A Collection of Short War/Battle Stories

by KeeganFirecloak

Die By The Sword, Or Live By A Promise

The distinct singing of metal against metal rang throughout the field as leagues of soldiers battled it out for the glory of their respective sides. Arrows rained down around you, and you heard screams cut short as your comrades fell around you. You readied your longsword and braced yourself for the oncoming wave of Imperial forces.

——***——

The country was ensnared is a war with King Sombra and his army from the Crystal Empire. At first, it had only been trivial disputes over territory, and small skirmishes. Both countries, for the most part, had been maintaining a fragile peace since the King’s return. Princess Celestia, as well as the Elements of Harmony, both knew of the pure evil that had surrounded the King on his Onyx Throne, but he had risen to power peacefully, through politics, and so it would have been too hard to justify attacking him without upsetting Equestria’s allies. You had worked as a simple blacksmith in Canterlot at the time, making tools and trinkets for anypony willing to pay.

That was, however… until King Sombra attacked the port city of Vanhoover.

It was an assault that no one was prepared for, and little resistance was given. Thousands were slaughtered. Stallions, mares, foals, there were none who were spared. Only a small band of escapees made it to Canterlot to inform the Princesses of the attack. Before anyone knew it, the Princesses sent out word calling Equestria’s able bodied to war. Your work went from forging metal table legs and doorknobs to forging swords, axes, and spears for Equestria’s finest military.

You were consumed by the amount of orders that were coming in. Even the citizens of Canterlot were commissioning knives for their own protection. Certain members of Canterlot nobility had payed you a handsome sum to forge intricate and fancy rapiers for them, even though you were certain they would never need them.

You had no family to speak of, being the only human trapped in a magical world of cartoon ponies prone to random musical numbers.

Because of your solitary existence, when the war came close to Ponyville, you were among the fresh volunteers sent to go down there and fight. Except you had one of your swords with you. Your best one yet. Your Masterpiece. It was a Longsword that had a jet black blade.

You had struck up quite the conversation with Rarity during her last visit to Canterlot. You had just finished your Masterpiece when she arrived in town, and you were ready to do your first cut test when she dropped by.

“Anon? Are you in here?” You heard her call from the other room. You smiled and put your sword back in its scabbard before heading to the front of your shop.

“Miss Rarity!” You gave a cordial bow, “To what do I owe the pleasure?” Rarity giggled at your exaggerated movements.

“I was in Canterlot and I simply thought to drop by and see how you were doing. Is everything going well, dear?” She asked.

“Heh, yeah, things are alright. The war has been hard on these old bones.” You joked.

“Old bones?! Darling, you’re only 22.” She looked aghast for a second before you both erupted in laughter. It had been a while since you’ve been able to laugh like this, and Rarity was a good friend of yours. Your closest friend in all of Equestria.

When your laughter subsided you both sat down in the back of your store for tea. It was always nice to have a pleasant break in between making countless weapons. Rarity had noticed the Longsword in a scabbard on the table.

“Darling, that sword you have there looks special. Another commission from Canterlot nobility?” The alabaster mare asked.

“Nope. That one is all mine.” You said with pride. “Best sword I ever forged. My Masterpiece. Every blacksmith makes their masterpiece before they retire or die.”

“I certainly hope you don’t plan on dying any time soon, Anon!” Rarity said, a little worried. You chuckled.

“Nah, I’m not dying anytime soon.”

She sighed. “Okay, good. So… what is the sword made of? Regular steel?”

“Actually, it’s a new material, it’s called Magitite. According to Princess Celestia, it is heavily imbued with magic, more so than standard Equestrian steel, and possesses certain qualities if forged right. For example.” You stood up and grabbed a regular Longsword from one of your many weapon racks and brought Rarity’s attention to a suit of armor, scavenged from a soldier of the Crystal Empire. The armor was still intact and on display.

You raised both of your arms and struck at the armor with all your might. The armor dented slightly but no real damage was done. The loud clang of steel against armor rattled the room, and caused your guest to jump.

“A regular sword would have trouble against good sturdy armor, and the wearer would be unharmed. This leads battle into exhausting struggles to pierce less armored areas like joints, rather than a simple clean cut. A Magitite sword, on the other hand…” You swapped your steel sword for your Masterpiece, and took the same swing. A faint trail of blue followed the path of your sword as the armor set was cut clean in half with ease. Rarity gasped as the armor crumpled and dropped to the floor, along with its stand. You set the sword back on the table.

“If forged right, Magitite makes even the sharpest steel look like a dinner knife.” You sat back down across the table from Rarity.

“Quite the terrifying weapon, then. What do you plan on doing with it? A sword like that can easily buy you luxury for the rest of your life.” Rarity said.

“Exactly, that’s why I never plan on selling it. This sword is mine.”

“What?! You would rather work for all your years instead of retiring early?” Rarity asked shocked.

“I like my work, and besides, that might not be much of an issue soon.” You said.

“And why is that?”

You turned away pondered for a second. How were you going to tell your best friend that you planned on joining the military? I suppose being upfront about it is the best course of action.

“The Shadow King’s soldiers draw ever closer to Ponyville each day… I’m going to join the fight and help beat them back before they take the town.” You said bluntly. There was silence for several seconds. You looked back at Rarity and your eyes widened slightly when you saw the tears in her eyes. These weren’t the dramatic or over exaggerated tears you’ve seen around her friends. These were REAL, heartbroken tears.

“W-Why?!” She choked out as her tears began to run down her face. “Why would you do that?!” She shot up out of her seat, and so did you out of reflex.

“Did you ever think about how the girls would feel if you died?! How I would feel?!” Her voice was raised in a shout now as she stormed over to you.

“Well, I… u-um…” Before you got your explanation out, her hand flew up and before you could react, she, for lack of a better phrase, slapped the god-fearing fuck out of you.

You looked back at Rarity, who’s face and eyes were red from crying. All you could do was look at her, you had nothing to say, nothing to justify yourself. She took a few deep breaths, the crying subsided and she wiped her face with a few tissues she had on her. Afterwards, she grabbed your shirt and pulled you towards her.

Out of all the things you expected her to do to you, pull you into a deep, passionate kiss was at the bottom of the list. Yet here you are, lips locked with your best friend. You two had held the kiss for what felt like minutes, before she finally released you. The blush on her face shone through her dried tears and your brain was recovering from being completely numb.

Rarity wrapped her arms around you in a deep hug, pressing her warm body against yours.

“Promise me something?” She asked quietly.

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t die, dear. Please…” She tightened her grip around you.

“Alright,” You said. “I promise.”

———***———

An explosion of magical energy launched a group of stallions in all directions, and you raised your sword just in time to deflect a strike from an enemy soldier. You wound your blade around his and plunged your sword into his heart. He made no sound as he died, his body crumpling to the ground. You felt a strike on your back that your armor had deflected as you whirled around to be met with another soldier, with a messer in one hand and a reinforced heater shield in the other. You swung at him with fierce determination, and he braced his shield to withstand your attack.

You felt another deafening strike against the side of your head as he swung. You’re vision blurred and your ears began to ring as you raised a leg and kicked your assailant directly in the chest. He stumbled and fell on his back but rolled to keep his momentum. As he stood, a war hammer caved in his skull from behind as one of your fellow knights had seized the opportunity and killed him.

You took a few deep breaths, scanning the battlefield around you. Metallic clangs and scrapes surrounded you, and you felt as if the sounds were inside your helmet. You spotted a knight bearing Sombra’s colors, yet his armor was gilded and engraved with intricate markings. He was beyond the main battlefield, and he was carving his way through your archers with ease.

You suddenly became infinitely more aware of the confined spaces of your helmet, and had to stave off the impending hyperventilation that would follow. You grasped the blade of your Longsword with your off hand, and rammed it into the back of one of Sombra’s soldiers who was near you. He screamed as you drove your sword through him, impaling him down to the hilt of your weapon. You spun, ripping your sword out of him in the process and began fighting your way out of the large cluster of mud, blood and death.

You raised your sword and swung at an Imperial soldier, decapitating him with ease, as you began to make your way towards the knight who was making quick work of your archers.

You let out a war cry as you severed the head of an enemy soldier and threw his body to the ground. It seemed to be loud enough to get the attention of the knight, who turned to face you. He readied his Longsword and you took note of the onyx blade, it had a simple yet elegant hilt inlayed with gold and a ruby in it’s pommel.

A faint wisp of green trailed from the inside of his helmet and though you had no magic to speak of, you could feel a deep and menacing aura emanating from him. The armored horn protruding from his helmet suggested that your adversary was a powerful unicorn.

He rushed you with speed you almost couldn’t track and just barely managed to get your sword up in time to defend against what would have been a lethal strike. The unmistakeable blue trail following his sword confirmed your worries: This adversary also had a Magitite sword. He could cut through your armor just as easily as you could cut through his. This raised the stakes of the battle greatly. He put you on the defensive and your battle carried you back towards the main group. The adrenaline coursing through your veins had brought you a near perfect focus. You could see his attacks, he slowed his footwork a mere fraction of a second before he swung, and his shoulder leaned in the direction he was going to swing, so although he was fast, you could predict his strikes and parry each and every single one of them. All you had to do was wait for an opening.

You had ducked under a wide swing and countered with a quick cut to the side of your opponents knee, it was a small cut, but just enough to hinder his movement and make him slower. He yelled with rage and pain and thrust his sword at you violently. You beat his blade to the side and left a nasty gash in his left arm, which elicited a scream from your opponent. He shot a powerful blast of sickly green magic from his horn which you had cleaved directly in half with your sword. The two halves flew in different directions and exploded. You don’t know if it killed anyone, but you were concerned about that magic.

Where have I seen that specific attack before?

A throwing knife lodged in your left shoulder before you could react and you screamed in pain. The wound burned with unimaginable pain. Perhaps the blade was coated in poison? You ripped it out of you and was greeted with not the unmistakeable smell of poison, but of some form of oil. You tossed the knife to the side, refusing to let this be a hinderance to your fight.

The knight once again rushed you and this time you wasted no time. Praying you don’t get hit, you raised your arm and swung with all your might. You felt your sword connect with the helmet of your opponent and his did the same with yours. A white flash filled your vision as sparks flew every which way.

Your vision returned and you saw that a massive gash was made in not only your helmet but also your opponents. He faced up at you and you were taken aback. The person you were fighting this whole time was King Sombra himself. Taking Equestria’s most well liked province must have been so important to the King that he wanted to be there in person when it happened.

You twirled your sword and pointed it at him, challenging him to finish your battle. He roared with fury and his sword glowed a deep purple with pure magic. He raised his sword to strike and you threw a knife of your own, which lodged itself into his throat, right under the chain mail. His visible eye went wide as his sword fell out of his hands and stuck in the ground behind him. You thrusted your sword up through his diaphragm and the blade exited up by his shoulder blades. He could do no more but gasp for breath and make gargling sounds as deep red blood oozed from the hole in his throat. You wrenched your sword out of him and reared back, you dug the sword into his neck and spun as you passed him. Effortlessly decapitating him with an elegant spin. His body dropped to the ground with a metallic clank and his head rolled gently down the hill into the ground of battling warriors, which by now had gone from a force of tens of thousands to a mere 600 men.

A fighter who had been knocked down spotted the Kings head and scrambled to his feet in fear. He grabbed the horn from his belt and with a deep breath he blew. The horn echoed throughout the valley as the soldiers of the Crystal Empire began to hastily retreat. Your exhaustion had brought you to one knee, and you had to dig your sword into the ground to keep from falling over.

“Rarity…” You muttered, your breath raspy from all the fighting and yelling and breathing in ashes from explosions.

“Rarity… I’m coming home.” You said with a smile as the blood loss and exhaustion finally overtook you. You collapsed to the ground and your consciousness faded.

Author's Note:

This one took the longest to write, and it’s the first time I tried writing Rarity. Criticism is very much welcome