This was the part I was most concerned about.

If Pegasopolis was able to escape, then everything we had already done here was for nothing. This fight would then devolve into a hopeless chase as we tried to keep Pegasopolis from restocking their stores.

That must not happen.

The Unicorns closest to me had already resumed firing.

I joined them.

FREEEEEEEEEM!

What remained of the trebuchet battery creaked behind me as they resumed their grim ritual.

Pegasopolis continued its quiet movement unabated.

All around the lake shore, the other sections must've noticed what I had as well, the sky was lit once more, as Unicorns poured as much magic into the cloud city as they dared.

Despite the lack of Pegasopolis returning fire in the form of more lightning, the Unicorn's onslaught was even more furious than before. Even further, the boulders that soared from the trebuchets added to the colossal amount of force. Now properly adjusted to the distance, the crews of the siege engines had no problems at all narrowing in on the city.

I took note of the fact no lightning was forthcoming.

Did the Pegasi lack the numbers to both shoot back and get the city to move?

What were they playing at?

The city continued to lurch across the sky.

"Give it everything you got!" I exclaimed, pouring even more effort into my spell.

Several Unicorns focused on where my spellfire impacted the city, making the clouds glow like an rough blade freshly removed from the forge.

I wished I knew how the city moved. If it was like the city's arms and mechanical in nature, then I could theoretically destroy it too.

But I didn't know.

An oversight on my part.

An oversight I intended to correct since roughly a third of my army was native to the city.

Pegasopolis didn't even slow down.

What could I do? Was there any Pegasi nearby to ask?

I glanced about, trying not to move my head as much as I could.

Actually... Where were they? I thought I saw at least a few nearby when this current mess started...

All I saw around me were Earth Ponies and Unicorns.

Where were-

A Pegasi in leather armor flew overhead like an arrow shot.

I had to stop firing to watch the Pony fly away. They were flying along the trench line, traveling along in the direction of Pegasopolis.

And the Pony wasn't alone.

It looked like every Pegasi we had had taken to the air, and flying ahead of the floating city.

W-What?!

What were they doing?!

It wasn't safe for them to be in the air!

What was-

A thought occurred to me.

A horrible, dreadful thought.

Was it possible, that every Pegasi that was in this 'Unified Army', was actually a spy for Pegasopolis?

Were they all betraying us?

But they weren't flying towards the city... They were flying ahead of it. Even as I watched, a vast swarm of the Pegasi had already gathered in the sky in front of the city.

What were they doing?

Were they waiting to rejoin Pegasopolis and not risk getting hit by the still oncoming boulders?

But if that was such a concern then surely they knew Unicorn magic was easier to turn right?

What were they doing?!

Several other Unicorns had stopped their assault and joined me in watching the Pegasi above.

Even as the the bombardment eased slightly, the Pegasi didn't move.

Just what were they doing?!

What could-

Pegasopolis had stopped.

I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

Pegasopolis had indeed stopped.

I couldn't believe it.

The city was nowhere near free from our trench line. They were still trapped! Why would they stop now?

Unless...

Unless they City wasn't stopping voluntarily...

I looked back at 'our' Pegasi.

I was... Missing something...

But what? What was I missing?

I squinted and held a hoof over my eyes.

The swarm of Pegasi hovered in place, but... They did so strangely.

I had seen Pegasi hover before, they usually did so while they were talking to ground bound Ponies. Their wings pumping in an easy beat.

But the distant Pegasi, were pumping their wings in strong, steady beats in time with each other.

It was then I realized what was happening.

Our Pegasi were blowing a wind against Pegasopolis.

Stopping it in its tracks.

A Pony somewhere cheered, and that caused a chain reaction of the whole lake shore erupting in cheers. I even joined in with a cheer. But even with everypony around me cheering, I didn't feel comfortable enough to do more. I didn't care however. I smiled as I turned and began walking back to the outcropping on the shore.

The timer until Pegasopolis fell had officially begun. And there was nothing the city could do about it.

Our Pegasi flew overhead once more as they returned to their posts. Ponies cheered as they passed by. It was uplifting, as I walked back to where I guess I was going to set up my command, seeing all the Ponies of different tribes cheering for each other.

The form of Captain Comet flew above me.

"Captain Comet!" I called out. He spotted me and zipped down.

"What can I help you with General?" he asked, hovering above the trench.

"We've actually got a few things to talk about." I stated, looking up at the stallion. "Can you find me in about an hour? I should be free by then."

"I can do that." he nodded.

"Thank you. See you then." I turned away and let the stallion continue on his business.

"I'll be there!" he called as he flew away.

I continued on my way, the protruding shore already in sight.

I really needed to give a name to that... I was tired of thinking of it as 'that particular part of the shore'.

I ducked into a bunker, as it connected to another part of the trench. As I walked through, I happened to notice a Pony sat on the floor.

"... Stygian?" I asked, suddenly realizing I recognized the colt.

Stygian looked up, looking haunted.

"G-General..." he stammered, performing a shaky salute.

"What happened? Why are you cowering in here on the floor?" I asked.

"I- I- I..." he began to sob. "I-It was so quick... The lightning... It just... She was just rethreading some rope in a trebuchet..."

Ah.

I sat down next to the colt.

"H-how do you do it?" he asked. "You're only a few years older than me... And you don't seem phased at all..."

I didn't need to wonder what 'it' was.

The irony of being on the opposing side of this very conversation was not lost on me.

Yet I was still wrestling with that very question myself.

How did I do it? I had already killed several Ponies in what I would consider a brutal manner. Choking out the Pegasus yesterday? Killing all of those Ponies in their sleep at Casúrdomhain? Hay, leaving that Unicorn in the stockade until he starved?

Hoarfrost?

I was a killer. Plain and simple.

Maybe Appleflower was right in that it was enough I had a reason to, stopping the Windegos and their Eternal Winter.

But that didn't mean my hooves were clean.

But Stygian was right about one thing. I was only a few years older than him. Barely a mare myself. Yet, I myself thought of him as a colt, as if I were an old mare.

"... Do you know how I killed my first Pony?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"I... No. No I don't." Stygian responded.

"My home village was one of those abandoned by the Unicornian Crown. We had two choices. Move or starve." I started. "I won't repeat the tragedy of the Hydra, I imagine everypony has heard about it by now... But when it was over and done with, there were only twelve of us left." I shifted where I sat. "We continued South, because what else were we to do? Until we came to the town of Ùllahdmaiden, which you've also probably heard of. A stallion by the name of Hoarfrost wanted to raid the village." I took a moment to preemptively calm myself down for the next part. "A vote was cast, as to who would be our new Reeve. Hoarfrost lost and my sister Tia won. But it split our group and Hoarfrost's group went their separate way." I left out the drama around Snow Step. It wasn't relevant to Stygian and added a whole new layer to this already delicate tale. "When the group that gathered around Tia, who wanted to barter with the Earth Ponies, approached the village, Hoarfrost appeared on a nearby hill and attacked the village by himself." I turned to see if the colt was paying attention.

He wasn't looking at me, but he appeared lost in my story.

"Ùllahdmaiden didn't take kindly to that. And almost ran all of us off. But as the Earth Ponies were charging, Tia started yelling at Hoarfrost. He didn't like that, and since he was still sore about losing the vote, wanted to teach Tia a lesson. He grabbed me, threatened to rape me and take me as his new wife."

Stygian inhaled sharply.

"I put my spear through his throat." I stated bluntly. "I was only nine."

"That's awful..." the colt gasped.

"In the end it wasn't so bad." I admitted. "Ùllahdmaiden took us in, I got an apprenticeship at the blacksmith, and the remaining six of us had lives again. But do I regret killing the stallion? Not in the slightest."

The thought of being a 'wife' to that Pony was abhorrent to say the least.

"But at the same time... I need to be careful." I looked up to watch several Ponies pass by. "Sometimes I see his face on Ponies. And I know what they tried. It was like that for that Pony I threw into the stocks at Casúrdomhain. The one that beat that poor kitchen colt."

"T-The one whose horn you-" Stygian stuttered.

"Yes." I nodded. "I wasn't striking that Pony in that moment, I was striking Hoarfrost. Even though he's been dead for seven years now." I admitted. "Which I guess is another way I handle what I do. I may have been aiming for Hoarfrost, but I stopped that Pony from doing the same thing to that colt or at least to another Pony. And that's how I know that I'm doing something good. If, for nothing else, I had done it to protect the colt, then I'm doing it to protect that colt. The same thing can be said here at Pegasopolis." I nodded around. "I'm at the very least here to stop Eternal Winter at the hooves of the Windegos. If we fail here, there will be no more Summers, and we all starve. I guess that's how I 'do it'. I'm trying to protect everypony, even those who I'm fighting against."

"I... I guess that makes sense..." Stygian sighed.

"Hey, you don't have to fight if you don't want to. At the end of the day, we're fighting so more Ponies can be like you." I encouraged.

"I- Thank you General. You've given me a lot to think about." the colt nodded.

"Anytime Stygian." I pushed myself up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got Ponies to protect."

Next Chapter: Chapter 110 The Memories Part 69 Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 26 Minutes