The Wall for Which We Stand. The Queen for Which We Serve. The People Whom We Protect.
"Why haven't they moved?" A huge figure asked, eye pressed to a spyglass as he looked down from the gargantuan wall he stood upon. He was a unicorn, his entire body clad in gleaming white armor, ornate, mechanical, and accented with light blue and many arcane lines of softly glowing pink that shined brightly along his arms, chest, and up his neck in spite of the remainder of the armor being caked and coated in grime, mud, and darker fluids long since dried that flaked free with his movements. He was far above average in size for a unicorn even without his armor, sword, and massive shield, both weapons styled to match the armor. The latter two could not possibly be physically lifted by anyone but him or the pony next to him due to the sheer strength required for such a feat.
"Beats me. But I reckon' they'll be movin' in soon," the pony next to him said as he looked in the same direction sans the spyglass. An earth pony, he also wore vaguely similar suit with every part of his body except for his head being clad in armor. He was taller still than his counterpart, a massive seven and a half foot tall behemoth. The armor made the sight only more intimidating, both increasing his already substantial weight heavily and making his impressive bulk seem ever more imposing. His armor was smoother aesthetically, possessing fewer angles than his unicorn ally's and painted a bright, unsubtle orange accented with streaks of red from both the armor decorum and the most recent attack. Like the unicorn, his bodily defenses shone with arcane lines of glowing magical energy, however his color was orange instead of pink. The head of a hammer of gargantuan proportion sat resting on the ground next to him, hand gripped upon the end to hold it upright.
The eyes of both hulking figures remained affixed anxiously on the treeline as they spoke while the ash from the burning Everfree slowly drifted down from the sky above. With a sigh, the unicorn lowered the spyglass and turned to his company of one.
"We both know if there's any time to try to finish us off, then it's now. Haven't heard a word from Command or the Queen for hours," the unicorn spoke. With an exhausted grunt, he lifted his sword and shield, as he took a place next to the earth pony, and looked grimly out toward the ruined countryside and the pyre of snapping trees as they burned. "Do you think they're all out?"
The earth pony lowered his head contemplatively before talking with his twanging manner of speech. "Honestly? I don't know if'n the Queen and the rest of the Machina Corps have the time to pull it off. T'weren't like we had much time to begin with and Canterlot is a mighty big place," he said, an undertone of sadness in his voice. "We know why we're here. It ain't pretty what we gotta do, but they need time. So we'll give 'em time."
The unicorn let a low, rather angry growl slip free under his own wall of stoicism. The earth pony raised a brow.
"Remember when we last worked together?" The unicorn asked.
"That I do. I think we last met when we lost Manehattan. At least that damn plague didn't go far past it, but-"
"I know, Colonel. I just think it sucks we've only ever stood next to each other while staring our deaths down."
The earth pony let fly a dry chuckle. "Well now, where'd that polish and brass go? Seein' as you got that strict sense on ya all the time."
The unicorn looked on, grimacing at the sight of a scouting jet as it flew by, likely to see if the two of them were still alive. His eyes followed the dark trail of smog left behind by the low flying aircraft as he spoke. "It never left. Either way, this sucks, no way around it. You're a good soldier. It's always a shame when good soldiers die."
Silence. There was nothing left to speak about as each ruminated over their own thoughts on the matter. There was more to think about than to talk about with the flaming Everfree in front and an emptying city behind. Their thoughts and each other's strength was all they had left to live on. A brief, but loud whistling sound cried from behind them and both quickly turned around to see the hopefully expected source. Both were disappointed. The unicorn cursed angrily under his breath.
"Red flare. They aren't finished."
"Looks like it, Captain," the earth pony responded darkly.
A loud shriek rang across the shattered battlefield. Then another. And another, each adding to their own countless number until all that could be heard was a single cacophonous roar of fury that forced both ponies to look back to the burning treeline.
"They're coming."
They both looked on, aircrafts of both crude and complex construction eclipsing the forest and rising with their morbid greeting of beating rotors, bloated creatures of horrid and foul smelling fumes, and more regular, but badly constructed balloons. Both ponies knew each was certainly filled to the brim with detestable creatures of all sorts that were ready to rain bombs and vile spellfire on them.
From the treeline suddenly poured more monsters and vehicles. Shanty trucks on crooked wheels, Changelings, mutated and augmented hounds, oversized boars, tanks covered in pulsing growths, and gigantic creatures easily three times the size of the orange armored pony that ran on all fours. From these things bellowed only frantic screaming and enraged howls from the hunks of steel and other metals that jutted out from the torn skin and muscle that propelled them forward at startling speeds, barreling their oversized tusks directly towards the wall. All these things and more, each numbered from the dozens to the thousands as they crashed through the burning Everfree in a single deranged charge.
The ponies turned to each other and nodded, leaping down from the wall and landing in front of the titanic door behind them with a wet crunch. Under their boots were hundreds upon hundreds of corpses, some crushed, some hopelessly dismembered, some reduced to only a splattering of viscera, organs, and strewn body parts decorating the crimson soaked battlefield and the wall, and all very dead. Together they looked out at the swathe of carnage they'd left over the last few hours of fighting as they bore their weapons one last time. The earth pony let free a hearty and genuine laugh, perplexing his comrade.
"Well, what's so funny now?" The unicorn asked. The orange clad earth pony looked at his companion. The last pony he'd expected to see alive or be seen alive by.
"Just look at 'em! We've gone and scared them so bad they're even sending all of those damn metal ghoul things our way!" The earth pony proclaimed confidently.
"You know, you're made of quite a bit of metal too," The Captain shook his head, but he couldn't resist a smile as well as he raised his shield in preparation.
"One thing, Captain. Why'd you join the war, if'n I'm fine to ask? I know you ain't some conscript," he inquired.
The armor of the unicorn glinted in the light of the encroaching flame. "I joined because I wanted to keep Equestria safe. Parents are long gone because of all this, and my sister will do just fine on her own. All I've done is for Equestria," he spoke. A tear fell from his cheek, invisible to all but himself. "What about you, Colonel?"
"Well, I joined for more the same reason. Equestria is my home. Damn war took a sister from me and I'm gonna pay back every drop of blood," the pony said, his hands gripping hard on the great hammer in his clenched fists.
They looked to each other one last time.
"It's been an honor serving with you, Colonel MacIntosh."
"Eeyup. It's been an honor, Captain Shining Armor"
Author's Note
A blog post will be written about this for those interested in more information. Go there if you'd care for more on this story and potential future stories.
