Chapter 73: The Looming Battle

The first storm had passed by without damaging the camp. But now, about a day later, another one threatened. Lightning arced across the sky like long, gnarled, skeletal fingers reaching across the heavens. Thunder peeled through the air, reverberating through the forest as if the trees themselves were pounding on large bass drums. To the west, dark clouds churned and rolled in the air. Commander Auraria stood facing to the southeast, the two Pegasus Guard scouts she had sent out flapping their wings as they flew against the oncoming wind from the approaching storm. The two pegasi landed in front of her, folded their wings, and gave her a salute that she returned.

“How was your flight?”

“Turbulent, ma’am” the higher ranking of the two guards responded. “Their army is on the move. Looks like they are trying to cover as much ground as they can before the storm stops them. If they keep up their current pace, they can be here in two hours.”

Auraria wasn’t sure how she felt about that. On one hoof, it probably meant a significant portion of the battle was going to be fought entirely on the ground. Neither the gryphons, changelings, or pegasi could fly in severe thunderstorms. But it also put a kink in her plans to use her Changeling Air Force to strafe the enemy soldiers from the air. That was unfortunate, but the gryphons would be grounded too, and the dragons, if there were any (none of the scouts she’d sent out had seen any), would be virtually useless in a ground battle. Not to mention that, even though the Changeling Air Force was very competent, changelings were still at their best in close-quarters ground combat where it was up close and personal.

“How are the Pegasus Guards in ground combat?” she asked, returning her attention to the two of them.

“We can hold our own as well as the gryphons can, if that’s what you’re getting at, ma’am,” the higher ranking of the two responded.

“Good,” Auraria said with a nod. “Because you might have to. If they get here during the storm, our plans will have to change.”

Ultimately, Auraria thought, those revised plans would benefit her and her army more than it would benefit the enemy. The enemy was foolishly setting themselves up for a ground battle against changeling forces from which there would be no retreat from the air and no air cover. That would help even out the odds a bit, given how badly outnumbered her forces were. Improve, adapt, and never fail to take advantage of an enemy’s mistakes. She doubted they’d have considered their current plan viable if they knew there was a changeling army waiting to ambush them. They’d probably wait until the storm had cleared.

Auraria heard a faint buzz from the west and looked to see the two Changeling Scouts she had sent in that direction returning. They landed in front of her, opposite the side of the two pegasi, folded their insect-like wings, and saluted. Auraria returned the salute.

“What’s that storm looking like?” she asked.

“Nasty, Should be here in about an hour. Probably gonna bring some hail. But it’s clear skies behind it. The storm’ll probably only last about thirty minutes.”

“We might need the air plan after all. Unless we can get a very quick and decisive victory.” She turned to the two Pegasus Guards again. “Fetch me a couple of Unicorn Guards. Since the enemy will have to approach on foot, I want to see about setting trap spells.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the two Pegasus Guards responded in unison, saluting and then going to the center of the camp to look for the requested Unicorn Guards. Auraria turned to the two changelings again.

“Find Sergeant Rasahus. Tell him to assign two full time Changeling Guards to Skydart. I don’t want him sneaking off in the heat of battle. We need him at least until we get to the Northern Fortress.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the two changelings responded with a salute before going off to their assigned task.

Now alone, Auraria turned and made her way back to her tent. A light rain had begun to fall, but the drops were heavy, splatting on her chitin and then running down it to fall on the ground. Once she stepped inside her tent, they made a smattering sound against the canvas like little stones. The warm glow of the brazier felt good against the cold outside wind. Auraria looked at her maps and scrolls, going over her battle plans one more time.

Ideally, she wanted to end this battle as quickly as possible, preferably before the storm cleared out. One way to do that would be to send all of her soldiers to the front, thus ambushing the approaching enemy with everything she had and hopefully forcing a quick surrender. This ground blitzkrieg strategy would also give the illusion that her forces were much more numerous than they actually were.

But there was a danger to this strategy. It would leave her forces vulnerable to attacks on their unprotected flanks. She didn’t think it was a serious risk. So far, all of her recon flights had said the same thing: No sign of any flanking movements. Only one massive forward attack force. No indication that the enemy had the slightest clue that there was an ambush lying in wait for them before they got to Hoofington. That and given the area she had chosen to mount her defense, it would be extremely difficult for the enemy to pull off a flank attack anyway due to the funnel-shaped nature of the terrain. That was even more true with the storm.

“Ma’am?” A voice calling from the front of her tent interrupted.

“Come.” Auraria stepped out from behind her table. A gray Unicorn Guard opened the flap, stepped in, and secured it before turning to salute her. His fur was slightly wet, glistening with rain. His rank insignia indicated he was a Private First Class – not particularly high ranked, but probably the highest ranking Unicorn Guard she had. She returned his salute.

“You requested to see me, ma’am?”

“Yes. Can your soldiers set trap spells?”

“Of course. What kind do you want?”

“What kind can you do?”

“Anything from collapsing ground spells, to exploding ground spells, to electric shock spells, to blindness spells.”

“Blindness spells?”

“Yes, ma’am. It’s called the Eye Blind spell. It’s most effective at night, but it’ll work reasonably well in dark overcast weather like we have here now. It emits a blinding light when triggered, making it difficult for the enemy to see for around ten or fifteen minutes. Good for causing mass confusion. Of course, the drawback is that if any of our soldiers are looking at an Eye Blind trap when it goes off, it will do the same thing to them.”

Auraria considered the options carefully. The blindness spells wouldn’t do as much damage as some other spells. But the impact would last longer and probably affect a larger number of enemy soldiers. She also had to consider that as soon as the trap spells were set off, their element of surprise would be gone. A trap spell that affected as many enemies as possible for as long as possible so that her own soldiers could swarm in and reek havoc among them seemed the best bet, even if the spell did less serious damage and had almost no chance of permanently removing any of the enemy soldiers from combat.

“Take some Unicorn Guards, go about four hundred yards in front of the front line, and ward the entire area with Eye Blind spells.”

“Ma’am,” The Unicorn Guard saluted before turning and leaving the tent. Thunder peeled across the sky as Ice Moon returned her attention to her topographical maps of the area.

The enemy had made both a tactical and strategic error, Auraria thought with a smile. The tactical error had been not waiting for the storm to pass before marching, which would force the gryphons to fight on the ground, something they were not particularly good at. The strategic error had been launching the attack on Hoofington in the first place. The enemy had thought that they could keep Equestria’s forces away from the borders by forcing them to defend Equestria’s small towns that didn’t have large defense garrisons of their own. But in the process, they had left the Northern Fortress dangerously undefended. Auraria intended to take full advantage of that fact. Ideally, she’d like to cut off their retreat, thus preventing them from running back to the fortress, but she didn’t have enough soldiers to split her forces like that. Not given the size of the invasion force that was heading towards Hoofington. Any enemy soldiers that didn’t surrender or die on the battlefield would flee back to the fortress, and she’d have to face them again when it came time to mount the assault on it. That is, assuming any of her forces survived this battle, given the numerical superiority of the enemy.  This battle would determine whether she went down in history as one of the greatest changeling field commanders ever, or one of the most foolish.

She looked at the special flag she had made a couple of days ago (all changeling soldiers learned how to sew), currently sitting rolled in the corner of her tent. The flag had the coat of arms of Equestria, the Changeling Empire, and the Gryphon Kingdom all embroidered on it, all linked together as one. She hoped it would inspire her troops, unite them as one as the symbols were united as one. But she also knew it was a calculated risk. It could backfire on her if the soldiers thought she were appropriating their national symbols in a way that was inappropriate. But she hoped that since she hadn’t actually altered the symbols, only put them on the same flag, that it would have a bonding effect on her soldiers.

What to do about retreating enemy soldiers? That was the question that plagued her now. If she let them retreat, she’d have to fight them again at the Northern Fortress. If she pursued and killed them, she wouldn’t have that problem. But was it ever ethical to kill soldiers who were trying to flee? It was a question Auraria didn’t know the answer to. One that she spent the better part of the next hour pondering. Any enemy soldier that made it back to the fortress could potentially kill several of her own soldiers later on. And it would be much harder to defeat the enemy soldier when he was behind those walls. And besides, she wouldn’t kill them outright. She was planning to give them a chance to surrender. Only those who refused to do so would be killed. She had less time to think about it than she would have liked, though. She had to rally her troops. The enemy would be here soon. In the end, she decided that in this case, the ends would justify the means. The Northern Fortress was critical to Equestria’s defense and had to be recaptured. Without it, the aislings would be free to travel back and forth between their own dimension and Equestria. Unchallenged, unopposed. The decision made, she stepped outside to address her army.

“All units fall in!” she commanded.

Within a minute, all of her troops had assembled in formation in front of her. Maybe it was her imagination, or her own ego talking, but she thought the pony soldiers had become more efficient under her command than they had been before. With a feeling of pride, she noted that the various species hadn’t segregated themselves this time. There were ponies standing alongside gryphons, gryphons standing alongside changelings, changelings standing alongside ponies and gryphons. She supposed she’d have to consider that when determining how to punish the two Pegasus Guards who had leaked the information about the coup before talking to her. Yes, the little pep talk she’d given after that had been how they’d rediscovered Dorylini’s way of replenishing changeling magic reserves, and they might not have discovered that without the two pegasi’s act of defiance. Still, she couldn’t allow that type of behavior to go undisciplined. The assembled soldiers looked to her as if she were some kind of war goddess who were about to impart some divine battle wisdom to them that would ensure their victory. If only that were true, she thought to herself before beginning her second pep talk in as many days. She was going to have to wing this one. She’d already used up her best stuff the day before. How many more pep talks did she have in her? She took a breath before beginning.

“The enemy will be upon us shortly. Everything I said yesterday still applies. Yes, we are outnumbered.  But if we stay strong, if we trust each other, and if we work together as one, then we will win!”

She had to pause while her gathered soldiers erupted in cheers, stabbing forehooves into the air, stomping forehooves and talons on the ground. But calling for quiet was inconceivable. They needed this. Let them get psyched and motivated. That and remaining true to each other would mean the difference between winning and losing the coming battle. She resumed speaking as the applause quieted.

“The battles we will fight over the coming days will never be forgotten. They will be recorded in history books for all time to come. When your children ask you how it is that ponies, gryphons, and changelings became friends. You’ll be able to tell them ‘I was there. I saw it happen. I helped make it happen!’”

Again, she had to pause as her gathered soldiers exploded in applause, forehooves and talons pounding the ground in thunderous accord. Already, she could feel their energy ripping through the air like the lightning that tore through the sky; the currents of love flowing between them like impulses traveling between connected parts of one body. Again, she waited until they were ready before continuing.

“Of course, I can’t promise that all of you will survive the coming battles. But what I can promise you is this: Glory and immortality await you in the next life! And your names will never be forgotten in the town of Hoofington, the Northern Fortress, and the annals of history! Let us fight as one! Let us show our enemy that they cannot break the alliance between us that they themselves forged! And let us show them that together, we are unstoppable! We cannot be defeated! Let us show them that we will win!”

Auraria grabbed the United Flag of the Three Nations that she had had sewn and began waving it, the wind caught the material, fiercely flapping it so that it looked as if it the coat of arms of the three nations were charging into battle.  Applause rippled through the crowd. Energy surged like wildfire. A near worshipful adoration flowed towards her from the changelings, and even a few of the gryphons and ponies. She allowed the wave of emotion to take her, jumping down from her platform and into the gathered soldiers where she celebrated with them as she made her way back to her tent to go over her plans one last time. One could never be too familiar with their plans. The rain, although still light, was increasing in intensity, the light smattering now a steady drizzle of heavy drops. To her left, she saw Sergeant Rasahus fall in beside her. She turned her head, speaking loudly to be heard over the waterfall-like roaring of the gathered soldiers.

“Give the order to strike camp and hide everything. Make sure that everyone is aware that the Unicorn Guard is setting Eye Blind wards four hundred yards outside of the front line. Tell them to stay well clear. I don’t need anyone triggering those. And make sure none of them are looking out there when the enemy approaches.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Rasahus responded with a salute, then turned and left to attend to his assigned tasks.

Auraria entered her tent, shaking briefly to get the water off her chitin, then going over to her table. She took one last glance at her maps before rolling them up and placing them in her saddlebags. Then, she collapsed the metal folding table and began to strike her own tent, still every bit as efficient as she’d been when she was a raw recruit who had been taught to strike a tent and leave no trace of its existence in less than five minutes. When she’d finished, she stepped outside again, pulled the pegs for her tent, and let the canvas fall in on itself. When she’d finished rolling her own tent into a tight cylinder, she looked around. The tent city that had sprung up around her was nearly gone, as if the ground itself had swallowed it up or it had never existed at all. From the air, it would have been very difficult to tell that a camp had ever even been there. Approaching from the ground, it would be impossible. She smiled as she watched changelings, ponies, and gryphons working together to take down the tents for the Unicorn Guards, who were still out casting the trap spells. All she could do now was get her army in position, and wait.

o.O.o

Eric finished packing a small travel bag, then copied the photo of the grizzled sea captain from his laptop to his phone. He looked in the mirror, adjusting his sky-blue tie. Only then did he realize that he’d forgotten to shave. He’d been letting his beard grow out ever since they’d arrived at the Montana cabin.

“Shit,” he mumbled to himself, taking off the tie again and laying it out on the bed, then taking off his white dress shirt and doing likewise. He shivered as the early morning cold met his bare skin again. But it wouldn’t do to get shaving cream on his shirt or tie.

He went into the bathroom, doing his best to keep quiet and avoid waking Celestia or any of the students. Might as well let them sleep an extra hour. They wouldn’t be going with him anyway. Not on this trip. They had things to finish up here. He opened the cheap, metal mirror-cabinet having over the sink, took out a small can of saving cream, squirted some into his hand, and rubbed it onto his face. Then, he began to shave off the beard he’d let grow over the last couple of weeks. Was that a gray hair? It wouldn’t surprise him if the last couple of weeks had started to turn his hair prematurely gray.  He stopped, putting down the razor and picking up a pair of scissors, cutting off the long stubble before going back to the razor to finish up. As he trimmed the hairs from his face, he continued to commit the information about the sea captain to memory. He was originally from Cuba, had served time in a Cuban prison for smuggling people out of Cuba and into Florida. He’d escaped with the help of some, then fled to Florida where he’d requested and was granted asylum on humanitarian grounds. Since then, he’d made his living as an independent cargo boat operator, running small loads back and forth across the Atlantic. But it was his smuggling history that interested Eric the most. He seemed the type who, for the right price, might accept a shipping container without asking questions about what was inside. Eric winced at the thought again. The idea of asking Celestia to board the boat in a shipping container was so absurd it was almost laughable. It was certainly no way for a Princess to travel. But what other options did he have? Walking into the port with a magical winged unicorn was clearly out of the question. And even if they were able to get into port unseen, even a smuggler might draw the line at taking a being like Celestia, perhaps out of fear. No, it was the shipping container or nothing. His current plan was to get her on board, then have her teleport out of the container and into his cabin once they were safely out in the ocean. She’d teleport back into the container just before they arrived in Europe, where she could be safely unloaded.

The plan was simple on the surface, but implementing it was laden with pitfalls. Celestia and her Captain couldn’t be in the container when it arrived at the port in Florida. The security scanners would detect them. He’d have to come up with some kind of legitimate cargo for the container and the two ponies would have to sneak into the port undetected. Then, once container, alicorn, and pegasus were in the port, they’d have to pull off one hell of a switcharoo. Celestia would have to teleport the legitimate cargo out of the container, then teleport herself and Swordstorm into it. All without being seen by anyone. There were way too many things that could go wrong with this plan, but right now, Eric didn’t see any alternatives. There was simply no legal way he was going to be able to get Celestia to Europe.

He finished shaving, rinsed the razor off, took it out to the bedroom and packed it in his travel bag. He put his shirt and tie back on, getting the length of the tie wrong the first time and having undo it and tie it a second time. He wasn’t used to wearing ties or to wearing dress shirts and a suit coat for that matter. But it was best to look professional if he was going to try to bribe the sea captain into giving him and his shipping container with its VIP cargo passage to Europe. He checked his travel bag one more time, ensuring everything was in it, then zipped it shut, picked it up, and stepped out into the main room. Michael was sitting on a chair, his head buried in a notebook.

“Can’t sleep?” Eric asked quietly so as not to wake up the others behind their closed doors. Michael started briefly, coming out of his absorbed state, then shook his head slightly.

“I’m a little bit obsessive compulsive, but with good reason I think. If these calculations aren’t perfect, this isn’t going to work. We have basically no margin for error. And we’ve only got two weeks left to make sure they are exact. As it is, we are going to be asking the unicorns back in Equestria to pull a lot. They’re going to need to produce more than a tera electron-volt of energy to compensate for the imperfect dimensional alignment. And that’s assuming we are perfect spot on with the beam. If we are off even by a fraction, there’s no way they’ll be able to compensate.”

“How long you been at it?”

“Most of the night,” Michael responded with a yawn.

“Well, try to get some sleep. You’re more likely to make a mistake when you are tired. And as you already pointed out, mistakes are something we can’t afford. Besides, I’m going to need all of you to handle things by yourselves for the next few days.”

“Where you off to?”

“Florida. I need to try to find some way to get us all, plus Celestia and her Captain to Switzerland. As I said, get some sleep.”

Eric didn’t wait for a response before opening the front door and stepping outside into the cool morning air. The sun hadn’t even begun its ascent towards the horizon yet. Eric looked up at the sky as he walked towards the rented van. Stars dotted the night sky like brightly shining snowflakes or ice crystals suspended high in the air. He savored the view. Stars were something he almost never got to see in Chicago. There was simply too much light pollution.

“Morning Eric,” the voice of Captain Swordstorm called out, startling him out of his revelry at the beautiful night.

“Captain,” Eric acknowledged. “Early start for you too?”

“Lot on my mind,” Captain Swordstorm said as he fell in beside Eric, walking next to him. “I have no idea how I’m going to prepare a group of college students with no infiltration experience at all to commandeer a high energy physics lab. Especially given I’ve had no time to work with them yet since they’ve all been too busy working on the project.”

Eric nodded in response. “What have you learned so far?”

“That it’s not going to be easy,” Swordstorm took a deep breath, let it out through his nostrils in an equine-like snort, his breath visible in the chill air of the night. “Except for the visitor’s building, all the entrances to the facility are protected with guarded gates. The parts that don’t have gates have high fences. Princess Celestia will probably have to teleport us through the fence.”

“If she can do that, then what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that teleportation doesn’t work under an invisibility spell. In order to teleport us, she’ll have to drop the invisibility spell. Sure, she can recast it as soon as the teleport is finished, but there’s a brief period where we’ll be visible to their security guards and their cameras. Not to mention that the flash from the teleportation spell will draw attention.”

“We’ll have to reveal ourselves eventually no matter what,” Eric pointed out.

“Yes, but I had hoped we’d be able to put it off until after we were inside of the building.”

Eric nodded and looked at the ground, scuffing his shoe on it gently. He wished he had some suggestion to offer Swordstorm, some helpful advice to give on how they might make their way into the accelerator control room. But he was blank. He looked up again when he felt Captain Swordstorm tap him on the arm with a forehoof.

“We’ll think of something. We always do. You better go or you’ll miss your flight.”

Eric placed a hand on Swordstorm’s shoulder for a moment. Then, he turned, climbed into the rented van, and started for the airport.