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Chapter 1 - A New Pony Approaches1,588 words
Chapter 2 - Dinner at Twilight's2,687 words
Chapter 3 - Blacksmithing Increased to 79854 words
Chapter 4 - A Tale of Souls and Swords6,771 words
Chapter 5 - Achievement Unlocked: Paramour3,491 words
Chapter 6 - Super R-Type4,056 words
Chapter 7 - Call of Duty3,711 words
Chapter 8 - Path of Radiance3,535 words
Chapter 9 - Army Ponies: Iron Hide's Heroes2,356 words
Chapter 10 - Pony Dragoon Saga3,333 words
Chapter 11 - Borderlands4,063 words
Chapter 12 - Streets of Rage5,503 words
Chapter 13 - Heavy Rain3,267 words
Chapter 14 - Pony Gear Solid2,369 words
Chapter 15 - Waterworld2,732 words
Chapter 16 - Homefront3,879 words
Chapter 17 - Ghost Recon1,561 words
Chapter 18 - Legacy of War6,735 words
Chapter 19 - Dark Legacy6,181 words
Chapter 20 - Radiant Dawn4,847 words
Chapter 21 - Awakening1,681 words

Chapter 10 - Pony Dragoon Saga

"Holy shit...."

When the 23rd Earth battalion and the 4th Mixed battalion arrived in the Crystal City, the sight that greeted them left most of the ponies speechless.

"Is there even anypony left to save here?" Razor Blade heard one of the ponies down the line from him ask.

"Open your ears, son," Iron Hide said. "The fightin' ain't over yet." Towards the city center, the sounds of combat could still be heard. Pained cries and clashing steel echoed through the city's streets and alleys.

Dead Eye closed his one good eye, lifted his muzzle into the air, and took three quick sniffs. He nudged Razor Blade and said "You smell that?"

Razor looked at him and asked, "What? The smoke or the charred flesh and fur?"

Dead Eye shook his head and said with a sick grin, "Neither. That, my naive young friend, is the smell of a thousand gryphon asses about to get kicked by Equestria's finest."

"Alright, colts and fillies, double time! We're here to fight, not sight see," Iron Hide shouted. The 4th Mixed started to fight its way towards the sound of the fighting to reinforce whatever remained of the Crystal Empire's forces, engaging any gryphon resistance it met along the way. The 23rd Earth began scouring the city for pony survivors and gryphon patrols.

"Sunset Company with me! We're going right for the heart of the city," Razor Blade called out. He galloped towards the fighting with a look of determination more intense than anypony else in the entire expeditionary regiment. He truly want to save as many crystal ponies as he could, but he had a second motivation. How did they get this far this quickly? I hope we're not too late...I promised Twilight I'd save her brother and sister-in-law. I will NOT let these damn birds make a liar out of me...

"You realize this is crazy, right?" Razor hadn't noticed Dead Eye gallop up beside him. "They don't even have to surround us; by sprinting directly into the middle of the city, we're literally doing it for them."

"We'll be fine" was Razor's only response. He glanced over to see the utterly unconvinced look on Dead Eye's face. "Dawn and Dusk Companies will keep most of the gryphons behind us occupied, not to mention that we've got the entire 23rd Earth battalion moping them up, too." Razor paused for a moment. "We'll be fine," he said again, though by this point, he was saying to himself as much as he was to Dead Eye.

When they arrived at the central plaza, Razor breathed a sight sigh of relief. Though few were left, there were, in fact, crystal pony soldiers still alive, and at the forefront of the surviving army stood Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. Numbering around thirty at the most, they had been backed up against the ruins of the palace tower and were completely surrounded by a group of roughly fifty griffons. Cadance was primarily using her magic to tend to the wounded while Shining Armor, covered head to hoof in his namesake, held the enemy at bay with a badly beaten halberd alongside the dozen or so still battle-capable ponies. Several thick arrows could be seen protruding from his armored flanks, and his once brilliant blue mane was now splotched with a deep crimson, though it was unclear whether it was more pony blood or gryphon blood.

"All right, everypony, you know what to do. GO!" As soon as Razor Blade had given the word, Sunset Company broke out into a full-on sprint. He drew his rapier and took the sky, launching off of the ground like a missile from a ballista. When he shouted his command, several of the gryphons surrounding the crystal ponies turned to look. One particularly unfortunate gryphon turned her head just in time to see Razor's rapier swing towards her. Before she even had a chance to scream, her head had been hewn clean from her neck, showering her comrades with a warm, red mist.

By this point, other gryphons had turned their attention to the approaching ponies. Three gryphons turned and rushed at Razor Blade. The first one to reach him, letting loose a deafening roar, swung an axe down over his head in an attempt to cleave Razor's skull in two. He flicked his rapier up to catch the blade and guided it down into the ground to his left. As soon as he was safe from the axe, Razor raised his sword and thrust it into the griffon's open mouth and out the back of his head.

He turned to see two more gryphons advancing on him. Two lances, sharp enough to split hair, cut through the air towards him. Razor dodged the first lance, catching its wielder in the chest with his blade and piercing the gryphon's lung, leaving it to die in agony as it drowned in its own blood. The second impacted hard in his side, leaving a dent in his armor and a bruise on his hide. The sound from the impact rang out.

Winded from the blow, Razor recoiled. With a strong flap of his wings, he propelled himself backwards, opening the distance with his opponent. With the critical eye of a trained fighter, he scanned his opponent for a weakness to exploit. The gryphon lunged again. Razor moved his head to the side, barely avoiding the blow. Razor noticed a chip in the gryphon's armor. He saw the exposed white feathers of the gryphon's neck. He lunged. Firing from his well toned hind legs, he pierced the gryphon's neck before removing his sword and recovering a defense stance. The gryphon grabbed its neck. With a sickening gurgle, it fell to the ground, its eyes rolling into the back of its head and its claws dripping with its own blood.

As Dawn Company and Dusk Company caught up with Sunset Company and crashed into the remaining gryphons, the slaughter was over in a matter of minutes. Iron Hide pushed his way to the front, towards the crystal ponies. "Princess, general," he greeted Cadance and Shining Armor as he bowed. "I'm sorry we weren't able to make it sooner. Where are the rest of their troops concentrated? We've got another battalion scouring the city as we-"

"No, there's no time. We have to retreat. The Crystal Empire is lost. They only have a couple hundred more troops inside the city, but our scouts reported an army of at least 10,000 crossing the border this morning. They'll be in here by nightfall," Shining Armor said. "We have to fall back to Equestria. Even with both your battalions, we'll all be dead by tomorrow night."

"Hmm. Yeah, gotta admit, those numbers don't look too good for us..." Iron Hide turned to his troops. "Alright, I want the eight fastest pegasi to get in the air and corral the 23rd. Get 'em heading back to Trottingham. We'll regroup here. We leave in one hour."

"Again."

A ball of fire tore through the air, bursting against a stone wall.

Again and again, fire scorched the clammy air of the seldom used castle dungeon. "Good. Again, bigger." The voice of an elderly mare was all that broke the silence between the blasts of flame. It was here that Flemeth had been taking Twilight to practice combat magic. Nopony ever used the empty, old dungeon, and with walls of bare stone, devoid of anything flammable, it was the perfect place to practice dangerous spells.

"Is that really all you can do, Twilight? Are you Celestia's prized student, or are you just a pretty mantlepiece? Put your heart into it! Scorch the wall!" Though they'd only been working together for a few days, Flemeth had learned that the most effective way to goad Twilight into pushing herself to her limits was to question her worthiness to be Celestia's prized student. Flemeth knew, of course, that Twilight possessed some of the greatest talent for magic that Equestria had ever seen, but she also knew that such potential would never been realized if the young mare didn't push herself past what she thought she could do.

Twilight's face turned into a scowl, and she braced her hooves against the cold stone. Sweat dripped down her face and plastered her mane to her neck. I'm the Element of Magic. Princess Celestia hoof picked me as her personal protege. Maybe I'm not worthy to be the student of an alicorn as power as the princess, but I'm about as close as it gets. She closed her eyes, her determination growing, and her horn erupted in a purple glow that lit the entire room. From it, a massive ball of fire burst forth, tearing through the air with incredible velocity. When it hit the wall some 20 feet away, the resulting explosion was so large that both her and Flemeth's manes were slightly singed.

The old mare chuckled as she licked a hoof and wiped the soot from her face. "I believe that's quite sufficient for today, Twilight. Most impressive. It has been a long time since I've seen such an impressive fire spell from one so young. Now off to bed with you. Tomorrow will be more of the same intensive training."

Twilight nodded at her teacher and tiredly trotted up the stairs to the castle proper. The first set of elemental spells she learned has been wind spells - the easiest to learn - which she had all but mastered in only a day. For the past several days, she had been working on fire spells, though from Flemeth's reaction to her last attack, she suspected that the next day would bring the introduction of electric attacks. Twilight had been trying to learn as much as she could as quickly as she could to get herself ready to fight. Princess Celestia had made it clear that she had planned to keep her in Canterlot, but this idea did not sit well with Twilight.

I want to be out there with fighting with Razor Blade she would often think to herself. I want to be able to protect him from enemies he might not see. Besides that, my magic is stronger than any other unicorn in Equestria; I should be using it to help end the war quickly, not sitting around in Canterlot.

Razor consumed most of her thoughts when she wasn't focusing on her training. Knowing that he was out there in harm's way kept her constantly on edge, and she'd spent the past few nights lying in bed, too worried to get much sleep. She had been surprised to get a letter from him so soon - surprised, but nothing short of ecstatic. It had been less than a week, and she'd already read it no fewer than a hundred times. Twilight closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh when she closed the door to her chamber. Lifting her head, she looked at the letter sitting on her beside table. "I guess it's about time I wrote him a letter back," Twilight said to herself as she took a seat at the desk in her room, levitating a quill.

Dear Razor Blade,

Dead Eye certainly sounds like an...interesting...pony. If he's as good a shot as he says he is, though, it would definitely be a good idea to stick near him. I hope you're keeping yourself safe. Well, as safe as you can be on a battlefield. That's not very safe, is it?

My training with Flemeth is going well. She's pushing me to learn the magic faster than I thought I could, but I'm managing to keep up. I was able to learn all of the wind spells in a single day, though they're the most basic combat spells. I just started work on the fire spells. They're quite a bit more difficult, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. I know the princess said that I would probably stay in Canterlot for the most part, but I have a feeling that I'll see a battle before too long. I hope so, anyway. It's not fair that you're out there in harm's way when I get to stay safe in Canterlot.

I miss you more every day. I imagine this is sort of how fillies usually feel with school age crushes. You know, fillies that take their noses out of books long enough to notice colts. I guess I was a little late to that part of growing up. I wish I had more to write, but most of my days are spent performing the same spells over and over again with little variation; it doesn't really leave much to write about. Be careful out there. Please. I hope the princess can bring and end to this war soon so you can get out of harm's way. Oh, and haha, you're SO funny with you're little Trixie reference. I am NOT that pompous...am I?

Your faithful fillyfriend,

Twilight Sparkle

After blowing the ink dry, Twilight rolled the letter telekinetically and placed a wax seal on it. She put it in her saddle bags to give to the castle mailmare the next morning. As she slid into bed, she turned to lie facing the window. The moon was bright that night, bathing Canterlot in soft light. I hope you're okay out there, Razor Twilight thought to herself as she gazed out at Luna's moon. Just come back in one piece....

After a few hours of the marching faster than an army should have been able to sustain after a battle - because, in all honesty, it was more of a sprint than a march - the 4th Mixed finally regrouped with the 23rd Earth in Trottingham. Because of the extra time it had taken the 4th to regroup and organize what crystal ponies were left to be evacuated, new orders had already arrived from Canterlot. The 23rd would patrol the border with the Crystal Empire to watch for incursions into Equestria and keep informed Canterlot about enemy troop movements. The realized that their assignment was more or less to be the "canary in the coal mine," but they also knew that somepony had to do it. If that duty fell to them, then so be it. While historically less militaristic than pegasi, Earth ponies were known for their resilience and endurance; if there were a way to keep the Equestrian border from buckling under the strain of a gryphon assault, it would be with an Earth pony battalion.

The 4th, on the other hand, would merge with 14 other battalions of all compositions - over 15,000 soldiers in all - and form Equestria's primary force to push back into the Crystal Empire and free it from gryphon control. As the closest city to the border, the army's component battalions would converge on Trottingham, giving the 4th a couple of days of relax.

When Razor Blade was finally able to lie down, his notoriously uncomfortable military-issue cot felt like the most luxurious cloud bed this side of Cloudsdale. After only a few short hours of sleep, however, he awoke abruptly to what felt like an earthquake. What he smelled, however, was more akin to a nightmare. In his tent, dozens of groggy ponies were looking around, trying to figure out what had awoken them. Razor Blade got up and raced to the tent flap. What he saw outside left him speechless.

Black smoke billowed up into dully glowing orange sky. A sudden noise caught his attention, and he whipped his head around to see an explosion some fifty yards away from him. That's when he noticed them - dozens of gryphons in the sky. They carried torches in one claw and, in the other claw, what he could only guess was some manner of high yield dynamite that they lit and dropped into the camp. All around him, he saw tents engulfed in a sea of flames. What he smelled was absolutely sickening. The scent of burning hair and flesh permeated the air to such an extent as to seem almost palpable. The sounds coming from the tents were unbearable. Screams of unfathomable agony the likes of which he'd never heard pierced the cut, overpowered only by the sounds yet more explosions. He saw ponies on fire run out of their tents and burn to death before his very eyes.

Oh my gods. How could anypony do this? he thought as he stood in stunned silence, witnessing the atrocity that unfolded before him. He knew he needed to be doing something - anything - to help, but he was unable to move his legs. Why the buck would the gryphons do something like this? They have us on the run! Even in war, this is...depravity. After a few minutes, his anger overpowered his shock, and his stun subsided. He regained some degree of focus and began making his way to the center of the camp.

As more ponies awoke and realized that Trottingham was under attack, panic and chaos ensued. Razor tried to work his way through the madness to find Iron Hide, but after twenty minutes of searching through the scorched and, in parts, still burning camp, he was nowhere to be seen. He realized that the explosions had stopped. Razor wasn't sure how long ago the gryphons had stopped dropping their bombs, but the only sounds now, he noticed, were the crackle of the flames that still burned and the pained moans of the ponies who hadn't been lucky enough to die yet.

He walked towards one of the few relatively undamaged tents in the ruined camp where he, at long last, found Iron Hide with the mayor of Trottingham. "Ma'am, I'm well aware that your city has been severely damaged-"

"I'm not worried about the damage, Colonel! My concern with the ponies in my city who are dead despite having an army here to protect us! How could this have been allowed to happen?" the mayor, a visibly furious but also terrified old mare, shouted at Iron Hide. This outburst, however, seemed to snap the last of Iron Hide's frayed nerves.

"Listen here, you crotchety old nag, I just spent the past half hour listening to my men scream as they burned alive. I don't want to hear shit about how we somehow failed you. Nopony expected the gryphons to attack into Equestria less than a full day after they took the Crystal Empire, nor do I know how how they got here undetected, and I certainly didn't expect them to attack like this!" he shouted as the threw a hoof back to point at the embers that was once an army camp. "So, with all due respect, miss mayor, get the buck out of my face and let me take care of my men. Maybe you should be taking care of your citizens instead of pestering me?"

Before giving the mare a chance to respond, he stomped off past Razor. "Blade, with me!" he called back behind him. "We've got a counter attack to plan."

Author's Note:

My thanks go out to thedarkprep for giving me some advice during the rewriting process for this chapter. Because of her suggestions, I'm actually pretty happy with it. =)

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