I walk to the wall that overlooks the massive plain to the north of Canterlot. It's roughly fifty feet high, and the only way up is a narrow ramp cutting the wall in two. It was a fantastic choke point. Ahead of me, slightly to the west, four thousand Og Nag wait eagerly in a forest. They’re a few miles away, but we can still hear their grunts. This was easily the largest amount we had fought yet, and I expected casualties no matter how well we planned. They covered the landscape with their numbers.

Emeris paces along the wall, apprehensive towards Lucretia’s plan. Lucretia has her hands on her hips, and stares at the ground. Emeris slowly shakes his head back and forth nervously as he paces.

“Emeris...look one way or the other we need to know what Zaran can do. We can’t discuss it this close to the Og Nag. Please trust us. I know the North is your area, but we have to try.”

Lucretia had suggested starting the fight a few hours early. We still wanted to test the extent of Zaran’s powers before the power from the Crystal Heart hits us. The plan was to start an assault, and have the Wonderbolts loaded with bombs. The Wonderbolts would be given orders not to drop their payload. If the Og Nag fan out when the Wonderbolts disappear into the clouds, then that means they’re expecting to be bombed. Seeing as how the Wonderbolts were told not to attack, it means Zaran can’t read minds. If the Og Nag don’t spread out and walk towards us, it means Zaran can read our minds. There was an off-chance he'd let our plan work just to confuse us, but that would mean heavy casualties for him. One way or the other, this was going to be bad.

In the event our own thoughts can’t be kept from such a creature, we would have to rely on normal military strategy and have to do almost everything on the fly, as planning would be useless. We would repeat the process a few times, seeing as how if the Og Nag are spread out instead of in a group, they’re more vulnerable to normal infantry. If they stay in a group, then we’ll actually have the Wonderbolts drop their payload.

The issue is if Zaran has something in store for the Wonderbolts, Emeris would be outnumbered and trapped. They’d have to make an insane retreat. Meaning Emeris would be out there with them. It wasn’t an easy call. Emeris was informed inside the castle. Now that it was time for him to begin the attack, he was having second thoughts. We were pretty sure Zaran could at least hear us from here, so we couldn’t discuss it any further, and there was no time to march all the way back to the palace. Celestia had erected some type of magical barrier around Canterlot that she assured us would block out any means of magically spying, but it takes a lot out of her.

Emeris stops pacing and stands still, eyeing the ground. He pulls out his war horn and gives one loud blast. In less than sixety seconds, his units storm up to him and get in formation. Lucretia’s soldiers were mixed in with his. In total, it was a hundred, against four thousand. We had about sixty bombs total. If well-placed, we might be able to take down around a thousand with bombs alone. But that will still leave roughly three thousand Og Nag to dispatch the normal way.

Celestia, Luna and Shining Armor would be too weak after transporting all the civilians Cadence needs to assist much in battle. In a last ditch effort, after all the lightning bombs had been dropped, the Wonderbolts were willing to fly with other pegasi to create a massive tornado. However they couldn’t practice it without fear of Zaran seeing and making his own counter. It would be a final backup plan that could end with our air support being decimated.

Emeris stands in front of his hundred soldiers. He can’t hide his nervousness so he doesn’t try. My tactic was to act solid and confident. Emeris was always upfront with his doubts and fears but made sure to verbally voice his plans to counter the worst case scenarios. He breathes quickly, as complete silence covers the land.

Emeris keeps it short and sweet.
“If you want peace, if you want a chance to live a normal life, if you want to get back at the one thing that has plagued us our entire lives, then listen closely. We will be heavily outnumbered. I know you’re all used to that, being badasses and all, but this is different. There are over four thousand Og Nag out there, and our bombs are limited. Keep your ears open as we will play this smart. The princesses might not come to our aid this time around. I wish I had written something more inspirational ahead of time, but screw it, let's kill some Og Nag!” He says while drawing his sword and raising it high for inspiration.

The soldier's reply with a mix of laughter and battle cries. Emeris looks at me, with that look we all get before you think you might not come back. He walks up to Lucretia and me. Before he can speak, Lucretia hugs him with all her strength. His eyes flinch a bit as he holds back tears. I cross my arms.
“You know we’ll be out on that battlefield long before you’re in a tight spot right?” I give him a small grin. He smirks and leans to the side with a bit of his charming attitude.
“Are you kidding? You expect me to fight without my favorite meat shield?” We both chuckle quietly, before shaking hands. He turns around, leaving nothing but the vicious snap of his teal cape.

Lucretia and I watch as his units follow him out single-file. Not a single soldier hesitates to be at his heels. We wanted to rely on Cadence so badly, but if it didn’t work, we needed a backup plan. There was a possibility her Crystal Heart would give us a massive tactical advantage, but we had to react with what we have here and now.

Emeris and his men jog briefly out into the field. They go in two groups of 50, marching perfectly in unison. I look over and see Captain Spitfire muttering to herself, as if she was having a conversation with an invisible friend. Her eyes dart like she's not even on this planet. Her gaze travels to the Og Nag with wide eyes, whispering to herself and shaking her head. Lucretia and I exchange worried glances. I couldn’t have her breaking down on me right now. Lucretia stands next to Stormchaser, ready to give her new orders to transfer to the Wonderbolts if need be.

I tap my fingers on the stone wall. We were about fifty feet up from the ground, with one single ramp being the only entrance...and exit. Normally it was just a simple uphill walk, but using Luna’s help, we moved multiple tons of earth, making sure the ramp is just one small passage, with walls of dirt on either side, compressed by stone slabs above. Last we had seen, the Og Nag have no real knowledge for how to climb walls, so they’d have to walk through a shower of arrows in a confined area, assuming they didn’t get blocked by bodies.

Emeris and his units stop at their mark, just about a mile out. I turn and nod to Spitfire, who takes her units into the air. They fly around in circles, waiting for the final signal to go into the clouds, being almost invisible. Emeris begins his march towards the Og Nag. Lucretia and I watch in horrified silence, analyzing every last detail. After a few minutes of marching, the Og Nag begin rushing towards them in a giant mass. I give the signal to Spitfire who jets into the clouds at full speed with her other members.

Lucretia points to the Og Nag excitedly.
“Look! They’re spread out! That’s it!” I slam a delightful fist onto the stone surface of the wall. The Og Nag, without looking up, slowly move apart from one another, trying to make our bombs as ineffective as possible. That was it. It proved Zaran was reacting. Emeris, as planned, stops his units and slowly begins walking backwards. The Og Nag take the bait and begin moving faster. We wanted them to think we were relying solely on the bombs.

Emeris continues to back up as the Og Nag rapidly increase in pace, until they’re full on running at him. Emeris holds off a few more minutes, until the Og Nag are running at him at full sprint in a giant disorganized mess. My foot taps so hard, I can barely hear Lucretia muttering nervously to herself. The Og Nag draw their weapons, only a few seconds from pouncing on our soldiers.Then, in a flash, Emeris’ units halt and charge the Og Nag. Several units get impaled immediately. We use the bodies as low-grade shields and slam them into every enemy behind, causing a huge jam in their forces. The Og Nag who were still running, have no time to stop, and collide with all the bodies impaled on spears.
The effect stacks a bit, as a few hundred Og Nag are knocked to the ground. Without hesitation, around twenty Taraska infantry charge past the wall of bodies, using our first line as stepping stones. They begin decapitating Og Nag left and right. It takes only a minute, but as all the Og Nag in the middle are pinned by their allies in the front and back, they have nothing to do but struggle before meeting their fate. With our soldiers literally climbing on top, driving sword after sword into every helpless Og Nag, they lose a staggering amount of soldiers.

Every enemy at the back of their horde who had time to stop, begin grouping up to combat our shield wall technique. I give the signal to Lucretia. She has Stormchaser read a small scroll. Stormchaser salutes with her hoof, and in a flash of purple, charges towards the clouds.

Emeris begins backing up again, as the Og Nag tighten their forces into a massive pack. As he falls back, the Og Nag climb over their dead, completely immune to the carnage. Emeris continues to retreat ever so slightly, acting hesitant. As the Og Nag hit the middle of the bodies, they’re pace slows with the uneven terrain, and that was their final mistake. They stop to help a few allies still trapped. In almost four seconds flat, the Wonderbolts come rocketing in, bombs at the ready.
We can all hear the sharp whistling, as the Wonderbolts hit top speed, not wanting to waste one valuable second.

With all the bodies under their feet, the Og Nag can’t spread out fast enough. We watch happily as jar after jar hits the ground. Lighting shoots out in all direction, arcing from enemy to enemy. Most convulse, then fall to the ground never to rise again, while some of the smaller Og Nag have their heads literally explode. They get hit with devastating losses. In just a few brief seconds, the Wonderbolts in a feat of brilliant timing and coordination got off ten bombs. The spread was perfect, as multiple jars spread to every last Og Nag, having almost zero overlap between jars.

Lucretia and I pound on the wall while cheering. It was good seeing Zaran getting his rear kicked. Lucretia turns to me.
“How many losses do you think that was?!” she yells excitedly. I laugh with a dark, sadistic tone.
“Easily five hundred. But that won’t work a second time.” I figured our first tactic would go off well, but the rest of the fight won’t be so easy.

We had learned many valuable things though. First off, it was clear that Zaran couldn’t read minds, or he could have easily countered us, by hitting us from the sides. It would have been devastating, as our forces would have been pinned and vulnerable. We had to rely on mobility, which was our saving grace. Secondly, it was obvious that the Og Nag reacted with almost human-like timing. Meaning Zaran was watching and giving orders. We had no doubts he could probably possess a few, and give them more advanced orders, but he couldn’t control their entire army like that. Most likely, he could give a single command to everyone, then tell individuals what to do.

I had multiple aces up my sleeve, but now it was time to let Zaran make a move.

Author's Notes:

I'll add the follow up chapter in a few days as an extra bonus, while still having another chapter out on Friday as usual.