Chapter 29
"Setting up main camp, first encounter and sealed alliance"
"Sir!" came the shout of a pegasus pony flying towards the Equestrian column marching behind Davis. Their tired faces made it obvious it had been a long and tiresome day under the burning sun in the Northern Griffon Plain, a flat expanse covered with grass and the occasional bush. The sun had even made Davis question whether that plain was even possible if there was no indication of water, but he didn't dwell much on that and was again lost in thoughts of war as he walked alongside Ace with his army behind him.
The original plan was to pass the desert and the plain in less than five days, which would leave enough resources to set up a main camp near the Northern Griffon Forest and wait for Louis to send more resources and to allow the troops some rest. Now they had been traveling for ten days and they had not seen it. According to the map they were close, but he thought by looking at the map that it would take them five days; he no longer trusted it for guidance on a long journey.
It was that or they were moving far slower than he had anticipated.
Davis lifted his head to see one of the scout pegasi that had left the column in the morning to scout ahead. He noticed the smile in the pony's tired face as he landed in front of them. Davis stopped walking and so did Ace.
"The forest sir, I saw it. It's only an hour's walk from here!" Davis looked ahead but could only see the top of a small hill. The pony noticed. "You'll be able to see it once you get to the top of that hill, but it's there. We're almost there!" Davis smiled tiredly at the scout's enthusiasm.
"Thank you for the information, Private. This is good news indeed; go get something to drink and join the rest of the column." The pony saluted and flew towards the back of the column where they had the food and water supplies. Davis and Ace looked at each other, smiling.
"I guess not much walking now, eh?" the blue unicorn general said chuckling. Davis nodded.
"I have never felt that would make me feel so good, but now it does." He straightened his cap and started to walk fast towards the top of the hill in front of them, where supposedly they would manage to see the forest. Ace followed close behind.
His reached it and looked forward, a smile slowly forming on his lips. Ace stopped beside him.
"Indeed, not more than an hour's walk, Davis." Both generals turned and saw the troops moving slowly and tired.
Davis cleared his throat. "We are almost there!" he shouted. "I can see the forest from here. Once we reach it, we'll rest for a few days and prepare for the upcoming battles." The ponies rose their ears as they listened, excited chatter about finally resting well filling the air. "Now we only need to get there. Come on, one last effort!" He started walking as the ponies followed at a faster pace, their tired faces gone as they thought about the rest they were going to get soon.
The forest slowly approached them as they walked, its tall green trees slowly growing bigger. Davis had a small map in his hand that portrayed the general area of the entire northern forest. There was a rough circle in the area Davis planned to set up main camp. From where he was that moment he could see the part he had marked on the map in the distance.
It was a large enough area to hold a camp for ten thousand, and it had a few natural defenses, especially since it was an elevated area. They'd need to chop down a few trees, but soon he'd have a small command fort once the campaign in the griffon territories started.
The march there was way easier than the rest of the journey, probably because they could see the end now. Davis had never had to do a walk so long before, not even during the war back on Earth. He had walked a lot, yes, but never with such a big force under him and more than ten days of walking.
Finally, they reached the place. Davis immediately started to order ponies around for the preparation of the camp. He was going to make this camp defensible in case the changelings decided to make the first move, unlike the others during the trip that were mostly just to pass the night as fast as possible. He wanted a fort, and a fort he was going to build.
"Alright officers, order your units to start preparing different things. Some will prepare the tents and the camp in general. The rest will start to cut trees down and build a wooden wall around the fort area!" he began to say, getting the attention of all. He started pacing around a little. "I know many feel this is the end of our journey, but I'm afraid it is not. Yes, the way getting here was hard, but we have not even begun. The war is still there and we are not going to stop for long. Please do as you are ordered to get this done as fast as possible so that we can rest safely for now." He was turning when a pony spoke.
"Why can't we rest first! We just finished this walk you took us to and now you want us to build and do even more effort? I don't see the need for such a rush!" That earned Davis a few shouts of disapproval.
"Yes! We want to rest!"
"No work, sleep first!"
And so on...
Davis slowly turned. He didn't have much patience, at least not after such a long and tiresome trip, but he tried to hold himself together. He couldn't get angry, not after the effort his men... ponies, had done for him. He did need to convince them though.
"I know many of you think that way, but I'm certain the changelings are not unaware of our presence here. They know we came, and they will try to send us back—or stop us for good. We are a threat to them here, and they know it." He looked at the pony that had first spoken: a navy blue unicorn. "So what better time to attack us than when we are weak after the journey and defenseless?" Ponies slowly whispered. "I know how you feel: I did the walk too. I also know I'm not asking more of you than what I know you can do. If you don't want to do this for yourselves, do it for you fellow soldiers. We will be depending on this for our survival for the next few days before we get supplies from the second army that went through the sea."
Ponies all around slowly nodded, and the pony that first spoke looked down.
"Now," Davis said, finishing his little speech. "Get to work, we need to be finished before nightfall."
The lines broke out as officers organized their units; ponies went to chop down wood, prepare tents and a few pegasi went to scout. Davis, in the meantime, started to set up the main tent. It was the largest tent where the officers were to discuss plans and such. It hadn't been placed before in the other camps because it wasn't necessary. Since this was to be the main camp for the operation, they would need it.
Ace joined him.
"So, General, what do you think will happen next?" the unicorn asked. "I know Louis is supposed to send us supplies, but is he going to be successful?"
Davis sighed and stopped for a second. "I trust in him, and I don't think he'll let us down." He looked at his pony friend. "But should he fail, we'll need to handle this the best way possible. Maybe we can get the griffons to help us with supplies once we contact them."
Ace nodded. "Very well, let's hope for the best then." His horn lit up as he started lifting the tent.
The American soldier resumed working. "Let's hope for the best..." he repeated.
*** *** ***
(5 days ago...)
The small Griffon and Equestrian joint fleets moved slowly but steadily.
The waves rocked the ship less than before, and by now the whole Equestrian Army and its general had gotten used to it.
Louis stood in the prow of the boat, looking to the horizon. He scanned the ocean, deep in thought, slowly recalling the past days' events. He felt that, even though being in Equestria was an adventure by itself, what he was living that moment was even more of an adventure not only because he was in a 17th century style ship, but because he was on his way to liberate griffon ports and stop an invasion. He felt his blood pumping in excitement and uncertainty. The odds were very bad against him and his troops, yet he saw that many ponies were actually excited. He knew better than to feel excited for a battle, since he knew how terrible they were; the problem was that he was actually feeling excited, probably due to the griffons' way of seeing war as an honorable thing, if done for the right cause. Since they were fighting for a good cause, it was honorable and excited the griffons, and their excited mood had begun to affect both Louis and the Equestrians.
He recalled the first sea battle, were the griffons had rescued them from a terrible defeat. He then remembered his first meeting with the griffon admiral. He respected that griffon, even though he was stubborn when it came to his plans, which was something Louis found out some time later.
They had been in the Equestrian captain's cabin when the admiral had arrived with two of his own captains. As they began to plan the attack on the ports with the Equestrians, Louis slowly noticed the lack of acceptance of his or the pony's suggestions. It took him a while and even a little shouting to finally make the griffons hear their suggestions, and even then they were not accepted often or easily.
After an entire evening of endless debate and discussion with a few threats thrown between the two sides of officers, they came to an agreement and managed to devise a plan that felt good to both sides.
Now, Louis pondered on how the assault was going to develop. It seemed hard to imagine a landing without many casualties, so he wondered how he was going to be able to save most of his troops’ lives.
Suddenly, a pony shouted from the crow's nest, disrupting Louis from his thoughts.
"Land ahead!" came the pony's voice, quickly getting everypony's attention. The captain walked towards the prow and stopped beside the German general. Neither Louis nor he could see anything.
Soon, the land started to appear in the horizon in gigantic mountain peaks coated with snow. It was an amazing sight, especially to the ponies that had never seen mountains so tall before. The tallest mountain in Equestria was the Canterhorn, where Canterlot was located. These mountains rose up to more than three times the Canterhorn’s height, and they couldn't even see the tip of some due to clouds.
"Enjoying the sight?" came the admiral's voice. Both Louis and the captain turned towards the griffon. He walked beside them in the prow. "They're the Ice Claw mountains, or more accurately the Ice Claws mountain range. They are the defenses nature gave us griffons in case we were attacked from the sea. To go to the heart of our empire you need to go across them or around them, and none of those options are fast."
The beach slowly started to show itself, along with a port city.
"Aerial port" the admiral said. Both Louis and the captain looked at him. "Our first target. We free that port, we have quick access to the rest of the ports, and there are at least another five Griffon class ships in its port." He smiled. "I can imagine the changelings fleeing already," he said, as if they had already won.
"We shouldn't say things before they are secured, Admiral." The pony captain said. "I believe we still have a battle to win."
The griffon nodded. "That is true." He flapped once and took to the sky. "Ready your troops and do as we planned, General. I'll get my own ready."
Louis nodded as the griffon flew towards his ship.
He silently recalled the plan on his mind...
First, the griffons and the Equestrian sailors along with the captain were going to attack the port itself while Louis' army disembarked from the transport ships and formed up. The griffons were going to open the city's main gate to allow the ponies to enter and end taking the city.
It wasn't a complicated plan, but it was a plan that required precision and speed in its development.
"Captain, prepare your ponies. I'll go get mine ready." The captain nodded and started barking out orders. Louis walked to the side where a small boat was waiting for him. He got on it and was taken to the biggest of the transports, where his officers were gathering. He spotted Iroh and smiled. The pony captain smiled at him too and then went to speak to other officers.
Louis cleared his throat, getting everypony's attention. He waited for a second before they all stopped talking, then he proceeded.
"Alright, I'll try to make this brief." He leaned on a table. "We are going into action in no less than half an hour, and hour at most. You've all been told of what you are to do, and to command your units into doing that. I trust in your ability to do this, and on that depends our victory today." He stopped for a few seconds. "Let's show the griffons what Equestrians are really made of," he finished. The ponies around smiled and some even cheered. Louis smiled as well. "Alright, go on then! Ve must move!" He saw the ponies move around, going to their units all across the boats.
Iroh approached Louis. "Well, General, good luck today." The pony saluted the German, Louis returned the salute. "You too, my friend." Iroh en left to order up his own unit, leaving Davis on his own. He simply moved to the deck of the transport ship and watched as the coast moved closer and closer by the minute.
Soon he heard a buzzing and looked towards the sky.
Hundreds of changelings approached the oncoming vessels.
"Archers!" he shouted. Immediately, archer units that were stationed to defend the boats came to attention. He could hear the same commands being given all over the rest of the fleet. "Get ready!" he shouted. The sound of arrows leaving their quivers filled the deck. "Aim!" Bows were strung. He watched the changelings approach. "Hold!" He finally saw they were within shooting distance. "Fire!" The sounds of hundreds of bows filled his ears as both fleets fired into the sky. Many of the changelings fell down with terrible screams that filled the air over the ocean around the ships.
"Two pegasus teams," He said. "Attack!" He watched as the two units took to the sky, as well as more from the griffons and a few from the navy ponies.
The changelings were taken down easily and no ponies nor griffons suffered a loss.
"Prepare for landing!" he heard from the griffon and the navy ships.
He instead turned to his own captains. "Prepare to land and line up in front of the city's gate." He received nods as they began to turn the transport ships towards the shore instead than towards the port.
Soon, the griffons and the navy ponies had reached the ports as fighting broke out. Changelings swarmed at them, but griffons and ponies alike fought hard, slowly making their way towards the gate. Louis was getting ready for landing.
The ships didn't bother to throw boats to the water and take them through those. Instead, ignoring the shallow waters, the large transport ships went directly ahead and at full speed against the sandy shore. He heard as the ships ground to a halt on the sand. It would be difficult to float the ships again, and some of them would likely be damaged, but speed was too important in this attack to worry about that now.
As soon as the ships stopped, he ordered large planks to be placed to allow the troops to disembark. The Equestrians were rapidly leaving the ships and forming lines; orders were thrown all around as Louis, from the deck of one of the ships, watched everything unfold. The sound of battle filled the air and he knew that any second the gates would open. He stared at the walls and then proceeded to disembark himself.
He stopped in front of the troops. Everypony looked at him now.
"Ponies!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "We are here today for something important and noble. We are here to free innocents from murdering creatures, the same creatures that tried to take your home a few years ago and that tried to take it again with violence not a few months ago." He pointed at the gates. "We are here to drive them off to their own holes, but it won't be easy." The faces of the ponies worried Louis. They looked scared at what was going on inside the city. "I know most of you have never thought of fighting, and yet here you are, all volunteers. I trust in all of you to do your job and make Equestria proud, because we are doing good here." He heard the doors opening. "Now follow me!" He turned and unsheathed his sword. He wasn't going to fight with advantage. He wanted to fight like his troops, and his guns were a huge advantage.
The sound of an army marching behind him made him feel powerful. He knew many were scared, he was scared himself, but he needed to hold them all together. This was their first test.
Finally, the gates opened up completely, revealing the battle inside.
Changelings, hundreds of them, all standing there in the streets and looking at them. Davis almost stopped, but he continued walking. He noticed some of his troops stopped, but he didn't. The changelings moved their horns forward and charged.
"Shields and spears!" Louis ordered. "Forward!" His order took some time to be done, Louis noticed that, but they followed him, which was what mattered. He saw as the changelings approached. Many ponies now seemed to hesitate.
"Hold!" he shouted. The changelings approached fast.
Suddenly, one of the spearponies threw his spear to the ground and ran back.
"Hold your positions!" he ordered. "Don't run!" A few more followed the other one running back.
"Schieße..." the German said as the ponies and changelings clashed. He shouted and threw himself forward against them.
Hopefully, no more would desert them, he thought as he engaged the changelings in what was the beginning of the Equestrian operation to free the griffons...
*** *** ***
(Present day...)
The sea breeze passed Louis with a relaxing scent. He was in a small room in a recently taken important griffon port, Coral Port, in the slightly damaged but otherwise intact navy barracks. His breathing evened up as he finished cleaning his rifle and placing it on his back. He was about to lay down on his bed when the griffon admiral entered without knocking. He stood up.
"Admiral, I wasn't expecting you."
The griffon chuckled. He had grown to be rather open to the German, even though their tactics clashed a little when before a battle. He sat down on a chair. "I know, General. I just needed to ask you something."
Louis sat down on the bed, making sure his rifle was placed safely beside him. "Oh, vhat is it?"
The griffon sighed. "I know you must leave soon and join your main force, but I was wondering if maybe some Equestrians, along with yourself, could stay and help. Your military insights have proven to be effective to otherwise terrible plans of mine." Davis was surprised. For what his officers had told him, the griffons had been bothersome to most, especially to Iroh. That poor officer had been, using simpler words, bullied by other griffon captains and lieutenants. Most of his troops were really happy to finally leave and join the rest of the Equestrian force. Even Louis himself had some trouble with griffons thinking too highly of themselves, but apparently stories ran out that he ate those that bothered him, which was a horrible rumor he had tried to stop.
He was surprised that the most important griffon had asked him to stay and help. That made him remember something Princess Luna had told him before departure.
"A little piece of advice, General," the princess had said, and so had the equestrian admiral. "The griffons are hard creatures. They think too highly of themselves and respect only those that win their respect. Winning it is a key for you success there. Prove to be an able leader and a courageous fighter and you'll win their trust and respect." Louis hadn't thought much of that since he had been too busy with preparations, but now that he spoke with the admiral he recognized that he probably had earned his respect during the two small battles they had.
"So?" the griffon asked again. "What do you say?"
Louis smiled and slowly stood up. "There is nothing I would like more than to continue fighting alongside you and your griffons." That made the griffon nod and await the answer he wanted. Instead, Louis said something he didn't expect. "But I'm afraid I must deny your request." Before the admiral could ask why, he continued speaking. "I have a duty to fulfill, and that is to take provisions and join the large attack force inside the continent. I can't go against my orders even if I would love to. Duty is duty after all, don't you say too, Admiral?"
The griffon thought a little before speaking up. As he did, he stood up and saluted.
"I've not met a creature in this world with the sense of duty you do. I'm honored to have fought alongside you, and I don't usually do that." He extended his claw to shake his hand. Louis shook his claw as the two looked at each other. "May our paths cross again, General."
"May our paths cross again," Louis chorused. They let go their hand/claw and saluted again. The admiral left Louis alone almost immediately.
Louis smiled and sat back on the bed. He hadn't planned on forming such a strong bond with an ally officer, but he had. Somehow he could relate to the griffons in more ways than he could with most ponies. He wasn't going to desert the Equestrians, but he was going to fight the changelings and help the griffons with more conviction now.
He stood up again and gathered his things. His troops would leave in an hour and head with supplies towards Davis' camp. They were not going to get there, though; only the supplies and the escort would. He was going to take his troops south to a fort that he was told was taken by the changelings. It was a strategic position that Davis had told him was his priority after the supplies. So, he was going to make sure the supplies made it to Davis and then go and take that fort. After that Davis had told him to advance near the sea to the south attacking the changelings in those parts and finally advance towards the capital when Davis told him to.
He finally finished readying his stuff, so he proceeded to get ready himself. He took his uniform and carefully placed it back on himself. He had come to enjoy wearing the general's uniform, since he thought it made him look more serious at what he was doing. He finished by placing the cap on and looking at a mirror. He slowly took the Royal badge and placed it on.
He couldn't recognize himself, not from before Equestria at least.
He didn't looked like the private that followed orders blindly anymore; instead, in front of him stood a battle-hardened general. His gaze seemed to penetrate every place they looked, pretty much how he remembered his old German officers back home. He felt that he could return to Germany that second and no one would question his rank as general.
He smiled and all those thoughts faded away. He needed to focus now.
With decisive steps, he approached the door and opened it, revealing a midday sun. He walked out, ready to get his troops to finally do what they had gone to the Griffon Empire to do:
Give a lesson to the changeling bugs...