Chapter 3

Preparing for the Plunge

The mountain top was wreathed in black thunderclouds that crackled with lightning. I stood on the edge of a high cliff with the scout hovering in front of me.

“Up there is the location of the pegasus capitol?”

“Yes sir,” he struggled to catch his breath “but we couldn’t get close. It's as if the lightning was being aimed at us.”

“Thank you, you have done well,” I felt sorry for the scout “I will send a search party to recover the bodies of your companions. Go rest up.”

The scout looked instantly relieved.

“Thank you sir,” he flew off to the camp being set up in the wide canyon below me.

“What do we do now?” the Princess asked.

“We could use magic to force our way through the storm wall,” stated one of my captains.

“No,” I shook my head slowly “the pegasi could think we are attacking them.”

We stood in silence for a hour watching the clouds swirl around the mountain. I was tired and no ideas were coming to me. I turned to my officers.

“Do some training exercises. I want the actions of this legion to flow as smoothly as water. Oh, and send elements from the thirty-first cohort to recover the bodies of the two scouts we lost this morning.”

“Yes sir,” they replied as one.

They left me and I allowed myself to relax. I was starting to learn that commanding a legion was much more laboring than my father made it look.

“I am going to get some sleep” I said to the Princess “you should too.”

“Alright,” she stretched her wings and walked to her tent “I will see you later.”

Me, the princess and my guard had set up our tents on the top of the cliff. Our tents lay scattered among the low hanging trees. I stepped the canvas doorway and into my home away from home. The only furnishings I had was a small cot, a desk and a small table. The table was covered with maps and documents from my officers. I didn't want to bring much along with me as to save room on our already full sky wagons.

I laid down on the cot and though I was tired, I could not will myself to sleep. I stared at the ceiling of the tent for nearly an hour thinking about the problems growing in my life. I had not expected so many ponies to join me and it made me feel a little guilty that they would be sharing in my grim fate. Slowly I returned to the truth of the matter. It was their idea to follow me, I did not force them. They knew the consequences and I admired them for their courage. After a while my thoughts slowly became blurred and darkness crept over my eyes and mind.

“Sir!”

My eyes shot open and I twisted my head towards the entrance. I could see nothing through the bright sunlight flowing in.

“Who is it?” I groaned.

“It is Tides sir.”

My vision adapted to the glare and I could finally make out the face of my favorite captain.

“We have something important to show you,” Tides continued.

I stared at him with a blank look on my face.

“Elements from the thirty-first cohort stumbled across a small party of pegasi refugees while they were searching for the fallen scouts in the western valley.”

“Hmm” I moan sleepily.

“They put up a small fight but most of them were mares and foals. We subdued their guards and we were finally able to explain that we weren’t trying to kill them. No pony was seriously hurt in the encounter but a few of us did take a hoof to the face.” Tides paused to let me reply. When I didn’t he continued “would you like to speak to them sir?”

“Who?” I yawned.

“The pegasi sir,” Tides shook his head.

“Ah of course” I quickly stood “where are they at?”

“Right outside the dinning tent, sir,” tides smiled.

“I will be out in a moment.”

Tides left me and I let out a pained groan. I felt sore all over and I realized why after a few moments. I had slept in my armor! I made sure my armor was adjusted right, did a few stretches to relieve the pain throbbing all over my body, then I walked to the entrance and out in the sunlight.

My vision blurred then quickly adapted to the light and I looked around the camp. I saw Tides, my guard and approximately thirty pegasi spread out around the officers dinning tent. I walked up to them slowly.

“Is this all of them?” I asked Tides.

“Yes sir.”

All of the pegasi were thin and sickly looking.

“Have they been fed anything?”

“No sir, we were waiting for you to make that decision.”

“Tell the quartermaster and the cooks to prepare them a meal.”

Tides saluted then hurried off. A red pegasus foal notices me and hobbles over. He looked little more than two years old.

“Are you half bad and half good?” he asked in a small voice.

I knelt down to his level.

“Why do you ask that?”

He pointed his hoof at my horn.

“You have a unicorn horn, that means you are bad. But you also have feather wings and that makes you good. I don't understand.”

“No, we are fully good,” I smiled at him “we only use our magic to do good. What is your name?”

“They call me Redfeather,” he beamed “and that is my older sister Echo Harp. We all call her Echo.”

The colt pointed to a young, steel-gray mare who sat like a protective mother with ten foals.

“Come,” I said to Redfeather “I am going to talk to your friends and family soon. But first we will get you all something to eat.”

I stood back up and walked into the tent with the little red foal following behind me like an exited puppy.

“Everypony,” I announced. The pegasi all turned their attention towards me. “I am General Traveler, also known as Silverwing. I will wish to speak to you but important things first. We have food being prepared and you all looked famished.”

Behind me I could hear plates and bowls being set out onto the table.

“Come on up and eat all you want. Just, I ask of you, remain orderly.”

They all stood and made their way to the table. I stepped aside and watched them quietly. The thirty odd pegasi were made up of about twenty foals, seven mares and five stallions in full armor. Each of the stallions and a few of the mare were adorned in scars and other forms of injuries.

I turned to the nearest guard.

“Send for a doctor or two.”

“Yes sir,” he saluted and rushed off.

The pegasi quickly cleared off the table and were now sitting around a fire contently devouring their food. I sat down on a log several feet away.

“Who is the leader of your group?” I asked.

“I am,” a burly voiced, indigo stallion spoke “do you wish to speak to me?”

“Yes, if it is fine with you?”

“It is.”

“We wish to join the side of the pegasi and end this war but we can't reach the capitol through the thunderclouds. I need to speak to your leader and I want your help in doing that.”

The stallion sat deep in thought.

“I am sorry, but I don't think you told me your name,” I stated.

He looked up at me and smiled, “I know.”

I understood his reluctance to give me information but if this lack of communication was to continue I was going to become frustrated.

“If you come with us and no pony else, we could take you into Cloudypeak, the high city,” he finally said.

“Could you allow me to take one other pony with me?”

He thought for a moment.

“Very well, I will allow you General Silverwing, to take only one other alicorn into our city.”

“Thank you,” I looked around at the other pegasi who stared back “is there anything else I can get for you?”

“No,” he shook his head.

“I did call for a doctor though to check on your wounds.”

“Thank you.” His face darkened for a moment, “but they are not to use magic to help us. I have seen to much of that twisted art to ever wish to see it again in any form.”

“I understand.”

Standing, I walked over to my doctors that had just arrived and told them the no magic rule. I left them and wandered slowly back to my tent. I sat down at my desk for a while going over the reports and trying to get my thoughts strait.

“Sir,” I hear tides at the entrance “I don't think it is safe to go alone into the pegasus capitol.”

“I will not be going alone” I opened an envelope from captain Ironbird and I started to read it to myself. It was mostly a report on a training accident where two legionaries collided mid flight this morning. She complained that training her farm alicorns was like training a field of wheat the tactics of war. I magicaly picked up an feather pin and started on a reply.

Tides evidently realized I wasn’t going to change my mind.

“Who is going with you?”

“I have not decided yet.” I finished with the letter and opened the next one.

“Then allow me to come with you sir.”

I turned toward him.

“No,” I put down the letter and walk over to him “If I don't return you will be the one I trust to take over. I will probably take a member of my guard with me.”

“Promise me something sir.”

“Yes?”

“Promise that you will come back,” he smiled and walked away.

“I will.”

I wandered around the camp for the rest of the day after I finished the 'paperwork' and talked to the members of my legion. Some of them I had known for a long time as members of the other legions. The princess found me speaking to the ponies of the forty-third cohort, one of the groups under Ironbird comprised mostly of small town alicorns and farmers. I knew she was approaching me by the sudden reverent reaction the cohort had when hoof beats sounded behind me. They dropped down into a deep bow with their horns barely hovering above the ground.

“Get off your faces,” I laughed “it is only the Princess.”

They looked at me quizzically as if something I said made no sense.

“Only the princess,” Celestia said “that is a new way of addressing me.”

“Sorry,” I said with a hint of sarcasm “how are you your highness?”

I bowed until my horn touched the ground. I felt a hoof push down on the back of my head and my face became planted in the soft dirt. I heard her giggle as I lifted my face, but when I opened my eyes and looked around, she was gone. I turned to the legionaries.

“Where did she go?”

They all pointed in a direction with looks of pure confusion played across their faces.

“Thank you” I take off running in the direction they pointed.

I followed after her for a few minutes but after a while I realized I wasn’t going to find her. I stopped and stood there looking around the camp. Legionaries were watching me with curious and puzzled looks.

“Giving up already?” I heard her say.

I turn around to see her trotting up behind me, a look of triumph in her eyes.

“You pushed my face in the dirt!” I laughed.

“I couldn’t resist,” she pranced playfully past me “I heard that you are going into the pegasus city with the pegasi.”

“That is true.”

“And that you are bringing one pony with you.”

I knew where she was going with this.

“You can't come with me Tia.”

She stares back with a critical look in her eyes. I stare back at her with the same expression. We continued our silent argument for several moments.

“Fine!” I hissed.

She smiled from ear to ear.

“How did you just win that argument?” I asked perplexed.

“Because you love me,” she poked me in my sore ribs with her hoof. I winced in pain and promised myself that I would wear my armor when I was with her from now on.

“True,” I put my hoof to my face and shook my head “tomorrow morning we are leaving so get your beauty sleep Princess.”

“I will,” she trotted away “you might want to wash the dirt off of your face!”

I chuckled then looked around at the legionnaires watching me.

“What?”

The sunlight trickled over the tops of the mountains as I stood anxiously with the Princess and the pegasi. We had grouped at the base of the mountain at first light.

“Is it true that your king and queen control the sun and moon from their castle?” Redfeather asked.

“Yes,” I smiled. The foal was a welcomed relief from the mistrusting attitude of the other pegasi.

“Is it also true alicorns are immortal?”

“Yes,” I noticed several pegasi were taking interest in our conversation “though we can still be killed by injuries and war. We are a bit more resilient than other ponies.”

“Several months ago the sun rose late and then went back down for a moment,” Echo stated quietly. I was surprised that she had overcome her distrust of me.

“It was an accident,” Celestia laughed.

The pegasus leader turned towards us.

“That accident saved thousands of pegasi lives by giving us a few more hours of darkness to evacuate a city under attack.”

He looked up the mountain.

“Time to go,” he said flatly.

We started up the rocky trail that followed a thin canyon. Making our way through the crags and passes we trudged up the mountain for nearly an hour. It was nearing midday when we soon found ourselves standing on the edge of a deep abyss with the trail continuing a hundred feet away.

“Who stands upon the opposite side?” a voice echoed through the terrain.

“I am Captain Deepwater of the twenty-third phalanx!” The indigo pegasus leader replied “I am here with refugees and two alicorn diplomats seeking an alliance.”

Silence ensued for a moment then a cloud levitated up out of the darkness of the abyss with five pegasus spear-ponies on it.

“Alicorns you say?” one of the pegasi asked.

“Yes,” Deepwater points his hoof at me and Celestia “this is General Traveler, the Silverwing and Princess Celestia of the Sky Hall.”

The pegasi on the cloud stared at us for a moment. One of them had his mouth hanging open.

“We will take you to the gate,” one of them said. The cloud pulled up to the cliff “but I am going to ask for the alicorns to be blindfolded.”

“That is fine with us,” I replied.

We stepped onto the cloud that easily fit all of us and one of the spear-ponies removed two thin strips of cloth from a pack and covered our eyes. After several seconds I felt the cloud lurch forward following the canyon up the mountain. I could have easily used magic to see through the clothe but I did not want to betray what little trust they gave me. There was many twist and turns through the maze of canyons that ran up the mountain.

“I had heard alicorns were taller than us tribe ponies but I had no idea they were that tall,” an unknown spear-pony proclaimed.

“Silence soldier,” another pegasus ordered.

After a few more minutes we slowed down to a stop and the blindfolds were promptly removed. A massive fortified city that soared nearly a mile into the clouds filled my vision.

“Welcome alicorns to the fortress city of Cloudypeak!” Deepwater exclaimed.

“Impressive,” I said though I knew it was an understatement.

“Come,” Deepwater said “I will take you before our king.”

The gates opened and we entered the city. Mist clung to the buildings like spiderwebs and it gave the place a sorrowful feel. Me, Celestia and Deepwater left the others and made our way through the crowded streets to the large fortified palace in the center of the city. Snow began to lightly fall and ice was forming a thin layer on my armor. All around us I could hear the thunder from the storm clouds echo through the buildings. Every pony we encountered stared at us as we walked past.

“We only have three cities left including this one,” Deepwater stated “a city recently fell a week ago and the refugees are still flowing in.”

He turned his head and looked back at us.

“If it is true that you are here to save us I am thankful even though I may not look it.” He looked back to the front, “joy is forgotten to me.”

“Maybe some day you will be happy once again,” Celestia said optimistically.

“Perhaps, but that day will be when we have had our revenge and the last unicorn lies dead at my hooves.”

We walked in silence the rest of the way to the palace. I noticed we were forming a long procession of curious pegasi. We arrived at the main entrance to the palace and a guard stopped us.

“What is your business here?” he challenged.

“I am Captain Deepwater and this is General Silverwing and Princess Celestia of the alicorn empire.”

The guard appeared to notice us for the first time and his mouth opened partially as if he wanted to ask another question. Another guard stepped forward and nudged him out of the way.

“You may enter,” he motioned to several other pegasi “accompany our guests.”

The large metal doors groaned open and we marched into the palace. There was no decorations, only halls filled with pegasi warriors and armories. We arrived at the grand hall where we stopped as one of the guard went in before us. We waited for a minute or two before he emerged.

“You may now enter,” he said before hurrying off to his post.

We entered the hall and I was surprised at what I saw. The pegasus king sat on the floor surrounded by several dozen foals. He was telling them a story about the ancient pegasus hero who rallied the pegasi kings and saved three alicorn legions at the battle of a million fires.

I knew the story well. It was during the hostile spread of the dragon hordes nearly a thousand years ago. Three alicorn legions were ambushed and almost destroyed but a massive army led by an unknown pegasus turned the tide of battle. I knew this story so well because my father was there at the battle commanding the second legion.

“Little ones,” the king said in a pleasant tone “we have a surprise today that even I didn't know about. The story I just told you had alicorns in it, yes. We have two of them here to visit us today.”

The attention of the room suddenly focused on us. Wonder filled the eyes of the foals and several of their mouths hung open.

“Go now little ones,” the king stood “go and get yourselves something to eat.”

The foals haphazardly hurried out of the hall and the king sat down on his stone throne with cloud cushions.

“Hail Warcaller,” Deepwater cried “king of the pegasi!”

“My son,” Warcaller smiled “I asked you to go out and find refugees and you return with an army of the ancient race itself. You are a very good over achiever.”

“Thank you father,” Deepwater replied with a bow.

It came as a slight shock to learn that Deepwater was the son of the king. But it made sense now as to why he wouldn’t tell me his name. King Warcaller turned his attention to me and Celestia.

“So your kind decided after all to come and help us. I had heard otherwise. This is welcomed news indeed. Tell me, who are you exactly?”

“I am Princess Celestia of the Sky Hall” Celestia said “and I represent the royal alicorn family.”

“I am General Traveler, the Silver Wing,” I said with an air of authority, “son of Stormwing.”

The King perked up at the name of my father.

“Stormwing?” he asked excitedly “as in the General Stormwing of the second legion? The alicorn warrior that fought alongside my forefathers during the spread of the dragon horde?”

“The same one.”

“Amazing,” he stared at me in wonder “how old are you General Silverwing?”

“I will be turning eighty-three in little less than a month.”

“And that is young for your kind?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Do either of you know the average lifespan of a pegasus?”

“No sir, we do not,” both of us replied.

“Three hundred years,” he leaned forwards to emphasize what he had just said “and that was before this war. Now it is twenty or some sad little number like that.”

He paused and leaned back in his throne.

“I am getting off topic” he waved his hoof around “you wish to assist in our war?”

“Yes.”

“Good, good,” he stood and motioned for us to follow. We walked over to a table with a map of the tribe lands spread across it.

“First thing is first,” he said “I recently received news that an unicorn army is making its way to our city here,” he pointed to a model of a large city on the map and I read the name next to it.

“Cloudsdale?”

“It is a mobile city, built entirely from clouds. It is also a major training base for our hoplites, lancers and spear-ponies.”

“If it is a mobile city then how do you know it will be there?”

“We believe it is there, and we believe the third unicorn army is heading towards it. That is all we know.”

“Alright,”I sighed “what else?”

“The earth ponies. They have three tribes and two of which have recently allied themselves with the unicorns. The leader, Chief Stonefield is still neutral.” He looks up at me “I want you to bring him onto our side.”

“Consider it done,” I replied.

He stared at me and Celestia for a few moments.

“You have no idea how happy I am at this moment,” he smiled “yesterday I was preparing for the end. But today, hope rises again. Hmm, that rhymed a little. Come eat with us!”

We spent the rest of the evening and night at the pegasus palace speaking to the king and other prominent member of pegasi society, all of which were warriors.

“Tell me Silverwing, why do you not have a life mark as your kind calls it?” the King asked while we were eating dinner.

“I guess I do not know what I am best at yet,” I replied.

“That is unfortunate,” he poured himself a glass of strawberry wine “maybe this war will help you discover your calling. Though I did notice the Princess has hers.”

“I got it when I raised the sun for the first time,” Celestia smiled.

“I couldn’t help but wonder,” I asked “but whose foals are those that you were telling the story to earlier?”

“Orphans that I have taken under my wing,” his mood sobered “All of my children except for Deepwater are dead. They are like my own children to me, they bring completion to the hole that has formed inside my heart.”

He stared blankly at his plate, then his joyful mood returned quickly.

“Here, open the last bottles of wine in my cellars and drink your fill! There is no need to morn now. Tonight we celebrate!”

The next morning we woke early with dizzy heads and returned to our camp.

“I will go and convince the chief of the earth ponies to join our cause,” Celestia said after we brought the commanders up to date.

I didn’t dare argue with her, and besides she was the best pony for the job.

“Alright,” I wasn’t going to send her alone “take half of my guard with you.”

“What if you need them in battle?”

“You might need them more than I will,” I said reassuringly.

She nodded then a puzzled look crossed her face.

“How will I find you?”

I too was wondering the same thing. Our eventual destination would be unknown. Then it hit me. I removed the medallion my father had given me and separated the two alicorns and gave the gold one to the Princess.

“It will help you make the right decisions and it might lead you back to me.”

We sat outside on the cliff and watched the world around us. Everything seemed peaceful but I knew soon all of that would change. The rest of the day was spent making preparations for our departure.

The next morning before she left she asked me a question that I knew I would have to lie to.

“Will you be alright without me?”

“Yes,” I smiled reassuringly “I will be fine.”

As she flew away into the rising sun with twenty five of my guard I realized how alone I was without her. The further she got, the more alone I felt.

“Orders sir,” Tides asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I pulled myself together and forced my mind to think about the important things.

“Sound the horns and beat the drums, wake the army and prepare to move out,” my orders thundered through the camp and I realized how much I sounded like my father “I am going to take half the legion with me to Cloudsdale. Captain Tides, you will take command here with the others and protect the capitol.”

Tides saluted in compliance.

“Tomorrow this war will start its final days and we will drag it to its end!”

A cheer erupted from my commanders and the loneliness evaporated, if only for a little while.

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I do not own any part of MLP. If you think I do, you are not a smart cookie. Hasbro and some other people more successful than me own it.

Hope you enjoyed it! Please comment and rate, but only if you want to.