Cor picked at the silver sunburst badge on his chest. He looked over at Jason, who was pouring over a long roll of parchment, frowning as he read all of the names carefully. A matching badge on his tunic glinted in the morning light as it streamed through the open window of their guest quarters. They had met with the Princesses two days ago and they had been working tirelessly ever since to put together a plan for the next battle. No matter how hard he tried though, Cor still couldn’t get used to the idea of holding a rank in the military of these ponies they’d only known for two weeks. He sighed loudly.
“Would you stop that?” Jason said without looking up. “You can be uncomfortable without making it hard on the rest of us.”
“But it wouldn’t be fun then,” Zacon said from the corner of the room. He slid a whetstone across the dagger he was holding with a hiss.
“You would know,” Jason said, rolling his eyes.
Zacon chuckled and kept sharpening the dagger.
“You know I don’t feel comfortable with authority,” Cor mumbled. “And the way we got these positions isn’t helping.”
Jason turned away from the parchment. “And I’ve said already that it doesn’t matter how we feel about it. We need to do what we can with what we have.” He got up, rolling up the list and carrying it with him. “And what we need to do now is meet with the Princess to request her permission to form this group.”
“Finally!” Cor said, heading for the door.
“You’ve finished?” Zacon asked, getting up as well. He slipped the dagger back into its sheath.
“Yes. The names we have here should be enough candidates to form a sufficient unit. I’m just hoping we can get enough of them to agree to it.”
“We’ll have no trouble there,” Zacon rumbled as they left the room. They proceeded down the hall toward the throne room. “The ponies out there are desperate for something to rally behind. If we tell them we’re their best chance, they will line up in droves.”
“I want to believe it will be that easy but at the same time…” Jason shook his head. “I can’t help but hope they aren’t so eager.”
“If they acted like you wanted them to, they would all run away at the first hint of battle,” Zacon huffed. “At least Cor and I can get past the fact that they’re doing some of the fighting.”
Jason glared at him but said nothing. Cor frowned at Zacon.
“Don’t go grouping me in with you as if we agreed on most of this,” Cor said. “I’m still not on board with commanding them.”
“As you’ve repeatedly noted,” Zacon said. “But you’ll do it anyway, right?”
“I guess,” Cor conceded after a pause. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it though.”
Zacon nodded. “My point exactly. You know when to put aside your feelings and do what is necessary.”
Cor’s frown deepened. The three of them came to an intersection in the hall and saw Celestia standing just up ahead. They stopped at the sight of her expression. She was talking to a pair of Guards and was obviously not hearing good news. Another Guard approached and stood waiting to see why she had sent for him. Celestia finished with the first two and dismissed them. She spoke to the other then but the words were too soft to be heard. They watched as some horrible comprehension spread across the guardpony’s face.
He turned away from the Princess, biting his lip while he removed his helmet. Celestia stood beside him silently, her eyes closed against the sadness of the news she’d just shared. Tears leaked down the Guard’s cheeks and he brushed them away angrily. Celestia stepped close to him and her wing wrapped around him. He looked up at her as if to beg her to undo what had happened. Celestia lifted a hoof and hugged him close. He lost control then and sobbed into her shoulder, clutching at her desperately.
Minutes passed and they remained where they were. Cor jumped in surprise when Twilight walked past them. She had been behind them for some time, though they’d been too distracted to notice. She walked up close to Celestia and hesitated briefly.
“Princess?” she asked in a tiny voice.
Celestia did not acknowledge her but eased away from the stricken Guard. She lifted his chin and held his gaze. After a moment, he nodded to her, sniffling. She gestured to a servant waiting on the periphery and had him escorted away. Twilight made to take another step toward the Princess but thought better of it and put her hoof down again. Celestia watched the Guard until he was out of sight.
“We have just received word that the Trolls are on the move,” she announced without preamble. “They began their march early last night.”
“Why didn’t we hear about it sooner?” Twilight asked incredulously. “Weren’t our scouts supposed to be watching them?”
“We did have scouts watching,” Celestia said softly. “They didn’t report back and their relief couldn’t find any sign of them. I’ve just informed Corporal Heralding Winds that his younger brother is most likely dead.”
Twilight covered her mouth to suppress her gasp. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”
“The Trolls are nearly here,” Celestia said, moving on forcefully. “They marched through the night to get to us and now they are only an hour away from the gates. We must prepare our troops immediately.”
~*~*~
Throughout the city, ponies stood about listlessly in the streets, watching the walls and trying to come to terms with the news that their city was about to come under attack. There was hardly any chatter among them and the streets themselves seemed to be holding their breath.
Atop the walls, a different silence reigned. Ponies shifted their weapons nervously and their armor clanked with the movement. Dispersed among the troops, the golden armor of the Royal Guard sparkled. Their numbers were greatly reduced since the last battle. Only a hundred of them remained in the ground forces. Of their Pegasi, there were fifty. They were stoic in the face of the coming battle, lending a small measure of confidence to those around them. Though more than six hundred other ponies of the Army remained, only about four hundred were in fighting condition. The Air Corp was nearly untouched in comparison. Only ten of their members had been lost in battle, including one Wonderbolt, and the rest escaping serious injury, leaving eleven full squadrons able to fight.
The sound of marching reached them as the Troll force drew closer. Cor looked out at the fields leading up to the gate and measured the range. He shuffled the arrows in the quiver that hung at his side and sighed. He carried three full quivers of twenty with him but his reserves were nearly spent. He would have to make more soon.
Cor glanced to his right. Celestia stood beside Luna in the wall’s center and overlooked the field approaching the gateway. Farther along, he could see Jason. The tan Unicorn was staring ahead intensely. They had chosen to stand apart so that they could lend their support to the pony lines more evenly. The whole wall had to hold if they hoped to win.
Zacon was on Jason’s left, separated by a hundred or so ponies. He had taken one look at the walls themselves and suggested they ride out and meet the Trolls in the open field. Celestia immediately rejected the idea. She had seen enough of fighting on such even ground. She wanted the advantage of walls on their side this time. Zacon would likely have criticized it as a cowardly notion if Cor and Jason hadn’t agreed with her right away. So they waited.
The Pegasi of the Air Corps were on the ground behind the wall, watching for the order to attack. A contingent of Army lancers stood just inside the gate, prepared to charge out or hold the breach should one form. The mages of the Guards had been stationed in the high parapets where they would have a clear view of the entire field. Cor had lost track of Twilight somewhere between the palace and the walls but he figured she’d be among them.
Cor took a slow breath and let it out again. When the Trolls came into view, he swung his bow up and drew an arrow. The ponies to either side of him glanced at him with something bordering on longing. He realized they were equipped with swords, spears, javelins and the like. His bow must seem like a luxury to them. He nocked the arrow with a guilty frown. When he looked back up, he did a double take. The legion of Trolls that leered back looked no fiercer than before. The difference was the line of massive wooden carts that was being wheeled to the front, still hundreds of yards away.
An uneasy murmur passed over the walls. Cor peered closely at them, tracing the wooden beams and ropes mounted atop the carts. His eyes went wide as he realized what he was actually seeing.
“Catapults!” he yelled as the arms swung up and launched one foot diameter stones into the air.
The ponies around him ducked at his warning just as the stones impacted the wall. Defenders up and down the wall stumbled near the areas struck and a few lost their footing. Several stones overshot and sailed over their heads and into the city. One hit the rampart, smashed through and carried two ponies over the edge. They screamed on the way down and one fell silent as they hit the ground. The other’s sobs of pain carried back up to the defenders.
Cor sprang back upright and aimed his bow high. His target was out of his range…unless he put magic into it. His eyes narrowed. He was not about to let this bombardment go unanswered. Green light raced up the shaft of the arrow and the arms of his bow glowed. He took aim and released the shot with a resonating twang. The arrow sailed across the normally impossible distance and struck one of the catapults. On contact, it exploded violently, ripping the siege machine apart and scattering its operators. Several ponies around Cor cheered and looked at him expectantly. He nocked another arrow but shook his head.
“I’m not going to be able to take them all like that.” He pointed at a nearby soldier. “You! I need you to carry a message to the Princesses.”
The young stallion saluted nervously.
“I need you to tell them that I can’t take them all. They’ll need a way to eliminate the rest of the catapults themselves.”
He drew and fired another magically charged shot as he spoke and a second catapult disappeared. The stallion nodded and dashed off down the wall. Cor was still contemplating how many of these shots he had in him when the catapults fired their second volley. It shook the wall under his hooves and caused him to stumble. By the time he righted himself, the whole field had changed. An order that he hadn’t heard had sent the Air Corps into the air and the Troll war horn was heralding the advance of their troops. Scaling ladders were held over the heads of many of them.
Cor took stock of his options and grunted. There weren’t many choices. Either he could use all of his mana and stamina to silence half of the catapults or he could spend his arrows on marginally thinning out the swarming mass below him.
There won’t be much of a wall to hold if those catapults have their way, he thought in distress. But it doesn’t matter how much of a wall there is if there aren’t any ponies left to stand on it.
He drew his bow back and leveled it at the advancing Trolls. Sparks flew from the end of his arrow as the spell charged.
~*~*~
The Princesses looked at each other with deep worry as the Trolls closed the distance. The ponies around them gripped their weapons and watched the horde surge toward them, their eyes wide with fear. The catapults loaded their third volley as the Pegasi climbed higher. Luna was just looking down the wall, questioning why Cor had stopped firing when a pony raced up to them and delivered her answer.
“We can only hope that our ponies can withstand it for now,” Celestia said as the messenger returned to his post. “We must trust our Pegasi to deal with the catapults.”
A bolt of lightning flashed through the Troll lines to their left and all eyes turned involuntarily to see a large contingent of Trolls drop to the ground, twitching and writhing. The stricken Troll at the head of the column fell clutching an arrow that protruded from his chest. The green Unicorn directly above them on the wall drew another arrow and nocked it.
Celestia considered the archer briefly before speaking.
“Our concern is with the bulk of their forces.” Celestia’s horn lit up as she spoke. “And that is where we will act.”
“We will join in the battle, sister?” Luna asked, sounding almost eager.
“Yes, Luna. I have stood idly by for too long. I will not wait until the situation is dire to intervene this time.”
Celestia launched a stream of brilliant red fire into the sky. It exploded in a shower of sparks, signaling the mages to open fire on the Trolls as they passed into range. But the sparks didn’t fade away. Celestia swung her horn down and the sparks fell, gathering speed and homing in on the enemy below. Where they struck, small infernos erupted. Where Trolls were hit, they scattered, flailing as the fire clung to their fur.
Luna lifted her horn as well and she seemed to go into a trance. Streaks of dark light shot forth from her horn and struck the eyes of dozens of advancing Trolls. The Trolls froze and then fell over incapacitated. Their eyes were wide and staring but had turned completely black and dark vapor rose from them. Luna’s eyes glowed with white light and a sinister smile touched the corners of her lips.
~*~*~
As the combined power of the Princesses and the mages poured into their ranks, the Troll attack stalled out. A hail of javelins from the Pegasi overhead effectively brought it to a halt. Trolls climbed over the burnt and comatose bodies ahead of them only to be met with another wave of deadly magic and spears. If it weren’t for the continued bombardment of the catapults, which caused the defenders to duck and stumble as great chunks of the wall were pounded into rubble, the Trolls wouldn’t have made any headway.
And that was the thought at the forefront of Rainbow’s mind as she led her squadron up with the other ten squadrons of the Air Corps. As they reached the clouds, they leveled out. Once they’d passed over the bulk of the Troll forces, Spitfire signaled from the lead squadron that they were beginning their dive. Rainbow could see the catapults far below them continuing to launch deadly stones at the battered walls. She looked behind her at the Pegasi following her.
Fifteen pairs of eyes looked back at her, waiting for her leadership. She was momentarily stunned by the weight of that realization. They were at her command for better and for worse. It was up to her to make the decisions that would get them all back to the ground safely. She swallowed hard before shouting her orders.
“We need to shut those catapults up!” she yelled over the wind. “We’ll toss a volley of javelins during the dive and then hit them with our blades.”
The first few squadrons ahead of them began their dive. Rainbow banked in preparation, picking their target and continued to call out over her shoulder.
“Once we take out the crews, we’ll need to keep them from sending more Trolls to start them up again!”
She rolled over and dropped into the battle. The squadron turned over smoothly and followed her in. They broke through the clouds and sped toward the milling figures on the ground. The battle was just as chaotic as when she’d last checked. The only difference was that there seemed to be twice as many catapults as she’d counted before. The first few squadrons were nearly in range to strike when they suddenly veered off and scattered. Rainbow scanned for the cause and found it soon enough.
What she’d thought was a second row of catapults behind the first was actually a different siege machine all together. They were pointed almost straight up at them and launching huge spears into the sky. She blinked once and banked hard. Her squad banked with her, and judging by the shouts of surprise, had only just realized the danger themselves. The barrage from the ground whistled past them harmlessly but the other squadrons hadn’t fared as well. Already the bodies of a dozen Pegasi lay broken and bloody at the feet of the Trolls. Caught completely by surprise and at nearly point blank range, they hadn’t had time to dodge.
Rainbow gulped and fought back against the chilling fear that suddenly surfaced and ran through her body. It was similar to the cool rush of adrenalin she loved so much, but instead of a satisfying surge of confidence, it felt as if her heart had forgotten to beat for the span of a breath. For that brief time, all she could think about were those mangled bodies and how easily she could end up being one of them.
Rainbow shook herself mentally, forcing those thoughts to the back of her mind and rapidly changing her plans to account for this new development. She didn’t have time to see what the others were doing. She only knew that this had become their number one threat. Not checking to see if anypony could hear her, she shouted out her decision.
“Same plan! But we’re headed for those things first! They’ll tear us apart otherwise!”
She dove again, taking her below the range of the ballista but into the range of a hail of axes that the Trolls sent to greet her. She wove through the air and responded with a pair of javelins. She pulled one more and held it before her like a lance. The catapults came and went as she homed in on the nearest ballista crew. They saw her coming but still couldn’t react fast enough to save themselves. She skewered the first Troll she met and whipped her blades out at the next. Both Trolls went down and her squadron swarmed the others. Seeing that crew handled, the remainder of the squadron redirected to the crew of the adjacent ballista, eliminating them cleanly. A glance to either side told Rainbow that they were currently the only squadron near the ground.
Not a good place to be, she thought.
She whistled to get everypony’s attention and kicked off into the sky again. They followed her up, chased by weapons thrown from Trolls converging on where they struck. While they succeeded in outrunning the counterattack, they were forced to keep climbing when the ballista line fired up at them again. They cleared the clouds and swung back to hover. Rainbow scanned the skies and then the field. All of the other squadrons had pulled back toward Canterlot again to retrieve more javelins and regroup. It registered briefly that she’d just led her squadron in alone to attack the middle of the Troll force.
Rainbow looked at her Pegasi. They hovered beside her expectantly. They were all still there and miraculously unhurt. What she saw below was a less encouraging view. The Army’s situation was getting worse by the minute as the walls began to buckle from constant bombardment. There were stretches of the wall that had been rendered nearly impassible as the ramparts were shattered. One section of the wall had been knocked in on the west side and ponies were desperately trying to stem the tide of Trolls who rushed toward the breach.
Rainbow noted that Jason and Zacon stood side by side at the front of the ponies in the gap, their blades darted and turned around them, creating a wall of bodies to rival the missing stone. They were making an account for themselves but they were also giving ground steadily. Still, she knew she couldn’t do anything for them now except stop those catapults. She wheeled around and gestured for her squadron to follow. They turned and headed for the rear of the Troll force.
Once they were completely behind them, they turned again and dove at the ballista. The crews on the ground tracked their movement steadily, rotating the ballista to aim at their new angle of approach. Rainbow grit her teeth as she saw nothing could be done about it.
“Spread out!” she hollered.
They all broke formation and scattered widely, each now several lengths from the nearest Pegasus. When the ballista fired, they missed horribly as each crew aimed for a different pony. Rainbow flew on, praying they could get in too close for the second shot. She could see the spears already loaded in the siege machines as the crews wound the bows back. Most of them looked to be preparing to launch. She held her breath.
A cry of alarm drew the attention of the Trolls suddenly as squadrons of the Air Corps, unnoticed as they returned from the walls, poured up over the cliff side to attack from the flank. Spitfire’s blazing mane clearly visible at the front of the charge, the Air Corps stormed into the Troll siege crews. Many Troll troops had already taken up protective positions around the crews in light of the initial attacks, but they were too confident in the power of their ballista and there were not enough of them to slow down the stinging blades of the Pegasi.
While most of the Trolls were caught off guard for a moment, some had the presence of mind to keep firing. Rainbow only barely dodged the two that sailed up at her but she heard the wet thud and dull grunt of one of her Pegasi behind her becoming the victim of a spear. Something in the back of her mind exploded in response. A rage boiled to the surface and drove her into a frenzy. She let out a yell as she cut clear through the first Troll. Her blade shuddered as she forced it past the bone and flesh in a shower of blood.
She did a somersault in mid air and brought her rear hooves down on the next Troll’s head. It was flattened with a sickening crunch and the body slumped to the ground. She pushed off and slammed into her next target, driving him to the ground and punching her blades straight through his chest and into the dirt with a vicious cry of victory.
She held him there, still seething and breathing hard as her squadron took the rest of the crew. The Air Corps swept up to them and held their ground around her. The sounds of fighting barely registered to her. All that was real was the Troll she had claimed for her own: This enemy that had become the center of her need for retribution for the hurt and death that she’d watched them inflict these past few days.
As she stood over him, she got a clear view of his eyes as he died. His shock and fear froze as his ribs caved in under her hooves and blood pooled beneath him. He tried to form words but only a gurgle in the back of his throat escaped. He was nearly doubled over as she pinned him to the ground but a tense moment later, he fell back, limp and lifeless. Rainbow froze as well. Her rage dissolved into a numbness that robbed her of the ability to move.
This was the moment Jason had warned her about. This was the feeling he’d said would claim her if she fought. This Troll’s life had meant nothing to her. More than that, she had wanted him to die; actually enjoyed it briefly. The eyes of this fallen soldier had told her more than she had been ready for. He had been terrified of death. Or her, if there was any real difference. He had desperately wanted to live. He had searched her face for mercy in his last seconds and all he had seen was her rage.
She nearly choked on a sob. One of the Pegasi beside her grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. She didn’t resist.
“Sergeant!” he shouted in her ear, but stopped when he caught the look on her face. His tone changed to one of concern. “Rainbow? We need to move. We’ve done all we can here.”
She nodded and wiped her eyes enough that she could see where she was flying. They took off and the first thing she noticed was the lack of retaliation. No axes or spears were thrown after them. She decided she didn’t care. As they winged back toward the walls, the chaos below them was a dull roar in the back of Rainbow Dash’s mind. It was drowned out by the scream deep inside her that hadn’t yet found release.
~*~*~
High above the fighting, high enough that the clash of steel and cries of death could hardly reach them, a pair of eyes watched. The furtive figure slipped back into the rocks of its cliffside perch. Others crouched back in the rocks, waiting for his return and the report he brought. Their leader stood expectantly, tracking the scout easily even through the concealing terrain he crossed to reach them.
Though he was smaller in size than any other Troll present, they deferred to him with a mix of respect and fear. The wicked curved head of his spear didn’t look nearly as dangerous as the murderous glee in his eyes as he contemplated their group’s plan. His fur had a peculiar bluish tinge to it, seeming to glow slightly. While other Trolls were top heavy with powerful arms and a bulky chest, he was relatively lanky and thin. He had the dangerous air of a coiled viper about to strike and at the same time, the tension of a bird about to dart away at the slightest movement.
“Well?” he demanded, skipping any pretense in his eagerness to move the mission forward.
The scout padded up to him and saluted before speaking.
“The battle is well underway, Ragnalau. They are completely occupied with the defenses at the wall. I could see no troops within the city itself.”
Ragnalau’s mouth stretched into a cruel sneer.
“You mean they don’t even consider an attack from behind possible?”
“No, Chief’s Champion. They seem to have concentrated all of their efforts on the walls alone.”
Ragnalau picked up his spear and set it on his shoulder with a twirl. He started making his way down into the city at a leisurely pace.
“Well boys,” he called back to the rest of his troops. “It sounds like we’re clear to have our fun.”
The rest of the Trolls followed, hundreds of them rising out of their concealment and pulling their axes from their belts. They picked their way through the difficult rocky path that their kind had long learned to traverse with ease. Below them, the defenders of the city of Canterlot fought on, unaware of the new threat.