Fluttershy was awoken by Twilight, it was still dark but the tent was lit up by a few small candles. She yawned, as though it was any other morning, until her brain kicked in and she remembered what was about to happen. She got out of bed and looked around; only Celestia, Twilight and herself were awake. Fluttershy went over to Derpy's bed and pulled back the covers; she was embarrassed to find not just Derpy, but the Doctor as well. She shook them both awake and begun to get her gear on. Pony archers were some of the best in the world, and were revered for their skills, Fluttershy was nervous as she would be leading a group of these archers onto the battlefield and wasn't sure she was the pony for the job. Fluttershy calmed her mind and thought of the ponies she was fighting for; Big Mac, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. She put the last part of her armour on, a leather patch that sat on the inside of the forearm. Archer pony armour was designed not to weigh them down, so it was made completely out of leather and magical material that acted like metal. She grabbed the bow she had been given and the quiver of arrows, which she strapped to her back. Fluttershy looked at her friends, each putting on their own armour; Twilight's was a dark purple colour, and consisted of a breastplate and some guards that went on her front legs. It was designed to boost her magic level and help cope with fatigue. Derpy wore traditional Pegasus armour, steel covering her whole body, including the cutie mark, which was represented on the armour with gold. Her wings were tipped with blades, and the helmet covered most of her face. The Doctor and Pinkie had identical outfits; a special metal that bent light, making them harder to see. It was similar in design to Pegasus armour, but did not feature a helmet. Rarity was armour less, as there would be no need for it in the research department. Celestia's armour was the most beautiful, it was made entirely of gold on the outside, but there was another layer underneath that was made of the same substance as Twilight's, and was the same basic design as Pegasus armour, including the helmet, which was specially made to cover her horn. The tips of Celestia's wings were also bladed.
"Okay my little ponies; are we all ready for this?" Celestia asked, and walked out of the tent with approving nods from the group. They went down to the battlefield, the battalions of ponies lined up in a specific formation.
"Elements, follow me." Said Celestia and they all walked onto the middle of the Battlefield. Fluttershy saw movement at the other camp, and when the seven ponies stopped in the middle, she noticed three griffins flying towards them. They landed and Fluttershy recognised Emperor Gregor.
"Celestia! What a fine day for war you've brought us." Gregor said mockingly.
"Gregor, stay your tongue. I have come here to give you one last chance. Back off and leave us in peace, and allow your daughter to admit what she did, or face me and my army. And let me tell you, they will not show mercy." Threatened Celestia, causing Gregor to pause, as though contemplating Celestia's threat. He looked at his two guards, took a deep breath and turned back to Celestia.
"Celestia, I want to explain something to you. You are not a parent, you have never looked upon your own flesh and blood, and almost been brought to tears out of concern for them. You have never felt the obligation to do whatever it takes to either protect your child, or make everything better. So you cannot understand the reasons that I fight this war, it's impossible for you to. So bring forth your army, they will find blood, either mine, or their own." Gregor turned and left, his wings working hard to take his large body aloft. The elements looked at Celestia, her eyes had widened in shock with Gregor's speech. Celestia bowed her head and teleported the group back to the camp. She looked at the elements one by one and then, her eyes closed.
"Get ready to attack." She said finally and the elements split off towards their respective groups. Fluttershy stood at the forefront of the archers, all ready for battle. She felt like she had to give a speech, but nothing came to mind. She stared at her troops awkwardly and they stared back, expectantly.
"Oh um…. We stand here, ready to face these griffins. And they will know the pain of our arrows. They will KNOW that it was us…we free ponies that stood here today; they took my friends from me, that is something I cannot… I will not forgive. FOR CELESTIA! FOR EQUESTRIA!" Fluttershy shouted, starting to feel more confident. The archers all put their hooves up in the air, cheering for Fluttershy, who turned and shouted;
"On my mark, show them what happens when they underestimate us." Across the plain, the griffins charged, war cries and shrieks carried across the open landscape. Fluttershy cocked an arrow, and was followed by her entire platoon. They all took aim as the huge mass of griffins charged. Fluttershy suddenly heard Twilight's voice in the distance.
"It's minotaur!" Fluttershy gasped, but kept herself steady. The Minotaur were halfway towards them before Fluttershy gave the signal and the archers let loose. A volley of about four hundred arrows glided through the air, and about three hundred hit their mark. The charging force was immediately halted; a few got up but were dropped once again by the archers. In the distance, Fluttershy saw more Minotaur that were dropped as soon as they were in range.
The morning went on like this and at around midday. Fluttershy ran to princess Celestia, informing her that they were out of arrows. Celestia nodded and turned to Duskheart, who yelled;
"Okay troops, archery team is done, get down there in formation and make Equestria proud." The earth ponies, including Big Mac all galloped down the hill, swords specifically made for earth ponies, grasped in their mouths. Fluttershy watched as Big Mac, who was near the front of the pack, galloped towards the Minotaur. The earth ponies collided with the next wave of Minotaur, and Fluttershy flew up into the air to keep an eye on Big Mac. The dust that had arisen in the melee obscured her view.
"Fluttershy, come here." Said Celestia. Fluttershy landed and looked at the Princess. "I know you're worried about Big Mac, but you have to stay focused, I promise you that he will be fine. Now go and tell your troops to begin making more arrows. At nightfall, I will send you out to retrieve as many as you can, but for now, I want you to start making a stockpile." Fluttershy nodded and went back to her troops, informing them of Celestia's orders. The archers set about gathering spare wood and other materials for the arrows. Fluttershy, however, couldn't take her eyes of the battle, a few times she thought she saw Big Mac, but he disappeared just as quickly as he appeared. The dust began to settle hours later, as the wounded and the victorious returned, while their numbers were high, there were still less than had gone out. Fluttershy ran over to the returning ponies, searching the crowd for Big Mac, and when she saw him her heart sank. Big Mac was being carried by two ponies; a deep cut was on his side, which started at the shoulder and all the way along, through his cutie mark.
"BIG MAC!" Fluttershy shouted and flew over to meet her wounded coltfriend. The ponies carrying him pushed past her, focused on getting him to the medical tent. Inside they laid him down on one of the beds and Fluttershy was pushed outside as the doctor's got ready to treat him. Fluttershy cried outside the tent, the other ponies offering only concerned looks. Rarity suddenly came running towards her and grabbed Fluttershy in a tight hug.
"Oh darling Fluttershy, I'm so sorry, is he going to be okay?" She asked as Fluttershy cried into her shoulder.
"I…I don't know." Fluttershy said through her tears. A young earth pony approached, Fluttershy recognised him as one of the ponies that had carried Big Mac to the hospital.
"Hey, you're Mac's fillyfriend right?" He asked. Fluttershy nodded her head. "Well don't worry, from what I've seen Mac's a fighter. He got that wound at the start of the battle and he just kept going. Hell, he saved my life more than once. I have no doubt that he's going to pull through." He put his hoof on her shoulder and told her;
"And on the way back here, Mac told me that if he didn't make it, that you should know that no matter what, he wants you to keep fighting. He also told me that he loves you with all of his heart."
"Thank you…uh?" Rarity said, curious about the stallion.
"Black Diamond, my name is Black Diamond." He said, giving Rarity a small smile. He walked off, leaving Rarity to take Fluttershy back to the tent, the fighting over as the sun began to set. Fluttershy had even more trouble sleeping that night, visions of Big Mac danced in her mind. The others fell asleep quickly, exhausted from the day's battle. Fluttershy got up and walked to the mirror, lighting a candle so as she could see her reflection. After a while, she took a knife off the table, and brought it up to her head. She grabbed a chunk of her mane and cut through it, allowing the strands to fall to the ground. Eventually Fluttershy was left with a short pixie cut that barely went down to her neck.
"For Big Mac. For Applejack. For Rainbow." She said to herself.