Shining galloped along shouting orders, armor now obscuring his white coat. “The attack had begun! They’ve breached the wards!” Further out she could feel the wards her brother placed just beyond the edge of the city. To the north they bowed and cracks formed along their magical surface. She counted down the seconds as the cracks grew larger, trying to steady the quakes in her hooves.

The northern wards shattered and an army came pouring forth to be met by electrified pegasi and stampeding earth ponies. Yet, the first mark to hit was from the unicorns. Set back from the cavalry they acted as archers firing bolts of pure magic from their horns. It struck down the soldier and more oozed in to take its place. She gathered up more magic and sifted through her arsenal. Her violet eyes pierced the horizon and she gave one last prayer that this would all be worth it in the end. She bowed her head and raw magic poured forth like a cannon blast at the bottle-necking of bodies pouring through the broken wards. The spell ended and her lungs were already heaving from the sheer exertion. She could feel the brief pause in the enemy's forces before they poured through once more.

She braced herself for a long night. “And so it has begun”