The Marrow of the Spirit Book One: Ashes Against the Grain

"HURRY! IN THE NAME OF THE GODS, HURRY!"

Several Rangers dashed through the thickets of Farthing Wood, where, on the forests edge, laid the town of Snowhoof. A colossal plume of smoke could be seen rising from the area, and the sounds of screams and roars could be heard. The world around Agalloch was a blur, his mind only processing one objective: to save his home.

He saw the Rangers around him talking, shouting; he saw his brother and father at the head of the group, with looks of utter distress upon their faces. Agalloch was so used to seeing them with calm, collected faces, even when in the thick of battle. The fact that the two hardened soldiers looked like they would lose it was unnerving. But who would blame them? Their family was still in Snowhoof, and it was the current sight of a battle.

And if the cries of war and savagery could be heard this far out, than the Minotauri must be in massive numbers.

"HURRY! WE CAN STILL MAKE IT!" shouted Bright Steel. All manner of horrible thoughts crossed his mind; of what was happening to his home village, of what was happening to his family! Hell, the Ranger headquarters was in Snowhoof, with very valuable information for the war effort there! If the Rangers that were couldn't hold the headquarters, and if the Minotauri get a hold of their intelligence, oh Goddess...

The Rangers ran as hard and as fast as they could. They could make out the clearing ahead. Soon, they would be able to cross into the village, join the fight, and save as many and as much as they could. They broke the treeline, and beheld the sight before

Fire. Smoke. Screaming. Death.

Refugees were fleeing from the firey town, while score upon score of Minotauri soldiers ravaged the area. The feelings that Agalloch felt were too numerous to fully in take, but the dominant feeling that turned his eyes red and his blood to boil was rage. Rage and revenge. He drew his sword from his sheath, shouting the the war cry of the Rangers:

"BAALSTORM! BAALSTORM!"

And charged forward, with his father, brother, and comrades behind him, with the intent to claim village and their people.

They ran until they breached the towns perimeter and clashed blades, spears, ax, and halberd against the closest target they could find. Except Agalloch. The drive that was in him seemed to fade away in instant when he saw the corpse of a dead foal at his feet. He stared with an emotionless face. He knew this foal. He was once of Cherry's friends, and had barely reached the age of four earlier this year. And here he lay, at the foot of his feet, with most of his lower body missing, and look of utter horror and pain frozen on his face. Agalloch stared, his mind gone blank. Who would willingly murder a child. A child for fuck's sake. This was too much for him to take.

He vomited. He was mortified, he was appalled...he was angry. His mind began to recede to a state of unimaginable wrath. True anger coursed through his consciousness, as the fury from before returned to him. This was a crime against decency, against his people, against Nature itself. With his sword tight in his hand, he leapt into the fray, knowing all to well that the town was loss. While his father and brother evacuated his family and what survivors were left to the nearest fortification, Agalloch, and what Rangers were left, proceeded to take life after life, his current lust for blood fueling his insanity for violence.

A debt was made by the Minotauri that day. A debt that would be repaid in blood.

And the King In Crimson would have his payment.

=================================================================================================

A loud crack from the fire is was startled Agalloch from his sleep, instinctively reaching for his sword, which he realized was at the other end of the room. He grunted, and slowly began to sit up and stretch. Once again noticing his present state of nudity, Agalloch quickly checked the room for any sign of Cherry or Mayor Mare, and proceeded to swiftly grab his clothes from by the fire place, now nice and dry, and put them on. He belted on his sword's sheath, grabbed his sword, and proceeded to look into his reflection on the blade.

The thoughts of last nights dream, no, memory, still lingered in his mind. Images of dead children, roaring beasts, and blood, so much blood, flashed before his eyes. He sheathed the blade, no longer wanting to look at the monster that stared back at him. He thought that Minotauri did horrible things in the war, but, oh boy, Agalloch had done is fair share of horrors, and thoroughly enjoyed it at the time. It made him sick now.

Shaking his head to clear the grizzly thoughts, he turned to see if Cherry was still asleep by him. She wasn't. Unnerved by the lack of her presence, Agalloch finished belting on some straps from his chest piece of armor, and than proceeded to look around for Cherry. Hearing sounds coming from another room, Agalloch followed the racket to what seemed to be a small kitchen of some sort. There, sitting at a small table, was Cherry, happily stuffing her face with an assortment of food before her. She looked up to see her brother in the doorway, and beamed a happy smile at him. Agalloch, in turn, allowed a small smile to cross his face. Seeing his sister happy made him happy

"Mornin', Cherry," Agalloch yawned, pulling up a chair and sitting across from her. She looked up from her gorging, and waved.

"That's it? We nearly survive freezing to death yesterday, and all you can do is wave?"

She rose from her seat, hopped on the table, avoiding the food, and kissed him on the cheek. Than, proceeded to sit back down and continue her meal. Agalloch rubbed his cheek and laughed a little, instantly obliterating what little ill that lingered in his mind. He was alive, Cherry was alive, and they were both safe and sound. No war, no blood, just breakfast. Grabbing a plate for himself, he shoveled food off the trays and into his gullet.

For awhile, the two sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying the food that was before them. There were eggs, fruits, pancakes, and several kinds of pastries. They were eating like kings, and it felt great. The two were used to living off rations and scraps from whatever Agalloch could find in the wilderness on their flight from Arkon. Wait a moment thought Agalloch Cherry can't cook, where did this food come fro...oh right, our hostess. Speaking of which, where is she?

"Where's Mayor Mare?" Asked Agalloch. Cherry pointed at a note that was pinned to the fridge.

"Thanks for the help," muttered Agalloch, which was acknowledged by Cherry with another wave. With a roll of his eyes, Agalloch proceeded to rip the note from fridge and read it.

Agalloch

Since the storm has calmed significantly, I left to bring some food for you and your sister. Don't worry, it's on me. Another thing, while I'm out, I am also setting up a town meeting, to introduce you to the populace. I hope you that you are not insulted by the notion. I don't intend to show you off due to to your nature or anything of the sort. It's more of a local custom. Speaking of that, there is no doubt that you will run into a pink mare with a pink, poofy, curly mane. She may be a little...eccentric. But please, she means well.

Anyway, I will be back to the town hall (where we currently are, by the way) shortly, so please, try to look somewhat presentable. And, if I may say without stepping out of bounds, I would suggest leaving the sword behind. We ponies are wary around such things, for violence truly isn't in our nature. But, I leave the decision up to you.

See you soon,

Mayor Mare

P.S. I refuse to buy coffee for your little sister. And if I ever catch you buying coffee for her, I'll make it my personal mission to buck your flank straight to the moon.

Dropping the letter, he slumped back down into his chair, Cherry eyeing is sudden change in mood. Agalloch sighed a deep and hearty sigh. Crowds have never been his strong suit, due the amount of staring eyes that would probe him with curious disgust. Being the only one of your kind has it's major drawbacks. It took years for his own village to become accustomed to his presence, for Goddess sake. And now, he would be showcased by many more new eyes, who have never seen anything like him before, and who are also unaccustomed to violence. He mustn't really talk much of what had transpired, the bare basics at best. He needed to build a new life for him and his sister, and he couldn't risk isolating himself and Cherry from the rest of the town.

"You know what we have to do, don't you?"

Cherry nodded her head. Agalloch sighed once more

"This is gonna suck," Agalloch muttered, heading towards the nearest bathroom. He would need to take a shower once he found one, but for now, he might as well wash his face and relieve himself. After all, he had a crowd to entertain, and a first impression to make. Oh Goddess, i hope this goes well...

=================================================================================================

"So, thar's a new addition to our little town," Applejack said, while her and her five other friends sat in Sugracube Corner, enjoying the warmth and the smells of the bakery. "And by what the Mayor said, he may be a bit strange lookin', if ah heard right."

"Yes, and from what Miss Mare has said, he's from far to the north. Even past the Griffin Empire!" Exclaimed Twilight excitedly, "I can only imagine what country or kingdom he comes from! Oh, I have so many questions For him and-"

"Settle down, egghead," piped in Rainbow Dash "so what if he's some foreigner? A pony is a pony, no matter where they come from." She placed her forelegs behind her head, and leaned back into her side of the booth, thoughts of flying when the air isn't so frigid coming to mind.

"That's the thing," replied Twilight, leaning forward against the table " He isn't a pony, Rainbow Dash."

"What?" This caught Rainbow's attention.

"Yep, he isn't a pony, that's for sure. Or so Mayor Mare has told me."

"Than what is he, a diamond dog?"

"Nope"

"Minotaur?

"Wrong again, RD."

"A zebra?"

"Again, no."

"For buck's sake, Twi, just tell me what he is!"

"Rainbow, there is no need for such uncouth language," Rarity attested "And what does it matter what his species is?"

"What do you mean, why is it important!? We don't want some sorta monster running around here, don't we?!"

"Rainbow! Why would ya say sumthin' like that?! You haven't even met the feller!," exclaimed Applejack "Shucks, he could be the nicest feller, if'n who give him a chance to explain things! Mayor Mare says he and his sister had it rough, you know."

Rainbow pouted. She hated being proven wrong, but hated the thought of anything being remotely dangerous to her friends or town even more.

"I still don't trust anything non-pony," Rainbow stubbornly said "He'll have to earn my trust."

"You're something else, RD," Said Applejack, with a shake of head.

"Yeah, Dashie. There's no need to be a meanie about it," Pinkie butted in "He could be the funnest, most awesomest, non-pony ever! And boy, do i have a party planned for him! There'll be cake, and games, and punch, and music, and Gummy, and me, and Everypony, and GASP!! I HAVE TO SET IT UP ASAP! EVERYPONY, OUT, OUT OUT!!" Pinkie proceeded to throw everypony out of the nice warm building, into the cold outside, even the other paying patrons and the cakes as well. The five friends stared at the building that they had just been evicted from, with looks of astonishment on their faces. Fluttershy broke the awkward silence

"Um, is it me, or, um, does Pinkie Pie act a little...to crazy sometimes?"

With shrugs all around, the friends walked off to the town square. There was a meeting that needed attending, and a new pair of souls to welcome to their cheery, little town.

=================================================================================================

Elsewhere...........

He had a spring in his step, that's for sure. For once, he didn't mind this bulky, stupid armor he had to wear or this huge jagged helmet over his head. He had a great night last night. She was some of the most fun he had in weeks. The way she screamed, the way she bled, Jesus Christ, the way she writhed in fucking agony. It was amazing!

No. Orgasmic. Fucking orgasmic.

For being a Minotaur, she was pretty small and scrawny. But he didn't mind. He's small compared to these creatures he works for, well, that work for him, in a manner of speaking. Ever since killing the Minotaur High General and becoming the new one (he loved their "keep what you kill" rule), he's never been better. They even gave him a name in their language as a sign of affection to their new military leader. Skyorg. It meant "The Small One" in their weird fucking Minotaur language. He had the one who first used that name killed. Quite horribly, if he remembered correctly. Poor bugger, the name has grown on him since.

The small ones always had a lesser tolerance for pain, and, oh boy, did he bring the pain. Especially when he used the new saw tooth knife he just bought, and when he began cutting her... well, that's not really important right now, though his love for violence and cruelty was usually his top priority. What was important today was that the High Council was meeting, concerning the proposal of an invasion of the Griffin Empire, and he was late. What did it matter? Of course he was going to vote yes. He loved death. He loved war. He loved to maim, to fight, to torture, to kill. And poetry. He LOVED poetry. Speaking of poetry, he cleared his throat, and began to sing as he walked:

"Nero with his axes

And piles of skies gurgling

Behind him

Diocletian smiles

And the garlands of meat fall tall

Who made the windmills?

And who made the whirlpools?

Who made the crows?

And who made the stones?

Who formed the foam

From Aleph the Father?

Behind the flowers

The mother of the cows

Dreaming of trees

In the colouring fields

My face dissolves in folds

And I disappear"

Oh, how he loved that song.

But, he stopped in his tracks as he became aware that every Minotaur in the hallway that he was currently in, was staring at him.

"What the FUCK are you all looking at?"

Within seconds, the hallway cleared, leaving only Skyorg and his horribly twisted thoughts. He smirked at their display

"Now that's what I call respect. Or fear. Either's good."

He began to walk again, whistling while he proceeded to the room where thousands of lives would be in his hands, and that he would not hesitate to waste. For what purpose? The Council, the Emperor, they all had plans. New world order this, untold riches that. They were stupid fucking plans to Skyorg, with no meaning. His plans were more important. More fun. And required digging. Lots of digging. And killing, as well. Never to much of that. He didn't get to have much fun in Arkon. Though he came up with most of the battle plans, and had the weapons engineers construct the new weapons (how could no country here have black powder, for fucks sake? Get with the times, folks), he had things to work out, maps to survey...very fun plans to make. But WHEN war is waged against the Griffins, he'll have a damn good time.

Speaking of good times, he had a dinner party to go to after the meeting, and would have to look presentable. Hopefully he'll find another toy to bring back to his place, tonight. But this time, he'll go slower. Savor it, a bit more. For him, the night will be young, and the screams that he'll hopefully cause tonight would really make this evening even more spectacular. Dinner parties suck.

But when you're the only human on the fucking planet, you get invited to a lot of dinner parties.

And Johnathan Gale, or Skyorg to the masses, and High General of the Minotauri Empire, has a lot of dinner parties to go to.