Casúrdomhain rose off its dark mountain like a warhammer held aloft. The basalt stone walls foreboding and gleaming in the bright afternoon sun. Rank on rank of Earthponies garbed in whole plates of inches thick steel, stood before the moat of the outer wall.

They knew we were coming.

The 'United Army' had taken the position just behind an opposite ridge, keeping out of sight.

I held a hoof over my brow, keeping the beating Sun out of my eyes. My captains and I lay on the ridge's crest, examining the Earthbreaker's formation.

Rather than fight unarmed like Appleblossom, these massed Earthbreakers were armed to the teeth. Shields and spears up standing in the front lines. Behind them, were all sorts of weapons, great swords and axes; Warhammers and maces, arranged neatly in patterns in the formation, making a sort of image with their ranks.

"Ain't no enemy or beastie that has ever scaled her walls." Appleflower said proudly.

She had been an Earthbreaker once.

I frowned at the thought that she was a potential spy.

"I can see why." I admitted, chewing my lip. Casúrdomhain was every bit of unassailable fortress as the stories said, perhaps even more so. Not only was it a stupid idea to charge at the Earthbreaker Knights as they stood before their mighty basalt walls, but their keep was a nightmare to assault. Ballistae, and onager were set evenly on the wide strong points, covering the whole sky, and the ways up to approach the gate itself. Embankments of trebuchet stood on the keep itself, ready to assist with long range bombardments.

Additionally, the moat itself would’ve been a chore to cross. Both wide and deep, with the exception of the bulky bridge before the only gate, its floor was littered with sharp dragonteeth traps, charred and littered with chips of crushed bone.

The whole fortress was a deathtrap for any invading force.

And I was the next fool who would try.

"If we didn't need those supplies, I would probably try for attrition..." I commented. "Although that would also take forever."

I paused, going over my original plan.

With those knights out in the open, surely they would have to sleep sometime right? Or at least, they wouldn't be so foolish to sleep outside their own walls would they?

"Make camp behind this ridge, I want a watch going all day and night. If anything vaguely Pony shaped moves from that keep I want to know about it." I ordered, crawling back from the ridge crest. "And somepony get me a white flag, I'd rather have them with us than against us."

"Are you going alone?" Smart Cookie asked, taking one such flag from her vest and holding it out for me.

"Thank you... I suppose it would be a good idea... But I'm not sure who I'd take." I thought.

"You personally are going?" Clover asked. "Why not send a representative?"

I thought it over.

"No, I'll go. I at least owe them the honor of asking for their surrender personally." I responded.

"Then ah'll come with you." Appleflower volunteered. "They'd respect ya more if a fellow Earthshaker was by yer side."

Or so you could send a secret message somehow...

"No Appleflower, with your maimed legs you wouldn't be able to run away if things went wrong." I reasoned.

Whew.

I hated not trusting the giant mare, but these were her compatriots! I didn't know who truly held her loyalty.

"I'll come." Smart Cookie offered. "I can still run, and they'll trust ya more if an Earth Pony came with you."

But you're the one who I'd be least likely to catch if you did try to slip a message...

No Luna, stop. You're being paranoid. She's right on both accounts. Additionally, she was one of Puddinghead's staff. Not the Earthbreakers. If you must take an Earth Pony to gain the Earthbreakers' trust, then she is the one you trust the most.

"I'll be glad to have you." I nodded.

"Shall we then?" she asked, holding out an elbow.

"Wait!" Pansy exclaimed suddenly, prancing up to us. "This is the army of the Unified tribe right? Then shouldn't one of all three tribes go?"

"Are you volunteering?" I asked.

She's right... One of all tribes should go, at least to send a message. But is Pansy the one I'd rather take? Wouldn't she look, y'know, weak?

Or would that be a good thing?

Gah! I hated thinking of my friends like this!

"Do you have anypony else in mind?" Pansy asked.

"Not if you want to come." I dipped my head.

"I guess I'd be less likely to act aggressive..." Pansy admitted.

Well... If she admitted it...

"Alright, you can come."

"Oh thank you! I never got to do something important with Pegasopolis!"

Me and my big dumb mouth.

"Alright then, anymore ideas or objections?" I asked, looking to the crowd of Ponies I had entrusted to handle the smaller issues in the army. "No? Alright then." I walked over the ridge crest and down the other side.

Pansy and Cookie followed.

It was about a mile walk between the ridge and the fortress. A mile spent in silence as all three of us prepared ourselves for the meeting we were requesting.

I held the white flag high above my head.

By the fortress wall, a pair of heavily armored Ponies split from the ranks, walking towards us.

The half way point we stopped at differed little from the land around it, dry and arid. The pair of Ponies drew closer, both of them wore red crests on their helmet, but only one wore a flowing red cloak.

They looked to be the picture of Knighthood.

"Hail and well met, Knights of the Earthbreaker Order. To whom am I speaking?" I called out respectfully.

The one in the cloak regarded me.

"I am known as Lord Ashwood." a stallion's voice reverberated from the helmet. "And this is Dame Flint Strike." The crested pony, who stood slightly behind the stallion, nodded respectfully. "We have come to accept your surrender."

"Why would I surrender?" I asked. "What a waste of my time would it be to come all this way, just to lay my sword at your hooves?"

"Surely you don't mean-" the giant Pony rumbled.

"I do." I nodded. "Surrender, and not one Pony need die today."

"... By what name are you known, little Unicorn?" the stallion asked.

"I am General Luna Hydrabane, and these are my compatriots. Miss Smart Cookie, and Private Pansy." I gestured to both.

"Pleased to metcha." Smart Cookie nodded respectfully.

"H-Hello." Pansy stuttered, nervously shaking.

Alright, for her own sake, no more adventures. Poor mare looks like her heart is about to give out.

"Smart Cookie..?" Lord Ashwood hummed. "You are the secretary of Chancellor Puddinghead."

"I am." Cookie confirmed.

"Then you are a traitor to your kin." the giant Pony growled.

Cookie's expression hardened.

"I ain't a traitor to nopony." she replied.

"Why else would you be with the Unicorn, and one of Pegasopolis' worst?" Ashwood asked.

Cookie looked like she was about to respond, by punching the stallion in his face, but I stopped her by holding a hoof out in front of her.

"Do you surrender on behalf of Casúrdomhain?" I asked, stopping this brawl before it even started.

"I do not." Ashwood shook his head.

"Then this conversation is over." I turned around, leaving my back totally open to the pair. "Come on Pansy, Cookie. We have things to attend to." I pulled on Cookie's shoulder, before she turned and tried to out muscle the mountain of a Pony.

"Luna! Aren't ya gonna-" she began.

"We got what we came for." I said in a low voice, pulling her along before she started a fight she couldn't win.

It was a long walk back.

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