//------------------------------//
// Sic Semper Tyrannis 
// Story: The Prince 
// by BronyWriter 
//------------------------------//

I have to say that being on the front lines again after several months was kind of weird. It all looked the same, except I could tell there were far less tents than when I'd been here last, given that our army had suffered severe losses in the last battle against Purgle. Somehow the camp seemed more sparse, despite the fact that there were still tens of thousands of ponies around.

Well, soon they could all go home. With the griffins already out of the war, defeating Purgle would completely end it. I needed to do that as soon as possible.

As I walked through camp, many ponies cheered my name and bowed to me. They knew I had come to put a stop to all of this once and for all. Nothing could stop us now except for a huge setback, which seemed unlikely. The only way for Purgle to win the war at this point was if he somehow managed to get Mesud and Mando on his side, which wasn't going to happen.

I spotted a new set of tents, and walked over to it. They were all flying a miniature Zebrican flag, so it didn't take a genius to figure out who had shown up. Seems President Mando wasted no time in sending his troops over. A few zebras were talking outside of their tents and, if their bandoleers full of potions were any indication, Mesud had kept his promise about sending over the rest of the berserkers. One of the berserkers noticed me, and he excused himself from his conversation and walked up.

"Prince Antares, it is a pleasure," he began. "My name is Gryt. I am the leader of the rest of the berserker forces President Mando has sent over."

"I am honored that you are here," I replied. "We are glad that we have the support of such fearsome warriors."

"Oh, you flatter me," Gryt said, waving his hoof and smiling. "We figured that it was about time to avenge our fallen comrades. We can't let the minotaurs think that killing berserkers is okay. At least tell me that they went down fighting."

"Of course they did," I said with a nod. "When we came to collect our dead, we found hundreds of dead minotaurs around the fallen berserkers. I think the only reason that they didn't survive was because the minotaurs used ranged weapons to take them down."

"Yes, that does make sense," Gryt said, his eyes narrowing. "Dishonorable is what it is. Not that they could bring down a feral berserker any other way."

"We'll make sure you get the chance to avenge them. It's our goal to wipe out as many minotaurs as we can with our new weapons."

"Ah, yes, those." Gryt tilted his head at me. "I admit that I'm curious to see them and how they do on the battlefield. If they're as good as you say, I'm not sure we'll have much to do other than cleanup, which is rather disappointing. I'd much rather charge straight into the minotaur front lines, if you don't mind my saying so."

"I don't mind, but I would run the risk of friendly fire, and that I do not want to do. I think you'll still kill plenty of minotaurs, though. Our new weapons will kill a lot of them, but not all of them. We'll need you for the rest."

"If you say so," Gryt said with a shrug. "When would we be moving out?"

I grinned at him. "No time like the present, right? I don't see any reason to waste the day. I hope to have my troops moving out in a few hours."

Gryt nodded approvingly. "Well, then I'll be sure to let my forces know. Just don't leave without us."

"I would never. We both have a score to settle with the minotaurs."

With that settled, I turned to one of the officers flanking me. "Captain, let Commander Blaze know that it's time to move out. I want the army ready to march in two hours."

"Yes, Prince Antares," the captain said, bowing to me. "I will begin preparations at once."

"Excellent."

The next two hours were spent rounding up all of our troops. If we could strike fast enough, the minotaurs wouldn't even know what hit them. I wanted to cause as much damage to their army as possible. The more of them we wiped out, the harder it would be for them to raise an army again. I sure as heck didn't want to be doing this all over again in twenty years after the minotaurs grew more soldiers. I mean, we wouldn't kill women and children, if we could help it. Unfortunately, innocents sometimes die in war. It happens.

The army mustered as quickly as I had hoped it would. We were all raring to get this war over with, and I think it did them a lot of good to see me back on the field, on top of all of the reinforcements we had gotten. I think it made the troops feel like we could win this conflict quickly.

However, I hadn't even shown my best weapons yet.

As we gathered to move out, a slight tremor went through the ground. All of the ponies around me stopped  and looked around, curious as to the source of the tremors. I grinned and walked over to where I knew they were coming from. After a few moments, it all became apparent. Giant wooden and metal tanks moved into the camp. At least a dozen of them. Behind them, three dozen gatling guns were rolled over to all of us. My soldiers gasped and began muttering among themselves. A few even backed away, as though the contraptions would come to life and destroy all of us. I chuckled and walked up to the foremost tank. It had the word "Harbinger" etched onto the side. Nice.

I knocked on the wood and a hatch opened up on top. A green unicorn mare with messy blonde hair poked her head out of the hatch. She grinned confidently at me and pushed the goggles she was wearing up above her horn.

"Well hello there, Prince Antares. Fine day we're having."

"It certainly did just get better," I agreed. "No problems on the way over, I assume?"

The mare shook her head. "Nope. The cooling spells are doing fine, and nothing broke down, so that's good." Her nose wrinkled. "Though putting four ponies inside a wood and metal box with wheels for a few days isn't really the most comfortable thing you could have done. I don't even want to mention the smell we have in here."

I shrugged. "Well, we'll see about fixing that in future updates. For now, though, we have a war to win."

"Roger that." The mare's grin returned, and she snapped her goggles back over her eyes. She slapped the top of the tank and looked down into the tank itself. "Alrighty ladies, let's get to it! Those minotaur cities aren't going to burn themselves!"

I grinned and turned back to the gathered troops, all of whom were looking on in awe at the new weapons we had. The Saddle Arabian and zebra troops were staring at them with major interest. Let them stare. They wouldn't figure out how these things worked. We had put a lot of little details in their creation that I was pretty sure the other countries couldn't emulate. Same with the gatling guns. Maybe they could get the basic concepts down, but I highly doubted that they'd actually be able to create a working tank.

Within another hour, the army was in formation, ready to move out. I smiled with pride and began moving up and down our line. I cast a speech spell on myself.

"Mares and gentlecolts. Friends from other lands. Today is the day we march out to end the war. The minotaur army has been severely weakened! They are scattered. They are divided. A force as splintered as theirs cannot possibly hope to defeat an army so mighty as ours! We will have victory! We will show them what the Equestrian nation is capable of! Never again shall they march upon our lands, threatening our families! Never again will they even think about trying to destroy us! We are ponies, and we shall not rest until every single one of them is destroyed!"

"Ooh rah!" my troops responded, each raising a hoof high.

"Forward ponies of Equestria!" I cried.


*  *  *  *


I paced around my tent, wondering how it had all gone so wrong. Even with the alicorns on the throne, we were supposed to win this war quickly and easily! My Nightmare Weapons should have made short work of the alicorns! Now I only had a few left, a much smaller army that was getting smaller by the day, and an Equestrian army that had replenished a large portion of its casualties. Not only that, but whispers had begun going through the camp that the Equestrians were bringing new weapons to the table for the next battle. I didn't put any stake in those rumors. They might have a little of their napalm, but I had to imagine they were running out of that quickly.

My tent flap opened up, and my replacement squire entered, bowing low.

"My king, the scouts have returned."

"And? What are they saying?"

"They are saying... they are saying that the Equestrian army is on the offensive! They are bringing their full might down upon us! They will be here in a matter of days, if that!"

I groaned and began pacing again. "I see. And what might do the Equestrians present to us? What can they truly do to us if they are in our lands?"

"My king, they are speaking of great wheeled machines made of metal and wood that are leading the charge. Easily four or five times the size of any minotaur. Behind those, they have some strange weapon that I cannot even begin to describe," the squire said. "I don't know what they do, but it can't be good."

"If Marller's intelligence is correct, then those 'great machines' are called tanks." I grimaced and sat down on my throne. "That could prove problematic for us." I tapped my jaw thoughtfully. "Are the catapults ready?"

The squire nodded. "The catapults themselves are, but we are still trying to scrounge up enough material for ammunition. I'm not sure we have the time necessary for all of that."

I cursed. "That doesn't matter. Even with their new weapons and army, we still hold the terrain advantage. If they will truly not be here for a few more days, that will give us the time to formulate our defenses."

"Y-yes, King Purgle." The squire bowed low, and I could sense that he had more to say. I sighed.

"What? What else is there?"

"The fact that the Equestrians are coming has spread like wildfire throughout the camp. Three more clans have already left, including Clan Rakput."

I growled and slammed my fist on the armrest of my throne. Clan Rakput was the largest remaining clan, other than my own. With their loss, our army was depleted by a good third.

"And did Grorim leave with his clan?" I grumbled.

"Yes, King Purgle, he did."

"Just wonderful." I stood up and stared at the repaired maps on my table.

I needed to think of something to do, and fast.


*  *  *  *


Two days later, the Equestrian army arrived. I have to admit, even hearing consistent reports of what the tanks were, from the few scouts that were not killed trying to gather intel, I was unprepared for how impressive they looked. Giant metal and wooden machines that crawled forward on a dozen wheels, with some long tube coming from the front, whose purpose I could only guess at. I could tell right off that no amount of hacking with swords or axes would so much as dent them. We had to get close enough to them that whatever weapons they possessed were ineffective. Either that or hope that our few catapults could damage them. I rued the fact that the terrain of our country was largely plains. It left little good ammunition for catapults.

The tanks, with Antares at their head, stopped a thousand paces outside of our camp. The remnants of our once invincible army lined up on the outskirts, ready to fight to the death. We still had a good ninety thousand troops. That would be enough to at least do a lot of damage to Antares's forces.

Before I could issue any commands, Antares ignited his horn. I flinched back, but he didn't seem to be attacking.

"Minotaurs of Minotauria!" he shouted, his voice magically amplified. "I have no quarrel with any of you! Most of your surviving army has returned to their homes and families! I urge you all to do the same thing. Every single minotaur who does not will be destroyed by my new weapons! Do not die for one madman's pride! Turn your king over to me for judgement, and this war can end today! Heck, if you do it in the next five minutes, the war can be over in five minutes. Don't throw your lives away. There is nothing you can do to stop the weapons I have brought upon you. Go home, and I swear on my child that you will not be harmed."

"Don't... don't listen to him!" I roared, even as a few minotaurs dropped their weapons and ran away like cowards! "United we can destroy their army, no matter how large or advanced it is!" I unsheathed my sword and pointed it at the Equestrians. "Charge!

No one in my army moved an inch. Cowards. The lot of them. I growled and stomped my hoof. "I said charge!"

A few minotaurs began running forward, which was what the rest seemed to need to actually follow my orders. I noticed a grim look flash on Antares's face as my army ran toward him to slaughter everyone it could.

"So be it." He raised a hoof, and several strange contraptions wheeled themselves between the tanks. I narrowed my eyes and frowned. This wouldn't be good. Antares brought his hoof down. "Fire!

Bright flashes erupted from the muzzles of these new contraptions, and my army began falling dead in droves. Whatever they were firing at us seemed to ignore even the best armor, as I saw a few officers be cut down as quickly as the rest of them. Before I could do anything else, several loud explosions fired from the tanks. I heard a whistling sound for a few moments, then an entire row of tents behind me exploded. I ducked and covered my head as shrapnel whizzed over me.

This was getting out of hand. Even from my prone position I could see hundreds, if not thousands, of minotaurs throw down their weapons and run as fast as they could. Antares's weapons ignored them, but every charging minotaur was quickly cut down by the destruction these new weapons had brought.

Perhaps it was time for a strategic withdrawal. Yes, the battle here was lost. Schunie would need its king to coordinate its defenses for when the Equestrians inevitably arrived on our doorstep. I shot to my hooves and, well, I wouldn't say I ran, but I got out of there as quickly as I could.


*  *  *  *


"Prince Antares, the minotaur army is in full retreat," Commander Blaze said with a grin. "Should we pursue?"

"Not the ones that are running, no, but move the army into their camp. If Purgle is hiding anywhere, I want him found. Take everything that looks important, and burn the rest."

Blaze enthusiastically saluted me before turning back to the army and issuing my commands. The entire force let out a loud cheer and charged at the camp, weapons ready to destroy any minotaur foolish enough to fight us. I'm certain that each wanted to be the one who captured Purgle and brought him before me, ready to face my justice. For someone as proud as him, I'm certain that a public trial in Canterlot itself would be the height of shame.

I looked forward to it.

The sea of tents that stood before me began burning as I walked into the camp. A few segments remained whole, and my army was using them to pile up the loot we had taken from each tent. Nothing looked to be of true value, save for a few pieces of armor and a few good weapons, but we'd take anything from them. It would be a waste to just burn it all.

I was glad that I didn't see very many minotaur corpses around the camp. Despite our rage, we did want to do all of this with the minimum amount of casualties. The minotaur nation needed to be rebuilt once all of this was said and done, and slaughtering every male wouldn't achieve that goal.

As I walked through the burning camp, I glanced inside a tent and saw a minotaur calf inside, shivering from fear with a long cut down his right arm. I trotted over to him and entered the tent, trying my best comforting smile. As much as I wanted this army destroyed, nothing good would come of killing children. It went against my very being.

"Hello," I said gently. "Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you."

The young minotaur's eyes widened, and he let out a piercing scream. He tried to back away, but there was really nowhere to go with me blocking the entrance. He began sobbing, and grabbed a small knife from the table next to his cot. He brandished it at me as though it was a Nightmare Weapon that could slay me in one swipe. In truth, the wound it would cause even a normal pony wouldn't amount to the need for anything beyond a few stitches, unless he stabbed perfectly.

"Hey, it's okay," I soothed, lighting my horn to take the knife from his grasp. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just relax." I motioned to his wounded arm. "Would you like me to take care of that? I can fix it up so it'll be as good as new."

"Get away from me!" the young minotaur moaned. "Don't eat me!"

I snorted at the very idea. "I'm not going to eat you. I'm a pony, remember? We tend to be herbivores. Even if I wasn't, I still wouldn't eat you. I don't eat the young." I chanced a step toward him and laid down in front of him when he didn't back away. "My name is Antares. What's your name?"

"Daret," the minotaur whispered.

"Good. Daret. If you want to leave, I won't stop you. But before you do, can I please fix your arm? That looks like a pretty nasty cut you have there."

Daret sniffled and on reflex raised his hand to grab his wounded arm. He stopped just before he touched it, then nodded. "If you promise not to do anything bad to me."

I raised a hoof. "I promise. I don't hurt children. Just hold on. This won't hurt a bit." I lit my horn and engulfed his arm in my magic. He flinched back when he felt the magic wrap around his arm, but he didn't scream or try to run. I pumped magic through my horn, and within a few seconds, the wound changed from a fresh cut to one that looked a few weeks old. "There now, isn't that better?"

"I guess," Daret whispered.

"Good. Now, you can just run away, or you can stay and some of my soldiers will take care of you. I promise that nopony is going to hurt you while you are under my personal protection." I stood up and smiled at him. "You look hungry. Can I get you something to eat?"

"I just want my dad," Daret muttered.

My smile slowly faded. "I hope you can reunite with him. It hurts me to see the families that this war has torn apart. I think we can both agree that this was a senseless war."

"King Purgle said that it was because you were gonna take over our lands!" Daret growled. "You were gonna kill all of the clan leaders and take Schunie for yourself!"

I stared at him for a few seconds. I had heard that Purgle had spread some bald faced lies about us to justify his war, but to see a child state them plainly before me as though they were the honest truth... I slowly shook my head.

"If that is what he told you, he is a liar. I have no interest in Schunie. I only care about taking care of my own subjects."

"B-but King Purgle said that your first species really liked war, and you were bringing that to us!"

I shook my head again. "It's true that humans are well-versed in the art of war, but that doesn't mean all of us are. Before I became a prince, I was going to teach children at school. I wanted a peaceful life. Even once I ascended, I wanted a peaceful life for me and my subjects. For my daughter. She's why I'm fighting so hard to end this war. I want my daughter to grow up in a time of peace, not in the uncertainty of war. Tell me: what would your father do to make sure that you were safe?" Daret didn't answer, which was as good as an answer to me. "You have nothing to fear from me. Once this war is over, none of your people do. And this war will be over very shortly, I promise you that. I will try to end it with the least amount of death and destruction that I can manage. All of you were fooled by Purgle's lies. I don't want to punish you for that."

The tent flap behind me opened up, and one of my officers, Sergeant Firebrand, came in, grinning from ear to ear. "Prince Antares, you have to see this. I think you'll find it quite interesting."

"I'll be there in a moment." I motioned back to Daret. “Have him fed and taken care of. If I find out that he even gets a scratch under our care, I will severely punish the one who did it."

"Yes, Prince Antares," Sergeant Firebrand said, bowing low. He poked his head out of the tent and summoned a few ponies, who came in and took Daret away. Hopefully out of the camp. He didn't need to be in this much danger. I wished a peaceful and happy life for him after all that he had endured.

"Okay, what is this thing you have to show me?"

"Follow me," Sergeant Firebrand said. "I think you're going to like this."

I followed him to a tent nearby, which looked a little more ornate than the rest of them. I raised an eyebrow and a smile tugged at my lips. I could guess whose tent this was.

"Interesting." I pulled open the tent flap and walked inside. The throne at the far end of the tent left no doubt in my mind as to the former occupant. "Seems we've found the Royal Tent."

"It does indeed, Prince Antares," Sergeant Firebrand said with a grin.

I held back a giggle. I felt like a kid in a candy shop. I walked over to a table and spotted several maps that looked like they had been torn apart and repaired several times. They had battle formations and various other plans on them. They were useless now, but it was still nice to see what he thought he could do to us.

"A throne. He brought a throne all the way out here. My, my. He really wanted to drive that whole 'king' thing home, didn't he?"

"It looks like it, Prince Antares," Sergeant Firebrand said.

I chuckled and sat down on the throne. It was a little small for me, but not so much that I couldn't fit at all. To make matters better, a discarded crown lay beside the throne. I picked it up in my magic and placed it down on my head. "Eh, I like my own one better. Sergeant, what do you think?"

"I dunno, Prince Antares, I think it suits you. A good crown for a conqueror. I think you should keep it."

"I might just do that. Put it in some memento room, or a museum to the war, if one pops up. Either way, I don't think Purgle will have any more use for it." I hopped off of the throne and slid the crown into one of my side bags. "Well, come on, Sergeant Firebrand. We have a war to win."


*  *  *  *


Over the next few days, we took over every single town and village we came across. We did our best to spare any women and children, but any male that raised a weapon against us was destroyed. The second they threw those weapons down, we showed them the mercy that they would not have shown us if the roles were reversed. Thanks to our new weapons, we suffered minimal casualties. Some villages didn't even try to fight us, which was good. We didn't burn any of the towns we came across. We were just focused on Schunie. That was the end goal.

After a few more days, my army stood in front of a little town just like the past dozen little towns that we'd run into during our march to Schunie. However, unlike the rest of those, a group of about five minotaurs stood outside of the town limits with a green flag of truce. I guess they'd heard about us coming. I took Commander Blaze and a few other trusted soldiers and went down to meet them.

"Good evening, good sirs," I said with a smile, nodding to each of them. "I trust you see the futility in fighting us?"

The one holding the flag nodded. "Yes, we have no interest in leading our people into a slaughter. We've just come to ask two things of you."

"I'm listening."

The minotaur nodded. "Good. One, we ask that you not destroy us. We have no weapons here. We barely having anyone here who could fight. You have no reason to wipe out our simple farming town."

"I agree." I tilted my head to him. "We have no interest in fighting civilians. We will leave you alone."

A look of relief spread across the faces of the gathered minotaurs. They needn't have worried. I was never going to stoop to Purgle's level and kill innocents who wanted nothing to do with this war either.

"What's the second thing?" I asked.

"Ah, yes," the minotaur said, turning back to me. "The second thing is that one of the minotaurs here has requested a meeting with you. He'd rather keep his identity a secret until you actually meet him."

"I see." I shrugged. "Yeah, I'll meet with him. A word of warning, though: if this is a trap, if I am attacked in any way, I will rescind my promise to not wipe you out."

The minotaur gulped. "Understood."

"We're in agreement, then." I motioned over to the town. "Lead the way."

"Prince Antares, are you sure this is a good idea?" Commander Blaze muttered. "I mean, what if it's a trap? What if they have a Nightmare Weapon?"

"I doubt it," I replied. "There aren't that many left, and Purgle would keep the ones he has with him. Besides, if this is a trap, we burn this place to the ground. We'll be alright."

"If you say so."

"I do."

I followed the group of minotaurs into the town, my own soldiers close behind me. The streets were completely empty, which wasn't a huge surprise. None of the townspeople would dare go outside to watch the conquering army enter their town. They felt safer hiding in their homes. Eh, let them. I wasn't going to hurt them no matter where they were, unless that was outside with weapons. I really doubted that I needed to worry about all that.

"He's in the town hall building over there," the minotaur said, motioning to the tallest building in the town.

"Excellent. I look forward to speaking with him."

The minotaur grunted and led me into the building. A blast of cool air washed over me, which I appreciated. Alicorn or not, marching all day in heavy armor wasn't all that comfortable. I began to hope that whomever wanted to talk to me needed to do so for more than a few minutes, just so I could hang out in an air conditioned building for an hour or so.

"He's in here," the minotaur said, pointing to one of the rooms. "Just... hear him out before you do anything rash."

"I will." My curiosity heightened as I lit my horn and turned the door handle. I'd pretty much destroyed Purgle's army by this point, so who was left to want to talk to me? That other main minotaur general, what was his name, Grorim? As I pushed the door open, I discovered someone far more interesting than Grorim on the other side.

"Ah. Good afternoon, Marller. Such a delight to see you again."

"Antares," Marller said weakly, inclining his head. "It is nice to see you as well."

"I admit that I'm surprised to see you. I heard that my nail bomb had taken you out."

"Almost," Marller admitted. "You have no idea how much three nails sticking out of you hurts."

"No, but I've been shot by a black magic weapon before, and I know how much that hurts."

"Touche," Marller wheezed. " But I didn't call you here to compare war wounds. I called you here to offer you a deal."

"I'm listening."

"We've lost the war. That much is certain. I know you won't rest until you either have Purgle in chains or in the ground. Do what you must to that madman, but leave the average minotaur out of it." Marller took a deep breath. "If you do, I'll give you the identity of every single spy and traitor in your country that I know of."

Okay, now he had my attention.

"I see. And you'll provide proof that the ponies you're accusing are actually spies?"

Marller gave me a weak smile and nodded. "You insult me by even asking. Of course I can."

"Good." I nodded at him. "Very well, then. I will have some of my medics bring you back to Equestria. We will do our best to heal you of your injuries, and after that, you will tell us everything you know. And prove it, of course."

"Of course."

I turned and began walking out of the room, but Marller's voice stopped me. "By the way, I must applaud you for the weapon you used against me. It almost worked."

"If you can provide the information you say, then I'll be glad it didn't."


*  *  *  *


And so it went. My army marching upon the capital city of Schunie. Given that we didn't run into Purgle the entire time we were taking over his country, I had to assume that he was already there, hiding like the coward we all knew him to be. It was the only place in the entire world that would take him anymore. And I would hunt him down to the ends of the planet to bring him to justice.

It was a full week before we made it to the walls of the greatest minotaur city on the planet. It had upped its defenses since my last visit. The walls were higher, and on every inch of the top of the walls, spikes protruded forth. The front gate to the city had been fortified with metal beams across it. It would be a great defense, if I didn't have tanks and pegasi. Speaking of, a gigantic blanket of cloud rolled over the city, covering the sun and making it seem like dusk had fallen over the land. My army stopped a few hundred feet outside of the city, just beyond the range of any arrows they wanted to shoot at us.

"Mares and gentlecolts, I think it's time we ended this war, don't you?" A deafening cheer went through my army, triggering a grin from me. "Let's see if we can do it without bloodshed, shall we?"

I trotted forward toward the gates. I didn't make it more than a few feet before arrows began raining down upon me. I brushed them aside with my magic, something I didn't even need to do at all. My armor was way too good for that.

"If you'll just listen to me, I think we can come to an agreement that leads to the least amount of bloodshed possible," I said, magically amplifying my voice.

"Begone from here!" One of the minotaurs manning the wall shouted back. "No foreign army has ever stepped hoof inside of our city, and you shall not be the first! Don't waste your precious ponies trying to lay siege to this city!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "If it comes to combat, I will be inside the walls of your city in mere minutes, but I don't want it to come to combat." I took wing and flew up to the top of the wall, balancing myself on one of the spikes that protruded from it. The gathered minotaur archers stared at me, fear in their eyes. I smirked at them. "I just want Purgle. Nothing more, nothing less. I know he's here. Just give him to me and go home to your families. We leave and never have to bother fighting each other again."

"Y-you lie!" one of the archers whispered. "Taking over Schunie has been your goal since you took the throne!"

"Oh for..." I groaned and rubbed one of my temples. "Just... when are you going to stop believing that lie? I've never wanted Schunie. I have enough on my plate taking care of my own subjects without adding you guys to the mix. I never wanted this war." I raised a hoof in a 'I promise' motion. "Pinkie Promise."

"We have ten thousand fighting minotaurs who will die before they see you in this city!" one of the archers growled.

"And I have almost two hundred thousand ponies and buffalo and Saddle Arabians and zebras who will do whatever they can to make sure that Purgle doesn't take power in this world again. Come on, now. Enough blood has been spilled. Just give us Purgle, and we all get to go home."

"Liar!" another archer growled, raising his crossbow. "I'll die before I bow to the likes of you!"

A single arrow shot from the blanket of cloud overhead, embedding itself in the minotaur's neck. He fell backwards without a sound, falling off of the ramparts onto the streets below. I narrowed my eyes at the rest of them. "On your head be it."

Arrows began raining from the sky, striking down every single minotaur manning the wall. Some tried to run for cover, but there was nowhere to hide. I nodded in grim satisfaction and flew back down to my army, activating my com gem as I landed.

"It's time, mares and gentlecolts." I began pacing back and forth in front of my army. "Tank units, focus your efforts on the gates and wall."

"You got it, Prince Antares," the commander of the tank forces said.

"Cloud snipers, focus on anything that looks like it could try to get a higher vantage point. Catapults, fire into the city itself. I want their will broken. Any troops that move into the city: kill only those holding weapons if you can help it. But leave Purgle to me! That is a direct order for all of you!" I picked up my pace and began running back and forth before the front line. Time for the big speech.

"Arise! Arise ponies of Equestria! Your homes shall be defended! Your families will be safe! No minotaur king will ever threaten them again! Today safety will be won! Today all shall know the might of a unified Equestria! This will be a day remembered from now until the end of all things! The greatest city of the minotaurs will fall, and its tyrant king will be sent straight to Tartarus for his lies, for his brainwashing, for his murderous ways! None shall ever fear him again! If he is spoken of, it will be with mockery for daring to try to bring down our mighty nation!"

I turned and faced the walls of Schunie and raised my hoof high. "Charge now! Charge now! Charge! Charge for freedom, and the end of tyranny! Victory!"

"Victory!" my army shouted back.

"Victory!"

"Victory!"

"Victory!"

"Victory!"

I brought my hoof down. "Bring down the walls!"

My tanks fired a round, each slamming into the walls and gate of Schunie. The three rounds that hit the gate blew it back, shattering it to nothing more than splinters.

"Charge!" I cried, running toward the hole where the gate used to be. My army quickly followed, shouting battle cries that would cow any army into submission. They were the cries of an army tired of war, who were on the cusp of ending it and going back to see their families. Through the destroyed gate I saw a row of minotaurs with long spears pointed at us, hoping to stop the tide of the advancing army. I raised Reginald high in preparation of the fight to come.

"Cloud snipers! They're at the gates!"

Instantly arrows began falling from the sky, striking down dozens of minotaurs and collapsing their spear wall. It gave me all the time I needed to charge into the fray, swinging my war hammer at every minotaur I could reach. Slain minotaurs flew back from the force of my hammer, while more still were cut down by the consistent rain of arrows from the sky. Buildings all around us were struck by flaming boulders. Many of them collapsed from one blow.

"Catapults, cease fire. We're in the city."

"Roger, Prince Antares."

Content that we wouldn't be fired upon by flaming boulders, I turned my attention back to killing as many armed minotaurs as I could. Each swipe from my mighty war hammer felled more and more of them, leaving their army in total disarray. Many dropped their weapons and ran, though some did it too late to protect themselves from the arrows coming from above.

The whole battle spoke of chaos, but a kind of chaos that I had total control over. We were wiping out the remains of their once grand army, leaving little more than a few scattered pockets of resistance. We'd win the day very quickly, of that I was sure.

That's when I saw him.

Standing just outside of the town hall I had no doubt he'd been hiding in, Purgle wildly swung his sword at every pony who even looked at him. None dared approach him, though. My orders had made it clear that I would be the one who dealt with him once and for all.

"Purgle!" I roared, charging straight at him. He wheeled around and brandished his sword at me. A Nightmare Weapon. It wouldn't do anything to save him now.

I threw my war hammer at him, which he ducked just in time to avoid an instant decapitation. It hit the wall behind him, completely obliterating it. Purgle tried to recover, but I grabbed him in my magic, completely overloading any magical protection he had in his armor, and flew into the air. A quick burst of magic snapped the hand he carried his sword in, and he dropped it with a scream.

And still I carried him higher.

I flew closer to him and slammed my hooves into any part of him I could reach. He tried to struggle out of my grasp, but I held him too tight. As I hit him, I used my magic to tear off his armor so I could attack his chest. I felt his ribs cave in from one powerful blow as I carried him above the clouds. I uppercutted him, shattering a few of his teeth and cracking his jawbone. I used my magic to break his legs as I continued pounding on him with my hooves.

Then I stopped.

I stopped and I stared at the pathetic slab of meat in my magical aura. He had difficulty breathing, though I couldn't tell if that was because I had collapsed a lung or if the air up this high was so thin. One of his eyes had swollen shut, and several of his teeth were missing. Only his left arm remained unbroken.

And I stared. I stared at the evil being who had brought so much death and destruction to the world because of his lies and hate. His fearmongering had led to the death of tens, if not hundreds of thousands. This one minotaur and his lies had plunged the entire world into war. And here he was in my grasp, battered and broken.

Purgle spat out some blood and another tooth before slowly raising his head to look me in the eye. And so we stared at each other for a few moments. I wasn't really sure what to do right then. Purgle took a deep breath, and did his best to straighten up as one last act of defiance to me. He wanted to die with his head held high.

Then I let go.

Purgle let out an Earth-shattering scream as he plummeted to his death, his arms flailing about, hoping to find any purchase that could break his fall. None appeared. Not that it would have change anything if any did.

With one final scream, Purgle landed on the very top of the roof of Town Hall, impaling himself on the decorative spire. I angled my body and flew down as quickly as I could, slamming my hooves on the rooftop next to him. With one mighty blow from my wing blade, I neatly sliced off his head, catching it in my magic before it could fall to the ground. I wheeled around and spread my wings to their fullest extent. I let out an unearthly screech while shooting a giant pillar of fire into a clear patch of sky. All the while holding Purgle's battered head high.

Both armies stopped fighting and stared at me. No one said anything as they took in the sight before them. Finally, after a few seconds, the minotaurs all around the city began dropping their weapons. Ponies began cheering my name as we all came to the same realization.

It was over. The war was over.

We had won.