“Pinkie, look out behind you,” a rainbow mane pegasus shouted as she delivered a powerful uppercut to a pony in large black armor.
Pinkie turned her head and saw a pony charging towards her with a spear. As the pony approached, Pinkie reared up and bucked in them face with her hind legs. Which send them flying into a large crystal building. After seeing that the pony was not going to be get back up, she turned her attention towards another one. Who had one of her comrades pined to the ground, she grabbed a damaged spear from the ground and charged. A large magical blast immediately impacted her and sent her flying. When she looked up, she saw a large dark grey unicorn standing over her. He had a red horn, glowing green eyes, and a red royal cape draped over his back. His face was instantly recognizable, it was King Sombra. Pinkie scrambled to find her spear, when she eventually found it, she thrust it forward. Unfortunately, the tip broke off as it made contacted with his armor. He laughed and picked up the spear’s tip in his magic, while pinning Pinkie down with his hooves. He was ready to plunge the tip into Pinkie’s eye, when he felt a horrible pain on his right side. He screamed in agony and stumbled back, dropping the spear tip. He looked over to see a large spear sticking out of his side and Rainbow Dash flying above him. Pinkie quickly scrambled to her hooves and grabbed the tip as Sombra pulled Rainbow’s spear out. Pinkie charged forward with her weapon, only to have Sombra teleport away. She screeched to a halt as she saw him appear on top of a large crystal.
“Fallback to the palace,” Sombra shouted, holding his side, before teleporting away again.
His soldiers did as they were told and ran back to the palace, which was in the middle of the city. Pinkie, Rainbow, and the rest of their comrades immediately gave chase. When they reached it, they were halted by a large wall of crystals that shot out of the ground. They looked up to find Sombra on the baloney laughing at them. He quickly headed inside and slammed the doors behind him. Pinkie, Rainbow, and their comrades wasted no time in setting up a defensive line. The buildings around them were crumbling or collapsing, which made them great sentry’s nests. While most of them went to work building the defensives, the rest tended to the wounded and the unconscious enemy soldiers. The sun was beginning to set as the of last defenses were set up.
“We got a great advancement today, if we play our cards right. This war may finally be over,” Rainbow sighed as she helped carry one of her comrades into a makeshift hospital inside of a large store.
“I know, so what are your plans, if we manage to win,” Pinkie asked as she helped to remove an enemy’s helmet.
“I’ll just return to my a quiet life in Ponyville, helping managing the weather. Although I might never be able to fly as fast as I use to,” Rainbow sighed as she looked over at her mechanical wing.
“We all lost something in this war, but let’s hope it wasn’t for nothing,” an earth pony, with a mechanical right forehoof sighed.
“Hey, Turbulent Skies, what brings you here,” Rainbow and Pinkie asked.
“One of the new recruits said that the princess wants to see us,” Turbulent Skies informed.
“Do you know, why,” Rainbow asked as she and Pinkie began to leave.
“Not really, but we better hurry. I don’t think she's the kind of pony you want to keep waiting,” he respond.
After walking a few miles south of the city limits, they came across a large city of tents, that sat next to the train tracks. The camp was bustling with hundreds of ponies going about their nightly routines. In the middle of it all was a massive tent, which was their main command post. When they entered, they saw nine other ponies standing in it. From their uniforms, it was clear that they were officers from the three other sectors. A large table, with a map of the local area and the city, stood at the other end of the tent. Alongside it was Princess Celestia wearing the most stoic look on her face.
“So tell me, how were your sectors today,” she asked. “Hammer sector, what news do you have.”
“Not good, we lost subsections 3 and 4 today. We’ve set up a defensive line along these buildings. I think we can hold that position for a while,” one of them said as they pointed to the locations on the map.
“Damn,” Celestia quietly cursed. “Okay, Iron Curtain, what news do you have,” she asked as the second group went up.
“We lost subsection 4, but took subsection 5,” they explained as they also pointed it out on the map.
“How about you Orchard, what news do you have,” she asked.
“We've been pushed back to the edge of the city. So things are not looking good,” they quietly mumbled.
Celestia's face turned pale, “Okay, that’s not good,” she thought to herself. After composing herself, she asked, “Okay, Nutcracker, you’re the last one up. Please tell us you have good news.”
“Of course, but may I asked. Why are we here? Shouldn’t our commanding officers be here instead, princess,” Turbulent Skies asked.
Celestia looked away sadly and the three quickly realized what happened “Oh, understood princess,” they sighed.
“I called you here because you three are the most experience and battle hardened soldiers in your sector. Thus, I trust your judgment for matters just like this. So how was your sector today,” she asked again.
“It was perfect, we got the snake by the throat and are posed to break its back. We set up a defensive line along these palace walls. Of course, these defense are makeshift and without support or adequate supplies. We wouldn't be able to hold it for very long,” Rainbow explained as she pointed out the locations on the map.
“This is great, we can finally put an end to Sombra once and for all,” Celestia smiled. “So, what did this advance cost you,” Celestia asked solemnly.
“We have about 250 severely injured, 37 dead, and liberated at least 125 of the crystal ponies from Sombra’s control, princess. We even managed to wound Sombra himself, but he most likely fully healed by now. Unfortunately, we had no choose, but to kill 157 of the brainwashed Crystal ponies,” the three glumly sighed. Hanging their heads in depression.
“That’s unfortunate, but right now, we need to focus on the issue at hoof. I will be sending you as much reinforcements and supplies as I can. Hopefully it will get there quickly, do you think you can you hold your position until then,” Celestia asked.
“We will try princess,” the three saluted.
“Okay, good, you’re all dismissed and I will be sending three new officers over to Nutcracker later tonight,” Celestia informed.
They all gave a quick salute, before they exited the tent and headed back to their sectors. Pinkie stared over at the edge of the camp and saw several medium size stones in the distance. She sadly walked over and her friends followed. They soon arrived at a large open field, that were filled with stones. They walked solemnly pass many of them, but one made Pinkie stop in her tracks.
“Take as long as you need,” Rainbow and Turbulent Skies sighed as they looked over the other stones.
Pinkie kneeled down and stared at the stone for what seem like days. She just couldn’t bring herself to say anything, so she just stared at the inscription. It read, Here lies Maud Pie, one of the most highly honored of soldier and a beloved sister.
Eventually Pinkie stood up and sighed, “Okay, I am good, lets start heading back. I’m really looking forward to some food.”
The nighttime sky was pitch black, neither the stars or the moon was out. As a result, the city was in complete darkness. The only lights, that could be seen came from flickering camp fires and the countless torches, that lined the streets. The city was almost dead quiet, except for the sounds of the soldiers chatting and the rustling of the wind. Rainbow, Pinkie, and Turbulent Skies sat on the second floor of a crumbling house to eat their dinner. A large amount of weapons line the walls, that ranged from spears, to crossbows, to swords. A small fire also burned in the middle of the room as the three of them warmed themselves up by it.
“Mmmm, may not be the freshest or tastiest food I have ever eaten, but I’m still thankful,” Rainbow said as she chugged down a can of beans.
“I concur, but I really do want some fresh food like the meal, we had two month ago,” Pinkie nodded as she licked her can clean.
“Personal, I hate this canned stuff, but a stallion has to eat,” Turbulent Skies sighed as he looked at his half empty can.
“If you don’t want it, I’ll take it,” Rainbow said, reaching for Turbulent’s dinner.
He quickly pulled it away and said, “I said I hated it, I didn’t say I wouldn’t eat it.”
Rainbow stretched out, yawned, and leaned against one of the walls, “Do you think we can hold this position or are we going to be pushed back by Sombra’s army,” she asked as she stared out a large hole, that faced towards the palace.
“I want to say we can, but Sombra has been successfully fighting our army. So realistically, no, I don’t think so,” Pinkie sighed, tossing her now clean can onto the floor. “He has taken a lot of our good friends in this war,” she said glumly.
“Yeah, but we can still win. I know we taken a lot of losses, but it may be worth it,” Turbulent said, trying to comfort Pinkie.
“Let’s just hope we can hold out here until reinforcement arrive. Why don’t you both get some sleep, I’ll take first watch tonight,” Rainbow offered as she began to scanned the city.
The next morning, the city was filled with the bustling of soldiers getting ready for another eventful day. Each sector had at least several ponies walking around delivering the soldiers’ daily meals. Which was normally just a can of food and a piece of very stale bread. After their morning routines and preparations, everypony sat at their own respective position, ready for an attack. While most of the sectors had received breakfast after about an hour. Nutcracker was still left waiting for theirs and after about three hours. They all accepted, that they probably wouldn’t be get any breakfast.
At the command center, Princess Celestia grabbed her daily cup of coffee and prepared for the day. She had huge bags under her eyes and had trouble maintaing her regal posture. She quickly rubbed her eyes and tried to stay focus, as the general walk her through today’s plans.
“Okay, Nutcracker needs supplies and reinforcements or they are not going to last very long. With the current supplies looking the way they do, I doubt anypony there, even received any food this morning. Orchard and Hammer also needs supplies, but I feel Nutcracker needs it the most. Also Iron curtain is planing to flank a part of Sombra’s army today, but with their current troops, it doesn’t look to good,” the general explained.
“Okay, can you find some spare soldiers to reinforce Iron curtain for their attack,” Celestia asked.
“I can try, princess,” the general nodded.
“Good, when is the next train of soldiers and supplies due,” she said, rubbing her eyes.
“Tomorrow, princess,” the general respond.
“Great, let me know when it arrives. If you receive any new information about the condition of Sombra’s army, come notify me immediately. I will be at Iron Curtain helping with the assault,” Celestia explained, before taking off. As she flew, she looked over at the palace and whispered to herself, “We’re coming to free all of you, please just hang on a little longer.”
Deep underneath the palace was a dark and dank hallway with hundreds of cells lining the walls. Water dripped from the celling and rats scurried around on the floor. Almost all of the cells sat empty, with only one of them being occupied. Sombra was standing in front of it and taunting the three prisoners inside.
“Well, good morning,” Sombra sneered. “I hope the bed was to your satisfaction,” he laughed through the bars.
“My sister and the Equestrian army are coming for us. Just you wait,” a very skinny, dark-blue coated alicorn coughed.
“Yeah, just wait until she gets here. She will make sure you never harm anypony again,” a very pale light cerise coated alicorn responded.
“Celestia’s army will never get here, they don’t even have the guts to kill. While I do,” he gloated.
A white coated unicorn forced himself to stand and shouted, “We will see who is laughing when I personally drive a spear into that thick head of yours.”
“Such violence, just for that there will be no rations for any of you today. Why don’t you just give up, I defeated all of you without even trying. I can certainly take on an army of weaklings,” Sombra laughed, walking back up the stairs.
Cadence, Luna, and Shining Armor watched him leave with angry scowls. When he was out of sight, they collapsed to the floor. They were all extremely skinny to the point that their ribs were visible. Their entire body were covered in all sorts of wounds and dried blood. Cadence and Luna’s wings were filled with spots, where the feathers were violently pulled out. Shining’s coat had a ton of bald spots and he had bruises all over. Shining stood up, balancing himself against the wall and tried to cast a spell, but only succeed in giving himself a headache.
“Shining, you know we’re all too weak to use magic,” Cadence wheezed.
“I have to try, I am not going to take this, without a fight,” he coughed, still trying to cast a spell to break the cell door open.
“Sister, please come quick, I have no idea how much longer we can last,” Luna coughed, before passing out.
Rainbow and Pinkie sat at their post with their weapons at the ready. Rainbow was on the roof of one of the more intact buildings and was looking over the city. Pinkie was sitting a few floors below, with a pair of binoculars. They were both scanning over the palace’s walls looking for any signs of movement. While Turbulent was a few blocks away, patrolling the streets in his assigned area. In the distance, they could hear the battle occurring in Iron Curtain. They all scanned their position looking for anything signs of enemy movement.
“I don’t like this, it just seem to perfect. Sombra must be planning something,” Rainbow sighed. She then heard a loud growling sound, “Yes, I heard you the first 16 times, you had a nice meal last night, so quit complaining,” she quietly whispered to herself.
Turbulent was patrolling his area, when he heard somepony walking up behind him. He spun around and was ready to fight. Only to find it was one of his new officer standing behind him.
“Sorry, sir, I thought you were somepony else,” he exclaimed in relief, while standing to attention.
“You and your friends seem to be a bit jumpy,” his officer commented.
“Well, being on the front line can do that to you, sir,” Turbulent respond.
“How’s your patrol so far,” he asked.
“Uneventful, these streets seem to be clear for the moment, sir” Turbulent respond.
“Good keep me posted,” he said, walking away.
As midday approached, the pony that delivered their meals was no where to be found. Turbulent was drenched in sweat and started to radiate a powerful body odor. The streets around him were empty, except for the occasional piece of garbage or pile of rubble. He wiped the sweat from his brow, checked the location of the sun, before he continued with his patrol.
“Why do I always seem to get the hardest jobs,” he sighed as he checked an alley.
Turbulent stumbled into his assigned guard tower, just as the sun began to dipped below the horizon. He laid his weapon on the floor, sat down next to his friends, and prepared for another long night.
“Turbulent, can you sleep outside your stench is overpowering,” Pinkie laughed, holding her nose.
“Ha, Ha, very funny,” he smiled shaking his head as his friends laughed.
“So, have any of you seen the delivery pony, because my stomach has been yelling at me all day,” Rainbow asked, rubbing her belly.
“No, but I hope they get here soon or it’s going to be a long and hungry night,” Turbulent sighed.
Rainbow quickly noticed one of her comrades bellow was eating out of a can. “Hey, is that what I think it is,” she shouted.
“Yeah, I saw them heading to your building,” they respond, just as there was a knocking at the doorway.
“Delivery, sorry I couldn’t get you anything earlier, but you understand,” a stallion with a large duffle bug explained as he handed over their meal.
“Yeah, we understand,” Rainbow said, opening her can and chugging it.
“Well, I will see you all later,” the pony said, walking out.
Rainbow licked her can clean, then tossed it to the floor and sighed “Totally worth it.”
“Yeah,” Pinkie said, looking into her clean can, hoping to find a tiny morsel left.
“You know this may sound weird, but I want some more,” Turbulent sighed.
“Who are you and what have you done with Turbulent Skies,” Rainbow and Pinkie asked in surprised.
“I knocked him out with a cloud and locked him inside a closet,” he joked.
As midnight approached, most of the soldiers were fast asleep, except for those on guard duty. Turbulent was taking his shift and was scanning the city for any dangers. In building a few blocks away, he could barely see another soldier standing watch like he was. The palace was dark and dead quiet, until he heard a barely audible clanging sound. He peered into the darkness and tried to locate the source of the sound. Using the dim light of nearby touches, he saw a large rat was crawling into an empty can. Turbulent was about to look away, when he noticed something large moving in the darkness. It was followed by a louder clanging sound, that sounded like armor bumping into something. He peered into the darkness and could make out the silhouettes of soldiers in the distance. He lit up a touch and started waving it in the air. When the other guards notice this, they lit up theirs and scanned around them. One of them, spotted an army of Sombra’s soldiers sneaking around, when they lit up their touch. Every guard quickly spotted them and started making a lot of noise.
“EVERYPONY UP WE'RE UNDER Attack,” they all shouted.
The sleeping soldiers shot up and scrambled to get their weapons. Their cover blown, Sombra’s army gave up their sneak attack and charged.
“Hey, get up,” Turbulent shouted, as he shook Pinkie and Rainbow awake.
“What is it,” Rainbow groaned.
“Hey, I had a wonderful dream about cake,” Pinkie said, rubbing her eyes.
“We’re under attack,” he shouted as he grabbed a crossbow from the wall.
They both bolted up, grabbed a crossbow, and began shooting at the invading army. Many of the other guards did the same, but some raced out of their building to fight them. Arrows flew through the air and many found their targets, bring the brainwash Crystal ponies down. Fortunately none of the arrows began fired had real arrowheads. Instead they were tipped with tiny pouches, that were filled with a numbing solution.
Turbulent fired an arrow at one of the Crystal ponies, it impacted the pony’s helmet and the solution started dripping down into their face. The smell made the pony start to feel weak and tired. They stumbled about with their vision blurring, eventually they fell over, and passed out. Another arrow struck a crystal pony in the hind leg, where there was no armor. They quickly began to wobble around, they quickly fell over, and passed out. Many of the Crystal ponies were knocked out of the fight before too long, but they still manage push pass most of the defenses.
“Fall back, all soldiers, fall back,” an officer shouted.
Rainbow, Pinkie, and Turbulent gathered all the weapons they could and vacated the building. “Okay, this is not good,” Rainbow shouted.
“Agreed, we’re being surrounded. I hate to say this, but we must make a stand,” an officer said.
“All in favor of making a stand say aye,” Turbulent exclaimed.
“Aye,” the soldiers all exclaimed.
“Motion is carried and I don’t need to remind you what Sombra does to prisoners,” another officer sighed as a large group of Crystal ponies charged at them.
Rainbow had a large sword clenched in her mouth and was blocking enemy strikes. Until a Crystal pony came out of nowhere and tackled her to the ground. She tried to toss the pony off, but to no avail. Three more Crystal ponies gathered around her, they were holding spears and were about to sent the tips into her skull. When four arrows came out of nowhere and brought the ponies down. Rainbow turned to see Turbulent holding a crossbow, he gave a quick salute, before dropping the crossbow and grabbing a spear. Rainbow flew up and scanned the area, were she noticed a group of Crystal ponies ganging up on one of her officers. She zoomed over there and jumped into the fight, picking up a sword along the way. The night was filled with the sounds of metal clashing and the screams of the dying. Many ponies of the other sectors could hear the battle, but couldn’t do anything to help.
As the battle raged, they heard a terrifying laugh echoing nearby. One by one the Crystal ponies began to put out the torches on the street. Plunging the entire street into darkness and putting what’s left of the soldiers on edge. The moonlight didn’t provide a lot of helpful light and even unicorns’ illumination spells didn’t help much. The Crystal ponies backed off into the darkness and stood there. With their glowing green eyes, the only thing that could be seen. The laughing got louder and louder as the soldiers stood their ground.
“Come out and fight Sombra,” Turbulent shouted, keeping his head on a swivel.
Rainbow quickly spotted a pair of glowing eyes charging at her and she swung her sword. She quickly encountered flesh, then blood squirted into her face, and a pony fell at her feet. She looked down and saw it was a Crystal pony.
“Nice try, do you want another go,” Sombra laughed as he stabbed a soldier, that was standing a few feet away. His eyes also glowed in the darkness, but his were well hidden in the sea of his subjects eyes.
“Come out and fight you coward,” Pinkie shouted as she swung at another pair of eyes.
“Wrong,” he laughed again, killing another soldier and escaping into the crowd.
One by one Sombra started to kill soldiers, while taunting and laughing the rest of them. Turbulent stood his ground, he had a sword in his mouth and stood cautiously as he could hear Sombra nearby. He saw six pair of eyes charging at him, he quickly selected a pair, and thrust his sword at it. He suddenly heard a terrible scream, he pulled his sword back and discovered one of the edges was coated in blood.
“Come help me my slaves,” Sombra shouted as he held the side of his throat.
All the unicorns nearby casted their illumination spells and turned towards Sombra. Their spell revealed that Turbulent’s sword had grazed Sombra’s neck and blood was now pouring out of it. The Crystal ponies quickly rushed to help and carried him back to the palace. Everypony began to relax and breathed a collective sigh of relieve.
“Good job,” an officer congratulate him as everypony started to relight the touches.
“Lucky hit sir,” Turbulent respond as he helped move their dead from the street.
“Still, it was a great job, any kind of strike, that weakens Sombra is welcomed,” Rainbow shrugged, fixing one of their barricades.
As dawned approached, they were just about finished dealing with the injured, dead, and captured soldiers. The liberated soldiers and the injured were sent to their hospital for treatment.
“Okay, if everything is okay here. We will be reporting to the command center about this attack and our desperate need for more soldiers and supplies,” their three officers announced and turned to leave.
At the command center, ponies were unloading crates of supplies from the train and fresh soldiers were disembarking. Celestia was in her tent, with her generals and the other officers, discussing where these new supplies should go.
“So, what happened last night. We could hear it from here,” the princess asked as she notice the officers walk in.
“Sombra attacked us in the middle of the night, luckily some of the guards sounded the alarm, but we do not know who. During the battle, he Neptuned us and we lost a good portion of our troops. Luckily, one of the soldiers manage to wound Somba, causing him to retreat,” the officers explained.
“How many soldiers do you have left,” Celestia asked.
“There’s 80 of us left, everypony else are in hospitals or being prepared to be buried,” they sighed.
“Okay, thank you, we will definitely be sending more soldiers your way,” Celestia nodded. “Okay, the attack at Iron curtain was successful yesterday, if we move quickly and all goes well. We can win this war by tomorrow, what I am to tell you must not leave this tent is that understood,” Celestia commanded.
“Yes, princess,” the generals and officers saluted.
After a lengthy explanation, Celestia sighed, “Okay, that’s the plan, do any of you have anything to add.”
“No princess, that seem to be a great plan, if Sombra fall for your trap. This war will be over soon,” they responded.
“Great to hear, but none of you can tell your soldiers the reason behind their orders. If they asked just say it will all make sense later,” Celestia explained.
“Understood, princess,” they all answered.
“Good, you’re dismissed,” Celestia said, walking out of the tent.
The officers followed her out and headed back to their respective sectors. While the generals started to figure out, how they were going to ship their supplies quickly. A little while later, they had the supplies all packed up ready for transport. After a few initial scouts ahead, they headed off to deliver the much needed supplies and reinforcements to their troops.
“Is that it,” Rainbow commented as she saw soldiers arriving.
“There is only,” Turbulent stopped and did a quick head count. “57, 58, 59, there are only 59 soldiers there. Counting what’s left of us, how does Celestia think we can hold this line with only 139 soldiers,” he asked, turning to his friends.
“I don’t know, but I hope it’s a good plan,” Pinkie sighed as she started heading down to help unload the wagons.
As they began to unload the sandbags and other materials, they noticed that it was not a lot. “Sir, we received only a small amount of supplies and soldiers. It just doesn’t seem like enough to hold our position. I’m very concern, sir,” Turbulent stated to one of his officers.
“It will be come clear in time, just trust us,” the officer responded.
Turbulent nodded and went to help reinforces their current barricades. He grabbed a sandbags and help pile them up in the middle of the street. It took the entire morning and most of the afternoon, but their new barricades were completed. It wasn’t all that great, Sombra’s army would have no trouble overwhelming them again, but it was better then before.
Up in the palace Sombra sat on his throne, with bandages wrapped around his neck. The wound Turbulent inflicted last night still hadn’t completely healed and every time Sombra swallowed, he felt the wound pulse.
“Your majesty, our scouts have spotted a large shipment of supplies in the Crystal fields or what Celestia calls the Iron Curtain. That area also seem to have a massive increase in soldiers,” a Crystal pony shouted, as they ran in.
“Celestia must be planning something big there. Have most of our army attack them,” Sombra commanded.
“My king, we don’t have enough available soldiers to take on the ponies there,” the pony responded.
“Then, find the forces you need, do I have to think of everything. I don’t care if you take all the palace guards with you,” he bellowed, causing the wound to pulse and him to wince back from the pain.
“My king, there is also a small increase of troops right outside your palace’s walls, what do we do about them,” the pony asked.
“Nothing, they only have a small force, they are no threat to me. Besides they fear this place, so they wouldn’t dare attack it. Most importantly, the majority of Celestia’s new forces are at the Crystal fields and we are going to attack them there. Now go,” he commanded.
The pony raced out and started gathering the ponies needed for this attack. Leaving the palace almost completely empty, with the exception of 21 guards and their three prisoners. Also a small army was left outside to defend the palace, which was only a tiny percentage of the troops Sombra had. As night fell, Sombra and his army was at Iron Curtain ready to attack.
He took a look at the defensives and then examined his wound. It was almost healed, but it was still painful for him to move his head. “We attack at first light,” he ordered bedding down for the night.
As the sun began to rise on the horizon, Rainbow, Pinkie, Turbulent, and their comrades were surprise by a pleasant smell floating through the air. Those who were half asleep were awaken immediately by the smell. Three soldiers were intrigued by the smell and they followed it. It lead them to a sight, that made their hearts stop. A large amount of cook wagons had pulled up and several of the ponies were cooking up a large meal.
“Hold on, what do you think you are doing,” an officer asked, the three ponies.
“Nothing sir,” they respond, standing to attention.
“What they’re cooking is for everypony, so go get them. Then you can eat,” the officers ordered, walking off to inform more of their troops.
“Well, the sooner we get everypony, the sooner we can eat. We’re going to finally have a nice filling breakfast for once,” they exclaimed like little foals.
All the soldiers lined up excitedly for breakfast, some were even shoving the ponies in front of them to move faster. Each soldier got a plateful of fresh eggs, pancakes, hash browns, beans, and chopped vegetables of their choice. It wasn’t too long before the air was filled with a chorus of burps and satisfied grunts.
“Nothing like a hot breakfast in the morning is there,” Turbulent said, licking his plate clean.
“Nope, there isn’t,” Pinkie burped happily, patting her belly.
“So what do you think they want us to do today,” Rainbow inquired as she tried to get up but failed.
“I don’t know, but judging on this meal, it’s definitely big and definitely dangerous,” Turbulent sighed, laying back and take a quick nap.
“Okay, everypony up. You had your breakfast and a nice rest. Now it’s time to get to work, so go clean your disgusting self up and report back here. You have five minutes,” their three officers commanded.
The soldiers all groaned as got up and went to complete their morning routines. They were soon lined up and waiting for further orders.
“Okay, everypony we have a plan and if this goes well, the war will end today,” one of the officers announced.
“Yes and the reign of king Sombra will finally come to an end,” a regal voiced sighed. The soldiers looked over and saw Princess Celestia landing next to the officers. “We are attacking the palace. I know this force is small, but I am counting on all of you to do your best. Your jobs will be assigned privately by your officers. In the event you come across Sombra, capture is not an opinion, is that understood,” Celestia commanded.
“Yes, princess,” they all saluted.
“You heard the princess, now go make whatever preparation you need to. We move out in one hour,” the three officers announced.
The troops quickly dispersed and readied themselves for battle. They sharped their weapons and prepared their armor for a fight. Although they had their doubts, that a small force of 139 will be able to capture Sombra’s palace. So every single soldier also made their own mental preparations, before heading out.
They stood in their formations and waited for Celestia’s order to attack. Several cannons had arrived and were hitched up to several ponies. They all stood there with their spears, swords, and armor glistened in the morning sun.
“I am not going to sugar coat this, it’s going to be dangerous, but I know you are ready. We will win this fight and after four long years, this war will finally end. Now follow me,” Celestia exclaimed, taking off towards the palace.
Everypony followed her with their weapons at the ready. The Pegasi took off and closely followed Celestia. The ponies pulling the cannons stopped right at the palace’s walls. They carefully aimed the cannons, lit the fuses, and ducked for cover. The air soon echoed with cannon fire, metal clashing, and shouting. While Celestia and the Pegasi kept the defenders busy, the cannons fired relentlessly at the wall. Cracks began to form, which grew into holes, with one more barrage of cannon fire. The wall came tumbling down and they could rush in to help their comrades.
“Pinkie, enemy at three o clock,” Turbulent shouted as he knocked a soldier back with his sword.
Pinkie turns just in time to dodge a sword strike, that was aimed for her neck. She counterattacked with an uppercut, powerful enough to sent them to the ground. After seeing that they are not going to get back up, she turns her attention to another target.
It didn’t take them too long to finish off the last of the palace’s defenders. They quickly turned their attention to the palace’s doors. Which of course were locked, they pound on the doors and started ramming it. One soldiers had an idea and went to grabbed one of the cannons. They pulled it to the door, carefully aimed, and fired. The door exploded in a shower of splinters and everypony raced in. Rainbow, Turbulent, Pinkie, and six others headed downstairs to the dungeon. They encountered little to no resistance as they made their way down. When they broke in, Luna, Cadence, and Shining struggled to their hooves.
“Okay, they have to be down here somewhere, check all the cells,” Rainbow sighed, checking the first cell.
“Who’s there,” Shining wheezed.
Turbulent quickly ran over and shouted, “Hey, I found them.” He waved his friends over and then tried to get the door open. “Damn door wouldn't open, where’s the key,” he asked.
“Sombra destroyed it,” Luna coughed violently.
“Damn,” Turbulent shouted as his friends tried to pulled the door open. “I know, stand back,” he asked, turning around to buck the door. His back legs slammed into the metal with a loud clang and his hind legs began to vibrate. He collapsed over in pain, he groaned, and started rubbing his hind legs, “Okay, that’s a bad idea.”
They all started trying anything, they could think of to get the door open. From inserted a sword or spear into the hinges and trying to pry them off. To trying to pry the door open or bend the bars apart.
“I got an idea,” one of their comrades announced, reaching into their bags. They quickly pulled out a small pouch of gunpowder.
“Are you crazy,” they all bellowed.
“Maybe, but if give them our armor to shelter behind, place the powder into the lock, and light it. Boom the door will be blown open,” they explained.
“We don’t have any better idea, let’s do it,” Luna nodded.
Some of the soldiers handed their armor through the bars and backed away as powder pouch was squeezed into the lock. They all backed away as far as they could and a unicorn levitated a small torch towards the pouch. There was a loud bang and then the clattering of metal onto the floor. They looked up to see the door was blown open, also that Shinning, Cadence, and Luna were okay. The soldiers quickly rushed over and help them out of the cell. They were all on edge and ready to defend themselves in the event of an attack. When they reached the top of the stairs, they saw Celestia and their comrades securing the palace.
“Luna,” Celestia shouted rushing up and hugging her sister.
“Easy, sis your cutting off my oxygen,” Luna wheezed.
Celestia smiled and turned to the soldiers standing next to them, “Good work, was there anypony else down in there,” she asked.
Before they could answer, Cadence jumped in, “No, it was just us.”
“Good, we are just securing the palace now,” Celestia smiled.
“Princess, it seem we cleared this place pretty fast. Was Sombra even here,” Turbulent asked.
“No, Sombra wasn’t here and there was only 21 guards here. It’s amazing Sombra just left this place mostly unguarded. I thought he would leave more soldiers behind to guard his palace. Speaking of which, how many soldiers did we lose,” Celestia asked one of the officers.
“None, with the exception of a couple of severely injured soldiers. We didn’t lose a single pony in this attack,” the officer smiled.
“That’s great news, Sombra is in for a surprise when he returns,” Shining laughed.
Sombra and his army were assaulting the defensives at Iron Curtain for a fifth time. Despite the constant attacks, they just couldn’t get through the defenses, but they did manage to kill and injury a couple of the soldiers.
“Counterattack,” one of Celestia’s soldiers shouted, jumping over their defenses.
Everypony charged and quickly overwhelmed Sombra’s decimated forces. “You haven’t won,” Sombra hissed, before teleporting away.
Sombra appeared in the middle of his palace unaware, he was surrounded by Celestia and her troops. “I will beat Celestia yet,” he hissed to himself.
As soon as Shining saw Sombra, he yanked a spear out of one of his comrade’s hoof and threw it. Sombra felt it plunged into his back and he collapsed to the ground in agony. Everypony bolted over, quickly having their weapons pressed against him. Rainbow had a spear pressed into his ear, Pinkie had a sword slightly cutting into his neck, and Turbulent had spear pressed into his cheek. Six swords were pressed into his side and several spears pinned his legs down. If he even twitched, he would been stabbed from at least 20 different angles. Shinning grabbed a spear from one of the soldiers and limbed over. Refusing any offer of help from any of the soldiers, even though he had trouble walking. He eventually stood over Sombra with a spear press against his head. Celestia walked over and stood in front of Sombra, with some of her ponies moving out of the way.
“Sombra, I am offering you a chance, please stand down and give up the empire,” Celestia said, keeling down to meet his eyes.
“I will never give up my empire or my slaves,” he spat.
“Are you sure, you don’t want to surrender,” she asked again.
“I will never surrender, you may won today, but I will be back. I will escape whatever dungeon you put me in. Or are you going to turn me to shadow again and lock me away in the frozen north,” he mocked.
Celestia stood up and hung her head solemnly, “My ponies remember what I told you, if you run into Sombra,” she asked, levitating both a spear and sword.
“Yes, princess we do, capture is not an option,” they all responded, hanging their heads in silences.
“Please, take him outside,” Celestia commanded.
Turbulent, Pinkie, Rainbow, and a few others dragged him outside, with their weapons still pointed against his head. Once outside, Sombra was slammed to the ground and pinned again.
“Last chance,” Celestia sighed, looking down at him. He just gave her an angry glare, she looked back up and sighed apologetically, “I am so sorry.” She raised her weapons, with Sombra looked up in a final act of defiance. In one quick and fluid motion, she drove both of her weapons into his skull.
Blood began to pool on the ground, as she gave a sad sigh, and walked away. Her ponies began to follow her, until they heard a faint wheezing and coughing. They turned to see that Sombra was still alive, but was slowly dying.
“Put him out of his misery and please be quick about it,” Celestia said, depressed.
“Yes, princess,” they all nodded as they walked back to his body.
Shining was the first one there and he drove his spear into Sombra’s skull, with all the strength he had left. Some of the soldiers raced over to help him stand up and this time he accepted the help. They took him inside, placing him next to Luna and Cadence, who were having their wounds treated. The remaining soldiers began to stabbed and hack at Sombra’s body. Rainbow thrust her spear into his jaw, while Turbulent had his spear inside Sombra’s neck. Pinkie thrust her sword straight down through the side of his head and made contact with the ground below.
As Sombra breath his last, what remained of his brainwash soldiers collapsed where they stood. A great cheer quickly echoed throughout the city, both from perviously liberated crystal ponies and Celestia’s troops. Sombra’s corpse lay motionless on the ground in a large pool of blood. His face was unrecognizable and his body looked like a carved turkey.
“This war is finally over,” Rainbow sighed happily, tossing her armor off and laying down. “You know what I am going to do, when I get home,” she asked.
“No, what,” her friends inquired.
“I am going to sleep in a warm bed for a week straight,” she laughed.
“I am going stuff my face with desserts,” Pinkie giggled.
“I am going take a nice long hot bath,” Turbulent smiled.
“Those are nice plans, do you mind if we steal them,” the other soldiers laughed.
“You’ll get that and more, but first we need to start cleaning up the palace and the city. After we help rebuild the crystal ponies’ lives, then we can all go home,” Celestia announced.
A few weeks later, the empire looked almost completely rebuilt with only a few signs of the war still remaining. The crystal ponies were going about their day trying to forgot the war even happened. The crystal heart was located soon after Sombra’s death and returned to where it belonged. Meanwhile in Equestria many of the soldiers and ponies had returned to their lives before the war started. What soldiers remained in the crystal empire now, stood with Celestia and Luna on the train platform ready to head home.
“Cadence and Shining Armor, we wish you both good luck. We hope you can help lead the empire back to its former glory,” Celestia and Luna said.
“Thank you and I hope we can all rebuild our lives after this,” Cadence sighed.
“We will certainly try,” Turbulent nodded.
“Yeah, I have plans on becoming Ponyville’s best weather manager ever,” Rainbow smiled.
“I’m hoping to start a bakery,” Pinkie nodded.
“I don’t know, what I am going to do, maybe have a quiet life working on a farm or a peaceful life of a store clerk,” Turbulent said.
“Those sounds like good plans,” the sisters nodded, just as the train whistle sounded. “Oh, we better get going, we wish you both good luck here,” the sisters nodded as they boarded the train.
As the train began to pull away, while the rest of their comrades pulled down their helmets and took a nap. Turbulent, Rainbow, and Pinkie stared out the window, watching the countryside go by.
