The King's War Ch2

                The convoy of fifty solders made its way up the road as it curved through the large forest. Major Bolt gave Commander Mist a funny look as he spoke, “Betrothed!?!... You?... wait… what does betrothed mean again?”
Commander Mist sighed, “It means that when I was young my parents chose another noble family and they set an arranged marriage between the eldest daughter and me.”
Major Bolt was intrigued, “Really… so what happened?”
Without expression Commander Mist replied, “She left…”
“What? She left… just like that?”
“Yep… the night after our betrothal ball, her mother unexpectedly called off the wedding and sent her to a boarding school in Prance. Never saw her again. I heard her carriage was caught in a rockslide and she died on her way back from her school but that was it.”

                Major Bolt looked at the ground as they continued trotting and sighed, “You know what commander? You have got to have the worst luck with mares I have ever seen.”
Commander Mist smiled, “Well you’re one to talk Sparky.”
“What’s that supposed to m…”
“Commander?”
Commander Mist turned to look at Sergeant Major Storm, “Yes? What is it Storm?”
“Do you know when we should reach the next town… Sergeant Snow is getting on my nerves.”

                Commander Mist sighed, “What is he complaining about now?”
Storm Replied, “He is complaining that we have been traveling nonstop for almost two days now and he thinks he needs his quote-unquote beauty sleep.”
Major Bolt shook his head, “I’d expect as much from a member of the noble Snow family.”
Commander Mist spoke, “Tell him that if he doesn’t stop complaining I'll turn this convoy right back around and…”
“LOOK OUT!!!”
Before Commander Mist could finish his joke, a very large tree broke through the branches of the trees around it as it fell towards them. The tree crashed down on the road barely missing the soldiers who galloped from its path, though it crushed a number of supply wagons and sent a large cloud of dust into the air.

                Once the dust finally settled, Commander Mist picked himself up off the ground and yelled, “All Soldiers gather your squads and get full accountability! Make sure nopony is injured!”
As the soldiers started to regroup a mare carrying an axe jumped out of the woods and rushed to them, “Oh-my-gosh, oh-my-gosh, oh-my-gosh, oh-my-gosh! Is everypony ok!?! I'm so sorry I didn’t expect the tree to fall in this direction!”
Major Bolt looked at the red unicorn, but when he saw the axe he immediately yelled, “SOLDIERS!!! DISARM AND ARREST HER!!!”
Reacting to their orders a number of soldiers quickly surrounded the mare and pointed their spears at her.

                Out of fear, the mare dropped her axe, “I… I didn’t mean to… I'm sorry… I am… please… please forgive me…”
The Mare was frozen in fear as Commander Mist yelled to his soldier, “EVERYPONY STAND DOWN!!!“
Major Bolt spoke, “But Sir she attacked us! Are you going to just let her get away with it?”
“Look at her major! No armor, her axe is civilian made and has no tactical advantage that you usually see in battle-axes, and she approached us with nothing more than worry and apologies. She isn’t our enemy and you need to stop jumping to conclusions like that. Now go see to the supplies! I want to know our losses as soon as possible!”
But Commander I …”
“I SAID GO! That’s an order!”
Major Bolt sighed and replied as he turned around, “Yes Sir…”

                Commander Mist spoke as the surrounding soldiers lowered their spears, “I'm dreadfully sorry miss, the Major tends to lose control of his temper from time to time.”
The mare replied as she slowly picked up her axe with her magic and rested it on her shoulder while grabbing it with her hoof and replying, “Um… no… it was my fault. I was trying to get this tree to fall to the north but as it fell, it hit another tree and rolled to the east so that’s why it fell in this direction, and if it weren’t for my mistake you and your soldiers wouldn’t have been in such danger. Not to mention, it was also my fault you lost a few of your wagons too.”
Commander Mist smiled, “That’s quite alright, supplies can be replaced. I'm impressed though. That tree has to be at least six feet thick, you must be very skilled at your job to cut a tree like that down. Exactly how long did it take you?”

                The mare blushed, “Well… I don’t want to brag or anything like that ,but I started on it this morning. So about five hours… but I went through three axes to do it. Sometimes my magic puts more stress on the axe blade than me.”
Commander Mist Smiled, “I’ll bet it does, by the way it seems that we are now in need of supplies, and I know we are close to Trottingham, do you know how to get there from here? I'm afraid I don’t know my way around this neck of the woods.”
The mare replied, “Oh… uh… sorry about that, just follow this road north until you reach a fork in the road, then turn right and the road will take you straight into Trottingham. Going left will take you to the Griffin Kingdoms… wait… are you ponies on your way there for the war?”

                Commander Mist replied, “That’s right, Princess Celestia wants to prevent this conflict from entering Equestria, so she sent us to try to end it quickly.”
The mare replied, “Well be careful sir, many refugees have crossed the border and told us that that place is really dangero…”
“ARDENT!!! Where are you!?!”
The Mare turned towards the sound coming from the forest and replied, “COMING DAD!!! Sorry sir but I have to get back to work. I wish you luck, and sorry again for you know… almost crushing you and all.”
Commander Mist smiled, “That’s ok, it’s not the first time it’s happened, and I'm certain it won’t be the last.”
The mare gave him a funny look then turn to trot into the forest, “Well… um… ok… see ya.”

                As the mare vanished into the forest Major Bolt returned, “Well sir, I have bad news, good news, then more bad news.”
Mist replied, “Alright let’s hear it.”
Major Bolt Replied, “Ok the first set of bad news is that we lost half of our supplies under the tree to include all our food. The good news is that everypony is safe and unharmed.”
Commander Must replied, “Ok so what’s the other bad news?”
Major Bolt replied, “That tree broke my sword.”
Commander Mist laughed, “Well it’s not like the artist lost his paint brush.”
“HEY!”
“Anyway, gather everything that survived the incident, and let’s continue up the road. We need to resupply in Trottingham before we cross the border into the Griffin Kingdoms.”

                Once the convoy arrived in Trottingham Commander Mist addressed his soldiers, “Everypony listen up! This is the last stop until the Griffin Kingdoms. Once we’re there, there will be no returning until after the war ends. Therefore, if you have letters to send or supplied to buy then I'll give you the next three hours to buy them. After that I want every soldier to return here and be accounted for before we leave, am I understood?”
The large formation of soldiers replied, “YES SIR!!!”
While Commander Mist was addressing his soldiers, Major Bolt was looking around the streets of Trottingham. Everywhere he looked, he could see Griffin refugees sitting on the streets, each one had a bag with their only possessions. Major Bolt could only assume they escaped from the Griffin kingdom as the wars started, to avoid being caught up in it.

                While he looked through the crowd Major Bolt felt sorry for the griffin, he knew the feeling of having no place to call home, or to not know what to do when you lose everything you have. As the soldiers broke off to gather personal supplies, Commander Mist nudged Major Bolt, “Sparky? You here?”
Major Bolt looked back and replied, “Sorry sir… I was a little distracted.”
Commander Mist looked at the homeless griffin and replied, “These are the innocent faces of war… sadly these are the best you will ever see. As we get into the kingdom… they will get worse… and a lot more horrifying. But now isn’t the time. You and I will go meet the griffin at the border crossing. I want to make sure they know we are here so the king will be ready to meet with us.”
Sergeant Major Storm trotted up and spoke, “Commander? Should I see to the resupply?”
Commander Mist replied, “That’s a good idea, I'll leave that to you. If you need any help, be sure to utilize some of the soldiers.”
Storm smiled as he replied, “I know the perfect soldier for the job.”

                Commander Mist and Major Bolt started traveling back down the road to the border. As they arrived there, they were greeted by the points of spears and archers as the griffin soldiers surrounded them, “STATE YOUR NAME AND BUSINESS!”
Major Bolt braced himself for an attack while Commander Mist Replied, “My name is Commander Chrome Mist of the Equestrian Royal Guard. I came to announce that in a few hours , I will be leading a force of fifty soldiers through this border crossing to the capital city of Gryphus in the heart of the Griffin Kingdoms. We are answering the king’s plea for hel..”
“YOU’RE LYING!!! The king doesn’t plea for help. If you are here to help, then you are following his orders.”
Major Bolt was angry at the griffin’s response, but Commander Mist turned and looked at him with a look that said, don’t even think about it. Then Commander Mist turned back to the griffin and replied, “Nevertheless, we are here to support the Griffin King in his time of need.”

                The griffin soldiers looked at each other in confusion as the griffin officer replied, “I don’t see how ponies could help us, but I'll pass your message along anyway. By the time your army approaches this gate, we will have the name of our closest commander in Javelin Falls. You have to travel through that village to get to Gryphus anyway, so he will escort you.”
Commander Mist nodded his head, “Understood, I'll return with my soldiers before sunset.”

                Commander Mist and Major Bolt turned to return to Trottingham, as they traveled Major Bolt spoke, “Why did you let him talk to us like that commander? We are helping them… so why should we allow them to talk to us in such a manner?”
Commander Mist replied, “Sometime you have to learn to let things go. Otherwise you will waste time crying when something can be done about it.”
Major Bolt replied, “Yea… or you can always get even. We may be ponies but I know that you or I alone could easily capture that gate without even breaking a sweat.”
Commander Mist shook his head, “That… would be an act of war. The griffin king is supposed to be our ally during this conflict. If we do anything to offend him in any way then we easily risk starting an unnecessary war with the Griffin Kingdom. Besides, we are here to prevent a war between Equestria and the Griffin Kingdoms, the last thing we need is to start the .”

                Major Bolt sighed, “Well I guess you’re right about that. Um… commander?”
“Yes?”
“You’ve fought in battles before right?”
Commander Mist replied, “A few… most of them were small conflicts on the borders, but all in all I have. Why do you ask?”
Major Bolt replied, “No reason I was just curious…”
“Just curious? Are you sure you’re not worried?”
Major Bolt shook his head, “No… I was just wondering what you meant earlier. You know about the faces of war?”

                Commander Mist replied, “We will soon enter a nation that has fought war after war for almost a hundred years, their king has always been intrigued about war and his son shares the same interest. Their citizens are restless and arrogant, but that’s just the way griffin act. In a nation with such hostile surroundings that’s all you can expect. Furthermore when hostility meets misery, that’s when the line between soldier and civilian gets fuzzy. The faces you saw earlier are the lucky ones. They managed to get out of the kingdom unharmed… but there are some who choose to stay. Those griffins will be hounded to join a side and fight… or their homes will be destroyed or raided by either side. Giving up and leaving everything is an easy way to handle it… but to have it yanked from your talons at the tip of a sword… that’s depressing, and with depression, comes desperation, which will soon turn to hostility. Those who become hostile will soon fight back… then they will die. The only real question is who will they fight?”

                Major Bolt understood what he was told, “So those griffins were lucky?... I’d hate to see the unlucky ones.”
“We will… in time. Just remember why we are doing this.”
“And why is that exactly?”
Commander Mist replied, “Because we were ordered to. And a royal guard’s duty is to follow his princesses’ orders, no matter what the cost.”
Major Bolt nodded his head, “Of course… no matter what the cost. I just don’t like that we have to follow the griffin kings orders. First of all, he is just a cub who has yet to fly for the first time. Second, to threaten us for help… that’s a coward’s tactic. I bet he couldn’t even spell the word threat.”
“True, but our orders are to follow his orders, so that’s what we will do.”

                Commander Mist and Major Bolt continued back to Trottingham, as soon as they arrived, a griffin approached them, “Excuse me? Are you commander of the equestrian soldiers in town?”
Commander Mist replied, “Yes ma’am, how can I help you?”
She held out a letter and spoke with worry, “Can you deliver this to my husband? He lives in Javelin Falls, he happens to be the mayor there. Could you please deliver this?… Please?”
Commander Mist looked around to confirm that she was alone then he took the letter and replied, “We will deliver this for you ma’am, but please keep this quiet, the last thing I need is an army of griffin letters slowing us down, but don’t worry we will deliver this without a problem.”
The griffin smiled with gratitude, “Thank you so much commander… I'm not asking you to meet with him, I just hope you will at least deliver it to the city hall.”
As Commander Mist smiled and nodded his head, the griffin turned around left in sort of a hurry.

                Major Bolt couldn’t help but notice that it seemed somewhat sudden how the female griffin just appeared out of nowhere, then vanished without a trace but he decided to ignore the matter and ask, “Commander? Why do you want to waste the time to deliver that message?”
Commander Mist sighed, “Just because we are at war with griffin rebels, doesn’t mean we should abandon the griffins who are caught up in this war. Besides doing small favors like this actually increases our reputation amongst the innocents of both kingdoms… both Equestrian and the Griffin Kingdoms.”
Major Bolt shook his head, “Sometimes I wonder if your aging is making you soft. We can’t waste our time becoming the pony express mail service when we have a war to fight.”
Commander Mist turned toward Star Bolt and gave him a disappointed stare, “I thought I taught you better. We as royal guards are in service to the princesses and their subjects. Just because we are given a task to serve another doesn’t divert us from our usual job as royal guards… remember that.”

                Sergeant Major Storm and Sergeant Snow approached the two and stood at attention. Storm spoke first, “Commander, we have gathered all the supplies we needed and we are prepared to move out.”
Commander Mist spoke, “Major we will finish this conversation at a better time. Storm, have all the soldiers formed back up?”
Sergeant Snow replied, “I'll say, with all the time spent gathering supplies, the time just seemed to fly by didn’t it? But I suppose our little quest shall continue, despite all the mixed feelings about our orders.”
Commander Mist smiled as he replied, “I have a feeling you both will learn something through this endeavor sergeant. Storm, Snow, Sparky, what’s say we get moving before nightfall, I think we’ve spent enough time messing around here in Equestria. It’s time we meet this great king who asked for us.”
Both Major Bolt and Sergeant Snow looked at each other in confusion while Storm and Commander Mist turned towards the city and began trotting towards their soldiers.

                Back in the city, all the soldiers who were waiting for Commander Mist’s orders were standing in formation around a number of supply wagons, as Commander Mist approached and called out, “ALL SOLDIERS MOVE OUT! Our next stop will be Javelin Falls in the Griffin Kingdoms!”
As Commander Mist turned around and started leaving the city, Major Bolt started trotting next to him while Sergeant Major Storm and Sergeant Snow started trotting behind them. Not long after they began traveling, Sergeant Major Snow trotted next to Major Bolt and spoke, “Hey sir? I got some ideas for your weapon.”
Major Bolt replied, “Ideas? Aren’t you just fixing my broken sword?”
“Actually, I'm replacing it completely. I'm giving you a shield instead.”

                Major Bolt felt a little confused, “A shield? So I'll be carrying both?”
“Nope actually I’ve drew some designs for a unique shield with a blade built into the base. It’s a new design and a work in progress but give me a month or two and I'll have something that will be perfect for your style of fighting.”
Major Bolt sighed, “A shield… that seems to be a laughable idea, don’t you think?”
Storm replied, “It was suggested by Princess Luna.”
Major Bolt quickly replied, “As I said, liable and considerate idea I can’t think of a better weapon for me to carry.”
Both Mist and Storm held in their laughter as Storm replied, “I'm glad you agree, till then might I suggest a short sword and shield, it’s a little common but it might be the best thing for you right now.”

                Major Bolt nodded his head, “Well you’re the weapons expert so whatever you give me, I'll take. But I don’t think this war will last a few months, we are only fighting a few unskilled soldiers and their leader.”
Commander Mist looked back and commented, “Hold your horses now, there is a big difference between unskilled soldiers and desperate rebels. There is no telling what we will face or how long this war will last, but I'll say this for sure, expect to use that sword. I guarantee we will be fighting in battles. The king will not waste his soldiers when he has our lives to use.”
Sergeant Snow commented, “Speaking of which, major, I was wondering… does that ability of yours hurt any… it seems like you’re always exhausted when you use it.”

                Major Bolt replied, “You mean the lighting orb right? Yea it does hurt, but it’s not the electricity that hurts, it’s how tired you are afterword’s that hurts the most.”
“Really? How so.”
“Well imagine you’re running on a track as fast as you possibly can.”
“Ok…”
“Then after say, the one hundredth lap, when you’re completely exhausted and you feel like you’re going to collapse… your body refuses to stop… you lose complete control as your body automatically continues running on the track for another one hundred laps until finally your eyes start to darken as your body reaches complete muscle failure. As your body collapses and you start to black out, the only though that goes through your mind is that you can’t let yourself fall unconscious because there is a good chance you won’t wake up again… ever.”
Sergeant Snow was amazed, “I say… that seems rather terrifying don’t you think. The thought of never waking from a slumber of exhaustion… makes me terrified to think that you actually do that to yourself.”

                Major Bolt smiled, “Well it’s no picnic, that’s why I haven’t done the lightning orb in almost a year. By the way… why did you ask about it anyway?”
Snow replied, “I was at the royal guard exam when you first used it on those dragons. I have to say I was very impressed. That was one of my inspirations to become a guard. Though the real reason I became a royal guard is that my family has a long line of stallion who served the princess, dating all the way back to my ancestor who fought for Chancellor Puddinghead back before Equestria was founded. Nevertheless, with an ability like yours… I don’t think I could handle the responsibility.”
 “Well I do it because I have a duty to protect my princess.”

                Commander Mist and Sergeant Major Storm both laughed at the comment. Major Bolt looked at them and asked, “What’s so funny?”
Commander Mist replied, “I think it was the phrase, My Princess… I don’t think you were talking about, or even thinking about Princess Celestia were you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Storm replied, “Don’t play dumb… we all know you have had your sights set on princess Luna’s heart for a while now.”
Snow spoke next, “Oh… really? I thought that was just a rumor. You mean it’s actually true?”
Major Bolt replied, “It is just a rumor… there is nothing going on between me and Luna!”

                Commander Mist shook his head, “Of course there isn’t… you won’t tell her how you feel…”
“Come on commander! can we at least change this subject this seems to be getting old fast… actually… it’s about as old as you now.”
Commander Mist replied, “Fine, fine… but you know eventually either she will find out on her own, or something will happen that could take away your chances.”
When they reached the top of a hill, the group looked into the distance at another traveling convoy, but this wasn’t a convoy of soldiers… but of refugees fleeing the Griffin Kingdom. Sergeant Snow spoke, “My word… there are a lot of them… many more than I would ever think possible.
Commander Mist replied, “You’re right… there are too many... Something must be happening out there.”
Major Bolt replied as they were nearing the border post, “A battle over the horizon?”
Commander Mist replied, “No… something much bigger… I don’t know what’s going on here… but it’s scaring the life out of the griffin residence. We better hurry up and get to Gryphus soon… I'm worried that what we will face is worse than we expect.”

                As the convoy of equestrian soldiers approached the border checkpoint, a griffin officer approached Commander Mist and spoke, “We made contact with the commander in Javelin Falls. You will link up with Commander Shriek of the forth Griffin army, is that understood.”
Commander Mist smiled, “Ah… Commander Shriek, it’s been years since we last crossed paths.”
Major Bolt asked, “You know him sir?”
Commander Mist nodded, “Sure I do, she was at the Grand Galloping Gala about three years ago, representing the Griffin King when he was at war with Germaneigh.”
“SHE?... oh… I see another love from long ago. Judging by your luck she didn’t have interest in you.”
Commander Mist gave Major Bolt an annoyed look, “She was a friend and nothing more. However, I wonder when she became a commander. Oh well, it will be good to have a trustworthy escort either way.”

                The griffin guard shook his head, “A griffin with a pony… our ancestors would roll over in their graves and sucker punch us if the though even crossed our minds.”
That comment was the last straw for Major Bolt. Major Bolt looked at the griffin and replied, “I agree, just the thought of a peace loving pony with a war mongering tyrant makes my skin crawl.”
The griffin immediately reacted, “What did you say to me you winged donkey? If you think I'm going to let that slide just because your commander is here, then you’ve got another thing coming!”
Major Bolt and the griffin officer braced themselves to attack before Commander Mist and another griffin soldier jumped in and held their comrades back. Commander Mist spoke, “You will stand down or I'll take you down Bolt! This is no place to start picking fights!”
Major Bolt calmed himself down before continuing through the gate, “He isn’t worth the time anyway.”
Commander Mist looked at his soldiers and called out, “THAT’S ENOUGH OF THE SHOW! ALL SOLDIERS MOVE OUT TO JAVELIN FALLS!”
As the pony soldiers and officers continued through the gate, Major Bolt mumbled to himself, “Oversized humming bird.”
The Griffin calmed himself down and mumbled to himself, “Pathetic little pony… I hope he approaches his majesty with that attitude… he won’t live to see the first battle.”