"So what'd you think?" The ash brown Earth Pony mare asked. Her name was Wood Ash, and she was one of the blacksmiths that traveled with the army. She had come to me yesterday, claiming she had a brand new idea.

The mad mare had taken a ballistae and made it small enough to fit in ones hooves.

We were standing at one end of her forge, a captured Pegasoplian breastplate that had been too damaged to repair had been set up on the opposite side.

Wood Ash, in the previous moment, had taken her device, pulled the miniature ballistae's string back, loaded a rather short arrow with a nail for an arrow head, pointed it at the breastplate and pulled a hoof lever underneath the handle.

Phchunk!

The bolt had flew through the air faster than I could follow, its feathered end now protruding from the breastplate.

It had pierced right through.

She had then given it to me for inspection, which was when she had asked her question.

"Impressive." I admitted, testing the steel limbs of the miniature ballistae with a hoof. That was how she had replicated the tension of the normal wooden limbs. "Most impressive. I am however concerned about its effectiveness against a diving Pegasi. Can it be loaded before they're on top of the wielder?"

"It takes some getting used to I'll admit..." Wood Ash responded. "I think you'd be better off using it as a long range weapon, like a small siege engine you can carry around."

"Hm." I hummed, turning the thing over. "I could see that..." I admitted. "Alright, you may make a small amount of these weapons, as a sort of trial run. If it proves effective I'll have Gold Note give you more-"

I was interrupted by a shout from outside the forge.

"Stop! Spy! Thief!" exclaimed the voice.

A blur of storm grey feathers rustled past the doorframe.

Huh... I suppose that's one way to field test the weapon.

"No time like the present!" I exclaimed, grabbing a few of Wood Ash's special arrows from her workbench.

The poor ashen mare could barely protest before I was out of the door.

I pulled the string back on the miniature ballistae, feeling it snap into place as it rested against the release mechanism.

The ingenuity of Earth Ponies never ceases to amaze me.

I didn't nock one of the arrows yet, as the fleeing Pegasus had disrupted a whole crowd of Ponies as she weaved throughout the underground maze of rooms.

"Spy!" A stallion exclaimed, running past me after the flurry of feathers ahead.

I chased after.

The Pegasus, a mare by the looks of it, got into a brief scuffle with another of my soldiers. A wave of Ponies approached, ready to apprehend the offending Pony.

If she was a spy, or a raider I knew not yet.

I lost sight of the Pony as soldiers trapped her into a corner, with the weapons they kept at the ready in case this exact happenstance occurred.

It was then, between the legs and bodies of my soldiers, that I got my first good look at the mare.

Her dark grey coat was disheveled, as where her feathers. Her bright yellow eyes were wild, not unlike that of a cornered animal. She was entirely unarmored.

And all she carried was a small sack from her mouth.

"Surrender!" I called out. "You're outnumbered!"

The mare's eyes danced as she looked back and forth across the crowd that surrounded her.

She suddenly flapped her wings, diving beneath the unsuspecting crush of Pony soldiers.

Somehow, against all odds, the mare managed to zip around all the legs that were in her way, even brushing past me in the back as she flew towards the open door, and the dark grey light of a maturing evening.

I was close behind as the crowd of Ponies tried to sort out what happened.

The ongoing rain beat against the ground as I came above ground. Above, the grey Pegasus was making all haste towards Pegasopolis above.

Now was my chance.

The mare was quick, I'll give her that. It was no guarantee I would hit her with my magic. Especially if she saw my horn brighten from casting a spell.

But the miniture ballistae by my side didn't put off any glow.

I couldn't allow that mare to escape. Even the smallest morsel of food jeopardized the siege.

I nocked one of the arrows and aimed.

Nothing must reach the city.

I pressed the lever.

Phchunk!

Nothing.

The mare fell from the sky.

"Urk!" she grunted, muffled slightly by the distance she had already put between us.

I let the hoof ballistae fall limp in my grasp, coinciding with the mare plowing into the muddy ground by the shore.

The deed done, I approached the fallen mare as soldiers began to poke their heads out of the doorway behind me.

As I got closer, it was obvious she was still alive.

Her chest heaved up and down, impaled by the arrow. Her breath was ragged and desperate, doing all she could to cling to life.

But my aim had been true. Even if I were to rush the mare to a medicine Pony, she would not last the hour.

The arrow had pierced her heart.

"P-" she gasped as I drew close. "P-" she tried again. This time a gush of blood erupted from between her lips, staining her teeth. "P-Ple-" she tried to swallow. If it was instinctual I didn't know, but it did her no good. "P-Please..." she gasped finally. "M-M-My-" Her words weakened with every desperate breath. As I crouched next to the dying mare, I noticed one of her hooves reaching towards the sack she had dropped.

A few crumbs of crushed bread had spilled out and lay in the mud.

"M-My... S-S-S-" A desperate hoof clutched the sack. "S-Son..."

My heart sank.

This was no spy or soldier before me. A thief certainly, but one born out of desperation.

What spy spent their dying breath begging to give food to her son?

"I'm sorry." I stated. "It must be this way."

The words sounded hollow even to my ears.

I could try to find this poor mare's colt, but what guarantee did I have? I couldn't enter the city myself, and the trebuchet's boulders were merciless to anypony underneath them.

Yet there was something I could do for the mare.

I drew my sword.

"I'm sorry..." I repeated.

It was raining, but the water on my face was still warm.

"P-P-Please-" the mare rasped. An already dimming yellow eye glared up at me, wide and afraid.

"I'm sorry."

I plunged the sword down, silencing the mare for good.