Princess Celestia sat in a large covered carriage as it rolled across the ground. A bump jarred her out of her musings over a map. A glance out the windows showed her the E.U.P. troops marching or gliding alongside her and she smiled. The time when ponies were livestock, to be used as beasts of burden or food, was long past and would never come again so long as she could help it. But even without her they could fend for themselves and be safe, that is what made her happy.
She stretched and shuffled around a bit before checking over her armour again. It was unlike the heavy iron plate the earth ponies and some unicorns used, or the thick leather and light chain mail the more nimble pegisi preferred. Instead, the smiths insisted that she have the best of whatever she wanted. Plates of lightweight thauminum covered her joints and any areas that could be problematic to her if injured, including a helmet connected to a row of thicker plates running down her spine. It was a shame the ornamental artwork wouldn't survive battle.
Where she had splurged was her over sized mace sitting on the roof. The steel core weighed more then twice the average pony, and the thauminum shell made it as much a symbol of her as a weapon. With the whole assembly, of more commonly called 'smith's gold', polished to a shine, she and her mace shone in the daylight like a miniature sun. And any returning scouts would know that she was in her carriage.
There was a bit of noise outside and then the carriage shook. She opened the back door to a small platform and a pegasus scout saluted her. "Your Highness, I've located the enemy. They've setup camp in a valley east by southeast of here." This was why there were out here, nuckelavee.
She nodded to him. "Inform the others."
"At once, Your Highness." The carriage shook again as he took off.
Nuckelavee were an unpleasant race of amphibious equines. They resembled ponies with one eye, but also had another torso sticking out of their back. A pair of long arms on it allowed them to grab things and a second head with another eye sat on top. Their furless skin looked like muscle and sinew, and always being moist added to that appearance. While they had limited ability of actively using magic, disease seemed to spread easily in their wake.
Every couple hundred years or so, a band of nuckelavee would think that they could attack her peaceful little ponies and get away with it. A couple villages had been attacked before she got word of the most recent invasion.
She stepped over and had to crouch down as she went through the door. She grabbed her mace in her magic and the carriage suddenly got much lighter as they took off. She hovered for a moment and watched the formation turn towards the camp. Pegisi squadrons started to form up around her, but in a flash of magic she was gone.
She reappeared over the valley and saw what she quickly estimated to be close to a thousand nuckelavee. A bonfire had some larger raiders around it, with the leader most likely among them. Some tents held what looked to be shamans tending to their injured. Next to a makeshift blacksmith's, even at a distance, and in such poor shape, she could identify the cut up bodies of some of her little ponies.
In a fit of rage, her horn burst into flames. With a shake of her head, she threw the fire at them. It would hit the area and spread. The butchers would burn to death while her ponies were cremated.
She turned and dove at the bonfire as she gathered some magic into her hooves. She hit the ground with enough force to scatter the fire and those around it. The impact sent up a wave of dirt that her magic turned into a small hill for her to trot upon. She took a deep breath and prepared her voice.
"Surrender now, and you shall be spared." Echoed across the valley.
There were a few groans from those getting up and screams from those on fire in two areas, but most of the area was silent.
"KILL HER!" Was the distant shout that got things started.
She looked up in time to see that one of the shamans gave the order. Before she could go after the leader, one of the raiders threw himself at her.
She caught him with her mace, and a flick bounced him off the ground. She quickly fired a magic bolt at another as she turned to hit a larger one in the side, her mace crushing armour and bone alike. An attacker from behind was fatally reminded of why that was a bad place to be, when she kicked him with her hind legs. His body and front head went in different directions as his neck gave out. Something sharp pierced her wing and she found the source to be a raider with a spear. The sharpened hilt of her mace punched through his chest armor before being pulled out and spun around, smashing his front head into the ground. She pulled the spear out and threw it at a less armoured opponent, skewering two of them.
She back flipped away from one about to take her forelegs off with a sword, over another about to hit her with a warhammer from behind, and landed hindhooves first on the faces of one too stunned by the display to react in time. The one with the hammer only had enough time to turn and face her before the helmet on his top head was pushed into his body by the large mace above. She turned towards one rushing at her with a pair of large knives. She lunged forward and the light leather armour did little to stop her horn from skewering the attacker. A toss of her head flung the body over her back. Something bounced off her back and she looked to see the one with a sword recovering. She grabbed them with a foreleg and spun around in time to block an arrow with their chest. A burst of magic threw the sword into another large raider where it sliced open the thin sheet of metal armour. A flap of her wings pushed her backwards and got her out from between two attackers about to hit her from each side. Her unexpected absence caused them to collide and she brought her mace down on both of them at once.
One standing behind her with a warhammer took a swing at her right leg before she could recover. He smiled as he felt the bone break and saw her go down and roll onto her back. A moment latter, one smirk was literally wiped off its face as she brought her mace around on her exposed enemy. Another came at her with a sword raised up, clearly intending to stab her in the chest. A wing snapped out and scooped him off the ground, the flight muscles flexed and threw him over her and into another charging at her with a pike. It took her a moment to charge up a spell that sent out a bubble of force around her, knocking back those around her while one who tried jumping on her was sent into the air. She rolled back onto her three working legs. A wide swing with her mace took out four more but an arrow hit her in the gut. She turned and threw a fireball at the archer. It splashed across a few, including her target, but their armour protected some of them. She fired a bolt of magic at a larger one who responded by holding up a shield. She jumped out of the way of the reflected bolt and did a flip that ended with her bringing her forehooves down on the front head of another. A swing of her mace cleared the area while she concentrated magic into her hooves. A stomp caused a tremor that ended with a sharp rock impaling the one with the shield. Another came at her from the side but a slap from her hoof used up the remaining magic, crushing the front helmet and spinning the body completely around. There goes the delicate carvings of vines and flowers on that boot. She tried to pivot around but was reminded of her broken hindleg.
There was still enough room around her to jump into the air, and a few flaps of her wings carried her well above the reach of their swords and spears. Here she was able to concentrate on her leg which caused a bit of grinding noise in her thigh as the bone shifted back into place and knitted together. She was about to pull out the arrow in her gut when another hit her wing. More followed and though some bounced off her armour, others hit her neck and stomach while many of them got stuck in her large wings. There were far more archers then she was expecting and she quickly found a group of them. A half dozen fireballs were thrown at them before she went into a dive. As injured as her wings were, they still pulled staticelectricity out of the air until it arced across her feathers. She fired two lightning bolts that jumped between pieces of metal, stunning or killing several more. She didn't slow down on her decent and instead had been gathering magic into her hooves. This time when she slammed into the ground, a shockwave of spikes rippled out, impaling several of those around her and leaving her in the middle of a grotesque forest.
A stunned nuckelavee was holding a sword and a firm tug of magic pulled it over to her, along with the arm holding it. A couple swipes across her wings clipped the arrows in half and a few flaps shook them out. She returned the sword to its screaming owner, pointy end first, and they quieted down. A bit of movement caused an odd sensation in her chest. Looking underneath herself she saw a wooden shaft sticking out of her armour and dragging across the ground. Looking over her back she saw the bent and broken remains of a pike. Now how did that get there? She snapped the tip off and pulled the shaft out. A nuckelavee jumped over one of the spikes and she shattered the shaft across both heads. A magic bolt nearly ripped a raider in half and a swing of her mace crushed the body of another. This gave her a moment to concentrate on her chest and the hole from the pike closed up while she bent the jagged edges of her armour outwards.
Before she could work on anything else, a magic bolt struck the armour on the back of her neck. Turning around, she saw one of the shamans standing behind a pair of stone spikes. She fired her own magic bolt but another with a shield got in the way and reflected it back at her, where her own magic shield sent it to the side. A deep breath set off a spark of magic in her throat and she breathed out a stream of fire. Any nuckelavee hit by it were ether lit on fire or left desperately trying to get out of their glowing armor as they were cooked alive.
More were making their way through the spikes and so she was out of time to work on fixing herself up. She leaped into the air and glided over the spikes. Her target only had time to look up before being crushed under hoof. A swing of her mace sent one into the air and another swing took out two more. A wing blocked a sword with the armor on the leading edge, then grabbed the attacker by the neck and folded up until there was a crunch.
She could feel a slight tremor in the ground. A spear bounced off the armour on her barrel and was answered with a magic bolt to the face. She took a deep breath and let out another gout of fire that she swept across the area. She slammed her hoof into the ground and a line of spikes tore apart her enemies.
She saw a glint of light in the air over the edge of the valley. The pegasi would be keeping formation with the rest of her forces. She looked back at the nuckelavee and put up a shield in time to stop some arrows and a magic bolt. For all the carnage she had wrought, they didn't think twice about stepping over the fallen for their chance to be the one to strike her down. She sighed and shook her head. Only the weakest of them, those not deemed fit for fighting, would ever surrender. Even then, not until the others were gone.
She leaped into the air and started quickly making tight circles. She may have only been one pony, but she was experienced, powerful, and had large wings to grab the air with. A funnel cloud quickly formed. She fed fire magic into it and it grew into a small fire tornado. She pulled out and a final flap of her wings sent it on it's way. She hovered in the air and watched as it carved a wandering path of destruction through the valley. Anything combustible, including flesh, was sucked up and fed to the monster's engine.
From the air she could see her ground forces approaching the valley and she could actually hear them now. She looked at the invading force and back at her troops. Her choice was made, the enemy was devastated, her casualties would be few, but the experience invaluable. It was the very reason they were with her to begin with.
She began raining fireballs down on the invaders as she moved away from her forces. Between herself and the fire tornado, they were so distracted that her ponies had cut through three rows of enemies before the fighting even started.
A shield blocked what little was still being sent her way as she surveyed the battlefield. The valley looked like Tartarus was trying to reassert itself on the surface. She would have to hold back even more now that her ponies were involved, so she took the time to consider her options.
She watched as her ponies fought. They were inexperienced but put their training to good use. Some of them were injured and managed to fall back, some of them weren't so lucky. One of her mages cast a spell and a blackhoof volunteer started to move. They stood up, grabbed their sword, and charged back into the fight. Ignoring the arrow in their neck and the broken spear in their chest. Her ponies weren't immortal like her, but some of them were willing to fight beyond death.
It was time to take out the one responsible for all of this. As she flew towards where the leader was, she charged up her horn and strafed the ground with a beam of magic that gouged out a trench of lava, regardless of what had been in it's way. A heavily armoured group with enchanted shields was in her path and she took a deep breath before covering them all in fire. Cries of 'Dragon!' could be heard over the screams in her wake.
She arrived at her destination to an interesting sight. The shamans had actually managed to put up a large magic shield, and several of the largest and most heavily armored nuckelavee were standing inside it, waiting for her to try to get through. After a moment of concentration, sparks ignited on each side of her and started spinning around her, leaving a helix of fire in their wake. She pointed her horn at the group and when the sparks touched the tip the fire shot out. It ground against the shield for a moment before it shattered the shield and burned through everything in it's path, leaving only charred bones and molten metal.
The leader had managed to jump out of the way. After recovering from the shock, he started gathering up his magic. Celestia was taking her time approaching the group. A smaller raider still in the area charged at her. She didn't even look as she grabbed their helmet and twisted it around when she tossed the body aside. A large ball of uncontrolled magic arced over the group and she teleported into the air before it detonated where she had been standing.
Magic bolts flew at her a moment latter. She dodged out of the way and dove at them as she drew power into her hooves and wings. There wasn't enough time to gather much and the lightning from her wings only stunned the shamans she fired at, but when all four hooves slammed into the shield a large raider had raised, he was partly crushed into the ground. A swing of her mace crushed three shamans, and her follow through took out a larger nuckelavee who only had time to partly turn around. A sword bounced off the armour on her back and she responded by backflipping over the one holding it. Another was caught off guard when she didn't land and so didn't have time to react when she kicked out with her hind legs. He dropped his hammer and grabbed his top head as he staggered off in pain and confusion. The sword was blocked by her mace when she landed, and deflecting a third attack left him off balance long enough for her to plunge the hilt of her mace through the helmet on his front head. With her magic extracting her mace, she turned and lunged, plunging her horn through the front head of a shaman who was starting to recover from being electrocuted.
Tossing the body aside, she looked around to see the remaining forces in the area had spread out around her. In the middle was a better equipped shaman with a fancier staff. "So you're the leader of this group. You're the reason some of my little ponies are dead!" The answer she got was a magic bolt from the side and being charged at from two different directions. A magic shield blocked the bolt and one of the chargers while a low swing of her mace took out the forelegs of the other. He landed at her hooves and her own magic bolt destroyed his front head. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the leader readying a spell. She grabbed a shaman in her magic and threw them at the spell. A withered husk hit the ground and broke apart. A pike slammed into her barrel and punched through both sides of her armour. The heavily armoured raider who had been holding it, collided with her and they both tumbled to the ground. Before he recovered she grabbed him in her magic and simply tossed him into the air. Not paying attention to how high he went, but knowing it would be enough.
She got to her hooves in time to swing her mace at another. A larger build and heavier armour offered little protection against such a weapon and the broken body was sent off to the side. A magic bolt ripped open a hole in her wing and drew her attention to the shaman who fired it. Before they could ready another spell she grabbed the second torso and ripped it off their back. It was flipped over and their staff plunged into them.
Something slammed into her back and almost knocked her down. A second hit knocked her to the ground and she looked over to see her attacker already preparing to hit her a third time. The large hammer came down and shattered her left foreleg at the same time that she fired off a magic bolt that destroyed his own armoured foreleg. A second bolt destroyed his hind leg and he fell over screaming. Another came running at her and a flick of magic threw the hammer at them. A grunt accompanied her getting up and she brought her mace down. The first hit killed the one next to her, a second hit for good measure just caused stuff to ooze out of the armour.
She felt magic building up and managed to turn around in time to fire her own beam at the attack. The two beams collided right in front of her face and started pushing against one another. A half second latter, her magic slammed into the staff and the top of it exploded, sending the leader stumbling backwards.
She calmly limped towards him on her three working legs. A quick look around showed her that the only ones left in the immediate area were herself, the leader and a few of the lesser ones who wouldn't fight, huddled off to the side.
She grabbed the staff with her magic and pulled it out of his hands hard enough to send him tumbling to the ground. It was crushed into splinters that burst into flames. "You could have gone after me." Her magic snapped the tip off the pike sticking out of her barrel. "I've dealt with worse." She pulled the shaft out and tossed it aside. "You could have destroyed our cities." She lifted her broken leg up. It started crunching and grinding as the bones realigned. "With the monster attacks and such things, rebuilding is practically a national pastime." She flexed the leg and stepped closer on four good legs.
"But no." She glared at him.
"You." The numerous wounds across her body caught fire and the arrows burned away.
"Had to go after." Her eyes turned into glowing white lights.
"MY." Her mane and tail burst into flames.
"LITTLE." The fires across her body went out, leaving her unblemished.
"PONIES." The grass around her hooves began to burn.
He tried to shield himself against the heat and light. "What are you?"
"ANGRY!" The shout echoed across the valley over the sounds of combat. The air started to hum as her horn got bright enough that he had to look away.
Princess Celestia stood at the head of the formation. Her broken armour was in her chariot at the end of the line, waiting to be melted down and reforged. Her mace needed to be fixed but had been cleaned and placed back on the roof. She marched up to the gates of Canterlot. Head held high and her eternal smile on her face. It's for them. she reminded herself. Her magic opened the gates and she led the E.U.P. through the open streets that were packed along the sides by cheering ponies. Seeing their princess return from battle without a scratch on her, always made her little ponies happy and feel safe.
Behind her marched her troops. Damaged armour and weapons on display to show how fiercely they fought. Even some who were injured but didn't need to be rushed to the hospital had joined in, riding on wagons and waving to the crowds if they had trouble walking. Among them were some particularly suborn ponies who insisted they be there even if they shouldn't be. Such as one with a bright red scar around his right foreleg, where a blood medic had reattached it.
Behind them was a covered wagon, flanked by ponies in heavy black robes. Even at a distance and over the cheering, Celestia could hear when an area quieted down as they passed. She didn't need to look to know what was happening. Those who's family had a history of serving would stand at attention while others would bow their heads. All but the youngest foals would realize something was happening when the adults stopped cheering, and would quiet down as well.
Once they passed, conversations would pickup as supply wagons rolled by, until the streets were open for normal use again.
Celestia stopped at the gates to the castle. Her troops and the supply wagons went to the barracks, the injured went to the hospital, and she led the last group to a secluded area. She stood at attention beside another gate and stared at the empty space across from her in a broken ceremony. It wasn't until the ones pulling the wagon returned that she left her post, leaving the fallen and their families to their final farewell.
It wasn't long before she made it to her office. There was a pileup of things that had been postponed, more had come in while she was away, and the situation would have it's own pile of work. Even with others taking care of most of it she would be extra busy for the next few days.
The fallen and their families would have to be taken care of. Including explanations for why the blackhoof volunteers couldn't keep the spell going. The few they captured would be tried and deported. The stories they would spread and the chunk of rock containing some ashes of their leader, would help keep Equestria safe. Until they were just old myths. And she would have to justify her expenditures. That was the easy part. The last time somepony questioned her defense budget she dragged them to the front line, after they recovered they tried to get the the budget doubled.
She turned around and walked away from it all. Even knowing she should get started on it before it got worse, something else was more important to her at the moment. A long soak in a hot bubble bath. She might not feel pain the same way mortals do, but she was still sore and tired from what she had been through. Soaking in a hot bath would help with that while she cleaned the smell of ash and soot out of her fur, hair and feathers.
Once she was dry, she walked out onto her balcony. With familiar effort, the sun dipped below the horizon and the day was over. Now came the hard part. With significantly more effort, she reached out to the counterpart and the moon rose into the sky. She stared at it as she laid down. It was a minute latter that she spoke.
"What would you have done Sister? Could you have seen something that I missed that would let us finally make peace? Could you have scared them off and avoided bloodshed? Would you have assassinated the leaders in their sleep and demoralized them? Would you have stood beside me in battle and faced them as one? Or would you have made a game of it, to see who could slay the most for what they did?"
There was another minute of silence before she stood up. "Good night Luna. I miss you." She turned and went to bed.
