Germaren border, Germareny. March 7th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar).

It had barely been a few days since they had left Castle Midnight when the massive procession managed to reach the poorly defined border that separated the colonies of Germareny and Ponland. Though secrecy was virtually impossible for such a large and noisome group, the Midnight Guard had managed to avoid detection. The fact that the former European continent was poorly settled compared to the rest of the Empire had been a massive boon for them.

Royal Duty had been especially surprised at how quickly the procession had moved from Southern Germareny. In a mere three days, they had actually managed to reach the border of the next province. It had of course been thanks to the gruelling pace set by the Guard Captains, which many of the administrators and court officials attached to the prince had complained endlessly about.

Royal Duty felt just as exhausted as the ponies around him, but didn’t complain. He was somewhat used to this thanks to the basic training he had gone through, but most of his admittedly short career since then had been spent indoors surrounded by magical theory and alchemical projects.

“ALRIGHT PONIES!” the voice of the commanding officer belted out above the comparatively quiet crowd. “COMPANY HALT!”

The Midnight Guard all stopped in perfect unison, whilst the civilians, aids and attached civilians all let out a sigh of relief and groans of exertion. Sergeants began to shout out additional orders as tents were set up, duty shifts were assigned and fires were started. The baggage train was pulled forward by the teams of Earth Ponies that had been manning them until they were at the centre of a large circle of ponies. Tents began to rise into the air, some of them were very simple affairs whilst others, like the prince’s, were cloth and silk palaces that almost seemed to be several storeys tall and had windows in the walls.

Almost immediately Prince Blueblood peeled off from the rapidly dispersing column and went in the direction of his tent. Several other prominent officers and officials went after him. For the next few hours his tent was likely to be where they would strategize the next few steps of their plans.

“Set up your tent and then join me inside. I’ll need you to take notes for tonight’s meeting,” Prince Blueblood ordered, turning his head to look at Royal Duty for a moment before returning his attention to the large and luxurious pavilion in front of him.

Royal Duty stammered out a quick affirmative, and then went over to one of the wagons that had been manoeuvred into a circle at the centre of the encampment. He found the one that housed his belongings and grabbed a folded tent with his magic. Carefully lifting it from the carefully placed pile of other items, Royal Duty pulled the tent out of the wagon and trotted off to find a space close to the prince where he could pitch his tent.

For a moment he eyed the forests beyond the clearing they had chosen to make camp in. The first of the camp fires had already cast long, threatening shadows onto the tall trees. The darkness of the evening was now more heavily contrasted against the golden light of the fire, which made the forests that surrounded them all the more frightening. Despite the large number of Guardponies that were now stationed around the edge of the camp and dutifully staring out into the darkness he couldn’t help but feel worried.The Midnight Guard were supposed to be in their element at night but Royal Duty had never felt comfortable in the darkness.

More often than not the shadows weren’t his friends.

***

Horsaw, Ponland. March 8th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar).

An unseasonably cold wind hit Freedom Heart as he disembarked from the Interdiction, the zeppelin that had spent the past two and a half days ferrying him from Canterlot to the provincial capital of Ponland.

His new appointment as Field Marshal of the colonial forces in what was now officially called Mareope had been a sudden one and the significance still hadn’t quite sunk in yet.

Two columns of Royal Guard flanked a red carpet that led from the zeppelin’ boarding ramp to an elegant golden carriage pulled by more Guardponies. Several stallions and mares, all of them dressed in some form of aristocratic finery, were waiting by the carriage. Upon noticing him they all began to carefully walk towards him, every step a deliberate and elegant action.

Their leader was a chocolate brown Pegasus mare with an elegantly coiffed cream, yellow mane. She wore an enormous dress that bulged out around her rump, covered her wings in heavy lace ruffs and was coloured in alternating stripes of grey brown and maroon. However the enormous fashion abomination that covered her body still managed to somehow not encumber her movements.

Freedom Heart also walked out to meet them, descending the ramp until his hooves brushed against the rich velvet of the carpet.

The ponies all bowed respectfully as they approached, each of them inclining their heads though they did not lower their bodies to the ground like they would were they in Solamina’s presence. They stayed that way for a couple of heartbeats, never once saying a word, before straightening once again. The Pegasus mare in the huge dress was the first to rise.

“Welcome to Horsaw, Commander,” the Pegasus said in an affected upper class accent. “My name is Just Deserts. I am the duly-appointed viceroy of the Mareopean continent. If there is anything you need then I am the pony to come to.”

She smiled as she spoke and her head tilted upwards slightly in a manner similar to the nobleponies of Canterlot. Freedom Heart guessed that she was very much used to getting what she saw as due deference from anypony around her.

The other ponies assembled in front of him also offered their greetings and announced who they were but Freedom Heart struggled to remember the details of their names, lineages and positions of power. Now that he had actually arrived at his destination he was finally beginning to tire from the long trip from Canterlot.

“Thank you noblemares and gentlestallions,” Freedom Heart said in a calm and measured voice, carefully considering his words as he addressed them. “I am of course honoured that you’ve placed your confidence in me, and I assure you I will deal with the threats to your colonies.”

With that said he walked towards the carriage, watching as the collection of politicians and aristocrats gave one another somewhat inscrutable looks before turning and heading to the carriage with him.

***

Freedom Heart settled into the office he had been given. The Horsaw Viceregal Palace was a large and opulent building built in the same style as Canterlot’s elegant spires and domed buildings of white marble and shining gold. Of course it still paled in comparison to the now enormous city that dug into the sides of the Canterhorn and jutted out over the landscape below but it was luxurious nonetheless.

The office itself was well furnished but appeared to be rather spartan compared to the much more well decorated rooms and corridors of the rest of the palace. Whoever Freedom Heart’s predecessor had been appeared to have been relatively utilitarian, and Freedom Heart could appreciate that.

There was of course a large and sturdy desk with what looked like a large and comfortable chair. A cursory glance still managed to reveal that it was a swivel chair of sorts though much more extravagant than the cheap store-bought model he had back at home. The desk already had several papers placed on it that had been arranged in preparation for him. However the reports that were on his desk could wait another day as Freedom Heart was immediately drawn to the door in the side of his office that led to the attached personal quarters.

Opening the door that was already ajar, he entered the room. It was much more opulent than the office, with a large four poster bed, a carven wardrobe with scenes from Equestria’s history on the panels and several more desks that suggested much better craftsmanship than the one he was expected to use for work. Despite his admiration for practicality over extravagance Freedom Heart was incredibly grateful for the massive, soft bed. Trotting wearily over to it he flopped down on the cloud-grade mattress, not bothering to pull the covers over his body, and shut his eyes.

Sleep came very quickly for the tired stallion.

***

Unknown area, Ponland. March 8th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar).

The column had been making increasingly remarkable progress as they made their way through the ruins of Europe. They had broken camp in good time and marched several more miles (he lost count a while back), before stopping for another break for lunch. Despite how quick it had been the entire column had returned to marching filled with a wary vigour that had seen them trundle down the woodland path they were currently in. Royal Duty didn’t exactly know where they were by this point but it was now the early evening, the sun was starting to dip in the sky and the column had managed to devour mile after mile with their grueling pace and it showed in many ways.

The forests of course remained very thick since settlement was thin. During, and after, the war with humanity so many years ago, the natural world had largely recovered thanks to the complete obliteration of human civilization and the relatively slow pace of colonisation by the ponies of Equestria. Still, though he couldn’t really tell the difference between them, the Midnight Guard had marched past countless trees. At the same time their pace was also reflected in the haggard looks of the ponies that made up the column. Fatigued expressions were on everypony’s faces and no small amount of groaning emanated from the camp followers and adjutants.

Everything had been going smoothly enough. Of course the column’s movements had to be very steady despite the pace they had set. Scouts had been sent out into the woods to check for any possible threats and report back. It was an unwanted job that nearly everypony tried to avoid. The woods were deadly enough as it was and the increased sighting of Anthroponies had made straying off the roads and beaten paths all the more dangerous.

At the thought of the scouts Royal Duty realised he hadn’t seen any for a while. They were supposed to report in on an hourly basis and it had been far too long since anypony had emerged from the woods. despite not wanting to worry anypony with his speculations he glanced at the other officers and adjutants around him. They too had controlled expressions that failed to entirely cover the concern and anxiety that they felt as well.

Something was wrong.

As the column tramped through the forest Royal Duty stole glances at the trees and undergrowth around them. The trees pressed in closely around the dirt path they were marching down and the canopy hung over them like a shroud. It was late in the day but the branches, leaves and needles of the treetops made it seem like it was already evening.

“Your highness,” a voice to Royal Duty’s right whispered to Prince Blueblood. “We should prepare the troops for attack. The scouts have been gone far too long now.”

The prince nodded slightly in response. “Be discrete though. We can’t afford to spook the attachments.” He paused for a second. “And set a guard over the rear of the column,” he added. “There’s something… not right.”

“Sir,” the pony replied. The Guard saluted before briskly trotting off into the centre of the column to give out orders. The Thestrals, already on guard, moved even closer around Blueblood and the rest of the command group. Royal Duty could hear whispered orders being passed throughout the column and noticed the sounds of Guardsponies readying weapons. The intense atmosphere that had already surrounded the column thickened as ponies eyed their surroundings for any suspicious signs.

The column continued down the path in silence. the only sounds that weren’t created by the forest was the trampling of hooves, the sounds of armoured plates knocking against one another, the rumbling of wagon wheels turning and the heavy breathing of the nervous ponies.

Royal Duty’s heart hammered in his chest. Every desperate or concerned look he saw from the ponies around him served to fuel his paranoia. He stole glances at every shadow expecting some kind of monster to emerge from it. The fact that he could still hear bird calls and that the sun was still in the sky did nothing to alleviate him of his fear. He knew what could be out there, and despite the fact that he knew better, he expected Anthroponies and Solaminan soldiers hiding behind every tree.

More time passed and the scouts still hadn’t shown up. The Guardsponies in the column were on high alert and were now spread out along the column to ensure that the civilian entourage and the baggage train were safe and secure. Runners galloped up and down the column, passing messages to ensure that everypony was present and accounted for and relay and possible suspicious sightings to the officers.

Royal Duty’s ears perked at the sound of a grunt behind him. He turned his head to look behind him, his heart still racing from the surprise of the sound.

One of the runners moving to the head of the column had just stumbled. the sound had simply been his hooves scraping over the dirt path as he tripped. However the runner failed to correct his balance, in fact he fell over, his body cartwheeling as his momentum carried him forward. It was only when the runner’s body slid to a halt that Royal Duty and the ponies around him noticed the blood that was liberally spilling from a wound in the Guards forehead. A large stone was lodged into his skull, one of his eyes had been ruined by the impact whilst the other had rolled back.

Before anypony could make a move a hail of similar stones burst out from the surrounding foliage on both sides of the column.

“Take cover!” a pony shouted and the entire column descended into confusion and chaos. Unicorns levelled shields around as many of their comrades as they possibly could whilst civilians scrambled for the dubious safety of the wagons.

The barrage of stones then suddenly stopped. However barely a second later a horde of monstrosities charged out of the same dense woods.

Every abomination was uniquely disgusting. Many walked upright but there were still many that galloped forwards on all fours and even a few that loped or scrambled along the ground, switching between the two separate gaits at random. They all had some kind of recognisably equine feature but there was barely any resemblance between these foul creatures and the ponies they were now attacking. Some walked upright on equine hooves and had pony heads and faces but possessed long muscular arms tipped with broken hooves or cruel claws. Others looked like ponies but their legs were mismatched, some being longer than others, with grotesque faces that were stretched or squashed like some sadistic child had smeared a portrait. Others were massive hulking abominations with flattened faces and massive hairy forearms. Some had horns, others had wings but all of them had the same hate filled looks marring their warped faces.

“Anthroponies!” somepony yelled over the roars and cries of the disgusting horde.

“Defend the prince!” another shortly followed.

The Midnight Guard scrambled into some kind of formation but the narrow path had left them vulnerable. Guardsponies closed ranks, their spears pointed outwards on either side of the column. Unfortunately the column was barely five ranks deep and their attention was divided. Unicorns hurriedly charged and let off magic shots that connected but did little more than slow down their targets.

The horde met the column in a crashing wave of noise. The Guardsponies’ line buckled slightly but held. It was then that the killing started.

Anthroponies were pierced by spears or shot point-blank by magic shots. In turn ponies had their heads caved in by heavy bludgeons and axes. The Guards did their best to push the foe back but the Anthroponies’ greater size and strength kept forcing the ponies back. Slowly the line was compressed in on itself.

Royal Duty hid behind the prince’s bodyguards, letting them hold the enemy at bay while he fired magic shots into the rearmost portion of the attacking host. Unlike his colleagues he sacrificed speed for power, letting the energy build before unleashing his magic. This way he was sure that every shot was a sure kill. Prince Blueblood and the rest of his personal entourage were beside him, firing their own spells into the Anthropony horde. However he couldn’t help but notice that the battle was turning against them. It was a miracle that they had even been able to muster some kind of defence and hadn’t immediately descended into chaos.

It was then that everything went wrong.

An enormous Anthropony charged out of the woods on the column’s left flank. It was a giant standing far above all of its kin. Like the rest of the horde it was a grotesque beast. It’s shoulders bulged with muscle, its arms nearly as thick as the tree trunks around it and its fists as large as shields. It’s head was like that of a human, if only barely. It was elongated slightly like a pony’s muzzle which served to make it’s beady eyes all the more misplaced and disturbing. Those same eyes were filled with bloodlust and hate that it pointed at the ponies it was barrelling towards.

“Hefter!” a pony shouted in alarm as the massive abomination closed in on the fight, crushing and throwing aside its smaller kin in its urge to reach the column.

When it reached the column it swung its fists in a wide arc. Ponies and Anthroponies alike were thrown into the air by the Hefter’s powerful strikes. With a single blow the entire battle descended into anarchy. The line was broken apart, discipline breaking down as the attacking Antroponies tore into the fragmented formation.

Royal Duty was swept up in the chaos. Panicking slightly, he drew the blade he had kept since he took it from the traitor Guardspony he had fought back at the Midnight Castle. Prince Blueblood’s guards tried to rally around their leader but several were torn from the loose circle they had formed by their attackers. The only thing that saved them from being overrun was the fact that the chaotic melee was just as detrimental to the Anthroponies as it was for the Midnight Guard.

In an instant Royal Duty went from the centre of the defensive circle to the edge when the guardspony in front of him had half of her face sheared off by a horse-headed beastman. Panicking Royal Duty lowered his head and thrust forward. He felt the Anthropony’s blade just miss his head, clipping the tip of his left ear instead of cutting into his skull. Without pausing to think about his near miss with death he rammed his horn into the monster’s crotch. With a squeal of pain the creature bent over double and in that instant Royal Duty span on his forehooves and bucked as hard as he possibly could. His best simply caused the monster to fall to the ground but that allowed Royal Duty to turn back to face the beast, rear up and bring his steel shod forehooves down on the creature's head. It took several tries before he had killed his attacker and several more before he realised it. When he finally realised he had slain his opponent he found that the defensive circle was around him once again and that the prince was shouting orders to everypony around him.

“Bring our formations back together,” Prince Blueblood yelled. “Make sure they don’t get a chance to break us up again. Make sure you don’t present an opening to the enemy, and for Pony God’s sake make sure they don’t get into the baggage train. If they take our supplies we are all dead!" He span around to two Thestrals beside him that were not currently engaged in fighting. “You two distract that abomination in the centre,” he said pointing at the Hefter whose fists were coated in blood but continued to swing at everything around it. “Try to get it away from us and we can rejoin with the larger group.”

The two Thestrals nodded and jumped into the air. They immediately made their way to the Hefter, dodging its clumsy swings as they moved to circle around its small, apeish head. With barely a glance at one another the two trained Guards swept in simultaneously. Thin, flexible and razor sharp blades that had been attached to the front of their wings cut into the Hefter’s shoulders as they flew by. The beast roared and tried to reach for them but they quickly moved out of its range before swinging around and slashing at its head.

The Hefter’s attention now firmly set on them, the Thestrals moved away from the centre of the path, the Hefter following after them in a blind rage.

“Now!” Prince Blueblood shouted. “We have to regroup with the centre. Everypony must stick together. We can’t afford to be broken up like that again. Stay close and keep you blades pointing out at all times.” With the enormous Anthropony abomination now occupied the Prince’s entourage scrambled over the relatively clear area that had now been made. They galloped for the largest group of Guardsponies left on the path, who had formed a rough circle around the baggage train and were now surrounded by a baying mass of twisted monsters. In front of them lay dozens of pony bodies, the remains of those who had bore the brunt of the Hefter’s charge and suffered the most in the ensuing anarchy.

Royal Duty felt the impact of flesh and metal as his group smashed into the rear of a knot of Anthropony warriors.

The first Anthroponies to receive the full brunt of the charge were skewered on the blades of the Guardsponies. They were quickly pushed aside and trampled but the group was large and every remaining attacker was a strong and savage warrior. The charge’s momentum faltered quickly in the face of so many larger and stronger opponents and quickly descended into another melee. Enraged at being assaulted from behind the rearmost of the surviving monsters spun around and brought their weapons to bear against the Midnight Guard.

Royal Duty flinched as the Thestral that had stood in front of him was cut down by a gigantic abomination that pulped the pony’s skull, helmet and all, with a misshapen club.

Its immediate foe now dispatched the vile Anthropony turned its attention to Royal Duty. Now able to look at it more closely, Royal Duty was both repulsed and terrified by the creature that stood in front of him.

The creature stood upright on hair covered legs that bent in a similar fashion to pony hindlegs. However its feet were very broad, not unlike a humans, and ended in a single broad unbroken sheath of bone that looked like a pony’s hoof that had been pushed to the front of the alien appendage and then overgrown by flesh. It’s body was a thick slab of muscle that somehow appeared both powerful and emaciated at the same time. One arm ended in a pony’s hoof whilst the other held the Anthropony’s weapon. It took barely an instant for Royal Duty to suddenly realise that the monster’s other arm was it’s weapon. What had probably been a hoof had been broken and twisted into a new form. It split at the start, as if trying to branch off into the fingers that it had once possessed years ago. However now it was a mangled lump of bone that jutted out in various directions from a thick knot of that was attached to the wrist. It waved its gruesome appendage around in wild arcs, the blood and gore of its previous victims flying everywhere with every swing.

However it was the foul beast’s face that drew Royal Duty’s eyes. The right side of it’s face had a pony’s muzzle but this ended in the middle. The left side was stretched back, like something had tried to pull it halfway around its head. It’s lips were pulled back and up by the strain of whatever had misshapen them, leaving a half-rictus grin permanently plastered on. It’s left eye was also pulled across it’s face until it almost reached its ear. Despite being so horribly misshapen the creature could still blink the oversized orb.

The moment it’s horrible eyes fell on Royal Duty, an expression of unrelenting hate grew on the nightmarish beast’s face. Royal Duty lifted his heavy blade as the Anthropony swung his club-arm at him, barely catching it in time. The thick bone of the warped appendage was too dense for the sword to cut through but the beast recoiled in pain as the sword dug into the club. Royal Duty tried to swing his sword around again to finish his opponent off before he could recover but a Guardspony that had been fighting a little bit to his left knocked into him, distracting him and allowing the Anthropony to recover.

All Royal Duty saw when he turned back away from the pony and towards his momentarily forgotten foe was the club-arm swinging towards him. It impacted in his side, breaking several ribs, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him several feet, out of the melee and into one of the open parts of the clearing.

Royal Duty’s vision swam as he struggled to orient himself. His sides screamed with pain and his breath was laboured. The pain was almost too much for him but he pulled himself to his hooves, slowly and torturously righting himself. Luckily his sword was close by, having not fallen out of his faltering telekinetic grip until he had hit the forest floor. He regained control of the blade just in time to meet the furious charge of the Anthropony that had sent him flying.

The blade impacted with the club-arm just in time to prevent it caving in his skull. This time, however, it lodged in the bony appendage and, with a wild scream of pain and fury, the Anthropony ripped it out of Royal Duty’s grip. The sword was immediately dislodged from the Anthropony’s arm and sent flying across the clearing towards the fight where the Midnight Guard were finishing off the last of their Anthropony assailants.

Emboldened by the fact that it had just disarmed it’s opponent, the enraged abomination raised it’s club-arm to strike at Royal Duty once again. Suddenly it realed forward when a spear was rammed into it’s side by a Pegasus Guard dressed in the Prince’s colours. Unfortunately this did little more than cause the monster to stagger and he immediately rounded on the Pegasus who failed to fly out of reach. The Anthropony’s arm clipped the Pegasus’ head and sent it crashing down into the groud. The Anthropony quickly lumbered over to the downed Pegasus. A cruel grin on it’s swollen and deformed face, the beast raised one of it’s grotesque feet and brought it down on the Pegasus’ skull, pulping it with several mighty stomps.

In that time Royal Duty took the opportunity to prepare a spell he knew would destroy the Anthropony. Building up the necessary power he quickly recited the incantation both in his head and under his breath, constantly keeping his eye on the Anthropony as he watched it finish off the unfortunate Pegasus that had come to his aid.

A small pale blue sphere built up on the tip of his horn. By the time the Pegasus Guardpony had been killed the sphere was the size of an apple. Royal Duty decided the spell was sufficiently developed just in time for the Anthropony to round on him again and lift it’s club-arm for another strike.

With a shout of exertion Royal Duty released the spell and watched as it impacted with the Anthropony’s chest. The ball burst, splattering pale blue liquid over the beast’s broad muscles. At first it did little more than cause the mighty beast to pause in confusion but barely a second later the spell’s effects began to take hold.

The Anthropony’s chest immediately began to decay, the skin withering and muscles atrophying in a fraction of a second. The liquid then began to spread, crawling over the Anthropony’s body, coating it’s stomach, arms and groin before moving up his neck and legs. The Anthropony tried to roar and scream but only a withering gasp escaped as his lungs and throat shrivelled and his chest collapsed in on itself. Soon the paper dry skin began to flake away, revealing desiccated flesh and black, dust dry blood. The Anthropony’s deformed eyes dried up and his grotesque lips fell off as the liquid entropy finally finished covering the beast’s entire body.

Finally the monster’s legs gave out and the dried up husk of the Anthropony fell to the floor, shattering into dusty fragments upon impact.

When the Anthropony finally fell to the floor Royal Duty let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. Taking several deep gulps of air, he tried to ignore the burning pain of his broken ribs.

A roar of anger and pain finally alerted Royal Duty to the battle that was still going on around him. Looking to his right, in the direction of the roar, he saw the enormous Hefter finally collapse, bleeding from a dozen cuts and gushing blood from several massive gashes on his throat and wrists. One of the Thestrals that had been fighting it was clutched in the Hefter’s left hand, her middle crushed by the beast’s death grip.

Royal Duty quickly snapped his gaze back towards the column. What he saw made his heart leap with relief. The column was reunited and was finishing off the remaining Anthroponies, the few surviving monsters turning and running further up the road. The Prince was at the centre of it all, a sword in his magical grip and blood on his blade, armour and horn. Royal Duty followed the fleeing mutants as they ran up the road they had been following and what he saw made him pause.

A new group of Anthroponies, each as grotesque and deformed as the monsters they had just fought, was gathered in a cluster a few metres along the road. whilst the band of heavily armed and disgusting beasts would have been enough to worry Royal Duty it was the bizarre entity that floated above them that both grabbed his attention and made a ripple of fear run up his spine.

A purple Earth Pony lazily hovered above the group, her tongue hanging out, a silly grin plastered on her face and a cutie mark in the shape of a large screw and a baseball bat on her flank. She looked right at him, her corkscrew eyes burying deep into his soul, and let out a giggle.

***

Screwball was so excited. Whilst she was upset to leave her sisters behind, her mummy and daddy had told her that she had her own special parties to attend, games to play and new friends to meet, and if there was anything Screwball loved it was parties, games and new friends. Apparently her sisters were being given their own parties as well, but daddy had assured her that they would all meet up again and have the time of their lives.

Daddy was so much fun, he played games with her, introduced her to all of his friends and told her about the world and all the fun things that awaited her. Mummy, on the other hand, was rather silly. She kept numbering them because, unlike daddy, she always seemed to mix her and her sisters up. Silly mummy. However, Screwball never held it against her mummy and was just as happy to play with her and listen to her stories.

Her Anthropony friends had been leading her on the longest game of follow the leader ever. Of course her friends had to walk like most people did but Screwball had the advantage of her magic beanie. It’s great power, which was to be used for games and mischief, or so daddy had told her excitedly when he gave it to her, allowed her to fly through the air like a butterfly. They had been going for days, stopping only when they felt too hungry or sleepy to keep playing. Now she probably would have been bored had she alone played it - as she sometimes had when there was nothing else to do - but her friends just never stopped.

Unfortunately the game had been the same for days now and she had started to get a bit bored by this point. It was only a few minutes ago, when she and her friends had first heard loud noises, that she had started to to grow excited. It sounded there were new people, new friends to meet and they must be playing some kind of fun game or having a party because why else would so many people be so loud?

Her friends had begun to run by that point, still following the leader as they went and Screwball had followed them, flying as fast as her beanie let her.

What she saw when she left the confines of the trees made her heart leap. There were dozens of her friends and hundreds of new people - or ponies she realised when she took a closer look - running around playing tag. They chased after one another, sometimes in groups, desperate to tag the other person and when the loser was tagged they fell to the floor only for another tagger to show up and chase the first group of taggers away.

The moment they saw her appear in the clearing her friends ran towards. Screwball let out a happy cry of joy as they all clustered around her to give her a big group hug. She was more than happy to oblige them and soon the purple flying Earth Pony was flitting back and forth, hugging every friendly Anthropony she could reach.

It was then that she noticed one of the ponies running towards her. The pony was a blue coated mare in funny metal clothing that was spiky, like a party costume. Screwballs face lit up in a giddy grin as she realised the mare must have wanted her to join in the game of tag.

Screwball hovered out of the group hug with her Anthropony friends as fast as she could float and headed in the direction of the mare. The mare unfolded a pair of leathery bat wings and jumped at her, her hooves outstretched. Ready for the mare Screwball pulled to the side, avoiding the tackle. Screwball had always been good at these games and wouldn’t lose that easily. Spinning around she lunged at the pony, her own hooves stretched outwards. She collided with the mare, wrapping her in a strong bear-hug.

“Tag! You’re it,” Screwball said, and then she burst.

***

Royal Duty was thrown onto his back, the breath knocked out of his body. His broken ribs screamed with pain as the force caused them to grind together and press against his fragile organs. He would have panicked at the prospect of fatal internal damage but he was too distracted by the explosion that had just engulfed a good portion of the clearing.

He had forgotten about the battle the moment he saw the bizarre floating mare, especially when she started enthusiastically hugging the grotesque monstrosities that clustered around her.

He remembered seeing one of the prince’s own Thestral guards break off to engage the group, other ponies following her as they rushed to finish off the Anthropony force. The flying Earth Pony had then rushed towards her, dodged the Thestral’s spear and wrapped her in a hug.

He had managed to hear the words “tag, you’re it,” and then the clearing had exploded.

An immense purple fireball had immediately burst out from inside the bizarre Earth Pony, engulfing herself, the Thestral, all of the ponies that followed her, and every one of the surviving Anthroponies in a fiery conflagration of off-colour pink and purple flames, confetti and cake icing. The explosion had blossomed out across much of the clearing, throwing everypony it hadn’t consumed down onto the ground, upturning wagons, knocking Pegasi and Thestrals out of the air and flinging those who had been too close high into the air.

The fireball eventually dissipated with a whizzing pop and a final rush of hot air. The centre of the blast was a smoking crater rimmed by molten syrup whilst the edges of the were covered in more familiar burn marks as well as the remnants of whoever had been unfortunate enough to be caught by the flames.

Royal Duty looked around as he propped himself up. His entire body ached, except for the parts where his injuries were worse. The feeling of his wounds, both internal and external, sent lances of excruciating pain throughout the rest of his body. His vision swam and his breath became laboured even as he looked around to what had become of his comrades. He saw that most of the column had fortunately been far enough from the blast to not be caught in it. The last of the Anthroponies had not been so lucky as they had clustered around the explosive pony before her detonation.

For a moment he felt confused. He’d heard of the Resistance rigging suicidal or fanatical ponie with their explosives and then sending them to the enemy as living bombs but he had never heard of Anthroponies hiring them. What’s more the purple Earth Pony had worn no visible bombs or means of detonating them and the blast had been unexpectedly weird.

Groans and mutters broke out throughout the column as the other ponies pulled themselves back upright. Officers that weren’t injured were issuing orders to reorganise the column. The injured were being gathered and seen to by whatever ponies knew any form of medical procedure. The cargo of supply wagons were also relocated to free up space for those amongst the wounded who could not walk. Royal Duty even let out a breath when he saw the prince walk forward, his mane and coat dirty and dishevelled and his armour a little dusty, but otherwise, fine.

“Oi! We got another one!" a voice boomed right over Royal Duty’s head. A team of ponies were rushing over to him with a stretcher. They scooped him into it a little roughly and carried him over to the area of the clearing that the wounded were being prepared on.

It would take another half-hour before the column started moving again and Royal Duty realised in that time that he would probably be spending quite a while on the wagon.

***

Unknown area, remains of Great Britain. March 12th. Year 20 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2050 human calendar).

He ducked and ran, dodging through the trees as he was chased by the shadowy figures. Though he was shorter than them, he was also leaner and stronger. His clothes - battered and hard wearing trousers and boots, a thin but warm jumper and a warm woolen coat - sufficed, but even they could barely keep the unnatural cold from reaching him.

He didn’t know what the things chasing him were, but he knew they killed. Five years ago, his mother had died to one. Two years before that, so had his father. Now he was alone - and he had survived through speed and skill… and not a small amount of luck.

He dodged behind a tree, eyes wide and trying to master the fear that threatened to clog his breathing.

"Alright," he murmured to himself, trying to calm himself. Fear was natural, but it was detrimental to one’s ability to think rationally, and thinking rationally was what he needed to do.

He could no longer feel the icy cold that always followed the creatures and a quick glance revealed that his surroundings were not beginning to coat with frost and ice. He couldn’t hear anything - not the soft whispering of the ghostly figures, not the cracking of the ground beneath their feet. That was something at least.

He began moving off slowly, hoping that he would be fortunate enough not to encounter any more of those things. A quick examination of his surroundings revealed that the forest had no particular defining features - nothing to separate it from anywhere else.

No… that was a lie. There was something… an odd light, further in the trees. Warily, he began moving towards it: odd lights usually meant old technology that was still running, which might mean a brief stint of heat and light. Or it might mean more of the ponies - they were usually easy to kill if you surprised them, and the meat, though it tasted vile, was still meat.

He dodged through the trees quickly, his movements swift and deft. Many years he had been at this, and many more were likely to come.

Then he saw it.

It was a stone, not like any stone he had ever seen. It was shining with some kind of an inner light, the likes of which he had never seen. It looked almost as though it had grown instead of merely being there, as though it had forced its way through the ground like a tree.

Impossibly, he felt an almost irresistible pull from the stone - looking around to make sure there were no dangers, no monsters, no ponies, and none of the impossible… things that had been chasing him around. He pulled off the thin, threadbare glove that covered his right hand, and then slowly reached out to the stone…

There was a flash of light, brighter than the sun, and he moved the hand to cover his eyes. When the light receded, he was no longer in the forest. Instead, he was in a cave of some sort, and his eyes widened as he realised that the entire cave seemed to be composed of the same strange stone.

“Oh…” he said, eyes widening. And then a man stepped forward from the shadows.

The man wore a long brown hooded robe. His head was shaven, and he had a twinkle in his bright blue eyes. A grin found it’s way onto a strange, not-old but not-young face, and a skeletal hand reached out in a gesture the boy’s father had taught him was one of greeting - a “hand shake”.

“You must be Christopher,” the man said in a strange, reedy voice, full of mirth. It felt strange hearing the name again. “My name is Merlin. I’m glad you’re here.”

“W… why am I here?” Christopher asked.

“That,” this ‘Merlin’ said, not lowering his hand, “is a long story. Come with me, and I’ll explain.”

Looking at the hand for a moment, full of uncertainty, Christopher considered the offer, but then he realised that - whether this being was a threat or not - he didn’t have any alternative: there was no exit to this place that he could see, and he didn’t even know by what means he had come here.

Slowly, he reached out hand and grasped Merlin’s.

***