Everfree Liberation Army

Blood Brothers

Frethnk and Gruthvink ran through the woods, making haste to get back to the castle before their mothers realized they had left.

They had been exploring the old, abandoned barracks outside the castle, and it was getting late.

"Hurry it up crab face!"

Gruthvink being the oldest often called Frethnk names, but the friendship between both of them was stronger than oak.

"No fair! You tripped me!"

"Did not! You're just slower than old Hruthgert when he's drunk!"

The two friends continued running through the thick forest foliage as the walls of the city came into view. As they approached the gates two guards stood up in attention and saluted Frethnk while eyeing Gruthvink suspiciously.

"Your father's guards don't seem to like me very much..."

"It's not that, they just... um... They must be tired from standing here all day!" Frethnk smiled reassuringly at his friend.

Being younger than Gruthvink by three years, Frethnk was far more innocent than his friend and failed to see the real reason his guards and father frowned upon his friend. Gruthvink however, was almost of age, nearing his fourteenth birthday he would become a man, and the humble origins of the son of a soldier, even if that soldier was a commanding officer in the army, were proving to become an increasing barrier between the two friends.

As the two friends left the wooden wall gates behind, they came into view of the main street of Frethnkurt castle, named after Frethnk's grandfather, King Frethnk the first. The street was alive with movement. Bakers hurried to fill their stands with freshly baked bread, farmers loudly boasted about the quality of their produce, peasants and nobles alike moved about the street, looking at what was for sale.

"Lets, go Gruthvink! Maybe Kerath will give us some fresh bread if we hurry!"

"Right behind you!"

Gruthvinks mood improved at the thought, his family made a decent living and food was not a problem but the Bread from Kerath's bakery was delicious!

They hurried down the street, moving in between the crowd and trying not to get lost in the multitude. When they finally got to the bakery Kerath was already closing.

"Aw, please Kerath? Just one loaf! Please?" Frethnks pleading eyes made Kerath loosen on her stern face.

"Oh fine, but next time come in before i set all the locks on this blasted door!"

"Haha! See Gruthvink? I told you Kerath was the nicest baker in all of town!"

Kerath smiled at the compliment and unlocking the final lock on the door stepped inside.

"Mmhm, I just hope mother doesn't get angry at me for being late..."

"Don't worry. We are not that late!"

"Frethnk, its already sundown..."

"Oh, my bad..." Frethnk smiled and shrugged.

"Numskull..."

"Hey! I'm just trying to help!"

"I know, i know, sorry..."

After a long silence, Frethnk noticed his friend's frown and distant look.

"Are you ok?

Gruthvink was not ok, he had begun to see the world in a different light. As the innocence of  his early years had begun to fade the world he lived in was thrown into the light, revealing a dreadful truth. Everywhere Gruthvink looked, he saw the markings of poverty and misery, small children ran around the streets begging for money and food, the old war veterans leaning against the buildings some without limbs others without eyes, they begged for coin.

These things had been around for as long as he remembered, but it was only recently that he had begun to see the other side of the coin.

His side of the coin.

Kerath emerged from her bakery with two loaves of bread, handing one to each boy, she bid farewell and set to the task of re-locking her door while the two friends continued down the street towards the castle.

"So are you?"

"Huh?"

"Are you ok? You didnt answer my question..."

"Oh yeah, sorry. And yes i am ok..."

"Pfft, and I am the numskull!"

Gruthvink had noticed how the nobility could enjoy such luxuries and pleasantries. He didn't think it was fair for so few to have so much, and so many to have so little.

Battle of the Ponyville plains

King Frethnk looked at the battlefield with a cold gaze, he had seen plenty during the rebellion and the wars before it. There was always some new kingdom or warlord trying to gain influence behind his back. And he had always been brutal in the way he had humbled them.

But now he felt an ounce of sadness in his heart. Somewhere in that blood drenched hell hole was his dearest childhood friend. And the man who had landed the hardest blow to his powerful empire.

Gruthvinks rebellion had made Frethnk's kingdom shake to its very core, no war he had ever fought was so close to his keep. But the main reason he so wished for the war to be over was so that he could look into the eyes of the man who had betrayed him before publicly severing his head from his shoulders.

The warm midday air was getting uncomfortable, Frethnks body started to sweat under the heavy armor. He removed his helmet slowly never moving his eyes from the battle.

"My lord, a rebel unit has been spotted moving towards the entrance of the camp, within the minute they'll reach our already combating soldiers and surround them."

The officer seemed calm but the worry in his tone was apparent.

"Dispatch the remaining irregulars, finish them off and then push into the camp."

Frethnk slowly turned around, and started walking towards the nearest tree. he sat down leaning against it and started humming to himself a tune that had not left his lips for a very long time.

Rainbow Dash

Rainbow tried hard to keep her gaze from looking down, the sight of the battle made her sick. She had never been in a battle but what she had heard from the few war stallions that she had met on her trips to Canterlot sounded rather exciting to participate in.

This was not.

The air stank of sweat and blood, dust flew everywhere and the air was filled with the agonizing screams of the dying. But the sight was the worst by far. She had seen a few young men, not much older than the human she had seen training, running desperately from another group. When they cornered them between a row of tents, the men had beaten the young soldiers senseless before stabbing them to death.

Several of her weather team members had fled back to Ponyville, unable to take in the horrible display before them. But still enough remained that the plan should work.

Her team had rounded up as many storm clouds, that remained from the previous storm, and lined them up above the royalist army, then with all the strength they could muster they started stomping on the clouds causing a small lightning storm above the battlefield.

The plan had worked, the invading soldiers looked around them in fear as the ear splitting thunder followed the lightning bolts that fell on the ground around them.

Panicked screams filled the air as a lightning reached a man and knocked him unconscious. The storm was the loudest any human had experienced and the pegasi had placed it closer to the ground than any normal storm could be.

As the terrified soldiers stopped fighting their officers tried to restore order and reform the line, Rainbow instructed her team to target the men shouting orders.

One by one the officers fell, leaving the royalist troops in utter confusion, but they still held together out of raw pride, none wanted to be the first to flee.

Rainbow dash and her team had done their part, the enemy was shaken badly but it was still not enough to make them flee. Twilight had better hurry up.

Twilight

The race to the cliff had been rough, Twilight was better suited for reading rather than running. and her slow pace reflected upon this fact. However by human standards she was still pretty fast, her four legs managed to keep the pace with the men beside her.

Applejack on the other hand, had to slow down to let the soldiers catch up to her. They were close to the end of the dirt path and the barricades were overflown with enemy soldiers. As they saw the rebels get closer, half the royalist unit that still remained shouted their battle cries and lunged forward to met the new comers.

Twilight was terrified, the image of Grunthar's sword thrust inside the wooden wall was still fresh in her mind and as she looked at applejack she noticed the same concern.

Brethgurt and Grunthar unsheathed their swords in unison, as did the men behind them that did have a weapon. With a battle cry of their own the men picked up speed and raised their swords into the air.

Twilight readied the spell she had memorized before, it was a defense spell, it was meant to throw its target into the air, but not high enough that it was lethal.

Applejack prepared herself for what was to come, her hind legs were powerful, powerful enough that not even the armor the enemy wore could save them from a few broken ribs, she knew this and was not hesitant to use them to their full power.

Grunthar roared his lungs out before his sword arm came crashing down on the unarmored head of an enemy soldier. Blood splattered his chain mail and face and brought a fearsome smile to the warrior as he pushed forward hacking and slashing at anyone foolish enough to cross his path.

Brethgurt muttered a quick incantation and his sword came alive with a green glow, as he swung the enchanted weapon the royalists backed away in fright. An old warrior with a thick beard and no hair had been reached by Brethgurts blow.

It was a small cut, completely superficial, just above his eyebrow. But after the steel had departed his flesh, the small wound was filled with small wriggling creatures. The soldier clawed at his face in horror and pain as maggots started protruding from the cut. His howls filled the air and his comrades stared in disbelief.

After several seconds of agony, the man fell to the ground, the cuts his fingernails had made filled with the small wriggling beasts as well, he trembled and convulsed, then went still as the monsters crawled into his skull and gnawed at his brain.

Brethgurt gave a cynical smile and advanced on his next target.

Twilight's magic sent several soldiers flying over their comrades, she wasn't aware of it, but a few necks snapped upon collision with the ground. Human bones were not as strong as she had calculated, but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her right?

Applejack on the other hand, was aware of every crack and split in her opponents rib cage as she sent them sprawling to the ground. Her eyes filled with disgusted tears at the feeling of her hooves snapping a mans leg bone in two. But it was either them or her, and she was not planning to die there.

Screams filled the air as more men died, the battle was reaching its climax, and the appearance of the new rebel reinforcements had made it turn its tide.

As the fifth unit of irregulars reached position behind the reinforcing rebel unit by the dirt path they charged, and clashed with the back rows of the rebels.

Brethgurt turned around and saw the newly arrived enemies. He chuckled to himself, and walked to the back lines slowly.

Garith

Just as Unflack had been sent to secure the town, Garith was to lead the charge of the fifth unit of irregulars. She was eager to prove her worth to her king or die trying.

"Charge!"

Her order was met with loud shouting from her men as they race up the path and clashed with the rebels.

After a minute of fighting, Garith was standing in the middle of her unit, five dead men before her feet, her bloodied sword glistening in the midday sun. Just as she was feeling her luck returning she spotted Brethgurt.

The strange old man moved steadily towards her, having identified Garith as the leader of the unit, he was going to try and kill her. Garith's smile disappeared as she saw the glow on the mans sword. Brethgurt had switched from his maggot spell into a personal favorite of his.

They met in the middle. Royalist troops who tried to intervene were quickly sent flying away by a strange purple glow.

No man would intervene in their duel.

Brethgurt's sword changed its green glow into a sickly yellow tone. He knew this spell very well, and it always made him chuckle at the results. But it would not be fair to face the lady on uneven terms.

With another quick incantation, Garith's sword started glowing red and a few flames flickered across it.

"So sure are you about your victory wizard?"

"The lady deserves an even fight, does she not?"

"And a fight you shall have!"

She screamed her last words before savagely attacking Brethgurt, she was stronger than she seemed.

Brethgurt barely blocked a swing directed to his head, and then blocked another one aimed at his waist. This would prove a challenge.

The battle continued for a few minutes and after successfully dodging a thrust, Brethgurt slashed at Gariths leg, making a small cut above her knee.

Graith screeched in pain as the wound became rapidly infected, pus oozed out of it in torrents, she gasped in horrible pain as she felt the bone itself rotting away. Her heart started pumping blood at a crazed speed, her blood stream rushed towards the wound and blood splattered on the ground before her, she was certain she would bleed to death.

What happened next surprised her. The wound started closing, the yellow pus that had formed inside the cut was carried away by the blood into her veins and the cut was closed in the blink of an eye. Her confused gaze turned to the old wizard.

"What...?"

The old man gave her a knowing look and said in a calm voice.

"You have five hours before the infection kills you." He turned around and started walking back to the fray of the battle. "And yes, It will be painful..."

Garith was terrified and confused, she could not move her leg anymore, and her flesh, were the cut had been, turned yellow.

Brethgurt

As Brethgurt walked away from his latest kill, he switched back to the maggot spell. Looking over the few remaining royalists that continued fighting.

The dust had settled down as his men killed of the remaining enemies, both on the front and back of the barricade. Grunthar was panting heavily by the entrance to the camp, leaning against the wooden barricade.

"Haha! Now that was fun!" Grunthar stood up to meet his approaching friend.

"Now we need to get to Gruthvink and aid in the defence."

"Not so fast Brethgurt." Grunthar nodded at the two shaken ponies that stood terrified by a tent.

Brethgurt nodded, and walked over to the two ponies.

"Miss Sparkle, Miss Applejack, I am sorry for what you have had to experience, and would really like to just be able to let you rest. But Gruthvink needs us, we cannot delay."

His words sank their meaning into the two mare's minds. They stood on shaking legs and nodded weakly.

They made quick progress through the camp, moving through the rows of tents swiftly, the rebel reinforcements along with the men that had been originally placed at the entrance of the encampment had suffered heavy losses but were still fighting fit.

As they neared the center of the camp the sight before them was shocking.

In the middle and in front of Gruthvink's tent lay hundreds of corpses, most of them severely mutilated and standing around the dead was the rebel leader and what remained of his men.

"Lord Gruthvink! Thank the gods you still live!" Grunthar rushed forward to meet his king.

Gruthvink was horribly wounded, his face was covered in blood and his chain mail had been completely torn off his body, his torso was full of cuts gashes and bruises, one of his hands was missing, his shield hand. Two soldiers had to help him stand.

"Grunthar! Took you long enough!" Gruthvink forced a smile. "But that mare over there is the one we should thank." He pointed a trembling finger towards a proud looking blue pegasus and her weather team. "If they hadn't caused that storm those bastards would have overwhelmed us." A smile crossed his face for a small while before being replaced by a somber frown.

"There still are too many, we can't hope to defeat them." Gruthvinks shoulders slumped as his bloodlust lessened.

"Actually sir, we may still have a chance." Twilights voice came from behind Brethgurt.

"And may i ask your name, miss...?"

"Twilight Sparkle."

"Very well, out with it!"

"Oh, right!" Twlight realized she had been staring at the mans wounds wondering wether he was in pain, he sure didn't show it.

Pulling out a list from nowhere she immediately started to explain in her characteristically organized way.

"Taking the entrance? Check! Making a storm? Check!..."

As she continued on with her list the men around her glanced at each other with confused expressions.

"Um, Brethgurt? Where did she get that list?" Grunthar had never seen the pony carry the list with her when they left.

"Beats me..." Brethgurt was equally confused but decided not to ask.

"...clearing the center of the camp? Check! Yup, we are all set!" Twilight smiled and then blushed as she noticed the confused stares the soldiers were giving her. "Sorry..."

"What Twilight here is tryin ta say," Applejack rolled her eyes with a smile. "Is that Rainbows storm must have scared the horse apples out of them soldiers! So now all we have ta do is go on ahead and chase em back into tha forest!"

Gruthvink smiled as he remembered how terrified the enemy had been when the storm started, and how it seemed that the lightning was targetting the officers in particular. If what these ponies were saying was accurate and the storm held on for a little longer, they could indeed rout the enemy from the camp.

"All right men! One final push! All with me! Follow me to battle and a glorious end!" Gruthvinks eyes shone with the bright fire of rage as he led his men, swords raised high, back into battle. Grunthar went ahead with his lord, leaving Brethgurt behind to catch his breath.

"Oh gods, Im too old for this!"

"So what do we do now?"

"Miss Twilight, you and your friends have done more than enough to help our cause, asking more of you would be sinful!" Brethgurt smiled heartily at the group of ponies before him. At his words several of Rainbow Dash's weather team members let out a sigh of relief and went back to town. Rainbow however had something on her mind.

"Hey, um, do you know some guy called Edvard?" Rainbow remembered his name, it had burned itself in her mind and would not stop repeating itself every time she looked down at the battlefield. She was worried.

Brethgurt blinked in surprise, out of all ponies he least expected to worry about a human, Rainbow was the very last one he thought would ask about a possible casualty of war.

"He was a good lad." Brethgurt grew somber. "And a good fighter. But his unit was in the front of the encampment and i very much doubt there were any survivors." His words were honest and filled with sadness, Brethgurt had personally recruited Edvard into their ranks.

Rainbows felt her heart sink down to her knees, and a single tear forced its way out of her eyes.

"I'm sorry for your loss miss Dash."

Brethgurt turned around and started running towards the battle, unsure of what the connection between the pegasus and one of the best recruits they had trained could be.

Applejack and Twilight walked over to Rainbow and asked what was wrong. They had heard what rainbow said but didn't know what to make out of it.

"N-nothing, I'm ok..." Rainbow shook her head and stared up at the clouds. 'You just met the guy Rainbow! You can't fall for him! He doesn't even know your name!'

Reassuring herself that it was all just a silly thought, Rainbow darted off into the sky only stopping to call out to her friends.

"Come on! I think they could use a hoof!"

The rest of the ponies followed suit, flying or running they all headed to the front of the encampment.

Brother's Blood

Gruthvink stared dead ahead at the wall of his room.

Jifvres moved closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Please Gruthvink, i know he can be difficult some times, but my brother is not that bad."

"Bad? He's a monster!" Gruthvink stood up in anger. "He calls himself king! But a real king does not let his people starve! A real king protects his subjects!" His fists smashed a small wooden carving of a horse as he let his anger out.

Jifvres looked down at her feet, a sad tear running down her face.

"You know it too Jifvres! You've seen the suffering of the people! He did not even raise a finger when i asked him to increase food rations in the poor quarter! He laughed, Gods damn him! He stood there and laughed in my face!"

"What would you have him do?"

"What he is supposed to!" Gruthvink turned around and looked deep into the eyes of his wife. "What a king should do!"

They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds before Jifvres broke eye contact.

"Perhaps you should be king..."

Gruthvink's eyes grew wide, the simple thought of replacing the former king was enough reason to be executed. But something in his wife's voice made him hold on to the idea. He toyed around with the thought of being king for a while before the sense of treason made him shake his head and lie down on his bed beside his wife.

He closed his eyes and dreams of a burning town and a city rising from its ashes with a new sovereign in place filled his mind.

Frethnk

The King and lord of the Everfree forest was filled with fury as the sight before him unfolded.

"The cowards are running!" He pointed towards the battle shouting insults at his men. "Get back there you fools! Fight!"

"My lord! The soldiers report that the storm is being caused by pegasi!" His field commander said in a trembling voice. "And a unicorn has been spotted among the rebels..."

Frethnks eyes widened, the Equestrians had showed themselves. No matter, his troops still overwhelmed the enemy by at least five to one. He would suffer heavy losses but his beast masters would win him the battle in the end.

"Pull the men back from the trenches. Reform in the middle of the plains, and move the archers at the back. We need to get out of that storm."

"As you command my lord."

The officer left to give the soldiers their orders.

Frethnk stood by the treeline looking at his soldiers regroup. He decided the time had come to show his mortal weapon.

Twilight

The purple unicorn dodged a swing of a sword, giving a high pitched scream she used her horn to fling her attacker away several feet. The man screamed before hitting the floor, and then went silent.

Twilight had no time to wonder what had happened to him because several more were closing in. She sent two more of them flying away before the rest caught up to her.

"Die you god damned beast!"

The man was tall, dark haired and muscular. He raised his arm, sword in hand, and prepared to bring it down upon the frightened unicorn's head.

Before he even had time to react two shapes got between him and Twilight. An orange earth pony and a grey haired old wizard.

Brethgurt blocked the mans attack with his own glowing sword. Before Applejack kicked him square in the ribs, sending him backwards several feet.

The men in front of them addressed the situation. There were three of them against a wizard, a magical unicorn, and an orange pony that had just cracked their comrades rib cage in two. Their decision was swift and expected.

Brethgurt watched as the enemy soldiers ran. The front of the camp had been cleared easily, the royalists were leaderless and frightened. It only took for Gruthvink to appear covered in blood and wounds screaming like a mad man to send most of them back to the treeline. Those who had remained, well, they were no longer a problem.

"So we won?" Applejack sat back on her hind legs and watched the enemy flee. As if answering her question, one of the rebel officers shouted to the men.

"Chase them down! Kill them all!"

A roar of approval ran through the remaining soldiers as they started running after the enemy. They stoped dead in their tracks as they saw what had begun to emerge from the forest.

From the treeline several men appeared with large cages behind them. In the middle of the men an enormous cage was being dragged by an ox.

Howls could heard from inside the cages as the shape of timberwolves became visible, but a terrifying roar silenced everything as the manticore inside the largest cage awoke from its sleep.

It was hungry.

"Sweet celestia..." Twilights eyes were wide with horror as the horrible sight in front of her sank in. The men carrying the cages stopped moving and slowly but surely, they opened them, releasing the ferocious timberwolves and the angry manticore upon the terrified soldiers.

The timberwolves ignored the royalist soldiers as they passed them on their way to the rebels, but the manticore was way less picky. As the enormous beast rushed through the field, it picked up any men it encountered. Screams filled the air as the monsters made their way to the rebel lines.

"Stand strong! We have faced worse before!"

Gruthvink tried to raise the morale, but the slight tremble in his voice was obvious. The men started to slowly back away.

The beasts were almost upon them.

"Gods help us..." Brethgurt said sadly as he saw the end fast approaching.

"I regret nothing!" Grunthar roared at the monsters in defiance.

"I want my mommy..." Twilight contributed to the inspiring death speeches.

The horrid beasts increased their pace as they got closer to the stench of terrified men.

The soldiers braced themselves for the impact, they formed a close line of shields and gave the man beside them a meaningful glance in which they entrusted them with their lives.

And then the most surprising thing happened.

"STOP!"

The soldiers shrieked, the beasts halted their assault, every single soul felt fear at the terrifying voice.

"...If... If you don't mind..."

Flying just below the clouds was a yellow coated pegasus with a pink mane and a shy look to her face. But her eyes reflected authority which the greatest kings would crave.

"You bad, bad manticore! What have i told you about leaving the forest?"

The enormous beast shrank in fear as Fluttershy approached him. Its eyes darted from side to side trying to find a way out of the mess it was in.

"I asked you a question!"

The beast cringed as the voice got louder, then it gave a series of roars and guttural noises in response.

Fluttershy listened intently, nodding from time to time and her frown just deepened. By now several of the timber wolves had gotten anxious and tried to lunge forward and return to the attack, but just as they began to move they felt a cold, dead stare at the back of their necks, they whimpered and returned to position.

Fluttershy returned her attention to the manticore.

"And you think it's alright for you to hurt these people just because some mean person poked you with a pointy stick?"

The manticore cowered behind its paws.

"There there, now you just head back to the forest and be good."

Fluttershy patted the manticore's head and smiled, the beast immediately perked up and started walking back to the forest followed by the timberwolves.

No sound was uttered as the beasts walked back to the trees. The place stood in complete silence as Fluttershy landed on the ground and looked at the dropped jaws before her.

"Um... Yay?"

An enormous roar of happiness sent Fluttershy to the ground as the rebels cheered and rushed to meet their savior.

Grunthar and Brethgurt looked in awe at the yellow mare and then to Twilight and Applejack, both of them with a smug smile on their faces.

"That there's Fluttershy for ya!" Applejack pointed a hoof to a startled Fluttershy being carried by the soldiers in their arms as they cheered for her. Her face was bright red and a shy smile forced itself out.

"Can this day get any stranger?"

"I doubt it my friend, i doubt it." Brethgurt and Grunthar were perplexed, none of them had seen anything like it before. But they were wrong, the day had one more surprise for them.

Frethnk

The scene that had unfolded before him was humiliating. Frethnks face glowed red with anger, as his blood boiled in his veins. Not only had he lost his most powerful weapon, he had also been publicly humiliated by a pony!

"My lord?" His officer asked fearfully.

"Charge, send everything we have against them, NOW!"

The officer jumped back in fright as his king lost his temper, then he race through the field to carry the orders to the men.

Frethnk groaned in his mind as he thought of the shame this battle would bring to him. But decided to make the captured rebels deaths even worse than he had planned, to make an example to any other future 'problems'.

Unflack

Lord Unflack had led his unit of soldiers through the plains and inside the pony settlement. The streets were deserted, but he expected that. No one was foolish enough to be out on the street in the middle of a battle. What did strike him as odd was the lack of an Equestrian garrison.

"Where are they?" Unflack said absentmindedly, not expecting an answer, which made the actual answer all the more astonishing.

A surprised scream escaped from a man in the back rows, then another and another.

"Ambush!" An officer yelled as he also was reached by a magical projectile.

In a matter of seconds the royalist regulars found themselves being swarmed by angry pegasi and unicorns clad in golden armor.

"Form a shield wall!" Unflack was desperate, he had lost a fifth of his unit in a minute and more were falling.

The magical bolts of energy bounced off of the metal shields and back at their casters, with startled gasps the royal unicorns that had fired them became paralyzed by their own shots. The shields did not stop the pegasi however.

Several men were being picked up by the shield just to be thrown into buildings or dropped from a distance to slam into the ground. Unflack was powerless to do anything, attacking the unicorns would mean losing the protection of their shield wall and they could not attack the pegasi.

"Gods damn you! Fight us! Fight us you cowards!"

As Unflack spoke his words, the shooting stopped and the pegasi hovered in place as if waiting for something. Then the ground trembled.

Lowering his shield Unflack saw in its full majestic power, the famous charge of Equestrian shock troops. Composed by earth ponies, the shock troops were famous for knocking out combatants in a single charge, and Unflack was the target of that charge.

Making a swift decision he ordered his men to break formation and stand in a line facing the enemy charge. It would not stop them, but at least they would go down fighting.

As soon as the shield wall formation was down, the unicorns reopened fire against Unflacks men. But there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Stand strong! They will not break us!"

Then the earth ponies collided against the human line. Men were sent flying backwards, some in silence as their corpses hit the ground killed by the impact, others fully screaming in agony because of their shattered bones. But ponies were not safe from casualties.

Several humans had been able to bring down their battle axes and swords before the ponies collided with them. The screams of dying ponies filled the air.

Unflack had survived the charge despite being in the first row, and now he fought like a mad man. Few of his men remained standing but those who did were not going to surrender. Their swords flashed in the sunlight as they brought them down upon their enemies.

The Equestrians were now in trouble, not being able to use their legs to kick effectively because of being so close to their enemies, they were no longer able to stand as equals to the humans. The earth ponies retreated with heavy casualties.

Roars of war and challenges were given by Unflacks men, but stopped when the Unicorns focused their magic bolts on the few survivors.

"Cowards! Cowards! Figh-!"

Unflack was cut short as a magic bolt hit his back. He fell to the ground, breathing heavily in anger. Unable to move.

Diplomacy

Frethnks charge stopped halfway through the field. A full battalion of royal pegasi landed in front of his men. And Unicorns clad in golden armor spilled from the encampment and into the battlefield surrounding his army. The earth ponies were the last to barge into the party, they came from the town and behind them were the immobile bodies of Unflack and the entire unit of regulars.

Frethnk was speechless, he had never thought the Equestrian military to be so numerous or organized.

Then, carried by several pegasi, a golden chariot descended from the sky. Inside it was Princess Celestia, Pinkie Pie and a black coated earth pony with a scar on his left cheek.

King Frethnk slowly walked over to the now landing chariot, followed by his highest ranking officers and counselors.

The Princess was furious. But so was Frethnk.

A large tent was placed in the middle of the battlefield, and both rulers went in each with their respective advisers and guards.

Night descended upon the land as both of them discussed what in the hay was the meaning of what and why there had been a battle outside a peaceful settlement, or why had the royal soldiers found Frethnks regulars inside Ponyville, and why had the Equestrians attacked them in the first place, there was also a deep debate as to why had there been ponies involved in the battle.

In the end both leaders agreed to disagree. The Princess demanded that Frethnk leave her lands never to return, and Frethnk demanded the heads of the rebels in a silver platter. The Princess refused.

"I will not allow you to take these men with you. They are here as guests and they may remain here for as long as they want." The Princess's voice was calm but firm. Frethnk however was a brutal negotiator.

"Those men are criminals, and they are armed, very dangerous people. And it would be most unfortunate if something were to happen to the residents of this town because of them..."

The Princess was going to reassure him that such a thing would not happen, but then she noticed Frethnks wolfish grin spread across his face, and realized that his words were not a warning, they were a threat.

"Have a good night Princess..." Frethnk stood up and left, followed by his men.

The Princess was speechless for a while, the threat was nothing short of a declaration of war. But Frethnks army was defeated! How could he declare war when his only army was destroyed? Unless... It wasn't his only army, perhaps he had an enormous force gathered back at his capital and ready to march it into Equestria.

The Princess worried, she had seen the brutality of men, and she knew her armies, although strong, were not used to such violence. If the humans could match Equestria in combat, then the war would be the worse anypony had ever seen or heard of.

She had to think her actions carefully.

Sweet Apple Acres

The apple farm came alive with festivities and celebration that night. As the warriors that survived the onslaught cheered and sang songs of victory, Applejack, Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, sat by a fire place talking to each other about the events of the day. The only one that wasn't there was Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow stood by a makeshift hospital bed inside one of the many tents that served to house the wounded.

After the battle, all the wounded rebels were moved to the apple farm and placed inside huge tents were unicorns tended to their wounds, many of the injured recovered from mortal wounds thanks to the care and magic of Ponyville's unicorns, nurses and doctors.

But out of all the wounded and injured Rainbow stood by a particular bed, beside a particular human.

'Oh, come on Rainbow! Snap out of it! He's good looking for a human, but still! He's a human! You're a pegasi! It's just not right!'

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a groan of pain, and she quickly replaced the small ice pack on his ribs for a new one.

As she removed her gaze from the wound she noticed him looking at her.

"Who... Are you?"

"I... I'm Rainbow Dash... I'm taking care of you." She blushed slightly and gave him a smile.

"You're the pony from... The other day." He frowned slightly.

"I.. um... Yeah, i am." Her blushed increased as a heat wave rose to her cheeks, her heart beating rapidly. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! He recognized you!'

Edvar's frown deepened.

"When... I talked... Why did you leave?"

"I... ah... Was busy! Yeah! With the storm and stuff..." She looked from side to side nervously hoping he would not press the question anymore.

Edvard smiled as he recalled the last thing he saw before passing out.

"That was incredible..."

"Yeah! Of course it was! It was me after a-ah!" Rainbow was startled to feel Edvards hand caress her mane.

Her face was ablaze, her forehead was sweating slightly and she could feel a slight shiver go up her back.

"Don't leave..."

And with those last words Edvard fell into a deep sleep, his chest rising and falling slowly.

Rainbow Dash looked at him and started to relax, her blush disappeared and her face returned to normal. a small smile was drawn into her face.

"I won't..."

The darkness of the night was illuminated by a full moon, the soft wind caressed the leaves of the apple trees as they swayed back and forth in the wind. A slightly cold breeze moved through the night, and the false sense of peace that covered the atmosphere was a welcome rest after the events that had unfolded.

It was the peace before the storm