Chapter 9:Choosing Honor or Reason

I slip a bite-sized potato to Emeris through the metal bars of his cage. He leans forward and takes it with just his mouth. He casually leans against the bars, wearing nothing but tan shorts. With a tiny bag of random food in one hand and a small pouch of water in the other, I let my shoulders slump. Emeris glances at me then swallows his food.

"Some of the soldiers have been discussing our...newest neighbors. Apparently they're not so different from us. Care to comment?"
All I can do is play with the dirt using the tip of my boot. I look up and see a small smirk crossing his face. He's sweaty from the midday sun and there's plenty of dust caked onto his face. His brown eyes search my expression.

"Couldn't help but notice you're giving quite the shine to the blue one..."
A frustrated groan escapes my throat.

"She's not even human."
He keeps staring at me, blinking a few times during the silence.

"And that matters because..."
I look up at him for a brief second.

"I...I don't know it's just weird."
I look around then hand him a few tiny tomatoes. He pops them into his mouth, still smirking. He brushes some of his blond hair out of his eyes, which barely comes down to his nose. Somehow, his hair is still silky despite not bathing for a few days now. He shakes his head and looks off to the left, still leaning casually against the steel bars like he could leave at any time but just didn't want to.

"Look I'm just saying...if it's there, it's there. No use in denying it." I slowly shake my head in thought.

"Well what am I even supposed to do?! Like...do I get her flowers or..." Emeris shrugs as he gives the yard another look over for stray guards.

"I mean...assuming she doesn't eat the flowers...she is a pony after all. Which brings to mind...is it even right to call them ponies at this point? I think it's safe to say there's a huge difference between our ponies and them." I give a massive shrug as uncertainty fills my bones.

"I mean she's a freaking princess like..." Emeris wiggles his eyebrows once and looks across the yard. I pass him a small, green pepper. He takes a bite out of it.

"Look at it this way: if she doesn't care, why should you?" I look down and nod several times. One last glance around the yard and I hand him the water jug. He downs the thing entirely then passes it back. He reaches through the bars and pats my arm.

"Just relax for now. Get to know her. It's not like you gotta pop the big question anyways. Hey, next time you see Celestia, give her a big slap on the rear for me will you?" We both share a quiet laugh before I head back inside.

I walk through the corridors surrounding the throne room, on another pointless patrol. I had roamed these halls for so many years. The stone on the inside had to be ancient. The castle wasn’t well kept, with torn banners, unswept floors and poor lighting. On average there was a single torch per fifty feet of hallway. Every floor had maybe four windows at most. The rest had been sealed long ago to prevent spies from slipping in.

We all knew the truth though; it was to stop anyone from escaping. I had always felt that the castle was a reflection of my very soul. No one ever talks about it, but we needed purpose. Our entire lives were spent killing in the name of survival. There was no goal, no way out, nothing to look forward to. It eats at you and turns you into something rotten.

The throne room didn’t have any windows as well, with only a torch in each corner for lighting. In the middle was a large metal bowl with kindle that the King often lit. Small slits in the ceiling allowed the smoke to escape, but not always fast enough.
There was only the hallway leading into the throne room from the gate, and a flight of stairs to the right that lead up to the Minister’s tower as well as the Captain's quarters. After checking the throne room for basically nothing, and not being allowed into the Minister’s room period, I took the staircase down into the gate room. Part of me wanted to grab something from Captain Magus' quarters on the way out, but there would be no going in there without a complete breakdown. He had trained all of us and was looking at being lord of his own place. He gave it up to try and clear my name. All of it, he had a way out that wasn't death. He could have lived his life in peace. I never knew if he had a wife or not, but he had always talked about wanting a pile of kids.

The gate itself was mildly repaired, with numerous extra boards just nailed into it. The room had four different hallways. Behind me went back to the throne room, and to my left was the dining hall. Next to that was a hallway that leads out into the training grounds/disciplinary area and armory. Going past the staircase that lead up to the throne room, was the guest chambers and library. While Hurrand insists his family built this castle, I had found numerous scrolls of other kingdoms stashed in the library. I never told anyone, but we all knew deep down we were not the first scavengers to call this place home.

I turn left and begin strolling down the hallway, but stop when I see my scratch marks on the wall. We got raided by the Og Nag and barely survived. In one night our population fell to almost a hundredth of what it was. We had gotten hit with trebuchets from our former allies who got paid to backstab us. After our north gate fell, the Og Nag ran in under the cover of night. In five minutes, we went from a normal tense night, to our north gate being obliterated, and thousands of Og Nag stormed the city before anyone had time to run for it. The King forced half my men to fallback despite my protest. It completely ruined our last hope for a defensive, and yet I was to blame. The story plays in my head over and over. Any single thing sets it off. So many regrets, so many deaths.

We fought them off and bought ourselves several days. Those few days were a living inferno for me. The King blamed me for...everything. The north watch was my responsibility, and the King needed a scapegoat, and chose me. What was left of my unit was ordered into silence. No one was allowed to speak up on my behalf. During the trial, the King accused me of sending men to the vault to grab whatever coin we could before leaving. I knew the game and remained silent. They put me in chains and tried to drag me off for something called Repentance. It’s basically torture, where the King needs you too much to kill you, but wants to look merciful instead of desperate, so he “kindly” allows you to live after being punished. However he doesn't want you to know that and countless units have crumbled then admitted to whatever the King demanded. Misinformation from the tortured was his main tactic for controlling the masses.

They began dragging me out into the disciplinary area, but I had a sudden change of heart. I did my best to thrash, hoping I could pull a guard off their feet and get a weapon. An impressive five minute struggle ended up with my ribs bruised and my vain attempts to avoid the inevitable. I ran my hands over the scratch marks where I tried to desperately claw the wall to get away.

A few days after my punishment, the King takes his “family” and sails north for a suspiciously timed “vacation”. Not long after his return, the Og Nag came back in one final attack. With no way to form barriers in time, we stationed small units to bait groups of Og Nag off from the main force, to try and split them up into more manageable numbers. It worked for a bit.

One of my scouts comes running up to me with a scroll, bringing me out of my past. She’s scared and out of breath. I take it from her and read it over.

“Raiden, there is a large number of creatures we believe are your Og Nag approaching from the North. We are under attack and desperately need your assistance. Please come at once, Princess Celestia”

I sprint to the throne room, and show the King the letter. He nods casually.
“Take everyone you need. Versa will stay with me along with a small detachment of guards. Otherwise take everyone.” He turns back to Versa on his left, and they continue to talk about our current supplies.
I needed a couple seconds to process this. The King just let me go out on my own to defend another kingdom, with no restraints or insults. The King stops talking to Versa after a few moments, and glares at me.
“Get going now!” I nod and almost stumble out of the Throne room. I pass by Captain Lucretia. We turn to face each other.
“Get your troops ready immediately. Canterlot is under attack and they need us there yesterday.” She nods and runs out to the training yard, her golden cape makes a snap as she turns away from me. I hear yelling followed by soldiers hustling.

I burst into the dining hall and see Emeris reading a book.
”Emeris, get your men ready. Canterlot is under attack. They think it’s the Og Nag!” He drops the book and runs to find his battalion. I race to the gate room and see Sergeant Cy. “Cy, sound the alarm, we need to form up immediately, our new friends need us!” Cy nods, runs up a few flights of stairs, and rings our bell. It has a deep bellow to it that distinctly means “gate” when you hear it. Five minutes later, Emeris and Lucretia show up with their units. Grand total there’s 150 of us. I cup my hands behind my back and address the soldiers.
“General Versa will stay here and watch over the King. Everyone else, onward to Canterlot.”

We have special vehicles that look like black bulky spear tips. They have room in the front for a single driver and everyone else pedals. They can hold a captain and all their assigned troops. I was in front, with Emeris and Lucretia behind me in their own vehicles. They’re simple, but take a while to make. They were nothing more than wood, pedals, and metal plates. This was an emergency though. I knew it would take us hours to get there but I couldn’t bring myself to take a nap; something about these lands inspired me to care again.

The Growler comes to a halt and the driver calls me forward. I climb into the small cabin where a metal grating is the only way to view out front, with a latch in the middle of the Growler for a scout. The driver points to the endless paths that are surrounded by trees.

"There's no way in hell we're getting through here sir. We gotta ditch the Growlers, or take a side path to the left, costing us an extra few hours." I groan furiously.

"Take the damn detour. We might need these things." She nods and swerves to the left, then pushes forward a lever that lets our pedals actually turn the metal axles of the Growler. We lurch forward, sending me stumbling into the back. A soldier yanks on my cape, pulling me into my seat. Small windows on the sides let me see the trees whip by, ominously waiting to show me the absolute carnage of the Og Nag.

As we get closer, something is clearly wrong. There’s no smoke, no one running around, no army. I open up a hatch at the top and scout around. Everything was way too calm. What the hell was going on? I see guards start running up and down the walls of Canterlot as soon as they see us coming. Soldiers fly to the wall, probably wondering why we’re showing up in force. I raise a black flag from our hatch, everyone halts. I exit out the back; Emeris and Lucretia join me.

“Lucretia, stay here with the troops, we may have a misunderstanding. If an attack breaks out after all, move to escort all civilians to the palace, then set up a defensive line until I regroup with you.” She nods.

“Emeris, you’re with me. Let's find out what is going on.” I was the guy who made the hard decisions. Emeris was the diplomat who was good at playing nice. I may need him to calm down the situation.

As we approach the palace, several guards rush up to us and order us to halt with their hooves. Emeris and I slowly raise our hands.
“I received a letter from Celestia saying you were under attack?” The guards look at each other confused.
“I need to speak with the princess then please.” They send a flyer, who returns a few minutes later with a wave to proceed. We quickly march through the streets until I’m in Celestia’s throne room. Her and Luna watch us skeptically from their respective thrones.

“Your majesty, I received a letter from you, calling for aid against an Og Nag attack?” She looks confused. I hold out the letter. She takes it and reads it over.

“I didn’t send this and what are these Og Nag you speak of?” Emeris' jaw drops and he covers his face with his hands. I lock my fingers behind my helmet and groan.

"They're um...these monsters from our world. They were in our city when we transported, then left for reasons unknown when we arrived."

Celestia stares at me in shock. Luna narrows her eyes at me.

"And how many did you bring with you exactly?" I put my hands on my hips and lower my gaze to the floor in silence.

"Captain Raiden, I asked you a question! How many are there? Dozens? Hundreds?" Emeris crosses his arms and glances at me for a moment. I take in a deep breath and look Luna in the eyes.

"Thousands. Enough to destroy Taraska."

Celestia recoils in horror.

"What were thousands of Og Nag doing in your city to begin with?!"

I tap my fingers on my waist.

"Cartridge...controls them. They had laid waste to several cities before ours. In one nasty attack, Cartridge sent everything they had at us. The plan was to let the Og Nag pile up and use an orb we found to send them to hell...along with us, giving Dracur, our closest ally, a chance to strike back while their numbers were low."

Luna leaps off her throne and takes several steps towards us.

"Why did you keep this information from us?!"

I wave my hands in small circles as I try to think of how to even remotely explain it. Luckily Emeris has it covered.

"Your highness...where we come from, trust is...difficult. We were in a foreign land with no allies and no real army. You were the first nation we came across and we didn't want you thinking ill of us, so we kept the Og Nag a secret. We figured we would...see what happened before we said anything. We thought that if you...thought we had anything to do with the Og Nag, you might have...obliterated us."

Celestia just shakes her head, as her eyes bulge in horror and twitch in rage.

"You...you should have told us! This is inexcusable! Millions of ponies are at risk! No we wouldn't have obliterated you, but we may have been more cautious at most!"

I nod and let out a loud sigh.

"I agree princess, we were in error. I'm sorry, your land is nothing like ours and we know we can trust you. No more secrets from now on, I promise." Luna sneers at me and I can't help but stare at the floor again in shame.
“Your highness'...who would have a reason to forge a letter from you?” Celestia looks around the room in thought.
"While Canterlot has had numerous enemies, I can't think of anypony who would benefit from this." Luna continues to stare at me.
"And it's not like Canterlot to keep secrets!"
I turn to Emeris.
“What’s going on? What possible reason would someone have to send us here?”
Emeris sighs as he thinks.
“I could see them sending us to an area for an ambush, but that would take some serious guts...unless they don’t want to ambush us, they just want us gone so they can…” We both think it at the same time: Taraska.
“They want us gone so they can take our city.” I call out. Celestia and Luna both furrow their brows in surprise.
Luna leans forward anxiously.
“Why and who would do this to you!? Did something else come through with you?” she says eagerly.
All I have is a shrug.
"I apologize princess, but this is all a huge mystery to us as well. I promise I'll answer all your questions, but I have to go try and save what's left of my people assuming it's not too late. " I turn around and start heading out of the throne room. There was no way to know what was happening to Taraska, but it had to be going on right now. Luna calls out my name and I spin around in my tracks.
"Do...do you need assistance?" There's sympathy in her eyes, but with a pinch of anger as well. After we just lied to them and put their entire kingdom at risk, she's still offering to help. I could have wept on the spot from the gesture alone.
“Actually, if you think you can get to Taraska faster than we can and help hold them off until we arrive, it may make or break our defensive.”
She nods and takes off. We haul it down the road through Canterlot to get back to our units. Sergeant Dayke meets us before we even descend the mountain.
“Sir, smoke from our city! They’re signaling for aid!” My cheeks grow red from embarrassment. There was no denying whoever did this got us good.
“Get everyone back to the Growlers!” We start down the mountain when Luna flies back to us.
“Raiden, there’s a massive wave of Og Nag to the South! They’re going to hit Ponyville! I’m sorry but I must evacuate my people!” Before she flies away, I ask one last question.
“Luna, how many? Can you give me an estimate?!”
She swallows and her jaw trembles a bit.
“Thousands! And we don’t have enough guards to hold them!” Emeris looks at me and says what I was hoping he wouldn’t.
“We can either save them, or save us. They don’t have the forces or experience to hold off the Og Nag, they’ll have huge casualties. But we don’t know how many are hitting Taraska. We do know they needed us gone though. So we can save our city, or Ponyville. Your call Captain.” Luna watches me, sympathizing with the pain growing in my chest.

I turn to one of the guards.

”Can your people hold them off?!” He lowers his head in shame.
“We’re not an army, sir. Most of us have only been in a few skirmishes. And thousands of Og Nag? I don’t know if even the princesses’ magic can stop them all.” He jumps as I punch a nearby wall. I fall to my knees. Taraska sure as hell wasn’t going to hold without us, but it was going to take a few hours to get back. It’s our home, we have everything there, our supplies, our weapons, our food and water, everything.

Emeris stammers uncomfortably.

“Sir...I’m sorry, but I can see the Og Nag from here. We need to make a call!” I can’t help it. I know the battle in Taraska will be over before we get there. Once again I’m forced to turn my back on my city. I let out a cry of rage, fists balled, screaming at the sky. I hear the cries of my people all over again. Their desperate pleas for help. My heart doesn’t want to fail my last city again, but tactically I know there’s no saving it this time, just like before. I walk over to the edge of the cliff so I can see my forces. Captain Lucretia stares up at me, eagerly awaiting orders. I’m tempted to jump. I look at our soldiers, standing at the ready. If I was gone, who would lead them? Could Lucretia and Emeris handle things without me?

I motion for her to head to Ponyville. She yells it at the troops and her vehicle takes off.

Emeris and I blaze through the town. Every citizen watches us curiously. Celestia’s booming voice is heard from seemingly everywhere.

“My citizens, retreat back to your homes and stay there for your safety! We shall deal with this small crisis promptly then you may resume your activities. Do not be afraid, your princess will not let anything happen to you.” Every pony begins to nervously scream and run around. Doors and windows slam shut, fear is everywhere. I’m ashamed to admit I enjoyed watching their perfect little world get a nice hefty shake.
As Emeris and I exit the town, Celestia meets up with us.
“Captains, what do you plan to do?” We stop in our tracks. There was no way we could converse while running.
“Princess, there’s no way we can help our city now. But we might be able to save yours. It's...the least we can do.” She gives me a heartbroken, but grateful smile. I’m about to say something nice to help sew up whatever ill feelings were between us, but I’m torn away by Emeris’ yelling. As I turn around, we can see a second group of Og Nag, making their way here from the East.

Celestia turns to me.

“Can your people assist Ponyville? Our magic will be at our best if we don’t have to worry about civilians.” Emeris and I nod. She’s about to fly off when she turns and adds one more thing.

“I’m afraid this will be an issue, but the citizens of Ponyville have not been made aware of your presence. You will have to accept the fact that they may be afraid of you, especially with your...rather intimidating armor. Do your best to direct them to Canterlot, I will meet up with you when I can.” Emeris groans; this was going to be one hell of a party. We nod again, and make our way down to the Growlers. In just a few minutes, we tear towards Ponyville. I brief my unit on the situation, knowing Emeris is doing likewise in the other Growler.

I didn't like the idea of Ponyville having the same fate as Taraska, but at least we didn't have to wait for the Og Nag anymore. I look out the viewport and watch numerous trees fly by the Growler. The scene is silent, save for the sound of furious pedaling. I see birds, scared ponies running to Canterlot, rabbits, deer and flowers. Something about this place calls out to me to save it. What if we stay here? What if we never leave? I pull out my sword and examine it.

Save this place? Hell, I'd die protecting it.