Warhammer Equestria

Fifty thousand spears carried by fifty thousand troops willing to fight and die not for the sake of fame, wealth or glory but for the sake of defending their homeland and families who were left behind and to avenge their comrades who had fallen in battle, the war had begun to take its toll on Valiant and his troops yet still they continued to fight. The army had marched for three days straight with barely any food or rest and were bringing the troops to near starvation, even Twilight and the other princesses were starting to worry.

"The river is up ahead! We can rest there for the night."

The sound of that news made everyone sigh in relief as the river began to come into view. That night the soldiers removed their armor and weapons to bathe and wash their clothes after a long trip while the camps began preparing the food with Twilight and the others helping out when Fluttershy noticed some of the Knights had fur cloaks made of wolf skin and all were severely scarred from battle.

"Hey um Valiant?"

"Yes Fluttershy?"

"Why do those knights have wolf skin cloaks? I thought they were your friends?"

"Those men have taken up the Slayers Oath..."

Fluttershy didn't understand what he meant until he began to explain.

When a wolf rider loses their wolf in battle they are bound by honor to live the rest of their days fighting until an enemies sword or old age takes them and are required to wear the skins of their fallen companions as reminders of their loyalty and sacrifice, at first the yellow Pegasus thought that it seemed a bit cruel to skin the animal who had served you so faithfully until she saw them fold their cloaks neatly and gently before putting them away as they were served their dinner. It was then that Fluttershy understood the bond Valiant and his men had to their wolves.

"But what if a riders dies and the wolf doesn't?" She asked out of curiosity and was given a surprising answer.

"We set them free but if a wolf remains then it is given a new rider."

Having satisfied her curiosity, the knight returned to his tent and rest for the night while Fluttershy rejoined her friends at the Royal tent where a small banquet was held with exotic dishes from across the land were being served, while the food did seem delicious it seemed almost wrong to eat such cuisine while the soldiers ate common food. Princess Celestia and Luna explained that they had offered Valiant and his officers to dine with them but were turned down as they chose to dine with their men instead. Blueblood however didn't seem to be bothered and continued to eat to his hearts content.

"His loss. I can't understand why a decorated soldier such as him would pass up such a FANTASTIC meal!" The prince smiled as he washed down his food with some wine.

"It's his choice Blueblood so let's not judge."

"Yes aunt Celestia." Blueblood knew it wasn't best to argue with his aunt and continued to dine.

"You know Blueblood I'm surprised you came along. Mind if I ask why?" Rarity asked while wiping her mouth clean, the prince set aside his silverware and clasped his hands together as he began to recall a memory of him and Shining Armor as colts. Shining Armor was the only friend Blueblood had ever made and the two were almost like brothers, one time Blueblood invited his friend to peek in on the girls bathing area of their school and of course Shining refused being the shy stallion he was until Blueblood told him that Cadence was among the bathers but the moment they tried to peek in they were set upon by a heard of angry mares who blasted them halfway across the campus.

The entire tent bursted into laughter along with the guards standing watch but all went silent as Bluebloods voice turned serious and determined.

"Shining Armor was the first friend I made. He's always been there for me and now it's my turn to be there for him and though I cannot do much I still want to help in anyway I can."

Celestia had never been so proud of her nephew before and could see the conviction in his eyes as did the others. By the next morning, the troops had rearmed themselves and were on the march once again. Twilight was given her own wolf to ride as a way to inspire the troops by seeing one of Equestrias greatest heroes leading the way while her friends hitched a ride in the supply wagons, it wasn't until high noon when the army noticed smoke coming from nearby settlements. It was clear evidence that some of the caribou remained to raid distant farms and villages for supplies.

Scouts were sent to investigate and all came back with the same report. All of the outlying areas had been picked clean and much of the population was either killed or captured.

"Sir. What are your orders?"

Valiant knew that each day wasted would bring the Crystal Empire closer to destruction but he could not leave these innocent farmers to their fate and was left with quite the dilemma.

"Sir. If I may?" Blitson; chieftain of the newly allied Sky Runner Clan stepped forward.

"My men and I know the enemies movements, we can help track them down and save us a lot of searching."

The offer seemed legit but many of the officers were in question of his offer and still did not trust the caribou. Valiant however was willing to go on a little faith and accepted his offer with the condition that he, Flash and Blueblood tag along.

"W-wait! You want ME to come?"

"Twilight said you were willing to help so here's your chance. The rest of you press on, we'll meet up at the village!"

The party chose to move on foot so as not to draw attention to themselves and followed Blitsons lead while Fluttershy looked after Fenrir. The large wolf seemed saddened to see his master leave without him.

"Oh there there. It's okay." Fluttershy scratched his ears gently while leading him on after he gave her a friendly lick to let her know he was okay.

Valiants group traveled half a day a crossed scorched farmlands riddled with corpses and burning houses with Blitson and a few of his men leading the way. The trail finally lead them into a dense area of the everfree forest, for some it would be near impossible to pick up a trail again but when you're a seasoned hunter of the caribou you learn that even the tiniest hint can lead to a trophy.

"They came through here."

"Strange....this trail leads timber wolf territory. Why go there?"

"We'll soon find out."

They pressed deeper into the forest but saw no signs of timber wolves anywhere and there was not a sound to be heard, not even so much as an insect chirp. As night fell the, Flash spotted the glow of a campfire in the distance and signaled the others to follow, sure enough; they had found the enemy as well as their prisoners. Valiant handed Flash a spyglass when he noticed

"Strange..."

"What?"

"It looks like they were recently attacked."

Flash handed Valiant the spyglass and pointed out one of the caribou recently had his left antler cut off from a sharp object, most likely a sword or axe and another who had his left eye put out from an arrow that grazed him. Valiant then noticed a pack of shadows moving in the tree line and heard the faint sound of an arrow being nocked onto a bowstring before seeing a small glimmer of an arrow tip peeking out of the leaves.

"When the first shot's fired we move in."

The group readied their weapons with Blueblood being the only hesitant one.

"I-I am not a warrior!" He whispered nervously as they prepared to attack.

"Very soon, you will be..."

THWACK!!

"NOW!!"

Arrows began whizzing through the air as the small band charged the enemy camp, catching them unawares. The fight was brief with no casualties for the search party and all seemed well until a wounded caribou snuck up behind Blueblood with a dagger in his hand.

"BEHIND YOU!!" Flash shouted and at the very last moment the prince plunged his sword right through the enemies chest. Blueblood stood there in shock as he watched his foe fall to his knees before slowly passing, he had never experienced killing before and took a few steps back until Valiant retrieved his sword from the now lifeless corpse.

"....Well done soldier." He handed the prince his sword back when hooded figures began dropping from the tree canopy. Both sides were ready to fight until Valiant and the other commander ordered their troops to halt.

"You're getting sloppy...Captain Blackthorn." Valiant said with a smug grin as he removed one of the arrows from a dead caribou.

"At least I didn't charge in swords swinging." He said after removing his hood. Blackthorn was part of the deer tribe who lived deep in the everfree forest and served under King Bramble as its protectors. It was later revealed that Blackthorn and his men were running patrols through the forest after learning of the enemies movements near their borders and because they owed Princess Twilight and her friends for saving their forest.

"Valiant. We've discovered the names of the commanders invading the empire."

"Commanders?"

"The first is high priest Ingvar, he leads an army of fanatics who demand fresh virgins as offerings for their god. The second is a fearsome warrior named Gustav of the thunder hoof clan." The name sent a chill down Blitsons spine as it sounded dreadfully familiar to him.

"The sister tribe of the stone hooves and the most bloodthirsty of all the clans." Blitson then told them of how he once saw Gustav decimate an entire army of fellow tribesmen with only a small handful of troops and then continued to butcher them even after they had surrendered, he also warned that he was not on,y ruthless but cunning as well and was a master strategist who favored picking the enemy off piece by piece and torturing prisoners of war. He was truly a frightening foe to be reckoned with.

Blackthorn and his men agreed to take the prisoners back to their kingdom for safety and deliver a report to the princess while the others rendezvoused with the army waiting at Starlights Village but not before scouring the camp for any battle plans. They scoured the camp but had so far come up empty until Blueblood stumbled upon a satchel hanging from the enemy captains bed and decided to take a peak where found a small map of the area.

"I think I found something." The prince laid it flat on the table for all to see, the map appeared a set of attack plans for the surrounding areas with all the spots they had raided crossed out. A look of fright appeared on their faces when they saw the next target on their route.

"That's..." Blueblood froze when he saw the maps location; the enemy knew of Starlights Village!

"Twilight! The others!!"

"DOUBLE TIME IT BACK TO THE VILLAGE!! GO GO GO!!!"

The party rushed back the way the came and made a straight shot down the road to join up with the main army but were met with an unforeseen obstacle.

"Crap..." Valiant cursed as a small garrison of caribou soldiers stood before the, all eager to spill their blood.

"Uh valiant? Any ideas?" The prince asked when he saw him pull out his sword with an enraged look in his eye.

"Flash go warn the village!! We'll cut these bastards down as quick as we can!!" The Pegasus did not argue and took off like a shot while dodging the arrows they fired.

"KILL THEM!!" The leader of the garrison roared as they charged forth and as they prepared to do battle Flash looked back at his friends as the enemy descended upon them.

End.