The next two weeks were rife with activity. Twilight had held interviews with every major publication, achieving the desired effect of turning many of the Equestrian forces to her side. It was a very divisive issue among the ranks. While most of them were horrified at Princess Twilight's treatment, some resisted, claiming that Princess Luna was not treated in the same manner, rather obviously. She had been seen interacting freely with the citizens without any sign of restrictions from the minotaurs.

Seeing the division between the princesses and their regent, almost every fortress in Equestria was in a heated debate over whether or not they should pick sides. Many times, it came down to the commanders, deciding which of the two factions they would be joining. Sometimes it was decided right then and there, other times the men would be gathered for a round table discussion, and sometimes there were votes. In the end, just over half of the fortresses rekindled their fealty to Princess Twilight, while the rest stood behind Princess Luna and Chief Steelhorn.

Jericho and many of his men had recovered from their injuries. Twilight agreed to let Jericho take command of the Equestrian forces, with the caveat that Shining Armor join him. Jericho accepted the position, as he'd already agreed to do so by order of Princess Cadance. He didn't ask anything in return for this, as having such a command would make it much easier to complete the tasks he had already promised.

Their base of operations was moved to Ponyville. Twilight's castle was to be their command center, with Princess Twilight herself moving back to the city to watch over it. Jaxton had been assigned to be her personal guard, as he was well-versed in the subject of horn rings, and would be the most helpful regarding its removal. He spent much of his spare time tinkering with it. After a week, he finally found a means of removing it. Several prior attempts to remove the ring had damaged her horn, so she was currently unable to perform any magic, but with time and treatment from qualified medical professionals, she would be back to her old self soon.

Part of the treatment she was receiving for her horn was a witchweed potion she would need to drink every day. In her condition, she was unable to go out into the Everfree Forest, but Malakai and Rainbow Dash were glad to volunteer. They set out for Zecora's hut immediately. It turned out that Zecora and Malakai had a bit of history together, as Malak had helped Zecora on her way to Equestria in a mildly significant way. One of her wagon wheels had broken, and he had helped her by purchasing a new one. She was more than happy to assist in Twilight's recovery.

On the other side of things, Steelhorn was receiving even more bad news. All of the restrictions that had been keeping Northwind and Stromshroud at bay had lapsed, and they were free to march on the Hornburg. Ironblood had even reported a handful of advance scouts that he'd captured. The Snowcaps had already been targeted, and had suffered heavy losses. Many of those left had been demoralized further by the arrival of Scrimshaw and Hardtusk, who had been gathered up and sent back to their home to be remembered as heroes.

Celestia had staged four escape attempts, and had to be kept under constant guard. Thankfully, the soldiers at this particular fortress had remained loyal to Princess Luna, and thus to him as well. Many of the forts leading back to the Hornburg were under his control, as well, meaning he had to opportunity to retreat if necessary. He would be unable to bring as many Equestrian soldiers back with him; the dream of a surviving Hornburg was beginning to crumble in his hands.

He'd sent the priestess back home. She would assist Ironblood in the defense and begin the process of escorting the citizens to safety. A war was marching toward them, there was no stopping it now without a new moot. Considering the failure of the rushed moot, it was unlikely the Black Council would approve a second one before they were ready. If he couldn't gather enough support from the Equestrian army, the Hornburg would fall for sure. Just thinking about it made him sick to his stomach.

He had only two comforts. The first was Luna's support of his status. She had made every effort to keep Equestria on his side. She'd called in news crews to take down her statements, given accounts of Steelhorn's better qualities, and made it very clear that she was glad to be carrying his child. Every night, she slept soundly in his arms, a statement that was further supported by eyewitnesses. His second comfort came in the form of Boneshatter and Arrow, who had not only been doing their fair share of work, but were, in fact, extending themselves in aiding the defense efforts. Arrow had been personally training the other archers, and Boneshatter had been sparring with the ground troops. They were dedicated to holding this fort, no matter the cost.

That was exactly the opposite of the news Jericho wanted to hear when his probe came back from the fort. Taking back the fort for Twilight would be quite the challenge. There were only a few crossing points to the Winsome River, and they were all easily defensible. Encircling them and striking from behind or cutting off their supply train would be impossible this time. A direct assault was their best solution. It wasn't a good solution, but it was preferable to their other options.

Jericho began organizing the soldiers. Some would be ground assault units, others would be organized in firing lines. They would be the least defended, as their main focus was not to be the driving force, but rather to be protectors of the driving force. As he lined them all up in preparations for their formations, construction had already begun on his main units.

The first was a large capped battering ram. Over the top of it were large wooden sheets that would shield the soldiers inside from missiles. This is the tool that would shatter the front gate. This wasn't to be the light tapping he had originally asked for in taking the first forts. This was not the time for stealth. This ram needed to shatter the portcullis.

In order to reach the second gate, he needed his second weapon. Battering rams were useless against drawbridges, everyone knew that from the siege of Canterlot. Now that he had more materials to work with, he had the capability of crafting a large grappling hook. It was meant to rip down the drawbridge, counterweights be damned. It could anchor to any nearby object, or even to the ground itself. Either the drawbridge would come down, or it would be ripped to pieces. If it was ripped apart, they would need to build a new bridge, but that wouldn't be a terrible effort. It didn't need to be permanent, it just needed to escort the ram across the river.

Once they were inside, the real battle would begin. Jericho knew he would need to be leading the charge. This would either be his greatest feat, or his undoing.

Author's Note

This is the point where the story splits into two endings.

The director's cut will be the first ending. If you're reading this story as it goes up, just keep going. If not, here's a link.

Or, if you want to see the ending that my trade partner wanted, you can skip to it with this link.