A cold wind blows across the field, running across everypony’s mane. It has finally begun a battle twenty-five years in the making, the radio had come alive with the chatter of Dust fighting Senator Corddis in Washington DC. Blaze is high up somewhere, trying to protect the gate, my daughter… my daughter is likely battling Discord with her friends.

All I can do right now was hope and be ready. All I could say right now was the dark words:

“And so it begins.”

*** LT James Fisher ***

“Well, we can walk and run, forget about trying to figure out flying or magic, it took Twilight days to teach that, and Blaze spent hours teaching pegasi to fly, and they had the instincts and drive.” I say and look at my Rangers.

“So what’s the plan, LT?” Eric lifts his wing, looking at it in amazement.

“You heard Shining, the main force is holding the gate and village, we are mostly a distraction for the recon and infiltration groups, to buy them as much time as we can.” I spread my wings wide, there is an instinct in me, I guess, I sort of know how to control my wings and tail, “we need to split up here, help out the civi’s where we can, give them basic rundown in combat, in defensive positions, basic tactics.”

Sitting down, I take a deep breath. This is going to be hard, “We’ve all studied the battle of Mogadishu. After the second Blackhawk was shot down, our forces were in disarray, the 10th mountain division was not ready for combat like that. The boys were scared, didn’t know what they were doing. So members of the 3 battalion, 75th Rangers took them under their wings, motivated them, got them to remember their jobs and their training. Where the Rangers pushed, they followed, where the rangers dug in they defended. We may not be able to make a major difference here, but we can at least try and help them through this.”

“RANGERS HO!” the group calls out.

I smile softly, “Rangers ho.”

“Henry, help with triage, there’s probably a ton there that know more about medicine than you, especially with equines, but see if you can keep them on track, don’t let them get fixated on hard cases at the cost of others.” I say, trying not to look at him.

“Are you sure I can’t go through the mirror back and forth again? It would only take a second.” Henry says, looking at his foreleg.

“Henry, consider it urban camouflage, pink here blends in more than brown.” I say, shaking my head.

Jay gets up and looks over at the artillery group, “Well I understand catapults and trebuchets, and know ranging and such. I guess I’ll head over there.”

“I’ve studied structural engineering as part of demolitions, I’ll help with the earthworks. Hey LT I think your right, Henry looks good like that. He’s just so fluffy and pink!” Eric gets away at a gallop just avoiding a bite from Henry.

“I’ll go help with the readying of weapons and armor,” Sanchez says and trots off.

Standing up, I put a wing over Henry, “We're doing this because it’s the right thing, since when does color really mater, look I’ve got gray in my mane. Now I can say you guys have driven me gray.”

Henry chuckles softly, “I guess, Velvet just made being a unicorn look so easy at times. I hate to feel so out done.”

“Velvet was born a unicorn remember? We were just lent these forms to help, at the same time though, remember everything you learned from treating and helping Velvet, and everything she said. Remember your training, and remember your heart. You’ll do fine.”

“Thanks LT.”

“And just think, with all of these color problems you’ve been having, you haven’t even noticed been worried that everyone is naked.”

Blinking, Henry looks around, seeing the different mares and quickly covers his face with a hoof. “Think ugly thoughts, think ugly thoughts…”

Laughing, I leave him with the nurses and doctors to get to work. Heading down to the town center, I hear ponies talking about how bad it looks, truth is, I’ve seen worse destruction, this is more like vandalism at times. Spray painted on walls broken windows, some buildings burnt down, others just suffering from 25 years of abandonment. Discord hadn’t fought a war here, most of the damage was likely caused by ponies themselves trying to escape or in a panic.

Finding a group of ponies talking about fighting I move in to help.

*** Blaze ***

I can finally see the engine light dimly ahead of me, but it has too much of a head start, there is no way I am going to catch it before it makes it to the gate. I’m pushing myself as hard as I can when it veers away. A moment later I see the form of Fleetfoot, tumbling down towards the ground out of control.

She was able to force it off course, but I don’t know if it hit her, or how bad she was hurt. Diving after her, I can’t let her fall, but at the same time, I keep thinking, if he goes for the gate now… there is no one to stop him… As I get closer I see her righting herself, and waving me off, pointing to the jet.

Nodding once, I veer back up, the jet is recovering and beginning to turn back towards the gate, but I can at least get up to it now. I look back to see if Fleetfoot was catching up, and then I realize she is still falling, slowly vanishing into the darkness below.

I could probably save her, but if I did… She had waved me off, she knew she had bought me time, but if I saved her everyone else…

She gave herself to buy me the time I needed, I wasn’t going to waste it. I need to get that thing turned around once and for all. NOW.

*** Eric ***

The battle had been joined, Discord’s Chaos Army was made up of twisted creations. Animals he had mutated into dark creatures, many looking like amalgamations of different creatures thrown together for fun. Bears with tentacles, birds with wings that could no longer hold their massive bodies, though with strong, muscular legs allowing them to charge across the ground, while Cthulhuesk style creatures fly overhead.

We have a few pegasi that can fly and they are doing their best to provide cover, but Discord’s forces are not going to be stopped easily, they seem to be driven by some dark force to slaughter every mare, stallion, and foal here.

The earth ponies had been able to dig a trench, of sorts, and create a raised wall with the dirt. In that we had set up an abates, or picket wall of salvaged wood, sharpened into spikes, this would slow the enemy somewhat, but it wouldn’t last forever.

“Pikes up!” I call, “Push them off the embankment, if they pile up there others can use the bodies to get over.”

As gory as that sounds, even as late as the Vietnam war, enemy soldiers would throw themselves on barbed wire to let others run over them. We need them to stay clear.

Several mares and a few stallions have broken down, crying in fear. The sight of blood is too much for some people to handle, these aren’t trained combat troops, these ponies are 25 year old business men, fathers, wives, university students.

“We just need to keep them at a distance.” I shout and offer a pike to one of the mares, “Come on, we need everyone to try and help.”

*** Jay ***

“500 Feet” I call out, “when they hit the 200 foot mark, fire.” We had pre-set our ranges, from about 25 feet behind the lines we could reach out to about 175 feet with the lighter shot, it isn’t much, but for what we had thrown together, it would work.

Out in the field, we had set up pegs, 175 feet, 150 feet, 125 feet and 100 feet. That way we didn’t have to guess where the enemy was.

Looking at the crews, I take a breath, “Don’t waste your shots, it takes a lot time to reload, so make sure you’re using the right ranges. Breathe, and relax.”

“How can you say relax?” One pony moans, looking at me, “This is insane.”

“It’s Discord, of course it’s insane, but think of every time you heard those words from him, he wants chaos, but we're ponies, we are stronger together and as one then any chaos can bring.” Ok, I am a blank flank human, and even I’m scared witless but, this is what we volunteered for.

“I don’t have to be here, I don’t need to be here, I choose to though. For my family, for my friends… and for all of Equestria. FIRE!”

*** Sanchez ***

The armor is heavy, but it would provide some protection, however being heavy Calvary isn’t my bucket of tea. I’m used to Kevlar body armor in close in fighting, not this metal stuff. I have a heavy lance tucked under my wing held tightly to my body, I get a firsthand look as the battle unfurls.

“Why aren’t we moving?” One of the earth ponies whines beside me.

“Because we are a response force, we are defending the gate. Not trying to push the enemy back.”

“So we just stand here? How’s that helping?” another asks.

Taking a breath, I look over, “I know it seems counter intuitive, but we need some of us to be a flex force. During World War 2, German Generals used Tigers in rapid response groups, they would look for breaks in the line, then plug them quickly with Tigers, until other forces could come in, then the Tigers would back off and wait for another break.”

“But the Germans lost anyway.”

That gets a smile out of me, these ponies don’t know tactics, “I know, but the tactics bought the time that was needed. This is for Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash.” I looking down at the lines. I have confidence in their mom and dad, so if their kids are any example, all we need is time.

*** Henry ***

“I wish I could use my horn.” I huff as I hold the bandages against a young stallion’s leg, “This would go a lot quicker.” Holding it in place with my nose, I worked the bandage around his leg and tie it tightly.

“Henry, over here!” An earth pony doctor calls out, turning I run over to see a unicorn mare curled up, with cherries cutie mark, it is easy to tell most of the real ponies, they have their cutie marks. She is curled in a ball, crying, holding her head as sparks shoot randomly from her horn.

“Doc, she’s not hurt, she’s in pain but not wounded. She’s sparking.”

“What?” The doctor looks at me confused. Oye, I wish there was just some way to get their memories back.

“Unicorns, when they are young, have uncontrolled energy sparks of magic, she’s not in control of her magic and she’s hurting herself with it. Velvet taught me about this, she’s fighting her magic.”

“It ok Cherry,” well her mark was a cherry so it was likely somewhere in her name. “You need to calm down, relax, you need to stop fighting.”

“It hurts…” she cries.

If they don’t work through this, they can die… Velvet said as much about Cipher, I wish Velvet was here, I wish she had her memories. I wish I had a real unicorn’s instincts to help here. Lying down, I touch my horn to hers… with each spark of energy it sends waves of pain though me, but I keep my horn there, maybe I can at least help her balance it out a little.

“I’m here, I’m not leaving you, just relax and calm down, feel the power in you and control it, don’t let it run wild with your fear.” I say softly.

*** Blaze ***

I push myself as hard as I can and finally catch up to the F-22. His bay doors are closed, but he is still running for the gate. The problem is, it takes less than a second for it to open them and drop the bombs. I need some way to turn it around, stop it, but I can’t make it crash, this area is too populated.

I don’t want to hurt the pilot either, he is simply doing his job. He likely hadn’t even been told what was going on. When he finds out what he just did to an Air Force Captain… he’s going to be in bad enough shape already.

I pump as hard as I can, straining, this was faster then I’d ever flown before, and I still have no idea how I am going to stop it. At this speed I can’t generate enough force to damage a control surface with a kick, and even if I tried, he’d likely just move out of the way.

Slowly I glance down at my transponder, it had saved my life once before. I wouldn’t be here if not for it. Now, it is going to save everyone else’s lives. I just need a bit more speed.

I pull up slowly beside the pilot, and pointed at him to wave off, come on, you have to know what you’re doing isn’t right. Don’t make me do this. Veer away, please…

The pilot looks at me, I can’t see his face through the tactical helmet, but he shakes his head slowly. I have no choice at this point. Pulling ahead of him, I quickly drop down, ripping the strap off of my transponder and letting it fall back.

These transponders are tough, meant to survive high G-force and high shock impacts and keep working. They are made of steel, ceramics, and shock resistant plastics, then they are tested for military use. Flying back it was quickly sucked up into the left engine air intake. The situation is referred to as foreign matter ingestion; the transponder hit the air deflector but holds together until it comes into contact with the turbine blades. These blades are strong, but not indestructible, even hail can damage them at times, and when it does they can start coming apart. Chunks of metal start traveling back through the engine, damaging more and more parts, until the engine sensors detect the problem and shut down the engine. It’s too late though, the damage has already been done.

The master caution light inside the cockpit comes on, the glass cockpit displays in the aircraft show engine failure as well. As turbine blades rip backwards, shredding not just electronic and mechanical systems, but also the hydraulic and oil lines located in the rear of the engine. The hydraulic systems control the F-22’s vectored thrust system located outside of the engine itself, but at the speed that parts of the blade are traveling at, they rip though the engine casing itself in places. The fire indicator comes on, as fuel is burning but the turbines are not spinning properly. Automatic systems shut down fuel feed, oil feed, and hydraulic feed to compensate. There is a loud shaking bang, as parts of the engine fly backwards out of the plane.

Oil pressure drops, then it stabilizes, but pressure warnings for the left wing still show up on the board. The plane starts losing speed and altitude; on one engine it can make it back to base safely, that might have bought us another thirty minutes to an hour. Though on the other hand, it might make them reconsider sending another aircraft. I really hope so, I don’t have another transponder.

The wash of the jet as it passes over me sends me into a tumbling spin. It’s easy enough to recover from but it takes me a few moments to slow down enough to do so. Shaking my head I look around, "Fleetfoot."

*** Velvet ***

Feather cries out, looking up, “Someponies falling!”

Oh God, looking up I can hardly make out the form in the dark, but I trust the foals eyes, she’s a pegasus, it’s coming down fast too. If that was a pony, they aren’t showing any signs of stopping.

“It’s only got one wing out, the other ones straight up, it’s hurt.”

“Damn it, girls wait here.” I call out.

“What are you doing Twilight, you can’t fly.” Ah-Pee says, looking up at the falling form.

“No, but I can fall really well.”

I start to run and teleport to a spot below the falling pegasus in a nose down configuration. By tucking my legs tight to my body and holding my neck straight out, I dive towards the ground accelerating faster by cutting my air resistance. This means I can come close to her terminal velocity in a much shorter time. I only need about 1,500 feet to match speed. Oh no, it’s Fleetfoot! As she gets closer, I shift my center of gravity, using my head and tail to level out and grab her with my TK. She’s still fairly far away from me but I have just enough strength to pull her to the point where I can grab on.

“Hi there!” I yell through the airstream.

Fleetfoot blinks, looking at me, “What the hell are you doing, you can’t fly.”

Looking down I see the ground coming up fast, it takes a moment to build up enough energy, luckily, I have about 200 feet to spare. One of the strange parts of teleports is inertia, it seems to carry through a teleport, at least the easier ones, making it tricky sometimes. We blink out, and blink back, facing up this time.

We begin to slow down, I figure, given air resistance, we’d probably stop in about a thousand feet. Looking at Fleetfoot I smile “Nope, but I fall really, really well. Skydiver training.”

Looking down, Fleetfoot watches the ground moving away from her as we continued to fall up, “What the?”

“Vector change on the teleport.” We were are getting less and less wind noise so it is easier to talk. “When Twilight teleports in the show she keeps her inertia, and wipes out half the library. If I just teleported us to the ground, we’d appear as if we were… Oops apogee.”

As our speed gets close to zero, we are about 2000 feet up again. Looking down, I choose a nice spot and teleport us both line of sight back to the ground.

“So yeah, I needed to bleed off as much speed as I could, so figure a 180 degree vector change to fall up, would keep us from becoming pancakes.”

Cipher bounds up, squee’ing, “Twilight that was insane!” She giggles and above my head she puts up a magical display that reads, “100 Science collaboration points!”

Looking up I groan, then look to Cipher, shaking my head, “I don’t want to know where that’s from.”

Ballad carefully picks up Fleetfoot with her magic, “Let’s get you over to the paramedics and get that wing looked at.”

*** LT James Fisher ***

There are weak spots all over the place, small breaches that would appear, and as soon as we plugged one, another would appear. I am with a group of pegasi that are acting as fast responders. As I see a breach or problem, I can send a few there to hold the line until reinforcements can arrive.

Pegasi have really good vision, and I am using that to my advantage, having a really wide field of vision was somewhat alien at first, but I’ve gotten used to it. It’s strange, Blaze and Velvet never even seem to notice or complain about it but I guess that’s because they are natural ponies, not like me.

“What’s on your mind, LT?” The white pegasus beside me says.

“Ugg, you’re likely a royal guard, you probably out rank me, just call me James.” I say, this isn’t my squad, this isn’t my platoon. So I don’t want them to feel they have to call me LT or anything. It’s funny, I know that two of the pegasi were actually military as humans, but they were Air Force, one was a desk jockey, the other a pilot, so even if they did out rank me, they’d still probably defer to me.

A pegasus mare comes trotting up with her wingmare, both panting, “Ok, they’re holding there. It’s getting really bad out there, I don’t know how much more we can take.”

“I know, I can see, we’ve got a lot of fighting wounded, and Shining Armor’s not paying attention, he keeps looking back at the castle.” Velvet would probably be yelling at him to keep his head in the game, but I guess he is worried about his sister.

“I guess it could be worse, at least the dragons haven’t attacked yet.” The royal guard says, “we only saw the one early on. Why are they holding back?”

“Maybe they want the ground forces to contain us and push us back into a smaller area…” I start then shudder, “Russian tactic, encircle constrict, and then bombard. It’s the battle of Stalingrad all over again.”

“Breach!” the mare beside me shouts.

Looking to my right, I see it, and it’s a big one, they are heading right for the field hospital. Looking back I count, I only have a dozen with me in fighting condition. “Form on me, fighting wedge!”

“You sir? You can’t even fly!” The mare shouts, looking sideways at me.

“Doesn’t matter, we are going to have to hit them with everything, full strength, head on… That means me too.”

I start running down the slope and street as fast as I can, my legs pumping hard. We have to hit them hard, either turn them or stop them before they get to our wounded. They would just slaughter everypony there, armored cavalry would take too long to get there.

Pumping my wings for extra speed, the other pegasi form up on me into a tight V formation. We fight for others that can’t fight for themselves, we fight to protect the weak, and innocent. The Ranger Creed burns in my mind. Recognizing that, I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de corps of the Rangers.

I don’t know when it happens, but my hooves leave the ground as I tear across the medical area. I know I had jumped over a body but I don’t’ remember putting my hooves down again. The next part of the creed, I would not let down here. Acknowledging the fact that a Ranger is a more elite soldier who arrives at the cutting edge of battle by land, sea, or air, I accept the fact that, as a Ranger, my country expects me to move further, faster and fight harder than any other soldier.

I hit the front ranks hard, slamming into a large bear sending it tumbling backwards. Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong and morally straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be, one-hundred-percent and then some.

“Fan out now!” I call, lashing out in all directions with hooves, to break up the group and blunt their charge. I can feel the energy all through me, as a mark appears on my hip, a shield with wings, and five stars in a V pattern… I am a protector, leading the charge to defend others, not just a killer. I would give myself to protect others.

*** Henry ***

“We’ve got to run!” One of the doctors calls out.

“The wounded are counting on us and trusting us,” I say, looking up from Cherry, “We need to trust the soldiers and others will do their job so we can do ours.”

Touching my horn back to Cherry’s I put a hoof to her neck, “I know you are scared, I know this is hard for you, but you’re fighting your magic. You’re not hurt, you just haven’t experimented or used it yet, as such your mind isn’t used to controlling it.”

“I… I shouldn’t be here.” She cried.

“Where ever you are this would likely have happened, it’s the stress that started it, just, follow the magic.” Looking up, I watch the LT and his pegasi hoplites hit the charging forces, slowing and diverting them somewhat. “You don’t have to fight, but you can help here in other ways.”

The LT won’t let them get through, I trust him, I have faith. “I have faith in my friends, and I have faith in you, just need to find it in yourself. Come on, you can do it.” I feel her magic building again, I know this is going to hurt but I’m not going to leave her.

The body of some kind of feline skids to a stop near us, not moving, all seems quiet for a moment, as her horn flashes against mine. I feel the energy run through me, from my horn to my tail, I figured I should be thrown backwards but I’m not, slowly her horn is dimming and she looked up, panting hard.

“You feeling better?” I pull my horn away slowly from hers.

“A bit, it doesn’t hurt anymore.” She says, her horn glowing softly.

“Yep looks like you have it under control, your horn is glowing.” I say with a chuckle, “If you feel up to it you can help with the bandaging.”

“Thanks, um, your horn’s glowing too.” She says as she stands up slowly.

Glancing up I blink, maybe I do have some magic in me after all. Or, this is just left over from hers. Giving my horn a light bonk sends sparkles through my eyes, but the light goes out. Yep, doing that too much could make you go blind, I guess.

Turning, I grab some bandages to help an injured pegasus, then I stop, looking at my hip. A red cross on a large white star, around the large star were several smaller white stars, the magic of trust and healing, honestly it might look better if my fur isn’t pink.

*** Eric ***

The right flank had partly collapsed, a large warbear broke through, and several cat creatures are following the hole it made. All around, ponies are screaming, some starting to run, the flight instinct is strong in a lot of them.

A mare beside me had dropped her pike and fell to the ground hugging her legs as she cried, trying to make herself as small as she could. Stallions and mares are backing away from the breach, letting it get bigger and bigger.

I have to do something, if this keeps up the entire wall here will collapse, and we’ll lose this entire side, and maybe the entire fight. Ponies are screaming and crying, the smell of blood and fire in the air, they are falling back on their instincts.

“Instincts… Mocking jays…” I say, looking up.

“What?” the pony beside me looks confused.

“Oh hell, if Ballad hears about this I’m so busted.” Turning back a cat creature with my pike, I clear my throat, and as loud and clear as I could I start singing. “The minstrel boy to the war is gone, in the ranks of death you'll find him; His father's sword he has girded on, and his wild harp slung behind him;”

Slowly the screams fade, replaced by more and more ponies as they pick up the song, “‘Land of Song!’ said the warrior bard, ‘Though all the world betrays thee.’”

Forming an L against the wall, we stop the breach from spreading as the ponies begin to hold their ground again, I know, even at the darkest times, in the blackest places, sometimes a song could lift the morale of those around you.

The LT’s Hoplite group holds the front of the breach, and we have the side. “One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard, one faithful harp shall praise thee!’” My hips feel warm, a mark appears, a musical note with two wings is now on my flank, had I more time I might have paid attention to it, as it was, Ballad will never let me live it down if she finds out.

*** Sanchez ***

My new pegasus eyes spot the breach right away. It’s almost like having built in field glasses, I can easily focus at range, hefting my lance I look at the rest of my group, “Right flank breach, hoplites have the front. We need to swing around and hit them from the right side, we’ll cut them off and close the hole trapping them.”

Nodding, the larger earth ponies turn and begin to gallop, keeping in formation on either side of me, I swear I’m completely dwarfed by them. These boys are Apples, all right, as large as Big Mac, with the same feathered hooves. They are so eager to prove themselves, to fight. It is everything I can do to hold them back. And I’m glad I did, for this is their moment, their time. We wheel in formation, but I keep my wings wide, making sure they hold back.

Part of being a sniper is patience and timing. Bullets don’t hit the target the instant you pull the trigger. Sometimes it can take seconds between firing and the target being hit, so you need timing, you need to understand the movements of everything around the target, the movements of the target itself.

The LT’s force had hit the enemy head on, blunting the attack and causing them to falter, I can see the forces moving, but everything seems to slow down, I know where the forces are moving to, and adjust my forces charge. Slowly I see the opening in the enemy’s side forming, moment by moment we close in on them.

Glancing to my sides, I dropped my wings, cutting the heavies free. The timing to this is critical, too soon and the enemy would face us head on, too late and the LT and Eric’s forces won’t be able to hold. Timing, it is was all about timing. Two of the feline creatures part at the last moment, and my lance strikes into one of their warbears, shattering both the lance, and the bear’s side. I let my inertia carry me past the bear, passing right through the enemy force. I land in front of the ponies on the other side of the breach. Skidding low I pick up a fallen pike, and turn, my legs are sore, my hips burning… as an hour glass with wings appears on my flanks.

*** Jay ***

I watch Sanchez and the LT stop the attack, they had the small salient contained and pinched though it had cost several ponies to do so, and a lot are wounded. It never surprises me how well I can see with these pegasus eyes. A large bat-like creature with trailing tentacles is heading for the breach to open it up again.

They had barely managed to contain it the first time, and this thing is heading straight for where the LT is. These are my friends, if I only had my rifle, a hand gun, something. These catapults aren’t accurate enough to fire without risking friendly casualties…

I look around desperately for some of our pegasi, anyone that could get there, but everyone is busy. Looking back at the catapult, I gulp, then pick up a spear and hop into the basket. “FIRE!” I looked back.

The mare at the lever looks confused “What?”

“I said fire…”

Nodding she pulls the lever. The G-forces are pretty harsh, but I didn’t black out luckily, holding the spear tight to my body I spread my wings. I can’t fly, but I can guide myself at least, I have enough control of my wings that I can do that. I hold the spear with both my fore legs tight to my body as I travel towards the creature.

I’d always done whatever I could to keep them safe, I never said much but sometimes words weren’t needed. I watched Yiska and Wally change, I watched them grow, and fall in love… I hope that someday they can return to Equestria and be safe.

As a sniper I always did what I could to make sure no harm came to my friends, it wasn’t about killing, it was about keeping people safe. For Blaze, and for Velvet, that’s all I could think of.

I hit the creature in the main body, the spear going straight through it at an angle before my body impacts it’s side. The force of the impact redirects the creature so that we both come down hard in the middle of the enemy Salient. I’m thrown clear and tumble through the lines, both my forelegs and wing are in pain. I lay on my back, panting had, I could feel the fire in my hips but I figure that is just another injury.

I didn’t see the mark appear, a lance with wings curved inwards in a sign of protection. I hear the cries, the cheers, but then everything goes dark.

*** LT James Fisher ***

I limp out of the fray, bleeding from several wounds including one on my wing. The salient had been pinched and eliminated.

I looked around at the other flanks, some are holding better than others, but all around there are injured and dead.

Panting, I sit for a moment, looking back towards the enemy forces but when I see them, my heart just sinks. I hardly have any fight left in me, we had given it our all, and bought what time we could. Now though, it’s the end. The sky to the east is darkening, as they fly towards Ponyville, and our defensive lines.

We’ve already taken too many losses, we don’t have enough flyers, I don’t know what to do, but sit and look on.

The Dragons have decided to join the battle.