Rainbow said, "Begin!". Several of the Royal Guards immediately charged straight at the Pryhan Pede, who hunkered behind his shield and readied his curved sword to thrust out around it. At the last second, he sprang forward, slamming into two of them and sending them reeling back. The unicorn next to the collision tried to use his magic to stab around the wooden blocker, but the pede pressed him, knocking him on the head with the blunt end of the sword. As she crumpled to the floor, the remaining three came at him from several directions at once. The Terran pede charged, using his momentum to ram another guard. The pegasi guard tried to do a flyby, but the guard ducked the attack, using his swords hook-like shape to grab onto the straps of his armor and pulling him to the hard-packed dirt. He turned to face the last on, who was shaking so hard his armor was also shaking. The Pryhan just walked up and, with her still quivering, conked her on the head. She crumbled to the floor, and the Pede went to go rest in the shade. Rainbow, meanwhile, just shook her head.

It had been three weeks since she had arrived and begun training the two Royal Guard divisions. In that time, she had also evaluated their standing. The Night Guard had improved greatly from when she had arrived, and they already weren't the worst fighters. With a little effort, she had managed to turn them, who made up most of the force, into a decent fighting unit. They still couldn't stand up to Pryhan Pedes, or Griffonian Troopers, or even Saddle Arabian Sparabara, but they could give Free Company units back in Pryha or hardened Pirates a run for their money.

Now, the Royal Guards were another story. As they had borne the brunt of the assault during the Changeling invasion, there were only a few of them; no more than six hundred when compared to the Night Guards five thousand. However, that didn't mean they were better, or even on equal footing. Luna must've had a better training regimen because they absolutely sucked. Yes, a few of them took to it ok, and even a bit fewer were actually competent. But, for the most part, they were terrible troops. They had improved, but not by much.

Hence, what she had just saw. Seven to One and they had their asses handed to them; and these were some of the more competent ones. She muttered under her breath in demosian and went over to a makeshift desk to write up the days report. When she arrived, she found Pinkie waiting for her. "What do you want?", Rainbow groused, pushing past her to get to the seat.

"I just wanted to say Hi!"

"So? You just did", she said. "Now piss off, before I have you escorted out of my tent."

She replied, in a weird pouty, trying-to-sound-cure voice, "Oh, come on, Dashie! I just want to talk, and maybe have a few cupca-"

"Why and how do you still have cake", Rainbow asked. "Now, I won't ask again: Piss. Off. Before I make you; with a barbed, POISONED Veretum. Get the picture, you hypocritical, ditsy bitch?"

Before either could respond, a loud, deep thrumming could be heard in the distance. Rainbows scowl immediately vanished, and she pushed aside a confused Pinkie. Spotting Shining Armor and Princess Luna on the edge of the makeshift training yard, she flew over and landed by them. They turned when the saw her, Shining asking, "What on Equis is that?"

She just flashed a smile at them under her plumed helmet. "That, my friend, is the rest of your reinforcements."

As she said that, the front of the column appeared over the hill on the horizon. In the midmorning sun, light reflected off of their mail, helmets, and segmented plate, like thousands of tiny lighthouses in a storm. Lances and Sarcinas leaned on their shoulders, making the force look even bigger when they arrived on somewhat level ground to them. The officers marched both alongside and in front of the lines of troops, shouting out the cadence and keeping the Pedes dressing. Horns, which made the sounds she heard just a minute ago, sounded out a rapid, steady cadence. Rainbow couldn't help but grin. The 14th Regiment, Pride of the Empire, had arrived.

And it wasn't just them. Above them, also in a column-like formation, flew a massive force of Griffons. Like when Gilda came to Pryha after Diocletian's coronation, they wore bronze lamellar and leather armor, small, tight-fitting helmets with red feather plumes, and sheathed massively curved sabers. However, she was also able to spot a few other bits of equipment. Recurve short bows, Glaives, and small, round wooden shields.

"So, Princess. When exactly did you intend to begin your invasion?", She said. "I mean, you did say I had three weeks to train the Tin Cans. So, I take it we move out soon?"

"But we need more time!", Shining protested. "My ponies-"

"Are unimportant, Captain", Luna snapped, stunning both of them. "Your men are unable to keep up, and they simply aren't ready. But we can't afford to wait for less than a thousand ponies Every day, every hour we delay, we give the Changelings more time to entrench, to prepare. More time to discover where we are and to prepare an invasion. More time to suck the love and life out of our citizens. No. More. Delay." Turning to Rainbow, she said, "How soon can you get your troops ready to move?"

She shrugged, and replied, "I can get them ready to move now if you want."

"Tomorrow morning. We let your troops rest and final drills for the rest of them. Tomorrow morning, we move out." She then turned and trotted off, heading toward the civilian section of the camp while the singing of the Pryhan troops became audible.

"🎵Lance's flash, Gladii swing,🎵
🎵Gleaming armors piercing ring!🎵
🎵Soldiers march with a polished shield,🎵
🎵Fight those bastards 'til they yield!🎵
🎵Midnights flash and blood-red roan,🎵
🎵Fight to keep our land our own!🎵
🎵Sound the horn and call the cry!🎵
🎵How many of them can we make die!?🎵"

"🎵Follow orders as you're told,🎵
🎵Make their yellow blood run cold!🎵
🎵Fight until you die or drop,🎵
🎵Our wall of steel is hard to stop!🎵
🎵Close your mind to stress and pain,🎵
🎵Fight 'til you're no longer sane!🎵
🎵Let not one damn cur pass by!🎵
🎵How many of them can we make die!?🎵"

"🎵Guard your lover and children well,🎵
🎵Send those bastards back to Hell!🎵
🎵We'll teach them the ways of war,🎵
🎵They won't threaten us anymore!🎵
🎵Use your lance and use your head,🎵
🎵Fight 'til everyone 'a them is dead!🎵
🎵Raise the eagle flag up to the sky!🎵
🎵How many of them may we make die!?🎵"

"🎵Dawn has broke, the time has come,🎵
🎵Move your legs to the marching drum!🎵
🎵We'll win the war and pay the toll,🎵
🎵We'll fight with all our heart and soul!🎵
🎵Midnight's flash and blood-red roan,🎵
🎵Fight to keep this land our own!🎵
🎵Sound the horn and call the cry!🎵
🎵How many of them can we make die!?🎵"

"🎵Lance's flash, Gladii ring,🎵
🎵Gleaming armors piercing ring🎵
🎵Soldiers run with a polished shield,🎵
🎵Fight those bastards 'til they yield!🎵
🎵Midnight's flash and blood-red roan,🎵
🎵Fight to keep our land our own!🎵
🎵Sound the horn and call the cry!🎵
🎵How many of them can we make die!?🎵
🎵How many of them can we make die!?🎵"

Next Chapter: 88~Siege of Appleousa Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 55 Minutes