Piper POV, back in the Empire<<<<<<

"Shining! What's the status on the fleeing citizens?"

Spearing another winterwolf on my rapier, I withdrew the blade from the monsters gut as I turned my gaze to the prince, who was currently blocking off a side of the street with a giant pink shield so multitudes of townsfolk could get to the station safely.

After splitting up with Bluey and Zephyr, Lightning Dust and I had began to assist Prince Shining and the Element Bearers in their job of evacuating townsfolk to the station south of the castle. As soon as we began the evacuation process, we were met with resistance by the same buggers that had assaulted us on the mountain a couple days ago.

"We've got the last group heading out with Fluttershy and Rarity, but even with the other elements assisting us in fending ofd we might have to fall back." Shining Armour shouted over the shrill winds and howling beasts as several wolves threw themselves at the magic shield, only ro dissipate into snow on contact. "There's just too many of them to hold this position any longer than necessary!"

"Buck that! We're kicking flank out here, we ain't retreating from these dogs...uh, no offense, Piper." Lightning Dust, who had just did a corkscrew dive into a mound of wolves to smash them apart, stated proudly as she smiled sheepishly at me, earning an eye roll from me as she continued talking. "And where are the other elements? You'd think they'd be helping us out!"

Watching the last of the evacuees make it through a nearby alleyway, Shining dropped the shield barrier and began an offensive front, sending several blasts of magic forward and incineration several wolves.

"Applejack and Rainbow dash are escorting the citizens the rest of the way, it's too dangerous right now to only have two of them on the townsponies right now. And besides-" Shining turned around and bucked a wolf to smithereens that had gotten too close to him. "-You guys need me just as much as they do."

Cutting a few more wolves down, I began to slowly back up as more of them began to formulate from the snow.

"Even so, their your people Shining. Go and help them! And dont worry about us, Lightning Dust and I can handle things here!" I called over my shoulder as several more wolves filtered out of nearby shops and alleyways adjacent to our position.

"What?!?" Both Lightning and Shining exclaimed in shock as we began to get pushed into the narrow crevice that the citizens had fled down earlier.

"You can't expect me to leave you two alone to fight this many wolves! That's not gonna happen." Shining gruffly stated as he charged up his horn. "This district is lost, so when I throw up this shield you two are going to make a run for it and assist the others in getting the ponies to safety!"

Finishing the spell, Shining unleashed it, creating a much larger barrier that was able to block off most of the street around us.

"Dude, you can't expect to take on this many wolves either! Even with your fancy magic!" Lightning Dust yelled at the stallion as the sky above became engulfed in a glittering blue light as an emergency flare went off somewhere west of the castle.

Blue flares? My thoughts ran wild as it dawned on me what that meant.

"Change of plans, Shining! Get your flank through that alleyway, I'm going to the site of that flare that just went off." I stated, getting a crazed look from the stallion as Lightning Dust dropped from the sky.

"Captain, I already said that-" I didn't let him finish as I got up into his face with a growl.

"With all due respect, that flare coloring and type belongs to my hubby. And if he shot if off then he's in deep trouble, and I refuse to let anything happen to my pony. So go and help your people, and let me go find my mate!"

For a hot moment, nothing was said, just the sounds of the Winterwolves slamming into the barrier repeatedly as the prince kept eye contact.

"You realize that if you go then there's a chance you'll die out there?" He asked as my eyes narrowed.

"If I don't go after him, thens there's a chance HE dies out there instead!" I retorted a bit harsher than I wanted to as I pointed at the pegasi beside us. "Lightning, either follow Shining Armour or come back me up, make a decision and make it quick."

With almost no hesitation, the mare trotted over to my side and flashed me a daredevil smile.

"Are you kidding? Your about to go headfirst into an army of wolves, now that's my kinda party!" She exclaimed, elbowing me in the leg as she turned back to the prince. "If you happen to see the Element of Loyalty at the station, be sure to tell her that Lightning Dust had got her covered, aight?"

Frowning at the strange mention, but casting it aside, Shining Armour sighed as he gave us a tired grin.

"Guess there's no stopping you two, is there?" At my smirk the prince turned away from us and towards the alleyway as the barrier around us began to shimmer and dim. "Make sure that Blueblood knows that he owes me after all of this!"

"Will do, Prince!" I responded to him as Shining disappeared into the dark path, leaving Ligntning and I alone to make it across town.

Gripping my rapier tight, I let out a shaky breath as the barrier dissipated entirely, leaving the two of us wide open.

"Alright! Who wants a bruising?!?" Lightning Dust screamed out as she took flight and shoulder tackled a charging wolf into snowy remains before doing a one-eighty somersault kick into another.

"Keep pushing towards the other alleyway, we can move much faster if we get off the main road!" I ordered the mare as I made quick work of any wolves that blocked my path, slicing each and every snow mound into ribbons as we slowly but surely pushed through to the other side of the crystal road.

Turning my back to the alleyway, I watched in horror as all the winterwolves we had crashed and slashed through pieced themselves back together and turned their hungry gazes towards us.

"Well, that's not fair...How are we supposed to beat these guys if they don't die?" Lightning Dust moaned as she flew up and looked around for a moment before flying off somewhere, leaving me behind with the wolves.

"Where the hell are you going?!? Get back here!" I yelled at the mare as she disappeared behind a building almost a block down. "I swear if she doesnt-Agh!"

I was knocked off my paws as a winterwolf had taken advantage of my distracted state, pinning me against the ground as I barely held back his snapping maw.

"Damn it, where's my sword?" I grunted out as saliva dripped from its jaws onto my face, blurring my vision as it splattered against my left eye.

Scrunching up my face, it took every bit of willpower to not move my paws from the wolves neck and attempt to clear my vision, instead pushing back harder against the beast as I heard some of its fellow kin begin to close in on me.

This is it, this is how I die. Stuck in an alleyway with a cursed dog ripping my throat out.

Just as I began to accept my fate, something big slammed into the wolf on top of me and sent if backwards, allowing me time to sit up and clear the gunk from my face.

"Found something!" Lightning Dust exclaimed as she bucked another barrel over my head and into the crowd of wolves that were trying to get through the alleyway, but had managed to get stuck on top of each other.

"Where the hell were you? I almost died!" I exclaimed as the mare shrugged and grabbed a lit torch.

"Saw something to clear out the wolves, and figured you could handle yourself for a few minutes while I got the goods." She answered as I shook my head in disbelief.

What is wrong with this mare?

Smiling widely, the mare lifted up the torch and aimed it at the barrels she brought.

"Get over here quick, those barrels are gonna blow!" She yelled happily, causing me to scramble backwards as I watched her throw the torch towards the barrels, the light from the torch allowing me to see the words 'Revolver's Powdered Goods' in black letters on the wood.

Watching the torch make contact, my body tensed up as I waited for the following explosion...

...only to narrow my eyes at the mare beside me as nothing happened.

"Did you just throw a flame at a barrel full of bomb powder and expect it to explode?"

Chuckling nervously, Lightning Dust scratched the back of her head with a hoof as she averted her gaze from my own.

"Mmmmmaybe?"

Scratch that last thought, we're both going to be ripped to shreads.

Just as the wolves began to pour into the alleyway we were in, I overheard a muffled thump as a glowing arrow shot into the barrels Lightning Dust had tried to ignite...only this time they did explode.

"Get back!" I yelled as I tackled the pegasus out of the way of the extending flames, both of us landing on the cold ground as the fire danced on my armoured back.

Waiting a few moments for anything to happen, only to be met with the crackling of fire, I got off the mare and began to look around the small space we were in.

"Who's there?" I called out, ignoring the glare coming from Lightning Dust as she got to her hooves and shook herself off.

"Why did you stop me from seeing the explosion? It sounded awesome!!!" She barked at me as a figure dropped from the rooftops in front of us, holding a crossbow in hand as he gave me a wry smile.

"Looks like I still have to pick up the slack for you, aye captain?" The golden-furred Commando spat out as he turned to the fire and chuckled to himself. "Not a bad idea to use fire, but damn that pegasi has poor follow-up skills."

"Say WHAT?" Lightning Dust exclaimed as she flew up into Commandos face. "You've got a lot of nerve talking smack to-Eep!"

Pointing his crossbow at the mare, Commando shut her up as he turned his gaze back to me.

"Annoyances aside, why the hell are you still here, Captain? You were supposed to report to the Chief hours ago."

Grabbing my rapier off of the ground and motioning for the two to follow me, we began to make our way through the alleyway with relative ease.

"I planned on it, but then I got wrapped up in a civic matter here." I explained as we turned a corner and stopped at the next road. Walking up beside me, Commando peeked his head out and looked around the street for a moment before giving the all clear, allowing us to run across quickly to the next side road. "Now I'm attempting to get back in contact with Prince Blueblood to try and find any remaining civilians in town."

"Would this Blueblood happened to have been the cause of the signal flare earlier?" Commando asked as Lightning Dust spoke up.

"I'm sorry, who is this again?" She asked as I groaned slightly, pinching the edge of my muzzle with a paw.

"This is Commando, one of the big dogs back at base and is probably here to fetch me." I answered her as the Dog barked out a laugh.

"Nice wordplay, Piper." He said with an unnecessary amount of snark as he looked back at the pegasus behind me. "But she's right, I was sent to collect her by the chief, but now we-Hold on, get down."

Motioning for us to get low, we obliged him as he quietly shushed us and pointed up above us.

Following his finger, my eyes widened as I saw a giant mound of snow looming over the building beside us, moving from side to side as a giant wolf head kept looking around the street ahead of us.

Is that the monster from the woods a two days ago? My thoughts ran wild as I slowed down my escalating breathing, barely managing to keep it under control as the giant wolf shifted its weight on the rooftop, causing small rubble to fall on our heads.

Lightning Dust did a worm-like crawl over from behind us as she slowly made her way towards a window, peering in for a moment before turning back to us with wide eyes.

Zephyr and the two other guys are in there! She mouthed to us as she looked in again as my heart rate jumped. One is a lanky looking guy and the other is a armoured dog like you, Piper.

Reks is here?! With Mitch and Zephyr as well? How did they get this far out from the castle?

Sharing a look with Commando, we began to inch forward slowly before stopping as the wolf above us began to rise up.

"What is he doing?" Lightning whispered at us, but before we could shush her the beast brought down a claw into the building, nearly destroying the walls in roof in the process and forcing us to move to the other side of the alley.

"REKS!!!"

Hearing what had to be Mitch, I ran out from the alleyway just to see my brother lying across the street with Mitch leaning over him.

"Damn it, GET DOWN!!!" Commando howled as he ran out into the open and fired a flaming bolt at the giant wolf, sending it into a howling frenzy as the bolt exploded much of its face off.

"MITCH, We have to get out of here!" I heard Zephyr exclaim as he flew out of the building and over to the human, stopping short as he watched Mitch try and heal whatever wound my brother had.

Running over to the two, I stopped cold as I saw nothing but blood and magical light surround me brothers chest.

No...I can't lose him too. Not after what happened to Ma and Pa

Frozen in place, I watched Mitch mutter repeatedly to Reks as Commando continued to fire flaming salvos into the wolf, barely keeping it at bay as Lightning Dust landed beside me and let out a gasp at the sight in front of her.

"W-Whoa...that's a lot a blood." She whispered as a blueish light rippled throughout the street just as the light from Mitch's arm grew ever brighter.

"Hey! Somethings happening!"

Turning my head to Commando, I barely was able to make out the melting form of the giant wolf as the blue light made the snow evaporate on contact.

Zephyr landed by Mitch just as I turned my gaze back to my brother, a clear look of worry on his face as he watched Mitch continue to struggle to keep the spell up.

"What the buck is he doing?!" Zephyr yelled, turning to me as he pointed at the man. "Cancel his spell or he's going to die!"

Shaking my head violently, I sent the pegasus a glare that could freeze the sun.

"If you stop it now, they'll both die!" I barked, feeling my heart rate spike at the thought as Commando walked over with his crossbow slinged over his back.

"The only thing we can do now is wait, and see if the brat has what it takes to be a healer." Commando stated sharply as the spell finished, causing Mitch to fall over on top of Reks.

Please be ok, pleaaaaaase be ok! My mind chanted over and over again as I rushed over to the two of them and began looking them over.

I can't lose anyone else...

Commando POV<<<<<<

Man, what a day this turned out to be.

Standing to the side as Piper and the two pegasi looked over the weird monkey thing and our very own Lutienant, I let out a sigh as I stroked the fur on my head.

This kid better be one gifted son of a bitch, because if hes not explaining this to the chief is gonna hurt.

Hearing something land behind me, I turned around only ro be met with the ruler of Equestria herself...and her sister.

"What has happened here?" Sun princess asked as I pointed a paw at the scene beside us.

"Wolves attacked, and now one of our own might be dead." I informed the princess as the night princess snorted.

"Thou seem quite indifferent to the outcome, Dog." She snarked as I narrowed my eyes, slighted by her idiocy.

"The only thing I'm indifferent to is you, Nightmare. Of course I care about my fellow brethren, though I'd like to know what caused the snow wolves to dissipate like they did."

"The crystalling process was finished moments ago, and during the process the crystal heart was fixed, driving all sources of evil from the kingdom." Sun princess fielded my question as she turned a sorrowful eye to the group behind me, who had now seperated the two and, with Pipers instruction, began bandaging Reks up. "We were told a group of Diamond dogs and a hairless ape had helped secure the future of the empire, so we came to find you immediately...though it appears we were too late."

Scoffing at the motherly tone the royal used, I turned away from them and waved a paw in the air.

"Not your problem, princess. Sure, they helped you guys out and all, but all we want in return is safe passage out of this Godfather-forsaken city."

Turning back to the two royals, I noticed the Nightmare was eyeing Mitch really closely, especially the crystal casing on his arm. Thankfully, before she could say anything Sun princess spoke first.

"Travel by train has already been accommodated for, thanks to my nephew Blueblood." Sun princess answered before narrowing her eyes. "But know this, I felt a tremor of dark magic being used over here. If at anytime word comes to me that dark magic is being used against my little ponies you'll find the Winter tribes alliance with Equestria to be severed quite quickly."

Mimicking her stare, I smirked and pointed to the group behind me.

"I'll keep that in mind, your highness. Now, would you mind teleporting us to the station? We'll have a train to catch and I don't want to miss it."

Mitch POV, present time<<<<<<

Finishing his recount of what happened, I looked between the Commander and Piper before letting letting out a sigh.

"Shit...so we were that close to being dog food, huh." I muttered with a empty laugh as I looked up at Reks. "Still, better to be alive than dead on the street, right?"

Raising a paw into the air, Reks went to agree before wincing in pain, causing Piper to glare at both of us.

"One of you is injured and the other is magically drained, and you still find ways to be idiots?" She huffed as she leaned back and crossed her arms. "But yeah, that's pretty much the gist of what happened." She said before Commando butted in with a smirk.

"Not taking into account the Empire owes the Winter tribe for saving their land again, along with ourselves getting a free train ride to Vanhoover along with it." He said before he ceased smiling and pulled a gem from somewhere behind him...probably a pocket or something weird like that. "Except us. You and I have a military strategy meeting to go to."

Looking at Piper, both me and Reks shared looks of surprise.

"Wait, you've got to leave after all that's happened? And so soon?"

For a second, it looked like Piper wanted to say otherwise, but she sighed and stood to her feet, barely managing to pull herself from Reks as she walked over to Commando.

"If it was anything else, I'd tell the chieftain to fuck off and pick someone else...but this is something that's been in the works for a while now, so I can't bounce it off."

"Like hell you can't! What's so important that you can't stay with Reks and make sure he's ok?" I exclaimed, raising my voice slightly as I started to feel a bit lightheaded.

Might have to tone it down a bit.

Sharing a look with Commando, Piper sighed again and looked me in the eyes.

"War, Mitch. That's what." She dropped the proverbial bombshell as I felt my jaw drop. "The Winter Tribe is going to war soon, and I'm part of the group that's leading the front."

Looking from the pained expression on the captains face to the plain look on Commandos face, I was left speechless as I processed that.

And here I thought this world couldn't get any more insane.

Author's Note

Hey! Chapter update, and it's not 2 months later this time!

Yeah, this was surprisingly rough for me to write out, for some reason it just took forever to figure out what to put to paper. thankfully it's out, though I'm not 100% fond of this chapter, but can't see any better way to write it.

Feel free to comment below on anything with the story, especially your thoughts or any Grammer mistakes. (Seeing comments can really make a writers day, so I challenge a random reader to write a comment down, even if they don't usually comment)

See yall next time!