Canterlot was under attack, all of Equestria was under attack. These foul Changeling creatures had taken much of Equestria, including the capital, but an army of ponies had been gathered to drive them out. The battle was raging at the gates of Canterlot, the ponies outnumbered and out experienced. Their only hope was to break into the city and rescue Princess Luna and the surviving city guard. Even then they may not win the battle. Let alone the war. Blood and death was everywhere. Magic fire was covering the battlefield and ponies were back stabbed by Changelings who had changed their form to look like their dead allies. Many on both sides lay dead and there was no sign of either force gaining the advantage. Crossbow bolts wizzed across the field by Changeling and pony alike. Many hitting targets and another scream was added to the bone shattering chorus. Some ponies weren't even in one piece anymore. Most had been cut in half by axe or spell. Red and green blood littered the once lush grasslands outside of Canterlot. No pony could get forward, and no pony could retreat due to the tall, dark tree line of Everfree Central. Another bit of that dark corrupted forest that went miles in any direction. On the left of it, was the hill down to Ponyville, the central hub to the pony resistance. To the right, miles of tree line then a hates, arid dessert that lead either out of Equestria, or a three day march to the icy lands of Old Equestria. In front stood the once brilliant city of Canterlot, standing on and next to the tallest mountain in the world. Where Discord had been destroyed weeks back by some dead hero; The Tip of the World. Behind the Everfree was again, miles and miles of forest. No pony really knew how far back it went. No pony had lived that far into it.
Apart from the few hills and the mountain next to the city, the land was mostly flat, there was one path that lead down to Ponyville, hugging the edge of the Everfree and the train track that eventually split of in all directions all over the land. No trains had come or gone for nearly a fortnight now. The Changelings had taken the capital, along with countless other settlements and captured any trains and those ponies on board and thrown them in the castle tower with the other prisoners. There must be hundreds up there by now. Meaning hundreds of Changelings still in the city. They had to get into Canterlot.
A group of three ponies were standing on the edge of the field, a unicorn, Earth pony and the so called leader, a Pegasus stallion. They each wore the gold and blue colours of the Equestrian armour. A slightly thicker but lighter alloy of that of the Canterlot guard. It gave a good area on the back in which ponies could attach weapon saddles to it without altering any of the metal work. One pony of the three, a Unicorn stallion named Dust Storm had such a saddle on, a long metal pole was clipped to it and then a medium sized crossbow sat on a small wooden board. The trigger was near the end of the weapon so that ponies could just lift their hoof up and fire, not having to adjust anything. There was a small bag of bolts also attached to the saddle, dropping down side and moving forward and back as Dust moved. He had a dark grey, almost black coloured hammer on his flank showing how good of a Manehatten blacksmith he was, or had been, before the war. The cutie mark could be seen rather easily due to his soft brown colour Dust had for a coat. His mane and tail were grey, a kind of dust shade. There were highlights of darker and lighter strips of grey, giving his main a very unique colour. Next to Dust Storm was a beautiful Earth pony mare named Star Dasher. She had a bright blue mane and emerald green eyes. Her cutie mark was that of a blue-white shade lightning bolt, showing how fast she could gallop, her skills in battle were that of her cutie mark, dodging in and out with the spear saddle she wore, the Changelings missed every attack on her as she weaved her way in and out of the battle. Now however, she stood with her friends. Her coat was a silver colour and her mane was long. She was a fairly young mare thus had years of beauty left in her. On the left of Star Dasher was the so called leader. He was thus named due to the fact he gave orders more than the others, but each were equal in their little squad, however if the question ever came up, he was the leader. The Pegasus had long, buff wings, heavy Equestrian armour on and a spear saddle. He wore a helmet which covered up much of his crimson coloured mane. Only a few streaks of it dropped down from the metal helm. The Pegasus' name is Ebony Ward. An old veteran of hunting down Changelings who had much experience dealing with their number. He had been training all his childhood, then fighting all through his adulthood against the Changelings. As a rare breed of elite fighters, not for glory, or honour or power. Just to fight the enemies of Equestria. There were pockets of this elite scattered across the world. Ebony was the last in Equestria. The others had spread out or died. Probably only a handful left from the once hundreds the group had. Ebony Ward looked to Dust Storm, then to Star Dasher who nodded. The three had regrouped and were now preparing to attack again.
"Are you ready?" Ebony asked. Star Dasher nodded slightly, standing still but moving her body in an up and down movement. Itching to get back in the fight. Dust laughed quietly.
"We joined this fight. Of course we are ready. E, you take centre, Dasher take left. I will take right and guard Ebony's weak side." Dust Storm replied. It was true, Ebony had been shot years back and now his whole left side was near on useless, bones shattered and muscles torn. He had arthritis growing in many areas and was in pain whenever he moved certain back muscles. Thus his left side needed cover, in case any enemy found a weak point and crippled the veteran even more. That being said, Ebony was still a fierce opponent and definitely a force to be reckoned with. Ebony was the oldest of the trio, aging to a nightly forty seven, Dust came next at a middle age of thirty nine and Dasher was the youngest at twenty four, going on to twenty five. Her birthday was two weeks away. Ebony was much slower than his prime, but still charged and killed. Dust being that much younger tanked a lot of attackers and sliced deep with any melee weapon he would have, now holding a crossbow he would load quicker than it took him to fire. Dasher was certainly the fastest though, most of her movements blurs of grace and death. Spinning and dodging and twirling.
"I don't need to be looked after, my left will be fine. Stay back and provide support over us." Ebony replied.
"Hey, I am no support healer. I kill stuff too ya know!" Dust replied, annoyed. Despite what he says, Dust Storm looks up to Ebony, not as a father figure, but at least as a mentor.
"Yes I suppose you do. Fine. Cast up a shield and prepare to gallop. Hard." Ebony muttered finally.
"What's the plan?" Dasher asked.
"We take the gates." Ebony Ward replied.
"Obviously." Dust Storm added, rolling his eyes.
The big Pegasus looked to the much smaller Unicorn, but otherwise ignored that remark. "We are outnumbered here, but if we can make it into the city then we can save the Princess and the guards."
"Be the heroes." Dasher said with more joy in her voice.
"Bigger pay." Dust replied.
"Pay? This fight we were volunteers to fight in an overpowering, outnumbered war. We won't get paid." Ebony replied quietly.
"But think of all the war spoils. So many dead, pockets full of gold, in fact the armour would be worth a bit or two. Not an awful lot, especially just after a battle, maybe we should head to Manehatten after this and melt down any armour and weapons we can fit in the wagon, then sell the ingots to the highest bid." Dust replied. Ebony nodded in agreement, then so did Dasher. They were no heroes, just a trio of friends in hope of making a living.
