My Little Soldiers
Origins
Colonel Gregor McMullen stared into the sky as rain poured down. He would have to clean his armor again to ensure it didn’t rust. Another annoyance to deal with today, assuming he lived to see the night. The battle had been long and hard. His men had fought well, but without the power of Luna to support them it was only a matter of time. It was at dusk the previous evening that a white banner was raised high over the encampment, and now, at dawn, terms were to be established. So many things that went wrong, could have been different, had he only seen it coming. The hasty advance, Riley’s betrayal, William’s demands, and all the other things that contributed to the defeat they now faced.
Gregor shook his head. What-ifs and and could-have-beens would not help his people now. On his right Friar Alexander Shepplin prayed vigorously in Latin for mercy and safety for the people. To his left Captain Basill Farnir grunted unpleasantly.
“Damn pegasii. Even in victory they look to disgrace us further with foul weather.” He shifted uncomfortably in his own armor, finally resting when his plate mail didn’t pinch at his side.
“Put yourself at ease, Captain, they won the day fair and square, and don’t see this dismal rain as a disgrace. The heavens themselves weep at our defeat.” Gregor corrected, attempting to lighten the mood between them, despite the conditions that brought them there.
Farnir grunted again, “Then let the heavens clean and oil my armor to this near perfect shine!” The pair shared a chuckle at their own expense as the somber moment returned to them.
Sighing, Gregor spoke, “My dear friend, I’ll be satisfied if we even have our armor at the end of this day.” Silence permeated between the two, with only Shepplin’s prayers and the plunks of raindrops to keep them company. The pair had waited there since sunrise, standing in front of the tent that terms would be set in. The Colonel could feel the impatience start to eat at his second in command. He had heard that the ruler of the Solar Empire was responsible for rising the sun in the morning, and set in the evening. The truth of those rumors was to be debated, but Luna had said that it was fact. The power of such a being would rival God himself, and Gregor would admit, the proposition of meeting such a being after waring with it for several years unnerved him. He would be perfectly content to stand in the rain all day than go forward with this meeting, but he knew that these talks would be the the deciding factor for the fate of his people. The life of every human being in this strange land now laid firmly in his hands. Unfortunately, Captain Farnir didn’t quite appreciate the severity of the situation.
“How long is this damn horse-god bitch supposed t...” his slander was cut short by a bright light piercing through the rainclouds, basking the wet men in a bright warming sun. While a welcome change from the rain, the implications of the shadowed figure slowly advancing through the beam made Gregor a little panicked. For an entity to pierce the heavens in such a way proved just how bad these talks could turn for him. With such power, he could become soldering ash, or stripped of his own flesh, or any other countless horrible deaths. Shepplin apparently saw this as his prayers ceased.
The shadowed figure landed, and for a split second, it looked almost like Luna, but when the being stood at full height he saw the truth. Luna had told him that she had ruled alongside her sister before the rebellion, and the family resemblance was almost clear. If not for a polar opposite color scheme she could be an older version of the Night Princess. Despite her white fur and brightly colored mane, her eyes held a regal wisdom that came with her apparent millennium of existence. Gregor had never actually seen the monarch of the Solar Empire, not even the night Luna was banished to the moon, as he was on the front lines when the strike had occurred. Despite the fact she was a horse, Princess Celestia carried a regal bearing with her this day that would rival any king of France or England.
As the brightness of the light around her subsided, Gregor and Farnir stood tall, not hinting at their underling fear of standing in front of possibly the most powerful being on this plane of existence. Celestia approached Gregor, and he moved in kind, both leaving their guards behind. Once they were about five paces from each other Gregor stopped, and Celestia did in kind, a look of suspicion on her face. Gregor knelt down on a knee, unsheathing his sword in the process. This caused the royal guard to quickly move to shield their monarch from the apparent attack, but Celestia called them back with a wave of her wings. Gregor presented the hilt of his blade to Celestia and began the almost ritualistic speech.
“I, Colonel Gregor McMullen of the Lunar Republican Guard, hear by surrender myself and all those I command to Princess Celestia of the Solar Empire. I humbly ask for terms of surrender regarding the rights of the men under my charge. My life is hers to do with what she will.” Thankfully, the Princess seemed to pickup on what was happening, and in the same Regal and deafening tone Luna had spoken to them when she had first summoned humanity to this land responded.
“I, Princess Celestia of the Solar Empire of Equestria, Accept the surrender of the Lunar Republican Guard and their request for terms. You may keep your blade Colonel, I have no need of it.” Gregor blinked in confusion for the first few seconds, until It dawned on him that the Princess was not familiar with the traditions of “Home”. Standing, hiding his embarrassment at his display, Gregor sheathed his sword. Stepping aside, he gestured towards the tent, allowing the Horse God to walk toward it. As she approached Farnir, he and Shepplin turned and walked in front of her. Gregor cold see from the corner of his eye that one of the guards that had accompanied Celestia followed him, making a continuous look of hostility toward the Colonel. The tense group entered the tent one by one.
Colonel Gregor McMullen was not pleased with the sight he saw. Sitting at the center of the table was Duke William of Montferrat, smiling to himself over a cup of warm tea. Gregor had specifically asked the Duke to not be at the conditions meeting, and instead lead the care and policing among the people. At the time William said he would consider it, and Gregor should have known the bastard would just wave him off. Since before they came to this strange new world William had been trying for power in the army. He was a spoiled brat that believed his station and bloodline granted him authority over Gregor's men. Gregor had hoped to set the boy straight through their service together, but the royal training had set in to deep.
“William” Gregor began, already knowing the answer to his query, “What are you doing here? You were supposed to be organizing the guards for patrols.”
“Yes, well” William retorted in his high brow manner, “I have the guards well in order and since I am the only one here with any formal diplomatic training, I decided I would best serve here. After all such an important task of negotiating the fate of an entire people should not fall on the shoulders of a simple mercenary. It is not better for royalty to speak with royalty?” The second son of the Prince of France didn’t have a diplomatic bone in his sniveling little body, and everyone but him knew it. Diplomats would bow and treat him graciously for his father’s sake, but William was sent with the army in the first place in the hopes a stray arrow would pierce his neck. Still his influence granted him a small portion of the total surrendering force, and by technical right he could sit at the table for negotiations. Gregor cringed at where the direction of this might go if William opened his mouth too much.
“I’ll remind you again, William, that as Commander of the Lunar Republican Guard and all its forces it is my responsibility to head this meeting, but since your personal forces are surrendering too, you do have the right to sit among us.” Gregor sighed despite himself and those present, showing his displeasure at the unwanted addition. He turned to the princess-monarch “Please sit with us, your majesty” Celestia bowed her head in acknowledgment and sat at the far end of the prepared table. A pillow had been placed instead of a chair for her body structure. Gregor and his group sat on their end, while Celestia's guards took position standing next to her.
For a moment neither moved or spoke, until Gregor began "Princess Celestia, thank you for agreeing to this meeting. We have much to discuss. First I would like to introduce my comrades. To my left is Duke William of Montferrat, Commander of the Knights du Caviller. To my right is Captain Basill Farnir, my second in command in the Lunar Republican Guard and before that the Night Watch Mercenaries. I have served honorably with him for many years. Next is Friar Alexander Shepplin, our priest and religious consultant. We are all grateful for your generosity to your enemy." Gregor's fellows nodded in agreement, except William.
Princess Celestia responded in a similar regal voice as she did outside, but toned down the volume, "We thank you for the gracious greetings, Colonel. Allow me to introduce my council. To my left is my military adviser, General Hazel." The aged Unicorn nodded in acknowledgement, "To my right is the Captain of my royal guard, Captain Braveheart," the Pegasus guardsman seemed to stand a little taller when his leader named him off. "And behind me is my head military commander, General Hurricane, descended of the famed Commander Hurricane who helped found our country." The, another Pegasus stepped forward, revealing his scarred face.
"Yes" Gregor said " I have meet the good General before. At Phillydelphia." The disrespect in his tone was blatant, but that was the point. The princess had done nothing but defend her kingdom. General Hurricane had done so much worse. Recalling the siege sent a set of chills down Gregor's spine.When the city finally fell, Hurricane had made sure it was useless to the war effort. If the general had not escaped the battle, Gregor would have put him to the sword himself.
"I only did what had to be done." Hurricane defended. "You could not be allowed to use the city to your own machinations." The General seemed pleased with himself at his ability to get a rise out of their defeated adversary.
"I have seen the reports from the Battle of Phillydelphia," Celestia reminded “and we are not here to discuss the ethics of warfare, lest I remind everyone of the Manehattan incident?" Gregor flinched a little at the mention of that cursed incident. He then sat taller, steeling his gaze.
"That slaughter was conducted by a force not under my control, against my direct orders. The offending parties have been punished accordingly." He stated in a controlled voice. He neglected to mention that the leader of that force was sitting in that very room. He needed the monarch's mercy right now, and digging out old war wounds would not help his case. "Princess Celestia, I do not wish to discuss this dreadful matter that casts a pall on our negotiations, and I apologize for instigating it." Gregor heard William snort, but ignored it for the moment.
The princess nodded, "Yes, lets move on. Colonel, in order for me to determine what the terms are to be, I must ask as to who you are and where you are from. This meeting is the first I have heard of the Night Watch Mercenaries, or these Knights du Caviller. I thought you were all one force."
Gregor conceded to the horse-god. This was an explanation he had prepared for. "Your majesty, I come from a far away land where warfare is an almost constant companion. I was born between a Scottish noble and an Irish stable girl in Nottingham, England. There I learned to fight and act with nobility and civility." William gave another snort. "At the age of fourteen a change of power caused me to leave my homeland, and I found myself stolen upon a vessel bound for the Holy Land, a miserable patch of blood sodden sand that held great religious importance.The ride on the waves was long and treacherous, as England is quite a distance from the Holy Land.
Before my ship arrived, however, there was another shift of power, a mutiny. Rather than surrender our lives to a harsh and uncaring land that had long ago been given up, we formed a band mercenaries, fighting for the highest payer. It was possibly the most unique group of strangers I ever had the pleasure of meeting, from nations all across the lands. I fought hard for the next few years. We did everything from protecting travelers to assaulting bandit holdouts. Soon it wasn't about religion or money, it was about justice and peace. It was in the year of our Lord, 1453 AD that the great city of Constantinople came under siege by the Turkish army. We mobilized to help break the siege, but were stalled by one of our Captains. He called to a relative of his in France, who told the Lord of Montferrat , who then sent Duke William and a force of French Knights. They reinforced our numbers as we moved on to assault the Turkish ranks.
“It was at this point Princess Luna, as Nightmare Moon, summoned us from where we camped to these lands. After giving us the knowledge of your language with her magic, she offered us a deal. A partnership, if you excuse the term, that in exchange for our military services she would, as ruler of Equestria, grant us money, honor, families, and a land all our own. The other captains, full of fear at this new, strange world with magical equines that spoke with human tongue, did not approach her. I, however, seeing few alternatives that would keep my me alive, accepted on behalf of our group. She took a liking to me and proclaimed me head of the Army and Guard. I could scarcely believe my own eyes when I saw the forces we were pitted against, but after our first battle, and seeing the strength and courage of your army of ponies, I forced myself to become the best commander I could.”
“Clearly however, It was not enough” William interjected in an almost mocking tone, earning him a glare from all present. He didn’t seem to mind as he continued, “Just as I predicted. A scruffy mercenary with no real training in commanding troops could never be victorious on a field of battle with a true general. That is why I kept my knights separate from your uncivilized horde. The only reason I have surrendered with you is because you would surrender all our potential surfs with you.” Weather or not he realized his contradiction to his earlier statement did not pass through his expression.
“I see” Celestia stated, thankfully cutting off the Duke’s next line of insults, “So you were two separate entities all along. That simplifies things. We may begin the talks proper now. ”
“Thank you, your majesty” Gregor said with a slight nod. “First term is regarding the civilians who have recently been transported here with Princess Luna’s magic. As they had no say in whether they wanted to come here or not, essentially being kidnapped to serve our forces, I request amnesty from and war crimes or charges. They served no part in this war, and had no choice in how they came here.”
Celestia looked contemplative for a few moments, then decided, “I understand the plight of your people, and I can agree to this.”
“Thank you, your majesty. Next I wish to address my army as a whole. Many of the soldiers are still your people, ponies who fought bravely for what they believed was right. Their commanders, my men, issued the orders that caused the mayhem and destruction across your beautiful country. They had no say in the events that happened, nor did they fully understand what was at stake. My men and I will subject ourselves to your trials and judgment, but release those who are innocent in these matters.”
Celestia seemed to speak with General Hazel briefly before answering. “I can agree to this. Enough of my people’s blood has been spilled in the name of this pointless war. Are there any other requests?”
“No, your majesty. These two things address my entire people, but before we end these talks, may I ask what is to become of my men and I?” Gregor looked upon the monarch with trepidation. All his men had done something unethical during the war, such was the nature of warfare. His old commander used to tell him that the only rules of war are set by the one who wins it. That since war itself was wrong by its very nature, and such used in the defense of others, that any measures should be enacted to make the conflict as short as possible. But this was still dependent on victory, and they had lost. The victor now sat before him, and the law of war was hers.
“I shall decide that tomorrow, but for now they will be stripped of their weapons and be held in a secure camp. They will be tried for crimes against the people of Equestria and their individual fates decided.” Gregor involuntarily sighed in relief. He had feared she would simply execute them all for the war's horrors. He had no doubt that General Hurricane would, by the way he glared continuously across the table. “But that is for tomorrow, I do wish to know something Colonel, if you will.”
“Of course, your majesty. You’ve been so gracious to us, what can I tell you?”
“My sister... How was she? She was so angry with me before this war, and after I had to banish her... Please, just tell me, was she always so hateful? Angry?, Mad? Was she ever happy?” Gregor sat still for a moment, stunned at what she had said. If they had been in the “old world” such a thing would never happen. Royalty would have been to busy trying to attain power, or hold it, to really care about such things. That Celestia would ask such a thing said she was a pure, truly noble person. Gregor thought about his answer for a minute.
“Luna was... conflicted. Whenever we sat at the war table she seemed hesitant to decide on any course of action that would put her forces, her people, at risk. I would ask her what drove her to this rebellion, but she refused to answer. Away from the war, though, she was kind, gentle even.” Though he didn’t know it, Gregor began to get a far off look in his eyes. “When the war council was over and the rest of the men returned to their bunks to rest, she would show me the constellations, and we would sit and talk for hours about the sky, and stars, and the moon, anything that didn’t involve the war. We would walk by the lake as I told stories from my home world, she would laugh at my little jokes and comments and she would share her own experiences with me. Sometimes we wouldn’t talk at all. At those times she seemed happiest.”
Gregor’s soft smile that had crept on his face as he spoke faded to a sad frown. “Whenever she was brought back, though, a shadow seemed to pass over her. She slowly became colder, more violent, and less like the desperate princess that was fighting a losing war, and more like the monster of Nightmare Moon. As the war dragged on, she was like that more and more often. Our walks got shorter, and she spent more time plotting. Every loss seemed to drive her deeper into this state. My losses. By the end, she could hardly be recognizable.”
Gregor snapped back to reality when the plank he had been staring at suddenly became blotched from a water drop. He looked up to find the hole in the roof of the tent it had fallen from, and suddenly tasted a salty solution on the edge of his mouth. He looked to Captain Farnir and Friar Shepplin who stared back with sympathetic eyes. Gazing back across the table, the equine emissaries looked with a mix of surprise and shock. Only Celestia herself kept her regal bearing. Slowly Gregor’s hand raised to his face and felt the moistness just below his eye. He was crying. Crying for the Luna he lost.
The moment was shattered with a cackle from Gregor’s left. All heads turned to face the source, Duke William, who seemed to lose himself in the mirthful laughter. He soon regained enough control to speak between the laughs, “Oh this is to much. *Heh heh hegh* Our fearless leader *ha ha howa ah* fell in love with the horse!” He burst into another fit of laughter before finally settling down. “It’s understandable I suppose, after all she would be the only real nobility you could ever get in bed!”
Gregor stared down the Duke with hate and disdain before Farnir spoke for the first time. “Do ya not have any respect or decency, even in defeat!”
“My dear Captain,” William countered, “Whatever makes you think I’ve accepted defeat?” The guards in the corner of the room moved, and only now did Gregor notice that they bore shields belonging to William’s personal command. In fact, except for Farnir, none of the men in or around the tent belonged to Gregor’s Night Watch Mercenaries. The knights circled the table, each looking ready for a fight. This stunk of betrayal, and William had played them right into his trap. “I have set into motion a series of events that will assure us victory here and beyond!”
“What have you done, William!” Gregor demanded “Just what have you done!”
William’s face contorted into a sick smile, “I have done what you were to weak to do, you worthless peasant! I have assured victory for New France and her people! With me as king, I will lead the people to prosperity, and put these pitiful horses in their place!”
“Your mad!” Friar Shepplin cried as the guards seized him when he backed into one.
“The army will never follow you, William” Gregor sneered at him as he and Farnir were also held. The guards of Celestia seemed to be holding the guards on their side at a distance, but were soon becoming surrounded.
“Oh I think they will, after all, who else would lead them after Celestia so heinously betrayed our good faith when she attacked us at the terms of surrender meeting.” The God-like figure at the end of the table gasped at the insinuation of her betrayal of peace talks. “You and Farnir fought bravely against the assault, but ultimately you were overpowered, and I, alone, slew the evil pagan god and her followers” William drew his sword dramatically “and led a holy charge to burn the heathen encampment, as ordered by our own Friar Shepplin in his dying moments, not spared from the wrath of the treacherous horses.” William looked back upon his unwilling audience. “Makes for a nice inspirational speech, Eh?
“You vile filth!” Farnir spat, struggling against the french knight, “I should have left ye ta burn in Manehattan!”
“Ahh, Basill, how I’ll miss that vulgar mouth of yours.” He looked to the knights “Kill them all, and prepare to-”
“Colonel McMullen! Colonel! William’s men are assaulting the...” Lieutenant Raymond, a message boy that aided officers in battle, had just run into and brought the coup to a stand still. For a moment, nothing moved, as if waiting for this new addition to choose a side before continuing. Seizing this opportunity, Gregor struck first. He wrenched his arm free and landed a solid blow on the holding knight’s exposed throat. As the soldier fell back, Gregor drew his sword that he had been allowed to keep as Farnir followed suit.
Captain Braveheart also seemed to see his window and pushed against the knights encircling the princess. He was followed by his comrades as they fought back against the armored Frenchmen. The brawl continued as the knights began falling. They drew their blades and the clangs of metal against metal sounded within the tent. Finally it ended, Gregor and his men standing victorious with Celestia's guards.
Gregor searched the tent intently. "Where is he! Where is that treacherous bastard!" He cried.
General Hurricane jumped upon the table, ignoring the wound in his flank, "Perhaps we should ask you at your trial for such a cowardly assassination attempt!"
Farnir replied with a bellow, "We were attacked as well ya damn twit! I should gut you for-"
"This one still breaths!" Friar Shepplin cried over Farnir. He had seen to the wounded and now knelt over a bleeding Frenchman. The group gathered round him as Gregor started the interrogation.
"Why?" It was a simple question, one easily answered by the knight.
"William promised us a new kingdom, a new France, where we would live as kings. Honor, glory, women, lands, gold, food and drink a plenty. It was an offer to tempting to pass." The rebel knight struggled to speak as blood began to build in his mouth. He coughed it up before continuing, "William has discovered a way to assure his new world order. Our defeat last evening was premature, and he was forced to accelerate aspects of his plan."
"William knew we would be defeated? What is this plan!" Farnir demanded, nearly shaking the dieing warrior in frustration.
Despite Shepplin's urgings, the knight sat up and continued "He discovered the key to immortality."
"Impossible!"
"Blasphemous!"
"I'll gut the wretch before he gets the chance!"
"Its true, or he thinks so. He discovered an ancient legend about an artifact of terrible power called-"
"The Cosmos Tear." Surprisingly Celestia finished. All eyes moved to the Sun Princess. "It is a powerful arcane stone created by the magic that runs deep within the planet. I had believed it buried forever during the Discordian era."
The knight nodded and picked himself up again, "William had discovered its location after raiding the temple in Manehattan. He planed to use it to become the Eternal King of New France after the coup. With Nightmare Moon eliminated and Celestia killed at the peace talks, no power could oppose him."
Farnir furrowed his brow in anger, "So the snake planned it from the beginning!" The knight could only nod in shame.
"He knew the process of transporting a sustainable population here from the old world would put a great strain on Nightmare Moon's powers, so he bribed Lieutenant Riley to tell the Solar Empire what she had done, betting on their reaction being a major offensive." The ponies lowered their heads slightly, shamed to fall into the trap of such a man. "He convinced the war council that while Luna was weakened, we must seem strong, and declared a swift and devastating offensive. He had hoped that Celestia and Gregor would be killed or wounded in the ensuing battle, one predestined to fail from the beginning.
"Why would you tell us this? Why betray your master?" Shepplin asked the bleeding form in his arms.
The Frenchman spat. "He is no more my master than a leech is master of its host. I participated here out of my own cowardliness and greed. I feared deaths embrace at the hands of a man so monstrous. But to die by honorable men such as yourselves, I am satisfied. William no longer deserves his title or command. He has led us down a path of darkness, and I must atone for my sins. I shall not survive the night with these wounds. I must atone for Manehattan before I sit before God." The knight seemed to cough blood and tears at the same time.
Shepplin nodded " Very well, my son. Confess your sins to the Father, so you may rest in peace." The knight swallowed as all present listened to his tale. They sat in wrapped attention as this would be the most accurate account any had heard of the slaughter called the "Manehattan Incident".
"They were just animals... That’s what we were told. Just pitiful animals, ugly in the sight of God. But what happened next... What I heard. Their cries... They were not those of animals. They were of mothers crying for their children, fathers offering themselves in place of their families, and children who lamented, asking why their parents wouldn't move... Wouldn't hold them. Those were not the screams of animals! They were people!" the knight had worked up from teary eyes to wailing in Friar Shepplin's arms, holding close to the holy man, staining his cloak with blood.
"They were people just the same as I. That bastard killed them, murdered in cold blood. I... I killed them. I couldn't stop it. I knew it was wrong, but I was ordered! What was I to do? I don't know. He... He said we should eat them. To prolong our provisions. I didn't eat them Father. They were good people. I didn't..." The knight finished with a whimper as blood loss began to set in.
Friar Shepplin held the man close, stroking a hand through blood streaked hair "Its alright boy. You have repented. May God take you to the heavenly kingdom where you shall live in peace forever, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, amen." The knight struggled, but formed the sign of the cross, then his arm went limp. "But before you leave us lad, tell us where William has gone. We must stop him before his madness overtakes the land."
The knight weakly nodded, and whispered, "To the forest, the big one filled with danger. Within is a castle, untouched by time. There the Cosmos Stone resides. He has fled... To .... Ever...free...forest." The knight breathed his last. Silence permeated the room, between human and equine. The Frenchman had used every last bit of strength to perform one final act of good.
Gregor stood as Shepplin prayed over the man's body. He turned to Lieutenant Raymond, now slick with blood himself, and issued orders in a hushed, respectful tone. "Spread the word, William's knights are traitors and turn coats. They are to be arrested on sight. Gather my staff. We ride for Everfree." The boy acknowledged and ran out of the tent. Gregor then turned to Celestia and her group, who had patiently waited for an explanation. Hurricane appeared near boiling. "It would appear I must remove a pustule stain on my race's reputation. If you will excuse me."
General Hurricane jumped in Gregor's way as he left though, "Oh no you don't! We will handle this, your people have floundered quite enough today! I should have you all hanged!"
"General!" Celestia stepped between the two men, stopping the argument and threats.
Gregor bowed his head shame fully as he said, "William is my responsibility. I had hoped combat and war would allow him some humility and respect for experience, but I was wrong. He is still the same arrogant puissant that strode into my camp so long ago like he owned it already. I allowed him such leniency for his youth and foolishness, but now I must end this damn game... I must kill him before his foolish plans come to fruition."
Celestia nodded in agreement and turned to her officers. "General Hurricane, please see to the ponies in camp. Friar Shepplin, I believe you have some medical experience, yes?" Shepplin, who had finished his prayers nodded. "With the permission of Colonel McMullen, I would like you to aid the wounded. My people can only do so much with magic." Shepplin looked to Gregor, who in turn nodded. Shepplin's skills would not be needed in the fight to come. He and the General left. Celestia continued, "Colonel, I would like to join you in the fight to come." She saw his speculative stare, and quickly amended with "Please, he has done just as much damage to my people as yours, and you need a guide through the Everfree forest.”
Gregor considered this for a moment, then reminded himself that every moment he stood there, William got further away. He had to make chase soon, or the bastard’s plan would come to fruition. Finalizing it with a nod and a grunt, Gregor spun on Farnir, “Get me my steed.”
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Gregor rode hard on his horse, Julius. They had entered the infamous forest a little while ago, and were making decent time. Usually Gregor rode alongside an infantry column, which was in turn slowed by artillery, but now it was just him, his staff of five, and Celestia. He was supposed to have twelve men in his staff, but William's treachery ran deep. He had bribed three of the companies into defecting, and the rest had to remain behind to handle the skirmish.
The Sun Princess seemed surprisingly calm at the sight of humans using what to a common observer would have believed was part of her own kin as a riding and pack beast. She explained that in the beginning of the war, captured horses proved to be incapable of higher thought. At first they had thought it a curse by human priests, but as time went on, it became apparent that they were a completely separate species, like apes to humans.
This in turn surprised Gregor, as the ponies of Equestria once again proved that their understanding of the world was much more open than humans, who probably would have killed the poor beast in an exorcism had the roles been reversed. Celestia signaled them with a wave of her wing, and they slowed to a stop.
They had arrived at a darkened castle perched on a plateau opposite a large canyon, with a rickety wood rope bridge connecting the two sides. Standing at the end of the bridge was a French knight in gleaming armor. Gregor recognized the emblem of Sir Hadris, William’s finest knight. He had fought gallantly in the war and, despite being one of William’s men, earning many awards and honors. He had clearly been left to guard William’s entrance. Dismounting from his steed, Farinr stepped across the bridge, stopping within speaking distance of the man.
“Stand aside Hadris. I do not wish to kill you, but I shall if I must! We must stop your twisted master’s scheme.” Farnir shouted. Sir Hadris did not move.
“Captain Farnir, long have I admired your prowess in combat. Perhaps we could have been friends if we had not been brought to this world, but now we must fight for our allegiances.” Hadris called back, his voice distorted by the helmet he wore.
Farnir pleaded “Please Hadris, if not for me, then do it for all that is right, do it for your immortal soul! Do not let your master’s sin drag you to hell as well!”
Sir Hadris chuckled “My soul is in no danger, nay it is yours I fear for. The Lord God has put us here for a purpose, and that is to expand the reach of his people to this far off world. We must control this domain, for it is God’s will. William’s power will assure us victory in this endeavor. Join us, Basill, and make history, fulfill our destiny and take these lands and its people!”
Farnir recoiled in shock, “How can you say that after all those ponies you fought beside, all the ones who saved you? How can you really believe that hogs wash?”
Hadris shook his head, “Farnir, Farnir. It is my experience with them on the battlefield that leads me to this conclusion. Such weak, pathetic creatures, these ponies are. They are worthless as fighters, unfit to wield sword and bow against another. Once under our thumb, they will be returned to their rightful place, on the farms and the sky. It is the natural order, my friend. The weak must serve the strong, as it was in the old world, and is now.”
“So you have truly given in to this madness.” Farnir looked to his former friend, “Then so be it. We will stop you and your treacherous ways, Hadris. By my word, William will fall.” The two men drew their blades and faced each other, and their dual began.
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Captain Raymond shivered. The rain had returned after the traitors were pushed from the pony camp. Now he stood next to General Hurricane and what little of the original officers remained. William’s betrayal ran deeper than he could have imagined. Half the officer corps had defected to William’s forces, and a quarter more, the most loyal of the commanders, were killed as they slept that morning. That left a meager force of two hundred swordsmen, one hundred fifty spear men, fifty archers, and the five hundred pony auxiliaries against the rebel army of near twice that number. Worse still was the fact that he was the highest ranking officer left after the Colonel’s staff chased after William. Now Raymond, field promoted to Captain, commanded the entire army of the New Lunar Republic. The weight threatened to crush him.
He inhaled deeply, attempting to calm his frazzled nerves. The army stood now in a field, lined opposite to the rebel forces. Both sides awaited the final organization of their forces so they could move. Raymond spared a glance at General Hurricane, who was speaking to a Pegasus aid. The aid quickly departed, off to relay the final orders of the plan they had come up with. It was a long shot, and sacrificed too many men for Raymond's taste, but Hurricane was willing destroy his entire army for victory. What he might do if they lost was unthinkable. Raymond could not let Phillydelphia happen again.
Raymond stilled his mind and prepared his speech for the troops, as was customary. When the sounds of the cannons rolling into position reached him, he stepped in front of his men, earning a questioning eye from Hurricane, but nothing more. Raymond was surprised at the total silence that surrounded him as he stood before the army. No rattling of armor, or nervous murmurs came from the crowd. He did see, though, as he looked into the faces of every man, stallion, and mare, a deep fear. The same fear that threatened to overtake him. He silently gulped, hoping for a strong voice to come from his throat.
The Battle Speech had been a custom passed down since the inception of the Night Watch. It was meant to inspire the troops for the bloodshed, and remind them why they fight. Now he had a force, out numbered and scared, and he had to instill them with courage, real or false, so that they would stand and fight the threat poised against them.
Raymond removed his helmet, and let the men before him look upon his own youthful face before bellowing so all could hear him in a surprisingly heroic tone, “As any honest Englishman would be able to tell you, one can never trust a Frenchman to fight with honor!” This managed to get a few chuckles from some of the humans in the ranks, but most still looked on.
“Duke William of Montferrat has shown his true colors, and now, through trickery and deception, attempts to steal from us the very glory and honor we have fought and died for these long years to attain!” Raymond could see the troops respond to that, among human and equine alike. He could feel some courage flowing into him as well.
“Those rebellious knaves over there are not fit to breathe the same air as we, brave and honest warriors. They shall all die by the moon’s rise, and a sword is a merciful end for them, as they should face the gallows!” A climbing roar sounded from the mass before him, and their will brought up his own spirit to a battle rush.
“Those pig faced bastards would see all of us, and our peoples, man and pony alike, serving them in their keeps and towers as they rule over lands stolen and pillaged from our families! So remember this as the wolves pass down on you today, we no longer fight for the Lunar Republic or the Solar Empire, but we, gathered here under a banner of fellowship, FIGHT FOR FREEDOM! FOR EQUESTRIA!”
Raymond cried out his last words with a fervor foreign to him. The men were responding in kind. With an approving nod from Hurricane, he spun on his foot and waved his arm forward, signaling his slowly calming troops to march. The pike men advanced first, as usual, as a defensive wall against charges, with some pony light infantry to help take down french men that try to break through. behind them stood the archers of both races, preparing to pummel the enemy light infantry with arrows before retreating from the inevitable melee. then the heavier infantry with Raymond backed them up to smash the enemy once the archer’s work was done. Behind the entire formation though, were the gigantic bombard cannons, who’s commanders had remained loyal to their equine brothers.
The cannons themselves were of Turkish make, having been captured in a raid before the migration. Though used for breaking down walls in the old world, this new world had very few walls to use them against. They proved to be of great use instilling fear in the enemy, though, and when they did manage to hit, a single round could take down a whole rank of foes. Raymond held a good deal of respect for the cannon men, their weapons required them to be ahead of the formation, firing large rocks at a continuously advancing wall of enemies, rarely ever striking them. He stood with them briefly in one battle while carrying orders. The sight that of an enemy horde marching upon him sent chills down his spine.
The cannons moved to the front to the formation as the rest of the army stopped. The French lines had already began moving forward. The cannon men began loading the smooth stones into the cannons. For the next hour cannon fire pounded the french side of the field. Very few hit anything, but Raymond did manage to catch the sight of a rock striking down a line of armored knights, blood spewing from the cracks in their armor. That would defiantly help in the battle ahead. The French were not slowed by this assault, though, and their march continued.When the first volley of arrows struck, they were chaotic and spread out. One cannon worker was struck down in the rain of pointed tips, but that was the cannon's sign to pull back, and the archers to move forward.
And they did just that. The cannon men pulled back for the far more numerous and spread out archers, who immediately began firing off death at the light infantry in the enemy formations. Their arrows would be of little use against the armor of the knights, but with the light infantry destroyed, the French's heavies would be all by themselves against the allied swordsmen. The torrent of arrows began as both sides traded attacks on the flat plane. French archers aiming for the allied archers, and the allied archers decimating the light melee troops of the French.
When the rebel troops finally reached fifty yards from the archers, the allied bowmen pulled back and the pikemen and spearmen advanced in a phalanx formation, their weapons making a wall of points for the enemy to skewer themselves on. The remains of the rebel light infantry charged first, hoping to use their unarmored, more nimble bodies to evade the points that made up the wall, or break the spears as they collapsed upon them so the heavy knights and swordsmen cold smash the line, unhindered. This might have worked, if not for the incredibly strong, magically endowed shafts that supported the wall.
Body after body filled the small space between the spear heads. The men actually began to back up, trying to remove the disemboweled corpses that covered the pikes. When it became obvious that they could not break or weaken the lines, the light fighters retreated back to the rebel lines. The archers of both sides had run out of arrows, allowing them to fall back to the rear. The apprehension Raymond had felt about the battle disappeared as his pikemen advanced across the field. Now they would attack the enemy, driving them to death or surrender.
Something seemed wrong, however. There should have been more men in the enemy ranks to sacrifice to a charge. Where had the defected troops gone? Lieutenants Justin and Hanson both had an excess of three hundred men when they turned, so where could they have gone? Captain Calipar had a force of armored knights five hundred strong. There were not enough archers either. Two hundred bowmen had supposedly joined the french, but their were not even half that number among their ranks. The situation smelled of a trap. Turning to General Hurricane, he seemed to believe it as well, if his face was any indicator.
"Have your scouts spotted any sign of our lost enemy?" Raymond inquired nervously to the armored Pegasus.
"No" Hurricane replied, "They haven't been seen on this battlefield, but I have my Pegasus looking everywhere. We want no surprises." Just as he finished his statement, a rainbow maned pony flew in front of them. It was a blue mare wearing similar colored armor as Hurricane. She saluted and quickly spoke.
"Sirs! We've found the missing enemy force!"
"Well wear is it?" Hurricane spoke to his subordinate in a harsh tone of impatience. The mare seemed to not care as she continued.
"They are guarding the camp that was built by the refugees sir! We got close enough for contact, but then they threw a rock at me!"
"They're probably a garrison force" Raymond stated, "To hold the people and keep the new surfs from going anywhere. We'll have to deal with them later."
"Umm, I don't know sir... I mean they weren't doing anything to the people, they were just standing around outside the camp, and they started yelling that they weren't rebels or something when I got close. They didn't even shoot their arrows at me." This stunned Raymond for a moment as his mind went whirring at what was said could mean, and Hurricane took the opportunity to berate the Pegasus.
"How dare you question a superior officer?! I should demote you right now, on the field of battle and-"
"-Soldier! You.. What was it?" Raymond interrupted the General with a new vigor.
"Color Blur Sir!" the mare replied, grateful to be spared from her commander's wrath.
"Blur, then, you say they claimed to not be rebels?" Raymond asked.
"Yes sir, but I couldn't make out the rest, I was to far away, and didn't want to get any closer when they threw that rock."
"Insubordinate and a coward! I'll see you discharged from my army yet!" Hurricane bellowed, only for his next tirade to be cut off by yet another Pegasus who landed with great haste.
"Sirs! Enemy cavalry is forming up on our flank! They were hidden within the forest!"
Hurricane recoiled in shock as Raymond cried out "What? But that could only mean they will-" he was interrupted by the sound of heavy hoof beats, too heavy for any pony. From their elevated position, they could see a horde of massive war horses charging toward the flank of the pikemen. The phalanx was already heavily engaged against the enemy in front of them. A classic Alexandrian tactic.
He had to act fast, he was already losing men at an alarming rate. Hurricane stood stoically, watching the humans kill each other with an expression that bordered on bemusement. Raymond turned to the newest Pegasus and issued his orders, "Go tell the swordsmen to charge into those knights, we must save those men! Quickly now!" The gold armored pony flew off at a high speed, and Raymond took a parchment from the nearby table that the battle plans had been drawn on. He scribbled down some notes, rolled up the parchment, and presented it to Blur. "Take this back to the refugee camp. Look for a man named Calipar. Then return here with whatever message he gives you as fast as you can."
"As fast as I can?" Color Blur seemed to look up in hope and anticipation.
"As fast as those wings can carry you." Blur mock saluted and flew off in a dash that proved her namesake. Now that they were alone, Hurricane spoke up.
"So, exactly when did you get the authority to give orders to my troops?" he asked in his angry tone.
"When my men started getting killed and you thought it was funny." Raymond didn't bother to look at him.
Hurricane seemed to accept this before turning. "I'll go check on the forces for the plan." and with that he flew off. Raymond stood still for a few moments before, sure that he was alone at the table, drew his dagger and slammed the point into the old wood.
Damn that Hurricane! Damn him! He obviously still held a grudge for the war, despite their now united front. A cursory glance over the battle map before him divined the truth of Hurricane's intentions. With a sense of horror, Raymond realized Hurricane's Imperial forces could arrive at any time he pleased and still win, so he would let the humans all kill each other so he could stand victor over both the rebellion and the French. He would just sit and wait. That bastard.
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The sound of swords clanging together echoed in the wide hall. Ten men fought with vigor against one another. Gregor and his most trusted men faced William's elite guard. They had lost Farnir on the bridge, when Hadris cut the ropes, plunging himself and Farnir into the chasm. With no time to mourn, Celestia was forced to teleport the entire group to the castle, leaving her drained. They had continued downward into the bowels of the structure until they came into a large, dank chamber with a pedestal holding a stone in the center. It was here they finally faced William. With a mighty clash the forces met and dueled. While William's knights were powerful, Gregor's men had experience and speed. Each of them had their own elements with which they fought.
Bjorr wielded his claymore with strength and skill, as if it were a long sword, landing heavy blows upon the enemy, slowly crushing them under his weight. An honorable man of the north, Bjorr and Gregor joined together when their two mercenary bands were hired to defend a little village in the desert. The horde coming for the village was easily twice their number, but Bjorr stood firm, saying that a man's word is his bond and honor. The man hated the use of dirty tricks and back-handed techniques to win fights, but did understand their use in warfare. He smashed the french knight down until the blade finally split the enemy's helmet, blood spurting out of the crevice.
Dominik dashed to and fro landing blow after blow upon his heavily armored adversary with his daggers. The Venetian man was once an assassin who had been assigned to kill Gregor by infiltrating his ranks. Though skilled, the assassin had not trained himself to avoid befriending his target. When the time came to land the final blow, he found he could not bring himself to kill Gregor, instead he cancelled his contract and joined the mercenaries officially. Dominik, while not as strong as his adversary, was much quicker, landing light blows to eventually force the Frenchman to reveal a gap in the impressive armor. Once that gap was there, he struck out, sinking his blade deep into the soft flesh of the French knight. Shock struck the man, and he fell without a groan.
Milo, a Slav from Poland, moved about his knight, examining the armor. He was a blacksmith by trade, and was trained to wield a blade once within the ranks of the Night Watch Mercenaries. He was in charge of armor and weapons maintenance, and knew many armor styles by heart. Milo was peckish about the finer details of steel, but always helped when a soldier was in need. He could often be seen going into battle with parts of his armor missing, having gave them to soldiers in who's armor was too damaged to fight in. He was lean and fit, if not mildly sickly at times, from the amount of food he would pass up, favoring to give his extra rations to the men. Milo waited for his opportunity, then struck out, cutting at the leather straps holding the armor in place. As the plate of steel fell, Milo stabed deep into the heart of the knight, killing him instantly.
Arthur hid behind his tower shield, waiting patiently. The man was a Celt from Ireland, and the closest thing to a doctor the army had next to Friar Shepplin. The boy had trained in a monastery before he left the lay life in favor of more scientific endeavors. He studied medicine under a doctor for a number of years, but had difficulty catching on. Eventually he retained enough knowledge to practice on his own, and found his way into the Night Watch. His caring demeanor soothed his patients and he became a favored officer of the men. Due to his lack of training with swords, Arthur favored the shield. He would hide until his opponent became tired or clumsy, then would lash out with his short sword. That is exactly what happened, as the exhausted Frenchman lowered his guard too soon, allowing Arthur to sink his blade into his chest.
Pascual excitedly jumped about his adversary. The Spaniard wore the least amount of armor of them all, and acted more like a jester than a soldier. He understood the importance of troop morale, and took it to another level. His history before the Night Watch was a mystery to all, including Gregor. The man had simply shown up to battle one day, announced his loyalty to the Night Watch, and carved into the battle himself. He had proven his worth, and kept the men amused, so he was brought along. He was not always a fool, though, often passing on lessons he learned among the men in good humor, and devoutly loyal to Gregor as a trusted friend. Now the man danced around his opponent, allowing the knight to step wide, where the jester sunk his blades into the man's back.
Gregor himself fought William. The French Lord had used his men as shields as he sprinted for the Cosmos Tear. Gregor threw away his shield for the sake of speed and chased him down. The sparks from their weapons illuminated the dark room. Celestia, drained from her magic spells, looked on with fear at how easily the humans took each others lives. She had seen the reports from the field and the wounded in the hospitals, but to see the horrors of battle up close sent cold trickles down her spine. After watching the French knights fall, Celestia held a secret hope that William would surrender, that he wouldn't have to die. She hoped they could just stop this bloodshed here and end this madness. This did not come to be.
With every strike, Gregor's blood rose. memories of the war and William's part in all his miseries came to the surface of his mind. Each strike grew harder and harder until Gregor swung his blade with might, knocking William's aside. With no other viable means of attack, Gregor used his momentum to crash into William, knocking them both to the ground. Gregor sat on the Frenchman's chest, bludgeoning his face with gauntlet clad fists. As the blows landed cries could be heard, but they were not William's.
"You bastard!" Gregor yelled, venting his rage upon the lord, "You horrid, immoral, self centered BASTARD! You took my friends! You took my army! You took my LOVE! You took them all, just so you could have your precious kingdom! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Gregor's staff watched from a distance with somber expressions. Even Pascual remained silent and respectful as their friend and leader bled his heart out. "Your prideful talk, your self serving plots, your disregard for human decency! I hate them all! I hate you! I HATE YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" Gregor pulled his gauntlets back for a final blow, only to be stopped when the dagger entered his abdomen. Blood spilled over the armor below the wound as Gregor looked down. William had stabbed him with the ceremonial dagger on his leg.
The French Lord lifted himself up to Gregor's face, still holding firm on the blade. "You call me a bastard" He whispered to the Colonel, who sat in shock, "But your the one born of an Irish whore!" William twisted the blade, snapping off the handle. He snarled at the now useless weapon and threw off Gregor, crawling toward the pedestal. Gregor made a weak attempt to follow, but lacked the speed to catch William with the blade now stuck in his abdomen. William made it to the Cosmos Tear and slowly heaved himself off the ground. Gregor had done more damage than he thought.
Celestia was in tears watching this display. She had no more options now. She heard Arthur cry out what to do. They were to far to stop William or help Gregor. She stepped forward, resolved. "I must use the Elements of Harmony to stop this chaos." She summoned the Elements, the small orbs of various colors that banished her own sister to the moon. She powered the spell, channeling her magic through the Elements, but nothing happened. She collapsed, exhausted. "I can not. To much magic, to quickly. I am drained." She was surprised to find herself surrounded by Gregor's friends, looking at her with hope in their eyes.
"We can not give up!" said Bjorr, picking up an Element.
"Gregor is counting on us" Dominik hissed, picking up another.
"William can not win, not after all of this!" Milo said with vigor, already holding his own Element.
"We must save our peoples!" Arthur strongly stated, hefting his Element in one hand.
"Yes, the world would be far too dull and lifeless with that snooty winkle stinker in charge!" Pascual wailed, spinning his element on one finger.
To Celestia's surprise, she saw the Elements of Harmony resonate in the hands of the humans. Their power, while not real magic, seemed to fuel the Elements just a well. The sight gave her courage and hope. The spark of determination that filled the eyes of the humans infected the Sun Princess. She stood, and smiled to the friends gathered, levitated her own Element and began the spell again.
"Please," She urged, "friends gathered here, lend me your power, put your will into the Elements of Harmony, and cast it to me! This ends here!"
William, now fully standing, could see this from where he was and laughed. "Your to late! The Cosmos Tear is mine! I will have the power I deserve!" He reached over to the stone on the pedestal, only to feel extra weight on his feet. He looked down. Colonel Gregor McMullen had managed to crawl to William, despite his wound and blood loss, and now held him in place with a firm grip. Shaking his legs, William cried out, "You worthless little PEASANT! WHY! WONT! YOU! JUST! DIE!" William managed to get one leg free, and began stomping on Gregor, trying to get free.
Celestia's spell, now charged, cast out a rainbow lighted burst of power. William managed to get free, only to see the light wash over him. He could feel a cool stillness overcome him, starting at his foot and working up his leg. He had to move fast. He spun around as the feeling reached his chest. With a final burst of effort, William stretched his arm out. It was within his grasp! The Cosmos Tear! With it he could undo this all, and finally have the Kingdom that was denied to him by his half-wit brother! It was his! These were the last thoughts that passed through William's mind as his head became encased in stone.
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Hurricane was gone. Where to? Who in hell cared. The enemy was almost overwhelming the defenders. The battle was lost. Retreat was the only option, but to where? Raymond swung his sword with rage as the situation sunk in. Blur had not returned, and the promised reinforcements were nowhere in sight. Wave after wave of enemies washed over the line, and for their credit, the defenders held. They had assumed a pseudo-phalanx formation, the rebel forces would crash against the human's shields while ponies of all races stabbed and slashed at their legs and abdomen. Archers and light infantry picked up what they could to join the fight. Soon the line would have to fall back just to escape the mounds of bodies, human and pony alike. In his short life, Raymond could never have imagined a battle like this. His only consolation was that he would die in glorious combat fighting for justice and peace, bringing honor to his family, weather they knew it or not.
Suddenly there was a burst of sound and a gush of wind strong enough to stagger the entire line. Raymond looked up and saw a sight that would be embedded in his mind until his death. A wide spread arc of rainbow light leaped across the sky. From behind it, Raymond could see a stream of colors following a Pegasus. It was Blur! The pony swerved and started to come towards him. From the right flank he heard a roar. Chanting! In Celtic! Calipar had come through! Raymond had to turn to his left to observe the source of a new uproar. Hurricane's reinforcements! They had arrived as well! The two new groups began a charge at the still stunned rebel troops. Realizing an opportunity, Raymond summoned his now-hoarse voice again.
"Come on you brigands! Your going to let them take all the Glory! Once more, into the Breach! CHARGE!" The response was a tired but motivated roar as the line once more pushed into the ranks of the rebels. Now over their stun from the boom, the enemy line fell back upon itself, trying vainly to defend its flanks from the new forces. The smash was demoralizing, and many French units routed from the field, to try to regroup farther behind the battle. They were quickly killed or captured by overhead Pegasus. Blur finally landed, stretching her wings from the long flight.
"Sir!" She said, saluting in a human fashion, "I managed to get to Captain Calipar with the message after having to prove I wasn't there to spy or anything."
"None to soon, Blur." Raymond replied "I was beginning to think we had been abandoned. Amazing trick with that... whatever it was."
The pony blushed at the complement. "I was just doing what you said sir. I flew as fast as I could. What happened to General Hurricane, sir?" Blur asked. Silence only answered her until a new voice came to the group.
"General Hurricane has been relived of command." The pair turned to see a gold armored Pegasus with a Captain's emblem proudly polished on his chest plate. It was Captain Braveheart, of the Royal Guard. "He refused to aid an ally in need, going against his own plan and the Princess' orders. He brought shame upon himself, the army, and Equestria. I took control of the Army from there, and came to reinforce the front." He took a look at the grounds that surrounded them, covered in dead. "Although much damage seems to have been done."
Raymond sighed in agreement, "Yes, but had you delayed any longer, I fear that there may have been no forces to reinforce left." A man on horseback rode up to the group and raised his visor, revealing the grievous face of Captain Calipar. "A timely charge, Captain" Raymond saluted, complementing a man who was by rank, his superior. The man had been a part of the Night Watch longer than him, and thus had seniority in the Lunar Guard.
"Yes, yes, my friend,"The man replied, "however, I hope you did not lie in the message you sent. We are not a part of these rebels and their plots, we only wished to protect our new people."
Raymond faked astonishment in jest, "Of course, sir, I would never condemn a man for wanting to protect his family. As acting Commanding Officer, I welcome you back to the Lunar Republican Guard. Would you like to take over from here, sir?" Raymond secretly wished he would say yes. The day had been long and stressful, and he would severely like to find a nice, quiet spot to crawl up and sleep. Sadly, he would not get his wish.
"No, sir, I believe you have done an exemplary job commanding the Army considering the conditions. And if I'm right, as Commanding Officer, you outrank me, am I right?" Calipar had a respectful smile on his face while staring down at Raymond, covered in blood and mud. He looked the part of a real soldier, unlike the unit commanders from the "Old World", who would avoid the dirty business as much as possible.
Raymond himself seemed astonished at the apparent promotion. "B-but I'm just acting commander! You have years more experience than me and-"
"And I could never have done as well as you have today. You held your ground in the face of impossible odds. Where most commanders would have fled, you stood fast. You held the ground for justice, honor, and to protect the innocent. General Raymond Danzel, I would follow you into hell itself. Congratulations."
Raymond swooned. General! Now he knew he needed a nap. Could a Captain even do that? Regardless, this was big. The sounds of battle were far away now. He looked around him. The blood soaked fields seemed to take on a new meaning. Captain Braveheart looked on with respect, and Color Blur almost shied away from the newly promoted officer. All these dead, all the still dying, and the wounded. They were his responsibility. His soldiers. Not just the Republic's, or Colonel Gregor's. His. And they needed him.
"Well Gentlemen, and Lady," The new General nodded to Blur in recognition, "We still have a battle to fight, and the sooner we end it, the sooner we can clean up this mess, and get our boys some rest." Hefting his sword up, Raymond ran off towards the dwindling clash, followed quickly by his comrades. The past day and one half had seemed to be nothing but fighting, and now he intended to end it.
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Celestia and Gregor's staff walked out of the Everfree Forest and stood aghast at the field of battle. Bodies laid everywhere, some in respectful lines, others in large piles. Man and Pony alike were laid out. In the distance, they could see aid tents set up with soldiers running to and fro. They could see more soldiers in the distance digging graves, and others still pulling bodies in, some crying and flailing, but most still and silent. The sight made Celestia disquieted. She had visited the battlefield before, but it had always seemed more... controlled, less morbid. Undoubtedly commanders had ordered the bodies buried or hidden for her arrivals. Why show your ruler the cost of war when it could cause her to rethink it's worth?
They made their way to the tent village that had sprung up. They were surprised to see women and children running about, delivering supplies and helping where they could. The refugees had been called upon to help with the effort. After inquiring about the person in charge, they were directed to a large tent with a shouting man in it. They were able to hear him as they worked their way through the medics.
"For the Lords sake, would you stop fussing over me! I am fine! Nothing more than a few scratches! Go help the new fellows coming in! The ones missing arms and legs, dammit!" As the doctors and medics parted, both by order and awe at the new additions in the tent, the shape of Raymond Danzel, covered in bandages and wraps, looked upon them. He seemed to consider what to say to the near speechless group, then settled.
"It's about time."
"What happened here?" Celestia asked, shaken from her stupor.
"What happened?" Raymond looked incredulously, "A God Damn War! Thats what happened! Swords swinging! Arrows flying! Death around every inch of the field! Were not so brutal it would be glorious!" He exclaimed, waving his arms as he spoke.
Bjorr looked to a passing medic, "What is wrong with him?" Instead of the medic, another voice answered the question in an adjacent bed.
"They gave the good General some alcohol to numb the pain, and it appears he got a bit to much." The unarmored body of Captain Braveheart was wrapped up and stitched in various places. Celestia looked over to her guardsman. His movements seemed sluggish and his eyes had a fog of intoxication about him.
"Seems he is not the only one." She said, making Braveheart look away in embarrassment.
"And since when are you a General?" Dominik asked Raymond with crossed arms. As the Lieutenant-turned-General began his story, Celestia and Braveheart began their own conversation.
"Where is General Hurricane? Shouldn't he be leading this effort?" She inquired. Braveheart looked down in almost disgust at the General's name.
"The General is either digging some graves or at his trial."
"Trial?" Celestia cocked her head in confusion. "Why is he on trial?"
Braveheart looked as if he wanted to avoid the answer entirely as he spoke, "Insubordination, Dereliction of Duty, and Conduct Disgraceful to an Officer..." He noticed his princess' confused expression. "He abandoned them ma'am. He said that we could let them all destroy each other and save 'True Equestrian's' lives. We had a plan. A good one. And he just let them go. I couldn't let it happen. I had to do something. My honor as an officer and a soldier demanded it. I gathered my men, and placed him under arrest. Our forces arrived just in time to avoid a complete massacre. We should have moved sooner though. The enemy was only at two-thirds strength than we thought, but Hurricane had withdrawn the air patrols. Said he didn't want one of his Pegasus to get hit with a stray arrow. We could have saved so many. Saves so many." Braveheart grew silent as his gaze drifted out of the tent. Celestia knew he was looking at the piles of bodies.
At this point Raymond had finished his exciting story, with the Staff looking at him with approval. He asked the inevitable question, "So where is Colonel McMullen? Did he give that French charlatan a good thrashing?" His only answer was a somber silence. He looked to each one of them before realization set in. "No... He didn't. He couldn't... but... he's the Colonel. He can't die." Dominik placed a wrapped shield in the General's lap.
"Frozen in living stone" Milo said sorrowfully.
"He was caught in the blast when we petrified William. Held the bastard still for us." Bjorr mumbled.
"But you can fix him, right? Just hit him with those Elements or something?" Raymond asked hopefully, clutching to the sides of the shield.
Celestia shook her head. "The Elements reacted badly with the human spirit. They encased themselves in stone and even I couldn't trigger them."
"He would have died from his injuries anyway. William stuck him good with a knife, broke it off in there. If the bleeding didn't kill him, infection would." Arthur quietly added while Raymond kept looking on in space.
Slowly the General laid back down on the bed and just stared at the ceiling, holding the shield to his chest. The five left to see what they could help with around camp, while Celestia remained with the now physically and emotionally scarred man. He was quiet for a while as she and Braveheart remained respectfully silent. He surprised them both when he finally spoke softer than he had all day, "He believed in me you know. Always supported me. I felt like a favorite. The Colonel was like a father to me. Trained me. Raised me. He wanted big things for me. Well, he got it." Tears began to well in his eyes. "He was an inspiration. My rock. Always there. Now he's... he's... gone. He would have been so proud." His next words were garbled by an open sob. He finally started to regain composure as Celestia and Braveheart comforted him.
"In the brief time I knew him, your Colonel was one of the bravest, most honorable men I've known in my life, and I've lived for millenniums. He gave his life in the act of stopping the greatest evil that had ever crossed Equestria." Celestia whispered to Raymond.
"Anypony that created a soldier such as you could never be bad in my books." Braveheart offered. It was strange, really. Two days ago he would have killed this man in a heartbeat and never looked back, now he was consoling him for his lost father figure. How quickly war changes things.
Raymond stifled another sob and spoke, "That's how he would have wanted to die. Saving people. It was his mission after all. You'd think he was told by God or something, the way he would go on about it, but he would always say, 'There is no greater gift a person can give to his fellow man than his own life in place of their's'. He would say that we fought so others wouldn't have to. That's just how he was. He held us together. Gave us a chance for peace. I just hope his sacrifice will not be squandered."
The day passed slowly in the tent, many wounded came in and out of the flap that served as a door. Most of them didn't make it. Celestia announced she had to leave to raise the moon, and Raymond respectfully asked to watch her, being curious on how the act was supposedly done. Celestia agreed and, with Braveheart's assistance, he made his way outside, freeing up the much needed bed. As he stepped out of the tent, however, he immediately regretted it. Despite all the digging that day, the bodies were still piled up. In the distance they could hear Shepplin's prayers for the dead. Whatever alcohol was left in his system drained out at the sight. His mind wracked with strategies and tactics that could have averted this massacre, all the people. All the ponies. All of them, soldiers under his command. And now they were being put into unmarked graves. On the crest of an adjacent hill, he could make out the silhouettes of prisoners and soldiers still digging holes. Doctors no longer moved rapidly from place to place. All the wounded had been dealt with. Only the dead remained.
Braveheart shook him from his stupor, and guided him to a good spot to watch the Sun Princess' magic. Celestia sat peacefully on a barren hill, looking up into the sky. If one looked close enough, they would have seen a tear slide down her cheek as she recalled the spell her once loving sister had performed for so long before this madness consumed her. Celestia's horn glowed softly as the sun, which had already sat on the edge of the sky, slowly drifted downward. On the opposite side of the open sky, a solid moon rose with the dark equine imprint staining an otherwise pristine white surface. The moon began it's cycle in the sky and Celestia powered down her magic. The ground now had a new eerie look about it. It was dark, and hard to make out the features of the dead. At a distance, one may have mistaken the mounds as displaced earth. Lanterns were lit, however, and the work continued.
Celestia returned to Raymond and Braveheart, who both noticed her wet face, and understood her lament. Raymond swept his gaze once more across the field of dead and spoke, "How much has this war cost us all?"
The Sun Princess answered, "Far to much." They sat in relative silence for a while, watching the men carry on their grisly business. The moon was a quarter into the sky before Celestia spoke again. "I believe it to be for the best if your people left, General." The man nodded without speaking. "I have seen great feats of compassion from your people, but I have also seen your worst. And this.. it is..."
"To much" Raymond finished for her. He understood. These ponies, they were not meant for war. Not meant for this. They were peaceful by nature, they didn't belong in the chaos of battle. Humanity and its constant conflict would bring nothing but war. Perhaps in the future, when they could know peace, they could return, but not now. Not after this. "Give us one month to bury our dead and get ready. We will leave."
Celestia did not turn to him, but nodded. "I know of a unsettled land across the Everfree Forest and over the Far Mountains. It is far enough that our people may never meet again."
That night word was spread among the people. Some agreed, some were outraged, most were just tired. The month passed and the proper preparations were made. The dead were all buried, the requirements to build a sustainable settlement were brought, and the people, happy or not with the arrangement, gathered to make the journey. Good byes were said to all the friends that had been made, and some equipment was given in thanks. Raymond was made the leader for the mass of people, the position earned through his actions at the battle. He stepped forward as Celestia came to the camp they had set up.
"So... this is goodbye." He said
"Yes. I suppose so." Celestia replied. They both spoke quietly, recognizing this was the last time a human being would ever speak to an Equestrian.
"I'll admit." Raymond continued, as if trying to prolong the moment, "I will miss this land and it's people. They are good, kind folk."
"Thank you. With a few exceptions, Your people seem good and just as well. Captain Blur will be sad to see you go."
"She is a Captain now? That is good. Tell her congratulations for me. I wish I could stay, but with the war, and all that death, no. It would be to much. Perhaps, down the line, our peoples may meet again, but next time in peace and harmony."
"I think I would like that."
With those words, the conversation ended. Raymond returned to his people, and prepared. Celestia charged her spell. Her magic was strong after a month of recuperation, and she cast a mighty ball of energy. The ball expanded to cover the humans and their gear. The ball died down. Nothing was left. The humans were gone.
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Celestia would spent the next few decades wiping the memories of humanity and the war from the face of Equestria. She wanted her people to forget about all the suffering that had come from it. She wanted to forget. She couldn't forget, though. The sights, the bodies. She could never forget them. She could never forget the sacrifices made. Never. A tear would escape her eye as she spoke to herself in private, "Luna. Why?"
Peace returned to Equestria as the ponies rebuilt. The cities were fixed and new structures built. The massive graveyard bore much fruit. It eventually hosted a large apple tree grove, and still expanded. The refugee camp became a full fledged town. They called it Ponyville. Centuries passed as the scars of war healed. Soon the terrors of the war and the humans that fought it became myth and legend, known by few, cared about by less. One thousand years passed without incident.
When Nightmare Moon returned, Celestia feared she would incite Civil war again. Instead, the arrogance that had possessed her had expanded to the point she believed she could force all of Equestria into submission. Celestia could see the irony when Nightmare was finally defeated in the same castle that her love had died in. Celestia was surprised though, when the Elements of Harmony reactivated the way they had. She knew her star pupil would figure something out, but the power of friendship was defiantly something new, transforming the elements into the a new form. Overall, with Nightmare's reign over and Luna returned to the loving sister she had grown up as, Celestia predicted a new era of peace would settle over all of Equestria.
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Rainbow Dash lazily looked over the Everfree Forest. The princess had told Twilight Sparkle about some strange sightings reported by explorers and adventurers. It was about metal birds or something. She didn't really pay attention. Metal couldn't fly, everypony knew that. Even if it could, they could never be faster than her, so why care? She was still the fastest flier in all of Equestria. She closed her eyes and began drifting off to sleep, only for an irritating low buzzing to fill her ears. She looked about for the bee causing it, but saw nothing.
Over the horizon, however, she could make out the distinct shapes of some flying... things. They were shaped kinda like birds, but their wings didn't flap, they were just gliding through the air. There were five at least, two ahead of three more, and they were approaching fast. Faster than any gliding object should. She remained on her cloud, observing the strange fliers as they got closer. She could see a shine off the wings of the creatures, and it took her some moments to realize it was metal! Twilight had been right! Flying metal birds! Where did they come from? Were they friendly? Could they even talk?
Rainbow Dash got her answers sooner than she thought when the creatures cleared the forest, and the two in front pull into some aerial maneuvers to get above the other three. A loud clacking pierced the low drum the creatures made, and one of the three's wings burst into flames. They were not friendly at all.
End Chapter
Chapter 1
The wing of the metal bird exploded, and the creature plummeted to the ground. It spun in circles, creating rings of black smoke as the broken wing spewed fumes. Rainbow Dash looked over her cloud in astonishment. She saw the white part of the metal bird's head fly off, and she thought it may be dead for a moment until something shot out of it. It was a little creature! Was that what was controlling the metal birds? A big piece of cloth came up out of a bag strapped to the smaller being's body, catching the air and slowing it's decent. Below it the metal bird crashed into the field, causing a massive fireball. Rainbow looked on until the other metal birds flew just above her, passing within feet of her cloud.
Two of the creatures, or were they machines, seemed to be ganging up on one of the others. The final one seemed to be damaged, as it left a black, smokey trail in its wake as it flew. As the one being ganged up on flew around, trying to shake it's pursuers, the damaged one dove toward the small falling creature. The loud clacking sound filled the sky again and she could see the little creature swinging and jumping around erratically. Then it hung still. The clacking sound stopped and the wounded metal bird started to climb back up, apparently to help its friend, still being chased. Only one Metal bird was chasing the uninjured one now, though. Where had the other gone?
Rainbow Dash barely managed to catch the sight of the missing metal bird screeching downward. She heard the clacking again, and could see thin glowing lines fly from the front of both of the strange metal contraptions. The lines cut into the already wounded flyer, causing small explosions all along the sides. The bird fell from the sky, twisting and smoking through the air. Another tiny creature seemed to jump from the top of the metal bird, and it to produced a sheet of fabric to slow it's fall to the ground. The other flyer, now smoking itself, pulled back up to help its friend, who had stopped chasing his target. Rainbow Dash decided to get Twilight Sparkle. She had already been told about these things, and she might know how to handle them.
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Lieutenant Daniel Marsh looked around at all his gauges. The fuel spilling into the cockpit made him mildly light headed, but not enough be unable to fly. His fuel was dropping fast, which meant he was probably leaking fuel on the outside as well. Some of the instruments were unresponsive all together. The R-44 fighter-interceptor had many draw backs, one of which were its incredibly fragile gauges. Options ran through his head. He heard his radio crackle it life.
"Hey good kill, Cross-Hair, good kill. That chase put me low on gas, though. Had to let that other Frank go. We should pack up and head home." Looking to the left of his plane, Marsh saw his wing man, Lieutenant Fred Gorichi, with his call sign, Moon Runner, stenciled in on the side of his own R-44. Fred seemed to be looking over the exterior of Daniel's plane with a worried expression. Daniel checked his gauges once more before making his decision.
"Negative, Moon Runner, Negative. I'm dropping to much fuel to make the flight home and my instruments are unresponsive. I'm going to try for a controlled crash in that field. I'll check on Mike, then hunker down and wait for some rescue." The radio was quite for a few moments before Fred spoke again.
"You know it might be awhile before anyone comes for your ass, right?"
"No choice, my bird will never make it over the forest, and I think I saw a little village not so far away. I can probably steal some supplies from them if I need."
"Well, alright, Cross-Hairs. Your call. I'll return to base and make the report. Good luck Dan."
"Thanks. Best of, Fred." Fred flew back around waiting for confirmation on the jump. If the canopy release failed or, God forbid, his parachute didn't open, there would be no need of a rescue effort. Daniel circled around the field to get the best angle of approach. He would have to bail out, but if enough of the plane survived maybe he could salvage the radio. He also used this opportunity to see the little village from earlier. It looked very old-world, with thatched roofs and a decentralized layout. He thought he could see one of the houses built into the very tree around it! Once on the crash course, Daniel locked the controls and waited until he could see the crash site of Lieutenant Mike Haggard's plane. Mike would have had to land somewhere around it. The smoking ruins of the R-44 reminded Daniel that the Frank pilot had ejected as well. Maybe he would get the chance to repay the bastard for Mike.
Daniel was close enough to the wreck now, so he pulled out and up on his canopy release. The glass shield that protected him fly away and allowing him to jump from the slowly descending aircraft. Once clear of the wings and tail of the now doomed plane, Daniel righted himself and pulled his ripcord. The canopy flew up and caught the air, allowing it to expand and slow his decent to a non-terminal velocity. Daniel raised a thumb at Fred's aircraft to indicate a good chute. With the distance that now separated them, Daniel could barely make out Fred's thumb back. The R-44 then turned and flew back over the forest. Simultaneously, Daniel's plane crashed into the field. The wings snapped off in an instant, and the fuselage rolled and tumbled towards a hill. Miraculously it didn't explode in a fiery ball of death, which meant some decent salvage.
Looking back to the ground below him, Daniel now had to focus on landing without breaking his legs. Legs straight, hit the ground, collapse, roll, and untangle yourself before your parachute dragged you off to God knows where. This process came with a practiced ease to Daniel, who then pulled in his chute and stuffed it back in the pack it came from. He ran over to the smoking ruin that was Mike's plane and looked around. after circling the plane, he noticed an active parachute slowly pulling a pack across the ground. Mike had managed to get his chute off! that was good, but where was he? Following the path of where the chute had come from, he saw Mike's body lying against a tree.
Daniel sprinted to the tree faster than he thought his legs could ever move. Mike looked like hammered shit. He had two wounds, one in the right shoulder and one in the left thigh. The leg itself was bent at an unnatural angle from a botched landing. He seemed barely conscious, eyes half opened. He had vomited blood and bile all over his flight suit, and the red liquid still flowed freely from his wounds. Mike seemed to be in a trance, shell shock the grunts would call it. Daniel felt the panic rise up from staring at his wounded friend.
He immediately set to work. Pulling his aid pouch from the standard issue survival kit, Daniel wrapped the bullet wounds as best he could. When he ran out of gauze, he reached into Mike's untouched survival kit. Once wrapped, Daniel looked up into the tree for two straight enough limbs. With some difficulty, he climbed up and retrieved the branches he could find. He fashioned a splint for Mike's busted leg, careful not to disturb the bandages already in place. All this activity seemed to knock Mike out of whatever sort of trance he was in, because he moved his head and focused on Daniel's face.
"Danna" Mike groaned, "Danny. There you are. Listen, I gotta tell ya-"
Daniel cut him off, "Mike! Listen Mike, your going to be OK, alright? I've go you patched up, and Fred's already getting some help. We just gotta hold out until they get here, understand?"
Mike didn't seem to even register that Daniel had spoken, "I gotta tell ya, I'm sorry fer taken yer date at te club. Tat was not right. I's sorry Danny." The event he was talking about happened six months ago when he had swiped Daniel's date to a big show at the Officer's Club while Daniel had been in the bathroom. The two had fought about it for the next week, but made up after Mike took out an enemy fighter that had managed to draw a bead on Daniel in combat.
"Look Mike, I don't care about that. We got over that, remember? Come on, we need to clean you-" Daniel was interrupted when Mike coughed up blood and spittle, making an even bigger mess on the wounded man's uniform.
"No,no Danny." Mike hoarsely whisper once the fit had ended, "I wus in te wrong, and nevur apoligized. Ma always said ta be a good persun, and a good persun say sorry when he dose a man wrong."
"Don't worry about that, Mike. You can buy me a drink or two at the pub later, OK? You just gotta pull through for me."
Mike's dazed look moved past Daniel and his brows furrowed in confusion. "Danny," He said, "I think this blood loss is starten ta get ta me. I'm seein blue an' purple ponies."
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Twilight Sparkle had once again proved her lack of athleticism as Rainbow Dash impatiently slowed her flight to match the Unicorn's speed. She was so slow! The metal birds were already gone by the time they got back to the field, though there was another one smashed up on at the foot of the hill Pinkie Pie would sometimes throw parties on. They could see two figures leaning on a tree in the distance, and Twilight advanced carefully. One seemed to be hurt, and the other was putting bandages all around it. She couldn't make out what the beings were saying, but she was content at the moment just to look at them.
They seemed to walk on their hind legs like Spike, making them twice the size of regular ponies. They certainly didn't have hooves, but instead had arms and hands like her dragon assistant. Their heads were oblong and angular, like somepony had taken a clay egg and carved into it. They didn't seem to have much fur, but she couldn't tell while they wore all that clothing. They both had on brown jackets and black leggings with black boots on their feet. Their manes were even cut short and stiff, only stopping at the base of their short necks. From their body shape, she felt safe in the idea they were both male, but couldn't be sure until further research was done.
Twilight didn't realize she had move up until the wounded creature looked directly at her and mumbled something in a language she didn't understand. The other creature shot up and turned to her, putting it's hand in a pouch on it's hip. It took a step back looking scared and defensive. Rainbow Dash had said the creature flew in the metal birds, so they probably had something to protect them on the ground. She would have to proceed carefully, so as not to provoke the creature. It yell something at her, again in the language she didn't understand. It was waving it's arm around, and she could understand the signal as "Get Back".
Twilight complied, but Rainbow Dash was insulted that the weird creature was trying to tell her what to do. She took a few authoritative steps forward, but the creature only yelled louder and pulled a device from its pouch and pointed it at the ground in front of her. It had a metal tube on the front that attached to some little carriage system with a rotating cylindrical piece set in the middle. The creature pulled back a small piece of metal on the upper rear of the carriage, causing the cylinder in the middle to rotate. The metal bit seemed to click in to place as the being kept trying to order Rainbow to stop. Rainbow stubbornly continued to march towards it, unfazed by the apparent weapon.
A loud explosion came from the device as it knocked the creature's hand back. At the same time, the dirt of the ground Rainbow had just about stepped on kicked up, causing dirt to fly into the Pegasus' face. The sound of the explosion and the eruption of dirt was enough to convince Rainbow Dash of the dangers of the creature, and she flew back towards Twilight in a panic. The creature continued to yell in it's own weird language until the wounded one spoke again. The one with the device bent over to hear the wounded one's whispers, and seemed to be shocked by whatever it had said. The wounded creature weakly lifted it's arm and spoke softly, giving a "Come Here" signal.
Rainbow warily watched the one with the weapon while Twilight approached the injured creature. The other being stepped away a bit to give her room, but kept the weapon ready to use at a moment's notice. The wounded creature's hand reached up to Twilight's neck, giving it an amazingly relaxing rub. The fingers seemed to sink in right where the stress points were. Spike's hands had always been to small to do this sort of thing, and his claws would scrape and hurt her anyways. This one's hand was large and soft enough to hit all the good spots. After rubbing her neck for a few moments, the creature removed it's hand, and gestured to is wounds, groaning more of it's foreign words. Twilight understood. The bandages were already starting to bleed through, and it needed professional help, not thin bandages and some twigs.
"I understand." She said with accommodating gestures. The uninjured being seemed stunned for a moment before it apparently joked about what Twilight said to the wounded one. "We," She gestured to Rainbow and herself, "can get you," she gestured her hoof to the wounded man, "some help." she pointed at the bandages covering the wounded creature. The two beings spoke in their tongue, before the wounded one turned back to Twilight and nodded. She stepped back and made a "Follow Me" gesture, then turned to Rainbow Dash, who understood what was happening.
"Ohh, no!" Rainbow yelled, "Not with that thing!" she pointed at the weapon the uninjured creature was still holding. "That thing could kill somepony! It stays here!" The two beings spoke for a moment, before the one with the weapon reluctantly put the device in one of the knotholes in the tree. It then bent over and helped its wounded friend up off the ground, supporting the side with the injured leg. Satisfied, Rainbow and Twilight began the long trek back to Ponyville Hospital.
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Daniel could scarcely believe this! Unicorns and Pegasus! They were just old wives tales about the Great Migration mothers would tell children to get them to sleep. They couldn't exist! But here they were, talking and helping them get Mike aid! Did that frank pilot shoot him down? Was he asleep or something? No, the weight of Mike's body was real enough to disprove that theory. So... did that mean the rest of those legends were true? About the war with horses and the stop of the Eternal King? Mike's groan broke his train of thoughts.
He shook his head clear. Regardless of the historical significance, they had help, and Mike needed it. Glancing at his friend's face, he could see Mike was about to pass out. He needed to stay awake to ensure his brain didn't shut down. That's what the medics would always say. Some conversation should help him.
"Mike, where did you learn that thing with their necks?" Daniel opened.
Mike's awareness perked up as he whispered "Didn' I ever tell ya? Use ta work a ranch down in Hamshire. They didn't look to diffr'nt from your typical horse, thought it would work."
"These aren't regular horses. Their smart, intelligent. You could have molested the purple one for all you know." The two share a light chuckle.
"Would a' been the closest I been to a piece of ass for months!" Mike added, letting the chuckle break into a gentle laugh. The two shared this moment as they slowly walked along the path. "Sides, you shot at te blue one. If tat don put a downer on negotiaten, nuthen will."
"It was a warning shot." Daniel countered, a soft smile spreading across his face. He looked forward again and tried to increase the pace. The bandage on Mike's leg was already bleed through, and it would soon be useless all together. Daniel reached down and fixed it as best he could.
Mike looked down at his friend's actions and frowned, "Tats a lot a blood." he slurred.
Daniel Shook his head, "Don't worry, if worse comes to worse, you can take some of mine."
"You don even know my blud type." Mike wobbled his wounded leg, testing the bandages strength. He immediately regretted his course of action as a searing pain coursed up his leg.
"Your blood type is on your tags, man, and guess whose a match?" Daniel supported his aching friend and helped him along.
"Tanks Danny. It'd mean a lot ta me ta not die of blood loss. Hopefully tey have some decent food, wherever their taken us. Don't think I could handle army rations with how ma stomach is now." Mike light heartily groaned.
"Well, they look like herbivores, so we might be out of luck for good protein, unless they have peanuts or something." Daniel answered.
"I don't care if I have to eat the damn grass! It would still taste better than those so-called granola ration bars they give us." Mike complained.
"That's why we joined the army, right?" Daniel joked, "The delectable food, amazing locals, and the beautiful women."
Mike took a cursory glance at their surroundings, saying, "Well they got one of em' right."
Daniel looked around as well, and had to admit, Mike had a point. This country, where ever they were, was indeed beautiful. The trees looked fresh and lively, the ground covered in lush, green grass, and even the sun seemed to ave a calming aura as it beamed down on creation. It felt... peaceful. Innocent. He almost felt guilty for dragging the squadron's dogfight over this unscathed land. His sight seeing was interrupted when he felt the weight lift off his right shoulder. Mike fell to the ground, unconscious, causing his bandages to slip. Blood flowed freely once more from the open wound. Daniel was immediately at his dying friend's side.
"MIKE! Mike wake up! Wake up! Get up damn you! I will not let you die!" The two ponies guiding them turned around, having heard the screams. They ran up to see what was wrong. "We need to go!" Daniel cried at them, frantically trying to convey haste into hand signal form. "He is bleeding to much!" He indicated the leg wound as blood spurt from it. "He needs a doctor now!" He mimed a sewing motion over the wound and pointed straight down, praying the little creatures understood. The blue pegasus seemed puzzled, but the purple unicorn caught on immediately.
She, or at least Daniel assumed it was a she, closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate on something in her head. The horn on her forehead started to glow a similar shade of purple as her coat. Daniel moved back, unsure about what precisely was happening to the little horse. To his shock and surprise, Mike became covered in the same mysterious glow. Slowly the unconscious man levitated off the ground and floated at a good three and one half feet. The unicorn opened her eyes and said something in her own strange language before turning and ran off, Mike's body floating only feet behind her. Daniel and the pegasus stood their for a moment before chasing after the apparently magic unicorn. In the back of his head, Daniel made a note to smack himself later. Since when are there non-magical unicorns?
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Twilight managed to get the wounded creature to the hospital in relative haste, with Rainbow Dash and the other creature not far behind. Unfortunately, they had drawn a large crowd along the way, ponies were curious to see who was causing all the ruckus from earlier. The mob had grown to the point they blocked the door to the hospital. Undeterred, the creature that was still awake yelled and screamed at the ponies, waving his arms around like it was shooing a flock of birds. Intimidated by the large loud being, a wide berth was made Twilight could pass through with relative ease. Once inside, Nurse Red Heart, who seemed to get some word from the mob that she was coming, immediately put the bleeding creature on two stretchers tied together to accommodate the size of the being.
The other one, stooping down to enter the pony-size building, paused here, and seemed to consider following them. While it was clear it had some form of medical training, the being obviously was no doctor. The creature looked at the doors the nurse had gone through, a lost look of pain across it's face. Twilight pitied the being. To not be able to help a friend in such a time of need must have been heart wrenching. If any of her friends were in a similar situation, she wouldn't know what to do. The creature seemed to give in, and moved to sit against the wall. It grumbled to itself in it's own language as it ran it's fingers through it's short, fuzzy mane. Rainbow Dash left to tell the others what happened, while Twilight sat next to the being, offering a comforting hoof. It seemed to appreciate the gesture.
An hour passed before Nurse Red Heart returned, gaining both Twilight's and the creature's attention.
"The... patient has been stabilized, but he is still unconscious." She said, "We think he may have slipped into a coma from blood loss. We will just have to wait and see."
"The creature is a male?" Twilight asked.
Nurse Red Heart blushed, "Oh, um, y-yes. We had to undress him to get to his wound and his... well... I caught a look at his... never mind! You can go see him now. He's in the recovery room down the hall."
Twilight nodded, "Thank you Nurse Red Heart. I'm sure if our friend here could speak like us, he'd thank you too." The nurse nodded as her blush faded and stepped aside, letting the creature and Twilight in the recovery room. The injured creature laied out on a bed that had to be adjusted for it's size. It had been stripped of it's outer layer of clothing and outfitted with a hospital gown that had beeen cut from a bed sheet. The creature's belongings had been stacked in a chair next to the bed.
The one that accompanied Twilight in moved the gear and sat in the chair, which groaned under the weight. He whispered a few sentences to the unconsious one in their language and sat patiently, as if waiting for an answer. Twilight walked to the edge of the bed and observed the pair. They had formed some sort of friendship, or at least mutual repect for her, despite the shaky start. If Twilight could break the language barrier, she could be the first pony to sucsessfully contat a new civilization!
Her excitement smoldered as looked to her new friends again and noticed the long and lonesome expression on the conscious male's face. Again he must feel helpless and weak, not able to help his friend in their hour of need. Twilight sat opposite of the creature and tried to comfort him.
"He'll be okay. We'll take care of him." She whispered. While the being couldn't understand her, she hoped her tone could convey her words meaning. It seemed to come through to him, as he smiled a bit and nodded. He whispered something in response and gestured to his friend's body in a wide, sweeping motion. He wanted to know what was wrong.
"His wounds bled too much" Twilight indicated the body's leg wound and then the blood stains, "and he can't wake up." She pointed to his head and made a sweeping motion over his eyes to express closing. The creature sat quietly, staring off into space, processing what her gestures meant. For a moment Twilight worried he might not understand her message when he bolted upwards, surprising her. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, another feat of dexterity achieved by his multi-jointed fingers, and presented her with the undersides of his arms. She blinked, not quite sure what to make of the gesture. He was offering her something.
He waited for a few moments before slapping against the inside of his elbows and waited again. Something to do with his arms. Twilight kept her questioning gaze until the being groaned in exasperation. He reached into one of is pockets and pulled out a small blade. He dragged the blade across his arm, drawing blood from the light scratch. Once a small amount pooled up on the arm, the creature pointed at the blood with the tip of the knife, then at the wound.
Twilight realized he intended to sacrifice his own blood to save his friend! From the arm gestures, he must have blood veins they could reach from there! She nodded emphatically to convey she understood, and ran to the door to find the nurse. Once the nurse arrived, Twilight told her what the creature wanted. She was resistant at first, but Twilight pressed the issue. When she relented, she left to get the appropriate equipment and Twilight turned back to her friend. He looked confused, but hopeful. The nurse returned and after some brief hand and arm signals to set the creature in position, she began to drain blood.
The process was long as more blood was drained. As the red liquid flowed from the creature's arm, Twilight admired his dedication to his friend. He was visibly weaker when the process was done. His skin had become pale and almost sickly. He even had trouble standing. After a few attempts, he contented himself to just fall asleep next to his friend's body. Twilight could only assume he would recover with some time. She helped the nurse set up the blood drips and and settled in to wait for recovery. At some point she fell asleep.
Twilight's dreams were interrupted when she heard Applejack's voice from down the hall, "Ya mean there's more of em? I done found this one hanging from one of mah trees in the south feild. Took me an Big Macintosh two hours just to drag him here after Applebloom went an took the cart for another of her and her friend's Cutie Mark missions." Had Applejack found another creature? The generous being that had given his blood seemed to have gotten some color back to his face, so Twilight stepped out to the hall and saw Applejack, Rainbow Dash and another of the strange beings, who was walking with them while nursing a head wound.
This one was dressed diffrently. Whlie the two Twilight had found were dressed in brown jackets and black pants, this one was fully dressed in blue. A dark blue jacket covered it's torso and blue pants covered over the top of a pair of black boots. The boots were laced up instead of the simple slip ons most ponies wore, but with their complex fingers, they could probably manage the strings without magic.
A thought occored to Twilight. The creature seemed suprised when she levitated it- his friend and brought him to the hospital. Like he had never seen a standard levitation spell before. Rainbow said the flying metal birds were mechanical, and she didn't sense any magic next to the one that wreaked. That meant the birds didn't operate on magic! Their civilization didn't use it! Twilight tried to wrap her head around the concept of an entire people who didn't know about magic. They had flying machines, so clearly they were advanced, but how could they have gotten their without magic to guide them? Did they use some other power? Somthing unknown to pony-kind? She had to discover what it was! It could be the most important scientific discovery of the century!
If Twilight wasn't so wrapped up in her thoughts, she might have been aware when the newest creature turned the corner into the recovery room. She might have heard the being in blue gasp and start crying in a language diffrent from the other two, waking her friend, but still not equestrian. She might have seen the one in blue frantically grasp for somthing in one of it's various pouches while the brown-clad creature hastily retrieved an object distinctly similar to the one he left in that tree from his friends belongings, also screaming in the new stranger's tongue. She would have been aware when the creature in the brown jacket that had become her friend pointed the weapon at the one in blue. She would have been prepared for the five loud explosions that came next.
Chapter 2
The sun began dipping low in the sky, casting an ethereal glow to pass through the stained glass windows of the Royal Palace Dining Room. Normally Celestia would have begun preparing to raise the moon, but tonight her sister, Luna, joyously reunited after one thousand years, would raise the very heavenly body she had been trapped in for ten centuries. At the moment, she and her sister ate quietly, Celestia's dinner and Luna's breakfast. Though cured from the darkness that possessed her all those years ago, Luna still felt ashamed, if not awkward, in the presence of her solar sister.
Finally, Celestia could take it no more, "Sister, how are you adjusting to the new times? I know things are different from one thousand years ago, and it may be difficult to settle in."
Luna nodded, "Yes, my sister, things do seem much different. Many things are moved or... gone." Luna couldn't bring herself to look at her sister, fearing she may discover her true thoughts. Unfortunately, Celestia was a perceptive mare,and caught on to Luna's facade.
"Luna, dear sister, what is on your mind? We have been separate for so long, I must know." The solar princess asked.
Luna looked pensive, not truly wanting the answer to her sister. Finally she relented, "There is a particular thing I have been thinking about that is no longer here. I know I wont like it, but I must know, sister. Where are the humans I summoned so long ago?" She rose her head, revealing moistened eyes pointed at her sister, "You did not... did you?" She couldn't bring herself to say the words. Celestia's silence was not promising.
"I had a feeling you would ask about them sooner or later. They are gone, sister. After you were sent away, there was a great battle. Many dide. So many." Celestia paused, recalling the memories of that day in the past. "The frenchman, William I believe his name was, betrayed the rest of his kind and sought out a source of power to ensuer his victory. He tried to kill me, my staff, and his superiors at our peace negotiations. The human leader, Gregor if I'm right," Celestia noticed the lunar princess perk in attention at the name, "defeated the attempt and hunted William down while our two forces joined to fight the new rebels. The resulting battle cost Gregor many good and honorable men. When Gregor finally reached William, he was mortally wounded." Luna's face contorted into one of shock and dismay. Celestia pressed on, determined to finish the tale before the memories of that day overwhelmed her. "I was forced to use the Elements of Harmony to subdue William by encasing him in stone. Gregor gave his last breaths to hold him still as the attack charged. He was caught in the blast, and laided frozen in time. When we reurned to the battlefield, the sight made me sick. The amount of bodies was to much. The new leader agreed humanity could not remain in Equestria after such a horrific war, and I sent him and his people to the lands beyond the Everfree Forest. I do not know what has since become of them."
Luna sat in silence. Her eyes teared up more as the story went on. "What of Gregor? Would it be possible to-"
"No, sister. His wounds were to much. Even if we could release him from the stone curse, he would die within muniets. I'm sorry sister. I know he was... special." Celestia carfully guarded her tone, so as to not provoke her grieving sibling. She sympathised with Luna, having lost her own loved one for what she feared might be forever.
Luna dried her tears enought to look to her sister, "How do you know?"
"Gregor revealed his feelings at the peace meeting, just before the coup. Your reaction shows that you felt the same to him. I'm sorry sister. I wish you did not have to feel this pain."
Luna could only shake her head and force her sobs to stop, "Even if that had not happened, I suppose it would have been inevitable for us to part. He was still a mortal, and I would be a young and spry centuries after time had claimed him. Perhaps it is for the better that we were separated when we were, to save us both that pain."
Celestia walked to Luna and placed a comforting hoof over her shoulders. "Dearest and beloved sister, do not think like that. Gregor was a good person. You two should have been allowed let your love bloom and prosper. If humans taught me anythiny, it is that war will only destroy what we hold dear."
Her words seemed to have little effect on her sister, who broke out into crying again, "I never should have brought him here. If I had just never tryed that cursed rebellion I never would have summoned his people. I never would have put him on that position. He might have had a long a fruitful life if I had never gotten him involved in my petty feud. He, he did not deserve t-to"
Her words were silenced when Celestia pulled her sorrow filled sister into a full hug and whispered calming word into her ears. "If you had not done such things you would not have discovered such a great person. If you had not you would never have shared those loving moments you had with him. If you had not I never would have realized just how important you are to me, Luna. There are many things we wish we had never done in our past, my dear sister, but we must remember that those things are in the past. We must move on, even if it hurts. My dearest little sister, please do not drag yourself down into this darkness, as it is so much darker than Nightmare Moon could ever be." The Sun Princess' words comforted the crying pony, and withen a few muinets Luna pulled back and wiped her eyes.
"You are right, sister. Gregor was a good man, who died performing a great act of valor. It is how he always fanticized dieing. He told me so on our walks." Luna managed a quiet chuckle as she recalled the particar instance. Gregor had jumped about, deuling an invisible enemy. He mimed suffering a fatal wound and fell with overdramatic flare. She could remember joking that his death would have to be prolonged until he could die with a sense of digntiy. He had responded by saying he would only die if it pleased her. She said she could never wish that, to which he pulled her close and whispered that she had nothing to fear then.
Recalling the intement moment brought a soft smile to her face. That smile was quickly swept away when the door to the dining room swung open. A messenger swiftly flew in, shattering the serinity of the moment with a sharp yell. "You majesties! Your majesties! There is trouble in Ponyville!"
Celestia and Luna scrutinized the little Pegasus who had broken their moment, forcing the pony to think twice about barging in unannounced. Once the messanger seemed calm enough to speak in a civilized tone, Celestia asked, "Just what has happened that is so importent it can not be addressed in the court tonight?"
The messenger reached into his saddlebags and retrieved a scroll of paper that looked crudely drawn on at best. " I couldn't quite see from all the commotion, but a pegasus called Rainbow Dash said this had to be delivered to you immediatly. Said something about forgetting about it earlier." Celestia was suprised to hear the Element of Loyalty would put such a high priority on such a matter. Usually the brash pegasus would try to do or fix whatever matter it was herself, or told her most faithful student about it, who would report it to her via Spike. Celestia took the scroll with magic and opened it, with Luna looking on over her shoulder. They both gasped at what they saw.
Depicted on the scroll was a bipedal figure covered in colored squiggles for clothes. The arms and hands were properly proportional, and the feet were kind of ovals to depict shoes. The two rulers looked on with different emotions. Celestia with stunned confusion, seeing what she thought she would never lay her eyes on again. Luna looked with a secret excitement at the possibilities. Her Gregor might be no more, but to meet with his legacy would be wonderful to say the least. The figure brought with it a message undeniable to the sisters, though. Humans had returned, and judging by the weapon in the figure's hand, circled several times with red crayon, their intentions were questionable.
Celestia turned to her guards, who had appeared at the messenger's sides to apprehend him for his intrusion. They looked to her, expecting orders as to what would be done to the messenger. Instead they received one order. "Get our carriages."
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Daniel was annoyed. Annoyed and uncomfortable. Annoyed, uncomfortable, and strapped on a table with enough restraints to hold down a dragon. At first he thought they were going to cut him open, or just execute him for killing the Frank pilot, but the little ponies just talked among each other. Even the little purple one who had tried to be friendly since they had met seemed to shy away from him. This was to be expected, Daniel supposed. His hosts couldn't know about the war, or the crimes of the Franks, so to them he just slew another one of his own in cold blood. Hopefully they could understand the necessity of the situation. The Frank had reached for his pistol, intending to kill him and finish off Mike. Couldn't let that happen.The dead Frank in question now lied across from him in a bed, covered in a white sheet. They had left all his gear on, which would come in handy later, if he could survive long enough.
Daniel concluded that if they wanted to kill him, they would have done it by now. The sun was already down, and only one guard stayed behind to watch him during the night. It was his little purple friend. She was quiet at first, but soon attempted some small talk. The effort was more or less useless with Daniel's ability to gesture restricted by the straps, but was appreciated. She was confused and scared, but not angry. He even got her to laugh accidentally when her little servant came in.
She had a baby dragon! Dragon! Baby! How she came about it was curious enough, and needless to say Daniel had freaked out, screamed like a little girl, and managed to break an arm free in fear of being fed to the little dragon. Looking back, it was silly and childish to act like that, but the legends the Norsemen passed down about dragons and wyverns had enough effect to momentarily stun him. Once his guard had realized what he was so scared of, she actually chuckled. Not a mirthful 'we'er gonna get you' chuckle, more of a 'nobody is going to eat you, silly boy' chuckle.
With the ice broken and a wary eye tossed to the little dragon from time to time, Daniel and his purple captor settled in for the night. One free arm allowed them to have some semblance of a conversation, and even the small dragon servant had some input at times. When nothing more could be said, she opened up a book of letters and characters couldn't understand. The dragon seemed content enough to sleep, and soon the purple unicorn did too, exhausted from the day. Daniel, seeing few other options, also fell asleep.
He was awoken by the sensation of freedom across his body, opening his eyes to see Mike, still bandaged but moving, releasing his remaining restraints. The rancher-pilot smiled to his friend, occasionally grimacing when his cast-bound leg moved inappropriately. He was still dressed in his flowing hospital gown, which seemed to stick to him where the blood congealed.
"Well arn't you in a pickle?" Mike whispered so as to not wake the sleeping unicorn on the edge of the bed. She dozed undisturbed by the movements of the restraints, lightly snoring against her book.
"Frank pilot that shot you down got dragged in, tried to finish the job. I was quicker on the draw" Daniel gestured to the dead human in the nearby bed, "but our friends didn't seem to like my cold-hearted slaying another being. They couldn't understand why I did it, and strapped me down."
"Well then, we should probably get out of here before any more craziness occurs. Where's my gear?"
"They took it to another room, along with all our weapons." Mike's face drooped in disappointment. No way they would have time to search the hospital for his uniform, but he couldn't just keep standing here in the near-buff. Clothes would be needed. He felt his gaze being slowly drawn towards the dead man on the adjacent bed.
After a quick change Mike looked over to Daniel who was quietly regaining circulation in his limbs. their little guard had shifted a bit, but snoozed with a light snore. Arguably, it was adorable.
"Well, how do I look?" Mike did a little twirl in his "new" uniform. Daniel watched with a small smirk.
"Like a Frank pilot who got shot up." It was true. The jacket was full of blood-dried holes from where the previous owner had been hit. Those could be patched later, if he really wanted to keep the suit.
"It does it's job, and look at what our friends left in his pocket." Mike twirled the pistol around his finger. It was a Frank high class semi-auto pistol. High power ammo and very accurate. And expensive. The weapon was for only high ranking officers and rich Franks who could afford it. Who the hell did Daniel kill?
"That'll come in handy." Daniel said, standing with stoop to avoid hitting the ceiling. His pony captors had been kind enough to just strip him of weapons, leaving his uniform intact. "Lets go. No telling when the next 'guard' shift." Mike nodded and the two started out of the room. Unfortunately, they didn't get far, when Mike's acquired boot landed squarely on the tail of the purple and green dragon. The creature shot up in alarm, a spurt of green flames dancing out of it's mouth. The two looked at each other for several seconds, before both let out equally loud, shrill, almost girly screams of terror.
By this point the purple guard pony had awoken and seen their breakout attempt, forcing Daniel into action. "Come on!" He yelled at Mike, swiping the pistol. He fire a single round into the overhead lights, causing a shower of sparks to distract the pony and baby dragon while they made their escape. Mike's busted leg continually slowed them down, but the pair kept running as fast as possible.
A nurse Daniel recognized as the one who admitted Mike in the first place stepped out in their path, probably to see what was causing all the noise. Kind as she was, they couldn't stop now. Daniel let off another shot in the ceiling, scaring her enough to hide. The door was now in their sights, and from there they could move and hide in one of the nearby houses or make for the woods or something. The realization hit Daniel that he had not really planned this breakout well. As they reached the door, the pair slowed down. They were still weak from the blood loss. They would have to stop and rest somewhere nearby to gather their strength. Someplace they wouldn't be found.
The sight that greeted them on the other side of the entrance way squashed all these plans. Gold armored ponies flanked them on all sides with two of the largest ponies Daniel had seen yet staring straight at them. One was almost the size of a full grown horse with a white coat and a brightly colored mane of three different colors that moved about, despite the lack of wind. Next to it was another, smaller and a dark purple, with a mane and tail that seemed to be made of the night sky. Daniel couldn't help but think to himself 'Just what the hell have I gotten us into?'
Daniel thought fast. No way they could make a break for it now, and the hospital doors were now occupied by the staff who came to investigate the commotion. There was even a crowd building up behind the armored semicircle. They could fight and get clobbered, run and get clobbered, or...
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Luna looked to the pair of human beings. They had caused quite a commotion as they tried to run, and now they were trapped. She knew how dangerous a cornered human could be. They were predatory by nature, and would fight until dead or disabled. The Night princess took a few cautious steps forward, igniting the magic within her horn. She didn't foresee what happened next. The brown-clad human lurched forward, brandishing the weapon Rainbow Dash had crudely drawn on the slip of paper. While her focus was on casting the spell, she could not manage to defend herself.
Fortunately Celestia and the royal guards were on point. Both humans were propelled by magic onto the wall of the hospital and held in place while they groaned to each other in pain. Now unimpeded, Luna recast her spell. A blue magic feild wrapped around the humans, diving into their minds. It was a complicated spell, cast only once before in her life. It involved searching the target's mind for particular information, copying that information, then implanting some of her own. It was a very delicate spell, and not too much information could be given or taken, lest either the target or caster have an aneurysm.
Once the spell was complete, Luna felt the cool tricking feeling of knowledge flow into her mind. She could handle it much easier than the two humans, as she already had most of the information in her head, while the humans had just been forced to learn the entire Equestrian language in ten seconds. Their heads must have been splitting. She turned to her sister and the guards, nodding the signal to release the humans from their magical hold.
The two humans fell to the ground in a heap and slowly pulled themselves up, groaning and swearing. Now that Luna could understand them, she suppressed a blush at their... colorful choice in words. The tan human felt the ground around him apparently searching for something, which the Night Princess could only assume was the weapon they had wielded, and now floated in air, suspended by her own magic. The blue human also rose, but slower and favoring his leg. It must still be injured.
She gained their immediate attention by stomping a hoof down as she approached, and hovering the weapon in plain view. The blue human seemed to look helpless as the tan one stood looking from the weapon to her, eyes hard and serious. He was trying to plan his next move. She spoke, causing both human and Equestrian to sit in shocked silence as the human tongue left her muzzle, "HARK, HUMANS! WHO ART THOU TO COME INTO THE KINGDOM OF EQUESTRIA WITH SUCH VIOLENT INVENTIONS!" Perhaps the Royal Canterlot voice may have been to much, judging by the expressions on their faces. It reminded her of the first time she had met the humans one thousand years ago.
Thankfully, either the new humans were stronger, or she had found the more heroic of the species, because the tan-clad human straightened himself and looked Luna square in the eye. "First Lieutenant Daniel Marsh, Serial Number 095336532, Lunar Republican Army Air Corps."
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Commander Frile watched the infantry column march along the edge of the previously impenetrable forest. Glory and honor would soon be his, as the man who conquered the ancestral homeland of humanity. He would be written into the legends as the man who reclaimed what was ousted from the Frank crown. He may even get a lordship, or made a duke! Even without the new equipment, or tanks, or even air cover, he would take this land.
The nobility though him a fool, but he would prove them wrong. He would prove himself a brilliant tactician with his handful of companies, take the ancient lands, and become great like his father always dreamed. The blitz tactic that Lieutenant Schliefflen presented using the maps drawn up by the fly-boys was unbeatable. They charge in from the forest and take a small village, securing the main road to the capital. From there they burn the town, and move in and use their superior technology and firepower to secure the capital and the leadership. It couldn't fail.
Lieutenant Schliefflen himself walked up next to Frile and snapped a salute while speaking to him using their native language, "Sir, I have just finished speaking to high command. They still don't want to dedicate any armored or air troops to this occupation force when the Solars are pushing hard to the north."
"That is fine, Lieutenant. Our enemy is weak and our plan flawless. These natives will buckle under the heel of the glorious Franken Empire, and we will have secured the perfect staging ground for the invasion forces. I think a few promotions lay in our future, especially for the mastermind of this mighty plan!" Commander Frile slapped his subordinate on the back as they shared ambitious grins. The air reconnaissance that had been done for the past weeks made it clear the native inhabitants were mere ponies who didn't even make it out of the dark age. All he would have to do is kick in the door. "Bring up the mortars. We should be in range."
Second Lieutenant Mike Haggard was nervous. As a pilot, he knew of the very real possibility of being captured by the enemy. The military hardened him against torture and mind games. His instructors never mentioned this scenario, though. Tied to a pair of chairs, interrogated by a pair of royal, magical flying horses, surrounded by their subjects, in the basement of the facility that healed him. Weird how things turn out sometimes.
At present the interrogation was going as well as one could imagine any conversation between two species going. Confusing and almost violent. Daniel wasn't any help either, just repeating the same phrase. There was sticking to regulations, then there was being crazy. Even after the whole story about a rebellion and humans being summoned to their land, Equestria. Mike had to say something, anything. The rulers, so they called themselves, were getting impatient.
"So let me get this straight, your saying that humanity isn't from this world at all, but we were summoned to fight in some civil war one-thousand years ago," Dan shot Mike a dirty look for breaking the P.O.W. regs, but the regs never mentioned being captured by magical ponies, so Mike figured there wouldn't be a court marshal or anything, "and after said war humans just up and left? Never to be heard from again? Really?"
The darker pony that had identified herself as Princess Luna stepped forward, "Dost thou doubt our words, Human?"
Despite her size and frightening tone, Mike sat firm, "Yes, as a matter-a-fact I do. Teleportation? Elements of Harmony? This has got to be the biggest crock of shit Iv'e ever heard."
"Why would we lye to thee, Lieutenant Haggard?" Luna raised an eyebrow, and act Mike was sure no domestic horse should be able to do.
"I don't know, but I can tell you we wouldn't leave anyplace just because of a massive battle with huge casualties, if so the planet wouldn't have enough damn space. It doesn't make any sense. Hell if it weren't for the pain in my leg, I'd just assume I was in a coma. I'm still having doubts! This whole thing is ridiculous." Mike knew he was treading on thin ice, but he had to express his mind. This was ridiculous. Magic unicorns and pegasii? An ancient war? Extra-dimensional travel? This crap only existed in fantasy and science fiction... Yet here they were; talking equines, magic that could pin two grown men to a wall, and a small, apparently trained dragon glaring daggers at him. If Mike could pinch himself, his face would be red from all the self inflicted torture.
"Ridiculous as it may seem to thee, Second Lieutenant, all before thou is very much real. All we have said is true. What we must ask is why art thou here, now? What has brought you and your violence to our lands?" The dark unicorn/pegasus asked again, as she had asked Daniel several times before.
"War." came Mike's simple answer, "War between several countries on the far side of your 'Everfree Forest. The people of the New Lunar Republic have once again fallen under attack by the Franken Empire, who seek to restore the old order of kings and nobles. This war has slowly expanded through the forest as both sides keep trying to out-flank the other. I and my Squadron Leader" He made a gesture to Daniel, still perturbed, but not overtly glaring anymore, "were shot down while perusing a Franken air patrol. I was severely injured and was brought here, guided by one of the locals, for treatment."
"I see." The white ruler, Celestia, spoke, "So what was with your impromptu escape attempt? And why are you wearing the garb of your so-called enemy?"
Daniel, surprisingly, spoke, "He's wearing the enemy uniform because his actual uniform had been confiscated in order to patch him up. It's former owner had no more use of it. As far as the escape attempt, well, after I got strapped down and placed under guard, I figured my best course of action was to disappear, and hopefully reunite with my unit."
"And how exactly did you intend to get away with an injured companion and full search party after you?" The Celestia asked, pleased to finally get some answers.
"I never said it was a good plan." Daniel opened his mouth again to speak, but was cut off by a loud whistle. One that he and Mike both recognized instantly.
"GET DOWN!" They both cried as they threw themselves, chairs and all, to the floor. Immediately after the entire hospital convulsed from a large impact. Objects fell from shelves and clattered to the floor. A sharp shard of glass slid just close enough for Daniel to grasp it, the action going unnoticed as the occupants of the room gazed upwards to determine what had happened. When the chaos settled, Celestia went about directing their guards to various posts while Luna approached the pair.
"What just happened?" She demanded.
"Mortar. Franken. You can tell by the whistle." Mike struggled to right himself with his injuries. Before more questions could be asked, a guard pegasus with smudged armor barreled down the stairs.
"Your Highnesses!" He gasped, "Ponyville is under attack! The enemy is using strange weapons, and are wiping out the guard! We have fallen back to the hospital, but we cannot hold for long! We must leave!"
"Who would dare to attack our kingdom?" Luna turned on the guard pony.
"They look like him." the gold armored guard pointed his hoof at Mike, who tried not to look suspicious as Daniel passed on the glass shard. "We must leave, the enemy shall soon be upon us!" Before any more could be said, the sound of battle could be heard on the top floors. A loud shout of "Protect the Princess's" resounded before a 'bluuurp!' silenced all opposition. The guard ran back up the stairs before they could hear the door burst open and another series of shots sounded. The guard then tumbled back down the stairs, bloody and mangled. All but the humans in the room gasped in shock.
A series of thumps down the stairs gave Mike and Daniel their signal to move out of sight. While Daniel easily slipped into the shadows, Mike's injuries delayed him from moving with enough speed. He was still in the open when the Franken soldier slipped into view with his pistol in hand.
The soldier appeared to be a sniper of sorts, with a scoped rifle slung on his back. He wore the usual Franken uniform, a blue light jacket, brown trousers, black boots, and a blue patrol cap. His face looked young, his eyes attentive. He spotted Mike in an instant, but instead of placing a round in Mike's head, as expected, the boy looked at him carefully, then snapped a salute. "Sir! Corporal Beatu, sniper, fifth foot battalion, reporting Sir!" Mike gaped for a few moments before realizing that Corporal Beatu was trying to report to a superior officer. From the shadows, Daniel slid along the walls behind the soldier.
Straitening out, Mike spoke in his best French officer voice, which was actuall fairly weak due to his own accent, "At ease Corporal. It would appear your rescue has been a success." He seemed to fool Beatu easily enough.
"Rescue? Sir we are commencing the invasion of the lands. To reclaim the ancient homeland of Humanity? I was sent with a squad to clear the building, then set up for sniper support on the roof. If you don't mind me asking sir, how did you get here? I'm in the first wave."
"Uhh... Simple. My plane was shot down before the battle... yesterday in fact, while on a reconnaissance mission. You have managed to save me from these savages, Corporal Beatu, and are to be recommended for promotion." Mike's words seemed to warm young Beatu's face as hope for furthering his career filled his eyes. The boy never even saw Daniel.
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Twilight felt confused and sick. All this insanity had begun because she had helped the "human" known as "First Lieutenant Daniel Marsh" save his friend's life. Now she had apparently gotten her whole country involved in a war they had no interest in the first place. Ponies were dieing because of her decision, just like that guardspony that bled on the ground. She felt a bit of her die.
Then that other human came in, wielding weapons similar to the first two humans. While before the two men had claimed to be at war with these men, the soldier had saluted Mike. Talked in another foreign language that she couldn't understand. It wasn't until the human called Daniel struck out that the intentions were made clear. With a swift strike the soldier fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Well that was informative." Daniel stated, speaking in Equestrian, or English... Or whatever Princess Luna did to translate their language.
"What hath happened?" Luna asked, approaching the pair while Celestia tended to the frazzled ponies in the hospital basement. While Twilight could use her mentor's advice right now, she also needed more information to asses the situation as her stressed mind turned to logic and order to remain in control.
Mike spoke with a surprisingly level voice for someone who just looked death in the face, "Well, it would appear your nation has been invaded by the Franken Empire because it is the ancestral homeland of humanity. Your story has a little more credibility now, Princess." He looked over to Daniel, "What should we do?"
Daniel seemed deep in thought as Luna spoke up, "Thou shalt do nothing! Tis our kingdom in peril, and we shalt respond with force! Thou hast done enough to drag thine enemies to our doorstep, and shalt remain here until our battle is won!"
Luna's outburst caught Celestia's attention, as well as frightened the ponies trapped in the room once more. As the elder princess approached, Daniel spoke, "No offence your highness but you don't have much choice, unless you want the rest of your army to end up like that." He gestured to the corpse of the guardspony on the floor, sending another feeling of nausea through Twilight, "We may be pilots, but both of us have taken a rifle course in our day. We know how to fight these guys, you don't."
Celestia and Luna considered his words for a while, then spoke with each other for a moment, pausing once to look to the dead guardspony, then to the small crowd of their subjects gathered in the hospital basement. Meanwhile Daniel and Mike searched over the soldier's body, grabbing his weapons and other items. The rulers finished their conversation, and turned back to the now armed men.
"We concede to your points. In the interest of the preservation of both our kingdom and your lives, please aid us in repelling this attack." Celestia stated in an official voice.
In response Mike and Daniel stood at full height, standing in admittedly heroic poses. "Well then, we have some work to do." Daniel stated, while Mike pulled a small handle on the weapon he held back, then pushed it froward, making the weapon clack. Corporal Beatu stirred beneath the pair, groaning slightly as he slowly regained his faculties. "What do we do about him?" Daniel asked his compatriot. Mike responded by raising his weapon to Beatu's temple. Twilight turned away, not bearing to look as the weapon fired.
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3 HOURS LATER
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Commander Frile peered over his maps in his command depot, which was actually just an awning to keep the sun and wind at bay. While the battle was being won, the locals were putting up more of a fight than initially predicted. While the day dragged on they could secure the village by night fall, two locations hampered their progress. First was what appeared to be a hospital of sorts. Squads sent there hadn't returned, and no word was getting back as to the cause of the delay. How was beyond him, as he could see the damn thing from his post. He was beginning to consider just blowing the whole building to rubble and moving on.
The other hold up was the apple orchard on the far side of the village. Apparently equine farmers here could be just as ornery as human farmers. The damn horses had begun a gorilla campaign in the trees and barn. While the fertile lands would be valuable when they won the day, it was ultimately as expendable as the rest of the worthless village. Maybe he should just level the whole damn place and march on the capital. With the swiftness the standing army had been dealt with, the city itself would no doubt fall within hours.
Frile's musings were interrupted by Lieutenant Schliefflen approaching him. "Commander.", Schliefflen spoke, "We've managed to recover the Colonel's Faucon Tueur, the plane is wrecked, but some parts may be salvageable. I have two men guarding it now. Still no word from the hospital, but we are making slow progress through the farm. I've had to personally oversee deployments though. You'd think some of these officers never took a lesson in tactics in their lives."
Frile nodded, "Yes, we have been given the runt of every litter that managed to finish training, but have no fear in your heart, my good man. With our guidance, this rabble of undisciplined buffoons can win the day yet!"
Being in that all the other officers were out trying to direct their platoons to secure the town, no one was around to hear the shot that sent a round through Lieutenant Schliefflen's head and Commander Frile's chest. As the Franken officer slumped to the ground, the last sight he could make out as darkness overwhelmed him was a telltale glint of a rifle scope from the hospital roof.
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Mike Haggard Chambered another round into the rifle. He murmured "Double kill" to himself as he watched the Franken officers fall to the ground. One looked to be pretty high in the command line, considering he was looking over the maps and he seemed significantly more shiny than the other officers he managed to kill while residing in his perch. He was almost out of ammo from all the runners he had picked off as well. From below he could hear Daniel's recently acquired machine gun burst down the hall towards the entrance.
According to Celestia the building had been reinforced with 'magic' during it's construction, so the Franks couldn't blow their way in, nor could they just climb in the windows because of a 'lock spell' the purple unicorn, Twilight Sparkle her name was, had cast to leave the only way in the building was the front door. Five squads had already tried to force their way in, but were all killed or stopped by the MG. One particularly smart team tried to out flank Daniel and hit him from a side room, but were rewarded with a grenade trap. Between booby traps and his sniper cover, not a soul had managed to report back to their officers. The officers would then personally try to discover what the hold up had been, only to receive the same.
Meanwhile the ponies in the basement slowly trickled out to find another hiding place. Celestia and Luna had gone with the groups to shield and camouflage them. It was only a matter of time before the bombardments started again, and they would have to move shop soon, or the whole Franken army may fall on their heads. The only ponies left were a group of unicorns that were using their magic to make more booby traps, and drag off bodies. One of them was Twilight Sparkle herself, though she looked ill from her morbid task.
Mike's attention was drawn once more to the little post he just scored his kills at. Another officer had run up and seen the bodies. The man seemed to panic and began checking the pair for life signs. The man received no mercy for his efforts, and soon joined the pair in the afterlife. Mike's mind paused for a moment as he considered the little awning on top of the hill. There were maps up there. Franken maps sure, but fresh, aerial, up-to-date maps. With tactic and strategic data. With virtually no guards. Another officer ran up the hill from the direction of the farm on the other side of town. He took one look at the gruesome scene and turned to flee. He didn't make five steps before Mike's final round pierced his back, throwing him to the ground.
"I'm out," Mike called down to Daniel as the machine gun went quiet, "Lets get out of here."
"Roger that. Girls, plant those traps and pack up, we're leaving." Daniel's order was answered by quiet obedience. As Mike stepped down the stairs to the corpse-ridden lobby, he saw the disheartened looks on the faces of the ponies. They looked as if they had lost good chunks of their souls. A baptism by fire always did that to the unprepared. Daniel gathered up a rifle and ammo, the MG would be to heavy to take with them, and guarded the door as Mike descended from the upper floors.
"Here's the plan." Mike began, drawing everyone's attention, "I'm going to try and grab some intel from a command post I saw a few klicks east. You take the rest of the ponies to the rendezvous point, wait for me there."
Daniel's face screwed up for a moment, "Wait, Why do you get to go look for intel? Your still wounded!"
Mike smirked, "Do you speak Frankish fluently? No? I guess I'm more qualified in this situation. Besides," he steeped back and gestured to his blue, blood stained uniform, "I'm dressed for the part!"
Daniel considered this response briefly, before the shouts of Franken soldiers forced him to come to a decision, "Fine! go! Just be careful on that leg, ya here?" Mike's nod in response was all Daniel needed before the two went separate ways.
Mike skulked his way around the hospital exterior, trying to avoid any patrols as best he could on his injury. The devastation around the town was obvious. Doors were busted in, windows broken, and the odor of burning wood dominated the air. A few ponies lied dead in the streets, undoubtedly examples to others of the price of resistance. He had already seen it all from the roof of the hospital, but here on the streets the sight seemed so much more bitter. He felt his heart break at the sight of a very pregnant looking unicorn mare collapsed on the dirt path with a hole in her forehead and a broken off horn. He passed a large, candy themed building when he heard voices shouting from within in Franken voices.
"Damn it! These horses know nothing about the pilots, and even if they did we wouldn't understand anything they say! What do we do now?" Mike's attention shifted to the conversation. "Well we can take them over to the holding area, or we could... you know... just kill them. The second voice tapered off at the end of his statement, unnerved by the implications of his words. Mike decided to move before a conclusion could be reached. He tried to stealthily open the door and creep in, but his faulty leg caught on the door frame. He lurched through, forcing the door to crash into the wall and directing the attention of the two soldiers occupying the building from their captives.
For a few moments, Mike braced himself for death in a hail of gunfire. Instead the soldiers lowered their weapons and slowly came to attention as realization reached their eyes. Cautiously, Mike raised himself from his crumpled heap. "At ease" he rasped out.
The Frank troops visibly relaxed and one of them spoke, "Glad to see you sir. We've been looking all over for you."
"M-me?" Mike asked, perplexed.
"Of course sir! We didn't find a body in your plane, so we assumed you had jumped. Me and Tolbert here were sent to find you and those enemy pilots. The officers think they might be the ones stalling the advance." The soldier gestured to his friend, who nodded in affirmation.
"My plane!?" Mike stammered in the foreign language.
"Yes sir. It was a total wreck, I'm sorry to say. We found the other crashes too, one of them was mostly intact! No bodies, though, so we can only assume the pilots are still hiding somewher-"
"The pilots are dead!" Mike exclaimed suddenly, "I- uh - I killed them this morning! They tried to take me out as I was recovering from my injuries." Mike gestured to his busted leg to try to give his story some credibility.
Fortunately, the soldiers were very gullible. "Ha!" the other soldier, Tolbert, snorted, "Served them right! Of course we wouldn't expect anything less from Colonel Beauregard, Prince of the Skies!" Mike felt his heart stop. Colonel Beauregard was the top ace of the Franken air forces, having shot down fifty planes in his two year career. He was the most feared man in the sky. He had a place reserved for him in the Emperor's Court. And now he lied dead in a hospital with five bullet holes in his chest from Mike's pistol. He and Daniel had killed the Prince of the Skies, who he now wore the uniform of. Bile threatened the back of Mike's throat as the world seemed to spin on it's heel. He could handle it when he was putting on a dead man's uniform, but now he knew who that dead man was, and it made him sick.
Mike swallowed hard, mentally calming himself as the world slowed and he came to the realization that the soldiers were still staring at him expectantly. He was no actor, but it looked like his best chances to get out alive was to assume the role of a Frank aerial ace. Putting on his best officer's face, Mike straitened himself up and assumed a confident pose.
"But of course, men! What kind of man would I be if I allowed some Lunar hicks kill me? Now then, Whats the situation?" Mike asked.
The other soldier, Tolbert, spoke this time, "Well, we're not too sure sir. We've been looking for you all morning so all we know is the advance has been stalled at some points, and that's just what we've heard through word of mouth. As for our situation, me and Aslain here were just about to decide what to do with these, ah... prisoners." Mike looked over the ponies still cowering in the corner. There was a yellow stallion next to a light blue mare, both wearing baker's garments. Then there was a pair of mares, a light green, kind of bluish... turquoise, that was it! A turquoise unicorn with a minty mane and tail next to a cream colored regular pony with a strange pink-blue mane.
Finally there was a little ball of pink fur and fluff. Mike immediately recognized her as one of the ponies who were at the hospital. She was supposed to be at the regroup point, not here! She must have come looking for some friends and got caught. Admirable cause, but it almost got her killed. Now Mike had to find a way to get the group out without casualties. Killing the soldiers seemed to be the most immediate solution, but the more Mike thought about the situation, the more scenarios ran through his mind. One phrase in particular kept running through his mind. 'We found the other wrecks too, one of them was mostly intact!'
Intact meant working parts, which meant radio, which meant calling back to friendly lines. A plan of sorts began forming in Mike's mind while the two Franks stared at him confusedly. Finally The one called Aslain spoke up "Well sir, our mission is done, so lets get rid of these pony things and get you back home." He chambered a round in his rifle and turned to the pink pony, who trembled with fear. Tolbert looked nervously at his friend, then back to the ponies. He obviously did not share his comrade's disregard for the pony's lives. Mike's mouth summoned a response before Aslain could fire.
"Hold your fire, soldier. Save your ammo for the ones that fight back." Aslain paused, gazing at Mike as if he said the moon was made of rye bread, before retracting his rifle and slinging it around his shoulder. A look of relief washed over Tolbert, who also slung his rifle. "Now", Mike continued "Before we do anything else we must check on my plane."
"Bit sir," Tolbert interjected " our orders were to find you and immediately bring you to-"
"Soldier, before I do anything I must see my plane. That machine and I have a history together, she saw me through the roughest times of my life, and if there is any piece of her that can be salvaged, I must see it before anything else. Understood?"
The two men snapped to attention and offered a hasty salute while chiming "Sir!". Mike nodded and let the soldiers out into the street. As they left, Mike barley heard Aslain grumble "Pilots...". Mike followed the pair, but not before turning to the still shivering pink pony and offering her a small wink as he stepped out the door.
