Fall(out) of Equestria

Waking up I walked outside into the predawn light and looked towards the roof.

"You can come down Luna. There's no need to stay up there." A moment later I watched the Princess step to the edge and spread her wings. Beautiful I thought to myself as she landed gracefully in front of me. Folding her wings up, she smiled and bowed her head.

"Thank you for agreeing to help me and my little ponies. We would be lost without some type of outside aid."

"It's not a problem Princess. I cannot sit around with a clear conscience knowing that innocents are being killed or enslaved. Even though that happens here, it's not the problem it used to be with groups like the Minutemen around."

"Still, it is a rare quality that you possess. The want to help others at your own expense and for that as I said before anything you ask for as a reward, if it is in my power to grant shall be yours."

I nodded then stood there gazing at her. I said beautiful in my mind a moment ago, but I don't honestly think that does her justice. Despite being equine and thus not human, I didn't see her as just a animal. If she was human I would dare say she would be one of if not the most beautiful women I had ever seen, but still she was beautiful in her own right. Nodding I turned and looked out upon the desolate landscape that surrounded us.

"Would I be able to return once I'm done if I survive?" I watched a quick flash of sadness cross her features before she answered.

"Yes. I would never ask this of somepony without the ability to return them to their home. But I do not..."

"That's good to know" I interrupted her. "Because that's what I want. Live or die, i never want to see this place again. I have nothing to hold me here." She looked shocked and....happy?

"As a you wish." Pausing for a moment she asked about my dog.

"He'll be alright. Desdimona and the others will care for him. Now, how long do I have to prepare?"

"Three days is all I can give you to gather what you need" I got for a answer.

"I won't need that long. I have everything right here. I just need a day to repair my armor." Looking back to her, I motioned to follow me. "I don't really have a lot to entertain a guest, but your welcome to it."

Luna stayed at my side while I repaired the X0-1 and asked my about what I would carry with me. After a few hours and some banter about what to expect I decided to take a short break. When I was getting something to drink I thought about something.

"Luna? Is there a way you could show me what the situation is on a map?" She thought for a moment before nodding and began to dig around in her saddlebags. A minute or two later she found what she was digging for and played a rolled up piece of paper on the table next to us. Unrolling it showed that it was a map of Equestria I presumed.

"The only parts of Equestria that the Caribou haven't conquered yet is here" she said showing me on the map which is colored blue to show what they still have while the rest was in red. I whistled looking at it.

"I assume this is the battle lines" I asked drawing a line from a city names Can Hoover just east of another called Canterlot and south just east again of a small city called Dodge City.

"That is correct. They control everything from the Crystal Empire. It was the first to fall." Damn I thought. They had their backs to the wall almost. "If Canterlot falls, all is lost" she said in a saddened tone.

"Troop numbers?"

"Caribou forces number around one hundred and twenty-five thousand plus, about thirty thousand ponies that they corrupted with the help of their foul magic." I cocked a eyebrow at that.

"How did they do that?"

"Dannin, the Caribou King, somehow corrupted and twisted the Crystal Heart to do his bidding. It brings out the lust in a pony and makes them subservient to the Caribou. For mares, it makes them want to breed all the time. For stallions, it brings out the worst in them. The want to rape and breed any female they can find." The more I heard about these Caribou the more I wanted to introduce them to my hammer.

"What is your troop strength?"

"Barely thirty thousand. Before the invasion, the Equestrian Army only numbered sixty-five thousand. So, half of my army is under Caribou control." Motherfucker, this is almost a no win situation was what came to mine.

"Your battle lines are stretched so thin that they are almost nonexistent."

"They are" she said folding her ears flat to her head. "Any break out along the line would be catastrophic."

"Why hasn't that happened yet.?"

"Because of Cloudsdale. The pegasi took it upon themselves to try and by the rest of Equestria as much time as they could before they fall. Nearly all of the pegasi and half of the thestrals left in the army are using it as a moble base to strike from."

"Got to admire them for that" I said in admiration while Luna nodded. "How long can they do that."

"The last communication we received from them was about two weeks and that was ten days ago." I grunted in acknowledgment still looking at the map thinking. I had a idea or two, but they would need time and I needed away to buy more of it. I needed to know the Caribou battle tactics.

"What is the Caribou order of battle? When and how do they determine where to strike?"

"Wherever there is a large consitration of ponies, they arrive and attack with the intent of subduing them until the Crystal Heart can be brought to corrupt those captured."

"How many would entice them to attack?"

"Any number over five thousand? Why do you ask?"

"Because you need more time to study something I'm bringing with me to help and I need to thin the herd some so to speak" I said smiling.