Chapters Book 1: Rise
Chapter 1: A Somber Meeting
The Crystal Empire: a land of light and harmony, a haven for the peaceful ponies of the Earth. In some parts of the world, this utopia only exists in myth and legend for its peace and glory. A land where all is good, and there is no need to worry about threats from the outside world. It was too good to be true.
The shining streets were bustling with commotion and activity. Street venders and activities at every corner visited by the crystal ponies who, on this day, seemed to shine a little brighter than usual. It was that time of the year again: the Crystal Fair.
This year, however, it would not take a trained eye to notice that the largest crowds were not visiting flugelhorn or hatstands, or even watching the jousts. Rather, it was the newscolts who attracted the largest crowds.
“Read all about it! Return of the ancient enemy: Maredor’s declaration of war! One-hundred dead!” The newscolt’s high-pitched voice pierced through the veil of commotion radiating through the fair. Dozens of worried crystal ponies gathered around the newscolt, taking papers and leaving flecks(1) at his hooves.
Towards the town square, beneath the palace and surrounding the empire’s sole-defending Crystal Heart was the most expansive crowd, containing scores of ponies overwhelming a group of four newscolts. A single guard stood behind the colts, holding back the crowd, a copy of the day’s paper resting in his saddlebag.
In the midst of the chaos, a dark, a robed figure muscled its way through the crowd. The crowd, consisting heavily of priests and nobles, would oftentimes make room for this suspicious figure to move about, unaware of its purpose.
The figure moved to the thinnest part of the crowd, where a figure of similar nature, but adorned in brown vestiges contrary towards it’s onyx-colored counterpart. The slender cloaked pony raised a hoof, carefully pulling back the hood of the cloak revealing a white face, a horn, and a few locks of her long, scarlet mane protruding from the shadows of her attire, her purple eyes glistening just as brightly as her crystal coat.
The other hooded figure simply casted off the hood with an upwards flick of its head, revealing a Unicorn stallion with a black horn, a dull black and gray coat, a short jet-black mane, and a pair of eyes with horrendous red pupils. The two excitedly rushed towards one another and embraced in a passionate, warm hug.
The alicorn mare was the first to speak. “Thank Galactica you’re okay! After the attack I was so worried, I know you live near the outskirts so I would’ve come, but–”
The other pony gently placed a hoof towards her mouth. The mare stopped, looking down at it. The black stallion lowered his hoof, smiling at her. “I can fend for myself. Besides, last night I came here thinking I’d have to save you.”
Jokes. She wasn’t exactly a fan of this stallion’s humor, and right now certainly was not a time for joking. This was the greatest disaster which the empire had seen since the second age!
“Somber! Do you have any idea what’s happened!? How many lives were lost!? This is... it’s–!” She was at a loss for words. Never in her life had she contemplated a threat to the Empire, the idea in of itself was alien to her, and there were even some who could barely comprehend what had happened. Was Somber one of these ponies?
“Woah! Take it easy!” pleaded the black stallion. I should have known she’d respond this way. Stupid! You don’t want to get on her bad side now. “I was just trying ease the tension. It’s like this all over the empire.” He observed the crowd, noticing that there were not many guards watching over the masses. “But it does bother me, what happened yesterday, and especially hearing that Maredor’s behind the attack. If they can hit us like that, right out of the blue and massacre nearly a hundred ponies, how vulnerable are we? I doubt they only sent that group here.”
The mare looked out towards the northern horizon, where great mountains covered in snow and ice reflected the sunlight towards the imperial city state. “The mountains. The Maredorian forces hide in there. We surprised them, apparently our weapons are still superior technologically, and they never anticipated us to actually train our soldiers–”
"I know, our military's been just for show. This is the first time we've really needed it."
Somber stared out at the horizon, the mountains which loomed over them, the wall into the unknown. “Maredor beat Cirra. We may have taken their front lines by surprise, but if they fought against the most powerful nations in history and won, then," he turned to the mare, "Gloriana, how long has it been since the last time the empire actually went to war?”
“Hundreds of years, when Spiritus reunited the empire and saved Crystopolis. That was the only time Maredor had ever lost a war.”
Somber chuckled softly, nuzzling the mare. “Ehh, we had a little... alicorn magic in our arsenal.” Gloriana put a hoof to Somber’s horn, pushing him back, nearly causing him to lose his balance as he clumsily regained his hoofing. She giggled at the sight of Somber practically dancing on his hoofs, nearly tripping over himself, he glared at her as she giggled. Sheepishly, he regained composure, brushing the dust off from his coat.
Somber looked out again towards the mountains on the horizon. “Is your mother going out there? To stop Maredor, just like Spiritus back in ancient times?”
She solemnly shook her head, looking back up at the palace above them. “Mother refuses to go. She says the royal family’s too small and the nation’s too scared for her to do anything.” She turned to look at the horizon with Somber, and bitterly added “She doesn’t want me going either.”
With a smile, and remarking upon her hot-headed nature, Somber gently bumped her with his hoof “You’re just going to let her stop you?”
“If only it was that easy... There should be a guard at my door ‘supervising’ me.” The mere thought of it seemed to make the royal Alicorn sick with embarrassment.
Somber couldn’t help but laugh at her plight “A little old to be foal-sat, aren’t you?”
Nobles were notorious for never being able to swallow their pride, and even Gloriana was no exception.
“I can see it now, teenage fillies gossiping in the marketplace ‘Who’d you foal-sit this week?’ ‘Oh, Princess Gloriana, HEIR TO THE BUCKING THRONE OF THE EMPIRE!’” He erupted into a fit of laughter. Despite the two having known each other to the point where she no longer took great offense towards the fact that a peasant, a peasant of foreign descent at that, could make such remarks about her, she still flattened her ears in embarrassment, hastily scanning the crowd to see if any nobles were nearby. “Sshh!” She pleaded to her coltfriend, hoping nopony would pick up on the conversation.
“It’s okay” he assured her. He decided to change the subject. “We have that few guards left here? I thought the palace was always under high protection, especially at a time like this!” It was odd. Even in a time of crisis a good defense had to be maintained, and if the royal palace itself had hardly any guards then that was a bad sign. Though he was already aware of this predicament from the paper.
She stared into Somber’s gaze with her large, beautiful expressive eyes “We’ve hardly any guards left here to protect the Kingdom, and our military strength is the lowest it’s ever been in recorded history. The warring tribes during the Dark Days gave us an edge in military might, but compared to Maredor–”
Somber grimly finished her statement. “We’re like a mouse fighting a manticore. A mouse with sharp teeth, but still just a mouse.” He averted his gaze to the ground, tracing small circles on the crystal floor with his hoof. Now’s the time, Somber. Is it? Yes, you’ll have to break it to her sooner or later. With a deep sigh, he looked back up at his mare, deep into her longing, worrying eyes, she knew what it was about. “Gloriana? There’s something I need to tell you.” As Somber had guessed, she was worried.
She placed a hoof to her heart, feeling it beating faster than it ever did. In the brief moment which felt like an eternity, she tried to deny it, it had to be something else. Is this one of his jokes? Would he seriously be joking about this? He has to be! Oh please, Galactica, don’t let it be, anything but–!
Without waiting for a reply, Somber cut off her racing thoughts. “I’m joining the Crystal Legion. We’re outnumbered, and aside from you and your mother, I’m the only pony here with magic, we need something like that if we’re going to fight Maredor.” It wouldn’t be enough convincing, there was no way in Tartarus she’d let it go that easily.
Desperately, she tried to turn him away, “But you’ll die out there! Magic or no magic, you’re still only one pony. They have thousands of unicorns, they have strange creatures seen by not even the likes of the ancient tribes from the North!”
“And I should just let Maredor come down on us again, this time with all their might and no mercy? They were overconfident and thought they could bring us down with that small attack party yesterday, and they were wrong. Now that they know better, if they get here then we’re all dead!”
She had hoped and she had prayed to Galactica all of last night that it wouldn’t come to this. “I know, Somber. I know.” She felt it coming, like somepony had just rammed her heart with a jousting lance. Nonetheless, she did her best to hold back the tears as Somber rushed to her, holding her close to his warm, muscular chest. “I don’t want you to go, Somber! You’re everything to me,” she looked up at his comforting eyes. It was impossible to believe that anypony could remain calm and assuring even at a time like this. “You’re the one Stallion I could ever love, y-you showed me so much more, things that are better than the luxuries of palace life. If you go, then–”
Sombra gently stroked her long, smooth red mane with his hoof. “You won’t have to worry about being seen with a peasant all the time. And if I don’t go and do this, then there might not be any life to live. Even if the Dark Lord spares us, I can’t imagine the life we’d be forced to live. You’d be a slave, tortured daily by Maredor’s motives. I may be one soldier, one unit, but if there’s anything I can do to protect you, to protect my friends and family, then you can guarantee I’ll do it.”
Somber let Gloriana go, she took a deep breath, regaining her composure. She scanned her surroundings, putting the hood back on. “We’ll meet again tonight? Before you leave for training?”
Somber adorned his black hood, casting a long shadow over his face, his read eyes penetrating the darkness. “I'll get to you throughPalace garden. Same way as usual.”
Author's Note
1: Flecks are hexagonal sapphire coins used as the currency for the Crystal Empire. One fleck is equivalent to two bits.
Chapter 2: Farewell
The summer constellations shimmered in the sky above the crystal city. Though the commotion from the fair had died down long ago the streets shone brightly; the streets were a luminescent blue from the Crystal Heart's surge of energy at its climax. The glow from the magically fueled streetlights reflected on the crystalline structures in which the denizens of the empire resided, raising a host of cascading colors into the city night.
A hoof tapped against a glass window, startling Gloriana from her sleep. She slid off her large, elegant mattress to see Somber peering in through the window, holding a rose in his mouth. Gloriana smiled, undoing the latch with her magic. The unicorn nudged the window open with his hoof, climbing through the window onto the marble floors of the pristine bedroom.
She closed the window behind him with her magic. "You really don't want to die a virgin, do you?".
"Well..."
"It's okay. It's not like the stallions on the front are gonna be able to tell anypony important you slept with an alicorn."
He stepped to her, grinning. They were roughly the same height and so he stood on the tips of his hooves, trying to appear slightly taller. "Are all alicorns this conceited?"
She lied down on the mattress, her legs outstretched, her armed held seductively close to her chest. "Yes."
Somber felt himself pulled closer to her by the force of her magic. He found himself atop the mattress, and though released from her magical grasp, he positioned himself on top of her. "If I'm correct," he began, still wearing the same grin, "you're a virgin, too."
"This is true..."
The two chuckled, then stared into each other's eyes. She smelt wonderful; the most expensive of perfumes, no doubt. They closed their eyes, approaching each other for a deep kiss. Somber felt her tongue in his mouth as they pressed against each other. Even a simple kiss was a rare occurrence for the two lovers. She'd always said she admired the idea of a secret romance, the "forbidden fruit". Now she pulled him ever closer, her wings extended slightly, their tails overlapping.
This was the first, and perhaps only, time they would be this intimate. Tonight there was no holding back.
§
Somber lay in the plush luxurious bed, gazing at the room around him. Gloriana still clutched him, her breathing rhythmic against his chest. Pillars along the walls formed the perimeter, a chandelier hanging above the center of the room. I must be insane for leaving behind any more nights like this... . He looked out the window, the moon hung low in the night sky.
Dawn would break soon.
He looked down at Gloriana, sliding out from underneath her grasp. She was so majestic, so beautiful sleeping there. She was perfect. Was this the right decision? He didn't want to think about what would happen were he to die. No matter how tough she always acts, he understood fully well it would break the mare. And if he didn't go, then he could lose her. No, I can't let that happen.
Somber gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye, beautiful. I love you." With that, he carefully trotted to the window, undoing the latch. Down below, few guards patrolled the palace. He could make it out easily and undetected if–
"Somber?"
The unicorn turned to see the alicorn climbing out of bed. She trotted over to him, taking her place at his side. The two stood in silence, peering into each other's gazes.
He faced the window, unable to look her directly in the eye. He heard her take in an unsteady breath; they both held back tears. He turned to her, holding her in a tight embrace which she returned, wrapping her wings around him.
"I love you, Somber, I love you so damned much..."
He felt tears stream down his muzzle; his tears. "I love you too, Glori." He could feel her body tremble as he spoke, and his own breathing was uneven. "I can't promise I'll be back for you, but I'll try. I'll try."
The two parted, wiping their eyes.
"I'll send you books, and letters. Keep in touch as much as you possibly can, okay?"
"That's a promise I can keep."
He chuckled involuntarily. He noticed the window light up in a bluish aura, the latch coming undone and the window opening. "I guess this is goodbye. I-I'll see you around."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
That night, wails could be heard throughout the palace corridors. Nopony dared to ask. Only one unicorn heard as he snuck through the gardens. Destiny awaited him.
Chapter 2: Whetting the Blade
Camp Spyrius, the training grounds for the Crystal Legion. Over the passage of time since Maredor reclaimed the old colonies hundreds of years ago, the crystal ponies’ military grew weaker and weaker, confident that the Crystal Heart would protect them from any and every threat they faced. Oh, how wrong they were...
Outside the camp, observers felt confident that the legion was doing its best as warriors in reinforced diamond armor marched about, while recruits ran laps on the track. Though deeper into the camp, officers were frantically searching through old documents, implementing every training tactic they found. The camp was in chaos. Drill sergeants had been established for the first time in two hundred years using every training method they read, usually within minutes of reading it. It was not uncommon to see a sergeant reading a handbook while his soldiers trained, trying to prepare their next exercise.
Somber Night was panting, his black coat moist with sweat, clinging to his body in the sunlight that beamed down on him as he ran. Though strengthened through years of farming in the countryside, he was not used to long-term physical endurance such as this, especially while wearing diamond crystal armor. A thin, cyan coated stallion trotted up next to the panting unicorn.
“Somber!? You too!?” The stallion was also panting, the shine of his coat dimmed from exhaustion and perspiration. “I guess they really do have all the stallions in the kingdom here. You alright? You don’t look so good, pal.”
Somber could hardly speak he was panting so hard. “I... asked... for a...” the unicorn could hardly finish his sentence before his friend cut him off.
“You better not have asked for a bucking break. C’mon, I thought you’d be tougher than most of these colts! I mean–”
Now it was Somber’s turn to cut the other pony short. He snapped at the thin stallion next to him. “Sword! I asked for a sword, Thistle-foot!”
“Oh. So you’ve been out here for a while?”
His only reply was a nod.
§
Somber stumbled into the barracks. It had been a long day of intense drilling and training. At least he only had another few days of physical training before he transitioned into full-on weapons training. Eager to collapse onto his cot, he soon saw that rest would not come so soon. Atop his cot was a silver chest, with the royal emblem of the Crystal Empire’s flag gilded on the surface.
Thistle-foot happily trotted into the tent with a sigh of relief. “Damn, nobody’s got a clue what in Tartarus they’re supposed to be doing here! Hey, Somber, how was your day? Um, Somber?”
Somber merely gravitated towards his cot, and with the application of magic he undid the lock on chest, pulling out a note. “Hey, Thistle-foot, take a look at this.”
The cyan stallion complied, trotting over to his companion’s side, Somber read the note aloud.
“Dear Somber Night, as you can likely tell, the legion is hardly ready for war with Maredor. I’ve been reading the reports sent to mom about the status of the training camps and our troops on the front lines. In the North we’re losing ground again, and fast. Other camps are sending out their soldiers early, just given a sword and a lance then told to attack! But I did some digging in the library. When that other unicorn, Starswirl, came around he left some books for us. These are books from the Cirran Empire! Pegasi that fought Maredor when they invaded their land, but the Pegasi actually won! They might've lost on the offensive, but they managed to push Maredor off of their soil.
These aren’t just any books, though. They’re strategy books. And that’s not it, at the bottom of the chest you’ll find a book of spells. Combat spells, to be precise. I want to give you a chance, a chance at beating Maredor. Things might lighten up for us, though. There’s to be a meeting with Equestrian royals tonight! If we can get Equestria on our side, then the odds are in our favor! They lived through years of chaos under a draconequus, they must surely have a capable military! I’ll send you another letter tomorrow when we have an official response from Equestria. With love, Princess Gloriana.”
Thistle-foot stared at his companion, utterly speechless, “Y-you? Princess Gloriana? I’m speechless, Somber.”
The unicorn smugly replied “Well isn’t that a first?”
Thistle-foot put a hoof to his chin trying as he tried to piece it all together in his mind, and then his face lit up with excitement. “Hm, yes... of course! That explains everything! Ever since that time you visited the city a year ago, you’ve spent so little time socializing amongst us, and all it seemed that you could think about was the city. I had believed that it was either the pretty upper-class mares or the bars, when in all actuality it was none other than our beloved Princess Gloriana!” He then hit his hoof against the side of his head in self-frustration, “How did I not notice at all that it was clearly love!? Granted it would be impossible and unrealistic in all aspects to assume a relationship with the princess, but--”
Somber chuckled, halting his friend’s rambling. “Speechless?”
The stallion shrugged. “Well that would just be too good to be true, now wouldn’t it? Never mind my rambling, you’ve got quite a bit of talking yourself, I imagine. How in Galactica’s holy kingdom did you meet her? And why didn’t you tell any of us!? Okay, well I get that there’d be serious consequences to that for both you and the princess...”
The Unicorn sat down on his bed, turning to lay down, resting his head on the pillow staring at the ceiling, hoofs precariously floating above his body. “We happened to both be in the right place at the right time.” Somber laughed, “It was the Crystal Fair, remember? I snuck off to the fair late at night, and she snuck out of the palace to escape the nobles. We bumped into each other near the Crystal Heart, she asked ‘what are you doing here? Are you an Equestrian?’. And to her surprise, I was just the average colt from the countryside. I just happened to be a unicorn with no idea of how and why he was left here as a foal.”
Thistle-foot had settled down into his cot, stretching out his thin crystal legs. “I’m surprised she didn’t just leave you then and there, you know how nobles are. Then again, Gloriana’s anything but your typical noble as I’ve been beginning to notice. Was that your doing?”
“Hardly. She was fascinated with me, probably being a unicorn and all, and she wanted to know more about the country, what the working-class life was like, so I told her about it. She never really cared all that much for the constant routine of the palace. Since then, we’ve met in the same spot every time we can.”
Thistle-foot got himself under the covers of his bed, staring up at the ceiling. “I still can’t believe it, my foalhood friend’s the coltfriend of Princess Gloriana. You know, they say unicorns have royal blood...”
“Thistle...”
“King Somber of the Crystal Empire! War hero, unicorn, farmer!”
“Galactica, you need some sleep.”
The two stallions laughed together, until Thistle-foot’s laughter abruptly halted, transitioning with no hesitation into snores.
I didn’t think he’d crash. Somber thought to himself. The unicorn laid down, holding a book in front of his face with magic. “Armor and Arcana” the book’s title read. Illuminated by one small candle in the dark barracks, he opened the book and began to read.
Chapter 3: "Unsheathe"
“Rise an’ shine! C’mon, you’ve got your rest! Hustle up, fillies, up and at ‘em!” At the drill sergeant’s call, the dozens of cadets resting in the barracks got up, those in the front blinded by the golden afternoon sun shining down the narrow doorway of the barracks.
In the back, the single Unicorn of the group stirred from his awkward position. He had fallen asleep resting on the treasure chest which he used as a desk for reading. “Six in the morning already?”
Thistle-foot hopped out of bed, stretching. He looked out at the doorway, shielding his face with his hoof from the light.
The sergeant’s voice rang down the barracks once more. “As you walk out, take a card from the deck outside. It will give you the location which you will report to for receiving your deployment assignments! We’re going to war today!”
The cyan stallion turned to his friend in horror, “That explains why it’s so bright out, they let us sleep in because we’ll be marching into the Frozen North!”
Somber’s heart was racing, Am I ready for this? “We’ve hardly practiced weapons yet! They’re sending us to our deaths!” This wasn’t right, not at all. Though he knew that complaining would accomplish nothing, so he closed the book resting on top of the chest. The book was titled “Legion: Secrets of the Cirran War Machine”. Placing it in his saddlebag he followed Thistle-foot, trotting out towards the barrack doors. Time seemed to slow down as he passed the drill sergeant who shot an infuriated glance as he walked out the door, Thistle-foot waiting for him.
“What was all that about?” Somber inquired. He knew it was the job of the drill sergeants to single out the troops, at least in the Cirran Legion and other successful militaries, but this was the last they’d ever see of Camp Spyrius. Though Thistle-foot gave him a dumbfounded look.
“You’re joking, aren’t you? You’re a unicorn!”
Of course. It didn’t make sense, though, because the crystal ponies hadn’t fought unicorns since the Dark Days, and even then it was only one tribe who dared attack the powerful powerful pony kingdoms of the past, the same kingdoms that would later form Equestria. “That was ages ago, Thistle! Do you think they’d really hold a grudge that long?” Using his magic, he took two cards from the deck outside the barracks which rested on a crystal pedestal, he handed one to Thistle-foot. “I’m meeting with Company Omega at the track. What about you?”
The cyan stallion smiled, and merely turned his card around to show Somber. “Same place.”
Somber half-heartedly chuckled, putting his card in his saddlebag, “So, we get to be gory remains on Maredorian shields together tomorrow. Maybe today, if we’re lucky.”
“Oh, come now, you don’t believe those rumors about Maredor’s military, do you? I heard a couple of mares in the market the other day saying that the Maredorians have dragons and even humans fighting in their ranks! It’s preposterous!”
As the two ponies walked through the camp, they saw groups meeting under commanders all over the camp, ponies rushing everywhere into their respective groups.
“It looks like they’re mobilizing the whole camp!” Thistle-foot reported. Like blood dropped in water, the atmosphere of the camp was filled with fear; the fear of certain death. The two ponies trotted over to the track where a single stallion stood atop a crystal pedestal, three bands of gems on his chest-plate signifying his rank as a combat sergeant. Though even rank didn’t mean much in the Crystal Legion. Soldiers were little more than police officers, and with the low crime rate they did little more than partake in ceremonial roles at royal events. The Crystal Legion was in almost every respect, a joke.
This sergeant had clearly been in the legion for a while, soldiers were still required to keep themselves in good shape, even if they rarely practiced combat, and the muscular yet agile appearance of this sergeant showed that despite the degraded status of his kingdom’s legion, he took his job very seriously.
The sergeant cleared his throat, as to silence the crowd before him, “Attention, soldiers! We’re marching to war today! The odds are against us, but remember who beat Maredor in the battle for Crystopolis! We beat them in their land, and shamed the Dark Lord for hundreds of years! To them this is a fight for them to take back their dignity, but they will not regain it! If we believe we can beat the dark forces of Maredor, we’ll beat them. We’re going to march there and back again as heroes!”
Soldiers worked their way through the ranks of the cadets, handing them each a set of weapons and armor, containing a chest and backplate, a helmet, a lance, and a diamond sword. Some soldiers had also received a javelin in place of a lance, murmurs of confusion rose from the javelin-equipped ponies, the sergeant cleared his throat once more, “Certain units will be assigned javelins: spears that are meant to be thrown at great distances. You will receive further instruction on the use of these weapons once we arrive in the Frozen North.”
Soldiers throughout the mass issued orders to individual ponies, in addition to the general cry of “Form ranks!”, and the ponies neatly organized themselves into lines on the track. The sergeant’s voice pierced the air at the sound of a flugle horn, “March!”
The group of roughly three-dozen soldiers marched out of the track, joining amongst ranks of even more troops as they marched out of their location, all forming one solid rank.
“Some speech the sergeant gave,” remarked Thistle-foot with a hint of distaste in his voice. “It’s almost as though it was scripted.”
Somber chuckled “I guess it’s too much to ask that we die with some degree of confidence.”
Thistle-foot shrugged the best he could, “That’d require them to at least be able to pretend to we can win. He’s a bit older, and he’s probably got more to lose in this. Family, friends...”
Somber cut him off. “I get it.” He couldn’t bear the thought of his current situation. He looked back at the crystal towers, illuminating the land as they caught the sunlight, brightening the city state with a fully-charged Crystal Heart, he felt a longing. It was even more than a magnificent city, even more than his country; it was his home; he wanted to be back home. He wanted to see Gloriana. She was right, he should have just stayed back home, he’d rather die at her side than be sentenced to death in a land nopony had ever set foot in for hundreds of years. “You know,” he began.
“You’re regretting leaving, too?” Thistle-foot inquired. Somber nodded. “Say, I just thought of something. Instead of javelins, if we were to utilize a more efficient launching mechanism, we could easily take out hostile units with certainty and precision.”
Somber nearly lost his pace in his march, not so much because he didn’t fully comprehend what his friend had just said, but from the sudden and random nature of it. Thistle-foot took a deep breath, “Okay, we use javelins, we simply throw them and pray they’ll land on an enemy unit. Blind destruction.”
Somber nodded. “Yeah, that way when we meet the enemy ranks they’ll have less troops before any real fighting begins, you think you have a way to guarantee hits?”
Thistle-foot smiled enthusiastically, his march almost become more of a cheery bounce. Somber was glad that they were deep within the middle of the march, few superiors or onlookers would notice their conversation, and other soldiers didn’t seem to mind. “Precisely, but how? I’ve got just the answer, if there were some kind of launching force, something incredibly powerful... remember that time I put that wet rock in the fireplace for cooking bread?”
Somber was able to recall the childhood memory with ease. He had rarely visited Thistle-foot as a colt, and whenever he did it was a special treat for finishing his chores early. “Yes, the stove exploded and launched us across the house. If slamming against the wall wasn’t pain enough, I remember your dad gave you a good whipping for that. Then I got smacked on the horn by mom.”
Thistle-foot chuckled in amusement, “Oh? A smack on the horn? That’s it?”
“You don’t hit the horn! Whenever you hit a unicorn on the horn, they get a headache for nearly a whole hour!” Somber recalled many painful memories as a child getting hit atop the horn by his parents whenever he acted out. Not that they were cruel parents, he was very thankful for the parents who took him in as a little foal, but they placed a huge emphasis on discipline and respect. He was glad for it. After all, it got him to the princess.
“Okay, but here’s my point: that explosion from a stove sent us, two small colts, flying across the room. But if we could utilize explosive force in a weapon to launch javelins, or any projectile for that matter we could aim at an enemy, launch the javelin and take them out! It’s brilliant! If only we had the resources, though. Ah well, maybe you can send a letter to Princess Gloriana.”
“Maybe.” was his only reply. He thought again of home at the city state. Camp Spiritus was near the Northeast boundary, but their march moved Westward to inspire a sense of confidence in the ponies living on the Northern boundaries as they saw legions of soldiers adorning their diamond weapons and armor as they marched off to war. His homestead was in the North, not too close but at the same time not too far from the border. He couldn’t see above the rest of the troops surrounding him, but he was sure his parents were out their with the other farm ponies, watching as their husbands, friends, and children marched off to fight an enemy that until this point had only existed in stories. If the legion failed, and fail they very well may, these ponies would be the first to die when the Maredorians reached the city-state.
“You know,” The unicorn began, “I’m at least going to try to stop them. And if we fail, then I’m bringing as many Maredorian bastards as I can down with me.” Then and there, he felt it in him; a primal urge to kill, an unmitigated hatred towards Maredor. He hated Maredor, he hated Lucifus, he hated the Frozen North, and like a mighty Cirran army, he was ready to unleash hell upon the Maredorians.
§
The sun was beginning to set over the mountains, painting the skies with a majestic mix of orange and lavender above the frozen white caps of the mountains. Snow had long since stopped falling in the North, though the Windigo curse kept it unbearably cold. The crystal ponies had seen it as a great wall which separated their peaceful and civilized empire from the dark and terrible grasp of Maredor. Few denizens of the Crystal Empire knew about Maredor, let alone what it even looks like, they simply knew that it exists.
However, every pony in the Crystal Empire can recite by memory a description of Crystopolis: the holy city of the crystal ponies. It was an even larger city than the capital city, currently being the city state that houses the entirety of the crystal pony population, but long ago things were different. Crystopolis was a symbol for that time: the time when the Crystal Empire was a vast and expansive empire, covering both Northern Equestrian and North Maredor. The "Last Great Crystal Empire" the ponies of the world remember it to be, when under the direction of an alicorn queen the crystal pony tribes reunified, reforming a great empire.
Though after Crystopolis was built, Lucifus, the dark lord of Maredor, received word that the crystal ponies encroached on her territory. Many of the details are long forgotten, but everypony knows the tale of how after Lucifus took Crystopolis Queen Spiritus, the first Alicorn Queen of the Crystal Empire, forged a second Crystal Heart, fought Lucifus, and used the magic of the Heart to banish Lucifus’ troops from the city. But after Spiritus’ death, the magic of the Crystal Heart grew weak, and Lucifus unleashed her wrath upon Crystopolis. The city was overwhelmed in the surprise attack. It was razed, as Maredorians troops flooded the city with their ranks slaughtering every stallion, mare, and foal in sight. The objective was clear: Exterminate all Crystal Ponies in the land of Maredor. Now with Lucifus’ tightened grasp on the region it was declared impossible to retake Crystopolis. The trade route of the Frozen North was abandoned, and all the war machines once used as a line of defense against Maredor left to wither and decay.
Smoke rose in the twilight at the base of a mountain where a large campsite had been set up. Crystal ponies worked around the site; soldiers sharpening blades, blacksmiths patching up armor, and nurse-ponies scrambling all over the medical center, outnumbered by the hundreds of wounded ponies.
The soldiers working the camp looked on indifferently as they saw only less than a hundred ponies arrive at the camp. As the organized company dispersed throughout the camp, Somber and Thistle-foot observed the environment.
Thistle-foot looked curiously at the soldiers simply working away. “That’s odd, they don’t seem too particularly relieved that we’re here.” Thistle-foot remarked.
Somber stroked his chin with his hoof, thinking. “That’s because they know that no matter how many units we throw at them, it won’t cut it. That might actually be good.”
“Good!? H-how on Earth could that be good!?” Thistle-foot stammered.
Somber put a hoof to his friend’s shoulder in excitement. “It means that the Maredorians might be winning because of strategy, not brute force. That means if we can counter their current strategy, we have a chance! Come on, let’s find the commander here, and see what we can do. I don’t think many of them have read at all on Cirran war strategy.”
“Ha! Brilliant! Come on, let’s go!” The two ponies ran through the camp, over to a large tent with the Crystal Empire flag waving above it. Somber opened the entryway with magic only to be greeted by the sound of swords being drawn and the sight of four elite guards along with the battalion commander wearing bulkier, gilded armor with three golden stars on each shoulder-piece.
“What the hell is a horn doing in this camp!?” yelled the commanding officer as he pulled out his sword from its sheath, the sword in his teeth reflecting the light from his orange coat. He eyed Somber’s armor curiously as Thistle-foot entered beside him. He put his sword back in his sheathe. “Stand down,” he said to his guards, and they complied. He slowly trotted up to Somber, eyeing him up and down. “Who are you? What’s your rank?”
Somber saluted with his hoof to his forehead, “Private Somber Night, sir!” He was afraid. This commander nearly mistook him for a Maredorian.
“Commander Halberd. At ease. Did you come with the latest shipment of troops? How was the journey? Speak freely.”
Halberd’s words seemed more cold and impatient than sympathetic or remorseful for distrusting the private, who was obviously completely new to war. Regardless, Somber took a deep breath and complied. “We aren’t too worn out, but we could be better. It was an eight-hours journey, with no breaks, sir.” The older pony stared down at Somber indifferently.
“Eight hours?”
“Eight hours.”
The orange stallion then walked out of the tent, and began climbing up the rock wall at the back of the camp behind the tent, onto a platform that jutted out of the edge, he cleared his throat. A pony below blew a flugle horn, and soldiers began to assemble before him.
“Soldiers of the crystal twenty-third battalion! Prepare your weapons. In one hour’s time, we will march into combat. We will hold this position, and push back the Maredorian lines. For Queen and Country!”
As one, the soldiers echoed Halberd’s proclamation, “For Queen and Country!”. Down below, Somber and Thistle-foot looked to each other in fear. Somber couldn’t fully wrap his head around it: he was going to war.
The sun continued its descent, disappearing behind jagged walls of ice. The mountains casting their shadows down upon the stallions.
Light, with the hope of the soldiers, faded.
