The Siege of Canterlot

It has been five days now since I have been stationed in Canterlot. I took notice of how the mood in both the city and our division changed over the past few days.

When we arrived 5 days ago, we were greeted with cheers. It wasn’t a parade, but when we made our way to the barracks, down the main road, it sure seemed like one. We were celebrated like war heroes, even though most of us had never seen combat.

The initial euphoria of our arrival died down soon afterwards however. The city, from one day to another, would turn from cheering crowds to dead silent. Empty streets dominated the city as ponies stayed in their homes. They began to realize why we were here, and they realized what was coming.

My unit had also become increasingly quiet. As their officer, I have always kept an eye on certain ponies who wish to mess around, whether that be messing things up or simply causing trouble. However, not a single one of them even dared to speak up. They too knew what they were to face, what was heading straight towards us. They were trying to comprehend what they thought would happen when the siege finally began. Would they die? Would they lose their best friends? Such things they thought about, and such things they tried not to share with others.

I too have thought about it myself. Contrary to the others in the unit however, I always come to the same conclusion: I don’t know. And I can’t think of or fear something that I am not certain of.

The days that passed felt like hours. I felt a chill creep up my back whilst I was looking at some maps in my room, in preparation for the siege. I’m not sure why but...for some reason the silence in both the city and my unit was disturbing me. It was out of the norm, unusual, in opposite to what I have faced in the past.

When I went out of the barracks into the city once, I heard a pony call for me. The call came out of a house that I had only just passed by, and I saw the pony leaning out of an open window when I looked back.

“What are we gonna do?” The pony asked me with fear, “Are we...gonna die?”

I thought about her question briefly before replying to her with: “We shall see.” I turned my back to the pony once more before turning around again, adding: “Stay safe. And be ready for anything.” I saw the pony nod at me with tearful eyes before I finally turned around, continuing down the road as I was.

~*~

Today’s roll call was different. The men were surprisingly nervous, whispering and chattering as I inspected them. Usually only very few of my soldiers interrupt the roll call like that, this time it was almost the entire unit. Those who did not dare to speak up looked even more nervous than those who did. They knew. They had heard the news.

The enemy had been spotted not far away. They would reach us in less than 5 hours.

The officers of the different units stationed within Canterlot for the coming defense were rounded up in Canterlot Castle. After only a few minutes Captain Shining Armour of the Royal Guard entered the room, saluting us as he did. As we saluted back to him, he advanced towards the map table that stood in the middle of the room. It was a map of Canterlot, though not a military, professional map. It was a normal map, one that marked famous and interestings sights all around the city. Nopony had ever even considered Canterlot would ever be attacked, so we never bothered creating a real military map of it. After all, Equestria had been mostly peaceful for over a thousand years.

“Alright, listen up everypony.” Shining Armour said, leaning over the map. “Our scouts report that the enemy is headed towards us from this direction.” He put his hoof on the southern part of the map which said ‘Ponyville’. “Considering this, we will focus our forces on the southern part of the walls. We mustn’t let a single changeling through or else we-”

“I doubt your strategy will work, Captain.” Said a voice somewhere within the room.

“Who said that!?” Shining Armour demanded angrily. Me and the other officers shrugged and looked around, unable to find the guilty person.

“Why me, of course.” Said a voice behind me.

I stepped aside and looked behind me, spotting who it really was. I and the others froze in shock as we saw that it wasn’t just a soldier or officer that had spoken up. It was Princess Celestia herself.

“P-Princess? What are you-? I thought you had evacuated the city long ago?” Shining Armour asked, his thoughts clearly scattered.

“I was advised to do so, yes.” The princess said, slowly stepping towards the table. “But as I was about to leave, I realised that if I did leave, if I, the ruler of Equestria itself, did not stand my ground today I would not only be remembered as a coward but I would lose the faith of our people forever.”

The room was quiet. Celestia and Shining Armour stared each other down as they stood at the table, the Captain still attempting to sort his thoughts.

“But...Princess, it’s too dangerous. If- I mean, you could...”

“I know, Shining Armour. I am fully aware of the danger I am exposing myself to. It’s the choice I have made, and it’s a choice I’ve made not only for myself, but for our people and our nation. We must hold Canterlot.” The Princess looked at the Captain with a serious look, seemingly melting Shining Armour’s previous authority to the ground.

“I...yes. Of course.” He said half-hearted. “ I only wish to know that you are safe and sound, Princess .”

“I know that, Shining, and I appreciate your worry for me, but this is not the time to stand back. We are at war, and it’s about time we finally halt the Changeling advance. Here and now.” The princess said with confidence.

As Shining Armour remained silent, the Officers behind and next to Celestia began to seem more confident, knowing that their ruler too was now by their side.

“So, as I was saying.” The princess said, breaking the silence. “I strongly doubt your strategy would work, Captain.”

“And why is that?” Shining Armour replied with a raised eyebrow.

“The Changelings are likely to be luring us into a trap, a false sense of security.” The Princess replied before pointing a hoof on a point on the map. “They will likely flank us from multiple angles.” The Princess sighed quietly. “Just like they’ve done time and again during other battles.”

We all eyed the Princess with big eyes. Never had I dared to imagine one of the royal sisters had such great tactical knowledge. Shining Armour, too was most surprised by this, hastily eyeing the map at the points around the castle.

“You...You’re right...” He concluded. “They could easily show up from behind the mountainside and attack from behind.” He gulped, looking up to the Princess on the other side of the table. “Princess, if I may ask...what gives you such a good knowledge of tactics and strategy?”

Celestia gave out a brief, quiet chuckle in response. “You too would remember every tiny bit of Canterlot and its surroundings if you had spent over two thousand years living here. It...grows on you, so to say.” The Princess paused, sighing deeply. “Besides. The changelings have laid countless traps and ambushes during this war. It’s what they most excell at: Surprise attacks. One does not have to visit a Military Academy to realize that we are likely to be flanked. Common sense, you could say, Captain.”

The Captain and the Princess eyed each other silently for a brief moment before the Princess bent over the table once more.

“Too many ponies were lead into Chrysalis’ fangs...” She said with a bitter taste in her mouth. “We were blind, unable to learn from our mistakes in time. They would keep using the same strategy over and over, and we would do the same, marching straight into their traps, going straight where they wanted us to be.”

The Princess looked up to Shining Armour who was still watching her. The Princess stepped back from the table, turning around to the small crowd of Officers that we were. We stared her in the eyes as she glanced over us all.

“We must not let this continue.” She stated confidently, “We must not fall one step back. We will stand here, and we shall fight here. And with heart and soul I say, we shall win here.”

Her strong, confident voice managed to raise the mood of many of us, rallying many as they began to raise their hooves, cheering for the cause.

“We will not give Chrysalis a single inch! We will not let them destroy our homes! And, truth be on my side, we shall hold fast today, so that all of Equestria may see the light of a new day!”

The Princess’ speech concluded with a choir of cheers from our crowd. As we threw our caps and helmets in the air and cheered, we knew we would fight until the bitter end. The Princess had the power to turn cowards into champions, and so she did that day.

~*~

As our troops were headed towards their defensive positions on and behind the walls, I made my way up to the walls by walking up one of the several staircases that lead up. Arriving on the walls, I calmly marched over to two stallions who were looking through their binoculars.

“Anything new, Lieutenant?” I asked one of them. He had a brown coat and a blonde mane and tail.

He lowered his binoculars, turning his head slowly towards me. “You could say that...” He said, handing me his binoculars.

I lost no time in using the item he gave me. Though as soon as I saw through it, I saw what he had meant. An enormous swarm of Changelings, not more than 3 kilometres away, was headed straight towards us. My mouth hung open in shock without me noticing as I slowly lowered the binoculars. With every passing second, the sky ahead became darker and darker as the swarm blocked out the sun.

“Get ready.” I told the Lieutenant, promptly returning the binoculars to him.

“Sir, what are we gonna do?” Asked the other soldiers next to him.

I sighed deeply, turning my head briefly to where the enemy was still closing in on us. “Hold this city, soldier.” I replied, turning back and heading back down the walls.

~*~

“Fire!” Echoed throughout the city as our catapults rained death upon the now dangerously close Changeling swarm. I had been inside my tent for the previous 5 minutes, once again attempting to find anything of use on the maps of Canterlot. With no luck, unfortunately. I heard our troops scramble as I looked around, dashing outside to then see huge, burning boulders fly through the air. Only a few seconds later, I could hear the impact within the changeling swarm from within the city. If they weren’t out to kill us before, they definitely were now.

I hastily sprinted down the main street, heading back towards the nearest staircase that lead up to the walls. When I arrived at the stairs I froze momentarily as yet another wave of flaming rocks flew past, followed by yet another, even louder screeching from the swarm of Changelings.
I had to get back on the walls, to my soldiers.

As quickly as I could, I made my way up the stairs. When I finally arrived upstairs, breathing heavily, I saw the Changelings were now no more than half a kilometre away from us.

I drew my sword out of its sheath, seeing my men preparing themselves for the impending fight. Spears were raised, swords were drawn.

“Not one step back, anypony! The fate of Equestria and our families lies on our shoulders!” I spoke, waving my sword in the air as I marched behind the men.

I stopped and froze in an instant as the Changeling swarm, in unison, began to screech once more. This time however, it was much more aggressive, more intimidating. And it was directed towards us.

“For Ponykind! For Equestria!” I shouted, my men repeating after me as the Changelings dove down upon us. The cheering turned into brute screaming in less than a second, and the stallions on the wall readied themselves for combat.

The Siege of Canterlot, the ‘Battle for Equestria’, had begun.