Timber Jack woke up from his mid-afternoon snooze out in the woods, up above he could see the gray overcast of the clouds as they got ready for some rain that was supposed to fall later that day, though next to him was the fruit of his labor. The tree that he had just fell laid there on the ground still, ready to be worked like he always had, after taking a much needed break of course.

Hoisting his axe up in his mouth, Jack hacked away at the branches that littered the sides of the trunk to give him a bare trunk of wood. Ready and waiting to be turned in to floor boards for houses, shelves to place belongings, or even an old style rocking chair that a grandparent could rock their grandchildren in.

Not many other ponies went out in to the woods to harvest their own lumber. Usually the process had been done by unicorns in the later years, it was a faster, cheaper way of getting the same product. Then again, there are some who prefer the olden way of doing things with one’s own hooves. Jack just happened to get a knack for carpentry when he helped his dad patch a hole in the roof when he was growing up.

After a rainstorm had broken off the branch of a nearby tree and the damage had been done. A young Timber Jack went about assisting his father any which way he could in shaping, hammering, and cutting the patch. What seemed like minutes of work, had been actually hours, as the time flew by in the back of his mind while he worked.

At one point his dad had actually taken a step back and allowed him to work on his own. Then it finally happened. In a flare of light, a plank of wood crossed with a hammer and axe appeared across his flank, showing him this was truly what he was meant to do in life.

It had been years’ sense that day, years sense he put that first nail in the roof, and many more sense his father passed away. Timber Jack built his dad’s casket himself, spending hours to find the perfect tree that would make a rightful resting place for the colt that showed him the things in life that he should value the most.

Wiping away a tear from his eye at the memory, Jack continued with his work, and not before long he was finished with what he had set out to do. The trunk laid bare, with piles of branches on either side of it from what he hacked off as his mind wandered through his past. A single rain drop fell and landed on the end of his muzzle, causing him to wrinkle his nose for a bit as he shook his head clean.

“At least the mud will make it easier to get this back,” he chuckled to himself, as he wandered over to the pack he brought with him.

Pulling out a long bundle of rope, Timber set about tying it the best he could around the trunk and himself. Soon putting hoof to ground, the tower of an earth pony allowed his strong legs that have built up from years of use like this to power through the dirt as the rain started to pour down atop him.

Back at his place, Timber looked up along the path that lead to his modest barn at the edge of town. Pulling the trunk behind him, he reached the large barn door and swung it open after turning his key. Dragging the wood in to the center, he let the ropes fall down around him, and allowed the weight of the days’ workout to rest there just like he intended on doing.

Walking up in to the loft above his work space. Jack wiped his hooves on the last step, his rudimentary Welcome mat, as he stepped in to his own home with in a home. Going through the living room, Timber entered his bathroom and generously applied a rather large amount of shampoo to his coat to remove the mud and sweat that had built up from a day’s work. It was later in the evening, and the bachelor didn’t feel up to cooking for himself.

Stepping out of the shower, with a towel Jack dried off the best he could. After all what point would that be? He would just be heading back out in to the rain, at least this time though he wouldn’t be smelling like a pack of mules. Looking down from his loft, the colt got a full look at the piece of timber he had dragged in to work on.

With a pencil working in the back of his mind, Jack set about cutting the wood in to chunks without even setting a hoof on it. ‘Let’s see…’ he muttered to himself, ‘Mrs. Penny Pop wants a new set of shelves made for her foal for when they’re born, Mr. Jasper asked for a few boards to mend his fence around the house, and the elderly mare up the street asked if I could cut out a few blanks to make a ramp for her home to make it easier on her…’ slowly but surely the designs came to life in his head. Soon Timber caught himself smiling that he had picked such a nice piece to work with, ‘It’ll diffidently be big enough to get that all for them…’

“But before I go about working in to the night,” he said out loud, hanging up his pack on the wall, “lets grab a bite to eat, to get me through the night.” Before heading out, he reached for only a single sided axe to leave with. It was his favorite thing to use in his whole shop… and it was the last thing his father gave him before he passed, something the colt never left behind.

The small town of Riverton remained as it always had, even with the rain upon them, it didn’t stop the residents from going out about their business of the day and enjoying the few things the modest town in the back of the woods had to offer. Several ponies that new him waved to Jack from across the street as he walked across the cobble stone paths that were laid decades ago.

Riverton had never had a reason to upgrade or modernize their town. It may have its own mayor, but everypony knew that this part of the woods was really run by the town goers that lived out here. The mayor was just a formality, and was still thought by many as one of them.

For generations Timber’s family remained in the area, and had grown up as much as the town had. Barely falling in to the princess’s boarders of control, other than the small guard post that resided there, they were allowed to act as their own unit and no citizen from the rest of Seren really bothered them.

Not that it was an easy town to get to that is…

On one side there remained the dense forest that built many of the homes in the area, continued to surround the community, while on the opposite side was the river for which it was named after. Heck, the river still remained the primary means of moving goods to and from the town. For the most part however, the residents traded among themselves, other than the few that would sell to the gryphon kingdom up the river. They didn’t really have any of the resources that were needed for the war effort that was brewing, so Grace left them alone for the most part.

Taking in a deep breath of the afternoon showers, Timber let the moist air fill his dry nostrils as he stopped by his favorite dinner and wiped his hooves before walking in. All around he saw familiar faces here and there of those he had grown up with. From his old shop partner, to even the aging nurse that helped deliver him when he entered this world. Timber smiled at all those around him and calmly took a seat at the counter, while he waited for his favorite mare to pop up.

And just like that, she did.

“Hey Jack!” Lilly Blossom bounced up and down at the site of her friend, mere inches from his face, as a lotus laid tucked behind her ear.

The colt in question couldn’t hide the slight grin he gave the Pegasus mare, while all those that knew the two simply giggled and continued to much on their food. While he may be a bachelor at the moment, Jack had known the lime coated mare across from him with the bright smile and braded ivory mane for most of his life.

They had grown up together, first meeting at the school nurse’s office when he had hurt himself on the playground, and she had gotten sick from the cold weather. It didn’t take long for the two to develop that special little bond that younglings had, though this one lasted through the years, and although neither one of them would admit it.

They both had a soft spot for each other.

“Hello Lilly,” he smiled back at her, “how has the day been so far to ya?”

“Oh you know, same old same old…” the florist who specialized in making teas and baked good with what she grew answered. “I got a fresh pot of Dandelion and mint tea brewing though, I know that always soothed you after a day out in the forest.”

Jack quickly smelled his coat to see if his hard work was still lingering around, which only drew a chuckle from the mare, “no you smell just fine their Jack… It was a decent, if not cloudy day earlier, I know you well enough to know how you probably spent it,” she grinned at him, letting the small amount of blood to tint her cheeks as his did the same, “I’ll get you that cup, wait right here.”

Jack nodded politely as he waited on the mare with his hooves folded on the counter. He stopped by to see the mare at work at least three times a week, and even outside of work he had helped her with building green houses and gardens for her own plants. The only thing he had ever asked in return, was her company… and some of those baked chestnut scones she loved to make.

“I know that face my dear…” he heard over his shoulder, turning around it was the old nurse that saw him and Lilly that day. Standing there with a sincere smile stretching across her aging face. “It’s the same one Ester used to give me, before he passed all those years ago.”

“I know Ms. Aid…” he tried to hide the smile on his face, burying it in his own hooves on the counter, “I’m working up to it.”

“Well don’t wait too long now,” she said while the mare walked towards the door, “after all you can’t be the only one who has eyes on her.”

Jack nodded in agreement with her, though at the same time he knew Lilly had turned down several suitors over the years.

Several who had a paycheck three times his size… no, she was a simplistic mare. Most of the time when he would help her out it was something that she could have done herself, she just wanted the same thing he did… to be in the presence of each other.

A hot mug placed itself in front of the contemplating colt, while he looked up from his hooves at the mare who meekly smiled back at him from his side of the counter. “Everything alright there, Jack?” she asked honestly, perching her head on one hoof while she admired her friend in concern.

“Oh… just the same thought that’s been going through my head,” he smiled sheepishly at her, “for quite a while now actually…”

“Well… let’s hear it,” winking at him, Lilly batted her eye lashes across her set of violet orbs, “…sugar.”

Just like that, the butterflies in his stomach turned to hornets, paralyzing the colt where he sat. ‘Get it together Timber Jack… She’s your best friend after all,’ Taking a deep breath, Jack closed his eyes and collected his thoughts. “Well… Lilly I was wondering, if you’d possibly like to-”

The low hum of what sounded like thousands of bees shuttered over top the dinner. Drawing all of the patron’s attention. Masked by the rain, whatever it was had grown so close that they couldn’t help but hear it.

“Umm… Well that’s odd,” Lilly brushed it off. Nature was doing something she was sure of it, though it wouldn’t interrupt her friend for the news she had hoped to hear for years. “You were saying?”

“Right…” Jack took another breath, “to put it simply, would you like to-”

A shockwave rattled the dinner where they stood, knocking plates of food off the table, sending a few patrons stumbling as they walked, and even forced the mug off the counter to its final resting place on the ground. Shattering across the floor, both Lilly and Jack looked up from the spilled tea and out the window. Off in the distance, they could see the fire that had erupted from one of the homes. Even after a rainstorm, the mostly wood buildings still were vulnerable to lightning strikes.

“Oh my…” Lilly gasped as she leaded closer and closer to her friend, resting herself against his side. “I haven’t seen lightning get this bad in years.”

“Me either…” he thought for a moment, “but I didn’t hear or see anything…”

Another blast much closer to them caused the windows to rattle, shattering them inward as the wave hit. Jack hunkered down, putting himself between the windows and Lilly, while he could feel the shards of glass running across his back. Getting back up to their hooves, the mare looked as he clenched his jaw. Leaning over his shoulder, she saw the blood already starting to trickle down across his back from the lacerations that he sustained.

“Jack!” she cried out, letting him lean down on his hooves while he rested for a moment, propped against a booth, “We have to get you some help,” she leapt across the counter and rummaged through the cabinets there before producing a small first aid kit.

Meanwhile the other customers that had come in, continued to duck behind the booths and looked outside at whatever was going on. “There’s no way that was a bolt of lightning…” one said obviously.

“Well duh… but what then would it be?”

“Perhaps the war reached us finally?” another proposed.

“But we have nothing here of value to the gryphons…” a colt answered.

All the while Lilly ignored them, and went about tending to her friend. Taking several clean napkins, she doused them in ointment before she tied them tightly around the wound. With the several grunts that Jack let out from the burning sensation that his back was sending his brain, the mare took that as a hint that it was working. Though that would only stop the bleeding.

“We have to get you to the doctor…” she said, peeking outside. Although the rain may have cleared, the cool air caused the entire area to blanket in fog. Though what she couldn’t see, she could certainly hear the sounds of screams and metal striking metal off in the distance.

“Too… dangerous out there,” Jack panted out between breaths, as his body adjusted to the bandages.

“Regardless…” Lilly ignored what he had to say for the sake of his own safety. “You need help, and I don’t think I can fix this with a first aid kit that’s just supposed to treat a foal’s wounds…”

Looking around the room, Lilly saw that all the others there remained hunkered behind the booths. Staying clear of the windows, and keeping themselves low to the ground. Though in the mix of them, was a familiar face she knew she could count on.

“Pitch!” she called over to her fellow Pegasus to grab his attention.

Fluttering to their side, the colt looked over the other, “Yea he’s in bad shape…” he clenched his teeth when he saw the daggers staring him down from the mare, “… My bad. Okay, what do you want me to do? I’m in the weather patrol, not a field medic.”

“That may be true, but you did spend a few years in the army as one…” she reminded him of that fact.

“She’s right Pitch,” Jack said, “if I can’t get to the doctors, you should be able to do something at least…”

Thinking back to all his training, Pitch was surprised how much of it actually stuck. He did use it often when somepony would get hurt out in the air after all, and one thing he was always good at doing was improvising. “Okay… the docs on the other side of town,” he thought for a moment, “but the vet is only a few streets from here… same principal at least.”

“Alrighty…” Jack stood up on all fours, fighting through the pain that he could before quickly checking to make sure he didn’t lose his axe. “Let’s go…”

“Are you sure you’re up to it?” Lilly asked, concern painted all over her face.

Taking her chin in his own hoof, Jack simply smiled back at her, “Oh I’ve been through worse… besides, I got the both of you with me.”

The trio moved to the back of the room, in to the kitchen as they huddled around the back door. Creaking it open, Pitch checked to see if anything was waiting out there for them. “Okay… coast is clear.”

With that the three moved out in to the open, before making their way between two houses. “What is going on here…” Lilly asked aloud, still hearing the sound of fighting off in the distance, as the hum continued to fill their ears.

“Oh I wish I knew,” Pitch said back to her, “although whatever it is, it sure aint-” another blast filled their ears as a whistle echoed through the air. Before whatever was launched, made contact.

The dinner that Lilly had made her life after first getting a part time job there after school, exploded in a beautiful and horrific display of timber and glass that shredded through the air. Not a single sound was made from those that were still inside, there simply wasn’t time before the impact and the ensuing blast enraptured each of their lives and snuffed it out. Bringing the entire structure to the ground in one sweep. The only thing left was the mare that stood on the outside, and watched as so many of those that she knew vanished in a blink of her tear ridden eyes.

“…Friendly,” Pitch finished while he fought to hold his jaw up. Letting Timber take some of his own weight, he moved over to Lilly as she rested down on all fours, head flush with the ground. “Lilly… we gotta go, whatever is doing this isn’t done…”

She remained motionless, frozen by what she just witnessed. The years spent building something from what the town had to offer, falling apart, in but a single swipe. It wasn’t until a single touch, brought her back to them both, “Lilly…” she heard Jack whisper as he placed a hoof on her side, “We have to move. It isn’t safe here.” Stowing her tears away in the back of her mind, Lilly nodded while she bit her lip and managed to get to her hooves as the trio pressed on.

Cutting through alleyways and backyards, Riverton may not be big, but it was packed with citizens. Pitch looked around a corner to see several of those that he would have fought side by side with, all making their way to the fight going on. “Guards…” he mumbled to himself, as Timber held Lilly behind him and the two colts watched the soldiers file in to move out.

“We don’t know what is bringing this fight to us!” the clear leader called out to his small command, “but whatever it may be, keep your spears and swords at the ready!” a resounding ‘hoo-ya’ echoed between them all.

Before the leader caught something in his side…

He flinched, feeling the stream of blood exiting from under his armor plates, as he looked down and saw the hole that had been made by that which hit him. “What the-?” he questioned, as a crack sounded through the alley. The sergeant’s helmet was no matched to a chunk of metal traveling faster than any arrow ever could. The only good it did was prevent his soldiers from getting coated in his own blood, as it sprayed out from underneath it across the ground.

Falling to their hooves. Each of the soldiers that were once ready to fight against that which attacked them, lost all motivation at the sight of seeing one of their own fall without even a word. That though, was just the start, several more shots rang out amongst the group as the sound of marching from heavy hooves filled the spaces in Timber’s ears that weren’t already filled with the screams of those being struck.

One by one, the guards fell. Even those that raised up shields against their attackers, still found their final resting place amongst their fallen brothers. As the few unicorns that remained tried to get off a last shot or two of energy bolts. Timber finally saw what had done all this, or at least, played a part in it.

Battle hardened soldiers, he thought, armored up from hoof to snout. Marched without fear against the guards that once stood, never breaking formation to take cover, they simply carried on after being struck in their armor. If there was mercy on their face, they didn’t show it underneath the hood. Calmly they walked up to those that remained still twitching on the ground, and raised a type of barrel connected to some contraption, to the last guard’s temple… another shot finished him off, and painted the ground in the final breath of resistance the town had.

Lilly clenched herself to Timbers massive fore hooves, as he calmly unbuckled his axe. “Shh…” he urged her, “they haven’t noticed us yet.” Between those that entered their town, walked in a cloaked figure.

Looking around from under her hood, the figure nodded approvingly to those soldiers that followed her. “You have done very well, all of you,” her horn lit up as they all followed and stood at attention, “the king will be pleased to hear of this performance… though first things first,” she glared up to the object that pierced the clouds above. “Purge this town, and wipe it clean of any trace.”

With a nod, the soldiers around her dispersed to handle the task that they have been given, leaving the trio once again alone. Only to watch as the mare in front of them took to the sky, and went back to the object flying above them. Pitch looked back at the two, “We aren’t very far from the vet now…” he tapped Timber on the shoulder, “Let’s get you patched up, that thing may come in handy,” he motioned to the axe.

Making their way past the fallen guards. They finally reached a small little hut that sat just at the main street that went through town. Avoiding the front door, Pitch walked up to the back as he peered inside to see if anypony was home. “Nope, empty…” he looked back at the two, “Mr. and Mrs. Arian must have left when this whole thing started,” the colt put his hoof on the door only to find it stuck, “I don’t suppose you have a key?”

Timber to keep his spirits up, simply chuckled, “I think I got one on me…”

Rearing up his hind legs that have powered through mud and snow in the past, it only took one kick to send the door bowing inwards and off the hinges, “how’s that for a key?”

“The axe may have sufficed…” Lilly giggled with a weak grin on her face.

“Either way, it worked,” Pitch noted as they all filed in to the hut. Motioning to the table, Timber did as he was told and laid spread across it as the ex-medic rummaged through the cabinets for something of use. Taking out bandages, swabs, cotton balls, alcohol, and a pair of forceps. He set them with in hooves reach around the table where he would work.
Taking off the makeshift bandage that Lilly had applied, he looked at the damage, and although it was bad. “I’ve seen worse…” Pitch noted as he picked up a cloth and passed it off to Jack, “although you might want to bite down on this.”

Bronze stood in the control room of her zeppelin, gazing down upon those that are nothing more than test subjects. A simplistic smile stretched across her face, as she watches the fruit of her own labor hard at work. “All according to plan…” she muttered to herself, “First this town, then after Reinhart and Rhorkin put their cards down, the fun part can actually begin.” She started to chuckle to herself. Years of planning, and finally when the time of execution comes, it all seems to be going so perfectly. “It’s going to be a shame, saying good bye to all this.”

A shot rang out through the hull of her air ship, sending the vibrations up her hind hooves and to her frame. With a sinister grin, Bronze just lowered her head as she literally felt her war engine go to work. Peering open her eyes, she watched a few buildings out in the distance, crumble as her cannons did their work and continued to level the town.

Below though, something caught her eye. A group of ponies not under her command, entering a building without her permission, “Cover won’t do you any good…” she hissed, “after all, I can’t leave anypony to let them know what I’m up to.”

“Ahrgg!” Timber grunted out as his teeth started to cut through the rag, all the while Lilly held on to his hoof as Pitch continued to work.

“Calm down now Jack,” he held the bandaged firm, before using his wing to expertly maneuver the roll of medical wrap
around his friend’s waist, “that should hold it on, and I managed to get the glass shards out the best I could.”

“Will he be alright?” the mare asked as she watched the pained expression on her best friend’s face ease out.

“Oh he’ll live… we just need to get out of this town,” Pitch remarked as he looked out the windows from underneath the blinds, “they’re leveling the area… we don’t have much-”

A round landed just out the back door, and shook the hut at its foundation. Causing all of them to hold on to what they could to keep their footing. “It’s targeting us!” Pitch called out as he watched the barrel on whatever it was take aim right at him, “We need to move now!”

Though they never got the chance, Pitch never even got to yell for help, as the round vaporized him in a flash. The single round that the ship delivered at such a close range reduced the hut to ash in a second. The walls buckled as the roof caved in and dropped down on those inside. Timber watched it all go by in slow motion, the ceiling getting bigger, as he pushed Lilly out of the way and he rolled off of the table to its side.

With a dull thud, the roofing tile fell apart around them, and split the space open for both ponies to look up at the grey clouds above. Having had the table to keep most of the debris off of him, Timber, even with his wounds, still managed to power through his injuries and rise up to his hooves. Though the colt only had one question for himself.

“Lilly?” he called out, “Lilly!” he screamed, ignoring the dying sounds of fighting around him and the heavy hoof steps that got louder with every passing moment.

Turning his head around, he saw what he dreaded to most. The mare did manage to avoid the roof from his quick thinking. Though she only made it partway out the door frame to the back. The rest of her, remained caught in the falling building. Running up to her side, Timber put his hooves under her back as he supported her head against his chest. Checking for any signs of life, he called out her name once more…

But there was nothing…

Her coat remained covered in the fine soot of the building that charred away from the blast, her ivory mane laid in tatters, and the violet eyes that caught Timber’s attention when he first saw them in school. Froze over, as Lilly’s life left her and when to a different place.

With nothing more than silence between them for a moment. Timber placed his pair of lips just atop her forehead for a moment all to themselves. “Lilly… I’m so sorry I didn’t say anything sooner,” he rested his head atop hers while he allowed the shallow raindrops that fell from the sky to mask his own that fell from his eyes.

The world closed in around him, and as Timber remained there. He felt only the cold hoof of armor grab his shoulder. Jack may not have ever fought in the military, or did he have any formal training. That said, he was built like a barn, had an axe tested through the years, and just watched his world go up in smoke…

At that point, skill isn’t really crucial.

Snapping the axe from his side, Jack twisted around and buried it in to the figures chest to the point that it cracked metal. Withdrawing it, he targeted the next one in line, and brought the blade down on the helmet. Puncturing the steel, Timber didn’t even wait to see if the soldier had fallen or not, he just pulled the axe out, kicked the soldier to the ground, and went after the next one. A third met the end of his blade, and had it thrusted up in to the breast plate, as the colt lifted him clear off the ground and slammed him back down.

Though the outburst of the normally peaceful colt was short lived. With a whirl, a hammer was struck against the side of his head, causing his brain to bounce around like a raft on the rapids. The axe fell, and shortly afterwards, so did Jack.

Landing on his knees, the colt looked up to see the hammer there, sitting on the ground before it raised up and went back to its owner.

The mare, the mare that caused this all, stood there above him. “Lovely display of courage…” her horn lit up and the hammer was stowed back underneath her cloak, “though it was strongly misplaced.” In another flash of her horn, the soldiers that Jack thought he fell got right back on their feet.

Even with the damage done to their armor, they walked it off like nothing had ever happened. The one with the hole in his side, walked passed him without even paying the colt any heed. As the soldier with the crack in his helmet remained focused at walking towards their leader. Only the third one seemed to have any trouble at all. Bronze looked back at the armor laying there on the ground, kicking it lightly with her hoof, her trooper twitched for a moment… before lying still once more.

“Hmm… load that one up,” she called out to the few other soldiers with her as they did what they were ordered, “We’re done here.” With a flick of her wrist, from beyond the claw, a barrel was produced and placed to Timber’s temple. Before the colt even knew what had happened.

It was all over.

He didn’t hear the shot, he didn’t hear the bang, he didn’t even feel his body hitting the floor. No, it all ended there before he even knew what hit him. Lying there, among the ruins of his old town, the bodies of those he saw every day, and the crushed dreams of a life he hoped to have made.

Bronze looked out once more at the town that had just become her testing grounds. The remains were burning to the ground, and with this place so far off Grace’s radar, she wouldn’t even know it has been wiped out for some time at least, “which just gives me time to play my own cards…” she looked at the soldiers of armor next to her as they stood motionless without her command. Running her claw under one of their chins, Bronze almost purred at the thought, “even with that little hiccup, you all preformed… beautifully.”