Everfree Liberation Army

King Frethnk

"The enemy encampment has been spotted sire, just outside Equestrian controlled territory."

"Form the first and second units of irregulars on our left flank, third and fourth on the right one, archers in the center with the fifth irregular, keep it behind our lines along with the regulars and the beast masters."

"Yes my lord."

King Frethnk had marched without stopping for two days. After the news of Gruthvinks escape had reached him he had immediately left Frethnkurt castle in pursuit. With Gruthvink having been ahead of him only for a day, he had finally caught up to his army outside of this strange pony settlement.

"Today i shall taste victory."

Frethnks mind was set on his goal, his army was ready, his resolve was absolute and no man or pony would stand in his way.

He had waited for too long and that waiting would finally pay off when he had the traitors bodies impaled.

Frethnk walked around the quiet camp his army had made just a mile from the treeline of the forest. No fires had been lit and no songs had been sang. The rebels would be completely surprised. Frethnks army was over five thousand strong and the wild beasts would certainly prove decisive in destroying the rebels.

He smiled to himself, the ponies may have been warned by the rebels but still they knew nothing about his army, the rebel forces only bordered around a thousand men and their armor and weapons were even worse than those of his irregulars! It mattered little how many warriors the Equestrians sent forth on the battle, if they even showed at all, Frethnk was certain victory was his.

There were, however, a few issues that concerned him. For one, the rebels were camped on a small, artificially made, plateau surrounded by trenches and muddy ditches, his soldiers would have a hard time crossing them and the rebels had higher ground advantage. Secondly, if the Equestrians did show up in the battle, they would control the skies with their pegasi, any ambush attempts would be thwarted and in the event of a siege they could drop supplies inside the rebel base. And the one he worried about the most was the usage of magic, his soldiers were superstitious and seeing large bolts of magical energy flying around or their comrades being levitated into the air might break their morale. To the unicorns he had no immediate counter strategy, but he would figure something out. He always did in the end.

He moved about the camp, inspecting his men as they moved into formation outside the encampment. Frethnk was a notorious warrior, and his men respected him, seeing their leader before a battle strengthened their morale and resolve.

Frethnk moved to the front of the now assembled battle line and addressed his men.

"Soldiers! We have come here to fulfill our destiny! Outside of this forest lays a vast extent of land! Plains! Rivers! We will finally be able to walk outside of the walls of a city without fear of wild beasts! Not that we fear them anyway! I know each and one of you my soldiers! You have fought with me on numerous battles! And i recognize brave men when i see them!"

Many of the soldiers in the army stood upright at his words, filling their chests with pride as his leader spoke so highly of them.

"And i also know cowards when they show themselves!" The soldiers expressions darkened, they knew who Frethnk referred to. "The men camped outside are nothing more than that! Cowards! They betrayed us! They turned on their own kin when they were most needed! Many of them served under me just as you do now! Many of them we considered comrades! Allies in the face of danger! But now we know their true faces!

Those horse lovers would rather bed their farm animals than march into battle with us!" Laughter rose from the ranks of the army at the commentary. "And with the god of war as my witness! They best had enjoyed their night with their stallions! For it will be their last!"

The following uproar from the soldiers rose high into the air, men waved their fists and shouted while others hit their shields with the hilt of their swords. Frethnk stood there slightly sweating with his arms raised, a satisfied grin on his face.

"March onward!"

The formation of warriors obeyed, they advanced at a steady pace towards the treeline, never loosing formation.

Edvard

"You okay little friend?"

"I... I... um... im just..."

The strange pony had been babbling nonsense since he had seen her.

"Did something happen?"

This was strange, first he had landed a magnificent blow to the training dummy with his favorite sword and then this strange pegasus had said something to him just to blush and hide after he had seen her. He was certain the brutality of his training was stunning, but not to that level!

"I... Um... H-h-have to go!"

The blue pegasus fled at full speed towards the sky, leaving Edvard confused.

"Um... see ya?"

He was about to return to his training when loud shouting reached his ears. Followed by a war horn.

A worried look on his face he sped up the dirt slope and into camp holding his sword with an iron grip.

Grunthar

Grunthar had been enjoying the company of the now three ponies and Brethgurt when he heard the war horn in the distance.

"That's the alarm of battle!"

A quick glance to his older friend told him that Brethgurt recognized the all too familiar noise. They had been hearing it a lot, for the past few months after the war started, after all.

"We should head back to the camp."

Brethgurt set down his cup of jasmine tea. Twilight had prepared tea for all of them. Grunthar had asked for ale, as it was typical of him, but the small purple pony had just asked what that 'ale' thing was.

"We have to warn the others back at the apple farm."

Grunthar was anxious to leave, but as general he knew that they would need all the men they could get.

"Don't worry none! Just saw that there little boy rush towards the farm at full gallop!" Applejack had arrived shortly after Pinkie and the others had. She had shared the news and thanked the two humans heartily before they all got lost into chatter of less importance.

"Good, Ulfir's a good lad, he'll get the word out." Brethgurt was standing up now, ready to leave. "I thank your most gracious hospitality miss Twilight, but I'm afraid our presence is required somewhere else."

"It's all right, after this small distraction we can continue our tea and my lessons on human history!" She beamed with a slight smile

Both men glanced at each other before Grunthar spoke.

"If we make it back alive."

A confused look appeared on Twilights face.

"What do you mean? Don't you humans wear armor to battle?"

Now, Brethgurt knew exactly why Twilight was confused. Ponies did not wage war as humans did. Their physical impediments meant that they could not operate armament capable of causing death, and even if they could, they felt inclined towards injuring rather than killing their opponents in battle.

All Equestrians valued life, even that of an enemy, and rarely had war caused more than a few hundred deaths for pony kind. Since hooves were not meant for killing and the plated armor they wore to combat cushioned the blows. Even spells for war were more inclined to making their foes fall in a coma or paralyze them. Pegasi dropped large rocks from high altitudes which accounted for most deaths in a battle but it was still not enough to rival the massive amount of murder in even the smallest human quarrel.

With their most brutal war against the changelings having amounted up to eight hundred fatalities for Equestria and their conflict with the Gryphons mounting up to only six hundred, the concept of death in a battle was still met with skepticism. And the fact that Equestria was well known for their advances in the magical medicine field only meant that fewer certain death situations actually ended in death.

And now, it was up to Brethgurt to break the news to Twilight that the two men she had just shared tea with, may not return at all.

"Um... Miss Twilight... Err, humans have, a different way of making war than that of Equestria..."

"What do you mean?" Twilights face showed innocent curiosity.

Noticing Brethgurts lack of words for explaining Twilights question, Grunthar, in his usual blunt and direct way of saying things, unsheathed his sword and with a growl buried it deep on one of the wooden walls of the library. When his hand left the sword buried in the wood he turned to the astonished ponies and said in a calm voice.

"And every single one of us has one."

Brethgurt smiled apologetically as Grunthar pulled his sword out of the wall and sheathed it again.

The ponies gawked at the hole in the wall, if what they had just seen could be done by all humans, then they had a rough idea of just how brutal the battle would be.

Grunthar and Brethgurt left the ponies in the library and rushed towards their camp, the faint sounds of clashing steel reached their ears as they closed in on it.

Battle of the Ponyville Plains

King Frethnk stood at the treeline, watching as his officers rushed to give each unit their orders.

The first irregular unit was to make its way through the center and up the slope of the plateau, while the second unit rushed through the field and started its own climb on the left side. The archers were to line up behind the first unit of irregulars and commence shooting at the camp.

The third and fourth units of irregulars were to move to the right side and assault the only dirt path that led directly to the camp, although the entrance had been barricaded Frethnk was certain two hundred men would have no trouble breaching it. The remaining unit of irregulars was to stay behind the archers along with the first unit of regular heavy infantry, only to enter combat if things got rough.

His beast masters stayed behind the trees, Frethnk did not want to reveal his master weapon before the time was right.

When each unit knew what they were meant to do, the king gave the order to advance.

The units moved out, slowly at first but their pace increased as the rage of battle entered their minds. Soon enough, fifty thousand men were rushing towards the rebels encampment.

Gruthvink

The rebel leader had been taken by surprise. He left his tent fully armored and started shouting orders at his terrified officers, who immediately rounded up as many men as they could before setting of to man the defenses.

The enemy was halfway through the field.

Soldiers rushed through the camp and boys hurried on to give their fathers and older brothers their chain mail armor, their swords, their axes, spears, maces and anything they would need, and need it they would.

Enemy soldier's shouts were heard as loud as a falling tree.

Men swiftly took their places at the edges of the small, waist leveled, mud-brick walls that surrounded the encampment. If the rest of the army did not hurry there would not be enough of them to hold back the enemy.

The defenders now could see the faces of those who wanted to slaughter them.

Gruthvink moved up the ranks of his men, he had divided his troops into four parts, each one consisting of, roughly, two hundred and twenty four men. Since a hundred men were still at the apple farm and Brethgurt and Grunthar were in town the army was not complete. Despite these issues, Gruthvink placed three of his four newly formed units at the front of his camp, facing towards the enemy and one unit at the entrance of the encampment, in case the enemy tried to go through there.

So, with all preparations improvised as best as he could, he waited, shield raised and sword ready, he waited for fate to be decided.

The enemy was now at the trenches.

"Free men and soldiers! I address you here today! So that you may know that going to war with you has been the honor of my life!"

Gruthvinks short but honest speech was greeted with an equally short but sincere ovation as the men steeled themselves for the approaching impact.

Then the enemy was upon them.

The first thing the warriors noticed, was the sky darkening by a cloud of approaching arrows. The second, were the painful  cries of their comrades as the arrows hit home.

Several men around Edvard raised their shields to greet the oncoming volley, but he knew better. As the men around him prepared their shields to avoid the arrows that were meant for the back lines of the defense, a second volley was shot straight forward to the front lines.

Edvard covered his face with his round wooden shield as the arrows hammered it. His face turned to his right, he was able to see the fate that his fellow warriors received for their foolishness, The arrows were a blur until their iron tips pierced armor and flesh sending their targets to the floor covered in blood and howling with pain.

Several men had been killed instantly, but most of those unlucky enough to have received an arrow, were on the floor screaming in pain as blood flowed freely from their wounds. The men behind them moved forward to replace the fallen ones.

Edvard then lowered his shield and was met with the sight of a white skinned man in his twenties raising a spiked mace in the air. Edvard was well trained and moved quickly, raising his shield once more he deflected the blow of his opponent and in quick succession made a swift thrust with his sword to the mans face. His enemy fell backwards screaming in agony as Edvard pulled his sword out his now empty eye socket.

He had no time to end the mans life however, as the dead soldier was soon replaced by two more brutes.

The front line of the battle was utter chaos, the royal irregular units had climbed in utter disorganization, and the archers had  been too slow when reloading and had only been able to fire two volleys, but it had done the trick. The rebel forces on the plateau had lost formation for a few seconds and the royal soldiers breached through the gaps quickly. Now the rebels were separated into two different groups, each one on its own side of the battle with a growing group of enemies in the middle.

Edvard was in trouble, the two thugs had proven tougher than his last opponent. He was dodging and evading blows more than giving them, and he had been forced to give ground.

After swiftly avoiding being split in half by a slash of the left thug's greatsword, he saw a small hole in his opponents armor, his chain mail was broken in between the arm and the shoulder, leaving the mans armpit exposed. In a bold move Edvard slashed at the opening with his sword, while half blocking a blow from the war axe of the other thug. The sword connected and ripped through flesh and muscle, nearly separating the mans arm from his body.

He had no time to celebrate though, the second enemy soldier was already preparing another blow, Edvard's fellow soldiers were too busy to help him, the line had been shattered, every soldier had been reduced to small skirmishes.

The enemy soldier raised his war axe and brought it down with tremendous strength, Edvard was barely able to raise his shield in defense, but the impact was too powerful. Edvard felt the shield break in two as the war axe smashed it. He felt a horrible pain in his arm as the axe was bent to the side and slammed into his arm with the blunt end. His arm was broken and he no longer had a shield.

Gruthvink was slashing at the enemy with his sword like a mad man. He had lost his shield a while ago and was now completely focused in killing as many foes as he could before being struck down. His roars of rage filled the air around him, making his enemies think twice about attacking him.

Along with Gruthvink was what remained of one of the three units he had formed, his forces had been pushed backwards inside the encampment and he now stood before his own tent in the very middle. This would be the rebel's final stand.

"Fight with me my brothers! Fight!"

His rallying shouts made the men around him redouble their efforts.

"Teach these dogs what real men are made of!" He spat blood as he spoke, his face was a bloody mess and a long, deep gash ran from the top of his abdomen down to his waist.

The rebel soldiers launched themselves forward fire in their eyes and hatred in their hearts. Men fell before them by the dozens.

Frethnks royal army had been greatly reduced, an entire unit of irregulars had been destroyed and the other two that had charged up the slope were down to half their numbers.

"The god of war awaits us! Lets make sure we send as many of these bastards before us!"

Gruthvinks threats and war cries echoed throughout the battle, it was hard for the royalists not to feel fear, as the rebel leaders voice carried great authority and strength with it.

But the battle was almost over, the royalists had broken through the defenses at the front line and quickly surrounded Gruthvink. The main entrance to the encampment had held so far but the rebels over there were losing men fast, and the other group of survivors at the front line was being quickly surrounded as well.

King Frethnk smiled as he saw his soldiers advance up the slope and into the camp.

"Took them long enough."

"Should we secure the village as well sire?" Lord Unflack spoke from his lords left.

"Yes, move our regulars into the Equestrian settlement and claim it for our kingdom."

"As you wish my lord, I will inform the officers."

"No you wont," Frethnk almost murmured without moving his eyes from the battle. "Because you will lead them."

"As you command sire."

Unflack was slightly surprised about this turn of events, being asked to lead the advancing force into an enemy village was an honor reserved for only the best captains. But it was also the most dangerous task.

Ponyville

Twilight and her friends were in the library, trying to decide what they should do. Rainbow Dash had joined them about half an hour after Grunthar and Brethgurt had departed, but had been silent for most of the discussion, Rarity arrived a few minutes after Rainbow.

"We have to do something! Our friends need our help!"

"Twilight, dear, a battle is no place for a lady! Besides those humans seem quite able to handle this on their own."

The panorama of the argument was as follows, Twilight and Applejack wanted to join the fight to help the humans, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy wanted to help without getting involved in any of the fighting, Rarity and Spike were against risking their lives to help people they barely knew, although Spike may have just joined in because of Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, whom everyone thought would side with Rarity, had kept silent throughout the discussion.

"It doesn't matter Rarity! Our friends need our help! We cant just sit here and do nothing!"

"Twilight's right, them humans helped me with ma'h farm an i think we should return the favor."

Applejack was still thankful for the help the people had given her.

"It's not the same thing to fix a barn and to go to war!" Was Rarity's response.

"Yeah Twilight, think this through! A few ponies can't change the course of a battle!" Spike tried reasoning.

"Um... Sorry but... I think we need to warn the princess..."

"Yeah! You're totally right Fluttershy! Oooh I'll go I'll go!" Pinkie Pie volunteered.

After much deliberation it was decided, Pinkie Pie would warn the princess about the battle, Twilight and Applejack would try to help Gruthvink and his men in any way they could, Fluttershy and Rarity would stay at the library and wait for the princess to arrive.

"Wait, what about Rainbow?"

"Spike's right." Twilight looked over to the blue pegasus. "Rainbow, would you be willing to help us?"

Rainbow Dash had been asking herself the same question over and over.

Would she? Despite of what she thought about the humans?

Her thoughts flashed back to the young man she had seen training, and her heart was filled by a warm feeling, one she had not felt for a while, and even if she would not admit her feelings right then and there, not even to herself, she did feel something towards that man and as the sounds of battle resounded through the midday air, carried by the wind, she felt worry fill her mind. She had decided.

"I... I... Consider it done!"

Grunthar

Grunthar and Brethgurt had gathered the hundred men from the farm and were waiting in the outskirts of town for a chance to strike. But the enemy was very numerous and most of the men with them were not armed.

"We will charge at the attackers on the barricaded entrance."

"Are you sure Grunthar?"

"Its our only chance Brethgurt, If we can rout them, we may be able to rally the men at the entrance and push back inside the camp to help Gruthvink."

"Very well, ready when you are."

"On the count of three..."

"One..."

"Two..."

"Thr..."

"Wait!"

The countdown was cut short by a rainbow maned pegasus.

"We are here to help you!" Rainbow Dash was ahead of Twilight and Applejack, but the other two mares could be seen approaching from a distance.

"Listen kid, we appreciate what you are trying to do but seriously, don't get in the way unless you want to get hurt." Grunthar was firm simple and direct as always, but Rainbow would not give in so easily.

"You don't understand! We have a plan!"

"Miss Dash, am i correct? Well, Listen miss Dash, we really appreciate what you are trying to do, but my friend is right, this is no place for a pony."

"Ugh... You guys just beat those dudes over there by the entrance, Ok? My friends and I will handle the rest."

Rainbow flew over the clouds disappearing in an instance.

By then Twilight and Applejack had reached the group and quickly explained their plan to the men. Needles to say, they were shocked.

"Can your rainbow friend really do that?" Grunthar asked skeptical.

"Not by herself, but the weather team's pegasi agreed to help so she should be able to pull it off."

"This is marvelous! Just brilliant!" Brethgurts face lit up in excitement. "If you three can really do what you said, and your other friend is able to get reinforcements from the Princess, we may actually stand a chance!"

"No time to lose then! Lets get moving!" Grunthar shouted and his men roared in agreement. They charged through the open field that led to the entrance of the camp.

Twilights horn glowing with magic.

Edvard

The end was close. He had lost too much blood, the pain in his arm had died down a bit but it was still useless, he had barely been able to kill the axe wielding maniac that had nearly ended him. A stray arrow hit the soldier in his leg and Edvard was fast enough to kill him before he had recovered.

But now he stood along with his brothers, facing their enemy. The remaining survivors had retreated to the corner of the camp, and the royalists had followed.

Now the tension was horrible, Both sides had regrouped and were now staring into each others eyes, only separated by a few meters of blood soaked soil. Neither side knew what would light the spark that started the impending massacre.

"For Gruthvink!"

A single soldier's battle cry set the whole thing on fire.

The rebels roared in approval and launched themselves forward, swords held high in the sky. They knew they were going to die right there and then, but after years of slavery and oppression they saw death in the eye and laughed, no longer afraid of it, having conquered worse things death would be a blessing, Edvard and his fellow soldiers and brothers in arms threw themselves in the ever loving embrace of eternal slumber. No longer caring.

The royalists gave war cries of their own and met the rebels in the middle. Swords flashed in the sunlight, dust went up in clouds, blood ran in rivers and the brave warriors in the center of it all fought as the fearless fighters they were.

Edvard fell to his knees, which no longer could hold him up, a spear through the left side of his rib cage had ended the young warriors role in the events that were yet to unfold, because, as the screams of men surrounded him and he felt his own blood flowing from his wounds, he saw a rainbow above in the sky, and several storm clouds were forming above the royalists.

Edvar then collapsed, in the middle of the blood and corpses, he closed his eyes, and thoughts of a rainbow maned pegasus filled his head.