Where the sun doesn't shine.

Chapter 9: Where brothers fight against each other.

A year had passed since the declaration of war. In that time, more states joined either side in this struggle; this was the first global conflict this world had ever experienced. This made the Terran remember about the Second World War in his home, but this time it was divided in West against East. Several battles were fought, but the might of Celestia’s coalition was focused on Cabalderio, ignoring its allies; this kind of strategy took its toll as the Terran Empire kept losing more and more of its territory against the corrupted hordes.

The Terran and his current army stood prepared in a fort, waiting patiently for the army that was bound to attack them in the storm.

“Fliers spotted!” Yelled a soldier as he saw a swarm of pegasi belonging to Celestia’s army.

“Pegasi companies, intercept them!” Ordered the Terran.

They all took flight above the fort and charged towards them. In the woods, Celestia’s land army could be seen.

“They’re here! Archers, fire!”

A rain of arrows struck the marching enemy as they got closer, but that didn’t stop them. They reached the gates and started to tear it apart.

“Infantry, in front of the gate!”

They obeyed as they prepared for the imminent charge once they broke through. Only the sound of the gate being torn, the rain, lightning and the pegasi fighting outside could be heard.

“Shield wall!” He ordered as he saw the gate being on the verge of destruction.

The gate was breached and the enemy charged towards the Imperial infantry who greeted them with a wall of steel. The fighting intensified as the defenders took loses, until the enemy started leaving the fort. Everypony questioned what was the reason behind it, but the Terran’s eyes widened in sheer terror as he couldn’t hear the pegasi fighting outside; he realized that his pegasi companies were utterly destroyed, and theirs were reforming to charge them.

“Infantry, fall back! Pikemen, form spear wall! NOW!!” He scream desperately, hoping that it wasn’t too late.

The royal cavalry charged inside the fort, making a complete mess; the Pikemen could not get ready for the charge in time. The only thing they could do was fight until the bitter end, it was impossible to think about tactics in this situation; the only thing that could determine the outcome was force of arms.

A war cry was heard as it got louder and louder outside, until a sudden noise of steel clashing made most of the opposing army look back in terror. It was the cavalry of the Republic of Zemlja Konja, a nation north of Cabalderio; it arrived just in time to save the Imperial forces of utter destruction. After minutes of fighting the entire enemy army ran for their lives; those who were saved walked outside the fort to greet their saviours in the storm and to catch their breath. The Terran walked up to a soldier and gave him a letter.

“Go to Stallinox and give this to Atticus.”

“Yes sir!”

The Terran stood still, he knew Cabalderio wouldn’t last long if things kept going this way.

“You seem worried, my friend.” Said the allied general.

“The letter I gave him…It was an order to completely evacuate Stallinox’s population.”

“Stallinox…Your Empire’s capital…”

“This fort was the last of a series of defences made to intercept the advancing forces. There aren’t any more distractions between Equestria and the capital; the enemy will throw everything and the kitchen sink against it. Units, we return to Stallinox!”

“What’s happening? Why are there so many ponies outside? Is there a party and they didn’t invite us?” Asked Pinkie Pie as she looked outside the window.

Everypony gathered up next to the window and stared at the scenery, until somepony knocked loudly the door. Applejack opened it and saw the Terran drenched in the rain and panting; Twilight invited him inside but he refused.

“There is no time, you must all evacuate this place at once!”

“What? What happened?” Questioned Spike.

“The last fort between Equestria and this city has fallen and left this city completely exposed to an enemy attack, chances are the entire enemy coalition will unite their armies and attack us. Outside the gates there’s an evacuation group that will tell you what to do next. Spike, I need you for one last task, and then you’ll meet up with the mane 6 outside.”

“O-Of course!”

“Good, meet me at the castle.” Said the Terran as he left.

“What…What will happen now…?” Asked Fluttershy on the verge of crying.

“Don’t worry dear…The Terran said there was an evacuation group outside, we just need to pack up and go there, nothing else! Spike, you should go to the castle now, the Terran was…worried, to say the least…” Explained Rarity.

“Yes!”

Spike arrived at the castle where the Terran and several of his lieutenants awaited him.

“Thank the Great Ones you’ve arrived…Listen, I need you to send a letter to the leaders of every nation in the coalition, can you do that?”

“I sure can!”

A servant arrived with the letters and left them next to Spike.

“Those are the letters calling for reinforcements, once sent you may join your friends outside the gates.” After saying this, the Terran sat on his throne with his hand on his mouth. He hoped that the reinforcements would arrive before the enemy did; there was no telling when either of them would come first.

Several days passed as the Terran and his forces waited. Stallinox, except for the forces stationed there, was completely empty; the rain and storm made the scenery even more nightmarish. Even worse, the amount of clouds that gathered up since the start had turned the day into perpetual night. The Terran waited every day at the walls, resting his arms in the parapet, hoping to see the forces that would arrive to help him defend this city. On the horizon, several ponies could be seen sporting the flag of Zemlja Konja; he smiled behind his drenched scarf as he saw an army of 25,000 ponies marching towards the city. Once they arrived, the guards opened the gates and their hooves echoed as they marched into the capital.

“Greetings general, it is good to see you once again…”

“I say the same about you, Terran.” Said the general who had saved their lives at the fort weeks ago. “A beautiful city you have here…Shame it will witness such a bloodshed…”

“I expect the enemy to bring all they have here, the Empire has been a great factor in this war, and with its capital exposed…Anyways, I’m expecting another 4 armies to arrive. Go ahead into the castle, my lieutenants will meet you there.”

One more week passed before the entire coalition’s forces were stationed at Stallinox. The number of soldiers in this city was unheard of, even in the most ridiculous legends; 150,000 soldiers ready at one of the biggest cities in this world. All the generals stood in the throne room discussing their plan since they arrived, but just as they were discussing a soldier broke into the room and screamed.

“The enemy! They have arrived!”

Everypony quickly stood up once they heard what the soldier said.

“Ok, everypony knows the plan, get moving!” Ordered the Terran as he got out of the room first, while the other generals followed.

Outside in the storms, the walls and towers were filled with archers, the streets blocked with infantry, this would be one of the biggest battles in history. The enemy surrounded the entire city with battering rams, ladders, siege towers, catapults and trebuchets, it was either victory or death. Even worse for the Terran, he’d get captured and Great Ones know what would happen.

“How many do you think there are out there?” Asked his lieutenant.

“More than we think…They don’t try to starve us out because they’d run out of supplies before we do, and we have a hundred thousand and a half soldiers here…They also managed to completely surround this city, one of the biggest. I’d not be surprised if they have more than half a million…” Answered the Terran.

“Half a million?! That’s utterly ridiculous! They’d starve in months!”

“Notice how many siege weapons they have? After taking this city they’d all separate and take the remaining settlements in my empire.”

“…Mother of God…”

The opposing army started advancing in a slow but steady pace.

“Archers!” Yelled the Terran as he raised his arm. They still weren’t close enough for the arrows to hit, he waited until the precise moment. In the storm they kept walking closer and closer until they were in range. “Fire!” He screamed while lowering is arm, the arrows that rained could have darkened the skies had it not been perpetual night already. The opposing army started running instead of walking, carrying theirs ladders, towers and rams with them, flaming rocks fell everywhere as the catapults and trebuchets opened fire.

“Their ladders are at the walls, general.” Said the lieutenant who was next to him.

“Send in the infantry.”

“You heard him! 74th to 83rd infantry companies, to the wall!”

At the walls the fighting became more and more desperate as the enemy kept climbing the ladders laid all around the capital’s walls. Siege towers started closing in before the other lieutenant yelled orders.

“Archers, ignite missiles and focus on the towers!”

The darkness lit up through the skies as volleys of fire hit the towers, most of them catching fire while the others reached the walls. The battering ram was already in place, tearing down the metallic gates.

“32nd to 56th infantry companies, to the doors!”

The defence was going well; the walls were under control and the forces were already behind the gates ready to defend the breach. But a company lieutenant arrived and started speaking.

“Sir, the enemy is carrying some sort of spherical artefact towards the walls. No matter how many arrows we shoot at it, it won’t get destroyed. Whenever we kill those carrying it more come to take their place almost immediately…”

The Terran started worrying about it and walked on top of the walls, once above he quickly took a look at the artefact below while dodging the arrows fired upon him. The artefact glew a bright white and purple light, and whenever it got closer to the wall it glew even brighter.

“I want everypony shooting whoever carries that thing!” Yelled the Terran, better safe than sorry.

“Sir, the battering ram broke through the gates!”

“Hold them off! Don’t let them gain ground!” He said while he got off the wall, but just as he touched ground the wall where the artefact was heading to exploded in a bright, almost blinding light, sending boulders and debris flying around. The Terran could do nothing but stare in awe and terror. “15th to 24th companies, to the breach!!”

The nightmare didn’t stop, the catapults and trebuchets kept knocking down segments of the walls for the enemy to storm through.

“I want every available sword defending the breaches!!” He desperately screamed.

The fighting continued at the walls. At the beginning every general was put in charge of defending a part of the city’s walls; the Terran’s was being utterly annihilated, even though he had double the forces than the next biggest army defending.

“Sir, our forces are being overrun! We must back off to the inner walls!”

“…Has it come to this already…? Everypony, Retreat to the inner ring!”

The sound of hooves running across the city echoed in the night, the inner gates opened and archers positioned themselves above the walls; infantry slowly falling back while keeping the enemy at bay. Once everyone was safely behind the inner walls the gates closed shut.

“Let’s pray to the Great Ones that our brothers didn’t have to resort to this before us…Archers, focus fire on the heaviest units!”

The enemy, through the breaches they created, carried their siege weaponry through the destroyed parts of the city towards the inner walls.

“I’ve had enough…” He said while looking at the dark sky, the water being stopped by his sunglasses. He climbed up the wall and narrowed his eyes, focusing on the army that walked through the rubble. Among them he saw another of the artefacts that made the wall blow up; he aimed at the spherical object and fired, hoping that a bullet would be enough to cause a reaction. The strange artefact blew up next to their forces, taking out a large group with them; but that only managed to slow them down for a few minutes while they regrouped, and they learned by not carrying more of them into the fight.

Ladders and another battering ram reached the gates despite being showered with arrows ignited on fire; the casualties taken by the enemy army didn’t show at all, there was no end to this hell. This time, without some spherical device to blow up the wall, the Imperial Army managed to last longer before the battering ram once again destroyed the gates. Heavier infantry stormed the gates, the fighting was even harder and more nightmarish than before; exhausted soldiers fought bravely against the worst that the enemy sent but were ultimately pushed back. The Terran, already running out of hopes gave a final order to the few remaining forces present: “Everypony, this is it! Fall back to the castle, we’ll make a final stand there!” Everypony obeyed seeing as these were their final hours.

Once inside they closed the doors behind them and barricaded it. The Imperial Army, at first 50,000, now numbered around the hundreds. Victory was impossible, it was all over already; they all prepared themselves for their final effort as the enemy tried breaking through the barricaded gates.

“We tried defending this place, but even with a force of a hundred thousand and a half, we failed. After this, they’ll divide and take over every other settlement in the Empire…Soldiers, this is the final order I’ll give you today, and maybe in my life: Take out as many bastards as you can, every enemy that you kill won’t be present in their next missions. Who’s with me?!”

“For the emperor!!”

“...Dammit! They broke through the gate! Units, shield wall!”

They hit their shields together as they waited the endless waves to get to them.

“Gentlecolts…It has been an honour…to fight with you all…” Said the Terran with a smile as he took out his rifle and aimed at the incoming horde.

“FOR THE EMPIRE!! IF WE’RE GOING TO HELL WE’LL TAKE THEM WITH US!!”

“FOR THE EMPIRE!!”

Everypony screamed before the charge finally hit, this was the place where the last remnants of the Imperial Army made their last stand with their Emperor fighting among their ranks.

“Well…The enemy was driven off. Lieutenant, report.” Said the general of Zemlja Konja while standing over the inner wall.

“The supporting armies have all pushed back the enemy. We have no word of the Imperial Army nor of the Terran, though.”

“No word?”

“No word.”

The general stood still thinking what could have happened until he realized, then with a desperate voice ordered his army.

“Units, move to the Terran’s position immediately! Lieutenant, warn the others and tell them to send everything they’ve got! MOVE!”

The hooves of his army, and later everyone else’s, echoed in the city. They all ran as fast as they could to see what happened to the Terran. Once they arrived the only thing they could see was the destroyed remnants of the city and walls, and the unending pile of corpses that went back to the castle.

“To the castle! Double time!” He desperately screamed.

Back inside the castle the Terran and 12 other soldiers were backed off to the throne, giving their last efforts at taking as many with them as they could; the Terran was drenched with blood, any lesser being would have died a hundred times already.

“I’ve fought men stronger than your entire armies!” Screamed the Terran as he fought both the soldiers and the unbearable pain.

Striking every soldier in sight, his limit was already surpassed hours ago; he fought out of sheer will and rage. He then saw something among the enemy ranks which caught his eyes; he then realized that what he saw were no other than the soldiers of the other armies that helped defend this city. As the last soldier was slain, Zemlja Konja’s general ran towards him.

“Terran! What…What happened?!” Desperately asked the general upon seeing the horror before him.

The Terran fell to his knees. “Brothers…All dead…” He sorrowfully said. “Celestia…must pay…” As soon as he finished, he fell unconscious in front of everypony.