//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Legendary // by RoflNom //------------------------------// There we were again. The gates to Canterlot. They might as well have been the gates to heaven to all the soldiers that had just gone through one of the toughest times of their lives. They fought a superior army that introduced one of the newest breed of dragon, and wiped it out with minimal losses. If they weren't heroes before, they certainly were now. When we entered the city, it was just like the last time. Ponies cheering and celebrating the return of their sons, uncles, and brothers. Though there were two differences from the last time. When we had the first time, all our wounded had been treated. Not this time. We had ponies being carried in stretchers and in crutches. They were mangled and maimed. Some were even missing a limb. Others were missing multiple. A lot of the civilians tried not to look, but they couldn't help it. They knew things like this would happen, just nopony wanted to believe it would. The other was that we had prisoners. Captured dragon officers and soldiers, including one Lord Diamond Hide. They varied in sizes, from as small as a foal to as large as myself. All surrounded by the best our army had to offer. Including me. I stayed near the dragon lord, since I was still tasked with watching him. He had remained quiet for the entire night we had marched. I apparently did my job, as he avoided eye contact all the while. Whether it was out of fear, respect, or something else, I had no clue. And I didn't really want to know. It wasn't my concern what he thought of me, right? I just have to be the big, scary God that could rip him in two if it was deemed necessary. The dragons all got dirty looks from the ponies that had gathered. While I was against it, both nationalism and racism were common things in these times. Ponies blamed the dragons and gryphons for all their problems, while the other two looked down at us. Like we were an inferior species. I could see why they thought that. Both the dragons and gryphons had their nations founded long before Equestria came along. They formed their nations through blood and battle, while we came about in peace and prosperity. We just up and claimed land as our own, while the dragons and gryphons had to fight for ages to get theirs. As we kept moving through the streets, we eventually came to the castle gates. The Princesses weren't there to meet us, so Arch simply dismissed the army, save for the officers. In total there were fifteen officers: General Arch, Brigadier General Aceymac, Lieutenant Colonel SwiftWing, a Major, 2 Captains, 4 First Lieutenants, and 6 Second Lieutenants. That's what was left after the battle. Several First and Second Lieutenant were lost, but only Aceymac had been wounded so much that he couldn't meet with the Princesses. As the soldiers went their separate ways, the officers made their way to Arch, Swift, and myself. Once they all arrived, we entered the castle. Several doors and corridors later, we came to the throne room. Inside was Princess Celestia alone. The officers lines up by rank, from highest to lowest, with Arch in front of them. All in unison, they saluted. "Princess Celestia, General Arch reporting with all officers under my command." Arch said. With a wave of her hoof, the officers lowered theirs. "Where is the Brigadier General? I wanted him her as well." Celestia asked. "Brigadier General Aceymac was injured during our last battle. He is currently at the hospital a few blocks from here, being treated for broken ribs and first degree burns." Arch replied. "I'm sorry to hear that," Celestia said with a frown, "I'll be sure to pay Aceymac a visit soon. He will have to meet with our guest some other time." Arch looked at Celestia with a confused look. "Guest, Princess? Who's our guest?" He asked. "You'll see. She should be here any moment now." Celestia said. "''She', Your Highness? Is this 'she' the she I think she is?" Arch asked as he started to get nervous. "Why don't you ask her yourself, General? She's standing by the door." Celestia said. As Arch turned, one of the Lieutenants called out 'Attention', followed by all the officers snapping to attention. He took one look and his expression turned to a frown. "Oh, son of a..." ______________________________________________________________________________ "Itch! I can't get this Celestia damned itch to go away!" Aceymac yelled, struggling to try to scratch himself. His cast had kept him from really moving, so he had to just sit in around most of the time. "Sir, you should really keep from moving around. You could injure yourself more than you already are." A Royal Guard said. He had been put in charge of watching over the wounded stallion while he was in the hospital. Safety was always important, even here in the capital. "I would keep still, but its so annoying! I can't focus on anything else until this is dealt with!" Aceymac exaggerated. The Royal Guard sighed. "Here, Sir, let me help you with that. That's what I'm here for anyways. Where is your itch at?" He asked. "Right behind my left ear. Ah, right there. Thank you, son." Aceymac said, having his itch taken care of. "You're welcome, Sir. If you don't mind me asking, why did the Princess call all the officers from the three joint armies to meet with her?" The Royal Guard asked out of curiosity. Aceymac huffed. "They're all probably getting commendations without me, the lucky bastards. If I were there, I'd probably just get the Purple Heart. Ah, well. Can't complain about this, I could use the R&R." He said as he settled to sleep. "Wake me if anypony comes by to see me, which I doubt will happen." ______________________________________________________________________________ "What are you doing here?" Arch asked, sounding both nervous and disappointed. A yellow pegasus mare walked into the throne room, her uniform crisp and clean. On it were the five connected stars signifying her rank. "You really shouldn't talk to your superiors like that, General." She said. "Alright, fine. What are you doing here, Ma'am? Is that better?" Arch asked. The mare walked past the line of officers and in front of Arch. "I'm being moved here to coordinate an assault on Gryphonia." She said Arch took a few steps back, shocked. "What? You mean we're finally making a push? Well, I'd be lying if I said I was expecting that to happen. We haven't exactly been fighting an offensive war." He said. "You're right, we haven't. We've just been sitting at the borders, trying to keep them out. But that's not working anymore. They're started to push our lines back faster than we anticipated. They destroyed countless villages, and they managed to get near Fillydelphia. We need to do this now, or there may not be a later." Arch looked back at Princess Celestia. "Do we have enough troops to even make it to a large city? This isn't going to be easy. While the gryphons have a vast majority of their soldiers pushing at the borders, they will probably have large amounts of soldiers garrisoned at their cities." He said. Celestia let out a sigh. "Yes, we are going to be pulling as many of the eastern and northern armies together to do this. It took Luna and the Field Marshal quite a bit of persuading, but they have made it clear that this is necessary to turn the tide of this war. The Field Marshal shall be in command of this offensive, with you and Brigadier General Aceymac as her second-in-commands." "Do we have an estimate on how large a force we'll be marching with?" Arch asked. "A rough one," The Field Marshal said, "but an estimate none the less. We'll be bringing together the 1st, 5th, and 7th Royal Infantry Divisions, 10th through 14th Special Pegasi Division and some supporting Cavalry divisions, 6th and 12th Unicorn Artillery, and the 1st through 6th Armored Infantry and Cavalry Divisions. All together that should amount to a force of at least 60,000 soldiers." 60,000? I still didn't think that it would be enough, but if that's all we could get, we would have to make due with what we had. "Is that all?" Arch asked, echoing my thoughts, "60,000 may not be enough. The gryphons have over 100,000 at our borders, just getting across may be the end of us. We need more troops if we're going to be able to pull this off. We'll also need a steady supply of reinforcements and replacements if we're going to stay on gryphon soil." "We're still trying to figure out what other divisions can assist," The Field Marshal said, "and since there is always the immediate threat of a mass invasion, we still need to have enough troops here at home to defend. We're doing what we can with what we have." Celestia stood up from her throne. "You will have to plan this some place else, as I have some things I need to attend to at the moment. Your rooms here at the castle have been made ready. And remember, I expect great things from all of you." She said as she made her way through a set of doors. The Field Marshal turned back to the group of officers. "Alright, all of you, go and see who can help us. I need to have a word with General Arch and... the alicorn standing off to the side." She said. With a salute, Swift and all the other officers left the throne room. I stepped forward, next to Arch, as the Field Marshal looked me over. "And who exactly are you? The Princesses have no relatives in Equestria at the moment, and alicorn are practically extinct." Before I could say anything, Arch spoke up. "I hope you realize that you're talking to a pony that could rip you apart just by thinking it. I'd be careful with how you talk to him." The mare laughed. "Oh, can he now? I doubt he could ever have the nerve to kill the third most important pony in all of Equestria." She turned back to me. "Now, who are you?" I took a few steps forward, "My name is Legend, and as Arch told you, I could kill you this very moment. So, watch how you speak to me." The Field Marshal glared at me. "Excuse me? In case you haven't noticed, I'm Field Marshal Morning Haze, and you should be the one watching how you're speaking to me." "I know who you are, and you don't intimidate me. I am far more powerful than you, and I have no reason to watch how I speak with you. I am beyond you, and your Princesses." Morning Haze stomped her hoof. "Nopony, and I mean nopony, is beyond us! Just who do you think you are?!" She yelled. I glanced at Arch, who gave me a nod and, unseen by Morning Haze, a wink. I cracked a small smile, and turned back to the angry mare. "As I said, I am Legend. Though, you may want to know the rest of that sentence. I am the God of War and Destruction." Morning Haze took a few precautionary steps back. "Wait, you mean you're who I've heard so much about? The so called 'Savior of Equestria'?" She asked. Savior of Equestria? I didn't think that name fits me very properly. Legend had nearly destroyed Equestria in the past, and to call him it's savior didn't make much sense. I was glad that word of what I've done so far spread. Could be a way of raising morale and keeping the ponies fighting motivated. "Yeah, that's him. Though, from the look he just gave you, I don't think he likes that title. Its understandable, considering who he is." Arch said. "Now, do you need us for anything else? We're hoping to get some rest while we're in town." Morning Haze regained her composure, and after a cough, spoke up. "Yes, you're dismissed, General. I'd like to have a word with you tomorrow, though." She looked over at me. "Alone." After saluting to each other, Morning Haze went one way while we went another. "What did I tell you? That mare has a serious attitude problem. Thanks a lot for playing along on that with me, Iron." Arch said. "Yeah, no problem. I'm glad to have helped." I said. "So, what do you say to heading for a drink?" Arch asked. I smiled at him. "Are you going to start crying like a foal like the last time?" Arch gave a fake laugh. "Real funny. I've got emotional problems, so what? Are you in or not?" I sighed. "Yeah, sure. Thanks to you guys, I'm getting more and more used to drinking. I still don't know whether or not that's a good thing." Arch laughed, and an honest one this time. "That's great! We'll make a stallion out of you yet. Now," He paused, then spoke up again in a bad Stalliongradian accent, "let us go, my friend! The vodka, it is calling out to us!" I shook my head as Arch trotted happily in the direction of the bar we went to last time we were in town. It was going to be an interesting evening.