Prince Blueblood was currently trying to sleep a little bit, this day was... hectic to say the least, were it not for the fact he was a Prince, he was quite sure he wouldn't be even able to eat this rather simple and bland soup, if he wasn't a Prince he would be dead by now, specially since most of the guard leaders weren't exactly happy with him, save for the ones he had to pretty much force to take the lead.

The most experienced Guardsmares, the "old guard" who fought against Bat pony rebels, were the ones who absolutely despised him taking the lead, they simply didn't like the idea of someone who never had military training trying to lead such a huge force in the middle of a siege. Let alone a prince, he heard several rumours, constant tales about his... rather embarassing displays, his constant mistakes from before this day, and even those from today, all the way from how mean he was to commoners, to just how spoiled he was, using his rather sad display at the last gala as a banner to oppose him.

The younger guards and some of the ponies, on the other hand, saw him as a new but hopeful leader, specially the Hippogriffs, they were rather loyal to him, apparently, he was one of the few politicians to just consider them as another citizens and bestow upon them the same care that everypony else got, mostly, with the fishing missions and the constant employement of hippogriff laborers, he was a bit sad that they apparently believed in him so much, specially when he was just trying to employ all the resources he had, he didn't even remember that Hippogriffs, were in fact, not ponies.

That aside, he was currently trying to create a plan to make sure that the tiny support he currently had, wouldn't get overwhelmed by the angry officers and their political ally... New Horseleans mayor...

The Mayor... If there was a Mare blueblood absolutely loathed, besides whatever pony invented Hot sauce and Hayburgers, that mare was the one...

Ever since Blueblood took a single step inside New Horseleans, the Mayor was there, with a wide friendly smile, but ulterior motives, cosntantly ignoring him whenever he gave an order she didn't like, an actively taking anything that was useful, his idea to turn the ruins into a stronghold, was almost stealed by her, were it not for the support of the Bat pony guard.

Currently, the Bat ponies were the only ones who he could actually trust had no ulterior motives, not as trustworthy as Albatross, but rather firm in their duties.

Bat ponies had one order, protect him and protect the people of New Horseleans, mostly the second, which meant that if they had any reason to dislike him, they would rather keep silent and focus on finishing the job before actually trying something against him.

Sadly, out of the hundreds of Guards and Ablebodied ponies and the few Hippogriffs, he just had around a dozen or so Bat pony guards left, most of them had died during the assault.

That aside, he was trying to actually rest a bit, there was nothing else he could do right now, he had already sent the workers, and the fishers had came back, the Cragadiles were ready and eager to pick anything big enough to be an snack, and anything at least pony sized, which meant that if the reports were truth, at least one or two Griffins had already became food to the 'driles.

However Blueblood couldn't exactly rest right now, not when the HIppogriffs were doing several joint excercises with the guard, while they lacked any kind of training, truth to be told, Blueblood was impressed with the sheer strenght each Hippogriff had, he had once heard that a single griffon knight could take head on up to four guardsmares, and yet he saw how four guardsmares barely took down an Hippogriff Blacksmith, it could be that the bird was a brute, which, to be honest, she was, standing at the very least a head taller than most hippogriffs, she was an elegant and powerful looking hen who broke a few rocks during a battle excercise, her name was something like "Seagullia" or something.

As Blueblood decided to come out of his "room" he was welcomed with the sight of the training gu...no... Soldiers, his soldiers, they were giving their all into drilling a sense of discipline and courage into the volunteers, even if the word 'conscript' is constantly used by guards, the truth is, the concept itself is far too different from the Griffon one.

To be a Griffon Conscript is to leave your home an peace, and join the army, becoming a soldier and being trained as one, for as long as the nation needed you, to be an Equestrian Conscript, means that you are asked to become a soldier, and... nothing more, if you refuse you could be useful at home, working the fields or something...

"Good Morning, His majesty!" One of the Loyal guards spoke, bowing down to him, when he for a second tried to offer his hoof for the traditional kissing salute, he quickly remembered he was wearing a set of armor, and chose to give a military salute. "Good Morning Gu... Soldier, May I ask how are our forces doing?"

The Guard was taken by surprise, and after a few seconds of doubt, it spoke, standing tall and proud.

"The Royal Guard is currently ready to fight, we have three hundred troops at the ready, a hundred in training duties, thirty mages in fortification duty, and seventy guards in police duties, out of the close to thousand souls of New Horseleans, a hundred has offered for conscription, while close to all the Hippogriff migrants have joined the defensive duties sir.

"Close to all? What about their children? Or their colts?" Blueblood was taken aback and the Mare took a rather grim look "Most of the migrants are single adults or young couples, most of the families either didn't want to migrate or have one at least one or two of their adults joining to service sir".

The prince looked upon the training grounds, and noticed just how many trainees were there, by eye alone, he jugded at the very least a good sixty hippogriffs, and by celestia... there was an absolute unit among them.

Blueblood could swear he could actually ride on the back of that mare and she could easily carry him like one carries a backpack, she was an absolute giant of silver, black and white, with dark fur around her hooves and claws, as if they were part of an elegant suit, white stripes in perfect harmony with her silver fur, and a beautiful pair of white wings with silver patterns.

She was so gigantic she would easily tower over even a Cragadile, and considering how she was... in fact, eating a Cragadile with some chicks, cooking it the communal kitchen, she was perhaps the single most eye-catching being he had ever seen, only behind his aunts...

Damn, now he was feeling overwhelmed, maybe it had something to do with the fact she noticed him staring, and did a little respectful bow, before standing up and joining a group of ten or so Hippogriffs. The Guard to his side noticed how he looked at her in awe, and snickered a bit, in a friendly manner.

"That's one of the trainees, her name is something like Barracuda, she comes from a Fishing village, and came here with her friends, she is part of Seaguilla platoon, albeit, we could as well call it the Hippogriff volunteer platoon, all the Hippogriffs are ready to serve, but lack training in all the senses, just like most of the pony volunteers" The mare spoke as Blueblood questioned. "Can they fight?"

"Sadly, the pony volunteers can't, they lack any significant order or courage to take head on the enemy, however, we were thinking about having them focus on other duties, allowing us to employ our actual fight capable forces in battle"

"We need, at the very least a thousand soldiers if we even hope to win, considering how an enemy force, smaller in size took the whole of New Horseleans all by themselves, these forces on the other hand, are far more in numbers, tell me, do we really don't have anyone else who can fight?"

Blueblood felt sick with what he was about to order but he opened up his mouth to command...

"ATTENTION, EVERYPONY!" He gave a powerful order, trying to imitate his aunt's Canterlot voice, and even then, his voice came out as rather weak, making most of the guards answer not due to hearing him, but rather by seeing those closer follow the order. "I want you to form two groups, one of the volunteers, the other of the guards"

He ordered, while he gave a nod to the mare, she quickly joined her group, and sooner than later, a hundred well trained guards stood... against them... a hundred barely ordered group of a hundred volunteers, and a surprisingly well looking group of sixty hippogriffs.

"We don't know if your enemy outnumbers us or not, while I was under the impression we had around a thousand soldiers, now I see we don't have nearly as much... I would rather not risk the lives of those who can't fight properly, so, let us do a test, hostilities will most likely start tomorrow, and most of the fortifying efforts are close to done, so, today we shall see who can fight, and who will have to serve somewhere else!"

Blueblood wasn't even sure if he was saying what he wanted to say, let alone what he needed to say. But deep inside, he knew he had to do a selection, on one hoof those who could actually fight, on the other, those who would scramble at the first second...

"Do not show mercy, while this may be training, aim with your training spears and swords as if they were real" Blueblood said as he walked towards the front of the volunteer's, standing like a leader to them, on the other hoof, the Guard who was talking to him not too much ago, went to the front of the hundred guards. "Milord, this is a dangerous game, are you sure you want to play fighting?"

"If any of you goes easy on us... no... for each one of you who goes easy on us, is a hayburger shop i'm closing by whatever means necessary" That sudden threat instantly got most of those present at the time to swallow hard, a few out of worry that they would hurt someone, some out of fear they would get trampled over, and a few ones out of rage that this pampered prince even dared to suggest closing the commoner's most beloved shops... " M...Milord.. this is madness!"

"Madness is the idea that somepony wants to fight withouth knowing what pain feels like!" Blueblood countered what the colt next to him said, and he quickly used his magic to take his armor off, in a loud, powerful flash of magic and lighting. leaving him as exposed as any other pony would be, specially since most of the commoners in his side, lacked armor, even if the guard hoped to provide them with one when the moment came. "Be as rough as you want guardsmares! Our foe lacks honor or goodwill, and as such, we must get ready to properly fight against all kind of foes, even those who fight dirty, and since you will be our main force... I expect you, great and powerful Mares to be an example to us all!"

Blueblood cringed at his own words, unsure if what he said was actually a good motivation, or if he just told them the most stupid thing they have ever heard. however, when the leader used her whistle to signal a charge, a rather straightforward charge, with no strategy more than "Take down anything that isn't in your side"...

Well, he found out that he was... sadly in the right, most of the volunteers fled as fast as they could the second the Guardsmare stampede began... he was pretty damn sure he would have too, were it not for the sudden lunge of the hippogriffs who quite literally threw themselves at the guardsmares, in front of him, quickly enganging...

It was his time, he needed to lead his troops, this was a training, and he was plenty of aware he couldn't exactly lead the whole force... but still, he could start small... the hippogriffs were valiant and not exactly elite, despite being good...

He was sure he would try his best to lead the army in this siege... but if he ever had the chance or the need to guide a platoon, he would take this one... maybe that could help him with his many problems, after all, the best way to become a hardy pony, is to get along with hardy ponies... or well Hippogriffs in this case.

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay fellas! I had a rather horrible creative block. And worse even, i'm not sure if i gave a proper chapter.

That aside, hope you enjoyed it, I aim to develop Blueblood a bit more before the start of the skirmishes. And, if you are wondering why the human tag if the human hardly appears... just wait a bit more, i hope you enjoy what I have in mind.