WARNING!
This chapter contains pony violence and slight pony gore. If that is an issue for you, don't read this chapter. I will update you on what you missed in the next chapter!
For those that are fine with pony violence, enjoy!

==========

“Oh no oh no oh no!” Twilight says, pacing around the room, sweating.

“Twilight?” Spike asks, walking towards her.

“Spike! Get everyone in town and bring them here! We have less than 30 seconds!”

You bite your tongue to stop yourself from laughing.

“Is she always like this?” you quietly ask Spike who is standing just at the foot of your bed.

He rolls his eyes. “More than you think. The other day I forgot send in her friendship report to the Princess that morning, but I still did it! It was just later in the evening. She was so worried that she packed up her belongings and stood outside waiting for Celestia to send her back to Canterlot.”

“Well that’s a natural reaction, I guess.”

‘What the hell is a friendship report?’ you ask yourself, never having heard of such a thing.

“Spike!” Twilight yells, looking at Spike with the angriest expression you’ve ever seen on a horse. “20 seconds!” She points a hoof at the clock.

“C’mon, Twilight,” you say. “What could be so bad about the Princess visiting?”

If anything Twilight has told you is true, then you know Twilight is the Princess’ personal and most beloved student. Twilight has saved this country multiple times using her wits and skill with magic.

If any of that is true, you doubt the Princess would be upset there is not a parade to announce her arrival. How egocentric could she be?

“What could be bad?!” Twilight asks you rhetorically. “I’ll tell you what ‘could be bad.’ The Princess arrives without an official celebration welcoming her! She’ll think I’ve been working too hard and that I can no longer concentrate on even the most simple of tasks! She’ll take away my books! My library! I won’t be able to see my friends! And then she’ll force me to take a-” She takes in a dramatic breath of air. “Vacation!”

‘What’s so bad about that?’

This is the most paranoid being you’ve ever seen.

“Really, Twilight,” Spike cuts in. “Princess Celestia has visited lots of times! Why is this time any different?”

“She’s not here to visit me, Spike! She’s here on official government business!”

“And what would that be?” he asks.

“Him!” she yells, pointing a purple hoof at you. “She’s here for him!”

“Me?” you ask, confused. You don’t know why royalty would want to see someone such as you. Did you do something wrong? Did you break the law? Is attempting to escape from a hospital a federal offense?

“You! I sent her my report just last night, and now she wants to meet you! Oh no! There is so much you have to know!”

“Know about what?”

She runs towards you, causing you to uncomfortably shift in your bed.

Before you can ask a question, Twilight jumps into the air and lands on your mattress, causing you to bump up and down a little; but only a little. You’re still chained to the bed, after all.

She rushes up the bed until her head is mere inches away from yours, a terrifying look on her face. You try to back away from the mare, but your mattress and pillows only seem to push you forward.

“Since you’ll be meeting with the Princess, you have to learn all the important etiquette techniques used by the social elite of Canterlot.”

“Twilight?” Spike asks. “I really don’t-”

“Quiet, Spike! I’m teaching here, and I only have a few seconds left!”

The door to your room opens and in walks what you assume to be Princess Celestia.

However, looking over to the now open door, you see someone who does not look a lot like what you thought this Princess was supposed to look like. The only problem is that this ‘Princess’ looks a lot like a stallion, and is wearing purple armor. Not a crown.

“Twily!” the definite male figure exclaims upon looking at the purple unicorn standing menacingly overtop of you.

“Shining!” Twilight yells back, jumping off the bed and nearly kicking you in the face. Twilight wastes no time in moving towards the purple-armored pony.

You glance at Spike before turning back to whom you assume is ‘Shining’ and Twilight, who are hugging. All signs of stress Twilight was just showing are now gone.

“Is that your boyfriend, Twilight?” you ask.

She gasps and recoils. You know if she was drinking a cup of water then it’d be all over the place right now.

“What?! No! Shining is my brother.”

“Ooh. My bad.”

You’ve never seen a brother and a sister so close before.

“Captain Shining Armor,” the armored pony introduces himself kindly with a smile.

You return the smile and introduce yourself as well.

He repeats the name slowly, making sure he is pronouncing it right.

“Yep, that’s it.”

“Huh. Interesting. Never heard a name like that before. Where are you from?”

“Uhh...” you try to think how you can describe your home to a talking horse in the land of talking horses. “Not around here. Imagine if this world y’all got here is full of people that look kind of like me.”

“You’re from a different planet?” he asks.

You think for a moment. “Uhh... Yeah. I guess I am. ‘Cause I’m definitely not where I used to be.”

“How did you get here?”

You shrug.

“I already asked him all of these questions,” Twilight says to her brother. “If you want to know the answers, I still have my notes around-”

“Relax, Twily,” Shining says, chuckling. “I’m not interviewing him. Just making conversation.”

‘Twily’s’ face flushes. “Oh... Right. Of course.”

Just then, two stallions walk into the room, both clad in shiny golden armor with blue crests. Both are white. Both have wings. And both look pissed.

What did you do?

Oh shit.

You illegally entered the country, right? They’re going to deport you. But to where?

Is attempting to escape a hospital illegal?

If so, you’re going to prison.

What did Twilight write in her report to her Princess?

Did she say you were a threat? Does the Princess believe her?

Oh shit. They’re going to kill you.

“Alright, let’s get him in the chair,” Shining says to the two golden-armored pegasi.

‘What chair?!’ you shout in your head, on the verge of a panic attack.

At that very moment, Nurse Redheart, who has always hated you and is definitely out to get you (but is simply pretending to be nice), rolls in a wheelchair.

‘Oh I get it. I tried get out of the hospital in a wheelchair, and now you’re going to take me out in one. Well kill me then! Then you can wheel me around wherever you want!’

You’re paranoia levels are the highest they have ever been.

“You’re being transported to Canterlot,” Nurse Redheart says, unhooking your handcuffs temporarily and taking off the straps on the bed.

You are now free to move.

If only you could.

‘Wait. Where are they taking me?’

“We will lift on three,” Nurse Redheart says as the other ponies in the room gather around your bed. They all put their hooves underneath you, except Twilight.

“One. Two. Three and lift!”

You are hoisted off the bed with ease, as a purple aura appears underneath you and gently deposits you in your chair.

“Thank you, Twilight,” the nurse says before exiting the room.

“My pleasure,” Twilight responds proudly.

No sooner are you seated in the chair than your handcuffs are back on, fastened tightly around your wrists, holding them tightly together.

‘Wait! Fuck!’

Any relief you may have felt from being uncuffed is now gone as you realize that you are at the mercy of these angry looking pegasi.

“Alright,” Shining begins. “Best not keep the Princess waiting. The chariot is outside so let’s get going.”

You don’t say anything. There is nothing for you to say.

It doesn’t matter if you agree to go with him or not. He’s going to take you. And it’s not like you can wheel yourself around at the moment.

One of the guards gets behind your chair and pushes you out of the room, taking a left in order to go down to the lobby.

You know what the lobby looks like. You saw it earlier today.

After a relatively calm roll down the hallway, you enter the lobby, where Nurse Redheart seems to be waiting for you with a stack of papers.

She approaches you with a clipboard in her mouth, which she drops into your lap.

“Please sign along the dotted line,” she instructs.

You pick up the pen, scribble your signature, and give it back to her.

“Ffank you!” she says, clipboard in mouth.

They then wheel you out the sliding glass doors. It’s the third time you’ve been outside that you remember.

The first was very painful and confusing.

The second was tiring but very pretty and refreshing.

The third is very bright, as the sun is already high in the sky and there are no clouds.

As your vision quickly adjusts, you see a large town in the distance, which you learned is called ‘Ponyville.’

It shouldn’t be very difficult for one to discover why the town is appropriately named.

It feels nice to be out in the open, fresh air. You were in the hospital so long, you were beginning to think this whole world smelled of disinfectant.

Your chair takes an immediate right, forcing you to look in that direction. Your eyes go wide as you see what sits in front of you.

A massive carriage, probably 20 feet long and almost 10 feet tall, sits on the grass, waiting for you.

‘Who the hell travels around in that?!’

You assume whoever this belongs to must be pretty big. Or very claustrophobic.

The two golden-armored pegasi march to the front of the giant box and hook themselves up to it.

Shining gets behind your chair and pushes you inside of the giant box.

The inside the carriage is even better than the outside!

There are cushions and pillows everywhere, the walls are painted a light purple, and there are multiple windows for anyone who wants to see the world one final time before they plummet to their death.

The ceiling is high above your head, and you know that if you stood straight up, your head wouldn’t even come close to hitting the ceiling.

You can’t do that in most cars.

This whole situation would be much better if you weren’t handcuffed and possibly about to be executed or given jail time.

“Bye, Twily!” Shining exclaims as the carriage is beginning to depart.

“Say ‘hi’ to mom and dad for me!” she yells back.

“Will do!”

And your first ever flying carriage ride has begun.

==========

‘Is it still really necessary for me to be handcuffed?’ you ask yourself as you fly through the sky in Shining’s chariot.

And you suppose that it actually is. From Shining’s point of view, you are a possible psychopath, so you guess it’d make him feel better if you had limited use of your arms.

But you’re too scared to try to attack anyone. You’re thousands of feet above the ground and being pulled by two horses.

Horses.

Flying horses. Your life is in the hands - or hooves- of those two.

You need to distract yourself before you have another panic attack. And you know you will. You decide to talk to Shining.

“So, uh,” you begin, clearing your throat and getting his attention, “where is this, ‘Canterlot’ place?”

“It’s only about an hour away,” he replies. “It’s the capital of Equestria. The Princesses live there, and they wanted to meet you.”

Oh shit.

“A-and, um...” you feel yourself getting even more nervous. It’s getting warm in here. “What are they like? The Princesses, I mean.”

He smiles. “Don’t worry. You’re not in trouble. You didn’t do anything. They just wanted to meet you and talk for a little bit. They’re nice. They won’t hurt you or anything.”

You don’t feel any better.

You look out the window for a little while longer, watching the terrain far below you pass by.

The Equestrian countryside is beautiful. It’s very green and looks like it’s well taken care of.

You may as well keep the conversation going as best you can. Besides, there has been something you have been meaning to ask.

“Twilight was telling me a whole bunch of stuff about magic,” you say. “And that got me thinking, considering unicorns have magic, can’t you just fix me up? Like, cast a spell or something that’ll fix my injuries?”

“I wish,” he responds. “But no. Outside magic doesn’t sit well with the body.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ll give you an example. If somepony got cut, and somepony else used magic to fix that cut, the magic used would not sit well with the injured ponies’ body. What would happen is something called ‘Magical Atrophy.’ Basically what happens is your organs would shut down one by one ‘cause they can’t react with outside magic, which usually causes internal bleeding and death.”

Well...

Fuck.

Not what you expected, but alright.

Guess you won’t be trying that anytime soon.

Bed rest sounds just fine to you.

==========

Shining is a pretty cool guy. Once you finished with your line of questions, he started his own.

‘Are Shining and Twilight actually related?’ you find yourself wondering.

Twilight comes across as a little more socially awkward and very scientific, so when she was talking to you earlier, it felt a lot more like an interview than anything else.

But talking to Shining legitimately feels like a conversation, and a nice one at that.

Despite the flight being an hour and a half long, you would say you enjoyed it, despite your constant paranoia. Surely someone as nice as Shining won’t kill you, right?

You feel the carriage touch down on the ground, though you were unaware you even began a descent.

“Alright!” Shining exclaims, smiling and standing up. “Here we are! Canterlot!”

The door on the side of the luxurious carriage opens and Shining wheels you out into the afternoon sunlight.

The sight before you is very different from Ponyville. Ponyville was... ‘rustic,’ you suppose is the word. It had an old-time feel to it, like a town out in the country. There was open space and farms and all that good stuff.

Not here, though.

The city, which has been identified as ‘Canterlot,’ is huge.

As far as you can see, which isn’t very far, are massive buildings and huge crowds of ponies, whether they are walking or flying or riding in carriages. You would like to see farther, but the tall buildings in front of you block your sight from the rest of the city.

The buildings are really damn big. That fact refuses to go unnoticed.

They may just seem big because you just came from a town where the largest building is three or four stories, or because ponies just look really small next to them, but whatever. It’s pretty in it’s own way, you suppose.

You’re not much of a city guy.

The spaces are cramped, it’s too crowded, and it makes you uncomfortable if you are there for extended periods of time.

Ponyville seemed like a nice fit.

If you’re going to be staying here, you hope the Princess will let you live in Ponyville.

But hopefully, you won’t be staying here. You really want to go home, and thoughts of your old house have been plaguing your mind ever since your arrival, and do not show any signs of stopping.

Shining wheels your chair around 180 degrees.

And your jaw drops.

How you missed the humungous castle is beyond you, but there it is. The massive structure stands before you, looking intimidating and beautiful and a hundred other things at the same time.

You thought the skyscrapers of Canterlot were big, but they are nothing compared to this castle. You have to look straight upwards just to see the top of the thing.

“Nice, huh?” Shining asks, noticing your stunned silence.

You nod slightly.

This city is amazing. It’s so big! But so clean! Most cities have the ability to quickly look like a rundown shithole, but this is amazing!

He chuckles. “Yeah, it’s pretty awesome. I live here, you know.”

“You live here?” you ask, not taking your eyes off the top of the castle’s tallest towers.

“Mm-hmm. Hey! Later on, I can introduce you to my wife!”

“I’d love to meet her,” you respond, wondering who Shining could have married in order for him to live in a castle?

‘Wait... if he lives here, he must be married to the Princess!... Uhm... Celestia! That was it. That was what Twilight told me. Well good for him.’

Shining begins to tell you something. You’re not entirely sure what it is because you’re not listening. Something about the Princess and the history of the Canterlot castle.

If there wasn’t so much that you had to take in all at once, you would be able to hold a conversation, but you simply sit in a stunned silence.

Shining wheels you right by a group of golden-armored unicorns and pegasi. All of them are looking straight ahead.

‘Are they mannequins?’ you wonder, doubting it is physically possible to stand like that all day.

The massive doors in front of you open, seemingly by themselves, and Shining pushes you into the interior of the grand palace.

If your eyes get any wider, they are going to explode out of your skull.

There are corinthian columns lining the walls that hold up the ceiling, glass chandeliers that hang at least 40 feet above your head, the walls look like they are made out of gold, and floor is polished so nicely you are about to go blind!

Everything is spotless.

‘Who the hell built this place?!’ you wonder, also trying to think of what kind of budget that pony must’ve head.

This is what the government does with your taxes.

You want to ask yourself how this place could possibly get any better, but you’re sure it will. You don’t know what to expect, but it’ll probably be breathtaking.

Shining continues to talk behind you, somehow assuming that you are listening. Which you are not, but you let him carry on anyway.

He could actually be saying something very important.

Oh well.

The two of you make your way through the longest hallways you have ever seen. Each of them remind you of the ‘The Shining,’ (ha!!!) and are always expecting two little girls to be standing at the end of the hallway.

But they aren’t there, and you are thankful for that.

After a few more minutes of the both of you aimlessly wandering around this massive building, you approach two massive doors. They aren’t as big as the doors to get into the castle, itself, but they’re big.

Shining does not stop as the doors open by themselves as you get close.

The interior of this room is so bright that your eyes actually begin to sting a little. You rub at them with your hands before returning your bound wrists to your lap.

‘Oh shit,’ you just now realize. ‘I’m going to meet the ruler of this country... in a hospital gown.’

You’re still wearing the same thing you have always been. Your old clothes have been destroyed, so this is the only thing you could actually wear, but it’s still improper.

You hope she doesn’t take it as a sign of disrespect.

This country still has Princesses and castles and shit, which makes you think of the Middle Ages, the Age of Chivalry.

You don’t mean to be disrespectful, as you are forced to wear this, but that doesn’t help calm you down. You’re getting very nervous again.

And this room is warmer than the others, you think.

You just now notice the inside of the room, and it’s massive. So big, in fact, that you can’t even see the other side of it.

That’s an exaggeration, of course, but nevertheless, the room is massive, and everything on the opposite side is a blur.

Sunlight pours into the room through the dozens of stained glass windows lining the side of the room. You can’t tell exactly what the stained glass windows have on them, but it looks like some crazy shit.

You’re in awe, to put it simply.

You know there are other individuals in this massive room, but you can’t hear them and you can’t see them.

Shining continues to wheel you along, and your gaze goes from one window to the next, from one side of the room to the other. This is amazing.

Every window seems to be portraying some event, though you’re not sure what. But, you don’t know Equestrian history, so you just appreciate the art.

After what feels like an hour of rolling along (and it probably was), you finally come to an abrupt stop.

At first, you didn’t even notice you stopped moving until you realized how incredibly quiet the room suddenly became. Glancing behind you, you realize Shining is no longer there.

Oh shit.

You’re exactly where you are supposed to be.

You look straight for the first time since entering the room, only to see two golden-armored grey unicorns glaring at you. Why are all the guards mad at you? What did you do? What do they want?

You get your answer as soon as you look up.

Sitting above everypony else is the closest thing to a real horse you have seen.

The first thing you notice is that she is white, and that she has a horn and wings. You have yet to see a pony with a horn and wings before, so you’re a little confused.

Her mane is blue, green, purple, and pink from top to bottom, and so is her tail, both of which seem to be floating in a gentle breeze, but you can’t feel one.

You suppose she has a hidden fan next to her or something. It is rather warm in here.

You notice the golden crown on top of her head, behind her horn. She also has four golden horseshoes and a giant golden necklace-looking-thing with a purple stone set in the middle of it.

Lastly, you notice her eyes.

They’re purple.

You wouldn’t think that such a simple thing as that would mean anything, but it does.

And all of that leaves you thinking one thing.

‘That is the most attractive horse I have ever seen.’

Not to say that you are attracted to said animal, or any animal, or ever will be. She is just a horse, after all.

She smiles softly down at you before standing up.

“Good afternoon, traveller. I am Princess Celestia.”

==========

You can see the Destrierian forces all lined up in front of you.

Well, you can kind of see them.

They’re about 300 meters away from you; close enough to see, but too far for a swordsman to have any effect. You would do anything for a gun right now. Guns may cause a lot of problems, but they can solve a lot of them as well.

‘Nervous’ is a word that can’t even begin to describe you at this moment. Your anxiety levels are higher than you ever thought possible, and you’re beginning to shake.

The shaking might just be the cold effecting you, but whatever.

How could you not feel nervous?

You are solely responsible for the lives of 80 great men - or stallions. You have gotten to know all of them over the many months you have been in the army, and you are honored to lead them into this battle. No one could ask for better soldiers anywhere in this world.

But you know some will be lost. It’s inevitable.

Battling with swords is up close and personal. If you want to kill someone, you are going to be within an arms’ reach of them and you will be able to see their face. It will be the last face you see or yours will be the last they see.

There is hardly any other way to go. Unless you’re unlucky enough to get crushed by a fallen pegasi, as Griff said.

You hope Griff is alright.

You hope Soarin and Spitfire are alright.

When the day is over, it’d be nice to sit around the fire once again with those officers you call ‘friends.’

You shake your head to clear those thoughts away. No use for them now. It’ll just distract you. You have exactly 81 individuals to worry about, and that is it.

The other 49,919 (estimated) legionnaires have their own things to worry about, and you got yours. And that is why the ranking system exists in the military. It tells you who has to worry about the most shit.

More or less.

In the distance, hundreds of yards away, you see hundreds, if not thousands of tiny specks arise from behind the Destrierien infantry.

You can only assume their cavalry has been launched.

Maximus’ legions have been lined up as follows: infantry in the front, with your century on the very far left of the line, anchoring the whole army next to a group of trees. The trees to your left can either benefit your century or allow them to sweep around and get behind you. You have to be ready for anything.

You don’t know how far the infantry stretches, but it probably goes on for a couple miles. There are a lot of you. In the very center of that long line are the 1,000 (estimated) zebra soldiers. Somewhere in the center are the two minotaurs, as well.

Which is a pity.

You really wanted to see them in action, but you can’t see that far down the line. You would love to have a minotaur fighting next to you.

Behind the infantry is the entire line of cavalry. Every pegasus and gryphon soldier Maximus has at his disposal is right behind you, but they won’t be staying.

Behind the cavalry is a row of artillery. Anypony trained to use a bow and arrow is back there, along with a dozen or so massive catapults, evenly spaced along the line from one flank to the other.

They will come in handy, no doubt.

Finally, a hundred meters or so behind the artillery, are dozens of makeshift field hospitals. Doctors and nurses have medicine and operating tables and beds all prepared as they expect there will be massive casualties.

They didn’t exactly say that, but you’re guessing by the amount of doctors at the ready that Maximus is expecting a lot of casualties.

The nearest field hospital to you is around 350 meters to your 4 o’clock. If anypony gets sliced the fuck up, they can mosey on back there.

Back to the battle.

A few commands are shouted down the line before a trumpet blares 3 times, signalling the cavalry to make a direct assault.

Thousands of pegasi and gryphons soldiers, some with armor, some without, and some with giant weapons, some with very small ones or none at all, fly directly over your head and upwards as fast as their wings can carry them.

Cheers erupt from the line of infantry as the battle is finally about to begin.

You were there when Celestia first declared war, and now you are where the first blood will be shed in it.

You watch as your friends in the sky become tiny dots thousands of feet above you.

After a few moments of watching, the dots that are your cavalry merge with their dots, and everything quickly becomes confusing.

You can’t differentiate between the two sides, but you don’t have to. You can’t fly.

After a few moments of simply watching the sky battle high above Maximus’ legions, you hear more commands shouted from behind you, and the moving around of something. You have to keep your eyes on your enemy at all times, so you don’t know what they’re doing.

But you don’t have to wait very long to find out.

Above you, hundreds of arrows fly upwards before slowly descending and raining down on your enemy.

Some light can be seen from their lines, showing which troops are unicorns and which ones are not.

Unicorns use the light in order to shield themselves from the arrows, and earth ponies use real shields.

Shields don’t always cover everything, though, so there is a decent chance the arrows took care of a few enemy soldiers. Which is good. It’s less that you have to deal with.

But the artillery barrage has just begun.

The catapults fire massive boulders hundreds of yards, and some actually manage to hit their targets. Most of the boulders overshoot or don’t go far enough, but you see one smash right into one battle group.

More cheers erupt from the line, but your Century remains silent.

The archers let loose another set of arrows.

You wonder when their infantry will attack.

‘Are they just going to stand there and take it all day?’

The best thing about fighting a defensive war as you are is that you are not obligated to move at any time.

As long as you merely exist, you are winning.

If they want this land, they gotta take it from you.

So come and get it.

From nearly a thousand feet away you hear trumpets playing and you see their infantry begin to march forward.

Thus begins the most adorable cavalry charge in history.

‘Here we go,’ you think. ‘This is what you have been waiting for.’

You used to wonder, if unicorns have magic and shit, why don’t they just shoot their opponents to kill them? It’d be easier and safer. Not to mention you could kill your opponent from the distance they are at right now, as opposed to waiting for them to get right in front of you.

And magic would put earth ponies and pegasi at a tremendous disadvantage.

But in Officer Candidate School, you learned that the magical power required to take another’s life is equal to your own. So simply, if you try to kill someone with magic, you die.

Magic is crazy sometimes. It can’t directly kill anyone or directly heal anyone, but you think it’d be able to. Well, you can technically use it to kill or heal, but someone will always end up dead.

The Destrierian forces are marching towards you, not running. You understand that they shouldn’t tire themselves out by sprinting a few hundred meters, but they are getting shat upon by arrows and rocks.

You continue to look forward, simply observing their army marching at you, occasionally you see a guy go down or one battle group begins to lag behind the others and has to catch up.

You see hundreds of specks fly into your peripheral vision.

“Shields up!” you command, noticing the hundreds of arrows that are now being fired at you.

At your command, every unicorn in your Century produces a shield made of pure energy above their heads, bathing the area around you in a blue light. Every shield an individual unicorn uses is just big enough to cover himself and that is it. Performing magic is very taxing on the body, so you’ve heard, so covering more than what is needed is a waste of energy.

You, however, do not have the ability to use magic; something you have realized from a very young age. As tragic as that may be, you have settled to use a simple bronze shield with Celestia’s golden sun painted on the front.

You almost start thinking about Celestia, but stamp those thoughts out as soon as they appear.

You can’t think about it.

Raising the shield above your head and ducking down, you brace yourself against the incoming hail of arrows.

Almost immediately, you feel multiple thuds against your shield, and can only assume what it is.

Your heart begins to beat faster and faster as you realize that a bronze circle is the only thing between you and death.

As you sit and wait for the onslaught to come to an end, you want to think. You want to do something that’ll take your mind off of what is actually happening.

But you can’t.

You need to be fully concentrated on what is happening. There can be no distractions. No matter how much your mind tries to escape, and think about her, you always pull yourself back. You have to.

After what feels like a thousand years, the storm of arrows and rocks has finally stopped.

At least, you think it has stopped. There are no more thuds against your shield or the sound of objects whizzing past your ears.

For a brief moment, all is quiet.

“Recover!” you command, standing up but keeping your shield in front of you.

Standing not 50 feet in front of you is the Destrierian army, and for the first time, you finally see what they look like.

They have silver armor, similar to yours, but theres’ is plated, whereas yours’ is segmented.

Their armor kind of reminds you of Skyrim. It almost looks like the armor that the town guards would wear.

Except for the helmets.

Quickly glancing at a few of the soldiers standing before you, you realize that none of them seem to be wearing the same model of headgear.

For the most part, you can see their faces. Some have face coverings, but most do not. Most of their helmets are simple things that merely sit on top of their head, hardly protecting anything.

Which is a great contrast to the Equestrian helmet which covers the top of the head, back of the neck, forehead, and basically everything except for the throat, eyes, nose, and ears.

So a lot of your vital areas are left exposed, but honestly, if you get stabbed in the head, you’re probably going to die, helmet or not.

Another thing you notice is that every individual soldier on the Destrierian side has a unique design on their face in green paint.

It’s kind of like being in the movie ‘Braveheart,’ but instead of blue paint, it’s green.

You see a body fall from the sky and land just behind where the Destrierians are standing, and it seems to go ignored by all for now.

The Destrierians let loose a great roar which thunders from one end of their line to the other as they bang their weapons against their shields and armor, making as much noise as physically possible.

No Equestrian moves. You all stand perfectly still, waiting for them to make their move.

Some of them begin to move as though they are about to charge, but no one actually commits. They continue to yell.

Finally, you hear a whistle blow, and in mass, the whole of the Destrierian infantry rushes forwards, their battlecry only growing in volume.

“Shield wall!” you command, moving your shield directly in front of you and bracing against a massive collision.

A line of light blue shields, made of pure energy, appear in front of your soldiers, as they too brace themselves for impact.

The Destrierians rush closer. And closer. And closer.

Until finally, you collide.

Roaring animals literally throw themselves into your shield wall, trying to dislodge or knock you over, but you prepared for this, and you hold firm.

Now that the initial rush is over and you survived it, the real fighting begins.

Somepony immediately takes a huge swing at your head, which you narrowly dodge.

You can feel your heart beating in your ears as adrenaline begins to course through you.

The sound of metal bashing against metal fills your ears as the battle truly begins. All around you are the sounds of battle. The sound of swords being swung but not hitting anything. The sound of metal tearing into flesh.

You try to ignore what is happening around you. In a battle such as this the only concern you should have is what is directly in front of you. Anything that comes within a six foot radius of you is of your concern, but nothing else.

An axe is swung at you from your side, which you manage to deflect with your shield.

You try to swing back, but come in contact with nothing.

An axe is swung at you from your left.

You block it and immediately lunge around your bronze shield, stabbing your attacker directly in his side, the sword going right through his worthless body armor.

He scrunches his face up and groans as he falls to the ground, where he stays, unmoving.

Your first kill.

No time to think about it, though.

A zebra approaches you with a sword in his mouth. He lunges the tip of the sword straight at your stomach.

You dodge to the side before punching the zebra in side of the head with your sword hand. He drops his weapon, and you take the open opportunity and stab him in the throat.

He chokes and begins to fall, so you withdraw your sword and take a defensive stance. This is only the beginning.

Some of your opponents motion as though they are going to attack, but hold themselves back. You hope your recent display was enough to intimidate them, and it appears that may very well be the case.

Your legionnaires around you continue to fight against their attackers, while you patiently wait for any opportunity that may present itself.

But opportunities like the ones you are looking for are difficult to find, so you can’t rush into things, no matter how much you want to. One mistake, and you’re dead.

End of story.

You can see movement in your peripheral vision. Behind the battle group you are currently facing is a fallen gryphon, but he is not dead. He is trying desperately to get back up, but he can’t.

It’s the same gryphon you watched fall from the sky not five minutes beforehand.

He’s alive. And you can see him struggling.

Benefits of being two feet taller than everypony else, you suppose.

You have an idea, as dumb as it may seem, but you’re going to do it anyway.

“First Century!” you shout. “Roundabout left!... Now!”

Everypony in your Century, all 320 hooves and 2 feet, begin to shuffle steadily to your left and fight around this Destrierian battle group.

You see how confused they are that you are moving around them, and they don’t seem to know what to do.

A simpler way to explain this would be to imagine a clock. You are currently standing at 6 o’clock, and Destrierians are right in the center of the clock. Right in the middle.

And the injured gryphon is at 12 o’clock.

What you’re trying to do is move from 6 o’clock, to 7, then to 8, then 9, then 10, then 11, and finally reach the gryphon. You will pick him up, and then work backwards to 6 o’clock.

At least, that’s the plan.

As long as the Destrierians stay in the center where you want them to be, you’ll be alright.

Neither of your flanks are anchored, leaving you completely exposed.

Some of Destrierians exchange glances with you and the spot that you were just occupying, not knowing what to do, exactly.

Your legionnaires keep them at bay by constantly jabbing and not letting their shields down. This is a move you have practiced dozens of times when you were training, and you know it very well.

But it’s a lot different when there is actually someone to fight against.

You suddenly realize how big of a mistake this actually was. If the Destrierians use their common sense and attack either of your sides, everyone in your Century is probably going to die.

You get about halfway there when an earth pony finally makes a move, approaching you with either a small sword or large knife in his mouth.

He makes a quick jab, which you deflect with your sword. You try to jab back, back he dodges. You slash again, but he’s too quick.

He swings at your left side, and you block with your shield. You swing at his vulnerable side, but he catches your sword with the armor he is wearing on his foreleg.

The both of you are deadlocked as neither of your weapons can be used.

You can only think of doing one thing.

You swing your face forward and headbutt the pony in the face, knocking him backwards.

Ponies have very long snouts, so headbutting is super effective.

Blood is coming out of the ponies’ nostrils as he looks around in a daze, attempting to recover.

You take your chance now that your weapon is free and stab the earth pony in his unprotected neck. You pull the sword out before he falls to the ground, and you stab him again.

You recover, finally having reached your ultimate destination.

“Grab the gryphon!” you shout.

“We got him!” somepony promptly shouts back.

“Century! Roundabout right! Move!”

Whoever is still alive begins to pivot back to their original position.

This was a terrible mistake. Sure, you got one gryphon, but how many unicorns did you lose because of this little move?

What the hell were you thinking?

You don’t want to know, but you’ll definitely find out later.

Maximus is going to be pissed.

“Double time!” you command, wanting to hook up with the Century on your right as soon as possible.

Another pony begins to advance upon you, but with one quick, threatening slash, he backs away.

At long last, after about two minutes, you reconnect with the Century on your right, and the fight resumes once more.

‘Lucky’ cannot even begin to describe you right now. Anything could have gone wrong, and you’re thankful that everything is back in its’ proper place again.

If that move of yours failed, shit would have gone downhill fast.

A unicorn, levitating a great sword that may be taller than you are approaches slowly and confidently.

You can’t help but feel intimidated by the incredible size of the thing, but bigger isn’t always better in situations like these.

The unicorn levitates the sword high above his head before bring it down.

You raise your shield to block it, but the force of the impact on the shield almost knocks you over.

You manage to stay on your feet.

He smirks as he raises the massive weapon above his head once more. He brings it down hard, aiming for the top of your head.

You see this coming, and manage to get out of the way, but the sword cuts your arm on the way down.

The force the unicorn used was so great that the sword embedded itself halfway into the Earth.

Before he gets a chance to pull it out, you jab the defenseless unicorn in the throat. He chokes and sputters as he desperately grabs the open wound in his neck.

You slash his neck again for good measure, and he collapses, still choking and writhing on the cold ground.

A zebra, elaborately decorated with green paint, calmly moves in front of you. He has a rather large headdress made of feathers on top of his simple kettle cap.

It’s a strange look, but you won’t judge.

You assume said zebra is their captain, on account of the fact he has a three starred insignia on the front of his helmet, just below the feathered headdress.

You’re up for a good officer battle.

He wastes no time in trying to kill you, as he viciously slashes at your face. You were not expecting such an attack, as you are two feet taller than him, so you assumed he would go for the legs or stomach, as most of the others have.

His attack takes you by surprise, and you raise your shield to block, but it is much too late.

The tip of his sword hits your forehead, but is stopped by your helmet. He drags the sword blade down your face and across your left eye and to the middle of your cheek.

‘Fuck! Fuck!’ you shout in your head, actually being injured for the first real time since the battle started. You have some minor scratches and bruises from your other attackers, but this is the most serious one thus far.

You shut your eye tightly and reflexively move backwards.

In the brief second that you are not fully paying attention, the zebra swings at your legs, and manages to give your calf a nice, deep cut.

Your leg almost gives out as you swear out loud, cursing anything and everything you see. But you remain standing.

You quickly recover yourself, realizing that this guy will not be as easy as the others were to bring down. He is skilled.

You swing at him, which he easily blocks. He tries to swing back at you, but this time you and your shield are ready.

You swing.

Blocked.

You swing again.

Blocked.

You swing again.

He dodges.

You swing again, and finally, you manage to touch the tip of your sword against his chest.

You didn’t stab him or damage him in any physical way, but at least you touched him, and that counts for something, you think. It helped get your confidence up, anyway.

Something in your peripheral vision goes down, but you can’t be concerned with that. At least, not right now. If you want to survive, you have to remain completely focused on what is in your zone.

And this painted zebra is in your zone.

It’s just you and him, now.

He yells at you in a foreign language that you cannot understand as he glances down at himself and then back up at you again.

‘He’s taunting you.’

You figured as much, but you will not let him get in your head. That’s the quickest way to lose.

He swings at your face again, but you expect it this time, and block him with your shield.

You bring down your sword hard, and he barely manages to stop your attack with the sword in his mouth.

Noticing that you got him on the ropes, you press your advantage.

You swing again. And again. And again. And again.

He manages to block every single one, but his resolve is weakening.

He expects another swing from your sword, surely enough, so you decide to swing with your shield.

His eyes go wide as he sees the bronze circle rapidly approach his face, and it hits him hard.

He stumbles around for a brief second, his eyes shut tightly, and blood coming from his nose and mouth.

You extend your leg as fast as you can and deliver a hard kick right under the zebra’s chin. His head violently snaps back and he falls to the ground.

You shout in anger as you raise your shield above your head, and bring it down with all your might onto the zebra’s unprotected throat, nearly cutting his head completely off.

You stand and recover.

Their captain is dead.

When a superior officer is killed in front of all of their troops, it does terrible things to their morale, so it was good you won that one, for many reasons.

A few guys motion as though they are about to attack you, and you glare at them, daring them with your eyes to come and get you.

The opposing soldiers glance at you, then to their dead captain, then back at you again, then around to their comrades.

They don’t know what to do.

They begin to walk slowly backwards and away from you.

‘Are they retreating?’

Maybe. But should you pursue?

No. Probably not. You already made one decision that almost got two Centuries wiped out, so it’s best if you just wait for Captain Sparrow’s orders.

You look down the long line of fighting infantry.

Almost all of their soldiers are beginning to back away.

…

They are retreating.

But the Century to your right is still engaged, but you can take care of that, you think.

“Forward, march!” you command as loudly as possible.

At your command, your entire Century marches towards the Destrierians to your right, and as soon as they see you coming at them, they too begin to back away.

Arrows once again fly over your heads and rain down upon the Destrierians, who are heading in the wrong direction. The arrows and boulders that are launched cut even more of them down as you watch.

All of the Equestrian infantry cheer as they turn tail and run, and upon looking up, you see that even their cavalry is leaving.

Everypony cheers at the first of hopefully many Equestrian victories.

Including you.

==========

It seems the battle is over. And you are alive. Both of those are good, so you should be happy. But you’re not.

You don’t feel anything. You should be feeling something, but everything is just too fresh in your mind for you to be able to properly think about it.

It’s probably for the best that you don’t think about it. Being as emotionless as possible in circumstances such as these is a wise move.

If you think about it too much, you’ll drive yourself insane.

Now is not the time for you to reflect. Now is the time to check up on your soldiers. You have soldiers in the field hospital, no doubt. Every unit probably does.

You enter the large tent, observing the sickening sight before you.

Mutilated ponies, and one or two injured gryphons lie on various beds and tables or on the floor. Wherever there is room.

Winter is probably the hardest season to fight in, you think. It is freezing, so it’s hard to concentrate. The ground is hard and uncomfortable. It’s very hard to move through the snow, if there is any.

And that would possibly explain why there are so many more casualties than you originally thought there would be.

It feels as though your heart has stopped beating.

The sight before you is truly horrifying.

You shake your head to clear your thoughts and try to remember how to breathe again. You begin looking around for anypony you know.

You’re not exactly sure who you should be looking for. If any of your soldiers are injured, this is where they’d be. But you don’t even know if you have anyone injured. You just assumed.

Your gaze goes from one bed or table to the next.

Finally, you see somepony looking straight at you. You don’t recognize this particular unicorn, with a grey coat, silver mane, and blue eyes, but he’s looking at you.

Or through you.

His stare is ice cold, and it feels as though the temperature dropped another 20 degrees somehow.

He’s looking right through you, eyes wide, and you’re looking back, unable to move. Unable to breathe. Unable to speak.

A nurse walks by, pulling a blanket over his face.

You feel like you can finally breathe again.

Maybe it’s best if you leave. You don’t recognize anypony or gryphon here, so your business is done.

You’ll return later for a double check.

“Take a seat right over there,” a doctor says.

You look down and see a brown unicorn stallion wearing a hat with a red cross on the front of it. He is gesturing with a hoof to the far side of the tent where multiple chairs are lined up.

“I’ll be with you in a moment.” He walks away.

‘Was he talking to me?’ you wonder. You think he was, but you’re not sure. Why was he talking to you?

‘I’m fine.’

You glance down at yourself.

‘Oh shit. No I’m not.’

You’re leg is very bloody, and most of it is yours. There is a large cut along your calf, and you suddenly remember it was their captain that gave it to you. It’s still bleeding a little.

Your eyes begins to sting along where the dead zebra cut you earlier. You touch below your eye with a hand and look at it, seeing some blood on your fingers.

‘Guess I didn’t feel it until now,’ you think. ‘Adrenaline is crazy.’

Well, you’ve been walking and talking and fighting ever since you got slashed a couple times, so you’re fine. What are a few cuts, anyway?

You leave.

==========

“Finally!” Mace exclaims. “I’ve had to shit for two hours!” He takes off his helmet and tosses it on the ground.

Now that the battle is over, you returned to your camp. A couple legions are still on the field in case the Destrierians try another quick attack, but luckily, yours is not among them. Which is nice.

You could use a quick break.

You sit on a log in front of a pit as Sherman prepares a fire. From where you’re sitting, the battlefield can easily be seen, along with the thousands of bodies that lie on the ground. You’re not sure of the exact casualty numbers at the moment, but you’ll find out how many you personally lost when you take roll call tonight.

“Why didn’t you just go on the field?” Pike asks, sitting across from you.

Mace looks incredulously. “What the hell, dude? What? Were you raised in a barn?”

Pike just sort of looks at him.

Mace trots off in search of a more proper place to crap.

“Agh!” Pike groans. “Shit. I’ll be right back.” He gets up and heads towards the general direction of his tent.

Sherman looks up. “What was that about?” he asks you.

You shrug.

Sherman pulls out his lighter, lights it up, and holds it against the base of the stack of logs where all the grass and leaves and small sticks sit.

“Hey, Lieutenant?” he asks. You look up, waiting for him to continue. “Can I ask you something?”

You nod. “Yeah.” You release a breath. “Yeah, go ahead.”

“It’s kind of personal.”

“Is it about me?”

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s alright. Go ahead.”

He blows on the small fire he now has going. “I, uh... I was reading the paper...”

Yep. You know where this is going. You figured it would.

“I saw the article.”

You bet he did.

“Are you two broken up?”

You shake your head slowly, looking at the ground. “I don’t know, man... I guess.”

There a few moments of silence, and the first crackle from the fire is heard.

You look to your far left, and just outside the camp, you see a large group of Destrierian soldiers. However, they are unarmed, no longer wearing any armor, and are surrounded by legionnaires.

Nothing boosts morale than seeing a bunch of hopeless POWs.

“You can stay with me,” Sherman says, still tending to the fire. “That is, if you want to. See, I got an extra bedroom in my apartment, and I live all by myself.”

You think about it for only a moment. “Thanks Sherman. I might just be taking you up on that.”

You don’t know if you actually will move in with him or not. You’re not really thinking about that right now.

You’re not really thinking about anything at all.

You’re mind is blank.

“If you’re gonna move in, though, we’re gonna need to go to NAIDA,” he says. “I doubt I have any chairs that fit you, let alone a bed.”

NAIDA is basically the pony equivalent of IKEA. It’s where everypony goes for their furniture needs.

You smile for the first time all day. “Thanks, Sherman. That means a lot.”

He shrugs like it’s no big deal, but he’s smiling. You can see it. “Ah, no problem, buddy. It gets pretty lonely there, anyway.”

Sherman stands up from the fire and sits down on the log next to yours. He begins to poke at the fire with a stick, moving some pieces of firewood around, allowing the flames to grow.

You glance over at Sherman, and see red dots all over his face and the front of his armor. His coat is yellow, and the red contrasts easily with it.

You notice for the first time that he is injured. There is a long, red slash running across his flank, right over his cutie mark.

“You should get that checked out,” you say, pointing to his cutie mark, which has been cut in half.

He glances at you, then at himself, and chuckles as he goes back to tending the fire. “Yeah. I’ll get right on that.”

“I’m serious. That could get infected.”

“I’m fine, Lieutenant. Really. I can still move around just fine and I can barely feel it.” Before you can retort, he continues. “Actually! I change my mind. I’ll go if you go.”

“But I don’t need to go.”

“Hmm. Your leg says otherwise.”

Well... He’s right.

You’re not a fan of hospitals, and everypony knows it, but that is hardly a reason not to go to one. Especially after you have suffered an injury like the ones you or Sherman have.

Maybe you’re afraid.

You saw that pony earlier who was staring that lifeless stare into your soul. And it frightened you.

Besides, you’re surrounded by death enough as it is. It wouldn’t help you any to go a tent where all dead and dying ponies end up.

No. You’ll just sit by the fire next to your friend.

“That’s alright,” you say, looking at the fire. “We can just chill like we used to.”

He takes a deep breath before pulling out a cigar. “Good.” He lights it up and takes a few puffs.

“Were you carrying that in your armor?” you ask.

He nods before pulling out another one. “Want one?”

“No. No, man, I’m good.”

“Suit yourself.”

After only a few more seconds, Pike comes walking back.

“Where did you go?” you ask.

“To get my sheath,” he responds, taking off his helmet and putting it on the ground. “I don’t know how I forgot the damn thing, but I kept getting a strong urge to put my sword away, and I couldn’t because I didn’t have this thing.”

You should probably scold him on being a dumbass, but you don’t say anything. It’s been a long day, and you would love for it to end.

“Sweet merciful Jesus!” a voice loudly exclaims as it approaches you. “That was the biggest poop I’ve ever taken, I swear.” Mace walks over and takes a seat on the log across from you. “You guys won’t believe this: So I get to the outhouses, and there is a line, right? But I see this guy left his tent flap open, so I-”

“Shut up shut up shut up!” Pike yells, falling backwards. “I am so sick of your disgusting stories! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“Wait! I’m not done-”

“I don’t care! Just be quiet! I’m really tired, man! So just be quiet for five minutes!”

Mace glares at Pike, clearly upset that he cannot tell his story. “Hey, Pike!” he shouts, even though they are right next to each other. Pike looks up. “Do you like dragons? ‘Cause in a minute, I’mma be ‘dragon’ my balls across your face.”

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you? Did you not get enough oxygen in the womb? Were you dropped on your head?”

“A couple times,” Mace nods. There is a brief moment of silence, where the crackling of the fire is heard along with the hustle and bustle of camp life. “Woah woah woah... Cappy, I got a question.”

You take a deep breath and look up at Mace, who looks extraordinarily worried.

“What’s that area between your balls and your asshole called?”

Sherman and Pike lookup.

“Is that supposed to be a joke, or something?” Pike asks.

“No! It’s a legitimate question!”

“Shut up, idiot!”

“What if I get stabbed or shot there?! What am I supposed to tell my family?!”

“Tell your family you’re a dumbass.”

There is another moment of silence as all four of you look right into the fire. Each of you alone with your thoughts.

Your three friends look as though they are in some deep contemplation.

“Well,” Sherman begins, cutting everyone off from their unpleasant thoughts. “I was saving these for later, but now is as good a time as any.”

He levitates three cigars out of his armor and gives one to each of you.

“We all made it out this time, fellas,” he says. “All four of us. I don’t know what is going to happen next, but I suppose that ain’t up to me. I just thought, that maybe for the last time, all four of us could enjoy a nice reunion around the fire, ‘cause it may be one of our last.”

You wish you could deny his claims, but he’s right. There are four of you, so there is a pretty good chance that at least one of you is going to be killed or critically injured.

“I don’t smoke,” Pike says.

“Then chew on it.”

Mace puts his cigar in his mouth and Sherman lights it up for him.

You just hold the thing in your hands, looking at it. Observing every single inch of the thing.

“I love you guys,” Mace says, exhaling. “I really do.”

“Same here,” Pike practically whispers, staring at the fire.

All of you stare at it once more, alone with your thoughts again.

You tuck your new cigar inside of your chest armor. May as well save it for later when you go on picket duty.

You hope Griff will be there, again.

You think about Griff. You think about Soarin and Spitfire. You really hope they are alright. A gryphon fell from the sky earlier, and you picked him up.

You hope that wasn’t Griff. You hope Griff made it out okay. Soarin and Spitfire too.

It’d be nice to sit around the fire with them again. You wouldn’t even have to talk. Just being around them again, knowing they’re alive, is really all you want.

Before you can turn to go deeper into your troubled mind, trumpets blare throughout the camp, causing you to look up.

Across the battlefield stands the Destrierian army, but significantly smaller than they were before.

“Son of a bitch!” Sherman yells, strapping on his helmet. “I just made the fucking fire!”

Mace quickly throws his cigar in the snow, stomps on it, and grabs his helmet.

“Form up!” you yell, moving towards your assigned position in the line. “Form up!”

==========

The snow on the field has basically all melted. All the body heat produced and the blood spilt has melted most of it away.

You would like to be able to say that can see the grass, but that’s a lie. You ground is red and there are bodies all over the place, as no one had time to remove them.

There are no wounded remaining, though. At least, none that you can see. Anyone who was alive either walked themselves off or got carried away. Including some Destrierians, and they quickly became the first POWs of the war.

There are more bodies than you originally thought, and they all seemed to be grouped in one giant clump right in front of your line. Destrierians and Equestrians and Gryphons lay scattered across the field.

Most the infantry dead are right in front of you. All the cavalry’s casualties are spread all over the place.

So basically, anywhere anyone looks on the field, there is a dead body or two. Or three. Or more. Probably more.

In fact, lying just in front of you is a pegasus wing. It’s blue... and red. Mostly red.

You hear the sound of thousands of hooves marching in sync, and see the Destrierian army begin their march forward.

Their general has to be retarded to try and do this again. The last time they just charged at you didn’t work very well.

But hey! Maybe if you do the exact same thing again, except this time your soldiers are exhausted and demoralized, you’ll win!

You don’t see the logic behind this situation, but if they really want to get slaughtered so bad, so be it.

You still have plenty of energy left in you, and your Century definitely does after what just happened. Morale is very high right now, so you do not envy the Destrierians.

The Equestrian cavalry doesn’t even wait for their cavalry to launch this time and simply heads out for an air assault once the Destrierians begin moving.

Once again, pegasi and gryphons fly right over your head, carrying large rocks, swords, knives, or whatever they think will get the job done, and head straight for the approaching army.

As you watch them fly over, you hear the first real order you have gotten in this war.

“Forward!” Captain Sparrow yells from behind you, and you can hear the same order being given all down the long line of infantry.

“Forward!” you command, pointing your sword straight out in front of you, just in case someone doesn’t know exactly where ‘forward’ is. “March!”

The entire Equestrian infantry force moves forward, leaving the artillery unprotected, but you guess Maximus is confident that they will be just fine.

Every soldier marches in nearly perfect synchronization towards the oncoming army, except for you. You only have two legs.

You see the Equestrian and Gryphon cavalry rapidly approach their targets, completely uncontested. No cavalry from the Destrierians have been launched to stop them.

You step over a body.

The moment they are over their designated targets they release large rocks and let them fall onto the infantry, marching nearly defenselessly below.

The unicorns and earth ponies on their side try to shield, but you notice it’s not always working. Some of them falter before being crushed.

The Destrierian cavalry just now begins to rise up from behind their lines and engage the Equestrians and Gryphons, who immediately begin climbing higher into the sky, possibly in an attempt to tire their opponents.

Their cavalry is much smaller now, you notice.

You step over another body.

Both armies continue to march towards each other, slowly getting closer and closer.

And closer.

There is no stopping this time, though, as both armies smash head on into each other.

One pony continues to maintain eye contact with you as he gets closer and closer. You know he is going to attack you, so you wait for it. A good defense is a great offense.

The earth pony rushes at you, axe in mouth, before rising to his hindlegs. He brings down the axe hard but you easily deflect it off your shield. You quickly reach under with your sword and stab him in his stomach.

You push your shield out which causes your opponent to go flying backwards.

You recover and take a defensive stance.

All around you the sounds of battle are heard once again. Metal against metal. Metal against flesh. Screams of anger and pain.

You await for your next challenger to approach you.

You glance quickly back and forth along the three or four ponies fighting in front of you. Any of them could attack you at any moment, so you have to know who and when.

A unicorn to your left tries to sweep your ankles, but you lower your shield fast enough to block him. You try to swing at him while he is vulnerable, but he dodges.

The legionnaire directly to your right falls. His attack prepares to bring down his sword.

You slash your short sword across his chest, but his armor is thick and you do no damage. As a quick follow up, you swing your shield, hitting him in the side and sending him flying down the line.

The fallen legionnaire gets up and resumes the fight.

A zebra in front of you quickly spins around and bucks your shield hard with his hind legs. You stumble back a little, but recover.

The same zebra stands in front of, dagger in mouth, hopping around excitedly, looking for a place on you to make a strike.

He spins around to kick you again.

You see this coming, however, and quickly sidestep. His legs lash out, but connect with nothing, causing him to fall.

You stab him in his back and recover.

Immediately, another earth pony comes at you, leaping over the just-slain zebra and brings his sword down.

You block his sword with yours as he touches back down on the ground. You raise a knee up quickly, hitting him under the jaw.

He quickly backs up and spits out some blood. Before you can pursue him, he turns around and walks to the back of his line, rubbing his face with a forehoof.

You take your stance once again.

A unicorn, his face completely covered in the green paint, approaches you, levitating a sword a little bigger than your own.

He makes a quick jab at your stomach, which is blocked by your shield.

Before you can make a counterattack, he swings at your left side, and have to block again.

Again, before you can react, he swings at your right, and you block once again.

This goes on and your heart beats faster and faster as his swings get closer to hitting home. You quickly think of when an opportune time to strike would be.

He swings to your right side once more.

You block his swing this time with your sword, and quickly hit him in the face with your shield.

He stumbles backwards in a daze.

You plunge your sword deep into his eye, blood coming out as he screams in pain.

You place a foot against his chest, kick out, and pull the sword, dislodging it from his skull. He immediately collapses.

You recover.

Another unicorn begins to move towards you.

“Shields! Shields! Shields!” you hear a familiar voice shout above the chaos of battle.

The unicorn swings and you block.

‘Why would I need to shield?’ you wonder. ‘I’m in the middle of battle.’

You make a quick thrust, which is deflected by the unicorn.

No sooner does that happen than you feel an incredible pain erupting from your left thigh, almost causing you to fall over. Your mouth opens, but you don’t make a sound.

You look down and see the back half of an arrow sticking out of your leg.

You can feel it. Very well. And it hurts. You move a hand to touch it, for whatever reason.

The bronze shield strapped to your arm accidentally touches the arrow, causing it to move inside of you. You mouth opens as if to scream, but nothing comes out at all.

You fall to your right knee, your injured thigh still above the ground.

“F-f-f... fuck...” you mumble in pain.

Looking straight ahead of you, you see the unicorn who was just trying to kill you lying on the ground, an arrow in his head and his lower neck.

You feel another arrow rip through your shoulder armor and pierce your right shoulder. You can feel the arrowhead poking its’ way out of your armpit.

The pain in your thigh suddenly seems bearable, but the pain in your shoulder is ten times worse than anything you were just feeling.

You grab your shoulder armor, just below where the arrow is sticking out, being careful not to actually touch the damn thing.

It has suddenly become very difficult to stay upright, as you are feeling extraordinarily dizzy and very tired all of a sudden.

You fall backwards, and lay unmoving on your back. You stare straight up, seeing a few pegasi flying about high above you.

Another arrow pierces right through your armor and goes into your stomach, just a few inches to the right of your belly button.

The sudden pain causes you to sit up, but only for a second, as you soon flop back down again.

You try to scream or say something, but you can’t. Breathing is hard enough without actually trying to make words.

You can taste blood.

More arrows continue to rain down, but none are hitting you now. You wonder, who could possibly be firing them? Who the hell fires arrows when infantry in directly engaged?!

Someone yells out your name. You don’t know who, though.

The space directly above you becomes blue, and you see an arrow bounce off the surface of the blue light.

Something grabs onto you and begins to drag you backwards somewhere, but you don’t know where exactly. You’re still looking straight up.

The light above you flickers and fades and the grip on you is suddenly released, but it returns a few seconds later.

You drop your sword and unstrap yourself from the shield. It’s just dead weight anyway, and you’re sick of holding onto it.

After several long minutes of being dragged across the hard ground, grass, and some small patches of snow, you hear cheering erupt from the lines of infantry.

You don’t know what’s happening, but you hope it’s good. It’d be a shame if all of your hard work went for nothing.

After another long few minutes, you hear many voices, but mainly groans. The vision above you is no longer blue, but white, as you enter into some giant, open tent.

“Here! Put him here!”

You are hoisted up and deposited onto a table. Immediately, somepony sets to work removing your armor, starting with your helmet.

It’s too loud in the tent to hear anything entirely, but you manage to catch bits and pieces of what someponies are saying.

“...sedative...”

“...arrows...internal bleeding...immediately...”

None of those words are anything you particularly want to hear, but oh well. You hardly have a choice in the matter.

You stop concentrating on everypony’s conversations and focus on the pain in your thigh, shoulder, and stomach. Maybe if you think hard enough, the pain will go away.

A doctor comes over and sticks his face in your field of view. He has a brown coat and a black mane. His eyes are yellow.

“You’re going to be alright.”

==========

Written by - ScatMan2001

Edited by- Wolfton

Special thanks to my new editor. For all of you that are not only pleased with this newest chapter, but also that my story is back, give a big ol' thank you to Wolfton.

Author's Notes:

I'm back again!
Hope y'all enjoyed it.
I know you're anxious to find out what happened to everypony, and what'll happen with Celestia, but you're gonna have to wait!
Love you guys.
Comment and such!