And They Shall Know No Fear

She ran forward without paying attention to the chaos. The cold north wind blew right at her, ready to blow away like a fly, but she kept running. Amid a mix of explosions and screams, mixed with snow hitting the front of her helmet, she noticed the enemy. Information began to appear on the visual display of the helmet itself. Type: Changeling. Distance: Fifteen meters. Threat level: Medium. Enemy who noticed her approach immediately transformed into a huge beetle with six limbs and sharp fangs in its mouth. With a guttural roar, he flew at lightning speed to meet the battle.

Holding a razor-sharp two-handed adamantium steel sword in her hands, Celestia's faithful daughter calmly dodged to the right, preventing herself from being pierced with sharp limbs, simultaneously cutting the vile creature from head to sting. Without slowing down, the mare continued running. This time she came across a griffin diving at her with great speed, but he couldn't even touch the legionnaire. She slid along the frozen edge of the ice, cutting the invader in two halves. Stained with the blood of the xenos, she continued to run with wild zeal, cutting in two and beheading everyone who had the stupidity to stand in her way.

The helmet's sensors flashed, illuminating the enemies that appeared in increasing numbers. Of course, these creatures can't compete with the loyal Legiones Solar, but it looks like the time for single-player play has come to an end, and it's time for teamwork.

"Company!" captain bellowed over the vox. "Form a line! Raise shields!"

With extraordinary speed, the legionnaires lined up, materializing huge magical shields in their left hands. The swords were sheathed to give way to the spears that magically materialized in each of their right hands. Having lined up in three lines, covering themselves with shields one after another, the company continued on its way, using the spears of the enemies without any mercy. Enemy, rushing into a frenzied attack, repeatedly ran into an indestructible wall that rushed forward. Chemical, incendiary grenades - all this was useless. Legiones Solaris, due to their improved physiology, were not susceptible to everything the enemy used against them.

Meanwhile, the storm continued to intensify, making visibility more and more faint, but this difficulty was also petty. The legionnaires' helmets had changed the picture to thermal imaging, so it wasn't a problem to see the approaching xenos just as it was to kill them. But there were only a few hundred meters left before the goal, and therefore the brothers and sisters, all as one, smoothly and unhurriedly continued to make their way forward. Their destination was in a tall tower covered with ice, at the very top of which a dim light shone.

Having dealt with the last of the creatures, the company dispersed around the area, forming a ring at the entrance to the tower. A heart-rending scream was heard from the other side, and the massive doors were immediately blown to shreds by the dragonfire. The lizard that came out began to pour a stream of flame over the legionnaires without stopping, but they, having strong armor and fire resistance implanted before they were born, joined the battle, throwing spears at the thick scales of the lizard, sometimes dodging the return fire in their direction.

Suddenly, as if on a timer, the magic spears stuck in the giant's body began to explode, leaving huge, bleeding wounds on the beast's body. A roar of agony swept over the valley and the ancient enemy decided to strike his last blow, but did not have time, because one of the legionnaires soared up and put all his strength into the blow chopped off the screaming head. A victorious cry burst from the alicorns' mouths, as if they were children rejoicing at their victory, when suddenly the voices instantly died away at the approach of a figure in a dark cloak coming out of the tower. As one, the legionnaires knelt in respectful reverence.

"Congratulations, tenth Company! You have passed your last test! You can stand up!" unknown pony took off her hood, revealing her face with an undisguised smile. Twilight Sparkle. The Supreme Princess of Equestria and the big sister for each of them. "Thank you for your help, Discord!"

After these words, the Lord of Chaos appears out of nowhere and snaps his fingers, removing all the mess caused, removing the blizzard with snow and returning his kingdom of chaos to its usual appearance. "You're welcome, Twilight! But next time, tell Celestia to test her kids somewhere other than my house..."

"Come on, Discord? Didn't you have fun throwing all kinds of creatures at them? Especially this huge dragon?" princess asked, smiling.

"Fun or not, I still have to clean up after you..." draconicus replied wearily. "Is this the last hundred?"

"So far, yes, but there will be more soon!" There was joy in the alicorn's voice.

With undisguised joy on their faces, the legionnaires lined up waiting for the portal to the real world to open. With a snap of his fingers, Discord followed the hundred along with Twilight near Canterlot itself. "Oh yes, how could I forget? After all, soon Princess Luna will become a mother, and Cadence and Shining Armor will have even more troubles!"

"There shouldn't be any problems this time, Discord!" she confidently declares. "Of course, the first hundred turned out to be extremely aggressive and bloodthirsty, but we took into account all the mistakes, and the other nine hundred turned out to be more balanced and less bloodthirsty!"

"Oh, yes, Twilight, I can't disagree with you more... Considering that Celestia's beloved son, Solar, almost tore my head off when we first met."

"Come on, Discord! Even if he had taken your head off, nothing serious would have happened to you, you're the Lord of Chaos! Besides, I didn't notice that her children, who were walking in front of us, wanted to rip your head off!"

"I agree, these kids have turned out to be more tolerant, eh... And yet, I can't help but notice that you've been left out in terms of kids..." Discord smiled briefly.

"It's not like I'm being left out, Discord..." there was a note of uncertainty in Sparkle's voice. "It's just that Celestia doesn't want me to feel the pain of losing them! And I know what I'm talking about! I myself happened to feel their connection with Celestia! You can't even imagine how strong and durable it turned out to be!"

"Oh, is that why her former holiness doesn't want you to suffer mentally? Truly, Celestia still loves you like her own daughter!"

Still, there was some truth to what Draconicus had said. No matter what, of all her students, Twilight is in the first place for Celestia. Throughout their journey to the Royal Palace, his words did not leave the princess' mind. No matter how much Twilight tried to hide behind words about her teacher's care, deep down she was disgusted to stay away when Luna and Cadence, along with Shining Armor, were preparing to take on the heaviest burden on their shoulders.

Five months have passed since the ill-fated uprising of the aristocracy, from that ruthless massacre, after which the whole world looked at the kingdom of peaceful ponies from a completely different angle. Now they were feared like fire, and many of the friendly races had left Equestria. According to intelligence reports, some of them are building defensive fortifications along the entire length of the land border, and griffins have begun patrolling the border waters, as have dragons.

Would they have to fight one day? The terrible thought that had been tormenting Twilight for many days and nights was shrouding her soul more and more with cold. What if the Knights of Harmony were right and the Elements went to war against each other? Princess was pulled out of her frightening thoughts by the sight of her five friends standing at the entrance to the castle. A warm smile appeared on her face.

In the throne room, Celestia and Luna were already waiting for them, along with Cadance, the Pillars of Equestria, as well as the ever-vigilant Solar, who never left his mother's side. Celestia smiled at the sight of Twilight and her faithful son, while Solar did not show such joy at the sight of his younger brother, rather indifference.

"I take it everything went just perfectly?" Celestia hugged Twilight, then kissed Celestial on the forehead.

"Everything went great, didn't it, Discord?" Twilight winked at her friend.

"Of course, Princess..." there was no particular joy in Draconicus' voice. "It couldn't be better..."

"I knew it! You will succeed! And therefore... I have a gift for you!"

At the same moment, Celestia teleports the standard of the newly created tenth company in front of her. A huge canvas made of red refractory material with an image of the Roman numeral X, under which there was an image of a flaming sun hiding behind the planet. Celestial, like all the assembled legionaries, was overcome with awe at the mere sight of the banner, and they gladly fell to one knee, submissively lowering their heads.

"Captain Celestial!" mother began loudly. "Tell me, what is your life?"

"Honor is my life!"

"What is your destiny?"

"Duty is my destiny!"

"What is your fear?"

"Defeat is my fear!"

"What is your craft?"

"My craft is death!"

"What is your pledge?"

"My pledge is eternal service!"

"On behalf of Equestria, I, Celestia, the former ruler of these lands and your birth mother, present you with this sacred standard as a sign of our trust in you and your acceptance into the Legiones Solaris! Serve with honor and dignity, my children!"

"I swear to you mother, the tenth company will not let you down! We will defend Equestria and her ponies to the last drop of blood!"

Before the alicorn could get up from his knees, his beloved mother hugged her son tightly with tears in her eyes. "I know, honey... And I am very proud of you..."

A joyful wave of shouts from the legionaries burst out of the throne room, spreading further and further into the castle and beyond. Every pony on this day heard the joy in the voices of the children of the Solar Goddess. Luna hugged Celestia, unable to hold back tears of pride, the rest of the audience applauded loudly, and only on Solar's face there was not a hint of joy. The Firstborn stood proudly to the side, watching the brothers' triumph. It was only after Celestia's reproachful look that he reluctantly approached his younger brother.

"Congratulations, Captain!" The Captain-General said dryly, to which he received a warm embrace full of brotherly love in return.

"Thank you big brother..." he said, not holding back tears.