the best shape it would seem.”

“You want me to go?” He asked, surprised.

“No, I want you to lead. Take a few ponies with you, help this fortress.” She looked back at the map. “Fort Loyalty. Fend off the attack, and ask for any and all aid they can offer.”

“And after that? Do I just bring them back here?” He continued asking questions.

“Yes, maybe at some point we’ll have some sort of army, then we can take back the capitol.”

“I’m not sure I can…”

“Yes, you can, and you will.” She put a hoof on his shoulder and he shifted uncomfortably, his eyes still held some doubt. “For Equestria.” He finally nodded, any doubt left him and he straightened.

“Is there anypony you think I should take?”

“Take either Tag or Frizel, they actually know how to fight, and Armoured Command won’t be doing too much with his leg in that condition, then take anypony else you wish.” Phantom nodded and left quickly. Crystal Shine looked out the window and toward Canterlot worriedly.

Soladversarius sat on the throne of the sun; he cast another glance around the room almost giddily. The other griffons that had been with him left either due to their injuries or for fear of his powerful magic.

“I see you’ve managed to win another round.” She was on the throne of the moon. Her hooftips were painted purple.

“Yes, the tyrants never stood a chance.” Soladversarius said happily.

“Shouldn’t you send out some troops to those castles?”

“Surely that can wait for a few moments while I enjoy my victory?”

“You haven’t won yet, the Ponies of War are still in your camp, probably picking apart Pitch-Black’s corpse right now.”

“They can’t do anything against me.” He tried to sound confident, but it was undermined.

“There must be no chance of failure, all loose ends tied up.”

“Fine, I shall call for general Brauchitsch, are you satisfied?”

“For now, never let your guard down, that’s how you lose.”

“Don’t lecture me!”

“I’m not, but don’t think it’s over. It begins now.”