CHAPTER 22
Princess Luna walked side-by-side with her sister down a section of the palace that had not been accessed for centuries. The neglect was showing in the form of cobwebs surrounding the large columns, and dust-laden floors that kicked up the particles whenever one of the princesses took a step. Of course, there was a good reason that nopony had been down here in hundreds of years. Equestria going to war was incredibly rare, and it was even rarer that it was on such grand a scale that the princesses had to become involved. As such, this section was hardly visited. After all, it seemed a waste of resources to maintain just a single hallway and room.
At the end of the corridor was a small wooden door. Because of all of the neglect, the wood had begun to rot and decay, creating several small holes that, had there been any light, would have given a preview into the chamber beyond. The two princesses reached the door, and it swung open in the golden aura of Celestia’s magic. They both stepped inside the cold, musty room, and looked around. With a spark of her horn, Celestia reignited the flames on the wall mounted cantles, bathing the room in a soft orange glow. The room was sparsely decorated. Along the walls were empty weapons racks, all covered in a thick layer of dust. Next to them were unused tables, one of which had collapsed down onto the floor. Everything in the room was host to cobwebs, with the spiders who made them sitting right in the center. Everything, that is, except for two covered shapes at the end of the room.
Upon initial investigation, a pony who had no idea what truly lay beneath the sheets may have guessed that they were simple ponyquins. But to the princesses, they knew that what slept beneath the covers were ancient relics of a time past. A time of turmoil and war, before the two sisters had firmly established their rule over Equestria. Princesses Celestia and Luna each gripped one of the sheets with their magic, and dramatically swept them off of what they were hiding. When the two large cloths finally settled upon the dust-ridden stone floors, the contents of them were truly revealed. On two silver ponyquins rested sets of extraordinary armor. One was a pure golden color, with magenta gems adorning the chest plate, and a seal of the sun over the thigh plates. The other was deep black, with sapphires embedded along the edges, and a seal of the moon complimenting the thigh plates.
Each princess stepped forward, ready to welcome their old sets of armor. They stepped out of their shining horseshoes, and set their chest plates on the unused tables. They then each carefully removed their crowns, and set them upon the tables too. They then began the process of equipping the ancient sets of armor. As Luna placed the familiar pieces of armor upon her body, she found herself wishing for one of the devices Adam used aboard Lightning. That had him fully unequipped in under a minute, and all he had to do was stand still. Even in the days of old, Luna remembered that she and her sister had a pony to do this for them. However, her sister had insisted that they do it themselves. Their subjects had enough to do to prepare for the coming battle, this was a task that they were capable of doing on their own.
Finally each princess finished the task of equipping their armor, and instantly their appearances changed from the caring, loving rulers that Equis knew, to that of a leader ready to defend their country. Their task complete, the two princesses turned and quickly exited the ancient, dusty chamber, and walked down the hallway, ready to rally the troops.
Adam awoke to the sound of multiple bells tolling across Canterlot, their ringing reverberating across the countryside. The Spartan rose to a sitting position, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with his gloved hands. He then stood up and retrieved his helmet from the bedside table, then sealed it to his neck clamps with a hiss. He slowly walked over to the door, then opened it, and was immediately swept away by a torrent of human and pony soldiers all heading in the same direction. As he was ushered down the hall by the soldiers behind him, he took a moment to examine his surroundings. Most of the guards were only half armored, and the human marines seemed to have just woken up as well. At every corner were two pony guards, directing the flow of soldiers to a single location. As they navigated the twists and turns of the palace, Adam recognized the route they were taking as leading them to the throne room, the largest room in the palace. It would not fit every soldier they had, only a few hundred, but it would have to be enough.
Adam, along with dozens of others, filtered into the large throne room, which right now had no signs of either of the princesses being present. The soldiers all spoke amongst one another, the sounds all merging with one another and making the chances of anyone actually hearing anything slim to none. Over the din, the sound of a door at the back of the throne room opening was heard, and very suddenly the conversation stopped completely. Out of the door was a sight that shocked even Adam, for it was the last thing they were expecting. They were, of course, expecting the princesses, but not like this… Out of the door stepped princesses Celestia and Luna, each clad in intricate sets of shining armor, their once cool expressions replaced by furrowed brows and straightened lips. They each walked with purpose to the front of the throne room, and then stood in front of their large chairs. Then, they spoke.
“My little ponies,” Celestia began. “The time of battle is upon us. Only a short time ago, we were notified that the griffon army was moving out of Ponyville, accompanied by five dragons and several hundred sentinels. At their current rate, they will arrive in just under six hours.”
“We must begin to prepare,” Luna said. “Please report to your designated locations, and remain vigilant. And no matter what happens, my little ponies… may luck be with you.” All of the pony guards, and even some ODSTs, saluted to the princesses, then turned and filed out of the room. Adam was among them, when he heard a voice call his name. He turned around and saw Celestia trotting behind him, her expression grim.
“Adam!” she called out again.
“Yes, princess?” Adam said, stopping.
“Before you get to your position, please, come with me.” Celestia then turned around and began trotting back towards her sister, who was still waiting by the thrones. Adam jogged after the alicorn, and followed them both out of the back door to the throne room, which then lead them to another door opening back out into the hallways. The trio walked with haste down the corridors, and Adam recognized the route as the one that would take them to the war room. He found himself correct when they came to the familiar door, which opened into the large room with the map table in the center. Standing around the table were three individuals: Commander Lasky, Shining Armor, and sentinel unit 84. Adam noticed that the hovering Forerunner machine had been painted with red stripes along its wings to differentiate it from the hostile sentinels who would be joining in the battle. They all perked up at the arrival of the three newcomers, then parted to make room for them around the table.
“Adam,” Lasky said. “Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be, sir,” the Spartan replied, sighing. The commander nodded in understanding, then turned to address the princesses.
“Your highnesses,” he said. “What do we need to discuss?”
“My sister and I have some questions about the support that your ships will be providing,” Luna answered. “But first, I believe that Unit 84 had something to tell us?”
“That is correct,” the sentinel said in its flat, robotic voice. “We have collected more information on the hostile sentinels.”
“What kind of information?” Shining Armor asked, troubled.
“Several allied sentinel units managed to bypass the firewalls around the main server, and gather more information on the upgrades granted to hostile sentinels by 401 Lamenting Chorus,” it answered. “As this unit stated previously, they have been given personal energy shields, as well as upgrades to the beam weapons. Based on scans completed by this unit, the shields used by hostile sentinels are 2.5 times more effective than those currently in use by Spartan D-014.”
“And the beam weapons?” Celestia asked, her brow furrowing.
“Damage of beam weapons has been improved by a factor of four times,” Unit 84 continued. “We recommend caution. They can easily drain the shields used by Spartan D-014, and even penetrate the hull of your starships.”
“Strident-class frigates have shields,” Lasky said. “We just keep them off most of the time, as they’re quite the power hog.”
“This unit recommends that you enable them,” the sentinel said. Lasky nodded.
“Alright,” he said. “Anything else?”
“That is all.” Everyone in the room nodded, then Lasky and Adam both turned to face the princesses.
“You said you had questions about the frigates?” Lasky asked. Celestia nodded, then turned to her sister.
“First, when would they be arriving?” she asked.
“Likely at the last second,” the commander answered. “They can detach from Infinity in only a couple of seconds, and be down here in less than a minute. We don’t want to give the griffons time to plan to be attacked by ships, so we’ll send them down as late as possible to give us the element of surprise.” Luna nodded.
“And what kind of support will they be able to offer?” the night princess asked.
“We can use our archer missiles, albeit sparingly,” Adam explained. “Their explosive yield is high, once they get into the tighter areas of Canterlot, we won’t be able to use them at all if you want any buildings left standing. As for the main cannons, using them would send shockwaves that could be felt all the way in Ponyville. In this close proximity to the city, they’d be too dangerous to use. Point-defense turrets, however, should be fairly effective in closer range. Their accuracy falls off after a few hundred meters, though.” Both princesses regarded one another, then nodded, and stepped back.
“In that case,” Luna said. “We must help our ponies prepare. Adam, do what you will for now, but be ready when the griffons arrive.”
“Yes ma’am,” the Spartan said, offering a polite salute. Both princesses smiled grimly, then turned around and exited the room. After their hoofsteps could no longer be heard as the armored princesses marched down the hallway, Adam took his leave of the war room, and began to make his way to the castle gardens.
The Spartan’s walk to the castle gardens was a quiet one. Rather than take the route he knew would get him there the quickest, Adam opted to use a longer way, giving him time to reflect.
This was it. If they defeated the griffons in this battle, then they would be weakened enough that the united armies of both the UNSC and Equestria would be able to successfully march on the Forerunner ruins, and face down the rampant monitor. It felt almost surreal, to be this close to the end, yet know that it could all fall apart at a moment’s notice. There would be no room for mistakes. Adam had to remain focused if he had a chance at victory. If he slipped up, if something happened, then it could result in the destruction of Equestria. He had brought this war upon the ponies, he at least owed them their peace.
Almost without even realizing it, Adam reached the door to the castle gardens and pushed it open, stepping out into the brisk morning air beyond. In the middle of the gardens sat his pelican, which stood at the ready to take off and bring the fight to the griffons. Adam then noticed a small bit of movement behind the pelican, and he stepped forward to investigate. Behind the back hatch of the small ship was a pony soldier, who walked with a limp and seemed to take a deep breath with every step he took. Noticing that someone was behind him, the guard turned around, revealing the tired face of Night Flyer.
“Night Flyer!” Adam yelled, surprised. “You’re okay!”
“Hey, Adam,” the pony said, struggling to salute. “As okay as I can be…”
“What happened to you after we returned to Canterlot?” the Spartan asked, stepping closer to the pony.
“Well, from what I’m told,” Night Flyer began. “Some medic ponies came to get me after you all had gone inside. I was taken to the medical ward, and given some good treatment. Princesses gave me the best doctors in the palace, they said it was the least I deserved...” The pony sighed. “Even so, I’ll never quite be the same. Burn wounds were pretty bad, weakened a lot of my muscles and are making it a bit harder to move around. But despite it all, I can still fight. In fact, the princesses assigned me to their personal guard!”
“Congratulations,” Adam said, putting his hand on the pony’s shoulder. “Though I am going to miss fighting alongside you.” Night Flyer laughed, then looked up at the Spartan.
“It was worth it, Adam,” he said, smiling. “It was worth it.” The two soldiers then walked side-by-side to the edge of the gardens, and looked over onto the Equestrian landscape. Far off in the distance was a large black square, which Adam soon realized was the army of griffons making their approach. Still, they were six hours away, which meant that Adam had six hours to prepare himself. But for now, he would take the advice of Princess Luna, and do what he wanted.
“Hey…” Adam said, preparing to ask a question he had been thinking about since the flight back from Manehattan. “If your name is Night Flyer… Why are you a unicorn?”
Princess Luna stood next to her sister on one of the highest balconies of Canterlot palace. It had been several hours since they had informed their guards that the griffons were coming, and now they were only an hour away. On parchment, 14,500 sounded like a lot, but it was an entirely different thing to see it. Stretching all the way across the plains back in the direction of Ponyville were massive columns of the griffon soldiers, all steadily marching toward the mountain city. Slowly circling in the skies above them were five dragons, and if one looked closely enough, small silver dots were visible flying among the massive winged beasts. Luna gulped down her fears, then directed her attention to the city below her. Despite its rather precarious perch, the city was incredibly large, and served as a bastion for thousands of pony soldiers. Even more had come from cities who had managed to slow down their griffon assaults, and the 400 human soldiers that had come from Infinity were among them as well. Even with the extra help, the ponies were still outmatched. The griffons greatly outnumbered them, and support from a dragon lord and over 500 sentinels would not make their jobs any easier.
Luna stretched out her wings, which were beginning to grow sore from the rather uncomfortable armor around their base. She flexed them out in several directions, eliciting several satisfying pops from the joints. Celestia grimaced at the noise, to which Luna grinned. Her smile disappeared, however, when she noticed that, in only the last couple of minutes, the griffon front lines had grown even closer to the city. Not too long from now they would likely split up into three massive groups to assault each entrance to the city, and, despite all of their preparations, she knew that the defenses would not hold. This battle was going to be a close one, for either side.
“Sister,” Celestia said, breaking the eerie silence that had fallen over the city. “Whatever happens… I am sorry. I…” Luna put a hoof to her sister’s mouth, effectively silencing the mare.
“I know, ‘Tia,” Luna said. “I know.” Celestia had tried on many occasions to apologize to her little sister for banishing her for the moon, but Luna understood. She knew that it had to be done. And while she regretted missing a thousand years of her subject’s history, she understood.
The two sisters continued watching out over the plains as the griffon army continued marching forward, ready to face the enemy, and end the war.
Adam stood among the ranks of pony and human soldiers at one of the entrances to the city, assault rifle held at the ready. Above them on the rooftops were ODSTs and unicorns wielding grenade and rocket launchers, ready to fire them into the hordes of griffons that would soon be bursting through the gate. Further back lay more ODSTs with sniper rifles, who would pick off the lighter-armored griffons who still had use of their wings. The soldiers fighting alongside Adam were equipped with close-range weapons, the humans and unicorns using firearms, and the rest of the ponies wielding swords and pikes.
For all of their planning, they still had no idea just how the griffons would attack. They obviously would be using the dragons and sentinels as much as possible, but how was still a difficult question. Still, the hostiles had no idea that Canterlot would be receiving the support of three frigates. Perseus had been sent back up to Infinity so that it could join the attack alongside the other two, rather than leaving it parked in the plains where it would be an obvious target. Once the griffons actually started the attack, the frigates would all come down and begin to assist to the best of their ability. Along with the ships would be even more fighters and bombers, despite the knowledge that a dragon lord could easily tear through them. They needed all the help they could get.
As all of the soldiers stood in front of the gate, weapons at the ready, they all maintained a hushed silence. Nobody spoke, they all just listened. Listened and waited for the arrival of the enemy. It was not long before the sound of talons scraping against the cobblestone pathway beyond the gate was heard. Adam looked around, and noticed all of the soldiers holding their weapons to bear, getting ready for the enemy to break through. A moment later, there was a loud thump, and the heavy gate shook at the abuse. The thump of the battering ram fell into a rhythmic beat at is continually smashed against the thick gates, threatening to break through the barrier and allow the flood of griffons to enter. Adam figured now was as good a time as any, so he put his hand up to his ear, and activated his radio.
“Commander Lasky, this is Adam, over,” he said quietly into the mic. There was a brief pause, then the earpiece crackled.
“This is Lasky, go ahead, over,” the commander said through the radio.
“Griffons are right outside, sir,” Adam continued. “And the gates aren’t going to hold for much longer. I’d recommend calling down our frigates now, sir.” There was a pause before Lasky replied.
“Acknowledged, Spartan,” Lasky said. “We’re getting reports from the other two entrances that griffons are outside as well. I’ll make the call, over.” The radio cut out, and Adam lowered his hand, then brought his assault rifle up into the crook of his shoulder. It wouldn’t be long, now…
But suddenly, the sound of the battering ram stopped. The ponies and humans all stared at the gate, confused, until Adam’s enhanced hearing began to hear a hissing noise. Adam began running through his mind of what it could be, when it suddenly hit him.
“EVERYBODY GET BACK, NOW!” he shouted as loudly as he could, then turned and began to run away. Only a second later, there was a deafening explosion as the gate was torn to pieces, sending the doors flying inwards at the ponies, and large chunks of debris from the wall flew in all directions. The buildings immediately beside the gate were also taken out, crushing the ponies on top who were wielding their explosives. The shockwave from the explosion shook the ground around them, causing Adam and many of the ponies to fall over onto the ground. Quickly, Adam turned onto his back and sprung up to his feet, readying his assault rifle. As soon as he felt the familiar presence of the weapon’s stock in his shoulder, he began firing waves of 7.62x51mm rounds down range. They impacted on the griffons, cutting through their thick armor and settling within the creatures themselves, killing them instantly. The griffons not wearing much armor leapt into the air and spread their large wings, and fired crossbow bolts from their higher up positions, killing many ponies below. They were soon dropped by ODST snipers positioned further back in the city, sending them careening down into the crowds of griffons below. By now, most of the ponies had regained control of their senses, and were joining in the fight. Thanks to the firearms provided by the UNSC, the unicorns were able to drop multiple griffons before they were taken out. However, the stream of griffons pouring through the gate seemed endless.
The ponies were being pushed back, and quickly. Where are those frigates? Adam thought. As if they had heard his thoughts, there was suddenly a loud rumbling, and through the clouds descended three Strident-class frigates, with Perseus up front. Even though they were positioned hundreds of meters above the city, Adam saw small hatches open on the side as the archer missile pods prepared to rain fire onto the griffons. Several missiles streamed out of each frigate, all of them heading in different directions. The projectiles fell down past the city and into the plains below, were they hit large groups of griffons who had yet to begin climbing the mountain. Out of the hangars launched several pelican dropships and longsword interceptors, who began to fire their smaller air-to-surface missiles at the griffons still in the streets. With the new help that they were receiving, the ponies began to push forward, firing their weapons into the crowds of griffons, dropping dozens of them. It was not long before the griffons received reinforcements as well, and soon the air was filled with a buzzing sound. The source of the sound made itself known as hundreds of silver sentinels, the sun glinting off of their armor plating, flew at incredibly speeds over the city, and prepared to engage the UNSC ships. As Adam watched the battle unfold above them, he noticed almost a hundred more sentinels joining the fight, these ones each painted with red strips along their wing-like flaps.
Several hostile sentinels broke off to counter the new threat, while the frigates opened fire with their point-defense turrets onto the ones who stayed. Despite the fact that the turrets used 50mm high explosive rounds, the sentinel’s advanced shielding seemed to be protecting them from the blasts, and they continued zipping around the ships, firing on their shields. On the ground, the advantage that the ponies had briefly held was beginning to disappear as more and more griffons poured through the remains of the gates and into the city streets beyond. And while the ponies were taking down many griffons each thanks to their loaned firearms, the griffons were simply too many, and the ponies were beginning to be pushed back. Adam stayed in the front lines, spraying his assault rifle into the horde of winged beasts, but slowly stepping backwards with every shot. As he paused his fire to reload, he spared a glance behind him to see where they were. Already they had been pushed back far from the gate, and Adam could see what looked like a large plaza a few dozen meters away. Good, the Spartan thought. The UNSC had placed warthogs (both gauss and machine gun) and scorpion tanks in every plaza, so once the griffons pushed them back far enough, they would be in for quite the surprise.
His reload complete, Adam continued firing into the advancing army of griffons, felling dozens before his mag ran dry again. Fortunately he had strapped assault rifle magazines practically all over his body armor, so he had no shortage of ammunition. When he did run out, however, there were conveniently placed supply caches stationed throughout the city at locations where the ponies could hunker down for a little while and stall the griffon advance. His process thus far was fairly simply: fire on griffons, reload, check position, fire on griffons, reload, check position, and so on. Occasionally he would have a lapse in his gunfire as a griffon projectile, such as a spear or arrow, bounced off of his shields and clattered to the street ahead of him. His shields were holding, but to the griffons, he was a high-value target. Their archers were relentlessly firing on him, whittling the energy shields down to almost nothing. However, every time they got close to taking the barrier down, Adam would hear a satisfying whir as the bar refilled. Again Adam fired into the crowd, again he reloaded, and again he turned around to check his position. On this particular reload, he found that the pony and human allies were right about to enter the plaza. With any luck, there would already be marines manning the vehicles, prepared to open fire into the griffons. It seemed that luck was indeed on their side, as once the group of humans and ponies were far enough into the plaza, Adam heard the familiar sound of a tank shell flying through the air, which delivered a satisfying explosion to the griffons, taking out a large group of them. Adam also heard the sound of the incredibly high-density projectiles fired by warthog-mounted gauss cannons, which ripped through individual griffons and continued on to kill several more. The griffons, having had their advance stalled, stopped at the threshold to the plaza, and fired arrows at the ponies. They seemed to be waiting for something, but Adam knew not what for.
Then he heard it. From the crowd right in front of him, a loud horn sounded, and echoed out through the city. All was silent for a moment after, and then there was an ear-splitting roar, and the sound of beating wings. From over the side of the city ascended a large green dragon, his mouth open and an orange glow beginning to build up in it.
“Get down!” someone yelled from somewhere else in the plaza. Adam wasted no time in flattening himself onto the ground. He had seen firsthand what a dragon lord was capable of, and though this was just a normal dragon, he was still apprehensive about seeing the damage it could create. Some ponies were not quick enough to drop to the floor, and when the dragon let loose his jet of flame, they were instantly vaporized, leaving nothing but steaming, blackened corpses left frozen in place. The dragon then soared into the air and dive-bombed the scorpion tank, grasping it with his powerful claws, and began to squeeze. Adam heard the sound of bending metal and sparking electronics, then the scorpion erupted into a fiery explosion as it was destroyed. The dragon dropped the now-ruined vehicle back onto the streets, and flew to another section of the city.
While the dragon was busy assaulting the humans and ponies, the griffons were preparing their attack. As soon as the beast flew off, they all rushed into the plaza, killing many ponies before they could even stand back up. Adam jumped up and prepared his assault rifle, then continued firing into the griffon army. The rest of the surviving ponies managed to get up and do the same, but they were being forced back at a greatly increased rate now. They were on the lower levels of the city, the castle entrance was on the top level. To get there, there were a series of ramps that lead up to each subsequent tier. If the griffons pushed them back far enough, all they would have to do is get up the ramp and that would take them directly to the castle.
Adam once again turned around to check their progress, and noticed with horror that the ramps were only around the next corner. They had already taken heavy losses, and he had no idea what the status was of the groups defending the other two entrances. If they were pushed up to the castle gates this early… They might not win the battle. But then he got an idea. If they were forced back to the castle because of extremely heavy losses, then that would be it. But if they made their way back to the castle now, doing everything that they could to slow the griffons down, that could give them a few extra minutes to prepare. Acting quickly, Adam put his hand to his ear.
“Perseus, you read me?” he shouted into the mic, struggling to hear his own voice over the sound of battle.
“We read you, Spartan,” a voice answered through his earpiece. “What’s your status?”
“Not good!” Adam replied. “But I have a plan! I need you to get a message out to the fireteam leaders commanding the other defense groups! Let them know that they need to run as fast as they can back to the castle gates, right now!”
“Understood, Spartan,” the voice replied. “Message away. Anything else?”
“Yeah,” Adam said. “They’re going to need some help. Do whatever you can to slow the griffon advance down.”
“We’re taking heavy fire up here, Spartan,” the voice said. “These sentinels are not going down easy. If we stop firing on them for even a few seconds, they could deal some serious damage.”
“A few seconds is all we need, Perseus,” Adam answered. There was no response, but a few seconds later, he noticed that the sound of gunfire from the frigates had stopped. A second later, streams of hundreds of the 50mm high explosive rounds impacted on the streets, shredding through the griffons and cutting down their numbers significantly. Adam didn’t stay to watch; instead he turned around, called for everyone to follow him, and then sprinted down the street, making his way to the palace.
Adam and what was left of the group he was fighting alongside at the gates sprinted into the castle courtyard, stopping once they were inside to catch their breath. Once they were all inside, the massive gates closed shut, and locked with a clank. Adam was pleased to see that the other two groups had already arrived, and were in the process of rearming themselves. Among them was Fireteam Vector, who were busy reloading their weapons. Adam jogged over to them, and drew their attention with a cough. They all turned to face Adam, and four of the Spartans saluted.
“At ease, Spartans,” Adam said, panting heavily from his run. “Kevin, what’s the status of the other two entrances?”
“Not good, Adam,” Kevin replied. “The griffons used some kind of bomb to get through our gate. Initial losses were heavy, and they were made even worse when that dragon showed up…” Adam nodded.
“Seems that they used the same tactic with you as they did with us, then,” Adam noted.
“So why were we all called back to the castle?” Kevin asked, confused.
“The castle is the most well defended position in this city,” Adam explained. “If we had come here only after our numbers had been exhausted by fighting in the streets, once they breached the gates it’d have been a massacre. But since we’re prepared, and we have plenty of soldiers, we stand a chance.” Kevin nodded in understanding, then hefted his battle rifle.
“Then let’s get ready. They’ll be here soon.” The fireteam leader was proven right when a loud bang reverberated through the metal gate, drawing all eyes toward it.
“I guess they’re out of bombs…” one of the Vector Spartans said.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Adam said. “They used this tactic earlier: act as though you’re doing one thing, then surprise the enemy by doing something else.” But they waited, and waited, and still there were no explosions. But the walls were high, even taller than the dragon lord that Adam had seen in Manehattan. Anything could have been back there, and they wouldn’t know. The banging of the battering ram continued for several more minutes, before it suddenly stopped. Every soldier, human and pony, in the courtyard stopped what they were doing and turned to face the door, expecting it to blow open any moment. Instead, they were greeted with a voice.
“Ponies of Equestria!” it said. It was a booming voice, and seemed to fill the entire city.
“I am General Daggerwing, leader of the griffon army!” it continued. Adam sighed when he heard the introduction, remembering his last encounter with the insane general. “You and your human allies have fought well… admirably, even. But you cannot possibly hope to win. For with the ancient machines on our side, as well as the dragons, there is nothing that you can do… For that reason, I am willing to accept a surrender!” This drew surprised glances from everyone in the courtyard. There was silence for a moment, until Kevin quietly whispered to Adam.
“I don’t buy it…” he said. “The griffons are trying to wipe out the ponies… why would they ask for surrender?”
“Probably just so they can kill us all easier,” Adam whispered back. “There’s no way he’s telling the truth. And even if he was, the princesses would never accept it.”
“Please send this message to your princesses!” Daggerwing continued. “And have her answer for me in ten minutes. If you do not answer, or if you answer incorrectly… You shall be wiped out.” There was silence in the courtyard for several moments, before Adam stood and walked to the center.
“Someone go get Celestia,” he said. “We all know what she’s going to say, but she should still be made aware…” One of the pony guards saluted, then ran into the castle, disappearing behind the heavy doors. A few minutes later, the guard reappeared, the radiantly armored Princess Celestia walking with haste behind him. She angrily stalked into the center of the courtyard, then her horn flared with a golden aura. When she spoke, her voice was greatly amplified.
“General Daggerwing!” she said, her voice echoing throughout the city. “You are a coward, and a liar! We both know that you would never accept our surrender, and that you have even tried to trick us with such promises greatly disappoints me! No, we will not surrender… However, we would be happy to accept yours.” The last part surprised Adam. There was no way that the general would give up, not now, not after everything he had already done. As Adam expected, the response was a bout of laughter from the griffon.
“You really expect us to surrender, Celestia?” the griffon finally replied after he had calmed down. “No… You are completely at our mercy! It is a shame that you did not surrender… it would have made your destruction much easier. Ah, well, Celestia… Goodbye, then.” There was a brief silence, and then it was broken by a loud roar. The wall exploded inwards, and through the new gap flew a dark blue dragon, who was spouting flames of the same color. Celestia quickly jumped out of the way of the torrent of fire, and fired a beam of magic from her horn, which impacted the dragon on his shoulder. The dragon screamed in pain as the beam cut through the scales and began to burn his flesh. Wasting no time, the ponies and humans began to help Celestia eliminate the gargantuan creature. Unicorn guards fired magic bolts, and the ODSTs fired rockets and railgun rounds. They all impacted on the creature, yet despite the immense amount of pain it had to be feeling, it kept on fighting. It fired jets of blue flame from its mouth, setting alight anything in its path, be it living or not.
Finally, after what felt like hours (but what was really only two minutes, according to Adam’s chrono), a well-placed railgun round penetrated the dragon’s head, cutting right through and flying out the back, accompanied by chunks of flesh and brain matter. With a scream, it collapsed to the ground, dead. There was no time for celebration, as griffons began pouring in through the breach when they realized that their plan had not worked. Rockets, bullets, railgun rounds, magic bolts, arrows, and everything in-between began to fly for the breach, catching any griffons who entered. Unfortunately, there were lapses in the gunfire as the soldiers had to stop to reload, which allowed griffons in. As soon as they had an opportunity, they fired their more primitive weapons at the ponies, killing many. Human losses still seemed to be limited to the damage that had been done by the dragons, but they were still being targeted by the griffons. As Adam fired into the horde of griffons, his radio suddenly crackled to life.
“-epeat, this is Lieutenant Monroe of the UNSC Aspen, does anybody read!?” a voice frantically yelled through the earpiece. “We’re taking heavy fire! Sentinels are beginning to bypass the shields! We have hull breaches on all decks! We need-.” Adam looked up to where the three frigates were hovering above the city, locked in their battle with the sentinels. The tactic of the small machines had changed, however, as they were now all swarming a single frigate, like flies around a piece of rotting meat. They zipped around the frigate, which Adam assumed was Aspen, firing their greatly enhanced beam weapons at the ship, most of which were caught on the shield. After a few moments, however, the shield began to flicker until it collapsed completely, and every shot from the sentinel beam hit the hull, shredding right through it. The combined power of five hundred sentinel beams hitting the ship at once was too much, and there was a blinding flash of light that filled the sky. When it faded, the once-powerful warship was plummeting to the ground, on a trajectory to land in the plains just below Canterlot. It hit the ground with a dull boom, sending an intense shockwave throughout the land. The city began to shake as it travelled up the mountain, sending many soldiers, griffon and pony alike, toppling over. As they struggled to regain their footing (or hoofing, in this case), Adam looked up and noticed a small black dot flying in the sky. It was too large to be a pony, and too dark to be a sentinel. Adam activated the zoom function on his visor to get a closer look, and was surprised to see General Daggerwing, massive wings spread, flying through the sky. Adam looked ahead of the general to see where he was going to land, and found it to be one of the highest towers of Canterlot castle. This was not just any tower, however. That tower was one of the most well-structured towers in the palace, and for that reason, it had been chosen as a safe place.
A safe place for the princesses.
General Daggerwing impacted the window of the tower, sending tiny fragments of glass raining down onto the ponies and griffons below. After Daggerwing entered, two sentinels flew in after him.
Their purpose was clear.
They were going after Princess Luna.