Author's Notes:

Ancient vows to order kneel,
A wardens call to blood and steel,
Legion lines to shield the frail,
Behind the plate and mail.

---

Today's OC: Bronze Pommel
Owned by: KinkyToffe

When Dainn Stonehoof rose to power and began to spread his twisted ideals across the land, the ponies of Equestria suffered. The royal guards who had once sworn their loyalty to the princesses turned traitor, the nobles soon followed along with many other stallions who had been seduced by the stonehooves foul magic. Those who were able to resist fled the land with their families in hopes of escaping the wrath of the tyrant king.

All hope seemed lost until the Knights of The Golden Sun began marching down from the west, lead by their new commander; Shining Armor. The army was over ten legions strong and all of it's soldiers were descended from the original army that fought King Sombra during the war on the Crystal Empire two thousand years ago, each had the fighting force of an entire squadron. Into this great army came a warden named Marshall, once a mercenary, now a soldier in the army fighting to return freedom and equality to the ravaged kingdom that he once called home. It felt right to him, for some reason.

After being recruited by the knights, Marshall had led several raiding missions against the slavers in Ashfeld by order of his commanding officer Sergeant Quartz or better known as: The Blood Knight. For his next assignment, the warden was sent to a fortress that was owned by a group of caribou slavers, the commander leading this assault was a female knight; a conquerer named: Bronze Pommel. The assault however proved difficult thanks to the archers and siege weapons placed along the wall followed by the moat surrounding the base of the fort, Pommel had lost a great deal of troops thanks to this.

"INCOMING!" She shouted as a fireball came crashing down on their current position. The siege had lasted for two days and it was only a matter of time before the enemy would completely repel them, she needed an army. Shining Armor only sent Marshall.

"You there, Warden! Where's our reinforcements?" The conquerer asked when she noticed he was the only one to arrive.

"...I'm it." Marshall simply replied while Pommel just stood there in disbelief.

"Is this a joke?" She mumbled to herself but now was not the time for complaints, she needed to take the fortress by any means necessary.

"Alright. Let's see what you can do."

The warden wasted no time in charging towards the nearest garrison with a handful of troops and began taking out a great number of enemy soldiers as they were thrown from the north wall. Pommel took this opportunity to advance up the field and began using siege ladders and grapples to assist Marshall in his assault, turning the inside of the fortress into a battlefield. Dozens of caribou and royal guards were thrown from the walls while others were cut down or struck by arrows.

"I'm impressed warden!" Pommel shouted while swinging her flail at a line of charging soldiers. Marshall began to notice that the enemy was in full retreat and began pursuing them towards the forest where a second group of knights caught them in a pincer attack, turning the forest floor into a pool of blood.

"Leave none alive!!" The warden shouted after cutting down another enemy, victory was near until a large caribou stepped forward from the enemy ranks carrying a sword and shield.

"All of you step back!" He ordered while pointing his sword at Marshall.

"I'll end that one."

Having no objections, the warden stepped forward and readied himself for battle, his opponent banged his shield twice before taking a stance as the two entered a standoff to see who would strike first. Marshall could tell that this was the forts commander thanks to the smell of ale and musk surrounding his body followed by the design of his weapons and armor. He was a warlord.

"Prepare to die!" The caribou shouted with confidence as he began lashing out at the warden with a broadsword while keeping his shield close. All Marshall could do was defend and wait for an opening as he parried one attack after the other, his opponent was much larger and stronger so a defensive strategy was best. In an unexpected move, the warlord slammed Marshall with his shield and pushed towards the edge of the wall.

"NOW DIE!!" He roared as he went for a wide swing, foolishly leaving his stomach open for Marshalls blade as it cut right through the leather and chainmail like a scissor through paper. For the killing blow, Marshall shoved the warlord off the wall and down onto the field of corpses below. The scream of his foe was instantly silenced after his neck snapped from hitting the ground.

"Your leader has fallen!!" The warden shouted to the surviving slavers.

"Surrender or die!!"

The fighting came to a stop as the enemy soldiers stared at the lifeless body of their commander that now laid in a pool of blood and began to surrender. The battle had been won.

"Not bad warden. Though I could've done a better job myself." The conquerer joked before giving her new comrade a friendly handshake and ordering her men to take the remaining soldiers prisoner while the rest scavenged for gear on the battlefield. One of the prisoners who was a royal guard struggled against his captors and demanded to speak with the warden. Marshall allowed this and listened to what he had to say.

"Why?" The stallion asked while staring at the warden with anger.

"Why have you done all this?!?"

In response, Marshall removed his helmet to reveal his icy blue eyes that made the prisoner freeze in fear; He was an earth pony with a light brown coat and black mane with his face riddled in scars. As the warden marched up to the prisoner, he spotted a medallion baring the once proud symbol of Canterlot and ripped it right off his neck. He didn't deserve to wear it.

"I took an oath to fight for peace....so did you!" Marshall growled angrily before stomping the medallion into the dirt like a piece of garbage.

"All of you..."

The warden looked at the fallen guards with nothing but shame and stormed off. By noon, the entire fortress was cleaned out and set ablaze so that it would be of no use to the enemy and the soldiers returned to their stronghold with the freed slaves and captured slavers.

"You alright?" Pommel asked the warden who at the time was focused on the road ahead.

"I'm fine." Marshall responded as they continued to walk but Pommel wasn't convinced.

"You don't seem fine." She stated while keeping her eyes locked on him until he eventually answered with a question of his own.

"Why did you become a knight Pommel?"

"I couldn't forge a blade to save my life like my Dad, and there's not much one can do with a name like mine, so I decided that if I couldn't protect our knights by forging their armour, I'd protect them on the field." She replied with a gleeful smile before returning his question.

"So why did you become one Marshall?"

"Hm...When I was a boy, I was caught in middle of a civil war down in Prance. My father was on the opposing side and the enemy decided to use me as a hostage during a battle. They told my father that if he did not surrender, I would be hanged in front of the castle....he refused." The warden said bitterly.

"In his own words, my father said: Go ahead! I still have the hammer and the anvil with which to forge better sons!."

To hear such cruelty towards ones own child broke Pommels heart as she continued to listen to her friends tale.

"I should've died that day but the commander of the army was not able to bring himself to kill an innocent child, so instead he took me in and raised me like I was his own until I was eventually freed."

"Did you return home?" Pommel inquired.

"No. After I was freed, I took my sword and armor and left Prance to wander Equestria as a mercenary and looked for strong opponents to improve my skill but I was so bitter from my father's resentment that I ignored the suffering caused by the Stonehooves....then I met all of you."

Even under his helmet, Pommel could tell the warden was smiling and that made her happy. It was only until they were nearing the fortress that the mood turned dark. The newly captured prisoners saw the impaled corpses of the caribou and their fallen bretheren, and began to fear the worst.

"Sir Marshall and Lady Pommel have returned! Open the gates!"

The fortress gates slowly opened to reveal a large crowd that had gathered to greet the heroes after hearing of their victory. Showers of petals fell from above while young mares began handing out flowers to the knights, one was even bold enough to give one to Marshall.

"Thank you milady." The warden said politely as he took the flower, making the young mare blush. The prisoners however found this to be a revolting act and even cringed away in disgust when they noticed a lawbringer in blood red tabards marching up to them with his own personal guards.

"Welcome back you two." The knight greeted the two heroes while his guards took the prisoners to the dungeons.

"Good to be back Sergeant Quartz." Pommel said in response after removing her helmet. Quartz looked at the line of prisoners before him with his usual glare and felt nothing but disgust.

"Haul these wretches off. They'll stand trial tomorrow."

"Yes sir!"

All watched as the slavers were taken into the keep while some of the crowd began booing and throwing rocks and rotten vegetables at them. It was no better than what they deserved after the all the horrific acts they commited towards others.

In honor of their recent victories, Quartz proclaimed that there would be a great feast for Pommel and Marshall. The crowd was pleased with this announcement as were the men who raised their weapons while cheering loudly and as night fell upon the stronghold, music and laughter filled the air. Something the slaves had not seen or heard for some time.

A great bonfire was lit in the courtyard where a circle of dancers began moving in rhythm to the sound of the music and clapping, among them was Pommel who was having the time of her life and laughing herself silly while on the staircase leading to the wall was Marshall and a few fellow knights sharing a glass of well deserved ale and cider. As they shared a toast, the warden noticed Shining Armor had stepped out of the keep to join the feast and was welcomed with open arms by his men, including Sergeant Quartz.

"Attention! Can I have every pony's attention?" Shining said aloud as the music and chatter died down.

"As you all know, we have managed to secure this great land of ours. Thanks to our brave knights."

The men shouted in agreement while raising their mugs to one another. Shining continued his speech.

"But now it's time we take the fight to the enemy." At that moment, the crowd began to talk among themselves. Shining Armor was declaring war on Dainn Stonehoof and Equestria.

"I know it seems rash but you've all seen the cruelty carried out by these barbarians! They show no mercy to any who resist and exploit others for their own personal gain. How can we live such happy lives knowing others are suffering?" Shining looked at the faces in the crowd and saw a few with their heads bowed down while others seemed to acknowledge his point of view.

"I read stories about The Knights of The Golden Sun when I was a colt, I read stories of them conquering armies of demons and thwarting evil lords as they defended the weak. Until a year ago, I didn't think you'd be real or have me as your leader so I ask you-No. I beg of you:will you help me reclaim my homeland?"

At first, there was no response, then Sergeant Quartz and his men stood before their commander and saluted followed by the citizens of Ashfeld, then came Marshall and Pommel with their glasses raised in respect. Shining was touched by the loyalty of his men and even began to shed tears or as he would call it: Liquid Pride.

"Thank you...thank you all!" The prince said with tears in his eyes as Sergeant Quartz began shouting orders.

"Men! Tonight, we eat and drink our fill! Tomorrow! WE MARCH TO WAR!!"

End.