Three days had passed since the refugees had begun to arrive in Ponyville and four since anypony had heard from any part of the war effort beyond the town. Armor had been forged and weapons hung on racks and piled in carts, ready to be taken to the camps to train and equip soldiers. Several more ponies in town had agreed they would sign up when the next call came for recruits, including some of the refugees now in residence. But nopony had arrived to collect the equipment or sign on any new recruits. Nopony discussed it, but the worry it caused could be felt in quiet moments when other topics of conversation ran out and nopony could think of anything else to stave off the looming question. So silence reigned more often than ever before in Ponyville’s memory.
As noon approached, that silence was broken by a scream from the river. A group of foals raced away from the banks in a panic. Ponies ventured out to see what the source of their fright was and found themselves transfixed by the sight that awaited them. Most ponies assumed what they were seeing were Trolls, since none of them had seen a Troll before. It began with a dozen forms floating in the water, drifting languidly in the slow current. The limp and waterlogged bodies were torn by blade and pierced by spear. A few had no visible wounds and presumably drowned. But as minutes dragged by they didn’t stop, turning the water an ugly color as blood diluted it. A hundred bodies had been carried through town before the first pony was seen among the sodden carnage. The remains of Army plates still hung from the half-submerged corpse. The pony was dwarfed by the bulkier Trolls that surrounded it.
The blood-tinted water yielded another pony less than a minute later. Still more followed, until about one in five bodies belonged to fallen ponies when an hour had passed. Nopony said a word, though nearly everypony in town had gathered to stare into the waters in horror. They found themselves seeking friends or relatives among the faces that passed by but none had the stomach to attempt to recover the bodies. Nopony wanted to get any nearer to the water’s edge, but they found themselves unable to turn from the sight or even back away. The spectacle held them spellbound, halfway between fleeing and inching closer to be sure what they were seeing was real.
Then the numbers tapered off. Three hours after it had begun, the last body was carried out of town though the waters remained stained much longer. Many ponies remained where they were on the shores, staring after the bodies long after they were gone. Others turned away in silence, returning to their tasks, both for the war effort and their daily lives. Some congregated to whisper darkly. A number of refugees that had come to witness the incident returned promptly to their tents to collect their possessions and family before marching east. The Mayor called a town meeting as the sun slipped toward the horizon. Most of Ponyville was in attendance, as were a large number of representatives of the refugees. The meeting stretched long into the night. When it adjourned, several decisions had been made.
First, it was suggested that they send somepony to investigate what had occurred farther upriver, but nopony was willing to go. So instead, it was decided they would wait for word to be sent to them. But to address concerns about danger coming from the north, volunteers from the remaining Pegasi in the weather team would keep watch to warn of anything approaching. Next, ponies who had voiced their intent to join the Army were given permission to train in town, though it was admitted there was nopony available to drill them.
As the evening deepened and ponies began leaving, either to fix evening meals with their families or to prepare for their assigned tasks, the topic of the meeting turned to emergency procedures. These discussions were harder, since the prospects of dealing with an attack on the town were grim no matter how they might plan. In the end, an evacuation route was agreed on as well as a plan for rapidly mobilizing the town’s resources should they be called on to assist the Army. But any discussion of the defense of the town itself lagged, since nopony was particularly knowledgeable on the subject of tactics. Midnight marked the end of the meeting and everypony retired for the remainder of the night.
The next dawn found the town quieter than ever. Foals no longer ran through the streets. Their parents kept them close and shushed them when they became too noisy. The blacksmith began working overtime again. The sound of metal being shaped was heard throughout the streets and was the only sound that wasn’t muted and cautious. Hardly anypony lingered on the streets longer than necessary, delivering carts of supplies and running messages to and from the refugee camp only when they had to. Many found themselves staring off to either the north or the west worriedly and more than a few had to shake themselves back to the present when they realized they’d been standing idle for too long.
As noon came and went, a congregation of ponies had come together near the blacksmith to form up a training group, even if nopony quite knew what they were doing. Since there was nopony to direct them, the twenty stallions and two mares set about becoming familiar with the swords and spears and getting a feeling for the weight of their armor as they moved about. A few sparred with wooden swords and a few practiced thrusting and charging with their spears, but the rest were mostly listless, concentrating more on becoming accustomed to the armor and weapons themselves, having never worn such things before. This went on for an hour before a Pegasus by the name of Open Skies from the weather team dropped in.
He instructed them on formations and said that learning how to move together was an important part of a unit’s effectiveness. From then on, they practiced marching with coordination and forming lines under the supervision of Open Skies. The evening crept in and the volunteers grew tired of working in the heavy armor, so they returned their equipment to the blacksmith and went home. Though they’d shown very little improvement in the way they handled their weapons, they nevertheless left in high spirits, believing their time spent training had been worth it.
The Pegasi sent to watch the north reported back at sundown, saying nothing moved within sight of town. A second group was sent out to keep watch during the night. Many ponies had difficulty sleeping that night, but one by one they drifted off, dreaming of hopeful tomorrows, interrupted by nightmares of yesterday.