Back Stab
Chapter 24
"Back stab"
A shot fired through the kitchen as Davis retrieved his gun rapidly from the holster and shot. Immediately, another changeling fell hard, clutching its neck. The shot had caused a sound strong enough to cause everyone, even Davis, to cover their ears. Apparently, firing a gun inside a kitchen that had a lot of echo wasn't such a good idea.
Davis aimed again and ended the other changeling before he could recover. Striker watched the changeling let out a scream of pain as he fell on his back the second the bullet rang out of the gun. Davis aimed to the head and shot again, ending him.
"Are you alright?" Davis asked Striker as he looked around for any other changelings. He saw the first one they had seen and then at the two laying dead.
Just as he asked, another changeling appeared out of nowhere and crashed against him. Davis felt as the gun slipped off his fingers and landed on the ground with a clank! He immediately tried to shove him off but felt the hard surface of the changeling's naturally armored belly. He cried as his fingers screamed in pain. The changeling recovered quickly and Davis saw his horn light up in an eerie green light. He didn't manage to react fast enough as the tip of the horn passed by mere inches from his neck. He felt a surprisingly strong wave of heat as it did and immediately stood up. He reached for his sword and unsheathed it swiftly; he had been practicing that a lot.
The changeling hissed strangely as he took a more menacing pose. David moved the sword forward and prepared to meet the changeling's horn. He noticed Striker was standing beside him as well now, also taking a more aggressive position by unfurling her wings. The changeling didn't flinch and so their staring contest continued.
Suddenly, the changeling charged and fired a magical beam. Davis jumped to the side as the magic blast blew up a table that had been right behind him. Striker leaped forward using a swift and fast stroke of her wings and rapidly punched the changeling in the belly. Her hard hooves seemed to find it more easy to punch a changeling, since she didn't look pained at all, and the changeling was clutching the side of his belly in pain. He saw him turned and run Davis ran after him and picked the gun. As the changeling was about to exit the door, he aimed and fired. The bug fell hard against the floor too, just as his companions.
Davis looked at Striker, about to ask the same question, but she interrupted, nodding slowly.
"Yeah, I'm fine..." She walked towards the changeling she had hit first. "He's still alive," she points out.
Davis grinned. "We need to see if there are any other bugs around," he said, looking warily at the changeling's slow breathing. "We need to make sure this guy doesn't attempt anything when he wakes up, though."
He hadn't finished speaking when he noticed Striker was looking for something in a cupboard.
"What are you...?"
Striker smiled as she found a rope. She then took the chair that was laying in the ground and looked at Davis. "Place the changeling on the chair."
Davis picked the changeling silently and then placed him on it. Striker then proceeded to tie a knot, starting with his legs and then ending with a knot on his horn.
"Not quite a magic suppressor," she said, "but it'll do the work." Davis wanted to ask a little about what she had meant by magic suppressor, but he knew there were more important things to do first.
"Do you think he was only here?" he asked Striker. Striker shrugged.
"Let's find out, and fast." She ran out of the kitchen with Davis close behind him...
*** *** ***
Louis suddenly raised his hand making a sign to stop. Immediately, Ace, Silver Ink, two other generals, and a few royal guards and army officers stopped.
They were walking in a long hallway, right after being attacked by ten changelings that he had no idea where they had come from.
They had been walking in that hallway when the attack begun. No one expected it, and immediately most of the escort of the royal guards and an officer went down. He remembered the changeling's bloodied horns as they stabbed nonstop at the surprised and vulnerable ponies.
Louis had been frozen in place until Ace shouted his name. He had immediately taken his gun and started shooting. The big problem was that the guards had already engaged in sword fights with the changelings and if he shot he could hit one of his own.
Still, a few of them had attacked Louis. He used his gun but ended up using his sword. It took a few minutes, but soon the changelings lay dead.
A few of the ponies hadn't made it though.
Now, the guards had insisted in taking the generals to a safer place in the castle, but Louis had taken the lead. They were heading for the royal tower, where the princesses were. He knew the princesses could be in danger as well.
He looked behind him and saw the ponies. Then, looking back forward, he spotted two royal guards. They were guarding a door, but Louis knew they could very well be changelings.
"Wait here," he told them. The captain in charge of the guards, who was beside him, was about to protest. "I'll be less suspicious." He didn't wait for a response and immediately walked forward as if nothing bad had happened.
"General!" one of the guards said, saluting. The other saw him and saluted as well.
"At ease," he said as the ponies relaxed their hooves. "I was wondering, what are you guarding here?"
One of the guards spoke up. "It's a treasure, sir. Celestia had us posted here herself." Louis nodded.
"I suppose it's fine then. Keep on with your jobs," he turned. Immediately, one of the guards sprung forwards as Louis turned his back to them. He reacted fast unsheathing his sword; still, he had been slow. He felt the hard hit as the disguised changeling's body slammed against his back and sent both tumbling down. Louis tried to stand up but the changeling managed to stop him by kicking his back.
He pulled his gun and fired blindly at where he thought the changeling was behind. He heard a satisfying thump as a body slammed against the tiled floor of the palace. He also heard rushed hoofsteps as the rest of the ponies ran to help.
"Louis!" Ace shouted as he stopped beside him. Louis grunted as he tried to sit only to feel a sharp pain on his ribs.
"Lay still," Ace said as he saw him. Louis opened his eyes. He was lying on the floor in a slightly uncomfortable position with his ribs burning in pain.
"What is it?" he asked.
The other ponies seemed to look around uneasily, expecting other sudden attackers. The other guard that had been with the changeling was staring wide-eyed at his fallen ex-companion.
"One of your ribs is broken," Ace said as he inspected it. "I'm not a doctor, but that purple color isn't something good. We need to get you to the infirmary."
Louis shook his head. "No, I don't need that." He tried sitting again but Ace stopped him.
"Don't be irrational now Louis, we need to act carefully. You have a broken rib and there can be changelings anywhere, this was proof of it." Ace spoke firmly, reminding the German of his old field officer back in Germany.
Their talk was interrupted as the other royal guard that had been with the changeling was suddenly assaulted by the captain.
"You are surely a changeling!" he shouted advancing menacingly with a spear in front. The guard backed up fearfully.
"N-no!" he exclaimed. "I-it's really me, sir!"
The captain didn't stopped until the spear was holding the guard with its tip against the wall. "I doubt that! I wonder if you'll turn yourself once the spear is through your damned throat!" he exclaimed, pressing slightly.
"Captain, stop!" Louis ordered angrily. The captain suddenly opened his eyes wide and pulled back the spear. He seemed to realize what he had said and done. "Pull that spear back and hold yourself together!"
The captain looked at him. "I'm sorry sir..." He backed up.
"Don't be, just control yourself next time," Ace commented. The general walked up to the royal guard, who was now shaking. "But we do need to make sure you are not a changeling. They are very good at hiding those things," he looked attently at the guard. "I need you to cooperate completely with us here." The guard nodded slowly.
"Yes sir!" he said.
Ace closed his eyes as his horn lighted up with a faint dark blue light. The guard was enveloped in a blue light like the horn's and then, seconds after, it faded as Ace opened his eyes.
"He's clean; no changeling."
Louis smiled. "Captain," he said, "I believe you have an apology to make."
The royal guard captain's ears dropped slightly as he nodded. He looked at the guard. "Sorry, shouldn't have acted so irrationally."
The guard seemed still shaken up, but he nodded slowly. "No problem sir." He smiled faintly. "But I pity the changeling that has to pass through that; you have an intimidating stare, sir."
The captain chuckled. "Hehe, I'm glad I do."
Silver Ink suddenly jumped into the middle.
"I do understand you all feel like if there's nothing important going on, but I think we should get going," he said in a bothered tone.
Louis hated to admit it, but Silver was right. They couldn't allow themselves distractions like those. He turned to Ace.
"Hey Ace, think you can mend this with your magic?" he asked. Ace shook his head.
"In afraid I can't. It's far beyond my magical capabilities..." He stopped as he seemed to think. "I can do something though. I can make the pain disappear for a while and make a protection spell that enables you to move normally for some time without causing more damage. You will however feel the broken bone if you move that part..."
Louis nodded. "Do it. Our job's not done yet."
Ace approached as his horn lighted up again. Louis felt the weirdest sensation ever as he stopped feeling, literally, his rib cage and that part of his body in general. He would describe it as if he knew it was there, but he didn't really feel it was.
As the spell ended, Louis felt no more pain and he was able to stand normally, though the feeling of not having anything in a part of his body was troubling.
"Alright, let's move," he said.
Soon, they were moving towards the princesses' tower. Celestial was there, or so the captain had said. They needed to make sure she was fine.
Through hallways they moved, getting more confused guards along the way and having to fight off some changelings as well. They were now nearing the tower when he heard somebody shout.
"Changelings! In the to-" He was suddenly cut off with a grunt. Louis opened wide his eyes.
"The princesses are in danger!" he exclaimed. He knew very well they could defend themselves, but if they happened to be attacked without them knowing? Changelings could disguise themselves, and they had apparently infiltrated the palace's royal guard...
He ran and saw a fallen royal guard with an arrow going right through his neck. Crimson blood had started to form in a puddle around him. Louis looked sadly and then up to the tower. He saw just in time as a changelings jumped from the other side of a pillar and fired an arrow. He jumped to the side and managed to miss the arrow, which had passed by whistling next to his ear.
'They are using bows...' he thought. He took his gun and fired at the changeling who was now struggling to hide again. The bullet hit its mark easily, the changeling letting out a scream of pain as it tore through his natural dark armor. The changeling fell on its back, dead. Instantly, another two jumped out of cover and shot more arrows. Louis cursed and jumped out of the way, getting a weird feeling from his ribs.
"They have bows, take cover!" he shouted. The rest of his companions nodded as they engaged the changelings. He saw as one of the royal guards used his magic to create a shield in front of them that blocked the enemy bolts. They advanced forward rapidly, making the changelings fall back towards the door for the tower.
The door suddenly opened as ten more changelings charged from inside. Louis saw as five arrows struck at the same time, causing the shield to crack like glass. The unicorn guard that was making the shield opened wide his eyes.
"Take cover, it's going to crack!" he shouted hurriedly as all the changelings loaded at the same time. It took a second for them to do so and soon the arrows were striking the shield again. All of the royal guards and officers took immediate cover just as the last arrows broke the shield and passed right through easily, tiny shards of glass-like magic falling and fading in the air.
Louis saw most had managed to take cover, only one hadn't and it had been the caster of the now fallen shield.
"Buck..." the guard muttered as Louis turned to his armor.
It had a little opening where by the worst luck of all the arrow had hit.
The guard looked to the changelings as his face of confusion turned to one blank and he fell down hard. Louis cursed again.
He risked a look and was immediately met by three arrows. He had caught a glimpse of what the changelings were doing. They were slowly advancing with the bows ready to shoot. His guards were taking cover in the pillars that led to the gate, but soon they'd have to meet the changelings. They couldn't hide.
"Sheiße..." he muttered. He needed to think of something.
He looked at his gun and saw it had almost all the clip full of ammo. He had other three clips though, so he knew he wasn't going to run out of bullets easily. He needed to use his gun as an advantage, but doing so would require him to attack with would in turn make him leave his cover...
He breathed once and prepared. The changelings were going to be ready for him, and he needed to be ready to miss six or seven arrows. Hopefully, he wouldn't get hit.
He jumped out if the cover of his pillar, immediately alerting the changelings and receiving many arrows shot. He heard them fly by without hitting him.
It was his chance.
With one quick step to aim more easily, he fired three consecutive shots before the changelings broke a formation they had and ran at him. He shot another before the royal guards hiding jumped to action as well. He saw the captain attack the changelings' leader with Ace. The rest of the officers and guards engaged the changelings in hoof to hoof combat. He could no longer fire without risking hitting one of his own, so he unsheathed his sword and attacked with a shout.
He stabbed one of the changelings through the neck and then he struck one with the sword's pommel.
"Louis!" he heard Ace shout. He turned and saw the captain lying on the floor, obviously in pain. The changelings' leader was advancing onto Ace with determination, wielding a...
A sword...
Ace parried the sword with his horn as he managed to pick up the captain's sword, which was lying beside him. Louis ran through the crowd of fighting ponies and reached Ace.
Ace parried another strike just as Louis threw an attack of his own. The changeling saw the German's sword and tried to stop it with his horn, causing the magic he was using to wield his own sword to fall. Ace leaped and stabbed him in the back while Louis thrusted his sword forward through the changeling's neck.
Both took the swords out, the changeling collapsing to the ground, dead.
He heard the last changeling fall as everyone crowded to end him. Soon, everyone was looking at Louis and Ace. Silver Ink got out of his hiding place, making Louis very angry for not helping. Still, he said nothing; now wasn't the time to argue about anything.
"Captain!" one of the guards shouted despairingly as he moved a hoof to cover his mouth. All the guards turned immediately to the still figure of the captain.
Louis slowly looked, as well as the rest.
He sighed.
The captain was dead, that was easy to tell. He had been decapitated, obviously by the changeling he and Ace had killed. It seemed obvious the guards here hadn't seen action in the battlefield before since they seemed very upset.
Louis looked around and noticed other two guards had died, and a total of fifteen changelings lay dead on the ground.
"We have to keep moving. Who knows how many changelings infiltrated the palace, and I don't want to imagine what will happen if we don't go and warn the princesses," Ace said. Louis nodded in agreement.
"Warn them?" he heard Silver say suddenly. He looked at the general he despised the most angrily. "They surely know already and I know as well as Tartarus that they can defend themselves well enough; I don't see a need to risk ourselves here for this."
Louis almost punched him. "What are you talking about!" he screamed angrily, making everypony's ears to stand in surprise. He advanced menacingly at him, fear slowly showing on Silver's face. "You go! I take it you do not even take your duty to Equestria than the princesses seriously! Go on, desert us! You can go and rot in a hiding place for all I care!" He turned to the rest. "Follow me. They are surely more changelings in there and we have to secure the princesses." He turned and walked inside the doors. Ace sighed and walked behind him soon followed by the rest. Silver Ink remained behind.
"Yeah. Go on!" the angry pony general shouted. "Die for no reason!" He turned and left rapidly the other way.
Louis grinned angrily as he heard that, but kept going . They were reaching the main staircase that led all the way up.
"Louis..." Ace said silently. The German looked at him without stopping.
"What is it?"
The blue unicorn sighed. "No, nothing... Never mind..." Louis looked a little confused but nodded.
They reached the staircase.
"Now let's hope what we think is wrong..." Louis muttered to himself, but Ace had managed to hear it.
And so, they walked up the stairs to the princesses' living quarters and, very likely, towards changelings...
*** *** ***
Davis slowly looked through a door. It was completely black and made of metal: the gate to the royal guard quarters. They had headed there after Davis suggested that the changelings had probably planned this for a long time. That meant they would have a well formed plan which would consist in taking out as many guards as possible before the attack, and which place was better to do that than the royal guard quarters?
Answer: none.
Davis stopped as he pushed the ajar door open slightly and looked. It was completely dark, which immediately raised Davis' suspicion to a high peak. That wasn't something one would normally expect from that part of the palace. It was supposed to be busy and full of ponies going about off-duty. The darkness and eerie silence made Davis' hairs stand slightly.
He looked out and then at Fire Strike.
"There is nothing, and when I'm saying nothing is that I can't see literally anything.The windows are shut and the lights are completely off. It looks like a tomb in there." He shivered at the thought of what he had just thought.
Would the changelings be so soulless as to...
He brushed the thought off his head. He didn't want to think like that.
Fire Strike pushed Davis as she entered.
"Wait..." Davis said, trying to stop her. When she entered and nothing happened, he followed hesitantly. He saw her standing there, trying to take in their surroundings.
The room wasn't tall; it couldn't be compared with the throne room in any way. It did have some decorations here and there, but it was hard to distinguish them in the dark. There were some tables with their respective chairs, though no pony was around, and hallways that led to the guard's rooms. The ceiling was plain white, but the darkness didn't help to see that well. There were candles, which Striker went to light.
Soon, they were looking around the now lit room. Davis approached the windows and opened them, allowing moonlight to enter. Somehow, night had begun as they had been going cautiously to the quarters.
"Now what?" Striker asked.
Davis looked at one of the hallways. "Which way is the training room?" he asked. It was the most probable place changelings would take the guards.
Striker pointed a specific hallway. "That way, why?"
Davis wasted no time as he started walking. "Follow me, I believe I know where they could be." Striker hesitated a little but followed the American. Davis walked in long steps, trying to be fast but silent. His gun seemed to be begging to be taken out of the holster, or Davis really felt uneasy; he took the gun and looked around as he walked for any changelings.
Soon they arrived to the training room. Davis saw the large gymnasium-like doors that led inside and slowly turned to Striker, who nodded in confirmation. They were the doors that Davis was looking for.
He placed his gun up front and prepared to enter. With a kick he sent the door open to the sides as he jumped inside.
Nothing.
Or at least, no pony was around...
Until he saw the cocoons...
They were all around; big and green covering the walls and the ceiling. They allowed a sickly green light out of them and Davis managed to see inside thanks to a part of them that was a green transparent color.
There were ponies inside.
Royal guards, all in their guard uniform and armor, trapped inside. They had their eyes closed, as if sleeping...
He tried to ignore the other possibility.
"They cocooned them!" Striker exclaimed. Davis looked at her.
"They what?"
Striker looked around as she examined the room.
"Cocooned..." she began to explain. "It's how we think they harvest the ponies' feelings. They trap you inside and it makes it easier for them to extract the feelings off of you, or so we think." She looked at him. "It's all theory of course. We haven't managed to get a changeling to tell us ever how this things work."
Davis looked shocked at the news. "So they're harvesting the feelings of this ponies?" Striker nodded.
"That's right."
Davis looked around. "We have to help them!" He looked at her once more. "How do we get them out of those things?"
Striker scratched her mane. "Last time we had to burn them and take the pony before they burned with it..." She saw Davis give her an are-you-serious face. "But we later found out that by simply kicking the transparent part they were freed."
Davis nodded, clasping his hands together.
"Then let's get to work."
*** *** ***
A good deal of time and a bunch of confused royal guards later, Davis and Striker finally finished the last guard. There were a total of a hundred guards, all seemingly confused and completely unaware of the situation the had just been.
"Sir, what... What happened?" one of the officers asked.
"We were attacked by changelings. We believe their first target were the royal guard quarters where they locked you all up to leave us on our own. I believe we should go and help if the changelings as indeed as numerous as I think." Davis finished. The officer nodded.
"Well sir, we are completely at your disposal."
Davis nodded. "Good. I need a headcount and also you need to be ready and fully equipped. There are changelings out there, and we will have to fight." The officer nodded with a bow of his head and turned, starting to give out orders. Davis turned to Striker.
"What now?" both asked at the same time. They looked surprised at the other.
"I have no idea," Davis said trying not to lose his composure after that. Striker smiled.
"Neither do I," she answered. Both sighed and looked around.
The officer seemed to finish speaking with a guard before he approached. "We are a total of a hundred and ten, sir," he said. "Most of us have our equipment already with us, so there's not much to prepare." Davis nodded.
"Very well." He turned to Striker. "The changelings would have gone for the “princesses’” tower next; we need to secure it or free it, whichever ends up being the case. We can't let them get to the princesses."
Striker nodded. "Princess Celestia isn't here in the palace, so she's safe. Princess Luna is surely in the tower though."
The officer spoke. "I'll get ready every guard and go to secure the princess."
Davis sighed. "Alright, let's get this over with."
Striker and Davis helped the officer organize the troops until they were ready to go. Immediately, they started to go for the tower. They were soon out of the barracks and moving, the silence of the palace broken by the hoofsteps of the guards. They were now nearing a corner that led to the door of the tower
That's when Davis made them stop.
"Changelings..." he muttered once he saw some on the floor, dead. He also saw a dead pony guard.
Seconds later, they were greeted by the sound of metal clashing in the tower's direction. That made Davis react immediately.
"Alright! Draw your swords and spears forward, we're going in!" He prepared his gun and felt his own sword. He was sure he'd end up needing it.
After he was sure the ponies were ready, he moved forward with Striker and the officer beside him. They went around the corner and advanced towards the tower. They passed beside multiple corpses of dead changelings and a few pony guards, causing uneasiness on the guards. Davis hoped that wasn't going to affect how they did once they went to fight.
He turned a little to watch the guards' faces and immediately recognized the expression of tension on their faces. Most of them hadn't seen a fight before which obviously made them unaware of what could happen, but they also had pressure and seeing fallen comrades seemed to be causing a negative effect in their morale. He sighed.
There wasn't much he could do now for that, a surprise attack just like the one they had had was... Confusing. It all seemed to have happened in a matter of minutes. The changelings surely had it planned well, or more than well by how it had been.
He was the first to climb up the tower, all the while hearing the fight closer.
They got to the last stair.
With a shout, Davis entered, aiming at the first changeling he could see...
*** *** ***
Louis swing his sword effortlessly downwards to the changeling in front of him. The changeling managed to stop it with a magical shield, but it seemed to have been too much. The changeling surely had used too much magic as he seemed to collapse. Louis used that as a chance to stab him in the back. The sword went all the way down. When he retrieved it, the blade had a sickly green color.
"Hey Louis!" he heard Ace. Louis turned to look at the unicorn general. "The princesses are up those stairs over there! We need to secure it!"
Louis nodded as he took his gun out and shot consequently at two changelings that were running at him. He placed it back on the holster and ran to the door only to be stopped by two more changeling
They had met with those changelings just as they seemed to be entering the room where the princesses supposedly were. Since they had not been expecting Louis or the ponies, the surprise had been enough to tip the battle balance to their favor in the beginning.
Then he started to see the changeling numbers.
They were close to fifty. How they managed to fit inside the tower, or go up at all, Louis had no idea.
The Equestrians were barely fifteen.
"Louis, to your right!" He looked and managed to move out of the way of a changeling's horn that was directed to his legs. He swing his sword rapidly, cutting a deep hole in the creature's neck. He was moving to attack the two changelings when there was a sudden cry near the stairs.
The changelings distracted for a second, allowing Louis to stab one before he recovered. The other parried his sword and sent him flying with a spell. He landed hard on his back, feeling the emptiness of his insides thanks to Ace's spell.
Only that the spell seemed to have fallen.
"Agh!" he exclaimed one a stabbing pain reached him from his ribs. He could feel it now; a horrible pain that caused his vision to become blurry, but he did manage to see who had given the shout.
Davis was storming in, followed by General Fire Strike and a group of soldiers. He closed his eyes, immediately losing consciousness.
*** *** ***
Davis killed the last changeling himself, using his gun to stop him from escaping. The changeling let out a painful cry and then collapsed to the ground. Davis looked around for any more but was greeted by the sight of all the changelings dead.
Davis had seen Louis fall and was glad once he found out he was still breathing. Still, he wanted to make sure he'd be safe so he had ordered two guards to take him down at once to the ground floor, where he had left a hundred guards keeping watch for any more infiltrated changelings.
He turned to the door to the princesses' rooms and walked to it. He stopped before it and opened it.
He saw it was all dark, but he managed to distinguish the form of the princess of the night.
He slowly opened the door completely, allowing light to enter.
The princess didn't look up. She stared at the tiled floor, her ever-flowing mane moving unnaturally. Davis advanced slowly towards a her.
"Princess Luna?" he asked slowly. The princesses' ears slowly rose up as he looked at Davis. He saw her pained face as she slowly looked back down.
"General..." she answered quietly.
"Are you alright princess?" he asked worried at her by the way she was acting.
He heard a soft chuckle from her. "I'm very much fine, thank you..." She pointed at a fallen pony beside her, making Davis notice the others that laid in the floor too.
"They attacked suddenly, without warning..." She sounded about to burst into tears. "I could have easily taken them, but my captain, he wouldn't allow me to fight. He convinced me to stay back, and I did. I know I shouldn't have!" She suddenly screamed the last, causing Davis to take a step back as he saw the room light up in a soft dark blue light coming from the princess' mane. Luna stayed like that for a few seconds before falling to the floor and bursting to tears. Davis was unsure of what to do. He knew how to deal with enemies, be it German or changelings, but he didn't know how to comfort a pony, let alone a princess. Should he approach? Or should he simply let her be?
He opted for the first.
"Princess," he said, walking to her. He stopped beside the crying mare laying on the floor. Even when she was like that, she seemed as tall as a normal pony standing up. Davis kneeled beside her. "It wasn't your fault."
Luna sighed, her crying stopping for a moment. "I know it was, I could have prevented it." She looked at Davis. "I promised myself when I was reformed by the elements to not let any pony die because of me for any reasons at all, especially from before... From when I was nightmare moon..." Davis placed a hand carefully on her mane, mostly out of instinct when comforting someone, or somepony this time, than for his own will. The princess was shivering, but apparently his touch seemed to calm her a little. Davis looked to the door and saw Ace looking at him, then disappearing behind the door.
Luna sighed once more.
"You know princess..." Davis began. "Back when I was on... my land," he said, trying not to say world since that sounded ridiculous on his head. "I was in command of a group of nearly one thousand men. They had trusted their lives in my hands, confident that I would be able to command them properly and spare all their lives or as many as I could." Davis slowly recalled his most painful memory. "I had never wanted to command something very big. At that time, the largest group of soldiers I had commanded was of a hundred; the general forced me to take a bigger command, and I failed."
Luna looked at him. "What happened?"
"I gave the wrong order," Davis said looking away. "Out of a thousand, only a hundred survived. I never got over that, and I'm afraid I won't. What I did was move on."
Luna chuckled, causing a confused reaction from Davis.
"Here I am, am immortal alicorn with thousands of years of experience, getting a lesson from a human that arrived to Equestria no more than a year ago." She looked at him. "Thank you, General Davis. I needed that."
Davis nodded slowly and stood up. Just then, there was a rushed sound of hoofsteps from the other room and the door burst open with a worried solar princess walking in.
Davis bowed his head as the princess walked to Luna. Both hugged without a word.
The American slowly walked out of the room to give them privacy, his mind troubled with what was going to come after what had just happened. Would the princess close Equestria's frontiers and try to seal themselves off? Would she go for Davis' plan and attack? Would they give more for the war? He wondered this and more things as he left the room to check on the royal guards that had fought with him and to see how the German was doing…
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Sweeeet.
Update.
5582179
Hopefully next one will be within a week.
5582269
Thanks.
Bill Dauterive is pleased.
[youtube=2E7SrMlZhJI]
I can't wait til we have some fight scenes were Golden Flame gets to kick some more changeling ass.
That, and when are we going to see Iron Hoof? The geezer has to be dragged out of retirement sometime. ^^ Unless that's too hard to write.
5608754 War is coming on Equestria... War that has not been seen in hundreds of years...
Which means Golden WILL be kicking some changeling ass in the future
As for iron Hoof...
You'll see
5609497
Oh.. CURSE BOTH TROLLESTIA AND MY IMPATIENCE!1!1!!!!!1
Okay, you win.... but I will be waiting.... watching.... *slowly fades away until completely disappeared*
5610190
the difference of me and that guy is that I'm alive.
anyway it is good to see ya again my friend, sorry I've haven't read your book in a while (still one of the best) I have been busy with school and reading other fics. It looks like you've been busy.
can't wait to read it
5675760 hehe. Thanks for keeping up with my story
5676465 no prob.