"GET DOWN!!"

BOOM!!

BOOM!!

The fort was bombarded with boulders and fireballs from the enemies siege weapons as the first wave of soldiers began storming the walls with ladders and grappling hooks.

"If any man dies with a clean sword! I'LL RAPE HIS FUCKIN' CORPSE!!!" A caribou officer shouted as his troops began to climb their way past the arrows and stones flying down from the wall.

"Man the cauldron!!" Marshall shouted after the enemy had assembled along the walls and began climbing the ladders. It wasn't long until the entire fortress wall was in chaos.

"Captain! Help!!" Shouted a foot soldier who was struggling to push back the enemies with his shield.

With his new sword, the warden marched up behind his men and prepared to attack as more of the enemy began swarming a section of the wall.

"CLEAR!!"

At the sound of their captains voice, the soldiers quickly opened up the shield wall as Nightfall came crashing down its victim and cleaved him in two. The enemies behind the slain soldier began to stagger back in horror as the blood from their fallen comrade spewed on them like a water sprinkler. The assault continued as Marshall kept hacking away at the enemies before him while throwing some off the wall and allowing his men to retake their posts.

"The cauldrons are ready sir!" One soldier shouted as Marshall leaned over the wall to see the enemy cluttered together.

"Pour away!"

With just a pull of the lever, cauldrons filled with boiling hot oil began pouring down on the enemy ranks, killing hundreds of soldiers and burning hundreds more but that was just the beginning of the forts counterattack.

"Scootaloo! Torch!" The knight called for his squire who dropped a single torch onto the drenched soldiers below and as they were set ablaze by the flames, the young squire looked down on her foes with hatred as she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"THAT'S FOR PONYVILLE!!"

The troops cheered in response to young Scootaloos cries of revenge as the enemy forces sounded the retreat. By the end of the day, both sides had casualties and wounded numbering in the hundreds. With the first battle ending in a stalemate, the king and his generals began discussing their next move.

"Tell me gentlemen, how can a few hundred men repel a thousand in just one day?" King Dainn asked while glaring at his officers with disappointment.

"With all due respect sire, those men are fighting for a small rock in a field!" One retorted.

"We should just go around it, winter has come early so they'll be trapped!"

"That 'Rock' as you called it." Blueblood interjected.

"Is a well supplied fortress that is stocked with enough food to last three winters, furthermore it is the ONLY outpost for miles in these parts so it is vital that we take it before we proceed to march further south or do you want our troops to die of frostbite and hypothermia?"

"My apologies." The officer replied after a brief moment of silence.

Meanwhile

While the kings army camped out just beyond the walls, Marshall was busy trying to repair the damaged sections of the wall and clearing the area of dead bodies. Even his young squire was helping by bringing water to the wounded that were now filling the fortresses halls and rooms.

"Scootaloo, get me more bandages." One of the surgeons ordered as he was working on a patient.

"Yes sir!" The little filly replied as she dashed towards the supply room.

Ever since she became a squire, Scootaloo had been working hard to aid the knights in their efforts to reclaim Equestria but it was not an easy life. On most days she would spend her time in the armory with the other squires polishing armor and sharpening weapons while on others, she would spend the afternoon training and keeping up with her basic studies.

It was in the hours after nightfall that Marshall found his young squire asleep on a dining table with an empty flask and food bowl in front of her. Like a caring parent, the warden gently scooped up the little filly in his arms and carried her off to her bed chambers.

"You worked hard today." He said proudly while tucking in Scootaloo. As Marshall quietly shut the door, he noticed Princess Luna was standing alone on the wall looking out towards the enemy campfires in the distance. Knowing such a move was damgerous, he decided to join her amd began to feel a strong breeze blowing down from the north.

"It never gets old does it?" He asked casually.

"Staring out in the distance, wondering when the next attack will be."

"Hm. No it does not." Luna replied while rubbing her arms to keep warm.

"The last time I fought in a winter like this was during the reign of King Sombra. Even to this day, I remember the snowfall..."

The princess sighed while continuing to stare out into the horizon. For a moment, things seemed to be peacefull until Marshall began to slowly unsheath Nightfall with a grim look upon his face.

"They're coming." The warden grumbled slightly before the war drums began thumping across the field and the lookouts began to sound the alarm.

"They're not giving us a moments rest!" Luna shouted as she slammed her fist onto the stone of the fortress wall.

"Head inside your highness, leave the defense to me."

"Very well. Good luck Knight of The Moon."

As the last of the defenders positioned themselves on the wall, Marshall raised his sword high to signal a mighty warcry before they were bombarded by the enemies siege weapons.

"Listen up, Soldiers of Equestria! AVENGE YOUR HOMELAND AGAINST THE INVADERS!!" Marshall roared before charging into the first wave of enemies that began swarming the wall and with each foe that fell beneath his sword, the morale of his troops increased bit by bit.

"You there, soldier!" He called to one of his officers.

"Yes captain?"

"Was the messenger dispatched?"

"Yes sir. We sent him just before dawn, as you instructed!"

Knowing that they could not hold the fortress forever, Marshall sent a messenger back to their allies in hopes of getting reinforcements and hoped that he and his men could hold the fortress until they arrived.

Back in Appleoosa

Unaware of the battle at the border, the rest of the rebel army were putting the last of the fortifications on the town of Appleoosa and refitting their troops with new armor and weapons.

"So this new armor is really gonna help?" A soldier asked a dragon blacksmith who smirked with pride at the knight wearing his creation.

"Trust me, this armor will even stop a bolt from a crossbow." The smith bragged before hearing the horncall of the watchmen at the front gate.

"URGENT MESSAGE!! URGENT MESSAGE!!" Shouted the voice of a lone rider, heading towards the town astride a war bear. The moment the rider was through the gate he immediately stumbled off his mount and ran frantically towards Shining Armor and Wulfric who were waiting for him near the towns tavern.

"My lords!!"

"Easy man! Calm yourself." Shining Armor said while handing him a flask of water to calm down.

"Now what is it?"

"We're under attack! Dainn and Prince Blueblood brought the entire army to the border!"

"That bastard!!" Wulfric cursed after hearing the news.

"There's no way we can reach them in time, the rivers are frozen over!"

Things seemed hopeless until Twilight showed up with Princess Ember and a smug grin on her face.

"That's not entirely true." She said before gesturing her brother and Wulfric to follow her to the docks where several massive air ships were tied to the ground and in front of each one was a dragon legionarre fully armed and ready for battle.

"I had the engineers work on these in their spare time." Said Twilight with a proud smile as she admired her handiwork. Each ship was carried by a massive balloon and all were fully armed with ballistae and thick hulls to prevent damage.

"Each ship can carry up to a hundred soldiers and with the wind in our favor, we can reach the border in a matter of days."

"You are awesome Twily!" Shining Armor said proudly while ruffling his little sisters mane.

"Alright! I want fifty of our best warriors on one of these ships! We're moving out!!" Wulfric shouted to his tribesman as they let out a mighty cheer, eager to join the fight.

"Oh and Shining Armor. Try not to get air sick." Twilight said with a smile as her brother became defensive.

"I do not get air sick!!"

End.