Chapter 20
The battle of Las Pegasus part 4
The sound of hooves against the grass filled the air as the changelings marched in the night towards the Equestrian army. The changeling officers barked out orders as they kept the army in order. All of the last engagements were tougher due to the way the general Spit and other officers had commanded the army.
Striker the changeling had to make sure of that.
The two changelings looked towards the fortified hill, one with an angry stare and the other with a calculative one. Spit seemed outraged that the Equestrians had dared to stand against him. They were better dead, at least to his eyes.
In General Strikers view it told a different story. The new officer looked around the Equestrian defenses, thinking of the many ways he could try to invade and take that fort with the least possible casualties, from both sides. He considered that having Equestrian prisoners would worked well, especially in feeding the troops with the vital feelings the Equestrians had that changelings longed so much. Even hate would be good enough to drive his army. Also he would have means with which to negotiate with the Equestrian leaders should the need arise.
He chuckled slightly, thinking how different his plans were and how much they differed from his general´s. The big changeling was simply thinking in how to kill as many Equestrians as he could manage, not caring for his own troops in the process. Surprisingly though, he had listened to Striker. From what all the young changelings had heard., general Spit wasn't famous for being a listener of other’s plans. Spit paying attention to such a young and new commander was very unusual, which made many older officers jealous at him. Hopefully that wouldn't turn against him in the future.
Both changelings seemed to have an understanding each other, though. Spit and Striker could almost read each other´s thoughts, each one knowing if the other´s ideas were good or bad.
So far only Striker had been giving good ideas. All Spit did was bark orders and making sure they were done. Striker had gotten angry after learning all the losses the Equestrian assaults had costed. Almost sixty dead? That was very bad, considering that the Equestrians had only lost two. They had also lost twelve of the larger shields, and all of those on general Spit´s side. The more Striker got to know the general, the more he began to think that he shouldn´t lead, even though both were getting along very well and they had begun to make a strange bond neither of them had expected. Spit began to see the young commander as an apprentice, even if Striker was the one that made all the plans.
As the Equestrian camp got closer, Spit and Striker where making sure their troops remained out of the Equestrian archer's reach. They were also trying to calculate the distance of the ballistas they seemed to have mounted on the flanks. Striker was worried that their bolts would be strong enough to penetrate his new shields, which would cause another disarray of his troops.
Spit coughed and got Striker´s attention.
“The Equestrians are more prepared than we anticipated,” he said. Striker nodded.
“Yes, I´m afraid. The Ballistas will present a serious problem.”
Spit scratched his chin. “I doubt that. There are less than twenty ballistas, and they won't kill enough changelings to stop our attack.” Striker grinned.
“You think I want to lose my troops?”
“You think I care about a few casualties?” the general answered. “Changeling drones and common fighters are replaceable. We won't suffer much if they are lost. I care about the officers. We have already lost many.”
“Even a drone can make a difference in battle, general.” Spit laughed out loud.
“You are still thinking that?” he asked mockingly. “You are never going to become a general if you keep saying that. Battles are won by our numbers and our overwhelming force. Even if we don't have the overwhelming force I would like to have, the Equestrians won't resist an all-out assault. The surely don't expect it either.” Striker looke away.
“You are going to regret doing that…” the commander whispered.
“What was that?” Spit asked.
Striker looked at him. “Nothing, just forget it.”
Spit nodded and smiled evilly. “I´ll soon have that animal´s head on a pike… human, I think it´s called.” He closed his eyes. “I can almost grasp it…” he said, lifting his hoof. “Victory is within reach.” Striker shook his head but said nothing. Spit noticed. “You think I'm going to lose?!”
Striker shook his head again. “Oh, no. Of course not,” he said, in a mocking tone as well. “I only think that we won't get far with those thoughts, general. We need to trust less in luck and more in ourselves.”
Spit grunted. “Say what you wish.” He groaned. “I should have you impaled for your insolence…”
“Yet I'm still here.” Spit laughed.
“Yes, that is true…”
Both looked again at the Equestrian camp. No words were exchanged between the two for a couple of minutes. Silence hung over them, occasionally broken by the sound of hooves around them.
Striker smiled slowly as he began to picture a plan—a plan that, even if it did not give him an advantage over the Equestrians, would strengthen his power over the army.
He knew that Spit had to be disposed of
And he knew exactly how…
*** *** ***
A battle has many factors that could affect its outcome, and most men—or ponies, in the situation Davis currently found himself in—had the wrong idea that numbers was the most important factor. Though he did knew that it was important to an extent, he knew that it wasn't vital to win. When one ends up fighting an army larger than his own, he should think what extra advantages his own army has over the enemy's; that alone was important to win a battle, no matter who was superior in number. An enemy could have you ten to one, and you could still win—what mattered then was not a number, but how well prepared the smaller army was.
Davis felt confident that he had his army prepared for the enemy. The number of the enemy still seemed surprising against his own, but he knew it wasn't going to affect his own plans much as long as the events didn't turn to far away from his own planned outcome. He didn't want to have to change at the last moment should the enemy do something he was not expecting, but he knew that the possibility always existed and that he could have the odds changed at any moment. That was present on his mind all the time, even before getting to Equestria.
He feared for his men, or in this case, for his ponies. He didn't see them as he had understood Germans sometimes saw their own, as cannon fodder. He feared for their lives and wished none had to die. The problem was that death was going to be present in the battle, no matter what he did to try and stop it. He knew the enemy general was good, or at least had good counselors since he had proved to have better tactics than the American had first thought he would. An enemy with good ideas and innovative mind was dangerous in many ways, and he hoped he could counterattack his offensive. That kept bothering Davis a lot, along with many other things.
Now, he remembered seeing the enemy army before. It was huge, but not huge enough to scare him. Worry, yes—but not scared.
An estimate of five thousand changelings now swarmed the small hills south of Las Pegasus, ready to end the Equestrians without second thought. One thousand Equestrians against five thousand. They were outnumbered five to one, and he didn't liked those odds. The fortifications surely would make a huge difference, but he didn't want to rely on those alone. He knew his obstacles and pikes could be passed, his ballistas and his walls burned; but he knew his ponies would be much harder to defeat.
He now stood in front of the army, his army. They were in lines, all their eyes looming at the human general. He saw in their eyes many different expressions. He was worried about those that looked scared or confused. Some just looked tired and others seemed ready. He smiled for those that were prepared, but he knew his army needed to fight at more than their hundred-percent capacity. They needed to fight with inhuman (inpony?) strength and resolution. They couldn't let the enemy scare them or intimidate them. He needed his ponies to have one goal in mind with nothing else besides: to win.
He had his highest ranked officer at his sides and he had ordered a long post to be placed in the middle of the fortress. On it he had hung the Equestrian flag, and it now fluttered in the night sky, silently. The symbol of Equestria and the royal seal stood proudly above the troops. Davis hoped that would encourage them as well.
He cleared his throat. He was going to give another speech, but he feared that at this rate he was going to run out of speeches by the end of the war; he was saying one before each engagement, and he hoped that wasn't usual. But it worked, and that was what mattered. If he needed to prepare them beforehand he would, as long as they served their purpose of lifting his troops’ spirits.
As he watched all the ponies around, he began to feel sad, knowing that many could die. He shoved such thoughts from his mind, since they could distract him, even though he kept them in mind, slightly hidden.
"You are all gathered here because I want to let you all know that we won't yield to the enemy. They want us to lose, and I won't let that happen." He began to pace around. "I know this isn't my first battle, or my second engagement, as it is with most of you. What I do know is how it feels the first time. The enemy seems worse than it really is, and we let that sink deep within our hearts, creating in us a feeling of dread as the battle comes closer."
"Well, the battle is here, and the enemy is half as bad as you imagine him to be. They may look intimidating, but it is not us who should go running away." He pointed an arm towards the approaching changelings. "It is them!"
"Their numbers are greater than ours, five to one, but I know that each one of you is worth more than a hundred of those things! Prove me right! Prove that Equestria is safe with you caring for all the ponies in it!"
"They came with their numbers, we come with the courage and the force-of-will to win." He had raised his voice and was shouting now. "The changelings want to take our land! Our families and our friends! Our lives and all that you've known since you were born!" Shouts of outrage began to be exclaimed within the troops. "They want Equestria for themselves. You know what I say to that?" He waited some seconds to give what he would say more feeling. "I say buck 'em! We will not give it to them as long as there is one of us standing!"
The last he said with all his emotions in it. He meant every word of his speech, and the last part was just where he had decided to let all his conflicted thoughts out. He smiled at seeing the ponies around cheering and exclaiming that they would not let the changelings take Equestria. He waited for the cheers to calm down before he said his last words.
"Make Equestria proud and honor that flag! To arms!" The ponies cheered once more. Davis turned to Golden Flame and nodded. The pegasus began to make order as the lines disbanded and went to their designated positions. Davis watched with a mixture of pride and resolution as the troops moved. He turned to Golden Flame.
"You are going to be in charge of the front. Make sure our archers and pegasi stop their troops. The changelings shall not win the front or we'll be doomed. I trust you can handle that?"
The pegasus captain nodded. "You bet," he said smiling.
Davis saluted. "Then good luck, captain." Golden Flame answered his salute and flew off towards the front. Davis watched him go and then turned to Iroh.
"I trust you know your job well, especially since you won with Louis."
Iroh nodded. "Yes sir. I assure you I know my job."
Davies saluted him then. "Then God protect you. You are going to defend the right side of the hill. We can't let the enemy get that part for any reason."
Iroh nodded, saluting back. "I'll take care if the back, since it's where their main attack is gonna be and I want to be the one to stop it."
He watched Iroh go as he began to go to the back of the hill himself. All the way there he saw the ponies getting ready for the battle; there were pikes and swords moving all around, as well as shields and banners. The archers moved into their special positions, the officers stood around barking out orders and pegasi flew, the fastest carrying messages and the rest moving to their units or clearing some clouds that were starting to block the moon. Darkness, as much as Davis considered it an ally sometimes, wouldn't work. He didn't want his troops to fight blindly in the battle.
He reached his vantage point and looked on as the changeling army moved themselves into position. Whoever was in charge was better than he had expected.
He saw the changelings in units of fifty each. Gigantic shields were slowly placed on top of their heads, each shield covering up to ten changelings. He saw their weak point was the middle, between shields. At least two changelings would have to be between shields, leaving them vulnerable against his archers.
Soon, both armies stood still. On the hill, the Equestrians waited for the changelings to make their move. Davis saw a pony courier approach him.
"The changelings surrounded all the hill sir," he told Davis.
Davis grinned. "Even the gorge?"
The pony nodded grimly. "Even the gorge, sir."
Davis cursed silently. He looked towards the front of the hill, where he could see the ballistas being loaded. He looked back at the courier.
"Go and tell captain Golden Flame to hold that part at any cost. We cannot lose it, or else we'll get crushed from both sides." The pony nodded. "Dismissed."
Davis watched as the pony left at full gallop. Hopefully Golden Flame would manage—it was going to be really hard.
He looked up front and saw the enemy began to move forwards slowly, the huge shields covering their lines. He saw his ballista and that the captain in charge if it was looking at him. Davis nodded and seconds later the ballista began shooting. He raised his hand.
"Archers, ready!" he shouted. The pony archers prepared to fire. As soon as the changelings were within shooting distance, he threw his arm downwards.
"Fire!"
Hundreds of arrows flew down at the enemy. Most hit the huge shields, but some managed to hit their marks. Screams of changelings filled the air for a second. The huge ballistia projectiles broke the shields into pieces, taking many changelings with it. The first changeling lines fell at the Equestrians bolts, causing cheers from the Equestrian troops.
Davis wasn't so enthusiastic.
Soon the first changeling lines where passing around his pikes placed in the ground and the multiple series of of other obstacles. The old changeling shields couldn't move through them and soon all of those shields went down, the changelings that had occupied them either died or cowered behind other newer and smaller shields. Those ones where a problem; they moved around his obstacles easily and the arrows bounced or got stuck in them, causing no real damage. Davis even saw some of those shields withstanding his ballista bolts. He cursed out loud once his fears were confirmed: they'd need to fight hoof on hoof.
"Pikes and swords, ready!" He saw the troops getting ready. He looked at the stones piled around the hill. The one in charge of those was a unicorn from the royal guard. David ran at him.
"Throw them once they are close, not too close or too far."
The royal guard nodded. "Something more specific sir?"
"Ten meters at most." The pony nodded and Davis went back to his position.
He saw the changelings approaching closer and closer. Some of them had even begun to shoot magic blasts at them. Most simply flew by, too far from his troops to pose any serious threat. Only one or two managed to get a good direction towards his troops, but those normally proved bad for his ponies. He saw one hit an archer, immediately sending the poor fella backwards. A medic rushed towards where he had fallen and Davis felt a knot on his stomach as the medic closed the pony's eyes and stood up. He saw some more ponies carry the dead pony to a small tent.
One casualty so far.
He knew there were many more to come that night...
*** *** ***
"Hold your positions! Don't you dare move—for Equestria!" Golden Flame said. He had a bow, and he shot changelings in the air. He was hovering a couple of feet over the ground, finding it easier to see enemies that were hiding inside the gorge.
Golden Flame knew that the main changeling force had gone to attack the other side of the hill, but there were at least six hundred attacking his part of the hill. The changelings were not simply swarming at them as he had expected, but rather seemed to be more cautious, some even taking shields with them. His ballistas shot fast as they could. Golden Flame smiled as he saw two large flying shields break into tiny shards, killing many changelings in the process. Even though the shields were a good way to protect themselves from the Equestrian arrows, they made them easier targets for his ballistas.
He shot a changeling that was getting dangerously near to the edge of the cliff. He loaded another arrow and aimed. He saw a changeling powering his horn to shoot a magic blast. He fired the arrow and was greeted subsequently by the sound of shouting as the changeling fell down to its doom. He was shooting again when a changeling reached him.
He immediately threw his bow and unsheathed his sword. Just in time, as he barely managed to stop the changeling from impaling him. He thrust his sword into the changeling belly, but he felt it hit the hard natural armor of the bug. The changeling powered his horn and threw a magic blast barely a few inches from his face. He cursed (something he had picked up from Davis) and managed to evade it. He used his hoof to kick the changeling and then used the momentum to stab it, this time in the neck. He watched in disgust as green blood covered his sword and part of his light armor. He retrieved his sword from the changeling, which fell down rapidly towards the ground of the gorge. Ignoring the green blood on his armor, he quickly looked around for more incoming changelings.
He saw a squad of pegasi fighting against some changelings. Even though they were holding it, he saw that they would soon be overrun. He sheathed his sword and spread his wings.
Soon he was flying at high speed towards them. The moment he was close enough, he opened his wings wider, revealing his wing blades completely, their golden shine momentarily blinding a changeling as he approached. In seconds, he was within the enemy mass that had been about to defeat his pegasi. As the wing blades got in contact with the changelings, their magic jumped into action. He passed by, cutting changelings as easily as if they were butter, killing most instantly. When he was turning for a second pass, almost half of the changelings in there were dead or falling to their deaths. His wing blades were clean, thanks to a spell they had which kept them completely clean.
He passed a second and a third time, killing all the changelings. Soon his pegasi were advancing instead of falling back; he took command of that squad himself after one of them told him about the death of their captain.
"Follow me!" he shouted over the wind. "Keep your swords and pikes forward. We will not be using bows any longer." He had his pikes up front and swords behind. He led them on the very front in a "V" formation.
"Stick together" he shouted as they approached a large changeling shield. The changelings were still on the ground, about to jump to the air. Golden flame passed easily through their center using his wings to cut his way through them, and his pegasi soon followed and in seconds all of the changelings that had been behind the shield had been taken out. He looked back and smiled when he saw there were no casualties to his squad... yet.
He was turning to lead them back into the air battle when a large changeling rammed against his side, obviously aware of his wing blades as he hugged him from the back and closed Golden's wings. The pegasus captain struggled as the ground came closer and closer towards them. He prepared for the impact and seconds before it happened he used the last bit of his strength to open his wings and managed to land. Both changeling and pegasus landed hard against the ground, tumbling around and coming to a stop a few meters away from each other.
Golden Flame grunted as he opened his eyes. All his body ached terribly, but when he stood up he confirmed that nothing was broken. He opened his wings and immediately felt a sharp pain.
Too good for not having anything broken...
He heard something move behind him; he turned and saw the changeling.
He recognized it as one of the officers by its colors. He was a dark red and was bigger than most changelings. Golden gulped as he reached for his sword. He felt a knot on his stomach when he didn't find his sword. He looked around.
"Looking for this?"
Golden Flame turned and saw the changeling standing up. He paled a little when he saw his sword flaring beside the changeling surrounded by a sickly red aura.
"Say your last words, pony."
Golden opened his wings ignoring the pain, showing his wing blades completely.
"Let's dance..."
*** *** ***
"Sir, they are almost on us!" shouted an officer. Davis nodded. He knew it was time.
"Throw the rocks!" he announced. He watched with a smile as the huge boulders went downhill. The changelings shouted in pain as the rocks flattened them against the ground. Davis took his rifle as the changelings kept advancing, ignoring their fallen comrades.
"Prepare!" he shouted. "Unsheath swords and pikes forward! Shields up front!" His orders were immediately carried through. "Cover the holes on the wooden walls, and the archers"—he turned to the archery captains—"keep shooting! Just make sure not to hit our own; shoot to the back lines!" He received a nod and confirmation as he looked back to the approaching changelings. He made the sign of the cross once and looked up. He didn’t used to do that, but he had done it at least once or twice before back on Europe.
Both had been the hardest battles of his life.
Seconds later, the first changelings reached his own shields. Many got impaled by his phalanx formations, and he suddenly felt that maybe all the changelings would simply charge blindly and his shields would be able to terminate them...
Too soon to think so enthusiastically.
Seconds later, the changelings seemed to organize in lines and began to charge magic blasts at them. He cursed.
"Tighten up the formations! Close the shields!" He watched in horror as some of the blasts managed to explode against his shields and instantly kill many ponies.
"Shit!" He picked his rifle and aimed. He fired round after round. His ponies were firing arrows at the enemy, and his shield formations were no longer being massacred by the changeling magic blasts. He watched, pleased, as some of his own unicorn units answered back with their own blasts. Soon the changelings where moving back again, this time much more closely and with their own shields up front. Soon both armored formations where a couple of feet from each other. None of the formations did anything, until the changelings suddenly opened and combined magic blasts to hit the Equestrian shield walls.
That broke the phalanx formations almost instantly, sending the shield bearers backwards hard. Luckily Davis saw most of them stand back up. What he didn't like was when the first changeling officers entered the Equestrian fortress. He began to shoot as he barked out orders.
"Single line formation! Form a barrier!" he shouted. Somehow, his shouts reached the changelings, because soon he was under fire from many officers that tried to blast him with their magic. He jumped to the side as the place he had been second ago exploded, leaving a huge crater. He curse as he stood up and looked around.
His last order had been followed and now the Equestrians were holding one long single line of shields with swords behind. The pikes were hitting the changelings back. He guessed the enemy had used all of their energy on the last super blast with which they had destroyed his own phalanx formations, and the officers had used theirs trying to blow him up. He stood up, ignoring a sharp pain on his knee, and quickly shot one of the officers.
"Archers! Shoot at their officers!" he shouted. He saw as some enemy officers fell down beneath a rain of arrows, the units they controlled immediately falling into chaos. Those were quickly destroyed by the Equestrians, which used their chance to win more space.
As he loaded his rifle his mind wandered off to Golden Flame and if he was holding well against the changelings...
*** *** ***
"Stop moving! Let me end this quick!" the changeling officer shouted Golden Flame. Both had been fighting for many minutes now, and none of them seemed to get any advantage. Golden Flame knew he couldn't fight the changeling face-to-face since the size and strength of the changeling would give him a terrible disadvantage. He cursed as he felt his sword, now under control of the changeling, pass inches away from his face. He was running around, since his wings ached too much to fly.
He saw a window of opportunity as the sword moved away. He ran forward and slammed against the changeling, making sure his wings hit first. The changeling grunted in pain as the fine blades cut through his thick body armor. The changeling pushed off the pegasus, managing to make a deep cut on his front legs. Golden Flame struggled to stay on his feet as he landed. He saw red blood pour from his cuts, causing him to feel dizzy and grow pale.
"Now I'm gonna make sure you suffer!" the changeling shouted.
Golden saw that the changeling was holding his belly and dark green blood poured out of two large wounds which his wing blades had caused. Golden Flame grinned and launched himself forward, barely evading the sword and catching the changeling with full force; his wing blades cut through something as he ran and slammed against the changeling. Both tumbled away, and when Golden Flame stood up he saw the changeling.
He was on the ground, no longer moving. As Golden Flame approached he felt both relief and a little disgust.
The changeling was dead, that much was clear. His belly was opened completely, making Golden Flame turn away immediately. He opened his wings and, ignoring the pain, jumped flying towards the battle...
*** *** ***
An hour.
That's how long the battle had been going.
Davis was worried that he would run out of bullets soon. He had strapped his rifle back and had begun to use his bow. It wasn't as precise or as effective as his rifle, but he didn't want to run out of bullets at that point. The arrows were easier to get, and his bullets would help in future battles more than arrows would.
He killed another changelings when he noticed that his ponies were slowly falling back. Step by step, his troops had needed to move backwards in order to not get overrun by the enemy. Even with his archers covering his troops, the changelings were superior in number and the general seemed to know what he was doing very well. Davis had a hard time keeping the ponies in line, but he knew they couldn't stay like this forever.
He placed the bow on the ground and unsheathed his sword. He felt something... strange in it. Something he had not felt before when he touched it.
It was probably just the adrenaline...
He moved towards his troops and prepared to enter the fray. When the ponies saw him approach they cheered. Davis felt his spirit rise up at that.
He looked around. They could always make a charge—the changelings surely would not expect that from the Equestrians. If he was right, that could turn the tide of the battle.
He sighed and prepared to shout the final order.
"Pikes, up!" His order was carried out almost immediately. "Swords!"
He slowed down his breath.
"Charge!"
There seemed to be a couple of seconds were both armies stopped, incredulous at that order.
It was little less than a second...
The Equestrians began to gallop forward. The changelings didn't stand a chance as the Equestrians abandoned the safety of the shields and ran, pikes forward. In a combination of both spears, swords and hoofs at high speed, the Equestrians pushed forward like an unstoppable wall. The changelings that saw it coming turned tail and ran. Many weren't so lucky...
Davis ran behind, since he was slower than the ponies for obvious reasons. Still, he had to kill a couple of changelings that survived the first wave of Equestrian troops.
Soon, the charge stopped. It was almost the base of the hill, and the momentum carried by the ponies was lost when they were met with an equal force of changelings, only in greater number.
Ponies crashed hard against changelings as spears and swords flashed forward. Changelings used their horns to impale the front lines of ponies, and ponies used spears for the same purpose. Swords killed changelings all around as horns of the changelings did the same. Davis saw some changelings even pick up weapons from the fallen Equestrians.
He reached the battle and jumped with a savage cry, killing five changelings fast. He moved his sword to block all the attacks thrown at him, thrusting his own attacks at them as well. He saw a couple of officers, which he attacked immediately. Most didn't see him coming, but many tried hard to kill him. That complicated things, since once a changeling saw him they rushed over and tried to kill him.
Still, he was managing.
It wasn’t until he saw that he needed air support immediately that he realized they could lose. Even though the battle was technically tied, he could see that the changelings that attacked from the air were too much, and his archers couldn't do much, since if they shot there was a high probability they’d hit their own.
He looked around again, looking for a specific changeling: the general.
He knew that he should be around somewhere. Hopefully, at least. A changing surely wouldn't miss a chance to kill a pony, much less one as strong as a general.
He was about to give up his search and resume fighting when he noticed a pair of changelings. One was obviously the general, the other was smaller but seemed to be whispering to the general. He saw that the small one said something and the general nodded. Soon, he saw the changelings around them begin to form lines.
That wasn't good.
He needed to stop them somehow—he didn't think for a second as he rushed towards the forming line of changelings. He knew he could defeat most of them on his own, but the general was his target. If he killed him, the battle was surely won.
The changelings didn't see him until it was too late. He jumped and kicked two changelings in the head. The formation immediately broke up in chaos as the changelings tried to kill Davis, but were too confused to react properly. Davis used the momentum he had to hit a changeling with the but of his blade and then stabbed another. He had to leave his sword so as to not lose his forward force, and instead he unstrapped his rifle and began to use it. He no longer cared about wasting his ammo, but rather in getting to the enemy general. In a second he had it loaded and in another he was shooting rapidly around the changelings.
Suddenly, he felt a hard punch and promptly fell down face-first. He turned and moved away just in time as two large hooves landed where he had been seconds ago. He jumped to his feet and stared into the eyes of the enemy general.
Both looked at each other for some seconds before the general snarled and attacked him, his fangs clearly visible.
"Fangs? Really?"
He parried his horn and shot him immediately after. He felt the same thing he had felt on his sword; a kind of strength replacing his now-tired state. He didn't gave it much thought as the other changeling, the smaller one, attacked him as well.
He moved out of the charge of the smaller changeling and almost tripped. He stopped another horn from a random changeling using his rifle and killed him fast. Before he could react however, he felt another hard punch in the back.
"Why did they have to be hooves?!" he thought as he tried to stand up. He pulled his sword back as he felt the changeling closing in. He stood up and shot blindly at the changeling behind him. He heard the thump if a body hitting the ground, and he immediately turned to see if he had hit the general.
He saw the smaller changeling looking slightly surprised as the general laid dead between them. Davis raised his rifle and pointed, but seconds after he began to feel his mind get blurry. He stopped aiming and used the rifle to lean on. He saw the changeling look curiously at him. The changeling bowed slightly and ran away.
He saw the sword impaled on a dead changeling and without thinking he went and took it. He looked around.
The battle had been reduced to barely a series of skirmishes between small unorganized changeling groups and ponies, but it was obviously already over. The changelings had no chance of winning now. The enemy general's death was the cause of that. It had confused the changelings and resulted on the Equestrian victory.
He sheathed his sword and began to walk around.
He smiled the moment he saw a pony raise a banner shouting victory. That made him relax immediately and let out a tired sigh.
"Victory!" ponies sang around; soon all the ponies had joined. The remaining changelings flew away and followed the changeling he had allowed to live.
That's when he began to question something...
Why hadn't he killed him...?
He couldn't chase off the feeling of confusion as he began to look around and organize everything back. He'd need to do a lot of things, especially counting the dead troops. That was the hardest part for him after a battle.
He walked slowly to the little fort on the hill they had built and prepared to receive the status reports, but all the way with the same problems bugging at him. He had not killed the changeling, and he feared that was going to prove in the end a terrible mistake.
Still, he knew he could not have killed an opponent that was not attacking him and was completely at his mercy. He couldn't think of himself doing something like that.
He brushed those thoughts off again as he reached the top of the hill. He approached the officers, and felt relieved once he saw Golden Flame was fine. He walked toward a them and smiled tiredly.
"Gentlemen," he said. "We won..."