It had taken a few days to hike back to their abandoned city but the large column of crystal ponies followed Princess Cadence dutifully through the frozen tundra and into the buried city. Her sudden arrival several days ago had shocked them including the crystal pony soldiers who had been reformed under Ironshod's command.

Though still missing her horn it none the less served as a solemn reminder to all for what awaited them if they failed to resist: Steelshod had no interest nor intention on keeping his word, they were serfs bound to the land and meant to be used.

Hope also came with her in the form of the crystal heart. Displaying it for all to see upon her return thus proving Steelshod was the enemy had solidified her place as their monarch and any thoughts of accepting Steelshod's offer had blown away on the wind.

Ironshod had been more than pleased with this new development as it meant that once she sat on the throne he would have a safer place to keep launching his attacks from, stock supplies and not to mention somewhere to send the wounded.

Standing below her crystal palace Cadence held out the crystal out and watched as the palace came to life snatching it from her grasp. Hovering above the floor magic poured out shooting through the palace and ground blasting away the ice and snow revealing the city once more.

The magical blast continued out clearing a vast ring around the city making agriculture possible once more. Cheers rang out from the crowd sending out waves of energy into the streets streaking along and into the heart powering it further. A powerful burst of energy shot out from the top of the palace sending out a multicolored aurora across the sky.

"Well Princess Cadence, I hope you have a little more than colorful lights to protect the city with. Steelshod will probably try something after a display like that."

"So long as he does not steal the heart back we will be safe here for the time being General Ironshod."

"I will keep most of my forces here then and post most of them on guard here."

"That would be wise..."

"You never did say who freed you and have been dodging me for days."

"Part of the agreement is that for the time being I keep that knowledge to myself. Perhaps when the war is over."

"Very well. I would we watch our backs, we just made ourselves very large targets."

"Orderly..."

"Sire?"

Steelshod watched the colorful aurora shoot across the sky with growing ire as an eyelid twitched. Moments ago he had felt a magical burst somewhere inside the castle and knew what had happened.

"Bring my spymaster here at once."

Waiting until the orderly had left the room and shut the door behind her he turned slowly and sat on his throne. Cadence had not only escaped but somehow managed to steal the crystal heart away from him. Powerful magic was needed to breach the storage room but it did not matter, he knew where the heart had gone.

He had underestimated the pink princess and the ability of her agents to breach the storage room. Well, he would not make the same mistake twice. No doubt the heart would be more than well protected but it was no longer the target.

Watching his spymaster arrive and beckoning him over he pointed out the window.

"Take your team of assassins and pay a little "visit" to my wayward prisoner. Make certain she is DEAD."

"At once sire... But the rail lines are out and with the rebels cutting lines it might take a few days."

"No. It wont. A noble as of now just "donated" one of their private air yachts. Find the fastest one and depart at once, I want her dead within seventy two hours!"

"... We will manage it somehow my lord."

Giving a short, sharp bow the agent left the room in a great hurry. Three days was pushing it but if they embarked within the hour they could pull it off.

Steelshod continued to stare out the window as the aurora faded slowly and sighed. At least the other plans were panning out so far.

General Baros had marched with haste along the rail line going South, no trains were available anymore for transportation of the soldiers. Instead they had been relegated to some other task far to the East but a handful remained for ferrying supplies.

Not having to pack anything other than the bare essential's had allowed his army to double their pace and get caught up with Lord Silverblood and Lady Opulence's army. Others had joined in along the way slowly and now the forces under his command comprised almost the entirety of the western Noble Armies.

It was a large force to behold true, but now it moved slowly along cramped roads. A message from the Emperor had arrived a few days ago warning him not to move so fast the enemy might out run them but keep a steady pace and avoid a general engagement unless he was certain of absolute victory.

The nobles thought they could manage it or so they thought but Baros knew that it was better to stick with their emperors plan whatever it was. They were nothing more than sheep dogs driving the sheep towards the slaughter house.

Mercenaries had joined in complimenting their forces with added numbers and fodder for scouting ahead with. So far they had seen nothing of interest but knew something had happened to Lord Goldbit. They did not have rail lines or telegraph's back at home but the merits of having them was much to his liking.

Goldbit and Diamond Smith had both failed to signal them for a week. Arriving at the Lonely Lake had given him a good idea as to why there was no word from one force: they were gone. Harvested. All that remained was the shattered tents and weapons, long lines of blood and gore, maybe a severed limb here or there.

Missing was every last corpse, following blood trails down to the lakes edge they realized that they had walked the wrong way. Soldiers had tried to swim out but were killed and brought back to the camp. They had been ready too, the formation had been drawn up facing the tree line but whatever came out swatted them aside like flies.

Blood was their only tool for finding out what happened and walking through the camp Lady Opulence called out bringing the other Lords and Ladies over. She held up the lower part of armor that had been cut away from the upper part.

It had been made for a very fat, wealthy stallion so they knew who it belonged too. What disturbed all of them including Baros he hated to admit was what the pieces looked like. Something had not just CUT the fat stallion in two, no, it had chewed him in half.

Holding the rent armor in his hands and examining the size of the tooth marks he placed his fingers in one of the grooves and began to measure first two then three fingers.

"Whatever ate him must have been huge!"

Baros looked over at Silverblood then back to the armor before dropping it to the ground.

"How many other pieces of armor have you seen like this?"

They all shook their heads.

"So only one then. We can handle one of them easily and have we the ballistas to do it."

"What about the armor pieces that were cut cleanly?"

"Undead are powerful creatures or so I have heard. So long as we do not underestimate them there will be no problem. Move the column out."

The army began its march again as the nobles and general climbed into their hand drawn carts. Baros closed his eyes and remembered the map he had studied for days now. Diamond Smith should be just a few days ahead of them now.

If he had never made it here then they would either find it camp much like this one or if lucky he might be camped at the river crossing. Hoping the other Lord was brighter than those currently under his command Baros wondered where the undead were.

Shadow's army had remained silent since morning and it was noon now as she kept watching the enemy camp. Two wraiths hovered in the tree's far ahead giving her a birds eye view of the fortress that had sprung up overnight.

Lord Diamond Smith... This one was not a fool. It would take siege equipment to blast through the barricade that sealed off both the wagon and train bridge. A smaller force protected the bridge farther up but it was so narrow they did not need many to hold it indefinitely.

Turning her attention back to the bridge she had to cross Shadow studied the camp again before flying from her mount and landing on the ground. Clearing away nettles till the soft sandy soil was visible she took a stick and drew out the camp as she was seeing it.

Two primary barricades to hold the bridges, one was detached from the main camp. Stretching from the end of the bridge up and down the river bank a palisade had been thrown up and ran the entire perimeter of their camp forming a rough square.

Ballista lined the wall facing across the river but worse covered the bridge in what would become crossfire for anything trying to get across. Two catapults were also thrown up hastily a little farther back facing her side of the river as well.

They knew she was coming and had wasted no time in preparing. Letting out an annoyed sigh Shadow kept drawing, the camp was sectioned off into four blocks. Take one section and she would have to launch a whole new siege to break into another. Even now soldiers put the finishing touches on the interior defences and pits were being dug deeper unfortunately and showed signs of being readied for flooding.

Three gates gave access to the camp, one at the bridge which was sealed then one directly opposite following with the road the camp was built on. The final gate led off to the other small barricade farther down the river.

Almost everything was facing across the river though and it made sense. No other bridges were available however so there was no option but to cross here unless she could figure something else out.

Drawing away at the map and trying to figure out how to assault across the bridge Shadow growled, no matter what she did the odds were against her. Facing a force of roughly equal size that could bring artillery to bear while she had none made the situation grim.

Forcing the bridge her soldiers would be massacred and even sending the golems to break down the gates might not work in such cramped conditions. They would have to cross one at a time, batter away or climb order while being shot at and frankly Shadow was not willing to risk them so soon.

There had to be another solution she had not seen yet. Watching the river move slowly her eyes narrowed and focusing the wraiths gaze she watched a piece of driftwood move at a snails pace down the river and under the bridge.

"Valkardian..."

Calling on the link she hoped to get a response without having to use a crystal. An idea had come to mind but it required a little conformation from the one who knew the smaller intricacies of these soldiers.

"Yes?"

"I have a problem. An army of roughly the same size is occupying the bridge across from me and is dug in, they have heavily fortified their camp with ballista and catapults. If I cross the bridge they have a fair chance at winning but I have an idea."

"Okay?"

"Before I tell you the plan I need to know something very important. My mission is to draw their attention and make them chase me. Make them think we are weaker than we really are correct?"

"Yes. Get to the point."

"You said "kill them all" but what if I made a "botched" attack on them? Wipe out half the camp then make a run for it as if I am too weak to carry out a larger siege. Make it appear as if I am desperate to get away with what I have."

"Sounds like a good idea. Can you pull it off and still get away with your forces intact?"

"That is why I need to know something else... Can these soldiers travel underwater?"

Skeletal archers waited in loose formation ready to advance from the far bank to the rivers edge before firing over and into the camp. It was a prelude to an attack across the bridge but it would never come. Drawing their attention to the wrong side of the fortress it would allow Shadow to attack from the lake and into the eastern side of their camp.

Valkardian had confirmed her suspicion: so long as the waters current was not strong and the mud not too deep they could walk across easily enough despite their heavy armor. Unfortunately it meant the archers would loose their arrows unless ordered to remove and hold them all. Bow's would also become water logged and useless and require time to dry out but there were no other armies in front of her for at least a week now.

A very large army nipped at her hooves from behind while another was being gathered rapidly south of Ponyville. By the time she entered the plains before turning north into the Unicorn Range they would already have crossed the mountains to the south and be closing in quickly.

Shadow faced more than eighty thousand to her back and even more to the front if she did not hurry. Decision made she had opted to attack that night and give them a good scare while pandering to their expectation's that Valkardian's army was small and weak.

What none knew was that it was her little army now not his, leading them on a wild goose chase while forcing them to gather almost everything they had into one large army. Why he had not opted to kill them all of piecemeal... No idea. Maybe this was just easier than chasing down thirty some smaller armies. Well that and doing so would make Steelshod either give up on Ponyville or sack them outright allowing him to fortify Canterlot...

Shielded from the water as they moved slowly through the darkness Shadow held on tightly to her mount as the slow current threatened to tug her free gently. Only one battalion had been left behind to draw attention and fire. During the assault they would cross the river directly and move down the road.

Getting around the fortress had been a bit of a chore. Having to march the army farther up the river to where the enemy could not see them they slid into the water and marched back down following its winding trail.

Her enemy had made a simple mistake: they had only barricaded the one gate. Not suspecting a force to go under the water and emerge at the bend farther up from them they had even left the gate open all day for water gathering and moving more trees. It only shut at night and had a single small tree to brace it.

Two bone golemns would rush the gate, shatter it and allow her soldiers in, moving with them they would break the other gate dividing the eastern side of the camp up and the battle would truly be at its apex. Eye's closed Shadow focused on her wraiths that monitored her progress carefully. One wraith was kept at the front of the column so she would know when the move them from the river.

Turning her forward battalion to their left they marched slowly from the water and onto the grassy field beside the camp. One by one they emerged in the moonlight and turning again they moved straight for the gate.

Her two lead golemns were already ahead of them and moving quickly, in just a few more minutes they would reach the gate and tear them open. Shadow would have to join in the fight tonight though, while the gargoyles would focus on the artillery she wanted to make certain this Lord had no tricks up his sleeve.

One ballista happened to be dangerously close to where she would emerge and opting to destroy it immediately had decided to deal with it herself. There were enough gargoyles to deal with pegasi but not enough to deal with both that and the plentiful ballistas.

Making matters a little harder they also kept half the camp under arms at night to protect the wall the siege engines sat on. Perhaps her mount would make them scatter, if nothing else her climbing the wall and killing the crew would draw attention away from the gargoyles long enough for them to do their job.

This was her first battle where the numbers she had could not be deployed at the same time but only a few at a time here and there due to the walls. It made sense why Valkardian wanted Steelshod to keep his armies away from Canterlot now.

Leaving the water with a gurgling sound her behemoth rose up and turned towards the wall and its ballista. Racing forward to catch up the alarm had not been raised yet but they would probably see her golemns any second now.

From the far tree line gargoyles rose up rapidly and raced forward climbing high, ready to dive in on the hapless crews. Order's flew out and focusing on her target watched as the first flurry of arrows slammed into the palisade and over the wall.

Soldiers fell here and there but the wall did its job and protected most of them. Shouts of alarm rose up as the crew's began aiming across the river into the darkness as unicorns fired off flares in the wrong direction.

A horrible shattering and rending sound rang out as the two golemns hit the gates furiously and tore them to shreds allowing her soldiers into the camp. Other golemns simply grabbed onto the wall with their blades and climbed over easily before tearing into the camps.

In front of her the ballista crew unlocked the mechanism and began to rotate it around towards her. Shadow's heart skipped a beat as she wondered if the armor could take a direct, point blank shot from a ballista but breathed in relief as they focused on the golemns. They had not seen her. Yet.

Reaching the wall as they fired Shadow's mount crashed into the wall with it's claws and heaved its body up and over jaws snapping at the terrified crew.

Time stopped for them as they fell away from her as the ballista was shattered under one of the beasts legs. Tearing into their officer it lifted them up and bit down before tossing the body off into the camp and grabbing another soldier.

Crawling backwards and rolling off the earthen parapet other soldiers hunkered behind their shields as panicky unicorns tried to fire off spells. Aiming for the first mob she let loose a blast of fire sending they running, some threw themselves over the wall and ran for the river burning and screaming while others fell thrashing. A couple ran through the camp setting tents ablaze as they thrashed adding to the chaos.

Down the line Shadow watched as the gargoyles continued to rip into the other crews but were beginning to have trouble. From the far camp unicorns were firing away heavily and missing but she could see they were now beginning to focus their fire.

Plodding forward and finishing off another crew while her mount slipped and slid along the wall an idea came to mind. If she could grab their attention for just a second or two her gargoyles could finish the job and they could begin their retreat under considerably less harassment.

Heaving itself up over the next wall she sent the command to her mount and watched as it lowered its head.

During training she had learned that Valkardian had placed on some creation's a few little "gifts" could help at times. Fear was an almighty weapon when used properly and right now she was pinning on this one.

Head lowered the skeletal creature let out an unholy, echoing howl that made all the fighting stop as heads spun so fast their necks threatened to break. Ranks of archers and unicorns backed away quickly from the nightmarish creature and firing off a few blasts of flame all hell broke loose as they turned and ran.

Ballista crew's quickly zeroed in on her and turning away and dropping off the wall quickly their shots either missed or were never fired as her gargoyles finished off a few more crews.

Her archers had already crossed and were at the road while her army streamed away into the night and quickly following them raced through the camp. One camp had emptied out for the most past into a safer, neighboring camp but just as many failed to make it.

One camp was annihilated with no survivors but roughly two-thirds of the enemy army remained intact by virtue of fast thinking officers. Speeding away her golemns disappeared into the darkness as more magical flares went off searching for her.

It was far too late however, the attack was finished and her forces were escaping. No sign was shown that they had any intent nor interest in pursuing her into the night and come tomorrow morning they would be a few miles away.

If they did decided to follow her south they would have to leave the safety of their camp and risk an open battle with a larger force minus their artillery. Shadow figured that after tonight's scare they would stay right where they were until help or new orders arrived.

No harvest had been carried out either, everything was left right where it was in the hasty "retreat." For all they knew their plan was working and would carry on just as Valkardian wanted them to.

Lord Diamond Smith gave out a relieved sigh. They had come very close to being overrun but his defense plan had saved them. How they had crossed the river without him knowing did not matter right now, what mattered was getting word off quickly both to Canterlot and the approaching relief army.

Sending a pegasus come daylight would be easy now that the enemy was gone, the telegraph line was still functional but would take time. Due to outages the message would have to be bounced heavily but with any luck the lines could be restored tomorrow and communication with the forces to his north would resume.

Author's Notes:

Shadow Moon is devious is she not?