The Equestrian Civil War.

by Grandore

The Sound of War.

Chapter 10: The Sound of War.

Squad Lightbringer was the first ponies to be woken the next day. The ponies found themselves woken by none other than Celestia at the door. “Awake, my faithful squad,” She began, “it is time.”

“Time for what?” The squad asked in unison. Celestia, walked into the center of the room and looked slowly to each pony.

“I fear that Shining Armor and Spitfire sent word this morning. Pegasus scouts have spotted NLR troops near the northern mountains. There is to be a skirmish in Wintergrass Valley at noon, and I want you there to support our side.” Celestia finished with clarity.

“Yes! When do we set out?” Silverspeed said anxiously.

“I’m guessing it’s soon.” Archmane said almost instantly.

“Now?” Grandore responded, Celestia only nodded. “Great! Let’s get moving.” Grandore said, throwing on his cloak, the rest of the squad followed. Archmane thowing on his cloak, Silverspeed sliding into her archer uniform, and Octavia equipping her armor.

“You will be settling in right at the camp’s landing sight. You should be met by Spitfire and Shining Armor.” Celestia announced and turned to leave the room, “Oh, your Chariot will be waiting outside. You leave in ten minutes.” With that, Celestia left the squad to pack their things.

“Spitfire, like the leader of the Wonderbolts, right?” Silverspeed asked as she packed her bag and trotted over to the door.

“Yes, that Spitfire.” Grandore and Archmane said at the same time and trotted over to the door with their bags. “Ready, Octavia?” Grandore asked as he looked back. Octavia nodded and with that they left Canterlot.

….

P.A.R.T.Y squad had been travelling for days, shortly after Shade Star’s appearance. “Why are we following this guy?” Thunder Flash asked Vinyl, who looked at Pinkie.

“Because, the letter said we’d be following him for his time in our squad!” Pinkie announced as she bounced forward.

“Besides, why not? I mean, it’s all cool and all, and he’s an alicorn, so I mean, I couldn’t do much against him ‘cause he’s stronger than me!” Pinkie smiled in agreement at her comment. Shade Star only rolled his eyes and dismissed the comment. Shortly later he stopped at the end of a cliff.

“Why are we stopping?” Flim asked, Shade Star pointed over the edge of the cliff, and the squad noticed it, the entire NLR army setting up a camp.

“That’s why. We’re here for the first battle of this war.” He announced and trotted off into the camp, the rest of the squad moving to get ready.

….

Squad Lightbringer found themselves landing in the camp shortly after they left. As soon as they stepped off the chariot they found themselves looking at a uniformed unicorn and pegasus. “It’s nice to see you again, Grandore” Shining Armor said, shaking hooves with Grandore, then nodding at Archmane, “You too, Archmane.”

“So, how long until the battle starts?” Grandore asked.

“We’re waiting for our scouts to return, we haven’t seen any sight of them from here.” Spitfire responded. They looked to the sky when they heard the sound of flapping wings. The pegasus scouting squad landed and one of the ponies spoke something to Spitfire, then trotted off with his squad. “Turns out, a small squad of five ponies just arrived from the south. The army has started moving, we will move to ready for the battle.” Spitfire said, then turned to Shining Armor, “I’ll have my archers move to flank the left.” She finished and trotted off.

“I need to have a letter sent to Twi, she needs to know that the battle is starting. You four get ready, I want you on the front lines.” Shining Armor said, he turned and disappeared into a nearby tent.

“Okay!” Grandore turned around, with a smile, to observe his squad. “I want us to stick close, I don’t want us splitting up,” Grandore pointed at Octavia, “You’ll be in front, you have the most armor, Archmane will surround us with a protective shield of ice so that archers will not be able to pick us off, Silverspeed, I want you to….honestly I don’t know, just follow my lead I guess.” Grandore stomped onto the ground, four small diamond daggers shot out of the ground and levitated around him.

“Those are new, they look experimental.” Archmane said. He glanced over and saw the army moving, the squad fell into their position.

“They are, I hope I don’t screw up.” Grandore said and trotted forward. The battle started an hour later when the squad heard the sound of arrows flying through the air, and the sound of battle cries.

….

The two armies met in the center of Wintergrass Valley. They battle started off gruesome, Squad Lightbringer leading the charge, their ice shield taking ten arrows a minute. The NLR pushed, ponies roaring with moral. The squad’s shield shattered when a streak of lightning rammed into Archmane from above, separating him from the group. Octavia found herself fighting two Earth ponies with a sword in one’s mouth, and a pair of daggers strapped to the other’s hooves. Grandore found himself fighting a unicorn hidden under a cloak. Silverspeed flew into the air to start picking ponies off with her arrows. Archmane was lifted into the air by the pegasus that had crashed into him, Thunder Flash. “Let go of me!” Archmane yelled, landing a head-butt on the pegasus. Archmane began to fall when the pony let go of him, only to be caught again by Silverspeed.

“You need to be more careful,” Silverspeed said, letting Archmane off onto the ground. Archmane only grumbled and brought his attention back to Thunder Flash. Octavia was becoming overwhelmed by the two ponies, when an arrow landed into the sword wielding pony’s head. She stared at the pony with horror as he fell to the ground. She quickly recovered and blocked the other pony’s attack and continued to fight him. The continued to go on for hours as the ponies pushed back and forth in hopes of winning.