Black Powder

Hornsburg

****

Day

-488

****

Hornsburg

****

"The enemy has taken defensive positions on the ridge past the town here. They have several artillery batteries that are well-deployed across their entire line. If we can cross the river from the north, we can roll their left flank and envelope them. Turn Stone Leaf's line, trap Blue Harbor on the hill...surround him. Maybe even cut the rebel supply line, depending on how well we can pull off this maneuver...it's possible."

The younger field commander jabbed a orange hoof onto the map of the local area, which was laid out on the table in front of both of the high-ranking officers. The older gray unicorn coughed into his sleeve and frowned at the map.

The command tent became silent for a split second. Mostly, because the other high-ranking officers had stepped out.

"It's a solid deployment Commander Burntail, but I'm afraid that time is a commodity that we do not have. We need to attack now, while the Karalian army is still too far away to send support. We need to crush the rebels quickly and then form up again to deal with the Karalians when they arrive," the older general replied.

The younger unicorn stared down at the map in frustration.

"So what must we do?" he asked.

General Crimson Fields stood up and walked slowly towards the table.

"If the Rebs and Karalians are able to link up, it'll be a disaster. The road that the Rebs are protecting is the only effective passage in which the Karalians can enter Red Mane. We've beaten them here, and the rebels are trying to buy them time. We need to take advantage of this while we have it. Canterlot will also be impatient. They send us an order, and it'll be one word, Commander."

Fields stared intently into the eyes of his second-in-command, intimidating him.

"...Attack!"

General Crimson Fields looked back down onto the map, scratching his gray beard momentarily with a hoof.

"No Commander, we march up this ridge past the town, and eat their artillery fire across the entire field. It'll be a bloody mess but we will smash their flanks on either side and then deal the killing blow...a straight drive right up their center. Even that stone wall won't be enough to protect them. The rebels won't last long, they'll break, go home, and give up. And we...we will be victorious."

The look on the younger commander's face telegraphed his uncertainty.

General swiped his hoof across the map as he spoke, pausing to take a swig of his coffee.

"Do we have an accurate estimate on enemy troop levels, Commander?" Crimson asked his subordinate.

The younger pony nodded.

"Yes sir. We have received reports of the rebel army numbering at around seventy-five to eighty thousand total under Stone Leaf's command. We have them outnumbered sir," Commander Burntail reported in a professional and confident tone, if a little worried.

Crimson Fields took another drink of his coffee.

Only a couple weeks ago, Equestria's southern neighbor, the Republic of Karalia, had declared war. Why they did so was beyond the general. It was irritating no doubt, this unexpected move turned this internal civil war into an international endeavor. Now, not only did they have to fight rebels, but also an entire nation that was almost as strong and rich as Equestria was.

This...complicated things.

It wouldn't be easy to take on two armies at once, but it would have to be done for crown and country.

General Fields had heard that the Karalians had launched a preemptive invasion of eastern Equestria, striking from the south and much closer to Canterlot. General Masterstroke and his Army of Eastern Equestria should be able to handle them. That bookworm Masterstroke had it easy though, he only had to deal with the Karalians. Of course, the Crown would send the more competent general to deal with the rebels and the Karalians. He smirked as the pride of being given that honor inflated his ego.

"What have the scouts reported on the incoming Karalian army?" he inquired.

"They estimated the Karalian number to be around ninety thousand, sir. They've got some good artillery and there is a rumor that they've even brought those damn Karalian Grenadiers and also Grenzers for their skirmish element. Those ponies are gonna be a pain in our flank sir, I can feel it," Commander Burntail seethed.

"I know they will, Burntail. The Karalians are experienced war-fighters and have basically written the books that our new officer cadets are reading by their actions alone. Needlessly to say, they know how to fight."

Silence overtook the room as the dreadful irony of that fact sunk in. Quickly, Fields spoke once again.

"And what of our foreign friends? When will they arrive?" Fields set his coffee cup down, hiccuping for a second.

Burntail looked down onto the map.

"Provided that the information is accurate, thirty-five thousand allied Auxiliaries will arrive in the port of Baltimare around the same time the Karalians do. Fifteen thousand Saddle Arabians, mostly Hoof infantry and a couple rocket batteries. Our protectorate, the Crystal Empire, is sending us twelve thousand line infantry and some howitzers. They'll be marching in from the north. We've also got eight thousand of Gryphonia's finest heavy cavalry coming in as a gift to Equestria. Probably to thank us for the foreign aid. The Arabians really hate the Karalians you know, I wasn't aware."

General Crimson Fields nodded in understanding.

"Of course they do. Remember when I said that the Karalians are experienced? That's because they destroyed the zebra country of Ustio and annexed all of its territory."

"Really? I don't pay much attention to foreign media."

"Well, you should."

Crimson looked down onto the map, his eyes glazing over each enemy and allied position, although his mind was elsewhere. He even surprised himself as he realized that Karalia and Saddle Arabia had quite a history.

"Yeah. It all happened about...eight years ago? Let me tell you, the Saddle Arabians didn't take too kindly to watching their closest ally get obliterated by Karalia. They tried to build an army to retake and liberate Ustio but the Karalians stopped them cold and pushed them back across the border. The defeat was the first domino in the collapse of the Saddle Arabian economy."

The Commander's eyes widened in a knowing stare.

"The economy that we rebuilt!"

"Exactly. Now, we've got a hundred thousand here already. Even though that might be enough to take both enemies on, I don't feel like taking my chances with the Karalians. We'll wait until the Auxiliaries arrive before we take them on, regardless of what Canterlot says."

"And tomorrow?"

"I already told you, the rebels are mostly poorly-trained militia, with a few traitorous army units mixed in is all. They'll break. They have to."

The lack of confidence in the general's words was evident in Burntail's eyes.

"It's late. Get some rest Commander, we attack in the morning."

****Equestrian Center****

Day

-487

****

The first rank.

Of all of her luck, Applejack just had to be put in the first rank. Of course she had heard all of the horror stories about ponies that get placed in the first rank. Big Mac had been placed much further in the back, in the fourth rank. She had to admit, she was a bit nervous about all this. But she chose to do this, and she knew that if she wasn't doing it then somepony else would have to.

The proud farmer wasn't having any of that.

She stared out stoically at the ridge in front of her, the fog addling her view of the enemy positions across from her. The slope wasn't very steep at all so they would be able to march up to the stone wall with ease. The fog could provide them with some cover from infantry fire. The pounding of rebel and Equestrian artillery alike filled the eerie silence that resonated throughout the entire regiment.

Applejack craned her neck down the line, surveying everything she could. A few of the ponies in the formation whispered to each other, a few more shivered with nervous twitches, including the stallion that was next to her on her right. His hooves tapped against the ground, one after another. Whether it was in anticipation or being unnerved by the sounds of artillery, she couldn't guess.

Private Applejack turned completely around, looking back and lifting a hoof to a point, trying to pick her brother out from the rear of the formation. She found him easily, even with his coat blending in with the red of the Grenadier jacket. He looked up and noticed her. Big Mac gave an encouraging smile and a quick nod. She smiled as well, trying to hide the anxiety on her face. As she turned back around, she caught a glance of the town of Hornsburg behind them, the white two-story buildings barely visible through the fog.

The cool grasses of the ridge were moistening her hooves with dew, and the air felt cool and crisp. Normally, this would be ideal weather to go on a short run in. They were going to charge up that hill...

However, this type of run wasn't something that she had in mind.

She turned back slowly to face front, eyeing the regiment as she did so. It was like a red sea of ponies that turned green the farther she looked down on the right. She saw that the green started to fade into a dark blue further down the line. Only Manehattan regiments wore the dark blue. That was when Applejack realized that Twilight was deployed on the right.

"I hope she's not in the first rank like me. I'm awful worried about her and Rainbow. Come to think of it, I don't see any of the cavalry. Their probably flyin' high and all that though and I can't see that through the fog. And the youngins are with the Fife and Drum foals on the right side of 3rd Battalion. Please, for the love of Celestia, don't let those little fillies get hurt!"

Applejack's stomach churned as her worry began to gnaw at her, causing her to blink as a bead of sweat dripped down her face. She had been getting sweaty a lot easier as of late. What was that? A small little quirk about herself that she never knew about? She took the black shako off her head to wipe more sweat from her brow and plopped it back on afterward. The farmer tossed the thought from her mind and began to mentally prepare herself to the task at hand.

This day was going to be interesting for sure. It would start soon, Luna's 4th Grenadiers was supposed to move forward in thirty minutes, along with other regiments.

Luna's 4th had its twelve hundred Grenadiers deployed into three battalions of four hundred earth ponies each. There were four ranks in each battalion, one hundred ponies to a rank. Applejack and Big Mac were in 1st Battalion, which was in the middle of the regiment and further forward of the other two. 2nd Battalion was on their left, deployed further back, diagonal to 1st Battalion. 3rd Battalion was the same on the right, parallel to 2nd Battalion. This deployment turned Luna's 4th Grenadiers into a pseudo-wedge formation.

From the view of a pegasus it would have looked like three, red rectangles making a small arrow, pointing towards the enemy with Applejack and Big Mac's rectangle leading from the front.

They were ready.

Applejack was ready...or at least she hoped.

Thirty minutes.

****Equestrian Right****

Second Lieutenant Twilight Sparkle felt very uncomfortable and itchy in her deep blue Manehattan fusilier uniform. She was standing in front of the 20th Manehattan Regiment of Unicorn Hoof. Fifteen hundred unicorns that she had gotten to marginally know in the last month were standing behind her in three thin ranks of five hundred, shoulder to shoulder.

They were deployed on the right wing of the Equestrian advancing forces, the wing that General Crimson Fields wanted to move out first. After the Pegasi Dragoons created a diversion on the extreme left to distract enemy cavalry, they would listen for a single, thunderous salvo from every artillery battery the army had. Then, the order would come in to advance the left and right wings at the same time. Once the wings started creating havoc on the flanks, the center would move in and deal the lethal blow to the rebels' center.

Twilight knew this was a stupid plan from the beginning. But she was just a second lieutenant, not a general or field commander. She thought it better than to question her orders, no matter how idiotic they sounded. An army relied on cohesion, if orders weren't followed, cohesion would be gone. The army would fall apart from lack of order, and the rebels would win as a result.

A cold shiver went down her spine as she thought of that horrid possibility.

She readjusted her crooked bicorne hat with her hoof, she was saving her magic to fire.

That was the advantage of unicorn hoof over earth pony hoof. The ability to fire death bolts without carrying around a cumbersome musket, making them more agile to deploy. Unicorn horns were quicker on the reload as well and more accurate, probably why many ground skirmishers and artillerists were unicorns. A unicorn hoof regiment was slightly cheaper to train, equip, and maintain than a earth pony one, but not as numerous as earth pony hoof because of population constraints...and politics of course.

But these advantages came with drawbacks.

Because of the magical drain to produce a death bolt, a unicorn's ammunition supply was limited to their magical ability. Other than the rare powerful unicorns like herself and her brother, the earth pony usually had more ammunition. Not to mention that unicorns, by nature, were terrible at melee fighting, almost as bad as the militia. If earth pony grenadiers or even hoof for that matter, got close enough to charge them, it would be a disaster.

She listened to the booms of the twelve-pounders that were hopefully blasting away at the rebels' defensive wall that the pegasi scouts had told them that they were hiding behind. Twilight paid the explosions no mind as she looked down to her belt.

Sure enough, there they were.

One saber sheathed on her right, connected to her belt and a flintlock pistol hanging next to it. She knew without looking that there was its twin on her opposite side. She mentally chuckled at the thought of carrying these.

It was an Equestrian officer tradition to have this loadout after all.

"An infantry officer anyway...I wonder what Rainbow Dash has."

The 20th Manehattan was stretched into thin ranks for a reason. A reason that Twilight despised and that frustrated her.

According to what she had heard among the other officers in her regiment, the 20th Manehattan were meant to occupy the enemy's left flank and absorb their fire, while the earth pony hoof units in reserve behind them could exploit the breach.

"Bullet stoppers...that's all we are. Just meat-shields for the rest of the army."

Twilight grunted and rubbed her forehead with a hoof as she tried to divert her thoughts.

A geyser of black erupted from the ground in front of the regiment, but nowhere close enough to do any damage. A stray rebel artillery shell. A couple of them would explode near their regiment every few minutes or so but were largely ignored, most of them falling short and landing ahead of them.

She took a deep breath and glanced over her shoulder, eyeing the nervous unicorn ponies behind her. She immediately recognized a few of them within the ranks, when they had drilled together. Many of them were awfully young.

But then again, so was Twilight.

Numerous explosions were heard behind her, one after another. She counted eighteen guns that had just fired. There was no way that was the entire Equestrian Grand Battery. She could hear the friendly round shot rocket overhead, destined for either falling uselessly into the grass...or rebel blood.

A quick rapping of a snare drum was heard, and Twilight knew exactly what it had meant.

"Battalion!"

She heard the order in the distance, coming from Colonel Chamber Lane.

"Company!"

A distant voice that Twilight knew was the other lieutenant from the right wing.

"Company!" Twilight yelled as loud as she could, almost hurting her throat in the process.

She listened as other officers down the line parroted the command. They had been given the order to advance.

The full impact of that fact was just now hitting Twilight. She had been pretty calm and collected up to this point, lost in her own thoughts as she usually was, but that crisp order in the cool, foggy air had shocked her awake. Now she was getting nervous but she subdued the urge to hyperventilate a lot easier than usual, much to her satisfaction.

She took a deep breath.

"March!" the colonel of the 20th Manehattan barked.

Twilight's left hoof took a step forward.

****Equestrian Extreme Left****

"Snafu!" Rainbow Dash called out the other lieutenant.

"Whatcha want Dashie?" the dark brown pegasus replied lazily.

Rainbow let her binoculars drop from her eyes and looked at him with annoyance. She took off her helmet, scratching her head before putting it back on. Putting her hair in a ponytail on duty was extremely convenient, it kept her from having to constantly blow her mane's bangs out of her eyes. One of the many useful tips that she had picked up at the Academy.

"You know, only my friends are allowed to call me that."

Dash snorted as she continued to glare at him.

"Not anymore baby cakes. You ain't got no friends out here," he spoke with a blank smile as he confidently trotted up to the edge of the cloud and plopped himself on his haunches next to Rainbow.

Rainbow Dash frowned at his comment as she turned back to her binoculars and tried to pierce the fog with her vision. In the distance, she could see small black silhouettes scurrying on the ground and in the air in front of them. Some of those ponies were starting to group themselves near what looked like emplacements.

She handed Snafu the binoculars.

"Do you see that? Doesn't it look like rebel arty is deploying on that hill? I think those are pegacav above them. That's our target, right?"

After using them for a few seconds, Snafu's brown hooves shoved the binoculars into Rainbow's gut, causing her grunt and wrap her hooves around her stomach.

"Jerk," Rainbow thought as she snarled at him.

Snafu nodded and turned to her.

"That looks like them alright. It's kill or be killed time now, Dashie," he said in his usual flippant tone.

That tone irritated Rainbow Dash to no end, and even though she wouldn't admit it, it kind of creeped her out too.

Before she could give him a piece of her mind with a snarky comment, she heard the roaring of hundreds of voices in the distance. She picked up the binoculars and looked down range again. She caught sight of the supposed artillery positions on the hill but those haven't been moved or anything like that.

So where was the screaming coming from?

That's when she tilted her head to gaze up at the air above the hill. In the distance, she saw a few hundred black dots in a large triangle formation in the sky. As she watched the black forms through the fog, the yells were getting louder. And the black dots became pony-shaped silhouettes, zooming in from above them.

Rainbow's eyes went wide with terror.

"Snafu! We gotta go!"

Rainbow Dash sped off like a rocket, leaving her fellow lieutenant to catch up. They both picked up their speed in an effort to get as far away from the charging rebel pegacav as soon as possible and to get back and warn their Dragoon squadron.

She huffed for air as she soared, sweat dropping from her prismatic mane onto her face. Her pulse was throbbing throughout her body but her adrenaline drowned the feeling out. Her wings began to ache ever so slightly as she tried to pick up speed. Despite how abrasive he was, she was worried if Snafu could keep up with her but she had no time to look back to confirm. The yells weren't as loud now, which was a relief for the time being.

They didn't even have their weapons on them...

And they were actually getting attacked!

By real enemies!

The dawning of this fact finally hit her as the tiniest bit of fear surged throughout her body and made her shiver a little bit.

"I hope Snafu didn't see me do that."

To Second Lieutenant Rainbow Dash, the Battle of Hornsburg had already begun.

****

Equestrian Artillery Positions

****

"Counter-battery fire!"

The general dropped his spyglass from his eyes as the peaceful bliss was shattered by the rumbling of distant artillery. Behind him, he heard shouts and the rustling of hooves on grass as the Equestrian unicorn artillery crews moved to and fro on either side of him, preparing a salvo.

It was hard to see past the fog, he didn't even know why he bothered with the spyglass.

General Crimson Fields turned to Commander Burntail, as if to say something before he was cut off by the yelling of orders and return yells of confirmation coming from the artillery crews nearby.

“Load ball, not canister you idiot! Put that back!” An artillery commander barked at a subordinate behind a twelve-pounder cannon.

“Fire salvo! One thousand yards! Five second fuse!” the artillery commander yelled near them.

“Fire salvo! One thousand yards! Five second fuse!” distant echoes from multiple subordinates responded.

The unicorns lit the fuses with their magic as they dipped their heads to touch them with their horns. The batteries near on either side of the two officers erupted and spit flame as the wheeled cannons recoiled from their discharges. The roaring of the Equestrian artillery was deafening, but not enough to effect the two hardened commanders. Their stone-faced expressions would have terrified the average pony. Sparkling magical smoke residue lingered in the air after the barrage, combining multiple colors into the fog.

Burntail looked at his superior officer with an uneasy glance, the stench of expended magical charge burning his snout.

"We have the howitzers up, right? The ones that are able to fire flak-shot?"

There was worry in the younger commander's voice.

The general sighed.

"Yes, Burntail. No enemy cavalry will be charging us today."

Crimson opened his mouth to speak once again but was cut off by the artillery crews yelling some more. He furrowed his brow in irritation, this was a terrible spot to view the battle, despite the higher ground. He would have to move soon if he wanted to get any orders relayed on time.

"I think we are ready commander," Crimson said with confidence.

"Sir, I advise that we send in skirmishers first."

Regiments were forming up behind the howitzers that were further back from the twelve-pounders, deployed on the reverse slope of the hill rather than the top. Mostly green-coated hoof and light-blue skirmisher columns were moving up to the center and right reserves. A Royal Guard regiment was visible as well, their gold helmets standing out, forming up on the left reserve. They were ready to fight, even though their Captain was tangled up in the eastern front near Canterlot with most of the Royal Guards.

"Commander, every second we waste is another second given to the Karalians to arrive. I won't have it. No time, full attack. Now."

"Yes sir," Burntail responded apprehensively.

"20th Manehattan to the front!"

****

Rebel Reserve

****

"Here they come General! Right at us! Just like you said!" the young pegasus stallion praised with a cheerful smile on his blue face.

The green unicorn next to him nodded and smiled in agreement.

The rest of the general's staff stayed quiet, most of them trying to observe the obscured field in front of them with spyglasses and binoculars.

"I guess that I can read my old own compatriots better than I thought. I spent enough time with them over the years, I suppose that has something to do with it. Crimson has been, and always will be, a blind fool. Keep the reserves ready and rearing to go, Captain. We're going to be in for a hell of a fight. We must hold this line gentlecolts! Freedom depends on it!" he yelled as he galloped off, running in front of a militia regiment.

The militia ponies, were all in brown and white coats, some of them ragged. They watched as the figure that gave them so much hope and inspiration ran down the entire line in front of them, a determined look on his face. The eyes of a pony that was consumed by his cause.

He shouted encouragement to the militia reserve as they looked on. General Stone Leaf drew his saber and held it to the sky, the hoof-gripping handle cold in his grasp.

"Ready yourselves, ponies! For Red Mane, we will be victorious today! For the Republic, our blood may be shed, but we will shed the enemy's tenfold! Glory awaits you like a starving lover on that field ahead! Take it! It's yours!"

The militia cried with enthusiasm and gave off a rumbling and morale-raising shout. The sound of those two thousand voices in perfect unison, shouting all together, was frightening to say the least.

But the general loved it.

And this was only one of his regiments.

****

Equestrian Right

****

The unicorns of the 20th Manehattan were all marching in step, fife and drum playing as they advanced. Twilight did her best to clear her mind and remember her commands that she was supposed to give. It was easy, mostly just repeating what the colonel said. She reminded herself of what she was supposed to do in the event that her superior officers were killed.

She could feel that the dew was wet as her hooves brushed against the taller grasses. They were slowly getting closer to that dreaded stone wall. The night before, when she talked with the other officers by the campfire, they had said that casualties should be relatively light. She hoped that was the truth.

They marched on, their hooves pounding into the luscious grass with every stomp, bringing their knees high in sync with the drumbeats. Twilight thought of the irony of that cheerful fife music playing as many these ponies marched to their deaths.

Artillery was getting more and more frequent the closer they got. Shells from enemy unicorn artillery were bursting in front of them, leaving small craters in the path ahead. Cannonballs were kicking up geysers of black and gray smoke on the grass in front of them, the explosions causing a few ponies in the line to cringe in uneasiness. The wall of dark blue marched slowly up the grassy ridge, the music from the Fife and Drum Corps still playing delightful music.

Twilight nearly had a heart attack when she witnessed a black cannonball hit the ground, not ten feet away from her and skip off the earth. Off to her right, it rocketed into the formation, knocking a few ponies over like bowling pins. Twilight didn't look, desperately trying to keep her eyes front. She heard crunches and snaps of bones as the ball made contact with bodies. Screams and wails in pain could be heard from the Manehattan ponies. Without having to steal a glance, she knew just from what she was hearing that a few ponies probably had just lost some limbs.

"Where's his head?!" a mare with a heavy Manehattan accent cried out in disbelief and horror.

Colonel Chamber Lane then came galloping down the line, calling out to everypony, repeating over and over again.

"Ignore that artillery everypony! Just ignore it and press on! Ignore it and press on!" he ordered, saber to the sky.

Twilight craned her neck to watch him zip past her and continue galloping down the line. She looked behind her in an attempt to see where the shell had hit. All she saw behind her was a blue wall of ponies, marching in sync as if a cannonball had never hit.

Of course.

They were trained to plug gaps in the line immediately.

More cannonballs came screaming in, leaving trails of smoke in their flight paths. Most were still striking ahead of them, but Twilight nervously looked on as she realized that they were landing closer to the formation the further forward the 20th went.

Another shell came roaring in, bursting high above the formation, leaving a lingering orange fire in its wake. It split in several fragments, one of them hitting another lieutenant. Twilight looked to her left and saw that the stallion was killed immediately by the shrapnel, his face horribly burned and hardly recognizable. Fiery residue from the shot was left behind, leaving small patches of flames on the ground. The line ponies behind him marched on, some of them glancing down at him and having the dignity to step around him, rather than stomping on his body. They were wary of the flames as well. Twilight frowned and turned back to the front, trying her best to keep her breakfast down.

"That was a howitzer shot!"

"Those things are shorter-range right? We gotta be getting close!"

Twilight silenced them.

"Quiet in the ranks!" she ordered.

There was break in the fog, allowing the Equestrians to see what was in front of them. Twilight noticed that the slope got steeper the further up they went, and at the top the ridge, was that damned stone wall. Rebels were positioned on the tan and white stone wall, which was only a few hundred yards away. It stretched across the entire length of the ridge, the rebels using it for cover. They had apparently seen the 20th because some of them were already beginning to take aim.

But Twilight noticed something very disturbing about those ponies on the wall.

They were also wearing dark blue.

Twilight looked up at the 20th Manehattan regimental flag, still able to keep her step with the march, despite the artillery. It was a traditional rectangular flag, its design was a large blue X that covered the entire length of the flag, with a white background.

Then, she looked at the enemy's regimental flag.

Traditional rectangle with a large blue X and a white background.

Her heart plummeted.

****33rd Manehattan

****

"Lime! Please tell me that I'm NOT seeing this!" a green earth pony mare cried frantically to her friend.

The yellow earth pony next to her gazed solemnly back, picking up his musket.

"I know Flitter, I know. I hate this, it isn't fair," he replied, his voice shaken.

The green mare looked back to the sight in front of her, her fore hooves dug into the stone wall. A massive blue wall of ponies was marching up the ridge to meet them. There were tears in her eyes.

Many of the other ponies on the wall wore faces of confusion and dread.

"Why!?" she wailed.

"Why is this happening?! Please turn back! By the stars, please turn back!" she yelled to the advancing ponies, doing her best to refrain from sobbing on the spot.

She wiped her eyes, her body trembling in grief.

"D-do you think Star Catcher a-and Pen Leaker are in th-there?" she asked, her voice quivering.

The yellow pony frowned at the mention of their oldest and closest friends.

Manehattan was technically in Red Mane territory but many of the regiments still sided with Equestria after the split in the army.

The young stallion looked down the ridge, scanning his eyes over the ranks of ponies that were wearing the same uniform as him and Flitter. He witnessed a black geyser from a rebel shell blast a hole in the blue line, the cries of ponies heard immediately after.

He was now locked in a thousand yard stare.

"Those brave ponies across from us are our brothers and sisters," he spoke with a heavier Manehatten accent than his friend.

"Our friends...family even," he added after a pause, his eyes becoming misty.

"Manehattan ponies like us," he took a deep breath.

"...And they've been mislead to their fates."

He cocked back the hammer of his musket.

The green mare gasped in sheer terror at this action.

"I can't shoot them! I can't!" she sobbed.

Quick Lime looked at her sadly, fully regretting what he was about to do.

"I'm sorry, Flitter...but we have no choice. This is our independence at stake here."

Flitter Bug sighed heavily, still sniffling, mucus running down her uniform.

"I wish we did," she whimpered quietly, her head down in sorrow.

She picked up her own musket and cocked it back with a hoof. She took her position, leaning against the stone wall for support.

Quick Lime joined her, both of them taking aim with parallel sadness.

****20th Manehattan****

The bombardment was getting worse. Howitzer shells were bursting overhead, raining burning carcass shot on them. The enemy round shot was scoring more hits, the cries of ponies being blown to pieces becoming more frequent. The regiment held together, plugging gaps that were carved by artillery explosions. They pressed on, fear and adrenaline pumping in their veins, but despite all that, they pressed on.

Twilight Sparkle did her best to drown out all of the chaos around her, and tried to focus on the distance from the stone wall. Earth pony muskets were usually effective at to about seventy-five yards, unicorn deathbolts at one hundred. Now, the earth ponies would still be able to pick them off at greater distances, but it wouldn't be as devastating. They could stay just out of musket range and try to pick the defenders from a distance but because of the rebel protection from the stone wall and the artillery barrage chewing through the 20th, that wouldn't make much sense.

They had to get closer for better volleys.

This was bad, very bad.

A unicorn regiment as the vanguard? No skirmishers? Or at least somepony who was actually competent at hoof-to-hoof fighting? What was General Crimson Fields thinking?

Was he stupid?

So this is what Masterstroke warned her about...

Twilight felt queasy all of a sudden.

A few cannonballs landed a few feet from her, kicking up dirt and debris. She marched on, trying to get all of these demoralizing thoughts out of her head. She had to focus on what needed to be done now. But what options did she have? She didn't exactly have the time or setting to be mulling around in her head, she was marching into a deathtrap for Luna's sake!

More howitzer shells bursted above them, the sick thuds of shrapnel shot hitting flesh could be heard behind her, followed by a few more painful cries. The colonel continued to convince to push forward, galloping down the entire line, waving his saber in the air. The 20th marched on, keeping enough discipline to take their measured half-steps, braving the artillery the best they could. These are good ponies, they drilled and trained hard, Twilight knew. It showed here.

A mixture of loud pops and the sound of an angry beehive snapped her out of her thoughts, her brain shutting down immediately.

The enemy infantry had opened fire.

Metal balls from muskets whizzed by her head as they slapped into the flesh of her fellow unicorns behind her. She looked back, watching some of them drop from the line, a few of them screaming in agony. Twilight swore that she could feel the warmth from the drops of blood that had been showered on her tail and back legs. Manehattan unicorns were dropping by the dozens, from Twilight's eyes it was a devastating volley. She cringed at the number of falling ponies.

"At the quick-step!" the colonel shouted, starting to canter towards the stone wall.

The blue lines started to surge forward at a jogging pace, trying to close the distance.

Sporadic pops coming from the wall suggested that the rebels were now firing at will, muskets discharging at random intervals. Smoke began lifting from the stone wall, hindering vision for both sides somewhat. Here and there, Twilight would hear a grunt or a shriek of another pony getting shot by a stray bullet and the dreadful thud of another body hitting the ground.

Rebel artillery was still hammering away at them, round shot blowing holes in their line as they advanced, and bursting howitzers shells raining even more shrapnel and flames onto them. Some of the bursting howitzer shots reminded her of Pinkie Pie's party poppers, only a much louder and deadly version. These ones left poisonous clouds that made many ponies begin choking and coughing after marching through the hazardous gases and breathing them in.

"Is that quicklime? They can afford all this? How rich is Red Mane anyway?" she thought with fear, thankful that she wasn't near any of the quicklime clouds.

"Stop here! Battalion! Halt!" the colonel ordered suddenly, his saber still raised.

"Get your ranks!" Twilight shouted.

The unicorns formed up behind them, reestablishing their lines. A few of them dropped from being hit as they halted.

Some of the unicorns were whimpering like scared puppies.

The colonel began the command.

"First rank, make ready!" he yelled.

At this order, all of the officers, including Twilight, took a knee and charged their horns to fire. The unicorns behind them charged up their horns, pointing them to the sky. An artillery shell exploded somewhere off to Twilight's right, throwing a couple of ponies to the ground. Another whizzing bullet zipped by her head and pierced the coat of the unicorn behind her. The mare that got shot grunted and hit the ground with a thud, never to move again. Twilight felt the wind from that shot, that had almost been her.

"Present!"

"Present!" Twilight repeated, pointing her horn downrange.

She found a sizable gap in the wall slightly to her left, which was filled by four twelve-pound artillery pieces and their crews. They were pointing right at the 20th and were reloading for another shot, rebel unicorns shoving stick-like tools down the barrels. Although barricades surrounded the guns, they were still more vulnerable than the infantry.

She pointed her horn at them, feeling the pressure of the death bolt waiting to be slung from her horn. The other unicorns behind her also dropped their heads, horns blaring with a magical glow.

"Fire!"

Steady cracks of horns being discharged filled her ears as she fired her own, the smoky residue of expended magical charge burning her nostrils.

A few rebel earth ponies and artillery unicorns cried from being hit, bodies falling over the wall, their muskets clattering to the ground. But the casualties were too light for Twilight's taste, looking on in uneasiness as she charged up another shot.

"Second rank! Make ready!" the colonel commanded.

"Make ready!" Twilight yelled again, straining to draw more magic for another death bolt.

Death bolts required a lot of focused magic from a unicorn.

After the order was given, the entire first rank took a knee, allowing the second rank to shoot over their heads safely.

"Present!"

"Present!"

All of the horns in the rank dropped, pointing at the wall.

"Fire!"

Another volley came roaring in from behind her, the magical smoke becoming thicker. Through it, she could hear shots bouncing off the wall and hitting a few more rebels, as well as the smacking sound of more bullets hitting the ponies behind her. Round shot was still coming in, slamming into the ground around the 20th, scarring the grassy ridge with craters. Black and gray gunpowder smoke mixed with the expended magical residue, making sight even more impossible. Twilight coughed, accidentally breathing in a little bit of it. The smell from the smoke and the bodies was unbearable.

"Third rank! Make ready!"

The second rank took a knee.

"Present!"

"Present!"

"Fire!"

The last volley swarmed over her ears, destined for the enemy. Only a small few of earth ponies at the stone wall dropped from being hit, Twilight seeing a hat fly off of one of the stricken earth ponies. The Manehattan rebels yanked the bodies of their dead from the walls and filled in the gaps. The ponies in front were discharging muskets, while the ones behind them loaded up fresh ones and handed them off to the shooters.

As Lieutenant Sparkle charged her horn, her thoughts came back to her.

"That could have been worse."

A mare near her took a round to the chest and wailed in pain as she dropped from the line.

Twilight took a look around, taking in what she could see through the smoke. The ground was marred with black craters and bodies. Her eyes glazed over the stone wall and she frowned at what she saw. Despite firing by rank, it looked like the enemy couldn't have taken more than fifty casualties. It was that damn stone wall, it was blocking their shots!

"We need to charge now!"

"Hold here! Hold here and reload! We're going to keep this position until the supporting earth ponies get here! General's orders!"Colonel Chamber Lane barked.

"What!? That's insanity! We can't stay here!"

The 20th Manehattan was in the worst position possible. Out in the open with the enemy pouring continuous fire on them from a defensive wall while being shelled by artillery. They were now sixty yards from the wall, well within the range of earth pony muskets. Not to mention that the rebels had the high ground.

"Fire at will!" the colonel ordered.

Sporadic cracks, pops and flashes came from the 20th Manehattan as unicorns fired away at random. Twilight's horn was loaded and she once again took aim at the artillery crews. She fired and the sensation of intense magic leaving her horn tremored through it, the feeling sensitive. She watched as she missed the pony she was aiming at but saw the pony near him slump lifelessly to the ground.

A hit.

She hit him...even watched the bolt as it went downrange.

She was expected to either feel a dreadful amount of guilt or remorse, an overwhelm sadness or despair at the life she had just taken...on the flip side a sadistic satisfaction maybe...but she felt nothing.

It was trivial. Almost as if it was as mindless as opening a door or brushing her teeth. As if it didn't happen. But she wanted to feel something, anything. Just let her know that she was still alive.

Still nothing.

Twilight heard a command coming from across the ridge that made her heart jump into her throat.

"Double canister!" an enemy unicorn yelled from the barricades.

The four guns at the front erupted and recoiled violently as they fired their deadly blasts. It sounded like an explosion, followed by a loud, distinct ring. Twilight's body quivered in fear, hoping that the blankets of death wouldn't hit her. She witnessed some of the metal balls skipping off of the grass and leaving divots in the ground.

A deadly medley of rusted nails, chunks of broken glass, and metal balls shredded through the ranks of the 20th Manehattan. Ponies screamed violently in intense agony and terror as the projectiles ripped through flesh and bone. Blood was splattering seemingly everywhere as Twilight watched a stallion get his fore leg ripped off at the knee by a line of metal balls. She heard the ripping and tearing of pony flesh, making her want to vomit.

A stallion approached the colonel from behind and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What do you want!?" Chamber Lane snapped, irritated.

"Sir, permission to return to the rear," the stallion said, his voice strained.

The colonel looked mystified until he scanned the stallion's body.

One of his fore legs was missing at the shoulder, the poor colt's uniform torn and bloodied.

A chill went down the colonel's spine, his face in shock.

"Permission granted...permission granted!" he insisted.

Twilight looked around frantically, starting to panic. What was she supposed to do? Finish loading her horn and shoot...but then what?

The loud cracking of a volley broke her train of thought as another hail of musket balls came screaming in. More Manehattan ponies dropped from the lines simultaneously as the volley thinned the Equestrian line even more. A mare screamed as a ball severed her horn. A fresh howitzer salvo came roaring in, the shells bursting in mid-air, adding more fiery clouds and raining even more shrapnel onto the ponies. Round shot from other artillery batteries came blasting through the lines again from their left, enfilading them.

"Dear Celestia! How much of this are we expected to take!?"

The colonel looked down the line at his now-decimated regiment with mixed emotions.

"Celestia-dammit! Retreat!" he ordered, seemingly reading Twilight's mind.

The blue unicorn ripped off his hat and threw it to the ground in frustration.

"Pull back! Pull back!" Twilight shouted.

Ponies began to break away and run from the battle line. A few unicorns fired off what shots they had and then joined in the retreat. Yells within the ranks and confusion spread from the sudden order. Soon, the entire regiment was surging back towards the main Equestrian line, ponies no longer in formation, many running as fast as they could. The entire field was littered with the prone blue uniforms of the dead and the scattered wailing and limping of the wounded.

The shooting from the stone wall decreased in frequency the further they ran. Artillery was still coming in, one causing a large black geyser that swallowed a group of unicorns that were clumped together.

Twilight was lost in a forest of panicked and crying ponies, all of them running away. Though it was technically a organized retreat, it certainly didn't look like it. The frenzy, chaos, and breaking discipline of the regiment made the situation more reminiscent of a mass rout.

It wasn't long before all of the gunfire from the stone wall ceased, the 20th slipping out of range. She could see the 22nd Earth Pony Hoof marching up to replace them, followed by two other earth pony regiments and a Unicorn Sharpshooter battalion as well, the last one deployed in a spread out skirmisher formation.

But Second Lieutenant Twilight Sparkle didn't care about any of that. All she cared about was getting the hell out of there. She had seen, felt, and experienced more today than most ponies should in a lifetime. And unlike other endeavors where she had exciting adventures with her friends and loved it during the adventures of the past, this time she was afraid for her life.

This was different.

This was horrible.

Her hooves continued to thunder against the ground as she galloped away as fast as she could. It wasn't until now that she realized that she had been crying the entire time. Her sobs nor the tears running down her cheeks or even the burn in her lungs from running registered in her mind. It was filled with the images of everything she had seen back there, while at the same time her primal instinct telling her to run away from it as fast as she could.

So that was all she could do.

Cry and gallop as fast her hooves would take her. And she wasn't alone.

The battle of Hornsburg was finished with the 20th Manehattan.

****

33rd Manehattan

****

Flitter Bug tried to point and fire her musket but her sobbing and trembling was stopping her. She couldn't do it. The mare threw her weapon to the ground and sobbed into her hooves, leaning against the wall for support.

Quick Lime discharged one last shot, tears in his eyes as well. The musket was trembling in his hooves and he took his hoof out of the hoof trigger well and let it clatter to the ground.

Many of the other ponies on the stone wall looked on with forlorn expressions at the retreating ponies across from them. They ceased fire and gazed upon the carnage that was left behind. They could see a thick line of dark blue sprawled across the ground in a line, where the 20th Manehatten stood. A few other bodies could be seen scattered around the ridge, especially around where the main line was and further back as well. Down on that field, the rebel ponies knew lay the mangled and bloodied remains of their fellow Manehattanites, possibly ponies that they might have known personally.

The 33rd Manehattan looked on solemnly with watery eyes spreading like wildfire, knowing in their hearts and minds that they had just slaughtered many of their own.

Flitter turned to her friend, her voice quivering. She was doing her best to choke back sobs.

"W-Why didn't they retreat? T-They just stood there and took it. Why didn't they run sooner?"

Quick Lime embraced her and rocked her back and forth. They both held each other in a tight embrace. They consoled each other as best as they could.

****

Rebel Reserve

****

The blue pegasus flew up to his general with sorrow and uneasiness on his face.

"Yes, Captain Blue Harbor?"

"Did you see that last charge, sir?"

The green unicorn turned to him.

"You mean on the left? Wasn't much of a charge, Captain."

The blue pony remained silent.

"I did see it, however. By the stars, did I see it..." General Stone Leaf added, heavy emotion in his voice.

"...Those ponies deserved a better fate," he continued in a sympathetic tone.

"Such bravery is worthy of a better cause. I could not believe that a mortal pony could march forward in the face of such...destruction," he finished, exhaling as he shook his head in disdain.

"My heart stood still as I watched it," the captain revealed, his eyes misty.

The general nodded in response as a fleeting thought crossed his mind.

"Damn this war..."

****

Equestrian Extreme Left

****

A random Dragoon tossed Rainbow Dash her rifle as she returned to her squadron at full speed. Snafu was far behind, flying off to gather his weapons as well. The intimidating rebel yell wasn't far off, the enemy Dragoons were getting closer. Captain Spitfire and a first lieutenant flew around the clouds that the squadron was occupying, alerting them to the incoming attack.

The pegasi were scattered amongst the clouds, trying to form together in two ranks in hopes to get a rifle volley off. Rainbow and Snafu saw their squadron forming up in a clear patch of sky, in between scattered clouds. Even this high up, it was still foggy and trying to shoot the charging enemy would be a bit of a pain. While the standard infantry where trained just to point their muskets or horns into a enemy formation and fire, the Dragoons were different. They actually picked out targets and aimed, which in this weather, would be much more difficult.

Both pegasi lieutenants formed up in front of the first rank, readying their rifles to fire.

Rainbow Dash's breech-loader was already pre-loaded, which she mentally thanked herself for doing earlier. She looked to her left and right, both ranks of Dragoons forming up into lines.

Captain Spitfire glided down the front of the lines, trying to inspire and command at the same time. The roaring from the enemy was coming in from behind her, attempting but failing to drown her out. Black silhouettes of rebel pegasi could be seen through the fog, steadily coming closer.

"Pick your targets, Dragoons! This is what we've been training for! Right here! Right now! We're going to let off two devastating volleys and then we'll counter-charge! And when you charge...yell like you're bringing the end of the world to their doorstep! I want them to hear you all across Red Mane! Make them fear the 10th Dragoons!" Spitfire encouraged.

Rainbow cheered with the others, double-checking her rifle and making sure it was primed.

"First rank! Make ready!"

All of the pegasi in both lines rose their rifles to the sky, the barrels appearing to split their faces in half.

Rainbow did the same, feeling the cold touch of the hoof trigger, fitting snugly in her grasp.

"Take aim!"

The rifles from the front line dropped, pointing at the approaching silhouettes.

"Fire!"

The entire front line and the officers ahead of them discharged their rifles simultaneously, the thunderous cracks and orange flashes of their rifles easily distinguished through the fog. In the distance, Rainbow Dash could see some of the silhouettes drop out of the sky. She saw the pony that she aimed at fall as well. Thanks to the fog cover, all she saw was another black dot falling out the sky, not a living and breathing pony. That fact put her at ease.

"Well, I guess my shooting's alright at least. Now comes the hard part," she mused, thinking of the charge.

The rifles that discharged over her shoulders let off mighty cracks that caused her ears to ring.

"Ow!" she yelled at the pegasi behind her.

"Sorry," a mare responded with a soft tone.

"Second rank! Take aim!"

The pegasi behind them took aim, their rifles pointing over the shoulders of their comrades in front.

"Fire!"

The second volley erupted, throwing more smoke into the air. More black enemy dots were falling out of the sky. Rainbow Dash was impressed, there were some really good shots in this squadron.

Spitfire looked to her squadron and saw that they were ready to go.

"Prepare to charge!" she ordered.

All of the pegasi starting slinging their rifles back over their shoulders and drawing their sabers.

This was it.

The sound of sliding metal became rampant as the entire of squadron of nine hundred pegasi drew their signature melee weapons. Rainbow drew hers, feeling the cold metal against her hoof. In the past few weeks, she had become exceptional with it. She could do things now that she didn't even know were possible with a sword. She had trained hard for this, and now it was time to see if all of that work would pay off.

"For Equestria, for my home, and for my friends."

She thought about that for a second. No. She didn't have to add "For my squadron". Because they were already her friends.

Rainbow decided just to leave the thought as it was.

It felt right.

"CHHAAARRRGGEE!" Spitfire yelled her lungs out.

Rainbow and the rest of the squadron brought their sabers up as they sped towards the incoming pegacav, their bodies slicing through the fog. Dash's body was getting covered in water droplets and her wings were beating powerfully, rocketing her forward. She heard rifle volleys off to the left. Without looking, she knew that the 9th Dragoons had flanked the enemy cavalry and were pouring on their fire into the airborne rebels.

She watched as even more bodies dropped out the sky. The enemy was losing dozens of their number after every volley, which was encouraging. After counting two volleys, the cries from her friends in the 9th were heard as they too charged towards the enemy.

"Two full squadrons against one depleted one. I don't care if the rebels have been training longer than us, we should win this," Rainbow reasoned.

The 10th hit the front of the enemy Dragoons as the 9th hit the flanks. Loud yells mixed with the clashing of metal sabers filled the foggy sky. Pegasi slashed and stabbed at each other, testing their opponents' fighting prowess. The fog broke, clearing her vision. Rainbow Dash saw the enemy in front of her, Dragoons dressed in a dirt brown in contrast to the Equestrian green.

She picked out the closest opponent to her and brought her saber down for a powerful, initial slash.

The enemy cavalry pony that she attacked blocked her slash immediately and followed up with one of his own. She parried and slashed upward, attempting to slice his face open. As the rebel pegasus blocked Rainbow's attack, a second Dragoon intervened and slashed the rebel's shoulder open, making him lose his saber and cry out in pain. This gave Dash the opening she needed. She thrusted her blade into his chest and pulling it out, ending him. As the pony fell to the earth below, Rainbow was already engaging a second enemy.

This second one was a mare who was much more skilled than the last. Rainbow Dash and the friendly pegasus who helped her took on this mare together, the enemy being able to keep both Equestrians at bay. Both ponies attacked the rebel simultaneously, only to have their assaults deflected by the enemy's immaculate speed. This mare blocked and parried each attack, switching back and forth between Rainbow Dash and her ally every time they tried to attack.

The rebel spun with great fluid motions, even able to block attacks from both ponies as she had her saber switch between her left and right fore hoof from behind her back in order to do so. She did all of that in mid-spin as well. Despite being flanked on both sides by the two Equestrians, the rebel still managed to slip out from in between them and quickly recover from the spin into a combat-ready position. The dark purple mare faced both of them with a smirk, saber at the ready.

Watching that appalled Rainbow Dash, stunning her for a split second.

"How did she get out of there!?"

In a swift and well-executed motion, the rebel pegasus deflected two more attacks by both ponies in quick secession and then rammed her blade into the gut of Rainbow Dash's ally, killing him. The Dragoon colt's body sunk below the fog like a rock. The mare retracted her blade quickly to deny a diagonal slash from Rainbow. The rebel went on the offensive, taking a bold swipe at Rainbow Dash's back legs, which she ascended to dodge. The rebel rose up to match her. Rainbow parried another blow that was meant to stab her in the chest, and twirled her entire body with great speed and agility, ending in a downward slash.

The rebel blocked it, although appearing to struggle with it. The mare gritted her teeth and slashed at Rainbow, her saber meeting Rainbow's slash halfway. Both of them zipped past each other as this happened, both of them turning around to slash again in mid-turn, Rainbow Dash twirling her saber in her hoof as she did so. It was a quirk that she picked up from her captain. She fluidly twisted the saber in her grasp to produce her next combination of furious slashes to tire her opponent out, ending in a powerful thrust. Even though Rainbow's quick burst of slash attacks came from a new direction each time, the rebel blocked every last one, ending in her sword pressing against the thrust to her chest.

Rainbow noticed that her adversary was sweating and panting, she was getting tired. She eyed the mare's rank.

"She's only a corporal! How is she this good?!" Rainbow thought.

Rainbow retracted her sword and spun her body in a complete three-sixty, using the momentum to power up her next slash at the rebel's side. The rebel parried the attack, falling for Rainbow's trap. The rebel's body was now over-extended and off-balance, giving Rainbow Dash a window. In a swift move, she swung the rounded the sword around over the mare's head, like drawing an invisible circle in the sky with her blade.

Her saber dug into the rebel's now exposed hip on the opposite side.

The mare shrieked in pain, and began launching desperate attacks against Rainbow. The rebel was losing her composure and Dash knew it. This meant a bigger possibility of mistakes...mistakes that would give her an opening.

It came sooner than she would have thought.

The rebel mare was only able to give Rainbow Dash two good slashes, which she parried with ease, before giving her that very opening.

Rainbow brought her sword across, slitting open her adversary's throat.

As the blood leaked out of the mortal wound, the stricken mare's eyes went wide, staring into Dash's own. She frowned at her latest kill, feeling the slightest tinge of remorse.

"You fought well and with honor. A true Dragoon. You should be proud," Rainbow gave her consolation.

The mare coughed out blood as her wings stopped beating, boring her eyes into Rainbow Dash's. For a split second, Rainbow could have sworn that the mare had become Equestrian again.

She plummeted out of the sky.

Rainbow looked on in shock for a second before moving on to engage another combatant.

She took a look around and noticed that Snafu was slashing and hacking away at enemy Dragoons, shouting obscenities and laughing sadistically. He rammed his saber into another stallion's chest, and ripped it out violently, cursing his enemy as he did so.

Rainbow frowned at the sight.

As she continued to scan the field, looking for more enemies to fight, she picked out Spitfire, who was not too far away. The orange mare was taking on three enemies at once, dual-wielding two sabers, the second saber probably taken from a dead pegasus...and was winning.

How Rainbow wished that she could be as good as her Captain.

As Spitfire finished off two of her three opponents, the survivor retreated, zooming away. But it wasn't just her, it was the entire enemy squadron. The combination of the 9th and 10th Dragoons had broken them.

"Form back up and reload your rifles! See if we can't give those rebs a good parting gift!" Spitfire ordered as both Equestrian squadrons formed back into volley lines, facing the retreating enemy.

Rainbow Dash glided back to the front of the line that was being reformed, sheathing her saber and fishing her breech-loader from over her back. As she starting the arduous process of reloading it, she silently cursed to herself. Her rifle was a nice one and a lot more accurate than a musket, but it was a pain reloading, with greater complexity too.

After almost forty seconds, both squadrons had finished reloading and was ready to give the enemy another round of volleys. Except that when Rainbow Dash looked up from her rifle, the enemy was gone.

"Damn, I was afraid of that. The enemy has escaped but I think we should hold position in case they reform and come back. If they don't, then we just might have a shot at taking out that artillery position on Black Saddle Hill. We can flank from the south from here," Spitfire advised to the Captain of the 9th Dragoons.

The other Captain was holding up binoculars, peering out in front of them. After scouting for threats, he dropped his binoculars from his eyes, turning to her in alarm.

"Ma'am, we've got more of them. Coming in fast."

Spitfire turned back at him with urgency.

"How many?" she demanded.

The 9th's Captain bit his lip.

"I think I can make out...maybe three squadron's worth?" he concluded with worry in his voice.

"They definitely outnumber us this time," he added.

Spitfire nodded in understanding, thinking the situation over for a moment. The tables had turned now.

Then she got an idea.

"I've got it! We'll give their lead squadron our volley fire and then...we'll retreat!" she said with a smirk.

The other captain looked at her apprehensively.

"Retreat ma'am? Our orders are to take out those batteries, if we don't, our assaulting infantry on the left will be marching into a bloodbath."

"Look, behind our front line on our left flank, we've got those new howitzer batteries that have an anti-air capability. We can retreat behind the covering fire of the howitzers and infantry. Also, we have the 8th Dragoons and the 5th Lancers stationed back there as well. We can let the enemy face flak-shot and infantry fire. We'll give more volleys from our rifles and then for the grand finale...we'll counter-charge with superior numbers! Then, Captain...we can deal with that artillery you're worried so much about."

Rainbow Dash had to admit, it was a pretty solid plan. She was happy to be serving under Spitfire and not somepony else.

The 9th's Captain sighed in defeat.

"Alright. We'll do it your way."

The yells and cries of the charging enemy was starting to be heard through the fog once more. The 9th's Captain returned to his squadron, deployed on the 10th's left.

"Here they come!" Spitfire called out.

"First rank! Make ready! Take aim!" she ordered.

Rainbow Dash brought down her rifle, picking out a target that seemed like the closest to her.

"...Fire!"

The volley from the officers and front line cracked and buzzed past her ears, which were ringing again.

She watched as the ponies from across the way began dropping again, including her target. More shots were heard as the 9th unleashed their first volley as well.

"Second rank! Make ready! Take aim!" Spitfire shouted, sounding like she was going through the motions.

"Fire!"

The second volley rang out from both squadrons simultaneously, decimating the incoming pegacav.

"Retreat!" Spitfire urged.

The lines broke apart as everypony rocketed away from the enemy, seeking asylum behind allied lines. Thankfully, from where they were deployed, it wasn't too far away.

Rainbow zipped past a couple of pegasi from the 9th and peered ahead. Already, the Equestrian howitzer position was in view. Earth pony hoof stood in line in front of the artillery and a Royal Guard regiment behind. She glanced at the sky above and sure enough, there was the 8th Dragoons and the 5th Lancers. She gave a victorious smirk as she wondered if the enemy had any idea of what was going to happen to them.

It wasn't fighting fair but this was war.

"Right?" she mused, completing the thought.

As she threw away that pesky thought, she realized that they were a lot closer to the allied line now.

Almost there.

"Over here!" a howitzer pony called out to the retreating Dragoons that were soaring above him.

"Get behind us!" he shouted.

Rainbow Dash looked down and saw that the infantry were forming squares, pointing their muskets at the sky behind her. She could still hear the enemy's yells as they charged on.

They got behind allied lines and Spitfire got everypony to form up next to the 8th Dragoons and 5th Lancers. She relayed her plan to the captains of both squadrons as the 9th reached the allied line and formed up as well, two ranks deep like the other squadrons.

"Take this time to reload your rifles, ponies! Prepare to counter-charge again!" Spitfire ordered.

The fog wasn't as bad down here, allowing Rainbow Dash to see that in fact, three entire pegasi Dragoon squadrons were coming straight at them. She continued to glance up from reloading, trying to judge how far away they were.

The howitzers opened fire with flak-shot, spitting out shells that left black cloud bursts in the foggy sky. If she remembered correctly, Fields' army had about eighteen howitzers at his disposal. Some of the black bursts blew holes in the charging ponies' formations, causing pegasi to drop out of the sky in clumps. The howitzers were firing together, dotting the sky black with their shells. The pegasi across from her were taking a beating from those guns.

Her Dragoon brothers and sisters, charging through artillery fire to come and kill her.

Great.

After the salvo, the guns went silent, reloading for a second shot. Rainbow was surprised, she had thought that the enemy cavalry was a lot closer than it actually was. There was no doubt in her mind that the howitzers would be able to get at least one more shot off from each gun.

After a couple seconds of gawking, she gazed down at her rifle. It was loaded and ready to fire. She chuckled, she must have been subconsciously reloading the whole time. She listened as the musket fire from the squares began to erupt, followed by the second salvo of howitzer fire. She faced front once again and watched as bullets dropped individual pegasi and black puffs ripped through their formations. It was a slaughter so far.

However, despite the heavy casualties, the enemy was gaining ground fast. They were a lot closer now and the howitzers were vulnerable.

Apparently, Spitfire picked up on this.

"For the last time! Make ready! Take aim!" she repeated for the third time today.

"Fire!"

Lieutenant Dash fired, her shot missing this time. Despite that, the enemy formation was trailing bodies as they advanced. Two more volleys from the 8th and 9th thinned their ranks out even more.

"Second rank! Make ready! Take aim!"

The squares were pouring on their fire, unrelenting.

"Horsefeathers that looks bad..." Rainbow grimaced at the nasty killing field in front of her.

"Fire!"

Three more rifle volleys tore through the enemy's lines, breaking the will of the lead squadron. From what Dash could see of the retreating enemies was appalling, that squadron must have lost at least half their number, most likely more than that. The other two squadrons were still coming, almost at full strength since the lead squadron absorbed most of the damage.

"Charge!" Spitfire cried out as she drew her saber.

All four Equestrian squadrons surged forward, determined to meet the enemy halfway. The Lancers were a lot faster than the Dragoons, blasting ahead of their friends with their shoulder-mounted lances, ready to impale the rebel cavalry. They met with the Dragoon squadron on the left to do just that. Rebel pegasi were gored by lances, some getting stabbed by multiple lances. The 5th pressed all the way through the squadron and reformed behind them for another charge, which would take time.

It was then when all three Dragoon squadrons converged on the other rebel squadron on the right, probably so they wouldn't have to face friendly attack from the Lancers, when they made their second pass. All of the allied artillery and infantry ceased fire, denying the risk of shooting their own ponies.

Rainbow Dash clashed with another lieutenant, the stallion appearing a lot older than she was. She slashed twice at him, once from the right with a backhoof motion a ping-pong player would use and another to the left, following up with a thrust aimed at his gut. The enemy lieutenant blocked both slashes and pushed away the thrust at his gut with a scoff.

"Amateur," he taunted.

Snafu joined in, slashing at the officer's left shoulder, only to be parried. Both Rainbow and Snafu timed their attacks together, slashing and thrusting vigorously, putting a lot pressure on the rebel officer. The officer bucked Rainbow Dash in the face with both of his rear hooves, knocking her out of the fight temporarily. He recovered to block the next set of Snafu's attacks.

"Silly girl," the older stallion commented.

Rainbow Dash's jaw hurt and she was now bleeding a little bit from the teeth but she returned to her position on the left side of the rebel duelist. She continued her attacks, which the enemy soldier blocked with ease. It was then when she realized that even together, her and Snafu might not be enough to bring him down.

The rebel turned his back to both of them to draw a pistol. Still blocking both Equestrians' moves from behind his back with his sword, he fired his pistol into the face of another charging Dragoon that was trying to attack him from the other side. As the rebel tried to turn back around to properly reengaged the two Dragoon officers, he made one single mistake that costed him his life.

One of Snafu's slashes made it through, running a thin red line down the rebel's back leg. Blood was trailing away from the fresh wound, making the smug lieutenant cry out. Rainbow saw her chance and thrusted her blade into his ribs, followed by Snafu running his blade through the enemy soldier's neck, driving it in with both hooves.

"Who's the amateur now, you stuck-up prick!" Snafu yelled at the dying lieutenant, bringing his face closer, almost muzzle to muzzle.

As if that wasn't enough, he spit in the rebel's face before yanking out his sword and letting the body fall.

"Snafu* called him a prick? Oh, the irony,"* Rainbow thought.

As much as she disliked Snafu as a pony, she couldn't help but to admit that he was really helpful in battle.

Two enemy Dragoons charged at both Equestrian lieutenants, as two more jumped Captain Spitfire. Sporadically, shots of rifles went off in the mass of pegasi, the result of Dragoons taking shots at each other from point-blank range.

Rainbow Dash blocked the downward slash aimed at her and held the enemy in place until she spun her body in another three-sixty, putting a lot momentum behind her next slash. The opposition parried it with great difficulty, gritting her teeth. Rainbow flapped her wings again, not only to stay in the air but also to drift to the opposite side of the pony and slash at her back leg. The other pony denied her again but Rainbow Dash was far from done. She performed the circle maneuver again, swiping the blade over her adversary's head and ending in an opposite slash. The rebel saw this coming and immediately blocked it. What she didn't see coming was Rainbow sliding her blade along her's and giving her a quick thrust at her heart.

Rainbow's circle attack was a feint. She used her more agile and faster-paced fighting style against the slower mare to great effect. It was obvious that this mare wasn't nearly as skilled as the others she had fought so far. She recovered her blade as the mare let gravity take hold of her dying body.

Rainbow Dash watched her fall.

Was this mare the kind that was part of or supporting the ones that hurt Pinkie and Fluttershy? Was it possible that her and Rainbow could have been good friends in peacetime? Was killing her the right thing to do?

"Of course it was! *She** attacked me!"* Rainbow struck back at her thoughts.

"She deserved it!" Rainbow justified.

"Any pony who is or who is willing to help such evil and devious ponies like Red Maners, who purposefully attack innocent civilians, deserve it!" she reasoned.

As she snapped out of it and gazed upon the aerial battlefield, she noticed that the enemy squadron was breaking and routing, unable to handle the stress of holding back three Equestrian Dragoon squadrons by itself. After the second charge from the Lancers ravaging the other rebel pegasi squadron, they broke as well.

Snafu had defeated his enemy by brutally hacking up the stallion's body and Captain Spitfire had polished off the two mares who bounced her from above, cutting down both of them in quick succession with swift, robotic, and clean slashes.

As Spitfire gazed the territory ahead of her, she smiled widely.

"Their artillery position is probably not very well-protected now. Pegasi of the 10th Dragoons, let's go!" she waved her saber in the air.

She and her squadron began to peel away from the allied line and back towards the hill that housed rebel artillery. If they took out those batteries, the entire Equestrian left and center would have nearly half of the rebel artillery aimed at them taken care of. It would reduce Equestrian casualties by the hundreds, maybe thousands.

"Follow your brothers and sisters!" the Captain of the 9th Dragoons commanded.

Soon, all four of the Equestrian cavalry squadrons in the area were moving toward the enemy artillery position. It wasn't far, only about twelve hundred yards or so, nothing for a flyer. However, they were starting to get tired from all of the fighting though.

It wasn't long before they reached it, the hill was littered with cannons and their crews. The twelve-pounders were deployed on the crest of the hill, firing shell after shell at what was assumed to be the Equestrian center. Howitzers were deployed behind them on top and reverse slope of the hill, their barrels pointing at the sky.

From Rainbow Dash's view, it appeared that the howitzer crews had spotted them incoming and were scrambling to their guns. She gulped as she looked at the number of guns on the hill. Twenty-four howitzers and sixteen twelve-pounders.

"Twenty-four howitzers? Oh, come on! Where do they get all this stuff!?" she thought, frustrated.

All the while, she and the rest of the Equestrian pegasi flew closer and closer. She could see the barrels of the howitzers being pointed at them.

"...This is going to hurt...isn't it?" she sighed and groaned.

Spitfire, who was flying next to her, frowned in dread at her comment.

All twenty-four of the enemy howitzers fired in unison, trying to protect the valuable twelve-pounders. Black bursts starting popping up all around Rainbow Dash, one shell slicing through a group of ponies to her right. Bursts of black clouds were ripping through the formations of all four squadrons, killing dozens of pegasi. The howitzers were surprisingly accurate, only a fraction of their shots missing entirely.

It was devastating, but not nearly enough to halt the charge.

Spitfire gritted her teeth.

"Damn flak-shot..." the captain cursed under her breath.

"Everypony! Charge to that hill as fast as you can! I know we're tired but we've still got a mission to carry out! Think of all ponies you will save by taking out those guns!" Spitfire encouraged, speeding ahead even faster.

Now they were too close. The howitzers didn't have enough time to reload before they got there.

Spitfire smiled as she drew her saber.

She was the first one in, hacking down an artillery pony for one of the twelve-pounders. The 5th Lancers swarmed through the crews of the howitzer batteries on the reverse slope of the hill, getting revenge for their fallen comrades that were hit by the flak-shot. The 9th and 10th charged the twelve-pounders on the crest while the 8th moved to attack the howitzers that the Lancers had left alone ontop of the hill.

Rainbow stormed in on one the guns, hacking away furiously. In two swipes, she had already killed two of the four ponies manning the front of it. The rest of the crew for that gun was being dealt with by the others, save for the two survivors in front of her. The last two ponies charged at Dash, swords drawn.

She did a front flip over their heads, landing behind one of them. She beheaded the one she landed on the ground behind, and deflected a slash from the other. As both sabers were still connected, she flicked her hoof, twirling the saber. Her sword flipped and chopped off the hoof of the artillery pony that held his sword. Rainbow Dash caught his sword with her other hoof. She was now standing on two hooves, using her wings to keep her balance. The artillery stallion cried out in pain as he dropped to all four of his knees. She held them both of them by his throat, intersecting each other in a X.

The fight for the artillery was over quickly. It was obvious that the crews weren't very good melee fighters. Also, they were dreadfully outnumbered. All of the guns had been captured. Taking this position was the easiest thing they had done all day. These guns didn't stand a chance against them.

"Kill him Dashie. Kill him now."

Rainbow looked up to see Snafu, smirking and leaning casually against the cannon that the stallion had manned only moments before.

"Cut him up into sushi already. I'm hungry."

The rebel's eyes grew wide, looking like he was about to start begging.

Rainbow Dash winced.

"...I-I shouldn't. He's a prisoner," she replied, her voice sounding unconfident and her breathing heavy.

Snafu nodded with a smile as he casually stepped over to Rainbow Dash.

"Alright, I see how it is. You're going to let him live, ain't ya?" he spoke nonchalantly.

"This pony, who's been shooting at Equestrian ground troops all day with his arty piece? Tell me, how many do you think this gun killed? How many more would have died by this cannon if we've hadn't showed up? This pony who supports the rebels that nearly assassinated our beloved princesses. I think you knew them personally, didn't ya? How does that feel?"

Snafu was stalking around behind Rainbow Dash, speaking into each of her ears as he paced back and forth.

He continued.

"Speaking of personally, you also told me that they hurt your friends as well, didn't they? How are they by the way? Are they recovering from the wounds that ponies like this one caused? Now, think it over carefully...does this pony really deserve to live?"

Snafu trotted up next to her to watch.

Rainbow Dash was looking into the eyes of the pony she held captive, swords still ready to slit his throat.

The stallion looked up at her hopefully.

"I shouldn't do this, it's wrong! But Pinkie...and Fluttershy...the reason I joined..."

Snafu sat down next to her. Gazing at the rebel without expression.

"AHHHGG!" Rainbow shouted, a quick slide of metal upon metal being heard as both blades were brought across the stallion.

A short bout of gurgling was heard as Rainbow Dash frowned deeply. She closed her eyes and turned away.

Loyalty.

Loyalty to her friends, to the princesses and to Equestria. She would do anything to maintain it.

Letting this pony live seemed to contradict that in her mind.

Their protector. That's what she was. She was protecting them from ponies like this one.

Whoever had done this to her best friends needed to be stopped, no matter the cost. She couldn't imagine how many other ponies and families that Red Mane had destroyed already. There was no way she was going to let them get away with this, or worse, a chance to do it again.

Red Mane.

The enemy.

She swore on her life that she would make them pay.

Nopony hurts her friends.

That was what she had thought before and was holding true to now. This vow would be held, no matter what happened to Rainbow Dash in the process.

Snafu flashed the stallion an evil grin as the body dropped to the ground with a thud, blood pooling under it.

"Atta girl," Snafu praised.

Rainbow Dash kept her eyes closed. She felt so....dirty.

A Dragoon was taught to fight with honor...but this?

There was no honor in this.

"Well, time to pack up Dragoons!" Spitfire approached them with a cheery smile on her face.

"Oh dear Celestia! Did the Captain see that?!"

"Command wants the 9th and 10th to haul all of these captured guns back to the allied line. Sounds more like a Burntail order than a Crimson Fields order. General Fields would probably want a suicidal charge on the flank, which we do have, by the way," she joked, even though all three of them knew that was probably true.

"Hmm...maybe she didn't see it," Rainbow concluded.

"The 8th and 5th will act as a rear guard and provide us with cover in case the rebs decide to retake this hill. We have plenty of ponies, more than enough actually. One trip should do. After that, we are to return to act as a cavalry reserve on the left flank near our howitzers, and await further orders there. Basically, where we just were."

Spitfire trotted up to both of them, patting them on the back.

"Today was a success. I can't imagine how many of our ponies we have saved by silencing all these. Excellent work, you two! Lieutenant Dash, your dueling skills have improved greatly, it really showed today. I'm proud of you, both of you. A senior officer is nothing without the ponies under her."

Rainbow Dash faked a smile.

"Thank you, Captain," she managed.

Spitfire began to trot away, but froze and turned back to Rainbow Dash.

"Oh! And Lieutenant Dash?"

"Yes ma'am?"

Spitfire smirked, looking at the blades in both of Rainbow's hooves before glancing back at her eyes.

"You really should dual-wield more often, it fits your fighting style and looks good on you. Kinda sexy actually, especially with your ponytail."

Spitfire chuckled as she trotted away to tend to the ponies strapping the artillery pieces and ammunition caissons to their bodies. Both squadrons were preparing to take flight.

"Well, wasn't that cute?" Snafu quipped as he spread his wings and took off.

Rainbow Dash turned away again, gazing at the fields below. Fields that the infantry would have to cross to reach the enemy. The Equestrian cavalry had the rebels flanked but lacked the numbers to launch an effective attack. This was a smart move by Commander Burntail.

("Capture all of the expensive artillery first, then we can send you off to die some more!")

Rainbow Dash could almost hear Commander Burntail saying those words exactly.

But it was just a passing thought.

Her mind was truly on the pony that lay dead next to her, and all of the others that she had killed today.

****

Equestrian Center

****

Private Applejack kept in step with the other ponies in her formation as they marched up the ever-foggy ridge. Artillery fire was louder and more frequent now. Cracks of musketry could be heard off in the distance from the right flank. More artillery and gunfire could be heard on the left as well. The fifes and drums of Luna's 4th Grenadiers pierced through all of that.

"What the hay is goin' on here?"

"Keep it in step, Private Amber! You are Grenadiers! At least look the part!" their colonel yelled, urging them on up the ridge.

They marched on, all three rectangle formations of the regiment keeping their pseudo-wedge tight. Other regiments were marching alongside them, how many, Applejack couldn't tell. She knew beforehand that Luna's 3rd Grenadiers was on their left and the 19th Earth Pony Hoof was on the right but there were many more regiments advancing than that.

This was the main attack.

"Sheesh! Good thing we are fighting rebels today, cause I can guarantee that the Karalians would be laughing if they saw how you ponies marched. Atrocious!" the earth pony mare demeaned again.

Applejack felt the dew brush against her hooves, sending a tingling sensation throughout her legs. Her heart was pounding in her chest as her senses sharpened like sabers. The adrenaline was starting to get to her, it was of fear and excitement, mixed together in an unstable brew within her body. She had to strain with great difficulty to subdue the feeling boiling up inside her and maintain the stoic and disciplined expressions that were expected of Grenadiers.

The pounding of hooves rumbling throughout the ridge as tens of thousands of ponies advanced to take part in this massive assault. Despite her emotions running amok, Applejack couldn't help but to feel empowered by the sheer number of ponies taking part in this offensive.

Two cannonballs came screaming in, blasting small craters in the ground a few dozen feet ahead of her. They left arching smoke trails that revealed their flight paths. She marched on, ignoring the sounds of her musket slung over her back beating against her pack, and the metal clangs of her canteen hitting her grenade pouch repeatedly.  More cannonballs came screaming in, most of them still landing short.

They continued marching up the side of the ridge, the artillery gradually becoming more accurate the further they pressed. Luna's 4th was dead in the center of the assault force, Applejack had heard that this was to be so the night before. Their mission was to punch a hole in the stone wall and open up a path for their allies in reserve to swarm in and exploit the breach.

Applejack smirked at the thought.

"Finally, I can show these bad ponies that they messed with the wrong friend! I'm gonna teach them a lesson that they won't soon forget!"

She was brought out of her reverie by another salvo of incoming cannonballs, landing much closer this time and kicking up earth with geysers of black and gray. Applejack gazed into the fog and could make out the outline of the stone wall on the crest of the ridge. Her determination and rage within her began to cancel out her other emotions, one by one.

"There they are..."

Her anger towards Red Mane turned her smirk into a snarl.

The ponies that advocated the attacks that hurt her friends. The ponies that protected the ones who had murdered, maimed, and injured hundreds of Equestria's innocent civilians in the train bombing attacks across the country. The ones who had tried to assassinate Luna and Celestia.

And if all that wasn't enough... they immediately declared war on their Equestrian brothers and sisters.

In Applejack's eyes, it was a laundry list of wrongdoings that Red Mane needed to pay for. Applejack needed to show them the error of their ways. Teach them what happens to bad ponies that hurt others.

More shells landed around the 4th and the surrounding regiments, every once in a while, one would score a hit. The lines from the multiple Equestrian regiments were nearly flush with each other as they advanced together. A reserve line of several more regiments further behind the initial line was marching forward as well. Applejack was thankful that the enemy fire was being spread across the entire advancing forces, rather than just her unit. That would be...unbearable.

Luna's 4th Grenadiers marched on, fife and drum still playing the regiment's new theme song. She had heard that Sweetie Belle had written it, lyrics too. Unfortunately for the small unicorn filly, the Fife and Drum Corps didn't allow singing during battle, so she had to be satisfied with playing her fife along with Scootaloo. Applejack racked her brain again, remembering that the little fillies were deployed on the far right of the regiment.

"Dear Celestia, please let them be okay. Help them make it through. Don't let them get hurt."

Her concern for her sister and her friends has been weighing on her mind since the day she had found out that they had all ran away from home and joined. Another item for the laundry list, taking care of these fillies and fighting to make sure the Red Mane ponies don't get a chance to hurt them.

"If they lay one hoof on those fillies..."

Applejack growled at the thought.

Howitzer shells burst overhead, raining carcass and shrapnel shot down upon them. Here and there, she would hear the cry of somepony getting hit or the explosion of an artillery shell, but she marched on, determined. The incline of the slope had her legs burning from exertion and more sweat dripped down from her bangs. The red coat she was wearing over her shirt was heavy and hot. The rest of her uniform was itchy.

They were getting a lot closer now, Applejack being able to see the orange flashes of the enemy cannon through the fog.

But she saw something else...

She squinted her eyes through the fog to get a better view of what she was looking at. Pony-shaped silhouettes were seen scattered in front of the stone wall, hundreds of them. They were spread out and appeared to be crouching...

Applejack groaned in dismay.

Skirmishers.

From what she could make out, there were at least four or five battalions of them deployed in front of the stone wall. The Equestrians would have to deal with them before they could even reach the wall. The deployment of the skirmishers was superb. They were lower down on the ridge, at a point where they had a near-perfect field of fire. At the same time, the rebel artillery and infantry manning the walls could safely fire over their heads without hitting them.

That ridge was the perfect slaughterhouse. And it was waiting for her.

She gulped a bit, doing what she could to retain her confidence and keep moving forward.

She heard orders from across the ridge and saw all of the skirmishers go completely still for a couple of seconds.

Shots rang out from the skirmisher hordes as the rounds from breech-loaded carbine rifles and death bolts from unicorn horns came flying in. Ball and bolt slapped into flesh with sickening thuds all across the line of several Equestrian regiments, dropping a reasonable amount of soldiers. Screams and yelps of pain rippled through the lines of Luna's 4th as Grenadiers began dropping from the line.

Applejack couldn't see the damage but it didn't sound too bad. She really hoped it wasn't.

It wasn't long before they were in range to return fire at the skirmishers. As they did so, however, the rebel earth pony and unicorn light troops gave them another volley. More Equestrians dropped, many more than last time. The colt next to Applejack took a round to the chest and dropped to the ground with a thud, his body still as a statue. She shuddered at the sight and gazed warily down at his corpse.

"So *this** is why being in the first rank is bad!"*

"Battalion!"

"Company!"

"Company!"

"Halt!"

Applejack stomped her last hoof into the soil forcefully, now once again still and staring at the enemy in front of her. The popping of skirmisher fire had died down, signaling the end of their volley. A cannonball hurled itself into the ground a few feet from her, seemingly at the same exact time she stomped her hoof.

"First rank! Make ready!" the colonel called out.

Applejack fished her pre-loaded musket out from behind her and slung her hoof into the trigger grip. She held it in front of her face with one hoof, the barrel appearing to anypony that was standing across from her that the barrel was slicing her face in half.

"Present!"

"Present!"

The drum rolls from the Fife and Drum Corps began beating at a faster rate.

"That's probably Applebloom doin' that dru-Argh! I need to focus!"

Her musket dropped and was pointing at the rebel light troops, bayonet already fixed. She held it with her right fore hoof, stock snug in her shoulder, and standing on her other three hooves for balance.

"Fire!"

She could have sworn that her musket was the first to go off as she yanked the hoof trigger back and watched a pony directly across from her drop like a rag doll. Fire from the rest of the rank kicked smoke into the air. Dozens of skirmishers dropped, the survivors desperately trying to reload quickly.

"Did I just kill him? Or was that somepony else?" Applejack thought as she watched the light trooper fall, temporarily in shock.

"Second rank! Make ready!" the colonel called out once more.

Applejack crouched down and began to process of reloading, just as she was trained. She pulled the hammer of her firearm to half-cock as bullets whizzed by her head, one hitting a pony near her.

The second volley went off as she grabbed a paper cartridge and tossed to the ground. Using a hoof to stabilize it, she bit off the top of the paper wad to expose the contents inside. She dumped only the powder down the barrel and took out the metal ball that was also inside and tossed it on the ground. She dropped the paper wad to the ground and rolled into a crude ball and scooped it back up to throw it down the muzzle, followed by the metal ball.

The third volley went off, felling more enemy skirmishers. Many of the other Equestrian regiments were firing by rank as well.

Applejack drew out the ramrod with her teeth and jerked her head back and forth to get the metal stick to pack down the powder nicely. After a few seconds, she withdrew the ramrod and put it back in its sheath that was outside along the barrel. Then, she flipped open the pan of the muzzle-loader and poured in a different kind of powder that she grabbed from one of her pouches. She slapped down the pan's fizzle to close it and cocked back her musket to where the hammer was at full cock.

"I hate this thing! Darn inconvenient, it is."

After all of that, she was finally ready to fire. She smirked to herself, she was a lot faster than usual. Only took her twenty-three seconds this time, from what she counted in her head.

"Battalion! Light grenades!" the colonel of the 4th ordered.

"What!?"

After all of that, she couldn't even shoot it. She grunt-groaned in frustration.

Instead, she slung the loaded weapon back over her back and fished a grenade out of one pack with a hoof and fished a match out of another pack with her teeth. She stuck the match across her uniform, lighting it and pressed it into the wick of the grenade.

"Buck grenades!"

The apple farmer dropped the portable bomb to the ground, twirled her body so that her two back hooves had a clear shot and bucked it away with all her might. She watch as it sailed along in the air with hundreds of other grenades from the rest of the 4th. She heard them hit the ground with resounding thuds.

"One apple tree, two apple tree..."

The violent chain of explosions ripped through the formations of the rebel light hoof, ripping apart their bodies with devastating effect. The other Grenadier regiments throughout the Equestrian line detonated their own a few seconds later. Bodies of rebels were ripped and torn to shreds by the bombs, many corpses stained black with gunpowder or red with blood. Applejack saw distinct gaps in the skirmish doctrine, and then the rebels started to rout after that. Every last skirmish formation fell apart and broke discipline as their ranks fell into chaos.

The skirmishers jumped over the wall and galloped away from the battle line, screaming in terror as their commanders failed to keep order. The sudden retreat caused the skirmishers to stand up and now were getting hit by friendly fire, making things even worse for them. Applejack didn't realize how intimidating the grenades actually were, or that the fear factor was that great.

"Quick-step it to the wall! And ready another grenade! We're gonna blast our way through their defenses!" the colonel yelled ecstatically.

The Grenadiers advanced at a canter as they multi-tasked with arming another grenade and jogging closer to the stone wall. A volley erupted and cracked from the rebel militia that was stationed there, the bullets punching into the flesh of more Grenadier ponies, causing Luna's 4th to trail bodies as they moved. A salvo of canister shot ringed out from an artillery position that was directly in front of them, cutting down more Grenadiers. The other supporting regiments were facing similar treatment.

Applejack turned just in time to watch an onslaught of canister munitions behead their colonel.

She froze in shock, her mouth hanging open slightly as she halted her jog. It had occurred so fast. She wasn't expecting anything like that to happen. The mare who had trained them to be fearless Grenadiers for the last month was gone. The one who gave them grievances for not being as professional or hardcore as a Grenadier was supposed to be. The one who pushed them to not only become better soldiers, but better ponies.

And now she was gone.

In a split second.

Their leader was dead.

Apparently, she was not the only one who had seen it unfold.

"The colonel's dead!" a stallion cried out.

Panic ensued within the ranks of Luna's 4th as the line began to waver.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Let's hold onto our horses, ponies! I've got command," a captain urged, waving his officer saber back and forth.

Many of the Grenadiers broke and ran away from the wall, seeking asylum from the battlefield.

The captain's ears drooped at the sight.

Applejack was now very confused. She had no intention of running and was still rearing to push forward. But with most of the ponies around her breaking ranks and fleeing from the fight, she now faced a dilemma. She could retreat with her regiment and they could all reform together to come again. Or, she could stand her ground here and wait for the supporting regiments to come up. She could tag along with them and continue pressing the attack.

Was this really all it took for a unit to fall apart? None of the other regiments were running. And Luna's 4th was a Grenadier regiment, not standard Hoof infantry or skirmishers. They were supposed to be demi-elite infantry, shock troops. Yet they lose their colonel and break instantly?

No.

She was not marching all the way back up here. She worked hard to get this far and refused to cough it all up now.

Applejack held her ground.

The farmer-turned-soldier looked around, noticed that fifty or so others decided to stay as well. The ones that remained behind were scattered, firing shots and throwing grenades over the wall at random. A lieutenant also stayed behind, Applejack watching as the mare officer fired her flintlock pistol at the stone wall. She turned around to see a strong, red earth pony reloading his musket.

Big Mac had stayed as well.

Applejack then remembered that she had a grenade in her hoof, ready to be lit. She fished out another match and lit the bomb. She copied her actions from before and dropped it to the ground so she could spin on her front hooves and buck it with her back ones.

She did just that.

The grenade sailed through the air, landing under the wheel of one of the rebel artillery pieces. It exploded, blowing the wheel away from the piece and causing the cannon's bore to slip and point to the ground. Unfortunately for the artillery crew, they had just fired a shot at the same exact time. The metal balls from the canister bounced off of the ground and ripped through the bodies of the very crew that had fired them.

Applejack recovered and drew her loaded musket. She pointed the barrel at the ponies manning the rebel defenses and fired, jerking the hoof trigger back. A militia pony's head exploded soon after and she began to reload.

****

The captain was desperately trying to reform Luna's 4th Grenadiers.

He looked around at his running ponies and gazed back towards the front line. The other regiments had already reached musket-range of the walls, all of them continuing to fire volleys at the defenders. He frowned at the gap in the center. The gap where Luna's 4th was supposed to be. He knew that they had to keep the pressure up and smash that center open, or the enemy there would be freed up to ravage the other regiments.

He noticed a small scattered group of Luna's 4th that had stayed behind. More specially, he saw an apple-flanked orange mare reloading her musket. She was standing bravely in the line of fire, seemingly calm as she carried out her duty.

"Look!" he called out to the routing Grenadiers.

"Private Applejack is standing there like a stone wall! She's showing the bravery that we should all be showing! Let us show them that Luna's 4th doesn't run out on its friends!"

Most of the Grenadiers stopped running and heeded his words. They turned to gaze at Applejack as she reloaded and fired. They turned their attention back to him.

"Rally! Rally Grenadiers! Rally behind the apple pony!"

They cheered as they began to reformed their lines. It wasn't long before they were marching back up the ridge.

The captain looked around, all of them, save for a hundred or so that probably didn't hear him, came back from routing.

He smiled.

****

Applejack was going through the motions that she had learned in training mechanically.

Load, point, fire, recover. Load, point, fire, recover. Light, drop, buck, recover. Light, drop, buck, recover.

Her goal now was just to put as much lead and explosive downrange as possible. She had been at this for nearly a minute, miraculously surviving a volley from the militia, and a salvo of canister from the remaining cannons.

Then, she heard the fife and drums of her regiment's theme song once again.

She turned around and saw the rest of Luna's 4th coming back up the ridge.

It wasn't long before the regiment was reformed at their previous position. The captain was now in command and giving the orders, which to his relief, the 4th was listening to him this time. Applejack's confidence renewed as the ranks of her Grenadier comrades filled in around her.

Some of the other regiments were trading volleys with the defenders while a few already had bayonet charges underway. The overall fighting around them was chaotic, defending militia desperately trying to keep the Equestrians back while the latter were pressing their attack as hard as they could. Artillery shells fired from both sides were raining down into the mix.

"Light grenades!"

The ponies of the 4th lit their namesake weapons in preparation for another shower of explosives onto the rebel militia. Hundreds of the small, circular bombs arched over the stone wall, landing into the ranks of the defending militia on the other side. The grenades detonated, dooming the rebel militia to the same fate as the rebel skirmishers before them. Multiple explosions ripped holes in the rebels' defensive line, many of the Red Mane ponies screaming in terror as their morale began to waver.

"First rank! Make ready!" the captain called out.

"Present!"

"Fire!"

The cracks of synchronized musketry and puffs of gray smoke erupted from the first rank of Luna's Grenadiers, the musket balls shredding through the now disorganized rebel ponies on the wall. Rank after rank fired into the rebel lines, clipping a few more of the enemy.

After the fire by rank cycle was finished, the captain decided that it was time.

"Poise bayonets!"

Applejack shouldered her musket, the bayonet pointing down in front of her like a spear or lance. All of the ponies around her did the same. On three hooves, she prepared to sprint as fast as she could go.

"Charge!" the captain yelled out.

The lines of Luna's 4th surged forward and a deafening war cry was emitted by the Grenadiers as they galloped to the wall. The rebels struggled to get off whatever shots they could, including a couple canister shots. A few Grenadiers dropped from being hit but the casualties were light for the most part.

Applejack leaped over the wall, along with the rest of the first rank, the others not too far behind. She gored a militia pony with her bayonet as she landed. She pulled out her bayonet and stabbed the pony again in the throat. As the stallion hit the ground, she charged past him to smack a second pony with the stock of her musket.

Equestrian troops clashed with the rebels, the shouts and cries of battle mixing in with the sounds of metal blades meeting, the crunching of bones in close combat, and the popping of sporadic fire.

****Rebel Reserve

****

"Captain, we are going to have to move our infantry reserve up if we want to stop the Equestrians from overwhelming our defense. We must act quickly, they've already made it to the wall."

General Stone Leaf lowered his binoculars after explaining.

"We have three entire militia divisions hiding in the trees as a reserve. Do you want me to pull them up?"

Stone Leaf nodded in affirmation.

"Do it. We can't lose the center like we're losing the right. All of the supporting artillery there that we had on Black Saddle Hill was lost to enemy cav. Our left is holding fine, but that is going to be useless if the other two sectors fall apart."

"Yes sir."

Captain Blue Harbor flew off to relay the order.

****Equestrian Center****

Applejack ran her bayonet through another militia mare and discharged her musket while it was still in the mare's gut. These ponies couldn't hang with her in close combat. The advanced training of the Equestrian Grenadiers and Hoof infantry was proving too much for the spirited yet poorly trained rebel militia. As her latest adversary fell to Applejack, the farm pony stopped.

All realism slipped away from her, as she gazed at the chaos of the battlefield. Everything now seemed to be running in slow-motion for her. She watched as pony fought pony. She watched rebels being stabbed or clubbed in the face by her fellow Equestrians. She watched as a small group from the 19th Earth Pony Hoof stormed in and captured a rebel artillery battery, then shooting down all of the crew when they tried to surrender.

The militia was routing.

"Pull back!" she heard them say, over and over again.

Even though the rebels still had numerical superiority, their losses in melee combat were proven to be too great for them to handle. The Equestrian troops began taking this time to reform their lines and reload their muskets as the broken rebels fled. Applejack could hear the drumbeats and piping of fifes, coming from the second wave that was coming up the ridge to reinforce them.

Applejack smiled.

The foes of her and her friends ran from them like cowards. It was a rewarding feeling. Maybe now Red Mane would think twice before trying to hurt her friends again. Her heart jumped into her throat with glee at the success as she bit off the end of a paper cartridge.

This battle was won.

****Equestrian Artillery Positions

****

"Sir, the first and second waves have successfully breached the stone wall. Dozens of enemy guns have been captured already. Looks pretty good."

Crimson Fields smirked at the report.

"Just as planned. The third wave is mostly skirmishers, correct?" he asked Commander Burntail.

Burntail dropped his binoculars and turned to his general.

"Yes sir."

"Good. I want them deployed along the wall in line formation. Give the rebs a dose of their own medicine in case the first two waves fail. I want the fourth wave of Royal Guards deployed at the foot of the ridge as our infantry reserve. I want whatever cavalry that is free to flank on both wings. Stone Leaf and Masterstroke always thought that they were better than me...I wonder what they think of me now."

Crimson Fields chuckled as he pounded his hoof into the ground.

****

Rebel Reserve

****

"Our militia at the wall is routing from the enemy and we are losing artillery pieces left and right. Sir, we can't go on. The day is going against us. We must retreat while our forces are still intact,"

A red unicorn colonel advised to General Stone Leaf.

The general was gazing through his spyglass, his face betraying a look of disbelief. His hooves were shaking as he let his spyglass fall to the ground. He gazed down at it, solemnly, as if he was mourning a lost loved one. He looked up and back onto the embattled ridge. A little closer he could see the militia reserve moving up to plug the gap left by his routing troops. The reserves swarmed over the hill like ants, covering the landscape with thirty thousand dirt-brown jackets.

"My ponies. My brave ponies...I thought that they could win this fight with good deployments and spirit alone. And I was wrong. I have made a mistake, and my error of judgement will take a long time to gain forgiveness...from my troops and myself. I overestimated our capabilities and I have underestimated the ruthlessness and brutality of Crimson Fields."

The general spoke solemnly, watching the explosions from the artillery, the screams and cries of ponies in combat, and the cracking of musket volleys that were cutting down his already routing militia.

His guilt swelled into his chest, constricting him.

"Cancel the order to the reserves. We must retreat from this place, we must live to fight another day."

He turned to his entourage and bodyguard behind him. They all looked at him sympathetically. One mare, who's rank identified her as a major, sniffled and shed a tear.

"I am sorry. I have failed all of you."

****

Equestrian Center

****

Applejack's rank unleashed its volley, tearing into the retreating enemies. She kneeled down and began reloading as the second rank fired and the third rank after them. As she finished reloading, the order came down the line from multiple officers that they were to cease fire.

She looked out in front of her and saw that the routing troops had slipped out of range. It was what was behind them that had caught her eye.

"Whoa nelly!"

Her eyes shot open in alarm as she was trying to comprehend what was lying in front of her.

Thirty thousand rebels were moving to reinforce their scattered comrades. They swarmed the entire opposite side of the ridge. From the air, it looked like some pony had just disturbed an anthill. The sheer numbers had Applejack in shock. Just seeing it was intimidating enough but the thought of actually having to fight all of those ponies was overwhelming.

"Do we have to kill *all** of 'em?!"*

Gasps and concerned whimpers were echoing throughout the ranks of Luna's 4th as they all took in the sight of Red Mane's large reserve force coming right at them. The other regiments were formed up as well and the second wave of the assault force had reached the new lines that were formed past the wall.

That was reassuring.

"We're gonna need all the help we can get," Applejack thought as she groaned out loud.

"Steady! Steady everypony! Don't let them scare you!"

"A little late for that, Sugarcube."

"This is just a show of force. Don't let them get inside your head!" the captain explained, trying to maintain the morale that he had worked so hard to repair.

They all watched as the enemy reserve force drew closer, their hooves thunderous against the ground. Here on the other side of the ridge, the fog was much thinner and the orange-yellow glow of the morning sun was shining through. The dirt-brown wave of pony that was surging towards them was drawing closer and closer, increasing the sense of doom throughout the Equestrian ranks.

All of a sudden, the pounding of marching hooves ceased. Bewildered, Applejack studied the enemy in front of her.

They had stopped.

Silence ensued throughout the entire ridge. Even the blasts of cannon fire were absent. She witnessed the rebel ponies begin to retreat from the ridge, deploying skirmishers and pegacav as a rear guard. Applejack just stared in wonder at the retreating enemy as the voices of some confused ponies whispered through the ranks, most of them asking about what just happened.

"I knew it! We have broken through their main line, they wouldn't dare waste their reserves on us!" the captain shouted confidently.

Applejack was still reeling.

She watched as the rebels disappeared from the entirety of the ridge.

They had won.

Victory.

She really didn't know what to think now. Her adrenaline gave out, making her knees wobble slightly before she regained control. She wanted revenge and she got it. She had killed at least half a dozen ponies today. The guilt hadn't hit her yet, and hopefully, it never would.

Now what?

She still needed to make sure her sister and her friends were okay. Also, she needed to check up on Big Mac, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash. To be certain that they had all survived the day.

And after that?

She had to continue to fight.

Red Mane was still out there, and especially from what she saw, their armies, though battered, were still largely intact.

Nothing changes from before the battle or after. She knew what she must do.

Fight on.