The Difference Ch5

Chapter 5
Unwelcomed Guests

                The rain ran down Star Bolt’s face, as he continued arranging the clouds in the sky for the scheduled afternoon storm. Though he positioned each cloud perfectly, he wasn’t thinking about his work at all. The only thing running through his mind was the meeting that he had with the dragon council the previous day. Star Bolt looked through the dark haze of the storm at the Celestial camp. The only thing visible through the haze was the torches at the camp’s borders. While he looked at the camp his thoughts continued to stay on that meeting, the anger between the dragons, and the betrayal that almost ensued was playing back in his mind over and over.

                “We must do something about this threat before the Nightmare Legion arrives! I say if the Crusaders want Him then they should just take him and leave!”
The Elder spoke over the angered dragon, “Star Bolt is a member of this clan! To betray him is to betray us all! We can’t just hand him over like a piece of fruit to that army, especially if he doesn’t want anything to do with this war.”
“Why are you defending him elder! With the ability he knows, he has always been a threat to the clan. To let him stay would be a big mistake.”
The elder yelled aloud, “He has been nothing if not loyal to the clan for almost a decade now! To cast him out now would disgrace what we all stand for.”

Star Bolt stepped forward, “Brothers please, I…”
“YOU ARE NOT OUR BROTHER!!! You are a pony and a…”
The Elder interrupted the angered dragon, “And a loyal friend! What would you suggest we do?”
The dragon looked at Star Bolt, “Would you fight for either army?”
Star Bolt shook his head, “NO!”
“Then Leave the mountain! If you refuse to fight, then both sides will fight over you and that would put us all at risk.
Star Bolt yelled out, “AND WHAT OF NIGHTMARE MOON!?! If she arrives and I'm not here she won’t believe you when you tell her I just, up and left. She will bring her army and tear down this mountain rock by rock, until she is one hundred percent certain that I'm not here! It’s better for me to be here and tell her no, than for her to suspect you’re hiding me!”

                The dragon elder smiled, “He is right, against Princess Celestia's forces we would devour them in no time at all. But Nightmare Moon is sure to fight alongside her troops. I have seen the power that an alicorn can hold. We would fall quickly to her might.”
The council dragons talked amongst each other than spoke, “Elder what do you suggest we do then?”
The elder looked at Star Bolt and replied, “Why don’t we let our voice decide.”
Star Bolt replied, “I will stay and allow myself to meet with both Commanders. I'll tell them straight, I want to have nothing to do with this war. If we are lucky, they both will pass us by. But I have a strong feeling that there will be a battle here. The only thing I'm uncertain of is, who is fighting who.”

                The Dragon elder spoke next, “There you have it brothers, if this turns into a battle then we will gladly fight alongside Star Bolt and his family, however there is one condition. If either Nightmare Moon, or Princess Celestia join the battle to face us, then we will have no choice but to retreat. Risking the clan is something I cannot allow.”
The other members of the council spoke amongst each other than replied, “Very well, Star Bolt. We will leave this up to you, but I warn you, you are playing with powers that can only lead to destruction. Are you ready to accept the consequences of your actions?”
With his head held high Star Bolt replied, “I am.”
The elder then spoke, “That concludes this meeting, you may return to your family Star, we will send Thorn if we need something from you.”

                After replaying the scene in his mind once more, Star Bolt flew above the rain clouds and looked at each clouds position. After deciding that they were placed properly, he stomped on the cloud closest to him creating a lightning chain that jumped from cloud to cloud until each cloud was producing its own lightning. After doing this, Star Bolt shook off the water and looked around. Above the clouds the sky was its usual red from the daily eclipse, while below the clouds, the rain, mist, and fog that Star Bolt created, made visibility difficult, so he just decided to take a few minutes to rest his wings. While standing high above the ground he could only imagine what his foals would be doing right now. Sable would be disappointed that his mother wouldn’t let him play in the rain, while Pearl would be scared of the storm all together. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought of whet Gem might be going through with them both.

                While he was caught in his own daydream, Star Bolt started to hear some noise coming from the grown below, “Hurry up and get that vagon out of the mud, ve need to keep moving they should rendezvous vith us sometime today.”
“Ma’am, the vagon is too heavy, it’s starting to sink even deeper.”
When Star Bolt looked under the clouds, he noticed a small group of ponies gathered around a wagon that was stuck in the mud. In all, there were six earth ponies, five stallions and one mare. Star Bolt flew down and approached the mare, “Excuse me? Do you need any help?”
The mare turned and replied, “Oh! You surprised me… yes if you could help us, ve vould appreciate it.”
Star Bolt griped the edge of the wagon and lifted it into the air while the other ponies tried pulling the wagon out of the mud puddle.

                After the wagon was back on solid ground Star Bolt turned to the mare, “What exactly are you ponies doing this close to Dragon Mountain?”
The mare looked at Star Bolt and replied, “Oh my apologies, my name is Roza Neghvelskie, ve are delivering supplies to some comrades in Manehatten.”
Star Bolt replied, “Manehatten? You and your group seem to be way off course.”
Roza embarrassingly smiled, “Yea, ve aren’t from Equestria, so ve got lost… and this storm didn’t help us either.”
Star Bolt smiled, “Sorry, I don’t call the weather, I just do what’s scheduled.”
Roza continued, “It vould help us a lot, if you could lead us through the forest, we just need to find the road to Manehatten.”

                Star Bolt thought to himself for a few seconds, these ponies were no doubt from a country far from Equestria, the wagon they were pulling was moderately heavy, and other than their accent, there was nothing suspicious about them. Roza then added, “Vith your help, navigating through both this forest and this storm vill be a lot easier.”
Star Bolt looked at the overcast could cover, then he replied, “The storm will end soon but afterword’s there will be a thickened fog… not to mention the eclipse will be setting within the next few hours. It’d probably be a good idea for me to lead you to the edge of the forest, at least. But from there, you and your group will be on your own.”

                Roza smiled and replied, “That vould be helpful, from there ve can find our own vay.”
As the group traveled, Star Bolt thought it was somewhat funny that all the stallions in the group were unusually silent; they also seemed very buff for basic delivery ponies. Roza asked him, “I don’t believe you gave us your name, vhat vould it be?”
Star Bolt replied as they continued, “My name is Star Bolt, I am the weather pegasus for this area.”
“I hear that the veather pegasus for this area, has to be strong. Especially since this area belongs to the dragons that own this mountain. Is that right?”
“Yes, it took a long time before I gained the councils trust, but luckily, the dragon elder accepted me first. If not for his wisdom and support, the rest of the dragons would have killed me by now.”
Roza smiled, “It must be very lonely living vay out on this mountain… I vonder, do you have a special somepony to vait for this… veather pegasus to get off of vork?”

                Star Bolt stopped and turned to look at Roza who only smiled back. He smiled as he started back on the path, “I do, my wife and foals. Without them, I wouldn’t have the motivation to continue what I do.”
The rain stopped, as the fog rolled in making things more difficult to see. Roza continued, “I’ve alvays vondered vhat it vould be like to have a special somepony to go home to. I suppose, I'll continue searching.”
Star Bolt blushed a little as he replied, “Its defiantly something that I hope everypony could feel at least once in their life.”
Roza started to change the subject as the fog got thicker, “It’s getting even harder to see, vhy is it that the veather should vork against me.”
“The humidity in the fog helps the plants that are under trees get moister. Otherwise I’d see no reason to allow the fog to gather.”
“Hmm… I guess that makes sense. It vould still help if it vasn't blocking our view.”
“Don’t worry, there is the edge of the forest now, the road is on the other side of the tree line.”

                As the group emerged from the forest, Star Bolt turned and spoke, “Here you are, just follow this road and you should be in Manehatten in about a day, two if you decide to rest for the night. Nevertheless, I would be careful if I were you. Yesterday I received word that the Nightmare Legion was in Manehatten. You might run into them on your way there.”
Roza smiled, “Don’t vorry about us, ve know how to deal vith the Nightmare legion.”
Roza turned to one of the ponies she was traveling with and spoke, “This is the place, Send the signal!”
Star Bolt was confused, “Signal?”

                The stallion closes to the wagon reached into the back and pulled out a bow and an arrow with an unusual shaped tip. After striking the tip against the wagon the arrow busted into flame similar to somepony striking an ordinary match. Then he drew the bow and fired the arrow into the sky. A few seconds later Star Bolt saw another burning arrow fly into the sky from the other side of the fog. As he watched the direction the arrow came from, he could hear noised approaching them, it sounded like either metal chains or metal plates clanking against each other. Up ahead a large number of silhouettes started to appear through the fog and haze, slowly Star Bolt started to recognize the armor that they were wearing. Star Bolt mumbled to himself, “The Nightmare Legion.”
Then Star Bolt was shocked when he recognized the pony leading the group of soldiers, “Hello… Noname, long time no see.”

                Star Bolt glared at his old nemesis and replied, “You… I should have guessed somepony like you would be in the Nightmare Legion.”
The Bully smiled, “You can call me Sergeant Major now, I'm not as weak as I once was.”
Star Bolt turned to Roza and her group, it was then he realized the other ponies in her group were putting on Red armor, “Care to explain Ms. Roza?”
Roza replied with little shame in her voice, “I haven’t been real honest about who I am… My name is General Roza Neghvelskie; General of the Hooviet Union Army, and ally to the Nightmare Legion. I'm sorry I had to trick you Mr. Bolt. And I really do appreciate the guidance through this forest.”

                Star Bolt Sneered at Roza, “You used me?…”
“Hey, whatever happened to messy mane, Noname? I hear that you two got married. I should have guessed it would happen eventually. You two were always perfect for each other, she was a reject… and you were a freak. The perfect couple of losers I ever saw.”
Star Bolt looked at The Sergeant Major and replied, “You must really want a repeat of what happened all those years ago, don’t you?”
General Roza spoke next, “Vhere is Commander Snow? I vas expecting him to meet me.”
The Sergeant Major replied, “The Commander and the rest of the brass aren’t here, they moved ahead.”
The Sergeant Major then looked at Star Bolt and smiled, “Better hurry home, my guess is he is probably talking to Mrs. Noname, right now.”
Star Bolt’s expression when quickly from rage to worry, “Gem.”

                With one fierce push off the ground, Star Bolt flew into the sky and darted over the trees, quickly vanishing into the haze and mist. As Star Bolt disappeared onto the distance the Sergeant Major smiled, “It looks like this day has gotten a lot more interesting.”
Star Bolt flew as fast as he could through the fog. Part of him was saying that he had to warn the dragons of the Nightmare Legions arrival, but his actions were solely set on getting to Gem and the foals as fast as possible. As Star Bolt flew, he tried to watch the ground in case he flew over the Nightmare legion’s soldiers but both the fog and tree branches covered most of the trails through the forest so it was impossible to see where they were, even if they were down there. Star Bolt arrived at his cabin and slowly approached the door, it didn’t seem like there was any noise going on inside, nor was there any sign of forced entry, so he opened the door and entered his home with caution.

                As he entered the living room he immediately froze, in the room along with Gem, was three soldiers of the Nightmare Legion. A pegasus carrying a pike with a blade on both ends, an axe mare with a very large axe holstered on her side, and a suave swords pony who looked very sophisticated for a nightmare soldier. The swords pony looked at Star Bolt and greeted him, “Ah… Mr. Bolt I presume, please join us, we have been discussing some details of your beautiful home with your lovely wife here. The detail on this cabin seems so distinct and quaint, it’s hard to believe that it was built by a barbaric species like dragons.”
Without saying a word, Star Bolt trotted past his guest and straight to Gem, then he whispered to her, “Are you ok? How are the foals?”
She whispered back, “I'm fine Star; the foals are in their rooms I told them to stay put until I go get them. Is everything alright? I wasn’t expecting you home until later.”
“I ran into the legions front line, we’ll talk about that later though. Go see to the foals, I'll handle this.”
Gem kissed him and replied, “Be careful Star.”

                As Gem went into the other room, Star Bolt turned and started talking to his guest, “Why are you here?”
The swords pony replied, “Oh dear me, where are my manners? My name is Commander Frances Snow the Third, but you can call me Commander Snow. and these are my most trusted soldiers, to my right the gentlecolt carrying the pike is Colonel Callous Drib, and to my left his fiancée, the lovely Major Ardent Viscous. We have come seeking your help Mr. Bolt… or do you mind if I call you Star?”
Star Bolt sneered at Commander Snow, “Mr. Bolt is fine.”
Recognizing Star Bolt’s attempts to offend him, Snow replied, “Oh… I see. Well Mr. Bolt, you do realize that this kingdom is at war. Furthermore, in this war we need soldiers who are brave, strong, confident, noble, and above all loyal. My cohorts and I believe that, we need a soldier… like you.”

                Star Bolt stared at them with an unamused stare and replied, “a soldier like me? well keep looking I'm not interested. and I guarantee you will find another pony in Cloudsdale with all the same attributes that your looking for.”
Commander Snow smiled and leaned forward in his seat, “We know… Mr. Bolt. We know about your talent, your ability, and the power it holds, and to be honest, I think it can be put to good use if you were to join the Nightmare Legion. I can already offer you a favorable position amongst my officers. In addition, that would guarantee safety for your family. So, what do you say? Will you join me?”

                Star Bolt started to smile, “Snow…”
“Commander.”
“Snow… I'm going to say this once, and only once, so I’d suggest you listen to me. I don’t want to have anything to do with this war, I don’t want to fight in it, I don’t want to observe it, in fact I don’t even want to know who is winning or what will happen when they do. all I want to do is stay here on this mountain and do my job, by both providing weather for the region and keeping the peace between the dragons and ponies… that’s it. So I thank you for your kindness, but I will now ask you to leave.”
Commander Snow replied, “Mr. Bolt please listen t….”
“No, you listen. Ten years ago, I watched as the moon started to eclipse the sun for the very first time. Then a year later, I watched from the top of Dragon Mountain, with my pregnant wife, the war that is threatening the lives of the ponies of Equestria. Now you ask me to get involved in that war? No, I'm happy, I live in a small but happy home, in the dormant but peaceful forest, surrounded by dangerous but trustworthy dragons. This is my life, it’s not perfect but the only thing that doesn’t make it perfect, is the fact that day by day my foals live their life believing that beyond that forest is a happy world filled with smiling faces. But we know better… don’t we?”

                Commander Snow stood up, “You know this isn’t the first time we will be asking you this question, but it will be the only time we ask you nicely. It isn’t wise to decline an offer like this, especially from the Nightmare Legion.”
Star Bolt shook his head, “I don’t care what you think, or what your concern is in this matter. I'm not fighting in this war, end of discussion. Now if you will excuse me, I have work to get back too.”
Colonel Drib spoke up, “Mr. Star… or whatever, if you will only allow me to explain the benefits of fighting for the Nightmare Legion, then I bet you would reconsider. All in all it will be ve…”
“Get this through your head! I'm not fighting for you. I'm not fighting for anything. All I want to do is stay here and live my life free of concern from this pointless war!”

                Major Viscous stepped forward, “Um… Mr. Bolt? Please think of your foals… what if…”
Star Bolt sighed, “My foals are all I think about. I can’t leave them, they are my life, and if I go off and do something that endangers me or them, then I would never forgive myself.”
Commander Snow continued, “They will understand that you’re doing this to give them a better future. What better gift could a father give?”
Star Bolt looked Commander Snow in the eye and replied, “A father could be there for his foals. I grew up without one, and my wife’s was killed when she was young. I don’t expect a pampered Canterlot pony to understand. So I'm asking you kindly, to leave and forget your useless attempts to get me to join you… because I don’t care how hard you try, I won’t join the Nightmare Legion. Now GET OUT!”

                Snow smiled and replied, “And what if I told you that I'm not leaving until you accept my offer?”
Star Bolt sneered at Commander Snow, “Then I'll give you an example of the power I hold.”
“Really, a pegasus who has had no experience in survival, verses a pony who has fought in two wars and survived countless battles? This should be very interesting. Should I give you a sword and make our way outside?”
Star Bolt trotted up to Snow and replied, “Why go outside? Why even give me a sword? I can take you, unarmed and without even trying.”
Snow smiled sinisterly, “Is that so!”

                After Commander Snow spoke, he quickly tried to draw his sword, but before the sword was halfway out of it sheath, Star Bolt grabbed his hoof, pushed the sword back into its sheath, and punched Commander Snow with his other hoof. As Commander Snow fell back, Star Bolt pulled Snow’s sword from its sheath and pointed the blade at him, holding it about two inches from his face. However, before any other actions could be taken, Star Bolt felt a blade’s edge on both the back and the front of his throat. During the commotion, Both Colonel Drib and Major Viscous both readied their weapons in the most deadly way possible. Colonel Drib spoke, “You’re pretty good Bolt, but I would suggest you drop the sword. That is, unless you want to leave this room without your head.”
Star Bolt smiled, “Go for it Colonel, either way I'll be taking a pampered Canterlot Commander with me, so I think it will be worth it.”

                Commander Snow was terrified but he did his best to hide it, “Can you really do it though? My guess is that you have never taken a life before, so I'm curious. If you had to, would you really kill me?”
Star Bolt glared into his eye’s and replied, “Should we find out?”
When Commander Snow saw that look in his eyes, he saw an unexpected emotion, the look in Star Bolt’s eyes was one of somepony who not only could kill, but he could even make a pony suffer if need be. Nevertheless, that look faded when a sound was heard, “Daddy?”
Star Bolt’s eyes lit up as if he had just woken from a dream. Star Bolt looked at the hallway and saw Pearl standing there with a look of terror I'm her face. Commander Snow saw this as a lifesaving coincidence, “Well since I see no need to permanently scar a daughter by killing her father in front of her, I’d say this is our cue to leave. Drib! Viscous! Lower your weapons and stand down!”

                Doing as they were ordered, both Colonel Drib and Major Viscous lowered their weapons and stepped back from Star Bolt. Agreeing with Commander Snow was hard to do, but Star Bolt decided to lower the sword and stepped back as well. Commander Snow picked himself off the floor and dusted himself off, “I'll expect an answer soon Mr. Bolt and I hope you consider the wellbeing of you and your family.”
Star Bolt stuck the sword into the floor in front of him and replied, “Take your sword and your offer and get out.”
As Commander Snow followed his officers out the door he replied, “We will be back Mr. Bolt, and we will be expecting a better answer soon. Oh… and thanks again for your hospitality. You really do have a lovely home.”

                 As the door shut behind the officers, Pearl ran up to Star Bolt and hugged him in worry. she began to tear up as she spoke, “D-daddy? Why were they trying to hurt you?... who were those mean ponies?...”
Star Bolt hugged her back and tried to calm her down, “Its ok princess, those mean ponies won’t bother you ever again, and if they do I'll scare them off just like I did today ok. Don’t you remember, I can control thunderclouds and fly with dragons. If I can do all that with those scary things, then surly I can protect you from mean ponies like them… right? So don’t worry, be brave for me ok? as long as your brave, then I can be too.”
Pearl smiled as Gem and Able trotted into the room, “Ok daddy I'll be brave.”
Able ran up behind her “I'll be brave too daddy, no mean old pony will scare me, no matter how big his sword is.”

                Gem smiled and trotted up to Star Bolt, “Is everything ok Star? You seem a little paler than usual.”
Star Bolt replied, “I had a bit of a close call back there, but I'm fine. From now on, I want you to be careful when you go outside ok. I hope you’re ready for what could happen next, because not a second went by that I didn’t think about what could happen to us if we stay here.”
Gem Kissed Star Bolt on the cheek and replied, “So long that we are together, we will be fine. That I guarantee.”

                In the forest as the three officers trotted back to the Nightmare Legion’s front, Colonel Drib spoke, “Well, that was an interesting turn of events, I gotta say, we made a good impression on him, wouldn’t you say sir?”
Commander Snow Replied, “Drib… Shut up! That was pathetic! He made us… US!... The officers of the Nightmare Legion look like complete dupes!”
“Well he is a pegasus, we are known for having quick reflexes. Maybe it was a fluke.”
“Fluke or not, he will pay for making me look like a fool.”
 Major Viscous commented, “Sir why don’t we back off for a little bit and give him time to calm down?”
Commander Snow replied with sarcasm, “Oh and maybe we can just march over to the Celestial Crusaders and tell them that we will surrender. If the Celestial Crusaders recruit him then we are done for. You saw how he fought, with those skills plus the Lightning Orb, he will be a problem in the future I'm sure of it.”

                Major Viscous continued, “Well sir, you heard him yourself, he doesn’t want anything to do with this war, so why should we continue trying to recruit him anyway?”
“Look viscous, Nightmare Moon wants to have him as part of her ranks, and her order is law. We must get him to join the Nightmare legion at any cost.”
“All I'm saying sir, is that if he won’t get involved then we shouldn’t continue to try getting him involved, I mean wha…”
Commander Snow Replied with great irritation, “And who prey tell do you think you are giving me any form of order… Major. Last I checked, I'm the pony with a commander insignia on his armor, so if I were you I would silence yourself. That pony… that disrespectful peace of winged rubbish, made us look like a fool and I'm not going to allow a… peasant like him to humiliate me. He is going to pay, one way or other he will join the Nightmare Legion, even if I have to make him suffer for it. Mark my words now, He will pay for making me look like a fool.”