Title:           Backgrounds of fate: Courage and honor
Author:          ARoyalist
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/fsv7KnDE
First Edit:      Friday 13th of November 2015 07:52:45 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Last edit on: Thursday 19th of November 2015 12:46:35 AM CDT

>you are Swift Justice
>a 'grunt' in the royal guard
>you march in formation along your brothers and sisters in the guard
>you were ordered to take back ponyville
>"is about time we made it. we have been marching for hours"
>you look to the guard next to you
"yeah no kidding. my hooves are killing me"
>the voice of the captain cut your conversation short
>"formation halt"
>the march comes to an end
>has something blocked the road?
>you can see the top of the city over the rows of fellow guards
>but you cant see ahead of them, there are just too many ponies to get a clear view
>then suddenly a voice comes from the air
>its loud and demanding of obedience
>"THIS CITY IS UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE REICH, ANY INTERVENTION WILL BE SEEN AS A HOSTILE ACT AND WE WILL DEFEND OURSELVES!"
>the Reich?
"whats the Reich?"
>the guards around you all have the same answer
>they have no idea
>your captain shouts again back to whatever is blocking your way
>"We have orders to take back the city in the name of the princesses! return to your homes this is royal business!"
>are they really defending that ruined city from you?
>a guard leans over to you
>"i thought we were here to fight griffons? why are ponies blocking us?"
"ponies?"
>"yeah its a bunch of ponies blocking our way. with some weird looking carriages around them"
"i cant see a darn thing from here."
>the voice from before comes back
>"I am lord manos. this city belongs to the Reich, the princesses have no authority here"
>lord manos?
>he is in charge of something calling itself 'the Reich'?
>you hear ponies unsheathing their weapons in the front of you
>you quickly follow suit
>the captain gives one last chance for them to back away
"are we really going to fight our own?!"
>"i-i don't know. i didn't join the guard to attack equestrians"
>none of you did
>you joined to keep everypony safe
>you need to know whats going on
"whats happening damn it?!"
>with all the sounds of weapons and armor being readied you are unable to hear the captain
>but whatever he said seems to have offended manos
>"take heed soldier. you are threatening a foreign leader, another threat or act of aggression will be considered an act of war and you will be fired upon"
>foreign leader?
>fired upon?!
"what is happening here?! what foreigners are we going up against?"
>one of your sisters in the guard speaks up
>"my brother told me that the crystal kingdom renamed itself. i had no idea that they decided they were no longer equestrian though!"
"so are we fighting crystal ponies?"
>"no those are definitely not crystal ponies. at least. not all of them"
>WHY CANT YOU SEE ANYTHING!?
>"i assure you, war is something you do not desire with our Reich"
>no kidding, who would go out of their way to WANT a war
>and why are ponies so willing to fight each other now?
>has the world gone mad?!
>there is a moment of silence, then the captain gives you orders
>"march forward, they will move aside once we get close enough! we have our orders now follow them!"
>you and your fellows all give a resounding "yes sir!" as you begin your slow advance
>even though you cannot see the enemy you can feel the tension in the air
"Sisters of the sun and moon, protect us..."
>you close your eyes for just a brief moment
>then Manos' voice returns, almost happy about your decision
>"then you have decided your fates.."
>not a second after you hear those words, something explodes next to you
>you turn to check on your brothers
>where they were standing is a large crater filled with shattered armor and crippled bodies
>your ears are ringing as you fall to your comrades side
"heart fire.. get up.. come one we have to keep moving"
>you try to lift your friend only to discover his torso and legs are in various locations
>you your stomach empties your lunch onto the ground
>the sisters will protect you.. right?
>once you finished enjoying your meal for the second time you look over to the line of ponies at the city
>its a force of black hands
>you can feel your blood run cold and your eyes widen
"b-black hands?"
>but what surprises you the most are those weird carriages you were told about
>the tops of them look like a pan with two handles
>it slowly turns to a group of ponies gathering to make a charge
"hey.. HEY lookout! that thing is turning t---"
>before you can warn them a loud ripping noise fills the air
>you cover your ears from the awful noise as you watch your friends get ripped apart by some unseen force
>their armor does nothing to save them
>you feel tears streaming down your face as you see one of the ponies in the group cry out
>"I-- I don't want to die! mommy! daddy!! i don't want to die!"
>his hooves are doing their best to keep all his blood inside his body
>it is a vain attempt, while he continues to cry his voice is soon fading out
>you cant stay here..
>if you do you will die
>you rip off your helmet and throw it to the earth below you
>you have to get away and it will just slow you down
"im sorry everypony! but i have to live! this is suicide!"
>you rush off away from the battle
>your lungs burn and your ears are ringing
>you thought you were ready for this
>you thought you would be a good guard, brave enough to fight any threat to equestria
>you aren't. you're scared and a coward
>hot tears stream down your face, you don't care about your friends in the guard, you don't care about the battle
>the only thing you care about now is getting out of here alive
>away from the hands, away from the guard..
>away from the noise of death
>that loud.. horrible.. ripping noise of death.
>looking back one last time you see a large carriage approaching you
>the sound of the beasts growl is deafening
"no please! i surrender! i just want to live!"
>the beast doesn't care as it keeps approaching
>the sound of death being unleashed from its pan handles
>the machine slowly comes to a stop just before running you over.
>your face is nearly touching the front of the war machine
>there is a small slot in the front revealing a pony looking you right in the eyes
>there are ponies driving those things?!
>you take a few steps back and you are corralled back with other survivors of the attack
>there are Black Hands surrounding you and the small group of guard ponies
>where did they even come from?
>it doesnt matter, you're trapped and you're panicking
>oh celestia save us.
>from on top of one of the carriages of death Manos himself stands high above you all
>"you are brave ponies, of that there is no doubt. who is in charge of this little group?"
>thats a good question, to be honest the chain of command has been decimated.
>"come now.. no need to be afraid.."
>he holds out a small object
>"decide your own fates then.. if you are leaderless become your own. surrender, as prisoners of the Reich."
>what is this Reich? you havnt even heard of it until you arrived here and apparently you are at war?
>"so what will it be? life or death?"
>the tall monster who calls himself manos sneers at everypony
>he probably has already decided what he wants to do with you
>just then you hear the voice of one of your comrades
>"if you think we will surrender to a monster like you then--"
>Manos points the small device to the pony and a loud bang fills the air
>you cover your eyes hoping you wont be next
>when no more noise follows you uncover them and see a corpse laying beside you
>the face of the pony now disfigured and disgusting
>his armor turned from a shiny bright gold into a pumpkin-like orange
"oh celestia. why?"
>"he made his choice. now make yours"
>what choice do you really have?
>you step forward and remove your sword and the remaining pieces of your armor
>you hear the mumbling of your brothers and sisters behind you
>by now you are completely unarmed nothing left to distinguish you from a common pony besides your mane and tail being trimmed to guard standard
>another sword falls next to yours, then another, and another
>soon the rest of the guards are without weapons and armor
>Black Hands move in to take everything you disowned onto the ground
>many of them drop their old and worn blades for freshly sharpened royal ones
>"secure them, move into the city"
>so this is it then.. you're a prisoner of war to a nation that doesn't exist lead by a creature who calls himself a god.