The Fire Pipes and Long Pikes tribes of minotaurs met at the top of a plateau where their camps had been set for the past two month as the elders of both tribes debated and gathered supplies. As the days stretched on, many of the bull minotaurs from each tribe would compete in contests of strength, endurance, cunning, intelligence, drinking or eating, there were also pleasantries and gifts exchanged. Rivalries between warriors of both tribes usually devolved into bawdy singing in the drinking halls where they bragged about combat or sexual prowess, occasionally among the younger bulls tempers would boil over into brawls that were quickly broken up by the older bulls, to wit the cows would severely scold them, sometimes dolling out punishments ranging from denial from entrance in to drinking halls to serving extra shifts on perimeter guard to, in the most severe cases, floggings or canings.

As autumn came on slowly and the nights slowly became longer while a chill filled the air, the elders of both tribes came to an agreement, they would winter here and when the spring thaw came, they would march out to find the pony army and request parlay with their 'goddesses' so they could best determine whether they were a threat to their combine two tribes or allies.
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As autumn slowly flowed into winter, the combined forces of the infantry, aerial squads, transequine legions, Ponyhood of Steel, airships and the Fraternity had settled in for the long months near the walled village of Apple Orchard, but they weren't idle. The massive factories went into overdrive cranking out massive amounts of semiautomatic rifles, flamethrowers, pony-portable heat beams and improved armor for the infantry, pegasi aerial scouts and the Fraternity. New automated wagons outfitted with short and medium range mortars, several regiments of the infantry quickly reorganized themselves and started training to be more effective with the new weapons of war. As the snow slowly began to drift down to the ground, the silence was broken by officers barking orders or ponies practicing with their weapons.

The legions were also highly active, equipping and training with the new ripper hooves, double chain blades attached to helmets or held in mouths and retractable hoof blades until they were deadly proficient with them. Adamantem split their time between improving the ponemarch's legion's armor and weapons until they were master craft quality and supervising the upgrading the walls of Apple Orchard from simple logs to thick concrete reinforced with steel rebar, the gates were also replaced with thick, heavy composite metal slabs, the entrance of which barely wider than two wagons, mounted on floating hinges operated by a series of pulleys and strong steel cables, a portcullis was also installed that could be quickly lowered in case of attack.

Inside of one of the Ponyhood of Steel's compounds, the five princesses watched on in silence as a ceremony to create new sparks were enacted. A dozen ponies, surrounded by their friends and families, sat on small elaborate platforms as tech monks inserted small crystalline cubes into the bases of the platforms then placed small metal halos over their heads and attached lengths of wires to them. Food and drink were brought out to the ponies preparing to sacrifice themselves and shared with their friends and families. Tearful goodbyes, solemn, silent moments, close embraces and laughter were shared with the ponies friends and families as they participated in the final feasts. Once the food and drink were cleared away, small cups of fast-acting poison were brought out to the dozen ponies whom were preparing to sacrifice themselves. As one the ponies held up the small cups in their hooves, saying their final goodbyes. "By our deaths we ensure harmony rolls forward.", the dozen ponies said in a solemn tone. "By our lives we honor your sacrifice.", the friends and family of the ponies replied. Generators at the bases of the platforms were switched on as the dozen ponies placed the small cups to their lips and swallowed the poison. Within moments the first stage of the poison kicked in, making the dozen ponies drift off into unconsciousness, followed by their breathing slowly stopping. As the life of the dozen ponies slipped away, the machinery in the platforms transferred their minds to the crystalline cubes, each slowly flickered to life with a soft blueish-white glow as the sparks awakened to their new lives.

"We honor your sacrifices.", Twilight said solemnly stepping forward, "Let their names be preserved in the hall of martyrs for they gave the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of harmony." The bodies of the dozen ponies were placed into caskets and buried with full honors. Twelve new graves with intricately carved headstones were placed in the shadow of the Castle of Friendship.

As the days began to slowly lengthen, signaling that spring was nearing, Twilight kept an eye to a small patch trees in Apple Orchard. As the days became warmer and the snow began to melt, falling in clumps from the trees, timberwolves could be heard howling in the distances. "The first sign!", Twilight called out in a loud voice. Many ponies looked at her with confusion as she started banging spoons on pots, making a loud racket. The second day a strong wind starts blowing and the skies get covered in dark clouds. Small blue electrical sparks starts crackling across the branches of the trees that the ponies of Apple Orchard had long thought to be dead and cursed as when they tried to knock them down, they'd receive a sharp electrical zap. "The second sign!", she shouts as the blue electrical sparks dissipate as large dark leaves sprout. The ponies look at her even more bewildered as she summons up a fluffy pink bunny suit, puts it on, fills several watering cans and places them in a circle, then stands on her hind legs, hoping over each one singing the alphabet song before watering each tree. Slowly the other ponies join her as she signals to them. On the third day another strong wind blows, bringing in dark clouds, flocks of crows fill the air above the orchard. More blue electrical sparks crackle across the trees as small blue flowers sprout, bud and bloom. Ponies fill watering cans and place them in circles, while others wearing bunny suits they fashioned hop over them, singing the alphabet song. Twilight sets up an outdoor kitchen, places several jars on the counter, slaps an old green army helmet on her head and starts shouting at the jars like a drill sergeant. She slams a hoof on the counter, when any of the jars break or crack, she shouts "Court marshaled!" at them before tossing the broken and cracked jars in a bucket. On the fourth day all the ponies of the village are either singing to the water or shouting at jars like drill sergeants, as the sun sets, a meteor shower fills the evening sky with sparkling, twinkling lights, grey, unripened apples appear on the trees. When ponies try to buck the apples from the trees, they receive powerful electrical zaps, others try to pluck the unripened apples, only to get flung across the orchard. On the fifth day as the sun shines bright in the sky, a thunderstorm fills the sky with lightning, causing many of the ponies to cower in fear. The storm quickly breaks and a brilliant rainbow fills the sky. A brilliant rainbow aura surrounds the trees as the apples plump up and ripen, their color turning from grey to rainbow-stripped. Twilight quickly lays buckets and baskets under the trees, harvesting the ripened zap apples, quickly the other ponies join in the harvest. As the sun sets, the zap apples that weren't harvested vanish with pops.

Over the next week Twilight starts making jam, pies, tarts and other apple confectioneries from the zap apples, each containing the brilliant rainbow pattern of the fruits. The ponies eyes sparkles with joy and awe as they eat the various zap apple confectioneries, while Twilight shares the story of the zap apples and the recipes to make said goods. As Twilight leaves to rejoin her military, many of the villagers bring zap apple goods to the soldiers to restock the army's larders. Songs fill the air of the village praising the 'Covenant of the Zap Apples'.

In the morning as the sun barely peeks above the horizon, the engines on the airships, mobile factories, mobile barracks, mobile medbays and garages holding the war striders roar to life as the military prepares to depart. A full battalion of infantry with aerial scout compliment are stationed to protect Apple Orchard along with a company of Ponyhood soldiers. From the nearby mountain that served as his home and lair, Spike emerges, stretches his massive wings and takes to the air. The very ground rumbles as the vast pony military rolls out, the ponies of Apple Orchard climb onto the parapets of the wall, waving their hooves and shouting their praises to the goddesses. On the rear deck of the command airship, Apple Pie places her forehooves on the railing as she takes one last long look at the village that served as her home since she was a filly as it slowly sinks lower and lower on the horizon.

From within the depths of the Everfree Forest, dozens of deer watch the pony army depart. The throng of deer part as the king of Thicket, Spring Buck, walks forward to get a better look. "Alert our cousins in the glades of Spruce, Deep Pines, Crag and Mountain Top, the ponies march to war.", he says, gesturing to several does. The does bow and begin weaving secret trail spells, for a second the air fills with the crackle of magic as small paths appear leading to portals. The does disappear through the portals as they hop down the paths.

Deep in the shadows a single black stag watches intently. A smile crosses his lips, revealing teeth sharpened to points. Oh dear sweet, foolish cousins. You seek to meddle in the way of other creatures and yet you don't want to include us, the black deer. A shadow aura envelopes his antlers as he opens a portal and steps through.
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In the foothills of the range once known as the Foal Mountains, stands a fortress carved from a massive outcropping of basalt. Said keep is the home of a single wicked, mutated minotaur, known as the Brass Lord, a local warlord whom has carved out for himself a fief which he rules over with an iron hoof. Ponies, griffons, centaurs, goats and mutants serve as his legion, all gangers, slavers, cultists worshiping Grogar or Sombra, drawn to his banner by the promise of power, plunder, slaughter or other vile and nefarious purposes. In the mines, fields and bordellos, creatures of all types are enslaved and kept in brutal conditions, beaten and abused by their masters until they either die from the hash conditions or their masters grow bored, making grisly sport of them.

In these appalling conditions, an undead pegasus, wearing the alicorn amulet on her neck, along with other charms enhancing the foul magic, a twisted black horn sticks up from the gaunt, withered flesh on her forehead between the few strands of hair that hadn't fallen out, bedraggled, rotting feathers cling to nearly skeletal wings, walks unperturbed past the suffering and death towards the gates of the keep, a small group of shambling, dead ponies serve as her bodyguards. Approaching the gate, two creatures, heavily mutated to the point one can no longer tell what they once were move in front of the gates to bar her path. A sneer spread on her mummified lips, partially revealing teeth, cracked and rotting. "You will let me pass. I have business with your lord."

The mutants laugh and cross their limbs across their hideously twisted torsos. The pegasus lights her unnatural horn in an aura that robs the very light and warmth from the air. The very flesh of the two mutants begins to wither and decay, their screams quickly turn to sickly gurgling as putrid-smelling blood and other fluids pour from their mouths. Within moments the two mutants are reduced to piles of warped bones and putrefied liquid. The other creatures and mutants serving a guards back away, not wanting to meet the same fate as their two now former compatriots.

The undead pegasus mare, Cozy Glow, walks through the main yard of the keep, scarcely giving notice to slaves being subjected to tortures because their masters deemed them "lazy", their behavior "disrespectful", because they tried to flee or simply they were simply bored. Here and there screams of pain would echo across the yard from among groups of tightly gathered creatures loyal to the Brass Lord where an unfortunate slave was being subjected to sexual abuses.

Reaching the main doors of the keep, Cozy Glow allowed a sneer to spread across her mummified lips at the guards. They quickly scattered away from her, word having quickly spread of what she had done to two of the mutants guarding the main gate. Flinging the doors open, she walked in the main hall of the keep with her zombie bodyguards. Hides, skulls and other grizzly trophies taken from enemies slain by the Brass Lord lined the walls. At the far end of the hall said lord sat on a throne made of brass atop a raised dais, several female creatures, their eyes with a hollow, broken gaze, held in place by heavy metal collars chained to the base of the throne, stared at the floor.

The Brass Lord turned his head, crowned with a ring of horns that grew up from his scalp, to watch the undead mare, along with her zombie bodyguards, walk towards his throne. He tapped his fingers, intertwined with writhing tendrils, on the arm rest of the throne. As the undead mare approached the base of the dais, a wicked smile spread on his cruel features, revealing sharp, needle-like teeth. "What business does a dead thing have in my court?", he asked in a gravelly voice that made the females chained to the base of his throne tremble.

Cozy Glow was unperturbed stared up at the Brass Lord, taking in his features, especially the ring of horns and the lizard-like scaly skin, the color of unpolished brass. His displays of brutality and excess did not impress her, before she was killed nearly one thousand years ago, she had reveled in the madness of the cataclysm, this self-proclaimed ruler who was little more than a petty tyrant among petty tyrants, he was no alicorn princess and if the rumors were true, they had returned leading a great host, so for now until she had what she needed to challenge he oldest enemy, Twilight Sparkle, she would rely on her best and most powerful weapon, manipulation. "Golly!", she said in a wispy voice that felt dry as dust, "I'm just a l'il pegasus who was resurrected by a necromancer. But he's gone now and I have learned the secrets of his power and I offer to you my small vanguard of soldiers who need no food, know no fear and will follow orders."

The Brass Lord licked his lips with a tentacle-like tongue in thought as the tendrils wrapping each of his fingers wiggled and writhed as they drummed on the armrests. "What if I took your generous gifts and those shiny baubles, especially that gold one around your necks?" In response Cozy lit the magic in her unnatural horn, one of the female creatures gave a scream of horror that quickly became a gurgling as rotting fluids filled her throat while her flesh withered and purified, leaving a pool of rotted liquid and bones behind, the other females whimpered and tried to get as far away as the chains on their collars let them. A few seconds later the skeleton of the now dead female was wrapped in a lack crackling aura before it became animate, joining the ranks of Cozy's undead.

The Brass Lord tapped a tendril-wrapped finger to his chin. "Impressive. Most impressive. I believe we have reached a mutual understanding, welcome to the brass legion. Now pray tell, what do you need to make my already powerful forces even greater?"

A wicked and cruel grin twisted Cozy Glow's expression as she answered. "Flesh."
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As the crusade airships flew through their air and the massive barracks, factories, garages and medbays rumbled along the ground on wide tracks, pegasi, unicorn and earth pony squads moved out ahead scouting the land head or patrolled behind in rear guard actions.

Steel Saber, an earth pony stallion, scouting four leagues ahead of the led airship paused hearing some rustling from behind a small clump of bushes. He keyed his comms unit twice as the unspoken signal for suspicious movement. When they eyes of the two other earth ponies and the unicorn turned their eyes on him, he gave a few quick hoof signals. Suspicious movement. Going to investigate. Form a basic perimeter. Notify any other scout squads nearby and air command. The other three ponies gave a silent acknowledgement, formed a a semicircle five paces apart, the unicorn switched her comms unit to a secure and relayed the information.

Steel Saber, readied his rifle, drew the bayonet, attaching it to the lug. Eyes cautiously scanning the environment for threats and sudden movement, ears twitching, listening for any sounds out of the ordinary, he held the rifle in a hoof, approaching the small clump of bushes. The crunch of leaves and the snap of a twig, the twang of something being cocked alerted him to the possible threat, though it could be scared travelers civilians, he decided to not be rash bust still alert. A boulder further back and to his left, there was the soft crunch of gravel, followed by a similar twang of something being cocked followed by a metallic click. Backing up slowly, he quickly scanned the environment. His ears picked up soft thuds of hooves on grass, more sounds of gravel crunching or leaves rustling, eyes caught metallic glints, his training from day one in scouting school told him one thing...ambush. Backing up further, his squadies caught what was going on and quickly formed up into a two-by-two box formation. Steel Saber raised his rifle, taking aim where he first heard something hiding in the bushes and shouted a challenge, "Halt! Who goes there?! Advance and be recognized or we will fire!" The four scouts keyed on their comms units in preparation for the worst.

Metal spikes, spiked balls and crossbow bolts soared out from dozens of concealed locations. The four ponies laid down a field of fire from their semiautomatic rifles as they hastily fell back to a fallen tree for cover. A dozen ponies, griffons and minotaurs jumped from hiding places shouting threats and wooping while they reloaded their improvised weapons or drew crude melee weapon. Shots fired from semiautomatic rifles felling several, some slumping to the ground dead, others crying out in pain and others thrashing about as their lives bled away. "This is Sigma-five-one-three! We have encountered hostiles is sector two-eight-three-niner! Requesting fire support!", Steel Saber shouted into his comms unit. "This is Big Sky twelve. Be informed, we are moving in on your position with Big Sky three. We have eyes on Sigma one-one-three and Sierra-Delta-One moving to assist.", a voice crackled back through the comms unit. The ponies continued to return fire, trying to hold back the ambush, backup was on the way, with the pegasi scout squads just minutes out.

As the pegasi scouts arrived, the four ponies on the ground quickly reloaded the magazines in their rifles and moved to better cover. An improvised flare launched high in the air from a clump of trees and the very ground seemed to suddenly sprout bodies as dozens more creatures, wearing hodgepodge armor, leapt from small holes covered with crude canvas. Pegasi an griffons took to the air to take the fight to the incoming pegasi, gripping crude melee weapons in talons, hooves and mouths. Quickly the fighting became desperate as enemy numbers now greatly the small pony squads. As the ponies of the crusade found themselves surrounded, fighting quickly devolved into brutal hoof-to-hoof combat, more akin to to brawling than trained combat. Steel Saber cried out in pain as a crude crossbow bolt slipped through a gap in his armor where his foreleg met his barrel, the head biting deep until it penetrated a lung. Collapsing hard to the ground, he was stunned for a moment, but his training quickly took over and he grabbed the rifle with his other hoof, firing into the knot of creatures rushing at him until the magazine went dry. Holly Bush, the unicorn mare, went to shout the call sign in her comms unit that they were overrun and were requesting artillery strikes on their position when three metal spikes impacted the side of her neck, sending her sprawling to the ground with bright red blood pouring from her mouth. Steel Saber lost consciousness from blood loss, the ponies of the three squads were killed or drug down to the ground, bound with ropes and hauled off. The bandits hacked the ponies bodies apart who had fallen in battles. Several bandits picked up the rifles, looking over the contraptions, a few of them brushed their talons, hooves or fingers across a small rune with a gem chip in the center of it out of curiosity, as the rune blinked, several of them gathered around to gawk. Five seconds later the rifles exploded, turning the bandit's bodied whom had gathered around into mangled heaps. The bandits tossed the remaining rifles away, fearing they were cursed devices.

From concealed positions, the two remaining crusade scout squads who arrived just as the fighting died down silently observed, and giving a quick head count of surviving enemies, surviving squads and the dead from both. Quietly they fell back as they whispered the information into their comms units.

As the sun slowly set, thestrals in two-pony teams, armed with both action rifles modified into a sniping configuration, took flight from the various airships. Twilight, Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Flurry watched in stern silence as Empresario, along with the transequine general's transequine sons and daughters had their power armor, painted with night camoflage, attached to their bodies by the legion squires. Hex wrenches were inserted into sockets, with a twist the armor was connected to the pony marines nervous systems through the various ports and metal stubs in their skin. Grenades, explosives and guns loaded were attached to the armor, cassettes loaded with mass reaction rounds were inserted into ports on the armor that were quickly capped off with thick armored covers. The ponemarch struck the chest plate of the armor in salute, before the legion, recently named the Night Hunters, made their way onto the deck of the airship and fast roped to the ground, disappearing into the darkness to track the bandits along wit the thestral snipers.

Cloud Runner woke up screaming in pain as a bandit stuck a red hot poker into his belly. He had, after the surviving ponies had been drug back to the bandit camp, been strung up unceremoniously for hours by his wings. The bandit who had started torturing him was a unicorn stallion with a gnarled scar across his throat. "That was just a small taste of what I can do. Just tell me what I want and there doesn't have to be any more pain."

Cloud Runner spat a wad of saliva on the stallion's face. "Fuck your mother."

The stallion wiped the spit away and shook his head. "Such foul language. Come now, we're both ponies here. No need for such words, just tell me what I want and no more pain."

"Fuck your father."

The unicorn stallion shook his head in mock disappointment and reheated the poker in a fire, after he was happy with its temperature, he levitated from the fire. "I'm fine with doing this the hard way." He quickly touched the glowing red tip to Cloud Runner's sheath, making him yelp in pain before shoving it fully against the sensitive flesh, skin blistered, sizzled and slowly burned away, burning through the sheath and into the flesh of his penis, making the pegasus scream. Taking the poker away, the unicorn asked, "Where do you live?"

Cloud Runner mumbled something incoherently.

The unicorn raised an ear. "Pardon?"

"Fuck your sister."

"I'm sorry, you're going to have to speak up."

"Fuck your sister."

"One more time if you please, I'm a bit hard of hearing."

"Fuck...your...sister!"

"Such foul manners!", the unicorn said, recoiling in faux hurt, "Didn't your mother teach you to not speak in such a way? No matter, we can do this all night." He put the poker back in the fire, then leaned up close to pegasus and whispered in his ear, "You know those mares you were with are quite attractive. Maybe I can convince the boss to let me bring them in here along with some of the boys and make you watch as they have their way with them. I'm sure they'd just love it that you hung here and did nothing while the boys took them left, right and--AAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHH!" The unicorn's words were cut off as Cloud Runner chomped down on his ear, gave a twist of his neck, tearing a chunk away and spat the bloody chunk out defiantly.

Blood and saliva dipped from Cloud Runner's mouth as he sneered. "FUCK YOUR GRANDMA!"

The unicorn held a hoof to his ear to staunch the bleeding. "When I get back, you're going to die slow!" He stormed off to get his ear patched up.

Knowing he only had a few moments, Cloud Runner started straining and swing his body back and forth in the ropes. With a wet crunch a bone broke in one of his wings, biting down hard on a lip to keep from screaming, he continued to twist and strain, further breaking the bone and tearing muscle until a shard of bone stuck out through the skin. Blood ripped down the ruined wing and across his barrel, soaking the rope, making it slick. With a yelp of pain, he yanked the ruined appendage free, then used his momentum to swing around, using his hooves to untie the knot on the other rope. Crashing to the floor, he struggled to get to his hooves as his head swam with pain. Grabbing the poker from the fire with a hoof, he took a few deep breaths to steel himself and jammed the hot metal into the wound, cauterizing the artery. A scream poured from his mouth and he collapsed to the floor, quickly getting his wits back, he found a hiding place.

The unicorn returned with a bandage around his ear. "Now where were we? Ah yes! I'm about to...that's not good." His eyes went wide with shock and surprise seeing the empty ropes hanging, one soaked with blood.

Cloud Runner sprang out from his hiding place, swinging the poker. The metal collided with the unicorn's horn, shattering the bony protuberance. As the unicorn stallion staggered, Cloud Runner swung the poker into the unicorn's right foreleg, snapping the bones in the cannon, then into his left thigh, shattering the bone. Tossing the poker away, Cloud Runner snatched the unicorn up by his mane and started dragging him to the fire.

"Can't we talk about this?", the unicorn begged.

Cloud Runner started shoving the unicorn's face to the fire, whom tried to push himself away with his good foreleg. Cloud Runner leaned close to the unicorn's ear. "But most of all, FUCK YOU!" Kicking the unicorn's hoof away, the pegasus jammed his face into the fire and held it there until the unicorn stopped struggling and twitching. Leaving the bandit's body unceremoniously face-down in the fire, Cloud Runner brushed himself off, then spat on the body. "Only with bullet, blade and fire will filth like you ever be purified." He quickly gathered up several bladed implements and set out into the darkness to find his fellow captured scouts

Echo hung upside down from a branch on a tree, her prehensile tail grasping the wood alongside her fellow co-sniper, a thestral mare named Silent Wing. Being thestrals, they could hang upside down indefinitely without risk of blood pooling in their brain. Adjusting the magnification ring on her scope, she caught sight of a pegasus with a mangled wing sneaking between the crude and hastily constructed buildings that served as the bandit camp, going from shadow to shadow. She switched her comms unit's frequency to the one the Night Hunters were on. "Be advised, I have a visual of one of the scouts. He appears to be wounded and is moving to the ten o'clock from my position deeper in the camp."

"Affirmative.", a deep voice answered back over the comms unit.

Switching the frequency back, Echo slowly panned across the camp. Seeing the Night Hunters stacking up in the shadows in twos and threes, she whispered into the comms unit, "All targets on the perimeter and towers are marked hostile. Fire on my mark." Lining up a shot on a bandit that was facing her general direction, she flipped the safety off and slipped a hoof through the trigger guard. As the bandit raised a bottle to its lips, she squeezed the trigger.

A bandit sat with two of his buddies, lifting a bottle of crude booze to his lips, the other two bandits were snorting lines of some powdered drug from their hooves. The sound of breaking glass and a wet smack was the warning the other two bandits received as the back of the first one's head exploded in a shower of blood, bone and brains. The other two bandits stared dumbfounded, they didn't get a chance to ponder what had happened when the sides of their heads exploded outwards. All around the perimeter, bandits silently fell as chunks of the heads, neck or bodies exploded outwards with wet smacks. Across the camp confusion began to spread as the bodies of bandits fell from the towers immediately following wet smacks.

Metallic cylinders sailed out of the darkness landing among knots of confused bandits. A few seconds later the cylinders exploded, filling the air with blinding flashes or swarms of shrapnel, others sprayed out choking clouds of smoke or tear gas. Panic quickly spread as black armored figures seemed to materialized from the very shadows of the night. Guns mounted in shoulder sockets fired, sending deadly mass reaction ammunition through the air. Many of the bandits tried to flee seeing the bodies of the compatriots blow apart, only to get a few paces before mass reaction rounds ripped them open. Some bandits leapt on the armored figures trying to hack at them with melee weapons, only to be crushed under heavily armored hooves, gutted by retractable hoof blades or ripped open by the whirring blades on ripper hooves and double chain blades mounted to helmets. Some of the bandits threw down their weapons, trying to surrender, only to have the trasequine marines shoot them or crush their skulls with the swipe of a hoof.

Empresario calmly walked through the chaos that was the ambush. The sensor strips on the ponemarch's armor, along with the sensors from the transequine general's sons and daughters, fed tactical information and friend or foe designation straight into the brain of the master of the Night Hunters. With speed faster than any mortal creature could react to, the ponemarch smashed aside a charging bandit, turning the creature's innards to jelly. The transequine general quickly turned and snapped off two quick shots into a hastily constructed barricade made from crates, the mass reaction rounds turning the barricade into a deadly shower of splinters. Immediately a hail of mass reaction rounds dispatched the surviving bandits who were trying to flee from the ruined barricade.

Cloud Runner scrambled through the camp that turned into complete chaos. Gunshots, explosions and screams echoed across everywhere. When bandits leapt out near him, they collapsed in pools of blood as their heads or necks exploded with wet smacks. Reaching the cages where slaves were held, he shouted, "Peace through harmony!" "Harmony through victory!", four other voices shouted back. He quickly started cutting away the ropes or smashing the locks on chains that were holding the cages shut with the crude implements.

As the slaves poured out of the cages, the four scouts greeted him. "You look like hammered shit.", Corn Cob, an earth pony stallion, said.

"I'll be fine. Are you four all that's left?"

"The bastards killed Pine Log, Juniper Spruce, Swift Sprinter and Lilac Fields. They drug Rose Blossom off somewhere.", Sparkling Sunrise, an earth pony mare, said.

Cloud Runner swallowed, he knew what bandit gangs did to mares, the look in Sparkling's eyes told she had suffered similarly as Rose was most likely currently was...if she was still alive. The pain in his ruined wing flared up, telling he was still badly injured, with a gasp he slumped to the ground.

"You okay?", Corn Cob asked as he and another scout helped Cloud Runner back to his hooves. They used their bodies to brace him upright.

"I'll be fine.", Cloud Runner replied, "Are these all the slaves from the cages?" After receiving several affirmative replies, he continued, "Gather 'em up, keep 'em close. There's at least one legion here and unless I'm off my rocker, they've got sniper support."

"Next time I see one of those bat-ponies, I'm gonna give it my zap apple rations!", one of the scouts exclaimed.

Several of the recently liberated slaves yelped in fear. "The goddesses send their angels of the night!"

Three marines from the Night Hunters stepped out from the darkness, the quickly scanned the group of mortal creatures before disappearing back into the darkness to hunt surviving bandits.

A few minutes later Empressario walked out from the darkness towards the group of mortals, reaching up with a hoof and the tranesquine warrior removed its helmet, mag-locking it to the armored chest plate.

Cloud Runner nudged off the ponies, not wanting to look weak before before the ponemarch and knelt. "My lord."

"Who's in charge here?", Empresario asked.

"I guess that would be me.", Cloud Runner replied.

Empresario pointed an armored hoof towards the perimeter of the camp. "We're setting up a rally point in the rear. Gather there. We'll get a medic to look after you all once we can spare a moment." With that the ponemarch disappeared into the dark, reattaching the helmet to its head.

***

As the sun peaked up over the horizon, the battle...it was in reality a one-sided slaughter...against the bandits was long over. The blood had either long dried or soaked into the soil, chunks of drying viscera clung to the crudely constructed buildings or lay trampled into the dirt. Smoke drifted lazily over the camp as the Night Hunters piled corpses of bandits in the center of the camp. Tents, made from all available materials were constructed to house the freed slaves while transequine medics tended to them or to give the exhausted thestrals a place to sleep. Tallies were made, out of nearly ninety-thousand bandits that had made this massive camp...which was more like a shanty town...they suffered nearly one hundred percent casualties, out of three thousand thestrals, there were no reported casualties, out of one hundred thousand Night Hunters deployed, there were only three minor injuries reported where a several bandits had detonated a shed full of crude improvised explosives, rupturing their ear drums, nearly two thousand slaves had been freed, seven hundred bandits were taken prisoner in total.

The drone of engines and rumbling of the ground announced the arrival of the crusade forces. Quickly grave detail and medical squads were deployed. Pits were dug and the bodies of the bandits were dumped in, ponies with flame throwers burned the bodies to ash. As the freed slaves were transferred to the medbays, Cloud Runner walked alongside the stretcher holding Rose Blossom, a hollow look in her eyes along with fours dark stains on the blanket covering her from the neck down told of how she had suffered. The slaves who were killed by the bandits were wrapped in burial shrouds, the names were gotten from the survivors in the hopes that their families could be contacted and told where to find their remains. Preachers from the fraternity prayed over the deceased as soldiers dug graves and with reverence, lowered them in.

The prisoners were taken in private where truth spells were cast on them and interrogated. Each told that they had done so to win favor of a warlord known as the Brass Lord in the hopes of joining his legion, some even sketched out maps. The princesses sat in quiet observation as Sunset Shimmer presided over the mass trial of the seven hundred prisoners. She sat upright in the seat provided, "For the crimes of slavery, conspiracy to enslave, mass murder and conspiracy to commit mass murder, the sentence for six hundred and ninety of you is death by firing squad. For the remaining ten, you are to have your legs broken, given one day's worth of water and sent out to deliver a message to said despot whom you pledge yourself to. Tell him that the rightful rulers of the land comes, and that he can surrender, offering supplication to the princesses, whom are the rightful rulers of this land or face eradication. May harmony show you mercy, for we have none to spare." Once the last of the sentences were carried out, the tech monks went out to the bandit camp, dissembling everything, taking back to the factories what could be salvaged and burning what they deemed useless.

A solitary plinth with the names of the ponies who participated in the slaughter of the bandit gang and the innocents whom died was erected before the crusade forces rolled off.

All five princesses, ten ponemarchs, various generals, war strider princepts Dew Drop, Apple Pie and Sunset Shimmer stood around a table in the conference room aboard the command airship. Official maps were compared to the sketched maps drawn by the bandits, the Brass Lord's stronghold stood in the foothills of the Foal Mountains. Celestia and Luna visibly bristled in disgust and anger, those foothills was where the village once stood that was their foalhood home. Enemy force projections were made and battle plans were drawn up. It was deemed that no less than three legions, five armies, a dozen war striders, a full compliment of Ponyhood soldiers and armed tech monks, along with no less than eighteen airships providing heavy bombardment would be needed.

"This battle shall be where the fraternity shall be blooded and their mettle put to the test.", Celestia stated, "They shall prove themselves to be more than a band of religious fanatics or they shall all die." Voices around the table sounded their agreements.

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The Brass Lord was livid, only a single survivor from the bandit gang that had been slaughtered, had arrived to his kingdom...HIS KINGDOM!...and had delivered said message after limping across the countryside for weeks on four broken legs, barely surviving dehydration, hunger and exposure. He snatched up the injured pony by his throat and pinned him against the wall, the writhing tendrils unwrapping from around his fingers to wrap themselves around the pony's neck, giving the mutated minotaur a much greater grip. "These upstarts claim to be the true rulers of this land?! They expect me to kneel in subjugation?! Or face destruction?! BAH! It shall be them who shall be made to kneel low and then destroyed!" The injured pony flailed impotently as it tried to wheeze pleadingly for its life.

The Brass Lord's grip tightened on the pony's neck until muffled wet popping sounds cam from its neck. A single pathetic gurgle escaped the pony's lips as it hung slack and lifeless in his lips. He tossed the body to the floor in a mixture of anger and disgust, the tendrils re-wrapping themselves around his fingers. "Regent!" From a side door a centaur scrambled and gave a hasty bow. "Clear the courtyard, then gather one hundred raiding parties!" The centaur bowed again then scrambled out the door.

The Brass Lord stepped over to his desk, grabbed a piece of parchment, a piece of charcoal that been sharpened to a point and started writing a letter. Grand Pontiff Glittering Diamonds of New Unicornia, there is a pony army coming from the south being lead by ones who claim to be 'true rulers of this land'. If you want my kingdom to maintain our agreed-to end of the treaty, I hereby request one three hundred gross crates of lever-action repeater rifles, one thousand mountain howitzers, enough ammunition for all to hold out for a year-long siege and fifteen gross entrenching shovels for building fortifications. Skull Crusher The Brass Lord After rolling up and sealing the scroll, he called for a messenger. "Ensure this makes it to New Unicornia.", he said to unicorn messenger as he passed the message off. Said unicorn gave a quick bow and scrambled off.

Cozy Glow, whom had been spying from a nearby window, took off into the air to find the unicorn messenger. Quickly catching with the Unicorn messenger, she quickly cast a spell to stop its heart. Retrieving the scroll, she opened, quickly read it and resealed said scroll. "Been real fun working with ya Brassy.", she spoke aloud to no one in particular as she stripped the dead unicorn of its saddle bags and cloak, "But it's time for me to move on as this New Unicornia sounds like fun." Dumping out the food and water from the dead unicorn's saddlebags, as she had no need for them, she placed them on herself and draped the cloak over herself, then secured the message. Before taking to the air, she cast a spell that weakened the magical binding on the zombies she created, making it slowly unravel until the walking dead creatures decayed. Tossing the dead unicorn's body in a shallow pit, she took to the air, taking one look over her shoulder to snicker as she flew off.

The Brass Lord put on the last of his ceremonial plate armor and walked out to the courtyard where the hundred raiding parties were gathered. Raising both hands, he gestured for silence. "There are rumors about an army who are lead by those who claim to be 'the true rulers of this land'!", he proclaimed in a loud voice, "I tell you now that these stories are not true! I have received information that they are nothing more than bands of peasants who have refused to pay their tithes to us and are armed with little more than farming implements! Send these upstarts a message! We will not be cowed! Go out to every village, hamlet, farm and homestead up to twenty leagues from our borders, take no prisoners! Put every creature to the blade and burn everything so that not one board remains upon another! Make the families of these rebels and upstarts pay in blood! Who rightfully rules this land?" The creatures of the raiding parties shouted "Brass Lord!" or "Skull Crusher!" "A full measure of strong drink and chems for you all shall be the first of my rewards!", the Brass Lord shouted. Attendants hurried as they passed out bottles of strong liquor and packets of drugs. "NOW GO FORTH AND BRING MY JUSTICE TO THESE REBELS!" With shouts praising the Brass Lord, the raiders set out.

With a sense of self-satisfaction, the Brass Lord went back into his keep, peeled off the ceremonial plate armor and hung it on a nearby rack. Making his way to his throne, he called for Cozy Glow. As he sat waiting, his mind drifted back over a century ago before he had been mutated, to before the life prolonging drugs from New Unicornia, to when he was a calf in the Blackened Swords Tribe. His thoughts drifted to the magical storm that transformed his hide into tough brass-colored scales, made tendrils sprout on his hands and gave him the crown of horns, the mutations had not only made him tougher and stronger, but also made him more aggressive. His eyes drifted to the mostly decayed cow's hide still draped over the back of his throne, his clan had drove him off after he tried to overthrow the matriarch, he had returned thirty years later, leading a band of warriors and slaughtered the entire tribe, the matriarch had refused to scream or even whimper as she kept her jaw shut tight in a single, final act of proud defiance, as he carved the hide from her still living flesh. He knew the other tribes would come for him eventually to avenge their cousins, that is why he kept a few trophy places open for their matriarchs' hides.
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It had been a month since the bandit gang had been slaughtered, the crusade forces had slowly fanned out across the land, stopping at every village, hamlet and homestead along the way to offer assistance, no matter how small, build walls and irrigation systems, ask information about about the warlord known as the Brass Lord or drive off attacks by bandits, slavers, mutants and monsters. The overall slow crawl across the countryside, fanning out wide, had a greater intent than just helping peaceable ponies and other creatures and defend them from dangers, it was also intended to garner support from the civilians and spread the word. It was working surprisingly well, whenever advanced scouts or even companies of soldiers or transequine marines showed up, most of the civilians openly greeted them with joyous cheers, bringing gifts of food, what little valuables they owned, offering what little valuables they owned or strong drink, several mares had offered themselves to the passing forces(which several stallions and sometimes mares in the rank and file infantry partook in, even if it got them official reprimands or disciplinary actions, usually having their downtime being taken up in KP or scrubbing out the latrines) and even more than a few volunteers had offered to join in a bid to protect the ones they loved against the bandits, slavers, warlords and other horrors, it also had the added benefit of driving off bandits and slavers who were staking out places or shaking the citizenry down.

Aboard the command airship, which bore new heraldry and banners depicting the five alicorn princesses. Ponies climbed the riggings or were suspended off the sides as they festooned to the armor plating of the deck, gasbag and engine cowling with traditional ivory, gold and purple of Equestrian high nobility. In the conference room, the five princesses sat around a large table, reading reports from the various settlements about the warlord they were currently hunting, stopping occasionally to take a swallow of the caffeine supplement drink...if they were pressed, would say it tasted like diarrhea which was chilled, warmed over again and had flavoring that at best resembled coffee, in smell if not taste. The five wore similar scowls, they all shared the same thoughts...they had yet to run across any patrols from said warlord or even any information on how well his forces were armed. The had been fortunate in that the only conflict they had seen with recent skirmishes with gangs had seen light casualties on the crusade's side, but fortune could a harsh and cruel mistress for those who relied on it too much, at best and worst simultaneously, she was fickle.

But sometimes when fortune deals you a hand, it can be both the best and worst cards that are laid before you.

The crusade forces having learned from the scout squads that had been ambushed, had resorted to sending out in pairs, two ten pony fire teams, one fire team on the ground, the other above them in the air. They kept an open channel on their comms unit that, in the even of an ambush, quickly send out emergency transmissions to all in a wide area, along with easily reached emergency transceivers that could be quickly activated and if need be, dropped on the ground, along with emergency signal flares that could be fired by jamming one end into the ground.

A unicorn mare, serving as poinypony for the fire team she was part of, stopped as the wind shifted and took a quick sniff. Born on the breeze was the smoky smell of something burning along with the unmistakable sickly-sweet stench of flesh burning. Looking over her withers, then above her, she saw the other ponies of the fire teams had smelled it too, in fact the pegasi fire team saw something as they were fanning out in a broad semicircle. The ground ponies quickly followed suit, fanning out in their own semicircular formation, ensuring ample fields of fire to catch any attackers in crossfires from both above and below. Alerts were broadcast across the comms units notifying all patrol squads in range to a potential threat. The crusade forces were placed on alert. The airships became a hive of activity as they spread out as gun ports were swung open on the bows and massive artillery pieces were shoved in place. The treads on the massive mobile barracks came to a stop, doors opened, disgorging a battalion of soldiers each and hatches on loopholes were opened, in preparation for soldiers inside to fire out. Aboard the legion airships, heavily armored pegasi marines stood ready on the fore and aft decks, while coils of ropes were laid out on the decks of airships that contained their ground bound cousins to fast rope down.

The first elements of scout squads made their way to the source of smoke, the burnt out remains of a hamlet. Dozens of pegasi spread out across the sky, keeping their rifles and sidearms at the ready, while unicorns and earth ponies made their way cautiously into the burned out ruins. Scouts searched meticulously slow, searching for potentially hidden enemies or traps. Comms units crackled to life to report that not only had they found the graves of at least thirty civilians, some pony or creature had taken time to not only bury the bodies, but also properly mark the graves. Further investigations of the destroyed hamlet revealed large spots of dried blood where the majority of the civilians had been drug from their homes and executed, further investigations had turned up remains of ropes hanging from tree limbs and chopped down stakes where the bodies had been left. Large torn up ground indicated indicated a force of at least one hundred creatures had attacked the settlement, and this had been a directed attack with the intent to slaughter all in the hamlet and destroy it. A few sharp-eyed scouts spotted where a small number of large, hoofed creatures entered ruins at a later time, buried the civilians, then left, covering their tracks well enough.

On a nearby wooded hillock, two young minotaurs, whom had served as rear scouts for the Fire Pipes and the Long Pikes tribes, were stationed to watch in the event any creatures. They watched silently as the ponies of the crusade investigated the remains and documented the destruction and graves. After the ponies moved back the direction they had came from, the two young minotaurs silently withdrew from their hidden observation point and returned to the camp where their two tribes were set up.

As the day moved into early evening, the crusade forces were a hive of energy. Between the princesses, ponemarchs and generals, it was a universal agreement that this was no random attack, but a message, most likely from the self-professed Brass Lord. Entire battalions of soldiers spread out across the countryside, they set up bivouacs, tossed up berms, dug foxholes and fighting trenches, as heavy wheeled shields ready and self-propelled cars carrying mortars were made ready. The war striders had their gestalt sparks while were prepared for full awakening while the princepts took up residence in either the heavily armored command decks or in the massive garages. Temporary metal structures were erected to house potential wounded, weapons, ammunition and command crew. Legion airships landed, disgorging earth pony and unicorn marines in full armor while the pegasi marines ignited clod generators to create temporary structures for their transequine pegasi brethren and mortal pegasi. Smoke belched from the mobile forges as they started ammunition en mass. Mobile medbays were moved into defensible locations and protective shields were erected around them. Amongst the controlled chaos, lightweight, collapsible, modular cover was set up, to be deployed in a moment's notice.

Perimeter alerts from the western-most bivouacs wenup across the comms network. Companies quickly re-positioned in anticipation of an attack. The tension could be cut with a knife as the smell of sweat and adrenaline filled the air, hooves trembled with a mixture of fear and apprehension as the minutes ticked by for what felt like miniature eternities. Comms units crackled, carrying the message that some creatures were requesting parlay with the princesses.

A pair of simple wooden wooden platforms, each carried by four black armored minotaurs, served as the palanquins of the two matriarchs of the Fire Pipes and Long Pikes Tribes, Daisy and Dewy Meadows, lay with their legs tucked under them. As the pony soldiers laid on the berms or leaned around heavy wheeled shields, pointing their rifles, the representatives of the two tribes remained calm, cool and collected, the two cows maintained small, warm grins on their faces. The engines of the command airship droned as it sailed overhead. The airship banked over the wide open expanse before setting down. The five alicorn princesses stepped off the airship, wearing full armor, weapons mag-locked to their sides. The Nebula Guard stepped off the airship, forming up a semicircular formation behind and beside the princesses, silver halberds at the ready. The eight minotaurs lowered the simple palanquins to the ground in a measured, fluid motion, kneeling, with heads lowered, fists planted on the ground. The two cows rose slowly, stepping down from their platforms and slowly walked towards the princesses, stopping a few strides from them.

As the two cows knelt before the princesses, Daisy spoke, "The portents spoke true. The goddesses of this land have returned." Dewy Meadows spoke, "We offer the services of our two tribes to thine sacred campaign."

"And what dost thou offer as insurance of tine two tribes wouldst comply with our armies?", Luna asked.

Daisy and Dewy Meadows lowered their heads to the ground in supplication and spoke simultaneously, "We offer ourselves up as hostages."

Cadance took a half step forward. "Rise. We have no use for hostages. If your cows and minotaurs would swear to bring harmony to this land and bring justice to those whom enslave or murder the innocent, your two tribes may join freely."

"Our words and visions guide our tribes and bind their actions. By our oaths we swear to thine sacred cause. If thou five at with honor and wisdom, our warriors shall follow thy words as if it were spake by our own mouths.", the two cows spoke simultaneously in a well-rehearsed, but short speach.

Stepping forward, Twilight gave a gesture with her hoof for the soldiers to stand down. "Where are your fellow tribescattle? Do they need help or escort?"

Daisy and Dewy Meadows answered with a quick gesture of their hooves. From wooded thickets the minotaurs and cows walked out, many carrying their housing on their backs, the calves sticking close to their patent's hooves. One by one, the warrior approached the five princesses and laid their weapons on the ground at their hooves, in a silent oath.

Celestia gestured to the command airship. "Come aboard honored matriarchs so we can properly negotiate integrating your warriors to our army."

As the five alicorns, two cows and thirty Nebula Guard boarded the airship, Flurry Heart opened her comms unit, ordering the officers to direct the minotaur tribes where they can be housed.

***

For a week as the crusade forces spread out in a wide crescent as they settled in. It had been a week since the five princesses and the two matriarchs had boarded the command airship. Rumors had slowly started to spread about what was going on, from those that were mundane, to outrageous conspiracy theories. The days ticked on, first seven, then nine, finally on the fourteenth day the princesses and the matriarchs had emerged, a full treaty, known as the Treaty of Horn and Hoof, had been successfully negotiated to agreement with all parties and signed. The two minotaur tribes would be fully integrated into the crusade forces, their strength and bulk would greatly benefit the infantry.

Twilight, Flurry Heart, Cadance, Celestia and Luna stood on the deck of the command airship alongside Daisy and Dewy Meadow. Though the negotiations had gone quickly, having been completed in three days, the spreading out of the armed forces into a massive crescent dozens of leagues wide and the integration of the minotaurs into the infantry had been a show of intent. The matriarchs had given the princesses all the information they knew about the warlord known as the Brass Lord, though he was a savage mutated despot whom called himself Skull Crusher, all they knew about him was that he wasn't always so, being born a normal minotaur. Why he had slain his original tribe was lost to time, what was known was that he was a cruel tyrant whom employed any that would bend the knee to him.

The stalling had seen partial success. Pegasi scouts who had used high-altitude clouds as cover observed that raiding parties, at least one hundred creatures strong, had turned back after their own scouts spotted the crusade's airships. The pegasi scouts had tracked the raiding parties back to their points of origin, revealing the outer defenses of the warlord they were tracking. Further flyovers had revealed that the outermost defenses were not particularly well organized or well armed, several dozen gangs living in shanty towns, each a few thousand strong each. Thirty outdated muzzle loading cannons set up in batteries on a few dozen artificial hill with basic wooden stakes for fortification.

Further flyovers revealed that the overall defense of said Brass Legion. The outermost line was twelve leagues away. The entire defenses were set up in ever-shrinking concentric circles, the outermost two were obviously sacrificial, comprised of entirely disorganized gangs living in shanty towns and armed with outdated or crude weaponry. The next eight eight circles were better organized and equipped, the creatures armed with breach loading rifles and simple, outdated, though still dangerous rocket artillery set in simple pits with wooden palisades. The final twelve circles were a mixture of maze-like trenches, reinforced bunkers and fire bases. The creatures of these circles were armed with lever action repeating rifles and breach loading artillery. In the center of the defensive circles was a single keep carved from solid basalt, crenelations and towers at the top of the walls were armed with repeating rifles and breach loading artillery.

As the princesses, generals, ponemarchs and matriarchs stood around the conference table looking over the holographic maps as new information was updated, thought turned grimmer and grimmer, all intelligence showed that, especially in the inner most defenses, the warlord's forces were well armed, but they lacked any sort scanning technology and from basic scans, detection magic. It be murder to take this keep, but key intel was missing. There were no signs of manufacturing that could build weapons that were more modern and effective, so where were they getting their weaponry? Was there another technological power supplying them with these weapons? If so, where was this power located and would it up to negotiating with the crusade forces, or would it fight back?

The minds of those gathered placed those questions aside until better intelligence could be gathered, for now the primary focus needed on toppling this warlord as quickly and with as little casualties as possible.

Orders were sent out, the crusade forces started moving out just as the sun started setting. Once a set distance was moved, all forward movement would be halted.

***Day one***

As the moon hung low on the western horizon, the gangers that were awake staggered in a drunken or drug-fueled fugue. Those who were supposed to be on guard were sleeping, drinking cheap rot-gut or consuming their preferred drugs of choice, others left their post to relieve their bladders or bowels or their sexual tensions with whomever they could find.

Hundreds of mortal ponies armed with rifles and flame throwers, gathered in wooded thickets approximately one hundred paces away from the ganger's lines, those with bleached white manes knelt to whisper prayers. Behind the mortal ponies stood a full legion of trasequine marines in red armor with gold trim and flame patterns, plasma casters, heat beams and heavy flame throwers mounted in shoulder sockets. Apricus stood amongst the legion, renamed the Solar Flames, sensor strips on the transequine general's power, along with the sensors on its sons and daughters, fed information into the ponemarch's brain,, who in turn issued last minute orders.

The gangers who weren't asleep, or dead drunk or stoned, lazily turned their heads at the sounds of distant mechanical droning. Eyes followed red lights that fell from the sky, landing among the muzzle loading cannons. Distant flashes were seen on the horizon in the predawn gloom that most mistook for lightning. Explosions that were preceded by a loud whistling in the air, sent many of the cannons tumbling through the air, waking most of the shanty towns. A single bolt of magic sailed high into the air, blooming into a false sun illuminated the predawn darkness, revealing ponies charging across open ground.

Rifle shots rang out, cutting down many of the gangers who were caught unprepared and flabbergasted. Many of the gangers tried to run for cover, others tried to form up to repel the attackers. The ponies quickly overran the first ranks of disorganized and unprepared defenders. As the initial shock wore off, gangers who had poured out of the crude shacks or places they were passed out in, they began forming up rough firing lines. Muskets, crossbows and crude ranged weapons loosed volleys, here and there small groups of ponies fell screaming as they gripped their faces, necks or limbs where the projectiles had slipped through gaps in their armor, but not enough to blunt the attack. Bullets cut into the bodies of the gangers, killing or severely wounding them and opening up gaps in their hastily formed lines.

The ponies pressed their attacks hard and fast, bullets tore into gangers who were desperately trying to reload. Gouts of flames enveloped knots of gangers, many appeared to die dancing as the clinging flames burned the lives from them. Gangers flipped wagons or piled up crates to form barricades, other ran inside the shacks or hid behind corners in a desperate bid for cover or to create crossfires. Bullets perforated the crude structures, killing those on the other side, while flamethrowers spewed deadly fire, igniting what they struck. Soon several of the shanty towns involved in the initial contact became conflagrations, forcing the attacking the attacking ponies to fall back, dragging those of their wounded they could.

The very air shined in a yellow-orange light as the flames leapt from one crudely constructed structure to another, turning the shanty town caught in the initial clashes into walls of fire. Ponies watched as the shanty towns burned brightly and quickly, embers adrift on hot, fire-fueled winds alighted on shacks in other shanty towns, setting them ablaze. Though many gangers died in the secondary blazes started by drifting embers, many more, who were alerted by the precision artillery strikes and initial fighting managed to pull back. Until the flames burned themselves out, neither side was able to engage the other.

Word spread to the second circle about the attack and gangers began forming up in ranks, awaiting the flames to die out. Gangers fell over as wet smacks from bullets of unseen attackers cut them down, many broke and ran.

As the sun peaked over the horizon, greasy black smoke clung close to the ground. Fur along the spines of the gangers prickled as they heard the heavy thumping of hooves. Out of the smoke and lingering flames red and gold armored figures rushed out. Gangers died in scores during the first few seconds as blueish-white balls of plasma, near-invisible beams of heat, massive cones of super-heated flames and fire spells melted or burned to ash their bodies. Panic quickly spread among the gangers and they scattered to get away from the deadly heat-based attacks. Many tried to surrender, only to be incinerated or crushed under armored hooves. Those that tried to flee into the shacks died as the armored figures ignited the structures with fire spells or heavy flamethrowers. Screams and the sickly sweet stench of burning flesh filled the air as the Solar Flames systematically set fire to the shanty towns.

For hours the morning air seemed to dance and shimmer as the shanty towns burned. By nine o'clock most of the fires had burned out. The bulk of the infantry moved up, extinguished the remaining fires. Charred skeletons marked where creatures had died in the, now ash, shanty towns. Heavy wheeled shields were moved in place as the infantry pulled shovels and started digging foxholes and an interconnected network of trenches.

As the day wore on, the trench network began expanding. Soldiers and marines entered into the trenches, adding more hooves to dig. As the day wore on, the trench network slowly moved forward. Crude rockets from enemy batteries screamed as they sailed through the air, most falling short of the trenches or exploding in the air as their fuses burned out too soon, but here and there ponies would vanish in a cloud of shrapnel and upturned earth.

Throughout the remainder of the day and into the night, teams of ponies cycled in and out, tirelessly digging with shovels, expanding the trench networks. All the while rocket batteries in barricaded pits, unleashed their deadly payloads, the ones that didn't fall short or exploded in the air from too short fuses slammed into magical shields cast by unicorns, scattering their deadly shrapnel and blasts away from the infantry.

As the trench-works were nearing completion, the automated carts holding mortars were wheeled up to the second line of trenches and earthen berms were thrown up to protect them. The three pony mortar teams quickly jammed anchoring spikes into the ground. Crates of mortar rounds were brought up as the mortar commanders/spotters were working on zeroing in their artillery.

***Day two***

In the last thirty minutes before the sun rose, while the creatures sitting in the foxholes or operating the rocket batteries, looked over the edges of their fortified locations, they saw nothing from the pony lines, other than an occasional head peeking over the edge of a trench too far away for accurate fire from their breach loading rifles.

Vent Rapide lead their legion, recently renamed the Sky Rangers, in a lazy high altitude holding pattern, their bright blue armor with golden lightning bolts painted on armored hooves and along armor that ran the length of their bodies.

Pegasi soldiers, flying at lower altitudes, dropped flickering flares or hurled bombs into the artillery pits and foxholes. Amidst the confusion of the flares and exploding bombs, several creatures saw bright flashes on the horizon and several seconds later from the pony trenches. "Incoming!", several creatures shouted. As they huddled low for cover, explosions of every size rocked the ground, many throwing up clouds of earth, some exploded on the edges of the foxholes and artillery pits, burying those underneath an avalanche of dirt. Several heavy artillery and mortar shells landed inside the foxholes and artillery pits, broken bodies and cooking off ammunition flew through the air as rockets randomly ignited, sending them sailing in erratic patterns through the air, adding to the confusion.

For several minutes the bombardment continued, laying down walls of explosions and shrapnel to blind the enemies behind the first two concentric circles. In the trenched as ponies finished constructing earthen ramps as officers watched timepieces in their hooves. Whistles blew signaling the advance. The Fraternity rushed up the ramps, shouting praises. The infantry placed their heavy wheeled shield on the ramps and rushed out with shouts in teams of three. The Fire Pipes and Long Pikes tribes lined up at the base of the earthen ramps awaiting their orders to advance.

As the last of the artillery shells exploded, centaurs, minotaurs, griffons, ponies and mutants peeked over the edges of their defenses dug into the ground. Ponies with bleached white manes came stampeding out of the still-settling dust, screaming prayers and curses. Some of the creatures fired their rifles in an attempt to repel that attackers, while others froze in a mixture of panic and shock. The Fraternity ran forward, only slowing long enough to fire shots from their rifles as their members armed with flame throwers didn't slow down until they reached the edges of the foxholes and artillery pit. "Only through fire shall the filth be made clean!", sever of the stallions with bleached white manes shouted as they depressed the triggers on their on their flamethrowers. Jets of fire sprayed from nozzles with whooshing sounds, dousing the enemy creatures in deadly super-heated flames, the flesh of enemies blackened and sloughed off as they appeared to die dancing. As the Fraternity moved forward, ammunition cooked off in firecracker-like pops as rockets exploded in chain of explosions. Many creatures tried to scramble out of the foxholes and artillery pits in an attempt to escape the ponies who rushed forward, only to be cut down by bullets or incinerated by flames.

Once the initial shock wore off, the creatures of the next circles started mounting a more structured defense. Many scrambled out of foxholes to form firing lines. Breach loading rifles fired in staggered volleys, rocket batteries unleashed their deadly rain, the creatures still in foxholes hurled clay pots filled with pitch and had burning rags tied to them, while others hurled iron balls filled with blasting powder and had smoking fuses sticking out.

Bullets whizzed through the air, explosions shook the ground, flames spread on the ground or were loosed from nozzles. In this maelstrom of death, the Fraternity pushed forward, slowing down to take cover so they could more effectively return fire. Bullets and shrapnel glanced off their body armor, some fell to the ground with screams of pain as the deadly hail slipped through gaps in their armor. Some stallions had to discard their flamethrowers where a bullet punctured a tank or a piece of shrapnel cut a hose, others weren't so lucky as they disappeared in clouds of exploding flames. Screaming rockets churned up the earth in walls of explosions and shrapnel, foxholes became desperate brawls as the Fraternity and members of the Brass Legion fought to the death in brutal hoof-to-hoof combat. With heavy losses on both sides, the Fraternity's advance seemed to be blunted as the stallions took cover in the foxholes.

Heavy wheeled shields pushed by three pony teams moved across the battlefield. The ponies of the infantry leaned from behind the shields to fire off several quick shots. As the Brass Legion began reforming ranks, the pony infantry formed their heavy shields into interlocking walls and began laying fields of suppressing fire. From behind the shield walls, squads of minotaurs, carrying scatterguns and pikes and thick shields, barreled forward, leaping over the walls of steel. To their detriment, the Brass Legion took their eyes off of the Fraternity taking cover in the foxholes. The stallions leaned out of the foxholes, laying down winnowing fire with their semiautomatic rifles or hurled the fire pots and bombs they had captured. The stallions fixed bayonets on their rifles, drew fighting knives, or in the cases of the ones whom had lost their weapons in the struggle, hung sacks of improvised incendiary and explosive devices from their backs.

As the minotaurs neared the creatures of the Brass Legion, the Fraternity rushed out of the foxholes and the infantry abandoned their shield walls, charging the enemy. As the combined pony-minotaur forces of the crusade clashed with the Brass Legion. The Fire Pipes unleashed blasts from their scatterguns at point-blank range, cutting down scores of creatures. As the minotaurs collided with the lines of the Brass Legion goring with horns, slamming shields into bodies, thrusting with pikes, using the heavy barrels of scatterguns as bludgeons and hacking with machetes, the Fraternity came from the left fighting with bayonets, rifle butts, fighting knives, hooves and teeth. Stallion lit rags on fire pots and fuses on bombs and hurled them among the ranks of enemy creatures.

As the fighting devolved into knots of desperate brawling, the pony infantry executed encircling actions, opening fire with their rifles to cut down enemy creatures that were fleeing the fighting or rushing in to relieve their compatriots.

Aboard the airships that were moving into position, thestrals sighted in targets through the scopes on their bolt action rifles. Echo drew a bead on an enemy pony hoisting a fire pot in its hoof and squeezed the trigger. A split second later the fire pot shattered in its hoof, dousing the enemy in liquid fire, though it was too far away for her sharp ears to hear, she knew the enemy pony died screaming. 'A better fate than it deserved.', she thought to herself as she cycled the bolt.

As creatures of the Brass Legion leaned out of their foxholes to toss fire pots and iron bombs or to line up shots with their breach loading rifles, they would be knocked down with wet smacks, fire pots and iron bombs filled the foxholes with death as the munitions exploded in chain reactions.

Squads of soldiers broke off from the main force to push deeper among the enemy ranks. Soldiers tossed hoof grenades over the lips of artillery pits and foxholes, killing those inside in sprays of shrapnel, others made their way to edges of the fortifications to fire down on the enemies.

The desperate brawl quickly turned against the Brass Legion trying to hold back the combined forces of the Fire Pipes, Long Pikes and Fraternity. Many tried to flee, only to get cut down by the pony solders' rifles. Others dropped to their knees to surrender, only to have the stallions of the Fraternity kick them to the ground and stomp on their necks or cut their throats with knives and bayonets. Pony soldiers captured several rocket batteries, wheeling them around, they quickly loaded the rockets and lit the fuses. With streaks of red and loud screams, the rockets sailed off towards the rear lines of the enemy creating further chaos. The creatures of the Brass Legion scrambled out of their foxholes and artillery, fleeing in a mass rout. Officers blew on whistles to order a halt so the crusade forces could rearm, gather the wounded and dead and build new defenses.

Enemy munition that weren't destroyed in the fighting were gathered up and moved to the rear as the mobile forges rolled forward. As field medics set up triage stations, the mobile medbays rolled up and disgorged teams of medical ponies. Teams of tech monks carried captured enemy munitions into the mobile forges for disassembly and study, before rendering them down to be turned into new munitions. Enemy dead were dumped into the now empty artillery pits, flamethrowers burned the bodies to ash. Captured bottles of alcohol were poured out onto the ground or sent off to the forges to be converted into fuel, captured packets of drugs were tossed into the pits with the burning bodies or sent to the medbays to be studied.

Collapsible metal structures were erected and folding, lightweight barricades were set up to form defensive lines. The command airship landed, disgorging the five alicorns, two cow matriarchs, thirty nebula guard and eight black-armored minotaur honor guard. The group made their way into one of the structures.

As the sun set, Twilight frowned as she looked over the reports from the high altitude surveillance from the Sky Rangers and flyovers from pegasi scouts. The Brass Legion were falling back on all fronts, abandoning their forward-most defenses for the maze of trenches. She knew they were trying to shorten their supply lines while at the same time maximize the number of rifles that could be brought to bear. She passed the reports off to the other four princesses, Sunset and the two matriarchs, after some discussion, orders were sent out to the thestral snipers and the Night Hunters to track and harass enemy lines and kill any enemy scouts.

Orders were issued that the crusade forces would hold for thirty-six hours so that losses could recouped, ammunition and weapons be redistributed, and tired soldiers given enough time to rest up.

***

As the sun rose, the Brass Lord rankled. It had been over a month since he had sent a message to New Unicornia and had yet to hear back. It should be two more days at the most before I hear from them, unless something happened to the messenger. It had also been about as long since Cozy Glow had been seen. Curse her! Where is she at? Did she expire and rot away? No, somecreature would have found her baubles if that happened. She must have slunk away. Curse her! If she did that, I'll have her guts for garters!

As two more days passed, the Brass Lord fumed. He had yet to hear anything from New Unicornia. Now there were rumors and wild stories from his forces about shadow figures that would strike out of the darkness, dragging away warriors and ghosts that killed warriors without even a sound. Though he had dismissed the stories as nothing more than superstitious nonsense told by small-minded fools, he privately admitted there was something out there killing his warriors. He had wondered if it was some kind of new predator or monster mutated by a storm.

What also disturbed him was that the scouts he sent out to find about this army that had attacked his outer-most defenses and had overrun them had either completely disappeared or had been found ripped apart. He considered for a second if there was some truth to the rumors and wild stories.

As the sun set, runners from forward observation posts brought messages of airships, columns of smoke and dust clouds moving towards the front lines. The Brass Lord clenched his fists, the tendrils wrapped around his fingers wriggled and writhed. The information told him one thing...full scale invasion...a dread chill grew in his core and spread out through his body with a visible shiver. Turning to his mutant bodyguards, he said, "Bring my battle plate and sword. This army wants to attack me, the rightful ruler of this land, I shall hang their still screaming leaders from my ramparts and make a carpet from the hides of their young!", he turned to the runners, "Send the word to all regiments, give no ground, take no prisoners, black flag conditions are in effect."

With a pop, a letter materialized. Reaching out a hand and opened it. The letter he sent to New Unicornia fell out. He took a moment to read the new letter.

Dear Brassy,

I'm sorry to tell you that your friends won't receive this original letter. I wonder if they'll like me better as a friend?
When you see Twilight, tell her I said 'hi' and that I'll make her pay for encasing me in stone.

XOXO, Cozy Glow

With an angry snarl, the unicorn that had once been known as Proud Horn, now called Skull Crusher the Brass Lord, crumpled and with a shout of rage, hurled it across the room.

***

***Day six***

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the crusade forces came to a rest three leagues from the enemy trenches. Long range scans and scout flyovers counted nearly one million troops and five hundred artillery emplacements. As darkness of night consumed what was left of the daylight, the Night Hunters, who had deployed with only camouflaged cloaks had returned, followed by the thestral snipers who had carried enough ammunition, food and water for three nights of harassing the enemy lines.

As the airships spread out into bombardment formations and the sparks were roused on the war striders, the Night Hunters entered into their barracks to equip their armor and weapons, while the thestrals took naps so they would be prepared for the fight to come.

Lightweight metal barricades were folded out to form defensive structures and heavy wheeled shields were set in place for three pony fire teams to begin their advances. Into the gloom of night, the Night Hunters deployed. They quickly shared information with their cousins in the Sky Rangers. Though the transequine marines didn't like to stay active for day at a time, they could with no depreciation in combat effectiveness. The airships rotated until they were full broadside. Flares dropped over enemy trenches marking off the largest troop concentrations and bunkers.

Creatures in the Brass Legion snapped off a few shots from their rifles into the dark night sky in the desperate hopes to bring down whatever was dropping flares.

The airships loosed barrages from their massive broadside guns, turning night to day in near-blinding flashes. A second later the mortars on the ground unleashed a massive barrage of shells. The airships started rotating, some bringing their bow guns to bear, others brought their starboard batteries to bear.

Creatures scrambled for cover a deadly hail of shells whistled through the air. Explosions shook the air and ground as some exploded midair, showering troops of the Brass Legion in deadly sprays of shrapnel, others slammed into the top of the bunkers with thundering booms. Creatures scattered this way and that, trying to avoid the deadly shrapnel. Most of the bunkers weathered the initial bombardment, being covered in layers of earth and logs that dispersed the force of the blasts.

The airships rotated, bringing their port, starboard, bow and aft artillery guns to bear, keeping up a constant deadly rain of massive shells, meanwhile the mortars poured the fire on, lobbing their shells in parabolic arcs. The constant bombardment was meant to keep enemy heads down while the minotaurs, mortal ponies and transequine marines slowly advanced, among the troops Twilight and Flurry Heart advanced, accompanied by the Nebula Guard. High above, Celestia, Luna and Cadance circled, accompanied by Vent Rapide's legion, the Sky Rangers and Papilionem's legion, the Saddle Ragers. Empreasario and the Night Hunters concealed themselves in the darkness, just short of the bombardment zone.

For four hours the bombardment of the enemy trenches commenced, not letting creature rest or gain a reprieve. There were intermittent pauses in the bombardment, sometimes for two minutes, other times for as long as ten minutes. The pauses were meant to unnerve the creatures and try to slip them into a false sense of security. Creatures that weren't killed or wounded, between the bombardments, tried to look out into the darkness, seeing only spots, where the exploding shells had ruined their night vision.

The last stage of the scheduled bombardment last for an hour and twenty minutes non-stop. Creatures huddled in fear, screamed in terror or wept in despair as the constant roar and blinding flashes of the shells didn't seem to stop.

As the last shells detonated, an uneasy silence settled over the trenches. Creatures, with limbs trembling, heads spinning and ears ringing, awaited the next hail of shells. As the silence stretched on and hearing no shells whistling through the air, or seeing the flashes of distant batteries, the creatures slowly came out of their hiding places to begin dragging their dead and wounded away and to start repairing the damage to the trenches.

Out of the gloom, scores of silvery cylinders sailed through the night air and landed in the trenches. The cylinders exploded in clouds of shrapnel and blinding flashes, others sprayed smoke and tear gas. From above more silvery cylinders dropped into the front-most trenches, accompanied by small squares. The cylinders exploded, filling the air with shrapnel, a split second later the squares exploded, sending the bodies of creatures sailing through the air.

Out from the darkness, massive, black-armored ponies leapt into the trenches. Mass reaction rounds, fired from guns mounted in shoulder sockets, ripped bodies apart in sprays of blood and gore. The Night Hunters quickly spread out through the first lines of the trenches as the enemy creatures panicked and tried to flee, only to be blasted apart by mass reaction rounds. Creatures from the trenches further back fired their lever action repeating rifles, sparks flew from the transequine warriors' armor as the bullets harmlessly bounced off. Other creatures threw spherical iron bombs and fire pots, sparks flew from the armor where shrapnel flew off and marines continued moving as though they didn't notice their armor was on fire, if the transequine warriors were harmed, they seemed to take no notice.

Creatures in the bunkers quickly cranked the traversing mechanisms on the mountain howitzers, bring their muzzles around. As breaches were opened and explosive shells were loaded, the Night Hunters tossed smoke grenades onto the ground. As the breaches were slammed closed, creatures grabbed firing chords. The mountain howitzers thundered as they fired a massed volley of explosive shells in the smoke cloud. As the breaches were flung open, orders were sent out to load another volley of explosive shells. The howitzers thundered again, sending another hail of explosive shells. An order went out for a volley of canister shot. Shells whose casings were filled with iron balls the size of peach pits and tipped with air burst fuses, were slammed home and the mountain howitzers thundered again.

High in the trees, thestral snipers had settled down and were adjusting their scopes, began drawing beads on enemy creatures.

As the cloud of smoke cleared, creatures slowly crept forward, nervously aiming their rifles. They looked for bodies of the ponies that had attacked them. They found no bodies, no drag marks, just deep hoofprints, it was like the black-armored ponies just evaporated into the darkness. With wet smacks, dozens of creatures fell to the ground up and down the trenches. Panic spread through the trenches again as creatures panic-fired into the darkness, desperate to hit anything. More creatures fell with wet smacks, many spraying their compatriots with blood.Orders were shouted for everycreature to get down.

Echo quickly scanned the trenches through her scope as she counted the dead and dying as the thestral snipers shoved stacks of bullets held by stripper clips into the internal magazines and wracked the bolts closed. A smile graced her lips as her small fangs glinted in the moonlight. Removing a small pencil from insider her camouflage cloak, she started writing down, 'One hundred and eighty confirmed kills and two hundred wounded.'

The crew of one mountain howitzer loaded an illumination shell, traversed the muzzle into a twenty-eight degree arc and fired, the powder ignited the phosphorus of the illumination round into a bright yellow sphere. Minotaurs, mortal soldiers and transequine marines immediately halted their movement and ducked down, while thestral snipers shielded their eyes.

Creatures of the Brass Legion nervously scanned where the yellow light put off by the burning and sputtering illumination round had lit up in a desperate bid to spot anything. If they had bothered to look up, they would have seen two legions of pegasi marines circling at high altitude, accompanied by three aliorns. If they had bothered to look behind them, they would have seen a legion of unicorn marines quietly moving into place at the top of the bunkers.

Once the last of the phosphorus in the illumination shell burned out, the forces on the ground started moving forward again. The thestral snipers made sure their rifles were reloaded and silently flew through the night to reposition. The Night Hunters silently slid off the tops of the bunkers and tossed tear gas grenades through the firing slits, then into the trenches. As creatures scrambled out of the bunkers and trenches to get away from the choking gas, the unicorn marines used the chaos to vanish back into the night. As the creatures coughed and vomited from the effects of the tear gas, the snipers opened fire again. Dozens more died or were wounded before the creatures had recovered enough to know what was going on. Creatures scrambled for cover, many dove into the still-lingering clouds of tear gas, choosing to brave the irritating gas rather face the hidden rifleponies again.

Echo watched through her scope again, counting how many her mares and stallions had taken down this time. She pulled out the pencil and pad of paper again. Thirty confirmed kills and seventy wounded. Making sure her rifle was reloaded, she sent out hypersonic chittering, ordering her snipers to split into three groups. Now came the wait before the last bit of hunting, then they'd pull back to rest and rearm.

After an hour of waiting, the creatures were practically jumping the their shadows when the Night Hunters had lined up at both ends of the trenches. Flashbangs sailed out of the darkness, blinding the creatures with dazzling white flashes. Snipers opened up again, raining down bullets from multiple angles, the thestrals going for gut and limb shots rather than kill shots. The unicorn marines tossed illumination flares at the firing slits of the bunkers. Flashes in the distance and whistling in the air sent the creatures scrambling for cover. Smoke shells impacted the ground and sprayed a thick blinding cloud. Thestrals and the Night Hunters used the chaos to cover their withdraw so they could rearm and rest as needed.

High above, Luna lit the magic in her horn and summoned a thick layer of clouds to cover the moon. Now it was truly a waiting game.

The creatures popped amphetamine pills, snorted powdered stimulants and stuffed small orange, smoke-able crystals into pipes and lit them, inhaling the sharp, biting fumes. The drugs had the desired effect of staving off sleep, but had the side effect of making their already frazzled nerves drive them into paranoia as they hallucinated massive shadowy figures prowling in the dark or invisible ghosts looking to deal silent death. As the hours wore on, the creatures consumed more of the stimulants, staving off sleep, but also further compounding their paranoia. Though they didn't feel it, they were in a bad way, adrenaline and powerful stimulants flooded bodies and brains that needed rest.

Two hours before sunrise, Celestia lit her horn and fired a beam of magic down towards the front-most trenches. A dozen body lengths above the ground, the beam erupted into a ball of golden light, revealing a full legion of earth ponies wearing tan-colored, thick and heavy power armor, with heavy weapons mounted in shoulder sockets. Pomum Ligni ordered their legion forward, the heavy power armor giving the transequine warriors maximum protection at the cost of speed and maneuverability. Barrels on assault cannons spun up until they became blurs, fragmentation, armor-piercing and high explosive shells were loaded into massive tube-shaped weapons, heavy guns that fired mass reaction round as big as a pony's hoof leveled.

As the pony legion stepped into the trenches, the creatures fires their rifles and threw explosives, though the stimulants made them react faster then normal, their addled brains weren't very accurate. As sparks flew from their heavy armor, the ponies fired streams of steel-jacketed rounds, fired volleys of big mass reaction rounds and lobbed explosive shells as big as a pony's head through the air, creatures' bodies blew apart as if they were made of paper as blood, gore and pink mist filled the air. Onward the legion marched in perfect lock-step, steadily laying down massive walls of death before them.

Mountain howitzer crews quickly traversed the muzzles of the guns, slammed explosive shells home and fired. The shells rang out as the exploded against the thick and heavy armor of the pony marines, leaving massive dents, but failing to penetrate. The earth pony marines continued their implacable advance forward, some turning slightly to aim their weapons at the firing spits on the bunkers. Earth, wood and stone seemed to melt away under the intense wall of death. The heavy steel barrels of the mountain howitzers shattered under the intense fire. Steel-jacketed rounds and shrapnel from mass reaction rounds and explosive shells ricocheted around the inside of the bunkers, killing the crews. Bunkers ripped themselves apart from the inside in a series of chain reaction, earth-shattering explosions, turning what was left of the crews into pink mist as tons of earth, shattered logs and stone. Creatures scrambled out of the trenches and tried to flee away from the steadily advancing marines, their bodies flew apart like piles of leaves before a powerful wind. More creatures tried to for up firing lines further up the trenches. As the leaned over the tops of the trenches to fire, heads and limbs were torn away from their bodies as if they were dolls falling victim to an angry and spoiled filly.

The infantry poured into the trenches behind the advancing marines, occupying territory that had just been cleared by the wall of death. Soldiers cocked rifles and primed flamethrowers, while minotaurs loaded scatterguns and readied pikes.

The earth pony marines poured million upon millions of rounds into the defending creatures, shredding defenses and bodies, the ground greedily drank their blood as it flowed like a river into the ocean. Alas the earth pony marines couldn't maintain this level of firepower up forever and eventually their weapons ran dry, though they had reaped untold deaths on the enemies and ripped apart scores of invaluable defenses. Massive guns locked into the up position as the earth pony marines began the reverse march, in lock-step, keeping their front facing the enemy, already airships, loaded down with munitions and reload teams were moving into position, preparing to land.

The long, slow grind was getting ready to start as the infantry started moving forward. Zoccoli di Pietra, along with the Stone Legion started moving into position to support the infantry.

The Fraternity, rank and file soldiers of the army and the two tribes of minotaurs rushed through the trenches. Rifleponies paused long enough to lay down suppressing fire. Bullets whizzed about the heads of the advancing forces and sent puffs of blood-soaked soil into the air. Advancing ponies fell to the ground, quickly scrambling up to their hooves and moving forward again, others lay where they had fallen, the blood-soaked ground seemingly to glut itself on the blood flowing from their wounds.

Hoof grenades flew over the lips of trenches, shredding the flesh of the creatures of the Brass Legion. Ponies scrabbled up the berms that separated one set of trenches from another with shouts of "For Equestria!", For Harmony!" and "In the name of the Goddesses!". Reaching the edges of the trenches, semiautomatic rifles fired off bullets and flamethrowers sprayed blazing death. Creatures screamed in pain as their blood fed the soil or danced as flames blackened their flesh.

Mountain howitzers fired canister shot from the next lines of bunkers in thundering blasts, iron balls shredded the bodies of friend and foe alike. Shadows from above were the only warning as the Sky Rangers legion descended onto the battle. They planted blasting charges onto heavy iron doors of bunkers or chucked them through the firing slits. Howitzers tried to track the pegasi marines as they took to the air, but found they were too fast. Some bunkers seemed to turn themselves inside-out when the blasting charges that were thrown through the firing slits exploded, setting off the artillery rounds in deadly chain reactions. Blasting charges that had been planted on heavy iron doors shattered the metal as the exploded, sending sprays of deadly shrapnel like angry hornets bouncing around inside the stone structures covered in wood and soil.

As the infantry scrambled into the trenches, firing bullets from rifles and spraying flames from nozzles, the Sky Rangers descend back onto the battlefield, igniting the power fields in their wing blades and revving up the chain blades on their ripper hooves. The transequine pegasi split into two columns, some engaging the creatures on the rear lines, slicing them in half with wing blades and tearing the apart with ripper hooves, others carved through or kicked in the heavy iron doors on the bunkers, springing inside to dispatch the crews and disable the guns.

In one part of the trench, a small squad of five ponies scrambled through the blood-soaked mud towards a bunker that was firing explosive shells at their friends. They paused just long enough to lean over the top of the trench and empty their magazines at the firing slit in a hail of suppressing fire. Dropping back below the edge of the trench, they pulled the empty magazines from their rifles and slapped fresh ones in, then pulled back the charging levers. The gun had fallen silent, but they didn't know if it was because the crew was dead or seeking cover, they decided to err on the side of caution and rushed up to the base of the bunker. Climbing to just below the lip of the firing slit, one pony stuck the muzzle of his rifle inside and blind-fired as the other four readied grenades. After emptying his magazine and dropping back down, the other four struck the button on the tops of their grenades and shoved them through the slit. All five ran like mad and dove for cover when the bunker ripped apart in a series of explosions. As the five ponies got back to their hooves and dusted themselves off, the mare said, "That was a real pisser! Let's find another one and do it again!"

A stallion rushed through a trench towards a bunker that was firing, his bleached white mane clung to his neck with sweat. The muzzle traversed and aimed at a group that was advancing, the sound of thunder filled the air as it unleashed a blast of canister, shedding several allies bodies. Reaching where he could get and angle, he pointed the nozzle and shouted, "Be purified by holy fire!" Squeezing the trigger, a stream of super-heated liquid flaming death went through the slit and filled the bunker with fire. Burning creatures clawed their out through the firing slit, a few seconds later the munitions exploded, tearing the bunker apart. The stallion gave a grunt of satisfaction before setting out to find more enemies to give the flaming justice of the goddesses to.

Creatures of the Brass Legion scrambled to escape the second line of trenches as the crusade forces overwhelmed them with furious slaughter. Many were cut down with bullets and flames as they fled. The last of the bunkers were destroyed with grenades or blasting charges. Magazines for rifles and fuel for flame throwers were running out as the infantry started occupying the the trenches of the second line. As the stone legion moved forward and prepared to make their push forward, the Sky Rangers took to the air to fly back to the airship to rearm and the infantry dug in to wait for resupply.

As the creatures of the Brass Legion amassed in the trenches of the third line, they prepared to fight to the death, if this final line of trenches fell, then the crusade will have completely captured the entirety of the outer-most circle of defenses that lead lead to the keep.

The Stone Legion poured out of the trenches of the second line and rushed across open ground like a rock slide pouring the face of a mountain. The creatures were completely caught unawares by the blinding speed of this legion as the flowed across the open ground like a pink-armored flash flood. Mass reaction rounds blew chunks out of creatures as the legion flowed into the trenches. Creatures that tried to engage in close quarters combat were trampled beneath armored hooves as the legion pushed forward in one quick-moving armored mass.

The creatures didn't have time to aim and fire or even form up a coherent defense as the Stone Legion pushed forward with unwavering speed. As many creatures were ripped apart by mass reaction rounds as others were trampled. Crews tried to traverse the howitzers around, only to have volleys of mass reaction round rip them apart and detonate the munitions. Soon the whole third line of trenches was in a full rout. As creatures threw their weapons away in an attempt to make themselves lighter as they fled for their lives, only to have themselves trampled under armored hooves.

The Stone Legion stopped as one at the last trench of the third line and unleashed a blistering two minute volley of mass reaction rounds, the fleeing members of the Brass Legion were killed to a creature as their bodies were ripped apart. The creatures of the second circle watched in stunned disbelief as the last line of the first circle was routed and ripped apart in five minutes flat. Zoccoli di Pietra gave a grunt of satisfaction. The ponemarch ordered its legion to fall back as fresh troops scrambled to occupy the freshly cleared trenches.

Greasy black smoke carrying the sickly sweet stink of burning flesh drifted over the trenches of the second circle as the crusade burned the dead bodies of the Brass Legion. The tech monks quickly gathered up every scrap of metal and still intact munitions as the mobile forges went into overdrive to pump out artillery shells in preparation for the next day's bombardment. As crows and ravens started to gather in great flocks, attracted by the promise of a feast of dead bodies, the infantry reinforced the trenches as mortars were moved up.

Author's Note

For reference, the Brass Legion's rocket batteries are based on Congreve rockets, a real historical rocket used in artillery bombardments.

The mountain howitzers are based on mountain guns or pack howitzers.

Like what you see, hate what you see, have a question, notice any typos, wanna throw shade or pure bane, leave it below in the comments.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy.

Edit: Before i forget, a special thanks to New_Rebellion for his help in coming up with names for the legions. Go show him some love.