//------------------------------// // The battle of Las Pegasus part 1 // Story: Of a German and American soldier in Equestria // by redspark //------------------------------// Chapter 17 Battle of Las Pegasus part 1 The sound of thunder shook the ground as a dark storm approached the equestrian army's position. The rogue dark clouds casted a heavy, dark shadow across the horizon and the plains around Las Pegasus, was slowly covered in a thick blanket of darkness. A strong wind pushed the storm and made the equestrian banners and flags flutterer rapidly, the equestrian symbols standing proudly on top of the fortified hill. Inside the only tent, Davis stood in front of a small table, reviewing a map. His eyes scanned the map rapidly and his hands laid down on the edge of the table. In the map, little figures representing his troops laid where he had them stationed, and on one side of it, small dark cubes represented the invading force. Each cube on both sides represented a hundred soldiers, and davis felt slightly overwhelmed just by looking at the enemy. They were outnumbered one to five. He began to review his plan. First, the archers would shoot arrows down at the enemy from halfway up the hill. Then, when the changelings got close, they would fall back with his spear ponies going on a charge. Sword ponies would be close behind, so that when the spears hit the enemy, they would have better chance of not be impaled by the enemy's horns, since the spears would do a lot of harm on the enemy's charge. His unicorn units were going to charge along with the sword ponies, ready to fire magic blasts. Mixed unicorn and earth pony units were the main sword units, and pegasi were going to help only on the air. Hopefully the changelings were not going to fly due to the climate. He had, before going to the command tent, asked Golden Flame why that storm wasn't controlled by pegasi weather teams. He had explained him that pegasi were not at the moment controlling the area south of Las Pegasus because changelings had been raiding them while managing the sky. Since there were no pegasi to control the sky, it had been starting to turn wild. The storm was not a good sign. Luckily, Golden Flame assured him that pegasi were going to be able to fly. Some of them were specially trained to fly in wild weather, and most pegasi knew how to fly under hard circumstances. There was even a unit composed of ponies from ponyville, and apparently wild weather there was something common since they were right outside the everfree forest. All the pegasi were going to throw large rocks and shoot arrows up from the sky, and a special unit of pegasi trained with swords were going, if there were no changelings on the air, to land behind enemy lines and cause some disruptions on the back lines. They would move fast, making lightning attacks to cause confusion. What he thought of as an advantage was the Pegasus ponies. The changelings were supposedly not good at flying with hard weather. Him having troops in the air would prove vital for their fast victory. Also his archers, which were going to shoot arrows all the time at the back lines of the enemy. He stood up completely and stopped leaning on the table once he finished. He picked up the pieces of the map and threw them away. He took the map and took a candle. He burned the map and watched as the flames slowly engulfed it. The enemy could not get that map. In it were all his annotations of his plans, and now he knew them completely. Keeping that map was an unnecessary risk. The map finally stopped burning, completely turned to ashes. He went to table again and picked up his officer hat. He put it on and went to the entrance of the tent. He picked up his rifle and strapped it to his back. As he got out of the tent, he was greeted with some raindrops. He sighed. It wasn't going to be pleasant in any way to have a battle under the rain. If having to fight was horrible, under rain... He hated it completely. He looked around and saw his troops with grim faces. He began to walk around. The ponies had their ears low and whispered between each other. That wasn't a good sign. He felt an aura of low spirits around the troops. He knew they knew how much enemies they were fighting, and he knew they didn't wanted to fight. Ponies were a peaceful race, and having to fight... He wasn't sure if they were ready, but they needed to. There was no other choice. If they didn't stop the changelings there, Las Pegasus was going to fall. That couldn't happen. That would make all of Equestria lose hope, and that wasn't a good idea. The only thought of seeing these ponies enslaved was... terrible. He couldn't let that happen. He spotted Golden Flame nearby and walked towards the Pegasus captain. Golden Flame saw him. "Davis." Davis stopped beside him and looked around. "I don't like how the troops look, Flame. It's not a good sign." He sighed. Golden Flame looked around as well. "I see..." He looked at Davis. "Ponies don't want to fight. We are not naturally fighters. Our nature..." He stopped, as if to think what to say. "The thing is, they need to he pushed. You need to give them a reason to fight, or else they won't." Davis nodded and looked at Golden's pegasi unit. "Your ponies seem to be different than the rest," he said. Indeed they were. Their ears were on the normal, happy position. They seemed even cheery and talked normally and casually. Some were discussing something about the best way to buck clouds. Golden flame smiled. "Yes, the lads are handling it good. They will fight to their best, I'm sure." "Mmm..." Davis said. He walked a few steps forward. "Alright, everypony!" he called. The ponies around looked, and it was clear he had gotten the attention of all the troops. Ponies began to approach and stared at him. Davis waited until he saw that all the troops were paying attention. He cleared his throat. "I know most of you don't want to fight, and I understand. I know what you feel, because I have felt that myself. I know what it is to be about to enter your first battle. You feel like if you are gonna be sick, and the very thought of killing gnawed my insides. I don't expect you to want to fight, but I expect you to fight. You entered the army for a reason; you entered the army because you knew you were needed." He pointed at where Las Pegasus was. "Hundreds of thousands of ponies live over there. That means there is hundreds of thousands of ponies that depend on each and every one of you!" "And now try to see beyond that city. Imagine all that lays behind us. Millions depend on us." "I'm not asking you to fight, I'm not going to force you. But I expect you to know that you need to fight, no matter what you want. Would you rather let those beasts invade your homes? Would you rather see the flag of Equestria burn? Would you rather see as your families become slaves of the enemy?!" He shouted the last part. "They want to kill and enslave us... And I don't think you want that." "I repeat: I don't expect you to want to fight, but expect you to do what's right." "Are you going to let them!" he shouted. By now, the ponies were listening, their ears standing up. "NO!" came the shout of response. All the ponies now seemed determined. "So the let's show those bastards what we are ready to do for our land!" Ponies cheered and stomped the floor. It was even shaking for that. Davis smiled and walked over to Golden Flame. His officers were there, ready to give his orders to the army. "Make ready for the battle. It won't be long before they attack." The officers saluted and began to move. Golden Flame patted Davis' back and walked off. Davis looked to the south and managed to see a shadow of dark moving towards them. It was still slightly far off, but he was sure it was an army. "They are coming! The changelings are almost here!" shouted a scout that had just arrived. He flew around the troops. "The changelings have arrived!" Davis looked around and saw ponies preparing. The ones with armor began to put it on. Weapons were sharpened, bows were stringed... They were getting ready. "Captain Golden Fire!" Davis called. Golden Fire landed beside him. "Yeah?" "Tell the officers to have their units in line. We are going to meet them soon." Golden Fire nodded and flew off. Davis took out some binoculars and looked in the distance. Thousands of changelings... His heart sank for a second before he tightened his grip on the binoculars and stopped looking. They could win. They needed to... "Sir! Troops are ready!" shouted a commander. Davis still didn't remember his name, but he seemed pretty able to command troops. He was a royal guard, so he was the typical white clone. He had never seen him without armor, so he didn't know how he looked like. Royal guard armor had a spell to make them all seem the same, which sometimes proved to be confusing. "Good, commander. Await my order for archers to begin shooting." The commander nodded. "Archers! Get ready!" The sound of bows and wood filled the army lines. Davis lifted his hand, signaling the archers to wait. He saw as the changelings began to go up the hill. "Fire!" he ordered while throwing forward his arm. Hundreds of arrows took to the sky, whistling as they flew towards the enemy. Seconds later, shouts of changelings below was greeted by a smile from Davis. "Keep shooting! Don't let them come near us!" The archers kept on shooting. Arrows filled the sky as the changelings suddenly stopped their advance and began to fall back. It had been less than five minutes. Davis smiled, but he knew it wasn't over. Probably the ponies didn't knew, because as soon as they saw the changelings falling back they began to cheer. "That's it! Go back to whatever hole you came from!" shouted Golden Flame. "Don't think we are done yet, captain." Davis spoke seriously, but he was clearly smiling. "Sorry Davis. It's just good to see those cowards turn tale." Davis chuckled. "They'll be back, and much more prepared. We barely inflicted casualties," Davis said. "Send a pegasi scout team to spy on the enemy. I want to see what they'll be up to." Golden Flame nodded and walked away. Davis looked to the retreating enemy. It had been far too easy. The enemy was more clever than he had thought, though. He had clearly seen his disadvantage on attacking a hill and having no archers himself. He knew that it would be a slaughter of his own troops if he proceeded. His enemy was intelligent, and that scared him slightly. It meant his victory wasn't going to be so easy... ***   ***   *** "Why did you fall back?!" exclaimed a changeling. His shout echoed through the caves the changeling army had built to use as a shelter for the weather. It was a big and long cave, filled with changelings all over. A dim light illuminated the cave from the center, which was were the argument had been happening. "We should have pushed forward and..." There was a rapid blur and the changeling's head fell back. All the changeling officers gasped in surprise and some even in disgust as the head rolled down, it's body falling seconds after. All eyes turned to whoever was responsible. It was a larger changeling, almost the size of a horse. His horn was shining as he lifted his sword, which was now soaked in dark green blood. He was a dark yellow, his magic aura being the same color. His eyes moved around all the changelings present. He cleared his throat. "Is there any other that disagrees with my actions?" None of the changelings moved. He nodded. "Good. Now..." he sheathed his sword and looked at a map. "If the attack was continued, we should have reached the top of the hill and the equestrian troops with half our troops dead. Even though by brute force we could have won, by the end we would be left with barely a thousand or less troops to take the city." He looked at the changelings around. "I, in difference of you lot of scum, use my brain. That's why I am general and not him," he said, pointing at the headless corpse. He looked back at the map. It had marks of were his troops would attack and were the equestrian troops were going to be. He had thought that the equestrians would not be prepared nor organized and that a straightforward attack was going to be enough. Clearly he had been wrong and whoever was commanding their troops was capable of doing it. On this small first assault he had lost almost two hundred changeling drones. They were easy to replace, but reinforcements weren't expected after they could take the griffon capital, and he estimated that it would be a long time. He began to pass his hoof over the map. He smiled evilly as he began to trace a plan. He was going to crush the equestrians rapidly and efficiently. They would be beaten with no real casualties inflicted on his own troops, and then he would march on the city of Las Pegasus. Though that city holded no real strategic value, the blow on the equestrians morale was going to be immeasurable. Soon, he would he marching towards their capital, and nothing would stop him. He rolled the map and turned to his officers. "Prepare the troops we move in an hour." "But... Sir..." said one of the changelings. He was trembling, the general looked annoyedly. "Shouldn't we wait for a better climate? We cannot fly on this storm..." The general didn't said anything for a couple of seconds. "We won't need to," he finally said. "And I don't think their pegasi are going to dare to fly in this weather." "No, we move now," he said. "And I'll enjoy greatly once I have whoever leads them on a spike and his head on my sword..." He walked away as the changelings began to organize in lines. Soon he would be on the gates of Canterlot with the princesses at his hooves... ***   ***   *** "Davis, they are moving. They'll be here in ten minutes." Golden Flame tried to sound professional, but Davis felt a hint of worry on his voice. "Alright. Prepare the archers, just as last time." He opened his map and looked. If the enemy had any brains, he clearly knew that a forward attack was not a good idea. It would probably be just a decoy, or not the main attack. Probably they would stay just out if range from his archers. What worried him, were his flanks. Those sides were not as strong as the center. He scratched his chin for a second and then turned to Golden Flame. "Flame, tell the pike ponies to move to the flanks along with all the longsword units. Divide them with the same numbers on each flank. Send ten archers to each of the two flanks as well. Leave only the spears on the center." Golden Flame nodded. "The pegasi should be ready to fly out and make fast attack on their own flanks and their back. That will cause confusion in the changeling ranks." The Pegasus captain nodded and flew off. Davis looked back to the south. He could see the black mass of changelings approaching, even with all the rain. A couple of minutes earlier, the climate had gotten worse and rain had begun to fall aggressively. Golden Flame had voted against sending the pegasi out to fight on the climate, but Davis was confident that they would manage. Changelings seemed to have problems when flying on heavy rain and strong winds. "They're coming!" shouted a pony not far off. Ponies immediately formed lines. As Davis had ordered, pikes and swords moved to the flanks. He saw ten archers deploy to each one as well. Spears and archers stayed in the front and the ponies with short swords rained in the back, ready to help whichever side happened to need help in the fight. Davis had considered falling back to the next fortified position, but this one was more easy to defend and the farther they had the enemy from the city, the better. He began to move around, making sure everypony was doing good and ready to fight. He was surprised at how much his speech had seemed to affect the troops. They seemed eager to fight them, especially after watching them fall back the first time. What worried Davis was that they would not he so eager to fight the moment that was required of them. "Sir! They're almost within shooting range!" shouted the archer captain. Davis ran to his side and looked down. "They stopped," Davis said. The captain looked. "But... Why?" Davis didn't answered right away. "Sir?" Davis suddenly knew what they wanted. "They want to take out our archers first..." he said. "They're going to attack our flanks!" he said. He smiled slightly. At least he had thought of that. "Good luck we are prepared for them." The captain nodded and walked away. "Keep you ponies ready. The moment the enemy gets within range, shoot." The archery captain nodded. Davis ran to the left flank. When he got there, he was greeted by Golden Flame. "Captain, anything out of the ordinary?" he asked. Golden chuckled nervously. "If by out of the ordinary you mean that there's a huge storm, enemies out there, yes, there's nothing weird going on." Davis smiled. "Alright. Keep both eyes open Flame, I'm almost completely certain that they'll attack our flanks." Golden Flame nodded. "Don't worry, I have them wide open Davis. I also have my colts in the air, making sure the bad guys are well watched.” Davis smiled. “Good. I´ll go see the other flank. Good luck.” He turned and began to go. “Good luck to you too, sir…” Davis walked on a hurried step. As he walked, he watched around. He saw that the enemy was still out of range from his archers. He knew the changelings had something in mind. He just needed to figure out what it was. He supposed an attack on his troops flank´s was the most obvious answer, but something else could happen as well. He looked at the sky. Probably an air attack… He really hoped it wasn't that way, because if it was they would not be prepared. Still, it was highly unlikely due to the harsh climate. He himself was risking his pegasi, but he hoped it was for the best. Thankfully, the pegasi were good in difficult weather. He arrived at the other flank. He saw the captain in command. It was a blue old unicorn ex-royal guard named Hightip. He was wearing the usual officer-rank uniform. Davis approached him. “Anything?” he asked. The captain looked at him. “I´m happy to say that not yet, but I know something is going on out there.” He lifted his hoof and gestured forward down the hill. “I can see movement, but I'm not sure how many or how they'll attack.” Davis nodded. “I just came from the other flank. Captain Golden Flame said he had not seen a single thing.” He scratched his chin. “Maybe… maybe they´ll make their attack through here.” Hightip looked at him. “I hope not, sir,” he chuckled nervously. “I may have been in the royal guard, but I´m just as nervous and scared as every other pony here.” Davis looked at the old unicorn. He patted his head, immediately making the unicorn look at him confused. “Everyone is, Hightip.” Davis looked around. “I don't think it will be long before they attack. Do you have any messenger I can use?” Hightip nodded and gestured a young pegasus to approach. “General!” the pegasus saluted. Davis saluted back and took out a piece of paper. He wrote something and passed it to the young messenger. “Take this to captain Golden Flame,” he said. “And be careful, Changelings can be sneaky in this weather.” The pegasus saluted and flew off. Davis slowly moved his hand over to his sword, then to the pistol´s holster. He unclipped it and took his rifle off from his back. He took it with both hands and loaded. “Captain Hightip, tell your troops to be ready. They'll attack any second now.” The captain nodded and began to give orders. Davis walked to the small team of archers. “Prepared to shoot.” He had said this when he saw a green beam go directly towards him. He barely moved out of the way as the beam passed by a couple of inches from his head. He pointed and saw the dark shapes of crawling changelings. They were almost on them. “Take your weapons, they're here!” Davis shouted. Almost instantly, changelings shouted and rose up. Davis shot once, killing the one that had shot him the energy beam. He loaded and looked at the archers. “Fire the with arrows!” The archers began to shoot bolt after bolt. Changelings kept advancing. Davis managed to shoot five more times before he strapped back his rifle to his back and took his pistol. “Swords!” he shouted. ponies unsheathed and prepared. “Pikes!” The piked flashed forward, prepared to stop the changelings. Davis shot three changelings rushing at him and then went to stand in front of the archers. “Stand behind me! Keep shooting!” The archers nodded and moved into a tight square behind Davis. The American was so close to the enemy now that he knew soon even his pistol would be too much and he'd need to use his sword. Finally, he saw a changelings rushing at him. He needed to load, but he didn´t had time. He unsheathed his sword and thrust it forward. The changeling fell. Davis looked up and saw five changelings running at him. He killed one the moment he was within reach and stabbed other seconds after. The other three formed a circle around him and tried to stab him with their horns. One of the rushed at him and Davis had barely enough time to parry his horn. The other two used that chance to attack as well. Davis jumped up and the two crashed against each other. He landed on top of their heads, a loud snap announcing their broken necks. Davis slashed at the last changeling. He looked back forward. Changelings kept advancing, but it was obviously not the main force. Probably a hundred at most. Still, he had less than three hundred. He was still outnumbered. “Sir!” Hightip shouted. Davis looked and saw the unicorn running at him. Hightip stopped in front of him. “They are going to overrun us!” “Don't let that happen!” Davis shouted. “Order your pikes forward and swords behind. When pikes strike, swords strike right after and then repeat the process. Use the hill´s momentum of downhill as an advantage.” Hightip nodded and ran away again. Davis looked back and saw the ten archers still firing. He could see that the changelings were not charging at them, but were more concerned on two large clusters of equestrian troops. One of them was commanded by Hightip, but the other seemed disarrayed. He turned to the archers. “Keep shooting, but the moment they get too close to use bows, use your swords.” “But sir! We are not good with swords!” one exclaimed. “You all are, and if you´re not, make yourself good at it!” he said. He then ran to the group without command. He saw a pony about to be stabbed and quickly shot him with his gun, which he had reloaded while speaking to Hightip. The changeling fell back and the pony looked at Davis. The pony said something, but Davis was too far away and already on the move. He placed his pistol on the holster and took his rifle while running. He loaded and shot. Changelings looked at him immediately. His rifle made thunderous sounds, clearly getting the attention of the enemy, though it could be confused by a lightning. A couple of the changelings rushed at him, rapidly taken down by Davis´ fire. He begins to run around. “Pikes forward! Pikes!” he shouted. The pikes responded almost immediately. Their disorder quickly disappeared as Davis took control of the troops. “Swords, behind!” He shot a couple of times more at the changelings. “Pikes! Advance!” he shouted and shot once more. “Swords, right behind them.” He began to move inside the troops, his rifle making a lot of noise with each shot. The changelings seemed to get confused once they saw the pikes in line, clearly aimed for them. “Pikes! Rush forward!” The ponies began to run downhill, shouting along as the did. The hill began to tremble with their steps. Davis ran with them, his rifle forward and still shooting. “Swords, forward! Pike ponies, don't stop for anything in the world until you reach the bottom of the hill!” Sword ponies began to stab and kill any changelings that survived the pikes. Soon, the changelings were running back. Davis saw that Hightip was doing the same as he. The changelings attack force was in full retreat towards their main force. Davis saw the first ponies reach the bottom of the hill. They stopped but kept shouting savagely at the changelings. They clearly looked tired, but pleased with themselves. Davis reached the bottom himself. Soon, all the ponies were down. Hightip approached Davis. “We did it sir! They fell back!” he exclaimed, happy. Davis nodded. He was covered in rain, as were all the ponies. Their coats were wet like if they had jumped in a river. “Yes, we did it..” he said, catching his breath. “Order them back up. I need to see how Golden Fire did.” Hightip nodded. “Alright ponies, back up! Dont waste time!” Davis walked back up as well. He saw changelings laying all around. Some were still alive, but the wounds were too much to even try to help them. He saw the field medics looking around. “Sir, do we help the changelings as well?” aske the head medic. Davis nodded. “Alright.” the pony walked away. Davis saw as a couple of ponies carried a pony. He had to look away. The poor guy was not going to survive more than a hour. He finally reached the top and saw for the first time the full extent of what had happened. Changelings covered the floor. At least one thousand lay dead there. Who knew how large was their attack force, since it was clear that they had killed at least half of the attackers. What pained him more were the ponies that could be seen as well. They were not as many, but he could see at least twenty, and probably there were more. He went to help with the wounded, hoping that there were not many… ***   ***   *** “Ready your spears!” Golden Flame asked. Ponies around lifted their pikes and spears, waiting for the rushing column of changelings to attack. Golden Flame had one spear himself. The moment the column of changelings hit, he was sent back by the raw force of the attack. He managed to stay standing as three changelings impaled themselves on his spear. He watched as the first one tried to impale himself more to reach him. He threw the spear in disgust, trying not to throw up. He unsheathed his sword and turned to see another column of changelings running towards him and his ponies. “Swords!” The ponies took their swords and prepared to meet the enemy. Golden Flame slashed as the first changelings got near. He didn't watch to see where he had hit, but rather moved quickly to the next. He kept slashing and stabbing as more changelings arrived. This column was bigger than the rest he had managed to call off. He felt a sharp pain as one managed to scratch his leg. He growled angrily and used a dagger he had on his belt to kill the changeling. He used his wings then to jump higher and land on top of two changelings. He stabbed both, one with the knife and the other with his sword. He didn't retrieved his knife this time, but quickly turned at two approaching changelings. He parried a horn and stabbed its owner. The other thought he had time to attack Golden Flame and tried. The pegasus easily moved out of the way of the changeling´s horn and chopped off his head. He looked away, not wanting to witness it in any way. He instead moved around, keeping the troops organized. He had been appointed second in command, and by Celestia he was going to do it right. “They're pushing us back, sir!” shouted a captain. Golden Flame didn´t wanted to admit it, but they were moving back slowly. If that kept up, they´d be back on the top of the hill soon. He had to think fast. He nodded and looked at his ten archers. “Fire all your bolts as fast and as accurately as possible. Be sure not to miss!” He quickly turned back to the battle. “Spears! Prepare another charge!” He saw as the sword ponies gave cover for the spear and spike ponies to prepare. “Charge!” he shouted. He took a spear and charged as well. He watched in pleasure as the changelings seemed to turn back and try to run from the charge. They began to push the changelings back to the base of the hill. Soon, they were back to halfway down. He stopped his charge and ordered his archers to move forward. A couple of changelings fell down from the arrows before they realized the charge was over. They turned and resumed their attack. “Shields, forward! Make an armor formation!” Immediately, ponies formed a barrier of shields seconds before the changelings hit like a massive wave. He saw strain on the ponies´ faces. “Swords, stab! Shields, make space!” The shield formation made some holes to allow sword ponies to stab the stuck changelings. “Spears, stab! Pikes, stab!” The rest of the ponies joined. He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked. It was one of the archers. “We ran out of bolts, sir.” Golden Flame looked at his empty quiver. “Unsheath your swords and be ready to help in any moment. Wait for my signal though.” The pony nodded and went to tell it to his companions. As much as Golden Flame wanted to use them immediately, he knew that these ponies weren't really good with swords. “Sir, the enemy is falling back! They stopped hitting the shields and are turning tail!” Golden Flame didn't believe him. He flew upwards and saw the indeed, the mass of changelings were retreating, now heavily reduced. He watched in pleasure as some of his spear ponies threw their spears like javelins, managing to hit a couple of changelings more. “Alright, stop! We need to regroup,” he exclaimed. “Go back to the top!” The ponies began to moved back up. “Help the wounded!” He was going to fly back up when he noticed a hoof below a mount of changeling bodies. It was still moving. He flew towards it and quickly began to move changeling bodies away. He finally undug the pony below. He almost threw up. The pony was looking to him, now clinging to his stomach. His insides could be clearly seen, and he seemed to be trying to keep them inside. “Sir, help me!” he shouted. Golden Flame didn´t knew what to do. He stood motionless. “Sir!” “Doc! I need a medic!” Golden Shouted, finally managing to shout. He kneeled down beside the pony. “Hang on, you…” he gulped. “You´ll be alright, the doc is gonna patch you up real good…” The pony was shivering. “Sir…” he said weakly. He was clearly in pain. “Sir.. I will… I´ll die, won´t I?” That striked Golden Flame hard. “No, you're not, soldier. I don´t give you permission!” Golden shouted. The pony was now looking up. “I… At least I… for… good cause…” He stopped moving. Golden Flame saw he was no longer shivering and his eyes opened slowly like wide plates. “No, don't die! I´ve never lost a pony under my command before! Don't die!” he exclaimed, hugging him, not really caring for the blood. “Don't die, soldier!” He felt a hoof and looked up. It was Davis. The American looked sadly at the dead pony. He kneeled and looked at Golden Flame while closing the pony´s eyes. “I´m sorry, Golden Flame.” “I... “ Golden Flame didn´t know what to say. Davis stopped him by placing his hand to stop him from talking on his lips. “ I know its hard to lose someone under your command, or to see death. I´ve seen it many times and I feel like hell everytime. I know you will never get over the men you lose, but you must know that its inevitable. There will alway be casualties…” Golden Flame opened wide his eyes and jumped into the air. He hovered a few inches from Davis´ head, looking at him angrily and accusingly. “Always be casualties?” He shouted. “ALWAYS BE CASUALTIES?!” He had tears on his face. “This shouldn't be happening, Davis! I don't know from what Celestia-forsaken place you are from, but this isn't normal! Death isn't always there! You don't die except for old age, now him…” He pointed. “He had a life, and now it´s all lost, and you are just calling another casualty?” He landed heavily. He looked down and tried to cover his face. Davis looked neutral all the time, but his face softened. He moved his hand until he was slowly stroking his mane. “I know, believe me, I do know this shouldn't be. I understand why you are upset, but…” He thought the next words. “I am here to help you, and to try to make this even less hard for you all. I´ve live this before, and I hate it. War is terrible, I know…” He looked up. “I sometimes just wish I was back at my house on Texas. A nice cup of coffee and sitting in my house´s front porch. Nothing I wish more.” He felt homesick all of a sudden. “I miss home, and I´ve not been there in at least four years. Now I can never go back…” Golden Flame was now looking at him. He still had tears, but it wasn't like before. “I wanna help you, all of you…” Davis was looking at the clouds. It had stopped raining a couple of minutes ago. “And I want to help you try to stop this things from happening, but it´s inevitable. As bad as it sounds, it is…” He covered his face and rubbed it a couple of times before looking back at Golden Flame. “I want to help you, but you gotta let me.” Golden Flame was looking at him. He looked down sadly. “I only wish there was another way…” Golden Flame said slowly. Davis nodded. “Me too, my friend, me too…” And so the two laid beside each other in the middle of the battlefield. They didn't speak for several minutes until an officer went to get them. The two stood up and said nothing until they were back on the hill… ***   ***   *** “You´re saying you failed!?” shouted the general. “You failed!” He didn't wait for a response. He took his sword with his magic and cut the heads of three changelings. He then shouted and thrusted the sword forward. It got stuck between two changelings, who looked nervously at one another before looking back at the general. “We are not going to lose today, WE ARE NOT!” he shouted. “And if I must go myself leading, then so be it, I will! I'm not going to be mocked by some equestrian pony…” He was stopped by a changeling coughing, trying to get his attention. The general looked at him. “WHAT NOW!?” The changeling almost jumped back, but he remained seated. “Sir… It´s not a pony what´s leading them…” The general looked in confusion. “Not a pony… What do you mean?” The changelings stood up. “It´s some sort of bipedal creature, sir. It commanded their troops and was expecting out flank attack. Both flanks were heavily defended. Trying to take the hill was more of a suicide, even by their flanks. He seems to have trained his troops well. They are not the disorganized bunch the queens told us.” The general pondered for some moments what he had just heard. He looked up and then back at the changeling. “What is your name?” “Number 51´056,369, sir.” The general blinked. “I still don't got a named sir. You’ve just been promoted.” “Well, fifty one billion...” He growled. “Agh! You know, you are now Striker!” he said. “Striker, you are now my commander and second in command. Congratulations. You'll lead the next charge alongside myself, and I expect you to do good!” The changeling, Striker, looked surprised. He kneeled. “Of course, my general!” “Good! Now…” He turned and addressed all his officials. “No pony, or whichever bipedal creature mocks me, General Dark Hunger!” He shouted. “We'll show them, and they'll suffer for all our fallen drones!” The officers hissed and stomped, and the general smiled evilly. “The equestrians will know who I am…”