Nathaniel sat hunched down and looked over the small campfire. The rain hitting his face made the human sigh, the storm having been going on for two days. The rain had made fires almost impossible at first, the human finally giving up with rolling a stick back and forwards and just using Pusilli Ignis. The small flame the spoken spell created was not large enough to light a log on fire, so the man grabbed some dry birch bark and put it below the wet wood. After many attempts the fire finally started to spread underneath the wood and Nate could now cook his meal.

The Lunar Guardian had followed Rose and Osiris into the woods along with the six-hundred soldiers preparing himself for war. Yet when they had started to get deeper into the Everfree after just two days of walking had the Sanguine ordered them all to stop. Their base of operations would be a few miles away from Everfree castle, or what was left of it anyway. The soldiers had all made their own tents and larger campfires around the clearings. Stew and other such things were being served to them while the Guardian was cooking his own meal further away from the soldiers.

The man had set up his own tent and campfire the same second they all got there. The soldiers had noticed how easily the human had made sure that no beasts had their nests near. They had also noticed the wolf always following him running around like crazy. Apparently the wild animal liked the forest more than a castle, who knew. The stallions and mares clad in brown and dark armor still found the hound's display of happiness amusing however, the warriors warming up to Blaze's presence.

Nathan had gone hunting the same second Rose and Osiris was sure that they had all they needed. The man had left the sword, grimoire, war-hammer and cloak behind. Osiris had stopped him before he headed out, giving Nathaniel a sturdy looking knife with a handle made from some kind of animal horn. The scout wanted him well prepared and therefore gave the human a knife that could cut through most animal hides. The young man was touched by the gesture and thanked the stallion before heading out into the woods.

For hours Nathaniel just followed trails left by wild animals. Blaze tagged along and helped his owner by barking whenever he found a fresh animal track. The wolf happily walked by the human's side as Nate let an arrow rest on the glowing bowstring. The bow hummed with magic when he touched it, the black haired man recognizing Luna's magic signature. The first prey he and Blaze came across during their hunt was a rabbit, a small brown thing sniffing the ground a few meters away from them.

The teen had slowly pulled the bowstring back, felt the humming of the bow, felt how his breath grew calm and then he released the arrow at its intended target. The projectile made from white wood hit the ground next to the rabbit and the small creature fled into a bush before Blaze could give chase. The wolf gave Nathan an unimpressed look at the failed shot and the young man rolled his eyes.

"I haven't used one of these in a few months ok?" Nathaniel said with a groan and the wolf snickered at him.

The pair kept stalking the woods until they came across another rabbit. This one was much larger and seemed to be more cautious of its surroundings. This time when Nate pulled back the bowstring he made sure to focus on the rabbit a bit more, allowing himself to feel calm for a few seconds. When Nathaniel felt like he was ready the man allowed the arrow to sail through the air, now noticing a soft blue glowing trail following it. The arrow buried itself into the rabbit's neck before it could react, killing it quickly.

With their first prey secured the man went to work with the knife gifted to him by Osiris. It was peaceful doing some hunting again, allowing him to pretend that he still lived alone with Blaze, that he wasn't in a war. Nathan's thoughts drifted to his friends and shook his head. It didn't matter if a life alone in the woods had been more peaceful. Nathaniel had duties now, duties he would not fail. The man squeezed the Moon Pendant around his neck with his clean hand just to remind himself why he was back in the Everfree. He was no longer a kid happy to avoid others, he was a soldier now.

When the rabbit had been skinned properly Nathaniel tossed what parts of the meat he couldn't use to Blaze, the wolf happily catching the pieces mid air. With a few more hours of work the human manged to bring back a few rodents and a few rabbits. With the meat could he and Rose have dinner with the rest of the soldiers. Not that the man found the warriors' company pleasant. They kept reminding him of the coming fights.

So now the man just sat by his campfire after returning from his hunt, the sun going down and the moon on the way up. The rabbits tasted good and Rose happily sat down to have some of the meat with the human, Osiris later joining them with liquor and cards. The human saw the bottle of Liquid Courage and groaned, much to the amusement of his two friends.

"What is it kid? I thought you loved this stuff?" Osiris grinned and handed Rose a glass which she downed in a matter of seconds.

"As much as I like it, I don't like the headache it brings the morning after" The man deadpanned and the Sanguine mare next to him giggled.

"That haven't stopped you before have it?" Rose said teasingly as Nathan was handed a small glass of the liquor.

With a roll of his eyes the man downed the glass and coughed violently. The same burning sensation as always ran through his lungs and throat, his mind already growing a bit hazy. The strong alcohol was an easy choice to pick if you wanted to get drunk with your friends. Nathaniel didn't mind the idea either, still happy to spend time with the two ponies responsible for his continued survival.

The group of four, if you counted the wolf trying to steal Osiris liquor, played a few games of cards and told each other funny stories. The mood in the camp was oddly happy for such a bleak situation as the one they found themselves in, but no one would want to complain about such a thing. The human happily helped finish two bottles of Liquid Courage before Rose and Osiris stumbled off, leaving the human to sleep. With the image of his laughing and smiling friends on his mind the teen fell asleep easily.

The storm had passed during the dark hours of the night. The chilly morning air made the inhabitants of the army camp shiver and wrap their cloaks around them. Nathan was doing his best to keep the his fire alive, not finding a lot of dry firewood. The rain had been collected in the large green leaves on the trees above as well, often ending up falling down on his head.

Rose and Osiris had been sending out scouts all over the forest to ensure themselves that no griffins had made it yet. The two Lunar Guardian had planned to build traps all over the woods, hoping that they would slow down the griffin ground troops. The sanguine mare had mentioned pits filled with sharp sticks, nets filled with rocks being released over their enemies heads and using the local wildlife against them. The plan sounded fine considering how they were outnumbered at least six to one against the full griffin force. If they could win the battles here then Luna and Celestia could focus on taking back the coastal cities.

Nathaniel had yet to join his friends in the large tent placed in the middle of the camp. He had seen commanders and captains go to and leave it during the two hours he had been awake, all of them looking at him disdain. It seemed to be easy for the ponies with more military experience to look down on the human, seeing how he was given the Guardian position and not them. Nate just ignored them. They could stare all they wanted, he wasn't here for them.

Nathan couldn't hide away forever however, Osiris coming to fetch him. The stallion seemed to act more stoic than usual, keeping up a good appearance for the troops. The teen just found it funny how quickly the scout went from drinking and playing cards to a emotionless military leader. The man followed Osiris to the commanders tent, seeing Rose overlooking a map over the Everfree. Funnily enough was Nathan's old campsite marked on it.

"Good, we're gonna need you to listen to all of this" The mare said and grabbed a knife laying next to the map.

The map was resting on a brown table that had all kinds of steel figures scattered all over it. The tent itself was dark green in colour, being larger than most boardrooms Nate's father had showed him. The ponies in the tent were all of high rank, being assigned to different parts of Everfree to guard. With their limited numbers it was safer to simply build traps and ambush the enemy. But to do that would they different groups spread over over the forest need someone to lead their group, hence why there was so many commanders and captains around.

"You will go with Osiris to weed out the enemies scouts. They are with no doubts already hurrying across the woods in an attempt to find us and share that information with their leaders" The bat-pony said and stabbed the knife into a red circle drawn around the eastern parts of the forest, the closest part to the coast.

"Can't their soldiers just fly over the woods? It feels like having a large camp in the middle of it is a bad idea" The human commented and Rose shook her head.

"Their armor is very heavy. While it protects them well, it weighs them down as they're flying. If Guto's troops just flew the whole way to Canterlot would they be so exhausted that they couldn't fight" The mare informed the man who nodded.

"We'll be sending those pigeons home in no time kid, trust me on that. We will not give up these woods without a fight" Osiris proclaimed with a grin and Rose gave a simple nod.

"You will take fifty soldiers with you. Your goal is to kill the cells of scouts you can find across among the trees. You should try to capture some of them alive, but if they give you no other choice you should kill them. You'll stay out there for at least a week, just to make sure that the griffins won't find our main camp first" The sanguine said and then whistled for a young soldier.

While the mare gathered the fifty soldiers needed for the planned attacks was Nathaniel taken to a large ring of rocks by Osiris. The Lunar Guardian hadn't said a word to the human about why they were there but after the scout grabbed a sword it became clear he wanted to test Nathaniel's skill. The teen removed most of his equipment, many soldiers admiring the glowing bowstring his projectile weapon possessed, and drew his sword.

The man and pony started by circling each other. Both of them were unsure of the other's speed, but Osiris was finally the one to make the first move. Holding the steel blade in his mouth the stallion quickly dashed for the human and craned his neck backwards. Osiris brought down a strike aimed for the man's chest, Nathaniel blocking the slash with his own blade. The man quickly pushed the warrior back and then started to slash away at the stallion, making quick jabs and long slashes.

The display brought out many soldiers from their tents to watch. The Two Lunar Guardians showed of the skills they had learnt during their time with the army. Osiris had several years of combat experience while Nathaniel had only a few months, which was why it was incredible how long the man managed to hold off his opponent. The black haired teen and the golden coated stallion exchanged more slashes and parries, sweat pouring from Nate's forehead. Osiris left his left side open for the human to strike at, so he did so.

Yet it wasn't a sudden mistake on the pony's part, as he effortlessly used his right off to change the way the blade pointed from his mouth. The movement had been so quick the human had barely any time to react before his slash was blocked and Osiris threw himself into the man's side. Nathan fell onto his back and dropped his sword, the stallion on top of him with his own blade against the teen's throat.

"I win" The stallion grinned, tossing his sword to the side.

"You're fucking quick. I barely saw you move" Nate said and got up.

The sparring math had only lasted a few minutes yet the action had been enough to gather a large portion of their soldiers. The ponies seemed impressed by the two Guardians' display and cheered on for the victory. Nathan picked up his sword and sheeted it, looking at Osiris picking up his own blade. The stallion had wanted to test him, so did he pass?

"Did I do well?" Nate asked him and the pony nodded.

"You move quickly enough and your strikes are precise. You can work on your awareness though. You didn't even think about what I could do, only what I was doing" Osiris explained and the human nodded.

After their sparring match was the two friends given their fifty soldiers. While they all seemed to hold deep respect for the scout to the human's right they didn't seem to feel the same about Nathan, looking at him with suspicion. It seemed that to earn the trust and respect of the soldiers around him the human would be forced to become a warrior like Osiris. He wondered if his skill would be enough against the trained griffin military, but there was only one way to find out.

"I trust that you know why you are here!" Osiris yelled out to the soldiers who saluted at the stallion's voice.

"We are to clear out any damn griffin scouts trying to map these woods! The less the enemy knows about our land the better!" The stallion continued and gave Nathan a look.

Osiris wanted him to talk? And say what? Don't die please? The human felt the pressure of leadership pushed onto him and he didn't like it. What could he say? Maybe mention that they probably didn't know jack shit about how to survive in the Everfree? They all looked to have never been inside the forest before, many of them having complained about the weather not being controlled by the pegasi.

"Not a single one of you knows how to survive in these woods! These coming days will be rough and contain danger unlike most things you have ever seen! You have an army of sixty-thousand griffins and Dark Ponies all marching for Canterlot! So everything we do in these woods is to stop them from reaching their goal of victory!" Nathaniel said and a few gave him respectful nods.

So mimicking a military instructor worked surprisingly well, even if most of the soldiers seemed indifferent to him. The human was just glad something he came up with on a whim didn't end with him looking like a fool. He would need these soldiers to have his back, so he would need them to trust him and respect him.

"You heard the kid! You lot are gonna see some gruesome shit out there! But you will fight for crown and country, so you will not let that stop you!" The Lunar Guardian yelled and the soldiers all let a loud 'Yes Sir!'.

With that they were off. The group of fifty-one ponies, one human and an excited wolf all headed east with the intended goal of meeting up the scouts that had been sent out a few hours earlier. First another camp was to be established, this one much smaller but still crucial for the mission. Then traps would be built and beast nests would be found. After the preparations would they map the area and keep track of any hostile activity. When the first sign of a griffin soldier appeared would they all ambush the scouts, taking prisoners if possible.

The plan was sound, and the soldiers seemed ready for a fight. So the human happily walked down the path among the trees with the only sound behind him being the marching hoofsteps of the soldiers and the creaking of an old wagons wheels. The wagon carried supplies they would need to set up a camp further south, like smaller tents and food. It was planned that the human and Osiris would stay at least a weak in the eastern part of Everfree, something that made the human nervous.

"You'll be fine kid. I promise you that you'll be back in the castle drinking liquor in no time" The stallion said and the human nodded.

"I'm gonna hold you to that until we get back home" He grinned before realizing what he'd just said.

Home? It seems spending time with the ponies had made him crazy after all. Considering that the white castle on top the mountain would never had been a home to him before. It still didn't really feel like home. Or at least, it didn't feel like home without his friends there. Yep, the ponies had made him go mad. But he had to admit to liking the idea, madness or not.

Lord Protector Silver Wing's POV

I looked at the zebras running around the Spellbinder. The ship had been pulled up onto land using cut down trees from the more tropical region of their nation. I felt like we were building something great, bringing in a new era for Equestria. King Fortem had welcomed us with open hooves, the zebra stallion having pulled back most of his warriors from the south to face the griffins. When I told him of our plans had he agreed on the terms without a second thought.

Now our first attempt to use some of Star Swirl's blueprints would start. We had skilled metal workers in the form of the zebras and creatures able to properly melt Sky Metal in the form of the dragons. With their combined efforts would we be able to completely coat the underside of the ship in the light metal. Yet we were running out of time to gather our allies, even with my raven having reached our fleet commander a few hours earlier and returned with a message.

The ships would no longer aim at taking back the Celestial sea, but to rather meet up with the zebra smiths in Zebrika. It was a long shot, with just how quickly we would be forced to work, but I was certain it could be done. If the old wizard had gotten it to work on a model then it should work on a large scale ship. I felt a bead of sweat pour down my snout as I felt the heat from the dragon fire next to me. They were melting the metal and then placing it over the Spellbinder's hull. With quick appliance of spells and water was the procedure easy enough. But it took time.

The balloon had been an annoying part of the puzzle however. The amount of materials that had to be stitched together for one ballon to work was a lot. So when the zebras were forced to grab cloth from their villages they grumbled but understood the necessity. To make the balloon was only thing however, as we would need to fill it up with air. Or rather, what Spectral called air but it clearly was no such thing. I just hoped all the parts of the ship would be completed soon.

I spent most of my days training or measuring just how much time we had until the griffins would arrive on the Zebrikan shores. King Fortem often asked me for the well being of the human whenever my raven would return, my answer always being the same. I simply didn't know if the Lunar Guardian was alive or not, as the last time I saw him he was traveling to the Dark Kingdom.

I had hoped to move on towards the north by the end of the first week we spent in Zebrika, but the complicated spells Spectral was forced to use drained him. Even with commander Shield's help was it slow work making all the runes on the ship's hull. By the second day of the second week were the runes completed, Spectral telling me that the ship was ready. I was skeptical at first but quickly believed him when I saw the logs below the hull being illuminated by the runes.

"My Lord. We have completed the first step of the procedure. But we need more time on the canons and mortar, as Star Swirl called them" The white coated unicorn told me and I nodded.

"We will not allow them to take Equestria. Leave the runes schematics behind for the zebras along with everything else, they will need it. Tell me when the rest of the upgrades are completed, for we leave the same second that happens" I told him and the stallion nodded, heading back to oversee the ship.

With these weapons we would not loose the war. We only needed that the princesses could hold back the griffins a few weeks with the numbers available to them. I cursed thinking about that over a week had passed since we pulled the ship on land, which meant many soldiers could already be dead. But we had no choice. We needed more allies if we were to win this fight, so we had to make a few stops along the way. I just hoped that by the time we could help our people that they all wouldn't be dead..

Nathaniel's POV

The teen raised the mug filled with water and happily drank it. The cool liquid helped him against the sun warming his skin as he worked. Nathaniel hadn't been to happy when they first got to their assigned location and found it to be already inhabited. The ponies that they had bumped into had apparently been smugglers, hiding away in the woods until they could get their wares to the designated buyer.

Osiris had conscripted them to the human's surprise, wanting to use their skills of smuggling to quickly move messages and supplies over the land. The Lunar Guardian had came up with the idea so quickly if felt like he had done it before. Yet the man was still impressed by the stallion's good idea, the golden coated stallion seeming more like the type to kill rather then recruit.

After the encounter with the smugglers had the group of fifty-two warriors started setting up camp and give out orders. Osiris had started to group up the ponies that had gone with them in different squads, sending them all out to do different things. Nathaniel had followed suit, mimicking Osiris as he tried his best to act natural giving out orders. Yet after the last ponies had been sent out to set traps all around the woods was the human handed a shovel. He and Osiris would be digging as well, making traps around the camp.

So now the teen was digging a deep hole just outside the camp, making sure that it would be deep enough to capture any griffin walking over it. Yet his friend had reminded him several times that the pit couldn't be too deep. With the griffins having wings they could easily try to break their fall when the ground caved away beneath them. With a pit that was deep enough to fall into but shallow enough climb out of could they place the sharpened branches into it.

With over one day having been spent on setting up camp and sending the smugglers back with a few quick soldiers was the group progressing slower than Nathan would've liked. They were spread thin trying to set up traps, find monster nests and mark possible places to ambush incoming griffins. It was all hard work that would take at least a week, if not more. With a groan the human heaved out some dirt from the pit before climbing out of it, seeing Osiris doing the same from his pit across the camp.

So far had the experience been tiring but not useless. The traps he and the other Lunar Guardian was working on was a last resort, a last defense against incoming attackers. But they were not done, not even close. The scout had planned for the human to set up something called "magical sensors". A rune that would signal to another rune when someone passed it, something which was used to safeguard houses in Canterlot.

Nathaniel had opened his grimoire and looked for such a spell. The book was categorized with A-Z, the man not finding anything on "M" about magical sensors. He did find the mentioned spell on "R" however, as the thing Osiris had spoken off was called "Runes Of Knowing". The spell itself was a long and complicated mess, the mere look of it making the young mage question his life choices.

Silver dust (fifty grams).Milk (One liter).Phoenix feather or cat fur.Drop of blood (must be from caster).Demon blood (ten milliliters), butter (thirty grams) or water (one centiliter). Sellswords leaves (five).

Nathaniel sat there blinking for a few seconds before slowly putting down the book. The stallion noticed the human's expression and trotted over to him. The man showed the pony all the required ingredients for the paste used to draw the runes. Osiris eyes widened as he read that a phoenix feather would be needed and did the same as he spotted the name "Sellswords leaves".

"Cat fur is gonna be easier to get a hold off, but not out with our limited time. Sellswords leaves are extremely rare, so rare even the arch mage has a limited supply of them" The scout said and Nathan sighed.

"So we can't make it then. It seems we're gonna have to rely on the soldiers watching out over the woods" The teen said and Osiris nodded.

"Rose sent a message to us with a raven earlier today. They have set up a few more camps like these in the woods, spreading out the soldiers we have. She hopes that the amount of monsters that lives in the western parts of Everfree will pick off more griffins before they reach us. But they will eventually come here" The Lunar Guardian told him.

"Do we know how many we will face?" Nate asked his friends who shook his head.

"A few hundred? A few thousand? It's unclear without spies from the changeling kingdom" Osiris responded and looked up at the sun.

"We will get some more soldiers next week, four hundred to increase our force to a thousand. With those numbers we might be able to hold Everfree for a while, but you still need to hone your own skills kid if we are to survive. I can't have you
send our forces flying with that thing" The stallion joked, referring to the war-hammer.

Nathaniel thought about the pony's words for a few minutes and nodded, looking to his equipment a few meters away. He wasn't a master when it came to combat nor magic. He was still trying to learn the combat spell Star Swirl taught on their way to the Dragon Land and his personal spells were still unnamed. His ability to send away a blast of magic didn't need a fancy spell name, but his ability to summon a dome shield and heal himself did. Having a name on the magical abilities would make it easier for him to summon them.

The human had looked through the grimoire for spells similar to his own to find out their names. Yet none of the names given had really fit him. So the man had simply asked for a book with ancient words with the hope to find some sort name for his spells. So far had it hadn't worked, but he was hopeful. If he could name his spells and the motion behind them then it could be taught to others.

"Kid, did you hear that?" The stallion suddenly asked the human, his ears flicking.

"Heard what?" The man asked before suddenly a spear landed next to his hand, the human throwing himself out of the way.

By the trees stood a group of griffins, all of them growling at the human and pony. The two Lunar Guardians had been alone, the other soldiers out in the forest doing their tasks. The griffins had arrived too early. They weren't supposed to have found them this early. The teen ran for his weapons before another spear could be thrown his way, Osiris doing the same.

The griffins took that opportunity to take to the sky. They fell upon the two warriors and Nathaniel's head hit the ground, the sudden wight of a griffon on his back catching him off balance. Nate rolled onto his back and sent a blast of magic to where he thought his attacker was. The griffon was dressed in brown light armor, not the heavy silver one the other griffin soldiers wore. It seemed a group of scout had found them. Said griffon had raised his sword to stab the human, the blast of magic knocking it out of his talons.

The griffon scout quickly gabbed a knife from his side and tried to stab Nathan, the teen blocking the strike with his right arm. The two struggled and the human beat his fist into the side of the griffon's head. The griffon on top of the human was suddenly sent flying as a grey blur flew into his side, Blaze's growls and howls echoing over the woods. The wolf had been out hunting, but seemed to have heard the commotion at the camp.

The teen hurried up onto his feet and threw himself over his weapons, drawing the sword from its sheet. With a look over his shoulder he saw Blaze standing above the griffon, the soldier screaming as the hound bit into his head and neck. The human the spotted another griffon coming his way from above aiming another sword at him. Nathan just blocked the heavy strike from above and pushed the griffon back.

Osiris had been hounded by the griffins as well, the quick pony reaching his weapons long before Nathaniel. The earth pony was surrounded by three griffins, all of them trying to strike him down with their swords. Yet the stallion was easily dodging under their swings, suddenly in front one of the griffins and cutting open his throat. The other two gave off a alarmed cry at their comrades death, trying to kill the pony scout with more vigor.

Nathaniel was being pushed back by the griffon who used his wings to keep to the sky. It was getting harder and harder to block the enemy's strikes for the man, as the griffon was relentless. Suddenly Blaze howled loudly and ran for the griffins around Osiris. The griffon attacking the human noticed this and flew for the wolf, wanting to strike it down. For a split second the teen just watched, despair as the solider raced for his companion.

He needed to be there, he NEEDED to get to Blaze. His mark glowed and for a second all he could hear was his own breathing, before a flash of light erupted in the area. The sound of a sword dropping to the ground and strained breaths could be heard as the light cleared, the human standing behind the wolf with the griffon impaled on his blade. Nathan's face was pure rage for a second before horror replaced it. He watched the light in the soldiers eyes fade and he slid of the sword, hitting the ground. Dead. Nathaniel had killed him.

Nate was frozen, his hands shaking as he looked at the dead body. Had he done that? How had he moved so quickly? Why had he done that? To save Blaze. Had it been worth it? Could he have done it differently? Maybe Nathan just could have knocked the soldier out? Would that have worked? Why was he crying? Why was his lungs not getting any air? When did the bloody sword leave his hands?

The man was suddenly knocked onto his back, Osiris yelling something at him before the pony was kicked away by a griffon. Had the kill been justified? Did the soldier deserve to die? It had been necessary, he needed to convince himself of that. It was like the deer. The death was needed and not wasted. Nathaniel took no joy in the death, but it was still needed. It was needed. Right?

A griffon stood above the human and raised his sword, a grin on his beak. Osiris yelled out something and this time Nathan heard it. 'Run' was the word being repeated by the stallion's voice, but the teen would not run away. The death had been necessary. It had been needed. Maybe thinking that made him a horrible person, but so be it.

The distinct sound of Valkyrie flying across the air made the griffon look to his left before being hit in his head. The sound of the soldiers neck snapping could be clearly heard to the human who simply grabbed the war-hammer and got up. Nathaniel swirled around to build momentum and then let go of the his weapon, the sky-metal weapon hitting the last griffon standing and sending him flying into a tree.

Osiris looked at the human in surprise and shock as the magical weapon flew back to Nathan's hands. He slowly walked up to the man and could hear the faint cries and yells of their soldiers. It seemed like there were more griffins in the woods. The stallion felt slight fear as he looked into the human's eyes, the dark focused look not belonging on the man's face.

"Kid? Can you still fight?" Osiris asked the man who nodded.

"Yeah.. I can still kill" He responded and started to run for the forest, the wolf following him.

As Osiris followed Nathaniel he couldn't help but to look at the man's face. For some reason the stallion shuddered, feeling like a sudden warmth was gone. The griffins would not be walking away from the forest this day. From the determined look in the human's eyes would they all fall upon his blade. The time of war was upon them, and the necessity of death had gripped the youngest Guardian in the group. The pony scout just hoped it would let go of the man once the war was over.

Luna's POV

I looked at the burning building with a scowl, my scythe buried in the dirt. When my sister had sent me to Baltimare with half of our current forces I thought the griffins would have left some of the surrounding villages standing. But I was wrong, death and fire all around us. I never thought that Guto would be able to commit such crimes, but I had clearly been wrong about the griffon king.

The village had been just outside Baltimare, maybe housing a hundred ponies at most? It was now mostly ruins, with our once happy citizens dead on the ground. All those houses and fields, all those families. I felt such rage just looking at the destroyed settlement that I was forced to take a couple of deep breaths. This was not the end of the griffins crimes, the soldiers from the west raiding the city a mile away. We could hear the fighting from here, and it sounded like we were loosing.

The mages in the city had been under siege for a few days, seemingly loosing more and more ground as the hours passed. I couldn't even comprehend what they had been forced to do just to stay alive. The black smoke rising from Baltimare's many houses and guard towers clouded the sky, making it impossible for my pegasi soldiers to fly high above the city to scout it. But it posed the same issue to the griffins, meaning that they would not see all our soldiers.

"Princess!" The voice of commander Iron reached my ears and I turned to the blue mare.

"Can we get into the city without heavy losses?" I asked her and rested my weapon on my shoulder.

"We might. The battle is taking place at the city center if our scouts is to be believed. With some soldiers we can create a distraction south of Baltimare. They'll run around with flags, create a lot of noise and light bonfires. The soldiers at the edge of the city will engage only to find nothing and we get into the city" She said and I nodded.

My light blue armor didn't quite fit with the amount of golden clad soldiers following me. The helmet resting on my head bore the same colour as my armor while its edge was black. The equipment was apparently similar to the one the Nightmare had worn, making me slightly anxious to put it on at first. But Celestia had calmed me, promised me that I was in control. I was in control, nopony else.

"Do so. We will move towards the city core and save our battle mages. We will need every unicorn we can get our hooves on if we are to win back the coast" I said and she saluted, running off to inform the captains and other commanders.

I wished Star Swirl had gone with me. The old wizard had looked over old schematics and similar things to give us an advantage. But he hadn't found anything that would help us given our limited time. The older stallion had finally been forced to simply aid us with his wast knowledge of magic, acting as mentor and leader to the mages. When it was rumored that Fillydelphia was under siege by at least three times as many soldiers as Baltimare was he forced to go with Celestia. Star Swirl had also taken most of our battle mages with him, aiming to use their strength to swiftly take out the threat.

I knew that our old teacher going with Tia was the best decision considering the circumstances. But that didn't mean I had to like it. I didn't want to like it. For a few days we had traveled and cut down what griffins that had come across our path. Very few of them seemed to come east until the cities had been taken. With the soldiers stationed in Fillydeplphia and Baltimare it was understandable why they had started there. Most of them were battle mages with experience from weeding out bandits and local crime. They all had skills with spears and swords, even if those weapons weren't used that often. They even had magical artifacts locked away in the colleges there.

Attacking our coastal cities first was a strategic move on Guto's part. He must have known where we had our best soldiers, our best weapons and our strongest artifacts. But I would not stand for this. I would not let him hurt our people any longer or burn our homes. It was time that Equestria fought back. With my wings unfolding I carried myself away from the village, passing over a massive force of over two thousand ponies marching for the city. We would not let our country fall without a fight.

I landed and spotted to the south how great fires, screams and the sound of metal hitting metal drew the attention of many griffins in the city. They ran and flew towards the noise, allowing me to point my scythe at the city. The fires of the city and surrounding villages lit up the darkening sky, as no moon would hang there for a long time. My sister kept her duty even in the midst of battle. If that was brave or stupid I couldn't even start to comprehend.

"For Equestra! For our lives!" I yelled and the soldiers charged towards the city.

The pegasi flew quickly towards the large towers of wood and houses of stone, taking out what griffins they could find. My rallying call had been heard by the force of griffins we had sent to the south, but it was too late. Within a few minutes we had breached the outer city wall and stormed into the city. The chanting of my soldiers made me feel pride, these courageous souls giving their all in protecting our country.

We were met with heavy resistance right of the bat. I hurried to the front lines with my warriors, letting my blade slash through the armored bodies of our enemies. My soldiers had a hard time getting through the thick armor of the griffins that met us, but I did not. With a snarl I took to the skies and even with the black smoke hurting my eyes I cut down any griffin that thought himself brave enough to face my wrath. I sent a heads rolling and crippled any one of them trying to get through to our mages in the back.

The unicorns rained fire and ice from the sky, many of the griffin troops screaming in fear at the sudden use of magic. They mustn't have expected us to have any mages left then. They were wrong. I helped my fellow mages by casting shields and raining lightning down upon the enemy. They might had been more in numbers, as they never seemed to stop coming and never gave away any ground, but they lacked magic.

With a roar I collected as much magic as I could in my horn and let a great black beam tear through the mass of griffins trying to stop us from entering the city. With the streets only being a few meters wide with a few back-alleys here and there couldn't either force truly spread out. But with griffins coming from the sky and and running out from the side streets could we only keep fighting. My beam had allowed us to push into their front lines and drive them back towards the middle of the city where we could see spells being cast by the survivors.

Yet something didn't seem right. The griffins had a lot more numbers, most likely over five thousand to have so easily taken over the city, but they were almost letting us win. It felt horrible to think those words as I looked upon the trail of death that followed the battle, bodies starting to pile up. However it just felt like the truth. Even if they were cutting down as many of my soldiers as they could they weren't protecting themselves. They let our pegasi flank them, left their front lines weak against our earth ponies and still kept to the sky even with our mages shooting them down.

They weren't caring if the died or not. They were loosing soldiers left and right but it didn't phase them. They were so focused on only trying to take down as many soldiers as they could with them. Was this the orders Guto gave to his army? The command to die instead of to fight? I felt pity for the enemy soldiers then. They were simply pawns in Guto's larger game, and they only fought for what they believed was right.

But pity was not what war required. Death and destruction would be the only way we won today, even if we wanted to admit that or not. I landed and swirled around with my scythe, cutting down three griffins in one fell swoop. We had lost many just pushing them back, how many? I stepped on the body of on my soldiers as a griffin locked blades with me, a spear suddenly jammed into my shoulder.

With a scream of pain I sent out a blast of magic at the griffon in front of me before sinking my blade into the other attacker's head. I was forced to pull out the spear with my magic and then quickly went back to pushing back our enemy, even if I could barely stand with my left front leg thanks to my shoulder. I needed to see a healer soon, poison or other horrible things possibly in my system now.

I think hours passed, blood covering the streets of Baltimare as we fought on into the city core. My heart never stopped beating like a drum as I slashed my way though the enemy lines, cutting down anything in my path. I had gotten more injuries as the fighting went on. My right wing was now bleeding and hurting to much to use while my horn was aching after casting so many spells. I could feel both blood and dead mana running from my mouth but I didn't stop. We had pushed them back and I started to see more and more griffins fleeing.

"Drive them back! Do not let them retake the city!" I screamed before a metal rod hit me in the head.

I fell to the ground and I heard concerned cries from some of the commanders I had brought with me. The streets had opened up to town squares and our soldiers now had the ability to really move around. With smaller bodies and lighter armor could our soldiers easily dodge blows from heavy weapons. But sometimes we ran out of luck. I could feel blood pouring down from my forehead and I looked up at a griffon with white feathers. Guto's guard captain, Steelbeak, stood above me with a glare.

"Your kind will burn princess. And we will enjoy watching it happen" He said before quickly stabbing a pony soldier in the throat.

Before I could even try to respond he flew off, joining his fleeing brethren. With how many griffin soldiers we had killed this should have felt like a victory. But I only felt like we had been fooled somehow. Why send soldiers just to die? Why hold a city but not put up a good enough defense to keep it? The whole point of taking a place like Baltimare was to keep it, unless it was all a distraction. Unless it was all a distraction.. By the gods. Celestia, run.

Celestia's POV

I panted and slammed my sword into the body of the griffin. For hours had the battle gone on, so many of our soldiers falling to griffin blades. I wanted to weep as I looked upon the amount of dead littering the streets, but I could not. I had to fight on for the sake of my people. I could not show weakness in times like these. With a deep breath I pulled up my blade from the body and cut down another griffon running towards me. My white blade and armor was covered in red blood, as was my fur.

We had won ground as the hours went on. The rumors had been true and at least ten thousand soldiers held this city, meaning that we were forced to rely on magic for the battle. Star Swirl had lead the mages and with their help had we been able to get into the city walls. But we no longer had over two thousand soldiers, only a couple of hundred. We had killed so many griffins their bodies were piling up, but among them laid our own dead. I had spotted a still face of one or two ponies I had known on the street, their bodies bloody and bruised.

War was the most horrible thing on our planet. I could handle bandits, I could handle angry citizens and I could even handle the nobles conspiring to take me and Luna's throne. But war? I couldn't handle war. I once swore to myself to never let my nation get dragged into war, but to still be ready for it. All my efforts to build good relations with the changeling to use their spy network had been in vain. All those talks with the dragon lord to ensure that he would aid us in a crisis had been in vain. Even allowing the Dark Kingdom and The Crystal Empire to be mostly left alone had been a mistake. All I had done lately was mistakes.

With a growl I threw myself into battle and decapitated a griffon to slow to realize what was happening. I just kept killing and did my best to protect my soldiers from harm. In the end it seemed our efforts finally payed off as we made it to the battle mages located in the city center. Both here and in Baltimare had they retreated to the barracks in an attempt to wait out the siege. But they were still forced to fight.

I could see both civilians and battle mages dead on the ground as we pushed through the griffon army. My blood boiled at the sight and I summoned what magic I had left to rain fire down on our enemy. With their feathers aflame most of the griffins ran, getting cut down in the panic. Guto had sacrificed his soldiers without a second thought, leaving them without any means to counter our magic. Either he had truly gone completely mad or there was something else going on.

"Princess Celestia!" A voice screamed and I saw a unicorn mare dressed in our golden armor come running.

"How many are alive?" I asked and looked around the square, so many dead.

"There isn't time for that! You need to leave! King Guto is here! It is a trap!" She yelled before suddenly a great wooden creaking echoed over the sky.

I looked up and from the black smoke emanating from the burning city emerged a sight I never thought I'd see. A flying ship sailed through the air, two small wing like sails at its sides with a balloon like thing keeping it afloat. The hull of the ship was covered in sky-metal with glowing blue runes and from each side could five large metal devices be seen. They had the shape of a cylinder almost, but the part attached to the ship was more bulky. But for many it was the sheer size of the ship that scared them, as it seemed to be at least twenty meters wide and half a kilometer long. The prow pointed east, towards Canterlot.

Before I could even react did the cylinder shaped metal devices start collecting magic from the air. They looked like the "canons" Star Swirl had thought up a long time ago. I yelled for my troops to fall back but it was to late. The ten large canons pointed down at the city and with a flash of light they fired. I was blinded by the impact but I felt the ground crack and fly into the air. I could hear buildings falling and the screams of my soldiers. I couldn't tell if I had moved or not as my body was numb from the shockwave the blast had created. I only heard a few more screams before darkness took me with only one thought on my mind.

'"I'm so sorry Luna"

Author's Notes:

There we go! The war has started and one city has fallen to Guto's army and military power! I feel so good writing this chapter knowing that we have started on the final arc of the story. I can't wait to give you all the next chapter

Thanks for reading the chapter! Have a wonderful day!