//------------------------------// // Part 3 // Story: For Princess and Country // by Nocturn Dreamwrite //------------------------------// For Princess and Country By Nocturn Dreamwrite Part 3 After an exciting day, Forester and Odo returned home. For dinner that evening, Forester decided to try cooking over a fire again. After securing a small ring with stones, Forester and Odo gathered some sticks and lit them with flint rocks, but Forester’s attempt to twist some long grasses around some sticks with certain leaves and flowers stuck between them in a kind of shish kabob fashion did not turn out as well as he thought it would. To say it nicely, dinner ended up a bit more ‘well done’ than cooked, but, on the bright side, it wasn’t too terrible, and after a good laugh over it, Forester and Odo put the fire out, and grazed for a short while. When night fell, Forester and Odo turned into their hut, and spoke for a time about the day’s events, who they saw, and how they would prepare to leave the White Tail Woods in the morning. When they were ready, they climbed onto their beds. “Good night my friend,” said Forester. “Big day tomorrow.” “Good night my friend,” replied Odo. “I’ll be ready.” And with that the two friends drifted off to sleep. ______________________________________________________________________ Lieutenant Forester flew out of the trench and hovered slightly above the ground, with his saber drawn and pointed toward the enemy in his right fore-hoof, while he beaconed his soldiers onward with the other. “Come on colts!” Forester shouted. “Over the wall! Over the wall! Forward!” Unicorns, and earth ponies hurried forward, climbing up the ladders and over the trench wall while pegasi flew up and into the air circling around the ponies below. Once everypony was present, a regiment of 96 armed soldiers, they were divided up and organized. “All right!” shouted Sergeant Kepler as he rushed past the ponies on the ground. “Unicorns! Take the center! Prime you horns and prepare to fire! Earth ponies! I want two equal assemblies on both sides! Prepare to march!” Forester meanwhile flew up to join the pegasi. “Come on now colts! Let’s give them some cover! Take formations! Let’s look sharp now! Two by two! Steady!” He looked down at his brother below him. “All set Sergeant?” he called. “All set Lieutenant!” answered Kepler. “Forward march! Forward fly!” ordered Forester. “Forward march!” repeated Kepler. With that the Equestrian regiment forged ahead. The trenches, which had served as a means to hide the presence of an entire army and reduce casualties, were now left behind as the army advanced into “No Pony’s Land.” Their goal: to storm over the changeling trenches and flush them out. They made a grand sight on the field indeed. Together the unicorns and the earth ponies made a long battle line, two ponies thick with the pegasi flying in similar formation just above. Behind them, the cannons fired once more to cover their advance. Just a short distance away, Forester could see Lieutenant Light Armor advancing with his ground soldiers in like manner with Sergeant Skillet leading his pegasi. There were now four strong Equestrian lines out in the open in “No Pony’s Land,” advancing rapidly on the changeling’s position. The only question that bothered Forester was: why hadn’t the changelings launched a counter attack yet? Surely they could see them coming. He didn’t have to wait long for an answer. As soon as the ponies reached the center of the field, they all saw several long, black objects suddenly shoot out from the changeling trenches, straight into the air. Nopony needed to say the words. They all knew what was coming. The “black arrows.” They only had seconds to react. “Double time!” yelled Forester. The Pegasi pumped their wings, and the ground ponies below changed their pace to ‘quick step’ to avoid the “black arrows.” The arrows overshot the lines, crashing into the ground behind them, but the following explosions did spray some of the solders with slime, causing some confusion. It was then that the changelings made their attack. Some took to the air, while others charged the ponies from the ground. “Company halt!” called Kepler. “Ready unicorns!” Each unicorn lowered his head, his horn glowing. “Hold!...Hold!...Hold!...Fire!!” yelled Kepler. Instantly the unicorns fired a volley of blast rays into the changelings, stunning and killing some instantly. Then they began to fire at will, with the earth ponies guarding their flanks. “Let’s give them some cover colts!” called Forester. “Attack!” With that, Forester and the pegasi charged ahead to engage the changelings that had taken flight. Forester made the first score. He slashed his saber across a changeling’s neck and then punched the lights out of a second with the back of his hoof. The battle was on! “Remember colts!” shouted Forester as his pegasi fought hoof and weapon with the changelings “Hit ‘em hard and hit ‘em fast! But stay over the ground lines! They’re depending on us!” he said as slashed a wing clean off another changeling sending him spinning into the ground. Meanwhile, on the ground, try as they might, the changelings simply could not break through the lines. Kepler managed to organize one volley of magic blast rays from the unicorns after another between periods of free firing while the earth ponies engaged the coming changelings with all their strength. “Keep it together!” shouted Kepler as he himself stuck a changeling with his sword on his rump and then punched him when he turned around. “Do not fire into the air! Don’t hit our own! Fire when you can see the green of their eyes!” On ground and in the air, some ponies feel, but far more changelings were falling. It looked as though the battle was going their way, but then the changelings fired another row of “black arrows.” “Heads up!” shouted Forester. “Ponies! Wheel!” “Ponies! Wheel!” repeated Kepler. Instantly the entire battle line turned to their right and trotted in a complete circle, avoiding most of the arrows, but not all of them. Several hit their marks. The line still managed to complete it’s full circle and was soon right back where it began. Unfortunately, the explosions had weakened the Equestrian line, and the battle seemed to slowly turn to favor the changelings as they simply kept coming. Amazingly, Kepler still managed to keep the line together, but it was falling apart regardless. Up in the air, the pegasi were either chasing the changelings, or being chased by them. Forester had one behind him. He flew up into the air, and then came soaring down at full speed with the changeling right behind him. For a moment, it looked like the changeling was gaining on him, but the changeling did realize until too late that Forester had slowed on purpose so that he could pull up while the changeling instead crashed into another of his own kind now suddenly right in front of him. They had been set up, and both slammed into the ground. Forester then saw one of his pegasi being chased and having trouble shaking the changeling. Forester rushed ahead to assist his soldier head on, and before the changeling knew it, Forester had passed both of them, and Forester’s saber had slashed across his chest. Two changelings tried to attack Forester at the same time, but he punched one dead center of his forehead, and then spun around to kick the other square in his gut. Forester flew higher to observe all the activity. His lines in the air and in the ground were holding, but they couldn’t hold for much longer. Across the field, he could see Lieutenant Light Armor and Sergeant Skillet stuck in the same position. They needed reinforcements; anything at all if there was any chance of winning this fight. Then Forester saw it, the most incredible sight imaginable. There, marching onto the battlefield to join them in the center, was General Corn Pipe. He was personally leading the cannons himself right into the thick of the fight with Captain Stone Wall and the Equestrian banner flying right behind him. The General was literally defying death as he boldly marched on. “It’s the General!” Forester called down to Kepler. “General Corn Pipe is coming to our aid!” It didn’t talk long for other ponies to notice this as well, some of them almost forgot they were in the middle of a battle, almost. It didn’t take not for the changelings to notice the general either, and several charged him. What happened then became legendary. With his bare hooves, General Corn Pipe grabbed the first changeling that came near him by his tail, spun him around several times like a yo-yo and then flung him back into the air hitting three others. Another changeling tried to attack him from the side, but, as if on cue, the General simply drew his saber and with out even turning his head, slashed the changeling across his chest, and all this with out even breaking his stride. When he was later asked how he did both of these he answered, “I don’t have the slightest idea how I did either. I just did it. Though I probably couldn’t do it again in a thousand tries.” As soon as the cannons had reached the center of the field, General Corn Pipe ordered Captain Stone Wall to open fire at once. The sudden cannon fire at half the distance from before caught the changelings by surprise. The cannons were actually close enough that the changeling’s trenches did little to protect them now as the cannon shots could not penetrate right through them. No more lucky hits. The battle immediately turned once again in favor of Equestria. It was now time for the word everypony had been waiting for. “Charge!” yelled Forester, and the pegasi flew at full speed directly toward the changeling trenches. “Charge!” yelled Kepler, and the earth ponies and unicorns ran toward the changelings trenches as fast as they could. The ‘charge’ could be heard all over the battlefield as the Equestrian army overran the remaining half of “No Pony’s Land.” The changelings, finding themselves for once overwhelmed, began to pull back. “No Pony’s Land” was quickly turning back into Equestria. The battle still waged on the ground and in the air, but it was coming to a close. It was then that a certain changeling, larger then the rest, and well protected was suddenly seen flying out of the changeling defenses and off into the distance. “It’s the Queen Chrysalis!” shouted Kepler. “She’s running away!” While he was saying this, the changelings began to retreat, though a number stayed behind to cover the rest. Instead of fighting, the remaining changelings now reverted to spitting their green slime directed at ponies’ hooves to slow them down. Several ponies were hit, as the changelings had pretty good aim. Even Kepler suddenly found his hooves slimed to the ground while he was freeing another pony, but he still directed the soldiers on while he worked to free himself. “Come on Colts!” directed Forester. “We’ve got them now! The field is ours! Storm those trenches.” Then the whole world suddenly seemed to slow for Forester. As the last of the changelings were pulling out, one final found of “black arrows” was suddenly fired. “Heads up!” shouted Forester. The “black arrows” shot into the air, and then came back down. One of them landed right beside Kepler. Forester eyes opened wide as he made eye contact with Kepler. “NO!!!” screamed Forester as he rushed toward his brother, but he was too late. There was a horrible explosion that shot slime everywhere, and the force blew Forester back. Then the dust cleared. Kepler was lying on his side. “Kepler!” gasped Forester as he rushed to his side. Kepler hooves were from the slime that had trapped him, but now his back was bent out of shape in a most unnatural way. “No! Kepler!” said Forester. “Say something!” He looked toward the fleeing changelings. “You Monsters!” he yelled and chunked his saber at them. He looked back at his little brother. Tears began to steam down his face. “Forester?” said Kepler. “I’m here.” replied Forester as he carefully removed Kepler’s tin derby, and cradled his brother’s head in his hooves. “Did we…” Kepler’s voice was becoming fainter. “Did we get ‘em?” he asked. “Yeah, we got them,” said Forester. “We did it Kepler.” “That’s good,” answered Kepler. “I’m really sorry about all this,” said Forester. “Forester?” asked Kepler, his voice now but a whisper. “Y-yes Kepler?” asked Forester. Kepler’s eyes flickered as he said, “Look…for me…in the…stars.” And with that he breathed his last. Somewhere in Equestria a candle flickered out. “No! No Kepler! Please! Don’t go,” cried Forester, and then the reality of it all came crashing down on him, and it all came out of him in a loud, wailing cry. ______________________________________________________________________ Forester woke up with a gasp. He was still in his hut in the middle of White Tail Woods. It was a dream, but it was exactly how it happened. It was just too much. Forester rushed outside and fell to his knees sobbing. “Kepler” he whispered. Maybe leaving the Woods wasn’t a good idea. Maybe it would be better over all if he just stayed and… “Forester?” came a hushed voice. Forester glanced behind to see Odo. “I heard you,” said Odo. There was concern in his voice. “Are you all right?” “I…I don’t know…I…” said Forester. Then he looked up at the stars. He saw something. It was a constellation, one he knew very well: the Pegasus, but to Forester it wasn’t just any pegasus. To him, it was Kepler. His brother who had found his in the night sky among the stars he loved, and was now watching over him. A smile slowly spread across Forester’s face, and with that smile came hope. Hope that there was a future for him, a purpose among ponies. Kepler would want him to go. Forester would never forget Kepler, his (L.B.B.F.F.), but the time had come for healing. The woods had served their purpose, and now it was time to move forward. He would return to Equestria and seek out the new life that awaited for him there. Forester wiped his tears, and turned back to Odo, still smiling. “Yes Odo,” said Forester confidently, “I’m all right.” He said as he put his right wing over Odo’s shoulders. “Everything’s fine. We still have a big day tomorrow.” “Yes we do,” agreed Odo.