Siege Stories: Diary of a Pegasus Purist

by PheonixCircle

Day Fourteen: A Harsh Awakening

This is the third entry of Lance Skydiver, operative commander of Castle Northwind, which is besieged by the unity of ponies against the last true pegasi.

These bastards. They have no honour in their hooves. Attacking the castle in the middle of the night. Such cowardice is unbearable. They didn't even dare to kill anypony from my companions, they just threw this darn boulders and then...

When I woke up in the middle of the night, a rock inside the castle yard, I knew I underestimated them. But I should begin with my wrong-doings a few days ago.

On day ten of the siege, three ambassadors arrived. I let them in, as the creed of pegasi demands of any commander, and swore them protection as long as they were here.

The three ambassadors were from all the different races. They came to our castle to demand our surrender, under the same terms as day one. They proposed this in the castle yard, exactly knowing what would happen. Their voices were heard all around the castle, giving my soldiers wrong ideas. Some of them wanted to give up. Mostly young ones, with lovers at home.

But I didn't accept, and as soon as my lips closed, they started to preach. These bastards told us of an abomination. A pony with wings like us pegasi and a horn like the unicorns, strong enough to lift the sun and the moon. I laughed in their faces, calling them liars, and let them be taken into custody.

They kept silent all the time. Not one of them tried to flee, as if they predicted this. I let them be taken into the torture chamber, where I tried to get the truth out of them. They just repeated their lies, and after two days, I let them go, without a tongue to tell any more lies. This was a fault I came to regret.

On day thirteen, another pony came, not under the banner of ambassadors, but under the wings of a pegasus, ripped of his back in another fight. His words were clear. What we did was a declaration of war, and they would respond with the same brutality we treated their ambassadors. At this time, my men were shocked. Not only did I break a creed I preached from my own hearts depths, but they also knew that the strength of their machineries was humongous.

I held a speech about necessary evil and how war knows no rule, but I had lost most of their respect towards me. The only thing that kept them from betraying me was the fact that we fought for the same time, and that they had enough time to dispose of me after this war.

I am no tyrant, but some evils really are necessary, and if we win, these evils will be kept a secret. No history book will ever tell what happened here. History is written by the winners, as they should know.

But I also don't want the throne, and this may be my life saver. As soon as I sit on a throne, I will die, be it of assassination or of boredom. I am a soldier, and as such I am home on the battlefield.

But first, I have to think about this battlefield, and the situation certainly is dire.

I have to admit that the unity has advantages I haven't recognized so far. The imagination of the earthponies and the unicorns magic made of these catapults more fearsome weapons than they were before. The pore strength of a boulder shot by a catapult is enough to test the courage of even pegasi, but what if they are controlled by unicorns? They won't miss their targets, and this accuracy is the most frightening part.

They showed us two things tonight. That we were in no position to make any demands, and that we were at their mercy. They only hit the outer walls, but they hit every side, even if they have the catapults only in the south of the castle. This strong is the unity of these two factions.

But while they were distracted with shooting us, we weren't lazy. I sent one pegasi who should convince our brethren to turn against their allies and unite with us once more. He came back alive, but with no clear answer. I am not sure why they should hesitate, but I give them time, if time is what they need.

I fear for my soldiers. If this darn pigs around us decide to attack the inside, many will die, and every lost pegasus is a waste of unmeasurable degree. And I swear, I will revenge my brethren from this castle. For each dead pegasus, their leader shall answer with a cut and ten deaths.

But it isn't their weapons I fear most, it is their unity, and the reasoning these filthy ambassadors brought with them. A pony, that has a horn and wings? If this is true, then we have no way of winning. This unity will be as hard as diamonds, and no one will ever defeat them. But I don't believe in this.

If such a... creature, such a monster, really exists, doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is the battle ahead, and everything else is only a try to run away from responsibility and death.

We will be successful, I know it. The wind tells me, the stone, the fire in the fireplace, even the water in the well. I can smell it, can feel it, I can taste in, the blood of my enemies, the steel of their swords, the burned fur. Everything.