It had been several months since The Knights of The Golden Sun departed from Ashfeld. After arriving near the western borders of Equestria they noticed something was amiss. The outpost stationed there had been ransacked and the guards had been dead for a while as the smell of their rotting corpses began to attract flies, some of which were hung by rope at the main entrance. Only one survivor remained huddled in a darkened corner of the burnt stronghold quivering like a foal as he tried to hide himself from the knights approaching him.

"S-stay back! I'm warning you!!"

The guard threatened them with a broken sword that shook in his trembling hands before both knights dragged him out kicking and screaming to Sanguine Quartz.

"Looks like he's the only survivor sir." Said one of the knights as Quartz handed him his poleaxe.

"No, he didn't survive." The sergeant replied as he kneeled down to see the terror in the prisoners eyes.

"Whoever did this left him alive as a messenger."

The prisoner was a traitor from the canterlot royal guard, his body was partially blackened by the smoke and from the looks of his complexion, he had not slept in days.

"What happened here?" Quartz asked when the prisoners head jerked up and looked him straight in the eye still filled with terror.

"T-The Warborn..." The stallion whispered in fear.

"The Warborn came during the night...they slaughtered the guards and killed the prisoners!"

His breathing became more frantic as he began to recall the horrors he had witnessed that night.

Two Nights Ago

The border guards had begun a feast that night as a way to kill time and get drunk while a few others remained posted on the walls. The attack began when the first watchmen heard a strange noise and peered out into the darkness only to find nothing, the second time he heard the noise, it was nearest to the wall where he peeked over only to be impaled by a spear straight into his throat preventing any screaming.

The other guardsmen met a similar fate as hands began to reach out from the shadows, slicing their throats open one by one until the entire fortress was left defenseless. The ones responsible for these murderous acts were none other than Wulfric and Applejack along with a few warborn raiders who volunteered to help sneak into the fortress.

"Applejack. The mead hall." Wulfric whispered before heading to the gate controls. Applejack snuck her way towards the mead hall where she could hear the sounds of the Stonehooves and stallions feasting and set a tripwire on the two braziers near the gate before heading towards the prison cells where another group of female slaves were held captive.

"Shh it's alright. We're here to rescue you." The farm mare whispered while picing the locks open with a dagger and guiding the prisoners toward the exit. The plan seemed to be going smoothly until one guard who had been asleep spotted the escapees and quickly sounded the alarm.

"Shit!" Wulfric cursed as he began to crank the gates open faster.

The guards who had been feasting heard the horn call and quickly rushed outside to stop the fleeing prisoners only to be set ablaze by Applejacks trap, the ones caught in the fire began screaming and running around frantically setting the hall aflame and trapping most of the other guards while some managed to escape through the windows.

"WARBORN!!" The young chieftain cried out at the top of his lungs with his axe raised high in the air and just like before, the entire fortress was turned into a bloodbath. Many Stonehooves and royal guards fell to the blades of the warborn that night, only the officers in charge of the outpost were left to be executed in the most brutal manner their captors could think of. The first of them was brought before the chieftain as they had finished castrating and beheading all of the surviving soldiers.

"No! Please, no!!" The first officer shrieked as he was forced on his knees before Wulfric.

"Please? No?" The chieftain mocked the prisoners cries for mercy before kicking him into the mud.

"How many women said that as you raped them? How many wives, daughters and sisters cried for mercy while you ravaged them like a beast?!?"

Without a second thought, Wulfric began furiously stomping on the officers crotch until it splattered beneath his boot as he wailed in agony. The torture continued as the officer was brought up to the gate where a noose was placed around his neck.

"No please..." The captive whispered in fear as he looked down to the field of corpses.

"Watch the first step." Wulfric replied coldly as he shoved the officer off the ledge to be suffocated by the noose while his clan cheered triumphantly. Through the night, the executions continued until only one officer was left but instead of executing him, Wulfric had another idea.

"I want you to remember what happened here tonight." The young chieftain looked at the frightened prisoners face.

"And I want you to relay a message to that king of yours. Tell him: These lands are now under the protection of The Warborn."

The guard was able to tell the sergeant every gruesome detail of the events that transpired that night but before the knights could ask him any further questions, he began shrieking like a mad person and ran through the crowd.

"After him!!" Shining Armor shouted as Marshall and Pommel gave chase, their pursuit ended up being a short one as the escapee suddenly threw himself on a broken spear. The fear and trauma had driven him to suicide.

"Sweet Celestia..." Said Pommel completely shocked by what she just witnessed. For a while, the knights just stood there completely baffled by the carnage until their sergeant gave an order.

"Pile the bodies and burn them." Quartz ordered, having had enough of the stench beign given off by the corpses. The knights immediately went to work while he and Shining Armor searched for signs of any other survivors but all they found were bloodstained walls and severed limbs.

"And I thought the Stonehooves were animals." Shining Armor said to himself when he noticed a light coming from the room down the hall and in that room was an entire hoard of gold, jewels and treasure all ripe for the taking.

"Well this oughtta make the men happy." Quartz chuckled slightly while picking up a large ruby but Shining Armor just stood there somewhat confused.

"This makes no sense. Why sack a fortress if not to get its treasure?" Shining asked while taking a handful of coins then dropping them back down.

"Perhaps they didn't have the time to haul it out." Quartz replied when one of the knights urged him to come see something.

The commanders returned to the battlefield amd found one of their men holding a banner with a strange symbol; Two black crows crossed over what looked to be some kind of sword that was painted red. Perhaps this was the symbol of these warborn mentioned by the royal guard.

"We also found these sir." A second soldier held up a pair of shackles that had been unlocked.

"Seems that these Warborn raided this place to free the slaves."

"Hmm...I did hear rumors of such rebels during our journey here." Marshall said aloud while helping with the last of the bodies.

"Rebels? What do you mean?" Pommel asked.

"It seems that not all the caribou tribes agreed to join Dainn on his conquest, some of them actually resisted but ended up getting killed."

"Then Dainn Stonehoof truly is a monster." Quartz stated before ordering his men to hang the banner at the gates as a sign of respect for The Warborn.

Because of the damage done to the fortress amd the lack of resources to repair it, the knights marched on until sunset and rested on the edge of a nearby river. A small camp was set up with two bonfires in the center to help combat the cold night with smaller campfires dotted around the tents to help cook meals for the troops who were quite famished from the long journey from Ashfeld.

"Come and get it!" A soldier called out while banging the lid of his stew pot and began serving the troops a hot bowl of soup and some bread.

"Yes! Finally, a hot meal!" One of the troops cried out before joining his comrades for dinner as they began to feast while their commanders plotted their route through the kingdom knowing that word of their crossing would soon reach Dainn's ears. Planning this invasion course were Shining Armor and Sanguine Quartz.

"We'll take this road here and if our luck holds we can avoid any unecessary battles." Said Quartz while crossing his arms.

"Sounds like a plan to me but what if we run into refugees or civilians?" Shining Armor inquired.

"Then we'll just have to try and avoid any collateral damage."

The commanders wrapped up their meeting and joined their soldiers around the bonfire before turning in for the rest of the night.

The Next Day

By the time the sun rose the next morning, the army was in full march and headed towards Canterlot. The morning sun was bright and warm followed by a gentle breeze blowing from the east making this a perfect morning to march, that was until the soldiers noticed a large smoke stack just up the road. After bringing the army to a halt, Shining Armor called for Marshall to help investigate.

"Marshall, with me!"

The two knights ran ahead of the army and spotted a small outpost under siege by what appeared to be bandits.

"Sir. You might wanna look at this." Said Marshall as he handed his commander a spyglass. What Shining Armor saw completely surprised him, the outpost was under attack by another group of caribou and a small army of changelings.

"What in the name of Celestia?" The commander said aloud as he focused on a single changeling taking out a group of heavily armed royal guards.

"Marshall. Take Pommel and a few of your best men, I wanna know what's going on over there."

"As you command, sir!"

The Outpost

The stonehooves and royal guards were completely overwhelmed by the changelings and raiders laying siege to their fort as their defenses were completely overruned and their soldiers were butchered like lambs in a slaughterhouse. The commander in charge of this outpost could do nothing but watch in terror from the safety of his tower while his men cried out in agony on the battlefield below.

"Take care not to kill any prisoners!" A young stag shouted after dispatching another royal guard when he heard a horn call coming from the outposts rear gate.

"Wulfric!" A raider shouted, running throught the battle and nearly out of breath.

"A group of knights are coming this way."

"Enemy reinforcements?"

"Not sure."

At that moment, the rear gates began to open as the enemy started to regroup but instead of receiving help, the slavers were greeted by the edge of a longsword and the blunt edge of a flail.

"It's the knights of the golden sun!!" A caribou shouted before being cut down by Marshalls blade. Within moments, the remaining forces of the outpost were dealt with while their commander leaped to his death knowing the tortures that awaited him should he be captured.

Both Marshall and Wulfric stood just feet away from each other amongst the corpses of the slavers with both weapons at the ready but instead of fighting, the two took this moment to examine one another.

"You're not royal guards." Said Wulfric lowering his axe as Marshall laid down his sword replying.

"And you're not Stonehooves."

"Hm...it would seem we are on the same side."

Both warriors greeted each other with a firm handshake before ordering their troops to help pile the corpses.

"I am Marshall of The Knights of The Golden Sun." The warden introduced himself while placing a hand over his breastplate.

"And I am Wulfric, Chieftain of The Warborn Clan." The chieftain responded while looking Marshall in the eye before asking why they joined in on their battle.

"My commander saw what was going on and sent us to investigate." Marshall answered while noticing some of Wulfrics warriors were female and Equestrians.

"Is that so?" Wulfric replied while scratching his chin.

"I want to meet with him."

"Hm...I'll see what I can do." Marshall was still unsure about Wulfrics intentions and was not sure what to make of him since they had just met but this seemed like a good opportunity to gain what knowledge the warborn had about the enemy and possibly form an alliance with them. When Marshall told Shining Armor of the meeting request, his commander agreed on the condition that Wulfric come alone, unarmed and that the meeting would take place in their camp. Wulfric agreed to the terms.

That evening, Shining Armor and Wulfric met in the center of his camp as agreed with the chieftain came unarmed and with no escort. The knights of course felt uneasy about this sudden meeting since Wulfric was a caribou. The leaders sat down on opposite ends of the campfire while examining one another before beginning the meeting.

"So you are the one they call Shining Armor. I was told you are a prince." Said Wulfric while rubbing his hands near the fire.

"And you must be the one they call Wulfric." Shining replied while slouching forward ever so slightly and asked why Wulfric called for this meeting.

"I came to let you know that we are not your enemy." The chieftain declared while pointing a finger to the prince.

"We seek the same thing Shining Armor: The death of Dainn Stonehoof. We can help each other."

"And how do I know you and your changelings won't turn on us the first chance you get?" The prince replied while looking at Wulfric for a straight answer.

"If I wanted to go to war with you, I would've killed your men the other day." Wulfric responded with an offended look upon him.

"The Warborn look after their own, both strong and weak. We are nothing like the Stonehooves."

Shining Armor looked at the caribou standing across him and still didn't know what to make of him but seeing as this was a war he couldn't afford to lose, he decided to test Wulfrics loyalty.

"There's a fortress just up the road that was built on a river. We'll need that place taken for a command base if we are to gain a foothold in this war."

"Very well. Consider it taken." Wulfric responded more quickly than Shining Armor anticipated and returned to his camp but not before the prince gave him a clear warning.

"Don't make me regret this Wulfric or you will...."

End.