Arrows and throwing spears rained down around them, inaccurate but numerous, while they ran as fast as their legs would carry them up the winding stretches of the Coriander Road and towards the temporary safety of the mountain passes. The deer had spotted them on the way up and had lashed out just as quickly, focusing a portion of their ranged forces on the fleeing group as it passed through the Equestrian lines. Shields, armor and fading stone skin potions did their part, but Mwolan'e and his companions were under no illusions that they would remain lucky forever.

Behind them the ponies braced for another redtail-led charge. The deer were almost obsessive in their efforts to break through, for they knew that the path to Canterlot was the key to victory. It would be far harder to dislodge them if they broke into the city, as street-to-street fighting would allow little room for traditional military maneuvers. And so they came, wave after wave of conscripts led by Exemplars that battered the shield walls like storm surges against stone, showing little regard for losses.

"Don't stop! You can catch your breath when you're dead!" Eradaxis said above the rumble of hooves on snow-flecked stone and coarse dirt. Mwolan'e thought he might fall over dead from exhaustion at any moment. What he wouldn't have given to be thirty years younger! One of his Zingeli Watchers shouted in sudden pain and tumbled to the ground in a rolling heap. Mwolan'e skidded to a stop and began to turn back.

"Go, I will catch up!" the soldier said, already reaching into a pack at his side for medical supplies. An arrow stuck out from his haunches and left a trail of blood behind him. Imbele urged Mwolan'e along with a firm push on his shoulder, and he regretfully carried on as Caethil and Eradaxis slowed to let him return to their sides.

There was a flicker of motion ahead, indistinct and blurry, like looking through a haze of fog. It snapped into focus with alarming speed, revealing a squad of redtail who appeared from the aether with weapons ready. Mwolan'e's group scrambled to a stop and ducked low as a burst of razor-sharp darts shot out and clattered against armor. Caethil and two of the Watchers stumbled as they were hit, their shields unable to protect them from head to hoof completely. By some miracle they had not been mortally injured, though their wounds wept crimson. The pain only seemed to fuel Caethil's intense hatred, and he rushed forward with a shout to meet the enemy in melee.

"Caethil, wait!" Eradaxis pleaded, already sprinting to try and save him. He was not yet half way when a bright flash announced the arrival of a unicorn squad, their spears out as they galloped at the deer. Caethil tripped over himself in surprise and nearly fell, only catching himself when Eradaxis grabbed him by the foreleg and hauled him up so that he was face to face with the veteran stag. The ponies fought a vicious battle, giving the group the chance to escape once more.

"You might have a death wish, Brother-Captain, but I do not!" Eradaxis said, yanking a dart from Caethil's chest plate. It ripped free with a spurt of blood and torn hairs, and fell to the ground with a clatter. "You can run back down that path and throw yourself at the redtail fayc'aeilll, or you can stay with us and make sure Corvalix begs for his life before the day is through!" He did not give Caethil a chance to respond, roughly shoving him back into the group. "Do you seek death, or do you seek vengeance?" he asked as they continued up the road.

Caethil had no answer.

Canterlot Castle's main hall had been turned into a veritable fortress. Wooden barricades barred every possible entrance, reinforced with spare shields and bits of scrap metal where possible, while the stately double doors leading to the public forecourt were now locked tight by vertical iron bars backed by a large plank of ironbark taken from Whitetail Wood itself. A sizable force of Royal Guard soldiers lined the path from the front gate to the secondary guard post, past the statue of Discord and up to the now fortified battlements. Past that, the Lunar Praetorians stood watch in their midnight-blue enchanted armor that gave them the imposing look of bat-like creatures. They had volunteered to be the first line of defense for the inner chambers, but they were not the last. Every Praetorian in service to the princess occupied a position in the castle, with only a small force being sent away to the fall-back point across the city. There was, without a doubt, nowhere safer in all of Equestria, and perhaps in the entirety of the known world.

And yet, Princess Celestia could not help but feel sick with uncertainty. The reports from the battle far below were coming in as fast as they could be flown or teleported. They told a story of loss on an unprecedented scale, both for the deer and her own people, with neither side able to gain enough of a hoofhold to push the other back decisively. The zebras and sympathetic whitetail were certainly contributing, but there were so many redtail, along with their unwitting whitetail conscripts, that it was difficult to believe. They continued to pour in from the Auroran Valley entrance like an endless surge of bodies, fresh and eager for battle against the increasingly battle-weary defenders.

Barely-heard voices carried through the hall, followed by distant, heavy thumps of stone against stone. "Sounds like the catapults have joined in," Polaris said grimly. "That can only mean the deer have broken through." The quiet swears of the others were not unexpected, nor unjustified. Everyone had thought the front line of the valley to be nigh impenetrable.

"Do not lose faith, my friends. I have the utmost confidence in our allies," Celestia said reassuringly. While nobody dared object openly, the half-hearted replies that answered her were telling. Rimeberry had taken to pacing back and forth between the curved staircases where several Praetorians waited with nervous anticipation, each one coping with the compounding stress in their own way. Some prayed quietly to themselves, while others like Portenius had removed their helms and were absentmindedly fidgeting with their tails or manes, lost in thought. Thunderburst had taken to spinning his weapon on the tile, its point carving barely perceptible scratches into the worn marble as Celestia took it upon herself to visit with each individual for a brief moment.

It took just short of a minute for the siege weapons to release another barrage, though now the sound of the weapon teams was joined by a thundering of passing soldiers on their way to reinforce the sole road leading to the city. Tercio listened to them march by, leaning against a support column near a barricaded side door. He nodded as Celestia approached, but stayed where he was.

"Centurion Tercio. How are you fairing?" she asked, stopping before him.

"Better than the last time we were in this situation...and worse," he answered quietly. "I do not worry about myself, but about my family. Victus, my mother and father -- they are beyond my ability to help, and that is a terrible thing to realize."

"Victus is a strong stallion and serves with good soldiers in the Legion. I am sure he'll be fine. And your parents are likely far more concerned about you and your brother than anything else. They have plenty of supplies and are under heavy guard, I promise they'll not want for anything while this unfortunate battle is seen to its end." She did not mention that the same anxiety weighed heavily upon her for every last citizen of Canterlot and beyond.

"It still does not comfort me," he said.

"I know. I don't expect it to. Try to stay positive, at least. We'll get through this, just like we always do." She smiled warmly and added, "perhaps after all is said and done here we won't have to hide our feelings for one another anymore." She wished she could embrace him and feel his reassuring touch, now more than ever, but even in the midst of the siege it was likely to be an unwelcome sight among the others. They had not had time to accept such a thing. Which of them knew? she wondered. Did they think less of her for it? She had not asked Tercio if he'd revealed such to his fellows. She supposed she would find out eventually -- if they lived that long.

"Such a thing seems trivial in comparison now. What I wouldn't give to have it be the most serious of our concerns..." He pressed his hand to his heart and said, "I don't know if I'll get the opportunity to say so again, but thank you. For everything. You are my very heart and soul, carissima."

"And you are mine, my love." His fingertips brushed her mane, and for the briefest of moments she was free of the crushing weight of the world upon her shoulders. Then the racket of catapult fire sounded once more, and she was back to the harsh reality of a world gone mad.

The ponies were getting desperate. Holding the entrance to the mountain road plainly took precedent over all else, even the well-being of the wounded. Corvalix hadn't expected such a quick reaction to his massed charge into the strongest part of the defensive line, fully anticipating that the ponies would need time to regroup while keeping the support stallions safe. Instead they had nearly fully abandoned an entire flank and were now concentrating their forces, perhaps hoping to staunch the flow of his bucks into the widening gap. It appeared the vaunted General Phalanx had learned a thing or two about being practical in battle.

Teams of pegasi descended from the rim of the city above, intent not on attacking, but rather on evacuating as many of the wounded and helpless as was possible. They would land in pairs or trios, grab the nearest stallion in need, and haul him away in a most amusing display of awkward flight. Occasional arrows or spears shot up at them, but Corvalix was not about to waste his breath and demand their destruction. They were only delaying the inevitable, and if the leaders of Equestria wished to expend resources on non-combatants then he certainly would not stop them.

It was telling that not a single aerial attack had come his way. No magical arrows raining from the clouds, no dart bundles being dropped by formations of pegasi. The display of power demonstrated at Quillyyn Keep had effectively grounded the flying pests. Good. One less element to concern himself with.

"Brother-Captain Telaniir, why am I not seeing Cervidaen soldiers charging up that road?" he yelled to a stag in front of him. The officer had stood upon a boulder to get a better view of the fight. He quickly jumped back down when an Equestrian spear narrowly missed his head.

"All due respect, sir, we can't make headway!" Telaniir answered cautiously. "Those red-caped Equestrians are tearing through our front line!"

Corvalix stomped his hoof. "I want results, Brother-Captain, not excuses! Find a way through or a few cock-sure ponies will be the least of your concerns! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

A bit of harsh motivation could do wonders, but what he wouldn't have given for a few dozen more Protectorate does! A few bolts of lightning, a wall of force or two....that would certainly help things along. As it was, he was forced to use the already strained magii in a defensive role until their efforts could be put to proper use further along the way. He surveyed the area with a tactician's eye, looking for any possible weakness he could exploit. The ponies were already surrounded on three sides, but it was not enough. He needed access to the Coriander Road, and he needed it now. If the magii couldn't make a gap, then perhaps...

"You, Brother-Sergeant" he said to a nearby buck, tapping a hoof against his armored pauldron, "you are hereby relieved of squad command for the time being. There is something I need you to do immediately. You are uninjured, yes?" The buck nodded. "Excellent. You are ordered to return to the encampment with a message."

"Of course, Brother-General, sir. What shall I say?" he asked.

"Tell Empress Elinwynn the time has come to make her presence known."