XXXII. Northmarch, Equestria. July, 1252.
Northmarch, Equestria. July, 1252.
The war council sat in the long canvas tent: once a soldiers' meat-hall, now a general's roost. It was lavishly decorated with bright ribbons, gilded silk icons, and sundry prizes of war. It was made to inspire feelings of awe and glory. It was an abject humiliation.
Until recently, the gryphonic leadership lived, worked, and met in luxurious houses and town halls commandeered from ponies. Yet now such extravagance was dangerous; a gryphon who exposed himself to the common pony might find his food poisoned or his new house burned down around him in the middle of the night. Displays of force did nothing. Reprisals did nothing. Even their Great Preening—the two-week blood-soaked campaign to cleanse the liberated territories of agents of the pony queen—only hardened resistance against them.
Their supplies were running thin. They were surrounded by a hostile populace. The soldiers' faith in their leaders was shattered after the string of defeats they had endured. And they were confronted with the army of the detestable Gray Mare—an army undersized and green but savagely led and swelling daily. They still referred to it as a mob of bandits, but each knew the truth: the Army of Northern Equestria was not a futile resistance and they themselves were not conquering heroes. They were an army trapped in a hostile land and facing an enemy far more fearsome than any of them had expected.
The generals sat in a circle on the floor: on the east, the decorated hen Sharpeye, the commander of the forces sent to neutralize the Equestrian army. On the south, her Second, the young cock Broadwings. On the north, the aged cock Chippedclaw, leader of the efforts to pacify liberated territory. On the west, his Second, the idealistic mountain hen Goldfeather. They had been talking for some time. They continued to talk.
“I understand your concerns,” Chippedclaw said deliberately, “but I am reluctant to consider the counsel of the general who allowed the forces of the Pony Queen to retake their capital. Your failure to protect the symbolic center of Equestria is the reason we are having this discussion in the first place. You are here to reenforce me, not to supplant me. You would be wise, Sharpeye, to maintain a penitent silence.”
Sharpeye displayed no emotion. “I was ordered to move north with my forces by Duke Malachi himself—and was ordered to do so entirely because of your inability to put down a bandit uprising. His Majesty obviously believes that correcting your incompetence is most important at this moment.”
Goldfeather jumped in just as Sharpeye finished speaking. “Sharpeye, I do recall reading zat you vere to leave a detachment capable of ensuring zat ze Queen remained in helpless exile in ze Everfree Forest. Did His Lordship alzo inform you that it was ze vish of His Majesty zat your detachment be defeated and zat ze Pony Queen retake her ssrone? It certainly vas not. Vhy vas it not possible for you to ensure a defeated army remained defeated?”
Sharpeye shook her head plainly. She was hard to ruffle. “Goldfeather, let us consider our recent history. Broadwings and I engaged the pony army twice. In the first battle between pony and gryphon, I admit we were taken by surprise by the skill of pony arms. In our second battle, we learned from our mistake, defeated them soundly, and were denied ultimate victory only by the evil magic of the Pony Queen. You and Chippedclaw, on the other hand, have spent your time bullying farmers, burning cities, losing battles, and allowing a mailmare to become a bandit princess under your nose. The reversal at Canterlot is unfortunate, but I assure you I will fix that problem after I finish fixing yours.”
“It is not a reversal,” Broadwings said. “It is the end.”
Sharpeye slapped Broadwings, her talons leaving thin scratches in the young general's face. “Silence! Despair is sinful for a gryphon, and disloyalty to the First is treasonous for the Second.”
Broadwings ignored the trickles of blood dampening his facial feathers. “I have followed you and will continue to follow you, esteemed Sharpeye. But I am a general in my own right, and as I see it we are heading down a losing path. It would shame my hall to hold my voice in such a moment of crisis.”
Goldfeather narrowed her eyes. “Broadwings, you are unvorzy to be ze namebearer of your ancestral hall. You are even unvorzy of your Eagle-blood. A single defeat and you prepare to lie down in surrender? I pity Sharpeye, for she must share a command tent viss a gryphon unvorzy of his talons.”
“I hear they share more than that,” Chippedclaw muttered.
Broadwings hissed, then spoke. “ I will not have my house insulted like this. I am Broadwings and deserve to be. It is not honorable to weaken the Kingdom and dishonor His Most Serene Majesty with short-sighted and stupid strategies. Any soldier, whether gryphon or lion, can see our position is untenable, and is untenable because of failures in leadership. Retreat now would at least allow us to rebuild our forces and prepare a wiser invasion.”
“You speak from fear,” Sharpeye growled. “You have been spinning nightmares since the moment we launched our invasion.”
“And I have been right to do so,” Broadwings said, his feathers erect, his eyes burning with aggression. “What hunter would chase his quarry without knowing the winds and the currents? Your pride has kept you from fighting intelligently, and to this very minute you are still unable to face the magnitude of your failures. And you three—you who hide from your responsibilities—dare to call me a coward!? If the Pony Queen triumphs, it will not be because she deserved to win. It will be because you deserved to lose.”
“Enough,” Chippedclaw said. “You have defended the honor of your house, Broadwings. Let us proceed.” The tension in the tent subsided. He continued. “I have been fighting the Gray Mare for some time, and while no gryphon can understand her warped mind, I do understand that she is a formidable enemy. And whatever his motivations for speaking as he does, Broadwings is correct about one thing: we cannot indefinitely fight as we are. The balance of power favors us still, but every day the ponies throw another hundred bodies on their scale, and every day we lose scores from our own ranks. We cannot wait any longer. We have the majority of His Dreadful Majesty's forces assembled here. It is time to attack.”
Sharpeye spoke. “That is exactly why I have suggested splitting our forces, Chippedclaw; we must not allow the Gray Mare to escape and prolong this campaign. Given that she seems to need no supply lines in this region, if we advance as one, we will allow them to maneuver freely. Splitting the army worked to subdue and destroy the Pony Queen's army. It will certainly work against the rabble of farmers led by the Gray Mare.”
“I assume you have read my reports, Sharpeye. To attack the Gray Mare with anything but overwhelming force is foolish. Do not make the mistake of disrespecting her.”
“I have read them. Forcing engagement was one of the few wise things you did, and was not the reason you were defeated. Your failures were tactical and not strategic.”
“Our failures were indeed strategic. We should never have put ourselves in a situation where her tactics could have made a difference. She is devilishly dishonorable; we cannot predict her because we cannot stoop to her level. Tell me, Sharpeye: have you seen the latest scouting figures? We now only outnumber her two to one. If we split our forces we will be evenly matched, and--”
“--a gryphon is better than a pony is,” Sharpeye interjected, her voice hot.
“And the Gray Mare is better than you.”
The two generals glared at each other.
“I support Chippedclaw,” Goldfeather said at last. “Our confrontation of ze Gray Mare should be ze battle zat decides ze fate of Gryphonia. It is only fitting zat ve should have every soldier at hand. Ve should vin by ze overvhelming glory of our race rasser zan ssrough ze games of generals.”
“I support Chippedclaw as well,” said Broadwings, “but you are foolish if you think that defeating the Gray Mare will end this war. Defeating armies has not ended this war. Humbling the Queen has not ended this war. The ponies still fight. They will form new armies. If their leaders are killed they will raise new leaders from the masses—I needn't remind you that the Gray Mare was once a humble mail carrier.”
Goldfeather turned to Broadwings. “I appreciate your support, but your analysis of ze situation is still passetically despondent . The ponies vill submit vhen defeated. Chippedclaw and I vere velcomed peacefully in Fillydelphia, vere ve not?”
“I'm sure you were, Golt-fezz-airrr,” Broadwings said, voice dripping with condescension. “And how did they treat gryphons when the army departed? Let's ask the governor you left—if we can gather up his ashes.”
“Ze ponies are backstabbing vermin, yes. But zey bow and zey serve vhen zey are beaten,” Goldfeather hissed.
“And they fight again when you leave,” Broadwings said, over-enunciating to draw attention to his own standard Kali'gryph accent. “We cannot occupy all of Equestria, so we cannot ever win if our goal is to conquer the entire country. Do not think my support for this strategy amounts to support for the way we are pursuing this war. ”
“We shall leave aside Broadwings' flirtations with treason, for our war aims are not this hour's discussion,” Chippedclaw said authoritatively, again silencing the tent. “We can neither advance nor retreat without confronting the Gray Mare, and so we must confront her. Sharpeye aside, it seems we are in agreement that we should mass our forces. And so we shall.”
---
The pony campfires coated the rugged hills like a rash. From a natural ledge, Big Macintosh and Derpy Hooves watched the flickering constellations below and above.
“It's a beautiful sight, ain't it? Never thought I'd see so many fires. All that light in the darkness. Somethin' powerful in it.”
“Didn't take you for the poetic sort, Mac.” She nestled herself closer against him.
“I spent more nights 'n' you'd believe lookin' at the stars back at Sweet Apple Acres. Not a whole lot else to do at night, really, 'specially once you've heard all Granny Smith's stories.” He chuckled.
“I don't know anything about the stars. I mean, I can navigate by them. Any mailmare can. But I never really thought much about them...hm. I guess it's 'cause they were impossible to focus on without holding an eye shut." She looked up at him. "I mean, you know how tiring that gets.”
“Not really.”
“Well...try it sometime. It's a pain.”
“I have. All the time, tryin' to see what it's like for you with that thing on. It ain't so bad.”
Derpy laughed joylessly. “It's different when you're doing it for curiosity's sake, Mac. Trust me.”
Mac shrugged. “Sure. I trust ya. You ain't the type to waste breath complainin' 'bout nothin'.”
“Yeah I am. Don't you know me? I complain all the time. That's why I love you. You let me complain at you about the awful things I do and then I feel better and then I can go do more awful things.” She sighed, and pulled his foreleg around her.
“Derpy, it's different when—aw, hell, let's not talk 'bout that tonight. It's been goin' so nice. So normal.”
“Yeah. It has...you know, I do really love you, Mac. You do a lot for me.” She said the last sentence like she was about to follow up with something, but she remained silent.
“Derpy?”
“Yeah?”
“Was there somethin' else you were gonna say?”
“...no point putting it off," she said with a heavy sigh. "We're going to have to move out, Mac.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said quietly. “Word travels fast. The entire army knows the gryphons are on the march again.”
“If we win, we're going to be able to kick them out.” She said it without much emotion.
“You serious? If we win? You mean you're going to take 'em on? Head-on? All of 'em? The whole hog?”
“Would I joke about that? I'm sitting between them and any reinforcements they might get. If they lose, they'll have to retreat just to keep their army intact, and they'll be even further from their supply lines. They won't be able to mount another attack for weeks. And if they can't beat us now, will they be able to beat us when we're stronger and they're weaker? No. If we win, they'll have to leave.”
“And you think you can beat them?”
“I've beaten longer odds, Mac. This is nothing. I can do it.”
“So then...if we fought them. And if we won. It'd be over. Really? I mean, I don't really think...”
“It wouldn't be remotely over.”
“What do you mean by that?” He knew what she meant.
“I mean I'm not going to stop fighting. I'm going to beat them.”
“Derpy, if beating 'em means the war would be over, then you'd stop fighting. When the war's over you stop fighting.” He spoke like she was a child. He didn't know why he said it that way; he knew what she was going to say.
“But I'm not going to stop, Mac. I'm not going to stop until I've ended this war. Not kicked the gryphons out. No. Not until I've ended this war. Not put it off for a year. Not put it off for five years. Not put it off for Dinky to deal with. Not put it off for Dinky's grandchildren to deal with. I'm going to end it.”
He whistled--a long, slow whistle. “You're really gonna try to invade Gryphonia? With what? Your farmers? Invadin' someone else's home is different than defendin' your own home.”
“We'd have to raise a proper army. A real one. A big one. But that'll be easy once we control the whole country again. I hear our friends from Ponyville, including your sister, are building an army in Canterlot. Why else, but to invade? They have to know I can kick the gryphons out with what I've got.”
There was silence.
“...you're expectin' me to tell you it's a bad idea. Fightin' the gryphon army now. Invadin'. All that.”
“Nah. We both know what you think and why you think it. And we both know what I think and why I think it. And you know I'll do it anyway, and you know it'll work, because you know I'm really, really good at what I do."
Again there was silence.
“Derpy, if you kick them out you'll have won. Your daughter will be safe. Celestia will be able to organize a new system of defense that will keep Equestria safe forever. You'll have gotten everything you wanted. You'll be able to go home.”
“I can't go home, Mac. I have to keep fighting. The border is just a line on the map. So what if they cross it? No. It's not over until we're safe .”
“It ain't you, Derpy. Derpy Hooves is not a pony that likes fighting. She is a pony who will defend what she loves from bullies, but she is not a pony that keeps fighting after she's defended herself.”
Derpy laughed sadly. “That's true, Mac, but it doesn't mean a whole lot.”
“You can't turn your back on who you are. You can't. It don't work. You're Derpy Hooves and you can't be the Grey Mare forever.”
Derpy cocked her head. “And you think I'm Derpy Hooves? Really?”
“You sure as heck ain't the Gray Mare.”
“I wasn't talking about that, Mac.”
“Well, what in blazes are you talkin' about?”
“Mac. Do you know what 'Derpy Hooves' means?”
“I ain't never really thought ab--”
“--it means 'Stupid Hooves,' Mac. Do you think my mother named me Stupid Hooves? Or Dummy Hooves? Or anything like that? Of course not. So do you think I'm 'Derpy Hooves' any more than I'm anything else? Hell, no, I'm not.” Her eyes welled up.
“Derpy, I don't understand, what--”
“Bright Eyes,” she said, in a quiet voice. “I was Bright Eyes, once. I was my mommy's precious little filly. She was a baker in Cloudsdale, and a lovely mare—and I was her perfect little muffin. So I was Bright Eyes, a doting mother's delight. Then I grew older, and kids started making fun of me because of my eyes. I wasn't Bright Eyes any longer, oh, no, not with the eyes I had. I became Ditzy Eyes, and then just Ditzy Doo. That's who I was in Cloudsdale: Ditzy Doo. Heck, the pegasi in Ponyville who knew me from Cloudsdale still call me that sometimes. That's just who I was: Ditzy Doo. Stupid, featherbrained Ditzy Doo, who couldn't remember which way was up. Oh, of course I knew which way was up. When any other colt or filly crashed, hey, no big deal, new wings and all that. When I crashed? Ha ha, Ditzy doesn't know which way is which. Ha ha. Stupid Ditzy Doo.”
She bit a lip, and continued speaking.
“You know how I ran away from Cloudsdale. You know that the ponies in Ponyville were just as awful as back home. I told them I was Bright Eyes. But they gave me another name, just as cruel as the last. I fought off the bullies, but it didn't matter. The name stuck anyway. So in Ponyville I was Derpy Hooves, the bumbling little mailmare. Yeah. One time...one time I met a stallion who said I was beautiful, and so I let him screw me. He lied to me, yeah, about a lot of things, but I got Dinky out of it, and I became her Mommy. Then Ponyville needed someone to rally around in a time of crisis, and I became the Captain. Then Equestria needed a hero, and I became the General to ponies and the Gray Mare to gryphons.”
She paused to think.
“So maybe I'm not really the Gray Mare. Maybe I'm not! You're right. Maybe I'm not. But who am I? Am I Derpy Hooves, the bumbling little mailmare? Not any more. Each of those little points of light is ringed by a dozen ponies who have sworn to follow me to their deaths. Am I Ditzy Doo? Not any more; I'm a pretty good flier and I don't even have a second eye to cross. Am I Dinky's mommy?” She shivered. “No, not any more. She'll hate me when she's old enough to understand what I've done, and I only hope that someday she'll understand why I did it. So am I Bright Eyes? Mac, I haven't been that since kindergarten. So who am I? Who the hay am I? I'm some gray mare. That's it. That's all I've ever been. Some gray mare, and everypony else decides who I am. I might as well be the Gray Mare.”
“But Derpy,” Mac said. “The Gray Mare? She's a killer. You're a good pony. You're a good mare. I know you are. You're a good mare. It doesn't matter what you're called. You're still you, whether you're called Bright Eyes or Ditzy Doo or Derpy Hooves or Big Macintosh or Princess Celestia or whatever.”
“Maybe I was just good because I wanted ponies to like me. Maybe I just do what ponies expect.”
“That ain't true and you know it. Remember rescuin' Apple Bloom? That wasn't a popular decision. You aim to do the right thing whether ponies like it or not, and that's why follow you.”
“I do lots of bad things, Mac.”
“You never aim to do bad.”
“Does anypony?”
---
A light rain fell, dispersing the dawn fog. Derpy sat in her command tent—alone as usual—listening to the sparse pitter-pat of raindrops. She heard the soft noise of hooves on wet earth approaching her door. She called for them to enter. They did. Her colonels stood front of her, awaiting orders. She waved them over, and began outlining her strategy on the map in front of her.
“All right. We're outnumbered badly, and they're deploying as we speak, so we're going to be quick about this. Bon Bon, I want your infantry to deploy here. In a straight line, completely straight.”
“A straight line?” she asked in her nasal twang. “Y'sure about that? Our flanks'll be undefended, not to mention it'll let 'em--”
“--I know. We'll use these little hills on either end to anchor our flanks, with some light infantry on top of the hills and the cuirassiers hovering above the hills. It's not ideal, but it'll slow 'em down enough that you shouldn't be outflanked for a little while. April Showers, split the cuirassiers evenly, and hold a quarter of them in reserve to plug gaps that open in the lines. As for the lancers, have them take control of these ridges over here.” She pointed to some high cliffs a fair distance off the flanks of the battle line.
“High Roller, I need you to deploy your guns on these cliffs here. Sixty over here on the northern cliff, fifty over here on the southern cliff. Bring only round shot. And you'll need to start moving immediately.”
“I...what?” He looked incredulous. “That's practically a sheer face. And we'd have to drag them through nearly a kilometer of mud. We couldn't possibly get sixty guns up there.”
“I know you can't. You're unicorns. Which is why I've reassigned Bon Bon's five hundred strongest stallions to your artillery corps, and reassigned five hundred of your artillerists to the infantry reserves. Anywhere there's ground, an Earth pony can walk. Anywhere two Earth ponies can walk, they can pull a half-ton of metal. Two ponies on each limber, two ponies on each caisson. Each gun will need a unicorn to sight and a unicorn to ignite the charge, but everything else will be handled by the Earth ponies.”
“Pulling the ammunition, perhaps—but nopony touches the guns but unicorns. Nopony! It's been that way for centuries!”
“It's not that way any more,” she snapped. She hated when her officers contradicted her. She especially hated when the New Equestrian Army veterans insisted she follow the ancient rulebooks.
“But artillery is a unicorn's job. That's how it should be. That's how it has to be.”
“I don't have time for this. Another word of contradiction and you'll be an infantry sergeant. We need guns on those hills. You can't pull them there. Earth ponies can. Once you're up there, you'll be higher than Gryphonic artillery can elevate, and you'll be able to enfilade the lions. Now. You all have your orders. Go. Celestia's grace be with you.”
---
Morning Melody soared through the gentle rain, her hundred lancers following behind her. In every direction were clouds of lancers in cone formations—some precise and some ragged, but each flying with the same determination. Behind and below her, the pony line of battle spread between two little knobs. It stretched far, far longer than she had ever seen before. And it looked perilously thin from up here, like a frayed thread that might be broken by the slightest touch. She looked at the lion infantry advancing on it. It was still a thinner line than she had expected to see, but it was much, much thicker than the pony line—and much longer to boot. And there were, behind it, many more little tawny rectangles of infantry. She had read that the lions outnumbered the ponies two to one. It certainly seemed like more than that.
Between her and the enemy army flocked the gryphon cavalry. She watched them warily. Usually the gryphons went right after the ponies, but this time they held a more defensive posture. They were keeping the lancers from launching a flanking attack, but weren't engaging them.
As she approached the cliff, she looked for the artillery. She scanned the ground for nearly a minute before she found them. They were far closer than she expected, and were moving at a good rate. They were running, even—at nearly full speed—each team somehow dragging a thousand pounds of metal on rickety wheels through muddy ground, kicking up sprays of mud and dirt as they went. One of Melody's lancers whistled. “Look't 'em go,” she said in naked admiration. “That's unreal. Anyone tells me an Earth pony ain't magical, I'll kick their flank I will.”
She heard a rumbling noise in the distance. It seemed the gryphon artillery had moved into range. It was tardy of them, she thought—it was unlike them to not have everything in place before launching an attack. She watched the pony lines for the impact. Yet instead of seeing the sudden gaps in the lines that round shot caused, she saw bright orange flashes along and around the stretches of infantry. Carcass shot? It seems the honor of a gryphon has its limits. Rather than concentrate their fire as ponies preferred to, they spread it throughout the entire pony line. Apparently their strategy was to overwhelm the entire army rather than to break a hole at one point. Reasonable, given their enormous advantage in numbers.
She looked back at the artillery racing through the mud. They weren't there. She looked closer. Somehow they were nearly at the foot of the cliff already.
---
“Hold it together,” Bon Bon shouted over the grisly shrieks of burning ponies as she limped/ran down the line. “They're tryin' to scare y'off. Don't you dare give into it. Death is death, n'matter how it looks, and if y'fear it it'll get ya. Hold steady, hold strong, and don't take a step forwards or a step backwards.” She could see the lions approaching—an enormous wall of fur and armor and teeth. She blew a single short whistle burst, which was then echoed dozens of times down the long pony line of battle. “Fire and brace for impact,” she shouted, though the verbal command was entirely redundant.
With a cracking, clattering noise, the ponies kicked a volley of rocks into the gryphon lines. The first row of lions fell. It didn't seem to make a dent in the approaching horde. “Keep your balance,” Bon Bon shouted, still running down the line. “Don't give 'em an opening. And for Celestia's sake hold it together!”
She heard roaring and tearing to her side. The lions must have already hit the line there. The sound began to spread down the line in a horrifying cacophonous wave of noise. She saw a battalion of infantry begin to break already, and she immediately began whistling for reinforcements as she ran to rally them. Yet, as she ran, she saw another hole begin to open further down the line. She looked behind her, and saw another hole opening there. The army was beginning to crumble, and the battle wasn't twenty minutes old.
Above her, she heard a voice, booming through the field. “Hold the lines!” it shouted. It was the General, hovering directly above the center of the battle, her glittering armor making her visible across the battlefield, Lyra's magic making her audible across the battlefield. “Hold the lines or all Equestria will be torn apart!” A volley of cannonballs tore the air around her. She didn't react. “Hold the lines, damn it, or I'll be torn apart! Let them carve your bodies! Let them rip your flesh and split your limbs, but hold the lines! They can break a pony's body, but hold the lines and we will break their army! Hold, or die! Hold!”
As Derpy shouted from above them, the pony army reformed its tight lines. Yet, as Bon Bon could see, the Gryphonic cavalry were now charging en masse at Derpy, streaking from every corner of the battlefield at the exposed and undefended Gray Mare. She looked back at the cavalry reserves. There were none; the cuirassiers were all engaged along the line. Derpy continued to hover and continued to rally her troops.
Just then, a sharp thundercrack echoed across the battlefield.
---
Morning Melody watched as the northern cliff erupted in flame. She shifted her attention to the Gryphonic artillery. A second and a half later, it mostly disappeared in a sudden cloud of dust. The remaining enemy cannon fired, as if in defiance, immediately after. A minute later, they, too, were swept aside in a second volley. With such an advantage of elevation—and with artillery officers mostly trained by Twilight Sparkle—knocking out enemy artillery was pathetically easy.
Melody turned her attention to the enormous line of enemy infantry, improbably stalled by the thin line of pony infantry. She heard another crack. She watched the enemy lines with dreadful anticipation. And when it hit, she felt her heart pause.
Ripples of motion swept across the lion army, like wind blowing through tall grass. Round shot flew and skipped down the length of the lion lines, each tearing through dozens of lions and knocking over dozens more. Sixty cannon: sixty cannonballs, each slicing a bloody gash along the length of the lion army. It was enfilade fire: shot raking along the length of the enemy line, rather than making perpendicular pinpricks.
She looked back at her own artillery. They were just beginning to set up. Good. Very, very good. She looked back at the General. She was nowhere to be seen—and the gryphon cavalry, having realized why the ponies had captured the cliffs, were now charging: one enormous black-and-silver cloud, coming directly at her.
She blew her orders, and moved to meet the enemy head-on. They likely outnumbered her four to one. She knew that. But she also knew something the gryphons didn't. She knew there wasn't a bomb strapped to her chest.
The lancers arranged themselves for a charge, and came to a dead stop. Morning Melody squinted, and past the cloud saw that the rest of the Equestrian cavalry was approaching the center of the battlefield—the cuirassiers from the line of battle to her left, and the lancers from the northern cliff straight ahead. She blew a dit-dit-da-dit-da-da, and then took off in a charge. Most didn't follow her.
She looked around in satisfaction. Fifty or so lancers were charging out of the pegasus cloud, each one flying alone, each one aiming directly at a different part of the gryphon cloud. In response, the gryphons scattered, breaking formations to avoid giving the apparent suicide bombers any worthwhile targets. Melody slowed down. So did the rest of her “bombers.” She came to a stop. So did her “bombers.” She flapped her wings a few times. She was a good hundred yards away from the gryphons, but she could feel the tension gripping them. All their eyes were fixed on her “bombers.” She, alone, began to charge again. All gryphon eyes were wide in dread anticipation. All gryphon eyes were on her.
And none were on the lancers that tore into their rear.
---
Derpy watched the aerial brawl in satisfaction. The lancers from the northern cliff had carved out an enormous swath of the gryphon cloud before the gryphons had realized what was happening. They were scattered, stationary, and facing the wrong direction. They were perfect prey. And just as they began to reorganize into formations to repel the charging lancers, the pony cuirassiers slammed into the gryphons' flanks, after which the southern lancers charged in as well. The gryphons were being attacked in three directions, and they weren't putting up an effective defense against any of the three.
On the other hand, removing the cuirassiers from the infantry battle had weakened the pony lines, and she was nearly out of reserves. She had little left if the lines broke. She could try to rally her forces again, but tricks like that were never as effective the second time. No. She could only wait and hope the double enfilade fire of the cannons would shatter the lions before her infantry crumbled.
Another peal of thunder reverberated through the field, deafening her for a moment to the sound of lions slaughtering ponies. And with a chorus of whistles and crashes, a hundred and ten cannonballs skipped along the length of the lion lines, mangling bodies all the while. She did some quick calculations. Allowing for the fact that many shots would miss the enemy entirely, she could expect well over a thousand enemy casualties per volley. Well. Whoever broke, it would have to happen soon.
She returned her attention to the cavalry fight, but almost immediately heard an ominous chorus of roars. She snapped her attention to her right. Less than a hundred meters away, her line was beginning to break. She leapt into the air, spreading her wings, and headed directly for the newly opened gap.
Yet another crack of cannon split the air.
---
Morning Melody winced as a spray of blood hit her face. She didn't know if it was pony or gryphon blood, though the way the air battle was going, it probably wasn't a pony's. She wiped her eyes with one foreleg, realized that one was already blood-soaked, and then wiped them clean with the other. She banked hard to her right, dodged a falling pegasus, then stabbed her lance into the back of a gryphon hussar. She immediately felt a shock through her body; the lance had embedded itself in something rather than slicing cleanly through flesh. As she tumbled through the air with the screeching gryphon, she braced her hooves against her enemy's body, tore her lance free, and then righted her flight as the gryphon fell from the sky.
The battle for the sky had devolved into one enormous dogfight, as the charges had broken up into a brawl of individual against individual. The outcome was no longer in question, though; the initial charges were so destructive that the gryphon cavalry scarcely existed as a functional fighting force. She checked behind and above for threats, then looked around for another target to strike. Yet this time she couldn't find one. She kept scanning. Nothing but ponies. Then she saw it—the surviving gryphons had fled the field and were in full retreat. There were still quite a few of them, to be sure, but either they had given up or they were doing a damn good job of pretending.
A cuirassier sergeant flew up beside her. “They've broken, and I can't find Col. Lady Luck. Should we pursue, ma'am?”
Melody looked back at the infantry battle below her, then at the gryphons soaring away. “Don't bother,” she said.
---
Derpy flew at ground level, weaving around fleeing soldiers to the heart of the breakthrough. She soared over a few startled lions, then found her target—a banner lying in the mud, still in the grasp of a dead mare. She picked up the regimental flag, then brandished it, shouting as loudly as her natural voice could manage. Immediately, as if propelled by some magic, ponies rallied to her, rolling over the lions that surrounded her in a fury of hooves.
She shouted orders as she stood on two hooves, pointing with one forehoof, the other forehoof holding the flag as a crutch to keep herself balanced. For a minute it seemed the gap had been secured. Yet, just as she drew the attention of ponies, she drew the attention of lions as well—and soon an enemy countercharge slammed into the Equestrian lines.
The lions tackled the ponies by the hundreds, their claws digging into flesh as they struck, sending the front rank of ponies crashing into the second. Derpy herself was bowled over, as pony knocked over pony knocked over pony. She stayed prone for a second to catch her breath, then tried to get up. Her body felt leaden, and she fought against the desire to collapse. Suddenly, she felt a sudden heavy weight pushing her back into the ground. The wind was knocked out of her again and she opened her mouth to breathe, though no air entered her stunned lungs. She opened her eyes. A lion was square on her chest, staring her in the face.
She narrowed her eyes, looking directly into his, challenging him to kill her. Yet his own expression was of fear—of panic. He stared at her. She stared resolutely back. He began to mouth something. She stared back. And his eyes faded, and he exhaled deeply, and he fell to the side, dead.
She felt a hoof wrap around her neck and pick her off the ground. She was guided gently to her feet, and then saw she was surrounded—not by lions, but by ponies. They were winged stallions in dull breastplates. They were her cuirassiers.
She coughed, and looked around her. All along the line, cavalryponies were charging into the battered and torn Gryphonic rear. And all along the line, the lions were finally turning, and finally breaking.
---
Derpy Hooves walked through the sprawling prisoner camp, arriving at a small grey tent. She entered. Inside was a bound gryphon with two pony guards.
“The Gray Mare. I confess I was hoping to meet you under similar circumstances...though with one crucial difference, of course. Heh.”
“I'm sure you were, General Broadwings.” She smiled politely. “I'm very glad to meet you at last.”
“I do not believe in continuing this invasion,” the gryphon said. “Our goals are not at cross purposes.”
“See,” a guard said. “He's just beggin' for his life, that miserable sack of feathers. I told you we shoulda just killed him. Coward like him'll say anything."
Derpy wheeled on the guard, in a fit of sudden anger. “Coward? You know nothing of gryphons. This is Broadwings. Not 'Perry Broadwings.' No. Broadwings. A namebearer could never dishonor himself before he goes to meet his ancestral hall.” She turned back to the gryphon. “I apologize for my guard. Few ponies have taken the time to talk to gryphons well enough to understand them.”
“I am certainly impressed,” Broadwings said. “Few ponies know our ways. Also...I admit I am mildly disturbed that you know my birth name as well as my court name.”
“It's not a secret,” Derpy chuckled. “More than one captured soldier has begged to be released by claiming he's a close relative of a general. Surprisingly, it seems some actually are.”
“May I ask your name, then? So that we may be on an equal footing for our little discussion? We know you only as the Gray Mare. Your name has become as forbidden as the names of the Pony Queen and His Dreadful Majesty.”
Derpy smiled. “You may ask.”
There was a silence.
“...what is your name, Gray Mare?”
There was a silence. To the gryphon's surprise, the pony seemed to be considering the question as if it carried enormous weight.
“...I think 'Gray Mare' is as good a name as any,” she said thoughtfully.
He raised one of his eyebrows. She raised hers back.
“But I suppose you can call me Derpy Hooves,” she said with a trace of satisfaction.
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So good. So good. This story just gets better and better with every passing chapter.
excellent story excellent writing excellent development of characters. but i have one complaint. the flash forward at the start of this removes all sense of danger for bright eyes we know she is going to survive to take on the gryphons but this is just a small nit pick within a pile of sheer and utter win
I agree with 121331. And, 121298, that's a bloody fantastic, and so very true quote.
121459
The flashforward was actually a later addition to the story, written and added (I believe) after Chapter V, back when this fic was only on PonyFictionArchive. I added it deliberately, for a couple reasons. I won't go into them (because nobody really wants to read that shit), but I'll say one thing about the sense of danger.
You mention development. That's kinda the key, I hope. In my mind, the principal question driving the Derpy Hooves arc isn't "will she survive," as it might sort-of-kind-of be for Celestia right now. Rather, the question is if her soul will survive. When I had her get injured by a shell, it wasn't written to make the reader think, 'oh no Derpy is dead.' Rather I had her get hit because of the somewhat destabilizing effect that the injury had on her psyche--and because the drastic physical alteration of losing an eye symbolically reflected a drastic alteration to her character. And that brings us to the danger Derpy faces. Her danger right now isn't so much if she'll die, because we know she's safe up to a certain moment that has not yet arrived. Rather, the danger for her is whether she'll be a hero or a villain at that moment.
Is there, after all, that much difference between her explanation of her intentions to Big Macintosh, and the Gryphon King's explanation of his war to the zebra Bakora? There is some, yes, but mostly in how justified they are in their assumptions--and whether a mindset is justified does not change what that mindset can lead to. Derpy is a protagonist, and the center of this story. That doesn't necessarily mean she's a good guy. She might be. And she might not be. She needs to decide what it means--if anything--to be "good." And then she needs to decide whether she will be. And that's the question, as I see it.
Another entertaining chapter.
Seems that the war has now gone into official disaster territory for the gryphon’s. Gryphon morale is probably going to be dangerously low given their leadership has lead them from one disaster after another. Especially against the Gray Mare. They have wholly alienated the Equestrian population. The leadership is confused on how to complete their overall objectives, or even what those objectives should be. And now their supply line has been cut. Leaving their slowly dwindling armies in hostile territory in face of an enemy growing stronger and more competent by the day. I don’t really see a good way out of this for the gryphon’s given they have probably just lost their numbers advantage in this last battle. A numbers disparity they may never be able to correct from this point forward.
A couple nitpicks I have are a two instances when you refer to Derpy’s “eyes” (“She narrowed her eyes, looking directly into his, challenging him to kill her”) when I’m pretty sure she only has one at this point.
I saw there was an update and nearly threw my computer in excitement
So the Flashforward was the final victory of the forces of evil, after Equestria is conquered by a re-released Discord and the surviving ponies go utterly batshit insane?
121497
yeah i completely understand the point its just that niggle in the back of my head each time she gets in danger of "she will live through it" but her soul is definitely at a crossroads where she could either lose herself to the grey mare and have derpy hooves in a sense die leaving big mac and dinky behind in her quest to destroy the gryphons but as i said i was merely nit picking it is an amazing story one of the few i genuinely like on this site
121497
From what I've seen so far, my guess is that the Grey Mare who attacks Mount Kali'Gryph will be little more than a killing machine. The weird, harmless, helpless little grey pony who simply wanted respect will be as dead as the military governor the Gryphons had running Fillydelphia for them.
There are a few questions I have, which I hope you will address:
1) Did the CMC fall off the face of the map? Obviously they are still with the army, but they haven't really been mentioned for a while. Sure they are kept out of battle, but it'd be nice to see how all of this, especially the whole "getting captured" thing affected them.
2) Where is Big Mac during all of these battles!? He's such a major character outside of battle, and is (as far as I'm aware) Derpy's second in command, but whenever there is a battle, he is completely absent. Would be nice to at least know what he does during those battles, or what his role is.
3) I cannot wait for when Rarity finally (I hope to Celestia she does) meets with The Gray Mare. Oh sweet baby Jesus is that going to be a bad situation, especially if she refers to her (as I expect) as "that crossed eye'd Derpy mailmare"
4) I hope Screwball dies a painful death.
Another excellent chapter. Although regarding your point about Derpy: who's to say anyone has a soul anyway?
HAH
Great stuff. I personally am seriously enjoying this new take on the ponies and the mane 6.
Here, have some praise. I feel like giving you a metric fuckton after every damn chapter you throw out here. It was fantastic as usual. I can't believe I am reading a fanfic to a show about pastel-coloured, cute ponies and not an episodic novel about one of the most brutal wars in history. This is downright creepy.
You are truely one of the best authors around, right up there with Kkat from FO: Equestria.
121497
Yes, I am loving both the physical and metaphysical struggles going on. I did not have much faith for a Napoleonic War pony fic, but you have blown all of us away.
Magnificent as always, by far the #1 on my list of faves so far, probably gonna hold that spot for a looooooong time
THAT WAS SO FRIGGIN' AWESOME!!! I said it before and I'll say it again. All Hail The Grey Mare!! Seriously I love your Derpy. And I have full faith in her. I think she'll make it through as the good pony she always was. I gotta say through the whole opening I was flipping of my computer screen and muttering curses and obscenities at the Griffons. I can only hope Goldfeather died dishonorably and painfully in battle. I hate her so much. Good job.
Really your Derpy just blows my mind. She is so great. I can't wait to read more of her and her army.
But otherwise the best chapter yet
I have to say I saw the fake "suicide" charges coming a mile away, but that would be a lie, because, while I did think of them almost immediately, its rare to find someone else who thinks on that same tactically wavelength, so I was happily suprised to see it used. Once I read that and the previous comments regarding the cannons on the cliff face, I knew how this battle would end, provided the line held.
Its nice to read something written by someone with geniune tactical acumen and even more delightfully suprising to find it in the brony fandom :D
Those Gryphons just got rolled.
But I'm waiting for the casualty reports. That battle may have won them a great victory but how many lives did it cost?
Bright Eyes is now canon. I've seen it in far too many fics for it not to be.
There seems to be a problem with the page I'm viewing it on, however. Where is the ten star button?
So much here was so good.
I am not an expressive man. I walk through most of my life with a completely impassive face. If I'm just walking around the street, whatever I look at, I probably won't move anything but my eyes. I've got a bad case of bitchface and have for as long as I can remember.
But sometimes, growing up, I'd be watching some generic action anime or another and I'd just smile 'til my face hurt. Nico Robin declaring she wanted to live. Kagura and Shinpachi opening the roof of Yoshiwara. The first Gigant Pistol that took out Rob Lucci. In moments of great catharsis, I just smile unnaturally widely, until my face hurts from the stretching of my mouth.
I did that three times this chapter. Please, do not ever stop doing this. It's so beautiful for so many reasons. I loved the name play in this chapter. I loved getting some more insight into Gryphonic schools of though. I love this emote
, because it looks like she has a mustache. My only regret is that I can't get past how much I love this fic and find flaws that you could fix to make it even better.
And also I worry that too much praise might make you complacent. This is amazing, but you are simply not allowed to let quality slip. And I trust that you won't.
my god so much win
Epic new chapter... with an amazing new battle and even a meeting between one of the Gryphon Generals and Bright Eyes?
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I just have to see how this turns out.
Sweatly palms, man. Sweaty palms and a racing heart that I get every time a new chapters of this excellent fic is published. Some chapters left a bitter taste of "Sweet Celestia, how much more do they have to endure? Will it ever get better?", that made me dread the following part of the story. Especially the different breakdowns of the mane six
.
Then during the whole of this chapter I was on the edge of my seat and feared that the griffons would come up with some devious trump that would shatter the pony defenses despite the heroic fight they put up. But Huzzah Bright Eyes and her glorious tactics
! Now I am really relieved that the Equestrians apparently are on their way to pushing the invaders back.
TL:DR: Really exciting! Go ponies!!1
One word: Amazing.
You are just getting better and better at immersing someone into a situation. Continue the good work
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I'm not a brony (please dont kill me) but I do love a good read, I got linked to this by a guy I know and I loved it. I'm going to check here everyday just to see if the next chapter is out. My only complaint is that in the flashforward it shows that Derpy is alive,which takes some of the suspense away. (although she's a main character, not likely to die anyway)
127002
New chapters are usually Monday or Tuesday, with occasional other updates. If you get an account here (quick and easy) you can subscribe, and have the new ones delivered.
You know, I'm having a hard time figuring out if a REAL human Napoleonic army would hold its own against the armies of Equestria. Griffons and pegusi can fly, the pony infantry is calvary, the cannons shoot magic missles and the shock from a line of charging angry lions would be enough to break standard line infantry, and I doubt guns would phase the beasts overtly much at least physically. It might be possible for humans to simply lay back and bombard from sea, but thats only because no pony has demonstrated any naval might. (Heres hopping for an aperance by Lord Admiral Hor-oat-tio Neigh-son, 1st Duke of Brony-te)
127002 I'm not a brony
You are now.
No seriously. The trolls will never let you live down that you read and liked a story about ponies. Never.
Well, thanks to this story; Every time I see or hear Derpy now I think and picture The Grey Mare. Thanks for that
Anyway I love this story, one of the best Fan Fics I have read. I made an account mainly for updates on this story. I get so immersed in it, more than published books. I thank you so much 
First off, I'd like to announce that this fic now has its own TV Tropes page. So everypony head on over and start contributing.
I'm rather curious about your take on the Elements of Harmony. You've mentioned that they are something akin to a long shot superweapon that could end the war, which strikes me as a little problematic. It's not that this makes the ponies overpowering, but I always figured that the Elements of Harmony were tools of a highly specialized nature, namely the kind of weapons that would be effective against beings like Nightmare Moon and Discord, but generally less than useful in an environment such as warfare. That said, it's rather fitting that the bearers find their connection to their elements undermined by the situations that they are forced to cope with in war, seeing as war could be said to be the ultimate expression of disharmony.
130576
The Elements are basically unexplained in show. Your take--in which they only work to "correct" disharmonious demigods--is as good a take as any. I don't think of them as a weapon, but rather as a tool of intense magical power that isn't 100% understood by its users. It's basically a subconscious wish-fulfillment device that can be activated only when all six of its bearers are in alignment with their Elements--which serves as a failsafe, as any non-virtuous, aggressive, violent, or self-seeking use of the Elements would force one of the six out of their Element, nullifying them entirely. To use them to murder enemy soldiers, for example, would basically violate the shit out of Kindness.
131555
To use them (The element of harmony) to murder enemy soldiers, for example, would basically violate the shit out of Kindness.
I complete agree with your concept regarding The Element of Harmony.
However I just had one horrible horrible thought.. probably from being exposed to too much Fallout Equestria and concept of corrupted elements... in this case corrupted kindness... so rather than have enemy soldiers die in the horrific manner of limbs blown off by canon fire, or stabbed to death by lances or have bone broken by the hind hooves of earth ponies.. if only the enemy could be spared all that and just go quietly to sleep and never wake up. It would spare all those poor souls the horror of war. It would be quiet. It would be peaceful. It would be Kind.
Please ignore what I have just wrote. The elements should never be used this way.
131711
Sweet babyjesus on a tricycle, you bastard. If this happens I will lie down and cry. Seriously. The only thing keeping the morale up so far has been the unwavering struggle of the Element-bearers against the horrors of war. If they ever succumb to them and get corrupted so much the elements can be used like this, the ver backbone of Equestria will break. So far the ponies could wreak havoc from a smug position of moral supriority. Even when forced to do terrible things, they always could blame it on circumstance. Now this would totally shove them into villain-territory.
I will admit I've had my reservation in the first couple of chapters but to be honest once the action started I just kept reading until I binged through the whole thing.
You appear to become a better writer with each passing chapter. You made me care about the characters, the whole "elements of harmony encounter realities of war" thing was done quite cleverly, and I can't wait to see how the plot plays out.
Keep up the good work, waiting impatiently for further updates.
This was the first fic I read and I don't think I commented once on it so far.So I just wanted say great job keep it up
133865
Thank you! I certainly hope I'm becoming a better author. This story is my first attempt at any sort of creative writing (as in Chapter I was the first creative thing I have written since high school bullshit and I'm 26) so I really hope I'm improving as I go along.
Perhaps starting with a 150-thousand word novel about My Little Ponies in a Napoleonic-inspired war--with three intertwining plot lines--was a bit too ambitious for a first-timer, but I've certainly had fun making it so far.
The Grey Mare Scourge Of Gryphon's
Absolute slaughter... Brilliant chapter!
All I am yelling at the screen now is, and I quote "FU**ING DIE YOU GREY WHORE! I AM GOING TO CARVE YOUR HEAD OFF AND SHOW IT TO YOUR PATHETIC DAUGHTER! DIE AND BURN IN HADES!"
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I don't like Derpy. Not at all. Kill her off. NOW. NOW.... NOW...
1625097 Someone's angry.
In other news, I learned a lot about strategy and tactics here. Mostly about enfilades and other artillery positioning tactics. I'll be sure to include these into my new fic.
A lot of inspiration you've given me here, you may be a dead author but I'll keep your legacy alive by writing my own Napoleonic War fic.
Silver out!
Derpy kicks ass. As usual.
T