By the third day of the siege, it was obvious that reinforcements weren't coming.

Immediately after the first raid, Twilight's little assistant, Spike, had sent word to Princess Celestia. She'd dispatched a contingent of Royal Guardsponies the next morning, but they had never arrived. Ditzy and her scouts reported that the rail lines had been cut, and there were signs of some sort of skirmish along the road, but they'd found no other evidence of the soldiers' passage. Ponyville was on its own.

Cheerilee surveyed the ghostly remnants of her home from atop the palisade wall that they'd constructed around the town square. Tents and rough shanties had popped up in clusters here and there, mostly surrounding the newly refurbished town hall. Everypony in town or the surrounding areas had either joined the fight or tried to flee, and the makeshift fort, while large, couldn't comfortably contain them all.

They'd hoped to expand their fortifications, building multiple layers to better protect the civilians--well, noncombatants, they were almost all civilians--but minotaur warbands had come howling out of the forest every time they set hoof outside. At least they'd manage to stockpile enough food to last them a few weeks; starvation wouldn't be an issue, unless things were even worse in Equestria than they'd realized.

There'd been no communication with Canterlot since they'd sent the soldiers. It wasn't visible, far away atop its great mountain, through the haze of smoke and the thickening layer of clouds that the pegasi weather team had been too preoccupied to clear. Almost anything could have been happening up there, and they'd have no way to know.

And Mac... well, he could have been much worse. Rarity's silkvine uniform had, if nothing else, kept the big stallion from being skewered entirely. The cuts he'd suffered had come to his legs and exposed flanks, though the thick, purple bruises along his shoulders and chest (and the cracked bones beneath them) demonstrated the limits of the armor's protection.

The minotaurs were very, very strong. Perhaps not as physically powerful as Macintosh, but while a pony's weight was distributed for pulling, lifting, and bucking, a minotaur's muscle was concentrated into their chests and forelegs and gave them tremendous swinging power with their oversized weapons. Frankly, they seemed built for combat, while ponies had always held a distinct evolutionary disadvantage at it.

What was more, their numbers seemed to grow every day. Each night, as Ditzy flew out to scout their lines, she would spot more and more campfires burning in the darkness of the southern Everfree. Each morning, more and more minotaurs would throw themselves against their defenses, battering down what they could and testing the ponies' skill and resolve. They were trying to find a weak point, Hacksaw had explained. Once they did, the real attack would come.

And Ponyville would fall.

She wasn't supposed to think that. She was supposed to wear her mask, to tell the others that everything would be fine, that they would survive this as they had survived so much else and that everything would go back to normal eventually. That was her role: she was Cheerilee, the teacher, the bright and happy ray of sunshine who inspired those under her care. But after what had happened to Mac, after seeing how strong, how ferocious and cunning these creatures were, the mask had become almost too heavy to bear. That was when she needed moments like these, moments alone, away from her responsibilities, away from her friends and loved ones, where she could just be honest with herself for a few, peaceful minutes.

"Look, I'm glad you're feeling better, I really am, but this is stupid! Go back to the hospital!"

Cheerilee raised her head and glanced behind her. Below, a stubborn-looking pegasus with one foreleg still in a splint and bandages wrapped around her wings was walking defiantly towards the wall, while Captain Cloud Kicker floated beside her, her voice frustrated and concerned.

"Oh, and now you're going to ignore me?!" she groused. "Blossom, come on!"

Blossomforth stopped and turned a level glare on her friend. "Cloud, I appreciate your concern, but no. I'll be fine with the other noncombatants. There are ponies who are really, genuinely hurt, and they need the space at the hospital more than I do."

"You're 'really, genuinely hurt,' Blossom! Did you forget?"

"I'm out of critical condition, Cloud, and the rest will mend on its own. I'm not going to lay around when I could be doing something useful."

Cloud Kicker growled in frustration and looked up at the wall. "Hey, Cheerilee! Can you talk some sense into this winged mule?"

"I'd say it's her choice," the teacher offered with a shrug. "Blossom's a smart girl."

"If she gets hurt, she's going to have to go back to the hospital and drain even more resources!"

Blossom made to stomp her hoof, but stopped as she remembered the splint. "I'm aware of that! I'm not planning on doing anything strenuous! I just want to find some way to help!"

"Rarity might want some help adjusting uniforms," Cheerilee suggested.

"Erm. Okay, something non-strenuous that won't show everypony how terrible I am at sewing."

"Well... you're good with plants, right? Granny Smith and a few of the Carrots are trying to start a garden, just in case. You could help with that."

"Perfect!" Blossom turned a victorious grin on Cloud Kicker. "See? I can help."

The lavender mare pulled a hoof down her face. "I know you can help, I just don't think you should. At least not until your wings are working!"

"Why do my wings matter?!"

"So you can run away when the minotaurs get here!"

Cloud Kicker realized a moment later that she'd set that much too loudly, and several other ponies were looking at her in dismay. "Uh, you know. Assuming they can break through our defenses. Which is unlikely. A-heh."

Blossom's anger, meanwhile, had vanished. She raised a hoof to her friend's face and looked into her eyes, tears glistening at the corner. "Cloud... "

"Look, just forget I said anything."

She squeaked a second later as Blossomforth pulled her into a tight, one-legged hug. "I don't want anything to happen to you, either, you know."

Cloud Kicker mumbled something, her words muffled in her friend's shoulder.

Blossom pulled back and looked at her, one eyebrow quirked. "What?"

"I said, 'you still taste good.' Little mediciney, though."

The white pegasus sighed and hugged her again. "You're an idiot, Cloud Kicker."

"Yeah," she agreed.

Cheerilee managed her first genuine smile in days as the two started off again, still bickering quietly among themselves. As they rounded a corner and left her sight, she stored the memory away--it would make putting on her mask that much easier--and turned back to the battlefield. It was strange how much just that little scene of tenderness and affection could buoy her spirits; even the charred ruins of her hometown didn't look quite so bleak anymore.

She put her hooves between the pointed posts of the wall and leaned against them. Friendship, love, harmony. They're what make us ponies. It's stupid, but... I think this siege might make us run out of those long before we run out of food. And that might be even worse.

And now she was waxing philosophical about the bleak, hopeless darkness. Next she'd be dying her mane black and wearing her bangs over her eyes. It'd be like sophomore year all over again.

She grinned at that, and was still wearing it when a hoof tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to find Hacksaw looking at her oddly. "Somethin' funny, Elltee?"

She shook her head, letting the smile fade. "Just remembering high school. Fun times."

"Wouldn't know," the green stallion said with a shrug. "Dropped out to work at a carriage factory."

"I thought you went into the Royal Guard?"

"Sure did, soon as I was old enough. Paid for my vocational training and contractor's license."

She made a thoughtful sound. "That's sort of sad, really."

"How's that?"

"Just... I don't know. And I'm not trying to offend you. But going to college, any sort of college, should be about learning. Not just book learning, but about yourself, about life, about the world around you and your place in it... "

"I learned all that in the military."

"Oh."

They stood in silence for an awkward moment before Hacksaw turned to her with a relaxed smile. "Look, Elltee, I'm a simple stallion. Never had much use for anything that didn't directly affect me, ya know? But I got a daughter, kinda reminds me of you: real smart, really loves to learn about anything and everything. No, I don't necessarily get that, but I respect it. So don't let me bring ya down, okay? We need to keep spirits up."

She nodded, still staring out over the war zone before her. "Hack... why'd you stay? You could've gone back to Detrot before this started. You could be with your family right now, instead of stuck here, hundreds of miles from home."

He considered the question for a long moment. "Elltee... you Ponyville folks got guts, but there ain't a lot of military know-how here. Now, I was a sergeant, not an officer--I worked for a living--but I know a thing or two about defending a strategic position. So I figured, ya know... I could go home. And I could live the rest of my life with my wife and my daughter and know I'd watch her grow up an' find a nice stallion, or mare, I ain't judgin'... but that'd mean leaving some very good ponies hanging."

He lapsed into thoughtful silence, and the two stood together like that for awhile as the sun began its slow descent to the horizon.

"Hack, you're a good stallion," Cheerilee said finally. "Thank you for being here with us."

"You'd do the same, Elltee."

She swallowed her doubtful reply and just nodded. "Was there something else?"

"Nah, just checking in. We're ready for their next feint, all down the line. How's Mac?"

"He... " She shook her head. "He lost a lot of blood, but he's out of danger now. But... "

"Yeah," he finished sadly. "He took a hay of a beating, I heard. Which reminds me. What'd you say he looked like? The minotaur that took him down?"

"It was hard to tell in the firelight, but... he was large, at least half a head larger than the others. Seemed to have a brown coat. Lots of tattoos, like the others. And he used two swords."

Hacksaw nodded. "Think I saw him this morning. Led the charge. He shows up again, well... "

Cheerilee grinned. "Save some for me."

"No promises. But I'll letcha ring his bell if I can."

The shared a grin, and then Hacksaw put a hoof on her shoulder and turned to leave. Cheerilee watched him go, then sighed and turned back to her view.

It was getting late, and she'd been up here long enough. It was time to put on the mask and head back down to the troops. She'd make her rounds, tell a few optimistic lies, and then retire to the hospital to be with Big Mac. In the morning, the minotaurs would hit them again, and the cycle would repeat.

Sooner or later, something was going to break that cycle. And she could only hope it would be in their favor.

It wasn't.

The sun hadn't even set yet when the alarms went up. Macintosh stirred from his slumber and opened a big, green eye. "Uh-oh," he rumbled softly.

Cheerilee, lying beside him on his cot, snorted and sputtered and blinked her own eyes open. "Oh, come on. I just fell asleep!"

"Sorry, Cheeri."

She grunted something indistinct and rolled out of the bed. She hadn't taken off her uniform, so at least she wouldn't have to worry about that. She gave her hammer an annoyed look and hefted it over her shoulder.

"Be careful," Mac told her solemnly. She looked over at him and offered the most reassuring smile she could muster.

"It's just another feint," she said. "It'll probably be over by the time I get there."

"Hope so. Jus' be safe."

"I'll be fine, Macin- Mac." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry. Just rest up, okay?"

He nodded, but he felt his concerned eyes on her as she left.

Outside, torches and bonfires were lighting up around the town, providing light in case the town's defenders needed it later. The largest fire, of course, was being tended to by the Cutie Mark Crusaders Watch Fire Builders, and she noticed with some dismay that the flames were somehow tinged purple. She didn't know what the girls could have possible added to the bonfire to cause that, and frankly, she didn't want to.

The sounds of battle still rose from the southern walls, and Cheerilee sped up to a quick trot. The last few skirmishes had already ended by this point; whatever was happening, it was clearly a bit more serious.

And then something bellowed, a loud, distorted, almost metallic sound that stopped everypony in their tracks. All eyes went to the horizon.

There, silhouetted against the setting sun, was a dragon.

Panicked cries and terrified screams went up throughout the town. A dragon?! Cheerilee thought, too stunned to move. They have a dragon?!

"The west wall!" called a clear, confident voice. "Unicorns to the west wall! On me!"

Cheerilee shook herself out of her shock at the sound, and turned to see Rarity and Lyra falling back from the southern wall and galloping towards the oncoming dragon. Most of their unicorns looked nervous, even terrified to be moving towards the oncoming beast, but their captain seemed determined and fearless as she led them on. "We shall repel this brute, and then the others!" Rarity called as she ran. "For Ponyville! For Equestria!"

With a booming cheer, the unicorns closed the distance. But before Cheerilee could see how they fared, the loud splintering of wood drew her attention back to the south. Several of the pallisade's posts suddenly toppled outward, tearing the catwalks apart as they went and sending several ponies tumbling to the ground. A second later, more heavy, iron hooks were thrown over the top of the wall and pulled back until they locked into place against the timbers.

"The hooks!" she cried, racing forward as quickly as she could. "Get the hooks!"

Wood splintered again, and more of the wall fell away. A heartbeat later, minotaurs began pressing through the gap, wicked blades shining in the torchlight. Cheerilee shouted and charged forward, joining several of her comrades as they laid into the intruders. The first swing of her hammer found its mark, shattering one beast's wrist and sending its axe spinning away; the second caught it in the leg and dropped it heavily to the ground. Another took its place, a hook-like sword slashing down at her. She caught most of the blade on her hammer's haft, but felt the hook dig into the muscle of her shoulder. Ignoring the sudden pain, she used her rear legs to push the minotaur off balance, then brought the hammer down in a blow that crushed the creature's chest.

She paused for a moment, looking down at her victim in shock. The minotaur's breath had been knocked out of him, and he didn't look as if he could draw any back in. He stared at her in desperate terror. Celestia, how old was he? It was hard to tell with the minotaurs, but the look of terror in his eyes, the shock of suddenly realizing his own mortality...

"I'm so sorry," she told him. His expression didn't change.

Celestia. She'd been fighting for days now, but she'd never...

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an axe descending towards her head.

Good, she thought. I deserve this.

The steel shaft of a spear caught it halfway, and a deft twist sent it flying out of the minontaur's hands. A second later, the weapon sank into the creature's unprotected chest, and it staggered back and fell to the ground.

"Elltee!" Hacksaw shouted, shaking her on the shoulder. "Cheerilee!"

She blinked at him, uncomprehending. "I... I killed him."

"Good!" the green stallion growled. "They sure as hay intend to kill us!"

"No, Hack, you don't understand... "

He moved past her, shouting orders to the others. "Drive 'em back! Seal the breach! Carrot Top, grab a team, get some lumber to patch this up! Pronto!"

Cheerilee shook her head and looked back down at the young minotaur. His eyes had closed. He'd never managed to take in another breath.

"I'm so sorry," she told him again. "Celestia, I'm so sorry, I didn't want to... "

"Cheerilee?"

She looked up. The battle had moved past her. The others were driving the minotaurs back the way they came. And approaching her, still limping slightly, was a white pegausus with a red-and-green mane, her wings bandaged behind her. "Cheerilee, I came to help... A-are you okay?"

The teacher let out a wordless, devastated sob and buried her face in Blossom's shoulder. The pegasus hesitated for a moment before stroking a hoof over her mane. "It's okay, it's okay... "

Cheerilee pulled away. "I killed one, Blossom. He was just... just a colt. So young. And I killed him."

"It's okay... "

"I'm a teacher, Blossom! I'm a teacher, and I killed a child!"

"Cheerilee... Cheerilee, look around you."

She blinked away her tears and looked into the pegasus' eyes. There was a deep well of sympathy there, of understanding, but also... a hardness. An anger.

Cheerilee looked around.

There were other dead minotaurs. Perhaps a dozen of them. And among them were just as many ponies, ponies that she'd known, even if only by sight. Her neighbors. Her friends. Her students.

"They are trying to kill us, Cheerilee. We don't have any choice. We have to fight back."

"I... "

Blossom put her good hoof on the teacher's shoulder. "Please. I can't fight. My best friend's risking her life, and I can't do anything to help her. I can't help anypony. But you can, and you need to. Because if no one's there to protect us, the minotaurs will come, and they will kill us, too. The sick. The wounded. The elderly. The young. All of us."

She leaned in close, putting her eyes level with Cheerilee's. "You need to pull yourself together."

Cheerilee tried to nod, but couldn't find the strength. "A child, Blossomforth."

Blossom's hoof struck her across the face hard enough to draw blood. Cheerilee rocked back from the blow and fell on her back, clutching her stinging cheek and feeling anger bubbling up inside her. "What the hay?!"

"You needed it. Feel better?"

"I ought to hit you!"

"Just so you're hitting somepony."

"North wall!" came the shout of alarm. "More minotaurs at the north wall!"

"Go," Blossomforth told her. "I'll tell Hacksaw where you are. They're going to need you."

"Fine. But this isn't settled."

Blossom only rolled her eyes in response. Cheerilee frowned, but a second cry from the north pulled her away. She galloped as fast as she could across the square, and saw a handful of others running in the same direction. This is bad, she thought. This isn't just another feint. They're attacking with everything they've got. At least, I hope it's everything.

A withered green hoof shot out of a tent as she passed and pulled her to a sudden stop. She wheeled around to find herself facing Granny Smith, an old soldier's helmet pulled low over her eyes. "Hold yer horses there, missy!"

"Granny, they need me at the north-"

"I know where they need ya," the elder mare said dismissively. "I need you to do somethin' fer me, though, first."

"This really isn't the best-"

Granny shushed her. "I need you, as my commandin' officer, to give me permission ta do somethin'."

"What? Permission to do what?"

"I wanna draft some volunteers!"

Cheerilee blinked slowly and then frowned. "I am not letting the girls join the militia."

"Not them! Though they'd sure be up for it. Got a real fightin' spirit, my li'l Apple Bloom."

"Okay, then who?"

"Jus' some folks I know with an interest in defendin' their homes."

"I... Granny, why are you being so cryptic?!"

She just smiled. "I'm old. It's my perogawhatsis. So, do I got yer permission, or... ?"

Cheerilee sighed. "Fine, yes, whatever, permission granted. Can I go now?"

"Sure, sure. See ya in a bit, dearie."

With a frustrated shake of her head, the teacher resumed her gallop towards the north wall. She stopped short again as a huge, winged beast tore through the sky above, the air whipping wildly in its wake. Hot on its heels came a hoofful of unicorns, their horns glowing as they whipped stones at it, led by their surprisingly fearless captain. "And you'd best think twice before daring to set one scaly claw in Ponyville again!"

Cheerilee's eyebrows rose in impressed surprise as the unicorn hurled one final bullet at the retreating beast, striking it upside the head and eliciting a rumbling groan of displeasure. "Wow."

Rarity turned to her, her intense, berserker expression immediately shifting to her usual poised smile, marred only slightly by the disarray of her mane. "Oh, Cheerilee! How goes the battle?"

"The southern wall's been breached, but Hacksaw's leading repairs. But now the north wall's under attack."

"Well, once we refill our ammunition, we shall join you presently." She turned to Lyra, who was grinning ear-to-ear with the excitement of battle. "Lyra, would you be so kind as to lead a group to assist Captain Hacksaw to the south?"

"Aye-aye, captain!" the green unicorn said with a snappy salute. She shot Cheerilee a quick wink. "Hang in there, 'Lee. We'll make it."

The teacher returned the best smile she could manage. "You, too, Lyra."

The unicorns set off towards their ammunition stockpile, and Cheerilee continued on to the northern palisade. There were more gaps torn into the wall here, with more grappling hooks appearing occasionally to tear the next section down. Every time a minotaur would try to push through, however, half a dozen pegasi would zip down at him and drive him back with ruthless precision. Another small group, bearing razor-sharp metal plating on the leading edges of their wings, was dashing back and forth along the walls and trying to cut down the hooks before they could do their damage. The pegasi were holding the line, but there weren't enough to cover the whole wall.

"Cheeri!" called Cloud Kicker, waving a hoof and dropping down beside her. "How's the southern front doing?"

"We're holding, for now. Where is everypony?"

The lavender mare rolled a stiffened shoulder, taking care to avoid the blade on her wing. "Off doing something either really brave or really stupid. Fluttershy had this idea, and... "

"Fluttershy? I've hardly seen her since all this started."

"Well, I wasn't exactly going to put her through drills. But she had an idea, it sounded pretty good, so I sent Ditzy and some others to help her."

Cheerilee nodded and looked speculatively at the palisade. "Are you still going to be able to hold?"

"Hope so. As long as they don't come up with anything new, we should be able to- "

"Captain! Something's going on out there!"

Cloud Kicker dragged a hoof over her eyes. "Why did I say that?"

She carefully scooped Cheerilee up, and a moment later, the two stood on one of the few intact sections of the wall and stared out over the battlefield. Though many minotaurs were still clustered at the base of the palisade, intent on bursting through, many others had fallen back to the edge of the woods near Fluttershy's cottage. They watched the ponies with wicked grins she could read from there, and something was pounding like a heartbeat, so low and so loud that it made her knees feel weak.

"What are they doing?" she asked.

"Siege weapons, I'd bet. They wanted to see if they could tear down our walls by themselves; now they're gonna do it the easy way." She frowned. "That's why the defensive formation. We can't stand up to catapults or whatever they've got, we need to hit them. But if they're ready for us, it's gonna be a slaughter."

"What can we do?"

"Think of a better plan before they open fire. After that, we can either charge them like suicidal idiots or run. They haven't hit us from the east yet, meaning it's probably clear aside from the inevitable ambush meant to catch and kill us as we retreat."

"So... we're screwed."

Cloud Kicker grimaced. "In my non-professional tactical assessment, yeah, we're totally bucked."

The low, heavy beat of the drums intensified. Somewhere in the forest, a brass horn played a rising note and was met by the eager shouts of the minotaur horde. From where they stood, they could see branches shifting, could hear trees being hacked out of the way.

"That's either a lot of catapults, or one crazy big one," the pegasus observed. "We've got to try and hit them before it's too late. Cheeri, uh... " She sighed and turned to the teacher, taking one of her hooves in hers. "Look, if things go south... I know you're going to have your hooves full moving Big Mac, but could you... just keep an eye on Blossom? Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid?"

"I'll do what I can, but... "

Rarity's clear voice cut her off, and they looked down to find her standing in front of a group of unicorns, their saddlebags again full of stones and lead slugs. "Excuse me, but I imagine it would help if you had some covering fire."

Cloud Kicker grinned at her and nodded. "Wouldn't hurt. Okay, Rarity, get your ponies up on the wall. Cheeri, round up every earth pony you can and get ready to hold the breaches. My team will head straight up and dive bomb whatever they're bringing up as soon as it's out of the trees."

"Good luck," Cheerilee told the pegasus, putting a hoof on her shoulder.

"Thanks. Here's hoping I don't live up to family tradition."

A few shouted orders later, and most of the pegasi at the wall were launching themselves into the air as fast as they could. A few hurled minotaur spears followed them up, none of them managing to find a mark, but the drumming and chanting in the distance continued unabated.

"What did she mean by that?" Cheerilee asked as she climbed down from the wall.

"Her family's served in the Royal Guard for centuries," Rarity explained. She shifted her saddlebags to rest more comfortably along her sides and began scaling the ladder. "As I understand it, at least one Kicker dies in battle each generation."

"Oh."

"Yes," the unicorn agreed solemnly. "Well, there's little we can do but support her. Do try to keep the minotaurs from climbing up behind us, darling."

Cheerilee nodded and hefted her hammer between her teeth again, trotting towards the walls. With the departure of most of the pegasi, several gaps were now unattended, and the bipedal monsters were pushing themselves through. A handful of earth ponies were fighting in groups of two or three, covering what they could, but there were far too many gaps for comfort. "To your left!" she shouted to a lone stallion one she recognized as Mac's cousin Caramel. The big pony turned just in time to see three minotaurs bearing down on him, and he raised his spear to meet them.

He blocked the first beast's strike, but the second caught him in the chest. His silkvine uniform held, but the crack of ribs was audible as he tumbled and rolled away. With a fierce cry, Cheerilee threw herself at the creatures, shouldering aside Caramel's attacker and smashing her hammer down upon the next one's shoulder, shattering it. A sword came at her, but she pivoted aside, caught it beneath the hammer's head, and yanked it free of the minotaur's grip. Her follow-up buck caught the beast squarely in the chest and hurtled it backwards several yards.

The third, the one she'd initially brushed aside, managed to get out of the way of her next swing and caught the shaft of her hammer in his paw-things before she could pull it back into a guard position. He tried to tug the weapon free of her grip, but she dug her hooves in and held on fervently. Seeing her stubbornness, the minotaur grinned and raised his axe.

Thinking quickly, Cheerilee abruptly released the hammer, sending the minotaur staggering back in surprise. She whipped around and bucked at him, but he fell back further, out of her reach, and suddenly he was standing firm again and holding a sword in one paw and her hammer in the other. He grinned again, gave the hammer a practice swing, and advanced. Behind him, another minotaur pushed through the unguarded gap in the wall, and there were more behind it.

Cheerilee backed up a step and bumped into Caramel, who had somehow found the strength to stand up again. His right foreleg was pressed tight against his chest, his breathing was ragged, and his spear wobbled unsteadily in his mouth, but he looked determined to defend his comrade despite being obviously overmatched.

Yeah, that's not happening, Cheerilee thought. To the stallion's surprise, she yanked the spear out of his mouth and whipped it at the minotaur in a single motion. He managed to deflect the projectile partially, drawing a gash along his arm, but Cheerilee had already hurled herself at him a heartbeat after the spear. She hit solidly, knocked the minotaur to the ground, ripped the hammer out of his stunned grip, and was up and charging the next one in line before it even realized what had happened.

A ragged cheer went up behind her, and she heard more hooves approaching, engaging the dazed minotaur she'd left behind. She pressed on without thought, smashing aside the one before her and connecting solidly with the skull of the next to stick his head through the gap. Not satisfied, seeing more on the other side, she burst through the palisade and laid into the minotaurs outside without hesitation. One fell, its knee shattered. Another fell, its ribs crushed. Another raised his swords to strike the pony, but a lead pellet launched with the power of a crossbow bolt struck it in the back of the head and dropped it to the ground. Cheerilee looked up, met Rarity's eyes, and grinned.

"Push them back!" she bellowed behind her. "Push them out of the gaps! Break their lines!"

Another cheer went up, and suddenly more ponies were leaping through the holes the minotaurs themselves had created, swinging and stabbing and somehow driving back the surprised monsters. In what might have been seconds or hours, the minotaurs began to rout, falling back in increasing panic to the lines their kin had formed at the treeline.

"For Ponyville!" Rarity called, her clarion voice amplified by magic. "For Equestria!"

And then the dragon came back.

The beast's thunderous bellow was the only real warning they had before flames poured out of the sky and set the wall on fire. Unicorns screamed and dove for cover on the ground below. Most of those remaining stared up at the massive, green behemoth with horror; Rarity just looked furious. "Oh, back for more, huh?! I'll tear you-"

She was cut off as one of her soldiers wrapped a hoof around her and pulled her off the wall, just in time to avoid another gout of flame.

"New target!" Cloud Kicker's voice rang out above them. "Bring it down!"

Dozens of pegasi suddenly dropped out of the clouds, their wings taut as the dove towards the massive beast. Cloud herself led the charge, her wingblades shining in the fading sunlight. The dragon howled as Equestrian steel slashed through its scaly hide, steaming blood sprinkling on the churned earth below.

A droplet the size of her head struck the ground near Cheerilee, and she recoiled as the droplets that struck her singed her hide. "Get back!" she called to her fellow earth ponies. "Back inside!"

She joined the twenty or so earth ponies still standing and able to fight, and the dozen unicorns with Rarity. Their captain was brushing dirt off her forelegs and glaring up at the dragon with intense malice. "That is entirely unfair!" she complained. "We already beat him the once!"

"Rarity!" Cheerilee called, catching the mare's attention. "Rarity, if Cloud Kicker and her pegasi are tied up with the dragon, we have to hit that siege engine!"

"What? Darling, that's insane!"

"I know, but if the wall falls... "

"Rarity! Rarity!"

They turned to find a short, pudgy little purple dragon running towards them as fast as he could manage. Spike carried a freshly-delivered scroll, still steaming a bit around the edges, and his eyes were wide with what might just be hope. "Rarity, I've got a letter from Canterlot! Help is coming!"

The unicorn smiled. "That's wonderful, Spike! What does it say?"

He skidded to a stop and unrolled it. "'To mine proud and noble subjects of Ponyville: hold fast! Thou shan't be abandoned in thine hour of need. Hold fast and take hope, for thine Princess of the Night shall arrive 'pon the setting of the sun.' It's, um, from Princess Luna."

Rarity couldn't contain a half-mad cackle of delight. "And the sun shall set any minute! Sea Swirl, get to the southern gate and tell Captain Hacksaw, please. Take heart, my friends! We will outlast this!"

The drumming stopped so abruptly that the sudden silence was shocking. And then there was an explosion, thunderously loud but some distance away. And then a ten-foot-wide section of the palisade erupted, sending splinters and fragments and flaming debris in every direction, while dozens of hoof-sized steel balls smashed into and laid flat everything caught in their path, including a few unfortunate ponies.

Cheerilee stared at the hole in shock. "That... that was a cannon."

"Cannons?" Rarity asked, her voice hushed. "But minotaurs don't have cannons."

Another distant explosion. Ponies screamed and dove for cover as another section of the wall burst apart.

Above them, the dragon bellowed in fury and struck down several stunned pegasi, sending them hurtling towards the ground. Cloud Kicker shouted something indistinct, snapping them out of their daze, and the aerial battle resumed in earnest.

And outside, four more cannons fired in rapid succession, and the fortifications of Ponyville disintegrated.

"We have to fall back!" Cheerilee shouted. "Tell Hacksaw, get everypony out of there! We need to get the wounded out of the hospital, we need to evacuate the fillies, oh Celestia... "

"Pokey," Rarity snapped to a blue unicorn stallion. "Take a group and start clearing the hospital! Colgate, get the noncombatants moving! Sea Swirl, I am not sure why you are still standing here, but get your plot over to Hacksaw, now!"

A thunderous bellow went up among the minotaur ranks. Slowly, but hastening quickly, the earth began to shake as a hundred or more pairs of minotaur hooves pounded across the open ground towards Ponyville.

"They're coming," Cheerilee said quietly. Celestia, she felt sick. Her stomach was tied into ropes. The minotaurs were coming in force, and this time, there would be no walls standing between them and their adversaries. The ponies were going to have to hold the line against overwhelming odds, against creatures who were physically more disposed to combat, and who somehow possessed weapons far beyond their technological means.

They were going to die.

She wished Macintosh were there. He was so big, so solid, so calm about everything life threw his way. No matter how bad she felt, just being near him, being close to him, made her burdens feel bearable. He made her feel safe, protected, and cared for.

These things had taken him from her. They'd hurt him. And if she let them pass, if she didn't hold her ground here, then these monsters would press on. They would find the hospital. They would slaughter the wounded. They would kill the stallion she loved.

Anger filled her. It seemed to grow from her hooves up, slowly but completely instilling itself into every pore and fiber of her being. She realized she was shaking with the intensity of her emotions. Her teeth ground against the shaft of her warhammer, ready to draw it and swing.

Beside her, Rarity watched the minotaurs come and nodded, her expression grim and determined. She looked down and to her right. Spike stood there, clutching somepony's discarded mace, one claw placed against the unicorn's flank for comfort. "Spike," she said, "you don't need to be here. Go with the fillies."

"N-no," he told her. "If this is it, t-then this is where I need to be. At your side, my lady."

"Brave little Spikey-Wikey," Rarity cooed softly, brushing her forehead against his.

"Rarity?"

"Yes?"

"If... if this is it, then could you just call me 'Spike?'"

"Of course, Spikey- ah, sorry. Spike."

He smiled. "Thanks."

The first ranks of the charging minotaur horde came into sight, now, clearly visible through the gaping holes in the palisade. There were... so many of them. Stretched almost the entire length of the wall, and several beasts deep. Celestia, how many of them were there?

The sun reached the horizon and began to sink below it.

"Draftees reportin' fer duty!"

Cheerilee in surprise and looked behind her to find a very unexpected sight. Granny Smith, clad in an old soldier's helmet that drooped over her eyes, stood at rigid attention before a herd of twelve or so cows. Each wore either some makeshift headgear--a pot here, a a bucket there--and was doing their best to imitate the old pony's stance.

"Granny?" Cheerilee asked. "You recruited the cows?"

"Naw, more like they volunteered. Ain't that right, Bellinda?"

The cow immediately to her right grinned and nodded determinedly. "This one's serious, don'cha know, and we can't let our pony friends face it withoat us, eh?"

"Ah tried to get some of my bridge club, too," Granny continued amicably, "but I reckon some of 'em couldn't even hear what I was sayin'."

"Well... thank you," Cheerilee said seriously. "Thank you for standing with us. We only need to hold them until the sun sets, and then... "

"What's that, hon?" Granny asked. "Hold 'em 'til sunset? Well, I reckon we can do that! Girls, get ready! Jus' like I toldja!"

"Granny, what are you-"

The elderly pony ignored her and scrambled up atop Bellinda's back, tilting her helmet forward. "Clear the deck, everypony! Initiate Operation: STAMPEDE!"

The assembled cows gave a tremendous, mooing bellow of their own and suddenly hurdled forward, bells clanking and hooves pounding against the dirt. Ponies dove desperately out of the way as the herd thundered by, their eyes narrowed with determination and fixed on the approaching horde.

A dozen cows was hardly a proper stampede, but a their momentum, combined with their lower center of gravity and the minotaurs' surprise at being confronted with an onrushing squadron of their evolutionary cousins, was enough to carry the day. The front line of the monster ranks broke, if only for a moment, as the cows heaved and trampled their way through, Granny Smith whooping and hollering and spinning her hat about her hoof the entire way.

The minotaurs' momentum had been broken. And it needed to stay that way.

"Follow them!" Cheerilee called. "CHARGE!"

Behind them, the dragon fell out of the sky and smashed into Ponyville's city hall.

Ahead of them, the minotaurs shouted warnings and tried to form ranks again as the ponies came on.

The rest was a blur. Cheerilee and Rarity and Spike fought side-by-side for awhile, and then she was fighting alongside somepony else, and then she was charging ahead and smashing aside minotaur arms and legs until more ponies came up behind her. She was dimly aware of the sky darkening, of the sun slowly vanishing behind the horizon, counting down the minutes until Luna finally arrived.

As she bludgeoned aside a minotaur who'd tried to grab ahold of her tail, she saw him. The big minotaur, bigger than all the others. In the fading daylight, his coat was the brownish-orange of autumn leaves. His twin blades were wet with pony blood, and he wore a necklace of broken unicorn horns around his neck. His furious eyes, pinpricks of red, met hers.

He was the one who'd hurt Macintosh.

She charged him. She pushed her way past one beast, trampled another, and laid low a third with a blow to the back of its head. The minotaur came towards her confidently, idly batting aside an earth pony soldier who came too close. They finally met in a small circle of calm amidst the battle that swirled around them.

"Pony-warrior," the hulking beast rumbled. "I am Torrax, Warmaster of the Stormhoof Clan."

"Welcome to Ponyville," Cheerilee told him, circling warily.

He grinned. "I have watched you. You have fought well, and bravely. I had not thought ponies could produce such heroes."

"Thanks?"

"You are welcome. You must tell me, pony-warrior. What is your name? I will honor your memory, once I kill you."

"Cheerilee."

Torrax laughed. "Cheerilee? Such a soft name for such a strong pony. Tell me, 'Cheerilee.' What are you?"

"What?"

"What do you do? What is your title? Are you a... knight, as they call them? A hunter? A soldier? Surely you are no simple commoner."

"No," she answered, steeling herself for the attack. "I'm an elementary school teacher."

She threw herself at the minotaur, and steel rang on steel as his swords whipped forward and caught the blow. She twisted and leapt away, hoping to disarm him, but he simply lowered his swords and struck as she pulled away. She avoided the point of the first blade, but the second caught her painfully in the chest and sent her staggering back.

She gritted her teeth and leapt forward again, whipping her neck around to deliver a pair of lightning-quick blows. Torrax blocked them easily and parried with a slash that took a lock of Cheerilee's candy-colored mane with it. She came up under the attack, intending to catch the minotaur under the chin, but he stepped back, planted a hoof on her chest, and casually heaved her away.

"Ah, I had hoped for a better challenge, 'Cheerilee,'" the minotaur told her, lazily spinning his blades about in his paws. "But you are a berserker. All strength and fury when fighting many, but lacking the skill and discipline to fight one."

"Bite me," was Cheerilee's witty retort.

"Oh, I will. I will eat your heart and claim your power, as I would any worthy adversary. You have earned that, at least."

As flattering as that was, Cheerilee braced herself for another charge, trying desperately to find some weakness she could exploit. The sun was nearly set, now, but that was beside the point. This was personal. This monster had hurt Macintosh, and she was going to hurt it.

Suddenly, a green stallion came hurtling out of the melee and struck the minotaur headlong, nearly knocking him off his hooves. Cheerilee howled and charged, striking downward and connecting hard with the beast's broad chest. Ribs cracked, the the minotaur grunted in pain, but he refused to fall and simply staggered back a few more feet.

Hacksaw, a stolen minotaur axe clutched in his teeth, kept pressing. Torrax deflected the first blow, but took a slash to the leg that seemed to sap the strength from it. Before he could press his advantage, though, Hacksaw was driven back by a pair of quick, heavy chops that he barely managed to parry aside.

"Hack," Cheerilee panted. "What're you doing here?"

"We fell back from the south wall, Elltee. Formed lines around the civilian tents. Saw that you and Rarity had charged out to buy us time, thought you could use a hoof getting back."

"Just have to hold out until the sun sets."

"Not long now."

"Too long," Torrax growled. The minotaur came at them again, his movement impeded by the blow to his leg but his arms working a precise, efficient pattern that turned aside the ponies' blows and kept them backing up, step by step.

Cheerilee parried aside a blow that could have broken her spine, and danced back from a risky follow-up that nearly took her legs. Hacksaw, seeing an opening, took a swing at the minotaur's good leg, hoping he wouldn't be able to pivot away on his bad one. To his surprise, Torrax did just that, and Hacksaw was suddenly overextended and off-balance as the minotaur's sword came rushing down to the back of his neck...

Cheerilee swung her hammer upwards with everything she had. It struck the minotaur's wrist solidly, and she heard bone crunch at the blow. The massive sword fell from the creature's useless paw.

But it had only been a feint. The other sword found its mark, slipping underneath Hacksaw's chin, above the collar of his shirt, and driving hard into his chest. The stallion went rigid, helpless, as the massive blade ran him through.

Cheerilee screamed and attacked. Torrax let go of the blade, too deeply embedded to be pulled free easily. He fell away in a roll and came up holding a discarded spear. Cheerilee charged again, tears burning her eyes, her fury blinding her to pain and danger.

The minotaur's spear drew a long, jagged gash along her cheek, but she didn't notice it. She smashed the weapon in half, spun, smashed the minotaur in the shoulder, stopped, and brought the hammer against the side of the beast's head. Bone cracked. His eyes rolled back into his head. He fell, soundlessly, to the ground.

Cheerilee stared at him, panting. He twitched a few times, but his chest did not rise.

A minotaur screamed as a bear tore into him.

That's odd, Cheerilee thought.

Indeed, there were a lot of animals around. The bear was fighting alongside what seemed to be a panther and a pack of bunny rabbits, their vicious teeth wet with blood. Further away, a pack of giant, purple spiders were busily wrapping a pair of rigid, terrified minotaurs in webbing. And... was the a manticore?

She really needed to get to sleep.

"Cheeri!" a familiar voice said. Somepony shook her shoulder, and she turned slowly to find Ditzy Doo looking at her with boggle-eyed concern. "Cheeri, you okay?"

"Hey, Ditzy." Her voice sounded a bit slurred, even to her. "Hey, I think the adrenaline's wearing off. I'm really tired. Why is there a bear?"

"Oh, he's a friend of Fluttershy's. And so are the spiders? I don't know. I'm really glad I didn't have to carry them."

"Huh. Cloud Kicker was right. Good idea. Did we win?"

"Well, it looks like we're winning. All the minotaurs started running away when we showed up and you knocked out that big guy." She glanced at the carnage behind them. "Um, I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner. I saw Mr. Hacksaw... if we could just have flown a little bit faster... "

"It's okay. It's okay. We're almost through. Once the sun sets... "

The last, crimson edge of the sun dropped over the horizon.

"I AM HERE!" bellow a cacophonous voice, rich and dark and full of power.

"Yeah, that happens."

"We did it, Cheeri!" Ditzy cried happily. "We won!"

"Sure, yeah." She fell back against her friend's shoulder and felt her eyes drift shut. She tried not to think of Hacksaw, lying dead not five feet away. She tried not to think of how his wife and daughter in Detrot would take the news. She tried not to think about all the other families who would soon be learning that their loved ones died fighting monsters today.

The last, ragged breath of a dying young minotaur echoed in her mind.

Celestia.

If this was victory, she didn't want to win anymore.

The death of Tarrox and the arrival of Fluttershy's animal friends had broken the northern front, but a good third of the minotaurs' force had been pressing them from the south. The ponies still in town had managed to keep the beasts out of the hospital and away from the noncombatants, but it had been costly. There were now more ponies wounded than ready for battle, while most of their enemies had escaped to the forest. Princess Luna's bat-winged pegasi had done their best to pursue the retreating minotaurs, but the wild depths of the Everfree hampered their pursuit.

At least they'd manage to locate the cannons. They'd destroyed all but one, which a team of pegasi and unicorns had managed to drag back into town. It was huge, far larger than any Cheerilee had ever read about, but the intricate gold filigree and detailing running along its length was unmistakable.

"That's a camel design," she said aloud.

Luna nodded, troubled. "Verily. But how would minotaurs, so far to the south, obtain camel weaponry? And how would they transport it here, through the Everfree?"

"Perhaps they had help?"

"At this rate, I would not doubt it." The princess sighed. "I apologize, on behalf of both myself and my sister, for the delay in reaching you. We did not realize the extent of this attack, and there have been... other distractions."

Rarity's eyes narrowed. "More important than the near-destruction, once again, of the residence of the Elements of Harmony?"

"Yes," Luna said with a grim nod. "The griffon nations have united, and they have invaded our northwestern lands."

Gasps went up throughout the crowd that had gathered.

"My sister and I have managed to stem the tide of their invasion, at least for now, and I came as quickly as I could. But I'm afraid many villages and towns in the region, including Whinnypeg, have been utterly destroyed."'

"W-what about the residents?" Rarity asked, her eyes wide with fear. "I... I have family there."

"There... are some refugees who escaped." Luna closed her eyes, shuddering at some memory. "But not many."

"Celestia... "

"Um... if griffons are attacking from the north, and minotaurs are attacking from the south, then... what if somepony's going to attack from the west or east?"

All eyes turned to the speaker who was hovering slightly above and behind Ditzy and a battered-but-intact Cloud Kicker, whose mane had been burned almost to stubble. Fluttershy squeaked nervously at the attention and moved a bit further behind the others.

"To the west are buffalo lands, and I am confident in the peace we have established with them. To the east is the sea, and beyond that... "

Cheerilee swallowed. "Camelon."

Rarity nodded. "And if, indeed, this cannon was a gift to the minotaurs... "

"Then Equestria may well face the worst crisis of its existence," Luna finished grimly. "I am afraid, noble ponies, that this war has just begun, even after your heroic victory here today. But, at least for now, rest well and take comfort. I and mine shall watch over you this night."

The crowd of ponies dispersed gradually, separating off in groups of two or three. Cheerilee didn't bother to wait for any of her friends. Without a word, she turned and headed for the hospital. She moved past the wounded, the dying, and the helpless medics trying to aid them. She knew where she was going.

She opened the door, not bothering to turn on the lights, and crawled onto the bed next to Macintosh.

"Cheeri?" he asked quietly.

She wrapped her hooves around him, buried her face in his chest, and began to cry.