private The Good King

[The Awesome One 1,314]

Night Flash recognized the voice at once. He turned around, "Ohai, Nova. Are you ready for your butt-kicking?"

 

Nova removed his pipe from his mouth, "Hmm...maybe later. These super-soldiers here are just dying to meet you."

 

Suddenly, the tent was completely pulled of the ground by a couple of super soldiers who were hovering right above. Night Flash and Midnight could now see that there was no escape. A full circle of super soldiers had surrounded them and they didn't even any type of weapon let alone armour.

 

"Wayell....we're fucked.", said Night Flash, in a rather joking manner. Midnight's magic had not only healed him, but had made the drug wear off.

 

"Unbelievable. I'm about to kill you right now and you have a huge grin on your face.", said Nova.

 

"You know that drug I was injected with?"

 

"Yes?"

 

"I'm not under it's effects any more..."

 

It literally took Night Flash only a second to grab the stoned Midnight and fly straight up in the sky like a rocket. If there was one thing Night Flash was known for, it was his speed he could go at great speeds even when burdened with his military gear. The Super Soldiers, while capable of flight, were too heavy and bulky and it was too dark for them to aim their arrows properly. It Night Flash probably ten seconds to reach cloud level. He spread his wings

and slowed down a lot.

 

Midnight, who still couldn't move, gasped in amazement, "So that's why your callsign is lightning."

 

"Yep...just one thing."

 

"Yeah?"

 

"What do we do now?"

[Prince Midnight 817]

Midnight shook his head, "n-nova knows im alive....." he sighed and lifted his hoof weakly, "that group of trees, theres a cave where the survivors are holed up."

As soon as they landed midnight weakly smiled, "i hope that young colt made it to sule..."

 

"Midnight." he was suddenly wrapped with the hooves of a dark blue pegasus, "thank the gods you and night flash are okay."

midnight smiled and weakly hugged her back, "heh, storm im alright, has the colt come back, has anything been sent back?"

when the survivors shook their heads, midnight frowned.

"well, all we can do is hope, and mabey rescue a few more ponies from those cages,"

 

Storm surge shook her head, "not in this condition you wont, that magic took alot out of you and id rather see you in a cot, resting up and getting your strength back, night flash and the others can handle it.

 

Midnight shook his head, "no, their as much my responsibility as they are night flashes..."

 

Storm surge frowned, "why?"

 

midnight layed his head back, "this entire thing is my fault, if i had just stayed where i was doing what i should have, none, NONE of this whould have happened, all these ponies deaths are my fault."

 

Storm put her hoof on midnights shoulder, "it cant be helped now, cheer up, and rest up, we will figure out what to do from here, while waiting for, hopefully, the malumai."

Edited August 29, 2012 by Midnight Moon

[The Awesome One 1,314]

Night Flash was relaxing his wings after his sudden burst of speed, "Well...you can sit here and do nothing, I just want to see who else made it out of that hell hole."

 

The Commander scanned the handful of survivors, apart from Midnight and his companions, the rest were all Eqeustrian and he recognized quite a few faces.

 

"Well Stone's here too...where's Pansy?", said Night Flash suddenly realizing the timid little creature was missing. He feared for the worst. Dead? Captured? She fainted when she saw one of those Super Soldiers.

 

One of the soldiers spoke up, "Actually, Sir, she ran away from the battle the moment she saw Nova's troops."

 

"So..where is she now?"

 

"Disguised as a tree....which you're currently leaning on."

 

(OOC:Fillah post. Dunno why I did the Fluttershy Tree reference : P)

[Jadefire 2,796]

As Night Flash, Midnight, and the others were talking, a lone figure stood on a rock outcropping over them. Brandishing a small telescope, she scanned the group and the surrounding area, before she quickly set the scope down and pulled out a small piece of parchment from a bag. The figure hastily scribbled a message on it with a piece of charcoal, before wrapping it around and tying it to an arrow and firing it into the crowd below.

---

---

 

Thunk! "Ow!" Night Flash and Midnight turned to the sound, where a soldier was now laying on his side with a brand new arrow now sticking out from his helmet. Another soldier approached the prone pony and bit down on the arrow, and with another "Ow, watch it!", he pulled the arrow out.

 

The soldier holding the arrow approached Night, "Message for you, sir."

 

Night Flash bit the string off the parchment and placed it on the ground, holding it flat with his hooves, and read it aloud,

"Your cave is not secure. You'll be discovered soon. Head east. There's a camp you can hide from the soldiers with. -S"

Edited August 30, 2012 by Jadefire

[Prince Midnight 817]

Midnight looked around "s......shiri..." he had to smile a bit, the mare was becoming a constant sight and as of late a welcome one, "well.....we should trust her and head east, i dont think she has anything to gain from betraying us."

 

night flash shook his head, "are you crazy? it could be a trap."

 

midnight shook his head, "trap or no trap shes right, novas forces are getting closer to our cave and they will capture us and torture us, or worse, spacifically to me, nova created me, he could destroy me, slowly and painfully."

 

as he got too his hooves his legs wobbled and he fell back onto his stomach, "bucking hell....." he tried to make his wings move, "oh screw you guys." he said with a frustrated sigh when his wings could barely work.

[The Awesome One 1,314]

(OOC:You'll see the troops slowly start to lose trust in Night Flash's capability to be a commander from now on. spoilerlol)

 

Night Flash understood the problem and organized the remaining troops to form a line and follow him. Midnight again tried to get up but he couldn't.

 

Night Flash noticed Midnight's problem, "No problem. One high speed transport coming up."

 

Night Flash carelessly threw Midnight on to his back, not noticing it hurt him even more, "You know...I'm not one of your play dolls...I'm a living, breathing pony and I'm not feeling well right now so I'd appreciate it if you....Oh I don't know, didn't toss me around?"

 

"THEY'RE ACTION FIGURES!"

 

*a few minutes later*

 

Everyone was panting trying to keep up with Night Flash's haphazard low level flying just a few feet above ground level. It was amazing how he hadn't hit a single tree. Although Midnight collided into pretty much every branch in the whole forest. His face was now a collection of leaves and twigs.

 

"Come on guys, it's not like it's a 100 mile trek or anything."

 

One of the soldiers had had enough, "Have you ever considered giving even the tiniest bucks about us? Or are we cannon fodder to you."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"YOU TREAT YOUR DOLLS WITH MORE RESPECT!"

 

"They.Are.Action.Figures."

[AnonyPoni 564]

Sirens blared all across Chiroptera, signaling the army to scramble. The soldiers reported to their barracks where a their COs were giving a quick mission briefing. Sule and Indigo were outside the city with a small special forces group, waiting for the next squads to show up.

 

Glaive took a breath of fresh air, “It’s one of those days,” he said. After around five minutes or so, the first groups started to trickle in.

 

One of the groups’ CO came in and saluted Sule. “55th Recon Division Reporting, Sir!”

 

Sule looked up from his far too bitter coffee. This entire division was mostly younger ponies, Their lieutenant couldn’t have been more than 22 years old. Sule cleared his throat, “Right, you guys, along with the 18th Division, are going to fly before before the rest of us and take a quick look of the situation.” Sule stomped his hoof and somepony brought him a tactical map. He opened it up, “Look, here is the area where Equestria is. You need to figure out where everything is going down, and how bad it’s going to be. We are going to wait here,” Sule pointed to a mountain range that was around ten miles from Equestria. “Hopefully we won’t be too late. If there seems to be a sufficient amount of time, send somepony to brief us at the mountains. If time is not something we have much of...” Sule stomped his hoof again, and Indigo handed him a box. “In this box... is a invention of my design. It shoots into the air and explodes a colorful fireball, we’ll be able to see it.” Sule handed it to the Lieutenant as another group flew in. “Ah, I see the 18th Recon Division is here. You guys need to leave right now. Sergeant?” The lead pony of the 18th saluted, “You’re in charge of these divisions. The Lieutenant will explain everything. You leave in ten minutes.” The Sergeant nodded and Sule walked off.

 

“ALRIGHT, YOU HEARD THE ARCHON!” The Sergeant bellowed. “MOVE!” The Divisions saluted and left to make final preparations.

 

***Ten Minutes Later***

 

The Recon squad tool off. By now, the field in which the army was assembling was filled with Malumai. Sule found Indigo and said, “Look, there is no way we are going to be able to transport this whole Army at the same time. We’ll leave in groups to the rendezvous point.”

 

“If you insist, sire.” Indigo said. Just as Sule was about to walk off, Indigo stopped him, “Wait... Sire... May I take the first group?”

 

“What? Why?” Sule asked. Indigo didn’t say anything. He simply looked away, staring off into the distance. Sule finally understood it. “Ah, I see. Shiri?”

 

Indigo avoided Sule’s eyes, “I didn’t say that.”

 

“It’s not like you are going to see her any sooner.”

 

“I was going with a spec ops team to assist with recon. We’ll be with the first group to the mountains, then leave for Equestria on our own. We’ll stay on the ground there and assist in their operations...”

 

“Where’s the part when you find your marefriend, get married, and live happily ever after?”

 

“Grrr... I... I will with admit that she is a factor in this... ”

 

“Oh really?” Sule said sarcastically. “Indigo, you’ve only known her for what, two nights?”

 

“Grr... Love hurts... I just want to see if she’s ok. Sire... Sule... just give me this.”

 

Sule sighed and nodded “Fine, assemble the first group and your team. Get going.”

Edited September 3, 2012 by AnonyPoni

[Prince Midnight 817]

Midnight jumped off of night flashes back and slowly stood when they reached their destination, his broken bones and multiple wounds from the earlier battle were coming back to bite him and he was so preoccupied,. he didnt notice the mare standing only a foot away. and when he looked up he met the face of shiri. "GAHH...." he jumped causing his wounded side to burn, and panted, "damnit shiri, do you make a habit of that?"

she smiled innocently "no, but.....what are you doing here?"

midnight shook his head, "as much as i used to hate equesteria, i dont anymore now that someone else has taken it all," he sighed lifting his hoof and using a light spell to cool the pain "i could ask you the same question, shouldnt you be back with indigo?"

 

she shrugged, "i could be, but equestria needs me."

 

midnight shook his head, "i see.....listen, about......all of that...at the castle," he sighed, "im sorry, even if i broke the spell i didnt fully trust you...."

shiri smiled "its fine, i understand, but for now," she looked up "night flash, i need to talk to you."

 

As they trotted off to talk, midnight, with the help of storm surge moved too a corner of the small canyon the camp was set up in, and into the furthest tent, and flopped down on the bedding.

"are you alright?" Storm asked with a worried espression.

Midnight smiled slightly, "ill be fine.....ive been through worse... honestly in the past few days i think my wings been broken more times then even the most experienced flyer...." he laughed "im getting used too it, but, no magic to heal it this time.

he grabbed his wing with his teeth and set the dislocated bone back into its socket with an audiable "SNAP."

Storm Surge winced and grabbed some gause and began wrapping midnights wing tightly and securely against his body, "no more flying until this wing is better midnight."

 

midnight chuckled, "yes nurse."

[Jadefire 2,796]

Shiri regarded Midnight for a second, before turning her attention to Night Flash. She approached him, but still kept her hood up, partially for effect, but also partially she didn't want to give him the respect of showing her face, thanks to the rout the Equestrian army suffered. Her dissapointment, however, didn't show in her voice. "Good day, commander. Are these all the survivors from the...er, 'battle'?" She asked.

Edited September 12, 2012 by Jadefire

[The Awesome One 1,314]

"Battle? More like slaughter."

 

Shiri looked at the number of survivors, "Evidently."

 

Night Flash would have admitted it wasn't one of his smartest choices, but the arrogance and pride in him stopped him from doing so. Night Flash looked to change the subject before Shiri started criticizing him for his actions.

 

"Hey, you know what would be fun?"

 

"Er...some sleep?"

 

"Nope."

 

"Then?"

 

"It's a really awesome thing called Alcohol.", said Night Flash as he pulled out a couple of beer bottles from his carrying bag.

[Prince Midnight 817]

"so...you were a pegasus a long time ago?"

 

midnight nodded, "when i was very young, honestly i dont even know how old i am now, novas magic did some weird things, and i just wondered if it messed with how i age...i dont know.." he leaned over and nuzzled her neck.

he then looked around outside, "nothing to do now, until sule arrives, i KNOW hes coming, he wouldnt deny the chance to help..."

storm surge smiled and pulled midnight back into the tent, "well, theres something we could do."

"w-woah....hey careful with the wing."

 

*a few hours later*

 

storm surge blushed, "sorry midnight, i dont usually do that so quickly its just...."

midnight smiled and kissed her cheek "nahh, i understand, one or both of us might not make it out of this, take the chance to do what you can."

he smirked, "but if we do make it out of this, theres one thing you must promise me."

storm looked up straightening out her mane "whats that?"

"you have to tell me where a pegasus like you learned to bend that way."

Edited September 24, 2012 by Midnight Moon

[The Awesome One 1,314]

(OOC: I thoroughly ignored the above post because it has nothing to do with the bullshit at hand)

 

The whole camp seemed desolate and miserable, none of the soldiers had had any thing to drink or eat since before the battle and it was almost sun-rise by the time. No one felt like talking and most of them were sleeping except for a couple of sentries. They couldn't light a fire in case Nova found them. Although the one thing out of place was the commander happily bouncing about with a whole bottle in his hand.

 

Shiri looked at him and made a 'face of disaproval', "No wonder you lost."

 

"Why so serious? Seesh, you and Indigo make a perfect match."

 

Just as they were about to argue, a small noise was heard, as if someone or something was watching them and coming straight at them. Nobody moved, there was silence everywhere....except for the crickets making their easily recognizable sound. Everyone grabbed some sort of a weapon, Shiri got her bow out and aimed it towards the direction from where the sound came from. Suddenly, a white little bunny appeared. Everyone gave a sigh of relief, but only a few seconds later, Indigo

fell out from the bushes onto the clearing where the survivors from the battle were camping with a thud.

 

He quickly got up and brushed the twigs off of himself and looked around, "...I meant to do that."

Edited September 25, 2012 by The Awesome One

[AnonyPoni 564]

Indigo’s group was long gone. Glaive put organized all the other groups and prepared to send off the second one. Sule, donned in his battle armor, got into formation with them.

 

“Uh, Sire” Glaive asked, “are you sure you want to got through-”

 

“Yes.” Sule said firmly.

 

“What about-”

 

“I don’t care.”

 

“Why not go with the last-”

 

“I want to be there to help organize the assault from that mountains”

 

“Why are you-”

 

“I don’t need to answer that, Colonel.” Glaive stood silently. His curiosity was strong, but not strong enough to question the Archon at this time.

 

“If you insist, Sire.” Glaive took several steps back and stood at attention. “FLIGHT, TEN-HUT!” He yelled as the top of his lungs. The group suddenly came to attention, standing as still as possible. Sule took a second to respond, but got the message. “Onward to the rendezvous point. LIFT... OFF!” Glaive ordered.

 

The ponies in the formation started to flap their wings and take flight. Even in mid flight, the ponies somehow remained in formation, flapping in sync. Sule had a bit of a difficulty trying to hover with his heavy armor. The group leader shouted something that he didn't quite hear. With that, the ponies broke their formation.

 

As if they were a swarm, the Soldiers all started their long flight to the Mountains. As they took a short fly-by of the city, Sule spotted Clover on one of the Turrets of the Castle. She seemed to be searching the skies for him. For a moment, from afar, their eyes locked...

 

**

 

Sule wasn't sure how long they were flying, but he was sure that if they didn't get to their destination soon, his wings would give out, and he'd go splat on the countryside. How the hay do these guys fly with all this gear?

 

He heard one of the officers yell, “Destination in sight!” and the swarm veered to the east. It was a hard to miss the majesty of the Mountain Range, nearing 20 miles away. Now, Sule needed to last long enough to get there.

 

**

 

The rendezvous point was on a cliff face overlooking Equestria. Members of the first group were there, waiting for them. The tempurature was below freezing, and there was a layer of snow everywhere. Despite the cold, The snow made for an easy, soft landing for the second group after a long flight.

 

Or, in Sule's case, soft crash landing.

 

The Archon was simply too tired to flap his wings anymore, and simply plummeted to the ground, landing in the soft snow. One of the soldiers rolled his eyes.

 

“What's the matter, soldier? Too much flappin' for ya?” He laughed, “Why, in mah day, a fly like this was our warm up!” he walked over and pulled Sule's head out of the snow, making his head gear fall off, “I swear, ya new recruits are gettin' softa and...” the soldier realized who he was making fun of. He suddenly came to attention and saluted, letting Sule fall back into the snow. “Sire! Sergeant Wingclaw reporting! I'm pleased to announce that the second detachment of the Malumai Expeditionary Force in Equestria has made it to it's destination, SIR!”

 

Sule got up and brushed the snow off himself, “Yeah, I noticed.” Well, that was certainly a 180 in this guy.

 

“Yes sire. Awaiting further orders!” Wingclaw exclaimed.

 

“Uh, wait till I get some for you...”

 

“Yes SIR!” Wingclaw turned around and left. Sule rubbed his head. The flight in his armor had done a number on him, and the cold simply made his headache worse. Sule abandoned the idea of that heavy, 40 lb helmet and simply put on his mane armor, which was lighter and easier to move in. Normally, one wore it under the helmet, but that thing was a ice box now, sitting in the snow.

 

Sule searched around a bit, and found the leader of the first group, looking off into the distance from close to the edge of the cliff. “Captain Starcrest?” Sule asked. Starcrest saluted, but Sule immediately put him at ease.

 

“We got here several hours ago, sire. Indigo left with some of the more elite troops for his mission. I decided to send out some of my ponies to see if could find anything of interest here.”

 

“Did they find anything?”

 

“Nothing much, though we did find an abandoned Malumai factory not far from here, probably a mine or refinery of some sort. There wasn't much there, though; just some old equipment and materials. Nothing we could really use.”

 

“Alright... hmm...”

 

“What is it, Sire?”

 

“How well can you see the enemy's positions here?”

 

Starcrest pulled out a small telescope and handed to Sule, “You can't see much, but there are few Alicorn camps and positions we can see from here. I was hoping the recon team would give us some more positions, if they could, so we know what to hit. Is something wrong, Sire?”

 

Sule was rubbing his head “Oh, nothing.” Sule was quietly thinking to himself. “There are going to be shipments of supplies in the other groups, and I believe that we should be getting some explosive powder in those. Hm.... You said that the Factory seemed to be a refinery?”

 

“Yes, sire” Starcrest replied.

 

“So, there were a lot of... metal pipes?”

 

“Huh? I guess so... why?”

 

“The Equestrian army is far larger than us, and they were crushed by Nova's Alicorn Soldiers. Unless we want the same thing, we need to be more creative in our approach. How far is the factory?”

 

“About a five minute fly from here.”

 

“Get some guys and let's go.” Sule's wings ached at the thought of more flying, but he didn't care.

 

He had an idea.

[Jadefire 2,796]

Meanwhile, earlier...

 

 

Indigo paused awkwardly, before bowing and taking his leave of the archon. However, as soon as he turned and began walking towards the disorganized crowd of soldiers, he felt a sudden twinge of shame. ‘The archon was right,’ Indigo mused, ‘what the hell is wrong with me? I’m twenty one years old, I’m a grand general of our city, second in command to the king himself, and here I am so distracted and bothered by a damn girl. Indigo shifted his gaze to the side. ‘Hm. I wouldn’t be surprised if Shiri placed a mind-control spell on me like the others. Ugh, I hate being in love.’

 

Indigo was quickly approached by an underling, but before he could say anything, Indigo gave an order, “Find the commanders of the Third, Fourth, Ninth, and Twelfth Early Strike companies, and bring them to me.” The underling saluted and took off. Indigo regarded him as he left. ‘It doesn’t matter. Nova needs to be stopped, and we need our army situated as soon as possible. I’ll need to be present to organize our forces from the get go, so Shiri or not, I’ll still need to be out there with our initial forces. This will keep Sule safe with the bulk of our forces.

 

Indigo paused for a minute, before he sighed again. It was an excuse, and he knew it. His childish crush on Shiri was affecting his judgement, and he needed to get over it, and quick.

Indigo walked forward absently in front of the assembling masses of soldiers, when his ear twitched as he picked up a conversation from two soldiers standing at the front of the company. “...yep, that’s pretty much why we’re out here.”

 

“Tch, they’re all idiots. They break their backs helping us reclaim the city, then they go take off to fight these things by themselves.”

 

“They’re just proud. They probably think we’re still the scary bat things from ten years ago. They don’t want our help.”

 

“Well, they’re getting it whether they want it or not. They saved our lives, we’re gonna return the favor.”

“I hear that. Let’s see those damn unicorns grateful to us for a fuckin’ change.”

 

Wait, what? Indigo snapped out of his angst-ridden melancholy. This was the last thing he expected to hear out of the frontline soldiers.

 

 

All his life, Indigo had seen the worse his race had to offer. Crime, drugs, violence, arrogance, pride, he grew up on the mean streets of Chiroptera. The gangs dominated the civilian world: you fought and you maneuvered, all of it just a dance to put oneself on top. Everypony’s loyalty in gang life was only to themselves: it was fight or be crushed under the hooves of those who fought. No charity, just mindless ambition. Indigo joined the military to escape all that, to find a better life for himself so he would end up a body in a ditch to be buried and forgotten. But military life was no different: the soldiers were commanded by the corrupt aristocracy or the top brass, but Indigo found the top brass was no better: Archon Sic Semper Tyrannus was a despot; he ran the city with an iron hoof, and did whatever he damn well pleased. The arrogant self-serving personality went all the way to the top.

But now...Indigo was standing in front of the organized might of the Maluma armed forces, all ready to follow Sule in suicidal campaign without question. Sule was weak; a reformer, an appeaser, and yet these soldiers here in the field in front of him were ready to follow them, even still. And two of the soldiers even expressed their intent to rescue the Equestrians, when everypony group up in a world seemingly out to get them.

 

What the hell happened?

 

“Sir.” Indigo heard a voice approach him. Indigo would have to ponder this new revelation later, as he turned around to greet the four officers approaching.

 

“Good, you’re here.” Indigo said, before producing a map. “We’re moving our army to this location,” Inidgo indicated the mountain range near the Equestrian settlements, “and meet up with the 18th scout group, and quickly proceed to link up with the Equestrian military. If we can’t make contact with either, then we’ll find a tract of land to get situated.” Indigo looked each commander in the eye to ascertain that they were paying attention. “That’s our initial plan, and I’ll give you further instructions when we get to Equestria. Now, the four of you, gather your companies and meet up at the mouth of the northeast canyon in thirty minutes. Dismissed."

 

The commanders saluted Indigo and left. Indigo turned and faced the horizon. Whatever social evolution his race went through, Inidigo will take what he could get.

 

 

---

The flight to Equestria was lengthy, and Indigo spent most of his time reflecting over recent events, but after some time Indigo decided it was only going to give him a headache and instead bided his time between going over attack strategies and flying with mind playing minstrel music on infinite loop.

Eventually, however, the mountain range in question appeared over the horizon. Indigo slowed down and beckoned the company leaders closer to him. When they arrived within earshot, Indigo spoke up, “Alright, we’ll land our troops in the large canyon; that should keep us obscured from Nova’s forces long enough to come up with a plan of attack. Fly in low,” Indigo ordered, “I’ll lead a team in and scout ahead. When we give the signal, bring your troops in down and report back to me. Understood?”

 

The officers all nodded. “Understood.”

 

“Good. Keep your troops out of sight, preferably in the shadow of the mountain.”

 

The canyon approached, and Indigo quickly gathered his team and descended to the forest canopy within.

 

------

 

Not one of his better moments in squad commanding. Indigo and his team had scouted into the canyon, but eventually they found a series of clearings filled with scores of ponies. Not wanting to be detected, Indigo and his team descended down to scout out the closest encampment on hoof.

 

What happened instead was the Ancient to the High Archon of the Maluma Nation immediately getting lost in the woods.

 

Indigo, bound with an unexpected amount of vines for an alpine forest, stumbled his way forward. It was difficult to see far ahead though the brush and the trees, and vines and foliage slowed his movement. He knew he didn’t land far from the encampment, so it was just a matter of time until he’d stumble into a clearing. Then he’d pull all the tree crap off himself, get his bearings, and if there were hostile ponies present, fly away. Besides, Indigo knew how to defend himself, if he got pursued he’d be able to fend off a few super soldiers long enough to link up with his team.

 

At least, until a vine somehow snaked around three of his hooves while he was approaching a rather thick bush. Well, so much for stealth, Indigo though, as he fell forward through the bush.

 

 

Indigo opened his eyes. Thankfully, he didn’t get a face full of thorns. Indigo looked around. Apparently there was a clearing on the other side of that bush he fell through, but what was more immediately concerning to him was the multiple non-super ponies looking at him, many of whom armed. Indigo stood still, staring at them, until he quickly heard a familiar voice. “Indigo?”

 

A familiar blue earth pony in a brown cloak approached him, and Indigo smiled with a squeak, before he quickly put a cap on his emotions. “Oh hi, Shiri. Didja miss me?” Indigo said. Heh, at least I can still remain smooth under pressure. Indigo noted, despite his rapidly elevating heart rate.

 

Shiri cocked her head. “Just on a stroll throught the woods, are we? What’s going on here?”

 

Indigo righted himself. “That’s what I’d like to know.” At this moment, Indigo’s other teammates began to emerge from the treeline, and Indigo turned his head to acknowledge them. However, his words were still directed at Shiri. “What did we stumble on here, exactly? Who are these ponies? And am I or any of my team here in danger now that we showed ourselves?”

 

Shiri thought a moment. “No. This here is the Equestrian military. I contacted their leader after a battle with Nova’s army, and we’re camping in this forest to regroup and hide from his forces. Unless you’re being tailed by Nova’s soldiers, we’re safe here.”

 

“So we just happened to coincidentally stumble upon your camp, Shiri? Out of this entire mountain range?”

 

“I don’t know. Did you? What are you doing out here, shouldn’t you be back at the city?”

 

Indigo quickly turned to his leiutenant and gave him orders. The leutenant saluted and took off. “Who’s to say I didn’t come all the way here just to see you?” Indigo said, smirking.

 

“I love you too.” Shiri said, deadpan. “Now what’s the reason you gave Sule to let you get here with being executed for desertion?”

 

“Heh.” Indigo said, amused, before turning serious. “I’m out here on a mission. I’m supposed to be meeting up with our scout regiment right about now. Since you seem confused, I take it you never encountered them.”

 

“No. We kept a close watch on the area for days now, and I ghe-”

 

“MEMORIES! OUT HERE IN DA MOOONLIGHT!~” sangma loud and unclear voice, interrupting Shiri. Night Flash staggered forward. “Sorry, but you two are boring. Good to see ya and all, Indygon, but I have stuff to do and sings to song.” With that, Night flash bounced away, drunkenly sing the rest of his dirge off-key. “ALL OF US, REMEMBERANCE IN DA SUUUN~!”

 

Shiri and Indigo watched him for a moment, before Shiri spoke up. “No. We kept a close watch on the area for days now, and I didn’t hear any reports on malumai in the area.”

 

Indigo sighed. “Dammit. They must’ve gotten themselves detected. With any luck, they’ll just claim to be Maluma defectors and Nova will be none the wiser to our presence.”

 

“I doubt it.” Shiri said.

At that moment, a shadow passed over their vision, and Indigo and Shiri looked up. A shadow appeared in the sky above them, followed by a dozen more, followed by scores of small shadows. “Oh, by the way,” Indigo said, his smirk returning, “I brought you a present. You’ll love me for this.”

 

“What?” Shiri said, but Indigo’s gift quickly became obvious as a dozen Malumai soldiers descended into the glen. Shiri watched them, then threw her gaze upward. There were scores of Malumai visible in the sky visible through the treetops, and Shiri could only guess as to how many hundreds more there were out there. “Indigo...you brought your army...?”

 

Indigo smiled. “I promised you you’d get reinforcements.” Indigo turned his head. “Or something like that.” He turned back to Shiri. “And I don’t like breaking a promise to a mare.”

 

Shiri moved like lightning, and before Indigo could react, he found her hooves wrapped around him. “Thank you...” she said, before he lowered his head and kissed her deeply.

 

---

 

“And that’s what happened.” Shiri finished. Indigo and his officers sat in a circle with Shiri and several Equestrian officers, while Shiri recounted recent events. Around them sat a number of Malumai soldiers resting their wings from the fast trip over, with many hundreds more spread through the canyon doing the same.

 

“This is bad, worse than we feared.” Indigo muttered, darkly. “We counted on backing up the existing military, but with you all out of commision...”

 

“I know. I got the remnants reorganized, but with our current numbers, there’s not a lot we can do. We considered a strike team, rush in and kill Nova, but...”

 

“Without intel, there’s no way to break in through his forces and get to him.” Indigo finished.

 

“No, we just don’t know where he is, period.”

 

“...in which case, we’ll need even more intel.” Indigo added. “And even then, we’ll need our forces to draw enough of his forces away so we can send a team in and kill the bastard.”

 

“That’s the only plan I can think of. We both know we both can’t stand up to him in a fair fight.” Shiri commented, and looked back at Indigo.

“Either way, there’s nothing we can do now. But...”

 

“But?” Shiri asked.

 

“But, there’s still the matter of the missing scout group. If they rat us out, then Nova will know where we are, and this all will be for nought. So, first order of business, finding them.” Indigo got up. “If they’re alive, good. If they’re dead, then I’ll need to scout out Nova’s forces in the area personally, so I’ll know what they’re doing myself.” Indigo turned and ordered an underling to fetch his scout team, before turning back to Shiri. “Look, the Archon himself will be arriving with another wave of troops later tonight.”

 

Shiri nodded. “Right.”

 

“If he arrives before I get back, then somepony needs to brief him on what’s going on.”

 

Shiri approached him. “Consider it taken care of.” Shiri embraced Indigo. “Take care, and be careful.”

 

Indigo nuzzled her. “You too. I can’t guarantee we weren’t followed by Nova’s soldiers.”

 

And with that, Indigo bid his farewell, and took into the sky.

Edited October 2, 2012 by Jadefire

[Prince Midnight 817]

Midnight was resting against storm surge before sighing standing and moving to the tents opening, he didnt know what to do for the first time in his life, as he looked out over the soldiers, all these ponies and scores more might die, all beacuse of nova, beacuse of midnight.

Midnight shook his head, "ive got to find a way to give us an advantage.....but how?" he thought too himself, thinking through hundreds of options, one kept pulling its way to the front of his mind, "no no, that will never work," he muttered to himself,

"you never know.."

 

Midnight shook his head, then turned and began putting his armor on, trying not to disturb storm, he leaned over and kissed her cheek softly before turning and leaving the tent, "i hope this works."

He passed by the equestrian and malumai soldiers without a second look but bumped into shiri, "oh, midnight i didnt see you,"

midnight shook his head, "sorry, i didnt see you either, got alot on my mind at the moment."

Shiri nodded, "i understand, its been a tough few months hasnt it?"

midnight smiled "it has, but hopefully it gets better from here." he started to walk past her, she frowned and put a hoof on his shoulder stopping him.

"midnight, are you okay?"

midnight turned and smiled nodding, "yeah, im just going to mill about the perimiter of the camp." and with that he turned away from her and started walking again.

 

Shiri watched him dissappear into the bushes, before the cogs started turning in her head, and she blinked "this......is...the perimiter, damnit all to hell."

 

 

*a few hours later in a large clearing miles away from camp*

 

Midnight looked around before his eyes narrowed, "i know your here...."

 

"Right you are my friend..."

midnight frowned "i am NOT your friend."

Nova smiled, "hmm, noted," he smiled as midnight noticed he was alone, "oh, dont think about attacking me, but you werent anyway were you?"

midnight blinked, "i.....wasnt,"

Nova smiled, "good boy, mabey i could even give you a treat."

midnight shook his head violently, "oh, dont try and fight it, honestly you will just hurt yourself."

nova trotted forward and placed a hoof on midnights shoulder, midnight retaliated and knocked nova on his backside, and with a quick swipe midnight had his sword at novas throat.

"im going to KILL you for everything youve done."

 

Nova began to chuckle, "bravo bravo, but you forget one small thing my pet, you dont WANT to kill me."

midnights body began to shake as he fought with something inside, until he dropped the sword, nova dissappearing then reappearing on his hooves inches away the sword point now at midnights throat.

 

Midnight swallowed "w-what are you doing to me?"

"its not what im doing my dear midnight, its what ive done, its what you malumai would call.....oh whats the word," nova frowned and looked up for a moment, "a failsafe of sorts, a trigger, clever huh?"

 

Midnight looked at the ground as it began to sway he blinked trying to keep himself from falling unconsious, " when that trigger is activated a more subtle one is then brought, you listen and obey everything i say, and having a magical connection to me, all i had to do was put a thought in your head, and you would gravitate towards it."

 

He smirked digging the sword deeper, "but, you have lost your use to me midnight, in a few days equestria will be mine and theres nothing sule or ANYPONY can do about it, not even you, but what to do with you," he started walking around midnight, "let you live."

he then smirked swiping the blade against midnights back legs, cutting deeply and causing midnights body to collapse, "or kill you."

he grinned and dug the blade into one of midnights front legs, and just kept pushing till it hit the soft dirt in the ground, midnight tried to cry out in immense pain, but nova grinned and shook his head, "ah ah ah, no screaming."

midnight tried with every fiber of his being to scream and yell, but nothing happened, except a small whimper, "see, that dosent hurt at all, i mean your not screaming in pain, so it cant be that bad."

 

Midnight shook his head "you sick bastard."

nova grinned and bowed slightly "thank you, thats my specialty."

 

Midnight shook his head as his vision started to fade, "nnngg.....n-no....storm...chrys..."

 

Nova laughed with glee, this was becomming a great day for him, true the equestrian army was still out there, granted he didnt know where, beacuse he couldnt see through midnight, and never knew exactly where he was, like his new super soldiers, but it didnt matter, he grinned as he looked at the unconsious black stallion, he was the first successful test, very basic in many respects, but again, it didnt matter.

 

Nopony knew he was here, and so he would die, a merciful death in novas eyes, snorting, nova turned and dissappeared in a flash, mabey he would come back someday.

 

 

*early evening the next day.*

 

Midnight shivered as he slowly woke up, he looked around, his head hurt, his body was cold, as he took stock of the situation he tried to stand then let out a loud yelp, looking at his left front leg, it had a sword through the ankle "damnit..

""first things first, i have to get the sword out......" he took it in his teeth "okay.....3...2..1.." he began to pull at the hilt as hard as possible and as it began to move, his body started to warm, but in the bad way as waves of pain shot thought his body every single inch.

 

but soon it was free and midnight dropped it and began to softly lick the wound, "buck buck buck," he looked around himself, "damnit.....am i going to die?"

[The Awesome One 1,314]

(OOC:...this is a pathetic post.)

 

Night Flash woke up with a headache, he had drunk to much the other night and was now paying the consequences. While he was out, the Malumai had taken the liberty of setting up their tents and making the once small camp into a full makeshift base. Before Indigo had come, there were just a handful of soldiers, now there were a lot of Malumai soldiers from Indigo's unit.

 

Night Flash noticed that one of the tents was much bigger than the other one. He guessed it was a makeshift 'command room'. He also saw Indigo hurriedly come out of the tent and takeoff into the sky with a squad of soldiers.

 

Night Flash entered the tent and saw Shiri and some Equestrian and Malumai officers standing round a table.

 

Shiri was the first to talk, "Good morning, Commander. Enjoy your sleep?"

 

Night Flash gave a yawn, "How long was I out?"

 

"Well...you'd have given away our position with all the noise you were making so I had you knocked out."

 

"Where's Indigo?", said Night Flash, changing the topic.

 

"You just missed him, he's out looking for some of our scouts that are apparently lost in this forest.", said Shiri.

 

"The idiot! He doesn't even know his way around and his scouts most likely got eaten by the timber wolves."

 

Shiri looked at him with alarm, "Timber what?"

 

Night Flash looked at her and shook his head, "I guess they didn't teach you about the Equestrian wildlife in school, did they?"

 

"But I never went to school..."

 

"Nevermind. Let's hope he and his buddies get back in one piece. Are these all the reinforcements or are their more on the way?"

 

Shiri shrugged, "I thought the Archon himself was coming with the main army, we haven't heard from them yet."

 

Night Flash nodded and turned towards the officers who were seated at the table, "Gentlemen, I believe there is a shortage of rum...WHY? WHY IS THAT?!"

 

"But, Sir....you finished it all last night.."

 

"...Oh."

 

"Sir, do you have any orders?"

 

Night Flash thought for a minute, "Actually...I do. Get a special team ready, I want to do some spying on our friend, Nova. Soon as Indigo get's back, we'll leave for the main Alicorn camp. Shiri here can come too if she wants."

 

The officers nodded and started relaying the order. Night Flash himself went to put on his armour and ready his weapon whilst quietly whistling the tune of the song he was singing last night

[Prince Midnight 817]

Midnight got too his hooves and winced in pain, he didnt know how far he was into the forest or where the nearest help would be, he looked down at his badly bleeding left hoof then at the forest around him and took a tentive step in which his leg wobbled and collapsed.

"what a time....." he muttered angerly, "this is all my fault to begin with," he pushed himself up again then slowly limped his way into the forest, in the complete oppisite direction of the camp.

"this isnt looking any more framiler...." he mumbled as he slipped down a small hill, then continued limping, "i hope this is the right way, dont want to be stuck out here too long."

[The Awesome One 1,314]

Night Flash had now completely put on his armour. He didn't put his helmet though because he just held it in his hoof. He walked out and saw Whirlwind organizing some soldiers he had selected for the operation into a line.

 

Night Flash walked up to them and got greeted with a dozen salutes. Whirlwind stepped aside and joined up with the line as well. Night Flash nodded to them, "At ease....alright, had a good night's rest, everybody?"

 

"Not really considering we lost half our army not too long ago..."

 

"Hey listen, I know we've suffered a major setback but the fate of Equestria is in our hands! The Alicorn's are already within attacking range of our outermost settlements, including Ponyville. If they capture that, they'll have a great base to plan their attack on Canterlot. We cannot let them do that. It's now or never."

 

That raised the morale of the soldiers but only slightly, they were still vastly outnumbered even with the Malumai Army on the way.

 

"How are we supposed to do that?", asked one of the soldiers.

 

Night Flash smiled at him, "This is our homeland isn't it? I think we know it better than some mutated ponies and it's crazy leader. To get through to Ponyville and the rest of Equestria, you need to walk through ghastly gorge. We could easily defend that with a phalanx formation and we've got plenty of archers just in case they try to fly over. Indigo should be here soon so be ready to depart."

 

The soldiers replied with the usual and loud 'Sir Yes Sir!' and broke away from the formation. Night Flash went towards the command tent to inform his officers and Shiri of the current situation.

Edited October 4, 2012 by The Awesome One

[AnonyPoni 564]

Staring at the piles of "junk" at the factory, the gears in Sule's mind began to turn. He turned to Starcrest.

 

"Captain, get everypony here..."

 

***

 

"MOVE, MOVE!"

 

New groups were coming to the rendezvous point and were immediately ordered to go the the factory. It appeared the Glaive decided to send off larger groups at shorter intervals to speed up the process. Also, they began to come with supplies.

 

Including explosive powder.

 

Inside the rusted, aged factory, Sule was doing.... something his officers couldn't really figure out. He seemed to be taking measurements and tapping large steel pipes that seemed to be in a pile. Sule then found a stick and started scribbling stuff in the snow, murmuring something. After a while of that, he looked up in a bit of a crazed look at his officer. "Ok, it'll work"

 

"Uh," one of them said, "what will work?"

 

Sule started to speak really fast. To him, it sounded a bit like, "Oh, you see, with the fact that the Alicorn soldiers are probably gonna annihilate us, I figured that we could use another thing to launch a bit of a preemptive strike on them. I was thinking we could use catapults, but there would not be enough power to pull that off. Soooo, when Captain Starcrest told me about this factory, It occured to me that we could use metal pipes to focus the energy created by the rapid expansion of the exploding explosive powder. According to Clover the Clever, the laws of physics say that we can go farther with such a higher initial velocity. According to the way these pipes sound when I tap them, it appears they are a type of carbonized steel that should stand the stress created by the powder. Now, I'm sure we can fashion some sort of a projectile that can be launched by this. Something like a metal ball should work. Hmmm, maybe we can put powder inside some of our projectiles and have them explode on contact! Ok guys, I need you to organize a assembly line to weld the bottoms of these things, create to fulcum -so we can aim them- and make us some projectiles. Ok, any questions?"

 

Most of the officers had a bit of a blank stare, most of what the Archon said went through their minds as "losdflk hdsalk;dsvalaksfdatkj;rdjseqomqcmope;mowtcn;oamwaeqcdtpmoficnvypvqemcwtf[om[oiuiow[u aen pocf;;ernmi;dicowvVKJHASVjfhjdnvncxkxiduuishsfliasaowaklkjvosanavdnvchlskmvcnbjlojkavlkknlkahklbvsh bhsaojgacisyuoriufsakgkajlk gvmjdvn. Any Questions?"

 

Sule facehoofed. "Just get to work, you'll figure it out"

Edited October 6, 2012 by AnonyPoni

[Prince Midnight 817]

Midnight looked around and shook his head, "gotta stay awake..." his stomach rumbled, "got to find some food and water....." he smiled as he noticed a berry bush, and luckilly a small pond.

"oh thank the goddesses." he limped over and took a berry into his hoof, and looked it over carefully, it was blue with red stripes, he shook his head, "food is food, guess if the goddesses are smiling on me, they wont be poisionus."

he picked a few and popped them into his mouth, they had a sweet taste too them, that was deffinetly a good sign, he smiled then picked the rest and placing them in his saddlebag, he had to conserve what food he could find, then turned to the stream, it poked out of a underground spring, which meant the water was fresh, and with that thought in mind he took a giant swig and sat there washing his wounds with the cool water, and when he was done, he felt refreshed and slightly re-energized.

 

*an hour of walking later.*

midnight frowned, as the trees started to thin, he heard.....cries? pleas for help? and as he picked up the pace and crested the hill, he realized he was in the small makeshift prision camp, directly behind novas army, and with a start he realized the forest circled in a moon shape around, and right behind nova.

he shook his head, nova must realize this....but then again, the walking, or more, limping he went through, was grueling and steep, rocky and sometimes frustratingly impassable.

 

midnight shook his head, down there in the makeshift camp he saw ponies of all kinds in cages, some tortured, and some already dead, midnight knew he had to do something, but what? he was weak enough as it is.

he rested his head against the cool rock to keep himself hidden and to try and figure out what to do from here.

[The Awesome One 1,314]

Just as Night Flash entered the 'command room' , he saw the officers and Shiri frantically talking to each other.

 

"Why did you let General Midnight go? He doesn't know his way around the everfree forest! He's probably lost and starving right now!", said one Equestrian Officer to Shiri.

 

She had a defeated look on her face, "He said he was checking out the perimeter or something....and then he didn't come back."

 

No one noticed Night Flash standing at the entrance and that annoyed him, "Oi, Commander standing right here."

 

Everyone's head turned towards the armored pony. He approached the table, his armor making a small clanging sound as he moved, "Firstly, Indigo goes off on a mission without informing me. Now, Midnight's gone too? Do those fools know ANYTHING about the dangers of this place?"

 

"Well...how about organizing a search party for the search party and the General?", suggested a Malumai Officer.

 

"As luck would have it, I've already organized a team of soldiers to do some spying on Nova and see what he's up to. The original plan was for Indigo to come along too but the fool's gone into the depths of Ever Free forest and so had Midnight. So instead of a spying mission, this is now a rescue mission."

 

Shiri got up from her seat, "I'm coming too."

 

"Missing Indigo, are we?"

 

And with that, Shiri went to her tent to get ready while Night Flash went back to his team to tell them of the changes.

[AnonyPoni 564]

After a while, the others began to figure out what the hay Sule was talking about. It didn't take long before the first of Sule's creation was done. Sule finished up some last minute welding.

 

"Alright guys," he said, taking off his eye shield, "Let's get this thing to the cliff face..."

 

Some of the burly soldiers around him tried to lift it. In the end, it took 10 ponies to get it off the ground. Painfully, they dropped it off where the Archon wanted it.

 

Sule stood in satisfaction at his creation. It was almost 7 feet tall, around 10 feet wide. It seemed so simple, since it was a metal tube with the back welded shut, mounted on some fly wheels.

 

"Get me one of the projectiles, and some of the explosive powder..." Sule said in awe of the metal behemoth. One of the thew the projectile on the ground. It was a metal slug, with a bit of a sharpened end to help it sail through the air better. Another soldier came by and loaded the invention. "Alright guys, let's go hide behind that little hill..."

 

Behind the hill, Sule covered his ears and started a count down. "5, 4, 3..."

 

"WAIT" Captain Starcrest yelled

 

"What?" Sule asked, slightly annoyed.

 

"What are you going to call this thing? If it works... it's going to change the face of warfare forever... don't you at least want to give it a name?"

 

"Uh... I think we've got bigger problems than that"

 

"Just humor us Sire"

 

"Grrr, fine.... how about a Reed?"

 

"....Are you serious, sire?" one of the gruff sergeants facehoofed.

 

"Well, Reeds are hollow..." Sule defended meekly.

 

"Sire...try something to instill FEAR into our enemies..."

 

"grrr, I liked it...."

 

"How about Cannon?" said one of the female officers

 

"What the hay does that mean?" Starcrest asked.

 

"It's in a old pony dialect. It means Reed" She said, chucking a bit at her clever joke.

 

"That still doesn't seem...."

 

"I like it" Sule said.

 

"....wait, what?" they all said.

 

"I dont want to waste anymore time on this" Sule said. "We'll call it a Cannon" Starcrest raised his hoof to object, "Deal with it," Sule shot back. "OK! 5 4 3 2 1, GO!!!"

 

One of the soldiers lit a trail of powder. The small fire moved quickly in a hissing noise towards the Cannon. The ponies next to the hill hunkered down and braced themselves...

 

Suddenly, there was a loud boom. A boom that was heard all across Equestria. A boom so deafening, that even thunder couldn't compare.

 

The war to save Equestria had begun.

 

 

(OOC, EVERYPONY HEARD THAT BOOM you guys should write that you heard it in your next posts...)

Edited October 7, 2012 by AnonyPoni

[The Awesome One 1,314]

"...And don't you dare hide the rum from me again!", said an angry Night Flash to his Officers. he had seen one of the officers having a bottle and Night Flash recognized it as one of the bottles from his own personal collection.

 

"But, Sir...it is bad for you, half the time you've spent on this campaign has been wasted in drinking this!", reasoned another one.

 

Night Flash was about to say something inappropriate but all of a sudden the ground shook and there was a loud boom, which sounded more like the roar of a monster. It was enough to throw some of the lighter-footed ponies off their feet, including Night Flash.

 

Night Flash quickly got up again once the rumbling stopped and rubbed his head where he hit the ground, "That was either the burp of a dragon or someone just made a Sonic Rainboom."

 

"Both impossible, Sir. There has been no pony porn with rainbow manes and there are no dragons in the everfree forest."

 

Night Flash thought for a moment, a smile slowly spread across his face, "...Sule, you bloody genius."

 

The Officers, seeing Night Flash lost in thought, tried to get away. But the moment they turned around to run, Night Flash was standing there, hovering slightly above the ground, "Surprise, motherfuckers."

[Prince Midnight 817]

Midnight lifted his head as the boom echoed around the valley then smirked, "sule.." he looked down at the camp, having regained a bit of his energy and knew exactly what he was going to use it for.

Slipping down the hill he walked straight into the camp lifting his sword and killing the first guard, by stabbing him through the throat, he turned and lifted his hoof, breaking the locks on two of the cages, releasing the ponies who were alive, " some of you,break the others out, the others, distract the guards long enough for your comrades to be released."

all of them nodded, as midnight saw a flash of steel behind him, and whipped around to block it. "not today motherbucker."

 

*an hour later*

 

midnight panted as he rested in the secluded part of the forest with the rest of the POW's, he turned, no time to rest "anypony hurt?"

a young stallion, just above the age of a colt raised his hoof, "i think i broke my leg."

midnight nodded, and wiggled his way under the stallion and lifted him onto his back, "anypony know this forest well?"

two mares raised their hooves, "we went in here alot with our parents."

midnight nodded, "theres a small canyon somewhere in here, think you can find it?"

both mares nodded, "yes, if we can find a spot we recognize."

midnight sighed, "hopefully we can, and soon, we have to get back to camp, and find out whats going on."

Edited October 16, 2012 by Midnight Moon

[The Awesome One 1,314]

"..Alright Shiri, I need you to tell me the general direction in which Midnight went.", said Night Flash as he lead the search party through the dense forest.

 

"And that's all you need to find him?"

 

Night Flash shrugged, "It's like pigeons finding their way home."

 

*meanwhile*

 

The two mares Midnight had appointed to find the way through the forest were looking for some sort of recognizable landmark so they could find their way to the canyon from there. By chance, they found one known to every Equestrian, the timber tree. A huge tree standing in a clearing from where the Timber Wolves magically 'spawned'. Luckily, there were none there at the moment because it was still day-time.

 

Midnight looked at the tree, "So, we can find our way back from here?"

 

"Yes, the canyon is not far from here."

 

Suddenly, the rustling of bushes was heard, and a few moments later, Night Flash emerged waving his sword both ways, cutting his way through the thick vegetation.

 

"Alright, the fool must be near here somewhere.", said Night Flash as he looked back at Shiri, not noticing Midnight standing right there besides the tree, who was now angry at what Night Flash had just called him.

 

"...You do know he's standing behind you, right?"

 

Night Flash quickly jerked his head the other way and gave a sigh of relief, "For the love of Equestria, don't go running off like that."

 

Night Flash then noticed some ponies standing behind him, who he recognized as Equestrian soldiers, "Ah, the 1st Cavaly division, I thought you were completely wiped out."

 

One soldier, who looked very worn out, fell to the ground out of exhaustion, "Almost."