Chapter 1: The shattered kingdom
Chapter 1: The shattered kingdom.
My name is Milon Damel, before we start I have a message from the gods, they say that the ponies have "real" names in this story, just like "inside safe walls". Their reasoning for this is that they find it unneccesary to come up with elaborate pony names if they are only going to be used in one section of the story and then never again, they apologise if you find this inconvenient, but it is the will of the gods, and you should pray to them for more love and tolerance.
I am writing this to tell my fellow kin, or what is now left of them, how Equestria was shattered and how the city of Darkane fell to the Lunar republic, ultimately causing the fall of Holems, forcing its people to spread throughout the world.
The army of the Lunar republic had built up a substantial number of soldiers over the years of peace between the two equestrian kingdoms, but not even their numbers would be able to match up to the army that Holems had managed to build up in the twenty years that passed after we defeated them in the Canterlot siege.
I am no longer sure about their exact numbers, but it must have been close to one hundred thousand men. But the leaders of the Lunar republic devised a plan, that I myself think is a very good one, to send out small soldier squads to Holems, seeking out small factions of tribes, Tarks, which is the name for townsfolk and peasants, that openly showed their contempt for the king and his rule.
They promised the tribes and different factions that they could take parts of Holems for themselves making them their own states, but the price for this was that they fought for the Lunar republic acknowledged themselves to be vassal states of the republic when they won the war.
As those of us who survived it all know, the promises was held and the three states that now own the lands that used to be Holems are now vassal states to The lunar republic.
The three vassal states are as follows:
Infernia, the state of the dark skinned tribes of the east.
Lugum, the state of the Tarks that stood up against their former king. After the war was over with and the peace had settled in, they elected a leader to govern the state, and after five years the people choose to elect a new leader to govern the state, or they choose to keep the one they have for five more years if they feel he is still a suitable leader.
The last state is Cano. To be completely picky, Cano is not really a state, it is more a patch of land where the nomad rangers now inhabit. The different nomad groups govern themselves, but if there is need for it, they will all come together to hold a sort of court to decide about laws of conduct, or to resolve feuds or other problems that might occur between them.
These were difficult and dark times, but truth be told, when peace was finally found, many citizens of Holems came to live within Equestria as I and my Myrmidon soldiers had when we had been branded as traitors and rebels by our king.
Princess Celestia and her people were very accomondating and warm hearted in helping my people live with theirs. Many of the men and women of the Myriad have found themselves wives and husbands amongst the ponies of Canterlot and Ponyville, as I did. My beloved Applejack, she has given me a happy life and a strong courageous son. And it is with my son Chester that this story begins, a routine mission that became the beginning of so much.
...
It was a cold winter day, the snow were lying still, covering the landscape. Chester looked up at the blue sky, a lot had changed since he was a child. Equestria had been shattered, after the great battle between Equestria and Holems, Princess Luna wanted to strike back at the humans with the Equestrian army, but Celestia disagreed.
This resulted in that the people of Equestria divided. There were riots, people demanding that the humans got to pay for what they did, and others wanting to keep peace and rebuild, get stronger to repel a future attack.
The ultimate result were that Equestria split into two factions, The Lunar republic, and The Solar empire. Milon and his soldiers were faithful to Celestia, they were pained to see the country in such a state, but they had promised to stay loyal to the one that had given them a free haven to live in, side by side with the ponies. The Myrmidons were now the most dangerous and ruthless soldiers in the whole Solar empire army, along with the Myriad, of which Chester was now the captain.
The next in command under him was Spike, who had grown up to be a tall strong dragon adult. He was older than Chester but he did not have the same aura of authority, he could follow orders and make strategical decisions when Chester was not leading the squadron though, which made him a perfect Sergeant and second in command under Chester.
Milon, Chester, Spike, the Myrmidons and the Myriad soldiers were now marching through the snow, the armour they wore was clattering slightly with their movements. Milon and Spike, since he had almost the same anatomy as the humans, was wearing the winter armour of the myrmidon soldiers. Underneath the armour plates they wore leather and fur clothings so that they would not get cold, since steel armour conducted the freezing cold way better than they wanted them to.
They had been sent out to a small village called Trottingham, which was close to the border of the Lunar republic, they were sent to stop the peasants that had decided to rebel against Celestias rule there. There had also were rumours that they had gotten help from a group Lunar soldiers that helped them with weapons and giving them enough courage to attempt to stand up against Celestias rule.
But what was not rumour though was that the peasants were in greater numbers than themselves, the neighbouring villages to Trottingham had also joined in the rebellion, raising their total number to close to a thousand.
This did not make anyone of the Myrmidon or Myriad soldiers nervous whatsoever, the peasants had no experience in battle and the discipline of Milons soldiers would overcome the one of their opponents by a hundred times, so they could have been five thousand versus the four hundred of themselves, and they would still not be worried. But what did worry them was that if the lunarists had aided them in weaponry and armour, they would be more dangerous than the regular peasant. Skill or no skill, anyone with good weapons and armour, peasant or not, was worth showing respect on the battlefield, it could save your life.
Milon ordered the army to a halt and gave them the at ease, which made the soldiers scatter around to take a rest. Milon was now forty five years old, and he had stains of grey in his black hair and his facial hair. This might have given him a look of being an older, wiser man, but it did nothing to change the look of strength and danger he had about him.
"General?" Spike asked, wanting to get Milons attention.
Milon turned around and looked at him. "Yes, Sergeant?"
Spike gave him a quick nod and took off his helmet. "Do you think the rumours that the Lunarists have given the rebels help are true? Usually the peasants surrender and retreat when we start to advance towards their positions, but if they have Lunar support on their side... We have killed enough brave citizens, Sir."
Milon sighed and looked out into the distance, the landscape expanding for miles in all directions, the forests and fields covered in a layer of snow, and the sky filled with grey clouds that dulled the suns rays, giving the landscape a tone of depression.
"The Lunarists are desperate to get a foothold in Solar land, it's not far fetched to believe that they'd try to get support in even the smallest of villages. Remember, even the smallest trickle can turn into the flow of a river. We might not be sure of what's awaiting us in Trottingham, but we should be prepared for anything."
He turned around again, looking down into the pine forest below the hill they were on.
"As long as we stay disciplined and make no hasty decisions, we will stop this trickle before it gets too big to handle."
Spike nodded again. " Understood General!"
Milon gave him a smile. "No need to call me General when you're at ease Spike, Milon will suffice. Now go get some rest and get something to drink."
"Yes gen- Milon, yes Milon!" He gave a quick bow and then walked over to a big rock, sitting down on it, leaning his shield and sword on the side of it.
Chester trotted over to his father, still wearing his blade-helmet.
Milon smiled at him, patting him on the neck. "He is a good soldier, I reckon he will be one of the best there are."
His smile faded and a shade of sorrow appeared in his eyes. "He has shown great progress. Ever since the day he helped in the defence of Canterlot he has become a better soldier and leader. He will be one of the best I've known, just like Augustus."
Chester rubbed his cheek against his fathers hand affectionately."Augustus died as a hero, he did it to protect us, because you wanted to protect us. I know I wasn't there, but I've heard the stories of his death. They might not be all true, but he is depicted as a giant, a giant that kept fighting even though he had an arrow through his throat."
Milon nodded, feeling pain at the memories that flashed in his mind. " He sure wasn't a giant, but he did fight with an arrow through his throat."
Chester looked up at his father with shock. "He did?"
Milon nodded again. "When the arrow hit him I thought that he died, he fell to the ground, blood spraying everywhere. I started to fight my way over to him, but before I even got close, he stood up and started to fight again. It was the knowledge that he would die any second that drove him to it, and he must have killed close to twenty enemies before they cut him down."
"Wow" Chester kept looking at his father, taking fact that the story about the arrow was true in.
Milon turned around and put his helmet back on his head. "Myrmidons, Myriad! March!"
The soldiers stood up, gathering their shields, helmets, blade-helmets in the ponies cases, and swords. They stood in large formations behind Milon, Spike and Chester, The banners with the old Equestrian and Myrmidon flags, and the banners with the Equestrian and Myriad flags waving slowly in the wind as they marched through the snow, slowly getting closer to Trottingham.
...
They could now see Trottingham in the distance, from what Milon had heard it was a town where many merchants from all the neighbouring cities came to sell their wares, and it looked like that information was correct, he could see the silhouettes of empty stalls amongst the houses and buildings. He could also see the ponies as they got closer, they were anything but organized compared to Milons soldiers.
The rebels were standing in a big group, huddled together looking like they were getting ready for a town rally, rather than a battle.
" Halt!" Milon ordered, and in synch, all the humans and ponies in the army stopped.
The ponies of Trottingham turned to face them, Milon could not read their faces properly, but he guessed that they were scared but eager to stand up against Milon and his men, ready to stand up against Celestias rule.
Milon stepped forward, shouting towards the Trottingham ponies.
"Ponies of Trottingham, you have chosen to rebel against the rule of princess Celestia, you have also taken up arms against her rule and supposedly you have been aided by the Lunarists. We demand that you lay down your arms, give up these thoughts of rebellion and go on with your daily activities and lives. If you do not comply we will be forced to take them from you by force!"
A murmur went through the mass of ponies, but after a while a voice shouted in response.
"Come and get them then you solar pig!" Which was followed by shouting from all the other ponies.
Milon sighed, he didn't want to kill more of his countrymen. "Then prepare for battle, may your deaths come swift!"
He turned back to his soldiers, and started to shout out orders. "Myrmidons, spears in front, blades behind! Myriad, take the flank. Soldiers, Forward!"
The human spearmen did as commanded, moving themselves to the front lines, holding out their spears in front of them, next to their shields, as they marched forward. The human myrmidons with swords, the ponies with blade helmets and the unicorns in the Myrmidon army positioned themselves behind the spearmen.
Spike drew his blade and ran up to Milon, giving him a nod before turning to the rebels, holding his shield in front of him, marching next to his general.
The myriad, who was commanded by Chester, moved to the side of the small battlefield, ready to flank the enemy when they got into position. When the enemy ponies reaches the Myrmidons, they were to charge, attacking the enemy in the side, forcing them to fight on two sides.
The rebel ponies gave out a roar and stormed towards them, armed with home made blade-helmets and leather armour. Some of them even had properly smithed blade-helmets and armour, proving to Milon that they had been helped by the lunarists. Of course the pegasi were in the air, looking like they would do nothing but pummel their enemies with their hooves, and the unicorns did not need any blade-helmets, due to their horns.
The myrmidons marched on, the two forces coming closer and closer. Feet and hoover hammering the ground as they got closer and closer to eachother. Milon held up his shield, readying himself, and his comrades did the same, their spears pointing straight at the charging ponies. The thundering of hooves on the ground got faster and faster. They were close now, just about to ram into eachother. Milon and spike stopped, flexing their leg muscles, bracing for the impact.
...
Applejack, Twilight and Cherilee was standing in Twilights library. Twilight herself was flipping through a book that she had written herself, named Humanity, a crash course in human history, culture and religion.
" I have a few more things I have to add and look over before I can hand it over to you." Twilight said to Cherilee, skimming through a few pages.
Cherilee smiled at her. "All I wanted to do before handing the book over to the bookstore for them to make copies of it, I wanted to read the chapter about their religion. What you told me about it over tea last time in sugarcube corner sparked an interest in me."
Applejack looked at Cheerilee, a slight twinkling look in her eyes. "Copies? Are you gonna teach the colts and fillies at school about my husbands people?"
She nodded at her, giving her a smile as she looked back at Twilight. "Of course, we have many humans living in our country now, the children need to learn about our new citizens past if they are to know them properly."
"That reminds me!" Twilight exclaimed, levitating a quill over to an empty page of the book. " I have to write about the defence of Canterlot and about the time Milon spent here before that."
Applejack chuckled and walked over to Twilight, wrapping a hoof around her in a friendly hug. "I wonder what Milon will say when you tell him that he will be a historical person, if we ponies keep studying their history, that is."
The three mares giggled as they all imagined Milon doing what he always do when he is told something that he isn't too sure about. He would scratch the small beard on his chin and say " Well, i don't see why not."
Twilight shook her headand smiled, and started to write, and as she wrote, she remembered what she had written earlier about the human religion.
...
The human religion, is a polytheistic religion, which means that they have more than one god, unlike our own where there is only the holy Faust. As you all know, Faust created the world and created every pony animal, and also human in the world. She focused more on ponies as she found us to be her greatest creation.
Going back to the human religion, they believe that there was one god named Covara that created the world.
Covara created the world by taking large stones and rocks from the large space. He created the sun, the moon, all the animals and all the plants. He was proud over his creation but felt that there was something missing. He planned to create the humans so that they could inhabit this new world he had made, but before he did so he decided to create lesser gods that would manage everything in the world along with him.
First he created the god of harvest and prosperity, he was to control the cycles of plant life, making them bloom in spring, bear fruit in summer, decay during fall and sleep over the winter. Covara created him from earth and roots which he breathed life into. The roots and earth grew until the god of harvest was formed, made in the image of the greater god. He was named Tunturi.
Next, he created Tunturis sister, the godess of the sea, Tantuni. He made her out of water and salt, first making a salt pillar, then pouring water on it as he breathed life into her, she formed into a strong tall woman. Covara gave her the powers to control the weather out at sea and all the sea creatures, but she chose to create the sea creatures so that the humans could catch them and eat them.
Calorossa is the godess of war. Covara walked around in the world and found a volcano that erupted with molten lava and iron that slowly seeped down into the landscape. He dipped his hands into the molten mixture and transferred all the rage the vulcano had inside it as it erupted and created the fiery woman we know as Calorossa. It is said that the fire that burned inside that volcano still burns behind her eyes. Covara gave her the power to give strength to humans that fought in battles, he also gave her the power to allow fallen soldiers to get into the heavens after they die, but only if she found them worthy.
Covara then created the god of wisdom, as he thought that he would need someone that was wise enough to help guide the humans when they asked the gods for help in their lives. Therefore he imbued all his visdom into a mossy rock that he breathed life into. It grew until it had formed into Siva. An old wrinkly god that had an aura of goodness and wisdom about him.
The god of love and fertility was created when Covara breathed life into the polled and stem of a large beautiful flower. The flower itself had reminded him of how much love he had for the world he created, and decided to create a god that could hold all his love for the world and everything in it. He named the god of lov Mirum, and gave him the powers to make animals and humans more fertile so that they could create offspring.
To bring forth the day and night, Covara created the god of day and night, Runde, by taking flames from the sun and a piece of the moon. This gave Runde the power over them, making him bring forth the day and night.
For the last lesser god, Covara needed one that could take care of the dead human souls. Someone that could judge if they are worthy of the heavens or to stay in limbo. This was difficult for him, he needed a god that was made of death, so that he had power over it. After a long time of contemplating, he cut off his left arm. As the life escaped from his limb he trapped it with his powers and then forced it back into the dead limb, forming it to the god of death, Lieth. According to human scholars, his name is the origin of the word "Lethal".
Lastly, he created the humans, he created them in his own image, but with no powers. He gave them the freedom to roam and live wherever they wanted in the world. But he let everything have its way. The humans died, got killed by animals, killed animals and so on. But he loved them, he loved them and all of his creations.
On the end of the page full of this religious information were a small note from Twilight herself. This is, as stated in the title of the book, just a crash course. If the reader is interested in knowing more you can ask for more information at your local library once the information has become available there. From the author, Twilight Sparkle.
