Noble Defender

The cannons fired first, their booms causing Ademar and the Ponies ears to ring and sending thousands of lead balls into the mass of Changelings, upon impact their limbs were blown off, flesh and shell was torn apart, wounded Changelings lied on the ground writhing and screaming in pain, begging their comrades to take them to safety.

The rifles and machine guns fired next, the rifleponies fired, reloaded, and fired again, many hitting their targets causing many changelings to fall dead on the ground, the Machine Guns boomed and fired thousands of rounds in the short minutes since the first shots were fired, cutting through several of the changelings.

The Changelings fired beams at the trenches from what cover they could find behind rocks, debris, and the stacked bodies of their kin, the beams of green energy flew towards them at incredible speeds flying past the trenches hitting the ground, rocks, some of the Pillboxes, and some towards Griffonstone. The Changelings were getting closer to the trenches, Ademar saw a Pony impale one on his bayonet and pin it to the ground and continued stabbing the creature until it could no longer move. Ademar saw a pony soldier get hit in the face with one of the beams, the Pony didn't scream, he only fell back into the trench, the side of his face charred by the beam.

"Ademar what do we do?!" A soldier yelled.

"Keep firing!" He yelled. The Changelings continued their ruthless assault on the trenches and to no avail, only succeeding in wounding and killing some Ponies. He saw their weakened and stunned force, the Changelings were dazed and confused at first at what had just happened, another cannon round fixed that, sending them into a frenzy as they saw the line of Ponies hidden in Trenches using these destructive weapons combat them.

Soon enough the Changelings were to focused on the assault than getting their wounded off the battlefield, but before any of this could happen, both wounded and assaulting were cut down by Cannon, Rifle, and Machine gun fire. Several ponies were hit by the changelings magic, wounding them and some fatal, though the Changelings who were taken by surprise and had suffered heavy casualties and wounded had no idea what to do next except fire upon the trenches.

Seeing their brethren being ripped apart by the unknown weapons caused many to flee back into the Mountain pass, leaving their dead and wounded comrades behind. Ademar seeing this fired at the armored Changelings who were giving orders to their subordinates, killing them will cause Changeling moral to weaken and cause them to flee. Ademar loaded his rifle with a fresh round and shot at a changeling officer, the bullet hit it in the eye and passed clean through taking the helmet with it. The Changelings upon seeing their officers struck down, fled back into the mountains. "Cease Fire, Cease Fire!"

The Pony soldiers stop shooting, Changeling Officers bark commands at their cowardly soldiers and eventually fall back with them into the mountains. The groans and screams from both Wounded Ponies and Changelings is head. Ademar and the Ponies carry their wounded into carts behind the trenches, Griffon volunteers help carry them into the city. These ponies have burns, cuts, and Holes from the Changeling beams. "Sir, what do we do about the Changelings in the field?" Ademar looked to see the wounded, screaming, and groaning changelings lying in the dirt.

"I will lead a team out to them, from this day and beyond all Changeling prisoners shall be treated the same way we are and be well fed." Ademar and a group of Ponies walked onto 'No Ponies Land' to aid the wounded Changelings. Ademar walked past the bodies of the lifeless creatures trying not to step on them. He saw a wounded Changeling, the poor creature had a large piece of shrapnel in his left back leg, one of his wings were missing, and his horn was blown off from the base, probably from a bullet. Once it saw him it tried to crawl away.

"No! Please don't hurt me No!" It said frantically as it tried to crawl away. Ademar quickly caught up with it and held it down, the changeling kicked and flailed its arms trying to get Ademar off him.

"I'm trying to help you stop kicki--" The changeling kicked him in the nose, knocking off his helmet and causing his nose to bleed. Ademar crawled quickly back over the the changeling and began to tie it up angrily. "Hold still damn it!" He eventually had the changeling tied up, he used the natural holes in its legs to help hold it together.

Ademar picked it up and set it over his shoulders. While walking back he could see the trenches, then something hard hit him in the back, knocking him to the ground. When he got up he saw a Changeling clad in armor flying towards him, its mouth opened up in a vicious snarl and a sword drawn next to it. Ademar unsheathed his sword and blocked the changelings attack, both the swords made a ringing sound when struck together, the changeling lashed at Ademar's side, its sword cutting him, though not deep.

Ademar swung back hitting its armor, only denting it, he swung again hitting its sword. The Changeling used its magic to grab a nearby spear, it used the spear to trip Ademar and fall on his back, the changeling tried stabbing Ademar with the spear, Ademar grabbed the shaft, its head was less than an inch from his chest, he could feel it weighing down on him, the spear head slowly went down, ripping his coat, he could feel its point against his chest. The Changeling smiled wickedly.

"Ademar!" Applejack used her rifle as a bat and smacked the changeling in the jaw causing it to lose its hold over the spear and sword. Ademar threw the spear to the ground and picked his sword back up, Applejack used her rifle to block the Changelings sword attacks, the Changeling shot applejack with a beam causing her to fall to the ground.

It saw Ademar raise his sword ready to strike the changeling, it raised its sword to block, Ademar's swung with great force, his sword broke through the changelings sword and Ademar cut into its neck, the Changeling fell to its side, Ademar's sword stuck in its neck, it was so far in he almost decapitated the Changeling. He set his foot on its head, his hands on the swords grip and pulled, a squelching sound came from the changeling when he pulled it out causing green blood to drip from its wound and stain his sword.

"Are you alright AJ?" He said.

"Ah'm fine, my chest is a bit burnt but all good here. Are you okay?" She said while getting up.

"I may need to see a Doctor before this day ends." He picks up the wounded changeling he found earlier and carries it on his shoulder, in his other hand is holding the fresh wound on his left side and his sword is still drawn but facing down. When they walk to the wagons they see wounded Changelings and Ponies. Changelings that are able to walk are escorted by armed guards into the city. Ademar uses a rag to clean the green blood off the sword.

"You headin to the doctor?" Applejack said.

"Yes, Are you?"

"No Ah'm not to beat up, unlike you. But it wouldn't hurt to be checked up." She walked beside him towards the city, Upon entering the city they see hospital tents set up for the wounded Ponies, Changelings, and Griffon Civilians who were accidentally hit by stray changeling beams. Many ponies had bandages over the burnt areas, some had rags covering their faces, Changelings had the same treatment accept bullets and shrapnel had to be removed from their bodies. Ademar sat down on a chair, waiting for a Nurse or Doctor to tend to him.

"Need some help?" Ademar looked up to see a Friendly smile on a familiar face.

"Hello Fluttershy, and yes I do need some help." Ademar said trying to use his sleeve as a napkin to wipe the blood coming from his nose.

"Oh Rarities gonna be mad when she sees the stains on your uniform." She says. "Um, can you remove the shirt please?"

Ademar unbuttons the wool coat and takes it off, Underneath he wears a white tank top revealing the Hexagonal Luftwaffe Dog tags and his star of David. A Small stain of blood marks where the spear could have killed him, The cut is small and can be tended to himself, though the large cut to his side will need stitches and soon. He then took off the tank top "Does, does it hurt?" Fluttershy asked in a small soothing tone.

"A Little yes." She cleans it off with water, then uses antiseptic to prevent sickness and disease, a griffon wearing a stained red white apron walks over to them.

"Miss Gabby will help me with the stitches, I'm not really good at is since, well Hooves." The Female Griffon with red head feathers and a dark brown body walked to Ademar and Fluttershy. She knelt next to Ademar, he could feel the needle enter his flesh and the string slipping through, he winced at the pain.

"So Fluttershy, where did you learn your medical skills?" Ademar asked.

"Well, taking care of so many wild critters you will eventually stumble onto one that's hurt. My mother taught me about medicine when I was little and Zecora showed me the types of plants and mosses that could be used for Medicine." Ademar saw Gabby apply antiseptic to the wound, she and Fluttershy then wrapped a bandage across his waist.

"Try not to sleep on your side for a while." Gabby said as she walked over to an injured Pony. Ademar removed the bloodied undershirt and put his coat back on.

"Are you going back to the trenches?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes, I need to see the Damage the changelings did to our defenses, and hopefully get some rest." He stands up and grabs his weapons.

*********

In the Frozen pass, protected from the harsh winds of the storm. The Changeling army regrouping and counting their losses. A Changeling drone named Gnat of the Chrysalis Hive drags a sled full of his deceased kin and those of other Allied hives. He didn't take part in the main battle though he heard the thundering weapons that ripped apart the poor souls in the front. The Changelings he drug back had massive holes in them, many ripped apart and oozing fluids and Gore.

The sight, let alone the smell made him sick, he missed being a worker, Flying through the hive and fixing all the little to big problems like a broken Chair to a broken gate mechanism. The sight of battle frightened him, causing him to shake violently while looking at the enemy, even the Prisoners made him shake. When he unstrapped himself from the harness he backed up, accidentally knocking into a barrel full of Spears. Hearing the weapons clang on the rocks made him flinch and close his eyes. "Private Gnat! Retrieve those weapons this instant!" An officer yelled at him.

"But sir it was an accident, I didn't mean t-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses Private, go get them." The Officer said drawing his weapon. Gnat backed up and began to fly into the Crevice below. He hated taking orders from Changelings from other Hives, though if he didn't listen it could very well cost him his life. When he set foot onto the cold rocky ground, he made his horn glow to illuminate in the Darkness. He finds the Spears, thankfully none are broken, and begins to pile them up. On the ground he sees a paper bag, ripped open. It is leaking a black sand and metal balls.

"What's this?" Gnat said quietly. Upon looking further he sees more bags, some aren't ripped open, heavy metal balls lying on the ground, and a satchel that had some apples in it, then the remains of a wooden wagon. Behind the wagon he finds a massive bronze object with a circle in the end. Gnat looked down the objects hole, studying it he realized something about these things, the Changelings that survived the battle mentioned something about large metal tubes that shot fire and metal. He quickly flew out of the Crevice and quickly flew to an officer. "Sir I found something in the Crevice I need you to see!"

"Not now Drone, I have more important duties to attend."

"I found one of those...weapons the Equestrians have, the ones that shoot fire and metal." The Officer turned to face him, a surprised look on his face.

"Where would you have found this?"

"Down there!" He points towards the Crevice.

"Show me.." The Officer said. Gnat led the Officer into the Crevice and to the location of the Cannon. The officer gawked at it curiously. "You stay here, I will return with the commander, she will decide on what to do with it."

As the officer flew off Gnat paused for a second.."She?" He wondered why the Officer said she. After a few minutes he saw the Officer from before accompanied by three others. Two other Changeling officers and a Larger Female clad in armor. To Gnat, seeing females in a Hives army was very rare, they were taller than the regular Male drones, not as tall as their Queen but still taller then he was. This Changeling, to him was...Beautiful. He could tell she was from one of the Marsh hives because of her Shell, Eyes, and Hair color were a bright green.

"Commander Mayfly, this is the Drone that found the Equestrian weapon." Mayfly looked down at Gnat, her big green eyes were as bright as Emeralds.

"What is your name drone?" She asked him.

"M-My name is Gnat of the Chrysalis hive Ma'am." Her gaze focused on the cannon.

"Does it work?"

"I have no idea how to work that thing."

"We will take it back to the Hive, see if our workers can replicate it. We saw what id did to our forces. I wonder how well it would work against its Makers." The three officer Changelings tied ropes under it and carried it out of the crevice. Gnat gathered up all the bags full of the black sand. "Gnat, I am promoting you to lieutenant for this find. Do you have any objections?"

"No..NO of course not. Thank you commander." He bowed respectfully.

"No need to bow Gnat. Come, gather whats left and return to camp, Then we will present our find to the queen." She flew out of the crevice, Gnat followed her shortly carrying the Bags and Iron balls.

*********

Ademar sat at his desk, his small underground Bunker had enough room for his bed and a desk, a small oil lamp gave him plenty of lighting in the small space. The only noises that could be heard in the bunker were of his Pen and the muffled voices of the ponies. His letter to Twilight described the Battle, Victory, and Casualties. After he finished writing the letter he walked to the wooden stairs and walked up the dark wooden tunnel. When he exited the Tunnel the cold mountain air blew in his face, the Trenches were near empty except for the few Sentries keeping watch. "Anything to report?" He asked Applejack who was one of the Sentries standing watch.

"Nope, nothin so far. The only things out there are the dead ones the changelings didn't grab. But all silent so far." She took a drink of her small glass of Cider. "Damn its cold out."

"Luckily the Griffons supplied us with extra Blankets."

"Yeah, at least its mildly Warm during the day. Think we drove em off?"

"Doubt it. They most likely regrouped in the pass." He extends a small telescope and looks through it. He can see the remnants of this morning battle, mainly dead Changelings and rubble. He saw a Changeling watching him through a similar object, hidden among his dead comrades, pretending to be one of the dead. "I see you..." Ademar said.

"See what, Is there one our there?" She readied her rifle.

"Yes, I can see him watching us, he is hiding among the dead Changelings, using them as cover." Ademar took his rifle and aimed it in the Changelings direction. He fired a single shot which hit right next to the Changeling, causing it to jump and flee into the Pass.

"Ya get him?"

"No, I was only sending him a warning. I want more sentries tonight, the Changelings might just try something." Ademar goes to the Barracks. Inside this larger dugout were several beds built into the walls stacked up in three bunks, supporting a pony on the bottom, middle, and top bunk. There were several of these beds in this large but cramped Dugout, leaving some walking room, all their possessions were under under the bottom bunk.

The Dugout was heated by a decent sized fireplace at the end, it had a chimney leading out to the top of the bunker. Because of these conditions the Ponies could only eat in the Trenches, luckily Applejack had the idea to build a Medium sized Kitchen Dugout in the Second Trench so that Ponies were served something when they got out of their Cramped living space.

The Kitchen Dugout came with Kitchen supplies and Utensils that were given to the Soldiers by the Griffons like a wood stove, Bread Oven, and a few Cauldrons for soup making. Ademar made sure the Munitions Dugout was secured and Guarded, a single Pony was there reading a book, the only light the Pony had was from a Lantern.

"Sir, Applejack woke us up and told us the current situation." An officer said.

"Yes, Deploy more Sentries to the trenches and send a team to three of the MG nests and one of the Cannons."

"Yes Comma-" Before the Pony could finish his sentence he was hit in the face by a Beam, taking most of his face off with it.

"Were under attack raise the alarm now!" Ademar shouted at he ran towards a Machine Gun nest. He cocked the Gun and waited for the changelings to fire again. Upon seeing more of the beams fired from the Darkness Ademar fired back, sending hundreds of Bullets into the Darkness.

One of the Cannons fired into the Darkness, its solid iron round causing a massive boom as it impacted the side of the mountain, more beams fired and the MG crews began to fire on the origins of the beams. One of the cannons was loaded, its was going to fire a round of Grapeshot into the Night hoping to hit some of the changelings, before it could fire a beam flew past the trenches at high speeds and flew directly down the cannons barrel, causing it to explode, sending shards or brass, wood, and Iron in every direction, killing the entire Gun crew. "Cease Fire! Cease fire!"

He ran to the burning Pillbox that had housed the cannon, the fire from the explosion illuminated most of the trench line. "What do we do Ade?" Applejack asked him.

"We will have to get their bodies out when the fire dies, for now we must tend to what wounded we have and send a messenger to Gwin, I need to talk to him. The rest of us will have to stay up the whole night." He his Telescope to look out into the darkened battlefield, only seeing shadows. "Where are they..."

He sees Movement in the Shadows, a lone Changeling looking at the fiery Pillbox. Ademar watches it stand their silently for around ten minutes before leaving. He sees more Changelings in the Shadows, perhaps their intended target was one of the cannons, he didn't see any wounded.

"This is going to be a long night, Isn't it sir?" A soldier asked.

"Yes it will." Ademar said, putting the telescope away and fixing the bayonet to his rifle. "We will see what they have for us in the morning."