Garry's Mod Vs. Equestria 2: War in the North

I stood at the entrance of the castle looking out towards the large entryway of the portal. There was no more than two hundred feet from where I stood to where the attackers would come from. Two hundred feet that the enemy could fill with bodies. That had to fit at least five hundred, I thought. Five hundred crystal beasts that would tear into the ponies, like a blade through bread. Only it would be mindless beasts against helpless ponies. "And me," I whispered to myself.

The one advantage we had was that they could only advance over the bridge. The bridge that was over a deep spiked pit. The bridge that was small, even by pony standards. We would be able to funnel them in and cut them down easily so long as we held a solid defense.

I sighed and shook my head, muttering to myself, "One step at a time. First, defense. Then, holding them back." I put my hand to the lowered portcullis and gave a hard pull. I almost groaned aloud when I felt it give slightly. That would be little help to us, except maybe to slow them down for a few moments. As large and strong as they were I doubted a simple gate would stop them. I was still pondering this when the sound of hoofsteps approached from behind me.

Sergeant Snow Shield cleared her throat after a few silent seconds. "You wanted to see me?" she said.

I began to think. To think of everything I had at my disposal, and that could help us. Most of it was useless props, or would be equally useless against the beasts. Most of my larger weapons wouldn't be able to punch through solid crystal. "Sergeant," I began, taking a long pause before continuing, "what's your combat experience?" I asked her. Before she could answer I added, "I don't care about training or guard duty. Have you ever been in real combat before?"

She was silent for some time, but eventually she answered. "Do you count the invasion of the Crystal Empire?"

I nodded slowly as I slowly drew my finger along my jaw, trying to form some kind of plan. I couldn't use any large ordinance; it would kill us as well as them, as close as we would be together. So I needed something small, but powerful enough to take out monsters made from solid crystal... It was right on the forefront of my mind, but I just couldn't quite make it out. The battle had left me in a poor state and thinking was difficult, let alone trying to figure out what could be small, powerful, and not kill everybody inside the castle in an attempt to survive the inevitable battle ahead. But putting my thoughts aside for a few moments I answered her. "If you actually fought, then yes. I count any time when either your life, or another's life was at risk."

I didn't hear an answer for nearly a minute, so I went back to thinking. What could it be? I knew I had something that could help us! But what?! I took a breath to calm myself and thought about what I knew I had, hoping to jog my memory. I had FA:S; there was only a few weapons that could help me, but they were definitely strong enough to do some damage. If they got too close to me though, I'd be in a tight spot. I had Gbombs; but nearly everything strong enough to help us would also kill us, so no. I have NueroTech... That could help, but only as long as they're outside the castle. Once they get in--and they will--anything in there'll be useless. And nothing in Siminov's pack would help me; that pack is so well balanced everything is almost realistic. I sighed inwardly, wishing I had kept my MURDERTHON weapons... I loved that little MP7...

"Three times."

I jumped from the voice behind me. I had forgotten Snow was there. Realizing what she said I turned to face her with a curious look on my face.

"I've been in a life or death fight three times," she said. "The most recent was the incident in the Empire, of course. But before that..." She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "Before that... before the Crystal Empire was resurrected... I was assigned as a personal guard to a very important senator from Equestria that was to discuss the ongoing trade agreement with the Crystal Empire." She opened her eyes again and I saw ghosts. She wasn't looking at me, but somewhere off in the distance. "Back then... Back before the resurrection, things were different. There was war, strife, hatred between nations, and..." She took another deep breath. "And enslavement."

"So what happened with the senator?" I asked, trying to return to the topic.

She sighed and shook her head. "He was more interested in rutting the serving mares than talking about trade routes. Eventually somepony sent a letter to his wife back in the Equestrian Capital, there was a huge scandal, and pretty soon there were mercenaries--hired by his own family no less--trying to kill him." She chuckled bitterly at a memory. "In hindsight, I probably should have let them..." She looked up at me, the ghosts gone and steel replacing them. "They came in the night when he was sleeping. There was a struggle, and one of them nearly put a dagger in my eye." She chuckled again, this time with more humor behind it. "I got lucky; I pushed the mare down and she landed on her own blade. Went right through her eye."

I let out a snort, half in contempt for the idiot, and half for the stupidity of said idiot.

She continued like she didn't hear me. "The second one overshot his swing... and I was ready with my sword when he did." There was a few seconds of silence as she remembered the fight. She eventually said, "I was nearly fired for using 'excessive force', and I was stationed on border patrol after that."

We looked into each others eyes for a full minute, at least. "Why did they punish you for that?" I asked.

She shrugged in that strange way the ponies do. "Who knows? Maybe it was bad for the news. Maybe they just didn't want to get on the bad side of a noble."

I scowled and turned to study the landscape again. I needed to figure it out! "They shouldn't have done that to you," I groused. "It was wrong of them."

"What did you say?" I couldn't see the expression on her face, but from her voice I would bet she was shocked.

"They were wrong," I said again. "You saved the senator and cleaned the world of two pieces of filth. You did exactly what they told you to do, and did it with damn fine results--in my opinion." Scratching at my stubble, I said, "If anything, they should have given you a promotion and a pay raise." Maybe it can be... "Hell, if it were me I'd have given you a medal on stage. Let the crowd give you a standing ovation, or... something..." Wait... if I put my... Then wouldn't it...?

My train of thought was derailed when something tightly grasped my middle. I looked down to see two light grey, almost silver hooves wrapped around my lower torso. I could also feel breath on the back of my neck.

"Thank you," Snow said, far too close to my ear for comfort. "Nopony has ever taken my side before. Thank you for saying that."

I felt her breath prickle the hairs on the back of my neck, and my body shuddered almost painfully--involuntarily! I had no control over it! I turned my head to look at her and said, "Uh... Snow? Could you... stop... hugging me? I feel... uncomfortable..." I felt blood and heat rushing to my face. It was a general rule for me; I don't like being touched. Touching is bad. Touching makes me feel weird.

The hooves left me quickly, nearly snatching away from me. Snow was looking directly at the ground beneath her nose, her silver face blushing a deep red. "I- I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. It's just that... well..." She coughed to the side nervously. "It's just... like I said... Nopony's ever taken my side with that before." She looked up at me then, her scarlet eyes shimmering with moisture. "You're the first person to ever... To ever tell me I did something right." She looked down again. "All throughout training I was badgered, and everything I did always seemed to be wrong. Even when I did exactly what I was ordered, I was wrong." She looked to the side, muttering, "Mares weren't supposed to be soldiers."

I scoffed and turned back to face the outside of the castle--in part to hide the slightly flustered look on my face. "That's stupid," I said. "People should be judged by who they are, not what they are." I took a breath to compose myself. "But I guess nowhere is truly perfect. Nothing really changes, does it?" No, it really doesn't.

Snow snorted contemptuously. "No, it really doesn't. The more things change the more they stay the same."

I nodded at her words, absently stroking my jaw again. "Say, do you have any flammable substances?" I asked. "Like oil, or grease from cooking?"

She came up next to me, her normal stoic, almost angry expression resuming. "We have a few casks of lantern oil and a crate of tinder for the kitchen fire. But that's about it."

I hummed in thought. So, a few barrels of oil and a box of tinder. Not much, but it might just work... "What about wine?" I asked.

She cocked her head to the side at me. "What about it? There's a dozen or so barrels of it in the storeroom, but nopony ever touches the stuff."

My head began to ache; a dull buzzing accompanied by a painful throbbing. "A dozen barrels... Are they large barrels, or no?"

She made a face, considering. "No... I don't think so. About the size of a keg, maybe smaller. But we have a pretty big supply of cooking sherry." She narrowed her eyes at me. "Why? What are you planning on doing with wine and cooking sherry?"

I narrowed my eyes at the open plain before me and scratched at the back of my head to ease the buzzing. "Do we have any bows, preferably with arrows?"

She nodded, looking at me. "Yeah, we have a dozen at least."

I let a smile creep across my face. "I think I have an idea." As the idea fully formed I laughed to myself. "Yes... I think I have an amazing idea."

She cringed at my expression, taking a step back. "Do you always look like that when you have an idea?"

I laughed louder, wringing my hands together in delighted anticipation. "Only when my ideas are as amazing as this..." Turning to her with a manic smile and an idle scratch at the buzzing at the base of my skull, I issued my orders. "Snow, I need you to get me a bow and some arrows. Get them as fast as you can and meet me on the wall above the gate. Understand?" I left her without waiting for an answer, starting on my way to the platform where the crowd of ponies was waiting for me. "If this actually works, this war's gonna be over really quickly."

I vaguely registered a somewhat confused "Yessir!" before approaching the platform and confronting Shining. "Shining, I have a plan!" This was an amazing plan. All I needed was soldiers. "I need you to form two lines at the front gate. We need a strong defense, and a backup in case the first line falls."

Shining nodded at my orders, turning to face the ponies from the crowd amassed around us--I noticed, with anger, that it was quite a bit smaller than before the attack. He issued the orders I had given and waited until all of them understood--or looked like they understood--what to do. "What now?" he asked.

I scanned the crowd for Emerald, but failed to find her. I scowled. "I need them at the front gate. Enough space so that it won't get crowded when they break through, but close enough that they can't go anywhere." I looked to the gate, the rest of the plan coming together in my mind. "And I have a special mission for you, Shining."

"What do you need me to do?" His voice betrayed his excitement.

I pointed to where I was looking. "The gate. I need you to get the biggest barrel you can find and fill it with the cooking sherry, the wine, the lantern oil, and the tinder for the fires. Mix it all up nice and good, then seal it and bring it to the gate."

He said, cautiously, "And... why am I doing that? Exactly?"

I looked at him, looked him up and down, sizing him up. Finally I said to him, "It's better if you don't know. Just do as I say, and do it quickly." I scratched at the back of my head to ease the burning there. "I don't think we have much time..."