One Week Later
I circled over the castle with two Pegasi in light iron armor. I had on my wing and claw blades, as well as my breastplate. We were watching from high above as we waited for the enemy to appear. The castle had been fortified and the citizens placed in the main castle. Three ballistas sat on watchtowers facing the south and west, and two catapults sat behind the walls. Two more ballistas were in the woods along side another three catapults. Each ballista had a mixture of arrows available to them.
Maple spears were the spears that unfolded and extended arms out to their sides. They resembled maple seeds as they twirled through the air. Then they had basic spears and the Hot Tip spears. Heavy had developed these with some unicorns. The arrows were tipped with gems, which were apparently very common in equestria. The gems were covered in runes that registered hard impacts to them, so when the gem tip hit the ground, or a pony, the sensing runes would activate the second set of runes. Theses runes were designed to release the over pressured magic in the crystals in large fiery explosions.
The catapults also had multiple types of ammunition. They had your basic boulders, then they had smooth stone pellets coated in oil, would be lit on fire before being launched. Hopefully the catapults would set wide areas on fire. We had Pegasi waiting to put out the fires outside the wall after the battle.
Light had finished the new guards’ training just the day before. Just in time too. Heavy and Silver had not only made the ballistas and catapults, they had also forged iron armor and weapons for all the new guards. All of the guards now had full armor and weapons. Me and the rest of my guards, Silver, Black, Lotus, And Moon, had all gotten blue steel weapons and armor, which was incredibly light and strong. Unfortunately we didn’t have the supplies to make enough for everyone. Unless I wanted to be featherless for a year.
We circled once more around the castle. The guards on watch had yet to raise the alarm. Everyone was anxiously waiting for the enemy to appear. The forest was dead quiet.
UUUUUUUUUURRRRRR!! A horn sounded from the westernmost tower. “KEEEEAAARRR!!!” I shrieked as me and my entourage turned to fly in that direction. Already I could see enemy units in the distant trees.
“FIRE CATAPULTS!! FIRE PELLETS!!” Field officers across the wall yelled out in unison. With a loud FWOOSH, what looked like a cloud of fire flew out of the trees. The enemy units stopped and gaped for a moment before they charged the wall. “FIRE BALLISTAS!! HOT TIPS!!” With a sharp TWANG! several spots in the enemy units erupted in fire balls. Just in time for the first wave of pellets to hit. The hot tips took out large chunks of the enemy, but the pellets didn’t harm the soldiers themselves. No, the pellets lit the forest ablaze and caused the soldiers to panic. Flaming trees fell across the charging soldiers. They were halfway to the wall now, and you could practically see their fear.
Then, from behind a wall of clouds, a swarm of metal covered figures appeared. The enemy Pegasi had arrived. “FIRE THE MAPLES!!!” Another TWANG echoed through the woods. Large spears flew up through the air. The Pegasi simply adjusted their course slightly. After all, how could a simple spear do any damage to them all the way up there? Those thinking that quickly died as I watched the spears unfold just before they hit the flying soldiers. The spinning poles took out huge groups of the pegasi, and in just one volley their forces were cut in half.
Broken metal forms fell around us as we flew over the enemy army. I had one specific target. The unicorn Over Time. I could see the fear in the soldiers below us. They had never faced such opposition. Yet they courageously marched on. They had almost reached the wall. Therrrrrre! I hissed in my head as I located Over behind his soldiers. He had a shield over himself as he followed a safe distance behind his army. Your time has come. “KEEEAAARR!!” I started to lower down with my stone faced guards following closely.
I didn’t lower all they way to the ground, instead I let the heads of the soldiers below slow me down as they hit my wing blades. Some of them bounced of as their helmets protected them. Others had grown a little too tall.... As I finally settled down on the ground I released my claw blades. The soldier beside me didn’t live more than ten seconds after I landed. The one behind him received a knife to the chest.
I flipped over the dead pony in front of me and pierced my claw blades through the armor of the pony behind him. As he fell dead I threw out a wing and decapitated the soldier charging me from the side. Then I jumped up in time to avoid the blow from behind. I picked up the pony as he landed in the dirt under me. “Aaaah!!” He screamed as my claws dug into his flesh, spreading dark frostbite along his back. “PLEEEASE!!” He called out as I lifted him up. I flew over his leader and threw him down at the shield. “NO! NO NO NOOOO-“ His screaming was cut short as he impacted the shield. Not even a crack. I had to admit, Over wasn’t a wimp with magic. But I could do better.
I left my entourage to take care of the soldiers behind us as I approached Over. He shot a bolt of magic through his shield. I simply side stepped it. His cocky smile made me angrier. Slaughter their so called princesses… His words ran through my mind as I got closer. He shot another bolt of magic. Once again I stepped around it. Slaughter their princesses... My feathers started to glow as they darkened. The ground around me turned cold and frost formed on it as I walked closer. Now his eyes were starting to get worried. I was right outside his shield now. He fired another bolt of magic. I didn’t even dodge it, it simply dispersed over my feathers before disappearing. Now the fear shone clear in his eyes. Slaughter.... As I reached his shield I reached out a wing to touch it. I looked over it before looking directly into his terrified eyes. Then I pushed.
Slowly my wing slipped through the shield. Followed by my foot, then my leg. After a few seconds my whole body was on the inside of his shield. “Wha-what are you!?” He shivered as I reached up a talon to his neck. “AAACK!” He choked as I lifted him off the ground. I won’t lose this family.... I bit onto his horn and clenched my beak as hard as I could. “AAAAA-“ His shrieking stopped as his life was ended by my claw. I dropped him on the ground and turned to face my stunned guards.
‘Finish them off! Let any who run get away, we don’t need to kill them all.’ I marched past them toward the wall. Any soldiers who approached me met a swift end. Just as I was about to kill a soldier in my claw, I stopped. I turned to look into the woods as I threw the pony down. He ran away crying as I peered deep into the trees. THERE!! A bolt of emerald green magic flew from the woods and hit an enemy soldier. Another two followed it and finished the soldier off. As I focused on the origin of the light I could see three black figures. Suddenly a pair of bright blue eyes met mine. Then, they were gone.
I blinked and stared at the spot for a long minute. Then I shook my head and turned back to the battle. Later. I told myself. There weren’t many ponies left attacking the castle. They hadn’t even breached the wall. I saw a few running, and as per my orders they were not chased. The last of the attackers fell swiftly as the guards inside the castle ran out to finish off the few that remained.
The cleanup was long and hard. The bodies cleared from the woods and buried. Friend and foe were buried, none left uncovered. As the last of the bodies was covered up I looked into the small bag I had brought with me. Inside was a single brown horn. To remember what happened today. I tied the bag closed and flew off to get cleaned up.