The following weeks were among the most exhausting in Celestia’s life, and she had plenty of experience regarding those. Lieia had finished training the 1st Equestrian Regiment, declaring them to be ready for their real test – the clash with the Diamond Dog army that slowly drew nearer Equestria with every passing day. Now that the training had been finished, she turned to Celestia, taking private lessons with the nervous alicorn. The training made her limbs ache, but she didn’t complain. If a little exhaustion was the price to fight at Lieia’s side, so be it. Lieia taught her every dirty trick she knew and then some. Only the dead fight fair, she said. If you have a chance at disabling your opponent, take it. Your honour means nothing if you have a hole the size of a dinner plate in your chest.

But the pain had been worth it. She now carried the armour like a second skin and could run for a lot longer before needing to rest, despite Lieia making quips about Celestia needing to lose more weight. The chaingun fitted to her armour felt like it always had been there, and she could take it apart, clean it, and reassemble the weapon without preamble. Her accuracy had also improved, now that she had learnt to shoot in bursts. Lieia always would ramble about how her accuracy was worse than a drunk’s, that she couldn’t hit the broadest side of a broad-sided barn in a town of broad-sided barns but Celestia could tell the snarky woman was secretly proud of her achievements.

Lieia crashed on the floor heavily, seeing stars flash in front of her eyes. A moment later, she felt Celestia land on top of her, pinning her down, a hoof pressed against her neck.

“I win.” Celestia announced smugly to the panting woman beneath her.

“That you do, Cel. You still weigh a hundred tons, though.” Celestia scoffed at that.

“Oh, enough of that, Lieia.” She pulled the woman up.

“Naaaaah. Needling you is fun.” Lieia chuckled, before turning serious.

“Well, now you’re ready. We’ll move soon so we can intercept them before they can reach any towns.” Celestia nodded in response, before Lieia wrapped her arms around her neck, pulling them close together, her right hand sinking in Celestia’s mane.

“I’m afraid, Lieia.” She feels the woman’s hands tighten for a moment.

“It’s only natural to be afraid before a battle. Show me someone who isn’t nervous about the upcoming fight and I’ll show you a damned liar. Hell, you even got me on the edge.” She sighed nervously, playing with a strand of Celestia’s mane absentmindedly.

“Don’t worry, Lieia. I’ll be there to protect you.”

“Heh. Where’d you get the macho attitude from, Cel?”

“You are rubbing off on me, my dear.” Lieia groaned defeatedly.

“I’ve created a monster. Now we’ve got a rude, loud-mouthed princess to deal with.” Celestia laughed.

“Oh, and I’m here to stay.”

“Who are you and what have you done with Celestia?” Lieia asked half-seriously, half-jokingly. Celestia chose that moment to kiss her, feeling Lieia’s strong, soft arms press her closer. Celestia leaned in, trying to prolong the hungry kiss. After several long moments, she pulled back, her eyes filled with ardent desire.

“I’ve waited for weeks, Lieia. We are alone and I do not think anypony will interrupt us.”

“Aaand now you’re a sex fiend. What have I done to you? What religion and its deity have I offended this time?” Celestia snickered at her lament, pushing Lieia on the ground.

“Do you ever take anything seriously?”

“Never have and never will.” Her lover declared seriously, kissing her again. “Yeah, I’m fairly sure I pissed Alikera off this time.” Her hands crept across Celestia’s wings, ruffling the feathers and she felt the mare quiver with anticipation. Celestia’s lips danced across her neck, sending shivers down her spine.

And then they fucked.

…Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.

… No, you’ll wait for the next chapter with clop until I post it.

…No, I won’t accept human sacrifices.

They woke up next morning, having spent the night in the private training room, curled up against each other. They had just woken up when a frantic group of ponies ran inside, Twilight Sparkle at their head. She sighed relievedly, having found Celestia at last. Then she noticed Lieia, who was covering herself with the alicorn’s right wing. The two lovers took it in stride, however.

“Hey, Twilight. What’s the hurry?”

“Well, there’s trouble. Diamond Dogs have been reported to be on the move. They’ll reach Ponyville in ten hours at their current speed.”

“Go get Feathers and Hooves. Tell them to get everyone ready.”

“R-right.” The lavender unicorn stuttered, backing out with the rest of the pony troops, shutting the door behind her. Lieia turned to Celestia, her face deadly serious.

“Well, it’s make or break now. Let’s go.”

Hundreds of ponies marched to the rows of waiting dropships and trucks. Others took to tanks and the heavy artillery they towed, ready to be unlatched and rain hell at a moment’s notice. The M67 Jackals were acting like their namesakes, racing around the base. A flock of Shrykes were spinning up their engines. Celestia sought out Lieia, who was deep in a conversation with General Stonefeather. The griffon had been true to his word, returning with a hundred of his best warriors, handing them over to Lieia for training, testing even their legendary endurance and strength. But there they stood, proud and resplendent in their armour and weapons. They had also been kitted out by Coalition armourers. The griffons still couldn’t believe in the craftsmanship of their equipment. Due to their close-combat tendencies, Lieia had equipped them with scaled-down copies of EXO close-quarters weaponry, namely swords, shields and automatic shotguns. Some of the griffons even had micro-missile packs in lieu of conventional firearms, acting as short-range artillery. The tactical opportunities that Lieia could improvise with and implement were plentiful, with manoeuvres that would me nigh-impossible to achieve even with Ortalians or 1st Battalion commandos, both of which were renowned for being able to do the impossible. The ponies and griffons, however, were quick learners, dedicated and patient.

Celestia looked; slightly overawed at the suit of armour Lieia was wearing.

“It’s a first-generation EXO suit. Terribly expensive, but nearly indestructible. Made from the same alloy we use on our ships for armour. Ain’t a single first-gen EXO that has ever died while wearin’ this. Of course, the second, third, and fourth-gen suits are cheaper to make, but nowhere near as durable. It does allow, however, having thousands of EXOs. That has to count for somethin’, eh? Now go on, get on the dropship. We’ll meet at the designated landing zone.” She climbed on top of a tank, thumping the side of the turret lightly and the machine of war surged forward, joining the rest of the ground force. Celestia clambered inside the waiting aircraft, just as the hatch closed behind her and they took off.

This was it. They were going to war.

Celestia looked out the window, seeing a row of what Lieia referred to, somewhat dismissively, as ‘shelltossers’. To the alicorn, however the artillery pieces were rather unnerving. The large guns thundered rhythmically, sending ordnance to a distant location. A couple of tracked trailers held the high-explosive shells. The dropships set down, but she saw no sign of Lieia. They debussed quickly, however, and Celestia heard her earpiece crackle.

“Celestia, you get there in one piece?”

“Lieia? Where are you?”

“I’ll take that as a yes. I’m somewhere else. I need you to post two companies to guard the artillery brigade. Once that’s done, meet me at the waypoint I’m marking. Can you do that?”

“Yes. I’ll get right on it.” She called up two hundred ponies, ordering them to dig in around the heavy guns. Leaving the troops to building fortifications, she headed in the direction the blinking blip on her mini-map, the rest of ponies following her.

Lieia calmly observed the expanse of land in front of her, seeing ponies huddled down along the entrenchments. The Diamond Dogs would charge right through the no man’s land, right into the kill zone. Her thoughts were interrupted when Celestia cantered up to her, slightly flustered at the collection of firepower gathered here.

“Lieia. Am I glad to see you’re safe.”

“Ditto. Now, let’s talk tactics.” She led the alicorn over to the small assembly zone, where Stonefeather waited with a couple of ponies and griffons, all officers, waiting for their orders.

“Okay, now that we’re all here, let’s talk about a plan of counter-attack. We’ve got this front secured. The Diamond Dogs will of course try an all-out charge, seeing as they outnumber us greatly.” Celestia felt worry at that remark.

“How many are we facing?”

“By the last count, about six thousand.” She heard everyone else gasp. “Don’t worry, thought. Weaver’s sending bombers in for strafing runs, soften ‘em up some, maybe take a mortar or two out. Besides, the force multiplier works in our favour. And they won’t be expecting us to be armed like this.”

“Yes, but there’s still so many of them! What will you do when they are assaulting the fortifications?” Lieia smiled at Celestia reassuringly, pointing instead to a wide growth of trees a distance away.

“Look there.” As they kept eyeing the trees, a couple of them fell over.

“Tanks. Twenty five of them. They’ll ram right down the middle of the main host. Once that’s done, Jackals will circle around, hitting them from behind. Then, Shrykes go in, supported by our griffon troops. Once they start hitting, we charge ‘em, surround ‘em, and waste the lot of them.” She slammed her fists together, grinning maliciously.

“What about the wounded?”

“I ordered a refit on the Behemoths. They’re now mobile hospitals, ready to be there at a moment’s notice.” Stonefeather inspected his claws, before turning his attention back to Lieia.

“Well, looks like we have a plan.” A series of low, rumbling explosions reached them.

“That’d be the bombers. Let’s hustle.”

They could hear the rumble of hundreds of paws striking the ground, just as the first of the bipedal dogs showed up and received a bullet through his head for his efforts. He was quickly replaced by dozens of other dogs. Moments later, the sniper teams let loose, sending dogs to ground with precision shots. A couple of kilometres behind the Equestrian lines, artillery still kept hammering, sowing destruction among the enemy lines. As the seething mass of canines approached, Lieia stood up, hefting her NX-61.

“FIRE AT WILL!” She shouted, opening up with the deadly weapon, just as more than a thousand guns followed suit.

Celestia braced herself, sowing a line of lead through the advancing throng, seeing Diamond Dogs stumble and collapse, trampled by their comrades. She saw a Minotaur fall over, most of his head missing. Just then, her chaingun ran out, and she called for a reload. Two ponies ran up to her, carrying a fresh ammo pack. They replaced the empty one, and she quickly reloaded the weapon, shooting in bursts this time. By her estimate, the Dogs were a hundred metres away when the tanks struck.

The machines rumbled forward in a V-formation, their guns sending shells downrange, softening the right flank for their imminent impact. Celestia felt bile rise in her throat when it happened. The charge sent limbs and corpses flying everywhere as hundreds of Diamond Dogs died with every passing moment. A cloud of dust heralded the arrival of Jackals. The small, agile vehicles kept up a harrying action, never letting up, disrupting any attempt the Dogs made to organise themselves. Five minutes later, the air stirred overhead, and everyone looked upwards, seeing the V-14s hurtle forward, letting off swarms of missiles and swiftly taking out the enemy artillery, the griffon detachment following in their wake.

“This is it, Cel. Be ready. Stick close to me.” Lieia got a nod in response and she turned to face her troops.

“Fix bayonets!” The rasp of hundreds of blades being readied reached her ears and she nodded; her face a grim mask. Lieia stepped over the edge of the trench, extending her own bayonet, thirty centimetres of shining titanium, razor-sharp. Celestia followed her. Moments later, a thousand ponies followed them, advancing at a slow jog. As soon as the Diamond dogs noticed them, they broke out in a full sprint. The ground shook as hundreds of ponies galloped forward, firing on the run. The distance shrank, and Celestia cringed. The upcoming melee would not be pretty.

She was right.

They slammed in the yapping mass, kicking, stabbing, slashing, punching and shooting the rabble with a fury that stunned their opponents. Even though the Dogs managed to land aplenty of good blows or shots, the ponies’ armour protected them from seriously wounding them. Lieia was a storm of wrath, never letting up, her armour covered in blood. The bloodied EXO was spouting profanities, swinging wildly, killing a Dog with every punch or stab.

The Behemoths were making their way through the combatants, too, picking up the wounded soldiers, also serving as a rally point for others.

Slowly, but surely, the Diamond Dogs and their Minotaur mercenaries were encircled and denied any hope of escaping. Though it took a while to disengage from the melee, the ponies managed to draw back, leaving the now-meagre numbers of their adversaries staring down the barrels of hundreds of guns. Roughly two thirds of the Dogs had been massacred.

“Well, Celestia, it’s your cue now.” Lieia whispered to the mare and she stepped forward, clearing her throat and spoke, her voice echoing clearly.

“I offer you one chance to surrender. You shall not attempt to wage war against Equestria or enslave my ponies. Ever. If you can accept those two promises, I shall spare you and let you leave alive. Should you decline, none of you will live to tell the tale.” Silence set in after her ultimatum for a moment. Then, one of the Dogs threw down his flintlock.

“I dun’ wanna die, please spare me!” Others followed his suit, their now-discarded weapons clattering in a big pile moments later, whimpering fearfully.

“Should you, however, try to break your promise, our retribution will be swift.” The whimpering grew louder.

“We promise, princess! Promise!”

“You better.” Lieia added her two bits, credits or what have you.

Celestia trotted around, trying not to look at the mass graves that were being dug a ways off. She tried to find Lieia, who was overlooking the departing Dogs. She’d allowed Fluttershy to treat their wounded, but nothing else. In the end, there had been no deaths among the 1st Equestrian, but aplenty of wounded, roughly 150 ponies having been injured in the battle. No losses among the vehicle crews, too. A couple of Shrykes needed new fanblades and windows, but not much beyond that.

Lieia retracted her helmet, feeling Celestia’s hoof tap against her shoulder.

“How’re you holding up, Cel?”

“Not too bad, all things considered. I keep having these shakes, though.”

“That’s just the adrenaline burning through your body. Don’t worry about it too much.” She looped her right arm across the exhausted mare’s shoulders, her armour whirring quietly.

“Hopefully, we will not have to fight them again.”

Celestia muttered quietly, removing her helmet, letting her mane fall free. They sat there together, neither of them saying anything.

Ponyville shook with cheers as the 1st Equestrian returned, their ground vehicles rumbling through the main street, and with the fliers stirring the air above the houses. Civilians were waving at the returning troops, victorious from their first battle. Celestia sat in one of the trucks, smiling at her ponies’ enthusiasm. The celebration was just beginning, too. She looked at Lieia, hopeful, and got a nod in response, telling her they’d stay for the aforementioned celebration.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie.

“Let us get this party started, everypony!” Next Chapter: Chapter 26 Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes