> Legends of Equestria: the Battle of the 10 Armies
>  by The Blue EM2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Preparation for Battle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pillars of Old Equestria had had a series of long and terrible journeys leading up to this point. It had been a long and hard road for them all, a road that had been filled with danger, entruigue, and lots of dangerous threats. Somnambula had been walking her road the longest, followed by Mage Meadowbrook, with the others crashing in in rapid succession behind them. But alas, that road was almost spent, and the journey was almost at its end. Which left them with one thing to do. They had been directed to enter a large building on the edge of the base, which seemed quite important given the 'AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY PAST THIS POINT' sign that sat outside it, written in giant red letters. The officer led them in, past some other rooms filled with people, and then they finally arrived in the central room, the Command Centre.

Inside, the room was a hive of activity. The room was filled with consoles and control displays, all of them displaying different and many different things. Consoles were illuminated and numbers were running in, and men ran back and forth from one display to another, handing each other pieces of paper with things written on it.

"Mike Two Seven, this is Romeo Actual, please state message, over?"

Romeo Actual, Papa 722 shelling confirmed and on target. Complete destruct, over."

"Mike Two Seven, this is Romeo Actual, confirm accuracy and location of strike. Will upload data for complete picture. Advise you remain hunkered down and out of sight, over."

Romeo Actual, understood, out."

Another set of displays beeped and an alarm sounded as a missile was launched from some unknown location. "Missile launch confirmed! Mississippi launch, inbound for Memphis!"

"Prepare Iron Dome defense system to activate."

"Copy, sir! Iron Dome operational."

The central holographic display gave a clear picture of the entire scene unfolding across the southern United States. Several officers and technicians were looking at the display.

One of them noticed the Pillars had arrived. "General, the visitors are here," he said.

"Very well," a taller man in a peaked cap said, his chest festooned with medals. "Return to your post, Lieutenant."

"Sir!" The man saluted, and then returned to his position. The taller man, whom the Pillars presumed to be the General, leaned forward over the desk to see his visitors, who, being very short, were a bit hard for him to see.

"So," he said. "You're the little ponies I've heard so much about. We've devoted a lot of resources to finding you."

"I do apologise for the delay," Starswirl said, removing his hat out of respect. "We got rather waylaid by traffic and other more... irrelevant matters." As he said this, he looked pointedly at Flash Magnus.

Flash Magnus, on the other hand, completely failed to get the hint. "R&R is important!" he said. "We'd been travelling for days in Faust knows what heat!"

"Gentlemen," Mistmane interrupted, "the General wishes to speak. I imagine we have a lot to learn."

"Thank you," the General said. "I am General James Mattis. I've been put in charge of this sector, and we have a rather serious problem that needs dealing with." He walked to the console again, and moved the display to a different location. "Display, Sector 2, rotate."

The map was, at long last, in the proper position. It hovered over a vast city, a city that seemed to be full of things, none of them good in any way. Mattis pointed to the display. "This is Montgomery, a city that lies a few miles north of here. Project 722, whom I imagine you all know pretty well, is holed up here, and appear to have adopted the city as their base of operations. The city has been surrounded by a powerful shield generator, and vast numbers of enemy soldiers have taken up defensive positions in surrounding conurbations and settlements." He moved the map to show another location nearby. "This is Pike Road, or at least it used to be. The enemy have turned it into an FOB."

Rockhoof couldn't help but notice Meadowbrook flinch upon hearing that news. "How can we help, sir?" he asked.

"We have confirmed the prescence of four major army groups within that area," Mattis said. "They are positioned in different locations to cover multiple different angles of attack. This makes attacking with all our forces at once a pointless exercise. Instead, we shall attack from multiple directions at once. Each of the six of you shall lead a different army, troops from your homeland, whom I imagine you work pretty well with. They will each be supported by US Army divisions. These divisions in turn will be able to call upon artillery and air support to assist in retaking Montgomery."

"Tomorrow morning, we will be dropping a light yield nuclear device on the shield to break it open. Once the shield is open and the radiation is cleared, all units will fly in and assault different locations. You shall then push forward towards the centre of Montgomery, where the enemy commander is located, and engage all surviving targets."

"What are we looking at in terms of hostilities, sir?" Flash Magnus asked, keen to improve on his somewhat poor introduction.

"Enemy numbers are unknown, but number at least in the thousands," Mattis replied, looking concerned. "That's a mixture of Project 722 assets and creatures from other nations. Make no mistake, this will be bloody."

"But we must win," Somnambula said. "Or else there will be no hope for the future."

"Well said," Mattis replied, and motioned for them to exit the command building. As they did, they saw a battery of rocket vehicles lining up outside.

"FIRE!"

In a thunderous and powerful volley, hundreds of rockets lifted off into the sky from the launch platforms of the vehicles. They screamed into the sky, producing a terrifying noise as they did so.

"That'll teach them... or at least remind them we're still here!" said one technician.





As the rest of the afternoon and evening had drifted onwards, the bombardment had not let up. Artillery batteries had been bombarding Montgomery for several days straight, and the streaks of light from rockest as they screamed across the sky made it impossible to tell whether it was day or night. The trails from both US missiles and the interceptor system set up within Montgomery provided clouds of smoke so thick it drifted across the bay like a storm, and the thunder of guns from nearby battleships and cruisers continued relentlessly, so much so the ground was shaking from where they were.

"Why are they dropping so many weapons on that shield?" Mistmane wondered, as she looked from a hill in the centre of the base. "Those weapons are unable to breach the shield that Project 722 have built."

"The intention isn't to break the shield," Rockhoof commented, startling the unicorn as he approached. "The nuke they're dropping tomorrow will be useless if they can simply blow it out of the sky with interceptor rockets. By firing this many rockets and missiles, the intention is to overwhelm their defensive systems. If their rockets can't keep up with the amount of ordnance being fired, the chances of them intercepting the nuclear missile are considerably reduced to almost nill."

"It's a risky strategy," Stygian noted, looking in his book. "Based on my calculations and memories of being under the Pony of Shadow's control, there is no reason to think that he won't intercept the missile himself."

"Who said anything about there being one missile?" Rockhoof said.

Stygian looked at Rockhoof, slack jawed in disbelief. "You cannot be serious."

"Rule number one of military tactics; why drop one of something when you can drop two for double the cost?" Rockhoof said, rhetorically. "Besides, the radiation will be blown upwards by the force of the shield dissipating. At least, that's what Starswirl tells me. He'd know more about the science of ballistics than I would. The most I would know about it is that things go up and things go down."

Mistmane shook her head in disgust. "All you can talk about is violence and war," she said. "Does it not upset you that it has come to this? Why must ponies and humans always insist on resolving their problems with massive shows of military force? Have we forgotten the ancient art of diplomacy."

"If countries wish to avoid conflicts, they should avoid the pinpricks that precede cannon shots," Starswirl noted, joining the others. He looked on as well, and seeing the sadness in Mistmane's eyes, put his hoof on her shoulder. "War is a terrible thing. But good things can come out of darkness. This nightmare will end. We will defeat the Pony of Shadows, and we will restore the light to the world. And when this is all over, we can return to our native lands together, and live in peace."

"I hope that day comes sooner rather than later," Mistmane replied. Just then, their attention was attracted by a loud fanfare. As they glanced to see the central plaza illuminated, the leaders of several military units were marshalled together, and they saluted an older man ascending the podium and coming to a stop at the top. The lights were soon refocused on him.

"Is that?" Stygian asked.

"It is indeed," Meadowbrook said, looking in amazement. "The President of the United States is here! It must be important if he has arrived!"

The microphone came on, and the lights shifted as the barrage continued in the background, unimpeded and uninterrupted.

"My fellow Americans,

"Today, we are united in a spirit of comradeship and unity. Never has our nation faced a crisis like the one we are experiencing now. A brutal disease continues to ravage our lands, and there are forces intent on exploiting that tragedy for their own gain. The greatest threat our world has ever faced, the Pony of Shadows, and his followers are holed up in that city, and if they succeed, there will be no history to record our defeat.

"In a little over 10 hours from now, forces from the Marines, Army, Air Force, and Navy will join together to liberate Montgomery, and our allies in the Pillars will be assisting in the fight. We will not be alone in these hours. This will be a hard fight, and our soldiers will suffer losses. Not all of you will return home tomorrow. But if we don't fight, there will be no tomorrow to return to. We must stand together against this foe, or else Government for the people, by the people, will perish from the Earth.

"I pray that all those above will aid us in our bold endeavor. To all of you, we will stand against the darkness! This is the day when we rose up with one voice and drew the line in the sand! We will not fail! We will not falter! We will liberate our country of this evil... or we will die trying!"

The troops, and all assembled, cheered as President Biden finished his speech. He had never anticipated he would be a wartime president, but time had forced his hand. And truly were the men inspired by his brave example.

Starswirl suddenly noticed that two individuals were suspiciously missing from the scene. He quickly went to look for them, and soon heard noises coming from a building. He popped the door open, and he looked in surprise.

Flash Magnus and Somnambula were in there. Flash's armour was hastily discarded on the floor, and Somnambula had removed her headdress (but thankfully nothing else... yet). Both turned in surprise to see their commander there, and started to stammer.

Starswirl looked at them. "Lights are out in ten, unless..." He paused, waiting to see how they reacted.

"Unless what?" Somnambula asked, and then got the implication.

Starswirl nodded. "Make that twenty minutes." He closed the door behind him, and set off for his own hut.
> 60 to One, Facing the Gun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Maxwell Air Force Base was a hive of activity. Soldiers and airmen sprinted across the field with their equipment, heading for either their vehicles or their aircraft. The equipment was readied and loaded for the upcoming drop, and the Pillars too would play their part. They headed for their respective national units.

"We'll each be deploying from a different direction," Starswirl briefed the others. "Each location allows us to function most effectively and to our advantage. Mistmane, you and the samurai will be deploying to the south, advancing through the woods and through the Cloverdale area. This are is quite heavily built up, so expect resistance."

Mistmane nodded.

"Flash Magnus, you and the 3rd Legion will be deploying from the air, moving in over the centre of the target. Watch the enemy anti aircraft prescence. You don't want to end up mincemeat again."

Flash Magnus flinched at the memory, but soon recovered. "We won't let you down."

Starswirl nodded his approval. "Excellent. Rockhoof, you will be deploying in the Pike Road sector to clear out the enemy forward operating base. This position must be destroyed to prevent the enemy from reinforcing their units and slowing down our advance."

"The Mighty Helm shall excell at all they do," Rockhoof replied.

"I'll hold you to that," Flash Magnus said. "Last to the centre of Montgomery buys the drinks tonight."

"I will never understand how you two can see war as some sort of game," Mistmane said disapprovingly.

"Moving swiftly on," Starswirl said. "Somnambula, you and the chariots will be dropped in on the western side of the city at Antioch. The terrain is relatively open and will allow you to maneuvre relatively unimpeded, so don't let yourself get bogged down and ensure you keep moving. A stopped chariot is a dead chariot."

"We shall maintain hope and push forward to victory," Somnambula said, her eyes fierce and full of determination.

Starswirl turned his attention to the next of their numbers. "Meadowbrook, you will be deployed in the forest near Union. The position is lightly defended, so it's a perfect location to set up a field hospital."

"Gotcha," Meadowbrook replied. "What about you, Starswirl?"

"I shall be deploying to the northeast, and push forward down Highways 108 and 231," Starswirl replied. "We shall all link up in the centre, and face the Pony of Shadows there."

"I'm amazed that shield is still holding," Flash Magnus said. "We've been shelling the damn thing for days on end, and there's no sign of it cracking."

"The Air Force should be dropping the payload now," Starswirl said. "With any luck, the magical energy will deal with any unwanted side effects."

As he looked upwards, two aircraft passed over the centre of the shield, and two objects were dropped towards it. They fell downwards, faster and faster.

"Cover your eyes!"

All assembled did as instructed, and moments later a pair of loud booms were heard as the bombs struck their target. A bright flash was visible seconds later, followed by a pair of mushroom clouds as the dust began to drift into the air. Moments later, the shield exploded, the magical energy from the shield dissipating throwing the radioactive cloud produced by the bombs upwards into the air, propelled upwards with such incredible force that the cloud was thrown into outer space, well away from anywhere it could possible contaminate civilian areas.

"Shot on target, shield is cleared." A loud siren began to blare over the base, instructing all units that it was time to start deployment. Each member of the Pillars scattered in a different direction to meet up with their unit.

With a whirr and a roar, the engines on the massed helicopters began to start. Nearby, engines on heavy transport aircraft were kicked into gear and prepared for duty. The armada prepared to take the the air, as the rotors got up to speed.

Massed helicopters lifted off the ground and began to turn, heading for their respective locations. Each formation was moving to specific locations to drop off their troops so they could execute their mission, and bring this war to an end.

Aboard Mistmane's helicopter, a veteran officer began to brief the men. "We'll be going in with the first wave!" he shouted. "We'll need to clear the landing zone to allow the tanks to deploy, and that means taking enemy positions and killing anything that isn't us! We'll have limited air support available for the offensive, as well as some chopper guns to assist with dealing with persistent targets, but the air force is currently engaged in clearing the enemy's fighter screens and trying to hit command and control centres. Remember your training! Stay alert, and stay alive!"

"SIR YES SIR!" the men bellowed, the noise cacophanous inside the helicopter as it powered through the air. Below them, anti aircraft batteries suddenly opened up, flak fire and smoke clouds filling the sky as the guns fired again and again. Storms of bullets tore through the air, causing the helicopters to shake.

"Taking evasive action!" shouted the pilot. "You might want to hold onto something!" The helicopter suddenly performed a roll to dodge an oncoming missile, that whizzed over them and exploded against another object.

One of the other helicopters wasn't so lucky. It took a direct hit from a missile and exploded in mid air, bits and pieces landing all over the ground in a tangled heap.

"I hope we make it," Mistmane said quietly to herself. Truth be told, she didn't like flying machines, and these ones were very shaky.

"WE'RE COMING IN ON THE LANDING ZONE!" the officer shouted. "PREPARE TO DROP LANDING ROPES AND DEPLOY!"

The choppers buzzed in position, and then the landing ropes were deployed.

"FIRST IN, LAST OUT! GO! GO! GO!"

The men began to leap onto the rope and drop down the ropes to the ground. Mistmane dived out of the helicopter as well, and straight into a scene from Tartarus itself.

Machine guns roared and cannons fired, explosive fire and bullets ripping up the landscape in a ceaseless barrage that splattered into the mud. The terrain had already been reduced to little more than a muddy mess, and as more helicopters tried to land and unload their cargo, missiles flew through the air.

"SHIT! EVADE! EVADE!"

It was too late. The missile struck several of the helicopters, and caused them to crash into the ground. They landed on top of existing troops formations, and helicopters also trying to take off. The casualties were already piling up, and Mistmane knew that something had to be done.

She activated her communications gear. "Command, we are severly outgunned and require extra support. Can you get us any close air support?"

"Negative, Pillar Actual. Our assets are tied up with the assault. Bombers are unable to operate with that flak screen in your area."

Mistmane decided to be uncharacteristically blunt. "General, our men are bucking dying here. We will not last long without proper air support."

"If you can clear out those flak guns, then I can call in the bombers. Out."

Mistmane glanced over to see that the samurai had successfully deployed, and winced as another helicopter was shot out of the sky. "We have to destroy the enemy's anti aircraft defences before we can receive air support. We have to take out those guns permanently, or else we will not receive reinforcement. This is our moment to change the battle. Fight to the death, and fight for Equestria!"

The samurai cheered, and steeled their blades. "Forward!" they cried, and with Mistmane leading the charge they thundered over the harsh, messy, broken up landscape before them, sprinting through no man's land (or no pony's land, I suppose) against a withering hail of machine gun fire.

The infantry were doing their best to provide covering fire, firing distraction shots and occassionally popping out of cover to keep the enemy gunners occupied. But caution was the order of the day given the weight of fire that the enemy were putting down. One brave unit launched an attack to occupy one of the lines, whilst one of the few artillery batteries not focused on driving the enemy out of buildings in the centre of Montgomery was able to soften up one part of the enemy line. But the storm of bullets continued verbatim, and the battle was far from certain.

Mistmane and her fellow warriors soon found their way into a trench line, which conveniently linked up to all the other sections in the trenches. Mistmane lit her horn, and her dragon spirit emerged into the air. It glowed, and burned red with fiery, hot anger. "Enough soldiers have fallen this day." She said. "Enough! Onward, to victory!"

The samurai cheered, and the collective pushed forward. The dragon spirit set the soldiers ablaze where they could, acting as a vast moving flamethrower. Infantry tried to run from the encounter, but the samurai were there to intercept those who did succesfully escape, and cut through them with their blades.

One of the samurai took a fatal shot to the head, and lay still and cold. Mistmane led the others forward still, but then saw- too late- a soldier holding an experimental device, marked 'Lifetaker' in letters. They then pulled the trigger on the weapon, and the shot flew forth.

The samurai tried to intercept, and an American infantry unit has succesfully breached the trench lines, and were fighting their way to their position. They took out the soldier who had fired the shot, but it was too late, for his shot had found its mark.

Mistmane collapsed to the floor, convulsing. She could feel her very form and body shifting and changing, and she howled in pain as her magic was violently ripped from her body and form. She tried to stagger to her feet, but could not keep her balance, the pain in her joints too much.

She staggered forward as best as she could, her mind fighting the agony she was in, and she ripped a bundle of explosives off her armour. She pulled the tab out, and gripped it in her mouth. "Kyō wa taiyō ga anata o terashimasen!" she snarled. ("The sun will not shine on you today!")

The explosives flew through the air and landed in the centre of the anti aircraft batteries. The weapon operators saw this, too late, and had no chance to react as the explosives took out the central gun. The explosions led to a chain reaction. Ammunition cooked off up and down the line as missiles and bombs exploded, ripping the enemy gunlines apart with massive explosions.

Mistmane activated her comlink. "Anti aircraft batteries are cleared," she said, with difficulty. "You may commence your bombing run."

Several waves of B-52s flew overhead, dropping ordnance on the enemy lines and destroying their heavy guns. With the machine guns and cannons knocked out, the infantry surged forward, guns blazing and hearts full of fire as they mounted the battlements, clearing the trenchlines in next to no time.

With the enemy guns cleared, the tanks could at last deploy. Heavy landing vehicles touched down and offloaded their cargo, armoured vehicles rolling forward to the front line.

One of the samurai sprinted over to Mistmane. "Madame!" he exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

Mistmane looked down at a puddle, to see the effects of that weapon. The weapon had prematurely aged her, to the point she looked twice as old as she actually was. But it concerned her not. "As long as I can still fight, I will," she said, with determination. She staggered over to a position nearby, to see that the battle raged in other sectors of the city. Slowly, but surely, the Americans and their allies were pushing forwards.

Suddenly, a loud warhorn blazed through the air. Up above them, a massive storm gathered, and lightning flew through the air. And it plummeted down towards the ground like a comet.
> Into the Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cloudsdale hovered in orbit over Montgomery, with pegasi looking down below in concern at the shield covering the city. It would prove to be a tough nut to crack, but thankfully Cloudsdale's human allies were more than ready to help them in that regard. In the Imperial Palace, Emperor Hurricane took a glance at the control table and guidance systems that helped keep Cloudsdale aloft. Due to its status as a floating city, Cloudsdale had to navigate very carefully to avoid getting caught up in storms. At the same time, this meant that the city could simply move if the enemy moved to attack it. As he looked closely at the display, Hurricane glanced to Praetor Ironhead.

"Praetor, will this plan of yours work?" he asked.

"I am certain that it will, your Majesty," Ironhead replied. "We cannot deploy normally owing to the nature of the enemy's anti aircraft defences. However, if we can drop in and surprise them, they won't be able to shoot our forces out of the sky like they did in the desert."

An aide sprinted over with a tablet and handed it to Ironhead. "Thank you," he said. "According to this, the missiles should be hitting the target any moment now."

Suddenly, two bright flashes materialised on the control table's holographic map, one above the other. The map then shifted to show a massive cloud and a large quantity of spectral energy being thrown upwards, past Cloudsdale, and into outer space, well above an altitude that Cloudsdale could possibly reach.

"This is the USS Nautilus, missiles hit and confirmed effect on target. You are clear to commence the attack."

"Nautilus, this is Hurricane Alpha, message received and understood. Lay down a barrage on the enemy and prepare for our attack coordinates."

"Hurricane Alpha, message received and understood. Out."

Technicians had taken up position around the tables and were at the controls of the vast floating city. They glanced back to the control table, which now had a new image on it, showing the area below, and anti aircraft batteries below. Luckily, aircraft were stored on the numerous runways and hangers that had been built during Cloudsdale's extensive refit over the last few months, and so they were all ready to go.

Hurricane raised his hoof. "Disable all orbital engines," he said. "Increase central weight and prepare to active STORMCLOUD anti missile defence system."

The technicians obeyed, hitting several buttons and throwing switches in preparation for the plan. One by one, Cloudsdale's mighty engines switched off in preparation for the move, and in the centre additional rainwater was produced to increase the amount of ballast in the station. On the edges of Cloudsdale, lights and laser trackers switched on and off, looking for objects to find and potentially destroy.

"Central weight now at maximum. Gravity axiators are struggling to maintain current orbit. We await your word, Your Majesty."

Emperor Hurricane glanced to the assembled Praetors. "I hope the legionaries haven't eaten too much," he said. "This is going to get bumpy. Disable gravity axiators and prepare to drop."

With a single throw of the switch, the gravity axiators were disabled. With nothing to hold the station in the sky, Cloudsdale began to fall towards the ground like a stone.





Flash Magnus always knew that the plan would lead to a sudden loss of altitude, but he had never anticipated that it would be this sudden. Cloudsdale was falling towards the ground at incredible speed, speeds faster than the enemy anti aircraft defences were built to cope with based on the missiles flying wildly into the air. Bullets tried to pierce the station, but a city made of clouds is a target that is notoriously hard to shoot down.

"This is bumpy!" shouted one Legionary, as a missile flew through the clouds and high into the sky.

"GET READY BOYS!" shouted a Tribuna. "WE'RE ABOUT TO DEPLOY! REMEMBER YOUR TRAINING, AND YOU WILL MAKE IT BACK ALIVE!"

That didn't help my friends, Flash thought to himself.

All across the station, helicopters and aircraft from the United States were taking off as best they could in the circumstances, as the pilots had not been trained for takeoff on a moving runway that was falling rapidly. Most of them had to climb to avoid getting caught by the massive updraft produced by Cloudsdale's descent, and helicopters were flying as fast as they could to avoid the massive storm that was brewing.

"BOMBERS WILL BE CLEARING OUR LANDING ZONES BEFOREHAND, AND INFANTRY WILL BE ON THE GROUND TO HOLD POSITIONS! REMEMBER YOUR ROCKET PODS!"

Flash adjusted his. It consisted of a pair of rocket batteries and missiles, which could be set to target airborne and ground targets. It also featured an area of effect rocket launcher, perfect for clearing clusters. "We could have done with these during the desert war!" he said to his Centurion.

"You can thank the boys in the labs for those." The Centurion's face was serious. "The US was kind enough to share some technology with us. I imagine the napalm rockets will be especially useful given the heavily forested terrain we'll be fighting in."

Green lights came up in the drop chamber. "All units, drop sequence commencing in sixty seconds," said a distant voice.

Flash Magnus gripped his harness and prepared for the worst. He was always more comfortable when diving himself, and this idea of focused combat drops was an untested combat strategy.

The lights turned yellow, and abruptly the floor opened beneath them. The harnesses opened, and each pegasus began to drop towards the ground like a stone.

"GET CLEAR OF THE UNDERDRAFT, THEN OPEN WINGS!" shouted the Tribuna. "FORM UP WITH YOUR UNIT WHEN CLEAR!"

Flash dropped for as long as he fared, and then opened his wings. The sudden updraft from this act broke his fall, and allowed him to fly directly forward and into formation. Cloudsdale had completed the combat drop, and suddenly dumped the excess weight to regain height. Rain began to pour from the skies, rendering the area below, which had was a mess of shell craters, a massive nightmare of slough and mud. Flash could see infantry trying to push across fields as they came under heavy fire. It seemed as though every single building was filled with soldiers. The infantry were doing their best with limited tank support, but it proved to be tough going.

Flash flew onwards and soon linked up with his squad. Anti aircraft guns finally spotted and began to fire, but this time they were prepared.

"Fly low and split apart! Those guns can't track below a certain height!"

The pegasi dived and flew as low as they dared. The enemy target closed in.

"Load ordnance! Flame ordnance."

There was a whirr and click as the missile pods loaded the napalm missiles. It turned out the Americans had massive stockpiles of this stuff, just in case they got invaded. And what did it matter if another nation used it? Cloudsdale had never signed the Geneva Convention, so they could use it with impunity.

"Prepare to fire!"

The pegasi had the weapons loaded.

"FIRE!"

Flash grimaced as he triggered the missiles. The rockets flew out of their launchers and rapidly gained speed, thundering towards the ground. They each exploded on the ground, roaring with the force of a thunderclap as the onboard incendiary ordance activated. Virtually everything in range was set ablaze by the flames. Guns burned and ordnance exploded as they cooked off and burned, and enemy soldiers ran for their lives, their armour on fire from the napalm that was covering them.

Several warthogs roared overhead, their powerful gatling guns putting the enemy out of their misery, before releasing their entire payloads into a nearby building, demolishing it utterly and eliminating a major block to their advance.

"You should have just let them burn," one of the legionaries commented on the radio.

Flash shook his head. He despised Project 722 as much as the next creature, but now was not the time to give in to petty emotions. They had a job to do, and it needed doing. They flew on, seeing precision airstrikes and bombing runs hitting their mark, clearing enemy anti aircraft positions and armour formations. Tanks rattled forward, their machine guns cutting enemy infantry to ribbons and cannons letting loose volleys of shells that destroyed all before them. Artillery and rocket batteries continued to fire, providing crucial support. Flash had no idea how any of these batteries had any ammunition left, but it seemed as though there would not be much left of this city by the time the offensive was over.

As he turned over the city and flew towards the forest, he suddenly heard the whizzing of bullets fly past his ears.

"SHIT! WE GOT BOUNCED!" he shouted. A fighter aircraft was flying after them, trying to get its single gun tracked onto them. "EVADE!"

The pegasi scattered as the fighter chose to chase Flash. "You don't get away that easily," the pilot said. "The Sphynx may have been careless, but I'm not."

Flash gritted his teeth. He turned and flew down a street, trying to shake off the fighter jet. The jet, in return, simply turned and was able to hold his turning circle with terrifying accuracy. Bullets continued to fly through the air as Flash tried to shake the fighter. But he could not. It was simply too agile. He turned down a side street and saw the fighter turn down another one, clearly trying to predict where he was going to fly.

He then had an idea. He knew that if it emerged at the end of that street, he would be unable to get his weapons loaded in time. He smiled. "This is so crazy it might just work." He primed the launched, and then flared his wings out. The sudden drop in velocity allowed him to swing them down, and then launch himself into the air. He rolled in midair, executed a loop, pulled of an Immelmann Turn, and then dived back down. Just then, the fighter emerged down the street- right into the tracking gear of his missiles.

"What the-?"

"This is for my friends, motherfucker," Flash replied, and discharged a pair of homing missiles. Both of them slammed into the fighter and caused it to explode. Flash roared through the flames and fire and out the other side. But cool stallions don't look at explosions, and he flew onwards into the air, seeing the chaos and devastation below him.

As he climbed to get a clearer view of the enemy positions, he suddenly saw a familiar sight from several months ago. A group of chariots were racing through boggy ground. Their mounted crossbows were still firing furiously, explosive bolts flying through the air and impacting enemy targets. These bolts, as their names imply, exploded on target and blew things into many pieces.

"Finally decided to drop in?" asked a familiar voice, as a Neighyptian pegasus wing formed up next to Flash. Flying at the front of the formation was Somnambula. "I was wondering when Cloudsdale would remember there was a battle going on."

"I was occupied," Flash replied. A flash from glowpaz powered weaponry later, and a tank was ripped to smithereens. "So, any news?"

"We have a confirmed lock on the Sphynx," Somnambula replied. "We're moving in to take him out, and I guessed you would want to come, given your history with the Sphynx."

"Let's go kill that bitch," Flash said, a satisfied look on his face. "For the Third Legion!"

As the flew away, whizzing over a formation of unicorns bombarding the treeline near Pike Road, they suddenly sighted their target. The Sphynx, big, ugly, and angry as ever, crushed a tank under her paws, and screeched in a high voice as aircraft smashed to the ground around her.

"Are you ready for round three?" she asked, with a laugh. "Because I can assure you that you will not survive."
> Play the Pipes and Cry Out Loud!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the deployment ramp began to move, Rockhoof prepared himself for combat. His armour glistened in the dull light inside the lander, and his muscles, thick and rippling, tensed as he prepared to move off into battle. Unlike most of the offensive operations, they were simply detailed to plough into the enemy lines as fast as possible. This would allow them to clear the defensive positions of enemy soldiers and allow the advance to continue at its existing high speed.

The lights inside the landing craft went green as the ramp dropped into the down position and stopped, a dull thud against the Earth indicating that it was fully open.

"GO! GO! GO!" called a voice over the intercom. "DEPLOY! DEPLOY!"

Rockhoof nodded. "Come on, you Sassenachs! Do you want to live forever?"

The other members of the Mighty Helm, adorned similarly magnificently to he, nodded and cheered at the sentiment. And with a roar, the heavily armoured warriors charged down the ramp and into a maze of enemy fire. The bullets and explosives whistled all around as they advanced, bullets bouncing off their armour and flames erupting all around the troops as they pushed forward. Infantry continued their push forward as large cargo planes flew overhead. They dropped their rear cargo ramps, and tanks were suddenly offloaded into combat, with weapons already primed to fire the moment they reached the ground. It seemed as though their engines were fully fuelled as well, as the moment they landed on the ground they began to move forward, guns blazing. Abrams tanks featured an automatic target tracking system, so the machine guns had no issue firing and moving at the same time. Sprays of red and green bullets flew back and forth as explosions continued to light up the rainy sky, producing a spectacular technicolour light show reminiscent of a battle in Star Wars, only considerably more lethal.

Rockhoof continued his charge, countering an enemy soldier charging the other way by flipping him with his shovel. He flew through the air like a meteor, before slamming into a tree and landing still. "More than you deserve!"

His communications gear suddenly buzzed, and he answered it. "Rockhoof here, how can I help?"

"This is Raider 2-1. We are advancing on your left flank, but we are having difficulties advancing past the enemy's heavy anti tank defences. Think you can soften them up?"

Rockhoof didn't know of Raider 2-1's exploits personally, but Somnambula had put in a good word for them, and they seemed like brave and noble soldiers, so he would help. "Say no more. We'll get rid of those guns."

"Understood, please hurry. Out."

Rockhoof called to his troops. "This way, my brave lads! Our tanks need help, and we are to provide it! Clear out those anti tank guns and we'll have scored ourselves a great victory!"

War cries rippled up and down the battlefield as the Mighty Helm began their charge. They weaved across the battlefield, manoeuvring between tanks and lighter armoured vehicles that continued to attack and engage enemy infantry positions, their guns making relatively short work of light machine gun emplacements and trench positions never designed to withstand the assault of a tank.

As Rockhoof and his followers made their way across the battlefield, not stopping to consider the chaos erupting all around them, they dived into a trench to avoid weapons fire, and then charged down the lines of enemy soldiers, sending them flying and demolishing the defence lines. "For Lafayette!" they cried, as they charged down the line, wreaking havoc as they did so. Those soldiers who weren't sent flying were soon made short work of by axes and other equivalent weaponry.

At last, they reached the target indicated to them on the map. The heavy guns were of a model he had never seen before, and were protected by several rings of infantry. To prove the point of Raider 2-1, one of them fired. The shell was so heavy the earth shook when the gun fired, and it impacted the nearby enemy tank with such force that its parts were hurled in all directions.

"Sir?" asked one of the Mighty Helm. "I don't think we have enough C4 to blow those guns up. At most, we could take out two of them."

"We don't need C4 to remove this lot," Rockhoof smiled. He activated his radio and began to speak. "USS Alabama, are you reading me, over?"

"This is the USS Alabama, please state your message, over."

"We are pinned down by heavy artillery and anti tank fire. Request fire mission on position Two Zulu Four Alpha Foxtrot, over?"

Fire mission on position Two Zulu Four Alpha Foxtrot confirmed. Fire will be on your position in a few moments. Stand by."

Rockhoof indicated back. "We'd best take cover. This is going to be loud."

As if to prove his point, a series of incredibly loud bangs echoed nearby as a crater was detonated by Project 722, swallowing up an advancing infantry unit. Seconds after that, the shells that had been fired by the USS Alabama flew home, whizzing in onto the target with the force of a meteorite. They slammed into the artillery position with incredible force and exploded. The explosions blew the guns to pieces and sent their operators flying through the air. Fire and flames danced on the air as the shells impacted and exploded.

"Confirm fire on target, over?"

Rockhoof smiled. "Confirm target destroyed, over."

"All units, be aware that we will be unavailable for a short time. Fresh ammunition is required to- EVADE!"

Rockhoof looked into the distance and could see a series of more explosions directed upwards. The enemy had access to heavy duty anti ship and artillery guns, which could threaten the fleet if not silenced.

"With me!" he called, as he charged into the forest, the Mighty Helm following as he did so. "We must silence those guns before they silence us!" And onwards they went, weapons swinging.

As they charged forward, they suddenly sped past a formation of the Hayseed Swamp Native Guard. They were entrenched and gearing up to repel an enemy attack. The enemy infantry were massing for an assault, and the Guard looked in surprise as the Mighty Helm joined them.

"What are you doing here?" one of the guardsponies asked. "Aren't you meant to be on the flank?"

"I could ask the same," Rockhoof replied. "I thought you were meant to be acting as a field hospital!"

"We came under attack from unidentified hostile forces, and had to repel them," the guardspony replied. "Those heavy guns are rendering us unable to advance." As he finished his sentence, the guns fired again, several massive shells flying through the air.

"As long as those guns are active, our own ships will be unable to provide artillery support," one of the Mighty Helm noted. "Each of those shells is powerful enough to blow open a cruiser, and even the Alabama is at risk."

Rockhoof nodded. "Guardsponies, will you provide covering fire?" he asked.

"What were you planning?"

Rockhoof grimaced. "We're going to charge the guns, and then use the terrain against them. Fight like water."

The lead officer nodded. "That plan sounds so crazy it might just work. Men! Get ready to lay down covering fire! Our muskets can put some holes on those soldiers!"

"SIR YES SIR!" they replied. They chambered some heavy duty explosive rounds and prepared to fire upon the enemy.

Rockhoof and his fellows. They climbed up the battlements, and looked ahead of them to see the enemy before them. Weapons continued to blaze furiously as the enemy worked their hardest to slow the advance. Another tank was destroyed as a missile impacted it, and another group of fighters was forced to break off its attack as several flak tanks engaged them. The time for action was now.

Rockhoof raised his hoof.

"CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!"

The Mighty Helm roared and bellowed victoriously, brandishing axes, hammers, and any weapon that would allow them to push forward and complete their objective. They charged out of the defensive emplacement and towards the enemy lines, weapons swinging and clashing together.

An enemy officer looked on in disbelief. "Ponies... charging at us!" he said, trying not to laugh. "Open fire!"

Seconds later, the sky was saturated with musket balls as the Native Guard opened fire. Each shot exploded when they impacted their target. The weapons were innacurate, but more than did the objective of forcing the enemy to keep their head down as the Mighty Helm advanced. They hacked and carved their way through anything that got in their way.

Rockhoof swung around a tree and observed the situation. The artillery guns that threatened the ships were positioned in a fortified position, set slightly below the ground so that only the tops of the barrels were visible. The enemy, however, had made a fatal miscalculation in putting the weapons there. Nearby was a large dam which was holding back water. Normally, there would be relatively little water in this body. But the rain, combined with the shelling and the storms, had filled the resevoir with water and dirt, producing a lake in the midst of a sea of mud, oil, and blood.

Rockhoof had an idea in that moment. He dived down into the area where the dam was, and began digging furiously at the retaining wall with his shovel. His every muscle strained and his nerves screamed at him with the strain, but he refused to give up on his goal. Swipe by brutal swipe, he removed more and more earth. Water began to pour through as the wall took more and more damage from his assault. Eventually, the tidal wave proved to be unstoppable. Rockhoof jumped out of the way as the water cascaded down the trench towards the enemy position. A raging torrent roared from the dam and down the channel, turning the area into a watery hell as the cascade gathered up everything. Soldiers were thrown through the air and sucked underwater. Tanks and vehicles were tossed like toys into the air and sent onto the tops of buildings. The heavy guns were sucked underwater and torn apart by the atmospheric pressure, with the parts sweeping out into the open waters, eventually reaching the sea and landing underwater.

Rockhoof, breathing heavily as he witnessed the devastation, radioed the fleet. "Threat eliminated," he gasped, as he dived for cover as more bullets flew his way. "You may resume firing."

"Copy that. You saved our asses there. All vessels, saturate that area with fire and drive the enemy back!"

Moments later, the largest naval bombardment in the history of the United States Navy commenced. Battleships discharged shell after shell and missiles flew through the air towards the position not far from where the guns had once been. The ground shook and was blown apart by the ferocity of the explosions, and the enemy were forced to fall back.

Rockhoof and his followers, as well as the army, charged after the enemy, who were now in full retreat as extra reinforcements were flown in behind them. They soon reached a destroyed residential area filled with ruined buildings. Ponies were horrifically injured, and soldiers with varying levels of wounds were on alert, trying to fight despite their injuries. Rockhoof helped to search through the wreckage, and when he pulled one beam back, his eyes widened in horror.

Lying beneath the beam, with broken limbs and several severe cuts, was his beloved Meadowbrook. He pulled her out, trying his hardest to not make her injuries worse. "MEDIC! Meadowbrook, what happened here?"

Meadowbrook was barely able to speak from her injuries, but gasped one word. "Drag- on." Then her eyes closed and she went limp.

Rockhoof looked in horror. Meadowbrook, his constant companion and fellow in this struggle, the one with whom he wanted to settle down, was dead. He howled in anguish as Lord Torch suddenly touched down, roaring triumphantly.

"Time to finish what I started," he said.

Rockhoof grabbed his shovel, and stepped forward. "You took Meadowbrook from me," he said. "Now I shall take your life from you."
> Show them no Mercy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The attack had come so suddenly that Meadowbrook hadn't had time to react.

Whilst she had been positioned well behind the front lines of the offensive, the full expectation was that she would do her bit in aiding the war effort. She was not a warrior in any sense of the word- her attire was not at all suitable for that sort of thing- but her battlefield was the medical field, keeping soldiers in fighting condition and readying them to return to the front lines. She and a group of medical orderlies had been keeping work in the many buildings that made up Pike Road, keeping people in good shape. Whilst most of her potions were effective in treating battlefield injuries, they seemed to be slower working on humans (probably as humans were much bigger than ponies). As a result, they needed for time in the medical building before they could be returned to frontline combat. To facilitate this, the Hayseed Swamp Native Guard had formed a defensive perimeter around Pike Road, to assist in holding off the enemy.

Which made what had happened next even more shocking. Meadowbrook had been administering medical supplies when the sound of gunfire sound from the edge of the compound.

"FIRST RANK, FIRE!"

A volley of brutal bullets ripped forth from muskets as something charged their lines.

"SECOND RANK, FIRE! FIRST RANK, RELOAD!"

The repeated orders to fire indicated something wrong. Meadowbrook indicated to an orderly to continue her work, and she stepped outside, looking over to the scene of the commotion. "What the blazes is goin' on here?" she asked.

"The enemy is attacking!" shouted a doctor. "They must have circumvented the lines!"

Meadowbrook was concerned at how the enemy had somehow managed to get round their position, given they weren't even supposed to be there, but her immediate concern was the safety of her patients. "Any patient who can walk and carry a weapon, get inta position and defend the buildin's!" she shouted, grabbing her own musket in the process. She kept this weapon as a backup, and wanted to ensure she could protect herself.

Those who could walk and carry a weapon got into position, a force of bandaged and partially wounded men ready for battle. As they looked into the distance, the infantry were beginning to break.

"RETREAT TO THE SECOND LINE!"

Infantry began to fall back, moving to a secondary line of sandbags, their weapons being reloaded as they ran.

"NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER!"

Another wave of shots rang home as troops of Order 722, assisted by a horde of dragons, swept over the battlements and began to set buildings alight.

"Retreat!" one Guardpony shouted.

Their commander, however, had other ideas. "YOU WILL STAND AND FIGHT, OR YOU WILL DIE BY MY PISTOL!" he bellowed. "NOT ONE STEP BACK!"

The other soldiers took note of this, and took position.

"Rather Communist, eh?" said one soldier.

"Truly it takes more courage ta retreat than ta advance," Meadowbrook said, and lined up her shot. She was, by no means, a soldier, but she had to do her part in holding the line. She braced the weapon against her shoulder, moved her hoof, and gently squeezed the trigger.

The shot flew from her weapon and took the head of a dragon clean off.

"Nice shot!" a soldier shouted. Those who could wield a weapon opened fire, as the bullets began to ring through the sky and hit the targets in the air.

"FOR THE RODINA!" shouted one soldier.

"Wrong war!" said another.

"In which case, for our homeland!"

Critically, the defenders were buying time. The ambulances had arrived whilst the men were fighting off the attackers, and they were slowly evacuating those who could not walk to the ambulances. The ambulances then drove off to established hospitals behind the line, which they hoped would be enough to protect them.

Alas, the enemy soon realised that this was the case, and their forces began to fall back. "We have won!" a soldier cheered, as he saw the area clear.

Meadowbrook, however, knew better. As she heard a series of explosions behind her, denoting that the battleships were once again providing support, she grimaced. "The enemy ain't retreatin'," she said. "They're regroupin'. We need ta be ready fer a second wave."

The guardsponies had all taken up defensive positions in the neighbouring buildings surrounding the camp, in the hope of better protection from enemy fire. But it would prove to be of little use, as these buildings were not meant for use as fortresses, and the enemy had no sense of honour.

The next wave soon deployed, consisting mostly of bombers. Each aircraft flew overhead, dropping a multitude of bombs, specifically targeting the buildings yet to be evacuated. The bombs were not only high explosive, however. They were also incendiary ordnance, and these set buildings on fire as they exploded. Men ran out of the buildings, screaming, running from the flames that consumed the structures, only to be gunned down by helicopters that flew in, firing rockets at the survivors. The Native Guard did their best to hold the enemy back, but it proved to be too much.

Meadowbrook looked up, and saw the building she was in was about to collapse. She tried to shout a warning, but it was too late as the flaming structure collapsed on top of them.





Rockhoof and his followers, soon reached the remains of Pike Road. Ponies were horrifically injured, and soldiers with varying levels of wounds were on alert, trying to fight despite their injuries. Rockhoof helped to search through the wreckage, and when he pulled one beam back, his eyes widened in horror.

Lying  beneath the beam, with broken limbs and several severe cuts, was his beloved Meadowbrook. He pulled her out, trying his hardest to not make her injuries worse. "MEDIC! Meadowbrook, what happened here?"

Meadowbrook was barely able to speak from her injuries, but gasped one word. "Drag- on." Then her eyes closed and she went limp.

Rockhoof looked in horror. Meadowbrook, his constant companion and fellow in this struggle, the one with whom he wanted to settle down, was dead. He howled in anguish as Lord Torch suddenly touched down, roaring triumphantly.

"Time to finish what I started," he said.

Rockhoof grabbed his shovel, and stepped forward. "You took Meadowbrook from me," he said. "Now I shall take your life from you."

Torch laughed, his voice piercing the heavens and shaking the ground to its very foundations. "You are more than welcome to try, my little pony," he said. "Although you are perhaps a little larger than last time when I fought you, that is hardly a concern to me, as I am immortal! I could eat you easily and digest you in seconds, without any indigestion to show for it."

However, whilst Torch was boasting, he hadn't noticed that Rockhoof had been working. He knew his strength would be of no use in a frontal attack, as Stygian's notes had revealed that simply attacking head on would be unproductive and lead to massive loss of life. Trying to engage Torch directly was like trying to fight a mountain. It simply could not be done.

Which was why he had to be smart and undermine his foe from beneath. Those words rang truer now than they ever had before. He grabbed his shovel and began to speed round and round Torch's corpulent bulk, digging up the ground as quickly as he could. He sped round as fast as he could, his shovel glowing white hot as it shifted the dirt below him. He was almost round to the back when he saw Torch suddenly move, and spot him.

"Trying to sneak behind me back, eh?" Torch bellowed, before letting loose a jet of flame that set the forest ablaze. "You'll have to do a bit better than that to trick me!"

In the midst of the rubble, Meadowbrook stirred, her eyes sliding open as she surveyed the destruction before her. Torch had flattened virtually everything within sight, and the few surviving soldiers had already fled for the safety of allied lines. This sector seemed to be almost completely lost.

But the actions of a single pony can be enough to turn the tide of an entire battle. This was a fact Meadowbrook knew from history, and learning of the many great victories of the ponies of Hayseed Swamp. Now it was her turn to do her part. Sitting atop the body of a dead soldier was a bundle of C4 and a detonator. She knew how powerful this stuff was, and that it could buy Rockhoof time.

"Sorry, sir, but Ah'll need that stuff more than you," she said, and slowly dragged the bundle towards her, the detonator included. She quickly primed the explosives, and took it in her hoof.

"Hey!" she shouted at Lord Torch.

Torch was momentarily distracted away from what Rockhoof was doing, and turned to face Meadowbrook. "I thought I killed you already! The Flamecano Goodbye should have done as much!"

Meadowbrook grinned, coolly, and even feeling a little cocky. "'Flamecano Goodbye', huh? Well, how about Louisiana Hello? Here's one from N'awlins!"

She threw the bundle, and then it was mere inches from Torch's face, she hit the clacker. Several hundred pounds of high explosives detonated in Torch's face, leaving him with severe burns. One of his horns fell off as he bellowed in agony, flames beginning to lick his face.

"ARRRRGH! You bitch! I'll kill you for that!"

But the attack had bought Rockhoof critical time. He had finished digging the trench, and as he did so he demolished the supports holding it up. The trenches collapsed, producing a massive sinkhole that sucked Torch into it. The chamber wasn't deep enough to suck him in and totally bury him, but it immobilised him in place, and that was all that mattered. The dragon roared as he tried to get free, but it proved to be no use.

Rockhoof sprinted for an operational radio platform and switched it on. "Bomber Command, this is Pillar Actual, do you read, over?"

"Pillar Actual, this is Bomber Command. We read you, over. Please relay message."

"Priority bombing mission to follow. Coordinates to follow; 32.2751° N, 86.1455° W. Repeat coordinates; 32.2751° N, 86.1455° W, over."

"Understood, coordinates received. Strike package on the mo- you will be within the blast radius."

"Bomber Command, drop the biggest bombs you can. We have to kill this target."

"Squadron ordered to use maximum payload. Get clear, and good luck. Out."

Rockhoof dragged Meadowbrook out of the rubble, and ran for cover as Torch continued to bellow. "YOU MAGGOT! PATHETIC WORM! YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO WITHSTAND MY WRATH! YOU WILL BURN AS THIS PLANET BURNS!"

Rockhood paid him no heed, as he saw a formation of B-52 and B-2 strike bombers fly overhead. Their bomb bay doors opened, and hundreds of bombs fell from the open payloads. They flew towards the ground with no particular care or accuracy, and exploded upon impact, the area being shaken by thousands of explosions and licked by massive walls of flames. Torch bellowed as he began to burn, but this would not be enough to kill him, as dragons were capable of supernatural regeneration.

The last two bombs, heavy duty weapons designed to crack hangers and rip open dams, struck home. Both exploded with so much force that the ground itself was torn open, and the shockwaves spread across the ground. Bits of dragon flew everywhere as Torch was ripped apart in a series of devastating explosions.

Rockhoof looked back at the devastation, and Meadowbrook shakily got to her hooves. "I now know what Mistmane was talking about when she said war was a terrible thing," Rockhoof said.

"Hopefully a better world will come out of this," Meadowbrook said quietly. "Let's go. We still have ta reach the centre of this city, and face down the Pony of Shadows."
> You're in the Sniper's Sights
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the same time as Rockhoof and Torch were fighting one another, with the former of course emerging victorious over the latter in a very bloody engagement, Starswirl and his unit had deployed to the ground and were in the process of fighting their way forward to the front lines. Starswirl had selected an elite formation for this operation, choosing to bring two unicorns who had helped him out all those months ago as frontline soldiers.

Those two unicorns were, of course, Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer. Whilst outwardly they did not resemble soldiers, their exceptional fighting ability was not to be trifled with, and as such they were a critical part of the offensive through the woods. The objectives were fairly simple.

"Remember our objectives!" Starswirl said, as they moved forward through the treeline, an entire battalion of soldiers behind them as well as limited air support. "We need to push through this area, and once we are through the sector we are to link up with Mistmane and her forces, who are currently occupied clearing an enemy trench. Once we have linked up, we proceed towards Sable Spirit's command bunker and neutralise it, before making our way to the centre of Montgomery and facing the Pony of Shadows. Gather yourselves, friends, and stay alert!"

The area up ahead certainly seemed like a challenging one to navigate. For one, it was absolutely full of obstacles, and trees and narrow pathways blocked the lines and access ways to prevent access to other parts of the terrain. Not only that, they also obscured line of sight through the area, making identifying threats exceptionally hard.

"Should we scan for targets?" Sunburst asked, looking around nervously. "I don't fancy our chances out here at all. Things don't look or feel save around here."

"I'm with Sunburst on this one," Starlight added. The sounds of a rocket barrage overhead echoed as explosions rained down, travelling in both directions as the US Military and Project 722 tried to hit one another at range.

"A detection spell would run the risk of revealing our location to the enemy," Starswirl noted. "So stay alert, and be prepared to nip into the treelines if we have to. There is no way of knowing where we will be going."

"You could say our adventures never end, and that we are little ponies," Starlight joked, trying to lighten the mood. The tension was so thick you could have cut it with a knife.

"That is quite enough of that," Starswirl said, his old wizened eyes scanning the terrain as best they could. The bells on his hat and uniform had been muffled to reduce the amount of noise they made. The terrain up ahead allowed them to pause for a second. Starswirl made sure the army unit behind them was still there as one of the Scout Snipers moved forward.

"Target position is approximately 10 clicks away. We will link up with Mistmane's forces in the viscinity and push to assist them."

Suddenly, a shot rang out from up ahead and smashed through a tree.

"SNIPER!" Sunburst called.

"GET TO COVER!" Starswirl called.

More shots began to ring out all around them, shots flying through the air. Most smashed through trees and demolished sections of branches and tree trunks, but a few did make their mark, and several soldiers were killed by the impacts.

"KEEP YOUR FUCKING HEADS DOWN!" shouted an officer, as he indicated to a soldier equipped with a missile launcher. "Prepare to move up. Once we pinpoint where the bastards are holed up, you light them up. Understand?"

"Yes sir."

More shots flew through the air, presumably to encourage them to keep their heads down where they were, whilst Starswirl and the other ponies tried scanning the area for targets.

"Wait!" Starlight said. She peered around the tree and suddenly saw a bullet whizz past her towards another tree. "I see where they are! The muzzle flash would suggest they are holed up in that building!"

"Should we light it up?" the officer from earlier asked.

"No, that would be a waste of ammunition," Starswirl replied. "The building is protected by a magical shield spell. Hold fire for now, for a lot of power is required."

"Understood!"

Shots continued to fly as Starswirl gathered his two followers. "We need to dislodge that shield and clear a path for the missile!" he said. "I have just the spell for the job, but all three of us will have to cast it at the same time!"

"Understood!" the pair replied.

"What is the spell?" Sunburst asked.

Starswirl produced his book and pointed to it. "It's very unstable, so be very careful."

All three unicorns turned towards the structure, and together focused the energy in their minds on the target and the spell at hand. There was a growing pool of light from their horns, and when the spell had built to the power level required to break the shield, they fired.

Three shots flew forward to the target building, exploding against the shield in a spectacular cloud of white, blue, and purple light. The shield, produced by magic, began to falter, and then faded completely, leaving the structure open to demolition.

"Move forward!" Starswirl called. "The shield is down!"

The officer nodded. "FIRE AT WILL!"

In that moment, several rifles began to discharge, laying down suppressive fire on the structure. Seconds after that, a missile flew forward and slammed into the building, which blew open structural supports and caused it start to topple. With a roar and a crash, the building fell to the ground, rubble and concrete and metal all compacting into a gigantic mound that produced a massive storm of dust and dirt that briefly obscured the area.

Starswirl indicated to move forward. "Target line cleared. Safe to move." They proceeded forward, staying wary in case Project 722 had any more nasty tricks up their sleeves. Luckily, it seemed they did not as they advanced through the rubble.

The sheer amount of debris gave them a clear image of how big the building had been, or indeed how destructive their bid had been in order to succesfully clear a path. Bricks and mortar lay intermingled with glass, steel, and concrete, making and leaving a gigantic mess all over the place. The ponies and their human allies picked their way across the ruins, seeing an absolute mess as they advanced onwards.

The enemy had fought to the absolute last. Bodies, and parts of bodies, lay everywhere, and the scattered remnants of weapons lay all around. Explosions continued to echo in the distance as the fallen were discovered, more and more of them.

"They gave it their all, that's for certain," Sunburst said quietly, trotting to one side to avoid treading on another body. "Either they were very brave or highly motivated."

"Or both," Starswirl finished. "Either way, they fought to the last. Sometimes the best of people and ponies find themselves on the wrong side of a war, and that is all it can take to drive others to despair. But enough. Our allies are ahead at the rally point, so we must push onwards to meet them swiftly."

The trio and their fellows briefly noted the remains of Sable Spirit, trapped underneath rubble that had presumably ended her life, and made their way towards a fountain. The sky was still black with weapons fire and dust, and the continuing reports of shell and missile fire confirmed to them that the enemy was still very much active. A severely reduced force of infantry awaited them, all of the soldiers looking exhausted, war having aged them noticably. Many of them looked to be quite young otherwise, but the mud and dirt made their ages hard to determine for any observer.

The same was not true of Mistmane, however. Whilst it is often said that war ages those who fight it, this had been taken to an extreme in her case, as she looked dishevelled and wrinkled, her mane's turquoise colours replaced by greys, and her clothes torn and battered from sustained conflict.

"What happened to you?" Starlight asked the older mare, much older than she had been a few hours ago.

"A trench assault happened, as well as an experimental weapon," Mistmane replied.

"Are you sure you can keep fighting?" Starswirl asked, showing deep concern for his fellow academic and confidant in the magical arts.

Mistmane snorted. "That weapon only took away my former appearance, not my health. I can still fight, and fight I shall in order to help drive our enemy off."

"We just need to wait for the others to arrive. Rockhoof reportedly faced extremely heavy resistance but is on his way. The only ones I have heard nothing from is Somnambula. I hope she is alright."

The others looked about them as a fresh wave of fire surged into the embattled city. Or rather, the pile of ruins that constituted the remains of Montgomery, Alabama. Truly was this a dark and terrible day.
> Through the Fire and Flames
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Somnambula was no stranger to the dangers of warfare. Having had a fair few scrapes herself in the air and on the ground, she was fully familiar with the risks and dangers that airborne fighting brought, and was prepared to counter a lot of them from her experience.

She was currently flying at relatively low altitude, following and supporting the advance of a phalanx of Neighyptian guard. The army on the ground was moving at slower speed than hoped, as heavy fire was continuing to pin them down. Bullets and rockets and shells flew through the air and collided with objects and damaged virtually everything that anpony could see.

"This is Alpha Phalanx! We are pinned down under heavy enemy fire! Requesting fire support!"

Somnambula herself was not outfitted with ranged weaponry apart from her available stock of Glowpaz, but she was trying to save that for the big targets that may come her way. Below her, she finally saw a chance to act in her designated role of aerial spotter. She switched on her radio.

"Pillar Actual to Naval Command, over?"

"Naval Command receiving Pillar Actual, state your message, over?"

"Requesting fire mission on position two four zero seven eight. Repeat, requesting fire mission on position two four zero seven eight. Fire for effect, over."

"Understood, fire mission imbound on position two four zero seven eight. Hold tight, out."

Somnambula rolled out of the way of oncoming flak fire (remembering the massacre at the pyramid all too well) whilst the advance slowed to a stop.

Seconds later, a storm of shells and missiles smashed into the treeline, covering the land in a complex patchwork of explosions and flames, black smoke rising from the aftermath of the bombardment. Trees collapsed and some were completely obliterated by the explosions, and of the enemy there was nothing.

"The line is clear!" called one soldier. "Charge!"

The phalanx moved forward as a formation of war chariots charged at an enemy armour column. Whilst in most cases this would seem suicidal, these chariots were shielded. A volley of explosive crossbow bolts was loosed, and impacted the enemy tanks, blowing up several of them and severely damaging others.

The armour responded in kind as a squadron of choppers flew towards her position. Somnambula dived and dropped down to the ground close as she dared whilst the chopper pursued, door guns blazing as they tried to hit her.

She was glad she hadn't brought any heavy equipment with her that would weigh her down. She dived again and looked behind her as the chopper slammed into a tree and exploded. She flew over the threat, and joined up with the nearby Neighyptian air wing, which was heading for the centre of the city. She knew that the rally point was there, and that seemed a sensible place to fly to.

She orbited over a park as she suddenly saw a formation of extremely battered legionaries fly into position, ready to continue their swift advance into Montgomery.

"Finally decided to drop in?" Somnambula asked, seeing how utterly bedraggled Flash was. He must have taken quite the beating whilst in the air. "I was wondering when Cloudsdale would remember there was a battle going on."

"I was occupied," Flash replied. A flash from glowpaz powered weaponry later, and a tank was ripped to smithereens. "So, any news?"

"We have a confirmed lock on the Sphynx," Somnambula replied. The reaction from Flash confirmed to her that this news pleased him greatly, which was certainly a relief after all they had been through. "We're moving in to take her out, and I guessed you would want to come, given your history with the Sphynx."

"Let's go kill that bitch," Flash said, a satisfied look on his face. "For the Third Legion!"

As the flew away, whizzing over a formation of unicorns bombarding the treeline near Pike Road, they suddenly sighted their target. The Sphynx, big, ugly, and angry as ever, crushed a tank under her paws, and screeched in a high voice as aircraft smashed to the ground around her.

"Are you ready for round three?" she asked, with a laugh. "Because I can assure you that you will not survive."

It was abundantly clear what had to be done. The Sphynx, it was known, was fully capable of fighting both airborne and ground targets, and so flying clear of her was the best option.

Flash and Somnambula flew clear as a nearby anti aircraft battery opened up, the duo dodging around buildings and trying to hide from the enemy attacks. The soldiers on the ground, for an infantry unit was currently moving up, were being swamped by a swarm of reanimated corpses, mostly the bodies of ancient dead and recently deceased soldiers.

"She won't even let the dead rest," Somnambula said sadly. She swung round and dived on the masses of undead, letting off a pair of Glowpaz blasts to reduce them to dust. She climbed again as a missile flew just underneath her and crashed into a building.

Flash circled round and absorbed a storm of bullets with Invictus, before responding with a rocket barrage of his own that toppled a building onto the anti aircraft guns. Missile barrages continued to fly through the air.

"Raider 2 on scene, over."

"Raider 2, draw the Sphynx's fire. We need to get behind it, so could you keep it occupied."

"Yes ma'am. Load HEAT shells! Light that fucker up!"

Seconds later, shells exploded in the air and the massive creature reacted. Her armour deployed a series of missile batteries, the sky being subjected to a gigantic macross missile massacre, plastered in gigantic quantities of rockets and missiles.

Flash charged forward with Invictus, missiles and ordnance slamming into it as he tried to avoid getting knocked back. He dived on the target, and acquired a target lock on the Sphynx's targeting module. He then fired.

The missile slammed home, destroying the unit and rendering the creature unable to focus any of her rocket barrages.

The Sphynx was most certainly annoyed by this, and screeched at them. "I will take you down!" she said, and jumped into the air, trying to swat the two pegasi.

But her swatting proved to have minimal effect on the duo and their allies, all of whom kept buzzing the enemy and avoiding her attacks. The pair flew under the Sphynx, but the nearby building started to collapse from the bombardment it was taking. More rockets and missiles filled the air before Somnambula got into position, and followed it up with two blasts from the Glowpaz necklace. This inflicted severe damage on the Sphynx, which was followed by a storm of high explosive shells from the tanks that blew the gigantic creature into a series of nothing at all, no trace of the monster being left when the smoke cleared.

A few of the reanimated bodies were still wondering around, so Flash took the opportunity to blast them to bits with rockets, sending bits and pieces of them everywhere (or gibbing as its termed). He nodded. "That was for my friends."

Somnambula formed up next to him. "We have broken through their final line. It is time to proceed to the rendezvous and prepare ourselves for the final offensive."

"All units, this is Mad Dog. The last line of enemy defence has fallen. Push forward to Montgomery Mayor's Hall and prepare to capture the enemy officers."

The two pegasi flew over that position and watched as the building toppled onto the ground, Project 722 having blown it up rather than face capture from the US Army. They touched down at the rally point, alongside their friends, although of course Stygian was absent from their numbers, not being a soldier. All of their friends looked a mess. Rockhoof was bruised and covered in dirt. Meadowbrook had several scars across her body and other injuries, as well as untold amounts of dirt and rubble. Starswirl's eyes looked tired and old, as though he had somehow aged even more than he already had in the course of this battle alone. And Mistmane looked to be the worst condition of them all. Her clothing was torn, and her magic was fading, along with her appearance. She looked to have aged more than a hundred years.

Flash tried to crack a joke in order to lighten the mood. "I know war ages ponies, but I had no idea it could age ponies so much," he said, indicating to Mistmane.

"Hilarious," Mistmane replied, in a tone of voice which indicated she thought the exact opposite. "We need to stay focused, as the Pony of Shadows is up ahead."

Suddenly, there was a swirling cloud of fog before them, and a disembodied voice began to speak. "You made it through my minions, did you now? Very good! This will prove that it was all worth it!"

The clouds formed into a definite shape, and what that shape was horrified even our brave heroes. It was time for the last fight to begin.
> Our Final Stand
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Pony of Shadows emerged, wreathed in fire and green flames, his armour and body black and well tuned. "SO, YOU TOOK MY INVITATION I SEE!" he boomed. "WELL, LET US FINISH THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL!"

Starswirl blinked and stepped bravely forward. "This is where the story ends," he said confidently. "You may have caused chaos and untold destruction, but we will stop you and avenge the lives you have taken from the world."

"Bold words for one such as yourself," the Pony of Shadows snorted. "Let us see if your body can match your tongue in terms of its fighting ability. All alone."

"He's not alone!" called Somnambula, and stepped forward. "He has us."

"Something you would never understand," Rockhoof added.

"Allies," continued Flash Magnus.

"Acquiantences," Meadowbrook went on.

"Or should we say, friends," Mistmane finished. "The bonds of loyalty forge a force that you could never understand or appreciate, for your soul knows nothing but the desire for absolute power."

"Oh, isn't this charming!?" the Pony of Shadows said sarcastically. "The gang truly is back together. No matter. I WILL HAVE MORE FUN OBLITERATING ALL OF YOU!"

With that, he started his attack sequence. A jet of green flame roared across the ground and caused it to start to crack.

"Run!" Meadowbrook called, and the team scattered. Flash and Somnambula took to the air, a piercing hail of laser fire flying their way.

"Move fast! He can't hit us all at once!" Somnambula shouted.

Meanwhile, Rockhoof had formed up nearby, and had a bright idea to help them. He took his shovel, and instead of run at the Pony of Shadows and try to attack it, he dug a trench. He dug and he dug and he dug till his neck and hooves ached, but still he kept going until he had reached a nearby lake. He then jumped out of the way as green fire roared down the channel and into the water, the combined impacts of superheated flame and water counteracting each other and putting the fires out.

Flash flew in overhead. "Great thinking, buddy!" he called.

"Very much appreciated!" Rockhoof called, before starting to make his way back towards the Pony of Shadows.

Meanwhile, Mistmane found the situation rather hard to control. Her dragon was rather weaker than normal, but continued to scorch the beast before her.

"I see age has finally caught up with you," the Pony of Shadows snarked. "Oh well. It has been thousands of years."

Mistmane opened fire from her horn, but the spells were having a limited effect on the monster's armour. Luckily, Meadowbrook was in the area, and had a plan.

The Pony of Shadows fired, the beam racing forth, but then hit Meadowbrook's mask and bounced off it in Mistmane. The energy blast reversed the earlier effects of the Lifetaker weapon, restoring Mistmane to her former vitality. "Teamwork pulled this off!" the Cajun pony called.

The Pony of Shadows continued firing on different objects around him, but so many targets to focus on made things challenging, for him at least. "Keep still!"

Somnambula roared underneath him, a homing shot following her into him and blowing another section of his armour off. Flash had his shield prepared, and a hail of shots bounced off it and into a nearby building.

Then suddenly, the world started to shift. Gravity began to flip, space began to warp, and time became bendable. The Pillars of Old Equestria suddenly found themselves floating in the air as the world began to shift in ways they could never have foreseen. In fact, it made navigating intensely difficult.

"Hold firm, my fellows!" Starswirl called. "We must adapt to the new gravitational field!"

"Not easy when up is suddenly down!" Flash replied as he smacked into a building. "Oof!"

Seconds later, there was more fire. Rockhoof and Meadowbrook leaped across floating rubble to get across to their foe, clearing extremely high jumps with bounding leaps and graceful tumbles. Behind and before them they suddenly saw what was causing the gravity mess. There was an orb on the Pony of Shadow's back.

The duo made the jump and landed, before smashing the orb free and watching it tumble back to earth. Everything dropped like a stone in that instant. All of it tumbled to the ground with a bang, before the Pony of Shadows got up one last time.

"This is not the end," he snarled. "I will emerge victorious, powerful over all of you, and death-"

"Finish him," said Starswirl. In that very moment, a beam rocketed forth from each Pillar towards their foe, and the devastation was truly terrifying. Explosions rocked the area, and there was a loud roar as the Pony of Shadows tried to resist the chains of his new captivity. But it was all for naught, and with one last roar the smoke cleared. Where there foe had once been was simply a statue now, with their names and evidence of their victory all around. If, indeed, it could be called a victory in any conventional sense of the word.





Stygian found Starswirl overlooking the ruins of Montgomery, a look of deep thought in his eyes. Stygian, on the other hand, was still suffering the shock of what he had witnessed.

"I didn't think it would end this way," he said, partly to get Starswirl's attention. He hadn't expected the Pony of Shadows to fight to the death, or take so many with him- one of their own included.

Starswirl quietly hummed. "End?" he asked rhetorically. "No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it."

"What? Starswirl? See what?" Stygiam enquired.

Starswirl indicated with his hoof as the sun began to rise in the sky. "White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise."

"Well, that isn't so bad," Stygian replied.

"No. No, it isn't."