Chapters A Bridge [Into Canterlot] Too far
Minutes before Attack, Ponyville Trenches, Ponyville, Equestria
If Hookshot was having a bad day, it just got worse. He ended up in a four-horse machine gun team. It had Private Johnathan Hortly, a brown Unicorn with a book for a cutie mark, and a rather sunny disposition, Private Colin “Buzzy” Honeyman, an orange Earth Pony with a Beehive for a cutie mark, and a less sunny disposition, but still sunny, and Private Potter Terran, a dark blue Pegasus with a not-very-sunny disposition, but still an optimist, and a flowerpot for a cutie mark.
“Right. You all know how to operate an HMG, right?”
Everyone looked at Hookshot like he just asked for a volunteer to commit seppuku with a pencil.
“Make love not war, man!” said John.
Hookshot drew a heavy sigh as it sank in that these were not only fresh conscripts, but barely trained conscripts. “Right, I see we have a lotta ground to cover.” He picked up his rifle. “Can ANY of you tell me how to use this?” Potter put a flower into its barrel.
“You don’t. That’s how we come to a full understanding with each other, instead of barbarically killing each other” she said.
Hookshot very strongly considered slapping her, but he had bigger fish to fry. He took the flower out of the rifle and crushed it under his foot. “Listen up, you apes. You ain’t in Hippie-Dippy college anymore, you’re in the biggest battle of the past decade. And if you feel like “making love” , then walk on over to the Grif’s! Lessee how long they laugh at you before they shoot you in the neck.” Hookshot hoped that the silence after his little outburst meant comprehension.
“....Total BUZZ kill, guys, amiright?” Said Buzzy. The other two laughed as Hookshot rolled his eyes.
“Right, then. You use a rifle like this-” Just as Hookshot started demonstrating how to load a rifle, theattack sirens sounded. “Dammit. Right, You-” Hookshot gestured to Potter. “Help me operate this. The rest of you, go get those ammo boxes and extra barrels.” He gestured towards a tunnel that lead to an underground munitions store.
As they ran off to grab them, he turned to Potter.“Awright, Potter, put yer hoof here and help stabilize the machine gun. I’ll do all the firing, you just keep it steady and help reload.” He grabbed the trigger on the Machine gun and levitated the first bullet chain into the gun.
Potter was the first one to lose their smile. “Wait, we’re actually doing this?” Hookshot looked at Potter. “YES, of BLOODY COURSE we’re doing this!” Potter got a dire look on her face and her eyes widened. “Oh my god. I can’t do this.” She released her grip on the HMG.
“AND WHY BLOODY NOT?” Screamed Hookshot.
“I’m… I’m a conscientious objector.” Said Potter as she fell on her haunches.
Hookshot’s eyes widened too, but in realization. “You’re all conscientious objectors? Everyone?”
“Yes, yes. Me, John, Buzz.”
Hookshot suddenly had a revelation. “You’re not in the Equestrian Army, are you?”
“No, I’m in the Ponyville militia. I… I just never expected this to happen… oh god….” Potter started crying. As tears streamed down her face, John and Buzzy returned from the ammo run.
Hookshot got a smile on his face, which was rare for him at the moment. As John and Buzzy stared, He turned to face them, too. “By god, you’re lucky to have me in charge, because I will see that you learn how to kill a fellow being as easily as one might kill a parasprite.” He motioned for them to come over and calm down Potter, and as he loaded the HMG, the first Griffonese figures could be made out on the horizon.
It had been a week since the 15th disembarked the lilac and rolled from Horseshoe bay to The Everfree. What is NOT usually mentioned in the history books is that most of the week spent “Traversing the Everfree” was actually spent trying togetto the damn forest. As ANY episode of the show will tell you, EQUESTRIA IS NOT A NICE PLACE. It RANDOMLY switches between desert and tundra like a goddamn Minecraft world, and what isn’t FLAT OUT UNINHABITABLE either has a spell cast on it, taken by arseholes, or has a city on it. THERE IS ALWAYS A GODDAMN REASON WHY THAT NICE MEADOW OVER THERE IS EMPTY. Be it a curse that withers anything that tries to grow there other than crabgrass, two families that hate each other, or “just” a goddamn sarlacc pit, there is something wrong with this picture. So, YOU try getting an army through a land that has only Chimeras, Manticores, Hydras, and Demons from hell to offer, in a timely manner. IT CANNOT BE DONE.
Ahem, sorry about the tirade. Back to the story. So from Horseshoe Bay the 15th followed the river until they made it to the swamps, and after losing a day to the Everfree’s maze, they were all ready to go- just kidding. Nothing is ever that easy.
Half an hour after(!) attack, Northern Edge of Everfree forest, Ponyville, Equestria.
Lolek stood in the tank, rising out of the commander hatch. He held a pair of binoculars to his eyes, and scanned the landscape. [From what he could see] To the north, the attack there was going well, as the Mechanized rolled over trenches with their armored cars and took the trenches with their dismounted infantry. In the Town itself, which obscured the view to the north, the Equestrian Artillery had stopped for fear of hitting their own troops, The Militia were packing the civilians into the town hall, schoolhouse, and Twilight’s castle, and the Dragoons had started fortifying the buildings to brace against tanks. To the east and west, the combined infantry and tanks were making somewhat slower progress than the Mechanized, but managed to make a setup where the tanks would act as mobile artillery farther back while the infantry took the trenches. And while the actual artillery was out of view, every few seconds the unmistakable roar of “The Emperor's Harpsichord”, the Feared rocket truck of the Griffonese army, would sound and a large part of Ponyville would explode in a fireball, the smoke further obscuring his view.
Lolek had good reason to be happy about this. In the beginning of the war, it was the Ponies who invaded, and with support from The Crystal Empire. They made it very far inland, almost to the Griffon capital [Griffonstone having been the capital of the ancient government, and Gryphgen being the capital of the modern government], and killed many civilians to accomplish this. But after heavy losses in the battle for the Port of St. Pederson, [The Griffonese capital wasn’t THAT far inland, just offscreen when you see a map of Equestria and the Griffonese coast], the Equestrians retreated through the Celestial sea and the Celestial Strait railroad. And after taking Hoofington and the Griffish Isles, all Equestrian presence in The Griffonese Empire was non-existent. And after the Griffish alliance with the Yaks, The Crystal Empire was too busy with that to cover Equestria from the north, so now only the western coast and Ponyville remained as resistance to the conquering of Canterlot. And now it was their turn, their blood would run. As he scanned the landscape, He heard someone swear in a southern Griffonese dialect and looked over to see Conrad and three tank crewmen attempting to get a tank unstuck from the mud, and failing.
“Anderson, you need to push and start the motor at the same time.” He called over. Conrad was just one of those people who he preferred to call by their last name.
“YOU GODDAMN THINK I’M NOT TRYING? THE SUMBITCH TANK WON’T MOVE!” Called back Conrad.
A quick look around yielded that about 20 other tanks had this problem. “Don’t insult the tank, Anderson. It could save your life one day.”
Conrad had his crew stop pushing and went to get some mechanics. Lolek disembarked the tank and started towards the General’s tent. As he neared it, he heard the general talking on a radio.
“Alright, you see the Zebra’s hut?”
…
“Yes, there’s only one. There should be a field of poison joke, follow that and you should be on the swamp.”
…
“What do you mean ‘Which one?’ It’s right there! And don’t let anyone get out of the tanks.”
…
“Alright, you see it. It has the tire tracks, right?”
…
“Good, now, drive north and you should see us in a few minutes.”
…
“What do you mean , the compass points to the Princess’s castle? If you know where the castle is, then go that way!”
…
“MY GOD, JUST FOLLOW THE DAMN SWAMP!”
Lolek poked his head into the tent. Inside were a few company commanders, all of which who seemed uncomfortable, a radioman, who also seemed uncomfortable, and the General yelling into a radio. He hung up. “A DAY until our attack and we’re still missing FIFTEEN PERCENT of our army.”
“Emh, excuse me, general.” Said Lolek.
“WHAT? WHAT THE HELL IS IT NOW?” Screamed the General as he started pulling out his hair.
“Uh, well, we have twenty tanks in our position still stuck in the swamp-”
“Yeah, you and every-other FUCKING person here.” Said the General as he Gestured to the other Company commanders in the tent. “Well, Henderson, Since you got here last, YOU CAN FUCKING WAIT FOR HELP FROM ME.”
Lolek felt deeply uncomfortable listening to the General swear at him at him, and as the general turned to yell at the radioman who interrupted him with a call from one of the lost Platoons, which apparently had followed the swamp SOUTH and ended up at the entrance. He started inching his way out. “I’ll just… I’ll just go-”
“NO. YOU CAME HERE FOR MY GODDAMN HELP, AND YOU’RE GONNA WAIT HERE FOR HELP LIKE ALL THE OTHER MOTHERFUCKING SUMBITCHES WHO CAME HERE FOR MY GODDAMN HELP.” Said the General as he yelled into a radio.
Lolek looked around and started slowly backing out again when the General looked away, and when he got out, he broke into a run. When he got back, he found two engineers with a truck attempting to pull out Conrad’s tank, and Conrad sitting inside running the engine while his crewmen pushed. “So, Lolek!” He called out. “What did the General say?”
Lolek got a blank stare on his face. “Words that I’d rather not repeat.”
Author's Note
The Emperor's Harpsichord is based off the actual soviet rocket truck, the BM-13 Katyusha Rocket truck, called "Stalin's organs" based on the sound made while firing.
A Bridge [Into Canterlot] Too far
… AND ANOTHER THING, I’M NOT SAYING THAT THE GRIFFISH CONTINENT IS SAFE, BUT IT’S GODDAMN BETTER THAN EQUESTRIA- Oh.
Hello there. Just ranting offscreen for a bit.
Now, what ALSO isn’t mentioned in the history books is the role of the 1st Engineers in the push from the south. SOMEONE had to drive the trucks and demolish the buildings and dig the graves for the dead civilians, and the 15th Armored sure as hell weren’t pulling out the tanks themselves.
The 1st Engineers had the “honor” placed upon them of being the “Infantry” during the Armored attack, which meant that they were going to make it seem like there was an army of tanks and SIX armies of infantry. But that couldn’t be done until the skies were cleared. And within a day of the first attack, The Wonderbolts, the ELITE Equestrian Air Force, were directly overhead. The floating air base was a problem, as the Griffonese army hadn’t planned for all-out air assault. The 1st Engineers had Half-Tracks with Anti-air capabilities, but using them would give their position away. So, the attack stalled, and since the first line of trenches has held by the Griffonese infantry, and the first line was connected to the second and third, there was no sleep that night for either side as the fighting continued, with the Equestrians attempting to re-take the first line of trenches and hold the second line, and the Griffons trying to take the second line of trenches and hold the first line. And the gaps in-between the trenches were the only way for the armor to cross, but that was filled with landmines and AT cannons, so Armored movement all but stopped until there was enough light to discern between a felled tree and a cannon pointed right at the tank. And with the Wonderbolts, the open areas were only made MORE dangerous for both sides, with the Wonderbolts dropping bombs non-stop. And when the second day of attack came, the Griffonese artillery stopped, as the Wonderbolts, despite the danger of FLYING INTO A BARRAGE OF ROCKETS, posed enough of a threat to the Griffonese Artillery that, from the second to the third day, the sound of The Harpsichords of the Emperor had all fallen silent. And that lull in the constant shelling allowed those who remained in the village to dig in inside the ruins and still- standing buildings. Despite it being no longer tenable, the Equestrians were going to die with a grenade in one hand and the pin in the other. And if worse came to worse, there was always the option of retreat through the Everfree.
Two days after first attack, Eastern trenches, Ponyville, Equestria.
The sniper Gregory Palon scanned the cloud base overhead. Behind him stood his squad, next to them was the rest of the platoon, next to them was the rest of the company, next to them was two more companies. It was the same as yesterday, and it was still morning. A stiff breeze blew through the trenches, and everyone was wrapped up in coats, hats, and scarves. Greg himself had an old bucket hat, from when he fished on the coast as a child. He knew that one shot would alert the Wonderbolts that they were within kill range, and they would re-situate the cloud base over Ponyville, out of range. He sighed. All these targets were too low ranking or unimportant to kill. He swept over the base one last time before he put down the-Wait. A flash of blue and a mess of color on top. He re-focused. Is it? Is it? He adjusted the scope. Blurry. Blurry. Too close in, can’t make out features. Farther out. Farther.
Oh my god. It is.
“I HAVE A SHOT ON-”
The whole platoon turned in anticipation of the news.
“RAIN
BOW
DASH”
And all hell broke loose.
“TAKE IT! TAKE THE SHOT!”
“OH MY GOD!”
“GET THE LIEUTENANT!”
“POWELL! HEARST! GET OVER HERE! BRING THE BINOCULARS!”
Quickly, it spread through the trenches and over the radio, from the 9th Artillery all the way to even the 15th Armored and the 1st Engineers. Those who had telescopes used them, those who had binoculars shared them with another. Others squinted or took off glasses if they were farsighted, or put them on if nearsighted. Other snipers, who could’ve taken other shots simultaneously, all used the scope too see the once-in-a lifetime chance to get THE Rainbow Dash, THE Element of Harmony, THE Wonderbolt, and the orchestrator of every raid, airstrike, and assault of the Wonderbolts during this siege. It was silent. All radios were on. If someone sneezed in the east, they would hear it in the west. Gregory checked his aim. Then adjusted. Then zoomed in. Then adjusted. Then-
“FOR THE LUVAGOD, TAKE THE DAMN SHOT!”
Powell emptied the whole clip, five bullets.
Every one hit.
Author's Note
A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic. ~Joseph Stalin
A Bridge [Into Canterlot] Too far
It was a bad day for Flight-Colonel Rainbow Dash to take a walk on the clouds.
The Griffonese rifle was FAR superior to the Equestrian rifle. The Griffonese rifle used five-bullet clips, was semi-automatic, was reliable, and best [Or worst, If you root for the Ponies], of all, ACCURATE, at least compared to other rifles at the time. The Equestrian rifle was single shot, rather unreliable, and the standard issue rifle SURE AS HELL couldn’t hit a small, blue and rainbow target known for being fast, at a distance of HUNDREDS of meters.
The first bullet hit in the right shoulder, which was enough to register surprize from everyone within eyeshot. The second bullet hit in the right foreleg, blowing out a large chunk of muscle with it was it passed through. The third would’ve missed had Rainbow Dash not been about to hover. It hit in the right wing, and managed to hit- and puncture- the main bone of the wing. The fourth passed through the chest, through a lung, and the fifth- and final- bullet wound up getting stuck in the neck.
In reality, this happened in real time. And in real time, Dash was about to have a nice, relaxing race around the base, then five shots, as in “B-B-B-B-BANG”, rang out, and five bullets ripped through her half a second later. The blood was everywhere, and everyone started screaming for a medic.
A great shout went up from the Griffonese lines. They had a confirmed kill! The Wonderbolt’s administrator was gone! THE RAIDS ON THEIR LINES WERE OVER!
Right?
Right?
No. Only two of those were right. Rainbow Dash survived, for now, at least. She was evacuated via emergency teleport administered by the Princess Twilight. But without a commander, there was nobody to co-ordinate the raids, and soon, the Wonderbolt base was gone. And once more, The Emperor's Harpsichords played their haunting tune.
Three days after initial attack, Everfree forest, Ponyville, Equestria.
Conrad NEVER smoked before the war. But after a week in the woods, he had to find SOMETHING to do. And, to be honest, he felt just a Tiny bit jealous of the soldiers at the front. AT least THEY got to engage in combat on a semi-daily basis. But if we even YELL too loud ...
Well, the general had proven that yelling wasn't going to be a problem in giving their position away.
As Conrad lit up his fourth cigarette since lunch, and Lolek lectured him about his bad smoking habits, there was suddenly a shout.
"ENEMY INFANTRY! APPROACHING THE EVERFREE!"
Everybody scrambled to the tank. Conrad lamented that he dropped his cigarette while putting on his tank helmet, but this wasn't the time for regrets. Next to his tank, he saw that the Engineers were taking no chances and loaded chains of ammo into the machine guns on the half tracks. With the sudden panic, everyone ended up scattered around, and Lolek ended up in the middle of Conrad's company. Over the radio, there was an order to load cannons. Lolek started, but got suspicious about something. He picked up a pair of binoculars and started looking at the enemy infantry. "Lolek? Is something wrong?"
"Shh! SHH! One second..."
Lolek threw down the binoculars. "STOP! STOP IT! IT'S CIVILIANS! CIVILIANS! "
After having their town shelled non-stop for a week, a large chunk of the [remaining] population had had ENOUGH. Dying in the Everfree was better than dying in some rubble. So, they packed their bags and made for the forest.
But as we know, there were two whole armies in the forest, and unlike a packed elevator, there is no "Room for one more"
Minutes before Civilians give their position away, Everfree, Ponyville, Equestria.
General Jimmy took a swig of vodka. "You mean to- to say that *Hic* there's hundreds of civilians outside- and- and-"
He took a second to vomit into a tank helmet he had.
The General's radioman, Shigeru, patted him on the back. "There ya go, c'mon, get it all out."
His second in command watched. "Yes, general. Hundreds of civilians, almost about to enter the forest. And should you really be drinking that much-"
The General got up, took the radio, and put it to the all-units frequency.
Conrad sat at his tank, playing with the loading mechanism, which he PROBABLY SHOULDN'T DO, and Lolek wove some grass into a pattern. Suddenly, the radios sprang to life.
"All units... This- is- is- is- *Hic* emergency oH GOD-"
After what sounded like vomiting, then large gulps of something, He continued.
"I've just received *Hic* word that the enemy is at our- at our- our gates."
"Wow, just received word?" said Conrad sarcastically. "Right on the ball there, sir!"
"And let it be know that *Hic* I can hear you too, damMIT OH GOD-"
And again vomiting could be heard. "Maybe we should just turn this off." Said Lolek, and the radioman started to turn the dial, when suddenly, the General started again.
"I have just one word for you all... *Hic* ...two words."
"FUCK EM!"
And the smash of a bottle against a table could be heard. Then movement. Then, "Sir, you shouldn't drive a tank when you're this... inebriated."
Then: "Fuck that, I signed up for career to kick ass, not sit around in a forest! URAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Then, motors started, and a few platoons down you could see the General's tank driving off. Seeing this, Conrad and Lolek scrambled for their tanks, and soon, everyone was racing after the General, to Ponyville. And soon, everyone was repeating the General's war cry:
"URAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Author's Note
And so, the blitz of Ponyville begins. Drunkenly. WHAT A STORY FOR THE PAPERS!
A Bridge [Into Canterlot] Too far
The burning of Ponyville.
Author's Note
Recommended music for this chapter: Sympathy for the devil
The burning of Ponyville.
In the dash from the forest, there were some civilian casualties. Fluttershy herself survived, but her hut, and many animals with it, were crushed by the tanks. Those who didn't move fast enough while the tanks raced by were crushed, a few more were trampled, but those who didn't die made it into the forest, got lost, and most of them died.
Seeing the "valiant" charge of the 15th armored and the 1st Engineers, The men in the trenches charged out and made it to the second line before anyone had a chance to start firing. the Mechanized infantry and the Armored rolled over the trenches, and before long, everyone had made it to Ponyville, and the fighting became hand to hand, as the 1st engineers blew up any buildings deemed tall enough to house snipers. And so, while most of the Ponyville Garrison decided to stay and die rather than give up, by that point, most of the Equestrians had been evacuated via truck or mass teleport, and the Ponyville garrison, the 15th Guards rifle, and the 28th Dragoons were all who were left for the final day of fighting.
End of seven days, Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville, Equestria.
Potter scanned the bare landscape with her rifle in her hooves, a bandoleer of grenades, and orders to not be taken alive. Behind her sat Buzzy, John, and Hookshot. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Everyone sat PERFECTLY
STILL.
Slowly, Hookshot, picked up his rifle, and opened the door. A Dark brown earth pony with knife for a cutie mark and a green earth pony with a Sergeant Insignia for a cutie mark fell in. Everyone scrambled to get them inside.
"So," Said Hookshot. "Where the hell've you guys been, eh?"
Kaiser Brushed himself off. "Last I checked, we had lost the battle."
"Man, don't let that get you down." Said Buzzy. "A loss here ain't the end."
Potter nodded in agreement, while John stayed silent.
Knifewound started going through the weapons that Hookshot had cached. "Got any AT rifles?" Hookshot said no.
Suddenly, the house across the way exploded and everybody briefly became aware of the constant screaming of the Griffish Rocket Trucks. "You sonuvabitch!" Said Knifewound. "You DID have an AT rifle in here!"
End of seven days, Princess Twilight's castle, Ponyville, Equestria.
Coriolanus was a Grey Pegasus in the 28th Dragoons. What remained of the 28th was used as the Guard around the castle. He had dug a foxhole and used to share it with another, but his friend bought it after the shooting of Rainbow Dash. It was Coriolanus' personal opinion that the battle was lost as soon as Dash was shot. It wasn't so much the loss of air support, they managed to hold before they arrived, but losing Dash, and the subsequent rumors that she was dead, she was in a coma, she was a vegetable, she was never actually shot and is living the high life in Canterlot, away from the battle, that sapped most of the morale and fighting spirit that they had had coming into the battle.
Coriolanus sharpened his spear. The Dragoons are useless now. He thought. Still using arrows in an age of rifles, using swords in an age of artillery, using Cavalry in an age of tanks. Coriolanus poked his helmet out of the foxhole using his spear. Immediately it was hit by a bullet. "God damn it all to hell."
Coriolanus was never very fast. He knew that attempting to run to the entrance, even though he was close to it, would get him killed. Suddenly, there was gunshots. He poked his head up. A small group of ponies had cleared out the house with the sniper in it. A brown mare threw in a bandoleer of grenades and the house exploded in a fireball. Then, they started making towards the Castle. Coriolanus jumped up. "Ay! AY! OI! OVER HERE!" The group saw Coriolanus and made towards him. Finally, man. An excuse to go inside.
End of seven days, Town hall, Ponyville, Equestria.
Private Rodney Halon was a Demolitions expert in the 1st Engineers. If the Equestrians wanted their Town back, he was going to make sure that all they got was a pile of dust. As he wired the town hall to explode, a tank crew armed themselves with pistols to make sure that anyone inside was either out or on the way to kingdom come. After a few seconds, they came out with around 20 civilians, whom they escorted to a Celestia's cross tent, and five members of the Ponyville volunteer garrison, who were "technically" spies, and were to be treated as such. And so, they were taken behind the town hall and shot in the back of the head. Rodney got a fellow engineer and moved inside the Town hall to place munitions there. When everything was set, they climbed into a foxhole and Pushed down on a plunger box. The whole place went Kaput .
As Rodney made his way through the cratered streets to his next objective, he got a bit lost and ended up right in front of Twilight's castle.
"Hello? Anyone? Surrender now, if you value your life." No answer.
Rodney peeked into a foxhole. There was no one there. "And right next to the door!" Said Rodney.
A quick inspection showed that this was the only entrance, but there was an empty balcony higher up. When he flew up to see, he saw a gap in the blinds that was big enough to see through.
And what he saw?
He saw hundreds of soldiers wait for evacuation, and every living-unaccounted for civilian, crowded inside. And best of all, he saw Princess Twilight, evacuating groups of soldiers and civilians in twenties. She looked tired, and she was, as she had had NO SLEEP for the past week, and the teleportation was taking a lot out of her. Next to her stood a Purple Dragon, who held a tray of what looked to be stimulants, amphetamines, and coffee. [Of course there was coffee. It's god's gift to humanity. That's right, Timmy. Your mother lied when she said that you were god's gift to her. Why would god give your poor, poor mother a screaming, crying little sack of shit and pink flesh, AS A GIFT? Not even the devil is that cruel. No, coffee was god's gift to your mother so that she could deal with you, you sad-sac of piss and shit. {Okay, I'm sorry Timmy. That was uncalled for.}] And every-so-often, when Twilight seemed on the verge of collapse, she would levitate a needle, a bottle of pills, and a cup of coffee, and ingest all of them at once, which was impressive, as you don't really ingest a needle of morphine so mush as inJECT it.
Oh my god. Thought Rodney. I need to report this. The Princess weak, no guards, and only weary soldiers and civilians. We'll all get medals!
And with that, Rodney sped off to go get someone in charge.
Banquet hall, Twilight's castle, Ponyville, Equestria.
Buzzy had a headache. After a week of shelling from the Griffons, his brains were jelly. He rubbed his head and breifly felt jealous of the princess for having access to coffee, then remembered that she was in charge of getting them out of there, and she actually NEEDED the coffee more then he "Needed" coffee. Finally, his headache settled down.
Then all hell broke loose.
First it was the sound of one rack of rockets. Then two. Then the whole Guards artillery let fly. Every single rocket hit around or on the castle. Of course, the castle was shielded, but that didn't stop it from shaking like Celestia two weeks into a diet without cake. Then, after that settled down, the open balcony doors crashed open, and two griffons with rather dangerous looking experimental SMGs entered. They shouted something in Griffonese, which was "helpfully" translated by Coriolanus, who had been standing next to Buzzy, to mean "Fucking quiet down and you'll live." Before Coriolanus could translate more, one raised his SMG and pointed it at the Purple alicorn and said something in rather broken Equestrian. "YOU do and surrender and PEOPLE HERE NOT DYING." Before he or his friend could make good on that, they were shoved outside by a shield wall. As they hovered just off the balcony, one fired his SMG into the shield. All the bullets melyted as they passed through.
"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET, MUCHACHO!" Shouted someone in the crowd, and as people started taunting the two griffons outside, about a platoon's worth also rose up and stared silently with killer's eyes at the shield. Then, one shouted something, and they all descended to the door. A large explosion below confirmed their worst fears, and weapons were passed out to the soldiers in the crowd, and a few minutes later, gunfire filled the halls of the castle. While hiding behind a doorway, Buzzy found a distraught Coriolanus with a bandolier of grenades rigged up so that he could pull a string and all the pins would come out. "Hey, man, you're gonna be careful with that, right?"
"It's all my damn fault. If I had just stayed outside, then they would've at least THOUGHT that there was at least a skeleton guard. So let me make it up to you."
Buzzy caught Coriolanus before he could run towards the enemy outside. "Come on, man, the worst sin is to take another's life with one's own."
Coriolanus would not be convinced. "Please, let me make this up. For the Princesses."
Buzzy would not be convinced. "I'm sure that you have a family that would love to hear from you again."
Coriolanus shook his head. "It's better they learn that I died valiantly rather than after deserting my post."
Before Buzzy could form another reply, Coriolanus ran towards the exit. Buzzy followed close enough behind to see when Coriolanus ran out the doors, ran through thousands of bullets, jumped onto a tank, pulled out all the pins, and with his last breath scream:
"REDEMPTION
EQUALS
DEAAAAAAAAAAAATH!
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A Bridge [Into Canterlot] Too far
Lean on me, when you are shot, and I'll use you as a shield, to protect me from bombs
With Ponyville wiped off the map, There was no more resistance along the way to Canterlot. And the noose grew tighter around the ancient mountain city.
The attack would come from the east, and from the south, that much was apparent. And there would certainly be an air assault, as the path leading up to the city formed a choke point for ground infantry.
And so, air raid drills were run, and huge concrete Flak Towers were constructed in major areas.
But still, the noose tightened.
A week before Attack, Ponyville-Canterlot rail line, 100 miles from Canterlot, Equestria.
Conrad removed a bayonet from a Pony's neck, and wiped off the blood. The closer they came to the capital, the more anti-griffon partisan groups attacked the armor column. They were never large enough to do more than cause a nuisance, and never armed with more than old muskets and pitchforks, but they were still annoying to deal with, and could cause a large delay with a well-placed spell or firework. And the 16th Canterlot guard was doing everything it could to delay the trains the infantry were riding on by destroying tracks and placing obstacles. Of course, it was quickly fixed by engineers, but it still delayed supplies and men to the front. As Conrad kicked the corpse off his tank, he took a minute to contemplate the fact that neither of the ruling sisters had come to stop them yet. "Hope I haven't jinxed it.
Conrad pounded on the side of the tank, and the driver once again started driving. If they were gonna make it to the holy city in a week, they had to drive through the mountains, so better to get the easy distance over fast.
This passage is based off an Equestria News Network [ENN] interview with one Sgt. Xavier Plumpicker.
ENN Headquarters, thirty years after the war, Equestria.
The ENN reporter entered the room and sat down with Xavier. "Mr Plumpicker,-"
Xavier interrupted. "Please, call me Xavier."
"Alright, then. Xavier. You said that you saw the Griffons gun down civilians during the battle?"
Xavier shook his head. "They were technically resistance members, but yes, I suppose."
"And what were the circumstances that caused them to do so?"
Xavier shifted in his seat. "Well, It was one of the small villages along the way, and we were laying down Anti tank mines, when a tank platoon rolled up. Before we could run away, the tanks were upon us. You following?" The reporter nodded that, yes he followed. Xavier continued.
"So, a shell crashed into a house right next to me, and so now I'm on the ground, hooves over my head, thinking that I'm gonna die. And then, the most amazing this happened."
At this point, Xavier stopped to drink some water, and the ENN reporter seemed impatient. "What happened?"
Xavier put down the water bottle. "They stopped." He picked the bottle back up and continued drinking. "And why was that?" Asked the ENN reporter, now visibly agitated.
"I'll tell you why. I looked up, and the griffons were all just starin' at some people. At first, all I could hear was a ringing in my ears, but after a minute, I could hear. They were singing 'Lean on me.'" Xavier stopped so that the reporter could take this in. "I'm sorry, what now?" Asked the reporter.
"I told you, lean on me. Y'know, 'Lean on me, when you're not strong, And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on.'" Said Xavier, quickly.
"And why did they do this?"
"I dunno. Something about the 'Power of friendship' or some [Bleeped out] like that."
"I see. And what did the Griffons do next?"
Xavier crossed, then uncrossed his legs. "Well, they listened quietly, and after a while, the whole village was singin', and it was actually kind of beautiful."
"But what did the griffons do next-"
Xavier snapped back at the reporter. "I'm gettin' to that! So, after repeating the song once, The Grif's got bored, and by the second chorus, they had-"
"Sir, 'Grif' is a racial slur."
"Is it? Is it really? I've heard others say it on your TV station, so you clearly don't think it's a slur-"
"Okay, okay, Nevermind. Continue."
So Xavier did. "By the second chorus, they had gotten back into the tanks, and I saw a tank commander load a machine gun. I tried to warn the villagers, but it was too late, and they started getting gunned down. So it goes, hmm?" Xavier stopped here and crossed his forelegs, like this was a normal thing that happened in every war. The reporter was horrified.
"Why the [Bleeped out] would they do that?"
Xavier shrugged. "I've come to terms with the fact that they were resistance, and so the Grif's had the full right to shoot them-"
At this point the reporter stands up. "You do know that the killing of civilians is ABHORRED, and is singled out by the Gehoofna conventions as the WORST THING you can do in wartime."
Xavier shrugs. "Everybody was technically resistance, and resistance were technically spies, and furthermore, I DON'T GIVE A [Bleeped out] ABOUT IT, and NEITHER did the Grif's.
And here the interview ends.
Author's Note
In case you've never heard Lean on me, by Bill Withers, here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL4ei-RE3Nc
Never try to stop tanks by singing.
And if you do, combine it with a dance, eh?
A Bridge [Into Canterlot] Too far
A week before Attack, St. Pederson, Fort Pederson, Griffon Empire
Second Lieutenant Conrad Anderson was a large Griffon. He had bright red feathers on his head, and was otherwise a dark shade of red. His beak was black. He was in charge of the 15th Griffonese panzer company of the 12th Guards Armored. He was sitting in his office, going over last night’s paperwork. Suddenly, Captain Henderson burst in. He was not pleased.
Captain Lolek Henderson was smaller than Conrad, but he was menacing. He had orange feathers on his wings and head, and was blue everywhere else. He was friends with Conrad, but he still outranked him. He was in charge of the 13th Guards Armored.
“ANDERSON! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?”
Conrad looked at him. “I’m… filing paperwork?”
“YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE TRANSPORT! GET MOVING!”
Conrad quickly got up, grabbed his backpack and gun, stuffed some paperwork into his bags and went out the door. Lolek walked with him.
The S.S. lilac was a large warship. It was fresh out of the factory. It was by far the largest dreadnought the Griffons had. Conrad and Lolek moved into the officer's quarters in the hold. Conrad started going through his bags.
“What are you doing?” asked Lolek as he was pulling out his pad of paper to write a letter home.
“I’m finishing my paperwork.” By this time Conrad had found his papers and had started doing the section he had left off on.
“We’re moving into a warzone, where the men under our command will die, and even we might not make it out, and all you can think of is GODDAMN PAPERWORK?”
“You know that I can't leave this unfinished. This is important!” Conrad was thorough when it came to paperwork.
Lolek stared at him, shrugged and rolled his eyes, and went to sleep.
2 hours before Attack, Ponyville Trenches, Ponyville, Equestria
The rain drizzled from the gray sky. Lionel “Hookshot” Allen was a tan unicorn with a fishing pole cutiemark. He had a large mane of messy hair at the top of his head, and a sullen, weary demeanor. He was a corporal in the 15th Equestria Guards Rifle Army. His helmet was too big for his head, and it covered his eyes if he wore it wrong. He had been in the army since the Saddle Arabian war. He had seen a lot. He was standing in the trenches surrounding Ponyville, on the end of the Eastern flank. The Griffons had Blitzed most of Equestria, capturing Cities and railroads. The Battle of Manehattan had quickly turned into a war of attrition, as the fighting became house to house. The Griffons managed to cut off all supply lines into the city, effectively stranding the entire population and 28th Infantry. Next fell Horseshoe Bay, as relentless offshore shelling reduced the city of Baltimare to rubble. The situation was dire. If Ponyville fell, then there was no major resistance left on the railroads to Canterlot. And if Canterlot fell… well, Hookshot didn't like to think about that.
“Ay! Hookshot!” Said Ian “Knifewound” Carlton. Knifewound was a dark brown earth pony with a Bloody knife as a cutiemark. He was in the Manehattan Mafia before he was drafted.
“Yeah, Ian?” Said Hookshot.
“Sergeant Kaiser wants to see you.”
Hookshot sighed, grabbed his rifle, and started off in the direction of the command trench.
Hookshot climbed into the trench that housed the dugout with the commanders. Sergeant Kaiser Hamilton was a green earth pony with a Sergeant insignia for a cutie mark, and through heavy attrition had ended up as platoon commander. Kaiser was drawing on a map of some kind when Hookshot entered.
“Ah. Hookshot. Glad to see you.” Said Kaiser, hardly looking up.
“Yeah, yeah. Enough with the pleasantries. Whaddaya want?”
Kaiser moved a piece with a Griffon flag towards Canterlot. “Hookshot, we are out of squad leaders, almost all our Sergeants are out of it with Griffish malaria or dead. Effective immediately, all the most experienced soldiers become Squad leaders.” He handed Hookshot an envelope. “Straight from Alliance High Command.”
Hookshot opened the envelope. Inside was a short note saying:
“GG, son. ~Sunbutt”, and next to it was a scribbled doodle of Celestia giving the one finger salute, which was quite impressive given that she had hooves and not fingers. “Hmm.” Said Hookshot. “And where will I be positioned?”
“A few meters west.” Said Kaiser.
Hookshot took a second to blink, then opened his mouth. “I assume that you mean KILOmeters, right?”
“No, no. A few meters. There’s a squad without a Sergeant right next to ours, and the Lieutenant has you assigned there.”
Hookshot took another few seconds to blink, then turned around and left the dugout.
“This goddamn company. Miles covered by us and I end up next to the bastards who I’m escaping.”
The siege of Ponyville was, by far, the most radical battle in the history of Equestria. Let’s start with the Ponyville trenches. This was a 50-mile-total stretch of trenches surrounding ponyville on three sides, North, East, and West. The south was covered by the Everfree forest. This diagram shows the trenches in relation to the town.
Trench warfare of this scale had never been used in Equestria. In fact, trench warfare of ANY scale had never been used in Equestria. Trenches Just Weren’t Done.
And the town of Ponyville ITSELF wasn’t safe. Not depicted is the many pit traps, foxholes, minefields, and artillery positions inside and outside Ponyville. Within the Town was the 28th Dragoons, the First “army” of the Ponyville Volunteer Garrison, and the 3rd Artillery. In the Trenches were the Second “army” of the Ponyville Volunteer Garrison and the 8th, 15th, and 16th Guards Rifle.
Anyways, The Griffon 15th Infantry and the Griffon 17th Armored were to attack via the East and West, and the 9th Guards Mechanized were to attack from the North. They would all be supported by the 9th Guards Artillery. And the 12th Guards Armored…
The 12th Guards Armored were attacking through the Everfree forest.
I don’t think you grasp just HOW radical this is.
Throughout the tumultuous history of Equestria, when the Equestrian Griffons [Not the one’s we’re talking about here, as we’re talking about the Griffonese Griffons] fought the Pegasi who fought the Unicorns who fought the Earth Ponies, NOBODY HAD EVER LED AN ARMY THROUGH THE EVERFREE. And this wasn’t just any army. This was the 9th mechanized, which was the most decorated, the most honored, the best led, and LARGEST Panzer Army. And, without doing anything to make them noticed, like burning down trees, killing the wildlife, poisoning the river, they made it through. And this is even more amazing, as the Griffonese panzer looked like a MK 5 tank only with no guns on the side and a fixed, square turret that fired High Explosive shells. As the Equestrians had no tanks, it was mainly for use as anti-infantry. It took them more than a week, but they made it through the forest, as that was expected and they were deployed a week in advance. And now, the pieces are set. Let’s see them play out.
Author's Note
And so, the end begins.
