The Knights of the Rainbow

[Battlefield]

I'm going to start all of my stories in progress here on the forum, and I'm going to start with The Knights of the Rainbow. Here's the first chapter. Others will follow.

THE KNIGHTS OF THE RAINBOW

VOLUME ONE: GHOSTS FROM THE PAST

PROLOUGE
Many years ago, our kingdom thrived, and we enjoyed many years of peace and prosperity. But in just one day, we lost everything. What few of us left soon went into hiding, vowing to never rest until we had destroyed those who had destroyed everything we loved. Over time, we changed, and are no longer what we once were. For we were once those whose only wish was to live in peace and harmony. But now, because of the evil of others, we are now those who wish to seek, and destroy all evil by whatever means necessary. For the last several hundred years, we have been hiding in the shadows. Watching for anything or anyone that may threaten the lives of our descendants. As long as evil remains, it shall never win .For we are the ones who stand guard against evil. For we are the ones who bring light to where it is dark. For we are the ones who protects those, who sleep peacefully at night. We are the Knights..


CHAPTER ONE
Star Flame walked slowly as she made her way through the darkened pine forest. As she did, she tried very hard not to make a sound. For all intents and purposes, she was scared. Anyone could tell just by the way her hands trembled as she held the Colt M16A1 assault rifle that had been given to her. She was only on her first mission, and she was already having doubts about being here in the first place.
"Oh gods," she thought, "What the hell am I doing here?"
She began to think about the last several months, and everything that led up to her being there. She especially thought about when she first woke up on the morning of the first day of the fateful week that would eventually change her life forever…

Monday, June 16th, 1968
7:00 am

Star Flame grumbled as the ringing of her alarm clock awakened her. She rose out of bed and slammed on the button atop the clock, shutting it off. Wearing a t-shirt and a pair of underwear, she then got out of bed, and headed towards the bathroom. She had black fur, a fiery red mane that a both a orange and yellow streak running through it, and black eyes. The symbol on her rump was the outline of a red five-pointed star. After taking a shower and brushing her mane and tail, Star Flame put on her purple bathrobe, and headed downstairs to the kitchen. She looked out the large window in the kitchen, and saw that the sun was just rising into the sky from behind the horizon. She smiled as sunlight illuminated the kitchen. It was good thing to live far on the outskirts of town. There was no hustle and bustle, and the environment remained unspoiled. .She than made her way to the stove, and began making pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast.

A few minutes later, Moon Glow walked into the kitchen wearing her pink bathrobe. Moon Glow was a white pony with a silver mane. Her symbol was a full moon shining down rays of light.
The two had been friends since they were kids. They had always been honest and loyal to each other, and would do anything for each other. Course, the two of them were as different as night and day. Star Flame was more subdued, while Moon Glow was very active. In other words, Star Flame would rather spend a quiet night at home, while Moon Glow would rather party all night long at the local clubs. While Star Flame was very cautious, Moon Glow was very reckless.
But despite their differences, the two of them were the closet of friends, and would do anything to help each other. Besides, they had both started a auto repair business and owned a garage in the nearby town of Serendipity. So far, business was good, but not booming. It was most likely because the local area residents were very careful drivers. But the two managed to get along.

"Good morning," exclaimed Moon Glow. She walked over next to Star Flame to see what she was cooking for breakfast. "Ah, scrambled eggs and pancakes. My favorite. How did you know?"

Star Flame chuckled. "Easy. After cooking for you for so long, I know exactly what you like." She smiled "Besides, you keep reminding me about what you eat, almost everyday."

Both friends laughed at the joke. Star Flame than went back to cooking breakfast, while Moon Glow opened a door on the left side of the kitchen, and walked into the garage that was attached to the house.
Stored inside was a beat up, old red pickup truck that belonged to the two friends. Actually, the truck was registered to Moon Glow, but she and Star Flame used it equally.
Moon Glow walked over to a switch on the wall, and flicked it on. The garage door than slowly opened up, exposing the interior of the structure to the warmness and light of the morning. Moon Glow walked down to the end of the dirt driveway that led to the main road that ran past the property. Sitting at the end was a white mailbox that sat on a wooden pole. The red flag was up, and the lid was closed. Moon Glow opened up the box, and saw that there was a rolled up newspaper sitting inside.
As she reached in to get the paper, she noticed a car parked down the road on the opposite side, pointing towards her. The car was yellowish orange with a pair of parallel black competition stripes running atop the hood and dipping down the front behind the grill. The grill was a polished silver color. Moon Glow stared at the car for seconds, it never moving. She recognized the model. In another world, the car was known as a 1968 Plymouth Road Runner, and there was only one car like it in all of the Republic of Equina, so Moon Glow knew who was driving it. She stared at the car for several seconds, and than nodded at it and the individual who was driving it. Suddenly, the car's engine roared to life, and it drove onto the road and roared past Moon Glow as she stood there at the end of the driveway. The windows were completely rolled up. It was as if the driver did not want to be seen by anyone, expect Moon Glow. As soon as the car had disappeared off in the distance, heading towards town, Moon Glow walked casually into the house.

Star Flame was now setting the table for breakfast when Moon Glow walked in. "So," she asked as she set the table, "did you get the paper?"

Moon Glow nodded. "Ya, I got it." She placed the paper on the table and went over to the sink to wash her hands. By the time she had finished cleaning, Moon Glow had finished setting the table. Both of them then sat down at the table to eat breakfast. While they were eating, Star Flame was reading the newspaper.
"Oh, boy!" she exclaimed as she saw the headline at the top of the front page. It read:

"CREW OF FREIGHTER MYSTERIOUSLY MASSACRED!"

"What is it?" asked Moon Glow, her mouth stuffed with bits of toast.

"Listen to this." Star Flame began to read out loud. "At exactly nine-fourteen last night, members of the Sea Guard boarded the freighter, SS Sea Sprite, after the vessel was found aimlessly adrift about six miles off the coast of the maritime province of Dreamquay. Upon boarding the vessel, the Sea Guardsmen discovered that an unknown assailant, or assailants had massacred the entire crew of the vessel. After some investigation, it was determined that the crewmen had been killed by massive amounts of gunfire. The bodies were riddled with bullets and many bullets holes were found pot marking the bulkheads of the ship. Both the Sea Guard and the provincial government of Dreamquay declined to make a statement. But both insisted that a formal investigation is underway." She placed the newspaper on the table, and looked at her friend. "Can you believe that?" she asked in disbelief over the entire incident. "A ship's entire crew murdered. Who could of done such a thing?"

Moon Glow shrugged. "Who knows? I certainly don't."

In truth, Moon Glow was lying through her teeth…
"Maybe the Ralkieks are responsible."

"That's impossible," replied Star Flame, shaking her head. "We've been at peace with them for years. Why would they start being hostile with us now?"

Moon Glow shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they're still angry us for losing the Great War."

Star Flame had to think about that. Over nine hundred years ago, the ten small kingdoms that had made up the Royal Kingdom of Equina had successfully fought back an invasion by the neighboring Ralkiekian Empire. Than, they themselves had invaded the Empire, and had overthrown it's tyrant ruler, King Forgo.

"But that was over nine hundred years ago," she argued. "Why would they want to start a war with us now? It seemed to be completely pointless to me, since they and the Republic are now allies."

"Yeah, your probably right," said Moon Glow as she got up and put her dirty plate and glass in the sink. She turned towards her friend who had also placed her dishes in the sink, and was beginning to clear the table. "Anyways, I think it's about time to go down and open up the shop. "

Star Flame glanced at the kitchen clock on the wall. "Your right. We have to get ready."

The two mares went back to their respective rooms and changed into their work clothes.
"Ready to go," she asked, as Moon Glow came out of her room.
Moon Glow nodded. "Yep, let's go."

[Battlefield]

Here's chapter Two. I have five more to post.

CHAPTER TWO
She had been walking a long way; that much she knew. But for how long? Granted, she was dressed in a black lightweight suit of armor, and was carrying a fully loaded combat pack on her back, not to mention carrying an assault rifle. In all, a pretty heft load for anyone to carry through a deep forest on a moon-less night. Course, it had also seemed like forever since she first entered the forest. Yes, forever. It had seemed like forever since she had been working at the shop with Moon Glow, like she had done for so many times before, on the first day of the fateful week that changed her life forever…

Monday, June 16th, 1968
3:55 pm

Star Flame didn't know why, but she whistled every time she was working in the shop. It sort of helped her make the work, and the day, go faster. It was especially helping even now as she replaced a broken front fender on a bright yellow four-door sedan that had just been brought in this morning. It was both an easy and boring job. In fact, work could easily get boring. Star Flame would sometimes wish that she was somewhere else.
Course, it's not like she hated working at the shop, far from it. For her, working at the garage was a dream come true. She had always loved cars, and had always love working on them. It was a love that first began when she was growing up with her father, widower, and back home in Emerald Glade. Every Saturday afternoon, she would watch silently, while her father would work on his old pickup truck in the garage next to their house. As he worked, he would explain what the different parts of the truck would do, and how to fix them when they became damaged. Star Flame listened carefully to everything he said, and was soon her helping her father herself. He father would also read a book after book about cars every night before she went to bed. Sometimes, he would tell her stories about when he was a racing driver who had competed in races all around the world. Star Flame would always love hearing his stories. She had loved her father very much.
Gods? Had it been that long? It seemed like only yesterday when she had been only a little filly living with her father. It had been years ago, but she remember them clearly. They had been good times, very good times. Times that Star Flame would never forget for the rest of her life. She would also never forget about her father for as long as she lived. Like every all-good things, however, both of those had ended. They had ended when…Star Flame pushed thoughts about that time out of her head. There was no reason to bring up bad memories of the past. Especially that one…
Turning back to the task at hand, Star Flame continued her work on the bumper, and was soon finished reattaching it to the car. Taking a few steps backwards, she stood there silently examining her handiwork. She was one who was very humble about her work, and wasn't known to be one who would brag about anything she had accomplished. Whenever Individual would compliment her work, Star Flame would simply thank them, and continue on working. Because of this, many people liked and respected her.
Star Flame was simply standing there, when Moon Glow walked into the garage area. She stood next to her friend and coworker, and also admired the shiny new bumper that now sat at the front of the car.

"Nice job," she said, complementing her friend's work. "Hope it wasn't too hard."

Star Flame shrugged. "Nah, it just took a little while to do. Had to re-screw everything, though."

"Huh, must have been quite a collision to pop out all the bolts," commented Moon Glow, as she kneeled in front of the car as if to examine the bumper herself.

"Well, from what Mister Olive told me, he hit that guard rail head at about forty-six miles per hour." She turned towards her friend, and smiled. "You do the math."

Moon Glow chuckled as she got up from her kneeling position. "Yeah, I see what you mean." She took a look at the clock on the wall. It was four o'clock. "Hmm, quitting time."

Star Flame let out a sigh of relief. "Finally. I thought this day would never end."

"Tired?" asked Moon Glow, teasingly. "You usually like working here."

"I do, "replied Star Flame.”But it can sometimes get quite boring around here."

Moon Glow chuckled. "Well, we can close up now, and go home."

"Thank god," exclaimed a relieved Star Flame. "Let's get out of here."

The two fillies went about the garage getting it ready to be closed up for the night. They both met in front of the main entrance to the reception room/main office area. Moon Glow was just looking up.

"There," she said after she had locked the door. "Let's go."

The two friends got into their truck and then drove away down the street. They never noticed the sleek, dark green car that stood next to the curb directly across the street from the garage. It soon started its engine, and drove down the street in the opposite direction.

The car soon drove out of town, and into the nearby countryside. About three miles north of the town, the dark green car turned onto a dirt road that ran into a deep pine forest. It continued down the road until it reached a vast clearing, where a stream flowed through. Sitting in the clearing was the yellowish orange car that Moon Glow had seen that morning.
Standing on the bank of the stream was the driver of the car. He was an earthling stallion who had yellow fur, a yellow mane, white hooves, and green eyes. His clothing consisted of blue jeans, a white shirt, and an orange sports coat. Hanging around his neck was a silver medallion with the image of a group of birds in flight. At the moment, he was currently skipping stones across the surface of the stream. He turned his attention to the green car when he heard the roar of its engine. A smiled appeared on his face.

"Right on time as always," he said quietly said to himself.

The green car rolled up next to the yellowish-orange car, and stopped. It's driver, another earthling stallion, stepped out. He had green fur, a black mane and tail, black hooves, and brown eyes. He was dressed in similar fashion to the yellow stallion, except that he was wearing a brown leather jacket. Hanging around his neck was a gold medallion with image of two swords crossed together in an X.
He stepped out the car, closed the door behind him, walked over to the Yellow stallion, and stood beside him there on the bank of the stream.

"So," he asked, "did you find out where they lived?"

The Yellow stallion looked at him, than refocused his attention on the stream, and began to throw rocks across the surface again.

"Yep," he replied, "I found out exactly where both of them live."

"What's the address?"

"46 Yellow Sun Road."

"What kind of house?"

"A two story white and blue farmhouse."

There was a pause as the Green stallion thought about what the Yellow stallion had told him.

"Any neighbors who live close to them?"

"None as far as I can tell. The closet neighbors are an elderly couple who live about a mile and a half down the road."

"Is that all?"

The yellow stallion nodded. "Yep, that's all I could find out." He turned away from the stream, and looked at the green stallion. "Course, Moon Glow saw me."

"So?" asked the green stallion, dismissively. "She already knew we were watching her and…What's her name?"

"Whose name?"

"The name of the filly who lives with Moon Glow."

"Oh, her. Her name is Star Flame."

"Star Flame, huh?" The Green stallion was thinking again.

"Could she be the one we're looking for?" asked the Yellow stallion.

The Green stallion simply shook his head. "I don't know. We'll just have to keep watching her. Do you think you could keep doing that?"

The Yellow stallion nodded. "Yep, I just sure as hell hope the Cult isn't watching them too."

A grave look came over the Green stallion's face. "We'll just have to hope that doesn't happen."