I woke up on the morning of the sixth day to welcome news.

I climbed out of my tent and stretched in the open. Grunting as I managed to crack my hip.

"Ah..." I sighed as the tension in my pelvis disappeared.

The camp was busy as it had been for the past week. The Ponies were well practiced by now with how I wanted the camp to be operated and settled back into the routine we had established under Pegasopolis easily.

The only difference was the camp was still clean, and mercifully dry.

Or at least I certainly didn't miss the rain.

Another improvement I noticed, and it wasn't because of anything we did, was my morning patrol was now much shorter. Now that I didn't have to walk around a whole lake, my patrol only took ten minutes to complete, leaving me so much more time to see to other things.

And today I was going to use that time.

While on my patrol, I was extremely pleased with the state of the distant Unicornia.

Even when nothing was hitting the shield, it was wobbling dangerously. I wouldn't have been surprised if it fell before noon. Maybe within the day at the very most.

The time to strike was imminent.

"Captain Magnus!" I called out, the first Captain I had seen this morning.

The stallion had been watching the trebuchets, occasionally looking towards the city to see the rock bounce off the failing shield.

"General!" he cried when he looked to see who was calling his name.

"Anything new to report?" I asked, cantering up to the crate on which he sat.

"Well, as you can see;" he pointed towards the city. "That shields about to pop."

"How long has it been like that?"

"About an hour or so." he nodded.

"Excellent. Have you started getting your forces ready for a counter attack?" I asked.

"I have not General. I wasn't sure if you wanted to draw this out like you did Pegasopolis." He slide off the crate to stand on the ground.

"Do so. We don't have the luxury of waiting here." I replied.

I didn't fault the stallion for thinking of the possibility. He had after all experienced its effectiveness first hoof. But Winter was coming, and I had used up much of the supplies from Casúrdomhain. Even back then, we outnumbered the Earthbreaker Order, so we burned through their years long supply of food quickly.

"Yes Ma'am." he nodded before taking to the air and flying away.

Now I needed to find a few other Ponies. Appleflower and Bright Shine.

I hummed quietly to myself as I started to walk amongst the tents.

I knew both of them would be up by now, and that they would stay near the front. All I had to do was systematically search every row of tents.

I found Appleflower walking amongst her aspirants as they donned looted scraps of Earthbreaker armor.

"Ah Luna!" she called, as she had seen me first.

"Appleflower!" I greeted as I trotted forward. "Just the Pony I wanted to talk to!"

Appleflower was sitting on the ground, her good front leg pawing at the dirt.

"Am I to expect it's because o' that?" the giant mare gestured towards the city and its failing shield.

"Indeed." I nodded. "I wanted to make sure your recruits are ready to counter attack."

"Thought so." Appleflower nodded in return. "Don't you worry General, we'll be ready when that shield comes down."

Something... About the way she said that felt off...

"'We'?" I asked.

"Course! Didja think I was gonna wait here and let the greenhorns take the glory?" she asked.

"B- But Appleflower." I stammered, momentarily losing my calm.

She was NOT supposed to be coming with.

"Your legs..." I said quietly.

The giant snorted in response.

"Don't you worry about me none. I ken take care o' myself." She said gruffly. I was about to reply when she held up her good hoof to stop me. "'Sides. I ain't lookin' to grow old like this." She waved the metal prosthetic slightly, causing it to clank. "Ya don't understand having this little Lu. I ain't able ta do what I could jus' a year ago. An' I figure this'll be my last chance for one last hoorah 'fore I can't no more."

I swallowed the lump that developed in my throat.

"Appleflower." I said quietly. "If that's the way you feel, I won't stop you. But a wise Pony once told me that there's more to life than seeking death. And I don't think she'd be so keen to see you go."

Appleflower snorted in amusement.

"Really? Using my own words against me?" she chuckled.

"Is that wise Pony wrong?" I rebutted.

"Tell you what Luna." Appleflower put a hoof on my shoulder. "I'll go. But I'll do my damnedest to come back in one piece. And when I do, I swear to ya I'll take off my armor fer good."

"A lot can go wrong in a fight."

"Aye. That it can." the giant nodded. "But I'm the second hardest mare I know. I'm confident I'll be alright."

"Only the second? Who's the first?" I asked.

"You." she chortled. "Never in a thousand years did I think Casúrdomhain or Pegasopolis was going to fall. Much less both in the same year, to the same mare. The same mare, might I add, who's looking to add the third an' final notch to her belt to complete the collection." she nodded back towards Unicornia. "The same mare who fought a Hydra as a filly and bucking won." She shook her head, as if unable to beleive the words coming from her mouth. "No matter what happens to me, or to you fer that matter, I'm proud of you Luna. I'm proud to call you both my friend, and my General." She beamed at me, tears running from the corners of her eyes.

I... What could I say? What could I possibly say to my suddenly emotional friend?

"I-" I tried to speak, but couldn't find the words. "I- Don't know what to say..." I admitted.

Her tears nor her smile disappeared.

"Then don't say anything." She beamed. "Let's both come back and celebrate your victory."

"Our victory." I corrected. "I'd have never accomplished so much on my own."

"Aye, maybe. But it's gonna be your name who Ponies will remember." She smiled one last time before wiping her eyes dry. "But that's enough o' that. We both got things ta do ta get ta that victory feast."

I suddenly felt hit with how to respond.

"Then before I go, know I couldn't have had a better mentor Appleflower. You taught me how to properly fight, and have given me the wisest words I know. And I will never forget that. Thank you."

Moon Mark be damned. I reached over and gave her a hug.

I felt her good hoof press against my back as she returned the hug.

It was only a momentary thing, but it felt like hours before she let go and gently pushed me away.

"Off you go now. Go on git. I ain't got time to foalsit little fillies." she mock angrily stated.

"An' I ain't got time for stubborn ol' mares the likes of you!" I replied cheekily, mimicking her accent.

"Bwhahahahahhahaha!" the giant full belly laughed. "Oh you're still a right scamp you are!" she continued to chortle, wiping her tears again. "But seriously, go on git. We both got jobs ta do."

I had to bite back the retort of 'Since when were you General?' Because... She was right. But that didn't mean I couldn't mess with her a bit more.

"By your leave then Captain." I bowed slightly, earning a snort for my efforts. But Appleflower gave no further rebuttal, letting me turn and walk away with the reward of a wry grin on my face.

That stubborn old insubordinate mare was right. There was more to life than seeking death.

I just hoped said stubborn old insubordinate mare got the chance to live that life when all was said and done.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. As much as I didn't want them to go away, I wouldn't be able to act on them if I wasn't focused on the task before me.

"General Luna!" called a voice off to my left.

Who-?

I turned to see Stygian cantering towards me.

"Oh! Stygian! Good morning!" I greeted.

"Good morning General... I um... I have a favor I'd like to ask of you." he stated.

What? By the stars what was this? Stygian had never been comfortable around me before. What could he possibly want from me now?

Unless...

Was this a trap of some sort?

Stygian was after all a Unicorn whose past I knew little about. And here we stood, before the gates of Unicornia itself. Was the colt actually a spy? He may have proven helpful during Pegasopolis, but until I knew more I could not give him the same amount of trust as I did then.

"Oh? And what might that be?" I asked, taking effort to remain neutral and not betray any of my inner thoughts.

"So um... I was thinking about what you told me... When you found me in that dugout under Pegasopolis..."

What was he playing at?

"I remember." I nodded thoughtfully.

"So I was thinking... I want to do more to help than just being a servant... But I don't want to fight. So... I was hoping if you'd allow me to be your standard bearer..." he sheepishly admitted.

Oh.

Could he do something harmful while doing that? A flag staff was only a sharpened point away from being a spear after all... But I trusted a lot of Ponies with weapons whom I didn't personally know all the time. It came with the territory of commanding an entire army after all. So where would being a standard bearer put him? Next to me? Did that mean he was looking to be an assassin? But why now? He had plenty of opportunity to poison me at Pegasopolis...

Did that mean he was being honest?

I needed more information...

"Disregarding your employment under Gold Note for a second, what do you expect to do as a standard bearer if I said yes?" I asked.

"Well... Um..." He nervously started. "I suppose I'd be following you while carrying your banner."

While I wasn't entirely against the idea of having a legitimate standard bearer, I just wasn't certain I would chose Stygian.

"Just so we're clear, you do understand that would mean following me as I fight right? I don't want to say yes and put you in harms way if you don't expect it."

What I was saying was technically true. Even if I could trust him, Stygian wasn't... Stygian was an innocent colt. He had been scarred enough by being under fire from Pegasopolis. I didn't want to put him in harms way anymore than I had to. And I didn't want to delude him or myself, being in a melee would be much more horrifying than being shot at with lightning.

"Yes I've thought about it." Stygian nodded. "But I keep coming back to our conversation, about keeping innocent lives safe." he put a hoof to his chest. "While I haven't killed anypony before, I've seen war. Would it not be better then to take the standard myself and spare another colt or filly from seeing that?"

Oh Stygian you naive fool. You've been under fire yes, but you've only seen the aftermath of a grand melee.

"Stygian." I calmly said. "Being in the thick of the fighting isn't the same as being shot at." I shook my head. "If you do come, not only can I not guarantee your safety, but somepony will try to kill you. And if you aren't prepared to defend yourself they will succeed."

"Yes. I understand." Stygian nodded. "But somepony's got to do it, especially if we really want to be a United Tribe. So it might as well be me."

I didn't like his reasoning... But I couldn't fault it.

"... Alright fine. You can go get yourself some armor and a pike to tie a banner to. But I want you to understand, I tried to warn you."

Stygian swallowed.

"Y-Yes I understand."

Oh why did you have to say that?

"Then off you go. Be by my side within the hour. That shield's about to go down and I want to be one of the first inside the city when it does."

"Yes General." he did his customary bow and went off to perform his task.

Oh what had I just done?

I was already regret-

"What the?" I asked myself as I saw something concerning out of the corner of my eye. "Tia?"

The familiar form of my sister was standing outside one of the tents. But said form was covered head to hoof in armor. She looked to be having breakfast, but her eyes were locked on the distant City of Unicornia, glaring daggers.

"Tia?" I asked again.

Tia seemed to snap out of a trance, looking around before her eyes settled on me.

"Oh! Lu! Sorry I wasn't paying attention... Do you need my help?" she asked.

"Uh... Actually, I think I need to be asking that of you Tia. Are you alright?" I asked in turn.

"Oh! Never better actually!" she grinned, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Something... About her wasn't quite right.

"Uh... Huh." I said slowly. "Then could I ask you why you're wearing armor?"

I didn't want Tia anywhere near that city. I dreaded the thought of Appleflower or Smart Cookie or Clover or Pansy already being in there when the fighting started.

But I didn't know what I'd do with myself if anything happened to Tia.

And unlike the rest of my friends, Tia had a much more important role than even I had.

"Oh I'm going to join you during the counter attack!" Tia happily stated.

"No you're not Tia." I stated firmly.

The look that fell onto Tia's face broke my heart.

"What?! Why?!" she cried. "Shouldn't I be able to contribute to uniting the last of the tribes?"

"You're not going." I put my hoof down. "First off, you are much too valuable to be put on the front line. The tribes are following you. Even if we win, but you do not make it back, our efforts are going to be wasted."

"You're exaggerating." Tia dismissed. "Why couldn't you do it? Or anypony else for that matter?"

"Am I?" I retorted. "The only reason I'm here fighting this war is because I'm good with the sword, and because you told me to fight it. None of which are good leadership qualities."

"The Ponies respect you because you killed two of the Windegos! You could lead if anything happened to me!"

"What if something were to happen to me as well? We are only two Ponies amongst thousands." I insisted. "As much as I don't like it, it is very likely at least two Ponies are going to die when the fighting starts. And even if I were to be the survivor, I am the worst candidate. You know as well as I do I have no patience for Ponies and their absurdities. The army doesn't obey me because they like me, they follow because I keep winning." I pointed at Tia. "Ponies on the otherhoof actually like you. When this war is over they'll be much more willing to listen to you than they would me." I let my hoof drop back down. "So as your designated General, I'm putting my hoof down. You. Are. Not. Going."

Tia looked heartbroken.

But it was nowhere near what I was feeling.

I wanted so badly to let Tia do what she wanted. I owed her that much at least. But at the same time, I had to protect her as much as I could. What good would it do if I allowed her to come to harm? I'd never forgive myself.

So I had to make the hard choice.

Tia was to stay behind.

"Alright Luna." Tia finally stated calmly.

Even with my Moon Mark I knew she was upset as she took off her helmet and turned away, walking away without looking back.

I felt awful.

But at the same time, I knew I was right.

Tia was the one Ponies would listen to when the fighting was over and done. Tia was the one who could handle leading these Ponies when there wasn't a crisis. Tia was the one who needed to live.

I just wish it didn't hurt so much.

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