-They Love to Hate-

“I want all of their belongings tallied, not even a belt buckle overlooked!” the large Pegasus dressed in silver armor bellowed to his legion of silver garbed soldiers. “Check under their tents for signs of something buried there, dig under the fire pit. They could have anything hidden around here!” His head was covered by the shining helmet of his armor, the tiny slots in his faceplate left nothing for anyone to see or strike at. A cape of white adorned with the golden symbol of Celestia’s crest was draped across his shoulders and his hooves were adorned in more silver armor.

The Guards’ camp had been overrun, silver armor flashed in every corner of the once nearly empty camp. The tents were torn down and shaken out, the ground below them inspected harshly. The locked chest was smashed open and its various contents strewn across the icy grass, the strange weaponry that the Guards had had been piled up for later inspection. And in one corner, chained in silver and gagged, lay the two Lunar converts: Iron Bar and Filibuster.

Several of the silver soldiers had been required to subdue the two, a surprising amount considering they’d been caught in their sleep early in the morning. Iron Bar was the most heavily chained, steam billowed out from his nostrils as he glared angrily at the soldiers all around him. Filibuster only glared, an iron ring clamped around his cracked horn had rendered his magic useless for anything more than sparks but he’d been no less of an obstacle for the soldiers, several of whom now sported wounds from the goring he’d delivered to them.

"Sir!" one of the soldiers called out. The knight turned his head toward the call to see the soldier holding aloft two large, sealed bags. The material suggested that it held a large amount of fine powders. The soldier brought it through the crowd and set them down in front of the knight, red and black powder stained the soldier’s once shining armor.

“Some contraband or poison, no doubt,” the knight said as he prodded one with a hoof and examined the red powder that stained them. “Burn both of them with cleansing incenses, that should rid us of it,” he commanded and waved the soldier away.

Several soldiers shouted out behind them and the knight wheeled around to witness the commotion. With a rush of wind a giant of a Pegasus landed heavily in the center of the camp, his wings kicked up clouds of dust and ash from the remains of the fire pit and the soldiers had to scramble to get out of his way. When he stood he towered over the soldiers and his long, muscular legs might have been called elegant. The scars across his throat and chest were prominent, and his steely coat was flawed with splatters of black. His huge wings folded clumsily at his side and intense green eyes examined the silver clad warriors all around him with contempt.

The knight had no doubt as to who this was.

“So the beast returns to his lair,” the silver knight announced to a round of chuckles from the crowd of soldiers. He silenced them with a raised wing, cleverly hidden blades in the brown feathers glinted dangerously in the cold light; the glint in Coalback’s eye told that he saw them there. Coalback walked toward the knight and the sea of silver split around him, wordlessly they knew that this was a confrontation for the knight and not them.

“You will release the boys and return my things,” Coalback growled as he stepped up to the knight, his bare tooth scowl directly in front of the knight’s faceplate.

“They attacked us, they are under arrest for assaulting soldiers of the Royal Army. And these things do not belong to you, they belong to the crown and have been confiscated,” the knight said, unfazed by the abnormally pointy teeth in Coalback’s mouth. The knight did not balk nor back down, he was confident that not only would his armor protect him but that the savage wouldn’t dare attack him with so many soldiers around. “And you,” he continued, “have been decreed as a dangerous individual, and we are here to protect the ponies of Ponyville from your actions,” he said.

“One,” Coalback hissed with a lifted hoof, “they protect the camp from intruders, as you appear to be: Two; these things were given to me by Princess Luna, not Princess Celestia, and only Lady Luna has the power to take them from me,” Coalback said as he wrenched a rifle from the hooves of a nearby soldier who had been taking them away. “Third! These, especially belong to me. From the money given to me for my services- Do not touch!” he grunted at a soldier as they tried to take away the bags of powder. The soldier jumped and dropped the bags, one split open and the red powder spilled out from it. “And fourth; my camp does not lie on royal soil,” Coalback growled, he couldn’t see the knight’s expression but the crowd around him suggested their confusion. “The Everfree Forest lies at the border of Equestria’s boundaries, and that fence you carelessly stomped through,” Coalback announced as he pointed to the ripped up ground that led toward the town, “marked the edge of the town’s boundaries. I know the laws, you have no jurisdiction here, and I would ask you to leave.”

A heavy silence hung over the camp. The tension grew as the soldiers awaited orders from the Solar knight, ready to attack or retreat at his word. Coalback’s intense eyes stared into the knight’s helmet with an intensity that suggested he really could see straight through it.

“Very well, you are not incorrect,” the knight grumbled. He lifted a wing, once again the blades hidden in his feathers glinted in the light, and he motioned for the soldiers to retreat back toward town. Slowly the knight turned his back on Coalback and began to follow his soldiers. “But I’m warning you, beastie, if I think you present any danger to this town or to the crown then hell nor high water will save you.”

“Is that a challenge?” Coalback snarled, his voice echoed against the hills.

“It’s a promise,” the knight hissed over his shoulder and did not pause in his march.

Coalback only growled deep in his chest, a sound that rippled across the ground like water. His squires walked up behind him, dirt and slush clung to their coats where they’d been thrown to the ground after release. They waited loyally for Coalback to give an order. “Let them do what they like, the town is protected now whether they like it or not. But do not travel alone, and do not provoke them,” he growled and his squires bowed their heads in assent. “This a power play,” Coalback spat as he pulled the flint striker from the rifle in his hooves. He struck it against the metal and a shower of sparks sprayed over the red dust that had spilled across the ground.

The dust let out a vicious roar as it ignited, a violent eruption of bright red flames sprayed up toward the air. The wave of heat that flowed off of it melted the ice and dried the grass in a wide circle around it. The heat quickly turned the soil below it into a molten glass and dried off the squires nearby.

A flurry of wings and Rainbow attempted to land nearby, she quickly reconsidered as she felt the heat of the flames and landed a good distance away. “What’s going on?” she asked with a questioning glare at the unnaturally red fire.

Coalback stepped out of the ring of heat. “A group of Solar soldiers came and tore up our camp, dumped out some spare fuel and now it has to be burned,” he explained.

“Why’d they do that?” Rainbow grunted with a glare at the evidence all around. “Sheesh, I wish I’d shown up sooner. I was just coming to ask how you liked the trip, but this kinda puts a damper on things. I’m sorry this happened, dude,” she said.

“It was not you, you do not need to be sorry. Besides, the danger is passed, we don’t plan on doing much except for training for now,” Coalback said as he examined the rifle in his hooves. The shaft was broken where the soldier’s grip had resisted him and he quickly snapped off the bottom end. It might be repairable but the counterweight at the bottom was useless now, so he tossed it into the flames.

The wood screamed as the heat boiled away whatever water was left in it, and the steel counterweight quickly melted and began to boil. The fire ate the shaft as quickly as a dog might snap up a table scrap.

“We’ll be training from two hours before sunrise until noon every morning, and you’re welcome to join us whenever you like,” Coalback said as he turned to go and repair his tent. His defeated squires followed diligently.

The sun had begun to dip towards the horizon and gain an orange hue, but the normally quiet town of Ponyville was bustling with activity. Small groups of silver clad ponies marched up and down the streets, they often stopped ponies to question them. They’d set up their camp in one of the parks in the center of town, the once peaceful scenery now littered with tents and fire pits. In just a day a virtual army had moved into Ponyville, and all the little parties that seemed to follow them too. They had cooks and armorers in their own tents, a large battle tent had been set up in its interior. A long flag pole had been erected and flew a banner emblazoned with Celestia’s mark.

“This is so strange,” Rarity said as she looked out Sugercube Corner’s windows at the ranks of silver clad ponies as they marched by. “And to think I thought Coalback’s short lived curfew was intrusive on my schedule. I was stopped twice on my way here by different soldiers,” Rarity grumbled.

“I know,” Twilight agreed, “the mayor hasn’t said anything about it, and I don’t recognize any of these Guards. Where do you think they came from?”

“It’s pretty plain that Princess Celestia sent ‘em, I just can’t figure out why,” Applejack offered.

“Maybe they’re here to help Sir Coalback?” Fluttershy mumbled into her mug of hot cocoa. “You did say that it was strange that only they came here.”

“I might think that too if they hadn’t marched in and trashed his camp,” Rainbow said. “I went over there and the place was wrecked, their stuff was all over the ground.” She stabbed at a salad with a fork, not really in the mood to eat and for some reason didn’t see it very appetizing.

“Oh,” Fluttershy muttered as she hid behind her mug.

“Perhaps …” Rarity began but cut herself off with a thoughtful hum.

“What is it, Rares?” Applejack muttered.

“Well, I hate to say it, but what if Celestia is still upset with Coalback,” Rarity suggested as she watched a group of soldiers who had stopped outside of Sugarcube Corner. “She did seem quite miffed after that day in the courtroom, she didn’t even see us off.”

“Would Celestia hold a grudge? And just what does she have against Coalback?” Rainbow asked. All eyes turned to Twilight, who had slowly begun to sweat.

“Well, if the history books are right …” Twilight started, “then the last time Celestia and Luna had knights was right before Nightmare Moon was banished,” she said as she nervously twiddled her hooves. “It could be that there’s some sort of power struggle going on that they haven’t told us about … something personal that’s put them against each other,” she said, the realization dawned on her as she said it. “After all, Celestia didn’t seem like herself when we saw her. It was like she was wearing a mask.”

“A power struggle?” Rarity asked incredulously. “Between the Princesses? Twilight, you can’t possibly be-“

“But it would make sense!” Twilight insisted. “If Luna’s return has caused as much interruption to normal government as the newspapers claim, then it could potentially create power struggles underneath their noses. It might not be them directly making these decisions!” she explained.

“How does that work? Celestia and Luna are the Princesses, nothing happens without their say so,” Applejack said. She was on Rarity’s side on this, there was a piece missing here.

“Celestia herself told me that she can only read so many of the bills presented to her, and that often smaller undesirable bills can ride the coattails of others in ways that are difficult to spot. It could be that the bureaucracy underneath them saw the need for the Knights and that presented them in a way that was reasonable and are employing them for this,” Twilight said with a hoof pointed out the window.

Outside a set of soldiers pinned a large poster to the side of a shop. The paper was topped with Celestia’s mark.

“By royal order of her highness, Princess Celestia, the principality of Ponyville is now under martial law. These rules have been posted for your safety …” Fluttershy read. She got a surprised look from everyone at the table but Rainbow. “Pegasi have good eyesight …” she muttered.

“Curfew is seven o’clock p.m. every night,” Rainbow read with a scowl. “And ‘homes and businesses are subject to unannounced searches and seizures’! What the hell is this?!” she demanded. She slammed her fork into her salad, the idea of eating at all was alien to her now.

“Whatever!” Pinkie said as she hopped over to the table and slapped down a tray of cupcakes with silver swirls of icing. “This’ll blow over in no time! I can tell!” she bubbled as she passed out the cupcakes.

“Pinkie sense?” Twilight asked.

“Yup!” she said as she ate a cupcake, the cake gone in a single bite that somehow left the paper wrapper in tact. “I got a wiggly tail and itchy hooves the second those guys rolled in! This’ll all be over in just a few days!”

“Ah thought wiggly tail and itchy hooves meant someone was gonna get into an argument?” Applejack said as she took a bite of her own cupcake. Apple and cinnamon, a favourite.

“No, that’s itchy hooves then wiggly tail! This was wiggly tail and itchy hooves at the same time!” Pinkie explained. Everypony around the table nodded, that made sense. “Besides, I got more important things to think about! Like Coaback’s Welcome To Ponyville Party! It’s soooo overdue!” Pinkie said with a triumphant smile.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, sugarcube? Seems to me like Coalback don’t like meetin’ new ponies,” Applejack said as she washed down her cupcake with her mug of hot cocoa.

“That’s what had me stumped for so long!” Pinkie declared with an exasperated sigh. “But I finally figured it out! We’ll just have a little party with the ponies he knows!” she said with a beaming smile. “Just us six, Spike, your sisters, and Iron Bar and Filibuster! We can do it at your barn, Applejack!” Pinkie said. She held out another cupcake to Applejack, the bribery obvious now for what it was.

Applejack rolled her eyes and took the cupcake. “It’s fine by me,” she said as she started to nibble at the new cupcake.

“Woohoo!” Pinkie said with a hop high into the air. “I’ll get the confetti!” she beamed as she sped off deeper into the bakery.

“Is she going now? It’s nearly seven, I hope she doesn’t get in trouble,” Rarity muttered as she took another glance out the window.

“I reckon not even Celestia herself could stop that girl once she’s got herself set on somethin’,” Applejack offered as she finished her cupcake and cocoa. “I betcha she’ll have the whole thing set up by tomorrow night and nopony’ll be able to stop her then. Ah better head off though, with this curfew and all,” Applejack grumbled as she donned her hat. “Thought we was finished with that malarkey,” she muttered under her breath as she went out the door.

“And I’d better find Sweetie Belle and get her home as well. It was good to see you all again,” Rarity said as she hugged Fluttershy. She wrapped her pink scarf around her neck and stepped out the door as well.

They all made their excuses and said their goodbyes and were soon all on their way home. Rainbow made her way home as well, not interested in being haggled by the newest visitors to Ponyville. However, she couldn’t help but look at them with a new critical eye, one that looked for openings and weaknesses. She couldn’t help but see them all as potential opponents, perhaps it was Coalback’s training.

The night was frigid and the insistent clouds overhead had begun to slowly trickle out snowflakes with the newfound freeze. The night below was black as pitch, and the shadows thrown by the soldier’s torches as they patrolled the town seemed all the more darker for their light. And in the forest, the darkness sat like a thick fog. No torch could pierce its depths, but the eyes of the Lunar Guards could.

Iron Bar and Filibuster didn’t quite consider themselves Lunar Guards, even though that was their official designation now. Rather, they saw themselves as soldiers under Coalback more than Luna, their orders came from him and not from Luna. And more still, their new strength and abilities had come from him. Stronger and faster than they’d ever been before, it had only taken two weeks for them to quickly overtake their previous physical peaks. Their hearing had sharpened as well as their eyesight, even more so in the stillness of the night. They found their movements more sure, more calculated and with better foundation. And their bodies moved the moment they willed it, their reaction time near instantaneous.

Their bodies had been honed down to a lethal point. As Coalback had told them they would become.

Coalback himself paced in front of them on the ledge that separated the forest from the decrepit castle of the Royal Sisters, which had become their new base of operations. With the silver clad soldiers in the vicinity, and their clear lack of respect for Coalback’s authority it was no longer practical to keep their most valuable tools and supplies where they were in danger of being confiscated. Their camp remained, but it was purely empty of supplies now.

His hooves dug at the dirt as he walked, frozen clods thrown about carelessly as he paced in a simmering anger. His armor and his sash lay forgotten inside the castle ruins. Snowflakes drifted down and melted on his blank flanks and ice clung to his unshorn fetlocks. Thick clouds of steam billowed out from Coalback’s nostrils as he paced, a deep look of concentration on his face.

“He’s just testing your honor, Sir,” Filibuster said, his voice low in the darkness. The stillness of the night allowed their voices to carry farther, so they spoke softly in order to not be overheard – by soldier or beast or whatever else may lurk in the dark.

“It’s not about honor,” Coalback growled under his breath, clearly spoken to their sensitive hearing. “It’s about sending a message,” he growled. The growl rumbled out through the ground and dust fell from the cliff face behind him in a rattling cascade down the face.

“What are they trying to say then?” Iron Bar asked.

Coalback smiled then, not a happy smile but rather a sneer that showed the glint of his sharp, jagged teeth. “They think they have power over us,” he growled, a slight chuckle in his words. “They think their silver and their training will protect them. And it makes them stupid. All they’re interested in is taking away our strength.”

“They have guns, too,” Iron Bar said. “I saw them unloading them from the blind south of here,” he said. Their hunting blinds were everywhere now, and they could watch the whole town from them or the border of their claim on the forest.

“Guns make stupid, too. Sometimes more stupid,” Coalback chuckled. “Don’t worry. Especially about honor,” Coalback growled as he stopped his pacing.

“Should we return the favor?” Filibuster asked, his own enthusiasm at the prospect surprised him but it didn’t feel wrong anymore. He’d lost all inhibitions about violence the moment he’d been bound up and gagged by those thugs.

“No!” Coalback said resolutely, the glow of the dim light in his eyes aimed hard at Filibuster. “There’s no point. Sooner or later we may have to work with him, but right now there’s nothing to risk or gain, so we let them be,” he lectured. “We should be able to relax, they pose little real danger to us,” he said with a glance at the trees around them.

“Sir?” Iron Bar said as he tried to follow his master’s line of sight. It was rare for Coalback to stare into nothing, at least while they were around. He was always on point, or edge, and he never allowed his mind to wander while they were nearby.

“Nothing,” Coalback snorted as he shook his head. The little spikes of ivory in his ear clacked together and he winced. “Let’s find something to eat,” he growled.

Coalback’s fur shivered on its own as his muscles writhed under his hide. His wings folded up and twitched as they receded into his back. The muscles on his chest writhed as they rearranged themselves and his bones shifted. His chest cracked and groaned as his ribs pushed themselves out and his shoulders sunk into a more streamlined shape. His head dipped as his muzzle stretched violently and his teeth grew out into their true fangs. His eyes shrunk in size, sharper and more compact and all the more intense in their gaze. His hooves cracked as they split and his bones separated to reform his paws. His mane fell out and regrew around his neck, the extra hair on his tail fell away just as quickly.

Coalback shook himself and in moments the dark wolf that had claimed these woods stood over the two ponies. He bared his teeth to them and they bared their own fangs back at him and folded their ears back in submission. He turned away and they followed him diligently into the forest to look for their next meal.

Rainbow bowed her head to catch her breath and wipe the sweat from her brow. The cold in the air nipped at her withers, but the heat from her muscles was incredible and she relished the cold. Her joints ached from constant movement and her muscles screamed for relief.

Coalback grunted and the training continued. Rainbow raised the makeshift training stave and Coalback’s strike glanced off of it. His hooves shuffled forward and he reared back to strike at her again. Rainbow hopped back and balanced on her back hooves as she used both forelegs to block the next attack. She recovered quickly and stepped forward to go on the offensive with a horizontal cut.

Coalback’s defense was solid and his own training stave spun around and batted hers out of the way. He stepped to the outside and shoved a thrust in her direction. Rainbow dodged and batted the tip away just for good measure.

The ground under their hooves scraped and tore at the frogs of Rainbow’s rear hooves, she could feel each step now as a dull throb beneath her hooves. Coalback had been training her in fighting on two legs since she’d shown up at dawn. He’d said it provided better control, but it was obvious that Coalback had been fighting on two legs for a very long time. He never once lost his balance or tripped, unlike Rainbow.

Coalback struck again at an upward angle. Rainbow managed to deflect it before it could smack against her ribs, but her hooves tangled themselves underneath her and she fell onto her back. The air rushed out of her lungs and she scrambled breathlessly to get back up. She heard Coalback land back on all four hooves and took that moment to gasp for breath. When she looked back up at him the horizon had captured his attention and she was drawn to a pause.

She followed his line of sight only to freeze as she realized that they were being watched. The silver knight from the day before stood on top of the hill, several of his silver clad soldiers stood around him with their spiky halberds. When they noticed Coalback’s gaze they began to walk toward the sparring ring. Coalback let out a deep growl from in his chest and Rainbow watched him stab his stave into the ground.

They walked slowly, as if they relished the fact that their small audience’s attention was locked squarely on them. The knight’s armor glistened in the sun, barely a scratch on it. His brown wings glittered with the hidden edges of cleverly crafted silver blades. Filibuster and Iron Bar stood up from the center of camp and armed themselves with their undamaged rifles, the heavy mating of black steel and wood thumped heavily against the ground as they walked over to offer Coalback back up.

Filibuster’s rifle impacted the dirt in front of the procession and he blocked their path with the heavy barrel. The procession halted and Iron Bar added his rifle to the blockade. “Enter the circle,” Filibuster said gravely, “and you accept that you become part of the training exercise.”

Filibuster’s face scrunched up as the lead soldier lowered his halberd and brushed Filibuster’s cheek with it. A thin smoke wafted off of the blade, and the smell of singed fur tinted the air. The soldier snickered derisively, but pulled his halberd back and took no further steps. The second soldier raised his halberd and slammed the shaft against the ground, a scroll tied off to its top shook free and unrolled to display the royal seal toward the circle.

“We are here to remove the Lady Rainbow Dash from your presence, and this is a formal cease and desist order,” the knight said, muffled through his full face helmet.

“Rainbow Dash is here of her own free will, and may leave whenever she wishes,” Iron Bar growled, his deep baritone and intimidating figure in full effect. He flexed the huge muscles in his chest and arms, perhaps in suggestion that he would be willing to defend his claim.

“Yeah, what’s the big deal?” Rainbow asked. She shook the sweat out of her eyes and took one last breath to calm her heart. She hadn’t kept her heartrate up for as long as she’d wanted, and now she was getting a bit irritated at the interruption.

“Stay out of this, Rainbow Crash,” the knight said, some amount of endearment leaking into his words.

Rainbow paused however and squinted up at the knight. “Dumbbell?” she asked in just as much disbelief as surprise.

“Took you long enough, feather brain,” Dumbbell said as he unclamped his helmet and pulled it off. His brown mane had been cut short the tips had for some reason been bleached a bright blond, even his eyes seemed to have flecks of gold in them. “Like what you see?” he asked with a smug grin.

“How …?” Rainbow mumbled.

“Working in the weather factory got boring for me, so I joined the Guard. Turns out that I’m really good at that. I’m so good, in fact, that Princess Celestia hoof picked me for her personal Guard. Then when this guy showed up,” he said with a nod toward Coalback, “I got promoted, and deployed out here,” he bragged as he rubbed a smudge off of his helmet with his cloak. “Now come on, you shouldn’t be hanging around this loser anyway,” he said as he motioned for his two leading soldiers to step in.

“Since when do you get to order me around?!” Rainbow protested as the first soldier pushed past Filibuster’s rifle.

“Since I was tasked with protecting you from him,” Dumbbell said with a pointed glare at Coalback.

The soldier stepped between Rainbow and Coalback and an armored hoof took hold of her arm. She hardly had time to form a protest before Coalback’s hoof had taken hold of the Soldier’s. Coalback twisted his hoof and the soldier’s grip immediately fell away as he let out a shout. Coalback nearly pulled the armored stallion off of his hooves as he separated the soldier from Rainbow. The soldier shook free and stepped back as Coalback’s hoof began to smoke.

“I think Rainbow Dash has made it clear that she doesn’t want to go with you,” he growled at Dumbbell, though his eyes stayed on the soldier that had now readied his halberd. The second soldier stepped in as he removed the scroll from his halberd and brought it to bear with a swirling motion that suggested martial mastery. Coalback set his hoof down, and stepped into a subtle ready stance.

“Raise your hoof again and taste holy silver, mongrel,” the soldier in front of Coalback shouted.

“Leave my lands, and my guest, in peace,” Coalback growled. His voice vibrated deep in his chest and carried more power in it than any shout the soldier could have issued. In the back of her mind, Rainbow wondered what it might be like if Coalback really decided to raise his voice at someone in anger.

“The forest may not be chartered as Royal Land, but it certainly does not belong to you,” Dumbbell said confidently. “Beasts and savages can’t own land, they don’t know how,” he said smugly. “Now step aside before we teach you a lesson in respect of the crown,” he said with a nod at the soldier still inside the circle.

“I’ll be the one teaching, today,” Coalback snarled as the soldier took a step forward. Coalback’s stave moved with a flash and kicked out the solder’s leg as he took a step, the hoof went wide and the soldier had to struggle to keep from toppling onto his face. Another quick swipe from the wooden stave and the heavy halberd tipped out of the soldier’s grip and flipped outside of the sparring circle.

Rainbow stepped between them as quickly as she dared to stop Coalback from doing anything more to the soldier. “Whoa!” she shouted, which was enough to halt Coalback. The soldier stood up and made to push her out of the way. Rainbow reacted without thinking and knocked his helmet with heavy backside of her hoof, it made a very satisfying ring against the polished metal. “Hold it!” she demanded. “I don’t have to do anything you say! I have rights and so does he! You can’t just tell us to get lost, this is where he lives!” she said with an angry hoof pointed at Dumbbell.

“No, I can’t tell him to pick up and move. Unfortunately,” Dumbbell admitted. “However, limiting public gatherings and individual mobility is well within my power,” he grinned. “According to the laws and limits involving declaring Martial Law, I am allowed to hold ponies for unlimited periods, restrict speech and assembly, and even control individual freedoms in order to keep the peace. All to my discretion. Even if Coalback resides off of Royal Lands, I can unofficially ‘expand’ the territory under my control to include him. As of now, he is under restriction from seeing you, or any of your friends,” Dumbbell said with a grin. “For your own protection,” he added as an afterthought.

“You can’t do that!” Rainbow protested as the soldier grabbed her and pulled her out of the circle.

“As a matter of fact, I can,” Dumbbell said as he put his helmet back on. Like a wave, another procession if soldiers marched over the hill and into the camp.

Silver soldiers surrounded Coalback, their halberds glinted in a spiky wall all around him as they kept him in place. He didn’t have enough room to even spread his wings as he stretched his neck up high to avoid being pricked by the razor edged tips of the weapons. He couldn’t do anything to stop them from dragging Rainbow away from his camp and back to town.

“Ask yourself this, Sir Dumbbell!” Coalback snarled after them. “What are you? A hero keeping peace, or a weapon pointed at the enemy so that someone else can claim a victory?”

“I know my place!” Dumbbell shouted back, and his voice rung inside his helmet. “It is time you learned yours!”

Author's Notes:

TEN GLORIOUS PAGES OF HORSE WORDS!!!!!!!!
You are welcome! Tell me how much you love/hate it in the comments below, I read all of them!
Next chapter might be a long long time, studies are getting harder to keep up with.