"This attack cannot stand, we have been assaulted and we must respond!"
"And how do we do that? The guard cannot both keep the peace and go off invading rival kingdoms!"
"They didn't exactly do a great job keeping any sort of peace when the Changelings attacked in the first place, they were not trained to stand around and look pretty!"
The rest of the argument continued in much the same fashion, blame was passed from pony to pony, from the Treasurer to the Head Maid it seemed. Celestia listened to all of this from her chair, sitting at the head of the council room table she had a solid view of everything and everyone in there, none escaped her view and no conversation her notice.
The Changelings attack had ended a scant few hours ago, the guard had marshalled it's reserve forces and stood prepared for any counter attack their enemy might bring to the field, as of yet no hint of one had been discovered and Celestia was greatful for it, if they attacked again, she wasn't sure she could keep her usual control on her magic or her emotions, Canterlot would not survive if she couldn't.
"Enough."
The room fell silent and all attention was brought to her, she let her gaze roll over them all, silently scolding them for their loss of composure.
"Lord Jackhammer, what is the extent of the damages caused?"
The brown earth pony pulled a piece of parchment from his satchel and read through it quickly before giving his answer.
"The outer city remains intact your grace, most of the damage was done to the castle itself and the surrounding buildings within the upper ring, the east wing took the heaviest of the damage, the walls collapsed in various places and a few rooms are now unusable."
"How long will it take to make the necessary repairs?"
"Despite the damage we can have all repairs done within the fortnight, three weeks tops."
"Very well, send word to the outlying villages that we have need of craftsmen capable of helping with the repairs, do so at once."
"Yes your grace."
The stallion left quickly to go about his orders, with that out of the way she settled her gaze upon the next pony in the room. With Shining Armour recovering from his ordeal, his second in command, Captain Ruby Spear, took his place on the council. Her red mane and blue coat stood in contrast to her golden armour but her veteran stance and stoic demeanour let anyone nearby know she belonged in it.
"Casualties Captain?"
With military profiency the Captain recalled all the reports she'd received since the attack.
"One hundred Forty eight hospitalized your grace, most guardsponies, a few civilian injuries that are being handled as we speak, however..."
She paused for a split second as if to prepare herself before taking a breathe and continuing in a much more sombre tone.
"Four dead your grace, a patrol found them a short while ago in an alley in the upper ring housing district, all drained dry."
For a brief second the heat in the room seemed to sky rocket to unbearable levels, a few flowers in the corner went crisp and dry before falling from their stems to the floor. Every throat in the room dried up and every pony took a subconscious step back.
Celestia wrestled control back and silently berated herself for her loss of composure. Four dead... four of her ponies, her children, dead. Oh she would weep for them, she would cry and roar a mother's rage about the injustice of it all, but only once she had safely hidden herself away within the protective barrier of her safe room, where none could be affected by it. Before then however, she would smile that same half political, half motherly smile and guide her ponies to the safety and comfort they had known before, no matter how tarnished that safety seemed now.
"I'm sorry my little ponies, I forgot myself."
Now that the temperature in the room had returned to normal everyone was able to recollect themselves, none blamed her for the slip up, she loved her ponies and they knew how she felt when they were taken from her.
"Thank you Captain, return to your duties."
The captain saluted firmly and then about faced to leave the room, leaving only a few ponies left, ready and willing to receive orders.
"Lady Bookmark, what is the current location of General Thunderhoof and the Ninth?"
The slightly aged mare withdrew a clipboard and held it firmly in her magic, her eyes scrolling quickly through the last report they'd received from the General before finding what she needed.
"They recently made landfall near Baltimare your grace, they have returned after completing a contract for the Griffins."
The various ponies in the room eyed each other nervously, every pony in Equestria knew about General Thunderhoof and his legion, a massive army capable of conquering entire cities within days, made up of creatures from every territory, from pony to minotaur, griffin to yak.
For a thousand years this army had fought for Celestia and Celestia alone, though they had not been called upon for direct service since the war with the yaks over two hundred years ago. That war had been bloody but short, oh so very short, there's a reason the yaks, for all their yelling and stomping, never venture from within their borders.
Though known widely by their reputation for being a massive force of destructive power, it was their leader who ponies knew of the most. Despite having been around for just over a thousand years and having had seen generations of soldiers come and go, one thing had remained the same, one pony had continued to serve relentlessly under the banner of the Solar Goddess.
General Thunderhoof, also known as "The Wingless Alicorn", had commanded the Ninth Legion ever since its formation. He was for all intents and purposes, ageless. Though if old stories were to be believed, not unkillable.
Comprised of over five thousand heavily armoured and armed pony legionnaires and some three thousand foreign auxiliaries, the Ninth Legion was Celestia's attack dog, fuck with her, you fuck with the Ninth... no one fucked with Celestia.
"I know a lot of your are scared, I am too, your home has been attacked, your loved ones threatened and hurt."
Celestia stood from her seat and spread her wings to their full span, her ponies would need to feel confident in her decision as much as she was if things were to go smoothly.
"Chrysalis and her ilk have slapped away every hand of friendship we have offered, spat on every attempt at negotiation and now she comes to our land, our homes and seeks to steal what is rightfully ours."
This must be done, there were no other choices left, no guilt must be felt from this.
'four lives, four of my children'
"After talking with my sister we have come to an agreement."
"In accordance with the laws of the land, We hereby recall General Thunderhoof and the Ninth Legion and task with him the invasion of the Changeling Kingdom and the capture of the Changeling known as Queen Chrysalis, let it be so."
Every pony in the room stomped their hoofs in support, loud enough to rattle the table and windows.
"Lady Bookmark, make the necessary arrangements, Equestria is going to war."
Author's Note
Let me know what you think, chapters are short but hopefully plentiful, cover photo not mine just using temporarily.
Thousands of hoofs marched perfectly in time through the streets of Baltimare, the clank of armour and the rattle of weapons echoed around every street, bouncing of every building, to catch the attention of every pony within distance.
Rows upon rows of armoured legionnaires stomped their way through the bustling city, their steel plates and chain mail covering them from head to hoof, their short swords strapped to their sides and their spears glinting dangerously in the sunlight.
Mare, stallion and foal alike stopped to wave and cheer as the cities much beloved heroes returned home, being the city that sat closest to the legions main fort to the south west, near the river, meant that it received the type of protection most cities could only dream of.
The most recognisable figure though, even without the eight thousand strong legion at his back, was General Thunderhoof himself. As tall as Princess Luna and stronger than any earth pony, the general was a demigod in appearance and reputation. Any battle the Ninth had fought in, he was always where the fighting was thickest.
His dark brown coat covered many of his less serious scars, but no amount of fur could hide the lightning shaped burn scar on his right side, starting from his neck it travelled straight across to his flank, the stories on how he got the scar varied from place to place but of all the different variations one aspect was shared in common, it had somehow involved the princess of the night herself, how, nobody knew, it would likely remain a mystery as the general himself refused to speak of it.
As with all who served in the Ninth, his grey mane was cut short, easily hidden beneath his helmet when worn. On days like this however, where uniformity was highly expected, if not demanded, all scars and marks were hidden beneath his full body armour, shined to perfection without a strap out of place he set himself as an example to all his men.
He marched at the very front of the legion, flanked by his legions eagle bearer and his second in command, Colonel Shield Wall, a strong unicorn stallion with family roots buried deep within the Ninth itself, five generations worth, all serving besides the general faithfully, the colonel himself having served for some twenty five years, five of those as a colonel beside the general himself, something he prided himself in.
The general glanced ahead at the upcoming city gates that would lead them to there fortress home, surprised to find a small detachment of royal guards baring their way out. Ten of them in total, all lined up in two rows of five with what was obviously an officer stood before them, a captain if his eyesight was telling him right.
Glancing to his right at Shield Wall, he spoke in a surprisingly youthful voice despite his some thousand odd years alive.
"It seems we have visitors colonel, bring the legion to a halt."
The colonel gave a sharp nod and detached himself from the march to stand to one side, his orders would then be echoed by any NCO's currently marching along and keeping the Legion in line.
"The legion will prepare to halt!"
As expected the order was repeated all the way to the back of the column, timing it just right he finally gave the order.
"Legion!"
A beat.
"Halt!"
With precision only bred in the military, every soldier took one step more and then halted in perfect time, not a hoof out of place, not a soldier out of time, perfect, just as expected.
With a satisfied nod the colonel moved to return to Thunderhoof's side just in time for the guard captain to reach him aswell.
The captain, a yellow pegasus mare apparently, gave a crisp salute to the general and then produced a scroll from her satchel to give to him.
"General Thunderhoof, I'm Captain Everwing, captain of Princess Celestias personal logistics team, I'm here to deliver new orders for the Ninth legion."
The general broke the wax seal and read through its contents quickly before passing it to Shield Wall for him to read.
"You are a captain yes?" The general asked, his face blank.
"Yes sir, as I sai-"
"Of course you are, you introduced yourself as such, you even have the rank pins."
"Yes s-"
"And yet despite the fact that you are indeed a captain, you have just hoofed over a classified message from the Princess herself, without first requesting proof of identity from myself or the colonel." the captain seemed to shrink to half her size under the generals disapproving stare, seemingly unable to find her previous confidence she instead stuttered out an attempt at a reply.
"B-but who-, I-I mean you-"
The General cleared his throat once to silence the mare, which she did so instantly.
"In future captain you will seek proof of identification before handing over any sensitive pieces of documentation, just because I look like General Thunderhoof, does not mean I am he."
"I would of thought the captain of Princess Celestias personal logistics team would know this."
Appropriately chastised and more than slightly embarrassed, Everwing made her apologies, thankful that her team were out of hearing distance and therefore unable to hear the dressing down she'd been given by what was not just a superior officer, but also a legendary figure within and without the armed forces.
The colonel meanwhile had reread their new orders twice before giving them back to Thunderhoof.
"What do you make of them colonel?" Thunderhoof asked as he placed the scroll safely within his satchel.
"If the situation is as dire as the princess states sir, I'd say the Ninth is about to put another notch in its belt, never fought Changelings before."
"To think the capital almost fell." Thunderhoof said with a shake of his head.
Shield Wall turned to Captain Everwing who straightened up once she realised she was back under their scrutiny.
"Captain, how many guards currently defend Canterlot?"
Everwing made a quick tally in her head of the numbers as she knew them just before she'd left on her mission.
"Out of five hundred guards, fewer than four hundred currently guard the city, sir."
Both the general and Colonel Shield Wall felt shock and confusion run through them both, though it was the general that recovered first.
"You mean to tell me only five hundred guards were guarding the entire city before the attack?" The general despite all his years of experience could not keep the slightest sound of shock from tainting his tone, nor the slight widening of his eyes.
"Y-yes sir, this is a time of peace, there has never been any need for more than that."
"Bollocks captain, it is always peaceful before war, it is the unprepared that fall the quickest."
The general turned his attention fully on Shield Wall then, his face an image of stock serious that was always followed by an order.
"Colonel, call up the Second cohort."
"Yes sir!"
With a quick bellow of orders the Second cohort of the Ninth legion, being around a thousand legionnaires, detached from formation to march to the generals side.
"Second cohort as requested sir."
"Good, colonel you are to take command of the Second and take them straight to Canterlot, they are to act as the cities main defense, once you have settled them in your are to regroup with me on the border between Equestria and the Badlands, clear?"
"Clear sir!" He declared with a salute before going about his duties.
The general watched the cohort begin its march out of the city before turning to address Captain Everwing.
"Now captain, I have a message I need you to send to our Princesses, before my cohort arrives..."
Author's Note
For those of you who know anything about roman legion sizes and are probably grinding your teeth right now, I'm changing the sizes of the Legion itself as well as the size of its cohorts, centuries etc, mainly because it makes it easier for me to remember the numbers.
Apart from that, let me know what you think!
