Chapter 8: First strike

Authors Note: This is the end of my first story. This is the final fight with Alduin, it will be broken into two or three parts. I may also add an epilogue.

It took about three hours for the Royal Guards to reach Ponyville from Canterlot. On the trip Dan and his men got to know some of the guards. By the time they got to Ponyville Dan had come to trust the guards but he trusted three of them more than the others. He learned they're stories and knew he wanted them to be with him when he confronted Alduin. Shadow had been with the guards for ten years and had fought a manticore and lived to tell the tale, Hardhead had been with guards for two years and was know for his crazy plans that almost always worked, and Goldheart was a rookie he hadn't been with guards for a month but had almost lost his life trying to save another guard. They all had his respect and he trusted them with his life.

Ponyville was being evacuated so civilian casualties would be as low as possible. About 60% of the population had been evacuated when the dragon scouts were spotted. Shinning Armor called the guards together for an inspirational speech. "Guards, we are here to rid Equestira of the monster know as Alduin. He will stop at nothing to win so don't hold back. We will win and we will have victory. Don't forget your jobs and we will get through this. For Equestria!" There was a multitude of applause from the guards who split into they're respective groups. Each group was tasked with attacking a dragon, once that dragon was unable to continue to fight they would help other groups or move on to another dragon. Dan had asked for Shadow, Hardhead and Goldheart to be moved to his group. Dan's group would be focused solely on Alduin.

When the dragons arrived the Pegusi guards forced them land or attacke them in the air. Once they were on the ground the Unicorns and Earth pony guards would attack them.

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Three hours into the battle…

By this time the dragons were retreating, but the guards had taken heavy casualties. About three hundred guars were dead or unable to fight. About thirty dragons had been killed. The guards learned that the dragons would never surrender and had to be killed. The bodies of the dead were moved to train station so that they could be moved and buried later. It was horrible as Dan walked trough the town he saw the dead and wounded being moved. Many dead bodies littered the ground most had burn marks, claw marks, frost, or bite marks on there bodies. Others had been thrown into buildings or impaled on the tail of a dragon. The stench of death combined with smoke filled the air. Dan was trying to find Shinning Armor, however he had been wounded and move to the medical area. Since Shinning was there Dan would never be able to find him in time, there were too many wounded. Dan got his men together to plan another strategy.

"The dragons from before were probably just a recon group trying to find out many troops we had and how well we could fight." said Dan. "We need another plan, our tactics from before will only delay them and get us all killed. Have all the civilians been evacuated?"

"Yes sir, all of them are on the way to Canterlot. I believe we could do more damage to the dragons if Tom teaches the unicorns some destruction spells and maybe some wards. Also giving the earth ponies better amour couldn't hurt." said Sarge.

"I agree, Tom and I will teach as many unicorns as we can before the dragons return. Sarge, you and Geoff start making that amour. I estimate we have about an hour until the dragons return. Work as fast as you can but don't rush the amour, we can't have it too week or it will only slow them down."

By the time the dragons returned Dan and Tom had taught almost all the unicorns how to shoot fire balls, create a magical ward and use electricity. Sarge and Geoff had made enough amour for half the earth ponies. When the dragons attacked again they were met with fire balls which caused many of them to take evasive maneuvers causing them to crash into each other and some buildings. When the dragons were on the ground the armored ponies rushed forward and fought them in hoof to hoof combat while the unicorns hit them with electricity from a distance. The dragons were unprepared for this kind of resistance and retreated after about fifty of them were killed. This time the guards had taken about fifteen causalities. Tom started to teach the remaining unicorns the spells while Dan, Sarge and Geoff made amour for the rest of the earth ponies and fixed any amour damaged in the last attack. Some of the wounded had recovered enough to help and were stationed on the opposite side of the town to protect the 'back' of the town. Guards from some near by cities arrived adding another fifty troops to the forces in Ponyville.

The next night was uneventful. By morning nothing had happened, some of the guards started to believe that the dragons had given up. By midday the guards thought the battle was over and the dragons had retreated, even Dan started to relax. However the peace would not last as the sun started to set the dragons attacked form the rear. This surprise attack caught the guards off guard and half of the remaining forces were kill before anyone or anypony could react. The guards were not doing well most of the pegusi were forced to land and help the earth ponies would were almost completely wiped out, the unicorns weren't doing much better but they could still support the others. This was the most coordinated attack yet and no one knew why, that was until they saw him. Alduin himself was leading the attack Dan and his men rushed to where he was in order to end the battle. Dan used the dragonrend shout forcing Aldiun to the ground. They then attacked him and the real fight began.

Authors Note: The next chapter may be the end depends how much I write.

I am planning a sequel to this story about what the mane six and Shinning Armor do in Skyrim while Celestia and Luna negotiate a peace agreement with General Tullius. However I need ideas on what Fluttershy and Applejack should do in Skyrim. Leave your ideas in a review or send them to me in a PM.