“They are behind us, sir!”

Suddenly all made sense. Why their lines were so easy to penetrate. They were hiding.

“Sweet Celestia it is a trap! About face, about face!”

At least three lines of Changelings were behind our lines. Cutting down our ponies. I gathered up the remainder of my section, and we charged.

“Free your comrades! Kill them! Kill them!”

The 7 of us slammed into them, catching them by surprise, somehow. My blade found one of their shoulders, and I withdrew it, spraying thick blood. There was only one row left. They were ready for us.

Well, they were, until our crossbows slammed into them.

For the first time in the battle, our archers fought.

“Reserves! Incoming!”

Ah, for the love of-!

More Changelings poured into their original lines, bolstering the survivors. We had none.

The path cut through their back lines, I knew it was time to go.

“Fall back! Fall back!” My ponies started to escape. I stayed behind, more ponies needed to be freed. My the survivors of my section all left, except for Oat. He stayed by my side.

I began to cut and hack away, assisted by Oats and the crossbows. Soon we had a sizeable hole in their lines, letting the Regiment stream through. I was just about to go when reinforcements landed, surprising us all.

They began to bring us down. Once again trapped, all seemed loss, and morale started plummeting.

We were saved by the Dragoons.

The 100 survivors went on a suicide mission to free us. They broke through, but at a great cost, nearly everypony in the unit died.

I will remember those ponies to my dying day.

The ponies who got out of the pocket streamed across the field to our original starting position. We had enough good order to reform, but we were done fighting. We were exhausted and our fighting spirit was gone.

All the other regiments were still trapped, except in some individuals who escaped. I could only watch as my fellow guards were slaughtered without mercy. Captain Birch hobbled over, one of his legs slashed open.

“Sergeant Pick?” I was too tired to answer, so I simply looked in his direction.

“Gather your section, you have a VIP to escort closer to the battle.”

“Yes, sir.”

I went and found my ponies. Only 5 were left.

“Alright stallions, look alive. We have a VIP to escort. Dunno who it is, I guess we will find out.”

The VIP was Celestia herself. My jaw hit the ground. The pony I was used to protecting just waltzed her way into battle.

“Princess, what are you doing in a warzone!” She smiled down to me.

“Sergeant Pick, I knew I would find you here. I received a dispatch last night that a battle would soon happen. Now, what am I looking at.”

I explained the situation to her, her face dropping on every detail.

“And now, three of our four infantry regiments are trapped.” She grimaced, and let her wing spread.

“Princess, what are you doing?”

“I'm helping!” Before she shot into the air, I grabbed her hoof.

“That will accomplish nothing, and only put you endanger. They have an anti air device that knock pegasus out of the sky.”

Celestia finally complied but demanded to get closer. So we did.

The battle still raged for a while. One of the regiments broke free and the survivors streamed past us, many wounded.

“This is my fault,” she whispered. “This is all my fault.”

“It is nopony’s fault but high command’s.” She ignored me, and kept muttering to herself.

A heavily wounded pony collapsed in front of us. I galloped over and hoisted him on my back. After taking him to the nearest medic, I hurried back.

“My sister and I will have to do this ourselves.” I had no idea what she meant by that, but I kept watching.

Suddenly, we heard cheering from the Changelings. The two regiments left in the pocket surrendered. I figured the battle was over but I was wrong.

Projectiles from our catapults and archers showered their ranks. They broke, releasing most of their captives. I advised Celestia to retire to our lines, and a clearly shaken princess complied. When I reached our lines, I found the expedition commander, General Blitz, ecstatic.

“We've got them on the run! From up and attack!”

I excused myself from her side and went over to the General.

“Sir, all due respect, but we are going nowhere.”

He was clearly shocked by a sergeant telling him off.

“We are exhausted, dispirited, and many are wounded.”

Blitz released his rage.

“How dare you! You will be court martialed for your insubordination, Sergeant!”

The princess came over.

“A problem, General?”

“Yes Princess, this sergeant is an insubordinate.”

“I stand with the Sergeant, General.” Celestia looped a wing around me. I tried my best not to look smug.

“Yes. Princess.”

And like that, the Battle of the Crystal Empire ended.

The screams of the wounded pierced the night air. It was an awful sound. We spent it collecting the wounded and the dead from the field. I personally gathered the ponies who once served under me. By some miracle, two were alive, but severely wounded. Finally, I reached Supercell’s body.

“Hey buddy.”

No response.

“I have come back for you.”

He remained silent.

With a sigh, and biting back tears, I gingerly picked his body up and removed the bolt from his eye. I took him to the collectors, and went about my business, searching for the living.

I found very few.

After we sufficiently cleaned the battlefield, I fell into a well deserved sleep, the ghosts of those I lost that day filling my dreams.

The next morning came. The once glorious army was now in shambles. We marched south, leaving the Crystal Empire behind. No drums, no speaking, no nothing. We marched in defeat.

TWO WEEKS LATER

The Empire was gone. Celestia and Luna flew north and personally defeated King Sombra. But it was a trap. The empire vanished, along with everypony living with it. It was all for nothing.

As soon as we got back to Canterlot, I resigned my post in the Guard. There was to many missing ponies for my mental state. I currently live in Rust, mining alongside my brother. But every night, I remind myself of the ponies I lost, what they died for. I think, about the Battle of the Crystal Empire.

Author's Note

And so concludes the Battle of the Crystal Empire. Wanna know what happens next? Go to YouTube.com, and look up "fall of the Crystal Empire"

So, wadda you guys think? Write in comments below.