General Twostar had no idea when he'd last had a month this bad. It had started off well enough, setting up camp in the Goldenleaf woods for the winter, spend the next few months living off what supplies they had stock piled and wait for the spring thaw. A formula tried and tested over the last fifteen years since Equestria had divided into the various houses.

Ponies did poorly in the depths of winter, particularly when making war. Supplies became strained, communications broke down, soldiers froze starved or deserted, sickness could run rampant. Nobody marched or fought in winter unless they were desperate.

He remind himself it was still mid fall but the point stood. Almost all of the house armies had agreed to refrain from fighting in late fall as they needed to collect resources and prepare for winter. The last thing anypony needed was a famine considering how rough things had become.

In last few weeks however all hell had broken loose on his watch. Somepony or something had begun launching raids into Goldenleaf woods, attacking supply caravans, patrols, and isolate positions. The Nobles had panicked and demanded he dispatch his troops to their lands to protect them and their property. No need to worry that he only had about two and half thousand troops to start with.

Then one bloody night only a few days passed the bastards had struck again in a big way. In one night they had attacked over half a dozen estates, sacked them, killed all of his troops, then fled back into the woods. He was now down to about two thousand troops and knew that the enemy he was facing was likely a very large and well organized fighting force. Worse they were growing in number as they seemed to be freeing all of the slaves from the estates they raided. No way it was simple bandits.

Even worse he had no idea who was attacking his troops. House Stormwing liked to launch raids into the the woods to cause trouble and win glory but they wouldn't be sneaking around like these attackers were. He prayed to Celestia it wasn't the Griffons launching a full scale invasion into Equestria but the timing was off. Diamond Dogs were possible put unlikely, they didn't attack well defended estate homes and free slaves.

He had an army in his neck of the woods, and he was now out numbered.

That brought him to the most difficult matter, begging for help. His reputation would be ruined by this whole mess, he'd be laughed at all the way back to Hoofington. But the situation had deteriorated to quickly, he needed more troops.

Thus he levitated his quill into his ink pot and then set about penning his letter to the Garrison commander in Stalliongrad. Every scratching stroke of the pen sounded to him like the laughter of the pompous fops back in Canterlot already mocking him and his helplessness. He broke his quill by accident and muttered a curse before getting a fresh one. He broke that quill as well before he finished.

Resigned to his fate he cast a spell that would copy the message four times before scrambling them with a spell cypher. That was one of House Moon and Stars' greatest advantages, no one could read their communications without magic. Still it paid to be careful so he summoned up four of his fastest Seraphs.

As soon as they were off he grabbed himself a cup of tea and threw himself down onto a chair in front of his fire. It was like watching his career literally burn away.

MLP:ED

The wafting smell of pony sewage woke Ardon from his nap. He spat out a curse as he clambered out of his bed roll. Though the Nor Menn had stolen a few beds from their raids none of them were large enough for the usage of Menn. Thus they had to make do with their camping gear. He dressed, washed his face in a water basin running his fingers through the short beard he had started to grow. He grabbed a loaf of bread from the table in the Great Hall that wasn't stale before stepping outside into the sun light.

The camp was far more crowded now, a mass of tents had been erected outside the perimeter to accommodate the mass of ponies. An additional palisade was in construction about this expansion while the Nor Menn also tried to deal with the other problems their new forces were presenting. Feeding them and preventing diseases was a full time job, since they didn't eat meat.

The ponies were almost more trouble than they were worth. Of the nearly two thousand ponies they had to work with a third were fillies and colts who were to young to fight. The rest were mostly untrained, confused, scared, and poorly motivated. A few had tried to desert on the first day. Ardon had the deserters hanged to get the message across. Fight or die, those were the only options.

Rainwalker was doing his best to help out, teaching the few slaves who had fought in House Moon and Stars' who to speak the Nor Menn tongue. Being able to speak with the Nor Menn made it easier for the Ponies to receive orders and train. They had stolen plenty of weapons and armor from House Moon and Stars' so armament was not a problem.

Still at best only a few hundred of the ponies would make even remotely good warriors.

He strode out to the palisade and climbed up into a tower to watch the morning drills. In a yard that had been cleared about fifty ponies were moving in two loose formations under the watchful eyes of Nor Menn veterans. Others were fighting in small groups also under the watchful eyes of Nor Menn veterans. Still more were having iron shoes fitted to their hooves, expecting heavy combat. Above a flight of Pegasus ponies were practicing mock diving charges.

"Good morning Chief Scout."

Ardon frowned before turning to face Rainwalker who was floating behind him. The Pegasus had to flap his wings rather rapidly to maintain a stable altitude. A major difference from the Nor Menn Avariel or Caladria as they could not maintain a single position for very long at all while flying.

"Morning," he growled before turning back to watch the ponies training in the yard bellow.

"They'll be battle ready soon enough," Rainwalker said confidently, dropping down onto the platform to stand beside him. "You and your King will see Chief."

"Perhaps," Ardon replied, watching as pony tried to charge on of his trainers only to be knocked to the dirt by a swift strike to the legs. "But their not real warriors yet."

"They've got the spirit for it," Rainwalker assured him. "And now they've got the weapons and armor to strike back at their former oppressors."

"Their foes will be just as well armed and equipped," Ardon said turning away and climbing down the ladder to ground level. "They will be battle hardened and disciplined and likely as not will out number us."

Rainwalker hopped down off the platform to join him.

"Strong backs and strong hearts are worth just as much Chief," the pegasus said. "And if not then anger will serve just as well as courage."

"Maybe," Ardon said motioning Rainwalker to follow him as they walked through the camp. "We haven't heard yet if the garrison at Stalliongrad has begun to move yet however. Our primary goal is the capture of Stalliongrad, this fight will merely be a distraction."

"We'll give those horn heads something to think about sir I can promise you that."

"Until then however I want your ponies taking part in as many raids as possible to give them real fighting experience. My lads will still make up the back bone of our fighting forces but your ponies have to prove they can pull their..."

At that moment a Sindarla on a Snow Stirder came riding up to them a look of excitement on his face.

"Chief Scout," he said in an equally excited tone. "We spotted reinforcements approaching from the north."

"How many and who are they?" Ardon asked at once.

"Mostly my kin," the Sindarla replied. "But they had a few Dökkálfar and your own folk with them, well over a hundred."

"How far out are they?"

"A little over and hour."

"Round up a few of your fellows and ride out to meet them," Ardon ordered. "Tell them I'll await their leaders at the great hall."

"Yes Chief," the Sindarla replied before turning and riding off.

"Rainwalker," Ardon said turning once more the pegasus. "Get Lethrook and the other leaders. Meet me in the great hall in half an hour."

"Yes sir," Rainwalker siad making a movement with his right for leg that looked like a salute. It amazed Ardon just how flexible these ponies could be some times.

He quickly made his way back to the Great Hall and ordered some of the cooks to get some food and drink prepared. While he waited he cleared the head table of all excess junk and scraps save for a pair of maps. The first was one of the whole of Equestria while the other focused on just the local area and had been hand drawn by the Clan Hunters and Wanderers.

Prominent near the center of the map was the main Moon and Stars encampment while Broken stones was off to the side in the east. Several manor houses and estates were also marked on the map most of them crossed out having been raided already. The most important feature was that every clearing, stream, and hill was marked. Ardon knew that the terrain could easily make his job much easier.

Before long his officers arrived; Lethrook, Fealen, Rainwalker, and all the rest. Food arrived shortly after they did but nobody touched anything waiting for their guests to arrive.

At last the doors opened to admit a small party. There was seasoned looking Raider with a heavily scared face, a fair haired Sindarla warrior with a bow in hand but not strung, a Dökkálfar with bright red hair and a sharp hawk like face dressed in armored robes of a Spell Warder, and a cheery looking dark haired Sindarla woman with large yellow green eyes holding a staff. A Faesage of the Sindarla.

"I'm terribly sorry if we're a bit late," she said apologetically. "Not used to the trails around here you see."

"Not at all," Ardon replied. "I'm afraid you have me at a bit of a loss though Faesage. We didn't know anyone would becoming yet to reinforce us."

"My name is Merricle, and these are Redgar, Telan, and Veniris," she said motioning to each of her companions in turn before frowning. "And what do you mean you didn't know we were coming? I'm sure I sent the message ahead of us."

Ardon's blood ran cold as the Faesage began digging around in her pack.

"We didn't receive any..."

"Oops," she said her cheeks turning red with embarrassment.

"What do you mean oops?"

She then pulled out a sealed parchment scroll.

"I forgot to send it."

Ardon closed his eyes for a moment trying to keep his emotions in check. It took him a moment to recover before he could speak.

"What were you supposed to tell us?" He asked.

"We intercepted a message from the camp here to Stalliongrad asking for reinforcements," Merricle replied. "The Garrison has likely set out by now."

Lethrook swore violently.

"How many?" Ardon demanded

"About five thousand," Merricle answered still looking ashamed of herself. "Maybe a bit more. By the looks of things it will take them a few days to get here, just shy of a week, five days."

That was just what he needed. A battle against a force twice his numbers and he had less than a week to prepare.

"Did you at least send a message to the King?" Ardon asked.

"Of course," she answered.

"I can confirm that Chief Scout," the Raider Redgar growled. "I sent one of my own warriors to deliver it."

Ardon nodded then motioned for the new comers to join them at the table. They seemed rather curious about Rainwalker and his fellows but kept their questions polite for Nor Menn standards. They ate a little as Ardon thought hard and long on what he was going to do.

"They still don't know about our forces," Ardon muttered. "We're the one factor they don't know about yet."

"So what do we do?" Lethrook asked.

"Keep the advantage of surprise as long as we can," he answered.

He then picked out a clearing a few miles north of the main Moon and Stars encampment. There was a sizable hill there with good cover cover from the forest on all sides but its southern approach.

"That's where we'll meet the enemy," he said. "We lure them in there and we'll have a good choke point to minimize their numerical advantage."

"I doubt that we'll be enough," Fealen said looking at the map.

"That's why we're going to use every dirty trick in the book to even the odds," Ardon replied. "Now listen up."

Author's Note

I know I promised a battle but I forgot I had to do the set up for it. Your patience is appreciated, for epic battles take time to write.