17-The Siege
Chapter 17
Prince Julius Ironblood, son of King Calius Bloodfeather, carefully pored over the maps the general had left him. Canterlot had two major walls. The outer wall, which was several scores of paws thick, surrounded all of the city. The second wall, which was even thicker than the first, surrounded the Castle. The first wall was a little more than a joke, a simple thing meant to keep out wild animals and the like.
The second wall, however...
Towers and turrets lined the entire length wall, and it was heavily defended. Behind the wall was a massive number of buildings, each placed so close together that a griffon’s shoulders would touch both walls. All it would take to turn a street to a dead end would be to place a dinner table in the way, and they’d be forced to go a different way. They had a labyrinth at their disposal.
The castle, though, was far worse than that. It had four layers in total, each surrounded by yet another wall with the top of the wall of the last level reaching the base of the next. Each of these four wall was built to be almost unscalable by enemy forces, both from the inside as well as the outside. This was because each wall had a bridge to the next gate, a chokepoint that would expose them to the entirety of the wall. In order to get to the next gate, they had to take the wall.
Luckily, they were griffons, and griffons could fly.
What really worried him though was the thick wall of fog that hung between them and the first wall.
His Uncle Markus, General Ironclaw, would probably be able to tell him everything he would need to know, but the general had insisted that Julius lead this siege alone, his first true victory. “You must learn to fight your own battles, Julius. You must fight, and you must win, and perhaps one day, you’ll be as great as your father.”
But something wasn’t right.
The harbor cities of Baltimare, Manehatten, and Fillydelphia had been evacuated, but there had been no resistance.
In fact, other than the fact that one of their food carts had went missing, there was hardly a sign of anything going wrong.
And that’s what worried him.
His enemy was the fabled human, and the last human in all of Equestria (the planet, not the country) had been a tactical genius. He had Canterlot locked down so tight that a worm could not get in without him knowing.
Ironblood bit down on his lower beak. There should have been something. There should have been some sort of resistance. Why was there nothing?
His eye scanned his uncle’s plans, telling him to make his way over walls and through certain gates, hoping that maybe he’d glean something from them.
Nothing that he didn’t already know.
Sighing, Prince Ironblood closed his eyes and listened to the sound of his soldiers following orders, setting up camps, preparing battle lines, and sharpening their steel talon caps.
The sun would be setting soon, and he wanted his soldiers all rested up for what was sure to be a long day tomorrow. Difficult as it was to set up on a mountainside.
“Captain Bloodletter,” Ironblood began, only to pause.
“Sir?” a nearby griffon, the captain in question asked.
Ironblood strained his ears, leaning his head to one side. “Do...do you hear something?”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Private Gold Veins, an ex-miner from a small town in the Unicorn Range, felt something.
It was odd and unfamiliar in every sense of the word.
But he liked it.
His breath quickened, his pupils dilated, his muscles tensed, his nostrils flared.
His golden armor was polished, his spear gleamed in the setting sunlight, and his helmet sat straight on his head.
He felt an urge.
It was a silly, stupid little urge, for a stupid little action. Any other day he’d wave it off as a passing fancy.
But today was a red-letter day.
He brought up one hoof, and then, with all the force he could muster, brought it down on the white marble.
Clop!
A manic smile began to spread across his face as he stomped again.
Clop!
And again.
Clop!
It needed something else, something to end the rhythm, his brain decided. His body answered by smashing his hoof against his armored chest.
Clang!
He gave a quiet laugh and slammed his hoof back into the ground, not even noticing the mare next to him had joined his battle song.
Clop! Clop! Clop! Clang!
And then his company joined him.
Clop! Clop! Clop! Clang!
And then his division.
Clop! Clop! Clop! Clang! Clop! Clop! Clop! Clang!
And then every single pony, all 2400 of them, joined in.
Clop! Clop! Clop! Clang! Clop! Clop! Clop! Clang! Clop! Clop! Clop! Clang!
Gold Vein laughed maniacally, and they began to speed up.
Clop, Clop, Clop, Clang! Clop, Clop, Clop, Clang! Clop, Clop, Clop, Clang!
The rhythm got faster and faster, their hooves slamming against the ground with all of their might as they pounded against the marble.
Clop-Clop-Clop-Clang-Clop-Clop-Clop-Clang-Clop-Clop-Clop-Clang!
And then, Gold spoke.
“Ya Ya Huley!”
And hundred voices repeated, speaking words of an ancient battle-cry. Their meaning long forgotten in the annals of time.
“Ya Ya Huley!”
“Ya Ya Tarvisa!”
“Ya Ya Tarvisa!”
“Tarvisa Jorda!”
“Tarvisa Jorda!”
“Ya Ya Hu Langa!”
“Ya Ya Hu Langa!”
“Ku Tawey Ne!”
“Ku Tawey Ne!”
“Ku Tawey Ne!”
“Ku Tawey Ne!”
And then their voices rose together in a single cry, their hooves stomping madly as the clang against armor was forgotten. A single crescendo of steel against stone and the voices of a thousand ponies echoed off the mountain wall, piercing the fog and the awaiting army behind it.
And then,
Silence.
The stomping, the cry, the battle song, it all ended in one second.
Just silence.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Prince Ironblood gulped.
Heck, everyone in the Griffon camp gulped.
The ponies, they may have forgotten over the centuries of peace what those words meant, but the griffons did not.
Those words were a battle curse.
A warning.
“Invader Leave,
Invader Die,
Fight and Die,
Leave and Live,
This is your choice,
This is your choice.”
But then came the horn.
A shockwave of fear flooded the minds of every griffon there, paralyzing them where they stood. Images of their darkest nightmares flood their consciousness.
Ironblood, frozen with fear, was the only griffon in his camp of 4000 to remain standing.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Alan listened as carefully as he could after his horn blast.
This was one of the most important moments of this battle. His finger went to his ear. “Dashie, I need eyes in the sky, now.”
His only answer was a single figure flying into the darkness.
More silence.
Suddenly, Dash’s voice crackled over the communicator. “They’re all huddled together in small groups, and they’re being really quiet.”
Alan smiled. “Good, pull back, and get the Wonderbolts ready. At random times during the night, throw some cloud bombs down there to shake things up.”
“Sir, yes sir!”
“Twi, Rarity, AJ, Pinkie, tell your ponies to get some sleep. Fluttershy, get some couriers to keep watch.”
“Sir, yes sir,” the ponies answered.
Sun Tzu once said, “When the troops continually gather in small groups and whisper together, the general had lost the confidence of the army.”
Step one: “Sabotage the leader through psychological warfare” was going wonderfully.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Celestia shook her head, unsure of what to make out of this development.
“The Battle Blood has awoken,” Luna noted, speaking what they both thought.
“It has.”
“I fear for their lives now.”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, Faust be with those poor griffons.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Derpy wandered the quiet courtyard that had become the forward base of operations. City shops lined both sides of the plaza, where a few ponies had gotten together and were quietly eating at their military rations, cracking jokes and being as friendly as possible to each other. It was a beautiful autumn night, with the moon shining brightly and not a cloud in the sky.
Derpy smiled as she looked up, before she shivered.
It was a little cold tonight.
“Blanket, Miss Do?”
Derpy nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the familiar voice, startled by its closeness. She turned to see the Doctor standing there, the offered blanket draped across his back. “Oh, geeze!” she exclaimed. “Don’t scare me like that.”
The Doctor gave an amused smirk. “Do you want the blanket or not?”
Derpy took a few more breaths. “Yes, I’ll take it.”
He smiled, taking the blanket in his teeth and wrapping it around her.
“What are you doing here anyways? Didn’t you say you have a thing against killing?”
“I did, I do,” the Doctor answered. “But this is different.”
“It is?”
He nodded. “Who rules Equestria, Miss Do?”
“Princess Celestia...” Derpy responded, not entirely sure where the conversation was going.
“Yes, now does the Princess seem ambitious?”
“No.”
“No, she doesn’t, and it's a good thing too, because as of right now she could conceivably murder everyone on the planet without so much as lifting a hoof.”
“I’m not getting where you’re going.”
“The Princess could get anything she’d want, all she’d have to do is hold the planet hostage. If Celestia was ambitious, there would be no Empire across the sea.”
“Um...still not...”
The Doctor sighed, “My point is, Derpy, that Celestia is not the kind of person, excuse me, pony, to go to war. She seems the reasonable sort, and considering the fact that she’s probably older than I am, is more than capable of talking herself out of a situation.”
“So you're saying...”
“I’m saying, Miss Do, that if this war could have been avoided, it would have been.”
“And so because it’s unavoidable, that makes it ok?”
“Oh, absolutely not,” the Doctor said, shaking his head. “What it does mean, though, is that those griffons are not going to stop. So they must be stopped. They’re setting out to destroy a society of peace-loving ponies. If that’s their goal in life right now, they need to be taught a lesson.”
“And are you going to teach it to them?”
“Me? Oh, no. I’ve had my fair share of killing in my lifetime. Perhaps more than my fair share...”
Derpy watched as the Doctor's eyes began to stare off into the distance, he seemed, for a second, lost, as the world seemed to pass before his eyes. “Yes, definitely more than my fair share...”
He turned to her, “Well, anyway, I better go check on the sentries. Good luck and watch yourself out there. I don’t need my assistant coming back in more than one piece.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Morning dawned, and the fog, still held in place by pegasus hooves, stood before the griffon army like a solid wall. Prince Ironblood stood before it, looking into the depths of the fog, before turning to his men. “Alright, men. You have heard their cry. You heard it as well as I did last night. The wall of fog there is impressive, but is nothing more than a smoke screen. They’re hiding from us, and they should. Do you know why?”
The silence coming from his army was not encouraging.
“They should be hiding because they are nothing more than a bunch of ponies! They are equines that are too small to be proper horses. They are the girliest creatures to walk this earth and they know it. But we are griffons. We are a proud and noble race of warriors and hunters. They have nothing, we have everything, and you should be ashamed for forgetting all of that the second they give a little cheer.”
A few of his soldiers dropped their heads.
The prince gave them a soft smile. “Come now, stand with me now and prove to me you have nothing to fear.”
They stood, a with a few more words of encouragement, the made their way into the fog.
Hundreds of griffons took flight, flying into the sky and diving into the fog.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Pinkie stood at the bow of the Ira Solaris, listening carefully to all of the chatter of her Division as well as that of the other generals.
Dashie’s voice crackled. “Al, the Griffons have just made their move, we’re ready.”
“Understood,” Alan answered from the wall, “wait for Pinkie’s volley to be done and then move in. Pinkie.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Giggle at the ghosties for us.”
A smile spread across her face as her mane straightened. “Sir.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
The griffons flew as quietly as they could, gliding through the fog.
It was far thicker than they imagined.
Talius Shieldhide could barely see the Griffon in front of him, and the distance between them was maybe a few paws.
This was some smoke screen.
Next to him flew the Prince, and Talius was under strict orders to never let him out of his sight. Talius silently feared for him. The army had not taken last night too well, and many of them had not gotten any sleep. Especially once they started getting pelted by random bits of cloud falling from the sky that would then burst into lightning. There had been more than one soldier talking of deserting...
Suddenly an explosion of red and blue lights ripped Shieldhide from his thoughts. The sound of thunder filled his ears and a shockwave threw him off course.
Suddenly another explosion, this one from behind.
More and more colorful explosions rocked the air, exploding all around the army. Three or four griffons went down, their wings or fur on fire. More thunderous boom and blinding lights filled the fog around them, any screams drowned out by the clamorous thunder surrounding them.
For a full ten seconds, they were pelted around by shockwaves and noise.More griffons fell to their deaths as their wings were damaged. Then, finally, they stopped.
Disoriented, the griffons no longer knew which way was forward, which way was back, and if not for gravity, which way was up or down.
Then came Phoenix Division.
From the fog came hundreds of pegasi, slamming into the griffons from above. More than a few died on impact, the clawed shoes breaking backs and wings. Others were simply buffeted away, losing sight of the others in the fog.
“We’re under attack!” someone yelled, as the griffons tried desperately to get themselves in order.
By the time they were organized, the pegasi were gone.
Another explosion rocked the air around them.
More brightly colored fireworks filled the air around them, and more griffons hit the ground, unaware of what had just happened.
The explosions stopped, and then the pegasi returned, hitting them while they were still dazed. This time from below.
They were getting picked apart in the cloud layer, they needed to get their bearings again. The prince, searching his mind for a solution, suddenly yelled, “Land! Land! Everygriffon land!”
Those that heard the order began to drop, heading for land. They had to get out of this madhouse.
<<<|Ω|>>>
“They’re landing, Al,” Dashie’s voice crackled.
“Good, make sure they stay grounded, and herd them towards the walls.”
“Understood.”
Step two: “Establish Aerial Dominance” complete.
<<<|Ω|>>>
The griffon army, now forced to the ground, began crawling forward, being pestered by pegasi they could not see, and were strongly discouraged from taking off by the explosions that occasionally lit up the fog above them.
Once they had landed, they had just been able to get their bearings, and continued on up towards the wall. As they got closer, the fog got thinner, and they could finally begin to make out shapes.
The sight that met them was none too pleasant.
Four tanks suddenly fired a salvo of cannonfire, ripping the incoming line of griffons to shreds. The cannons rotated and another cannon lined up with the incoming ranks.
Ironblood found himself staring down what promised to be a quick death.
Shieldhide dived at him, and pushed them both out of the way.
The prince could hear the cannonball whistle past his head.
Tactical genius suddenly seemed to be an understatement.
<<<|Ω|>>>
The morning passed slowly, and the tanks eventually ran out of ammo. The fog had dissipated as well, and the griffons began to climb the walls and dogfights broke out between enemy and Phoenix Division. The Ira and the Vindicta were now swarming with ponies, many of whom were firing rockets down into the airborne fray, the others trying to keep griffons off the decks.
“Keep them off the wall!” Alan shouted, bring Judgement down on a head that popped over the wall.
Spearponies were crowded around the battlements, stabbing down to keep the griffons from climbing.
Fireballs and other magical blast from the unicorns were the only ranged attacks, and they were responsible for the low-altitude griffons.
“Keep them pinned!” Twilight yelled, launching several blast from her horn.
“Don’t ya even think about lettin’ one of them critters get up here!” Applejack said, speaking through the handle of her chain.
A fuschia hard-mana shield smashed into the head of another griffon, with Shining Armor adding his own voice to the call. “Watch them close, don’t let them get out of your sights.”
A griffon suddenly pounced over the wall, bringing a taloned claw down on Alan.
The steel-capped talon ripped through flesh, leaving a long gouge down Alan’s side.
Of course, it hardly mattered considering that Judgement removed the beast’s head.
Twilight watched as Alan’s eyes hardened, before he kicked the body over the wall. His teeth ground together and he focused on fighting through the pain.
No maniacal laughter. No crazed look. No hatred.
Just cold determination.
“Do not let them take this wall!” he shouted.
The ponies around him redoubled their efforts, seeing their leader fight through pain meant that they need not fear it.
They would not.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Noon passed and and evening was setting in, but still the griffons had not taken the first wall.
But now ponies were paying for it in blood.
“Medic!” another shout went up.
Nightingale division was sloppy and slow, and the ponies were paying for it now.
“Fluttershy! I needed medics here yesterday!” Alan shouted into his communicator.
“I-I um...I’m—”
“Don’t waste time apologizing! Just get someone here now!” he shouted, before stabbing another griffon through the heart.
“Sir! We’re going to have to pull back!” Shining yelled. “We’ve held the wall for almost a full day, you figured we’d last half that. We’re doing well.”
Alan bit his lip, before bring his sword up in an uppercut. Holding the wall meant that they were farther away from the castle, which meant that their chance for success increased.
But ponies were dying...
Alan ground his teeth before pulling out his horn.
Two clear notes echoed across the battlefield, and the griffons looked up at the human in terror. “Get back, all of you! To the second wall! Shining, Trixie! Cover us!”
Before the griffons could move, their world was encased in darkness. Pitch darkness.
Then lights exploded in a dazzling array across their eyes, blinding them entirely.
A fuchsia wall of magic rammed into them, pushing them over the wall.
Those that were quick to recover, managed to glide down to the ground, while those that did not broke themselves in the fall.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie wishes you a nice Fall!” a voice laughed from the top of the wall.
“Follow them forward!” the prince yelled, “Go, quickly into the city!”
The forces began to pile into the city, and as they did, bright lights flashed across their eyes, blinding them.
A mortar round from the Ira destroyed the first score that came through the gate
“Bring that ship down!” the prince yelled as a few squads took to the air, finally free from the pegasi’s pestering. “Come my talon brothers! We must take the castle!”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Four griffons climbed up the side of the gold-and-copper ship, digging their claws into the varnished oak. They carefully avoided the cannon windows, doing their best to avoid contact with the ponies, and trying to remain as stealthy as possible. Two of the four had begun moving climbing the port, while the others climbed the starboard.
About halfway up, though, the starboard griffons suddenly heard “Surprise!”
A blue-clad, yellow maned pony slammed their heads together in the cliched slapstick favorite. The griffons began to fall, stunned from the blow, and Surprise was quick to follow them. One of the griffons began to recover, spreading his wings.
Surprise dived into one of the feathered limbs, sending the griffon spinning.
The other began to recover, and Surprise slammed into its side.
At every chance of recovery, Surprise was there, forcing them through the fall.
Eventually, they hit the ground. Dead the second they did.
Surprise then began to head back to the ship, pushing as fast as she could to keep her cousin company.
The griffons climbing the port side were making good progress, totally oblivious to the fate of their partners.
Suddenly they heard the sound of hooves on wood.
A blue clad pegasus with a navy blue mane walked up the side of the boat, his wings spread, flapping every now and then, obviously keeping him airborne as he strode sideways.
The griffons looked up at him.
“Can I help you, Gentlecolts? My name is Soarin, and I will be your guide today.”
The griffons blinked.
“To your left, we have clear sky, a normally beautiful horizon that seems to have been ruined this morning by war. To your right, we have more horizon, again, ruined. And in between you, we have your worst nightmare.”
Suddenly, Soarin reared up and brought his hooves down on the talons of the griffons.
They yelped in pain, tearing their claws from the side of the ship.
Soarin bucked them before they had another chance to move.
The kick sent the griffons sprawling, spinning end over end as they fell. The Wonderbolt was quick to follow, diving after them in much the same fashion that Surprise had.
One of the griffons was quick to recover, and flew out of the way of Soarin’s dive.
Before Soarin could attack the other as it was recovering, the first managed to knock him off course with a violent shove.
Steel bit into pony flesh, and Soarin bit back a cry of pain.
“My worst nightmare, huh?” the griffon taunted.
Soarin smirked, “Yeah, you know, those nightmares where everything seems to be going your way and then something terrible happens?”
A talon closed around his throat. “I find it more likely that you are going to be my next meal.”
Pinkamena saw it, and so, she moved. She quickly spotted a cannon on the upper deck, a smaller one, but it would do, and shoved the ponies to the side.
Before they could so much as argue, Pinkie had everything she needed to know.
Distance, 102½ hooves. Angle, 36.4º. Cannon loaded. Fuse length, 12 seconds.
She bit down on the fuse and with an expert twist, cut it down.
Fuse length, 2 seconds.
She quickly lit it and her body automatically filled all of the aiming requirements. “Just don’t move,” she whispered.
The cannon report was the only warning the griffon had before the cannonball tore through him, throwing the body off into the distance.
Soarin gasped for breath and looked over to boat where Pinkie waved at him, her mane briefly jumping back to its original puffiness.
Soarin blinked, but waved back.
Wait...wasn’t there something I was supposed to be doing?
A griffon suddenly shot past him, missing him by a hair’s breadth.
Oh, yeah...the other griffon...
Soarin gave chase, confident that he’d be able to take this one on.
I am so getting a pie after this.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Prince Ironblood groaned.
They were making so little progress. Every few steps it was a blinding flash here, or a siren’s song there. The griffons had taken perhaps an hour and a half of simply trying to cross Canterlot City, and they hadn't even come to the castle wall yet.
“Just a few more pushes,” he called, although his soldiers were still moving slowly.
This was, of course, not good. If his soldiers didn’t trust him, they wouldn’t follow him. If they didn’t follow, then he may just be used as target practice for one of those rockets.
The bombardment had stopped once they had entered the city proper, they seemed to have wanted to save as much of the buildings as possible. So instead of more mortar rounds, the airships seemed content to launch exploding rockets above their heads, discouraging any sort of flight.
It was working wonderfully.
However, between the gaps in the rocket fire, squads of pegasi flew overhead, dropping small pieces of cloud which exploded into lightning.
They had traded one ammunition for another.
The prince’s men ran forward, when a blanket of darkness covered them. Forced to stop, or else risk running into something, the griffons could only wait.
Another frustrated growl from the prince, at this rate, they’d reach the wall the dawn of the next day.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Vinyl Scratch stood next to her long-time rival/musical partner/friend, Neon Lights. While Neon was better known as MC W!sh, he had never really liked his stage name.
Mainly because, the MC and the DJ had a fierce “rivalry” that had been cooked up by the fans of either one or both ponies.
They both thought it was ridiculous, especially once they started dating...but, fans were fans...
“So, how about once this is all over, we say we each saved each others lives and fell madly in love?” the pale blue unicorn with a wild, black mane asked.
“Are you still trying to get us together on one stage without us having to fight to death of one of our speakers?” Vinyl asked, whispering.
“Look, we’d reach our full potential that way, I get the lights, you get the music, and the fans get the best experience of their lives,” he whispered back.
“That and you want an excuse to make out on stage, you sicko.”
“You know you’d love it.”
Vinyl shushed him, urging him to be quiet as the griffons approached.
“Well let’s see what our potential will be like.”
The two unicorns suddenly jumped in front of the approaching griffons, their horns glowing, and then in a sudden burst, they released their magics.
Loud, impossibly loud beats buffeted the griffons while blinding lights shot into their eyes. The resulting flashbang forced the griffon’s to the ground, halting their movement for another few minutes.
“Now let’s go!” Neon said, galloping away.
Vinyl followed.
Neither noticed the griffon in the alley way they just passed.
The monster pounced, pinning the stallion to the ground.
Vinyl watched in silent horror as her coltfriend was suddenly picked up, and thrown into a nearby cafe.
He slammed against the wall, unconscious.
Then the griffon turned to her.
“You’ve caused us all quite the bit of pain, missy.”
Vinyl blinked behind her sunglasses.
“So I think I’m going to return the favor.”
Paralyzed with fear, Vinyl didn’t even back away from the monster that was approaching her.
It was much closer now, about ready to strike, when suddenly, a flash of silver broke between them.
“I’d much rather you didn’t hurt my friend,” a refined voice said as the griffon fell down, clutching at it’s sliced throat.
Vinyl suddenly found her voice. “Tavi?”
The earth pony, armed with a rapier-like sword turned to her, sure enough, it was Octavia. “Hello, Vinyl. I hope you’re doing well.”
“You...You’re here,” the DJ noted.
“I suppose I just want something to die for,” she said with a joking tone.
Vinyl looked down at the body of the griffon that had tried to kill her before looking back up at the earth pony. “And you own.”
Octavia blushed, “Well, there isn’t too great a difference between sliding a sword against flesh and sliding a bow against strings. But we can talk about the mechanics of swordfighting later, right now we need to get you two to safety.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Private Thundersight was making his last check of the city. He was flying along a designated route to avoid the rocket blasts and trying to make sure that every soldier had managed to withdraw into the castle.
So far, between the fog wall and cloud bombs, as well as the Ira’s own salvos, they were doing far better than Thundersight even hoped. The Pendragon certainly knew what he was doing.
Suddenly, his eye caught movement. Down one of the streets, three ponies, two running, the other being carried, were being chased by a squad of griffons.
They...they’d never make it to the gate in time. The griffons were catching and it wouldn’t be long before they were caught.
He-he had to do something.
At the rate they were going though, he wasn’t sure he’d make it.
At least, he wasn’t sure...
His eyes drifted to the piece of black cloth wrapped around his hoof.
He knew he wouldn’t make it, like he had known he couldn’t carry 170 pounds a distance of 200 hooves.
And then he did.
So it was definitely worth a try.
He began to climb, Pushing the air past him as he did, keeping his eyes on his target. He began to level off, gaining on the griffons, but not by much. His better-than average eyesight giving him a good view of the enemy squad.
Then he began to dive.
Keeping his wings close, he angled himself down on where the griffons were heading, and silently prayed that he could in fact do this.
The wind was ringing in his ears, stinging his eyes, and almost blinded him.
The piece of black cloth whipped around his hoof.
He could do this.
<<<|Ω|>>>
“Vinyl, hurry!” Octavia yelled.
“I’m trying! I’m trying!” the Dj answered, carrying Neon on her back.
He really needed to lay off the donuts.
Of course, that really wasn’t on her mind at the moment, because five griffons were chasing them, and gaining.
Octavia chanced a glance behind and saw the griffon approaching, the bloodthirsty look in its eyes further pressing her to speed away. “Vinyl!”
“I’m trying!”
Vinyl could hear the thing’s breathing, barely there over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.
She had to go faster.
She looked behind her, and saw with a growing sense of terror as the griffon’s talons were coming down on her flank.
Suddenly, a grey and gold form smashed into the griffon.
An armored pegasus, coming from nowhere, had slammed into the griffon’s back going at high speed.
Jumping forward, he spun in the air, landing to face the other four. “Go! I’ll hold them off!”
Vinyl stared at him.
“Go!” he shouted.
The words seemed to reach her the second time and she took off running.
The remaining griffons growled at him.
“Bring it, Chicken blood,” Thundersight taunted.
He was then set upon by four griffons, four pairs of talons ripped at him, attacking him before he had a chance to react.
He was cut and ripped at before he could even move. He could feel the steel bite his flesh, he could feel his fur being ripped out of his body, and he felt his feathers being pulled from his wings.
He was tossed to one side, his wings ruined and bloodied. The rest of him fared no better.
“So,” one of the griffons said, a brute of a beast that was twice as thick as his friends, an eye patch covering one eye, “you want to be the hero, huh? You want to delay us, is that it? Well, congratulations pony, because you’ve done exactly that. Because for the next few hours, you are going to be my pet project.”
Thundersight coughed, “Well, you better hurry, I’m due tomorrow.”
The griffon growled, before he set to work.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Vinyl, Octavia and Neon all got inside the gate. “Is that everypony?” the guard asked.
“No, there’s a pegasus,” Octavia said.
“They can fly out,” the guard replied before closing the door. “Head to the wall, Pendragon’s orders.”
Octavia nodded, “Vinyl, take your friend to the infirmary, fourth level, alright?”
Scratch nodded, before heading to Nightingale’s base of operations.
Octavia took a second, to catch her breath.
She had just killed someone.
She had just taken the life of a living, breathing being who may have had family back home. He could have been looking forward to going home after this. He had favorite foods and drinks, and all of a sudden, with a flip of her fetlock, she had ended him.
The urge to vomit suddenly hit her. Hard.
She wiped her mouth after she barfed, and held her stomach.
Oh, Celestia. Oh Celestia help her.
She gulped down air, standing next to the gate.
She had to make herself presentable. It was getting dark now, and someone was bound to come by with a torch to get some light in here.
She took a few more seconds, steadying her shaking hooves.
The griffon's face burned in her mind, the look of terror in his eyes as he lay there, gasping at his slit throat.
She shook her head. “I can’t do this.”
Something odd touched her back, smoothing her fur.
She turned to see the Pendragon standing there, petting her. “You’re doing a good job, soldier.”
She snapped to attention, “Sir, I-uh—”
“Don’t worry about it, just calm down.”
Octavia nodded, visibly relaxing as she dropped her posture.
Alan turned to the guard. “Is that everypony?”
The guard nodded. “She was the last one in.”
Alan nodded, before turning to the cellist-turned-soldier. “Are you alright?”
Octavia opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. She stumbled over her tongue as she fought for the right words before she finally said, “No, sir. No, I’m not alright.” She hung her head. “I just killed a griffon, a living breathing thing, and...and I don’t know what I should be feeling. He was going to kill my friend if I didn’t stop him, but...but...”
Alan nodded, petting the pony. “I know, I know.” He kept petting her, offering as much comfort as he could. “Why don’t you take a break? Head to the infirmary for a few hours, clear your head.”
She nodded. “Yes, sir, thank you, sir.”
Alan nodded as he watched Octavia go.
Then he headed to the walls, where the fighting would begin in earnest.
--------------------------------
And Chapter.
“Hey! You said that there would be some epic moments!”
Well, yeah, but then pacing got in the way. But you got yours so what are you complaining about?
“I wanted to see Alan kick some flank!”
Oh, you will, trust me.
Next chapter, the body count rises, the buffalo come to the battlefield, and the Princess reveal their true power! All this and more in the next chapter of A Novice Swordsman in the Canterlot Court.
Also I beg forgiveness of the many Whovians that I offended,a few chapters back. I hope I have at least partially redeemed myself.
Be sure to comment, like, fave, whatever.
Also be sure to check my new story Good Girl /shamelessplug]
See you next time!
Stats
Page generated in 0.036 seconds
Total duration
1,047 users online
2,212,531 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
You're awesome. Just thought you should know that.
Good going!!!!
Lovely chapter. I've found very few stories on this site that can show battles in a way that I can appreciate reading. This is one of them.
Well done, sir.
That. Was. Awesome
.
I was reading this while listening to this
very friggin epic
can't wait for more! 
Well freaking done, Sir.
-Grins madly and claps glowing green hands together-
KATSU!
-Explosions rain down on a troop of Griffons-
Another good chapter there Miner, I especially like the psychological warfare bits that were in there.
Its a shame he doesn't actually have Sun Tsu's book with him, but he seems to be doing well on remembered knowledge.
Also, nice battle chant. Didn't expect something like that to pop up, but there it is.
I was listening to Two Steps From Hell while I was reading this. It was epic:
More excitement in my brain. Yay.
Well I've read it and have some comments... but 2 things... one I'm going to get and have dinner 1st. xD
And two... I'd say this is one of your strongest chapters yet! 
Brace yourself for comment impact! ...once I've gotten some food in me belly!
>>>Derpy watched as the Doctor's eyes began to stare off into the distance, he seemed, for a second, lost, as the world seemed to pass before his eyes. “Yes, definitely more than my fair share...”>>>
BUT I HAVEN'T!!!! HEE HEE HEE!! *Alondro madly rushes through the griffon ranks slicing and dicing with his twin katanas, moving so fast he leaves blurry afterimages of himself which linger through some weird quantum-anime phenomenon while his enemies collapse into various-sized pieces. The entire army is exterminated in 10 seconds flat and the ponies just stare at the mince-meat results in slack-jawed shock. Alondro and Pinkie Pie then open a combined barber-meat pie shop in Seville...*
Oh no Thundersight D:
Right... well lets get to this shall we?
As I mentioned earlier I felt like this was one of your stronger chapters so I might seem a little more nit picky than usual because I feel like it IS a stronger chapter... so I shall do a little nit picking to make it even stronger! ...or at least that's the plan.
Right 1st thing is 1st. I felt like I had a pretty decent sense of what the battlefield looked like. However, there were two things that kept me from getting a really good picture of it. One more of a nit picky thing and then the other was something that I feel would be a good idea to address. The nit picky bit is giving a brief description of the griffins camp. I feel like it would help just paint a better picture of the entire area. Especially sense you've give us a grasp of what the city kinda looks like it would be nice to see what it's like on the other side of the fog. The other part that I feel is something that should be addressed is where key people are during the battle. I knew where the griffin prince was, but I had no idea where Alan was until he was seen killing the griffin by his soldiers... up until that point I thought he was on one of the big capital ships... because that's just where my mind put him... or if he was on one of the ships that scene, where his fellow soldiers took heart at the sight of him taking injury but still stood strong, then it should be clarified so I'm not jumping from ship to wall and back again... I don't think Alan can teleport.
Also on the note of Alan taking the injury... normally I might ask for a reaction to taking the blow however in this case it works. Not showing an reaction, one that only the reader can see or anyone else kinda helps to create a sense of immovability. And while the killing the griffin without so much as a blink is fine now... in the thick of battle when the adrenaline is pumping through him and he HAS to be firm for his fellow soldiers, fine... however I'd better see some kinda recourse for him... or him trying to work his way through it but not really knowing how to... I think you also have a great way to set it up with the Octy thing... Alan comforted her, and I'm sure she wasn't the only one... but who comforts him? Who helps him through the killing and the bloodshed?
Speaking of bloodshed... I think a greater description of Alan's injury is called for. In my mind from the way you wrote it I had him taking a lot more damage than it turned out he'd taken. I thought it was much deeper than it actually seemed to have been. I thought it might have been a life threatening injury... you know something that might have hit something vital or something. But, from the way he takes it it feels like more of a flesh wound. Maybe lose a bit of blood (which would be a problem if that's not taken care of) but nothing vital hit... maybe wide or long, but nothing deep... at least that's the image I had at the end of the story... but I did have to change it around a little here and there when he 1st got it. So a little clarification on what his injury is like would be helpful. Just line is all you really need.
I have to say... I noticed a lot of "suddenly"s in this chapter... -glare- Now... having a few are fine. However, typically suddenly is a weak description word. So something for you to work on is to reduce the amount of "suddenly"s you use. Personally I'd say don't worry so much about the "suddenly"s in the middle of a sentence or paragraph. But, please at least take a look at the ones that start new paragraphs. Those are the ones that stood out the most to me and I felt like they could be replaced with some different, stronger descriptors. At the very least try to change a few so you have more variety in your descriptions.
Oh, right.. nearly forgot... the griffins seemed to have lost a lot of moral pretty quickly. Not that that couldn't happen, but I felt like it was a little too easy to unnerve them. They'd successfully pushed to the capital of Equestria at the onset of the war, they're battle hardened troops, they don't feel terribly threatened by the ponies, they outnumber their opponents, and yet... they seem to have lost their nerve. So if they're moral is going to plummet, or if it's not high to begin with we need a bigger sense of that. If that chant really was so unnerving... well what made it so? What is the griffin's moral like when they get to the capital?
Also... now this is me just being a bit nit picky and maybe it's just me... but "battle curse" just feels... awkward to me. If it works for you that's fine, but I thought I should just point it out... oh but at the very least a little more detail on what the heck that is would be nice to. That prob would also help with explaining why the griffins seemed to lose a lot of moral. (I mean asides from being harassed all night.)
Hmmm... I think that's everything that I wanted to point out. If I remember something I'll be sure to write it down for you. Also... keep up the good work!
First thing, DAYNUUM 1591446, that's a looooooong comment you got there. Important issues, but long.
Keep up the good work! This chapter was executed beautifully, and I NEED MOAR!
Nice and epic. Just how I like it.
man, I'd love to have my Pegasus OC involved with this. if you wouldn't mind him joining in as a late arrival, I'd be honored to give you the specs.
1619203
No, you don't want your OC as a part of this story.
I have a bad habit of killing OCs at the worst possible time in the worst possible way.
1620717 well, considering how he is, if he's going to die, he'd want to go down fighting. protecting those he loves, which are Luna, Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo.
There is a thin line between Magnificent Bastard and Mary Sue, DO NOT CROSS IT. Also, I swear if you turn him into a pony I will find you and murder you.
iambrony.steeph.tp-radio.de/mlp/gif/tumblr_lkkzmeZiwP1qh5iszo1_400.gif
1670941
Well, the death of Arthur goes something like this.
Arthur's illegitimate son, Mordred, was fighting for the throne and failing, so he decided to make up to dear old daddy with a parley. "No weapons" was the one rule, and two knights, one on each side, broke the rule. Now, apparently there was a really bad fly (I'm being serious) and one of the rule breakers drew his sword to get the fly. A fight broke out, and Mordred was killed and Arthur mortally wounded. So, Arthur says it's time to return Excalibur to the lake, and once that's done, he's set afloat on a boat on the lake and is lost in the fog.
Cue Wormhole.
“Bring it, Chicken blood,”
Probably my biggest question is how you came up with this battle chant :O
The day I read it I also went to Universal and went on that Transformers ride...
And yelled it as I entered the car.
Aw yiss.
Hmm. A rapier is supposedly a thrusting sword, but I guess it can be used for slashing, or simply cutting a neck. Oh well.
It is better to risk your own life to save another, than do nothing and let them die
Thundersight will be remembered!
2641181
Inigo Montoya's sword was a rapier. 'nuff said.
2728938
Psst...
Prepare to die.
2641181 You're thinking of an epee or a smallsword.
Throat Slitting...Eeyugh...
ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4765043940787306&pid=1.7&w=141&h=144&c=7&rs=1
CCCCCCCRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDD
approves this tactical genius
1644546 I think you've blurred the difference between cliche and Mary Sue. Turning into a pony does not make him super ultra powerful megaman of ultimatum. It turns him into a pony. Which is a bit overused therefore a cliche. Unless he becomes a pony who is super ultra powerful megaman of ultimatum then that is both. I would not drop the story at him being a pony but I'd prefer him not being one. Luckily there is no evidence so far to make you think he may be one.
For some reason, when I read the scene with the "battle cry," I saw the ponies doing this:
I swear I have heard that battle chant some where else. Specifically, I thought I originally heard it during the Battle of Helm's Deep from LOTR. I have since confirmed that there was no battle chant like this during that battle. This is bugging me, and will continue to bug me until I figure out where its from.
That was pretty metal
Yup, I'm out. This needs a gore tag, and maybe a dark tag. I hate poorly tagged stories that suddenly turn grimdark.
If it had been a better story I might be able to swallow my displeasure and read on anyway, but this story just did not suck me in. It's just not good enough to make up for the 180 tonal shift.
i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/872/113/a45.png
"had been a tactical genius"
CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED
...... I can't tell if that was an innuendo or not!
1591220 Do not fret for him, for he now sits at the head table in the halls of Valhalla.
2209257 He faced his mortal passing with bravado like a true warrior.
Greater love hath no man than this, that he shall lay down his life for his brother.
Thundersight lived by this verse today, so that his Brothers and Sisters-in-Arms may live. His sacrifice shall always be remembered and cherished with honor.
I enjoyed this chapter very much!