Sisters Of Light And Dark

by KommandoStalker

Chapter 16: IronTrix's sons prepare for their first battle

The small village of IronTrees was only a few minutes away from Shilvan and had little importance besides it having to give taxes to the officials in Shilvan. But as the morning sun rose over it, its residence soon found them surrounded by a small contingent of Warrior ponies, all looking to be from the Northern Fiefdom yet when they gazed upon their flag, it had two unicorn heads and necks: one of white and the other of black.

"With each village we have under our protection, it allows us to recruit more Warriors and provides us with supplies to use for our armies. And though I appoint you, WolfSlayer, as our new general, Steeltrix and IronBlood are still Commanders and should be given just as much respect as both myself and my sister." Celestia was going over the map of the Equestria Empire, marking out locations where groups of Warriors would be taking over. Shilvan was now a busy city, Northern ponies having come down to help the Rebellion in any way possible. More and more Warriors were being trained and placed in their small but potent armies.

And now, with the Rebellion gaining speed, it was inevitable that a major battle would happen with SoulStorms armies of Shadow Warriors.
But with the Northern ponies with them, Celestia was looking toward the other kingdoms, wondering if she could possibly ask their own wandering armies to help them in the war against SoulStorm and the new threat he has summoned forth. Such allies would undoubtedly help tip the scale in their favor.

"When should we begin mobilizing for an assault against a fort or another city?" Asked WolfSlayer.

"Only when I believe we have enough troops to take one on. For now, we can seize small villages and take out Shadow patrols when possible." Celestia said.

"Also, we must use our limited supplies and numbers to our advantage." Said Luna as she came forward. "We must make sure that we don't take too many losses."

WolfSlayer bowed as he soon left the room, leaving the two Alicorns to themselves.

"We must be prepared for when we finally get in a major battle with Shadow Warriors... And when it happens, we must be prepared for the losses we will have." Luna said as they began to leave the room.

As they headed down the stairs, several Warriors who were present snapped to attention as they passed. They passed the Warriors as they finally exited the tavern.

The town of Alihorn had now become something more than just a small village. It now had walls running around, even though it was mostly just wooden logs. The blacksmith had expanded his shop to include more forges and every day, he and several others pounded and shaped metal into armor and weapons. There was now a barracks included in the town and it held a decent garrison of over 200 Warrior ponies.
As they walked down the road, ponies took a moment to bow to them as they passed and the princesses inclined their heads to the ponies as they continued onward through the town, heading towards the woods. When they reached the forest edges, Celestia began to walk into its depths as Luna followed. They walked through the stunning forest; Celestia said to her sister, “What are your thoughts about WolfSlayer?"

"Well, for a Warrior, he pretty understanding." Luna said, “mentioning how WolfSlayer had reacted to their story." And he's also a very good leader, probably has a few years in experience."

"I agree... But what are your thoughts on Steeltrix and IronBlood?"

Luna stopped short and looked at her sister." What are you trying to say? That those two aren't ready for a command?"

Celestia slowly stopped in her tracks as she turned around to face her sister." No... But all I can hope is that as they maybe learn from WolfSlayer, they will become better and better leaders..."

Luna could detect from Celestia's behavior that something else was plaguing her mind and as she looked at her sister, she suddenly realized it.

"You like Steeltrix, don't you?" She asked her sister.

Celestia blushed from behind her helmet as she said," What? Like Steeltrix? What gives you that idea?"

"You’re blushing, first off," Luna pointed out as she came forward," and you seem to... Think of him highly, as if he was the best match to you or something."

Celestia tried to say something but then, she sighed as her sister said," Don't worry its okay. Your secrets safe with me."

Celestia smiled beneath her helmet as she suddenly hugged her sister. This caught Luna off guard and then Celestia pulled away and said, “Thanks... For staying with me through all of this."

Luna was stunned but then she snapped out of it and said," As long as we are alive and sisters... We will always be together."

Steeltrix watched from the nearby forest as a small patrol of Shadow Warriors began to slowly march along the cobblestone road, headed for a nearby village that the rebellion had protection over. With him, IronBlood and at least a dozen Warrior ponies with them. They all were patiently waiting for Steeltrix to give the signal to spring the ambush and as he watched the patrol continue forward, finally he gave a whistle from where he was.

The patrol stopped as they heard the whistle and that's when the dozen Warrior ponies swarmed over them, spraying blood and cleaving open bodies as they quickly killed off the patrol. As the bodies were slowly dragged into the woods, Steeltrix looked upon the Warriors with praise in his eyes as they did their work efficiently.

Finally done with what they were doing, they all gathered up and with IronBlood, Steeltrix led the group out of the woods and back to Shilvan, no longer a ghost town and now helping produce much needed supplies and more that was helping supply the small army of the Rebellion even though Alihorn was still the HQ for the whole thing.

As they began to enter through the gates, guards above watching them with close scrutiny, the noise from the town washed over them and they entered its busy, busy streets.

"Alright, I think you all can behave yourselves and head to the barracks." IronBlood said to the dozen Warrior ponies as he and Steeltrix stopped.

The Warriors nodded their heads to the brothers as they continued on the road, knowing that IronBlood and Steeltrix wouldn't put trust in them without a good reason.

As the two watched the Warriors continue onward, Steeltrix nodded to his brother before they began to walk to where they were staying at: a nearby local tavern.

As they entered the taverns lower level pub, letting the noise of laughter, drinking, talking, and several other things slowly wash over them as they went up the stairs that led to the taverns rooms. They opened a single door, sectioned off from the others by a gold plate:

Reserved for Commanders Steeltrix and IronBlood

They opened the door as they closed it behind them and slowly took off their armor and put up their weapons. A table with map spread across it dominated the room while two beds and adjacent armor mannequins were at either side. A window was at the other end and had a clear view over the city.

As Steeltrix put his armor and weapon on his mannequin, he went to the table and slowly looked over it.

IronBlood, seeing this motion, put up the last piece of his armor and weapon as he walked to the tables opposite side and as he looked down onto the map, he said to his brother," Ok, what are you thinking?"

"Something... Isn't adding up..." Steeltrix said slowly as his hoof traced a path around the map.

"What exactly do you mean?" Asked IronBlood.

"You know how we found this Northern army, right? Well, if I remember correctly, almost all of the nations should have similar wandering armies... Why haven't we found any of those armies? Also, why hasn't any major army of Shadow Warrior been seen?"

IronBlood thought about this and realized what his brother was getting at and he looked up at his brother and asked," Are you saying... That perhaps those other armies somehow merged and are fighting off a large portion of the Shadow Warriors?"

"The only thing I could think of... Plus, didn't WolfSlayer say there were at least two other armies besides his?" Said Steeltrix as he tried to think of one place those armies could potentially be.

Then, something caught his eyes and he remembered something that he had once learned from his father.

"IronBlood, by any chance is the old fortress down by the Western Realm still standing?"

IronBlood looked at the map then took a piece of paper from his armor as he unfolded it and looked at it with wide eyes.

"What is that?" Asked Steeltrix.

"I remember getting a letter off one of those Shadow Warriors that we ambushed... Ah-ha!" IronBlood traced a path on the map and then it stopped as he said, “Looks like we have an army of maybe at least a few companies worth of Shadow Warriors besieging that very location... Looks like those armies are all there, with the recent arrivals of some Southern Land Hulu Warriors. At least a few companies worth of them."

Steeltrix smiled as he looked at the map and said, “Well... It looks like we're gonna have our first major engagement against the Shadow Warriors... We must alert the princesses and General WolfSlayer of this."

IronBlood nodded as he began to take out a small piece of paper and a quill and as he began to write his letter, Steeltrix took a messenger falcon from its cage as he slowly opened the message case attached to its back. IronBlood then placed their message into the case and as Steeltrix opened a window, he undid the falcon’s hood and it took a look around before it launched away from the room, flying high into the sky.

Celestia watched as the messenger falcon slowly come in to land on her protruding arm as Luna came forward and took the message from the cask on the falcon. As Celestia placed a hood over the falcons head and placed it in a nearby cage, Luna read the message that she recognized as being sent from IronBlood and Steeltrix. And as she looked over it, her mind began to realize what they were asking to do.
"Celestia, come quickly... It seems our friends have alerted us to a potentially good thing." She said as she looked up to her sister.

Celestia walked over and Luna handed her the paper to read. Celestia scanned through it and her heart seemed to skip a beat at the message.

"We must send out scouts there, first. I believe the General can handle that part. But if there really is this army, of either side, it will be an opportunity that we must act quickly to catch." She said as she began to hastily take another messenger falcon and put the message in its cask before sending it off to WolfSlayer.

"I hope we have enough Warriors to use. I don't think a single company would truly help divide that army up, considering the place it is besieging." Luna said plainly.

"We will find a way to beat SoulStorm... Even if we have to start chucking rocks at him." Celestia said.

Almost the next morning, IronBlood and Steeltrix found themselves waking up to a falcon tapping the window to their room. As Steeltrix got up from his bed and walked over to the window, the bird patiently waited for him to open the window before it glided into the room and landed on the table.

"That's WolfSlayer's messenger falcon." IronBlood said as he began to put on his armor with sudden haste.

Steeltrix nodded and as he let the falcon go, he read the message aloud: "To Commanders Steeltrix and IronBlood,

I have been told of the situation and have come up with a plan that should work. I have sent scouts ahead to make sure what you say is true but you must be ready for when they come back with news that what you say is true. I need you to summon up at least one company of Warriors to accompany you. Anymore and we will sadly be vulnerable. My plan is that you slowly skirmish with the Shadow Warriors before you charge in for a major battle. Try to make contact with the other armies inside and formulate a plan that shall crush the enemy in one blow."

"Good Luck, WolfSlayer." Steeltrix finished reading as he began to put on his armor.

"A single company... That will complicate things considerably. But I do believe we can win this and still manage to take only light losses." IronBlood said as he waited for his brother patiently.

Steeltrix finished up with his armor as he strapped his sickles to him and as he opened the door, he made a note to notify the Warriors here of the mission and see to the defense in his and his brothers absence.

They quickly descended down stairs and through the taverns pub before they walked out of the building and into the packed streets of Shilvan. They quickly walked to the barracks, almost a small fort of stone bricks, and as they entered through its gates, they quickly got to work with summoning up at least half of the available Warriors that were stationed here. As they left, Steeltrix told the garrison commander of their plans and the commander’s chest swelled with pride as he answered," You have my word. Nothing will take Shilvan without a fight."
Steeltrix nodded and as he and his brother left with only a quarter of the company they needed. They would spend a day or two recruiting the remaining warriors from towns and a few other garrison forts.

When they were finally done, the company of over 250 Warrior ponies was ready for whatever was going to happen. The scouts of WolfSlayer reported back that a great battle was going on and that IronBlood in his presumptions were correct. And so, with the banners of the Rebellion waving high over their heads, the company of Warriors began their advance towards the fortress, north-west of Canterlot and west of Shilvan.