As Rarity came down the stairs and to the foyer of the headquarters’s main building, she heard the sounds of hoofsteps approaching. Rarity could tell immediately who they were, and just as she realized, Twilight, Spike, and the other ponies came in from one of the side halls. Rarity was in tears, overjoyed to see them.

“Girls!” she cried, running to them.

“Rarity!” Twilight called, her friends following her.

Twilight and Rarity nearly collided into each other as they hugged. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Spike joined the hug, glad to be reunited with each other once again in decent health.

“Thank goodness you’re alright!” Rarity exclaimed. “Were you able to capture the Female Titan?”

“Not only that,” Spike said, “but we got her on our side!”

Rarity stood with her head cocked as far as it could go, unsure if she heard Spike correctly. At the same time, Annie appeared in the room and headed for the upstairs to help the others gather supplies and gears.

“In fact,” added Twilight, mentioning to Annie, “there she is now!”

Rarity’s eyes widened in shock.

“Annie was the Female Titan?” she yelled.

Annie stopped, the commotion making her uncomfortable.

“Yes,” explained Twilight, “but I agreed to help reunite her with her father and seek a lighter sentence for her if she were to fight with us.”

“Do you really think we should trust her?” asked Rarity.

“I think we can,” Twilight said. “It’s no different than how Fluttershy treated Discord. Yes, she’s done terrible things, but I think deep down, she’s actually a decent person in need of a friend.”

Annie, feeling better about Twilight’s confidence in her, ran back upstairs to assist.

“But what if she transforms again?” Rarity questioned.

“She won’t,” Twilight answered. “That cure Hanji and I made; it worked.”

“Are you certain?”

“Positive. When she woke up, she tried to dig her fingers into her hand, but it didn’t work. I’m telling you, she’s mortal now.”

“And now we’re giving her a Maneuver Gear. Great.”

“I don’t think she’ll hurt us anymore. Not if she wants me to hold my end of the bargain.”

Rarity looked around to find Annie, wanting to confront her personally. It was then she realized that she hadn’t seen Sasha in quite some time.

“Have either one of you seen Sasha?” Rarity asked.

“Right here!” called Sasha as she carried down two cases for the Maneuver Gears.

Just then, Hanji emerged from the hallway, looking at both Twilight and Sasha.

“Sasha,” ordered Hanji, “I’m going to need you to hold off what you’re doing and come with me. Twilight, Erwin ordered us to prepare as many syringes as we could and bring all containers of the cure with us. I need your help.”

“Of course,” Twilight agreed.

“Then let’s go. Everyone else, gather the uniforms and Maneuver Gears of all the remaining soldiers of the 104th. We cannot leave anything behind, so look carefully!”

“Yes, ma’am!” the other ponies and Spike agreed.

“Good. Let’s do it!”

As Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Spike, and Rarity ran upstairs to find more gears, Twilight, Hanji, and Sasha went back down the hall to Hanji’s lab.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Hanji loaded several large glass containers of the antidote into wooden boxes with soft padding inside while Twilight had one of the containers with her, the lid open as she placed the needle of each syringe into the liquid, pushed out any air bubbles from the top, and stored them into a smaller wooden box with similar padding. Sasha stood by as she was questioned by Hanji.

“Now Sasha,” Hanji requested, “do you remember which of your friends went south of here?”

“Well,” Sasha recounted, “Conny and Pinkie Pie were going to go south, but when we fled the castle, we discovered that Pinkie Pie and Conny were left behind.”

“What? Are they dead?”

“We don’t believe so, ma’am. Conny’s horse wasn’t in the stables when we arrived back this evening, so we believe that Conny and Pinkie Pie made it out. Mike…”

“Mike? What about Mike?”

“I’m guessing Mike went back to save them, but… he was killed by the titans.”

Hanji paused and was still. She couldn’t believe that Mike, of all soldiers, were to have died.

“Mike?” Hanji quivered. “Are you sure it was him?”

“Yes, I’m certain. His body is in the courtyard next to the mess hall.”

Hanji looked away, not wanting to betray her emotions to Sasha or even Twilight.

“I see,” Hanji spoke quietly as she removed her goggles from her eyes and wiped them with her hand.

With a hard sniffle, she placed her glasses back on.

“However,” she said, putting a serious façade back on, “we don’t have time to mourn. Now, Sasha, who was sent to the south?”

“There was…” Sasha thought aloud, “Nanaba, Gelger, Rene, and Henning as the squad leaders, and then there was Reiner, Bertolt, Ymir, and Kris–”

“Wait!” Hanji shouted, scaring Twilight and Sasha. “Did you just say… Ymir?”

“Yes… Why? Is that bad?”

Hanji bowed her head, back into deep thought.

“Sasha,” instructed Hanji,” there is a journal in that trunk off to the corner. I want you to take it out and begin reading it.”

“Alright!” Sasha complied.

Running to the trunk, she flipped the latch up and opened it up, looking for anything resembling a journal. Seeing an old, tattered notebook with ripped, yellowed pages, she pulled it out.

“Ilse Langner?” Sasha questioned upon seeing the name on the cover.

“That’s it,” confirmed Hanji. “She was a soldier of the Scouting Legion while I was still a trainee. I discovered that journal on an expedition outside Wall Maria before it fell.”

“Do I have to read the entire thing?”

“No. Flip to where the pages become blank, and then flip backwards about four pages. It’s about a woman who was the sole survivor of her squad after a titan attack during an expedition. However, her Maneuver Gear was damaged and her horse had run away, completely stranding her.

“The part I want you to read is where she comes across a titan in the trees. Just be mindful of the penmanship. I assume this woman was frightened beyond reason while she wrote this.”

Sasha listened to Hanji as she spoke, getting to the proper page just seconds after Hanji stopped talking. Sasha cleared her throat wanting to try to speak as clearly as possible.

“I’ve run into a titan,” Sasha dictated. “Six-meter class, didn’t eat me right away. A deviant? My last moments are here. This is it for me. I’ve been such a selfish girl. I’ve done nothing but be a burden towards my parents who still loved me and raised me. Disgusting. It’s all about to end now. It talked.”

Sasha paused, taken aback by the words written on the page. Even Twilight was shocked by it. It was a very rough transition, and didn’t seem to make too much sense. Hanji glared at Sasha.

“Continue reading,” she instructed.

“Yes,” Sasha agreed. “It talked. A titan is talking. Unbelievable. It spoke very interesting words. It said…”

Sasha paused again, suddenly realizing the context.

“…‘Ymir.’ ‘Great Ymir.’ What does this mean? What does Ymir have to do with any of this?”

“I’m not sure,” Hanji said, “but if there’s a connection between her and the titans, then your friends near the wall might very well be in more trouble than they are now.”

“How much longer until we leave?” Twilight asked.

“About ten minutes. Let’s hurry and get going before we too get left behind. Sasha, you’re free to go.”

“Thank you, ma’am!” Sasha said with a bow.

She ran back out of the lab to help the others, giving Hanji and Twilight more space to finish their own task.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Outside, Annie and Kirill had begun to load the final crates of Maneuver Gears and uniforms into a cart which stood next to Kirill’s.

“So,” Kirill asked, trying to break the ice, “what Military section were you a part of?”

“Huh?” Annie exclaimed, unsure of the meaning of the question.

“I see your harness, boots, and sash, but you have no jacket. All the parts of the Military uniform except for that. So tell me, which section are you from?”

“I was part of the Military Police.”

“Hm? Was?”

“I originally joined to live my life in safety… but I suppose that safety isn’t possible even in these times. I’m part of the Scouting Legion now.”

“Hm. A fine choice.”

“Thanks.”

“Oy,” Levi grunted, getting both Kirill’s and Annie’s attention.

Levi held two Scouting Legion jackets and cloaks in both hands, tossing one each to both of them.

“If you’re going to fight alongside the Scouting Legion, you better be wearing the right jacket.”

As Annie put her jacket on, Kirill examined his jacket, admiring the Wings of Freedom patched on the back. Kirill saw as Annie finished applying her jacket.

“Here,” Krill asked, “hold this.”

Annie took Kirill’s new jacket from him as Kirill began to take his off. Once it was off his torso, he tossed his Military Jacket onto the dirt
________________________________________________________________________________________

Spike placed the operational devices of his brand new Maneuver Gear inside the holsters inside of his newly-made jacket. He was also reequipped with his shirt, harness, sash, and cloak. Hanji and Twilight came out from the hallway carrying several crates with them. Spike followed them as they walked towards the outside.

“It was really nice of Kirill to bring an extra Maneuver Gear for me. And it’s a good thing Rarity had enough time to make me a new set of clothes.”

“That’s great, Spike,” Twilight grunted under the strain of the weight of the crates on her magic, “but we’ll be leaving any minute now, so we better get moving.”

“Everyone!” called Erwin from out in the courtyard. “We head out in two minutes without delay!”

“Spike, let’s hurry.”

Hanji, Twilight, and Spike exited through the hole in the mess hall. As they ran towards the cart to store their belongings, they passed the corpse of Mike yet again as a pair of soldiers carried him away from the castle to prevent disease.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Once everything was taken care of, the soldiers left the headquarters and moved south. With Erwin, Levi, and Hanji leading them, Mikasa, Applejack, Armin, Twilight, Spike, Jean, Fluttershy, Auruo and Annie made up the front line. Behind them were Kirill and Sasha, each of whom drove the carts containing the Maneuver gears and uniforms of their comrades. Eren and Rainbow Dash rode in between them with Rainbow Dash flying overhead. Petra rode safely behind them with Rarity staying by her side.

“To the southwest,” Hanji relayed to Erwin, “there’s an old castle next to the wall. From the tower, we should be able to scan the area much better. It’s called Castle Utgard.”

Eren looked ahead of him and above. With all of the ponies present minus Pinkie Pie, it only served as a constant reminder of his friends’ lives being in danger.

Don’t worry, guys, Eren thought with a scowl, we’re coming.
________________________________________________________________________________________

At Castle Utgard, Gelger and Nanaba looked out over the approaching titans, trying to formulate a plan.

“How?” Gelger shouted. “How is this possible? It’s been night for several hours and they’re still moving?”

“What’s going on?” Krista asked.

Conny turned behind him to the north. He nearly fell down from the shock over what he saw.

“There…” Conny stammered. “There it is! I told you!”

Pinkie Pie, Reiner and Bertolt were the first to react to Conny. Their eyes gazed upon the Beast Titan, completely astounded by its appearance.

“Ymir!” Pinkie Pie yelled. “Who’s the big liar now?”

Ymir and Krista, followed by Nanaba, Gelger, Henning, and Rene turned to see it as well, also stunned by its existence. What surprised everyone the most was that it seemed to ignore them, instead walking south towards Wall Rose.

“It’s…” Conny said. “It’s heading for the wall.”

Immediately, a loud banging was heard below, accompanied with the tower jerking forward. Gelger was forced into the southern ramparts along with Rene and Henning, allowing him to look over the side. His eyes widened in terror as he saw a seven meter titan’s body pushing against the tower. They then saw as two three meter titans walked towards the door to the tower. From up on the top, Henning could clearly hear the sound of crunching wood.

“What are they doing?” Henning wondered. “Why are they breaking through the door? You’ve gotta’ be shitting me.”

Gelger quickly drew his blades, fury and anger in his eyes.

“You bastards!” he yelled. “I never even got to drink that vine because of you!”

As Henning and Rene drew their blades as well, Nanaba motioned for the scouts to stand away.

“You rookies stand back,” Nanaba warned, drawing his own blades. “From now on, we use the Maneuver Gear.”

“Let’s go!” shouted Gelger as the four of the soldiers leapt off the building.
________________________________________________________________________________________

The Beast Titan’s claws and toes dug into the supports of Wall Rose, pulling itself up towards the top. As it made it up, it perched itself on the center and turned, facing the chaotic scene at Castle Utgard.
________________________________________________________________________________________

More titans began to appear from the darkness and head towards the castle. As one three meter titan made its way towards the humans gathered on top, another three meter titan ran up behind the other titan a pushed it hard, tumbling it to the ground. As the fallen titan tried to get back up, the other titan grabbed hold of the titan’s ear with his hand and ripped it clean off.

While other titans continued advancing, the abnormal titan began to twist the head of the other titan around, its constantly open smile making it look enjoyable for it.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Gelger was the soldier falling closest towards the titan pushing against the tower. As Gelger reeled back for a swing of his blades, the titan reached up to grab for him, scaring Henning and Rene.

“Like hell you’re going to catch me!” yelled Gelger as he spun his body around for the momentum. “Asshole!”

With his swift spin, Gelger sliced the fingers and thumb of the titan’s hand off. As Gelger swung to the exterior of the tower, Nanaba fell after Gelger, aiming his swords for the neck. Once Nanaba cut the nape off, the he swung down and hung right below Gelger. The titan he killed began to crumple down and fall towards the smaller titans trying to enter inside the castle by the door. With a loud rumble, the titan crushed three of the titans that stood at the door.

“Look at that!” Gelger pointed out. “That dumb bastard killed a bunch of his friends. But that was a nice cut, Nanaba; nice and deep.”

“Thank you, Gelger,” replied Nanaba, “but you didn’t need to dive right into that titan’s hand like that.” You could’ve been killed.”

“Well, it probably kept him from getting you when you killed him, so you might as well count that as an assist.”

“Always have to be such a smart-aleck… Sure, I’ll count that.”

From underneath the body of the fallen titan, a three-meter class crawled out from underneath it, almost managing to get its legs out. Just before it could free itself, Rene fell from the tower and onto the titan, slashing its nape and ending its life.

Looking back at the door, she gasped to see that the entrance was broken in, chunks of wood scattered on the floor. Rene, knowing what this meant, shot a hook to the top rampart of the tower and reeled herself up to Nanaba and Gelger.

“We’re too late!” she shouted. “They’ve broken the door!”

Before either one could respond, Rene reeled up further until she reached the top, landing upon the ramparts and addressing Conny and the others.

“Titans got inside the tower!” she exclaimed. “You need to go downstairs and make a barricade to keep them from getting any further up. Our Maneuver Gears are useless indoors. If worse comes to worst and you can’t hold them back, come right back up here.”

Conny, Bertolt, Krista, and Pinkie Pie looked visibly nervous while Ymir and Reiner wanted nothing more than to get a move on.

“We can’t guarantee that we’ll be back to save you,” said Rene, “because we might be dead by then. Our gas and our blades are running low, and the titans continue coming. However, that doesn’t change the fact that there’s only one thing you should be doing right now: Keep fighting as long as you’re still alive!”

“Roger!” the other soldiers yelled as they ran to the stairs.

Opening the door was Reiner, who also grabbed hold of a torch from the one of the first sconces on his left.

“I’ll go ahead and see how far the titans have gotten!” Reiner declared. “The rest of you find whatever wood you can and bring it here!”

As Reiner began bounding down the steps two at a time, Conny, Pinkie, Krista, and Bertolt watched with horror as their friend got further from their reach.

“Reiner!” shouted Conny. “Hey, Reiner!”

“Wait!” Bertolt called. “Wait, I said!”

“Reiner!” Pinkie Pie cried.

Reiner reached the next floor and open the door to the next set of stairs, closing it behind him.

“He never changes,” Conny grunted. “Even when we’re being attacked for real, he still runs headfirst into danger.”

“Yes,” Bertolt panted, getting tired. “It’s a bad habit of his…”

As the others dropped down to the floor to look for supplies, Conny and Pinkie Pie came across a large cannon tucked into the back of the shadows.

“Damn,” Conny hissed. “If only we had some ammunition.”

Pinkie Pie was looking at the stairs they came down, each side featuring grooves that ran right along the stairwell. She then looked to the cannon, producing a wide smile on her face that let out a few giggles.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Reiner descended further and further down, the noises coming down below filling him with dread. He looked at the next door down. Even from halfway down, he could tell that the wood was stained with water and was already growing green mold.

Dammit, these stairs go on, thought Reiner as he ran at a more cautious pace. And these doors are too rotten to hold back these titans. Just how are we supposed to defend ourselves from these things?

Reiner saw that the door was sealed off with a large wooden post that held the door back. Reiner lifted the plank up and held it with his left hand before pushing the door open with his right. Barreling up the stairs was a three-meter titan, its smile made all the more hideous by the shadows produced by Reiner’s torch.

As the titan opened its mouth to bite down on its next meal, Reiner reached for the handle on the door and pulled it shut as fast and hard as he could as he let the post back down and sealed the door once again. Reiner put his back against the door and pushed back, hoping to hold the titan back.

*WHKK*

The door was banged with tremendous force that cracked the wood behind Reiner, causing him to drop his torch. Reiner knew that he was the only thing holding the titan back, but he knew the door wouldn’t hold up for much longer.

“There’s a titan down here!” Reiner yelled. “Bring me something to block the door! Anything!”

*KRKH*

The arm of the titan burst through the door above and to the right of Reiner’s head. As the titan flailed its arm for Reiner, more wood flew from the door.

“You’ve gotta’ be kidding me!” Reiner gasped.

He’s going to get in here in no time! thought Reiner. At this rate, I’m going to die, right here in this godforsaken castle!

Reiner’s eyes narrowed as a specific moment of his life flashed before his eyes.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Reiner, looking ten years old and wearing a long, thermal coat and backpack, stood scared and motionless the claw-like hand of a seven meter titan swung out to grab him. The titan had a large head, a short, but buff body, long arms and normal sized legs. Its hair was long, stringy, and black, its hairline beginning near the top of its head. Its eyes were large, black beads that trained on its prey.

Before Reiner could be grabbed, a boy around his age wearing similar clothes with short, brown hair checked him out of the way and knocking him to the ground. As Bertolt, being the same age as Reiner and wearing the same outfit, ran to Reiner as they both watched the titan grab their friend. Both of their mouths were agape as the titan opened its fanged jaws and pull the screaming boy closer to its mouth.
________________________________________________________________________________________

No, Reiner determined. Not here.

As the titan breaking in swung its arm near Reiner’s face, Reiner ducked and scooted backwards, seeing as the titan’s head and torso was already squeezing into the hole it was forming.

“REINER!” Bertolt’s voice yelled from above.

Reiner looked up to see Bertolt leaping over Reiner with a pitchfork held in both hands like a spear, its teeth aimed for the titan’s eyes. Landing his feet on the ground, Bertolt drove the teeth of the pitchfork halfway into the titan’s face, blinding it. Reiner quickly got up and put his hands on the handle. With a solid thrust from each of them, the teeth went in another couple of inches. As they continued holding the titan back, Bertolt turned to Reiner.

“Bertolt!” grunted Reiner. “We’re going to make it out of here… and return to our village!”

“Yeah,” Bertolt agreed with a confident smile. “Yeah, we are!”

From up above, the door came open. Reiner and Bertolt looked back to see as Conny and Ymir pushed a large cannon out of the doorway and lined it up to the track along the sides of the stairs. Pinkie Pie was straddled on the back of it like a horse, hopping up and down in giddy anticipation.

“Reiner!” screamed Conny. “Bertolt!”

“Hey,” spoke Reiner. “Isn’t that a cannon? Where are the cannonballs and gunpowder?”

“That’s not how roller coasters work, silly!” Pinkie Pie answered.

“Roller coasters?” Bertolt wondered in confusion.

Reiner immediately understood what was going to happen, let go of the pitchfork and grabbed Bertolt by the collar of his shirt, tossing him out of the path of the stairway. Reiner hopped to the side as Ymir and Conny gave the cannon a final push, sending it careening down the track with Pinkie Pie holding on to it.

“WEEEEE!” she shouted as she put her arms up.

Just before the cannon could collide with the titan and the door, Reiner put his arm out just above the cannon. Pinkie Pie quickly scooted to the back of the cannon and pushed off, putting her back hooves behind the cannon. With a big push, Pinkie leapt off the cannon and sent it straight into the titan faster than before. Reiner, his arm still out, caught Pinkie Pie as he pulled her in.

The cannon collided into the titan with great force, blasting the door back and knocking the titan away as well. With the cannon derailed and the pieces of the door and the cannon’s supports flying out, the titan and the cannon fell off the stairs and down to the floor below, both of their landings cracking the brick beneath them.

“Wow,” Pinkie Pie gasped as Reiner continued groping her, “thanks for catching me, Reiner!”

“Don’t mention it,” Reiner said with a worried huff.

Bertolt ran to the left side of the entryway and grabbed the torch. Running to the next stairwell, he hovered the torch over the hole and looked to see the titan lying motionless in the center, its body immobilized by the cannon’s weight.

“It looks like the cannon is holding the titan down,” Bertolt accounted.

“Let me see!” Conny yelled as he grabbed the torch from Bertolt and looked down to see the titan he, Ymir, and Pinkie Pie fell. “Should I kill it? I found a knife in the room upstairs, and–"

“Forget it,” Reiner said, taking the torch from Conny’s grasp and towards the stairs with it. “Even if the titan could get that cannon off of him, he’s probably really wounded.”

Bertolt left the entryway and followed Reiner as Conny turned to face everyone else, seemingly wanting their input too. While Ymir went back up and Reiner let Pinkie Pie down, Krista stood still.

“We should retreat upstairs,” answered Krista. “If a titan was here, then more should–”

As Conny walked to the stairs, Krista could see a figure running at Conny through the shadows.

“CONNY!” Krista shrieked.

Reiner, as quick as his body would allow, pushed Pinkie Pie away from the door and charged at Conny. Before the titan’s mouth could clamp down on Conny’s head, Reiner knocked Conny to the floor while he pushed the titan’s face away by its cheek with his right hand.

“Conny!” screamed Pinkie Pie. “Reiner!”

Reiner’s hand slipped on the titan’s face as it ended up sliding in between each of the titan’s rows of teeth. Pinkie Pie and Conny watched with horror as the titan’s teeth bit down on Reiner’s forearm, the sound of squishing muscle and crunching bones echoing inside the room.

“NO!” Pinkie Pie cried. “REINER!”

Reiner both from his extreme pain and anger, bent down and wrapped his free arm around the titan’s left leg and stood up, putting the titan in a fireman’s carry. Conny and the others couldn’t believe as Reiner, blood gushing from his arm where the titan continued to bite him, carried the giant up the stairs and towards the window.

“Reiner!” Conny yelled. “You’re not planning on jumping out of the window with him, are you?”

“Do I have any other choice?” Reiner yelled back as he began to climb onto the window.

Conny ran up the stairs and pulled a knife behind his back from his belt.

“No, wait!” Conny shouted as he ran around Reiner and plunged the blade of the knife into the titan’s head just below the ear. “If I can just cut the mouth…”

Conny quickly carved back out as he torn the titan’s flesh down the jaw and into its cheek. Once Conny sliced out the corner of the titan’s mouth, the grip on Reiner’s arm was loose enough for him to pull out. As Conny back himself and Reiner back down the stairs, Ymir watched on the other side of the window on the stairs as the titan turned back to attack her or the others.

As Reiner ran back to shove the titan out the window, Ymir grabbed on to the side of the window and kicked the titan hard in the face, sending it flying out of the tower. The force of the kick was enough to send Ymir dangling over the window.

“Ymir!” Krista cried.

Reiner was already at the window and grabbed her arm by his left hand, quickly pulling her up and resting her on the stairs.

“You think we could go back up now?” she asked.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Ymir and Conny finished applying the last touches of the blockade on the next floor up, which consisted of logs that were wedged in between the door and the stairs by their length. Bertolt provided the light they needed while Pinkie Pie and Krista helped Reiner prepare a bandage and sling for his crushed arm.

Krista had a bottle of vine in her hand. While it wasn’t the best stuff, it was the only form of sterilization they had. Krista popped the cork off with her hand and begun drenching Reiner’s bleeding arm with it. Reiner tried to clench his fists due to the stinging, but felt even more pain in his forearm as he tried to do so.

“Sorry,” Krista apologized in response to Reiner’s grunts.

“I think the bone is fractured,” Reiner stated.

“Yeah, I think so too. We have a brace, but we need some form of bandage. Wait! I know!”

Krista stood back up and tore a long piece of cloth along the bottom of her dress, revealing her legs. Reiner stared at the sight, transfixed by her smooth, flawless skin.

“I’m afraid this dirty cloth is all we have,” Krista stated as she wrapped up Reiner’s arm with a short, wooden pole running along Reiner’s arm. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Reiner stated.

Just marry me already, he thought.

As Reiner put his arm up to his chest and let Krista tie the cloth over the shoulder, Pinkie Pie lowered her head down and gave Reiner a peck where the blood bled through.

“What was that?” asked Reiner.

“What?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Hasn’t your mom ever kissed your boo-boos?”

Reiner couldn’t understand the purpose of such a gesture, but he was glad to see that Pinkie Pie still cared for him so.

“Thanks for your help,” Reiner said as he pet the side of Pinkie’s Pie’s neck, causing her leg to twitch.

Conny and Ymir backed away from the door, knowing there was nothing more they could do with the barricade.

“What are we going to do once the titans break in again?” asked Conny. “We got lucky that time, but I don’t think we’ll be so lucky the next time.

“I agree,” said Bertolt. “We’ve got one wounded already, and even that’s saying something.”

“Hey, Reiner, are you alright?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “More or less.”

Ymir, seeing the attention Krista was giving Reiner, looked about her arms and hands. She finally found a small drop of blood at the tip of her finger.

“Uh, Krista?” called Ymir. “I cut my finger too. It’s a real gusher.”

“That’s barely even a scratch,” Conny said with disdain. “Just spit on it and you’ll be fine.”

Ymir continued to look at her finger as a pink fluff entered her vision. She saw as Pinkie Pie was staring into her eyes.

“What do you want?” asked Ymir.

“Can I see your finger?” she asked.

Humoring her, Ymir pointed her finger out and put her hand out to Pinkie Pie palm up. Pinkie Pie looked at the small amount of blood on the finger, but still gave it a smooch regardless. Ymir was shocked.

“What did you do that for?” Ymir asked with concern.

“I know that we haven’t seen things eye to eye,” Pinkie Pie explained, “probably because you’re taller than me, but you did a really good job helping Reiner and Conny back then. I just wanted to say thank you… and I’m still sorry I called you a big bitch.”

Ymir smirked.

“Like I said,” she replied, “don’t be. I really am a big bitch, especially the way I treated your friend.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Conny vouched. “You had no way of knowing. And Reiner, I’m sorry for being careless earlier. It seems all I can do is get saved by you, huh? One of these days, I have to return the favor.”

Reiner, remembering the death of his friend as a child in that instant, took a heavy sigh.

“It’s nothing,” he said. “Just forget it. I’m a soldier; it’s what I’m meant to do.”

“Well, I wonder about that,” Conny responded. “You never hesitate to put your life on the line. I doubt I can ever be as strong as you. Say, Bertolt? Was Reiner always like that?”

Bertolt took small pause.

“No,” he said. “In the past, Reiner was a warrior; different from how he is now.”

“Huh?” Reiner asked. “What’s that supposed to mean? Warrior? What are you even talking about?”

Bertolt stayed silent, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

“How’s about instead of sitting around and playing riddle games,” Ymir ordered, “how’s about we try and gather some stuff so we can at least have a fighting chance. Well, to be honest, half of our chances are riding on our leaders’ strength, but I suppose that’s the Scouting Legion for y–”

Pinkie Pie squeaked loudly, causing everyone to turn to her. Everyone looked at her tail, which was twitching uncontrollably.

“What’s wrong, Pinkie?” asked Krista.

“My tail’s twitching!” Pinkie Pie she said with audible fear.

“We need to find cover!” Conny said without any hint of sarcasm.

“Why?” Ymir asked. “What does a wagging tail mean?”
________________________________________________________________________________________

Outside the tower, dozens of smoldering bodies laid about the castle grounds as Nanaba and Gelger finished off the last of them. Nanaba cut into the back of a seven-meter titan’s legs as Gelger came up from the top and slashed down upon the titan’s neck, killing it. As the titan fell, both of them came to meet halfway up the tower to relay their situation.

“That should take care of the bigger ones,” said Nanaba. “Thank heavens for this tower, otherwise, we’d have nowhere to fight properly.”

“But we’re still pulling through somehow,” Gelger said.

Rene and Henning came around and met with their other two comrades.

“I’ll go check on the rookies!” Rene stated.

“Gotcha'!” Nanaba exclaimed.

As Rene and Henning flew up to the top of the tower, a slight rumbling sound was heard just overhead, confusing Nanaba and Gelger.

“What’s that sound?” Gelger wondered.

*BRFSHH*

A large, projectile crashed into the stables, which exploded with a burst of wood and stone. Gelger and Nanaba looked shocked to see all of their horses lying bloody and dead underneath the rubble.

“Our horses!” shouted Gelger.

From the top, Rene and Henning were still as they tried to wonder what killed their steeds.

“It’s not over yet!” Rene shouted.

“That sound is back!” Henning stated.

Coming from behind them was a large, white boulder that looked to be aimed right towards them. Neither had time to react as the rock collided into them and the castle, destroying almost a quarter of the top floor. As the bits of the debris fell, Gelger and Nanaba were frightened to see Rene and Henning fall with the rubble.

“Rene!” screamed Nanaba. “Henning!”
________________________________________________________________________________________

“What was that?” shouted Ymir. “Was that what I thought it was?”

“Something hit the building!” Bertolt declared.

“Pinkie,” Reiner wondered, “Conny, how did you know that would happen?”

“She told me something about this ‘Pinkie Sense’ she has,” explained Conny loudly. “Right before we heard that loud roar on our expedition a couple of days ago, she told me that her knee was getting pinchy or something like that. Listen, I don’t know about it either, but we need to see what happened!”

“Fine,” Reiner agreed. “We haven’t heard anything more outside, so I assume it’s safe. Let’s go!”

Conny and Reiner led Pinkie Pie, Ymir, Bertolt, and Krista as they came to the top of the stairs and the building to see what happened. They were stunned to see the portion of the building that was destroyed by the strike. Next to the gaping hole in the building were Nanaba and Gelger, who knelt beside the deceased Rene and Henning and mourned them.

“There’s nothing we can do anymore,” Gelger wept. “They were struck by a boulder coming from the wall and were crushed…”

“What?” Krista shouted.

“It’s him!” Conny yelled. “It has to be! That Beast Titan that was heading for the wall! It has to be his doing!”

“Hey, guys?” Pinkie Pie squirmed as she massaged her leg. “Speaking of pinchy knees, my knee is getting REALLY pinchy now.”

“What does that mean?” asked Ymir.

“It means something scary’s gonna…” Conny dithered off as he saw the trees in between them and the wall tremor.

Then at once, a massive stampede of titans of all sizes came running straight towards the castle from the forest. The others stood narrow-eyed and terrified as danger came at them once again.

“Holy shit!” Conny yelled. “There has to be twice as many titans than before!”

“What?” Gelger exclaimed, standing back up with Nanaba.

“The way these titans show up now of all times,” Nanaba stated. “It’s as if they’re going by a plan now. It’s as if we were being toyed with from the very start…”
________________________________________________________________________________________

From the top of the wall, the Beast Titan threw its arms up, letting out a massive roar that could be heard for miles. As it watched the titans swarm the castle once again, it climbed down from the wall on the south side.
________________________________________________________________________________________

As titans approached the tower, Nanaba ran and leapt off the building, falling towards the closest fifteen-meter titan he saw. The titan reached to grab him, but Nanaba shot a hook out behind him that carried him over the walkway to the smaller tower of the castle.

This is bad, Nanaba thought. I’m almost out of gas.

Nanaba swung around the front of the smaller tower and towards the titan’s neck. With another burst of exhaust, Nanaba soared by the titan’s neck and sliced its neck.

Did I get it? he wondered.

The titan fell to the side, its body colliding with the smaller tower and destroying it. Nanaba gasped at the sight, knowing that the titans might destroy the tower before they would even get eaten. Gelger swung down to meat Nanaba in the center once again. While not visible by Nanaba, the right side of Gelger’s head was bleeding very badly, covering the entire right side of his face with scarlet.

“I’m almost out of gas,” Nanaba said. “You?”

“Same,” Gelger responded as he looked at the small, banged up blade in his operational device. “And I’m out of blades. Those ones in your devices are all you have left too, right?”

“Yeah. I wonder how many the four of us have killed alone.”

“I don’t know. I lost count. All things considered, I think we did really well here. Only… before I die… I wish I could have a drink of vine…”

“Gelger…”

Then, Nanaba noticed the blood dripping off of Gelger’s chin, realizing the extent of his comrade’s bleeding.

“Sorry, Nanaba. I hit my head really bad when that tower fell back there. And I… don’t have any more strength to fight…

Gelger’s hook displaced itself from the walls, and Nanaba watched with horror as he fell limply into the crowding titans.

“GELGER!” Nanaba shrieked, launching a hook out and soaring towards the titans.

As one titan grabbed hold of Gelger’s leg, Nanaba targeted that titan and cut his nape, the force of his swing snapping his blades from the bases. As the titan fell forwards, it slammed Gelger into the wall and threw him inside the hole it made. Nanaba latched into the wall and tried to swing up to the hole, only for almost no gas to come from the exhaust.

No… Nanaba thought. Now I’m really done for…

Nanaba looked as the titans approached him, his placement giving the titans enough distance for them to grab him.

Inside the hole, Gelger got to his knees. With his death imminent and his weakness consuming him, he could barely hear Nanba’s screams outside. However, he looked forwards to see a bottle of vine sitting on the floor. As if nothing else in the world mattered, he writhed towards the bottle and grabbed it by the neck, tilting it up over his mouth. Gelger was horrified to see only one drop escape the bottle and land on his chin.

“Not a single drop left,” gasped Gelger as tears ran down the side of his face. “No fair…”

A fifteen meter titan looked in through the hole to see Gelger weeping over the loss of his final drink. The titan reached inside the hole and grabbed Gelger, who continued crying as the titan brought the soldier towards its mouth.