Warhammer Equestria

Though it was not pleasant, the equestrian army now had more than enough troops with the addition of Queen chrysalis and her changelings but for the safety of the village Valiant ordered two hundred of his men to stand guard should the enemy ever return as well as send messages from between the Crystal Empire and Canterlot while they dealt with the siege on the empire. Their plan was to traverse the mountain pass in an attempt to sneak behind enemy lines and catch them off guard but the journey was not as easy as it seemed.

By the time they had arrived at the pass, a strong blizzard had begun to blow in from the east and the army was waist deep in snow within a matter of minuets and they were beginning to show signs of hypothermia and exhaustion. Even the animals were starting to become affected.

"Chrysalis! How long until we get there?" Valiant shouted over the howling winds as he tried to peer through the storm while his officers kept the men together.

"There! Up ahead!!" A changeling scout pointed to an enormous cave on a nearby slope where the army took shelter from the storm yet to there surprise the cavern had been decorated with griffon statues and a large archway leading to what looked like a road chiseled from the very rock of the mountain itself and above was a chandelier made of glowing crystals that lit the way.

"Sweet Celestia! I never knew a cave could hold such beauty!" Rarity marveled at the sight when she noticed the outlines of the statues had been decorated with gems and gold while Twilight marveled at the craftsmanship and architecture, even Valiant and his men were in awe of the sight.

"The Underway..."

"The what?"

"An ancient highway once used by the gryphons but it was soon abandoned when the mountains became too dangerous."

Valiant ordered the army to rest up for the night and to have the entrance to the cave sealed up with a magic barrier. As the troops rested, Twilight could not help noticing a few of the female soldiers flirting with some of their comrades and a few changelings as well and seeing such things made her think of Flash and their upcoming wedding which was just a month away yet after seeing the horrors this war had brought she began to fear for the future. She had returned to her tent to find that a small dinner had been prepared with her favorite dishes along with a single red rose being held by her fiancé.

"Surprise!" Flash was dressed in formal attire when he handed her the rose before planting a kiss on her cheek and escorted her to the table. When he proposed to the princess, Flash Sentry was declared the luckiest stallion in the kingdom and had even received the blessing of the two sisters despite the objections from the various nobles of the court who even attempted to bribe him into withdrawing his proposal only to be refused and some even attempted to assassinate him but despite all the hardships he and Twilight were still together.

"Flash what's the occasion?"

"It's for our anniversary."

The princess gave a short gasp when she realized it was the anniversary of their first date and was touched that her future husband had remembered and went to such great trouble for her, while the two lovers feasted the others were busy having a small party of their own thanks to Pinkie Pie and it seemed that they were getting along well with their new changeling allies.

"Gotta hand it to ya pinks, you know how to bring folks together." Applejack tipped her hat in congratulations to her friend as they joined in.

"Nothing brings ponies together like a party!"

"It's nice to see the troops are getting along well." Valiant said with relief when noticed a female changeling taking one of his soldiers to a more secluded part of the cavern and began kissing him.

"Yeah maybe a little TOO well." Rainbow Dash gulped down a mug of cider before heading back to her tent for a good nights rest while her friends partied. The very next day, the troops were in higher spirits and in full health thanks now that they had been properly rested and taken care of. With the help of the changelings, the army began their journey through the maze of tunnels left by the ancient gryphons who had once traversed these passages and brought trade to the neighboring lands.

"Oh Rarity. I never thanked you for providing my men with those blankets you made."

"Oh please I can't take ALL the credit." Rarity giggled, acting humble.

"It was Fluttershies friend fuzzy legs who provided the fabric."

"Who's fuzzy legs?" Valiant asked when Fluttershy pointed to a little spider crawling up to his face and out of nowhere.

"AHHHHH!!!!"

His shriek could be easily described as feminine when he was sent toppling off Fenrir while the little creature floated back to Fluttershy who seemed surprised at his reaction, it turned out valiant was not very fond of spiders and especially giant ones often found in caves such as the one they were in. Chrysalis however was amused.

"The mighty Iron Wolf scared of a little spider?"

"I can't stand spiders! So many eyes, so many legs! What's wrong with two of each?!?"

"Oh they're not so bad why they're a major part of the ecosystem." Fluttershy gently pet the little insect on her hand before allowing it to rest in her mane, for a while the girls found his fear to be humorous and somewhat adorable while Fenrir seemed to be embarrassed about his masters phobia and just continued to lead the march until they came to a fork in the road.

"Well Chrysalis?" Celestia asked kindly as a show of good faith but still kept a close watch on her.

"We take the path to the left. It leads to the outskirts of the city as long as-!!"

Chrysalis began sniffing the air along with the other changelings as they began to arm themselves. A feint drum beat and the sound of snarling and barking began to echo in the caverns, the soldiers were starting to grow anxious.

"Lord Valiant?"

"DIAMOND DOGS!! Defensive maneuvers!!"

The infantry began to form a wall on all sides while the musketeers and battle mages took aim, Twilight and the others stood in the center with the Royal guards when they heard a series of roars following the drumming.

"What was that?!?"

"Oh great. Trolls!"

Flash recognized the roar of the beast easily before they began to smell its stench and to make matters worse a whole pack of them were coming. A changeling scout spotted the army coming from both paths on the road and in one quick move the army readied themselves for battle but with little room to maneuver the use of their cavalry was limited.

"Uh...sir?" A soldier pointed to a large group of diamond dogs riding giant spiders that were leading the charge and Valiant was beginning to get anxious. Chrysalis ordered a squad of her archers to intercept the riders in hopes of thinning their cavalry while the infantry marched forward in a tight formation when flim and flam ran up to Valiant with a suggestion.

"Sir I believe now is the perfect time for our new weapon!"

"Is it ready?"

"Yes sir."

Valiant ordered Chrysalis to pull back her troops along with his own men and to the diamond dogs it looked like a sign of retreating,the enemy took the bait and gave chase when they were suddenly met by a line of heavily armored soldiers carrying strange guns that suddenly began to spray fire in great quantities. The dogs began to grow frantic and were starting to break formation, it seemed victory was there's when they heard the roar of the trolls coming in from behind.

"Rainbow Dash! Take they slayer squadron and stop those trolls! NOW!!"

"On it!! Let's go!"

Rainbow Dash stayed a short distance away as she lead the charge while the front lines continued to move forward, it wasn't long until the fire sputters were out of fuel and were ordered to fall back but the enemy numbers were few and most of their elite troops and spiders had been wiped out.

"Only a hundred left. Leave this to me." Valiant dismounted Fenrir and proceeded forward on his own while grabbing two swords from his fallen soldiers and like before his eyes were filled with sadness and anger, as the enemy surrounded him the troops began to grow worried.

"Before I became The Iron Wolf I was known as The Twin Blade Terror...Let me show you why!!"

"GET HIM!!" A large dog shouted as they moved in from all sides before being sliced open in the blink of an eye. Valiant was more deadly with tow swords than one and began to whittle away at the enemy while back at the rear guard was Rainbow Dash and the slayers finishing off the trolls. Though the mare was proud of our success she saw a great deal of her troops had been killed and began to feel a heavy bit of grief.

"Do not be saddened Rainbow Dash, they died as any slayer should; in glorious battle." A surviving slayer told her while he cleaned off his blade before they returned to the ranks.

"GAAGH!!"

Valiant cut down another of his foes with one clean stroke, he had reduced the enemy numbers by half as his men began to cheer after seeing his skill and valor. He was preparing to finish them off when Flashed noticed one of them was still alive and had lit a stick of dynamite as he broke out in a sinister snicker.

"VALIANT BEHIND YOU!!" Flash flew straight ahead in hopes of getting him out but as his friend turned around he was caught in the explosion. The troops were startled and even began to call out his name, as the smoke settled all could see his body had been scorched slightly and his cutie mark was burned clean off his arm and Flash had broken his right wing and suffered a slight head injury as he struggled to reach him.

"N-no...Valiant..." He passed out shortly after seeing one of the diamond dogs raise a huge axe to cleave off his head.

"NO!!"

"TO LORD VALIANT!!"

The iron wolves broke ranks and scrambled towards the enemy along with Twilight and Celestia. The axe came swinging straight down for Valiants neck when it suddenly broke upon a magic barrier, the dogs tried over and over the smash it open but to no avail and Twilight only knew of one pony who could make a barrier that strong.

"Look behind you." A voice called out to the one that tried to behead Valiant and as he turned around the last thing he saw was a giant hammer coming straight to his face and sending him flying into the cave wall. A unicorn dressed in golden armor stood before the enemy while Celestia gave the order to halt.

"That looks like..." Twilight instantly broke into a smile as the soldier removed his helmet to be none other than Shining Armor; Prince of The Crystal Empire and her big brother.

"SHINING ARMOR!"

"Hey sis how's it going? We'll talk later after I've cleaned up this mess."

The enemy moved in once again but were instantly overwhelmed by the princes' magic as well as his skills with a hammer and were soon forced to retreat with only five of them left. Shining then turned his attention to Valiant and Flash who had been knocked out by the explosion, Luna used her healing magic to treat Flash but their friends injuries were more severe and the troops were starting to grow worried.

"Shining can you help him?"

"We need to get him to the empire. Come on, my men are just ahead."

Valiant was placed in the medical wagon along with some other soldiers and all the while it was Fluttershy who tended to his injuries with the help of her friends and a changeling who created a makeshift cast for his arm out of a cocoon and after finally meeting up with Shinings men the army had finally reached their destination.

"Welcome to The Crystal Empire." Shining stepped aside to reveal the glorious crystal city now fenced off by his barrier and a large crystal wall that encircled the whole kingdom where in the distance could be seen smoke; the signs of a recent battle.

End.