Lunar Spartan

Move, pause, breathe softly, the motion of what the Spartan was doing. Being prone on the freezing snow he crawled up the hill with his helmet off to assure that he would have a better chance in not being discovered. His exhalation of what he inhaled turned into steam rising and dispersing quickly into the open air around. Reaching slightly to the top he halted his motion and looked out of what was ahead of him. If the map was correct, then slightly below the hill and much more flatland was Guto River. It was what divided the south and the north of the Griffon Kingdom, and even though it was mostly small villages moving north there were still much of Sombra's army that needed to be kicked out. Leaving them there would create another risk upon the other territories beyond the Griffon Kingdom such as the organized tribes of the Bugbears. From Aniketos' understanding they were fierce warriors that stood like him, an area that he placed in his mind to visit ignoring the dangers that were told about visiting such a life-threatening area.

His eyes locked on to the bridge that was used to cross being destroyed, showing that the only way to cross was to push through the river. The water was still in motion moving east towards the open waters that were farther away than where he was. Viewing more of the area he saw much of what remained of a destroyed village, or Garrett's home to be exact. The place and area he saw his wife and two children be executed before he escaped execution himself and joined the fight. Soon he saw the garrison of where the army was currently based, the flag of the Crystal Empire waving high in the frozen air on the large wooden logs, along to the sides much catapults. He knew very well the only option was to charge head on. After slowly gaining ground from the mountains up to Guto River in the few weeks, it was no surprise to see the enemy begin to move into the defensive. The Griffon-Crystal War entered its fourth month, for Equestria its first month since its involvement, showing a sign of the decline of Sombra's victories and his mistake of overloading the Empire's capacity of military power.

Gathering much information of what he needed with his eyes he slowly crawled down the snowy hill, repeating the same cycle: Move, pause, breathe softly. Once he was low enough, he picked up his helmet, shield, and dory from where he left it, placing the helmet on before he stood fully up to begin running back over to the camps. Such jog worked in keeping his body warm, and unlike the Griffons or ponies which have their own small protection against the weather, he was prone to the sudden changes in temperature though it would not affect him as much. The only thing that bothered, mostly annoyed him was the sting of his feet each time they touched the snow on the side. Having no boots to protect his feet he needed to bear with it until he would be able to have something that is rare in this world, not that it is a problem for the Spartan. It had reminded him again of his youthful days being surrounded by the wild and having to survive all alone for awhile until being allowed to return back to Sparta. The winter was surly harsh, but as always it made him stronger to keep moving on through the trials. Outcomes such as war would be impossible for him to go through if he was not a Spartan, knowing well he would have died many times over.

He slowed down into a walk, his lungs slightly burning from deeply breathing the cold air as his body started recover quickly from his jog. Seeing much of the Griffons gathering around the fireplaces showed how cold it was for them needing to be around the heated flames, which meant he would be worse once he cooled down. He reached his tent, stabbing his dory down into the snow and leaning his shield against the pole before he went inside his tent removing his helmet and placing it near the opening flap. He would keep his armor on, just in case of an ambush that would occur suddenly though it was not likely. It was not like he was uncomfortable being in it, having to relax with it in the days fighting against the Persians, only difference was that he was given the opportunity to sleep more often, an opportunity he rarely takes in times of war. With a lack of sleep he does not see Luna in the dream state, and knowing her she would grow worried by the first day. So to assure he was still alive, he laid down and slowly relaxed himself to sleep, not expecting his body to quickly take the chance as he soon found himself succumbed by darkness.

Upon opening his eyes, he saw himself in a white void of nothingness with only what he laid on as the only surface. He sat up, his eyes automatically connecting to the eyes of blue in the small distance. A smirk formed on his face watching the princess of the night quickly gallop towards him, having his arms open knowing that was what she wanted. He was quickly knocked back down with forelegs being wrapped around his neck and lips being pressed onto his.

"I had grown so afraid of your safety as I was not able to see you in the dream state," she said, resting her head on his chest.

"I believe we had different sleeping times," he replied.

She pushed herself up and bit and looked at him. "Or you are not sleeping when there are times to sleep..."

"That is a possibility." He noticed dissatisfaction on her face. "Alright, I did not sleep for two days as there was much combat needed to be done once I had arrived in the Griffon Kingdom."

"Vow to thy princess that you will sleep more often." She lowered herself and made small kisses to his neck.

He scoffed humorously. "I see you are wishing for something the tongue would not ask of."

"Having a stallion to help satisfy my 'needs' is better than doing the act by myself." She felt herself begin to warm up. "Especially one with a rough and intoxicating scent that makes my legs shiver in excitement."

"Such an expressive way to address your 'needs' my princess."

"It has been a stressful month."

"Care to explain before we do acts of what you desire?"

She sighed, but of course there was still much time to do what she wished for. "In the first week of combat against Sombra's army were followed by much defeats and forced retreats. Once the enemy was near the mountains of the capital, I took it upon myself to lead the army and so I fought along with everypony. We had achieved victory and began taking back ground that belonged to us, pushing them back and turning our defensive into an offensive. From what my commanders have told me, the Crystal Empire pushed their limits of power too much and now are in a state of decline"

"Aye I had thought so too when the Griffons and I have continued to push them back," he said.

"Oh that is great news to hear. Do you know where your location is?"

"We have made camp near the Guto River. In a few hours we are going to charge forward, and with the bridge being destroyed some will have to cross the river with me. And what of your location?"

"Hiding in the hills by Cloudsdale. Since it is in the sky, only pegasi will be joining me into battle."

"I see. So we both will be in the offensive." He fell silent at the moment. "So you are in combat..."

"As I have said before, I did not have a choice."

"Aye then, be safe when your attack occurs."

"Same for you my love." She felt herself being rolled around, this time she was on her back, shaking a bit as she felt his hand run up her hind leg. "Cease your teasing and take me! Your princess demands it!"

"No patience at all," he said. Soon he felt a sharp pain in his head, and seeing her flinch as well showed she felt it as well. "It appears we will have to do this another time."

She sighed, wishing not to be awoken already. "Just you wait my Spartan, I will have my way."

Aniketos slowly opened his eyes as he woke up feeling someone shaking him to wake up. Looking around he noticed Garrett trying to wake him up for some reason. "I am awake Garrett, no need to shake me anymore."

"Ah now you want to wake up mate. I heard you mumbling like you were speakin' to someone," said Garrett.

"Aye I was. I was speaking to Princess Luna." He sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Princess Luna?" Garrett questioned before remembering what was told to him. "Oh right, you are her Lunar Guard, well, Spartan."

"What time is it?" He asked, putting his helmet under his arm.

"Night."

Aniketos walked out of the tent, seeing that time had passed quickly while he was asleep. "Good." He looked around seeing much of the Griffons readying themselves.

Garrett followed out with him. "You sure you want to attack in the dark, mate? Not that I'm against it but with little light it will cause us problems."

"Am I sensing you are afraid of the dark? Out of the few races I know I would figure a Griffon would not be so frightened."

"Piss off you monkey."

"There you go, keep that motivation while we march," said Aniketos. He knew very well of what Garrett meant, fighting in darkness being risky and prone to much errors to occur. Upon memory of fighting at night, he recalled the mission done at the Hot Gates where he and other Spartans fought at night against the Persians in search for their king. However their search failed to find their enemy king, but left many Persians slaughtered. Taking note of such deadly use of using night, it was decided this would be the time to strike and begin the ending of Crystal occupation of what is controlled of the Griffon Kingdom. Committing such a frontal assault would as always be costly to everyone's lives.

He put on his helmet, inspecting himself to see if he still had his kopis on him. His breaths were visible as the night grew colder. He undid his blue damaged cloak and hung it on the tip of his dory, his large arms being in full view to all around him while he lifted up his shield. To what was to be committed only required his shield and blade to aid him on the assault among the griffons that would be by his side. He walked towards the center to where most of every griffon was, all being silent to hear what he needed to say. "With the bridge being out, and as well with the flight ban ordered by your king, all of us will have to cross the frozen waters in haste."

All around him the Griffons spoke to one another, not sure if the night ambush would be successful. "Screw the ban! We are in war!" One griffon yelled out, many others agreeing.

Aniketos sighed listening to the many arguing with each other, some agreeing to staying on the ground while some wanted to fly in this air. Either option they wanted would still bring out the same results of casualties. He would have agreed on flight many days ago, but it was not possible. "Alright, quiet down. Quiet down!" He spoke, waiting for silence to come again. "I do not believe flight will be useful as the clouds are acting upon themselves. And if you remember the last time a large group decided to take flight, they were quickly killed off halfway towards whatever target they were approaching."

Garrett cleared his throat. "He's basically saying, lads, is we get hoofed up in the arse when we take to the skies against ponies we know can beat us when we do." He paused and took a swig of his bottle. "Also I don't want to be dragged down to the labor camps because some of y'all break the King's order so I suggest all of you to suck it up."

Aniketos looked around, taking notice that all around him came to agree to crossing the river without flight. "Right," he said, walking past many of the Griffons to the front. "We will be quick with our movement before we rush with all our might. Everyone follow behind." He started into a paced yet slightly fast jog, the crunching of the snow being constant behind him as much of the Griffons in his part of the camp and many others around formed across in his speed. Already he felt himself warm up from the freezing night, his heat bouncing off the cold air along with his frozen breath rising up along with others.

To the garrison of Sombra's remaining army, all was quiet within, much ponies sleeping while a few remained awake to keep guard. Two stallions continued to speak with one another, mostly about what their new commander was going to do as they are being pushed back further away. The old one they had for most of the campaign was executed for the failure of keeping the army together and strong. One of their ears twitched, followed by him turning to what he may have heard. The one spoken to did the same, looking in the distance of what it may be that is causing such thumping sound. Soon both went wide-eyed realizing it was an attack. One raced off to wake everypony up while the other rang out the bell signaling that they were under attack.

Aniketos heard the bells ringing and soon made a burst into a sprint, pulling out his kopis and yelling out among dozens of Griffons pouring down the snowy hill quickly moving down towards the river. He watched a spark of light being shot up into the sky giving temporary light of what was around. Griffons started to collapse onto the ground as both arrows and magic bolts were fired down upon them in attempt to slow down the assault. Any sign of fatigue that he had was soon lifted off him as he rushed into the ice cold river, the water reaching up to his stomach as he pressed on along with the others. The large boulders were launched from the enemy catapults, hitting and sending some Griffons to the sky along the ground, some moving closer and splashing the water high and showering down upon those crossing.

His shield sounded out to much of the impact it was receiving and his body screaming out from being in the frozen water. Breathing was staggered, a common thing that is known for bodies like his to be in reaction of cold water. He slightly shook but kept calm as he crossed, looking back and seeing the much Griffons still on his tail. There was not much to cross left, his slightly numb feet feeling the ground beneath him slowly rise and push him up. His body was soon free from the water, followed by his legs and he felt the cold air surround him once again as he saw the garrison gates open with the Crystal soldiers storming out from it to combat him and the Griffons. He yelled out making his shield crash onto one of the enemy's face, his kopis slashing down another face to his right. His allies soon joined in the fight, all wet and cold Griffons being fired up by adrenaline and fury. Quickly the enemy was pushed back, allowing him and his allies to storm inside and to soon take over the entirety of the garrison.

Defeat has come too easily, Aniketos thought as he stood, watching much of the Griffons rushing forward, destroying the tents and taking down their flag, ripping it in the process. Looking around, he watched the stallions that had surrendered be executed by being beaten by a large hammer. The flag of the Griffon Kingdom rose high and moved around with the night breeze as well as having both fire and Selene's moon giving it light for all to see. Still, the easy defeat bothered him while he walked up the steps to the second floor, seeing what view the ponies had to their advantage. Looking towards where the camp was, it was blocked off by the snowy hill which still had some Griffons coming over it. He walked along by the edge, looking to their behind position. Surly if some managed to escape he would see them galloping away, but instead he had gotten something other than such. In the slightly dark distance had much divisions of ponies, each division having the Crystal Empire flag high among the thousands. Their torches could light so much showing that there was more than what he was able to see, the only thing he noticed was they were marching away. Soon he saw one specific enemy that made his anger boil, seeing the dark Spartan of himself that from his understanding was his name but only backwards and spoken as if it was a name.

Sotekina had a large smirk on his face, seeing his mirror image in the distance staring. The distraction of keeping all the Griffons in one place was successful. Sacrifice of the small amount of ponies was necessary to do, he knew their life was going to be wasted away so why wait for their end when he can set it now. His laugh was dark, deep, and filled with disharmony as he raised his arm up, then lowered it down. Behind him, the dozens of catapults with flaming fireballs were released towards the target in the distance.

Aniketos clenched his shield and kopis seeing the bright shine in the sky grow higher and closer to his position. This time he made the mistake of going into his own trap, a similar strategy that he had used back when he fought at the mountains using the boulders to crush those in the pocket. The Griffons below him noticed the sky bright up in orange, stopping their cheers as they realized their fate. Aniketos turned around and looked at all of them that stood frozen. "What are you doing!? Clear out!" He ordered. Immediately all the Griffons turned around and proceeded to rush out of the garrison and back across the river in chance of surviving the barrage of fire while he jumped down in the outer side of the garrison onto the snow. The fireballs grew closer as their decent sped up, gravity giving it more momentum and speed. He knew well enough that he was not going to out run much of what is falling, and so he kept still crouching into his defensive stance with the shield blocking the light. The sound of explosions deafened his ears, keeping himself in his stance while everything behind him was covering in flaming debris. He felt the wall behind him begin to give way, forcing him to make haste away from it or be crushed under. Quickly he ran right, turning again last minute as a fireball landed near him, much of the debris cutting and burning wherever touched his skin.

Sound returned to him as he slowed to a stop, turning around to see much of where he was minutes ago be flattened down. He breathed out heavily, knowing very well that he could had lost his life over there, among other Griffons that didn't manage to escape. How ponies can be a bit of a challenge for him was a question left unanswered, only knowing that they were smart enough to even have these kinds of wars. Overall the night ambush was a success even though the deaths were once again high due to the trap. Their retreat in great numbers signaled to him that they met their match, where they would regroup was still unknown.

Aniketos turned to see much of the Griffons approach him, and he pushed up his shield showing that they had gained victory. Easy victory he knew would only come once.

Luna slowly returned back from the dream state, her eyes looking straight towards the closed flaps of her large tent. After finally meeting her Spartan and having to separate once more, she continued her duties in watching over the ponies' dreams, assuring that all slept well with no disharmony in it. Watching over the young colts and fillies dream had been slightly stressful, most dreaming for either their mother or father to return to them from the fight. Already she knew some would not have their dream come true, for the war had taken much in a small amount of time as if the fight had been occurring more than a just a month. A sigh came from her mouth, the cold air freezing her warm breath. She had not felt it being cold, most likely due to her coat keeping her body safe from the snowing temperatures. Aniketos would not have such luck, and that was something that worried her greatly. Along with the risk of war taking him away from her, nature was another factor. She knew little of his anatomy, but understood the reason of him wearing clothing.

The lower part of her body was warm with moisture as she grew more awake, remembering what her body wished to have done. She slowly moved her hoof lower to it but stopped herself, not wanting to do such acts right now.

She allowed herself to calm down before she stood up, twitching a bit when she gave pressure to her right foreleg. Looking down she looked at the white bandage wrapped around her leg, reminding her of how lucky her opponent got striking one of the open spots. She may be a powerful alicorn, but she still knew she can take damage and pain. Death being a topic she had given up on since she is still in her youthful and prime age. Age,she thought to herself remembering her friends and many others when she was much younger, watching one by one age ripe and fall into a deep slumber that none come back from, an ongoing cycle she and her sister go through. She thought of her Spartan, not realizing that he too ages as well, but how fast or slow he does was something she doesn't know. He is already resistant enough to almost all magic, making the possibility to slow his age closer to impossible. Her thoughts stopped, followed by her shaking her head of having such idea to extend some pony's life unnaturally.

Her horn glowed for a moment, her magic instantly putting on her battle damaged armor on her body, the sword being halfway unsheathed in front of her to see how it fared so far throughout the war which showed no signs of damage other than scratches. She sheathed it back and hooked it onto her flank as she walked forward out of her tent and into the outside. Her sister's sun slowly started to rise from the horizon that quickly disappeared behind the snowing clouds, reminding her of how off she was on her sleep cycle as she would be falling asleep now instead of waking up. Tia, she thought, knowing how worried she is about her well being in the front lines. True a princess should not be the one in the front lines with all her subjects, however the morale of the Guard have never been so high and thus she continues to be a part of the battle, leading each charge after another. Her sister must be sleep deprived for she did not see her in the dream state for days, making her realize how stressful it is to keep the nation under control while alone during a dark and disharmony-like period such as this. On top of it all, she and another detachment moved south to deal with a growing Windigos threat, hoping to keep it by the south border and not move closer to the ponies. The snow they brought was already enough as it is along with the weather that has gone beyond the pegasi control.

The snow brushed her ears while it slowly fell onto the ground, her calm walking making a crunching sound each time her hoof met the snow below. Around her she watched many of the Guard huddle around the fire, some having either a scarf around their neck or a cloak over their body. They paid no attention to her, being distracted with their own group discussions of whatever it may be. She did not mind, ignoring the mandatory greeting they are to do not being a priority to her. Why should it be? Aye, royalty she was to them but in a place like this she was almost the same as a commander, only difference is she is still called 'your highness' instead of the other term. Steel Wing on the other hoof is still called either 'general' or 'commander', not mattering to him much to whatever the Guard considered him as long as respect is given during duty. Another smokey breath rose from her mouth remembering he had taken half of the third army east to where Neighagra Falls was, cutting the 75,000 to only 37,000, 15,000 which are pegasi that would be the ones to fight. From the scout's reports, Sombra's army had split in three divisions as well before she and everypony else had arrived to where they were now. 42,000 each, one falling back to Yanhoover, another moving east too to where Steel Wing had headed for. The last division stayed in Cloudsdale, out of the 42,000 that stayed, 37,000 were pegasi. She was greatly outnumbered, the same as in past battles which had only lead to more victories closer and closer to their borders instead of the invasion which should had been in Sombra's favor. The Griffon Kingdom should have been under Sombra's control but it still continues to stand strong along with the needed supplies and her Spartan fighting with them.

Her thoughts continued to trail around, remembering again how he looked, feeling much of the traumatic stress and paranoia that he kept bottled up and not spoken about. Even if it was for a short time, some of what he dreamt about without knowing was kept in her memory, the part of how much the Griffons were lost in battle. The estimated three million were too great, greater than the four thousand she had lost in battle. She must give the ones that were her nemesis credit for giving much sacrifice to that extent, knowing well enough Equestria itself would not be able to mobilize such a large-scale army in a short period of time. I fear for the amount of citizens that have lost their lives over at the kingdom, she thought, knowing with that much losses and long fighting would skyrocket the innocent deaths between the crossfire.

Her hooves stopped moving while she looked around in the distance in front of her. She had not noticed she left the campsite, but she had also not noticed how dead ponies looked when left in the snow. She knew her own Guard wouldn't leave their own in the same place of their death, sending them back in a casket back to Canterlot or burying them on the edge of the battle-site when there was no time to send them back. Sombra's fallen ones remained as they were, frozen in place with no chance of being moved right now. If she dared, would it stay in place if she raised one up? She shook her head, not wishing to have such damning thought in her mind. Those that remain do not deserve such treatment, but for now, this will remain as their resting place until the war is over. Her ears twitched as she listened to some pony else approaching her. Turning her head a bit, she saw Astra with a scarf around her neck. "Hello Astra," she spoke first.

"Your highness," Astra replied.

"I thought I told you that you may address me as Luna."

Astra kicked the snow a bit. "You have, but it is difficult to break traditions when it is pushed into you." She looked at what her princess stared off at seeing the dead bodies. "Such a sight."

"A mournful sight," Luna started, "Filled deep with melancholia that shows the horror of aggression and loathing disharmony. A reason why we wish for diplomacy and peace so there is no lives lost, no friendships broken, no families mourning, no pony separated."

Astra listened, the use of complex words catching her off-guard but still able to understand what she had said. Along with the snow around and in the air, the colors looked bleak and without color, the feeling of melancholy which Luna had spoken about being felt around her. She was silent with Luna, silence of which had sound to share while she looked at the fallen enemies, hearing their cries of pain as they were slain, their life taken by not the choice of fate. Would they still be considered oppositions if they were only following what their king told them to do? The more she thought, the more confused she became, understanding why both Luna and her sister wished for only peace and harmony to flourish in the land instead of this gray atmosphere that only made her chest wrench with pain for no reason. At least it shows she still has empathy in her.

But of course not everything can be resolved by discussions and accords when one wishes to conquer another through great nationalism and propaganda of one's citizens, or through power-hungry ambitions to plunder all that is considered worthless around them. It would only be a matter of time before the one that started the fight joins in, creating a larger challenge for everypony here and for Princess Luna. A fight between the two powerful ponies in the land will make the ground shake for sure.

"Ah," Astra sounded out, remembering why she came over. "The pegasi are ready for battle your highness, I apologize for forgetting."

Luna turned to her. "Come then. You will be with me when we charge towards the sky."

"As always, your highness."

"Astra..."

Astra looked at her princess that had an annoyed look. She knew what her princess wanted. "Okay, okay. I'll try." She took a deep breath before speaking. "L-Lu...Lune...Lu...ugh...Lun… Ah! My own disciplined mind is not allowing me to do such thing!"

"I order you to call me by my name from now on. You are more of a friend to me than just a guard," said Luna.

"Yes, your highness." Again she took a breath, "Lune...Lune...ah. Lune...ah. Luna. Luna! Luna! Luna!"

"Okay stop, it is sounding erotic." Luna looked at Astra, seeing her cheeks being a bit red. "Say my name now."

Astra nodded. "Luna."

"There you go, excellent." The princess fully turned to walk towards the campsite. "Now we may go. Come Astra."

Both walked toward the campsite, seeing much of the earth ponies and unicorns remaining by the fire wishing the two luck for the upcoming battle that was to commence soon, along with one tossing a spear to Astra who caught it with her wing. Luna watched in front of her the 15,000 pegasi, all of which were battle-hardened and ready for the next fight they will be going alone in. Their dirty spears lined up with one another, looking like one only when standing in the right place as Luna and Astra walked through the lines towards the front, Cloudsdale being hidden by the snowing clouds that were much lower. Luna knew this wouldn't be a problem as the sun would still shine once they were high enough over the clouds, but she knew reaching the city in the sky would be much more difficult to reach as they would for sure have unicorns as anti-pegasi weapons. While they are not able to fight well in close combat, their magic bolts are surely a power to not take lightly.

Slowly her wings flapped, her hooves no longer touching the ground while she got higher and higher, soon enough angling herself to move forward towards the snowy clouds. Astra followed behind her princess, soon followed by the army of pegasi that took flight in their formations. Above the clouds, Luna's eyes adjusted to the brightness of her sister's sun, continuing forward once seeing Cloudsdale up ahead of where she was. She turned behind her, seeing much of the pegasi following close behind her, Astra soon being on her left side. She looked slightly uncomfortable being in the sun, which Luna understood why as she is a nocturnal pony. So with her, their sleeping cycle was off.

Luna turned forward quickly as she listened to much of the magic bolts being shot across towards them. "Scatter!" She yelled out, hearing the rushing wind of pegasi that were hit falling to the ground already dead or to their death. They were only halfway there as she charged forward maneuvering past the bolts that came her way, seeing much of the opposing pegasi take to the skies and charge towards her and her pegasi. At least the magical bolts ceased for now, but already she knew she lost much. She pulled out her sword while the enemy flew closer towards her, seeing Astra to her left readying her spear along with others that took the front charging line. Her wings flapped faster as she approached the first pony to meet her end of the blade, moving herself a bit and letting the opposing spear scratch across her armored body missing a few inches of her wing. With her sword, she thrust forward towards the neck, quickly pulling it back out and slashing another that came her way.

Both sides mixed in with one another, the center of the fight having much impact of both metal and falling pegasi with a broken end of a spear in them. All clashed against one another, yelling out loudly at each others' faces in order to gain the advantage of killing instead of being the one killed. After a month of fighting against Equestrian forces, the Crystals had adapted quickly to not aim for their armor for it would be futile to make such attempt. Instead the main target for their spears was the neck and face as it was still exposed just like their older armor they had worn before, another reason why the color of white below them is stained greatly when their foe is struck in the throat. With great numbers here to defend this city, there was no way they would falter.

Astra screamed out as a spear rammed through and out her wing, shoving the dagger she had on her hoof into her opponent's eye and pulling out letting him fall down from the sky. She struggled to stay in the air, swinging her blade at those attempting to surround her with their spears. Looking around, she saw her princess as well being surrounded along with the second wave of the opposing pegasi approaching the battle site. She was still halfway from the city in the skies, the distance looking farther and farther away as the battle became too one-sided. Even if their armor was great, it would not be able to replace the numbers that the other side has enough of. She screamed again, not from being hurt but to raise her will to keep fighting, charging forward and stabbing one of the enemy's chest before quickly pulling out and hoof kicking another in order to steal their spear. She made a thrust forward, the spear entering and exiting out from the now falling enemy body, feeling a hoof to the face and dazing her for a bit, attempting to keep herself ready. Her helmet fell through the clouds, leaving her head exposed to anything that would take the advantage. She ducked from the enemy's spear swinging towards her head, countering it with a push forward with her dagger into her opponent's chest. She was not going to die now. She needed to keep fighting!

Without warning her vision turned black for a moment, her head immediately in pain as she collapsed onto the cloud. She did not fall through and slowly rose to her hooves while she remained dizzy. Her ears ringed from the contact she received and her breathing becoming more labored, her chest suddenly being in pain though there was no signs of a wound. Whether or not it was sweat or blood being felt running down her head, she returned back sitting onto the cloud. She slightly noticed more of Equestrian forces were moving ahead getting closer to the city while the Crystals began to fall back into the city. For their large numbers, their morale is very low to be retreating when she knew they had the chance to win.

Luna quickly dove down to Astra, gasping upon seeing a part of Astra's left ear missing. She slowly motioned to her seeing her guard shaking. "Astra?" She called out, moving back quickly from her desperately swinging her dagger. "Astra it is I! Do not be scared!"

Astra stopped, letting her hoof drop down and relax. "L-Luna..."

Luna sat in front of Astra and wrapped her around in her forelegs and wings, feeling her shaking lessen. She listened to Astra hiccup and felt her tears on her. "Shh...You have fought well my guard, there is no need to keep staying strong for me," she said, listening to the explosions in the distance of her forces now reaching the city. Her eyes caught two of her pegasi flying over to where she was. "Can you two take Astra back to camp and help her with her injuries."

Both saluted to Luna and they helped the bat pony onto her hooves before being laid on top of one of them. From what she noticed, Astra had fallen unconscious as both pegasi took off through the clouds. She turned her head towards the city and jumped up with her wings pushing her up high towards her target. By now the losses would be growing from her side, not that it hasn't already from their hasteful charge. Closing in, she quickly pulled out her sword slashing the spear that was thrown at her in half and killing the one that threw it. She landed in some part of the city seeing much of the destruction that was laid upon here, watching civilians that had no chance in escaping looking out from their hiding towards her. Their eyes was enough to know that they begged for her to win.

Her ears flinched from hearing some pony yelling from behind her, most likely charging towards her. More poured out, now starting to encircle her from where she stood. She charged her horn with much magic, letting it spread out and force push much of the attackers away from her. It had not killed them with only a few standing back up and charging again for the second time. She raised her hind leg and kicked backwards towards one that charged from behind, slashing another to her left with her sword and back hoofing another to her right. Without notice she was tackled onto the ground, losing her magical grip on the sword. She struggled to move from the stallion that was on top of her, seeing the blade on his hoof aiming for her neck, his yells making her ears hurt more than it already was. She met a hoof to the face, dazing her but not enough to let him stab her.

"Once I kill you, I will be enjoying myself to your lifeless body," he growled out.

"Not a chance," she replied, using her magic to push him off once she regained focus. She got back up, noticing him charging towards her again. Quickly she levitated her sword and pushed it towards his direction, entering his throat and stabbing the wall with the now dead body. "Disgusting," she said, pulling out her sword and letting the body fall onto the ground. She swung the blade, making most of the blood splatter on the ground in a curved line.

"Your highness!" One of her pegasi called out, stopping in front of her and noticing the many bodies around her area.

"Is there anything to report, guard?" She asked.

"Oh yes! Apologies," he paused for a moment, "The Crystal ponies defending this city have now routed."

Luna's eyes lit up. "Excellent news guard. Have everypony search for any surviving civilians here. There has to be some here." She looked at him salute to her then turn to fly away to do such order. A sigh came from her mouth, being both physically and mentally tired from all the fighting and watching all the bloody deaths from her eyes, having to do the same to others with the same fate. "Ani..." She spoke out softly, opening her wings to fly back to camp to see how Astra was fairing.