Princess Luna was quick to arrive at the hilltop watch-post, along with Lady Silver. Sure enough, there was a column of human soldiers marching up a valley, whereupon they would soon discover the mostly-dry stream-bed and the signs of activity there. And they would surely be noticed if they went missing, and if they escaped, it wouldn't be long until that main column some eleven miles away would be notified. So there was only one realistic choice available:

“Begin evacuating. Everypony is to withdraw in good order to the ships, and execute a fighting retreat if necessary. Lady Silver, you will lead the rearguard action should it come to that.” Luna ordered. Goldleaf breathed a sigh of relief internally. Soon enough, he'd be on a ship back to Equestria, where he wouldn't have to worry about any of this. “Goldleaf, you will assist her in whatever capacity you can.”

“Wait, what?” he asked, his momentary alleviation shattered the moment it was born. “Princess, I'm no soldier-”

“But you are the most powerful magic-user here, short of Us.” stated Luna. “Do what you can to slow them down if they notice our presence.”

“Stars above...” Goldleaf lowered his head. “Very well, Princess. Your wish is my command.”

“Hah!” laughed Lady Silver. “Welcome to the action, commoner!”

“Princess,” spoke up Hemlock, eying her mother warily. “I'd like permission to stay with the rearguard.” Lady Silver nodded in approval, before going off to prepare her troops.

“Granted.” said Luna. “We will return to the cove and oversee the evacuation. We expect you to be there. And do try to find out how they discovered us!” Hemlock bowed, and the Princess flew off the way she had come.

“Why?” Goldleaf asked. He couldn't fathom why anypony would want to face fire and steel if they had absolutely no good reason to. All the rearguard had to do was keep an eye on things, but if Lady Silver had her way, it'd escalate into an entire battle!

“Who else is going to look out for you?” Hemlock asked in return, looking stern. “My mother certainly won't care. Neither will the other pegasi. They might leave you behind, given the chance... You're just a foreign commoner to them.” Goldleaf sighed again, closing his eyes and steeling his nerves.

“I'm glad you care, at least.” he spoke, before looking for Lady Silver. “Looks like it's time for folly.” Goldleaf approached the disagreeable noblemare, who was drawing up a crude map in the ground.

“Let's get this over with.” he grumbled. “Where do you need me?”

“Not so fast.” Lady Silver replied. “You, you're going to the ships, right?” she pointed at a pegasus stallion.

“Yes, my Lady.” he answered, pausing from rolling up a map.

“Off with your armor, the unicorn will need it.”

“I will?” Goldleaf asked, not liking the implications of that.

“Well, maybe.” Silver shrugged. “Just put it on. I don't particularly value you, but the Princess does, and I'm not keen on losing you to a stray shot.”

“Very well.” sighed the unicorn. The stallion quickly removed the hardened leather, and resumed his task. Goldleaf levitated it up, figuring out how it tied together. “Are you sure this will offer any protection?” he asked.

“Put it on, unicorn, or I'll do it for you.” Goldleaf didn't like the idea of Lady Silver touching him, it'd be sure to end in some kind of abuse. He did as told.

“Never worn armor before... Didn't think I'd ever, either.” the unicorn said.

“Not my problem.” dismissed Silver. “I'm putting you with the rearmost of the rearguard, about a mile north of here. They're the most likely to come under attack, but it's a heavily wooded and sloped area. You'll have the advantage. Just... rain down fire on them, or however it is you unicorns fight.”

“Understood.” acknowledged Goldleaf, swallowing nervously. Great, more hobbling about... He could teleport, but that'd risk discovery on account of the light and noise. Hemlock had disappeared, though. Where could she have gone?

“Never thought I'd see you in armor.” she said, coming out of nowhere. From somepony, she had gotten a sword attached to a vambrace, a traditional pegasus weapon. Because it was not retractable or adjustable, Hemlock was restricted to flying or standing awkwardly while carrying it.

“I just said the same thing.” he noted. “You know, I'd feel safer with a helmet.”

“Too bad there's no unicorn armor about.” Hemlock said. “I saw one up here earlier, but she wasn't armored.”

“A pity, I could have requisitioned something from her.” Goldleaf looked down into the valley with his spyglass. How were they even discovered? The sun was in the east, it couldn't have reflected off anything... Not this morning. But Silver's patrols have been in this area for weeks, perhaps some human did see something and told it to whoever this army belongs to. That watchtower they had made up here, though... In the setting sun, the light could bounce off a spyglass's lens, and it would be seen for miles around, if a single pair of eyes was on this mountain at the right moment. He very much hoped that they had not been found due to something as small and stupid as that. Even if word had reached the local authorities, why would they believe it? Unless, of course, they went and saw for themselves... Which they could have done weeks ago, for all the Equestrians knew. A little boat passing by the cove at night, or a single man sent to trek through the hills, could have easily infiltrated their lines.

Or worse. Lady Silver could have disobeyed orders, and engaged battle somewhere. Princess Luna did not command the immediate loyalty of the Highcrest pegasi, or even the unicorns of Unicornia. It would have been pathetically easy to execute such a conspiracy; the alicorn and her two misfit followers wouldn't have a clue until it was too late... And then they'd all suffer for it.

No, Goldleaf didn't like those notions at all.

“Is there anything I know?” asked Hemlock. “You've got that thinking look on your face.”

“I'm just trying to figure out how they know we're here. Either we are supremely incompetent, or Lady Silver is an insubordinate of the highest degree.” he stated. “I can't decide on which, because they're both so likely.”

“I wouldn't call us supremely incompetent-” Hemlock started to say.

“Do we Equestrians look like we are cut out for war?”

That got Hemlock to stop for a moment, to work it out in her head. Pegasus culture was steeped in martial ability, but even ones as vocal as Lady Silver about it would have to admit, four hooved limbs were not ideal for combat. Whatever had created ponies, it had surely not intended for this to happen to them!

Two hours passed by; Goldleaf and Hemlock kept a nervous vigil on the mountaintop. That column below had changed course, it was spreading out into individual units, and disappearing into the forest on the slopes, as far as Goldleaf could tell. There was no doubt, their presence was known. Lady Silver summoned them at the foot of the watchtower.

“Here's the situation: we have roughly three hundred humans coming up the north side of this mountain. They're from the realm of... Loon-doh-veer, as far as we can tell by their banners.” Lady Silver struggled with the word Lûndôvîr. “There's about forty of us. Everypony else has already left, and so will we, once we delay them long enough. Goldleaf and the other six unicorns with us will take up position at various points along the slope; us pegasi will be spread along that line. Do not attack them head on, use stealth when possible, and hit them from above and behind. Do not fly into a pike block. If you do, you will die.” Lady Silver looked to him. “Is there anything you know that you think might be helpful?”

“Black powder is smoky and noisy.” said Goldleaf. “Once they fire their woefully inaccurate arquebuses a few times, you won't be able to see a lot. It's not my place to say this, but just do what they did in Maelstrom's Rebellion, when the Athairîm cannons paid a visit.” Lady Silver nodded, surprisingly.

“Wait for the smoke to gather, use it to obscure your movement, attack them from above.” she stated. “Don't take needless risks, try and keep them split up. Our withdrawal will be made five at at time, I'll personally tell you when it is your time to leave. Understood?”

“Understood!” answered all the pegasi, with vigor. The unicorns nodded along silently.

“Then have at it!”

And that was how Goldleaf found himself lurking behind a boulder, with Hemlock and some other Highcrest pegasi holding the east flank, waiting to see enemy movement below. He was still worn out from his climb up this mountain, but at least his magic was at full potential. What worried him most was the question of how he was going to make it all the way back to the ships. I really have better things to be concerned about, he told himself, when the almost inaudible beat of drums echoed up the slope.

Indeed, the humans were heard long before they were seen. Drums, drums, and then a very distant round of shots to the west. Then they could smell them. Ponies had a good sense of smell, better than humans, but Goldleaf only noticed when he smelled something new. Like the sulfur of black powder burning. He swallowed nervously, and peeked out from behind his rock.

“They're definitely out there.” he reported.

“Wait until they get close,” Hemlock said. “maybe we can surprise them.”

“I should hope so, my Lady.” replied one of the pegasi. “Get your unicorn to start throwing things at them, keep them occupied while we go up and over them.”

“Can you do that, Goldleaf?” asked Hemlock,

“Well, I guess. I'll need something to throw though.” he answered. In response, the pegasus who had spoken gestured at the rocks around them. “Oh, right. I suppose these can do.”

“Good.” said Hemlock. “Keep them focused up here when the time comes.”

It took an eternity for the humans to emerge out of the foliage, but there they were, not twenty yards downhill. There were no pikes among them; only halberds, arquebuses, and a variety of other weapons. Pikes would be nearly useless in such thick forest.

“Now!” ordered Hemlock. Goldleaf felt the magic channel through his horn; he picked up a hefty rock, and hurled it over the boulder they were waiting behind. There was shouting below, and a disorganized volley launched their way, guns cracking as they fired. All their shots bounced harmlessly off the boulder, or embedded themselves in nearby trees. But the smoke was out, and it was now Hemlock and her pegasi flew upwards. Goldleaf threw two more rocks, one of them found their mark because he heard a dull thud on metal. He kept in cover, but he could hear the shouts of surprise and alarm when they humans realized five pegasi had slipped between their ranks.

Four returned, including Hemlock. All were bloodied, in blade and body, though most of the blood wasn't theirs. “Alright, I don't think that's going to work again, but at least we thinned them out a little.” said Hemlock.

“Why not use the unicorn?” suggested one of the pegasi. “Surely he knows combat spells.”

“Well, yes-” admitted Goldleaf.

“Just look around the boulder and shoot them with something then!”

“Do it!” agreed Hemlock. For a moment, Goldleaf froze. Actually kill somepony- or someone, in this case? He'd never done that before- the rapid snapping of branches above and roar of gunfire passing over them quickly settled the issue.

“Here goes nothing.” he said to himself. His horn lit up again, but he held back the magic, letting it boil and bubble in its containment. This wasn't so much a spell as a very carefully executed “misfire” of magic. Sometimes, young unicorns would lose control of their magic, or try and control too much, resulting in an explosive release when their ability to contain that energy finally failed. In this case, Goldleaf very able to control where said explosive release went, and when it happened.

He peeked out from behind the boulder after the next volley, and saw a line of yellow uncomfortably close to them. Painted armor? he asked himself, before release the energy in his horn. It blasted forward like a lance of reddish-gold light, passing right through one man, and smashing into another. There was great dismay amongst them.

“Stars above!” exclaimed Hemlock, clearly impressed. “I didn't know unicorns could do that!”

“Not many can. Not that safely, at least.” panted he.

“Can you do it again?” asked a pegasus.

“No,” he shook his head. “not for a few minutes at least. Well, I could do it right now, but that'll get dangerous to my mortality, very fast.”

“Don't do it again until it's safe, then.” Hemlock ordered, sneaking a glance around the big rock. “Seems you've scared them further down the slope. By the time they come back, you should be able to do it again, right?”

“I hope.” the unicorn replied. “But this isn't something I can keep up forever.” For the next few minutes, they listened to the distant sounds of battle to the west. Then the smell of death was in the air, far off as it was. Their human foes approached again, with great caution, and Goldleaf greeted them with the same display as earlier, and even stronger. This blast took out another two, bounced off a third's chest plate, and then took off the head of a fourth. The third man, well-decorated, was unharmed, aside from having the wind knocked out of him, as far as Goldleaf could see. They retreated in quick order, for a second time.

An hour went by, with no sign of the humans from earlier, though the Equestrians knew they were nearby, because rocks thrown down the hill sometimes prompted yells of anger and pain. “Most of war is spent waiting around, my mother said.” Hemlock commented, twitching with nervous energy.

“Aye.” agreed one of the pegasi. “But we are to hold this position until given word to retreat.”

Another hour gone by. All five ponies smelled the flankers long before they saw them, and made their own withdrawal up the hill a few yards to hide behind trees and underbrush. When the ten humans turned their backs to the slope, Hemlock and her pegasi struck, while Goldleaf worked a spell he wasn't supposed to know, and forced the underbrush to tangle in their legs. Between suddenly being assaulted by plants, and attacked by flying targets, they were quickly dispatched... at the cost of another pegasus.

It was shortly after that Lady Silver came to them, battered, but very much alive. “We've done all we can here.” she told them. “I got a messenger from the main camp, we're leaving in two hours.”

“Two?” asked Hemlock, discarding her sword now that the fight was over. “But it's thirty miles to the ships, we'd never make it back in time.”

“Of course you would.” scoffed Silver. “Even flying at normal speed will have you back in no time.”

“Then how are the other unicorns going to get back, my Lady?” Goldleaf questioned, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He could guess the answer, and he wasn't going to like it.

“The others are dead. I fully expect you will be too, soon.” Silver said dismissively. “Come along, soldiers of Highcrest, we're going home.” The others took off, and Silver was in the air, waiting on Hemlock. “It's nothing personal, but you are a commoner and a unicorn... You're not worth the effort to save.”

They're going to abandon me here! He did not like that thought one bit. But what was he going to do? An able-bodied unicorn might be able to make it, assuming she could run for two hours straight on rough terrain. But a crippled stallion past his prime? There was no way that was possible!

No, no, no, it wasn't going to end like this for him. He'd come too far, dodged too many killing blows in his life just to die alone in an alien land! If he could teleport the whole way there, maybe he could make it... But no, that wouldn't work either. No pony in the world had that much magic reserve, except a greater alicorn like Lord Aegis. This was how it was going to end. Left to perish, even by the one pegasus he considered his friend. His anger rose up, replacing any fear he had before.

“So I save your sorry asses, several times in this morning alone, and this is how I get repaid?” Goldleaf fumed. “Faithless traitors!” he accused. “They were right about you all along, you're all backstabbing warmongers! I should have never cast my lot with you witless dullards!” Lady Silver rolled her eyes. “Fine then, go! Why don't you-”

“Oh, shut up.” groaned Silver, smacking him with the flat side of her sword. Goldleaf fell to his side, and landed on his bad leg. Fuck! he swore silently. Silver turned to her daughter. “Stay or leave, Hemlock, now is the time. I'd hate for Greatfall to be denied to you, but I'm not going to waste my time with you any longer. If you want throw your lot in with the unicorn rat, go ahead. My cousin Briar will welcome the news you're out of the way.”

That was it! If he was going to die, at least he'd take this remorseless, soulless scumbag of monster with him! He was about to start channeling when Silver flew off, beyond his reach. “No!” he shouted. “Get back here, you thrice-damned filth! Face your judgment! Pegasus rat!” But then he saw: Hemlock still stood there, glancing between her retreating mother and Goldleaf, looking upset and conflicted; her ears were flat in unease. “Go.” he sighed, closing his eyes. “Leave me to my death, Hemlock. Don't taunt me.” When he opened them, Hemlock was still standing nearby.

“No.” she said, in a shaky voice. “I'm staying.” It took a moment for those words to hit him.

“Why.” For the second time that day, the young mare made a statement that utterly confounded him.

“You're my friend.” replied the pegasus. “I'm not going to let you die here. Not after what you've done for me.”

Goldleaf sighed. “You shouldn't be doing this. You're the heiress of a very important house, you shouldn't be getting yourself killed on the account of a worthless unicorn commoner. Your mother would-”

“I am not my mother!” Hemlock snapped, and stamped a hoof down. “I will never be!” The sharpness in her voice was only matched by her conviction. “I'm not going to leave you here to die, Goldleaf, because I don't care about her rules and I don't care about yours either. If we go on, we go on together.”

Again, for a moment, he was surprised by Hemlock's words. He still did not truly understand why she was so eager to throw her life away, but it was relieving he wasn't going to face this alone. “Very well.” he conceded. “Stay then, if you will.”

“I will.” the pegasus said firmly. “We're getting out of this, somehow. And I'm not going to abandon you.”

“I can't imagine what I did to earn this loyalty. I'm the commoner, remember?” Goldleaf commented. Hemlock snorted, and looked through the trees.

“Let's just get out of here.” she said, moving east along the slope.

It wasn't long before they picked up the scent of men and black powder again. They were being followed. And then there was another band below them on the slope, moving faster than the pair. Curse this ailing leg! Goldleaf thought to himself, willing his body to move faster, but to no avail. Within half an hour, the two got the distinct feeling they were surrounded. The little glimpses of yellow off in the woods didn't help, either. But, they pressed on, hoping in vain that they might breach the human lines and... And what? They had an hour and a half until the ships left, and they hadn't gone more than a single mile by hoof. They weren't even off the mountain yet!

“This is it.” Goldleaf said, noticing the yellow shapes get closer through the underbrush. His horn lit up.

“No it's not!” disagreed Hemlock. “Put that damned light out!”

“So you have a plan?” he asked, catching his breath now that they were stopped.

“Yes.” she replied. “We surrender.”

“You have to be joking!” A pegasus? Surrender? Unheard of!

“No, it's simple.” Hemlock told him. “I am of noble blood. You are my servant. We surrender, I give my word we won't escape, and we get escorted by the humans to wherever they are going until the Princess pays our ransom. That's how they do it here.”

“...You've been reading my books about the humans.” realized Goldleaf. “You sneaky little- Never mind. I can't believe I didn't think of that...”

“You're supposed to be the thinker, between us.” scolded Hemlock.

The men of Lûndôvîr approached out of the forest, halberds and crossbows ready. No arquebuses, though they smelled them. They were in armor that was painted a dull yellow, adorned with a blue and white serpent. Their leader, mounted about one of the strange zôsha-creatures, was in armor painted a much more golden yellow, with many serpents of blue and white; not to mention, even more details between them. His helmet had two plumes of white on the brow, arrayed like a moth's antenna, and he had two fine chains of gold draping across his right shoulder to his gorget.

“Ekvestrrîm!” he called, opening his visor to reveal a grey-bearded face. Whatever he was telling them, it sounded like some kind of introduction. Goldleaf didn't know enough of their language to make out any of it, though.

“I am Hemlock Farpeak, and this is my servant, Goldleaf.” said Hemlock in reply, taking off her sword. “We yield.”

Both parties stared at each other. The ponies made no moves, the humans stayed still. Neither understood each other's tongues. Finally, the human leader waved forward his men, who advanced with caution. Goldleaf tried to keep a straight face when he noticed some of them carried chains. But Hemlock didn't even flinch as they clapped her in irons and a collar. This girl is full of surprises today.

“I don't think they know you're noble.” whispered Goldleaf to her.

“We'll find out.” Even if she wasn't showing it, Hemlock sounded nervous too.

The two Equestrians were marched off down the slope, and by midday, Goldleaf and Hemlock found themselves being dragged along at the rear of the little column, as it moved into the sparse woodlands of inland Sarathûl, to rejoin the main army. He noted how half of their force was going in the opposite direction, making for the cove. But the Equestrian fleet had left hours ago.

Goldleaf and Hemlock were now prisoners of the enemy. A thousand miles from home, deep in a land whose language they did not know. His good legs were starting to give him problems, too, from trying to make up for the bad one. And the day only got hotter as the sun climbed high... His troubles for the foreseeable future made themselves painfully evident. When they joined the main column, they remained in the very back, at the tail end of a great baggage train. So, not only was it hotter than any day in Lithton or Everfree, not only were they fur-coated ponies, and not only were they prisoners chained to the back of a wagon, they were now covered from head to hoof in the dust.

“Are you sure this was a good idea?” he asked, parched as he was becoming. The hot iron collar around his neck didn't help either.

“No.” sighed Hemlock with a frown. “It really wasn't.”

Author's Notes:

Oy vey, what a twist!

Lûndôvîn is the plural for people from the Kingdom of Lûndôvîr, which was mentioned way back in part one as the place they'd be landing in. This land belongs to Lûndôvîr in the same sense the Peruvian Amazon belonged to the Spaniards. No on contests it, but there's no official infrastructure. As to what an army was doing nearby, we'll find out soon...