Beyond Equestria's Border

The next morning it was raining rather heavily.  The squad woke up and headed over to talk to the colonel about the attack that was to go forward today.

"Well, guess what gentlemen" Orosius said "Looks like the princesses will be here to watch us also. Something about wanting to encourage the troops with their presence."

The commander simply shook his head "Its not going to help. These men, if they live, will curse the princesses for the rest of their lives. I have seen it before."

The normally quiet buffalo of the team was surprised that any Canterlot royalty would come out here.

"Which princesses?" He asked

"All of them, I think" The colonel replied "It does not matter, we have an attack to prepare"

The soldiers were preparing themselves, getting there weapons together and lining up to go over the top.

"Right boys, sheathe your crossbows, were going in with the saber and the spear. Sheathe your crossbows, were going in with the saber and the spear." a sergeant said.

Celestia, Luna and Cadence watched as the men lined up, waiting for the whistle so they could launch the attack.

"Princess Celestia? I had no idea you would be here!" A voice exclaimed.

Up dashed the mane six, coming to watch the battle that was soon to happen.

Twilight nodded in Luna's direction and the proceeded to do the ladybug dance she did every time she met Cadence.

"No, get away, know!" Meteor Mash shouted, stunning the guests.

"What? Why?" Twilight asked befuddled

"You don't need to see whats going to happen next. I want you gone, now" He shouted

Rainbow Dash stepped up to help her friend "Listen pal, were not afraid of anything, don't you dare try to boss my friends around!"

"You don't under-" Before he could finish, the sound of a shrill whistle pierced the air, followed by a roar as the soldiers went over the top of the trench.

Turning around, Meteor Mash watched as the men attempted to climb out of the trench. The next moment, the sound of thousands of crossbow and ballista bolts filled the air.

Men were hit trying to go over the lip of the trench, many grasping at the air as they fell back, dead. Several made it over, only to be cut down in front of the trenches.

Screams now filled the air as the bolts ripped through, armor, flesh and bone. Soldiers falling back into the trenches dead or dying.

The attack finally petered and the few wounded left were pulled back into the trench.

"Second wave form up, second wave form up" an officer shouted.

The Ponies watching sat there in stunned silence, jaws agape. None had seen such a needless slaughter like that.

The whistle shrieked again and the second wave went over the top. Just like before, they were cut done, blood and limbs going everywhere.

Several guards had turned tail and booked it back to the trench line. One was hit square in the back in midair as he tried to jump in. He landed in a muddy puddle, his blood turning it crimson.

One of the guards tore his helmet off, shivering violently. Rampart, remembering his time as royal guard and feeling sympathy for the young soldier, ran over.

As the soldier wretched and threw up his breakfast, Rampart held the mans head and patted him on the back.

"That's it, let it out, shhhh, its ok, its going to be ok" he said.

The soldier finished retching up his breakfast and now had tears flowing from his eyes. rampart continued to comfort the man, attempting to calm him down.

"Third wave, get in position, final assault." The officer shouted.

The last wave was lined up, the soldiers ready to attack. One soldier, a mustang from mustangia, was muttering words of encouragement to himself.

"How fast can you run boy, as fast a leopard, how fast are you gonna run, as fast a leopard, show me then."

The whistle shrieked and the men went over. Once more, they were cut down every were, blood and shrieks filling the air.

The mustang was sprinting towards the enemy trench line. Sprinting faster than most ponies could. He did not make it, a few crossbow bolts in the chest made sure of that.

"Stand down, no more waves. I repeat, no more wave. Retreat, all remaining soldiers retreat!"

The few soldiers left outside of the trench sprinted back. One was hit in the chest, the bolt puncturing his lung. He landed right at Celestia's hooves.

He looked up at here, and grabbed onto her forelegs, hauling himself up a little.

"God, damm you Celestia..." he whispered before he bled out right in front of her.

The wounded were hauled off to an aid station, no one could retrieve the dead on the trench line.

Colonel  Orosius looked over at the battlefield, rain running down his armor. Solemnly, he turned around and looked at Commander Meteor Mash.

"Can you men please meet me in the command bunker in a few minutes?" He asked before walking away through the pouring rain.

XXXX

The squad stood around in the command bunker as Colonel Orosius read over the casualty reports, his face growing graver as he read more an more.

"Does any one have any ideas on what we can do? I almost used up all my reserves on that last attack" the colonel said dully.

"I beleive we can call up three more divisions of guards. Besides that, I do not know" one of the officers in the room said.

He nodded "What about you guys, can you call anyone up?" he said gesturing to the squad.

"We can call up an entire army group. They can be here by next week, exactly at the same time your guard reinforcments can get here." Meteor Mash stated.

"Why is that?" Orosius asked

"They were brought back to refit with all that new fangled war-fighting equipment that the Scientist ponies have been working on. All that strange equipment like "bolt action rifles" and "Howitzers" and "The Machine Gun". I have hope these new weapons are effective" Meteor Mash said, making air quotes with his whooves when mentioning the new weaponry.

The colonel nodded "And when were these weapons created? I had know idea about them."

"Any industrial revolution fueled by neccesity" A guard stated suddenley "I forsee a future were are country hums with mills and factories, all powered by magic. Producing goods for the common pony. This is but the first step unto a greater destiney, for all pony kind"

The rest of the people in the room just stared at him, not knowing how to respond to that.

"Some of us attended philosophy and advanced practices industry in college" The guard stated before gesturing for the rest of them to continue.

"So we have a plan. Lets get down to battle strategy" Meteor Mash said leaning over the table to gesture at the map.

XXXX

The Mane six and the Princesses were walking through the trenches at the moment, trying to find the command bunker. Most of the guards were to engrossed with guarding or attending to the wounded.

"Its got to be around here somewhere" Twilight said frustrated "A bunker can't be that hard to find"

"Perhaps we should head this way" Luna shouted over the rain. In the distance, the hazy shape of the bunker.

They cut through a few trenches and ended up not at the bunker, but one of the field hospitals.  The wounded lay everywhere, clustered on stretchers or on bunks, many with gaping wounds or dirty bandages barely staunching the flow of blood leaving there damaged bodies. Many were moaning with pain or calling franticaly for wives or mothers.

The group braced for shouts and hisses from the wounded. But none came. They saw the wounded rise (The ones who could) from their bunks and salute the Princesses. Many simply said "Princess" softly.

They began to walk forward towards the group standing near the door. The Princesses began to feel uncomfortable, even frightened of these wounded soldiers, walking forward with blank expressions, hospital clothes and bandages fluttering around them.

They reached the group and surrounded them murmuring softly.

"Why, why would you order us?" one pegasus whose wings had been amputated asked. "It was death to head out there and you sent us anyways."

"We walked forward like good soldiers, and for what, to spend the rest of our days in a convalescent home?" A unicorn whose horn had been shattered stated.

The questions poured from the soldiers like the rain from the clouds outside. The soldiers grabbed hold of the the ponies and gentley shook them, all the while asking questions that would never be answered.

The ponies fled, running into the rain, trying to distance themselves from the fragile, depressed figures in the bunker. The products of one bad order.