Ferko's Massive fire overwhelmed the 40-50 soldiers guarding the city's border, who tried to defend themselves, but Ocellus and Sweetie Belle disabled this with a well-directed sword and shield maneuver. Meanwhile, Starlight shot a signal flare into the sky to divert the soldiers' attention from the others. The soldiers in the city center rushed towards the light, and thus, unicorn snipers arrived to confront the small group firing from behind houses and fighting on the streets.
When this happened, from the direction of the Apple Orchard, Twilight Phoenix and the freed ponies launched a rear attack. Thanks to the weakened western defense line, they quickly advanced with minimal losses, all the way to the city's red school building and its playground. However, a group of pegasi and dragons blocked their path, halting their advance.
Meanwhile, Scoutalu, Rumble Sunset, and the remaining liberated soldiers reclaimed the Crystal Palace and the School of Friendship. However, the ponies arriving here also put up serious resistance. Time passed, ammunition dwindled, and the guerrillas, advancing from house to house, began to push the soldiers towards the city center. Ferko and Starlight were exhausted by the time they reached the city's only clothing store, their heads literally burning. The boutique, led by Sweetie Belle's sister, was almost a perfect hiding place for the small team, as it had as much furniture as Ferko's school. With the door barricaded, it was somewhat difficult to open. Ferko and Starlight grabbed a bite to eat and tried to keep intruders at bay with vials full of potions. The other teams were slowly but surely approaching the city center. Scoutalu even drove out the soldiers from the station building with Rumble, which was the only point in the city that was not planned to be under siege. Twilight and her team fought for the Cake couple's bakery and pushed Sombra's forces back to the main square.
The day was drawing to a close, and everyone was very tired. The teams set up makeshift camps. Rumble and Scoutalu, catching up with Storm Scoaldot, realized that only the main square was still under Sombra's control, and the siege had closed in. Ferko tried to alleviate Starlight's and his own headache with a strong ice pack, while Sweetie Belle and Ocellus defended with their pistols, preventing anyone from breaking in. Twilight and most of the ponies retreated to the market square and the school, where they began to defend themselves, allowing those without weapons to rest. Phoenix reached for the radio and started broadcasting messages to the other two teams. Ferko quickly picked up the transmission, which was short: "We've advanced to the school and the market. How about you?" Ferko didn't hesitate to respond immediately: "We've reached Rarity's boutique, so we'll be done soon." As he tried to Morse properly, another transmission was heard.
"The railway and the palace are clear." The message came from Scoutalu. This was not a question, but Ferko was afraid that Shining Armor and his legion might encircle them. However, he thought the potion would solve the remaining defenders' problems and get more soldiers on their side. The next morning, Ferko, tossing the potion bottles to the others, ordered the whole team to march first to the main square. They didn't have to wait long for the others, and eventually, a few grenades freed the defenders. The city officially fell, at least from Sombra's perspective, but Ferko knew this was just the beginning, and the real battle was just starting.
At the base, Apple Bloom, Diamond Tiara, Sunburst, and Silver Stream welcomed the good news with joy. Except for Apple Bloom, they all set off to prepare for defense in case Shining Armor tried to reclaim the city. Thanks to the potion, Ferko and the others managed to liberate over 500 ponies and 109 other creatures. Among them were Spike and Gallus, who had no idea how heroic they would become. Ferko immediately began training with the two pegacorns as soon as he could. The training of the other ponies, pegasi, griffons, and dragons also progressed well; however, the yaks did not require training, so they provided defense along with the trainers.
Days passed, and the teams improved, but Ferko wondered why Sombra waged this war. The question was accidentally answered at this moment: because the question was wrong from the start. Gunshots were heard, and a herd of yaks broke through the improvised defense line around the city. The houses barely stood, but the yaks ignored the rubble falling on them. "Alarm!!" Ferko shouted at the top of his lungs, directing his horn at the yaks. However, when he fired, a strange bell appeared, seemingly ringing by itself. A yellowish vortex emerged from the green bell, swallowing the magical projectile and heading straight for Ferko. Sweetie Belle and Phoenix arrived just as the vortex reached Ferko; they were about to shoot, but then a booming voice sounded. "Stop! If you shoot, it will suck the rifle!" Ferko shouted in a dreadful booming voice. Ferko knew he would die there if he didn't do something, so with all his might, he placed a "lock" between his heart and his horn and cut off the flow of magic. The bell closed shortly after, and Ferko knew his horn had become completely useless, as it started to hurt badly, along with his head. He grabbed a pistol, but immediately realized it made no sense here, and he needed to find a safer place. With Sweetie Belle and Phoenix, Spike and Smolder arrived, and the four of them covered Ferko until he reached the nearby house. Ferko, what is this bell? Sweetie Belle asked between two shots. "That's Grogar's Bell; it can absorb all the magic of any living being and then transfer it to someone else," Ferko replied, shooting the yaks retreating in the meantime. One of the yaks had the bell on its back. However, the yaks just kept running away from the others. Ferko noticed this and shot a well-aimed shot, knocking the bell off the yak's back, and watched as about 200 yaks trampled over it. Once the yaks were chased out of the city, Ferko reached for the bell and absorbed its magic into himself. A wonderful feeling filled him as the magic he had absorbed returned to his heart and horn, as if he were replenishing himself in another way. The magical bell then dropped two small jewels onto Ferko's head: a ring and a peacock-shaped brooch. Without hesitation, Ferko sent the two talismans to the space between places. However, he took the bell with him and placed it on his horn.
The next day, Ferko and Sweetie Belle, using the melting magic they learned from Sunset, made a small airship filled with helium, allowing them to stay airborne continuously. However, trouble came crashing down. In the middle of their work, they suddenly heard gunfire, followed by the ground shaking. The yaks rushed forward around the house, but that was the least of their worries. As Ferko tried to launch a side attack, huge pieces of metal suddenly crashed in through the roof. They fell to the floor, and more and more kept
"Ferko, Sweetie Belle, are you both okay?" Ferko quickly glanced around, and Starlight ran towards them.
"STOP!!!" he shouted, firing a powerful shot towards Starlight before stepping onto a mine.
"What are you doing?!" demanded Sweetie Belle, but Ferko just shook his head.
"Sweetie Belle, you're standing on a pressure mine. If you try to step off it, everything here will blow up. I didn't step on any; I can get out of here. The mine will explode now no matter what, but if I manage to get out and you follow me with the necklace, then maybe, just maybe, we can get out of here in one piece," explained Ferko.
"So, am I stuck here now?" Tears welled up in Sweetie Belle's eyes, and she wanted to cry, but Ferko gave her a gentle tap on the shoulder with a piece of wood.
"Pull yourself together. If you move your hooves, you're toast." Ferko said this so nervously that Sweetie Belle's soldier spirit finally emerged, and she managed to remain calm.
"What's going on over there?" Starlight called out.
"Don't come over here! If you step on one of those iron pieces, we'll be toast with fried heads," Ferko shouted back, and slowly began to step through the mines. Walking from mine to mine wasn't the best, but Ferko hardly had any other choice. Eventually, he managed to get out with great difficulty.
"Sweetie Belle, you can come! Touch the necklace and come out," Ferko shouted. He didn't hesitate to leave the spot as soon as Feri appeared safely next to him. The house and its surroundings within a radius of about 4 meters exploded into pieces, fortunately without anyone getting hurt.
"Where did they get these pressure mines from? That's even a luxury item for us, something a simple peasant lad couldn't put together, but here..." Ferko lifted a non-exploded mine with his horn and took it to examine.
The mine was made of pure steel, and it was rust-free, a type of steel that was difficult to produce even in Equestria since smelting was not a very common practice there. At the bottom of the mine was an eagle with an interesting cross, made up of "t" letters with the left part missing. It was very familiar to Ferko, but he couldn't remember where from. However, he didn't have time to think about it because the ground started shaking again. To be continued...